Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #89

[dmac55]

I remember those vaccines too. They were administered through what looked like a hand gun and the needle was as thick as a 3/8 inch drill bit. I was trembling.

My polio vaccine was on a sugarcube
I was lucky

 

[gngr~snap]

President Trump Rally in Rome, Georgia Details:
Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020 at 8:30 p.:

2020 elections: Trump rally in Rome Georgia ahead of election day | 11alive.com

TUESDAY December 15th
Rome Ga Hospitals Covid patients:
December exceeds summer record for local COVID-19 deaths

 

[nightowl1975]

What would you say to someone who believes there’s no way you can see any long term effects in the time it took to develop the vaccine?

I would acknowledge that they are 100% correct. Because, well, they are. And trying to win over a skeptic with a blatant lie is just not a smart move IMO.

Then I would point out that we ALSO don’t know the long term effects of covid either. So... that phrase “pick your poison” comes to mind.

Everyone will have to weigh the pros and cons for their own specific situation and make the best decision they can at the time with the information available.

What if they raise the issue of DES (on the market for over ten years and may have caused fertility issues in the following two generations! This vaccine warns of fertility issues. Other drugs have caused loss of limbs in babies that were given to pregnant mothers. Again over ten years to pull the drug. They plan on giving this to pregnant woman. Kids!

We also don’t know all of the repercussions of covid on pregnant women or on a woman’s fertility. It’s a risk either way. IMO, the best thing each of us can do is educate ourselves, seek wise counsel from a medical professional we trust, and make the best decision we can at the time.

Warning against giving it to people with allergies and recommending not getting it and especially if you have had an anaphylactic reaction. What if they claim there is no way in the time they had to do a proper trial; what we will see is people dying of natural causes again seeing how heart attack is on there.

Yes, it’s going to take some time and a whole lot of people getting vaccinated to TRULY know the actual risks of these vaccines. In the meantime, for those who choose not to get vaccinated for whatever reason, they are choosing the risks of covid, both known and unknown. Will they get it? Maybe. Maybe not. Will they survive if they do? Probably so, however I do think with the data we have currently available, one is more likely to die from covid than from the vaccine. Will there be long term consequences of the vaccine? Perhaps. Will those consequences be worse than some of the longer term consequences we are seeing from covid? Perhaps. There is just no way to know yet.

These are concerns I’ve seen voiced online.

I get that people want answers. In this situation, we don’t have some of these answers. Nobody does. So we have to make a choice based on the information we have available.

I will say this too. There are some who will get the vaccine without question. There are some who will refuse the vaccine regardless. But there is a huge number of people somewhere in the middle of those two groups, and I believe the best way to reach them is to listen to their concerns and be respectful of their right to make their own decision. One of the fastest ways to turn a reluctant vaccinator into an outright refuser is to treat them as if they’re stupid or selfish or irresponsible. One might believe any or all of that about them, but if the goal is to get as many to vaccinate as possible, treating them like that isn’t likely to accomplish the goal.

 

[Cool Cats]

FDA: Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Vials Contain Extra Doses, Enough to Expand US Supply by 40%

Wed, December 16, 2020, 9:48 PM EST

The United States has more COVID-19 vaccines than initially thought.

The Food and Drug Administration announced the news Wednesday, after multiple hospital pharmacists reported leftover doses in vials containing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The vials were reportedly intended to hold only five doses, but as reported by Politico, health workers noticed some of the vials contained up to six or seven doses—a confusing finding that led some pharmacists to throw out the extra dosages.

Shortly after Politco's report, the FDA took to Twitter to advise "that it is acceptable to use every full dose obtainable (the sixth, or possibly even a seventh) from each vial, pending resolution of the issue." According to the outlet, the extra vaccine could increase the nation's supply by up to 40 percent. The government reported an initial delivery of 2.9 million doses across the US this week, but the recent discovery of extra doses suggest that number may be closer to 4 million.

