COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update April 30th May 1st /2nd /3rd 2022
UK COVID Statistics:
Cases last 7 days: 79,310 (average 11,330 per day)
Admitted to hospital with COVID in the last 7 days: 8,840
In hospital yesterday: 12,475 (down from 14,929 a week earlier)
Using a ventilator yesterday: 304 (321 a week earlier)
Losses of life last 7 days: 1,175
Total losses of life within 28 days of a positive test: 175,319
Total losses of life with COVID listed as a cause: 191,277
Tests last 7 days: 1,889,966 (average 269,995 per day)
Vaccination Data is delayed, so we'll leave it for today as it's still the same as Friday.
Rep. Of Ireland: 1,519,296 (+491) cases and 7,092 (+5) losses of life.
World: 514,254,906 reported cases and 6,264,024 losses of life.
Scottish guidance on isolation has changed. If you've tested positive you should stay at home for 3 days if you're 18 years and under, or for 5 days if you're over 18 years. Day 1 is the day after you took your test.
"Stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection such as coronavirus and have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to go to work or carry out normal activities."
(Probably someone should tell them COVID isn't necessarily a respiratory infection.)
COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 27th/ 28th/ 29th April 2022
UK COVID Official Statistics:
Cases last 7 days: 105,331 (average 15,047 per day)
Admitted to hospital with COVID in the last 7 days: 9,493 (significantly down from 13,752 a week earlier)
In hospital yesterday: 13,027 (down from 16,447 a week earlier)
Using a ventilator yesterday: 302 (down from 339 a week earlier)
Losses of life last 7 days: 1,560 (average 223 per day, significantly down on 1,956 a week earlier)
Total losses of life within 28 days of a positive test: 174,912
Total losses of life with COVID listed as a cause: 191,277
Tests last 7 days: 2,158,217 (average 308,316 per day)
Vaccinations 1st dose: 53,184,869
Vaccinations 2nd dose: 49,727,305
Boosted / 3rd dose / Spring Boosters: 39,248,005
Rep. Of Ireland: 1,516,153 cases and 7,076 losses of life.
World: 512,394,235 reported cases and 6,257,163 losses of life.
"For fans of important things quietly collapsing - it's worth taking a glance at the NHS England ambulance time data.
The headline Category 1s - "immediate life-threatening": times are rising above standards but don't look utterly terrifying.
Category 2s. These are still critically important; "needing rapid assessment and transport": includes intense chest pain and strokes. So a *mean* [most common average] pushing past an hour is ... terrifying. And in the South West: *mean* was 1hr 53 minutes with 90th %ile waits at 4hr 31 (not a typo). [10% of category 2 people waited 4hr31m or longer.]
Category 3s & 4s are similarly horrific, with SW again the worst (a Cat 3 "urgent problem requiring treatment in an acute setting" having a *mean* of over 6 hours).
All numbers are by some way the worst since the categories were introduced in 2017. "Collapse" seems fair."
Paul Mainwood, Head Of Strategy And Planning at Innocent Drinks, Philosophical Physicist Oxford Uni.
That's the bad news, now the better news...
COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 23rd - 26th April 2022
UK COVID Statistics:
Cases last 7 days: 131,054 (average 18,722 per day)
Admitted to hospital with COVID in the last 7 days: 10,386 (bear in mind many people are only in hospital overnight or for a couple of days)
In hospital yesterday: 14,929
Using a ventilator yesterday: 321
Losses of life last 7 days: 2,266 (this includes some backlog reported last week from Easter weekend - average 323 per day)
Total losses of life within 28 days of a positive test: 174,144
Total losses of life with COVID listed as a cause: 190,124
Tests last 7 days: 2,310,897 (average 330,128 per day)
Vaccinations 1st dose: 53,157,460
Vaccinations 2nd dose: 49,703,318
Boosted / 3rd dose / Spring Boosters: 39,185,170
Rep. Of Ireland: 1,512,812 cases and 7,016 losses of life (not yet reported today).
