Latest developments as Philippines reports record 26,458 cases and scientist says Omicron variant could become endemic in UK
The north-east and north-west of England are seeing “concerning” rates of the Omicron variant, an expert has said.
Figures showed that three of the five UK areas with the biggest week-on-week rises in Covid case rates are Middlesbrough (748.8 to 2,651.4), Copeland (1,731.3 to 3,525.8) and Redcar & Cleveland (846.8 to 2,564.3).
Continue reading...There’s been a lot of back-and-forth about the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine – which, reminder, while everybody here is highly educated in law, nobody is an epidemiologist – and Justice Elena Kagan went hard at Ohio solicitor general Ben Flowers.
“You said we understand that 18- to 29-year-olds, even though they’re not going to die or end up with very serious injuries, they can spread. You don’t doubt that, that they can spread to other people who are more vulnerable?” Kagan asked Flowers.
Continue reading...Bill to restrict restaurant, theatre and other access to vaccinated follows Macron’s pledge to ‘piss off’ those without jabs
French MPs have passed the government’s controversial vaccine pass bill after three days of an angry stop-start debate.
The legislation, which requires people to be fully vaccinated to enjoy social, sporting and cultural activities, was approved by a large majority in the assemblée nationale in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Continue reading...With 80% of pandemic funds misused and widespread vaccine myths, citizens have had to step up where government has failed
In January 2021, the Malawian rights activist Paul Msoma wrote that he was in Kamuzu central hospital, struggling to breathe. The hospital had oxygen cylinders but no flowmeters – the necessary instrument to connect him to them. I was left wondering where the funds that had been released for the country’s Covid-19 response were going. “My situation is getting bad and l desperately need oxygen,” Msoma wrote on Facebook. “Anyone who can urgently help out there please help by donating this very gadget.”
Kamuzu central hospital is one of the biggest referral hospitals in Malawi and it did not seem right for such a big hospital not to have oxygen flowmeters, which are very basic medical equipment costing around £18 a piece. This was at a time when the government had released more than £5.6m for the Covid-19 response effort.
Madalitso Wills Kateta is a freelance journalist based in Lilongwe, Malawi
Continue reading...State becomes focal point of politicized debate over whether Omicron is dangerous enough to overwhelm hospital systems
While Florida has experienced a record number of Covid-19 cases and sharp increase in hospitalizations in recent weeks, there is disagreement between Republicans and Democrats over whether the Omicron surge has actually overwhelmed the state’s healthcare system.
For example, Florida Republican senator Marco Rubio posted on Twitter that there “is no Omicron hospital ‘surge’ in Florida. People admitted for non-Covid reasons get tested. If they test positive they get counted as a ‘Covid patient.’”
Continue reading...Karen Andrews, home affairs minister, did give a hint of how things might play out.
AAP reports that, before Novak Djokovic’s arrival, she said that while the Victorian government and Tennis Australia may allow a non-vaccinated player to compete in the Australian Open, it was the federal government that dealt with border entry requirements.
Continue reading...Unjabbed supporters of President Bolsonaro are banned from some pubs – but elsewhere fans can buy pizza named after him
Jana Santos has an unambiguous message for Jair Bolsonaro-supporting anti-vaxxers who want to sup a Moscow Mule or Caipirinha at her bar in south Brazil.
“Don’t come. We don’t want you here,” said the mixologist and bar owner who recently placed a placard at its entrance instructing unvaccinated Bolsonaristas to steer clear.
Continue reading...Workplace rules also tightened to require health passes for those 50 or over with minimum €600 fines for non-compliance
Italy has made it obligatory for people aged 50 or more to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as the country scrambles to ease pressure on hospitals and reduce deaths amid a dramatic surge in infections.
The measure is among the toughest vaccine mandates in Europe and takes effect immediately. The move was unanimously supported by ministers despite divisions between the parties that make up prime minister Mario Draghi’s broad coalition before the cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Continue reading...The island nation struggles to keep the lights on but has inoculated 90% of population with home-developed vaccines
General Máximo Gómez, a key figure in Cuba’s 19th-century wars of independence against Spain once said: “Cubans either don’t meet the mark – or go way past it.”
A century and a half later, the aphorism rings true. This downtrodden island struggles to keep the lights on, but has now vaccinated more of its citizens against Covid-19 than any of the world’s major nations.
Continue reading...NSW health system ‘under pressure’ as Covid hospitalisations rise to 1,491 and state reports 35,054 cases and eight deaths; Victoria records 17,636 cases and 11 deaths, Queensland 6,781 cases, South Australia 3,493, Tasmania 867, and the ACT 810; Victoria says Novak Djokovic exemption not ‘special treatment’. Follow all the day’s news
ACTU president Michele O’Neil wrote to Scott Morrison late yesterday to ask him to reconsider the federal position on rapid antigen tests and make them free.