 

[margarita25]

U.S. quarantines Pfizer vaccine shipments in California and Alabama after transit 'anomaly' left vials too cold
—

Interior secretary tests positive for COVID-19 after two days of meetings with officials: report

 

[Gibbo214]

Australia, NSW / Live Update

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Rep. Joe Wilson tests positive for Covid-19
—

Tyson fires 7 at Iowa pork plant after COVID betting inquiry
—

A mysterious gap in COVID-19 deaths appeared in Florida before the presidential election
—

21 COVID-19 deaths announced in deadliest day in NH since start of pandemic
—

Minnesota COVID-19 cases dip yet again, but deaths soar | Duluth News Tribune
—

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7 cases.

 

[margarita25]

These Neurologists Dealt with COVID-19 in So Many Different Ways
Their Most Valuable Lessons Learned
Dec. 17, 2020

“We now know that this virus, SARS-CoV-2, is much more ‘infectious’ than we originally thought—one person with COVID-19 is able to spread the virus easily to up to three or four additional people. We have also come to understand that children are not entirely immune from serious effects of the virus, as demonstrated by multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which can cause grave and life-threatening diseases in young children.“
—

NIH observational study of coronavirus infection and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children begins
Dec. 16, 2020

“An observational study has launched to evaluate the short- and long-term health outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), and to characterize the immunologic pathways associated with different disease presentations and outcomes. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. The study, called the Pediatric Research Immune Network on SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C (PRISM), will enroll at least 250 children and young adults ages 20 years or younger from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds at approximately 20 sites nationwide. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring and funding the study. The PRISM study is part of a research effort led by NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to understand MIS-C.“
—

Notable Heroes in Health Care: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) team
Dec. 16, 2020
—

COVID-19 related condition found in kids showing up more, doctor says
December 15, 2020

“A doctor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital says they are seeing more and more cases of COVID-19 related condition in kids and younger children.“

[...]

““We don’t entirely know what causes it, but we think that somehow the immune response that children have to COVID sets them up for this potentially life-threatening inflammatory reaction,” Dr. Schulert said.“
—

Primary Children’s Hospital co-leading a national study on serious COVID-19 syndrome in kids
Dec. 15, 2020

“Doctors at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital are seeing several young patients with the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, a severe complication from COVID-19.“

[...]

“The study is enrolling about 600 children from the United States and Canada through the Pediatric Heart Network, a pediatric research consortium created and funded by the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Study participants are children who have been diagnosed with MIS-C and recovered, and who will become infected over the next two years.

The study will be conducted in more than 30 academic institutions across the United States and Canada.”
—

SARS-CoV-2 May Damage Kids' Blood Vessels
SARS-CoV-2 May Damage Kids' Blood Vessels
Dec. 14, 2020
—

South Africa:
Western Cape confirms 35 cases of mysterious child illness
Dec. 14, 2020

“While accurate numbers for private centres and other state hospitals are not readily available, Chris Scott, an associate professor at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Paediatric Rheumatology’s head of division confirms that Tygerberg Hospital is facing roughly 35 cases. The cases range in severity.“
—

Post-infectious inflammatory disease in MIS-C features elevated cytotoxicity signatures and autoreactivity that correlates with severity
Dec. 10, 2020
—

New MIS-C numbers show an increase in confirmed cases
Dec. 9, 2020

“Louisiana is inching closer to 100 confirmed MIS-C cases.“
—

T&T MIS-C Cases Highest In The Caribbean
Dec. 10, 2020

“Your children are not safe when it comes to COVID-19. That's a message from medical experts who say, this country's cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children are the highest in the Caribbean.“
—

Mucocutaneous Manifestations of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Docwire News
Dec. 9, 2020
—

'Most helpless feeling in the world': McLean mom reflects on daughter contracting MIS-C
Dec. 3, 2020

““We don't know the long-term complications of that," Levorson explained. "We don't know if they're going to have problems in the future, and so we need to watch these children very closely to know.”“
—

Three-Year-Old Boy Hospitalized with Rare Syndrome Linked to COVID-19
Nov. 30, 2020

““These kids would probably die if they didn’t come to the hospital,” she said.

