Category Archives: Coronavirus

Gout drug could reduce Covid hospital stays, new research finds

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Colchicine also found to reduce need for extra oxygen and has potential to be used in outpatient settings

A cheap drug normally used to treat gout has been found to have the potential to significantly reduce hospital stays among Covid-19 patients and the need for extra oxygen.

The results of new research into colchicine conducted in Brazil come after an international trial published on Wednesday found that it reduced hospitalisations and deaths among Covid-19 patients by more than 20%.

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A quarter of people in France, Germany and the US may refuse Covid vaccine

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Survey finds hesitancy related to trust in government, and more acute in younger people

Nearly four in ten people in France, more than 25% of those in the US and 23% in Germany say they definitely or probably will not get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a survey that underlines the challenge facing governments.

Hesitancy was markedly lower in Italy (12%), the UK (14%) and the Netherlands (17%), according to the seven-country survey, which revealed a close correlation between people’s reluctance to be vaccinated and their trust in central government.

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African nations fear more Covid deaths before vaccination begins

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Campaigners call for vaccines to be prioritised to frontline health workers and people at highest risk

Communities across Africa are reeling as a second wave of Covid infections recedes, leaving thousands dead amid fears of further surges before mass vaccination campaigns can begin to make a difference.

Few countries in Africa will start immunising even frontline health workers until much later this year, prompting accusations that large orders by wealthy nations are costing the lives of medical staff in poorer parts of the world.

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Home workers putting in more hours since Covid, research shows

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Staff in countries including UK log on for two hours longer at home and face bigger workloads

Employees who work from home are spending longer at their desks and facing a bigger workload than before the Covid pandemic hit, two sets of research have suggested.

The average length of time an employee working from home in the UK, Austria, Canada and the US is logged on at their computer has increased by more than two hours a day since the coronavirus crisis, according to data from the business support company NordVPN Teams.

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Class cancelled: how Covid school closures blocked routes out of poverty

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Oxford University project reveals devastating impact on prospects for world’s poorest students, especially girls

In the coffee-farming communities of the Peruvian Amazon, the classroom is a route out of poverty. Gabriela was studying civil engineering in a city an hour and a half from home when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

The 18-year-old, who is one of thousands of young people tracked since 2002 as part of the Young Lives project led by the University of Oxford, has been forced to postpone her education, in a country where 16% of 19-year-olds have dropped out of education because of the crisis.

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Coronavirus live news: now 4,000 Covid variants, says UK minister; Brazil to buy 30m vaccines from Russia and India

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All manufacturers trying to improve vaccines to combat variants, says Nadhim Zahawi; Brazil aims to buy 30m Sputnik V, Covaxin shots

Royal Dutch Shell’s profit last year dropped to its lowest in at least two decades as the coronavirus pandemic hit energy demand worldwide though the company’s retail network and trading business helped cushion the blow, Reuters reports.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major’s annual profit slumped 71% to $4.8 billion as its oil and gas production and profits from refining crude into fuels dropped sharply.

Three intensive care patients and a ward doctor died in a fire in a south-eastern Ukrainian hospital treating coronavirus cases, a regional governor said on Thursday.

Reuters reports: “Oleksander Starukh said the fire broke out overnight on the first floor of the hospital in Zaporizhzhya where patients were on ventilators. He said eight other patients in the unit were evacuated.”

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UK minister announces launch of mix-and-match Covid jab trial – video

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The UK vaccine deployment minister, Nadhim Zahawi, says volunteers are being sought for a world-first trial giving a first dose of one vaccine type and a second dose of another.  Run by the University of Oxford, it will recruit 820 people over the age of 50 to receive a first dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

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‘People are dying at hospital doors’: the Brazilian volunteer delivering oxygen to Manaus – video

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When Thalita Rocha's mother-in-law died due to a lack of available oxygen on a Manaus hospital's Covid ward, she vowed to raise money to deliver oxygen tanks and other lifesaving equipment to the Amazonian city's homes. Jair Bolsonaro's coronavirus policies have led to more than 226,000 deaths in Brazil, and as anger rises on the streets and protesters call for his impeachment, Rocha and other volunteers drive around Manaus offering medical kit and hope


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Covid: Oxford trial to test efficacy of mix of vaccines for individuals

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Scientists aim to establish level of immunity in trial of 820 people, giving some a substitute vaccine at second appointment

Volunteers are being sought for a world-first trial to establish the efficacy of giving people a first dose of one vaccine and a second dose of a different vaccine.

The trial, which is being run by Oxford University and is funded by the government’s vaccine taskforce, has been described by ministers as “hugely important”.

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‘Back empty-handed’: Bangladeshis cut off from jobs abroad face rising poverty

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Whole communities supported by overseas work are at risk of extreme poverty after the pandemic forced thousands home

When the pandemic forced Firoza Begum back to Bangladesh after six months trapped in her employer’s house without pay, her husband was so angry she had returned empty-handed that he would not let her move back in to the family home.

