Category Archives: Infectious Diseases

Coronavirus live: Macron joins Merkel in call for EU to coordinate quarantine for non-EU countries such as UK

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French president’s remarks come after German chancellor says all EU members should quarantine UK visitors

Mexico’s health ministry on Thursday reported 5,340 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country and 221 more fatalities, Reuters reports.

It brings the total figures to 2,493,087 infections and 232,068 deaths.

Italy reported 28 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday compared to 30 the day before, Reuters reports.

The health ministry said the daily tally of new infections fell to 927 from 951 on Wednesday.

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Covid vaccine map: how are countries around the world doing?

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More than 2bn Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. Find out which countries are vaccinating the most

Since the first Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 was injected into the arm of a British woman in December 2020, hundreds of millions of vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.

Dozens of countries now have advanced vaccination campaigns as they rush to protect their people and get their economies back up and running. Many are in a position where the most vulnerable people are fully vaccinated, raising hopes that the pandemic’s worst effects may be over.

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Indonesia tightens restrictions as it confirms record new coronavirus infections

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The country’s infections, the worst in south-east Asia, have passed two million

Indonesian health authorities are battling a new surge in coronavirus infections, as the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) reported the highest one-day total, with 14,535 cases confirmed in the 24 hours to Monday.

Daily case totals are reaching levels last seen in January, the peak of Indonesia’s fight against the virus.

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Australia’s vaccine rollout ‘constrained’ by Pfizer supply shortages until August

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States and territories say more GPs will be needed to dispense Pfizer when supplies increase later in the year

Shortages of the Pfizer Covid vaccine are expected to slow Australia’s rollout through June and July, as states and territories call on the commonwealth to sign up more GPs to dispense doses when supplies increase in August.

The national cabinet met on Monday to discuss Australia’s coronavirus vaccine rollout in the wake of updated health advice that AstraZeneca is not the preferred vaccine for those aged 50 to 59 due to the risk of rare blood clots.

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Myanmar reports highest Covid numbers since coup as concerns over health system grow

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State hospitals are barely functioning as humanitarian crisis unfolds across the country

Myanmar has reported what is believed to be its highest daily increase in Covid cases since the February coup, as concerns grow over the country’s collapsed health system and the junta’s continued crackdown on medics.

Myanmar’s Covid response was plunged into chaos when the military seized power on 1 February, detaining the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Australia Covid update: masks compulsory indoors in parts of Sydney as cluster grows to nine

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NSW reveals three new cases on Sunday, plus one flagged by authorities on Saturday, as Queensland records one local case

Sydney residents are now required to wear masks indoors across large swathes of the city after the eastern suburbs cluster grew to nine cases on Sunday.

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, announced on Sunday the state recorded two cases to 8pm, including a 30-year-old man revealed on Saturday, and a further two cases since 8pm that will be officially recorded in Monday’s figures.

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Covid jabs for billions of humans will earn their makers billions of dollars

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We look at the drug firms – led by Pfizer and Moderna – that are set to profit most in an unprecedented global vaccination drive

Drugmakers led by US firms Pfizer and Moderna stand to make tens of billions of dollars from their Covid-19 vaccines this year and next, given G7 governments’ pledge to vaccinate the entire world by the end of 2022, but sales are likely to drop sharply thereafter, according to analysts.

Acclaimed for allowing a return to more normal life, Covid vaccines will also substantially benefit some pharmaceutical companies. The global market for the vaccines is worth $70bn (£50bn) this year, says Karen Andersen of Morningstar.

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NSW Covid update: three new Sydney cases of ’near and present danger’ delta variant recorded

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‘Fleeting contact’ spurs decision to introduce mask mandate but no other restrictions in place yet

New South Wales reported three cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, taking the total associated with the Bondi outbreak to six.

Two previously unreported cases were announced, including a woman in her 40s from the eastern suburbs who visited a number of venues in Westfield Bondi Junction. The second case, reported overnight, is a man in his 30s who lives in Sydney and also visited Westfield Bondi Junction.

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In hunt for Covid’s origin, new studies point away from lab leak theory

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Amid the heavily politicised debate, a lot of evidence now points to a natural spillover event – but other causes cannot be ruled out

The coronavirus pandemic has raised so many questions as it has continued its inexorable spread across the planet, but perhaps the first of them remains the most contentious: where did Sars-CoV-2 come from?

In recent weeks there has been renewed focus on whether it could have escaped from a Chinese laboratory. However, new findings strengthen the case for a natural origin, in what has become a heavily politicised debate.

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Previous Covid infection may not offer long-term protection, study finds

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Research found marked differences in immune response of medical staff six months after contracting virus

Previous infection with coronavirus does not necessarily protect against Covid in the longer term, especially when caused by new variants of concern, a study on healthcare workers suggests.