World: 510,269,578 reported cases and 6,246,343 losses of life.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R.Tolkein, The Fellowship Of The Ring
COVID 21st February 2022 Boris' Living With COVID Masterplan UK Briefing
UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: +38,409
Losses of Life: +15
In Hospital (Friday 18th): 11,223
A special message for anyone who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, for anyone under the age of 12, and anyone who is especially vulnerable to COVID - particularly people who will never develop good immunity, however many jabs you get, or however many times you catch COVID. YOU ARE IMPORTANT. YOU MATTER.
If anyone in my family tests positive, they'll be isolating, and avoiding you...
"Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance have been notably silent of late.
I've signed this open letter asking them what the science advice to govt was & to publish any evidence supporting that this is a good time to end self isolation & scale back testing... "
Professor Christina Pagel, indieSAGE member and Professor of Operational Research at University College London
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, Head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, has sidled his way out of giving an opinion about Boris removing legal requirement to isolate. His answer on BBC Radio 4 this morning was:
"There isn’t a right or wrong answer. If restrictions change this week or the week after, in six months’ time the number of transmission events will likely be very similar.
If we’re talking about very short-term delays when we make a decision, it really doesn’t make a huge amount of difference which week it is. So people are getting very hung up on that, it doesn’t have a huge impact.”
Erm... yeah. Clear as mud. I think basically he's saying "it's going to happen, this week isn't dramatically different from next, not going to tell you if I agree with it or not".
COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 24th / 25th January 2022
UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 16,047,716 (+94,326)
In Hospital on Monday 24th Jan: 17,162
Using A Ventilator on Monday 24th Jan: 598
Losses of Life: 154,356 (+439)
(Up until Friday 14th Jan, 176,813 people had COVID listed as a cause on their death certificate.)
Tests: 1,335,199
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 52,252,579 (90.9% of UK age 12+)
Vaccinations 2nd Dose: 48,224,978 (83.9%)
Boosted: 36,996,936 (64.3%)
Cases By UK Nation Last 7 Days:
Area: Cases / Rate per 100,000 population
Wales: 15,665 / 494.2
Scotland: 27,539 / 503.8
Northern Ireland: 26,969 / 1,422.8
England: 559,207 / 988.9
Rep. Of Ireland: 1,149,660 cases and 6,087 losses of life (not yet reported today).
World: 356,670,211 reported cases and 5,625,953 losses of life.
"Only a cake. Only 10 minutes. Only his staff. Wait for Sue Gray. This Sue Grey's mother died alone in a care home in April 2020. This Sue Grey had 3 people with her at the funeral, outside. Only 15 minutes. No cake. No one else. Enough already. Go."
Dr Sue Grey, Lecturer in Education, University of Exeter. Bereaved by COVID and speaking on behalf of a huge number of the UK public.
Latest UK Government revelation is that Carrie organised Boris a surprise birthday party during the first lockdown, in June 2020. Of course she did, why would we expect anything else?! He claims he was there for less than 10 minutes. Yeah, whatever... I guarantee he even blew out his own candles. Aerosol COVID for everyone!
The Guardian is record-keeping for us, and has collated a list of 7 different occasions on which Boris Johnson stated very clearly in public that he did not break the Coronavirus rules, and 15 occasions when there appear to be clear breaches of rules. These include staff leaving parties, parties in Boris' flat, garden parties, departmental parties, wine time Fridays, and Boris' birthday party.
Now that we've become an international laughing stock, even the Metropolitan Police have changed their tune. Previously they had announced they weren't going to investigate lockdown crimes retrospectively, which was presumably very exciting news for anyone who had committed any of their own crimes 'in the past'. Someone's been let off the lead, because the Met have now announced they WILL be looking into the Conservative Party party antics. Phew - bet that's a relief for any honest copper.
It was particularly farcical when Head of the Met Cressida Dick was saying they couldn't investigate parties at No.10 Downing Street because there was no proof of who was there - despite having a real live Police Officer guarding the door (plus WhatsApp messages, photos, staff witnesses, sign in books, CCTV cameras, press...).
Tragically it may be that the Met have only been given the go-ahead in order to delay the official partygate investigation.
