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 US cases of the coronavirus continued to inch a bit higher this week, while deaths attributed to the virus continued to fall. New Covid infections during the week ending April 17th were 2.2% higher than during the week ending April 10th, and up 26.5% from the 7 days ending March 16th (a six month low), but still down 72.6% from the early January peak. US Covid deaths were down 2.5% from the prior week, and down 78.7% from the January peak, and almost at the lowest level since they began rising in early July of last year. New infection increases have been centered in a handful of states, led by Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida, although all states in the Great Lakes region have been seeing increases, including Ohio. Still, new cases are actually falling in the majority of US states.
Meanwhile, both new cases and deaths continue to surge in most other countries; we’ve been seeing a record high global average of about three-quarters of a million new cases daily this past week, with new cases during the week ending April 17th 13.7% higher than the prior week, and up by 108.2% from the week ending February 20th. This week’s Covid deaths were 6.5% higher than last week’s globally, and up 41.0% from the March low….India has accounted for more than a quarter of the new infections globally, whereas Brazil continues to account for nearly a quarter of the deaths. Other countries contributing to the current global rise in cases include Turkey, France, Iran and Germany, while Poland, Italy, Mexico and the Ukraine have been seeing major increases in Covid deaths.
The chart below from WorldoMeter shows the daily number of new cases for the US, updated through 10 April.
According to Johns Hopkins (graph below), new cases globally continue to increase and are still accelerating.
Also, Johns Hopkins has a graph for global deaths (below). Next week we will see if the high data early in the week might represent a top for this wave or not.
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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: 17 April 2021 Coronavirus Charts and News: More Exercise Linked to Lower Chance of Severe COVID-19. COVID Is Sending Little Kids To Hospitals.
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:
How Common Is ‘Long Covid’? New Studies Suggest More Than Previously Thought – Once upon a time, it seemed that once you recovered from Covid-19, you were home free – that experiencing the disease might be terrible, but surviving it meant you were done with it. Now we know that’s not the case, as it’s become clear that a growing number of Covid-19 survivors are experiencing long-term effects – known as “long Covid” (formally Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 or PASC) – even after the virus is ostensibly out of their bodies. What’s more, these “long haulers” are not a small group: studies are showing that, given the vast number of people who have survived Covid-19 globally, it could actually be in the millions. A survey earlier this month from the Office for National Statistics in Britain polled more than 20,000 participants who’d tested positive for Covid-19 in the last year and found that one in five survivors reported having symptoms after five weeks – and at 12 weeks, the number was still 13.7% (almost one in seven people). The most common symptoms experienced at five weeks were fatigue (11.8%), cough (11%), headache (10%), and muscle pain (7.7%). (Loss of taste and smell followed, each affecting about 6.3% of participants.) At 12 weeks, the prevalence of symptoms was slightly lower, but still distributed similarly and much higher than a control group who hadn’t had Covid-19. In terms of the big picture, when the authors extrapolated the numbers to the whole of the UK, they suggest that more than a million residents may have experienced long Covid by the beginning of March 2021.Studies have also shown the striking array of acute effects the coronavirus can have on the body and its organ systems, from cardiovascular to pulmonary to neurological-psychological to kidney and more. That Covid-19 is now considered a multi-organ disease may translate to a wider spectrum of long Covid symptoms than previously understood.In fact, a new study from researchers at hospitals around the country found that long Covid symptoms included fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog, loss of sense of smell or taste, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, headache/migraine, and non-restorative sleep. The authors offer guidelines on how to treat patients with long Covid, and urge a multidisciplinary approach to support both the physical and the mental health of those living with long Covid.While it seems that people with more severe Covid-19, especially those who were hospitalized, are at higher risk for long Covid (a study from Wuhan found that after six months, three-quarters of these patients still had at least one symptom), this doesn’t mean that people with mild illness are off the hook. A study out last week from the Karolinska Institute reported that among a group of healthcare workers who’d had mild Covid-19, 10% still had at least one symptom severe enough to impact their work, home, or social lives eight months later (the most common symptoms were loss of smell and taste, fatigue, and respiratory problems). While the study was quite small and the results should be interpreted with some caution, other studies have also suggested that even mild initial illness can lead to long-term effects.It’s not totally clear what causes long Covid, or any post-viral syndrome, for that matter, including chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. It may be that remnants of the virus are left in the body or that symptoms are due to damage from the body’s own immune response – and/or the fact that it may just take a long time to repair the various levels of injury caused by the acute phase of the illness. There’s some early suggestion that the Covid-19 vaccine reduces symptoms in long haulers, most in the form of anecdotal evidence and surveys, not yet in peer-reviewed studies. One in-the-works study found that after vaccination, long Covid symptoms resolved in over 20% of participants, and some suggest it may be even higher.
Long COVID sufferer describes her experience: “I do not recognize my body. I feel like a prisoner in it” – Katie is 33 years old and has been suffering from Long COVID since her initial infection in March 2020. Prior to contracting COVID-19, Katie worked a demanding job as a corporate recruiter in New York City. She lost her job a year ago due to the pandemic. “I have had a very independent and adventurous spirit my entire adult life, and COVID has taken all of that away from me,” she said. “Long COVID has changed everything about my life. I don’t even recognize the person I see in the mirror. I’ve gone from independent to dependent, and it goes against everything I have ever worked for. My immediate family has been so helpful and gone out of their way to care for me, but my extended family I’ve had to block. They told me I look fine, why am I spreading lies, spreading fear? ‘COVID is not real.’ I have had some friends do the same. I’ve lost so many friends this year, but the ones that matter are still around.” More than one year into the coronavirus pandemic and many are still suffering chronic symptoms from their initial infection. This post-viral syndrome is sometimes called Long COVID and sufferers are referred to as “long haulers.” Some long haulers have been suffering with Long COVID for more than a year with no idea how long their symptoms will persist. Similar to data and reports from other Long COVID sufferers, Katie describes a varied set of symptoms, which rotate or occur all at the same time. Symptoms vary, but they commonly include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, brain fog, depression, anxiety and short-term memory loss. Many long haulers are middle-aged, have few to zero medical comorbidities and were never hospitalized for their initial COVID-19 infection. She described a laundry list of ailments: “I get dizzy, I pass out. I am 33 years old, and I walk with a walker. I am on a very, very strict diet. I have a histamine intolerance, which I didn’t have before, and it really limits what I can eat, but I also don’t have any appetite. My weight is a yo-yo. I initially lost a lot of weight, and then I got the ‘COVID bloat’ and gained 30 pounds in weeks, but had initially lost 60. My menstrual cycles are nightmares. I am in so much pain I cannot do anything the week before, the week during and the week after. I had never had any problems with that. “I did have anxiety before, but it was high functioning, and I could accomplish anything I put my mind to. I was very successful in school and work. Now I refer to it as my ‘nonfunctioning anxiety.’ I can’t even go to a store now. I cannot be around other people. Noises and sounds affect me.” When asked how her symptoms have changed over time, Katie said, “Now is the worst of it, a year later, and it’s the worst it has ever been. Right around March is when my neurological issues got worse. I stutter, some days are worse than others. I pass out, the dizziness is worse.” While little is still understood about the phenomenon of Long COVID, numerous studies have indicated that approximately one in three people infected with COVID-19 will develop Long COVID. For some this could mean six months with no sense of smell and mild fatigue, while for others, like Katie, it could mean an entire life put on pause from debilitating symptoms. A more detailed analysis of recent research on the subject of Long COVID can be found here..