The syndrome can cause problems with heart muscles and coronary arteries. Children with the condition are told not to return to organized athletics for six months. Siomos said Warren was fortunate not to suffer severe coronary dilation, and had no aneurysms, but doctors will continue monitoring his heart for an extended period.

“We’ll have to watch him for a long time,” she said.”

[...]

“”We should have a humble approach to this virus and realize we don’t know everything, and understand we might find out even more — it could be good or it could be bad — but we need to protect each other,” she said.“
—

Higher SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers in patients hospitalized with MIS-C
Nov. 17, 2020

“This study aimed to characterize SARS-CoV-2 serology in hospitalized patients with MIS-C at a children’s hospital in Atlanta. Researchers found that children with MIS-C had higher SARS-CoV-2 antibodies than those with COVID-19, Kawasaki disease (KD), and hospitalized controls. Higher levels of antibodies were associated with elevated ESR and prolonged length of hospital and ICU admission. While the widespread applicability of the study is limited by its small sample size, these findings may have diagnostic and prognostic value in MIS-C risk stratification and distinguishing it from other similar diseases.“
—

Metro doctors warn of rise in MIS-C cases, illness linked to COVID-19 among children / Dec 7, 2020
50% of all cases were reported In November alone, according to Douglas County Health officials

“"I would say more cardiac involvement and GI, your gut, but it can involve the kidney, it can involve the lung and it can involve the bone marrow and blood," said Dr. Alice Sato, an infectious disease expert with Children's Hospital.“

[...]

“According to Dr. Sato, the number of MIS-C cases is proportional to the number of COVID-19 cases. She's urging people to follow all safety precautions to protect kids from the inflammatory syndrome.”

 

[CrimeAway]

New uploads from the TWIV podcast, hosted by Vincent Racaniello who also hosts www.virology.ws (www.microbe.tv). If you watch/listen to the podcasts on YouTube, you can speed them up if desired.
Vincent Racaniello and his co-host on this podcast are both virologists at Columbia University.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Vincent_Racaniello

Q&A podcast on YouTube

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[margarita25]

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Accept third party cookies

 

[dixiegirl1035]

These Neurologists Dealt with COVID-19 in So Many Different Ways
Their Most Valuable Lessons Learned
Dec. 17, 2020

“We now know that this virus, SARS-CoV-2, is much more ‘infectious’ than we originally thought—one person with COVID-19 is able to spread the virus easily to up to three or four additional people. We have also come to understand that children are not entirely immune from serious effects of the virus, as demonstrated by multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which can cause grave and life-threatening diseases in young children.“
—

NIH observational study of coronavirus infection and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children begins
Dec. 16, 2020

“An observational study has launched to evaluate the short- and long-term health outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), and to characterize the immunologic pathways associated with different disease presentations and outcomes. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. The study, called the Pediatric Research Immune Network on SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C (PRISM), will enroll at least 250 children and young adults ages 20 years or younger from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds at approximately 20 sites nationwide. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring and funding the study. The PRISM study is part of a research effort led by NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to understand MIS-C.“
—

Notable Heroes in Health Care: Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) team
Dec. 16, 2020
—

COVID-19 related condition found in kids showing up more, doctor says
December 15, 2020

“A doctor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital says they are seeing more and more cases of COVID-19 related condition in kids and younger children.“

[...]

““We don’t entirely know what causes it, but we think that somehow the immune response that children have to COVID sets them up for this potentially life-threatening inflammatory reaction,” Dr. Schulert said.“
—

Primary Children’s Hospital co-leading a national study on serious COVID-19 syndrome in kids
Dec. 15, 2020

“Doctors at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital are seeing several young patients with the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, a severe complication from COVID-19.“

[...]

“The study is enrolling about 600 children from the United States and Canada through the Pediatric Heart Network, a pediatric research consortium created and funded by the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Study participants are children who have been diagnosed with MIS-C and recovered, and who will become infected over the next two years.