Overnight the UK PM Boris Johnson announced that his Conservative government will provide 100,000 critical workers with free rapid tests to help keep essential services and supply chains running, allowing workers to take a test every working day.
Unfortunately, to date you have left this problem in the hands of the market. Now, with Omicron upon us, PCR testing sites are at risk of being overwhelmed, Australians are scrambling to find Rapid Antigen Tests and struggling to afford them.
This puts at grave risk public health and our country’s economic recovery.
Continue reading...Former AMA president says Djokovic shouldn’t be allowed into Australia, while fellow players express surprise at the decision
The decision to grant Novak Djokovic an exemption from Covid-19 vaccination requirements to play in the Australian Open in Melbourne has been labelled “appalling”, with some players expressing surprise at the late decision.
On Tuesday night, the defending Australian Open champion posted on Instagram that he was coming to Melbourne to participate in the tennis tournament with an “exemption permission”.
Continue reading...French president stokes divisions as parliament debates tighter requirements for mandatory health pass
Emmanuel Macron has prompted a furore after saying that his government’s vaccination strategy is to “piss off” people who have not had coronavirus jabs by continuing to make daily life more and more difficult for them.
“I am not about pissing off the French people,” the president said in an interview with readers of Le Parisien daily on Tuesday. “But as for the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And we will continue to do this, to the end. This is the strategy.”
Continue reading...A key figure in South Australia’s response to Covid has tested positive to the virus this morning.
Police commissioner Grant Stevens is the state’s emergency coordinator during the pandemic. After waking up yesterday with a sore throat he is now isolating at home.
Continue reading...Georgia Republican’s Covid misinformation violation prompts move, after being issued a ‘fourth strike’ in August
The personal Twitter account of the Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been permanently suspended, for violating policies on Covid misinformation.
The action against Greene on Sunday came under the “strike” system Twitter launched last March, which uses artificial intelligence to identify posts about the coronavirus misleading enough to cause harm.
Continue reading...England records 162,572 cases and 154 deaths; fully vaccinated would also require booster shot
Russia has reported 847 deaths from Covid in the past 24 hours. It also reported 19,751 new coronavirus cases in the same time period, up from 20,638 on the previous day.
The NHS Confederation’s chief executive, Matthew Taylor, agreed with the health secretary the record-breaking Omicron wave of infection will “test the limits of finite NHS capacity even more than a typical winter”, with reports suggesting that a requirement to work from home in England could be in place for most of January.
Continue reading...Three former refuseniks reveal their misgivings about having the vaccination and what finally convinced them to take the plunge
The UK’s vaccine rollout has largely been a success: more than 90% of the population aged 12 and over has now had at least one dose, with just over half having had a second dose and the booster.
However, there are thousands of people who still haven’t had a jab, despite estimates suggesting that 90% of the most severely ill Covid patients in hospital at the moment are unvaccinated.
Continue reading...The WHO’s vaccination goal is achievable – but it will take proper funding, better vaccine distribution and jabs with longer shelf lives
While western countries scramble with their booster rollout to deal with the Omicron wave, only 8.4% of people in low-income countries have had at least one Covid vaccination dose.
The gap in the vaccination rates between high- and low-income countries is wider than ever. We cannot keep turning a blind eye to it.
Continue reading...Thousands now free to leave isolation after changes to close contact definition comes into force; New Year’s Eve plans appear to be going ahead in major cities despite surging coronavirus numbers. Follow all today’s news
So, it appears South Australia will resist the changes to the definition of close contact the National Cabinet agreed to yesterday.
In a Facebook post earlier this morning, premier Steven Marshall lays out his government’s definition of close contacts, resisting the changes introduced by the PM yesterday.
It doesn’t matter to us whether they’re free, subsidised or other some other thing.
What we as an industry have been more concerned about is having a clear role for rapid testing in managing infections, in keeping the economy going and in keeping people safe.
So our representation to them [the federal government] has always been that there needs to be a hybrid system, because it may only be $10 or $15 a test and yes, that may be a lot cheaper than a PCR test.
But $10 or $15 per person per household twice in a seven-day period is still not affordable for some low-income earners.
Continue reading...Case figures include delayed data from Northern Ireland; Spain cuts quarantine despite record rise in cases
India has recorded another 9,195 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, according to recently released data from its health ministry.
A further 302 deaths were also recorded, bring the total death toll to 480,592.
Continue reading...Three in five pregnant Americans have no vaccine protection as experts say it is ‘one of the most important things you can do’
For many people, the thin red line on a pregnancy test ushers in countless changes. You change what you eat and drink, how you exercise and socialize and sleep, and keep careful track of what medications you should and shouldn’t take.
But for many Americans, there’s one choice they largely haven’t made: getting vaccinated.
Continue reading...