Staggering 10 to 15 percent of infected children suffer from Long COVID — Recently published data from the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that among children who have survived COVID-19, 13 percent of those 11 years or younger and about 15 percent of those aged 12 to 16 are suffering the effects of Post-acute COVID-19 (“Long COVID”) and report at least one symptom five weeks after a confirmed COVID-19 infection.Long COVID is a multisystem disease in which growing numbers of adults and children are suffering from lingering symptoms for months or even a year now after contracting COVID-19. These include sleep disorders such as insomnia, heart palpitations, gastrointestinal issues, breathing difficulties, muscle and joint pain plus exhaustion, headaches and cognitive impairment (“brain fog”) and overall lack of concentration. Those who suffer from persistent symptoms sometimes refer to themselves as “long haulers.”An Italian study published in January 2021 showed that of the 129 children diagnosed with COVID-19 between March and November, 2020, “More than a half reported at least one persisting symptom even after 120 days since COVID-19, with 42.6% being impaired by these symptoms during daily activities. Symptoms like fatigue, muscle and joint pain, headache, insomnia, respiratory problems and palpitations were particularly frequent, as also described in adults.” The revelations are particularly concerning for infants, toddlers and children who are at the crucial stage of development. There is nothing yet known about how long it will affect and potentially ruin their long-term development and lives.“The first thing is don’t let your child get COVID. You can’t develop Long COVID or have post COVID complications if you never get COVID,” said Dr. Daniel Griffin in a March 17, 2021 interview with Medcram.com. Griffin is an MD/PhD board certified in infectious disease and an instructor in Clinical Medicine and an associate research scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University.Dr. Griffin cited data from the UK and explained the troubling cases he is seeing in the New York Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) that some ten percent of children with COVID are suffering from Long COVID. “The one thing I want to bring up which parents are getting very upset about now is that children, like adults, may get covid and not be better in a week or two. Long COVID in adults is twenty percent, in children it may be as high as ten percent, that is what we are seeing in the UK where they have good surveillance.”
Prolonged Brain Dysfunction in COVID-19 Survivors: A Pandemic in its Own Right? – One in three survivors of COVID-19, those more commonly referred to as COVID-19 long-haulers, suffered from neurologic or psychiatric disability six months after infection, a recent landmark study of more than 200,000 post-COVID-19 patients showed. Researchers looked at 236,379 British patients diagnosed with COVID-19 over six months, analyzing neurologic and psychiatric complications during that time period. They compared those individuals to others who had experienced similar respiratory illnesses that were not COVID-19. They found a significant increase in several medical conditions among the COVID-19 group, including memory loss, nerve disorders, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and insomnia. Additionally, the symptoms were present among all age groups and in patients who were asymptomatic, isolating in home quarantine, and those admitted to hospitals. The results of this study speak to the seriousness of long-term consequences of COVID-19 infection. Numerous reports of brain fog, post-traumatic stress disorder, heart disease, lung disease and gastrointestinal disease have peppered the media and puzzled scientists over the past 12 months, begging the question: What effect does COVID-19 have on the body long after the acute symptoms have resolved? I am an assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery and can’t help but wonder what we have learned from past experience with other viruses. One thing in particular stands out: COVID-19 consequences will be with us for quite some time. Past virus outbreaks, such as the 1918 flu pandemic and the SARS epidemic of 2003, have provided examples of the challenges to expect with COVID-19. And, the long-term effects of other viral infections help provide insight. Several other viruses, including a large majority of those that cause common upper and lower respiratory infections, have been shown to produce such chronic symptoms as anxiety, depression, memory problems and fatigue. Experts believe that these symptoms are likely due to long-term effects on the immune system. Viruses trick the body into producing a persistent inflammatory response resistant to treatment. Myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is one such illness. Researchers believe this condition results from continuous activation of the immune system long after the initial infection has resolved. In contrast to other viral infections, the COVID-19 survivors in the study reported persistent symptoms lasting more than six months, with no significant improvement over time. The abundance of psychiatric symptoms was also notable and likely attributable to both infection and pandemic-related experience. COVID-19 is now known to be a disease that affects all organ systems, including the brain, lungs, heart, kidneys and intestines. Several theories exist as to the cause of chronic, lingering symptoms. Hypotheses include direct organ damage from the virus, continual activation of the immune system after acute infection and persistent lasting virus particles that find safe harbor within the body. To date, autopsy studies have not confirmed the presence or overabundance of COVID-19 particles in the brain, making the immune theories the most likely cause of brain dysfunction. Some recovered COVID-19 patients detail significant improvement or resolution of long symptoms following inoculation with the COVID-19 vaccine. Others report improvement following a short course of steroids. The most plausible explanation for the direct effects of long COVID-19 on the brain are due to its body-wide connections and the fact that COVID-19 is a multi-organ disease.
How common is stroke in people critically ill with COVID-19? – – A large, year-long study has found that among people with COVID-19 who were hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU), 2% experienced a stroke after they were admitted to the ICU. The preliminary study released today, April 15, 2021, will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 73rd Annual Meeting being held virtually April 17 to 22, 2021. The study also found that hemorrhagic stroke, a bleeding stroke, was associated with a higher risk of death among people in the ICU, but ischemic stroke, a stroke caused by a blood clot blocking an artery, was not. “Stroke has been a known serious complication of COVID-19 with some studies reporting a higher-than-expected occurrence, especially in young people,” said study author Jonathon Fanning, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “However, among the sickest of patients, those admitted to an ICU, our research found that stroke was not a common complication and that a stroke from a blood clot did not increase the risk of death.” Researchers evaluated the patient data at 370 hospital ICUs and found 59 people, or 2.2%, experienced a stroke during their stay in the ICU. Of those, 19 people, or 32%, had a stroke from a clot, 27 people, or 46%, had a bleeding stroke, and 13 people, or 22%, had an unspecified stroke. Researchers determined that people who had a bleeding stroke had up to five times greater risk of death than people without stroke. However, people who had a stroke from a clot had no increased risk of death. Of the people with bleeding stroke, 72% died, but of those, only 15% died of stroke. Instead, multiorgan failure was the leading cause of death.
The ongoing evolution of variants of concern and interest of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil revealed by convergent indels in the amino (N)-terminal domain of the Spike protein -Virological – Abstract: Mutations at both the receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the amino (N)-terminal domain (NTD) of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein can alter its antigenicity and promote immune escape. We identified that SARS-CoV-2 lineages circulating in Brazil with mutations of concern in the RBD independently acquired convergent deletions and insertions in the NTD of the S protein, which altered the NTD antigenic-supersite and other predicted epitopes at this region. These findings support that the ongoing widespread transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil is generating new viral lineages that might be more resistant to neutralization than parental variants of concern.
As Variants Have Spread, Progress Against the Virus in U.S. Has Stalled – United States coronavirus cases have increased again after hitting a low point late last month, and some of the states driving the upward trend have also been hit hardest by variants, according to an analysis of data from Helix, a lab testing company. The country’s vaccine rollout has sped up since the first doses were administered in December, recently reaching a rolling average of more than three million doses per day. And new U.S. cases trended steeply downward in the first quarter of the year, falling by almost 80 percent from mid-January through the end of March. But during that period, states also rolled back virus control measures, and now mobility data shows a rise in people socializing and traveling. Amid all this, more-contagious variants have been gaining a foothold, and new cases are almost 20 percent higher than they were at the lowest point in March. “It is a pretty complex situation, because behavior is changing, but you’ve also got this change in the virus itself at the same time,” said Emily Martin, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Cases are up in states with strong variant presence. Michigan has seen the sharpest rise in cases in the last few weeks.B.1.1.7 – the more transmissible and more deadly variant of the coronavirus that was first discovered in the United Kingdom – may now make up around 70 percent of all of the state’s new cases, according to the Helix data. The vaccines authorized in the United States are very effective against the B.1.1.7 variant and will significantly slow virus spread once a large share of the population is vaccinated. Some experts estimate 70 to 90 percent of the population would need to acquire resistance before transmission would substantially slow. As of April 5, less than 20 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against the virus. Regional variants have also fueled spikes. Several states in the Northeast also have among the country’s worst outbreaks now. Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, among others, are all experiencing marked rises in case counts, and labs have identified both the B.1.1.7 variant and large shares ofanother variant, B.1.526. The B.1.526 variant, which first appeared in New York City in samples from November, appears in two forms: one with a mutation that may help the virus evade antibodies and another that may help it bind more tightly to human cells.The rapid spread of the B.1.526 variant, which made up more than 40 percent of sequenced cases in New York City as of mid-March, has prompted officials to say they believe it also could be a more infectious strain, though they say it is too early to tell whether it results in a more severe illness. There is not enough genomic sequencing, the resource-intensive process required to discover that a case has been caused by a variant, to be certain how exactly much B.1.526 is spreading in the Northeast, but the available data indicates it is likely widespread.