The report by top ranking Civil Servant Sue Gray, into whether or not the UK Downing Street massive are actually running a Government or a Party Barn, was due to be released this week. She has now announced she will wait until AFTER the Metropolitan Police investigation (what the heck? What's that going to change? Has she lost the ability to make decisions on her own?). There will be a delay of several weeks.
Give. Me. Strength.
As the Tories have few weeks reprieve, what they really need is a great distraction from the entire party scandal - something they could try and look shiny and clever at. Boost their egos, reunite the UK population, and make someone else the bad guy.
*Looks at the Ukraine*... *Looks at Russia*...
(I don't have room on Facebook to go into this one, but we are very much in danger of being embroiled in a war here. If you have no idea what this means and are reading on the website - my own layperson's short explanation is at the bottom of the page.)
Travel NEWS:
From 4am February 11th COVID tests will NOT be required for fully vaccinated people entering the UK, and unvaccinated travellers will no longer need to self-isolate or take a Day 8 PCR test - they just need a negative test before travel and a PCR test after arrival.
Children under 18 and those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are exempt.
Boris says this shows "this country is open for business, open for travellers". I say this shows "it's half term, Jocasta needs to go skiing and I do not want to have to quarantine. We have more COVID than anywhere else anyway, so it's irrelevant".
Tory Minister Lord Agnew has resigned from the treasury over the UK Government's handling of COVID business loan fraud.
It's been reported that the Chancellor Rishi Sunak has written off £4.3billion of the £5.8billion which has been stolen from emergency Covid-19 schemes.
(Yet you or I could easily go to prison for even £1,000 claimed fraudulently.)
Nicola Sturgeon has announced easing of regulations in Scotland.
From next Monday employees can begin a phased return to office working - slow and steady and with a focus on hybrid working rather than all back full time at once.
From Friday physical distancing when masks aren't worn indoors (e.g. wedding celebrants, some receptionists etc) is being relaxed from 2m to 1m.
Also from Friday, adults won't have to wear masks when taking part in organised activities with children under 5.
Manchester case numbers have peaked. Huzzah. London was a couple of weeks ahead, but thankfully new cases and hospitalisations are now dropping on average right across the UK - as we were promised in the press conference last Friday, but couldn't see in the figures at the time.
A few areas are still in the thick of it, but as pressure drops in the bigger cities, there is some wiggle room at least for medical, nursing and ambulance staff, so we can be calmer about completely running out of medical care.
On the subject of hospitals. It is NOT all good news. Admissions for children in the UK ARE STILL RISING. Around twice as many kids are being admitted than with Delta Variant before Christmas - and this is mirrored wherever Omicron is dominant (including South Africa and the USA).
We are more careful with our little ones, they are more likely to be admitted when they have symptoms, and Omicron COVID can cause high temperatures, headaches and a croup-sounding but non-serious cough... but still... it's not good at all...
Someone put in a Freedom Of Information request to the UK Government for how many people have died of COVID with no underlying conditions. As of Friday 22nd Jan, that was just over 17,300 people. This information is being used by anti-vaxxers to suggest that anyone without any comorbidities shouldn't worry, shouldn't get vaccinated, and has had their lives ruined by all the sickly old people.
Frankly if you feel like that, why are you even reading my page?
The truth is that over half of UK adults are overweight, which is a comorbity. There is diabetes, heart disease, the 1.5m people who can't even be vaccinated - and the list goes on, and on. Blood conditions, HIV, auto-immune conditions, asthma, COPD, heart defects, liver or kidney problems. And then we come to age. However old you are right now, that's not going backwards any time soon.
So yeah, the truth is that despite so few people being what you could consider incredibly healthy, still 17,300 of that small group of our absolute fittest died when they got COVID. Utter tragedy.
Let's not dwell on how many of them are struggling with Long COVID and no longer even qualify for the "fully fit" group
A new Swedish study (which hasn't yet been peer-reviewed) has found there is a "high prevalence of olfactory disorders 18 months after contracting COVID-19".
18 months after COVID-19, more than 1/3 of recovered people had a clinical reduction in their sense of smell (and lots of them didn't even realise) and nearly half self-reported parosmia - a distorted sense of smell. In total 65% (2 out of every 3) had some form of alteration to their sense of smell.
