Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #77

[SouthAussie]

Maybe the US will change their mind at some point.

Hopefully.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

A ministry official told reporters Japan would join COVAX, which had an Aug. 31 deadline for countries to express interest. The decision is non-binding, the official said, and financial contributions would be decided ahead of a Sept. 18 deadline.

Why was there a August 31 deadline? Seems like an unnecessary action to me since the Who's press release was on August 24th .

172 economies are now engaged in discussions to potentially participate in COVAX, a global initiative aimed at working with vaccine manufacturers to provide countries worldwide equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, once they are licensed and approved. COVAX currently has the world’s largest and most diverse COVID-19 vaccine portfolio - including nine candidate vaccines, with a further nine under evaluation and conversations underway with other mayor producers.

Japan to participate in WHO coronavirus vaccine programme

172 countries and multiple candidate vaccines engaged in COVID-19 vaccine Global Access Facility

 

[gngr~snap]

One of our previous Prime Ministers is causing a bit of controversy today. "Elderly covid people could just be left to die naturally." While the rest of the nation resumes normal life.


He would be encouraging senior officials in trade talks “not to be held up by things that are not all that important, and not be distracted by things that are not really issues of trade but might be, for argument’s sake, issues of the environment”.
Tony Abbott: some elderly Covid patients could be left to die naturally

Uh, I am disgusted by this idea!
Since when do we not RESPECT our elders?
Leave them to just die with COVID?
I am ill!
Moo

 

[musicaljoke]

From the BMJ..

Success stories
But while most South American countries have lost control of the virus, some have managed to keep infections low. Though facing less severe structural challenges than their neighbours, their public health responses—with rigorous testing at their core—have been effective in keeping covid-19 at bay.

Cuba swiftly sent its army of over 100 000 doctors7—the highest number per patient ratio in the world at 8.19 per 1000—door to door educating and testing the public. Its government has been swift and uncompromising in sending anyone suspected of infection into isolation. It had reported 3682 cases and 91 deaths as of 24 August.1

Costa Rica has also kept its number of infections and fatalities relatively low at 25 057 and 263, respectively, thanks to rigorous testing and tracing. It has tested 22.45 Costa Ricans for every 1000.8

Perhaps most impressive is the response of Uruguay, where 45.69 people have been tested for covid-19 for every 1000 inhabitants. Its government acted swiftly in closing borders, schools, and public events on 13 May while ramping up its testing and tracing facilities. “The result is what lockdowns were supposed to allow in other countries, but generally did not: time to mobilise the health system—a robust one in Uruguay’s case—for a nationally led, consistent response,” says Touchton.

Uruguay reaped the rewards of extensive, targeted testing, including the use of a contact tracing app developed by local software companies which reportedly had 350 000 downloads in its first three months.9 “Actively searching for cases and the use of polymerase chain reaction tests allowed them to identify cases and take the necessary means of quarantine and isolation,” Escalante says.

Surprisingly, Uruguay never enforced lockdowns. President Luis Lacalle Pou asked, rather than ordered, people to stay home for their own wellbeing and that of fellow citizens.

How Latin America is fighting covid-19, for better and worse

 

[musicaljoke]

Maybe the US will change their mind at some point.

Ranch, I hope you are right. The US used to be a world leader in the fight against disease. It's so sad to see this huge loss to the global effort.

 

[tresir2012]

Exclusive: WHO sweetens terms to join struggling global COVAX vaccine facility - documents

Wealthier countries that join the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 vaccine plan are being offered a new option to pick and choose which shots they get while reserving a right to receive their “full share” of doses, documents seen by Reuters show.

The United States, Japan, Britain and the European Union have struck their own deals to secure millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses for their citizens, ignoring the WHO’s warnings that “vaccine nationalism” will squeeze supplies.

It’s not clear if the new terms will be enough to win back the European Union, which has told member states they can help fund the programme but can’t seek to buy vaccines via both schemes.

Exclusive: WHO sweetens terms to join struggling global COVAX vaccine facility - documents

The countries that have put up millions to fund the vaccines either by up front funding or up front purchase will clearly have first dibs. WHO should concentrate on those countries that cannot afford to purchase up front IMO.