Study: UK variant not linked to more severe disease or death – The highly contagious variant of the coronavirus believed to have originated in the United Kingdom that has contributed to this year’s surge of infections is not linked to higher instances of severe illness or death, a study published Monday found. The study published in the Lancet medical journal by roughly two dozen researchers examining nearly 500 patients found no link between the U.K. variant and more severe cases of COVID-19, though the variant is still thought to have a higher transmission rate. “We found no evidence of a difference in our main outcome of severe disease or death by SARS-CoV-2 lineage,” the researchers wrote. “Patients with [the U.K. variant] were younger and had fewer comorbidities than those with [non-U.K. variants], possibly representing the widespread and potential increased transmission of this variant in the community or differences in probability of hospital admission, which we were not able to explore in this hospital-based cohort,” the study’s conclusion read. The study contradicts statements that top officials including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have made in the past several months regarding the U.K. variant of COVID-19, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says is the most common strain in the U.S. In January, Johnson said that “some evidence” pointed to the British variant being possibly “associated with a higher degree of mortality.” “I want to stress that there’s a lot of uncertainty around these numbers and we need more work to get a precise handle on it, but it obviously is a concern that this has an increase in mortality as well as an increase in transmissibility,” added the U.K.’s top scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, at the time.
Tweaked COVID Vaccines in Testing Aim to Fend Off Variants – – Dozens of Americans are rolling up their sleeves for a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine — this time, shots tweaked to guard against a worrisome mutated version of the virus. Make no mistake: The vaccines currently being rolled out across the U.S. offer strong protection. But new studies of experimental updates to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines mark a critical first step toward an alternative if the virus eventually outsmarts today’s shots. “We need to be ahead of the virus,” said Dr. Nadine Rouphael of Emory University, who is helping to lead a study of Moderna’s tweaked candidate. “We know what it’s like when we’re behind.” It’s not clear if or when protection would wane enough to require an update but, “realistically we want to turn COVID into a sniffle,” she added. Viruses constantly evolve, and the world is in a race to vaccinate millions and tamp down the coronavirus before even more mutants emerge. More than 119 million Americans have had at least one vaccine dose, and 22% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Much of the rest of the world is far behind that pace. Already an easier-to-spread version found in Britain just months ago has become the most common variant now circulating in the United States, one that’s fortunately vaccine-preventable. But globally, there’s concern that first-generation vaccines may offer less protection against a different variant that first emerged in South Africa. All the major vaccine makers are tweaking their recipes in case an update against that so-called B.1.351 virus is needed. Now experimental doses from Moderna and Pfizer are being put to the test. In suburban Atlanta, Emory asked people who received Moderna’s original vaccine a year ago in a first-stage study to also help test the updated shot.
COVID-19 Vaccine: 40% of Marines have declined the coronavirus vaccine — Approximately 40% of US Marines are declining COVID-19 vaccinations, according to data provided to CNN by the service, the first branch to disclose service-wide numbers on acceptance and declination. About 48,000 Marines have chosen not to receive vaccines, for a declination rate of 38.9%. The declination rate at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, was far higher, at 57%, according to another set of data provided to CNN. Of 26,400 Marines who have been offered vaccinations at Camp Lejeune, 15,100 have chosen not to receive them.Conversations with military medical officials and service members, as well as data from several bases and units around the country, suggest the current rejection rate among the U.S. Military may be closer to 50%, CNN says. “I think the true opt-in rate right now would probably be around 50-ish percent,” said a military healthcare source about numbers on a military base of some 40,000 active duty troops.
US health officials call for pause on Johnson & Johnson vaccine over rare blood clots Top U.S. health officials on Tuesday called for a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine while they review cases of rare blood clots in people receiving the shots. The officials said they are reviewing six cases of a “rare and severe type of blood clot” out of more than 6.8 million people in the U.S. who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. All six cases were in women between ages 18 and 48. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet on Wednesday to review the cases, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will look into them as well. “Until that process is complete, we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,” said Peter Marks, a top FDA official, and Anne Schuchat, a top CDC official, in a joint statement. “This is important, in part, to ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan for proper recognition and management due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot.” The type of blood clot in question, called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, requires different treatment than blood clots usually do. The agencies said they want health providers to be able to plan for them. Marks and Schuchat stressed that “these adverse events appear to be extremely rare.” “COVID-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination very seriously,” the officials added. “People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider.” The move is sure to send shockwaves through the U.S. vaccination effort and could worsen vaccine hesitancy, which was already a problem as some people refused to be inoculated. Still, two other vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, have made up the bulk of U.S. supply so far, and no serious safety issues have been raised with them. About 7 million Johnson & Johnson shots have been administered in the U.S. so far, compared to much higher numbers for Pfizer and Moderna, about 98 million and 85 million, respectively. Johnson & Johnson had also been struggling with its manufacturing, as problems at a Baltimore plant delayed the distribution of more doses. But there are about 9 million more Johnson & Johnson shots that have been distributed, according to CDC data, that are now subject to a pause.
US officials recommend pausing the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine rollout immediately, citing the risk of rare blood clots – The US is putting an immediate pause on the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, citing reports of blood clots in six people who received the shot. The people who developed the clots were all women between 18 and 48 years old, and they experienced the adverse reaction six to 13 days after their vaccinations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. The federal government has the authority to pause the vaccine rollout that it is carrying out directly but not those run by state agencies. After the announcement on Tuesday, however, US states and localities began to pause their J&J vaccinations as well. Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA’s acting commissioner, said in a briefing on Tuesday that she expected this pause to be temporary. “We expect it to be a matter of days for this pause,” she said. About 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have already been given in the US. J&J had said it was on track to provide close to 100 million doses to the US by the end of May. The White House said a pause would “not have a significant impact on our vaccination plan,” since the two other vaccines authorized in the US – from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna – are “more than enough supply to continue the current pace of vaccinations.” J&J shots have accounted for less than 5% of vaccinations so far in the US, the White House said in a statement. The CDC and the FDA are investigating the reports of blood clots, and the CDC is convening an outside panel of experts to weigh in Wednesday. “Until that process is complete, we are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,” the agencies said in a statement. J&J said in a statement that it’s working with regulators and medical experts to look into the blood-clot reports. The company said it’s delaying the rollout of the vaccine in Europe and has stopped vaccinating new volunteers in trials of its shot. “We have been working closely with medical experts and health authorities, and we strongly support the open communication of this information to healthcare professionals and the public,” J&J said. All six of the people with the reported adverse effect had a rare type of blood clot in the brain called a central venous sinus thrombosis in combination with low levels of blood platelets. Platelets help the body with blood clotting after an injury. Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said that one of the blood-clotting cases was fatal and that one patient was in critical condition.
Vaccine rollout hits a snag — A pause in administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is dealing a blow to U.S. vaccination efforts that have largely been speeding along. The announcement from federal health officials on Tuesday morning, prompted by extremely rare cases of blood clots in people receiving the vaccine, was an unexpected setback for the U.S. vaccine rollout. J&J is only a small part of the U.S. supply, so the White House offered reassurances that there are still more than enough doses from Pfizer and Moderna to keep up or even exceed the current 3 million shot-per-day pace. But there is also the broader question of whether the news will lower public confidence in the vaccines, given that vaccine hesitancy was already a problem in some quarters. That concern left some health researchers questioning the wisdom of the pause. “I don’t think it was the right decision,” Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said of the pause, saying the move will fuel hesitancy and it will be hard to convince people to take the J&J shot again after it was paused. “We’re in the midst of a pandemic that’s killing people every day,” he said. “We’re talking about less than 1 in a million cases … good luck restarting this now after what they’ve done.” However, the bulk of experts backed halting doses, saying the pause could potentially reassure the public by showing how seriously officials take even a rare safety issue. Health officials stressed that there have been no reports of serious side effects with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and even with J&J, there are only six cases of blood clots reported so far out of about seven million shots given in the U.S. “I know lots of folks think this will cause more vaccine hesitancy – and more harm than good,” tweeted Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health. “I’m honestly not so sure. My sense is confidence comes from people believing that we have a vigorous system that takes adverse events seriously. We do. This is how it works.”