The study will be conducted in more than 30 academic institutions across the United States and Canada.”
—

SARS-CoV-2 May Damage Kids' Blood Vessels
SARS-CoV-2 May Damage Kids' Blood Vessels
Dec. 14, 2020
—

South Africa:
Western Cape confirms 35 cases of mysterious child illness
Dec. 14, 2020

“While accurate numbers for private centres and other state hospitals are not readily available, Chris Scott, an associate professor at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Paediatric Rheumatology’s head of division confirms that Tygerberg Hospital is facing roughly 35 cases. The cases range in severity.“
—

Post-infectious inflammatory disease in MIS-C features elevated cytotoxicity signatures and autoreactivity that correlates with severity
Dec. 10, 2020
—

New MIS-C numbers show an increase in confirmed cases
Dec. 9, 2020

“Louisiana is inching closer to 100 confirmed MIS-C cases.“
—

T&T MIS-C Cases Highest In The Caribbean
Dec. 10, 2020

“Your children are not safe when it comes to COVID-19. That's a message from medical experts who say, this country's cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children are the highest in the Caribbean.“
—

Mucocutaneous Manifestations of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Docwire News
Dec. 9, 2020
—

'Most helpless feeling in the world': McLean mom reflects on daughter contracting MIS-C
Dec. 3, 2020

““We don't know the long-term complications of that," Levorson explained. "We don't know if they're going to have problems in the future, and so we need to watch these children very closely to know.”“
—

Three-Year-Old Boy Hospitalized with Rare Syndrome Linked to COVID-19
Nov. 30, 2020

““These kids would probably die if they didn’t come to the hospital,” she said.

The syndrome can cause problems with heart muscles and coronary arteries. Children with the condition are told not to return to organized athletics for six months. Siomos said Warren was fortunate not to suffer severe coronary dilation, and had no aneurysms, but doctors will continue monitoring his heart for an extended period.

“We’ll have to watch him for a long time,” she said.”

[...]

“”We should have a humble approach to this virus and realize we don’t know everything, and understand we might find out even more — it could be good or it could be bad — but we need to protect each other,” she said.“
—

Higher SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers in patients hospitalized with MIS-C
Nov. 17, 2020

“This study aimed to characterize SARS-CoV-2 serology in hospitalized patients with MIS-C at a children’s hospital in Atlanta. Researchers found that children with MIS-C had higher SARS-CoV-2 antibodies than those with COVID-19, Kawasaki disease (KD), and hospitalized controls. Higher levels of antibodies were associated with elevated ESR and prolonged length of hospital and ICU admission. While the widespread applicability of the study is limited by its small sample size, these findings may have diagnostic and prognostic value in MIS-C risk stratification and distinguishing it from other similar diseases.“
—

Metro doctors warn of rise in MIS-C cases, illness linked to COVID-19 among children / Dec 7, 2020
50% of all cases were reported In November alone, according to Douglas County Health officials

“"I would say more cardiac involvement and GI, your gut, but it can involve the kidney, it can involve the lung and it can involve the bone marrow and blood," said Dr. Alice Sato, an infectious disease expert with Children's Hospital.“

[...]

“According to Dr. Sato, the number of MIS-C cases is proportional to the number of COVID-19 cases. She's urging people to follow all safety precautions to protect kids from the inflammatory syndrome.”

Thank you so much for your continual vigilance on this aspect of MIS- C with the children. I wonder how widespread the knowledge of its existence and or prevalence is to the General Public?

ETA, I did not know we had a thread here for such. I just signed up to follow that thread at. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C and COVID-19)

 

[LaborDayRN]

Holy smokes - are these California numbers correct? 61,000+ cases?
United States Coronavirus: 17,392,618 Cases and 314,577 Deaths - Worldometer
....and I have new respect for Chris C!

Heartbreaking but yes, they are correct.

 

[Cool Cats]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-covid-ad-campaign-1.5842354Bv

‘A chance to start a conversation:’ Man behind Mr. Covid ads happy with reaction

Boudoin says the ads turned to humour to get people’s attention. The worst thing for an ad is to be ignored.

