Covid response minister says it would be a waste to stop aiming for elimination after plan was questioned by foreign media
New Zealand’s Covid response minister says the country will not “throw in the towel” with its elimination strategy, as cases continue to rise.
New Zealand announced 63 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 210 cases. It is the largest single-day jump since the outbreak began last week, and 12 people are hospitalised with the virus.
Continue reading...Viral load gradually decreased over time and matched levels of other variants after 10 days; Israel sees cases dip in wake of third shots
Greece has announced it will end free testing for unvaccinated people in an attempt to to boost inoculation rates.
Reuters reports that new measures to coax people into getting vaccinated will come into effect on 13 September, also obliging unvaccinated people to test either once or twice a week, depending on their profession.
In related news, the Australian federal government is paying a public relations firm $2.9m to help with its vaccine rollout for five months, including by copying vaccine data from its website and putting it in an email for journalists.
The health department has previously refused to say how much it was paying Cox Inall Change, a public relations company, for the simple task of attaching a pdf copy of its vaccine data to an email to media outlets every day.
Related: Morrison government is paying PR firm $2.9m to promote Covid vaccine rollout
Continue reading...Panic buying as Vietnamese city prepares for lockdown; UK also reports 49 further deaths
More children are being hospitalised with Covid in the US south and midwest than ever before, as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads among unvaccinated people.
One hospital in New Orleans has reported as many as 20 children hospitalised for Covid at a time in the past three weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports. In 2020, that number never topped seven, the hospital’s physician-in-chief told the paper.
Doctors and staff working in GP surgeries across England are reporting a torrent of physical and verbal abuse from patients, the Independent reports.
Some GPs have told the newspaper they fear coming to work and say staff have quit over the threats they are receiving on a near-daily basis.
Continue reading...Full federal approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine will empower businesses and universities to require vaccinations and tip hesitant Americans toward getting the jab, the surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, said on Sunday.
Related: Breakthrough infections and booster shots: what you need to know
Continue reading...JCVI considers lower third jab dosage to release stocks for poorer nations
Scientists in Britain are examining whether smaller doses of Covid vaccine could be used as part of booster programmes, amid hopes that the approach could also increase the supply of jabs across the world.
The use of so-called “fractional doses” has been proposed as a way of ensuring that precious supplies can immunise as many people as possible in parts of the world where there are shortages, while still providing high levels of protection from the virus.
Continue reading...Whatever this week’s Biden review finds, the cause of the pandemic lies in the destruction of animal habitats
If Joe Biden’s security staff are up to the mark, a new report on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic will be placed on the president’s desk this week. His team was given 90 days in May to review the virus’s origins after several US scientists indicated they were no longer certain about the source of Sars-CoV-2.
It will be intriguing to learn how Biden’s team answers the critically important questions that still surround the origins of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Did it emerge because of natural viral spillovers from bats to another animal and then into humans? Or did it leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology? And, if so, had it been enhanced to make it especially virulent?
Continue reading...Bad pay and conditions at home and demand for Filipino nursing skills overseas have left the country with a soaring death rate
The Covid Delta variant has swept across south-east Asia over recent months, prompting lockdowns and overwhelming hospitals – from Malaysia to Thailand and Indonesia. Now the impact is being felt in the Philippines, just as the country’s chronic lack of health workers reaches a crisis point.
“The disease has become very aggressive,” said Michael Bilan, who works on a Covid ward in Manila. This time, patients tend to require a higher amount of oxygen, for longer, he said. The number of Covid patients is also at a record high: last week, 277 were receiving treatment. New wards have been opened to meet demand.
Continue reading...A workplace in Bucharest filled with anti-virus innovations could become the new normal in office design, its creators hope
Not so long ago it may have seemed more like a futuristic vision of the workplace – or a hospital.
But the hands-free door handles, self-cleaning surfaces, antimicrobial paint, air-monitoring display tools, UV light disinfection robots, and 135 other measures at an office block in Bucharest are here to stay, say the creators behind what they are touting as one of the world’s most virus-resilient workplaces, which they hope will become the new normal in office design.
Continue reading...Vaccine efficacy against infection is waning slightly with time – but efficacy against severe symptoms remains strong
Federal health authorities have recommended booster shots for all adults who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with either the the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, citing evidence that suggests breakthrough infections could become more common over time.
The plan has faced scrutiny. Some US scientists have said data was insufficient to support the decision, and vaccines remain highly effective against severe disease requiring hospitalization and death. The World Health Organization harshly criticized US leaders for using vaccines to provide a third shot to people, even as most around the world haven’t had one.
Continue reading...Gladys Berejiklian reports record high case numbers and Victoria extends lockdown statewide. This blog is now closed
We’re going to close off this blog for today, thanks very much for your company.
Here’s a helpful summary from Graham Readfearn – who did most of the hard slog today – and myself:
“Freedom” appears not to be free.
That's more than $1.2 million in fines pic.twitter.com/lfQJmbIPrb
Continue reading...Thousands march through streets of Melbourne and Brisbane, as police try to prevent Sydney rally
Anti-lockdown protesters clashed violently with police as thousands of unmasked people marched through the streets of Melbourne on Saturday.
