A rural community of 5,500 people, with an under-resourced health system, came together to take on Covid. International news editor Bonnie Malkin introduces this story about a community effort to confront Delta
You can read the original article here: Speed, decisiveness, cooperation: how a tiny Taiwan village overcame Delta
The Omicron variant of Covid has prompted governments around the world to reintroduce border restrictions, with Australia shutting the border to southern Africa and delaying the reopening date for international students and visa holders. The federal government has called for calm, describing the variant as ‘manageable’, but what do we actually know about it?
Laura Murphy-Oates speaks to medical editor Melissa Davey about what scientists have discovered so far about Omicron and our evolving approach to combating Covid variants
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Continue reading...The discovery of a new and potentially vaccine-resistant Covid variant has concerned governments and unnerved markets around the world. Omicron has prompted the return of border closures and mandatory testing and mask wearing as countries attempt to slow its spread.
The number of mutations on its spike protein - the part of the virus vaccines use to prime the immune system - has concerned scientists, but it will take weeks to determine the extent of the threat Omicron poses. The Guardian's science correspondent Linda Geddes explains
‘Best hope’ for containing the new variant is worldwide vaccine campaign where rates are low, public health experts say
As new cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant are uncovered across the globe and threaten to spread in America, US officials are reacting by urging vaccinations and boosters instead of imposing restrictions which have increasingly provoked political fights.
But the US should quickly invest in other tools as well, experts said, including testing, genomic sequencing and surveillance, better communication, and a strong focus on global vaccine equity to prevent the emergence of new variants.
Continue reading...While anecdotal accounts suggest the variant may cause less severe illness and it will take weeks for definitive data
As the world scrambles to contain the new variant, some are hopefully seizing on anecdotal reports from South Africa that it may cause only mild illness. But although previous variants of the coronavirus have been associated with different symptoms and severity, it would be dangerous to assume that Omicron is a viral pussy cat, experts say.
At a briefing convened by South Africa’s Department of Health on Monday, Unben Pillay, a GP from practising in Midrand on the outskirts of Johannesburg, said that while “it is still early days” the cases he was seeing were typically mild: “We are seeing patients present with dry cough, fever, night sweats and a lot of body pains. Vaccinated people tend to do much better.”
Continue reading...Labor targets Coalition over quarantine facilities during question time; Fifth case of Omicron Covid variant detected in Sydney; Jenkins report reveals one in three parliament staffers experience sexual harassment; Victoria records 917 cases and six deaths; NSW records 179 cases and three deaths – follow all the day’s news live
For those asking, there are five cases of the new Omicron confirmed in Australia – all are in quarantine.
There are four in Sydney (after two more were confirmed late yesterday) and one in the Northern Territory.
The corporate regulator has taken the unprecedented step of launching multiple legal actions at once against one of Australia’s big four banks.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has hit Westpac with six civil penalty proceedings in the federal court, which could draw a combined penalty of more than $100m.
Continue reading...Nitzan Horowitz says ‘already room for optimism’ that vaccines will cover new variant; US Food & Drug Administration checking if tweaks needed
Stock markets in Asia have bounced back again as investors’ concerns about the new Omicron Covid variant eased. In Australia the ASX200 was up more than 1%, while in Japan the Nikkei was up 0.75%.
It followed a stronger showing on Monday on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.6% and the broader S&P500 was up 1.2% after some hefty losses on Friday, when news of the new strain shook confidence.
There are so many unknowns about Omicron and the market has been jumping at shadows.
After such a strong run and with elevated valuations, the market will always be susceptible to the odd shakeout on news that could bring risk.
Hong Kong’s very stringent system of boarding, quarantine and also testing requirements has successfully stopped the transmission of the three Omicron cases, that we have identified in our designated quarantine hotel, from going into the community.
Non-Hong Kong residents from these four places will not be allowed to enter Hong Kong.
The most stringent quarantine requirements will also be implemented on relevant inbound travellers from these places.
Continue reading...Ministers to ramp up vaccinations to 3.5m a week as minimum gap for boosters is halved to three months
Ministers are targeting a return to half a million UK Covid jabs a day as the waiting time for boosters was cut to three months in a bid to outpace the Omicron variant that scientists believe is already spreading in the community.
Confirmed Omicron cases rose to 11 in England and Scotland on Monday, with scientific advisers braced for hundreds more to be detected in the next week or so.
Continue reading...Crucial work will study how well current jabs work and whether they need to be updated to tackle new variant
Scientists in South Africa have begun crucial work to assess how well Covid vaccines hold up against the Omicron variant that has been detected in more than a dozen countries since it was formally reported last week.
The variant carries dozens of mutations that are expected to change how the virus behaves, including its ability to cause infection and how well it can hide from immune defences primed by vaccines or previous infection with an older variant.