Researchers at Oxford University found marked differences in the immune responses of medical staff who contracted Covid, with some appearing far better equipped than others to combat the disease six months later.

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How do we learn to live with Covid in the UK?

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Analysis: Lockdown extension brings questions on when and how UK can draw a line under social distancing

The Commons vote to delay step four of England’s roadmap out of lockdown has focused attention on when and how the country can draw a line under social distancing and, in the words of the prime minister, “learn to live with the virus”.

While the surge in cases in Blackburn – one of the original Delta variant hotspots – may have peaked for now, Public Health England expects recent rises in the north-west to be mirrored across the UK. What that means for hospitals and lives will become clearer in the next four weeks.

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France and Spain to ease mask-wearing as Covid vaccine schemes gather pace

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French will no longer have to wear masks outside and curfew to end while Spain also planning to lift rule

France and Spain are moving to ease rules around wearing face masks outside, in a development attributed by both countries to their Covid-19 vaccination campaigns.

In France, people will no longer be required to wear masks outdoors from Thursday, though they will still be obligatory on public transport, in sports stadiums and other crowded places. A nightly curfew will end as of Sunday.

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The Delta variant is spreading. What does it mean for the US?

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Covid-19 cases have fallen far below the winter peak, but the Delta variant has roughly doubled every two weeks in the US

Scientists in the United States are anxiously watching the Delta variant of Covid-19, as it spreads through an unevenly vaccinated American public and an economy that is rapidly reopening.

The Delta variant, first identified as B.1.617.2 in India, is believed to be more transmissible than both the original strain of Covid-19 and the Alpha strain, first identified in the United Kingdom.

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New drug cuts deaths among patients with no Covid antibodies

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Oxford University trial reports cocktail of manmade antibodies reduces fatalities by a fifth

A new drug has been found to cut Covid deaths by a fifth among the sickest patients in hospital and may change official practice so that every patient with coronavirus will have an antibody test before they are admitted.

The Recovery trial based at Oxford University has found a third drug that can help Covid patients recover in hospital – but this one is the first to tackle the virus itself, rather than the inflammation that develops in the later stages of the disease.

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More countries restrict travel from UK over Delta variant fears

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Ireland to double to 10 days its quarantine period for UK travellers who are not fully vaccinated

Ireland is to double to 10 days its quarantine period for travellers from the UK who are not fully vaccinated, joining a growing list of countries imposing stricter travel rules on British arrivals due to concerns over the rapid spread of the Delta variant.

The announcement came after Boris Johnson on Monday delayed by a month the final stage of England’s exit from lockdown amid accusations the government should have acted faster by placing India, where the variant was first detected, on its red restricted-travel list before 23 April.

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The Covid Delta variant: how effective are the vaccines?

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Analysis: what protection do they offer against infection, hospital admission and death?

As lockdown easing in England is delayed from 21 June to a possible date of 19 July amid concerns of a substantial wave of hospitalisations due to the Delta variant of coronavirus, we take a look at the latest data on the protection offered by vaccines.

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Why is Israel lifting Covid restrictions as England extends them?

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Analysis: both are viewed as running successful vaccine campaigns, but case numbers are very different

Israel and the UK were viewed as world leaders in their coronavirus vaccine campaigns but whereas the former is lifting almost all pandemic limitations, the latter is now glumly extending its restrictions in England amid a sharp rise in infections.

Despite starting its mass inoculation programme after the UK in December, Israel has sped ahead and it reached a key milestone on Tuesday, scrapping a requirement to wear face masks indoors, one of the final Covid limitations.

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China set to administer 1bn Covid vaccine doses by end of this week

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Cash incentives and gifts offered to fulfil target of vaccinating 40% of population by end of month

China is on track to administer 1bn vaccine doses by the end of this week, after bolstering production and distribution networks in an ambitious drive to vaccinate 40% of the population by this month.

Chinese authorities have been encouraging people to take the free and voluntary doses with cash incentives, gifts and colour-coded signage to laud or shame businesses depending on vaccination rates, as well as the promise of protection against Covid-19.

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Eradicating polio is finally within reach. Why is the UK taking its foot off the pedal? | Anne Wafula Strike

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Instead of cutting the aid budget – including 95% from the plan to stamp out the disease – Britain should take a global lead

Despite the Covid pandemic, there have been just two recorded cases of wild polio in 2021 – in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the two remaining hiding places for the disease. But eradication is not guaranteed. Polio is virulent and spreads quickly. Even one case poses a threat to unvaccinated children everywhere, which is why a new strategy launched last week by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) outlines a plan to utilise this small window of opportunity for the world to end polio for good.

A 99.9% fall in polio cases globally in recent decades is thanks in large part to the GPEI and its supporters. The British government’s recent announcement that it will slash its contributions to the GPEI by more than 95% has been a body blow. The funding cut amounts to almost a quarter of the annual World Health Organization polio eradication budget.

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