“I get why people would say, ‘Hey, how can anybody make light of something that’s cost people their lives?’ But spending money on yet another message that sets (the) same tone as this whole avalanche that’s been coming from the world ... we just didn’t think would be responsible use of money because it just wasn’t breaking through.”

Mr. Covid, or Creepy Uncle Covid, and his grey, oversized head with protruding red spikes and a wide twisted smile, is the main character in the $2-million campaign called “Covid Loves.”

In one ad, Mr. Covid is an uncle who breathes on the faces of his relatives as he reaches for mashed potatoes at the dinner table. In the second ad, the social-distance violator is a frat boy doing the chicken dance at a crowded house party.

The Company Ravenous EFX sculpted the foam, rubber and plastic head of Mr. Covid. The owner said his company has been bombarded with phones calls from Albertans demanding Mr. Covid merchandise.

“I’ve been getting contacted by people that are wanting either collectible statues or mask replicas and things like that,” says Travis Shewchuk.“It’s been crazy the amount of weird requests we’ve had, even down to Christmas ornaments.”

The Royal Alberta Museum has also reached out to Shewchuk and asked for a replica of the head for an upcoming instalment about COVID-19.

Beaudoin says he couldn’t be happier about the response — the good and the bad.
Some people mocking the ads have turned Mr. Covid into fun memes, mostly against the United Conservative government. One shows Premier Jason Kenney dancing with Mr. Covid. Another shows Mr. Covid wearing a black robe and saying he loves church services.

 

[sds71]

French President Macron tests positive for COVID-19

 

[SouthAussie]

7 cases.

We are up to 17 cases in NSW's northern beach area now. Mass testing going on. They don't yet know how the outbreak started.

https://twitter.com/GladysB/status/1339477376950910976

I know it is an amazingly small number compared to other places, but it is all hands on deck now to stop the spread. People there are to stay home for three days until they determine the source.

 

[SouthAussie]

I am surprised how low Vermont's positive count has been. I know there is not very many people in Vermont but it borders on two states that have been hot spots.

I notice that Vermont is not considered to have a Thanksgiving spike - though numbers greatly increased in November.


The state reported 73 Covid cases on Wednesday, a decline from the previous three-day average of 101 and in line with reports that the state is not experiencing a surge from Thanksgiving.

Dr. Mark Levine, head of the Department of Health, has blamed high rates of virus spread in the community for the spread into nursing homes, carried in by facility staff and transferred to patients.

.... we won’t know the true death toll from November’s high numbers until the end of the year.

Five new Covid deaths reported in Vermont, along with 73 new cases

 

[dixiegirl1035]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-covid-ad-campaign-1.5842354Bv

‘A chance to start a conversation:’ Man behind Mr. Covid ads happy with reaction

Boudoin says the ads turned to humour to get people’s attention. The worst thing for an ad is to be ignored.

“I get why people would say, ‘Hey, how can anybody make light of something that’s cost people their lives?’ But spending money on yet another message that sets (the) same tone as this whole avalanche that’s been coming from the world ... we just didn’t think would be responsible use of money because it just wasn’t breaking through.”

Mr. Covid, or Creepy Uncle Covid, and his grey, oversized head with protruding red spikes and a wide twisted smile, is the main character in the $2-million campaign called “Covid Loves.”

In one ad, Mr. Covid is an uncle who breathes on the faces of his relatives as he reaches for mashed potatoes at the dinner table. In the second ad, the social-distance violator is a frat boy doing the chicken dance at a crowded house party.

The Company Ravenous EFX sculpted the foam, rubber and plastic head of Mr. Covid. The owner said his company has been bombarded with phones calls from Albertans demanding Mr. Covid merchandise.

“I’ve been getting contacted by people that are wanting either collectible statues or mask replicas and things like that,” says Travis Shewchuk.“It’s been crazy the amount of weird requests we’ve had, even down to Christmas ornaments.”

The Royal Alberta Museum has also reached out to Shewchuk and asked for a replica of the head for an upcoming instalment about COVID-19.