Victoria police said they had made 218 arrests and that six officers were hospitalised during a series of altercations. Police said in a statement the majority of the estimated 4,000 demonstrators “came with violence in mind”.
Continue reading...Sajid Javid says green light for Ronapreve – which was used to treat Donald Trump – is ‘fantastic news’
The antibody cocktail used to treat Donald Trump for Covid has been approved by the UK’s medicines regulator, becoming the first treatment in Britain using artificial antibodies to tackle the virus.
The drug, developed by the US biotech company Regeneron, has received the backing of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Clinical trials showed it helped to prevent Covid infection as well as to reduce the risk of hospitalisation or symptoms in severe cases, when given soon after exposure.
Continue reading...President defends shots as millions worldwide are unvaccinated: US has ‘provided more to the rest of the world than all the rest of the world combined’
Joe Biden has said that he and first lady Jill Biden plan on getting a booster shot and is comfortable doing so while millions around the world remain unvaccinated because America has “provided more to the rest of the world than all the rest of the world combined”.
He added that the US will also provide an additional half a billion shots around the world within the first half of next year. Critics argue this remains a drop in the ocean in the context of what is needed.
Continue reading...Australian psychologist Steven Taylor published what would turn out to be a prophetic book, and it has become like a Lonely Planet guide to the pandemic
In October 2019, a month or so before Covid-19 began to spread from the industrial Chinese city of Wuhan, Steven Taylor, an Australian psychologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, published what would turn out to be a remarkably prophetic book, The Psychology of Pandemics.
Even his publishers had doubts about its relevance and market potential. But in the 22 months since the book has become like a Lonely Planet guide to the pandemic, passed around and marked up like waypoints along a new and dreadful global health journey.
Continue reading...Researchers say implications for transmission remain unclear but reaching herd immunity even more challenging
Fully vaccinated adults can harbour virus levels as high as unvaccinated people if infected with the Delta variant, according to a sweeping analysis of UK data, which supports the idea that hitting the threshold for herd immunity is unlikely.
There is abundant evidence that Covid vaccines in the UK continue to offer significant protection against hospitalisations and death. But this new analysis shows that although being fully vaccinated means the risk of getting infected is lower, once infected by Delta a person can carry similar virus levels as unvaccinated people.
Continue reading...Move likened to handing out life jackets to those who already have them while letting others drown
The World Health Organization has condemned the rush by wealthy countries to provide Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, while millions of people around the world have yet to receive a single dose.
Speaking before US authorities announced all vaccinated Americans would soon be eligible to receive booster doses, WHO experts insisted there was not enough scientific evidence to support the additional shot.
Continue reading...The vast majority of those hospitalized are unvaccinated, but health experts say everyone should exercise caution
The Covid-19 vaccine was supposed to bring life back to normal. Then came the Delta variant.
Real-world data collection continues, but it’s clear that the vaccines do offer significant protection against becoming infected by Delta. They offer even greater protection against severe illness: Among states that are reporting breakthrough cases of Covid-19, fully vaccinated people made up no more than 5% of overall hospitalizations.
Continue reading...Victoria records 24 local cases as state wakes to tougher restrictions; NSW warned cases could hit 1,000 a day; ACT and parts of NT under lockdown. Follow all the day’s news
We are now just waiting for NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian to step up for the daily Covid-19 press conference where we learn the state’s daily numbers.
We are expecting that in about 10 minutes, so stay tuned.
Sydney radio station 2GB is reporting a staff member from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Syndey has tested positive to Covid-19 and may have been infectious while working.
A staff member at RPA Hospital in Sydney has tested positive to COVID-19. The worker was fully vaccinated but potentially infectious while working on August 10, 11, 12 + 13 in the nuclear medicine department. There has been no transmission to other staff or patients to date.
Continue reading...Country stars such as Jason Isbell have received backlash for insisting on safety at their concerts, exposing an age-old political divide
The Covid-19 culture war has a new front: country music. Be it the Nashville establishment or up-and-comers in adjacent roots, folk and Americana genres, numerous artists are taking a stand about concert pandemic precautions, often along partisan lines. Jason Isbell has become one of the most prominent musicians to step into the fray. The Grammy-winning independent alt-country artist – who has released acclaimed albums like Southeastern and last year’s Reunions – rowed with some venues and vitriolic Twitter users, while also eliciting praise, after announcing on 9 August that proof of a Covid-19 vaccination or a negative test was mandatory for his show-goers.
“We have the ability to limit the number of people who get sick. So I can handle pushback from anyone refusing that, because I believe I am correct,” Isbell said.
Continue reading...With 93,000 children in Peru losing a parent to Covid, many face depression, anxiety and poverty
When Covid-19 began shutting down Nilda López’s vital organs, doctors decided that the best chance of saving her and her unborn baby was to put her into a coma.
Six months pregnant, López feared she would not wake up, or that if she did, her baby would not be there.
Continue reading...