Fauci fatigue sets in as top doc sows doubt in vaccine effectiveness – Years from now when we look back at the coronavirus pandemic, one of the first people we’ll think of is Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. And why not? Fauci enjoyed headlines like these: “Anthony Fauci – the Most Trusted Man in America” But things seem to have turned in recent weeks as the ubiquitous Fauci continues to hold interview after interview with the same message about the way Americans should conduct themselves after being vaccinated. Last weekend, for example, MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan asked Fauci the following question: “What is the message to vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans as to what they should and should not be doing right now? For example, eating and drinking indoors in restaurants and bars … is that OK now?” “No, it’s still not OK,” Fauci replied, citing new cases still above 50,000 per day before adding: “If you are vaccinated, please remember that you still have to be careful and not get involved in crowded situations, particularly indoors where people are not wearing masks.” So, what does that tell us? If you’re vaccinated, you still can’t meet other vaccinated friends for dinner? Or was Fauci only referring to vaccinated people meeting up with unvaccinated people? If it’s the former, Fauci would be contradicting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose official recommendation on what vaccinated people can and cannot do says this: “Fully vaccinated people can visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.” Of course, it would be nice if someone, anyone, would bring up the CDC guidance when interviewing the good doctor about going out for a meal sometime. But challenging Fauci is considered a big no-no by most of the media, whose job is supposed to be to hold the powerful accountable without fear and favor. And then there’s the situation in Texas and Mississippi, two states whose Republican governors dropped mask mandates on March 2. Fauci called the decision “really quite risky” while adding that it is “a dangerous sign because when that has happened in the past, when you pull back on measures of public health, invariably you’ve seen a surge back up.” So, how’s that surge coming 40 days later? On March 2, the seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 deaths in Texas was 232. On April 11, there were 24 deaths in the state, with the seven-day rolling average falling to 73 and trending downward, representing a 69 percent drop. Cases also have dropped from above 7,000 in early March to fewer than 4,000 now, according to the CDC. When asked about that drop by MSNBC’s Willie Geist, Fauci couldn’t explain it.
Penn study suggests those who had COVID-19 may only need one vaccine dose — -People who have recovered from COVID-19 had a robust antibody response after the first mRNA vaccine dose, but little immune benefit after the second dose, according to new research from the Penn Institute of Immunology. The findings, published today in Science Immunology, suggest only a single vaccine dose may be needed to produce a sufficient antibody response. The team found that those who did not have COVID-19–called COVID naïve–did not have a full immune response until after receiving their second vaccine dose, reinforcing the importance of completing the two recommended doses for achieving strong levels of immunity. The study provides more insight on the underlying immunobiology of mRNA vaccines, which could help shape future vaccine strategies. “These results are encouraging for both short- and long-term vaccine efficacy, and this adds to our understanding of the mRNA vaccine immune response through the analysis of memory B cells,” said senior author E. John Wherry, PhD, chair of the department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics and director of the Penn Institute of Immunology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The human immune response to vaccines and infections result in two major outcomes–the production of antibodies that provide rapid immunity and the creation of memory B cells, which assist in long-term immunity. This study represents one of the first to uncover how memory B cell responses differ after vaccination in people who previously experienced infection, compared to those who have not have COVID-19. “Previous COVID-19 mRNA vaccine studies on vaccinated individuals have focused on antibodies more than memory B cells. Memory B cells are a strong predictor of future antibody responses, which is why it’s vital to measure B cell responses to these vaccines,” Wherry said. “This effort to examine memory B cells is important for understanding long-term protection and the ability to respond to variants.”
CDC director calls on Michigan to ‘close things down’ amid surge in cases – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky called on Michigan to “close things down” as the state deals with a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The CDC director addressed the growing spread of COVID-19 in the Wolverine State by saying sending more vaccines to the state won’t solve the problem, as immunizations take two to six weeks to affect coronavirus statistics. Michigan has seen cases skyrocket at a higher rate than in other states, rising sevenfold since its lowest point in February with a current seven-day average of 7,377 new cases per day, according to The New York Times. Hospitalizations have reached a seven-day average of 3,570. “When you have an acute situation, an extraordinary number of cases like we have in Michigan, the answer is not necessarily to give vaccines – in fact we know the vaccine will have a delayed response,” she said. “The answer to that is to really close things down, to go back to our basics, to go back to where we were last spring, last summer … to flatten the curve, decrease contact with one another, to test to the extent we have available, to contact trace,” she said during a White House COVID-19 response team briefing. “If we tried to vaccinate our way out of what is happening in Michigan, we’d be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to work, to actually have the impact,” she added. Jeff Zients, the White House coordinator for the COVID-19 response, also noted that federal officials do not know where the next outbreak will be, so sending more vaccines to Michigan now could take them away from locations that experience surges in the coming weeks. The health officials’ comments come as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) reissued her and other state officials’ request for the federal government to send more vaccines to her state amid the rise in cases and hospitalizations. Whitmer had called for more shots to go to the Wolverine State last week, saying that the federal strategy should be “squelching where the hot spots are.” “I made the case for a surge strategy,” Whitmer said at a briefing on Friday. “At this point, that’s not being deployed, but I am not giving up.” But Zients responded to the requests during Friday’s COVID-19 response team briefing saying the administration will stick with a population-based distribution plan. “The fair and equitable way to distribute the vaccine is based on the adult population by state, tribe and territory,” he said. “That’s how it’s been done, and we will continue to do so.”
April 14th COVID-19 Vaccinations, New Cases, Hospitalizations -According to the CDC, 194.8 million doses have been administered. 29.6% of the population over 18 is fully vaccinated, and 47.6% of the population over 18 has had at least one dose (123.0 million people have had at least one dose). And check out COVID Act Now to see how each state is doing. Over 8,500 US deaths were reported so far in April due to COVID. This graph shows the daily (columns) 7 day average (line) of positive tests reported. Note: The ups and downs during the Winter surge were related to reporting delays due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. This data is from the CDC. The 7-day average is 69,953, up from 67,813 yesterday, and above the summer surge peak of 67,337 on July 23, 2020. The second graph shows the number of people hospitalized. This data is also from the CDC. The CDC cautions that due to reporting delays, the area in grey will probably increase. The current 7-day average is 36,941, up from 36,257 reported yesterday, and well above the post-summer surge low of 23,000.
Hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases as Michigan Governor Whitmer resists calls for statewide restrictions — On Wednesday, the Michigan State University pediatrician, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who was instrumental in exposing the Flint water crisis, took to Twitter demanding Michigan “Shut down” in the face of the growing COVID-19 crisis for which Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer has abandoned all responsibility. “From a nurse friend just now: ‘I’m exhausted. It’s crazy here. I’m overwhelmed. There are 125 people in the emergency room. No room, so, they are in tents,’” Dr. Hanna-Attisha added. The continually rising seven-day average has surpassed 7,870 daily COVID-19 cases in Michigan. The figure is above the previous winter peak, which had topped off at 7,546. The percentage of tests confirming an infection is now 18 percent in the state. In Detroit it is running at 21 percent. Many in the medical community are confronting the harsh reality that Michigan will not be able to vaccinate itself out of this predicament. The surge comes despite over one in three residents of the state having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines and one quarter fully vaccinated. With the Johnson and Johnson single-dose COVID-19 vaccine indefinitely on pause, the vaccination campaign has hit a considerable roadblock. Yet, the political establishment has taken an intransigent stand on any basic public health measures, including the closure of schools and non-essential businesses, which will slow the spread of the deadly virus. Michigan reported 10,277 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the highest daily total in the state since the pandemic began sweeping across the United States early last year. The seven-day average of deaths has also turned sharply upwards, having tripled since a post-winter surge low on March 17 of 16 deaths per day to 46 deaths per day. On Wednesday, 81 Michigan residents succumbed to their infection. Dr. Nick Gilpin, Beaumont Health’s medical director of infection prevention and epidemiology, told the Detroit Free Press the situation is “like a runaway train.” All eight hospitals in the state’s largest health care system are full of more than 800 COVID-19 patients, according to the Free Press. One of the cornerstones of the public health tenets for pandemic control is to ensure that health systems do not reach capacity and become inundated. Even this last measure of warning has been cast aside. Though Dr. Gilpin reported that the present situation is “taxing [the] staff and resources,” Tents are already up at Beaumont’s Gross Pointe hospital to make room for overwhelmed emergency rooms. Additional triage tents will be raised at their Dearborn and Farmington Hills hospitals. Non-urgent surgeries are being postponed and all surgeries requiring overnight stays are being canceled.