Beaudoin says he couldn’t be happier about the response — the good and the bad.
Some people mocking the ads have turned Mr. Covid into fun memes, mostly against the United Conservative government. One shows Premier Jason Kenney dancing with Mr. Covid. Another shows Mr. Covid wearing a black robe and saying he loves church services.

It's not allowed in US that link? I'm getting an error.

It may be similar to the funny Saturday Night live skit which I posted at Smiles Cafe

ETA: This publication has the story also at your link and is visible in the US. ‘A chance to start a conversation:’ Man behind Mr. Covid ads happy with reaction

ETA #2: I found the ad referred by MSM source on YouTube also starting at 3:06 on this link

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and the source stated by the government official for the ads website is Covid Loves Everyone. Keep Covid Out.

 

[sds71]

Carl XVI Gustaf told Swedes in his annual Christmas address that the country had suffered “enormously in difficult conditions” and that it was “traumatic” that many relatives of the almost 8,000 people to die with Covid-19 had not been able to say goodbye to them. “I think we have failed. We have a large number who have died and that is terrible. It is something we all have to suffer with,” the king added, in comments released on Thursday and due to be broadcast in full on Monday.
Sweden’s king says country’s coronavirus strategy has failed | Financial Times (ft.com)

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Carl XVI Gustaf told Swedes in his annual Christmas address that the country had suffered “enormously in difficult conditions” and that it was “traumatic” that many relatives of the almost 8,000 people to die with Covid-19 had not been able to say goodbye to them. “I think we have failed. We have a large number who have died and that is terrible. It is something we all have to suffer with,” the king added, in comments released on Thursday and due to be broadcast in full on Monday.
Sweden’s king says country’s coronavirus strategy has failed | Financial Times (ft.com)

I'm so glad that Queen Elizabeth and Phillip are keeping safe, and looking forward to her annual Christmas message. She's been zooming all over the place (by computer, not in a car with the Prince driving ) for folks that follow her. Good for her.

I hope that President Macron gets the best of care and all that he can have for ensuring a mild case. Agree with all upthread that those in government leadership positions everywhere (if suitable of course, and as an aside; not sure if President Jimmy Carter will or if he just didn't join the other ex-presidents as they were going to do it and be filmed) need to be among the first to have vaccines for reasons we've discussed.

 

[SouthAussie]

Japan has entered a third wave of infections, accompanied by unprecedented pressure on hospitals and anger at the role that one of Suga’s key policies may have played in allowing the virus to spread.

One of the world’s greyest societies may have got off comparatively lightly, but Suga’s insistence on encouraging people to travel and spend their way through the Covid crisis now looks ill-considered.

Launched in July, the Go To Travel campaign was intended to boost the economy by encouraging people to go on trips, with up to half the costs borne by the government.

Pressure mounted on Suga to halt the scheme as Covid-19 cases soared during November.

....... a study (yet to be peer-reviewed) found a higher incidence of symptoms among people who had taken part in the scheme.

Honeymoon over for Japan's new PM amid Covid third wave

 

[SouthAussie]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged Europeans to wear masks during family gatherings at Christmas.

It said Europe was at "high risk" of a new wave of coronavirus infections in the early part of 2021, as transmission of the virus remained high.

It urged individuals, families and communities to play their part to prevent another resurgence of cases.

Family gatherings should be held outside if possible, and if indoors participants should wear masks and practice social distancing, it said.

"It may feel awkward to wear masks and practise physical distancing when around friends and family, but doing so contributes significantly to ensuring that everyone remains safe and healthy," the WHO added.

"Vulnerable people and older friends or relatives may find it very difficult to ask loved ones to stay away physically, regardless of the anxieties or concerns they may have. Consider what others may be feeling and the difficult decisions they will be facing."

The statement also urges people to avoid crowded public transport, and suggests that countries with ski resorts take steps to adapt them to avoid crowding during the skiing season.

Covid-19: Europeans urged to wear masks for family Christmas