Situation Reports Overseas 2020-11-13 to 2020-12-05 | Safe Communities Portugal

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Situation Reports Overseas 2020-11-13 to 2020-12-05

Overseas Report Saturday 5th December 2020
“The secret of happiness, you see is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” Socrates
We start today with a review of the latest WHO information on the current Covid-19 situation, across the world.
Latest figures from WHO don’t give rise to any drop in infection rates – Worldwide there are 65,600,298 confirmed cases, with 1,513,129 deaths. The number of cases has increased by over 80,000 in a 24 hour period and the number of deaths by over 2,000 in the same time. Below the figures are broken down into regions of the world.
African Region – 1,520,631 confirmed cases with 33,978 deaths. The worst hit country is South Africa with over 800,000 cases reported and almost 22,000 deaths since the pandemic started back in February 2020.
Region of the Americas – 27,145,021 confirmed cases with 732,329 deaths. Brazil has been hit hard by the virus with just under 6.5 million cases and over 175,000 deaths so far.
European Region – 19,291,035 confirmed cases with 432,816 deaths. France has the highest number of cases in Europe with 2.25 million but the country with the most deaths in Europe is the UK. Although the number of reported cases is 1.67 million, the number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 stands at over 60,000.
Eastern Mediterranean Region – 4,184,748 confirmed cases with 105,189 deaths. This area incorporates both European countries and the Arab countries. Iran has recorded over 1 million cases with over 49,000 deaths.
Western Pacific Region – 897,634 confirmed cases with 17,494 deaths. This area has seen relatively low numbers compared to the rest of the world with Indonesia reporting just over 500,000 cases and 17,355 deaths.
Southeast Asia Region – 10,925,282 confirmed cases with 166,301 deaths. Singapore and Malaysia are the two countries most affected by the virus although their figures are lower than many around the world with 58,000 and 64,000 cases respectively. Deaths are just 29 and 376 respectively.
One notable area where the virus is increasing is the former states of the Old Soviet Union. Many of these countries have seen spikes in infections this past few days with Georgia, Armenia, and Kazakhstan. From the start of the pandemic these countries had relatively low infection rates while the rest of the world had high numbers. In The last few days they have seen big increases.
However, as these countries across the world are battling the second wave of Covid, this week saw the first signs of the vaccine being available in the very near future. Whilst we await the further formal announcements from the Portuguese Government as to their own vaccination plan, and when it will begin (which of course, we will report as soon as it is available), it gives us an opportunity to look at what is happening elsewhere, and speculate as to what may happen.
The UK health authorities this week became the first country to officially authorise the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for mass vaccination. Reports say that the first people to receive the vaccine could be immunised as early as next week.
Britain’s medicines regulator, the MHRA, says the jab, which offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19 illness, is safe to be rolled out.
Vaccine developers who have already reported promising Phase III trial results against Covid-19, estimate that between them they can make sufficient doses for more than one-third of the worlds population, by the end of 2021. Many people in low-income countries might have to wait until 2023 or 2024 for vaccination, according to some estimates.
Some manufacturers have supposedly scaled back their short-term production estimates over time, but the makers of the three vaccines that seem closest to widespread distribution”. AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna estimate a total production capacity of 5.3 billion doses for 2021, which could cover between 2.6 billion and 3.1 billion people, depending on whether AstraZeneca’s vaccine is administered in two doses or one and a half. As well as these, a vaccine created at the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow could cover another 500 million people per year outside Russia from 2021, according to the Moscow-based Russia Direct Investment Fund, which is supporting its development (it hasn’t yet disclosed capacity within Russia).
More than 10 million doses have already been ordered by Governments across the world, including most of the 2021 manufacturing capacity of the three main vaccine manufacturers. Most of this capacity is already spoken for. The 27 member states of the European Union, together with five other rich countries, have pre-ordered about half of it (including options, written into their contracts, to order extra doses, and negotiations that have been disclosed but not yet finalized). These countries account for only around 13% of the global population.
If six other leading vaccine candidates are included, the total number of doses for which disclosed deals are in place rises to 7.4 billion, with expansion options or ongoing negotiations accounting for another 2.9 billion doses. When these other vaccines are included, the total number of doses secured by the same five countries and the EU remains at around half of the total, because those wealthy enough to place bets on a number of candidates bought up broad portfolios of products early in the pandemic.
One of the major issues surrounding the purchase of the vaccine is the availability to the smaller, poorer countries. By buying up most of the manufacturing capacity, the bigger countries are potentially creating a shortage which will have to be filled by organisations like the WHO. More than 189 countries have signed up to COVAX, including wealthy economies that have joined to subsidize vaccine access. A lot of the issues surrounding this are about wanting to make ‘fair and equitable’ allocation of vaccines around the world to all countries that need them. The COVAX facility is a global mechanism set up to try to assure that smaller and low income countries have access to these vaccines – there are over 187 countries that have now committed to that facility.
Apart from the lack of vaccine at an early stage, the smaller less wealthy countries also have to contend with the cost of the vaccine. The prices of the vaccines vary, and differ from deal to deal. AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, UK, has said it will provide its vaccine at around US$3-4 per dose, which is between five and ten times cheaper than the estimated prices of other leading candidates, such as those made by New York City-based Pfizer and Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts. AstraZeneca has pledged to provide the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis for the duration of the pandemic, and in perpetuity to low- and middle- income countries. Other firms have not made these commitments.
Oxfam and other organizations across the world are calling for a People’s Vaccine – available to everyone, free of charge and distributed fairly, based on need. This will only be possible if pharmaceutical corporations allow vaccines to be produced as widely as possible, by freely sharing their knowledge free of patents, instead of protecting their monopolies and selling to the highest bidder.
Despite all of the above, we must not lose sight of the good news that, sooner than we could anticipate at the start of this global pandemic, scientists have come up with vaccinations that it is hoped can help us to fight this disease and we can start to look forward to a more ‘normal’ way of life.
Surely the title of this report ‘We are all in this together’ is now more relevant than ever and, until everyone has access to these vaccines, we should all be very aware that this virus is not going away and is still very much affecting our lives. We must not forget to continue to protect ourselves and others by social distancing, washing our hands and wearing masks, as well as following the Portuguese Government guidelines – but most of all stay safe.
Total number of cases worldwide – 65,600,298
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,513,129
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 45,657,497
Active cases – 18,785,034
Closed cases – 47,176,878
Information and statistics from:
www.ecdc.europa.eu
www.who.int
www.bbc.com/news
www.worldometers.info