New COVID-19 strains leading to new surge, experts say —Health leaders say new strains of COVID-19 are leading to a new surge of the virus. The CDC says the daily average of new cases is now close to 70,000, a 3-percent increase from last week and hospitalizations are up more than 6 percent. Big drivers of the new surge are COVID-19 variants, including one from the U.K. that has become the dominant strain in the U.S. Some Americans are now getting a vaccine shot for a third time as both Pfizer and Moderna start clinical trials for booster doses, targeting those new strains. This comes as vaccine access expands across the country. The White House says that by next week all adults will be eligible. And, the minimum age could be getting even lower. Pfizer is asking the FDA for permission to start vaccinating 12- to- 15-year-olds. And breaking this morning: The CDC and FDA recommend pausing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over six reported cases of a “rare and severe” type of blood clot.
Governor frustrated over WV’s plunging COVID-19 vaccination rate — With state COVID-19 vaccination rates dropping precipitously in recent weeks, Gov. Jim Justice called on the 650,000 eligible West Virginians who have not been vaccinated to step up and do their part. “I don’t get it. Why are we not finishing this thing up?” Justice said during Friday’s state COVID-19 briefing. “Why are we not finishing the race when the race is ours to win?”
Health care calamity looms as COVID-19 cases surge across Canada –Health experts and even government officials now admit that the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is at its most dangerous stage to date, with the pandemic’s third wave threatening to be the most lethal yet. As a direct result of the criminal policies of all levels of government, which have prioritized corporate profits over human lives, COVID-19 has already killed more than 23,400 Canadians and infected 1.08 million. With more contagious and deadly variants of COVID-19 becoming prevalent in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and the Prairie provinces, the numbers of infections and hospitalizations are soaring. Last Friday, for the first time since the pandemic’s earliest days, Canada’s per capita rate of daily new infections surpassed that of the United States, long the epicentre of the global pandemic. So virulent are the new variants, some experts are characterizing the country’s third wave of COVID-19 infections as a “new pandemic.” In Ontario, where the second wave took more than three months to reach the 2,500 daily case threshold, that mark was reached in just 30 days during the ongoing third wave. The province has averaged more than 3,500 cases per day for the past week, with a record 4,456 cases on Sunday. Currently, a record 605 COVID-19 patients are being treated in the province’s intensive care wards, an increase of over 40 percent in just two weeks. Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table predicts that by the end of this month that number could surpass 800. As the second wave reached its peak at the beginning of the year, Ontario authorities warned that if the number of intensive care patients rose above 350 it would be impossible for the province’s hospitals to continue to provide regular care to all patients. The situation is not much better elsewhere in the country. In neighboring Quebec, the acceleration of infections is also notable. In the greater Quebec City area, the average number of daily cases has risen from 100 to 400 in just two weeks, with a peak of 630 new infections in a single day. Across the country, there is an exponential increase in new infections, with multiple records being broken in the Western provinces. British Columbia reported 1,293 new infections on Wednesday, April 7, while neighboring Alberta reported 876 new variant cases last Saturday, also a record. Considering that Alberta’s test positivity rate was 9.9 percent last Friday, the severity of the situation in the province and the country as a whole is undoubtedly underreported.
How Bill Gates Impeded Global Access to Covid Vaccines – On February 11, 2020, public health and infectious disease experts gathered by the hundreds at the World Health Organization’s Geneva mothership. The resulting document summarized the state of coronavirus research and proposed ways to accelerate the development of diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines. The underlying premise was that the world would unite against the virus. The global research community would maintain broad and open channels of communication, since collaboration and information-sharing minimize duplication and accelerate discovery. One issue not mentioned in the paper: intellectual property. If the worst came to pass, the experts and researchers assumed cooperation would define the global response, with the WHO playing a central role. That pharmaceutical companies and their allied governments would allow intellectual property concerns to slow things down – from research and development to manufacturing scale-up – does not seem to have occurred to them. They were wrong, but they weren’t alone. Battle-scarred veterans of the medicines-access and open-science movements hoped the immensity of the pandemic would override a global drug system based on proprietary science and market monopolies. By March, strange but welcome melodies could be heard from unexpected quarters. Anxious governments spoke of shared interests and global public goods; drug companies pledged “precompetitive” and “no-profit” approaches to development and pricing. The early days featured tantalizing glimpses of an open-science, cooperative pandemic response. In January and February 2020, a consortium led by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases collaborated to produce atomic-level maps of the key viral proteins in record time. “Work that would normally have taken months – or possibly even years – has been completed in weeks,” noted the editors ofNature. When the Financial Times editorialized on March 27 that “the world has an overwhelming interest in ensuring [Covid-19 drugs and vaccines] will be universally and cheaply available,” the paper expressed what felt like a hardening conventional wisdom. By then, however, the optimism and sense of possibility that defined the early days were long gone. Advocates for pooling and open science, who seemed ascendant and even unstoppable that winter, confronted the possibility they’d been outmatched and outmaneuvered by the most powerful man in global public health. In April, Bill Gates launched a bold bid to manage the world’s scientific response to the pandemic. Gates’s Covid-19 ACT-Accelerator expressed a status quo vision for organizing the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of treatments and vaccines. Like other Gates-funded institutions in the public health arena, the Accelerator was a public-private partnership based on charity and industry enticements. Crucially, and in contrast to the C-TAP, the Accelerator enshrined Gates’s long-standing commitment to respecting exclusive intellectual property claims. Its implicit arguments – that intellectual property rights won’t present problems for meeting global demand or ensuring equitable access, and that they must be protected, even during a pandemic – carried the enormous weight of Gates’s reputation as a wise, beneficent, and prophetic leader. How he’s developed and wielded this influence over two decades is one of the more consequential and underappreciated shapers of the failed global response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Entering year two, this response has been defined by a zero-sum vaccination battle that has left much of the world on the losing side.
In “third wave,” coronavirus cases surging in France –While the Macron government in France has implemented extremely limited and belated lockdown measures, a catastrophe is unfolding across the country and Europe. Using the distribution of vaccines to a small portion of the population as a justification, Macron is seeking to reopen the economy as quickly as possible. The short lockdown period of two weeks will not allow for a significant reduction in contaminations. In an interview with world news agency AFP, epidemiologist Dominique Costagliola referred sceptically to the government’s announced lockdown timetable. “For the moment, it’s early to assess the impact,” he said. “In May we won’t have reached the levels [of vaccination] permitting us to relax the lockdown measures significantly. If it means we have a fourth wave, I don’t think it would be a good idea.” A study published Tuesday by the Pasteur Institute also warned that because of the so-called UK variant, which is more contagious than the previously dominant strain, 90 percent of the adult population would have to be vaccinated before they could return to normal life without the risk of an epidemic resurgence. Currently, 10 million people, or about 18.7 percent of the country’s total population, have received one dose, and roughly a third of those require a second dose. Due to delays and the poor organisation of the vaccination campaign, many elderly people are still not vaccinated. As a result of the delayed lockdown policy, the milestone of 30,000 COVID-19 patients hospitalised in France has been passed. As of yesterday, there were 30,671 hospitalisations, close to the peak of the first wave (32,292) and the second wave (33,466 cases). More than 5,700 people are in intensive care, well above the second wave peak of 4,903 on November 16. In the first wave, the peak was 7,000 people, in April 2020. According to the daily Le Monde, on April 1, 7,900 beds were available in intensive care units, 90 percent of which were occupied by both COVID-19 (5,100 people at that point) and non-COVID patients. According to Macron, the number of ICU beds will be increased to 10,000 to cope with the third wave.
Turkey reports over 50,000 COVID-19 cases | Daily Sabah — Turkey’s daily COVID-19 cases remained above 50,000 over the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry. A total of 50,678 cases, including 2,548 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country, the data showed. Turkey’s overall case tally stands at over 3.8 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 33,939, with 237 fatalities over the past day. As many as 30,194 more patients in the country won the battle against the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to over 3.3 million. More than 41.5 million coronavirus tests have been conducted in Turkey to date, with 294,274 done since Saturday. The latest figures show that the number of COVID-19 patients in critical condition has risen to 2,824. Since its vaccination campaign began on Jan. 14, Turkey has administered over 18.5 million coronavirus vaccine jabs nationwide, according to official figures. Over 10.9 million people to date have gotten their first doses of the vaccine against coronavirus, while second vaccine doses were given to nearly 7.58 million. To fight a new wave of the virus, Turkey recently announced the return of weekend curfews in high-risk areas, as well as other restrictions, in addition to special measures for the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed over 2.9 million lives in 191 countries and regions. Over 135.5 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries at more than 77 million, according to figures compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.