The better news is that just 3% reported "gustatory dysfunction" - where enjoyment of food is completely ruined through loss of smell, and the individual can struggle not to lose weight and suffer nutritionally.
The researchers determined that: "Given the amount of time since initial insult to the olfactory system, it is likely that these olfactory problems are permanent" - but don't lose hope entirely because I've already seen a professional say they have patients who have still recovered beyond this point.
We did know from previous studies that the Eli Lilly and Regeneron monoclonal antibody treatments are very poor performers against Omicron Variant, but after further consideration the US FDA has now revoked authorisation for use with COVID patients - mainly because people are wasting their time and money for the gain it's giving them. It's such a shame.
Further studies are underway - lots of places have stock of these treatments, and if they can find any time period, population group or way of administering that actually does benefit, or a future variant does respond well to them, they'll be back.
A second UK RECOVERY Trial for antiviral treatment Molnupiravir officially begins today, for hospitalised patients. Patients with early COVID have already been taking the drug at home as part of the PANORAMIC Trial, where it has had excellent results at preventing severe illness. This is to see if it can also stall the disease in patients who are already showing more serious symptoms.
Let's hope so.
America has begun a rollout of 3 x free N95 masks per person.
Olympic Hopefuls:
China has felt able to lift the 1 month long lockdown in Xi'an, but they aren't having full success in Beijing - so mass testing is being carried out.
So far 78 people involved with the Olympic Games have tested positive, including an as-yet-unnamed competitor. What a shame...
Lost Their Fight:
Big Merv Shields, member of racist far-right Nazi band Skrewdriver. He was a vociferous anti-vaxxer who expressed a belief that COVID was "a leftie Jewish plot". My commiserations to his children.
Omicron sub-variant BA.2 is still increasing in prevalence, but still doesn't look like anything terrifying. We may get our first real statistics from Denmark, where it now accounts for around 40% of all cases. So far there is nothing to suggest it is more deadly, more severe, more likely to infect people or more likely to break through vaccinations or any immunity - but it does look like it travels a bit quicker, so may physically be quicker to pass on and make people ill, or it could be slightly more catchy, so infects more people.
South Korea is now experiencing their Omicron takeover, and cases have risen to around 8,000 a day. Officials are asking people to consider not travelling for the Lunar New Year holidays, which begin this weekend.
President Moon Jae-in has ordered health officials to “make a swift switch toward the omicron strategy”. This will see health care resources limited to high-priority populations in order that it they aren't overwhelmed. E.g. PCR testing will be offered to older adults 60+ and those who have been in close contact with confirmed patients, and other people will take rapid tests at home.
Japan is also struggling with Omicron, and reporting around 44,000 new cases a day. They have expanded a COVID-19 "quasi-state of emergency" to cover 34 of the nation's 47 prefectures, and restrictions will continue until at least 20th February. They include shortened opening hours and curfews for hospitality, and limiting alcohol sales.
Scientists at Oregon Health and Science University have been trying to work out how we get the best protection from COVID. They have discovered there are 2 ways to get "super immunity" - either with breakthrough infections after vaccination, or natural infection followed by vaccination. Basically a hybrid mix of the two gave an advantage - which is only fair when you consider the risk of serious illness or Long COVID.
Pfizer/BioNTech have begun trials for their Omicron-specific vaccine. Participants may have already had no vaccine, or doses of the current Pfizer vaccine, in order to gather as many efficacy results as possible.
The Omicron-specific vaccine is already in production, and is only a tweak on the original, so they're confident.
Not-So-Luxury Cruise Crews News:
The Australian aid ship currently hurtling towards Tonga, HMAS Adelaide, now has a confirmed 23 COVID cases on board. COVID-free Tonga really need the help, but really don't need the virus. Discussions are underway about how to safely and successfully get the goods off the ship without any contact. Potentially trickier than it looks because COVID can exist on surfaces for some hours - although they do have sunlight and virus-killing UV on their side. It's the middle of Summer there.
