Category Archives: Infectious Diseases

NSW to lift ban on weddings; Victoria records 64 infections and ACT 26 – as it happened

Posted on by

Western Australia releases sites visited by Covid-positive NSW truck drivers. This blog is now closed

It’s time to wrap things up for another day. Here are today’s main events:

It has shipped more than a billion doses, saved countless lives – and faced controversy over its safety and supply.

In this piece by Oliver Franklin-Wallis, some of the people involved in the creation of the AstraZenca vaccine tell their story of the race against Covid-19.

Related: An oral history of Oxford/AstraZeneca: ‘Making a vaccine in a year is like landing a human on the moon’

Continue reading...

Delta variant doubles risk of hospitalisation, new study finds

Posted on by

Outbreak of Delta Covid cases likely to put strain on health services in areas with low vaccination rates, experts say

The Delta variant doubles the risk of Covid hospitalisation compared with the previously dominant Alpha variant, a new study focused largely on unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people has found.

The analysis – based on data collected in England – suggests that outbreaks of the Delta variant are likely to put an additional strain on health services, particularly in places with low rates of vaccination.

Continue reading...

Covid abnormal: why is Australia so far behind on making its own mRNA vaccines?

Posted on by

Annual coronavirus vaccines could be a reality – but Australia is at least 18 months away from manufacturing its own

From September – more than nine months after it was approved for emergency use in the United States – the first doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine will arrive on Australian shores. The second mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccine against the coronavirus is a welcome boon amid a period of rolling lockdowns and record case numbers.

But Australia’s notoriously sluggish vaccine rollout has been marred by the failure of a locally developed vaccine candidate, as well as changes to age-group recommendations for the AstraZeneca vaccine as a result of its link to rare but blood clots.

Continue reading...

All theories on origins of Covid-19 outbreak still ‘on the table’, says WHO

Posted on by

Remarks follow reports US intelligence study unable to conclude if virus came from animals or a Wuhan lab

The World Health Organization has said all theories on the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak, including the possibility of laboratory leak, are “on the table” and urged Chinese scientists to carry out their own investigations.

WHO officials were answering questions from the press after a classified US intelligence report delivered to the White House on Tuesday was reported to be inconclusive on the question of the origins of the pandemic, in part due to a lack of information from China.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid live news update: NSW confirms 919 cases, two deaths; ACT reports nine new cases, Victoria 45; Qld pauses hotel quarantine

Posted on by

New record for NSW with 919 new Covid cases, two deaths; Queensland to pause hotel quarantine from noon; ACT reports nine new cases; Victoria reports 17 of new cases in quarantine for entire infectious period. Follow all today’s news

It’s another dixer on sticking to the national plan – this time for Josh Frydenberg.

Bob Katter, from his electorate, has the independent’s question, but the videolink seems to be having trouble with his question.

So it’s not that different from having him in the chamber.

Continue reading...

New Zealand won’t ‘throw in towel’ on Covid-zero strategy despite rising infections

Posted on by

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...

Coronavirus live news: Delta variant viral load 300 times greater than original Covid, says study

Posted on by

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...

Coronavirus live news: UK reports 32,253 new cases as Ho Chi Minh City prepares for lockdown

Posted on by

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 FDA approval of Pfizer Covid shot will enable vaccine requirements

Posted on by

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...

UK scientists look at reducing boosters to save vaccine for rest of the world

Posted on by

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...

The Wuhan lab leak theory is more about politics than science

Posted on by

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...

Raging Delta variant takes its toll as Philippines runs out of nurses

Posted on by

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...

Disinfection robots and thermal body cameras: welcome to the Covid-free office

Posted on by

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...

Breakthrough infections and booster shots: what you need to know

Posted on by

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...

Australia records highest number of new cases in a day – as it happened

Posted on by

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...

Australia anti-lockdown rallies: protesters violently clash with police in Melbourne

Posted on by

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...

UK regulator approves ‘first of its kind’ Covid antibody treatment

Posted on by

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...

Joe Biden says he and first lady plan on getting Covid booster shot

Posted on by

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...

‘No one wanted to read’ his book on pandemic psychology – then Covid hit

Posted on by

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...

Jabbed adults infected with Delta ‘can match virus levels of unvaccinated’

Posted on by

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...