Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #93

[Lilibet]

Australia has some sense of obligation to Timor Leste (a near neighbour) and has provided military assistance there when a really brutal oppression was going on. We are their largest development and security partner.

OT—Yes, I was thinking Australia would come to the rescue if necessary. Your country his really stepped up for Timor Leste during violent upheavals and other times.

It’s really horrible what the Timorese have endured over the years. My friend’s Timorese husband was born around 1975 (he doesn’t have a record) when his mother hid in a forest during the Indonesian occupation and still deals with the trauma of his childhood and young adulthood when it got bad again in 1999. But he has a beautiful smile!

 

[Lilibet]

An Aussie infectious disease doctor, Dr Joshua Francis from Qld, helped set up their first covid testing clinic for them - in Timor Leste. He will be on an ABC show tomorrow night talking about their situation.


Infectious disease doctor, Joshua Francis is worried about what COVID-19 will do in a country like Timor Leste, where health facilities are already stretched. He and his colleagues set-up the country's first testing facility.
Australians About: COVID-19 | Program | ABC Australia

Thank you Australia!

 

[FrostOwl]

There are at least three different kinds of tests for covid-19. One is the PCR test, the nasal swab testing. Then there are a rapid antigen test, which is a blood test, needing only a drop of blood, and the result is ready in 15 minutes. Both of these are to see if a person is infected with covid-19 at the time of the test. There are also a antibody test, a blood test that shows if a person have had covid-19, or are vaccinated and have got antibodies against the virus.

At the hospital where I work, patients with any symptoms that could indicate a covid infection are tested with the rapid antigen test, in most cases they have been negative. As there now are a fear of a third wave, all patients that are being admitted are to have the antigen test before going to a ward, to catch any asymptomatic carriers.

 

[MimosaMornings]

I thought the rapid test was a nasal swab?

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Today's Focus is on European Third Wave

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Changes in cases over past 2 weeks - Mostly powered by British variant

Italy up 50% (54% new variant)
France up 1% (65.3% new variant)
Germany up 9% (46.1% new variant)
Netherlands up 3%
Sweden, up 6%
Estonia, up 58%
Poland, up 63%
Austria, up 63%
Hungary, up 108%
Serbia, up 29%
Greece, up 48%
Spain, down 33%
Portugal, down 49%

 

[weepingangel]

In Massachusetts, more than half of prison guards decline COVID vaccine, a trend mirrored across the US
More at link


In Massachusetts, more than half the people employed by the Department of Correction declined to be immunized. A statewide survey in California showed that half of all correction employees will wait to be vaccinated. In Rhode Island, prison staff have refused the vaccine at higher rates than the incarcerated, according to medical director Dr. Justin Berk. And in Iowa, early polling among employees showed a little more than half the staff said they’d get vaccinated.

 

[tabitha111]

How much protection you get from one shot of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna vaccines, according to the best available data
How much protection you get from one shot of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna vaccines, according to the best available data


[snip]

Evans said there was “pretty clear evidence” that you get at least 80% protection — and “probably” better than 90% — for Pfizer’s vaccine against COVID-19 with symptoms after a single dose. He said you couldn’t be absolutely sure what happens after 21 days because it hadn’t been fully tested.
[snip]

Evans said that you get at least 80% protection — and probably better than 90% — for Moderna’s vaccine against COVID-19 with symptoms after a single dose for 28 days. After 28 days it was unclear because it hadn’t been tested. Again, this was based on his overall reading of the FDA data, he said.

Comment: The news on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines seems to be pretty good, at least so far.

 

[dmac55]

I thought the rapid test was a nasal swab?

(bolded by me)
"PCR tests detect viral RNA. Antigen tests, also called rapid diagnostic tests, detect specific proteins on the surface of the coronavirus. Antigen test results may come back in as little as 15 to 45 minutes; you may wait several days or longer for PCR test results."

If you've been exposed to the coronavirus - Harvard Health
If you've been exposed to the coronavirus - Harvard Health.

 

[FrostOwl]

I thought the rapid test was a nasal swab?

No, the nasal swab is the PCR test, the antigen test looks like this.
rapid antigen test price: Rapid antigen tests are cheaper & give quick results but RT-PCR tests are more reliable, say scientists - The Economic Times

 

[dixiegirl1035]

How much protection you get from one shot of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna vaccines, according to the best available data
How much protection you get from one shot of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna vaccines, according to the best available data


[snip]

Evans said there was “pretty clear evidence” that you get at least 80% protection — and “probably” better than 90% — for Pfizer’s vaccine against COVID-19 with symptoms after a single dose. He said you couldn’t be absolutely sure what happens after 21 days because it hadn’t been fully tested.
[snip]

Evans said that you get at least 80% protection — and probably better than 90% — for Moderna’s vaccine against COVID-19 with symptoms after a single dose for 28 days. After 28 days it was unclear because it hadn’t been tested. Again, this was based on his overall reading of the FDA data, he said.