A kitchen worker at a care home in Staten Island, USA, has been arrested after putting in 7 insurance claims for loss of earnings due to exposure to COVID. He was spotted when 6 of the positives had the same specimen ID. (Any more and he'd have been spotted when Guinness Book Of Records got in touch. No-one has had COVID 6 times...)
Beijing, China, is still desperately attempting to protect the Olympics. The latest strategy is that anyone who has bought selected cough, cold and fever medicines in the past 2 weeks has to take a COVID-19 test within 72 hours.
The CEO of Pfizer has been interviewed on Israeli telly and said "we should be able to come to normal lives... in a few months". He reckons annual jabs will be doable, easy to remember and acceptable to the public - and we can cope just fine with any Omicron-type variants as they pop up. Let's hope so Albert - I'm liking your confidence very much.
Ancient rock legend Neil Young has warned Spotify that if they don't remove vaccination misinformation then he will bar them from hosting his music.
In December almost 300 medical and educational experts wrote an open letter to Spotify asking them to remove it - and to consider more carefully the age and vulnerability of their audience.
It's Burns' Night and we have Haggis, to celebrate my partner's Scottish-Ness more than Mr Burns himself, who it turns out might have been a little bit lacking at times. Slavery and misogyny were the order of his day, and he seems to have indulged himself more heavily than most. Tsk...
I will be back on Friday unless Boris creeps out of hiding in the meantime...
Sláinte Mhath to you all.
Some people - all unique and all the same.
Countries / Cases / Losses of life (since midnight GMT. Randomly chosen from the more severely affected countries nearer the top of the chart):
UK 16,047,716 (+94,326) 154,356 (+439)
Germany 8,890,186 (+82,079) 117,617 (+102)
Russia 11,241,109 (+67,809) 327,448 (+681)
Israel 2,488,924 (+64,094) 8,488 (+7)
Netherlands 4,008,459 (+54,160) 21,227 (+8)
Japan 2,216,829 (+47,176) 18,523 (+17)
Australia 2,285,286 (+44,441) 3,225 (+71)
Denmark 1,425,245 (+43,734) 3,635 (+14)
Belgium 2,830,719 (+41,857) 28,835 (+18)
Poland 4,584,360 (+36,995) 104,097 (+252)
Czechia 2,794,245 (+30,350) 37,080 (+14)
Finland 456,355 (+29,529) 1,852 (+37)
Austria 1,650,597 (+24,946) 14,019 (+19)
Romania 2,048,896 (+19,685) 59,632 (+44)
Ukraine 3,889,488 (+19,118) 99,443 (+161)
Bangladesh 1,715,997 (+16,033) 28,256 (+18)
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What's happening with Ukraine and Russia?
You may or may not have noticed, but there is potential we could be about to be embroiled in a war, and this isn't a minor thing - world superpowers are heavily involved.
The main potential battleground is Ukraine (led by Volodymyr Zelensky), which, until 1991 was a part of what we tended lazily to called Russia - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
After 1991 Ukraine gained independence, but it isn't quite as easy as that, because it wasn't all love and peace. Within the Ukraine are 2 distinct areas which don't want to be considered part of the Ukraine and have considered themselves independent since 2018. They are the Donetsk People's Republic (led by Denis Pushilin) and Luhansk People's Republic (led by Leonid Pasechnik). They are supported by Russia (led by Vladimir Putin).
Russia (official title The Russian Federation), Donetsk PR, Luhansk PR and neighbouring country Belarus (led by COVID-denying Lukashenko) together form the Union State - which is basically a coalition with a series of pacts and agreements saying they're mates and will back each other up.
And now you only just begin to see why there may be some tension...
There is also the massive topic of Crimea, which I think we are all aware has been involved in a bit of a scrap in the past.
In Spring 2021 Russia began massing troops near Ukraine, and everyone got twitchy. They moved some of them later in the year, but now they're back, and intelligence (all that James Bond shizz) suggests that Russia are about to step in because they want their own Russia-friendly governance of Ukraine.
The situation has become so tense that now the US, the UK and others have ordered their nationals and embassy staff to leave/consider leaving.