“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” Steve Jobs
As we emerge from another National holiday lockdown, I thought it might be apt to take a look at those countries around the world that have fared better than most with their actions against the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are the 5 best countries, according to an online magazine called Global Citizen, who have handled the pandemic in their respective countries to the best effect.
New Zealand is in first place when it comes to its Covid-19 response, according to the Global Response Index, which measures the number of cases per 1 million people as well as deaths. The country started implementing preventive measures just three days after the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency on January 30th – a decision some may say should have been taken by governments across the world at the time, rather than the wait and see approach adopted by many European governments. The latest figures show that they have 411 cases per 1 million people and 188 deaths per 1 million. Currently they only have 72 active cases nationwide.
Second place is a country many would not expect; Senegal. Despite its fragile health care system, Senegal sits in second place for their pandemic response and has had 16,089 cases and only 333 deaths.
Director of Senegal’s Health Emergency Operation Center ,Dr. Abdoulaye Bousso, said that the government began developing contingency plans right when the WHO declared the coronavirus an international public health emergency at the end of January.
Senegal was the fourth African country to confirm a positive Covid-19 case in March. The country quickly imposed a curfew and restricted all domestic travel between the country’s 14 regions to delay any internal spread. By using mobile labs, the country was able to increase testing capacity, and many of the Covid-19 tests provided results within 24 hours. Hotels were also transformed into quarantine units.
Senegal was faced with the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and many experts feel that this experience provided the country with a “blueprint” on how to approach the coronavirus. Senegal’s approach made it one of the least affected countries on the continent.
In 3rd place, Iceland was able to tackle Covid-19 without having to implement the type of lockdowns that many European countries had to put in place. The country has reported 5392 cases and 26 deaths.
The country confirmed its first Covid-19 case on February 28th, after an Icelandic man returned from Italy. However, a month before the first case, Icelandic hospitals were already testing people arriving from abroad and quarantining anyone who had travelled from a virus hotspot. Over the course of six weeks, Iceland tested almost 50,000 people, which translates to more than 13% of the population. Thanks to the help of Icelandic genetics and pharmaceutical company deCODE, Iceland has more testing capabilities than any other country in the world. It is this that has helped them keep the virus under control.
4th place in this table goes to Denmark; on the 12th March Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, notified the country of a lockdown, making it one of the first European countries to shut down and this early action meant that Denmark was also the first to reopen, on April 17th. After only a month of lockdown, the country opened primary schools, and restaurants, shops, and salons quickly followed.
The lockdown was part of Denmark’s suppression strategy, which aimed to curb the virus’ spread. When the lockdown lifted, the Ministry of Health began widespread testing initiatives on April 20th. In less than a week, the country had five testing tents set up and 11 more in development. To date they have had 80,481 cases and 837 deaths. One statistic that does stand out is the number of tests which is almost 7.5 million on a population of just 5.8 million.
In 5th place, Saudi Arabia, also took early measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Despite the country’s limited testing capabilities, Saudi Arabia’s approach to disease management has kept the number of confirmed cases low. The country has reported 357,660 cases and 5896 deaths.
Saudi Arabia is home to Mecca, a holy site in Islam that millions of people around the world travel to for pilgrimage. On February 28th, the government banned all travelers from Covid-19 hotspots, regardless if they were traveling for religious or other purposes.
On March 4th, the two mosques on the site were closed and pilgrimages were suspended. Shortly after, mosques throughout the country closed and people were asked to perform daily prayers at home.
Saudi Arabia is also home to the largest social media user population in the world, according to Global Media Insight. The government took advantage of this as a tool. Online campaigns about wearing masks, staying at home, and flattening the curve flooded platforms like Twitter.
What these statistics show, however, is that all these countries have a fairly small population. If we look at population density we see that New Zealand has 18.35 people per sq. km, Senegal has 82.3 people, Iceland just 3.5 people, Denmark 138 people and Saudi Arabia has 15.7 people per sq. km. Both Denmark and Senegal started testing at the outset of the first wave which seems to have served them well overall. The other three imposed a lockdown earlier than the rest of the world so reaping the benefits of keeping their citizens in one place.
A quick comparison with some of the European nations that have not fared as well shows that the UK has a population density of 236 people per sq.km, France 122 people, Italy 205 people, and Spain 94 people per sq.km.
Obviously there is no single reason why one country has fared better than others but , with the second wave ongoing, many countries will be looking at these examples to try and replicate their approach to an extent, to keep the second wave under control.
Stay safe
Total number of cases worldwide – 63,892.165
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,480.163
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 44,228,642
Active cases – 18,183,3
Closed cases – 45,708,805
Information and statistics from:
www.globalcitizen.org
www.databank.worldbank.org
www.covid19.who.int
www.worldometers.info


Overseas View – Monday 30th November by Mike Evans
“In the end, everything will be okay. If it’s not okay, it’s not yet the end”. Fernando Sabino
The latest statistics from the WHO, World Health Organisation, show that there are over 4 million new cases reported of Covid-19 each week. Symptoms are varied with a number of different ailments that could show you have it.
One novel way of detecting the virus, which is starting to gain notice is through training dogs, – man’s best friend – to sniff out positive cases..
Around the world, canines are being trained to detect the whiff of Covid-19 infections. Dog trainers are claiming extraordinary results – in some cases, they say that dogs can detect the virus with almost perfect accuracy. Scientists involved with the efforts suggest that canines could help to control the pandemic because they can screen hundreds of people an hour in busy places such as airports or sports stadiums, and are cheaper to run than conventional testing methods, such as the RNA-amplification technique PCR.
The problem though, with so many of these studies, is most of these findings have not yet been peer reviewed or published, making it hard for the wider scientific community to evaluate the claims. Researchers working on more conventional viral tests say that initial results from dog groups are intriguing and show promise. But some question whether the process can be scaled up to a level that would allow the animals to make a meaningful impact.
On 3rd November, groups working with the animals met in an online workshop called ‘International K9 Team’ to share preliminary results from experiments and to improve how their research is coordinated.
“No one is saying they can replace a PCR machine, but they could be very promising,” says veterinary neurologist Holger Volk at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover in Germany, who is leading an effort to train and study Covid-19 sniffing dogs.Sniffer dogs are already a familiar sight in airports, where they detect firearms, explosives and drugs. Scientists have also trained dogs to detect some cancers and malaria, but the animals are not routinely used for this purpose. Trials at airports in the United Arab Emirates, Finland and Lebanon are using dogs to detect Covid-19 in sweat samples from passengers; these are then checked against conventional tests. According to data presented at the K9 meeting, dogs in Finland, (picture) and Lebanon have identified cases days before conventional tests picked up the virus, suggesting that they can spot infection before symptoms start.
Finland has been one of the few countries in Europe that has not been hit hard by the virus. Latest figures show they have had 22,635 confirmed cases and 388 deaths. With a population of just over 5.5 million, they have fared a lot better than Portugal, with a population of 10 million people. Their use of dogs at airports is just one of the methods the country used to try and combat the virus.
In Lebanon, Riad Sarkis is a surgeon and researcher at Saint Joseph University in Beirut, and part of a French–Lebanese project that has trained 18 dogs. Sarkis used the best two performers for the airport trial in Lebanon. The dogs screened 1,680 passengers and found 158 COVID-19 cases that were confirmed by PCR tests. The animals correctly identified negative results with 100% accuracy, and correctly detected 92% of positive cases, according to unpublished results.
The main issue with these studies is the relatively small sample studies that have been done and more research will be needed to ascertain the validity of the results.
Sport plays a massive part of many people’s lives whether participating or watching and the impact it can have on our lives is massive. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, spectator sports have been largely curtailed, although some countries are starting to allow spectators back into stadia albeit on a much smaller scale.
The impact that sport has on our lives has been highlighted this week with the sad death of the Argentine footballer, Diego Maradona. Huge crowds in South America, and Italy where he played for a number of years, were out on the streets to mourn his passing.
One of the major issues that Covid-19 has brought to the fore is people’s mental health and the effect that lockdowns have on us. Sport is one of the things that people have been missing the most and, as a lover of most sports, the lack of crowds in stadia has made for a less competitive game, whatever the sport. The science behind allowing people to meet together inside venues and not in open stadia is rather puzzling and we can all hope that with the advent of the vaccine for Covid-19. fans will be able to get back into supporting their team from the stadium rather than the TV screen.
And while experts know that playing sports and being physically active can boost mental health, we’re not as familiar with the benefits of watching them from a distance. This may leave you wondering: Could the return of sports help improve our mental health? We are living in an unprecedented time in modern history. Fear, anxiety, worry, and stress are mounting and many people may seem unable to let go of the way life used to be prior to Covid-19. Although staying safe, wearing a mask, and maintaining social distance are the top priorities, finding ways to take a mental break from all that is going on is also important. And that’s where sport can help.
For some people, being able to watch their favourite golfer or football team offers some semblance of a return to normality, providing a meaningful connection to a greater community. But for others, it’s a way to escape – if only for a short while – from the isolation, anxiety, and stress of living in a pandemic.
In pre-Covid times, sport offered a notable mental and physical boost for both viewers and athletes, but during the pandemic we are realising just how significant the role of sport had become.
“People are looking for anything that feels and sounds like life before Covid-19,” says Souzan Swift, PsyD, Psychologist at Heal. With sports viewership, Swift says it provides a sense of normalcy, a healthy distraction, and a way to connect with others during this time of isolation. Lets hope that the idea of Normalcy returns soon.
Stay safe until the next time……
Total number of cases worldwide – 62,872,202
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,462,945
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 43,423,037
Active cases – 17,986,220
Closed cases – 44,885,982
Information and statistics from:
www.nature.com
www.covid19.who,int
www.verywellmind.com
www.heal.com
www.worldometers.info
 