 

[tresir2012]

<modsnip>

Also, re vaccines and novel viruses, yes specific influenzas might have been considered novel at first, but there are certain things known when it's an influenza because we know a lot about influenzas in general.

Coronaviruses are different -- all this time and we've never been able to come up with a vaccine for the most prevalent coronavirus -- the common cold -- so apparently what we know about coronaviruses has its limitations.

MOO

From the results in Phase II of the Oxford trials, they had a good immune result so I think they have a good idea whether it will work. They have already started phase 3 in Brazil and the US. I am sure it is the same with the other top vaccine candidates too.

<modsnip>

 

[tresir2012]

Why was there a August 31 deadline? Seems like an unnecessary action to me since the Who's press release was on August 24th .



Japan to participate in WHO coronavirus vaccine programme

172 countries and multiple candidate vaccines engaged in COVID-19 vaccine Global Access Facility

From the link.

The 80 countries that have submitted expressions of interest to the Gavi-coordinated COVAX Facility include 43 that have agreed to be publicly named: Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Palau, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Venezuela.

In July the Gavi Board agreed on the 92 economies that will be supported the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC). The full list is as follows:

• Low income: Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen.
• Lower-middle income: Angola, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyztan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Zambia and Zimbabwe
• Additional IDA eligible: Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Kosovo, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Samoa, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga and Tuvalu.

ETA

BTW I notice that some of those 43 countries expressing interest are in the EU.

 

[Clair Louise]

From the BMJ..

Success stories
But while most South American countries have lost control of the virus, some have managed to keep infections low. Though facing less severe structural challenges than their neighbours, their public health responses—with rigorous testing at their core—have been effective in keeping covid-19 at bay.

Cuba swiftly sent its army of over 100 000 doctors7—the highest number per patient ratio in the world at 8.19 per 1000—door to door educating and testing the public. Its government has been swift and uncompromising in sending anyone suspected of infection into isolation. It had reported 3682 cases and 91 deaths as of 24 August.1

Costa Rica has also kept its number of infections and fatalities relatively low at 25 057 and 263, respectively, thanks to rigorous testing and tracing. It has tested 22.45 Costa Ricans for every 1000.8

Perhaps most impressive is the response of Uruguay, where 45.69 people have been tested for covid-19 for every 1000 inhabitants. Its government acted swiftly in closing borders, schools, and public events on 13 May while ramping up its testing and tracing facilities. “The result is what lockdowns were supposed to allow in other countries, but generally did not: time to mobilise the health system—a robust one in Uruguay’s case—for a nationally led, consistent response,” says Touchton.

Uruguay reaped the rewards of extensive, targeted testing, including the use of a contact tracing app developed by local software companies which reportedly had 350 000 downloads in its first three months.9 “Actively searching for cases and the use of polymerase chain reaction tests allowed them to identify cases and take the necessary means of quarantine and isolation,” Escalante says.

Surprisingly, Uruguay never enforced lockdowns. President Luis Lacalle Pou asked, rather than ordered, people to stay home for their own wellbeing and that of fellow citizens.

How Latin America is fighting covid-19, for better and worse

That will cause a turmoil.

 

[SouthAussie]

Indonesia (Jakarta) is doing REALLY badly. One in four covid patients dying in hospital. Fatality rate from March to August sitting at 22.3%.

They loosened a partial lockdown in June, then their fatality rate soared to 30% (and 35% if you include those that are 'suspected' and unrecorded covid deaths).

An exhausted doctor said they are fighting for ventilators. He watches people die because they have too few ventilators. Whenever they have a free ventilator, they discuss who to put on it, who is most 'worthy to live'.

A head epidemiologist says that if they 'hit the brakes now' and go into lockdown, it will be November, December, January or February before they peak.

Meanwhile their president is touting their high survival rate of 72.2%.

NoCookies | The Australian
One in four dying at Jakarta Covid hospital
SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

 

[JerseyGirl]

Uber Customers Now Ordered To Post A Selfie Showing They’re Wearing A Mask

Passengers must now take a selfie showing they are wearing a mask if they order an Uber in the five boroughs of New York City during the pandemic, the company announced.