Continue reading...Sajid Javid has announced changes to the UK's coronavirus vaccine booster programme, including advising that all adults in the country should be offered third doses from just three months after their second vaccinations. Speaking in the Commons, the health secretary outlined this and other changes aimed at speeding up booster vaccinations as the government scrambles to limit the spread of the new Omicron variant
Continue reading...The UK health minister, Edward Argar, has said he expects cases of the new Omicron Covid variant to rise after a number of infections were confirmed in Britain. New restrictions are being imposed this week in an attempt to limit the spread of the variant, first identified in South Africa, which scientists fear could be highly transmissible and evade some vaccine protections.
Argar reiterated comments that ministers were hopeful that 'swift, precautionary steps' would mean no extra measures would be needed to combat the new variant.
World Health Organization briefing says mutations ‘concerning for potential impact on pandemic trajectory’; Belenenses started last match with nine players following Covid outbreak
G7 health ministers are to hold an emergency meeting on Monday on the new Omicron Covid-19 strain, as experts race to understand what the variant means for the fight to end the pandemic, AFP reports.
The meeting was called by G7 chair Britain, which is among a steadily growing number of countries detecting cases of the heavily mutated new strain.
Continue reading...Woman and man left hotel where they were in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19
Dutch military police say they have arrested a married couple who left a hotel where they were in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 and were attempting to flee the country.
The couple were arrested “in an airplane that was about to depart”, the police force, known as the Marechaussee, said in a statement. It was unclear whether they had tested positive for the new Omicron coronavirus variant.
Continue reading...Bodies in 28 countries file appeal for waiver of intellectual property agreement and end to ‘grossly unjust’ distribution of jabs
Nursing unions in 28 countries have filed a formal appeal with the United Nations over the refusal of the UK, EU and others to temporarily waive patents for Covid vaccines, saying this has cost huge numbers of lives in developing nations.
The letter, sent on Monday on behalf of unions representing more than 2.5 million healthcare workers, said staff have witnessed at first hand the “staggering numbers of deaths and the immense suffering caused by political inaction”.
Continue reading...South African president and WHO’s Africa chief urge against travel bans, saying they ‘attack global solidarity’
G7 health ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Monday about the new Omicron Covid-19 variant spreading across the world and forcing border closures, as experts race to determine the level of threat posed by the new strain.
The meeting was called by G7 chair Britain, which is among a steadily growing number of countries that have detected cases of the heavily mutated new variant.
Continue reading...National cabinet meeting brought forward to discuss Omicron response; Patricia Karvelas announced as Fran Kelly’s replacement for RN Breakfast; radical plan to rehome racehorses; last sitting week of 2021. Follow all the news live
Over on Sydney radio 2GB NSW police minister David Elliott said he met with with premier Dominic Perrottet and health minister Brad Hazzard on Sunday about what NSW would do:
I’m not panicking at the moment because it appears that this is going to be the new normal.
We need to prepare and ... make sure that we’re flexible and agile when it comes to variations and we need to be defensive and that defensive mechanism of course, is the vaccination.
So, we’re taking a risk-balanced approach at the moment and concentrating on those nine southern African countries.
We have increased our surveillance at the border, and after the border, we’re working very closely with our colleagues in New South Wales and Victoria, particularly, because they’re the ones that have had quarantine-free travel, as well as in the ACT, as to what is the best approach.
Continue reading...South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has expressed disappointment at countries that have imposed travel bans on southern African countries after the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant.
Omicron, named a 'variant of concern' by the World Health Organization on Friday, saw its first cases in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong and is potentially more contagious than previous variants, although experts do not know yet if it will cause more severe illness
Continue reading...We find out how much protection Covid vaccines may offer amid speculation new variant could be more resistant
The emergence of Omicron has prompted widespread speculation that it may be more resistant to Covid-19 vaccines than existing variants, including Delta. But what does that mean for the average double-vaccinated person?
All the vaccines currently available in the UK work by training the immune system against the coronavirus spike protein – the key it uses to infect cells by binding to the ACE2 receptor. Omicron possesses more than 30 mutations in this protein, including 10 in the so-called “receptor-binding domain” (RBD) – the specific part that latches on to this receptor. Delta has two RBD mutations.
Continue reading...Red-listing of 50 African countries and use of phone monitoring technology among measures approved by Israel
Israel is barring entry to all foreign nationals and Morocco is suspending all incoming flights for two weeks, in the two most drastic of travel restrictions imposed by countries around the world in an attempt to slow the spread of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Israel’s coronavirus cabinet has authorised a series of measures including banning entry by foreigners, red-listing travel to 50 African countries, and making quarantine mandatory for all Israelis arriving from abroad. The entry ban is expected to come into effect at midnight local time (10pm GMT) on Sunday.
Continue reading...Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, said on Sunday the US has “the potential to go into a fifth wave” of coronavirus infections amid rising cases and stagnating vaccination rates. He also warned that the newly discovered Omicron variant shows signs of heightened transmissibility.
As Fauci toured the US political talkshows, countries around the world including the US scrambled to guard against Omicron, which has stoked fears of vaccine resistance.
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