Overseas Situation Report Friday 27th November by Mike Evans
“Rise above the storm, and you will find the sunshine” Mario Fernandez
With Christmas Holidays fast approaching, it is usually a time when friends and families get together – 2020 will be a very different type of get together.
Across the world, the Covid-19 pandemic is still hitting countries hard and the fear amongst many is that the usual Christmas holiday festivities will create a third wave of the virus, which could be more difficult to control than the previous two.
Before Christmas in the USA comes Thanksgiving. Americans defied pleas from state and local officials to stay home for the Thanksgiving holiday in the face of the surging coronavirus pandemic, triggering fresh warnings from health officials. with the release of vaccines still weeks away. Deaths from Covid-19 surpassed 2,000 in a single day for the first time since May on Tuesday and hospitalizations reached a record of more than 89,000 on Wednesday, as the country recorded 2.3 million new infections in the past two weeks. Spiraling infections typically result in a rising death toll weeks later. Coronavirus deaths reached 2,157 on Tuesday – one person every 40 seconds – with another 170,000 people infected, as millions of Americans travelled for Thanksgiving. Nearly 1 million passengers a day have been screened at airport security checkpoints during the past week, with Sunday’s total of 1.047 million being the highest number since the early days of the pandemic in mid-March. As of this moment the number of cases in the USA is 13,148,994 with deaths at 268,421.
Meanwhile in the UK new measures have been announced this week by the Health Secretary, once the current lockdown ends on the 2nd December. A large number of places and people will be put into the highest risk Tier 3 from Tier 2, with the hope that the infection rate drops sufficiently for the Christmas break to go ahead, without a further spike in cases. More than 20 million people across large swathes of England will be forced to live under the toughest category of Covid-19 restrictions when a national lockdown ends on December 2nd, while London has been placed in the “high alert” second-toughest tier.
Health minister, Matt Hancock, on Thursday announced final details of a regional system set to take effect when blanket restrictions on England’s 55 million population end after a month-long lockdown – dictating the terms of daily life for the country’s citizens and businesses.
“Hope is on the horizon but we still have further to go so we must all dig deep. The end is in sight, we mustn’t give up now,” Hancock told parliament, alluding to growing prospects for a vaccine against the coronavirus in the coming months.
Britain has Europe’s highest official death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic and has been hit hard by a second wave. The government’s response on lockdown rules, procurement and testing has been criticised by some as disjointed, expensive and slow.
“We must follow these new rules and make sure that our actions today will save lives in future and help get our country through this,” Hancock said.Tiers will be reviewed on December 16th, making it possible for areas that show a slower spread of the virus to be moved down a notch before Christmas. Currently the number of cases in the UK is 1,557,007 and deaths are currently at 56,533.
In Mainland Europe the situation is not much better. However, in France, where the virus seems to be a bit further ahead than the UK, President Macron addressed the nation on Tuesday last – France will begin easing its Covid-19 lockdown this weekend so that by Christmas, shops, theatres and cinemas will re-open and people will be able to spend the holiday with the rest of their family. Macron said the worst of the second wave of the pandemic in France was over, but that restaurants, cafés and bars would have to stay shut until January.
“We must do everything in our power to avoid a third wave and a third lockdown,” the French president said. “We have slowed the spread of the virus,but it is still very much present”.
France aims to lift the nationwide lockdown on December 15th but Macron said that a 9pm-7am curfew would remain in place. Cinemas and theatres will also be allowed to reopen. Covid-19 infection rates have dropped sharply in the past week since the government imposed a nationwide lockdown on October 30th. France’s infection rate per 100,000 people is now less than a third of what it was when November began, and the number of people in hospitals and intensive care has been trending downwards for a week. However, France continues to report hundreds of Covid-19 related deaths each day. Currently the country’s Covid-19 death toll has reached 50,618, while its infection rate of 2,170,097 remains the highest in Europe.
Meanwhile in Germany, the current cases number 983,588 with deaths at 15,160 and Italy, cases are 1,480,874 with deaths at 52,028. Officials are concerned that the demand for skiing trips over the festive season will lead to a spike in cases. Germany is seeking an agreement with EU countries to keep ski resorts closed until early January, in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus. Chancellor Angela Merkel told parliament that efforts were being made to reach a Europe-wide decision. Italy and France have expressed support for a co-ordinated approach. But Austria has voiced concern. Some of the early European coronavirus hotspots were at ski resorts, helping spread infections across the continent.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Europe faced a “tough” six months, amid mounting cases. Renewed restrictions have led to a reduction in new infections in some countries, but there are fears the pandemic could worsen over the winter.
Italy has also stressed the need for a united approach on the issue of ski resorts, and Prime Minister. Giuseppe Conte, has already backed delaying the start of the ski season. “If Italy decided to shut down all its ski lifts without any support from France, Austria and the other countries, then Italian tourists would risk going abroad and taking the contagion back home,” he told La7 TV earlier this week.
Many Italians head for the slopes over the Christmas and New Year break and the period is a vital part of the local economy for ski resorts across Europe.
French President, Emmanuel Macron, has made clear that the country’s ski resorts will stay shut until the New Year. Prime Minister, Jean Castex, said on Thursday he wanted to see the coronavirus rules for ski resorts “harmonised at European level as much as possible”.
Total number of cases worldwide – 61,155,876
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,434,569
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 42,304,016
Active cases – 17,417,291
Closed cases – 43,738,585
Information and statistics from:
www.ecdc.europa.eu
www.france24.com
www.bbc.co.uk
www.reuters.com
www.worldometers.info
 

Tuesday 24th November 2020 by Louise Birch
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened” (Anatole France)
Bustling waiters and the smell of coffee returned to Barcelona’s pavements on Monday as bars and restaurants in the Spanish region of Catalonia reopened in a phased easing of coronavirus restrictions. Suppliers rolled in carts with groceries and masked attendants spaced out tables on bar terraces and inside establishments as the first customers ordered their morning coffee with croissants. “The people of the neighbourhood are keen to see the bars reopen, they’ve been asking us every day and looking forward to this Monday,” restaurant owner Eduardo de Vincenzo, 68, told reporters.
Catalonia was the first Spanish region to fully close bars and restaurants amid the second Covid-19 wave in mid-October, and is the first to put them back to work as the contagion ebbed. A nighttime curfew remains in place, and tough restrictions continue in the rest of the country as well as most of Europe. The region also reopened theatres, cinemas, musical halls and outdoor sports facilities with a 50% maximum occupancy.
Spain, which has more than 1.55 million Covid-19 cases – western Europe’s second highest tally after France – and 42,619 dead – imposed a six-month state of emergency in late October, giving regions legal backing to impose curfews and restrict travel. New infections measured over the past 14 days have fallen to 419 per 100,000 people as of last Friday from 530 in the first week of November. In Catalonia, that rate has dropped to around 390.
In Switzerland, the number of infections has risen by 9,751 since Friday, data from Swiss health authorities show. The total number of confirmed cases in Switzerland and neighbouring principality Liechtenstein increased to 300,352 and the death toll rose by 213 to 3,788, while 410 new hospitalisations kept pressure on the health care system.
In Russia, Moscow has reported 25,173 new infections; the greatest figure the country has seen in a single day since the pandemic began. The Kremlin has said it is up to regional authorities to decide what measures need to be imposed in their regions to curb the virus’ spread. Russian authorities have said they will not impose nationwide lockdowns as they did earlier in the pandemic, stressing the importance of hygiene and targeted measures in certain regions instead. Last week, authorities in the Siberian region of Buryatia, which borders Mongolia, closed restaurants, shopping malls, bars and public facilities for two weeks in a bid to stem the spread of virus, making it the first and only Russian region to impose harsh restrictions in response to the pandemic’s second wave. The country’s coronavirus taskforce has reported 361 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 36,540. With more than 2.1m infections, Russia has the world’s fifth largest number of cases after the US, India, Brazil and France.
South Korea reported another daily rise of more than 200 new coronavirus cases on Monday, a day after it tightened social distancing rules as it battles a third wave of infection. The daily tally of 255 new cases fell from 330 reported on Sunday after hovering above 300 for five straight days, a level not seen since August, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Officials have said the numbers tend to drop during the weekends due to less testing. The government strengthened distancing rules for the capital Seoul and nearby regions on Sunday, closing bars and nightclubs, limiting religious gatherings and restricting on-site dining at restaurants from today (Tuesday.) The decision came less than a week after the guidelines were tightened ahead of annual college entrance exams scheduled for 3 December. South Korea has been a coronavirus success story after tackling the first major epidemic outside China without major disruption, thanks to an aggressive tracing, testing and quarantine campaign. South Korea has been a coronavirus success story after tackling the first major epidemic outside China without major disruption, thanks to an aggressive tracing, testing and quarantine campaign. However it continues to grapple with persistent cluster infections from offices, nursing homes and small gatherings, prompting authorities last week to declare the country was fighting a third wave of infection. Total infections are now at 31,004, with 509 lives lost according to official sources.
The Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble has popped. The much-hyped travel bubble has postponed, one day before the first flights were set to depart. The bubble was postponed after Hong Kong health authorities reported a rise in new cases, including 43 on Saturday alone, 13 of which were untraced local infections.The bubble allows people to travel between Singapore and Hong Kong for leisure, and to take a coronavirus test in lieu of quarantine or home isolation. Hong Kong has recorded 5,702 cases and 108 lives have been lost since the pandemic began. The government started to ease restrictions on dining, sports facilities and theme parks in September after a mass testing programme organised by the Chinese government.
Indonesia’s caseload has surpassed the half-million mark, with 4,442 new infections reported on Monday, data from the country’s health ministry have shown. The country has now confirmed 502,110 coronavirus cases. Indonesia reported 118 more deaths, bringing the total number of lives lost to 16,002. South-east Asia’s biggest and most populous country has the region’s highest numbers of both cases and deaths.
Ending on a lighter note, Oxford Dictionaries has expanded its usual Word of the Year due to an “unprecedented” 2020, with furlough, moonshot and Covid-19 among the terms on the list. Superspreader and lockdown are other coronavirus-related words on the list, along with Black Lives Matter, cancel culture and bushfire relating to societal and environmental issues during the past 12 months, PA Media reports.
The report, titled Words of an Unprecedented Year, says usage of the word pandemic increased by 57,000% last year while lexicographers found use of the word “coronavirus” passed one of the most frequently used nouns in April.
Other terms that have experienced a surge in use this year include unmute, referring to people making themselves audible during online conferences, and Zoombombing, a variant on photobombing, which was first recorded as a word in 2008, and refers to disturbing online calls on Zoom.
Total number of cases worldwide – 59,118,109
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,395,930
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 40,892,476
Active cases:
16,829,703 active cases,
16,726,625 in mild condition,
103,078 described as serious or critical.
Closed cases – 42,288,406
Information and statistics from
www.who.int
www.worldometers.info
www.theguardian.com
www.covid19.who.int
www.reuters.com
 



