Coronavirus Facts and Information thread:

[Stevicus]

Indian hospitals plead for oxygen, country sets virus record (apnews.com)

 

[Stevicus]

US health panel urges restarting J&J COVID-19 vaccinations (apnews.com)

A U.S. health panel says it’s time to resume use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, despite a very rare risk of blood clots. Out of nearly 8 million people vaccinated before the U.S. suspended J&J’s shot, health officials uncovered 15 cases of a highly unusual kind of blood clot, three of them fatal. All were women, most younger than 50. But advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the vaccine’s benefits outweigh that serious but small risk -- especially against a virus that’s still infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day. The government will rapidly weigh that recommendation in deciding next steps.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

With the U.S. pause of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine stretched into a second week, authorities are weighing whether to resume the shots the way European regulators decided to — with warnings of a “very rare” risk.

New guidance is expected late Friday after a government advisory panel deliberates a possible link between J&J’s shot and a small number of vaccine recipients who developed highly unusual blood clots.

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
146,254,008
view by country

Deaths:
3,099,632

Recovered:
124,050,896

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
147,041,592
view by country

Deaths:
3,112,315

Recovered:
124,689,995

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
147,780,699
view by country

Deaths:
3,122,427

Recovered:
125,316,928

 

[sun rise]

A moderately technical discussion of variants.

UK, South African, Brazilian: A Virologist Explains Each COVID Variant

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
148,472,884
view by country

Deaths:
3,133,504

Recovered:
126,093,447

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
149,328,858
view by country

Deaths:
3,148,781

Recovered:
126,982,137

 

[Stevicus]

'Cannon fodder': Medical students in India feel betrayed (apnews.com)

NEW DELHI (AP) — Since the beginning of the week, Dr. Siddharth Tara, a postgraduate medical student at New Delhi’s government-run Hindu Rao Hospital, has had a fever and persistent headache. He took a COVID-19 test, but the results have been delayed as the country’s health system implodes.

His hospital, overburdened and understaffed, wants him to keep working until the testing laboratory confirms he has COVID-19.

On Tuesday, India reported 323,144 new infections for a total of more than 17.6 million cases, behind only the United States. India’s Health Ministry also reported another 2,771 deaths in the past 24 hours, with 115 Indians succumbing to the disease every hour. Experts say those figures are likely an undercount.

“I am not able to breathe. In fact, I’m more symptomatic than my patients. So how can they make me work?” asked Tara.

The challenges facing India today, as cases rise faster than anywhere else in the world, are being compounded by the fragility of its health system and its doctors.

There are 541 medical colleges in India with 36,000 post-graduate medical students, and according to doctors’ unions constitute the majority at any government hospitals — they are the bulwark of the India’s COVID-19 response. But for over a year, they have been subjected to mammoth workloads, lack of pay, rampant exposure to the virus and complete academic neglect.

“We’re cannon fodder, that’s all,” said Tara.

In five states that are being hit hardest by the surge, postgraduate doctors have held protests against what they view as administrators’ callous attitude toward students like them, who urged authorities to prepare for a second wave but were ignored.

Jignesh Gengadiya, a 26-year-old postgraduate medical student, knew he’d be working 24 hours a day, seven days a week when he signed up for a residency at the Government Medical College in the city of Surat in Gujarat state. What he didn’t expect was to be the only doctor taking care of 60 patients in normal circumstances, and 20 patients on duty in the intensive care unit.

“ICU patients require constant attention. If more than one patient starts collapsing, who do I attend to?” asked Gengadiya.

The number of cases in India this past month has been spiking. The link has a chart but I couldn't reproduce it here. The senior doctors are older and are refusing to treat virus patients, so the brunt of the workload falls upon the overworked and exhausted postgraduate doctors, who working without pay and many are getting the virus themselves. Yet they're still making them work even if they're sick.

The article described India's health system as "imploding."

Hindu Rao Hospital, where Tara works, provides a snapshot of the country’s dire situation. It has increased beds for virus patients, but hasn’t hired any additional doctors, quadrupling the workload, Tara said. To make matters worse, senior doctors are refusing to treat virus patients.

“I get that senior doctors are older and more susceptible to the virus. But as we have seen in this wave, the virus affects old and young alike,” said Tara, who suffers from asthma but has been doing regular COVID-19 duty.

