Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
The news posted last week for the coronavirus 2019-nCoV (aka SARS-CoV-2), which produces COVID-19 disease, has been surveyed and some important articles are summarized here. The articles are more or less organized with general virus news and anecdotes first, then stories from around the US, followed by an increased number of items from other countries around the globe. Economic news related to COVID-19 is found here.
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Summary:
New Covid cases, both in the US and globally, continue to slow. New US cases for the week ending January 30th were down 13.6% from the prior week, and down about 32% from two weeks earlier; in fact, new US Covid infections this week were the lowest in any week since the week ending November 14th. Globally, new case counts have slid around 10% each of the past three weeks, and are now at their lowest level since October.
However, there was a modest uptick in US Covid deaths; for the week ending January 30th, covid deaths were 1.8% higher than a week earlier, but they still remained 5.3% below those of two weeks earlier. Based on the Johns Hopkins dashboard, global Covid deaths for the week ending January 29th appear to be down fractionally from a week earlier, but still a bit higher than 2 weeks earlier. The US still accounts for a quarter of all Covid cases globally, and a fifth of all Covid deaths.
With the Covid numbers down and the Biden administration hitting the ground running, the media focus has turned away from reporting on the disease to reporting on the White House, and hence this week’s “disease’ collection is sparser than in recent weeks, and almost absent the usual demographics. Most of this week’s coverage is on the vaccines; their rollout & their efficacy, and on the mutant viruses that are spreading worldwide. The CDC and Dr Fauci both expect the highly contagious UK strain to be dominant in the US by March, but there’s not much evidence of that yet; last I saw, there were 123 confirmed cases of that strain in 29 US states, a little better than double those of a week ago. In additon, this week also saw the first US case of the Brazilian mutant (in Minnesota) and the first couple cases of the South African strain (in S. Carolina and Maryland). That’s the one we need to watch, since neither previous Covid infection nor the current vaccines appear to confirm immunity to that mutant variant.
The chart below from WorldoMeter shows the daily number of new cases for the US, updated through 30 January.
According to Johns Hopkins (graph below), new cases globally have started to decline.
Also, Johns Hopkins has a graph for global deaths (below). Deaths for the world continue to rise although at a slightly slower rate.
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Calculated Risk tracks the daily testing rate and results. This past week the percent positive test results declined. The 30 January graphic:
The count of testing has been quite eratic over the past several weeks. The percent positive leveled off in December after previously rising sharply. In January the percent positive has fallen sharply. The reason for the continuing erratic pattern for this metric is not clear. Any holiday effect should have been removed by now.
Of course, Steven Hansen summarizes and links the latest news related to the pandemic every day, 7 days a week, plus displays over a dozen important graphics updated at least daily. The most recent article at the time this is published: 30 January 2021 Coronavirus Charts and News: More Discussion On The Johnson and Johnson Vaccine. South African Variant Is Causing Reinfection.
This article leads the daily newsletter from Global Economic Intersection every day. Newsletter subscription is free.
Here are the rest of the articles for the past week reviewed and summarized:
New study shows COVID-19 could hide in your brain and reactivate down the road – A new study shows coronavirus may actually hide in the brain, where it could reactivate down the road. While there is still much to learn about COVID-19, researchers at Georgia State University have studied why symptoms widely vary with those infected with the virus. Lead researcher Dr. Mukesh Kumar, an associate professor in the Department of Biology, said they’ve learned through studying mice for months, COVID-19 may clear the lungs, but not necessarily the body. “(The) brain is one of the organs where viruses like to hide. We know that because there is no immune response. So viruses like to go to a place and hide where they can be safe,” said Kumar. “It’s hard for a virus to hide in your lungs. It’s much easier for the virus to hide in your central nervous system,” said Kumar. Signs of this are evident with loss of taste and smell common in people infected with COVID-19. That is an attack on the central nervous system through the brain. The GSU team monitored the diverse symptoms in the mice and noted brain infection mostly caused their death, not lung infection. They believe this can also be true in certain human cases. Kumar mentioned a large percentage of people who recover do have some sort of brain dysfunction. Researchers agree our organs are well equipped to fight the infection, but once it reaches the brain, Dr. Kumar stated, “even if you test negative, that does not necessarily mean that you have completely cleared the virus.” When the virus reaches the brain it can cause low level inflammation and even make people more susceptible to brain diseases like auto-immune disease and Parkinson’s. Kumar emphasized how crucial it is to wear a mask and cover your nose to protect from having the virus enter there and go directly into your brain. GSU researchers say there is plenty of work ahead of them since there’s still a lot to learn about coronavirus.
COVID Linked To Mental Illness, Brain Disorders According To Oxford Analysis – One-third of people who have had COVID-19 suffer some type of neurological or psychiatric disorder within six months of testing positive for the virus, with one-in-eight receiving their first such diagnosis over the same period, according to anew analysis from the department of psychiatry at Oxford which looked at health records from 236,379 patients. The analysis, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, compared COVID-19 survivors to a group diagnosed with influenza, and another cohort diagnosed with respiratory tract infections between January 20 and December 13, 2020, according to The Guardian. Led by Oxford’s Dr. Max Taquet, the analysis accounted for known risk factors such as age, sex, race, underlying physical and mental conditions and socio-economic deprivation. It builds upon prior research from Taquet which revealed that nearly20% of those with COVID-19 are diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder within three months of testing positive, with 5.8% of those being their first such diagnosis.Taquet’s new analysis also found that brain disorders were more likely in patients who required hospitalization.That said, COVID and its ensuing lockdowns have been tough on everyone – with the American Psychiatric Association (APA) reporting last June that there’s been an increase in psychiatric disorders during the pandemic. Early on in the outbreak, both the New York Times and Washington Post noted a rise in anxiety and depression – with one-third of Americans showing signs by late May.
If you haven’t been double-masking, research says to start now – Almost since the beginning of the pandemic, experts have told the public about the importance of three things: washing your hands, maintaining a social or physical distance of at least six feet and wearing a mask. Now, researchers say that doubling up on the last step is key as COVID-19 cases and deaths surge in Georgia and around the nation. “It has been backed up by research that two masks are, in fact, better than one,” CBS Denver’s medical director Dr. Dave Hnida told CBSN Denver. “Specifically what we’re saying is that two masks may actually equal the protection you would get from N-95 masks, which is considered the best mask there is short of a complete respirator-type unit.” He added that using two masks creates “an obstacle course for the viral particle to make its way from the air into your nose and throat and then into your lungs.” That notion has been backed up by other experts including one in virus transmission at Virginia Tech, Linsey Marr. She told the New York Times that “if you combine multiple layers, you start achieving pretty high efficiencies” of preventing the virus from coming through and leaving the airways. Research published in the journal Med, which Marr was part of, noted people can either wear a cloth mask snuggly over the top of a surgical mask, with the latter acting as a filter and the former providing another layer of filtration, or wear a three-layer mask with outer layers made of a flexible, tightly woven fabric that can fit the face well. The middle layer on this mask would be a non-woven, high-efficiency filter material akin to that of a vacuum bag. But a three-layer mask – which the World Health Organization has said should be the make-up of fabric masks – is different from wearing three different masks in an effort to triple mask and increase protection against the coronavirus. Doing that could cause more harm than good.