Monday 23rd November 2020 by Louise Birch
“Jump and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall” (Ray Bradbury)
It’s Monday again so here is a round up of some of the events from the world of Covid-19 from the weekend.
Saturday
The number of coronavirus cases in Brazil has surpassed 6 million, becoming the third country in the world to pass that milestone after the United States and India. Brazil recorded 38,397 additional confirmed cases in 24 hours and 552 deaths from the virus, the health ministry said. The official death toll has risen to 169,016, according to ministry data.
The city of Toronto has returned to lockdown amid a surge of coronavirus cases in Canada.
France recorded a further 1,138 deaths in 24 hours from the virus, taking the total to 48,518. France has also reported 22,882 cases in the past 24 hours, compared with 21,150 on Thursday.The total number of confirmed cases in the country has now reached 2,127,051.
Iran will impose tougher restrictions nationwide as the Middle East country hardest hit by the coronavirus battles a third wave of infections. The toughest measures, under which non-essential businesses and services are to close, will be imposed in the capital Tehran and about 160 other high risk “red” cities and towns, state media said.
In South Australia, police continue to investigate a coronavirus case linked to a pizza bar in Adelaide after a worker lied to contact tracers about his job at there. South Australia recorded one new COVID-19 case on Saturday, a close contact of another case. The state’s lockdown has now been lifted.
The Australian state of Victoria has recorded its 22nd day of no new coronavirus cases but authorities are asking anyone in the Altona catchment to get tested if they have symptoms after coronavirus was detected in sewage. New South Wales recorded no new locally acquired Covid-19 cases. Two new cases were reported in Queensland, both in hotel quarantine.
Health authorities in Western Australia say the state has recorded one new case of COVID-19, bringing the state’s total to 797. The confirmed case is a woman in her 30s who returned to Perth from overseas. She is in hotel quarantine. WA Health is monitoring 16 active cases and 772 confirmed cases have recovered from the virus in the state.
Tokyo confirmed a record 539 new cases on Saturday, beating its previous high of 534 cases, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government. Saturday marks the third day that the daily number of cases has topped 500.Japan has announced that it will suspend a domestic travel campaign in areas where coronavirus cases are especially high. The Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, announced the change on Saturday afternoon
Russia reported a daily record of 24,822 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, including 7,168 in the capital Moscow, bringing the national tally to 2,089,329. Authorities also reported 467 coronavirus-related deaths in hours, also a record, taking the official death toll to 36,179.
Ukraine registered a record 14,580 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours, the Health Minister, Maksym Stepanov, said on Saturday, surpassing the previous day’s record of 14,575.
The total number of confirmed cases has now reached 624,744 cases, with 10,951 lives lost to Covid-19.
The tally of coronavirus cases in the eastern European sub-region passed 5m on Saturday, according to a tally kept by Reuters. The region, which comprises Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, has the highest count of reported cases in Europe. They collectively reported over 82,000 cases in a single day on an average in the last week, while adding over 1,500 deaths daily on average.Russia, Poland and Ukraine are among the top 20 countries with the most cases in the world.
Europe has so far reported more than 15.5 million coronavirus cases, making it the region with the highest number of cases. It has recorded 353,409 deaths, the second-highest in the world by region after Latin America.
In Greece officials are warning that lockdown restrictions are likely to continue beyond 30 November when the measures were initially meant to end. Although transmissions have gradually begun “to stabilise,” infectious disease experts say the decline in infection rates has been slower than expected. Greece has seen a surge in confirmed transmissions especially in and around Thessaloniki, the country’s northern metropolis where hospitals are at breaking point.

Sunday.
South Korea reported more than 300 new coronavirus cases for a fifth straight day on Sunday, as officials warned that stricter rules could be imposed if the trend continues to threaten the highly populated capital of Seoul and surrounding areas.
France will start easing lockdown rules in coming weeks, carrying out the process in three stages so as to avoid a new flareup in the pandemic, the government said on Sunday. On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron will give a speech to the nation about the virus situation and may announce a partial relaxation of restrictions which have been in place since 30 October. “What is at stake is adapting lockdown rules as the health situation improves while avoiding a new flare up in the epidemic,” government spokesman Gabriel Attal told the media. “There will be three steps to lockdown easing in view of the health situation and of risks tied to some businesses: a first step around 1 December, then before the year-end holidays and then from January 2021,” Attal added.With recent data showing France on track to rein in a surge in coronavirus infections, the government is under pressure from shops and businesses to ease restrictions in time for the Christmas shopping season, when many retailers make the bulk of their annual turnover.
“We had committed to allow them (shopkeepers) to reopen around 1 December if the health situation improved, which seems to be the case,” Attal said.”Bars and restaurants however will continue to experience restrictions,” he added.
A sharp rise in coronavirus infections in the Gaza Strip could overwhelm the Palestinian enclave’s meagre medical system by next week, public health advisers said on Sunday.
Gaza, where the dense and poor population of 2 million is vulnerable to contagions, has logged 14,000 coronavirus cases and 65 deaths, mostly since August. Seventy-nine of Gaza’s 100 ventilators have been taken up by COVID-19 patients, said Abdelraouf Elmanama, a microbiologist who is part of the enclave’s pandemic task force. “In 10 days the health system will become unable to absorb such a hike in cases and there might be cases that will not find a place at intensive care units,” he said, adding that the current 0.05% mortality rate among coronavirus patients could rise. Gaza’s Islamist Hamas rulers have so far imposed one lockdown.
Total number of cases worldwide – 58,675,237
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,389,261
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 40,618,293
Active cases:
16,667,683 active cases,
16,565,237 in mild condition,
102,446 described as serious or critical.
Closed cases – 42,007,554
Information and statistics from
www.who.int
www.worldometers.info
www.theguardian.com
www.covid19.who.int
www.reuters.com


Sunday 22nd November 2020 by Louise Birch
“I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful”. (Bob Hope)
We all need some smiles during these challenging times, hopefully I can turn those frowns upside down.
In the USA, The National Zoo in D.C. needed a name for its newest panda cub, and everyone was invited to help name the little guy. Born on August 21, 2020 in the US capital, this wee one is known to excel at napping, nursing, and cuddling with his mother Mei Xiang—there’s even a Giant Panda Cam so you can see him and his parents in action.

The possible names—chosen by the zoo and Chinese partners who strive to conserve this beloved and endangered bear—reflect the happiness people share for the young panda.
These were the four naming options to choose from:
1. Fu Zai (fu-tzai) | 福仔: Mandarin Chinese for “prosperous boy”
2. Xiao Qi ji (shiau-chi-ji) | 小奇迹: Mandarin Chinese for “little miracle”
3. Xing Fu (shing-fu) | 幸福: Mandarin Chinese for “happy and prosperous”
4. Zai Zai (tzai-tzai) | 仔仔: Mandarin Chinese nickname for a boy
Voting closed on November 20th and the result will be announced Monday 23rd November.

Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf? Japanese black bears, it seems—or at least they’re afraid of big, bad robotic wolves.
With bear sightings at a five-year high and dozens of attacks reported in Japan this year alone, city officials in the town of Takikawa on the island of Hokkaido took action by buying and installing a pair of Monster Wolf robots in their community. The animatronic scare-wolves were developed through a cooperative project between precision machinery manufacturer Ohta Seiki, Hokkaido University, and Tokyo University of Agriculture.
Looking like a cross between Wolverine and the Terminator, each cyborg Canis lupus comes equipped with flashing red eyes, a blinking tail, and a repertoire of loud, threatening sounds—growls, roars, and heavy machinery noise—all triggered by motion detectors. The prefab predators were scheduled to be left out to prowl until early November, when the bears go into hibernation, then return to duty next spring.
“We want to let the bears know, Human settlements aren’t where you live and help with the co-existence of bears and people.”
While the replicant wolves would likely not have fooled Little Red Riding Hood, the ursa population is taking them quite seriously. Since the menacing sentinels were introduced into their new habitat on the outskirts of Takikawa in September, no further bear sightings have been reported, and as a result, the robot wolves are being regarded, by all accounts, as a howling success.
Short and sweet this Sunday, stay home, stay safe and remember, we are all in this together.
Louise Birch


Saturday 21st November 2020 by Louise Birch
“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility” (William Wordsworth)
The US government will extend a ban on non-essential travel at land borders with Canada and Mexico until 21 December. The rules were first introduced in March to stop the virus’ spread and will be in place for another 20 days. They were due to expire today (Saturday).
California will impose a temporary overnight curfew affecting nearly the entire population beginning this weekend, as the state battles to get a surge in coronavirus cases under control. The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced the limited stay-at-home order on Thursday, saying that all non-essential work and gathering must stop from 10pm to 5am. The order will apply to the 41 counties currently in the most restrictive tier of reopening rules, which accounts for nearly the entire state population of 40 million people.
Mainland China reported 17 new Covid-19 cases on Nov. 19, up from 12 a day earlier, the country’s health authority said on Friday. The National Health Commission said all new cases were imported infections originating from overseas. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed infections, also rose to 14 from 10 a day earlier. The total number of confirmed coronavirus infections to date in Mainland China stands at 86,398 cases, while the number of lives lost remained unchanged at 4,634.
Mexico haspassed the 100,000 mark in Covid-19 deaths this week, becoming only the fourth country, behind the United States, Brazil and India, to do so. José Luis Alomía Zegarra, Mexico’s director of epidemiology, announced that Mexico had 100,104 confirmed Covid-19 deaths. However, the living will bear the scars too: along with their lost friends and loved ones, many surviving coronavirus victims in Mexico say the psychosis caused by the pandemic is one of the most lasting effects. Mexico resembles a divided country, where some people are so unconcerned they won’t wear masks, while others are so scared they descend into abject terror at the first sign of shortness of breath.
The state of South Australia will come out of its snap six-day coronavirus lockdown earlier than expected, with most activities permitted to restart from midnight today (Saturday), state Premier Steven Marshall said on Friday.Coronavirus infections have slowed dramatically in recent weeks in Australia, with South Australia one of the few places still recording community transmission of the disease. Mr Marshall said the state will ease restrictions, including immediately allowing people to leave their homes to exercise, after it was realised that contact tracers were misled by a person working in the epicentre of the recent outbreak.To the fury of the state premier, Steven Marshall, and probably most South Australians, the man told investigators he had been a customer at Woodville pizza bar where a coronavirus -positive security guard from a quarantine hotel worked.The investigators thought the man’s case meant many other customers could have picked up the disease in an outbreak that was one of Australia’s most serious for weeks. However, it turned out the man worked at the pizza bar and therefore was deemed a close contact of the security guard, lessening the risk to the wider community. “To say I am fuming about the actions of this individual is an absolute understatement,” Marshall said. “The selfish actions of this individual have put our whole state in a very difficult situation. His actions have affected businesses, individuals, family groups and is completely and utterly unacceptable.”
India has recorded more than 9 million coronavirus cases, with 45,882 new infections confirmed in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Friday.The country now has 9,006,079 cases and 132,223 people have lost the battle with COVID-19.India is only the second country to cross 9 million coronavirus infections, after the United States, but cases have slowed down in the country after hitting a peak in September.Government officials and experts have warned that the country could still see a spike after the festival of Diwali was celebrated this month.
Northern Ireland faces two weeks of tougher lockdown restrictions from the end of next week, as non-essential retail will also close. Health Minister Robin Swann had warned colleagues that a delayed lockdown risked seeing the country’s health services overwhelmed.
Coronavirus infections rose by 4,946 in a day, data from Swiss health authorities shows.
The total number of confirmed cases in Switzerland and neighbouring principality Liechtenstein increased to 290,601 and the death toll rose by 111 to 3,575, while 252 new hospitalisations added to the strain on the health care system.
The regional government of Madrid has said the area will close its borders with other regions between 4 and 14 December in an effort to stop transmission of the virus over the long bank holiday weekend that begins on Friday 4 December and runs through the following Monday and Tuesday. Over the period, travel into and out of the region will only be permitted on justified or emergency grounds. “We want things to be as good as possible as we approach Christmas,” Antonio Zapatero, the region’s deputy public health minister said on Friday, adding that the decision to limit people’s movements had been taken “in the interests of prudence”.
Spain’s nationwide curfew, declared under the current state of emergency, is expected to remain in force until at least the beginning of next year. In Madrid, people have to remain at home from midnight to 6am and gatherings – as elsewhere in Spain – are capped at six people. There are signs that the pandemic is beginning to stabilise in the Madrid region. Over the past two weeks, the region has recorded 297.3 cases per 100,000 people – down from 324.4 a week ago. Across Spain as a whole, there are 436.3 cases per 100,000 people. Last week, 34.2% of the region’s intensive care units were occupied by Covid patients. On Thursday, the figure stood at 31.4%. To date, Spain has logged 1,574,063 cases of the virus and recorded 42,291 deaths.
Russia has recorded it worst daily caseload increase, with 24,318 new infections on Friday. That includes 6,902 in the capital Moscow and brings the national tally to 2,039,926. Authorities also reported 461 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the official number of lives lost to 35,311.Moreover, some Russian hospitals are experiencing serious drugs shortages and cannot restock because of panic buying, high demand and problems with a new labelling system, officials, distributors and doctors have said.
Russia, which has reported the world’s fifth-highest number of cases, is struggling to cope with a second wave and the healthcare system outside Moscow is close to breaking point according to reports.
Hong Kong has reported a spike in daily cases to 26, two days before an arrangement with Singapore to allow a limited number of passengers to fly both ways without having to go through quarantine kicks in.Hong Kong has been spared the dramatic escalations seen in other major cities, but the rise was big by its standards, with daily cases having mostly been in the single-digits or low double digits in recent weeks. Of the 26 confirmed cases, 21 were local transmissions, prompting the health secretary Sophia Chan to say the Chinese-ruled city “has probably entered” a fourth wave of infections.
Total number of cases worldwide – 57,420,398
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,368,913
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 39,875,142
Active cases:
16,176,343 active cases,
16,074,435 in mild condition,
101,908 described as serious or critical.
Closed cases – 41,244,055
Information and statistics from
www.who.int
www.worldometers.info
www.theguardian.com
www.covid19.who.int
www.reuters.com