The policy builds on an existing mandate that was introduced in May ordering passengers and drivers to wear a mask while inside an Uber. At the time, only drivers were the ones who had to show a picture on their profile showing a mask. Now passengers who use the app will have to upload a photo when making a reservation showing them wearing a mask.

Drivers can cancel a reservation if they see a passenger did not send a selfie showing them wearing a mask. Passengers can also cancel a reservation if a driver isn't wearing a mask.

Since the mask policy went into effect, Uber vehicles have been retrofitted with protective equipment that include the installation of a plastic sheet separating drivers and passengers.

 

[tresir2012]

Tui halts trips to Zante resort after virus cases

There seems to be a new measuring tool in town. 20 cases per week per 100,000 population being the acceptable limit for a European tourist destination.

From the link -

When a country surpasses 20 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, the UK government normally imposes 14 days of self-isolation on returning travellers.

There were 14.0 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Greece in the seven days to 31 August, down from 14.9 a week earlier. But several cases of the virus in Scotland have been traced back to Greece, including a passenger on a Tui flight from Zante to Glasgow on 23 August.

Tui said customers due to travel to Greece from Scotland would be able to amend or cancel their holiday in light of the quarantine announcement.

Media captionTui boss Andrew Flintham says the government should consider "regional travel corridors"
Meanwhile, ministers are considering reimposing quarantine measures for those arriving in the UK from Portugal as coronavirus cases rise, sources have told the BBC.

It has been less than two weeks since a travel corridor was established between Portugal and the UK, following a sustained period of falling cases in the country that put it below 20 cases per 100,000 people.

As of 1 September, the UK recorded 25.0 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people over the past fortnight while Portugal recorded 36.7, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Every year, more than two million Britons visit Portugal, making up the largest number of overseas tourists to the country.

Over May and June, the Portuguese government reopened its restaurants, coffee shops, museums and beaches. Hotels have mainly reopened, but nightclubs remain closed.

The government has not commented on whether requirements for arrivals from Portugal will change again.

Last week, Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic joined France, Spain and other destinations on the UK's quarantine list.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Cuba closes off Havana to stamp out spread of coronavirus

Cuban authorities ordered a strict 15-day lockdown of Havana seeking to stamp out the low-level but persistent spread of the novel coronavirus in the capital.

Aggressive anti-virus measures including closing down air travel have virtually eliminated COVID-19 in Cuba with the exception of Havana, where cases have surged from a handful a day to dozens daily over the last month.

Starting Tuesday, Havana is under a 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. Most stores are barred from selling to shoppers from outside the immediate neighborhood in order to discourage people from moving around the city.

Police stationed on every road leaving Havana are supposed to stop everyone who doesn’t have a special permit to travel, meant to be issued only in extraordinary circumstances. Some provinces that saw no new cases for weeks have begun detecting them in recent days, often linked to travelers from Havana.

The start of in-person classes was also indefinitely delayed in Havana, even as schools open normally in the rest of Cuba.

The island of 11 million people has reported slightly more than 4,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, with fewer than 100 deaths, one of the lowest rates in the region during the pandemic.

 

[musicaljoke]

I guess they weren't wearing masks.

The nudists spreading coronavirus in a French resort

France has seen a surge in infections, with 7,000 people recently testing positive in one day. The southern area of Hérault, and Cap d'Agde in particular, has seen some of the biggest numbers.
Home to the biggest naturist resort in Europe, it has a distinct focus on hedonism.
But now health authorities - who set up a mobile testing operation outside the village - have found 30% of the 800 naturists checked have tested positive.

 

[tresir2012]

Well blow me down.

Pelosi used shuttered San Francisco hair salon for blow-out, owner calls it 'slap in the face'

EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited a San Francisco hair salon on Monday afternoon for a wash and blow-out, despite local ordinances keeping salons closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, Fox News has learned.


In security footage obtained by Fox News, and timestamped Monday at 3:08 p.m. Pacific Time, the California powerhouse is seen walking through eSalon in San Francisco with wet hair, and without a mask over her mouth or nose.

PELOSI ANNOUNCES CORONAVIRUS MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED IN HOUSE CHAMBER

The stylist doing her hair can be seen following her wearing a black face mask.


Salons in San Francisco had been closed since March and were only notified they could reopen on Sept. 1 for outdoor hairstyling services only.