Yale doctor explains how dangerous, more contagious COVID-19 variant strains are (video) – New variant strains of COVID-19 are showing to be extremely contagious. A Yale doctor spells out in numbers just how dangerously contagious these new variants are. He stresses that this is something that people really need to grasp. “It’s why epidemiologists and health officials are so nervous about more transmissible strains and the reason is that when you hear 50 percent more transmissible, you think that 50 percent more people will become infected,” Dr. F. Perry Wilson, Yale Medicine and Researcher at Yale School of Medicine. But Dr. Wilson says that is not true. He says with this variant, one person infects 50 percent more people, then those people infect 50 percent more people – it spreads exponentially. He gives an example with our current coronavirus strain with ten cycles of spreading with mask and distancing. “That infection will only grow from 1,000 to about 2,500 after ten cycles, which is maybe two to three months of spread,” he explains. Now he describes virus spread from 1,000 people with the 50 percent more contagious strain. “After ten cycles, you’re up to 55,000 cases, so instead of 2,500 new cases, 55,000 new cases, even at the same mortality rate, you’re talking twenty-fold higher number of deaths. So that’s why this is so scary and something we all need to focus on to beat quickly.”
California may have highly contagious homegrown COVID-19 strain — Scientists in California believe there is a homegrown coronavirus strain in the state that could be responsible for the dramatic rise in cases, a report said Sunday. Two separate research groups have discovered the apparent California strain while looking for the new variant that is believed to have come from the United Kingdom, according to the Los Angeles Times.. The supposed California strain is in the same “family tree” as the UK strain and could be behind the state’s spread over the past few months, the paper said. One of the labs that discovered the strain, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said it amounted to 24 percent of about 4,500 viral samples gathered throughout California in the last weeks of 2020. Another analysis found that 25 percent of 332 samples taken in Northern California were of the new strain. “There was a homegrown variant under our noses,” Dr. Charles Chiu, a laboratory medicine specialist at University of California, San Francisco, told the newspaper. Chiu said they only found the strain when searching for the UK variant. Dr. Eric Vail, a pathologist at Cedars Sinai, said the strain could be responsible for doubling the state’s death toll in the space of less than three months. “It probably helped to accelerate the number of cases around the holiday season,” Vail said. “But human behavior is the predominant factor in the spread of a virus, and the fact that it happened when the weather became colder and in the midst of the holidays when people gather is not an accident.”
New COVID Strain B.1.1.7 Discovered in U.S.: What We Know – A new variant of the coronavirus believed to spread more easily has forced the United Kingdom into another lockdown and been detected in at least 33 countries, including the United States. Many of the U.S. cases have no known travel history – meaning the strain is spreading throughout communities. The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is not expected to be resistant to the vaccines rolled out in December, though scientists are racing to learn more about the mutation – and where it has already spread. Below is a primer for the public-health and political ramifications of the concerning development. The B.1.1.7 (U.K.) strain has been found in at least 21 U.S. states.The first U.S. cases of B.1.1.7. were identified in Colorado on December 29. On December 31, Florida health officials confirmed that a man in his 20s with no history of traveling had tested positive for the new COVID strain. These infections were shortly followed by California officials reporting six cases within the state: two in the same household in the Big Bear area east of Los Angeles and four in San Diego County. (One of the two Big Bear patients had contact with a person who returned from the U.K.) On January 4 and 5, New York and Georgia reported B.1.1.7. cases in patients with no travel history.As of January 21, multiple cases of the strain have been detected in 14 states, including Florida, California, New York, Colorado, Minnesota, Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Tennessee. Single cases have been detected in seven other states. Previously, the Centers for Disease Control has warned that the U.K. variant may already be spreading within the United States, because there is still ongoing travel between the nations and because scientists have not sequenced the genetic coding of the vast majority of cases. And on January 3, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned that the new strain could account for the majority of new cases in the U.S. by March. The variation found in the U.K., also known as “VUI – 202012/01″ was first identified there in mid-September, according to the World Health Organization. Its mutations have occurred on the genetic material that controls the spike protein, which allows COVID and other similar viruses to penetrate host cells, causing infection. According to the U.K.’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, there are 23 changes in the virus’s genetic material, an unusually large number that appears to be helping it spread more quickly. British officials have now estimated that the strain is as much as 70 percent more transmissible – a number that is based on modeling, but not yet confirmed in lab experiments. Though there is no evidence to-date that the strain causes a more intense illness or leads to a higher fatality rate, faster transmission does mean more cases, which can lead to a higher hospitalization rate. In the Atlantic, sociologist Zeynep Tufecki cites the work of Adam Kucharski, a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, to explain why an increase in transmissibility is such an alarming development: Kucharski compares a 50 percent increase in virus lethality to a 50 percent increase in virus transmissibility. Take a virus reproduction rate of about 1.1 and an infection fatality risk of 0.8 percent and imagine 10,000 active infections – a plausible scenario for many European cities, as Kucharski notes. As things stand, with those numbers, we’d expect 129 deaths in a month. If the fatality rate increased by 50 percent, that would lead to 193 deaths. In contrast, a 50 percent increase in transmissibility would lead to a whopping 978 deaths in just one month – assuming, in both scenarios, a six-day infection-generation time.
Mutant Coronaviruses Threaten To Undermine Vaccines – COVID-19 vaccines seem to be effective against two extra-contagious versions of the coronavirus, according to new lab results released on Monday. But experts see trouble ahead as the virus, which is mutating faster than scientists expected, could threaten to overcome vaccines. Moderna reported that its two-shot vaccine was still effective against two new variants, or mutated forms of the coronavirus, the B.1.1.7 one first seen in the United Kingdom and the B.1.351 one first found in South Africa. The study used blood samples from vaccinated people, showing that they still produced a “neutralizing” amount of antibodies when exposed to the variants of the virus in a test tube – sufficient to block infections. The news followed similar results from Pfizer and BioNTech, which last week announced that their vaccine successfully blocked the B.1.1.7 variant.But the new data is also concerning. Moderna reported a “six-fold reduction” in its vaccine’s antibody levels against the B.1.351 variant, supporting similar findings announced by South African scientists last week. While that’s still sufficient to block the virus, it’s a troubling signal that vaccinated immune systems may not be as good at identifying newer versions of the virus. Moderna is preemptively testing a third booster shot of its vaccine against the B.1.351 variant and an updated version of the vaccine designed specifically to fight it. Pfizer and BioNTech have seen similar reductions in antibody levels in response to this variant, according to theNew York Times.Moderna stated that the emergence of new strains and their ability to potentially thwart vaccines should be “a call to action.”“It looks like it does diminish more so the efficacy of the vaccine,” Anthony Fauci, chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. However, he said, the surprisingly effective Pfizer and Moderna vaccines – which both offer around 95% protection – give some “cushion” for the shots to still create enough antibodies to protect people.
Moderna Vaccine Not Effective Against “Mutant” South African COVID Strain, But Works With UK Variant — Moderna’s latest trial data includes some good news…and some bad news. The good news is that the biotech company’s original COVID jab is effective against two mutations of SARS-CoV-2 which were first isolated in the UK and South Africa, respectively. The bad news is that, at least when it comes to the South African variant, Moderna’s jab is much less effective than scientists had expected. That’s a bad sign, because it suggests the vaccines might not perform as well, particularly in elderly patients, or that the immunity they provide might not last as long, as various strains of the virus continue to mutate. However, perhaps due to the optimistic tone of the press release, investors took the news as a positive and bid Moderna shares higher. Here’s some more details from the FT:Laboratory tests show Moderna’s Covid-19 jab still works against the variant named 501.V2, which emerged in South Africa, and B.1.1.7, which was first discovered in the UK, the company said. But it warned that the neutralising antibody response to 501.V2 was sixfold lower than to the original variant, raising concerns that immunity to it may wane significantly, particularly in older people.Moderna has launched a series of trials intended to test its vaccine’s efficacy against several different mutant strains.But don’t worry, because even though Moderna’s CEO acknowledges that this is an extremely serious situation and the company is preparing for the worst-case scenario, everything is going to be okay.