Friday 20th November 2020 by Louise Birch
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do.Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” (Ella Fitzgerald)
I start with an extract from the opening remarks made by the World Health Organisation Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the most recent media briefing.
“This is not a time for complacency.
While we continue to receive encouraging news about COVID-19 vaccines and remain cautiously optimistic about the potential for new tools to start to arrive in the coming months.
Right now we are extremely concerned by the surge in cases we’re seeing in some countries.Particularly in Europe and the Americas, health workers and health systems are being pushed to the breaking point.
WHO has issued guidance and tools to increase capacity for the medical and public health workforce and supplies and facilities to manage COVID-19 patients.
At present, WHO has 150 emergency medical teams assisting countries in the planning and implementation of their emergency responses.
WHO and partners are working with governments and health leaders to ensure that there is cover for health workers that are sick.That there are enough beds for COVID-19 patients and for essential health services to continue safely.That there are enough masks, gloves and other protective equipment. That governments have access to enough tests, therapeutics and supplies to cope with demand now. And that health systems will be ready when safe and effective vaccines are rolled out.
Health workers on the frontlines have been stretched for months. They are exhausted.
We must do all we can to protect them, especially during this period when the virus is spiking and patients are filling hospital beds.
As countries take extreme measures to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19, now is the time to invest in the systems that will prevent further waves of the virus.
Invest in a well trained and protected public health work force so that you have enough contact tracers in place and ensure that those who are sick can isolate away from others and contacts are identified, notified and managed properly.
And where cases are starting to come down, keep investing so that you’re prepared.
This is a dangerous virus, which can attack every system in the body.
Those countries that are letting the virus run unchecked are playing with fire.
First, there will be further needless deaths and suffering.
Second, as we featured two weeks ago in a press conference, we are seeing a significant number of people experiencing long-term effects of the virus.
Third, health workers in particular are facing extreme mental health pressure and cases are severely burdening health systems in too many countries.
Health workers went into medicine to save lives as you know.
We must avoid putting them into situation where they have to make impossible choices about who gets care and who doesn’t.
We need to do everything we can to support health workers, keep schools open, protect the vulnerable and safeguard the economy.From calling up students, volunteers and even national guards to support the health response in times of crisis, to putting strict measures in place that allow pressure to be removed from the health system.”
“There is no excuse for inaction. My message is very clear: act fast, act now, act decisively. A laissez-faire attitude to the virus – not using the full range of tools available – leads to death, suffering and hurts livelihoods and economies. It’s not a choice between lives or livelihoods. The quickest way to open up economies is to defeat the virus.”
Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak has risen to 43,418, with 476 deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, adding the total number of infections had reached 815,117 in the worst-hit Middle Eastern country.
Poland reported a new daily high of 637 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday, according to the health ministry’s Twitter account. There were 23,975 new cases reported on Thursday, the health ministry said.
The number of new coronavirus infections in Germany is still much too high and is causing a serious pandemic situation, the head of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases (RKI), Lothar Wieler, said on Thursday. The head of RKI’s surveillance unit, Ute Rexroth, added there are indications that Germany’s new distancing measures are working after the number of new infections has stabilised.
Japan is on “maximum alert” after logging a record number of daily coronavirus infections, its Prime Minister said Thursday, though no immediate restrictions are planned. The comments came as Tokyo raised its alert level to the top of its four-tier system, with local media saying the capital would report a record number of infections for a second day running.
Russia on Thursday surpassed 2 million coronavirus cases after reporting an additional 23,610 infections and 463 deaths related to COVID-19, both record daily rises. Russia is fifth in the number of infections reported, with 2,015,608, behind the United States, India, Brazil and France.Russia’s official death toll now stands at 34,850.
The Pacific nation of Samoa has recorded its first ever case of COVID-19. Prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said that a sailor who had returned from New Zealand on a repatriation flight tested positive in a quarantine facility.
The continent of Africa has surpassed 2 million confirmed cases as health officials warn of infections starting to creep up again into a second surge. The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that the continent had crossed that milestone. Its numbers show the 54-country continent also has seen more than 48,500 deaths from coronavirus. The African continent of 1.3 billion people is being warned against “prevention fatigue” as countries loosen pandemic restrictions to ease their economies’ suffering and more people travel. The Africa CDC director this week openly worried that the level of mask-wearing has gone down and called that dangerous.“We don’t know how high the second peak will come,” John Nkengasong said Monday. While the world takes hope from recent news about promising COVID-19 vaccines, African health officials also worry that the continent will suffer as richer countries buy up supplies.
The United Arab Emirates has reported 1,153 new infections taking the total number of confirmed cases to 155,254.This continues a downward trend in daily cases since a record 1,578 were announced on 23 October. Two more deaths were also announced taking the UAE’s death toll to 544.
As cases surge across the Middle East, the regional director for the World Health Organisation has warned that the only way to avoid mass deaths is for countries to quickly tighten restrictions and enforce preventative measures.In a press briefing from Cairo, Ahmed al-Mandhari, director of WHO’s eastern Mediterranean region, expressed concern that countries in the area were lowering their guard after tough lockdowns imposed earlier this year. “The fundamentals of pandemic response, from social-distancing to mask wearing, are still not being fully practiced in our region,” he said, adding that the result is apparent throughout the region’s crowded hospitals.Noting that the virus had sickened over 3.6 million people and killed more than 76,000 in the region over the past nine months, al-Mandhari warned “the lives of as many people — if not more — are at stake,” urging action to “prevent this tragic premonition from becoming a reality.” More than 60% of all new infections in the past week were reported from Iran, which has seen the worst outbreak in the region, as well as Jordan and Morocco, he said. Cases are also up in Lebanon and Pakistan. Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon have reported the biggest single-day death spikes from the region.
Total number of cases worldwide – 56,729,421
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,357,820
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 39,497,726
Active cases:
15,873,875 active cases,
15,772,533 in mild condition,
101,342 described as serious or critical.
Closed cases – 40,855,546
Information and statistics from
www.who.int
www.worldometers.info
www.theguardian.com
www.covid19.who.int
www.reuters.com

Thursday 19th November 2020 by Louise Birch
“If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride, never quit, you’ll be a winner.The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.” (Bear Bryant)
In Australia , there have been flaws in the Covid response, but, by international standards, the country has largely done a remarkable job in suppressing the virus (aided by some inherent advantages: distant island nation, large landmass/small(ish) population, strong public health systems). Nationwide, there have been fewer than 28,000 cases, and just over 900 deaths. However, South Australia, after more than seven months without a single case of community transmission, has had an outbreak linked to hotel quarantine in the past few days. Twenty cases have been confirmed, and about 4000 people have been ordered to isolate. Other Australian states have now closed their borders to South Australia. The Premier, Steven Marshall, has ordered a six-day “circuit-breaker” to halt the spread of the disease, followed by eight days of lesser restrictions across the state. He is reported as saying “We need this circuit breaker, this community pause. This is about South Australia pausing so that we stay ahead of the virus.”
Closures in the first six days include:

  • All schools except for children of the essential worker and vulnerable children.
  • Universities.
  • Takeaway food.
  • Pubs, cafes, coffee shops and food courts.
  • Elective surgery except for urgent operations and cancer treatment.
  • Open inspections and auctions for real estate.
  • Outdoor sport and physical activity – people cannot leave home for exercise.
  • Regional travel.

 
Ukraine has registered a record 256 new coronavirus related deaths in 24 hours and the total number of people who have lost the battle with the virus has now reached 10,112, the health minister said on Wednesday. Maksym Stepanov also said that 12,496 new confirmed infections had been registered and it had taken the total cases to 570,153.There are currently 300,962 active cases in the country and 177 of those are considered serious or critical.
Turkey has announced it is imposing fresh restrictions in the wake of a sharp rise in cases. Restaurants and cafes will be asked to close at 5pm from Friday, and a partial lockdown will be imposed on the country at weekends. There have been 421,413 confirmed cases in Turkey and 11,704 people have lost their lives as a result of COVID-19. Over 355,000 are reported to have recovered from the virus.
Doctors in Switzerland have warned intensive care beds are at full capacity as the Alpine country continues to resist a second lockdown. In a press statement, the Swiss Society for Intensive Medicine said all of the 876 certified ICU beds in Switzerland were currently occupied, advising vulnerable people to write down in a will whether they would like to receive life support in the event of a severe illness. Andreas Stettbacher, surgeon general of the Swiss armed forces, said there were a further 240 non-certified beds that could offer intensive care for patients in need of specialised, complex care. Of 22,211 available acute care beds, Stettbacher said, 16,889 were currently occupied.
While the wealthy Alpine country emerged almost unscathed from the first wave of the pandemic in the spring, per capita infections this month have been roughly double the average of the European Union.
Meanwhile, whilst neighbouring Austria has chosen to head into a second hard lockdown with daytime curfews and school closures, Switzerland has so far resisted to reimpose restrictions it was quicker to lift than other European countries.
Sweden has registered 96 new deaths among people diagnosed with Covid-19 on Wednesday, the highest for at least three months, Health Agency statistics showed.
Sweden has recorded a total of 6,321 deaths, several times higher per capita (615 per 1M) than that of its Nordic neighbours but still lower than some larger European countries such as Spain and the UK.The number of confirmed cases in the country has reached 192,439.
Daily coronavirus cases in Tokyo have hit a record of 493, local media reported on Wednesday. The previous high was on 1 August. Last week officials in Japan warned of a rising tide of infections that could cause a third wave of the virus.
Total number of cases worldwide – 56,138,150
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,346,974
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 39,116,322
Active cases:
15,674,854 active cases,
15,574,036 in mild condition,
100,818 described as serious or critical.
Closed cases – 40,463,296
Information and statistics from
www.who.int
www.worldometers.info
www.theguardian.com
www.covid19.who.int
www.reuters.com