The hospital has gone from zero to 200 beds for virus patients amid the surge. Two doctors used to take care of 15 beds – now they’re handling 60.

Staff numbers are also falling, as students test positive at an alarming rate. Nearly 75% of postgraduate medical students in the surgery department tested positive for the virus in the last month, said a student from the department who spoke anonymously out of fear of retribution.

Tara, who’s part of the postgraduate doctors association at Hindu Rao, said students receive each month’s wages two months late. Last year, students were given four months’ pending wages only after going on hunger strike in the midst of the pandemic.

Dr. Rakesh Dogra, senior specialist at Hindu Rao, said the brunt of coronavirus care inevitably falls on postgraduate students. But he stressed they have different roles, with postgraduate students treating patients and senior doctors supervising.

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
150,224,795
view by country

Deaths:
3,163,964

Recovered:
127,742,189

 

[Stevicus]

Pacific Northwest faces COVID-19 surge as other states reopen (msn.com)

Washington state, the first to be hit when the pandemic began, is seeing another surge in coronavirus cases, with hospitalizations up 15%. In neighboring Oregon, hospitalizations rose 18%. Governor Kate Brown extended the state of emergency for another 60 days, saying "lives are at stake."

Across the country, there are worries about a decline in vaccinations. Nearly 62% of adults are still without a shot.

Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said public health experts expected that supply would eventually outweigh demand.

"We had many more arms that wanted vaccine than the vaccine was available. Now, it's no longer the last mile. It is solely down to the last inch, getting the needles in people's arms," Osterholm said.

Meanwhile, New York City is making plans to fully reopen. "We are ready to bring New York City back fully," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. "On July 1, all systems go."

In just two months, restaurants, theaters and stadiums in the city will be allowed to reopen at 100% capacity. Beginning Thursday, New York state is allowing anyone over 16 years old to walk into a vaccinate site for a shot.

"You've gotten vaccinated, you've done so much to fight through this crisis," de Blasio said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said fully vaccinated people could expect new guidance in the coming weeks. He also said he believes COVID-19 will be under control within this year.

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
151,141,668
view by country

Deaths:
3,179,474

Recovered:
128,549,571

 

[ChristineM]

From the French government corona virus information site
Info Coronavirus Covid-19

The President of the Republic [of France] Emmanuel Macron announced, in an interview with the regional press, a deconfinement in four progressive stages, from May 3 to June 30, conditioned to the health situation in each department.


First stage: May 3, 2021
End of certificates and travel restrictions.

(In France people are currently limited to 10km maximum travel unless a certificate that exempts certain essential activities is carried)​

Second stage: May 19, 2021
Curfew postponed to 9 p.m. and reopening of shops, terraces, museums, cinemas and theaters with limited gauges.

(There is currently a curfew from 7pm to 6am where all travel outside the home requires a certificate. Terraces means eating/drinking outdoors at restaurants/bars )​

Third stage: June 9, 2021
Curfew at 11 p.m. and reopening of indoor cafes and restaurants and sports halls.
Easing of teleworking, in consultation with the social partners at company level.


Fourth stage: June 30, 2021
End of the curfew.


These national measures could be tempered by “emergency brakes” in areas where the virus circulates too much :

• incidence rate greater than 400 infections per 100,000 inhabitants;
• sharp increase in the rate;
• risk of saturation of resuscitation services

 

[Stevicus]

Brazil backs away from the virus brink, but remains at risk (apnews.com)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — For most of this month, intensive care units across Brazil were at or near capacity amid a crush of COVID-19 patients, and sedatives needed to intubate patients dwindled. The nation’s biggest cemetery had so many corpses to bury that gravediggers worked hours past sundown.

But Brazil has stepped back from the edge — at least for now — as burial and hospital services no longer face collapse. It has ceased to be the virus’ global epicenter, as its death toll ebbed and was overtaken by India’s surge. Experts warn, however, that the situation remains precarious, and caution is warranted.

The number of states with ICU capacity above 90% has slipped to 10, from 17 a month ago, according to data from the state-run Fiocruz medical research institute. And nighttime burials at Vila Formosa and three other cemeteries in Sao Paulo were suspended Thursday, after two weeks of declining deaths.

