Category Archives: Health

‘Extraordinary’: Police fine dozens after church service in western Sydney Covid hotspot

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More than 30 people were fined $1,000 each at the Blacktown Christ Embassy Sydney church gathering, just hours before stronger lockdown measures came into force

NSW police have issued 31 fines to people who attended an illegal Sunday night church service in Blacktown in the heart of Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak hotspots.

Police went to Christ Embassy Sydney church around 7.30pm on Sunday after being tipped off about a gathering in breach of public health orders.

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Full FDA approval of Pfizer Covid shot will enable vaccine requirements

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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

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

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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.

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The Wuhan lab leak theory is more about politics than science

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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?

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Breakthrough infections and booster shots: what you need to know

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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.

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9,000 Covid cases linked to Euro 2020 games in mass events scheme

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Study paper says England’s progress to final ‘generated a significant risk to public health across the UK’

More than 9,000 Covid infections were linked to Euro 2020 football games monitored for the government’s mass events test scheme, and scientists have said the tournament generated “a significant risk to public health”.

An analysis of the third and final stage of the research programme, released on Friday, found that more than 85% of all the infections connected to the 49 days of various outdoor sport, music and entertainment events came from the eight Euros games involved, and mainly the semi-final and final.

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Victoria Covid update: Dan Andrews hints at more restrictions after 55 new Covid cases

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Premier urges Melbourne residents to follow lockdown rules to the letter and warns Delta outbreak on the verge of ‘getting away from us’

Daniel Andrews has told Victorians he “cannot rule out” introducing more restrictions to curb the state’s coronavirus outbreak after a spike in positive cases that includes 12 in the regional city of Shepparton.

The premier warned that unless Melburnians follow the lockdown rules to the letter, next week’s case numbers “will be like Sydney”.

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

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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.

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Covid Australia live news update: greater Sydney lockdown extended until end of September; NSW announces 642 cases, four deaths; Victoria records 55 cases

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ACT chief minister Andrew Barr calls on colleagues to stop presenting 70% or 80% vaccination targets as ‘freedom day’ ahead of meeting. Follow latest updates

Berejiklian:

I also want to stress that from Monday midnight, unless you’re exercising masks should be worn outdoors everywhere across New South Wales.

Our concern is that when people are walking past a group of people or accidentally bumping into people that, that can cause that fleeting contact can cause transmission, and even when you’re exercising, you need to have the mask unless you’re doing some strenuous exercise.

Berejiklian:

So from Monday at midnight, the greater Sydney lockdown will extend until the end of September... but I also want to state that the Central Coast and Shell Harbour will be defined as regional.

So Greater Sydney includes all those areas that are currently in lockdown in Greater Sydney but for the Central Coast and Shellharbour which will be defined as rural and regional as we announced yesterday.

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

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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.

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UK vaccine watchdog expert sceptical about booster jabs for all adults

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Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to decide on Thursday which groups should get third shot

The UK’s vaccine watchdog is to decide on Thursday which vulnerable groups will be given booster shots against coronavirus, but it is expected to rule out a general rollout of third jabs.

Prof Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, confirmed the group would be discussing the issue on Thursday morning.

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

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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.

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Dementia risk lower for people in stimulating jobs, research suggests

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Findings of large study support the idea mental stimulation could delay onset of symptoms, says lead author

People with mentally stimulating jobs have a lower risk of dementia in later years than those who have non-stimulating work, research has suggested.

Scientists looked at more than 100,000 participants across studies from the UK, Europe and the US focused on links between work-related factors and chronic disease, disability and mortality.

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

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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.

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WHO condemns rush by wealthy nations to give Covid vaccine booster

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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.

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Covid Australia live news update: NSW confirms 633 cases and three deaths; ACT records 22 and Victoria 24; New Zealand cluster rises to seven

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NSW confirms 633 cases and three deaths; Victoria records 24 new local cases as CHO says outbreak disproportionately affecting children; New Zealand cluster rises to seven cases. Follow all the day’s news

A second South Australian MP has been referred to an official investigator over allegations of bullying, AAP reports.

Treasurer Rob Lucas says he has referred allegations against Labor MP Tony Piccolo to the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said just a moment ago that expanding access to the Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds was something being worked through.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese is pushing for a plan.

Parents worried about the effect that lockdowns are having on their kids are now more concerned than ever that their children might catch Covid.

And right now, Mr Morrison doesn’t have a plan for our kids to access a vaccine when it’s safe to do so.

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Qantas mandates full Covid-19 vaccination for all its employees

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Frontline staff must be inoculated by 15 November, with remainder of staff given until 31 March

Qantas will require all of its employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, as debate about mandatory vaccination in Australian workplaces intensifies.

By 15 November, all frontline employees, including cabin crew, pilots and airport workers, will need to be fully vaccinated. All remaining employees will have until 31 March 2022 to get vaccinated.

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