Moderna develops new vaccine to tackle mutant Covid strain– Moderna is launching a trial of a new Covid-19 vaccine to tackle the coronavirus strain that has emerged in South Africa after warning that its existing jab was less effective at tackling the new variant. Laboratory tests show Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine still works against the variant named 501.V2, which first emerged in South Africa, and B.1.1.7, which was first discovered in the UK, the company said. But it warned that its shot produced only one-sixth of the antibodies in response to the South Africa variant than for the original virus. This has raised concerns that the immunity to the new strain offered by the company’s original jab may wane significantly – particularly in older people. Stéphane Bancel, Moderna chief executive, said the company was preparing for a “worst-case scenario”, even though he had “zero concerns” about the vaccine’s efficacy in the coming months. “If something needs to be done in the summer, we’ll do something, but we cannot be late,” he told the Financial Times. “We don’t want the virus to win, we want the human race to win.” Moderna is one of the leading makers of coronavirus vaccines, alongside rivals from BioNTech/Pfizer and Oxford university/AstraZeneca. Its vaccine is being used in the US, which bought 200m doses and funded the company with up to $4.1bn, while the EU has ordered 160m doses. The UK has ordered 17m doses, which are due to start arriving in the spring. Merck, one of the world’s leading vaccine makers, is ending its Covid-19 vaccine development after its two candidates failed to elicit immune responses as strong as those created by shots that are already available. The European Commission has piled pressure on AstraZeneca over its planned cut to first-quarter vaccine dose deliveries to the EU. AstraZeneca has said there is no “scheduled delay” to shipments of its vaccines, but warned that “initial volumes” would be lower than anticipated because of reduced yields at a manufacturing site in the EU supply chain. Emergency talks between the two sides were due to take place on Monday night. Stella Kyriakides, the EU’s health commissioner, said AstraZeneca’s proposed new supply schedule was “not acceptable”, adding that the company’s explanations for the problems had “not been satisfactory”. New variants pose a potential problem to pharma companies that have developed vaccines. Moderna hopes that, by preparing for a potential booster shot now, it will be ready by the autumn if needed. Its messenger RNA technology can be quickly adapted for new variants. If needed, the booster would be given to people who had already received the Moderna vaccine.
New Variants of the Virus that Causes COVID-19 | CDC – Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times, new variants emerge and persist. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been documented in the United States and globally during this pandemic. The virus that causes COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus, a large family of viruses. Coronaviruses are named for the crown-like spikes on their surfaces. Scientists monitor changes in the virus, including changes to the spikes on the surface of the virus. These studies, including genetic analyses of the virus, are helping scientists understand how changes to the virus might affect how it spreads and what happens to people who are infected with it. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are circulating globally:
- The United Kingdom (UK) identified a variant called B.1.1.7 with a large number of mutations in the fall of 2020. This variant spreads more easily and quickly than other variants. In January 2021, experts in the UK reported that this variant may be associated with an increased risk of death compared to other variant viruses, but more studies are needed to confirm this finding. It has since been detected in many countries around the world. This variant was first detected in the US at the end of December 2020.
- In South Africa, another variant called B.1.351 emerged independently of B.1.1.7. Originally detected in early October 2020, B.1.351 shares some mutations with B.1.1.7. Cases caused by this variant have been reported in the US at the end of January 2021.
- In Brazil, a variant called P.1 emerged that was first identified in travelers from Brazil, who were tested during routine screening at an airport in Japan, in early January. This variant contains a set of additional mutations that may affect its ability to be recognized by antibodies. This variant was first detected in the US at the end of January 2021.
These variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19. An increase in the number of cases will put more strain on health care resources, lead to more hospitalizations, and potentially more deaths. So far, studies suggest that antibodies generated through vaccination with currently authorized vaccines recognize these variants. This is being closely investigated and more studies are underway.
COVID-19 variants will soon outnumber cases of original strain, Fauci says – Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that new variants of the coronavirus that were initially found in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil – and have since been identified in the United States – are expected to persist and eventually outnumber cases of the earlier strain of the virus. “We will continue to see the evolution of mutants,” Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, said at a news briefing Friday. The variant first identified in the U.K. has now been found in 29 U.S. states, according to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Highly contagious variants first identified in South Africa and Brazil have also been found stateside. Fauci said vaccinating “as many people as we can, as quickly as we can,” is the best defense against new variants. “The virus has a playing field to mutate,” he said, explaining that the virus cannot mutate if it is not given the chance to replicate. “The virus will continue to mutate and will mutate for its own selective advantage,” he said. If COVID-19 is prevalent in a community, it is only a matter of time before the virus mutates as it is given ample “opportunity to adapt.”A newly identified strain of the coronavirus prevalent in Southern California could be behind the drastic spike in cases in the region. A study released on January 18 found that more than a third of recent COVID-19 patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles were infected with the strain, according to a release summarizing its findings. “The fact is that when you have a virus that has ability to transmit more efficiently than the wild type in the community, sooner or later by pure viral dynamics itself it will become more dominant than the wild type,” Fauci said.
The Most Worrying Mutations in Five Emerging Coronavirus Variants – Scientific American – When the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 burst upon the world last winter, scientists knew it was bad. But they also thought it was stable. Coronaviruses do not mutate as readily as the viruses that cause the flu, hepatitis or AIDS, for instance – thanks in part to a molecular “proofreading” system that SARS-CoV-2 and its kin use to prevent damaging genetic errors when replicating.Researchers were only partly right. The virus is indeed bad – but it is not so stable after all. SARS-CoV-2 has been acquiring minor random mutations ever since it jumped from animals to humans. These mutations can take the form of single-letter typos in the viral genetic code or deletions or insertions of longer stretches. When they occur, most mutations either kill the virus or cause no change in its structure or behavior. But in recent months, several new variants of the original virus (also called the wild type) have been spotted that appear to cause major changes in the way the pathogen acts, including alterations to its contagiousness. These viral versions have seemingly popped up in rapid succession in different geographical regions, such as the U.K., South Africa and Brazil, and in some cases have outcompeted the existing variants. Although improved surveillance and sequencing efforts might partly explain why these variants are appearing now, some repetition in their patterns suggest the mutations are not random. Here are five of the most prominent variants, listed in the order that researchers first spotted them. This roster identifies where each variant was first seen and gives the technical name or names scientists use to identify it. (Naming variants has caused some confusion because different research teams employ different systems. This list uses onebased on the ancestral lineage of each variant, but some variants still have more than one name). The entries also highlight important mutations in each variant – denoted by letters and numbers that indicate their position in the sequence of the viral genome – and describe what scientists know or suspect about what those changes do.
- The 20A.EU1 variant, first identified in Spain, contains a mutation called A222V on the viral spike protein. The spike is a component of SARS-CoV-2 that binds to a receptor on human cells called ACE2, and this attachment helps the virus get inside those cells and infect them. The spike protein is also the part of the pathogen that is targeted by human antibodies when they fight back against the infection. In lab tests, human antibodies were slightly less effective at neutralizing viruses with the A222V mutation. Over the course of several months, the 20A.EU1 variant became the dominant one in Europe. Epidemiologists never saw any evidence that it was more transmissible than the original, however. Researchers believe that when Europe began lifting travel restrictions last summer, the variant that was dominant in Spain spread across the continent.
- Scientists in the U.K. had been watching the B.1.1.7 variant for some time before announcing in December that it might be at least 50 percent more transmissible than the original form. That announcement was based on epidemiological data that showed the virus rapidly spreading throughout the nation. And it led to international travel bans and stronger lockdown measures in the U.K. The B.1.1.7 variant contains 17 mutations, including several in the spike protein. One of them, N501Y, has been found to help the virus bind more tightly to the ACE2 cellular receptor. It is unclear, however, whether the variant’s enhanced contagiousness comes from N501Y alone or also involves some combination of other spike protein mutations.