Delhi hits new record high of over 11,000 Covid-19 cases – Delhi reported an all-time high of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in a day after more than 11,000 infections and 72 deaths were recorded on Monday, according to the health bulletin issued on Monday. There were 11,491 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours, which have pushed the cumulative tally to 736,688. The fatalities also rose sharply on Monday by 72, taking the death toll in Delhi to 11,355. The positivity rate – the proportion of samples that test positive – in the national capital also spiked and was logged at 12.44%, a sharp rise from 9.43% a day earlier. Authorities also ramped up the testing and conducted 92,397 tests in the last 24 hours. Out of the tests conducted, 65,564 were RT-PCR tests and 26,833 were Rapid antigen. Recording a steep rise, active cases in Delhi inched closer to 40,000-mark as 38,095 cases were registered in the same period, health bulletin said. The national capital has 6175 containment zones, it added. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday termed the Covid-19 situation in Delhi is “worrisome” and issued a stark warning asking people to step out of their homes only if it is urgent. Last month, the CM confirmed that the city-state is witnessing the fourth wave of infections, even as the rest of the country is reeling from the second wave. Kejriwal also said that a lockdown to curb the spread of the disease was not an option but warned of stricter restrictions. In order to ramp up the city’s medical infrastructure, the Delhi government on Monday declared 14 private hospitals in the city as “full Covid-19” hospitals and directed them not to admit any non-COVID patients till further orders. Nineteen private hospitals have been directed to reserve at least 80 per cent of their ICU beds for coronavirus disease-related treatment. Eighty-two private hospitals have been asked to set aside at least 60 per cent of their ICU beds for COVID-19 patients, according to the order issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
India’s daily virus infections are world’s highest but crowds gather for festival (Reuters) -Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees flocked on Monday to take a holy bath in India’s Ganges river, even as the nation racked up the world’s highest tally of new daily coronavirus infections. With 168,912 new cases, India accounts for one in six of all new infections globally, although the figure is still well below the U.S. peak of nearly 300,000 new cases on Jan. 8. In the northern city of Haridwar, nearly a million devotees thronged the banks of the Ganges, a river many Hindus consider holy, to participate in the months-long ‘Kumbh Mela’ or pitcher festival. “The crowd here is surging…the police are continuously appealing to people to maintain social distancing,” police official Sanjay Gunjyal told Reuters at the site. By mid-morning a million people had taken a dip in the river, believed to wash away one’s sins. As India’s second wave of infections builds, with fewer than 4% estimated to have been vaccinated among a population of 1.4 billion, experts say the situation could have a long way to go before it starts getting better. “After cases declined in January-February, we were very comfortable,” said a panel of high court judges in the western state of Gujarat, calling on authorities to take urgent steps to rein in the outbreak. “Almost everyone forgot that there was ever corona,” added the panel, headed by Chief Justice Vikram Nath. A full opening of the economy from last year’s crippling lockdown, coupled with the mass religious festivals and political rallies in states heading to elections have fuelled the crisis. Monday’s new infections carried India past Brazil for a tally of 13.53 million, data compiled by Reuters shows, ranking it the second-most infected country after the United States, with 31.2 million. India’s tally is on course to double in two months, according to estimates based on data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Yet authorities appeared unwilling or unable to stop events that could lead to a calamitous spread of the disease. Thousands of people are attending political rallies in four big states set for elections this month, including two events on Monday in the eastern state of West Bengal, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to speak. “With 1.2 million active cases, and the daily number reaching 200,000, it’s bizarre to have poll rallies and a full Kumbh Mela,” political commentator Shekhar Gupta said on Twitter. Officials and experts said authorities had underestimated the resilience of the virus, believing they had beaten it after daily cases fell below 10,000 in early February. Officials in the worst-hit state of Maharashtra, home to the financial capital of
Coronavirus: India becomes second-worst hit country as Covid cases surge – India overtook Brazil as the second worst-infected country behind the United States after data showed that Covid-19 cases continued to surge. The South Asian nation reported more than 168,000 new cases over a 24-hour period on Monday, according to health ministry data. Around 83% of the new infections were reported in 10 states, including the western state of Maharashtra, which is home to India’s financial capital Mumbai.Since the beginning of April, India has reported more than 1.37 million cases, bringing the country’s total number of infections since last January to over 13.5 million; cases began rising since February after reaching a peak in September.Though Maharashtra has been the hardest-hit state in the second wave, cases in other areas – including the populous state of Uttar Pradesh – are going up.Daily reported death rate is also climbing as hospitals face pressure over supplies, including the number of beds available. Still, compared to other countries including the U.S., India’s Covid-related deaths are relatively low.Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has reportedly blamed the second wave of infections on people’s lack of commitment toward wearing masks and practicing social distancing.But in recent weeks, politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as other political parties held election rallies in states like West Bengal where large crowds gathered – most of them without wearing masks. There were also a string of religious gatherings that took place in various parts of the country. India’s health ministry says that more than 100 million doses of vaccines have been administered since the government began an ambitious inoculation program in January. Since April 1, anyone over 45 years old is eligible for their shots. Media reports say that some states, including Maharashtra, are facing a severe vaccine shortage. The Indian government, in response, accused those states of diverting attention away from their failure to control the virus. For its part, the Serum Institute of India – the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer which is producing AstraZeneca‘s Covid-19 shot in the country – has said its production capacity is “very stressed.” Last month, Reuters reported that India placed a temporary hold on all major exports of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot made by the Serum Institute to meet domestic demand.On Sunday, India also banned the export of the anti-viral drug Remdesivir, which saw a sudden spike in domestic demand to treat Covid patients. The ban will stay in place until the outbreak situation improves, the health ministry said.The World Health Organization last year said the drug has “little or no effect” in reducing coronavirus deaths.
Mutated COVID-19 strain reinfecting many, feel experts on virus behaviour- With Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa reinfected with Covid-19, experts say there are high chances of antibodies waning faster, and also new variants playing a role. However, the country does not have enough data to prove that reinfections are happening in large numbers, and to attribute the reason to variants, they say. “The first infection does not provide strong immunity unlike measles, polio etc, where one infection is good protection. You can get respiratory tract infection a second time. According to a recent report, there is a 4.5 per cent chance of reinfection,” said Dr Jacob John, renowned virologist and former professor at CMC Vellore. Dr John said mutation occurs on the virus’ spike protein, which almost certainly makes it more effective at binding with human receptor cells. Some of the variants carry another mutation, suspected of reducing the immunity acquired either by a past infection (with an increased possibility of reinfection), or by vaccines. However, the infection may be mild, he added. Experts claim that while there’s a lot of uncertainty and unclear clinical evidence, studies now point out that not only is reinfection a true threat, some high-risk groups, particularly those above 65 years of age, face the highest risk of getting reinfected by Covid-19. “From waning immunity to pre-existing medical illnesses, there are many factors that make people prone to Covid severity. ICMR was doing a study, recalling people with Covid and checking on reinfections, but I am not aware of the results. However, many studies point to waning antibodies,” explained Dr Giridhara R Babu, senior epidemiologist and member of the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee. Current clinical evidence suggests that natural immunity after Covid lasts for at least 6-8 months. However, different people can display different responses. Experts also claim that age-related diminishing immunity could put the elderly at risk of getting reinfected, and more prone to complications the second time. Meanwhile, doctors agree that there is no data on how many reinfection cases have happened.