More at above link.

Cuomo and dog walking.

What he says

Cuomo Suggests New Yorkers Wear Masks When Walking Dog | News Break

What he does

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Spotted Without a Mask | News Break

 

[tresir2012]

It's not to say we won't have mild side effects. The pneumonia vaccine put me down for 3 days. Most flu I feel achey for a few days.

I always tried to get vaccines on Friday, so I'd be feeling better by Mon. Working in HC, I've had so many vaccines, Hep B, C, all the flu vaccines, and more.

Most kids have mild fever, achey with MMR. Remember the small pox vaccine? It left a big blister, they gave me a plastic patch to protect it and then we all had a scar.

It's a small price we pay for protection of a greater illness.

MOO...by the time the general public is offered the vaccine, millions of healthcare, EMTs, law enforcement, long term care patients, and sports teams will have received. We certainly won't be the first in line.
MOO...

Me too SS. As a First Responder I had to have all the Hep and flu vaccinations too. Now I am retired I continue getting the flu jab as does my OH who is close to 70 yo and has health conditions. We will be first in the queue.

 

[tresir2012]

Even with a vaccine - and the majority of Australians in the know believe that will be in 2021 - there will likely still be some restrictive measures in place (at least in my country).


He (University of Melbourne epidemiologist Dr Tony Blakely) said if we assumed an early version of a vaccine would be 70 per cent effective and that 70 per cent of the nation would be vaccinated, we could expect around 50 per cent of the population to be protected and 50 per cent to remain susceptible.

“It’s reasonable that even with herd immunity, there will still be people getting infected post-vaccination,” he said.

“The probable scenario is we would open up like normal but there would still be outbreaks and deaths, so there would still need to be measures to deal with infected people.”

He said the flu vaccination’s effectiveness varied from 55 per cent to 80 per cent year to year, and that it was unreasonable to expect a coronavirus vaccine to be “perfect”.

And while the overall effectiveness will increase along with the vaccination rate, it would not be possible to make the jab mandatory – although Dr Blakely predicted some workplaces would prevent staff from returning to work without proof of vaccination until the outbreak passes.

Expert predicts coronavirus vaccine won’t fix pandemic

South Korea having a spike in cases is what jumps out at me from that article. Hope they can whack a mole it.

 

[MimosaMornings]

I apologize if that came across as just singling out churches I should have added that all venues that are available for rent for any type of event. That he would make that statement surprised me. Until I read subsequent articles on his stance - doubtful education and death of members will change his mindset. So sad.

Sanford church linked to Millinocket wedding holds Sunday services after outbreak
The pastor speaks....

“It is our right before almighty God to meet, to hear preaching, to pray together, to worship the King together. It's our God-given right to do that., That's the truth I'm not going to sit around and be coward around and fall prey.”
——
Multiple services, vacation bible school?
A plane trip?!

Maine Wedding COVID-19 Cases Reach 134 As CDC Investigates Sanford Church — Newsweek

“Bell has remained defiant about the spread of the virus. According to the Bangor Daily News, he told church attendees they did not need to follow government mandates. He said the pandemic was controlled by "God not government," saying people could wear masks if they wanted but that doing so was like "keeping a mosquito out of a chain-link fence." He reportedly told attendees the death rate in the U.S. for 2020 was the same level as it was last year and told people vaccines being developed for COVID-19 contained "aborted baby tissue.”

 

[tresir2012]

So, will the tests go to public or private schools? How does an online student obtain a test?

Why would an online student need a test? Presumably they are not attending in person classes.

 

[SouthAussie]

Maine Wedding COVID-19 Cases Reach 134 As CDC Investigates Sanford Church — Newsweek

“Bell has remained defiant about the spread of the virus. According to the Bangor Daily News, he told church attendees they did not need to follow government mandates. He said the pandemic was controlled by "God not government," saying people could wear masks if they wanted but that doing so was like "keeping a mosquito out of a chain-link fence." He reportedly told attendees the death rate in the U.S. for 2020 was the same level as it was last year and told people vaccines being developed for COVID-19 contained "aborted baby tissue.”

Oh my, where on earth does this pastor get his information?? Hopefully his congregation are wondering the same thing, and his leaders are doing something about his 'teachings'.