The Ukraine Government aren't alone. They are actually friends with (and hioe to join) the EU (European Union), and have a lot of their own military allies, including NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - coalition of 30 countries with pacts and agreements), and individually the UK, the USA, Canada, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Lithuania. There are also a lot of countries which support the current Ukraine Government, but aren't involved on a military level.
NATO and other forces have begun to move. They may not be intending to enter Ukraine, and might only plan to bolster their own nation's security (including NATO/EU members), but it's a lot of troops and a lot of Government officials, and a lot of twitchy trigger fingers.
"Denmark is sending a frigate to the Baltic Sea and is set to deploy four F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania in support of NATO’s long-standing air-policing mission in the region. Spain is sending ships to join NATO naval forces and is considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria. France has expressed its readiness to send troops to Romania under NATO command. The Netherlands is sending two F-35 fighter aircraft to Bulgaria from April to support NATO’s air-policing activities in the region, and is putting a ship and land-based units on standby for NATO’s Response Force. The United States has also made clear that it is considering increasing its military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance."
It must be stressed NATO is a defensive alliance with a main aim to peacekeep - they should not attack anyone who doesn't strike first.
So yeah... this could get pretty big. Or not. Time will tell.
https://theconversation.com/5-things-to-know-about-why-russia-might-invade-ukraine-and-why-the-us-is-involved-175371 https://www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_191040.htm
https://mc.nato.int/
https://twitter.com/NATO/status/1484566778927890439?t=jYKsaNK-Zd5nA0TLvLSyiA&s=19
Sources:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1485925622782246912?t=patWnUxoHoGQRObr250vDQ&s=19
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/24/a-full-list-of-alleged-government-covid-rule-busting-parties
https://www.itv.com/news/2022-01-24/boris-johnson-had-birthday-bash-during-lockdown-itv-news-understands
https://twitter.com/SueGrey9/status/1485892043989823490?t=wQ1I3IY0hIZkCgWdwqSD1Q&s=19
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/covid-update-omicron-ba2-variant-latest-b1999158.html
https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/travel-tests-scrapped-england-double-vaccinated/
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1485885070137348098?t=-Qt5fWouayb-LEJoMZQZ2g&s=19
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.20.22269490v1
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/nine-greater-manchester-boroughs-now-22847648
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1485885070137348098?t=-Qt5fWouayb-LEJoMZQZ2g&s=19
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/01/25/the-florida-department-of-health-shuts-down-monoclonal-sites/
Your regular reminder that COVID isn't over, and it can still kill you.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/24/covid-pandemic-at-a-critical-juncture-whos-tedros-says.html
https://www.recoverytrial.net/news/molnupiravir-to-be-investigated-by-the-recovery-trial-as-a-potential-treatment-for-patients-hospitalised-with-covid-19
Image:
https://twitter.com/NHSuk/status/1485891992387305474?t=FmqQti0VKTkq3-JmPerh3A&s=19
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/health/free-n95-masks-pharmacies-health-centers-us/index.html
Image:
https://twitter.com/betsy_klein/status/1485656887005753359?t=hpA7Ufrx7zKI2FaE2b42AQ&s=19
https://www.sundayworld.com/news/northern-ireland-news/infamous-neo-nazi-skinhead-band-member-dies-of-covid-complications-in-co-antrim-hospital-41244638.html
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/the-trysting-thorns/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/omicron-variant-ba2-latest-covid-b1998907.html
https://f7td5.app.goo.gl/jaVgWc
https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2022/0125/1275684-tonga-eruption-aid/
https://japantoday.com/category/national/Tokyo-reports-12-813-new-coronavirus-cases
https://www.timesofisrael.com/pfizer-ceo-to-israeli-tv-we-should-be-back-to-near-normal-in-a-few-months/
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220124000957
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-demands-spotify-remove-music-vaccine-disinformation-1290020/
https://neilyoungarchives.com/news/1
https://spotifyopenletter.wordpress.com/2022/01/10/an-open-letter-to-spotify/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-60130299
https://scitechdaily.com/researchers-discover-two-paths-toward-super-immunity-to-covid-19/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/health/pfizer-biontech-omicron-vaccine-trial/index.html
COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 20th / 21st September 2021
UK Daily Statistics:
Cases: 7,496,543 (+31,564)
In Hospital on Monday 20th: 7,731 (DOWN from 8,413 a week earlier)
Using A Ventilator on Monday 20th: 982 (DOWN from 1,056 a week earlier)
Losses of Life: 135,455 (+203)
Tests: 984,065
Vaccinations 1st Dose: 48,617,703 (80.4% of age 16+)
Vaccinations Fully Vaxxed: 44,512,572 (81.9% of age 16+)
Rep. Of Ireland: 376,517 cases and 5,179 losses of life (not yet reported today)
World: 230,045,673 reported cases and 4,717,179 losses of life.