 

[Stevicus]

Virus surge, vaccine shortages spread beyond India's borders (apnews.com)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — India has tried to fight skyrocketing coronavirus infections by increasing its production of vaccines and banning their export, cutting off supplies to neighbors such as Bangladesh and Nepal as they struggle with infection surges of their own.

These nations have imposed lockdowns as residents of big cities flee to the countryside seeking safety. They are also turning to China and Russia for vaccines in a desperate effort to deal with a pandemic that is becoming bigger and deadlier across South Asia.

Although new, more transmissible variants appear to be partly behind the surge, experts say other factors are contributing, including large holiday gatherings and growing fatigue with social distancing and mask wearing.

Here is a look at the situation in parts of South Asia, a region with about one-fourth of the world’s population:

BANGLADESH

The surge in India has created huge worries for Bangladesh, which shares a land border stretching 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) with India and where infections and deaths have surged in recent weeks.

The Muslim-majority country of 160 million people is under a lockdown lasting through May 5, which authorities say could be extended.

Bangladesh officials fear that new variants circulating in India could bring devastation.

“This is a matter of serious concern for us,” said Dr. A.S.M. Alamgir, principal scientific officer of the government’s Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research. “That concern has prompted the government to suspend all cross-border movement of people.”

With India imposing a ban on the export of AstraZeneca vaccines made by its Serum Institute of India, Bangladesh is attempting to obtain technology from Russia and China to produce their vaccines locally.

NEPAL

An infection surge in Nepal has prompted the government to impose new lockdowns in major cities and towns, restricting the movement of people and vehicles and shuttering markets, offices and schools.

Hospital beds were already scarce and medical resources stretched as the country entered the new wave trying to recover from an economic hit from a nearly four-month lockdown last year.

Nepal’s latest concern has been the 1,800-kilometer (1,125-mile) open border the Himalayan nation shares with India. Tens of thousands of Nepalese migrant workers have been returning to Nepal across this border as India’s health system breaks down.

The government has ordered tests and quarantines for those arriving, but in practice many people slip through undetected and travel to their villages.

Nepal began a vaccination campaign in January with 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by India, but it was suspended because of India’s refusal to allow exports as its domestic situation worsened.

Nepal has also paid for an addition 1 million doses from India, but has been waiting for the delivery since March. This shipment is needed for elderly people scheduled for a second dose in May.

The campaign was resumed with 800,000 vaccine doses donated by China, and now Nepal is negotiating with Russian authorities for supplies of Russian vaccines.

SRI LANKA

For many weeks, the number of daily COVID-19 infections in the island nation of Sri Lanka stood below 200. But last week, the figure suddenly surged and reached 1,466 on Thursday, the highest amount in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

Government and health officials say the rising numbers are party driven by celebrations and shopping surrounding the traditional New Year’s festival that fell on April 14 — and they warn the worst is yet to come.

Dr. Padma Gunarathne, president of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, said the country is at the early stages of another spike in infections and “this is a very risky situation for Sri Lanka.”

The country, with a population of nearly 22 million, has recorded 104,953 coronavirus infections and 655 deaths.

Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, director of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine at Sri Jayewardenepura University, said a more transmissible variant circulating now is contributing to the surge.

BHUTAN

The tiny nation of Bhutan is a success story in the region despite being poor and sharing land borders with China, where the virus was first detected, and India, which is facing a disaster now.

The nation of about 800,000 people has registered only one death and 1,059 infections.

Its success is based on the early adoption of lockdowns, quarantines, contact tracing and other measures, as well as a fast vaccination program this year. More than 480,000 vaccine doses were administered by April 26, according to government statistics.

 

[Stevicus]

This 'double mutant' variant is adding fuel to India's COVID-19 crisis (nationalgeographic.com)

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
152,002,365
view by country

Deaths:
3,193,653

Recovered:
129,271,047

 

[sun rise]

On twitter today I found a comparison of side-effects from vaccine compared with a placebo. Of course the it's well known that the vaccines have transitory side-effects for many especially at the injection site.

But if you look at the systemic side-effects and even deaths, the vaccine comes out to be remarkably safe:

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
152,817,436
view by country

Deaths:
3,206,613

Recovered:
130,091,071

 

[Quagmire]

Today:

Coronavirus Cases:
153,481,613
view by country

Deaths:
3,216,214

Recovered:
130,791,464