Comment: The news on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines seems to be pretty good, at least so far.

Had my first shot of Pfizer this am... see post in that thread at Coronavirus Vaccine: Would you/did you get it? so not O/T here.

 

[nightowl1975]

I thought the rapid test was a nasal swab?

There are absolutely rapid antigen tests that use nasal swabs though because I take one twice a week at work.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

No, the nasal swab is the PCR test, the antigen test looks like this.
rapid antigen test price: Rapid antigen tests are cheaper & give quick results but RT-PCR tests are more reliable, say scientists - The Economic Times

Thanks, as said by poster... in the US, all antigen tests are nasal... antibody tests are blood.

I've never heard of any different in following the past year. May be a typo by the OP?

That makes sense and is what CDC US says. Perhaps some other places have different that the US and EAU and first world countries don't use ?


(But the OP said in US... I'm thinking typo getting legs here at WS)??
CDC site re testing - Labs

Tips for Using Rapid Antigen Tests
Below are links to documents for select SARS-CoV-2 specific antigen tests procured in large numbers by the U.S. government. Based on CDC experience with these tests, following these tips will help to ensure the tests are performed correctly.

• BD Veritor™ System for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2pdf icon
• BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag Card Testpdf icon
• Quidel Sofia® 2pdf icon

 

[dmac55]

There are absolutely rapid antigen tests that use nasal swabs though because I take one twice a week at work.

Yes

"Antigen test. This COVID-19 test detects certain proteins in the virus. Using a long nasal swab to get a fluid sample..."

COVID-19 diagnostic testing - Mayo Clinic
COVID-19 diagnostic testing - Mayo Clinic

 

[tabitha111]

The last living man of the Juma people in Brazil has died from Covid-19. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

March 14, 2021

Aruká Juma saw his Amazon tribe dwindle to just a handful of individuals during his lifetime.

Numbering an estimated 15,000 in the 18th century, his people were ravaged by disease and successive massacres by rubber tappers, loggers and miners. An estimated 100 remained in 1943; a massacre in 1964 left only six, including him.

In 1999, with the death of his brother-in-law, Mr. Juma, who like many Indigenous Brazilians used his tribe’s name as his surname, became the last remaining Juma male. The tribe’s extinction was assured.

Mr. Juma died on Feb. 17 in a hospital in Pôrto Velho, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia. He was believed to have been between 86 and 90 years old. The cause was Covid-19, his grandson Puré Juma Uru Eu Wau Wau said.

As the last fluent speaker of the tribe’s language, Mr. Juma’s death means that many of the tribe’s traditions and rituals will be forever lost.

 

[FrostOwl]

.

 

[dmac55]

"The state-run COVID-19 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale has now administered half a million doses, Gov. Doug Ducey’s office announced on Monday."

"The shot was administered to 77-year-old Judith Beaulieu..."
(In light blue jacket in the attached pic)

State Farm Stadium COVID-19 vaccine site eclipses half a million doses given | KTAR.com
State Farm Stadium COVID-19 vaccine site eclipses half a million doses given

And how did they celebrate that?
By unnecessarily gathering around the 77 year old woman and ignoring social distancing protocols, so they could get a good picture
Bird and cheerleaders included...

 

[SouthAussie]

The United States reported a 22% decline in deaths from COVID-19 last week, while vaccinations accelerated to a record 2.4 million shots per day, according to a Reuters analysis of state, county and CDC data.

As of Sunday, 21% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a vaccine, up from 18% a week ago.
About 11% has received two doses, up from 9%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The average number of COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals fell 13% to 38,000, the lowest since late October, according to a Reuters tally.

U.S. COVID-19 deaths fall 22% last week, daily vaccinations set record

 

[SouthAussie]

A total of 2,105 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 5 March mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - the lowest number since the week ending November 6. As PA Media reports, the figure is down 28% on the previous week’s total.

UK Covid live: future pandemic 'realistic possibility', says Johnson's defence review

 

[SouthAussie]

Covid-19 vaccine doses per hundred people for selected countries



Australia Covid vaccine tracker: how is the rollout progressing and when will you get the jab?

 

[dmac55]

"On Tuesday, Mississippi is following Alaska's lead and becoming the second state to open vaccination appointments to all residents 16 years and older."

Mississippi is the second state to open up vaccines for all residents 16 and up. Here's what other states are doing - CNN
Mississippi is the second state to open up vaccines for all residents 16 and up. Here's what other states are doing - CNN