All her savings after 14 years working in the Middle East had been spent escaping her abusive employer.

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Why a beachside Australian village turned down the World Surf League

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When the opportunity to host a world championship tour event came knocking, Lennox Head said no

Hosting a world championship tour event is an opportunity most cities, let alone towns, would jump at – even bid large amounts of money for.

But the village of Lennox Head in the northern rivers region of New South Wales is quite happy to skip the glitz and glamour in the time of Covid.

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Canada takes Covid vaccines from Covax scheme despite side deals

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Country has already set up direct deals but is entitled to receive jabs from programme for poorer countries

Canada is set to receive a significant haul of vaccines over the next months through a platform designed to maximise supply to poor countries, according to a new forecast, despite reserving the most doses-per-person in the world through direct deals with pharmaceutical companies.

Chile and New Zealand, which have also made controversial side deals to secure their own vaccine supplies, will also receive above-average numbers of doses, according to the interim allocation schedule released by Covax on Wednesday.

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UK Covid live: Boris Johnson to hold news briefing as Britain exceeds 10m vaccinations

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Latest updates: PM press conference comes after milestone is passed; 1,322 further deaths reported in the UK today

Boris Johnson is about to hold a press conference at No 10. He will be with Prof Chris Whitty, the government’s chief medical adviser.

Today’s coronavirus figures for Scotland are here. There have been 88 further deaths (down from 92 a week ago today) and 978 further cases (down from 1,330 a week ago today).

Of all the new tests carried out, only 5.1% were positive. This is the lowest positivity rate since late December, and very close to the 5% target often mentioned by Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, as the benchmark set by the WHO for countries that have got Covid under control.

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Republicans clash over futures of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Liz Cheney – live

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The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said she did not believe the vaccination of all teachers was required to safely reopen US schools.

Dr Rochelle Walensky told reporters at the White House coronavirus briefing, “Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools.”

Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, encouraged people to safely watch the Super Bowl game this Sunday.

“Please watch the Super Bowl safely, gathering only virtually or with the people you live with,” Walensky said during the White House coronavirus briefing.

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Toughing out Covid: why Australia chose not to fracture during a once-in-a-century crisis

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While the US and UK battled resurgent nativism, Australians met the health and economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic with resilience and optimism – and strong support for multiculturalism

Politics, and media coverage of politics, is powered by conflict and spectacle. But social scientist Andrew Markus wants to focus on something quieter: the resilience and optimism of Australians during a crisis; a country under duress that chose not to fracture.

Markus is principal researcher on the Scanlon Foundation’s annual Social Cohesion report – a project that has mapped a migrant nation since 2007. The report published on Thursday is a snapshot of a country managing a once-in-a-century crisis.

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‘It’s madness’: emergency doctor being forced to travel abroad slams Australia’s visa rules

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Hotel quarantine places should be kept for stranded people desperate to come home, medic says

An emergency doctor has slammed Australia’s visa policies as “madness” and “dangerous” after he and his partner were told they must fly abroad and return to obtain a family visa.

The federal government has been under fire over requirements baked into some visa categories that compel applicants to be outside the country at the time they are granted. The rules have forced applicants to travel out of Australia, stay offshore for several days, then return – a requirement described as “madness” during a global pandemic.

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UK passes 10m Covid vaccination milestone

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About 15% of population has been offered first jab, as experts call for focus on hotspots

Britain has given a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine to more than 10 million people, as public health experts call on ministers to target future vaccinations in hotspots where the disease is threatening to run out of control.

Official figures from across the UK’s four nations showed that 374,756 people received a jab on Tuesday, taking the headline total to 10.02 million, less than two months after the programme began.

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Israel opens coronavirus vaccines to all over-16s

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New age group eligible from Thursday while focus remains on older at-risk people

Israel’s health ministry has said it will offer coronavirus vaccines to anyone over the age of 16, as part of a rapid campaign in which the majority of older and vulnerable people have already received shots.

The ministry has told healthcare providers they can start booking appointments for the new age group starting on Thursday.

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Hancock: Oxford vaccine may reduce transmission of Covid by two-thirds – video

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The UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, has welcomed a new study that suggests one dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine may reduce transmission of coronavirus by two-thirds. Hancock said the results of the trial backed up Britain's strategy to delay the administering of the second dose of the vaccine by 12 weeks.

Hancock added: 'We may well need boosters that have a slightly adjusted vaccine as well in the same way that we do for flu each year.' 

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Decades of progress on extreme poverty now in reverse due to Covid

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Analysis: The pandemic, combined with the climate crisis and crippling debt burdens, has led to an ‘unprecedented increase’ in poverty, experts warn

Two decades of progress in the reduction of extreme poverty, the elimination of which is one of the sustainable development goals, have been pushed into a sharp reverse by a combination of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the growing climate emergency and increasing debt.

With the World Bank warning of a “truly unprecedented increase” in levels of poverty this year, and renewing calls for debt forgiveness, experts are warning of a growing crisis in multiple areas from education to employment, likely to be felt for years to come.

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