Indian hospitals overwhelmed amid over 100,000 COVID-19 cases daily -India has had over 100,000 COVID-19 cases every day since April 5, endangering the lives of millions of people and pushing the country’s grossly underfunded public health care system to breaking point. The disaster is a direct result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has allowed industries to keep operating with unsafe conditions, placing the profits of big business over human life. Indian state governments also share responsibility for the worsening situation. On Monday, India recorded 168,912 new COVID-19 cases, replacing Brazil as the second-most affected country in the world hit by the highly-infectious disease. According to under-counted figures provided by India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the country’s overall tally is now 13.7 million cases with the death toll surpassing 171,000. In the past seven days – from April 5 to 11 – India recorded over 937,000 cases, a 70 percent jump from the previous seven days, while the death toll hit 5,057 – a 70 percent rise on the previous seven days. Reuters has reported that India’s death toll is on course to double in two months, according to estimates based on data from Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. India, the current epicentre of Asia’s COVID-19 pandemic, now has more than 1.5 million active cases that are overwhelming hospitals and their intensive care units and oxygen-equipped beds. Health experts have reported a number of new COVID-19 variants, including a new “double mutant variant” and the highly-infectious UK variant, which are undoubtedly a major factor in the rapid increase in corona cases and deaths. The western state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai, accounts for more than half of India’s new infections. On Monday, Maharashtra reported over 63,000 new coronavirus cases and 349 deaths. The next day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray declared a “Janata curfew” (but stopped short of calling it a lockdown) on the movement of people beginning at 8 p.m. on April 14 until May 1. The state government also imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144, which ban gatherings of more than five people for the same period. Construction work and industrial production, however, will continue as usual, ensuring employers maintain their exploitation of workers and profits. The state government claimed there would be limited relief for those affected but small businessmen and traders are complaining that they have not received any subsidy to compensate for having to close their shops for the 15 days. Despite the massive increase in deaths and infections, the Modi government has ruled-out a national lockdown. This was made clear in an April 8 video conference with chief ministers from various regional states. Modi declared that COVID-19 infection figures were “very alarming in some states” and that “work on a war footing” should be resumed to prevent spread of the disease corona.” His so-called war footing, however, does not involve a national lockdown but a “corona curfew” from 9 p.m., until 5 or 6 a.m., and only in “small containment zones.”
India has recorded more than 200,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the first time – India reported more than 200,000 new daily COVID-19 cases for the first time on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. In addition to the 200,739 new cases, India’s health ministry said that 1,038 people had died, bringing the total number of deaths to 173,123. India has now passed the milestone of 14 million total cases, the AP said, and the country is now facing a crisis as cases continue to rise. India has a population of about 1.4 billion people. As of Thursday, the country has recorded the second-highest COVID-19 cases in the world, behind the United States. A curfew was imposed in the capital city of New Delhi on Thursday, and local authorities have ordered more than a dozen hotels and wedding halls to be converted into COVID-19 centers linked with city hospitals, the AP said. Arvind Kejriwal, the city’s chief minister, said non-essential shops as well as gyms and entertainment venues must also close. The state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai – India’s largest city – on Wednesday enforced a 15-day partial lockdown in which only essential services could operate, the BBC said. India has begun its vaccination drive, but progress has been slow. As of this week around 100 million doses of India’s Covishield and Covaxin vaccines have been administered, according to the BBC. The government plans to have 250 million people vaccinated by July, and this week approved Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for use.
WHO warns global COVID-19 pandemic ‘growing exponentially’ –Top World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Monday warned against “complacency” in fighting COVID-19 amid a troubling spike in cases worldwide. There were 4.4 million new cases recorded in the last week, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, the seventh week in a row of increasing cases. That’s compared to about 500,000 cases per week a year ago. Deaths have been rising for four weeks. “It is growing exponentially,” Van Kerkhove said of cases on a global basis. “This is not the situation we want to be in 16 months into a pandemic where we have proven control measures,” she added. “It is time right now where everyone has to take stock and have a reality check about what we need to be doing.” While vaccinations are rolling out and offer hope for gaining control of the pandemic, many countries, especially lower-income ones, have vaccinated only a small fraction of their population, amid a scramble for limited doses on a global scale. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries and individuals to maintain other precautions. “Physical distancing works,” he said. “Masks work. Hand hygiene works. Ventilation works. Surveillance, testing, contact tracing, isolation, supportive quarantine and compassionate care – they all work to stop infections and save lives.” “But confusion, complacency and inconsistency in public health measures and their application are driving transmission and costing lives,” he added. India and Brazil are receiving particular concern, given a rise in cases in India and a stark number of deaths in Brazil, with an outbreak fueled by a more contagious variant known as P.1. Even amid more vaccinations than most other countries, the U.S. has seen a plateau of cases at a very high level, of more than 60,000 per day, and troubling spikes in some places, most of all Michigan. “Vaccines and vaccinations are coming online, but they’re not here yet in every part of the world where they need to be,” Van Kerkhove said. The U.S. is under pressure from some experts to do more to provide vaccines to lower-income countries, given that if the virus is circulating anywhere in high numbers, it provides opportunities for new variants of the virus to develop. The U.S. could, for example, donate more doses in its stockpile of AstraZeneca vaccines, which have not been approved yet in the U.S. but have been in other countries, and may never be needed in the U.S. Tedros said he also met with African countries to try to increase vaccine production there. “WHO does not want endless lockdowns,” Tedros stressed. “The countries that have done best have taken a tailored, measured, agile and evidence-based combination of measures.”
Rio de Janeiro recorded more deaths than births for the 6th month in a row, as Brazil fails to contain its COVID-19 outbreak — The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro has recorded more deaths than births for the sixth consecutive month as the country struggles to contain its coronavirus outbreak.City authorities reported 36,437 deaths and 32,060 births in March, according to government data.That same month, at least 10 other Brazilian cities with populations exceeding 500,000 registered more deaths than births, according to CNN.The proportion of those deaths that were a result of a COVID-19 infection was not immediately clear, but the figures come with Brazil having recorded the world’s second-highest coronavirus death toll after the US.As of Tuesday, more than 358,000 deaths in Brazil were reported as a result of COVID-19, according to a tracker from The New York Times.President Jair Bolsonaro has largely shrugged off the impact of the virus, and his government has sought to conceal information about the true extent of the disaster.On April 6, Brazil recorded more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths within a 24-hour period for the first time.Intensive-care units are above 90% capacity across most Brazilian states, The Associated Press reported Sunday, citing local data. Seven in 10 hospitals are close to running out of oxygen and anesthetic, the AP said.Bolsonaro has long refused to enforce a nationwide lockdown and previously said that the virus was a “little flu” about which people should “stop whining.”Bolsonaro has defended his approach, and last week he dismissed being called “genocidal” in his coronavirus response. “They called me homophobic, racist, fascist, a torturer and now … what is it now? Now I am … someone who kills a lot of people? Genocidal. Now, I’m genocidal,” he said.
Why are so many babies dying of Covid-19 in Brazil? – More than a year into the pandemic, deaths in Brazil are now at their peak. But despite the overwhelming evidence that Covid-19 rarely kills young children, in Brazil 1,300 babies have died from the virus. One doctor refused to test Jessika Ricarte’s one-year-old son for Covid, saying his symptoms did not fit the profile of the virus. Two months later he died of complications from the disease.At first Jessika wondered if he was teething. Lucas’s godmother, a nurse, suggested that he might just have a sore throat. But after he developed a fever, then fatigue and slightly laboured breathing, Jessika took him to hospital, and asked for him to be tested for Covid. The doctor told Jessika that Covid-19 was rare in children, gave her some antibiotics and sent her home. But the weeks went by, and Lucas became sleepier and sleepier. Finally on 3 June, Lucas vomited over and over again after eating lunch, and Jessika knew she had to act.They returned to their local hospital, where the doctor tested Lucas for Covid, to rule it out. Lucas’s godmother, who worked there, broke the news to the couple that his test result was positive. “At the time, the hospital did not even have a resuscitator,” says Jessika. Lucas was transferred to a paediatric intensive care unit in Sobral, over two hours away, where he was diagnosed with a condition called multi-system inflammatory syndrome (MIS).This is an extreme immune response to the virus, which can cause inflammation of vital organs.Experts say the syndrome, which affects children up to six weeks after they are infected with coronavirus, is rare, but leading epidemiologist Dr Fatima Marinho from the University of São Paolo, says that, during the pandemic, she is seeing more cases of MIS than ever before. Although it doesn’t account for all deaths.There is a misconception that children are at zero risk for Covid, says Dr Fatima Marinho, who is also a senior adviser to the international health NGO Vital Strategies. Marinho’s research has found that a shockingly high number of children and babies have been affected by the virus.Between February 2020 and 15 March 2021, Covid-19 killed at least 852 of Brazil’s children up to the age of nine, including 518 babies under one year old, according to figures from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. But Dr Marinho estimates that more than twice this number of children died of Covid. A serious problem of underreporting due to lack of Covid testing is bringing the numbers down, she says. Dr Marinho calculated the excess of deaths by unspecified acute respiratory syndrome during the pandemic, and found that there were 10 times more deaths by unexplained respiratory syndrome than in previous years. By adding these numbers, she estimates that the virus in fact killed 2,060 children under nine years old, including 1,302 babies.