- The B.1.351 variant appeared around the same time as B.1.1.7, and it spread quickly in South Africa to become the dominant version in that country. Like its European counterpart, B.1.351 contains the N501Y mutation, although evidence seems to suggest the two variants arose independently. But scientists are more concerned about another mutation called E484K that appears in the South African version. The genetic change may help the virus evade the immune system and vaccines. Late this month researchers in South Africa released a preprint study (research that has not yet been peer-reviewed) showing that an antibody-containing serum from COVID patients was considerably less effective at neutralizing this variant. And in another preliminary preprint posted on January 26, scientists reported they put B.1.351 into serum taken from people who had been vaccinated with either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. They found antibodies in that serum showed reduced neutralizing activity against the mutant, compared with their activity against the original virus.
- In January researchers reported they had detected two new variants in Brazil, both descendants of a somewhat older common ancestor variant. Although they share mutations with other newly discovered versions, they appear to have arisen independently of those variants. Of the two, researchers are currently more concerned about P.1. That variant contains more mutations than P.2 (though both have E484K), and it has already been seen in Japan and other countries. Although it is possible that P.1 accumulated its mutations in an immunocompromised individual, genetics researcher Emma Hodcroft of the University of Bern in Switzerland says that it might be more difficult to pinpoint the time and place when this variant first arose because Brazil does not sequence nearly as many viral samples as the U.K.
With new vaccines, US racing against coronavirus mutations – A new coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson appears to be another promising tool in the fight against COVID-19, but the U.S. is racing against problematic virus mutations that could throw a wrench into the system. Johnson & Johnson on Friday announced its vaccine candidate offered strong protection against severe COVID-19 and prevented hospitalization and death, which could provide a major boost to the country’s overwhelmed health system. The company is expected to file for emergency use authorization with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) next week, potentially giving the U.S. a third vaccination to use against the virus. Vaccine experts praised the results, and cautioned against comparing them head-to-head with the current Moderna and Pfizer vaccines already in use. “The goal of this vaccine, it’s to keep you out of the hospital, keep you out of the ICU and keep you out of the morgue. Obviously it’s not fun having a mild infection, but it’s not a burden to the health care system,” said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious diseases expert, said during a White House briefing Friday that the Johnson & Johnson results had “important potential and real implications.” “This is a single-shot vaccine in which you start to see efficacy anywhere from seven to 10 days following the first and only shot,” Fauci said. “It is very, very good with regard to cold chain requirements … it is inexpensive and the company is capable of making doses in the billions.” Experts say the best way to prevent further mutations and more potentially dangerous variants is for people to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, because more immune people means less chance for the virus to spread and evolve. With its relatively easy storage requirements and ease of administration, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be a real help, if it is given to enough people fast enough. But its efficacy was limited against different strains, dropping from 72 percent in the U.S. to 66 percent in Latin America, all the way down to 57 percent in South Africa, where a new coronavirus variant is prevalent. The gap in efficacy is important. Novavax, a Maryland-based vaccine manufacturer, said Thursday that its vaccine was nearly 90 percent effective in the U.K. but just 49 percent effective in South Africa. The company is still gathering data in clinical trials though, and is not ready to file for authorization. Vaccines can be updated to specifically address that variant, and mRNA vaccines – which include the Pfizer and Moderna products – are particularly suitable for updating. However, the process for rolling out an updated vaccine or even a booster can take time, a valuable commodity in the middle of a raging pandemic. There would need to be more clinical trials and regulatory approval.
J&J Vaccine Provides Strong Shield Against Severe Covid — Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine generated strong protection against Covid-19 in a large, late-stage trial, raising hopes that it can rapidly reshape a stumbling immunization campaign.In a study of more than 43,000 people, the vaccine prevented 66% of moderate to severe cases of Covid-19, according to a company statement Friday. And it was particularly effective at stopping severe disease, preventing 85% of severe infections and 100% of hospitalizations and deaths.“If you can prevent severe disease in a high percentage of individuals, that will alleviate so much of the stress and human suffering” of the pandemic, said Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease official, at a briefing on the results with company and government officials.Based on the result, J&J plans to file with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an emergency-use authorization next week. The drug giant’s top scientist said this month he expects a clearance in March, and that it would have product ready to ship then. The company didn’t specify how much of the vaccine would be available immediately, though it reaffirmed that the U.S. would receive 100 million doses by the end of June.
Germany says AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine isn’t for people 65 and older -Germany’s vaccine commission said AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine should not be used on people 65 and older due to “insufficient data” on its efficacy.The Standing Vaccine Commission said the shot, which is being developed with the University of Oxford, should only be used on people ages 18 to 64 “based on available data.”“There is currently insufficient data to assess the efficacy of the vaccine for persons aged 65 years and older,” the panel of scientific experts said.The recommendation follows confusion earlier this week over the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s jab in adults over 65.Two German newspapers, citing government sources, said the shot was found to be as low as 8 percent effective in seniors – which the UK-based company said was “completely incorrect,” German broadcaster Deutsch Welle reportedTuesday.“In November, we published data in The Lancet demonstrating that older adults showed strong immune responses to the vaccine, with 100% of older adults generating spike-specific antibodies after the second dose,” AstraZeneca’s spokesperson said. The startling statistic was also rebutted by the German Health Ministry, which suggested the leaks mixed up the 8 percent figure.“At first glance, it appears that two things have been confused in the reports: About 8% of the subjects in the AstraZeneca efficacy study were between 56 and 69 years of age, and only 3 to 4% were over 70 years of age,” a spokesperson said. “However, this does not infer an efficacy of only 8% in the elderly.” The European Medicines Agency is expected to decide whether to approve AstraZeneca’s vaccine on Friday.
Oxford Pledged to Donate Covid Vaccine Rights, Then Sold Them, Thanks to Bill Gates – In a business driven by profit, vaccines have a problem. They’re not very profitable – at least not without government subsidies. Pharma companies favor expensive medicines that must be taken repeatedly and generate revenue for years or decades. Vaccines are often given only once or twice. In many parts of the world, established vaccines cost a few dollars per dose or less. Last year only four companies were making vaccines for the U.S. market, down from more than 20 in the 1970s. As recently as Feb. 11, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, complained that no major drug company had committed to “step up” to make a coronavirus vaccine, calling the situation “very difficult and frustrating.”Oxford University surprised and pleased advocates of overhauling the vaccine business in April by promising to donate the rights to its promising coronavirus vaccine to any drugmaker.The idea was to provide medicines preventing or treating COVID-19 at a low cost or free of charge, the British university said. That made sense to people seeking change. The coronavirus was raging. Many agreed that traditional vaccine development, characterized by long lead times, manufacturing monopolies and weak investment, was broken.A few weeks later, Oxford – urged on by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – reversed course. It signed an exclusive vaccine deal with AstraZeneca that gave the pharmaceutical giant sole rights and no guarantee of low prices – with the less-publicized potential for Oxford to eventually make millions from the deal and win plenty of prestige.Other companies working on coronavirus vaccines have followed the same line, collecting billions in government grants, hoarding patents, revealing as little as possible about their deals – and planning to charge up to $37 a dose for potentially hundreds of millions of shots. Even as governments shower money on an industry that has not made vaccines a priority in the past, critics say, failure to alter the basic model means drug industry executives and their shareholders will get rich with no assurance that future vaccines will be inexpensively available to all.
New COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7 identified at the University of Michigan – As of January 25, there have been six cases of a new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.7, identified in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Of those cases, five have been associated with the University of Michigan Ann Arbor (UMich) campus. The Washtenaw County Health Department (WCHD) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced on January 16 that the variant was discovered in a local woman, who had recently traveled to the United Kingdom. On January 21, two other individuals who had been in close contact with the woman initially infected were also diagnosed with the B.1.1.7 strain. All three women were associated with the university. By January 23, the MDHHS identified two more cases of the variant in individuals associated with the university and an additional case in the Wayne County area. “B.1.1.7 spreads more easily between people, but there has been no indication that it affects the clinical outcomes or disease severity compared to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has been circulating across the United States for months,” according to the January 23 MDHHS briefing. Contrary to the latest information from MDHHS, however, a document covering a study by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) in the UK from January 21 said that “there is a realistic probability that infection with B.1.1.7 is associated with an increased risk of death compared to infection with non-VOC (non-variant of concern).” Additionally, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged on Twitter January 22 that the new strain “may also be associated with a higher degree of mortality.” A Sunday announcement by GoBlue.com, the university’s news site, said that the school’s Athletic Department would immediately cease activity for up to 14 days, in compliance with an MDHHS mandate relating to the B.1.1.7 variant. “The (MDHHS) is mandating a more aggressive strategy for this B.1.1.7 variant, which exceeds current program efforts designed around the standard form of the virus,” the article read. It specified that individuals infected with the new strain on campus had been diagnosed by the Athletic Department’s own facilities.
More contagious Brazilian variant of coronavirus found in US for first time – A more contagious variant of coronavirus first discovered in Brazil has been found in the United States for the first time. The case of the variant, known as P.1, was found in a Minnesota resident who had recently traveled to Brazil, the state’s health department said. The variant was detected through random testing that the state performs to monitor for new variants. “We know that even as we work hard to defeat COVID-19, the virus continues to evolve as all viruses do,” said Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. “That’s yet another reason why we want to limit COVID-19 transmission – the fewer people who get COVID-19, the fewer opportunities the virus has to evolve. “The good news is that we can slow the spread of this variant and all COVID-19 variants by using the tried-and-true prevention methods of wearing masks, keeping social distance, staying home when sick, and getting tested when appropriate,” Malcolm added. In addition to the Brazilian variants, new strains first discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa are also posing concern. The Brazilian variant is similar to the South African one, which has provoked some concern that the vaccines could be less effective against it. Moderna said Monday that its studies showed that the vaccine is still effective against the South African variant, though levels of neutralizing antibodies were six times lower. Still, the antibody levels were still above the level to offer protection, the company said.
Coronavirus dashboard for January 25: a vaccination race against time vs. the new mutations – First things first: the most ominous thing I’ve read about the new coronavirus mutations comes from Dr. Eric Fiegl-Ding, who says, quite bluntly, “We need to switch to KN95, KF94, or European FFP2 masks ASAP. The new B117 COVID 19 is just too contagious. Cloth isn’t enough anymore folks.” Everyone needs to take heed of that advice. There’s also evidence that the B117 variant infects people with much higher viral loads (I.e., copies of the virus at the outset), increasing the fatality rate significantly for older people. In the meantime, here is where we stand. Total confirmed infections: 25,127,000 (I suspect the true number, including cases that were never tested, is closer to 33 million, or 1 in 10 Americans) 7 day average for last week: 170,032 (down from 249,168 peak on Jan 11) Total deaths: 419,217 7 day average for last week: 3,088 (down from 3,355 peak on Jan 13) Here are the 7 day averages for infections, hospitalizations, and deaths per capita graphically (note separate scales): There really isn’t a meaningful lag between confirmed infections and hospitalizations, indicating people are waiting till they are quite sick before getting tested. Deaths still lag both infections and hospitalizations. Crossing my fingers that we have hit the winter peak for all three metrics already, but very worried about the B117 variant, since most experts think it will become the dominant strain in the US by March – and because it is so much more infections, that means yet another spike. Now here is the vaccination data: Total vaccinations: 20,537,900 7 day average for last week: 1,179,830 (new high) Here is the average graphically, per capita: The good news is that the rate of vaccination has continued to increase, and already surpasses Biden’s 1 million per day goal. But in order to get everyone vaccinated by the end of 2021, we need to see that rise to over 2 million per day. And in order to get older people vaccinated before the new mutations cause a big spike in deaths, we probably need to see that rise to over 3 million per day in the next 45 days.
Nevada sees record number of COVID-19 deaths – Workers throughout the state of Nevada and city of Las Vegas have been extremely hard hit by the escalating coronavirus pandemic as it sweeps through the West of the United States. The policy of herd immunity is being deliberately cultivated as casinos, logistics and other industries have continued to operate as normal with little to no protections in place to stop the spread of the virus. In the last week and a half, Nevada has set single-day records for COVID-19 deaths three times, with 62 and 63 people succumbing to the virus on January 14 and 15, respectively, and then again on January 19, when 71 people died. By contrast, there were 83 deaths in the state in the entire month of June when the state began a limited reopening of nonessential businesses. The three-day death toll this month was more than half the number of deaths for the month of July when the reopening began in earnest. There were 311 coronavirus deaths two weeks ago, setting a weekly record for Nevada. Previously, the highest number of deaths recording in a week was for the week ending December 19, when there were 231 deaths. Test positivity rates decreased recently, from 21.6 percent to 19.8 percent, to much fanfare from the establishment media. However, the recent rates were still orders of magnitude higher than the September test positivity rate of 6.2 percent. It was also only two weeks ago that state health officials declared COVID-19 the leading cause of death for the month of December, when the pandemic claimed 981 lives. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in December was 981 and the January figure stands at 886, with another week still to go. With a population of over 3.1 million, Nevada has had 270,006 cumulative cases of COVID-19. The 14-day average of new cases stands at 1,783 and there were 1,549 hospitalizations on January 22. Thus far, the state has seen a total of 4,027 deaths from COVID-19. Out of 1,050 intensive care unit beds available, 73 percent are currently occupied; of the 762 beds that are occupied, 418 are due to COVID-19. Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak’s response to these grisly numbers has been to continue the economic “pause” instituted in September until the middle of February, which is also when the state plans to reopen schools for in-person instruction. The “pause” simply limits the size of public gatherings to 50 persons and the occupancy rates of (most) businesses to 25 percent. In other words, putting a hold on conventions and limiting attendance at gyms, but doing little to stop the spread of the virus at crowded, poorly ventilated casinos.
NY Nursing Home Deaths May Have Been 50% Higher Than Reported, AG’s Office Says – New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents by thousands, the state attorney general charged in a report Thursday that dealt a blow to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s oft-repeated claims that his state is doing better than others in protecting its most vulnerable. The 76-page report found an undercount of more than 50%, backing up the findings of an Associated Press investigation last year that focused on the fact that New York is one of the only states in the nation that count residents who died on nursing home property and not those who later died in hospitals. Such an undercount would mean the state’s current official tally of 8,711 nursing home deaths to the virus is actually more than 13,000, boosting New York from No. 6 to highest in the nation. “While we cannot bring back the individuals we lost to this crisis, this report seeks to offer transparency that the public deserves,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. The report from a fellow Democratic official undercut Cuomo’s frequent argument that the criticism of his handling of the virus in nursing homes was part of a political “blame game,” and it was a vindication for thousands of families who believed their loved ones were being omitted from counts to advance the governor’s image as a pandemic hero.
Covid-19: Many ICU staff in England report symptoms of PTSD, severe depression, or anxiety, study reports BMJ – Nearly half of intensive care unit (ICU) and anaesthetic staff surveyed for a study reported symptoms consistent with a probable diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe depression, anxiety, or problem drinking.1 The preprint, produced by researchers at King’s College London, aimed to get a picture of the rates of probable mental health disorders in ICU and anaesthetic staff in six English hospitals during June and July 2020. It found that while over half reported good wellbeing, many showed signs of mental health problems. The authors said that during the covid-19 pandemic, ICU staff have “faced a particularly challenging time” because of the high mortality among ICU patients with covid-19. “Difficulty in communication and providing adequate end-of-life support to patients and their next of kin, because of visiting restrictions, has been a specific stressor for all staff working in ICU,” they said. The researchers asked volunteers to complete an anonymised survey of questions regarding depression, anxiety symptoms, symptoms of PTSD, wellbeing, and alcohol use. Just over 700 staff members completed the surveys, including 291 doctors (41%), 344 nurses (48.5%), and 74 other healthcare staff (10.4%). The preprint said that over half (58.8%) of participants reported good wellbeing on the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (n=418, 58.8%). However, 45.4% (n=322) met the threshold for probable clinical significance on at least one of the following measures: severe depression (6.3%), PTSD (39.5%), severe anxiety (11.3%), or problem drinking (7.2%). The study also reported that 13.4% of respondents reported having thoughts that they would be better off dead, or of hurting themselves several days or more frequently in the two weeks before completing the survey. Nurses were more likely to report these thoughts than other healthcare staff (19.2% v 7.6% for doctors and 9.5% for clinical staff.)