Wednesday 18th November 2020 by Louise Birch
“Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway” (John Wayne)
Public gatherings in Sweden are to be limited to eight people, down from a previous upper limit of 300, Stefan Löfven (Prime Minister) has said, as he blamed a fall in adherence to infection control recommendations. “This is the new norm for the entire society,” he told a news conference. “Don’t go to gyms, don’t go to libraries, don’t host dinners. Cancel.”Sweden has drawn international attention for its unorthodox response to the pandemic, shunning lockdowns and instead relying on voluntary measures. The country has so far recorded 177,355 cases of coronavirus, and 6,164 deaths. With a population of 10.2 million, the death rate per capita is several times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours but still well below some larger European countries.
The number of new coronavirus cases in the Netherlands declined around 15% over the past week, health authorities said on Tuesday, but Prime Minister Mark Rutte was expected to announce few changes to the country’s current lockdown measures. In a weekly update, the National Institute for Health (RIVM) said there were 37,706 new cases in the week to 17 November, down from 43,621 new cases in the week to Nov. 10 and the lowest since early October. “However the number of people with a positive test result remains very high,” the RIVM said, with more than 150 infections per 100,000 people in nearly every region of the country. The Netherlands entered partial lockdown in mid-October, and Rutte’s government tightened measures further on 3 November, shortly after daily new cases peaked at above 11,000 on 30 October.
South Korea will impose stricter social distancing rules for the greater Seoul area a month after easing them, officials said on Tuesday, warning of an even bigger crisis if anti-Covid-19efforts fail to dampen a spike in new cases. According to reports, starting Tuesday midnight, tighter curbs will ban public gatherings of 100 people or more, limit religious services and audiences at sporting events to 30% capacity, and require high-risk facilities including clubs and karaoke bars to broaden distance among guests. The tougher restrictions came as the daily case tally hovered above 200 for a fourth consecutive day, with a series of cluster outbreaks emerging from offices, medical facilities and small gatherings in Seoul and surrounding regions where around half of the country’s 52 million population live.
Iran’s daily new coronavirus infections in 24 hours hit 13,352 on Tuesday, a new record, the government announced. The number of deaths in the previous 24 hours reached 482. The total death toll has now reached 42,461, the highest in the middle east. The health ministry said that if plans for a near-total two-week lockdown in some cities starting in many Iranian cities from Saturday did not meet with compliance, the death rate will reach four digits. The level of infections has risen in the past nine days from 10,463 to 13,352 with steady day by day rises. The length of stay in hospitals is also growing longer.
The daily death toll rose from an average of 200 in late October to more than 450 in the last 10 days.
In Australia, authorities conducted mass tests on Tuesday and about 4,000 people were confined to quarantine in the hope of stifling a new cluster of cases of the novel coronavirus after hopes it had been largely eradicated. The state of South Australia reimposed social distancing restrictions on Monday after detecting 21 cases of the coronavirus, most of which were acquired locally. The cases were the first local transmissions of the virus in Australia in nine days. South Australia Premier Steven Marshall said testing had identified five new cases in 24 hours, while 14 people were suspected to be infected and were awaiting test results. “We are not out of the woods. We are just at the beginning stages of dealing with this particular very nasty cluster,” Marshall told reporters in Adelaide.Australia has recorded 27,760 coronavirus infections and 907 people have lost their lives. The bulk of the infections were in Victoria state, which forced nearly 5 million people into a stringent lockdown for more than 100 days after a surge in cases. That outbreak has been contained, with Victoria recording no new cases for the past 18 days.
In the USA, Philadelphia has banned indoor gatherings. In one of the most aggressive actions taken in the US to confront the looming crisis, city officials on Monday ordered a ban on “indoor gatherings of any size in any location, public or private,” except among individuals who live together”.California will dramatically roll back its reopening efforts, the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced recently, saying he was pulling the “emergency brake” amid a troubling surge in cases. The changes, which took effect yesterday (Tuesday), will see more than 94% of California’s population and most businesses across the state return to the most restrictive tier of rules aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.
Daily coronavirus infections in India fell to their lowest since mid-July, with 29,163 new cases reported in 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 8,884,231, the health ministry said on Tuesday.Indians celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, over the weekend and experts have warned that the festival season could lead to a new spike. Deaths rose by 449 over the last 24 hours, the ministry also said, with toll now at 130,651.
In Lebanon, Beirut’s popular Sabra market teemed with shoppers this week, some of them unmasked, in apparent defiance of a full national lockdown imposed on Saturday to stem a resurgence of coronavirus infections. The Lebanese government ordered the two-week restrictions, including a 5 pm to 5 am curfew on Sundays, as new daily infections rose above 1,000. Lebanon reported 1,016 new infections on Monday, bringing its total to 106,446 cases and 827 deaths since 21 February. After city streets and roads emptied on Sunday, pedestrians were back on Monday and some motorists could be seen flouting a re-imposed odd-even licence plate alternate day driving rule.
In Scotland, more than 2 million people will face near-lockdown restrictions after Nicola Sturgeon imposed the country’s highest level of Covid restrictions across the west of the country.Following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, Scotland’s First Minister told MSPs that eleven local authority areas would enter level 4 – the highest of Scotland’s five-tier system of virus controls – from 6pm this Friday for a limited period. The local authorities are West Dunbartonshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and Stirling.
Total number of cases worldwide – 55,527,115
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,335,409
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 38,657,948
Active cases:
15,533,758 active cases,
15,433,903 in mild condition,
99,855 described as serious or critical.
Closed cases – 39,993,357
Information and statistics from
www.who.int
www.worldometers.info
www.theguardian.com
www.covid19.who.int
www.reuters.com

Tuesday 17th November 2020 by Louise Birch
“The first step towards change is awareness, the second step is acceptance” (Nathaniel Branden)
It has been a few days since we last reported on the overseas Covid-19 situation.With all the changes within Portugal, here at Safe Communities Portugal we thought it was better to focus on that situation, allow everyone the time to absorb the new rules, ask any questions and make the necessary changes.
Here is a round up of some of the events from around the world.
The global death toll has climbed above 1.3 million and more than 54 million have been infected worldwide by Covid-19, as the virus runs rampant through America and Europe.
Record high case numbers were recorded in Russia and Ukraine. Russia reported 22,702 new infections and 391 deaths. Ukraine registered 12,524 new cases. Poland recorded a record new 548 deaths and 25,571 cases. The record number of deaths takes Poland’s toll above 10,000.
Iran has announced strict new lockdown restrictions from next Saturday, after recording 452 deaths, a near record. President Hassan Rouhani said non-essential businesses and services will be shut and cars will not be allowed to leave or enter Tehran and 100 other towns and cities
Lebanon has started a new two-week lockdown after coronavirus infections crossed the 100,000 mark. Beirut’s roads were largely empty and police checkpoints were set up at several locations.
Greece and Austria have set out plans to tighten lockdown restrictions. Austria is planning to impose a full lockdown from today (Tuesday) . Greece has announced the closure of nurseries and primary schools until the end of November as its death toll surpassed 1,000.
In the USA, North Dakota has become the 35th state to require face coverings be worn in public, as governors across the country grapple with a surge in coronavirus infections that threatens to swamp their healthcare systems. North Dakota joined 38 other states this month in reporting record daily jumps in new cases, 17 others with record deaths and 25 others with a record number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals, according to official data.The USA has passed 11m coronavirus cases just one week after confirming its ten-millionth case. More than a million cases were recorded in the country over the last week, which saw four days in a row of world record infection totals. The total number of cases confirmed in the country now stands at 11,367,214. Michigan and Washington have joined several other states in announcing renewed efforts to combat the coronavirus, as many Americans prepare to observe a Thanksgiving holiday marked by the pandemic. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration ordered high schools and colleges to stop in-person classes, closed restaurants to indoor dining and suspended organised sports, including the football playoffs, in an attempt to curb the state’s spiking case numbers. “We are at the precipice and we need to take some action,” said Whitmer.
Mexico has registered more than 1 million total coronavirus cases and nearly 100,000 test-confirmed deaths, though officials agree the number is probably much higher. Health Director General Ricardo Cortés Alcalá said the number of confirmed cases had reached 1,006,522 with at least 98,542 deaths from COVID-19.
South Korea has reported 208 new coronavirus cases as of Saturday midnight, marking the eight straight day of triple-digit increases, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported on Sunday. That was slightly higher than the previous day’s 205 new infections and the highest since early September. Of the cases, 176 were domestically transmitted and 32 imported. Nearly 70% of the locally transmitted cases were from Seoul and Gyeonggi province, a densely populated area near the capital.
In Australia, the state of Victoria again recorded no new cases and no new deaths for the 16th consecutive day. Victoria’s death toll from coronavirus remains at 819, while the total number of deaths from the virus in Australia is 907. Australia’s two other most populous states, New South Wales and Queensland, also recorded no new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases.Australia has done a remarkable job in suppressing Covid-19, and reducing community transmission of the virus to single digit figures. However, a new outbreak in the state of South Australia – now up to 17 confirmed cases – after a full seven months without a community case, has put the state back on high alert.
Pakistan has recorded its highest daily numbers of coronavirus infections since July on each of the last four days as a second wave gathers momentum. There were 2,128 new cases registered on Sunday, the fourth day that the daily increase has been above 2,000. More than 7% of people tested on Sunday were found to have contracted the virus, compared with between 2% and 3% during most of the last four months. After a peak of more than 6,800 daily infections in June, the number fell to a low of 213 in August, and remained below 700 for most of the last three months. The country has registered 359,032 cases in total and 7,160 lives have been lost.
The Chinese mainland reported no new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission has reported. A total of eight imported cases were reported across the mainland Sunday, the commission said in its daily report. Sunday also saw one new suspected case recorded in Shanghai, who had arrived from outside the mainland. No new deaths related to the disease were reported.
The French Pacific territory of Wallis and Futuna has recorded just its second case of COVID-19. The infected person arrived from France last month, and tested positive for coronavirus at the end of the compulsory quarantine period. Of France’s Pacific territories, Wallis and Futuna, and New Caledonia have largely escaped the virus, with few confirmed cases and no community transmission. French Polynesia however, having re-opened its borders in August, has recorded 11,706 cases and 53 people have lost the battle with Covid-19.
The US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands recorded another two cases at the weekend, both imported from Guam. The container ship, which brought coronavirus into the port in American Samoa’s capital Pago Pago, is back in the port, being unloaded.
When the Fesco Askold arrived from neighbouring Samoa last week, three crew members aboard tested positive for the novel coronavirus and the ship was sent back out to sea. It has finally returned to port where it is being unloaded by the ship’s crew. Samoa remains COVID-19 free, American Samoa has recorded just three cases.
Ireland’s Covid-19 rates have started increasing again despite continued maximum level restrictions, sparking concern that complacency and fatigue were letting the virus regain momentum. The five-day case count has risen to more than 400 per day, reversing a downward trend since authorities declared a new lockdown on 19 October, when daily cases were exceeding 1,000. Ireland has one of the lowest 14-day incidence rates in the European Union but the Chief Medical Officer, Tony Holohan, has expressed concern at rising numbers despite continued travel limits and closure of non-essential retail.
“There are examples of small numbers of people congregating for social purposes and simply ignoring the important public health messages. They are putting our collective progress at risk,” he told a news conference. “We are also seeing a number of outbreaks across the country. These include outbreaks in association with funerals”.
Total number of cases worldwide – 54,972,130
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,326,791
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 38,241,834
Active cases:
15,403,505 active cases,
15,304,574 in mild condition,
98,931 described as serious or critical.
Closed cases – 39,568,625
Information and statistics from
www.who.int
www.worldometers.info
www.theguardian.com
www.covid19.who.int
www.reuters.com