Brazil’s P1 coronavirus variant mutating, may become more dangerous -study (Reuters) – Brazil’s P1 coronavirus variant, behind a deadly COVID-19 surge in the Latin American country that has raised international alarm, is mutating in ways that could make it better able to evade antibodies, according to scientists studying the virus. Research conducted by the public health institute Fiocruz into the variants circulating in Brazil found mutations in the spike region of the virus that is used to enter and infect cells. Those changes, the scientists said, could make the virus more resistant to vaccines – which target the spike protein – with potentially grave implications for the severity of the outbreak in Latin America’s most populous nation. “We believe it’s another escape mechanism the virus is creating to evade the response of antibodies,” said Felipe Naveca, one of the authors of the study and part of Fiocruz in the Amazon city of Manaus, where the P1 variant is believed to have originated. Naveca said the changes appeared to be similar to the mutations seen in the even more aggressive South African variant, against which studies have shown some vaccines have substantially reduced efficacy.“This is particularly worrying because the virus is continuing to accelerate in its evolution,” he added. Studies have shown the P1 variant to be as much as 2.5 times more contagious than the original coronavirus and more resistant to antibodies. On Tuesday, France suspended all flights to and from Brazil in a bid to prevent the variant’s spread as Latin America’s largest economy becomes increasingly isolated. The variant, which has quickly become dominant in Brazil, is thought to be a large factor behind a massive second wave that has brought the country’s death toll to over 350,000 – the second highest in the world behind the United States. Brazil’s outbreak is also increasingly affecting younger people, with hospital data showing that in March more than half of all patients in intensive care were aged 40 or younger.
With death toll topping 365,000 Brazil faces “humanitarian catastrophe” – This week, Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll topped the 365,000 mark amid an unprecedented surge of the pandemic. There were 21,000 deaths last week as the daily rolling average of cases and deaths increased by 0.9 percent and 1.1, respectively. Thursday registered more than 66,000 cases and 2,900 deaths. A new report by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) points to a tendency for the number of new cases to stabilize at such high rates. Meanwhile, 14 states plus the federal district registered an increase in the rolling average of deaths. The Brazilian Medical Society’s recent publication of ethical protocols underlined the collapse of the healthcare system, in which doctors are having to choose who gets treatment due to the depletion of medical supplies – including sedatives and muscle relaxants need for intubation — and the overwhelming of ICUs. Currently, 16 states and the Federal District are reporting an ICU occupation rate above 90 per cent. Brazil’s COVID crisis was described Thursday as a “humanitarian crisis” by the international medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF), which has teams in parts of the country. The government’s criminal response to the pandemic “has put Brazil into a permanent state of mourning and led to the near collapse of Brazil’s health system,” MSF said in a statement The terrible death toll in the country has resulted in eight states reporting a population decrease in the first 12 days of April, in which the number of death certificates outnumbered the number of birth certificates. Between April 1-15, the heavily populated Southeast registered 34,592 births and 40,084 deaths, which corresponds to a decline in population of 5,492. In March, the Southern region had already registered a population decrease, with 34,402 births against 34,719 deaths. The state of Rio de Janeiro registered a population drop for six consecutive months between December of last year and March, with 76,541 births and 85,166 deaths, meaning a decrease of 8,625 in population. Such a drop in population is unprecedented in Brazil’s history. It coincides with the publication of a new Harvard University study showing that Brazil’s life expectancy fell by 1.94 years in 2020, from 76.7 to 74.8. While the country has recorded the second highest death toll in the world, the life expectancy decrease is more severe than in the US, the country with the highest number of deaths, which registered a drop of 1.13 years, from 78.8 to 77.8.
WHO reports 1 million coronavirus deaths in Europe as cases surge – The World Health Organization (WHO) announced yesterday that the official number of coronavirus deaths in Europe surpassed 1 million last week. Even as the appalling death toll was announced, the virus continues to surge rapidly across the continent, fuelled by the more contagious B.1.1.7 variant, and threatening to overwhelm already strained hospital systems. WHO European regional director Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge announced the 1 million total in a press conference yesterday. “The situation in our region is serious,” he stated. “1.6 million new cases are reported every week. That’s 9,500 every hour, 160 people every minute.” The official toll is, itself, a significant underestimation of the actual number of people who have died from the virus. “It is only among the oldest, that we are seeing declining incidence,” said Kluge. “Over the past two months, the trend among people more than 80 years of age, has diverged from the trend seen in every other age group, possibly thanks to high vaccination uptake in this high-risk group. Since February, the proportion of COVID-19 deaths in Europe, among those older than 80, has gradually fallen to close to 30 percent, the lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic. Hospitalization, nonetheless, remains at high levels, with continued reports of intensive care capacity having been exceeded.” In a number of Eastern European countries, deaths are accelerating rapidly. In Poland, more than 90 percent of all new cases are now the B.1.1.7 variant, commonly referred to as the UK variant, which is more contagious and more deadly than the original strain. It has fuelled a surge in cases that has pushed the hospital system to the brink. On April 1 infections reached their highest level since the beginning of the pandemic. More than 803 people were reported dead in Poland yesterday. The day before, another 645 people died. The seven-day daily average of deaths is now over 600, equivalent to approximately 5,300 daily deaths in a country with the population of the United States. The hospital system is already overwhelmed. Michal Drozdz, a Warsaw paramedic, told the Financial Times that he is routinely forced to spend hours queuing up outside hospitals, because there is no more available place to take patients. “This has been happening all the time for three weeks. Every shift there’s a real threat you’ll have to spend it waiting in front of a hospital,” he said. “Sometimes it’s two hours, sometimes six. … During that time you can’t help anyone, which is what this job should be about.” In November last year, 5,000 people had died from the coronavirus in Poland. This has since risen more than 12-fold to almost 60,000. In February, even as the more contagious variant was circulating, the right-wing government of Mateusz Morawiecki announced a further relaxation of lockdown measures, including the reopening of schools for younger primary-aged students, along with museums, cinemas and swimming pools. The second-highest death rate on the continent is in Italy. The seven-day daily average of deaths is now 455, according to Worldometer. The country’s vaccination campaign has been a failure. With the health care system undermined by decades of savage austerity cuts, the organization of vaccine distribution was left to regional governments. By February 20, according to the Financial Times, just 20 percent of the vaccines distributed thus far had been given to people over the age of 70. Only 6 percent of people aged over 80 had received a single dose, compared to more than 20 percent in Germany and France, where the vaccine campaign has been disorganized and slow from the beginning.
Brazilian P1 COVID strain killing under-40s starting to spread in South East region – A coronavirus variant that appears to be particularly dangerous for younger people was detected in the South East region for the first time last month, according to new data. The Brazilian strain known as P1 has concerned scientists, initially because it contains the E484K mutation that makes it able to evade antibodies, potentially making vaccines less effective. But what has concerned them recently is new data coming out of Brazil suggesting it appears to be more fatal among young people. Some researchers in the country found that cases among 30 to 60-year-olds have risen six-fold since the variant emerged. At the weekend it was reported that more under-39s in the country – around 11,000 – were in intensive care with COVID than over-39s, for the first time during the pandemic. The latest data available from Public Health England shows that 44 cases of P1 have been recorded in the country so far. A 41-year-old patient with COVID pictured in Brasilia, Brazil, where a new strain known as P1 has taken hold (Image: AP)The latest regional data covers up to March 20, and showed three cases have been recorded in the South East. But all were reported in March, one early in the month and two a week later, suggesting the variant may be starting to spread here. Previously only five per cent of positive COVID tests were sequenced to find out which strain they were, whereas the number is now up to 40 per cent. A spokesperson said: “PHE is monitoring data about emerging variants very closely and where necessary public health interventions are being undertaken, such as extra testing and enhanced contact tracing. “The number of positive PCR tests currently being genomically sequenced has risen to 40 per cent from five per cent in January, which in turn has contributed to a rise in confirmed cases of a number of variants. “It is unlikely that a single mutation would stop any vaccine from working completely and recent studies show the vaccines we are now deploying are effective against the dominant variants in the UK. “The best way to stop the spread of the virus is to follow the public health advice – wash your hands, wear a face covering and keep your distance from others.”
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