January 26 COVID-19 Test Results and Vaccinations; January Now Deadliest Month -Note: Bloomberg has great data on vaccinations. “Vaccinations in the U.S. began Dec. 14 with health-care workers, and so far 23.5 million shots have been given, according to a state-by-state tally by Bloomberg and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last week, an average of 1.25 million doses per day were administered.”Also check out the graphs at COVID-19 Vaccine Projections The site has several interactive graphs related to US COVID vaccinations including a breakdown of how many have had one shot, and how many have had both shots. It is possible the 7-day average cases has peaked. Stay safe! I’m looking forward to not posting this data in a few months. The US is now averaging close to 2 million tests per day. Based on the experience of other countries, for adequate test-and-trace (and isolation) to reduce infections, the percent positive needs to be under 5% (probably close to 1%), so the US has far too many daily cases – and percent positive – to do effective test-and-trace.There were 1.7 million test results reported over the last 24 hours.There were 144 thousand positive tests.Almost 79,000 US deaths have been reported so far in January surpassing December as the deadliest month. See the graph on US Daily Deaths here. This data is from the COVID Tracking Project. The percent positive over the last 24 hours was 8.4% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by total tests (including pending). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing. (updated link to new site) The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations.
It is possible cases and hospitalizations have peaked, but are declining from a very high level.
As many as 1/3 of Americans could have COVID-19 immunity –As many as one-third of Americans could already have some immunity to COVID-19, a Post analysis of publicly available data shows. The figure is a combination of those who’ve had the virus – assuming they are offered some level of immunity – and people who’ve received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. That total is nearly 110 million Americans – or 33.2 percent of the population – with some protection against the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the total number of infections to be much higher than confirmed cases and has projected the actual infection count to be closer to 83.1 millionbetween February and December 2020. Add that to the 5,622,068 infections recorded by the COVID Tracking Project between January 1 and Thursday, plus the 21,698,606 people who the CDC says has received at least one dose of the vaccine to get to 109,892,726 Americans, minus those who’ve died or are currently hospitalized. The CDC has said those who’ve had the virus are afforded some level of natural immunity – though it’s not clear how long it lasts. When it comes to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are both being distributed across the US, some immunity is reached following the first of two doses.Pfizer reported their vaccine is roughly 52 percent effective after one dose, according to data published in the New England Journal of Medicine last December. Moderna’s is even better – in a document submitted to the Food and Drug Administration, the drugmaker found their inoculation provided 80.2 percent protection after a single dose. However, both of the vaccines are far more effectiveat warding off the virus after two doses with Pfizer reporting a 95 percent effectiveness rate after both doses and Moderna showing a 94.1 percent rate,according to the CDC. The Post’s analysis accounted for the number of people who died from the virus and those who are currently hospitalized. It did not account for any overlap from those who’ve received the vaccine after previously recovering from the virus or those who currently have the bug but aren’t in the hospital. Overall, the US is seeing cases trending downward in 41 states after a troubling holiday surge that saw a dramatic spike in infections in states across the country, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.
First known US cases of the South African COVID-19 variant have been found in South Carolina – The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced Thursday the detection of two cases associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant that first emerged recently in South Africa. These are the first two cases of this variant in the United States.South Carolina public health officials said they were notified late Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a South Carolina sample that was tested at LabCorp and determined to be the B.1.351 variant originally identified in South Africa. Also, DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory tested samples on Jan. 25 and Wednesday identified a separate case of the same variant.Since June 2020, DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory has been performing tests of random samples in order to identify any instances of the variant viruses.Watch the full news conference below:DHEC’s Public Health Laboratory will continue to conduct this important sampling to identify any other changes in the virus.DHEC said experts agree that existing vaccines work to protect us from this variant, even if we don’t know precisely how effective they are.At this time, there’s no evidence to suggest that the B.1.351 variant causes more severe illness, DHEC said.“The arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 variant in our state is an important reminder to all South Carolinians that the fight against this deadly virus is far from over,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, DHEC Interim Public Health Director. “While more COVID-19 vaccines are on the way, supplies are still limited. Every one of us must recommit to the fight by recognizing that we are all on the front lines now.
January 27 COVID-19 Test Results and Vaccinations –The reason I’m posting COVID data is this matters for the economy. From the FOMC statement today: “The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus, including progress on vaccinations.”It appears the 7-day average cases has peaked. Stay safe! I’m looking forward to not posting this data soon. Note: Bloomberg has great data on vaccinations. “Vaccinations in the U.S. began Dec. 14 with health-care workers, and so far 25.6 million shots have been given, according to a state-by-state tally by Bloomberg and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last week, an average of 1.21 million doses per day were administered.”Also check out the graphs at COVID-19 Vaccine Projections The site has several interactive graphs related to US COVID vaccinations including a breakdown of how many have had one shot, and how many have had both shots. The US is now averaging close to 2 million tests per day. Based on the experience of other countries, for adequate test-and-trace (and isolation) to reduce infections, the percent positive needs to be under 5% (probably close to 1%), so the US has far too many daily cases – and percent positive – to do effective test-and-trace.There were 1,627,862 test results reported over the last 24 hours. There were 151,675 positive tests. Almost 83,000 US deaths have been reported so far in January, surpassing December as the deadliest month. See the graph on US Daily Deaths here. This data is from the COVID Tracking Project. The percent positive over the last 24 hours was 9.3% (red line is 7 day average). The percent positive is calculated by dividing positive results by total tests (including pending). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing. (updated link to new site) The second graph shows the 7 day average of positive tests reported and daily hospitalizations. It seems likely cases and hospitalizations have peaked, but are declining from a very high level.
New Jersey records first US death from UK COVID strain – One person in New Jersey has died from the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19 – marking the first known US death from the new virus variant, state health officials said. The unidentified person had “significant underlying health conditions” and no history of international travel before succumbing to the illness Wednesday, according to State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.“It’s more important than ever with the variant to continue to mask up, social distance, stay home when you’re sick,” Persichilli said during a press conference Wednesday.A total of eight cases of the UK virus strain have been reported in the state, including one person who traveled internationally, according to Persichilli and other health officials.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun ramping up testing for all new variants of the virus, said Eddy Bresnitz, a COVID-19 adviser for New Jersey. No other details, including age and location of the person who died, were reported as of Thursday.
The New COVID Strains Are Now in These 29 States – Over the past week, medical experts’ worst fears have been realized when two additional new strains of the coronavirus were discovered on U.S. soil. These highly transmissible COVID variants have been causing more trouble than previous mutations in their countries of origin. A new strain found in the U.K. (B.1.1.7) spread so easily and quickly, it forced the country into another lockdown; a South African strain has researchers worried that it could affect vaccine efficacy (B.1.351); and a variant that emerged in Brazil (P.1) may partially evade treatments, too. As of Jan. 28, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that all three of these strains have made their way into the United States. The U.K. strain has been spreading in the U.S. the longest, since the end of December, with 315 cases detected so far. As a result, the CDC predicts that – combined with it being 50 percent more transmissible than the previous dominant strain – it will become the dominant variant in the U.S. by March. As for the South African and Brazilian strains, only a few cases of each have been found in the country so far – but those numbers are likely to grow. Read on to find out how many cases of the new strains have been found in your state so far, according to the CDC’s data as of Jan. 28. (Note: If your state isn’t included, no new variants have been reported there yet.) And if you’re worried about the new strains, If You Have These 4 Symptoms, You Might Have the New COVID Strain.