Friday 13th November 2020 by Louise Birch
“Unity is strength, when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved” (Mattie Stepanek)
South Africa will open up travel to all countries and restore normal trading hours of alcohol, despite having the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases on the continent, in an effort to boost the tourism and hospitality sectors, the president Cyril Ramaphosa has said.There have been 740,254 confirmed infections in the country and 19,951 people have lost the battle with COVID-19.Across the continent of Africa, 1,917,064 cases of the virus have been confirmed and 46,038 people are reported to have died.
In Senegal, children resumed classes today after the government closed schools in March in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus in the west African nation.
Up to 4 million primary and secondary school pupils were meant to return to classrooms, but the turnout nationwide was unclear. Unicef had said last month that only one in three countries in central and west Africa had reopened schools at the due date for the 2020-2021 academic year. Senegal, a poor nation with a population of about 16 million people, has so far been spared a large coronavirus outbreak. Health officials have registered 15,744 positive cases to date, with 326 fatalities. Only 31 people are currently being treated for the disease in the country. The country initially declared a state of emergency when the pandemic reached the country in March, closing schools, imposing a curfew and restricting international flights. The government has since eased or lifted most of the restrictions, with children returning to school the last major antivirus measure to come to an end. About half a million students who were sitting exams were also allowed to return to school late June.
In the USA, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has imposed a new round of restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus as the infection rate climbed and hospitalisations soared in the state. Taking effect today (Friday,) Cuomo ordered bars, restaurants and gyms in the state to shut down on-premises services at 10pm nightly, and capped the number of people who could attend private parties at 10.
California looks set to be the second state — behind Texas — to eclipse a million known coronavirus cases. The grim milestone in a state of 40 million comes as the US has surpassed 10 million infections. The state currently has 996,070 cases confirmed.
The timeline of Covid-19 in America often comes back to California. It had some of the earliest known cases among travellers from China, where the outbreak began. The Feb. 6 death of a San Jose woman is the first known coronavirus fatality in the U.S. That same month, California recorded the first US case not related to travel and the first infection spread within the community. On 19 March, Governor Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order, shuttering businesses and schools to try to prevent hospital overcrowding. The spread slowed, but California faced the same challenges as other states: providing enough protective gear for health workers, doing enough testing and providing timely results, tracking infections and those potentially exposed.
Turkey has banned smoking in crowded public places to slow a recent surge in symptomatic patients with coronavirus, as the government warned citizens to abide by protective measures. It comes as daily cases surged to 2,693 on Wednesday.
In Greece, authorities announced stricter restrictions on movement, extending a curfew nationwide after infections broke fresh records, reporting 2,752 new cases on Wednesday. Four days after the country went into a second lockdown to curb the surge in cases, the government said all circulation would be banned between 9pm and 5am.
Spain will demand a negative Covid-19 test for all travellers arriving from countries with a high risk for coronavirus from 23 November. Visitors will need to show evidence of a negative PCR test result within the previous 72 hours to be granted entry and officials will be allowed to ask for proof of the test results.
An elderly woman living in a care home has become the first person to die of Covid-19 in Gibraltar. The tiny British enclave on the southernmost tip of Spain has managed to keep its numbers under control by adopting an aggressive track-and-trace policy.There have been 864 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Gibraltar with 144 cases currently active.
French Polynesia, which has one of the highest incidence of Covid-19 per capita outside mainland Europe, has recorded another 345 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, bringing the archipelago’s tally to 11,316. 52 people have died in the pandemic. However, this number is likely to rise, with 21 currently in intensive care. French Polynesia had recorded just 62 cases – most in visiting police and military personnel – when it opened its borders in July and abolished mandatory quarantine requirements. But the French territory has since been forced to impose a nightly curfew, and meetings in public have been limited to six people. While France is in a nationwide lockdown, French Polynesia has been exempted.
The Vanuatu government has locked down the main island of Efate after it recorded its first case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, a citizen repatriated from the United States who tested positive in quarantine. The 23-year old man is asymptomatic and is being held in an isolation ward at Port Vila Central Hospital. “I want to assure our people that the Government will apply strict protocols and Covid-19 measures to ensure the case doesn’t spread and our country remains safe,” Vanuatu Prime Minister Bob Loughman said.
“The situation is under the government’s control.”
The Marshall Islands has declared it is, again, COVID-19, free, after the country’s lone case, at the US army base in Kwajalein, was declared free of the virus. “We will have our yellow flags back up this week,” the government’s chief secretary Kino Kabua said on Wednesday. Yellow flags are used to designate Covid-free status in the Marshalls.
“He ceased to pose an infectious threat on 8 November 2020 – his 12th day of supervised and secured quarantine – and has been assessed as recovered and no longer an active case of Covid-19 by his primary physician,” a statement from the chief secretary’s office said.
All schools and other educational institutions in Bangladesh will remain closed until 19 December, the education ministry has said, as the country fears a resurgence of coronavirus infections this winter. The announcement is the latest extension of the schools closure imposed across the country on 17 March. A senior ministry spokesman, who was not named, told the media“The decision has been taken considering the second wave… We can’t play with the lives of our children.” The government however, has lifted most other restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Daily infections have shown a rising trend this month, with 1,845 new cases and 13 deaths reported on Thursday. Bangladesh has so far recorded 427,198 coronavirus infections and 6,140 deaths from Covid-19. That gives the country of 164.7 million people an infection rate of 25,101 per million and adeath rate of 37 per million, according to official figures.
Austria’s 24-hour tally of new coronavirus infections surpassed 9,000 for the first time yesterday (Thursday), with the government coming under growing pressure to introduce tougher measures to bring the outbreak under control. The government has previously said 6,000 new daily infections is the level at which hospitals will eventually be overwhelmed. Earlier this month, the country introduced a partial shutdown until the end of November to slow the spread of the virus. Restaurants, cafes and bars have closed to all but takeaway service while theatres and museums have shut. A night time curfew is in place from 8pm to 6am but infections continue to rise. A total of 9,262 new cases were recorded in 24 hours, data from the interior and health ministries showed. The previous record was 8,241, set on Saturday. The first wave of infections peaked at 1,050 a day in March. The Alpine republic’s government has said it will assess the situation today (Friday), 13 days after it announced the curfew and partial shutdown and might announce a further tightening of restrictions. There have been 181,642 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country and 1,608 people have lost the battle with COVID-19.
In Ireland, the government is confident that it will be able to drop some of the strictest Covid-19 restrictions in Europe on schedule in December following a sharp fall in infection rates, the deputy prime minister, Leo Varadkar, said today. “I think everyone is confident now that we will ease restrictions in December,” Varadkar told parliament. Rules which have closed all bars, restaurants and non-essential retail and banned non-essential travel more than 5km from home are due to lapse on 1 December, though ministers have said less strict restrictions are likely to remain in place.
 
Total number of cases worldwide – 52,627,861
Total number of deaths worldwide – 1,292,397
Total number of recovered cases worldwide – 36,786,975
Active cases:
14,548,489 active cases,
14,453,153 in mild condition,
95,336 described as serious or critical.
Closed cases – 38,079,372
Information and statistics from
www.who.int
www.worldometers.info
www.theguardian.com
www.covid19.who.int
www.reuters.com

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