Category Archives: Infectious Diseases

Europe’s oldest person survives Covid and set to celebrate 117th birthday

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French nun Sister Andrée tested positive in her retirement home in Toulon but had no symptoms

A French nun who is Europe’s oldest person has recovered from Covid-19 after it swept through a nursing home in the south of France, and will celebrate her 117th birthday this week.

Sister Andrée, born Lucile Randon in 1904, tested positive for the coronavirus last month at the Sainte-Catherine Labouré home near Toulon where 81 of the 88 residents contracted the virus – 10 of whom died.

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WHO investigation into Covid-19 origins offers no quick answers

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Analysis: start of long process by Wuhan team junks Trump allies’ claim that coronavirus escaped from a laboratory

The press conference given by the World Health Organization’s investigative team in Wuhan is unlikely to silence the most conspiratorial of the conspiracy theorists who took their lead from the fever dreams of the former Trump administration.

Indeed, the first and very partial findings in what was always going to be a long and drawn-out process have not told us much we did not already know about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Calls for sweeping border curbs to protect UK against new Covid variants

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Boris Johnson to announce new restrictions on UK arrivals to protect vaccine rollout

Scientists and senior MPs have renewed calls for sweeping border curbs to protect the UK’s vaccination programme against new variants as Boris Johnson prepared to introduce tougher measures and Britain saw internal infections fall.

The government is to announce new restrictions on arrivals into the UK this week, including mass testing of all arrivals. All passengers arriving in the UK will be tested for coronavirus on day two and day eight of their isolation – regardless of the country they have come from and whether they are at home or in hotel quarantine. The UK already requires all arrivals to have a negative Covid test from within the past 72 hours, taken while still abroad.

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Capital cities on alert over positive cases as tennis begins – as it happened

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Melbourne quarantine hotel worker tests positive to virus; NSW issues alert over returned traveller case. This blog is now closed.

That’s where we will leave the live blog for Monday. Here’s what you might have missed today:

AAP has the latest on Covid restrictions in Western Australia:

Face masks are mandatory for teachers and secondary students, a precaution that’s part of transition arrangements for Perth and Peel, after the five-day lockdown sparked by a hotel quarantine security guard’s infection.

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‘Fighting for life’: Bangladesh shrimp farmers destitute in wake of cyclone

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Natural disaster compounded by the collapse of a lucrative export during the pandemic has thrust people into poverty

This time last year the west coast of Bangladesh was a thriving place for shrimp farmers. It was a decent enough living and there was a healthy export market.

Majnu Sardar, who lives in Koyra upazila (administrative region) in Khulna district, used to earn enough to feed, clothe and educate his family of six. Now they are living in a small mud hut, with a canopy of leaves as a roof, on the banks of the Kapotaksha River after Cyclone Amphan buried his house and land in May.

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Ebola virus kills woman in Democratic Republic of Congo, health ministry says

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Case near city of Butembo comes nearly three months after the end of an outbreak in the western province of Équateur, which killed 55

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing to contain a possible Ebola outbreak, after a woman died from the virus near the eastern city of Butembo.

The woman showed symptoms on 1 February in the town of Biena, North Kivu. She died in hospital in Butembo two days later. She was married to a man who had contracted the virus in a previous outbreak.

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Study shows Oxford Covid vaccine has less protection against South African variant

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Researchers say vaccines’ focus must shift to protecting people from hospitalisation and death

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will not stop people becoming ill if they contract the South African variant of Covid-19, researchers have confirmed, warning that vaccines’ focus needs to shift from population immunity to protecting individuals from hospitalisation and death.

The small study in 2,000 people aged 31, who are less likely to become severely ill, adds to evidence from big trials of other vaccines carried out after the variant appeared in South Africa. Trial data from the Janssen and Novavax vaccines showed efficacy in South Africa was up to 60% against the variant, substantially lower than against the original virus.