New cases of South Africa coronavirus variant found in Maryland — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Saturday that the state has detected its first coronavirus case caused by the variant first identified in South Africa.Hogan said the variant’s presence was confirmed by the Maryland Department of Health in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The case involves an adult living in the Baltimore metro region who has not traveled internationally, raising the prospects of community transmission of the mutated virus. “State health officials are closely monitoring the B.1.351 variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the state,” said Hogan. “We strongly encourage Marylanders to practice extra caution to limit the additional risk of transmission associated with this variant. Please continue to practice standard public health and safety measures, including mask wearing, regular hand washing, and physical distancing.” Health officials have raised the alarm over the spread of the variant. While there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the South African variant causes more severe illness, it does appear to be more contagious and resistant to some vaccines. The first case of the South Africa variant to be detected in the U.S. was found in South Carolina on Thursday.Both Pfizer and Moderna have assured the public that their vaccines are effective against the mutation. Experts have said the spread of the South Africa variant and other mutations found in Brazil and the United Kingdom only underscores the need for widespread vaccination so the possibility of the virus mutating as it spreads is reduced.
Mexico’s president tests positive for COVID-19 – Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Sunday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. “I regret to inform you that I am infected with COVID-19,” López Obrador tweeted. “The symptoms are mild but I am already under medical treatment. As always, I am optimistic. We will all move forward.” López Obrador confirmed that he will continue working following the diagnosis, including taking a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday about obtaining doses of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has not been approved for use in Mexico, according to The Associated Press. The country has been distributing the Pfizer vaccine. A slate of world leaders has tested positive for COVID-19 amid the ongoing pandemic, including former President Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Monaco’s Prince Albert II. Mexico has reported a surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the fall and winter, with over 1.7 million coronavirus cases across the country. Mexico reported 20,057 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, as well as 1,470 fatalities.
New Zealand identifies first community spread of COVID-19 since November — New Zealand identified its first community spread case of COVID-19 since November on Sunday after a 56-year-old woman tested positive for the coronavirus strain that is thought to have originated in South Africa.Officials announced that the woman had tested positive for COVID-19 after leaving her two-week mandatory isolation following her return to the country from Europe on Dec. 30 for work. Before leaving the quarantine facility in Auckland, the woman had twice tested negative for the virus, COVID-19 response minister Chris Hipkins said, according to Reuters. Authorities said they think the woman contracted the more contagious strain from a fellow person at the isolation facility. Hipkins said officials were examining whether the virus could have spread through the ventilation and air conditioning systems. Officials found 15 close contacts of the woman, and the closest contacts, her husband and hairdresser, had tested negative. The test results from the rest of the contacts were expected to come back on Monday, The Guardian reported. New Zealand last documented a COVID-19 community transmission in November, Reuters reported citing the Health Ministry website.
Israel to close its only major airport in bid to slow coronavirus spread -Israel will close its sole major airport for one week in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus and stymie new variants that are cropping up.The Washington Post reports that Israel’s cabinet agreed on Sunday to stop all incoming and outgoing from Ben Gurion International Airport until at least the end of January. Cargo flights, medical evacuations and “firefighting flights” will be exempted from the rule.“No nation has done what we are about to do – we are hermetically sealing the country,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We do this to prevent the entry of the virus mutations and to ensure that we progress quickly with our vaccination campaign.”The rule will extend to Jewish immigrants traveling to the country under the Law of Return, the Post reports.The more infectious U.K. variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Israel, the Post reports, contributing to Israel’s decision to seal itself off from the world. Another new strain has been discovered that is thought to have originated in South Africa.The Post notes Israel has excelled in administering doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, with 27 percent of its population receiving the first dose. However, the country has received international condemnation for refusing to provide vaccines to Palestinians in its occupied territories “Nothing can justify today’s reality in parts of the West Bank, where people on one side of the street are receiving vaccines, while those on the other do not, based on whether they’re Jewish or Palestinian,” said Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch (HRW) Omar Shakir in a statement. “Everyone in the same territory should have equitable access to the vaccine, regardless of their ethnicity.” Palestinian leaders have stated that they do not have the funds to pay for coronavirus vaccines. Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has said that Israel is not responsible for providing vaccines to Palestinians, but acknowledged it would be within Israel’s interests to do so. However, Edelstein stated that any vaccines provided to Palestine would come after Israel’s population had been vaccinated.
COVID strain in South Africa shows huge resistance to antibodies from original virus – – The race to vaccinate people against COVID-19 has been made even more urgent by the emergency of new, more contagious variants of thecoronavirus. CBS News got rare access to a lab in South Africa studying one of themore worrying new strains of the virus, which appears to have at least some resistance to the antibodies that vaccines create in the human body to fend off the bug.Virus hunters in the high-risk biohazard lab in Durban are hot on the trail of the mutant strain spreading at breakneck speed across South Africa. The virus has mutated to attach itself more easily to human cells, making the disease no more deadly, but helping it spread a lot more easily.”We do believe that we are going through a new pandemic with this variant that not only transmits much faster, but that also potentially has less neutralization,” genetic scientist Tulio de Oliveira tells CBS News. De Oliveira discovered the new variant after observing a dramatic uptick in infections in November. His colleagues in the highly secured lab have developed a live culture of the strain to speed up their research. Alex Sigal is a senior researcher at the Africa Health Research Institute and at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology. He says the new strain discovered in South Africa appears to have the ability to reduce the effectiveness of antibodies in people infected with the original version of the virus significantly. “Ten-fold would be conservative,” he tells CBS News, but “you can also have complete knock-out,” meaning a person’s natural defenses to the original strain of the virus could prove useless against the variant in South Africa. That means those infected in the first wave could have little protection from the new strain, and even more troubling, it could render some of the vaccines less effective.”It’s clear that we’ve underestimated this virus,” he says. “On the other hand, the evidence is not there yet that vaccines will be affected, and certainly people should keep vaccinating because that’s the solution to this pandemic.”
New COVID-19 variants fuelling Africa’s second wave | WHO | Regional Office for Africa – COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging in Africa as new, more contagious variants of the virus spread to additional countries. Over 175 000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 6200 deaths were reported in Africa in the last week while infections rose by 50% on the continent between 29 December 2020 and 25 January 2021 when compared with the previous four weeks. In the past week, there has been a small dip in cases in South Africa, but 22 countries continue to see their case numbers surge. Deaths rose two-fold in the same four-week period, with over 15 000 concentrated in 10 mainly southern and northern African nations. The 501Y.V2 variant, first identified in South Africa, is predominant and powering record case numbers in South Africa and the sub-region. It has been found in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Comoros, Zambia and in 24 non-African nations. “The variant which was first detected in South Africa has spread quickly beyond Africa and so what’s keeping me awake at night right now is that it’s very likely circulating in a number of African countries,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. The variant that was initially detected in the United Kingdom has been found in The Gambia and Nigeria. Further research is needed to determine whether the new strain causes more severe illness. WHO is working to track and tackle new variants by helping countries build and boost the complex genomic surveillance capacities needed to detect and respond to new variants, shipping samples to sequencing laboratories and providing supplies and technical guidance. With the Africa Centres of Disease Control and Prevention, WHO helped set up a COVID-19 genomic sequencing laboratory network with laboratories in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. WHO calls on all countries to ship at least 20 samples to sequencing laboratories every month to help map the fast-evolving situation and best target responses at all levels.