The latest ONS figures show that:
- In the week ending 10th September there were 1,853 more deaths than the 2015-19 average. (Up by 20%.)
- Since the beginning of 2021 we have reported the loss of 404,768 people. (Up by 9%.)
Despite those grim figures, over the last 10 days new UK cases have dropped to a lower average level, and now hospital admissions are showing a marked drop - including in Scotland.
"Number of covid+ patients in English hospitals has fallen by nearly 900 over the last 8 days (14%) - the vaccination of younger people beginning to have an impact? Lowest total for over a month."
Alistair McLellan, Editor of the Health Services Journal.
UK (are vaccinating kids 12+) Briefing 13th September 2021
I don't usually write up the scientific and data briefings specially, but this is a biggie - it's important even if you don't have secondary aged children.
Today's briefing was with:
Chris Whitty, - Chief Medical Officer for England
Dr Gregor Smith - CMO for Scotland
Dr Frank Atherton - CMO for Wales
Sir Michael McBride - CMO for Ireland
Dr June Raine, MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency)
Prof Wei Shen Lim, JVCI (Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation)
Chris explains this is a difficult decision, and the first principle of medicine is balancing risk and benefit.
This decision started with the MHRA approving both Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines as safe and effective for age 12+.
(They found it to be as effective in children 12-15 as in adults, with a clear result after only 1 dose. The safety matched that of young adults.)
COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Update 9th June 2021
The UK added 35,707 cases today and now has reported a total of 5,058,093 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 1,114,234 tests yesterday.
Between 3 July 2021 and 9 July 2021, 206,046 people had a confirmed positive test result. This shows an increase of 30.7% compared to the previous 7 days.
The counter says 45,697,875 people had been given at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK by midnight last night. 34,374,246 people had received 2 doses and will be considered fully vaccinated 14 days after that 2nd dose.
2,731 people were in hospital yesterday, Thursday 8th July, with 417 using a ventilator.
Between 29 June 2021 and 5 July 2021, 2,872 people went into hospital with coronavirus. This shows an increase of 55.9% compared to the previous 7 days.
In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we officially reported the loss of another 29 people who have tested positive to COVID-19 within 28 days, making a total of 128,365 losses of life in all settings.
Between 3 July 2021 and 9 July 2021, there have been 176 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. This shows an increase of 43.1% compared to the previous 7 days.
Rep. Of Ireland 276,735 (+631) cases and 5,006 losses of life.
There have now been a total of 186,618,031 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 4,030,970. Already 170,698,970 people have recovered.
“It's about preventing being exposed to the virus, and preventing you exposing others to the virus.
Look around in your community.
Know the local numbers.
If the virus is present in your community and you're a vulnerable person and you're not vaccinated, then you are potentially going to be exposed.
So the idea that everyone is protected and it’s “kumbaya” and everything goes back to normal, I think right now is a very dangerous assumption anywhere in the world.
We’d ask governments to be really careful at this moment, not to lose the gains that we’ve made.
This virus is evolving. This virus is changing, and we need to be very careful at this moment, so that the gains that have been hard won by the behaviours and actions of our populations are sustained. Individual behaviour and government support to that behaviour is extremely important.
And I would urge extreme caution in the complete lifting of public health and social measures at this time, because there are consequences for that."
Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, the World Health Organisation.
The UK Government can never say they weren't warned.
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