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When will Britain’s Covid lockdown be lifted? Three scenarios

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At best, vaccines and lockdown could make life more normal by May. But at worst, a new mutation could undo any progress

Hopes are rising that Britain may soon put the worst of Covid-19 behind it. After a year in which the disease has paralysed the nation, killed more than 100,000 people, closed schools and universities, and brought the NHS to its knees, there are now signs of hope emerging.

Most optimism stems from Britain’s vaccination programme, which has resulted in the inoculation of more than 10 million people in the past two months alone, and which aims to have vaccinated the entire adult population later this year.

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Coronavirus live: ‘We had clear focus on being quick but no blank cheque,’ says UK ex-vaccine chief of rollout success

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Kate Bingham says ‘the UK had a very strategic approach … to secure vaccines quickly. The European approach … was more about making sure you got the best value for money’

Venetians have celebrated a very different carnival this year, without the usual crowds of tourists, Reuters reported.

“It’s totally surreal,” said 47-year-old carnival-goer Chiara Ragazzon, an office worker. “What hits me most is the silence. You’ve always been able to hear music during the carnival, people having fun. But Venice in the fog - it’s still a magical place.”

Ragazzon and her husband had ventured into Venice from their home around 50 kilometres (30 miles) away.

More than 12 million people in the UK have now received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to government data up to and including 6 February.

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Oxford Covid jab less effective against South African variant, study finds

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University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University research shows vaccine has reduced efficacy against mutation

British drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Saturday that its vaccine developed with the University of Oxford appeared to offer only limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant of Covid-19, based on early data from a trial.

The study from South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University showed the vaccine had significantly reduced efficacy against the South African variant, according to a Financial Times report published earlier in the day.

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Coronavirus live news: surge testing starts in Worcestershire after South African variant detected; German minister angry over vaccine rollout

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A further seven people with Covid-19 have died in Northern Ireland, the PA news agency has reported. Another 390 positive cases of the virus were also notified by the Department of Health on Saturday. There are 602 Covid-positive inpatients in hospital, 67 of whom are in intensive care.

A total of 10,302,620 vaccinations have taken place in England between 8 December and 5 February, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 403,577 on the previous day’s figures.

Of this number, 9,831,897 were the first dose of the vaccine, a rise of 401,636 on the previous day’s figures, while 470,723 were the second dose, an increase of 1,941.

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Oxford Covid vaccine almost as effective against Kent variant, trials suggest

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Scientists say it offers only slightly lower protection compared with original Covid

The Covid vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is nearly as effective against the Kent variant as it is against older forms of the virus, according to preliminary research results.

Researchers analysed swabs from trial volunteers who developed asymptomatic or symptomatic infections to determine which variant of the virus they had caught after receiving the vaccine or a control jab.

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What are Covid variants – and should we be worried?

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In the UK, all eyes are on South African, Brazilian and Kent variants - with mutations transmitting among the population

With the discovery of new coronavirus variants in parts of the UK, prompting intensive testing, we take a look at what the variants are and how concerned we should be.

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How Covid could be the ‘long overdue’ shake-up needed by the aid sector

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Analysis: as need outstrips funding, experts are making the case for overhauling ‘old-fashioned’ donor-recipient narratives

This year one in every 33 people across the world will need humanitarian assistance. That is a rise of 40% from last year, according to the UN. More than half of the countries requiring aid to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic are already in protracted crises, coping with conflict or natural disasters.

Even before Covid-19 threw decades of progress on extreme poverty, healthcare and education into reverse, aid budgets were heading in the wrong direction. In 2020, the UN had just 48% of its $38.5bn (£28bn) in funding appeals met, compared with 63% of $29bn sought in 2019.

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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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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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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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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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Sputnik V vaccine has 91.6% efficacy against symptomatic Covid, Russian trial suggests

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Preliminary findings based on analysis of data from more than 20,000 participants

The Sputnik V vaccine, which has been the subject of scepticism since Russia began using it last year before trials had ended, is 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid according to data published in one of the world’s leading medical journals.

Results in the Lancet from 20,000 trial participants suggest Sputnik’s efficacy is on a par with that of some of the leading vaccines now in use. There was good efficacy in older adults, who are at highest risk for death, but little diversity, since most participants were white males.

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