Swedish health agency investigates after 1,000 people receive Moderna vaccine kept at too low a temperature Around 1,000 Swedes have received Moderna Covid-19 shots that were kept too cold while being transported, the company in charge of deliveries, Apoteket AB, said on Friday. A total of 2,100 doses of the US-made vaccine that were kept too cold in transit have been delivered to the regions of Gävleborg, Halland, Värmland, Dalarna, and fistergötland, a government spokesperson said. The Swedish Public Health Agency has said there is no risk to those given the Moderna vaccine, but it has halted the rollout and is investigating whether keeping doses too cold may affect the vaccine’s efficacy. “We apologize for what happened and consider it an accident,” said the deputy health chief of the Gävleborg region, Tina Mansson Söderlund, who also pledged to investigate the incident.The government’s top epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, told newspaper Dagens Nyheter that an initial assessment of the situation was that those who received the affected doses are in no danger. “Unfortunately, the supplier has made a mistake and delivered the vaccine far too cold, ie at the same level as it would have done with Pfizer’s vaccine,” he explained. “The modern vaccine is not made to be moved so cold.”
Spain sees record rise in cases – as it happened — Spain has recorded a record number of weekend cases, logging 93,822 infections between Friday and Monday, and 767 deaths. The latest statistics, published by the health ministry on Monday, make the last weekend the worst of the entire pandemic in terms of new cases. The number of cases of the virus per 100,ooo people over the past 14 days rose from 829 on Friday to 885 on Monday. Fernando Simón, Spain’s health emergencies chief, said the country’s intensive care units were being stretched to their limits and called on people to step up preventative measures. He also said the surge in cases could be traced back to the festive period, which runs until 6 January in Spain. “It’s been 20 days since Christmas and we’ve seen a very sharp rise since the end of the year,” he said. “Transmission doesn’t just suddenly cut off. We will probably also see that the descent following this peak will be far slower.” To date, Spain has recorded 2,593,382 cases and 56,208 deaths. It has so far administered 1,237,593 doses of the vaccine to its population of almost 47 million people. France on Monday reported 4,240 new infections, compared with 18,436 on Sunday and 3,736 last Monday. The number of people in intensive care rose above the 3,000 for the first time since 9 December, Reuters reports. France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said on Bloomberg Television nothing had been decided in regard to a new, third lockdown, emphasising that France will struggle to reach its 2021 target of 6% economic growth if another general lockdown is imposed. The last lockdown was lifted on 15 December, in light of patients being treated in intensive care staying below 3,000.
Spain’s COVID-19 deaths surge to April levels – Spain’s COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday surged to levels unseen since mid-April, with the Health Ministry reporting 591 related fatalities. The country also reported 36,435 new infections. That is down from late last week but 2,144 above the same figure reported last Tuesday. In the last two weeks, more than 420,000 people have tested positive for the disease in Spain. This record-breaking infection rate has brought thousands of people to hospitals. At the moment, 30,815 people are being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals – nearly three times more people than a month ago. Now, 24% of all Spain’s hospital beds and 41% of all intensive care units are being used by COVID-19 patients. In Valencia, six out of every 10 intensive care units are dedicated to treating the infectious disease. Health authorities have decided against a full lockdown, instead opting for target measures like curfews, mobility restrictions and closing bars and restaurants. Schools remain open nationwide. However, in La Linea de la Concepcion – Spain’s border city with Gibraltar – around 90% of parents have refused to send their children to school since the Christmas holidays came to an end. In the city, more than one out of every 50 people have been infected in the past two weeks, and residents fear the UK variant is running rampant. Parents are asking for online classes until contagion drops, but local authorities say not only are schools safe, but parents have a legal responsibility to send their children for learning. Spain has also confirmed 267 infections of the highly-contagious UK variant. Chief epidemiologist Fernando Simon said it could become the dominant strain in Spain in the next four to six weeks.
Massive coronavirus outbreak at Airbus plant in Hamburg, Germany – The Airbus plant in Hamburg has become a coronavirus hotspot. A total of 21 workers at the aircraft manufacturer have been infected with COVID-19. As a result, 500 workers on an entire shift have been sent into quarantine. The outbreak at Airbus shows once again that workers are completely on their own when it comes to the high health risks to which they are exposed. The company, the authorities and the trade unions and their works council representatives owe their allegiance to the bank accounts of the shareholders rather than the lives and health of the workforce. Around 12,000 people work at Airbus in Hamburg. There was no press release announcing the infection and quarantine of an entire shift at the Hanseatic city’s largest employer, neither from the company nor the IG Metall union, which dominates the works council, nor by the Hamburg health authorities. It was only after the tabloid Bild reported the incident that the Hamburg health authority and Airbus Group felt compelled to confirm the outbreak to the Deutsche Presseagentur (dpa). The origin of the cases is still under investigation, Airbus told dpa. The employees had been working in two neighbouring halls and using common break rooms, where the virus was believed to have spread. Whether it was a highly contagious strain of the virus that has greater and more dangerous effects in the workforce, the health authority would not be able to say until the middle of the week at the earliest, it said.
Germany excludes elderly from AstraZeneca Covid vaccine recommendation – While the vaccine appears to work as well as other shots, there was insufficient information on its effectiveness for people over 65 years old, said the group Germany cast doubt on the effectiveness of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 shot for the elderly in a move that could perpetuate the European Union’s vaccine supply shortages. The country’s immunization commission recommended that the drugmaker’s inoculation be authorized only for people between the ages of 18 and 64, according to a draft assessment released Thursday by the German health ministry. While the vaccine appears to work as well as other shots, there was insufficient information on its effectiveness for people over 65 years old, said the group, which evaluates vaccines for the German government. Although the German panel’s recommendations aren’t legally binding, they’re the basis for state and federal vaccination guidelines. The German assessment comes a day before the European Medicines Agency is expected to clear the shot. “The latest analyses of clinical trial data for the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine support efficacy in the over 65 years age group,” the drugmaker said in a statement. “We await a regulatory decision on the vaccine by the EMA in the coming days.” The EU has struggled to scale up its vaccine program, with the U.K. administering three times as many doses per capita as the most advanced country on the continent, Denmark. The bloc has purchased as many as 400 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and is in a dispute with the company over delivery delays. After mounting pressure in recent days, AstraZeneca has agreed to publish its vaccine contract with the EU, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified because the decision is private. The step was first reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which also said AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot pledged that the company would deliver more vaccine to EU member states as early as February. The paper cited people familiar with a conversation between the company management and the EU. Stefan De Keersmaecker, health-policy spokesperson at the European Commission, declined to confirm the report. EU discussions with Astra are continuing, he said, adding that “we need clear agreement on quick deliveries” and aren’t there yet. AstraZeneca declined to comment on the article.
Carlos Slim, Latin America’s richest man, hospitalized with COVID-19 – Latin America’s richest man, Carlos Slim, has been hospitalized with COVID-19, his family has revealed.The Mexican telecoms magnate – who turned 81 on Thursday – was taken to the National Institute of Nutrition, a public health center in Mexico City, on Monday, one of his sons, Carlos Slim Domit,tweeted.The businessman – whose family is worth more than $58 billion, according to Forbes – sought monitoring and “timely treatment” despite “making very good progress” with “minor symptoms,” the son insisted.He had remained hospitalized until at least Wednesday, when his spokesman, Arturo Elias, said Slim remained there “for analysis and monitoring,” but was “doing very, very well.”Slim and his family, who control mobile telecom giant America Movil, are 23rd in Forbes’ real-time list of wealthiest billionaires, easily the richest in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.As of Thursday, Mexico had registered more than 1.8 million COVID-19 cases, with more than 153,000 deaths – the world’s fourth-highest fatality toll after the United States, Brazil and India, Johns Hopkins University data shows. Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Sunday that he was among many who had tested positive for the coronavirus.
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