The Overseas Report 16 November 2021 by Mike Evans

The past week has seen a rise in infections across many parts of the world. Leading this rise is Europe where we are seeing large increases in new infections across many countries with some bringing back lock down restrictions in the hope of keeping the rates low enough to allow citizens to enjoy the Chritsmas celebrations.

In this report we are looking at what countries are seeing large increases and where new restrictions are being introduced.
If we look at the date from Worldometer.info we can see that across the world the number of new infections increased across the world by 5% compared to the previous week. This was mainly driven by the countries of Europe where collectively they have seen a rise of 12% in the past seven days.

In terms of actual numbers, The United Kingdom, Russia and more recently Germany lead the way with the highest numbers. Germany has seen a 46% rise in new cases in the past week alone.The number of new coronavirus cases over the past week has reached a new record as infections continue to surge throughout the country.The number of new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days hit 303, the latest data from the Robert Koch Institute of infectious diseases (RKI) showed.

It is the first time the rate has surpassed 300 since the pandemic began and comes just one week after an unprecedented jump to over 200.

Only 67.5% of Germany’s population is fully vaccinated. The highly contagious delta variant has run rampant through the unvaccinated population as the temperature drops and people stay indoors.
The number of cases increased by 23,607 over the past 24 hours. The total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic passed the 5 million mark on Sunday.
The RKI recorded 43 new coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, up from 33 from last Monday. The overall COVID-19 death toll in Germany now stands at 97,715.

While the number of infections have broken record after record in the ongoing fourth wave, the rate of hospitalization has yet to reach the level seen in the earlier stage of the pandemic. The high levels of infection vary greatly across Germany, with several regions in eastern and south eastern Germany reporting more than 1,000 new cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days.

The incidence rate was more than seven times higher in the eastern state of Saxony than in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, for example. Saxony has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

German doctor and vice president of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, laid the blame at the feet of lawmakers, telling the Rheinische Post newspaper that measures against the virus had been “too late, too half-hearted, too varied.” He added that promises that there would be no mandatory vaccinations or any further lockdowns came from a lack of understanding regarding the virus.

Montgomery called for mandatory vaccination everywhere where people have a duty towards those they are protecting, such as in nursing homes, hospitals or in schools. Whoever refuses, cannot work there.”

The chairwoman of the Margburger Bund doctors’ union, Susanne Johna, also criticized political failings, saying that warnings of a surge in infections made in summer had been ignored. “Warnings were dismissed as scaremongering. Urgent advice was ignored during the election campaign because it was obviously not politically desirable,” she told public broadcaster Tagesschau.

Meanwhile their close neighbour Austria has imposed a lockdown on non vaccinated citizens.Anyone over the age of 12 who has not been double-jabbed is now only allowed to leave their homes for work, school, exercise and buying essential supplies – with the lockdown affecting about two million of Austria’s 8.9 million population. The revised restrictions came into force on Sunday at midnight and will remain for 10 days before being reviewed.

The country’s health minister said further measures are being considered, including a 10pm night-time curfew for everyone regardless of their vaccination status. Wolfgang Mückstein said a decision would be made on Wednesday,adding: “We’re all in the same boat.”Mr Mückstein also justified the new lockdown because of the “dramatic situation” in Austria’s ICUs.

Europe is now accounting for more than half of the average seven-day cases worldwide and around half of latest deaths – the highest levels since April last year when COVID-19 was at its initial peak in Italy.

Austria followed The Netherlands which on Friday last week became the first western European country to impose a partial lockdown since the summer, introducing strict new measures from Saturday in the face of record numbers of new Covid-19 infections.
The restrictions, announced by the caretaker prime minister, Mark Rutte, on Friday, will last at least three weeks and include the closure of bars, restaurants and essential shops from 8pm, with non-essential retail and services such as hairdressers to close at 6pm.

Gatherings at home would be limited to a maximum of four guests, all amateur and professional sporting events must be held behind closed doors, and home working was advised except in “absolutely unavoidable” circumstances, Rutte said.“We must reduce the number of contacts and infections as fast as possible,” Rutte said, calling the measures “unavoidable”. The healthcare system was already under such heavy pressure that knee, hip and even heart operations were being postponed.
“Tonight we are bringing a very unpleasant message, with very unpleasant and far-reaching measures,” Rutte said.

“The virus is everywhere and needs to be combated everywhere. I want every Dutch citizen to be asking, can I do more? Can I do better? We had hoped with the vaccines we wouldn’t have to do this, but we see the same situation all across Europe.”

Schools, theatres and cinemas will remain open, as will conferences where the audience is seated, but public events such as trade fairs and exhibitions where the public can move around are cancelled from 6pm on Saturday.

The health minister, Hugo de Jonge, said the government would next week debate legal changes to allow “exceptionally busy” stores and hospitality venues to choose whether they would accept only people who were fully vaccinated or had recovered, rather than also allowing access to people with a recent negative test.
The lockdown is longer than the 14 days recommended this week by the government’s outbreak management team and comes as the number of new infections reaches record levels in the Netherlands.

Meanwhile across the Atlantic Ocean to South America where the rate of infection had been falling after the region was one of the worst hit at the start of the pandemic. Cases have been rising steadily in the past week with a 13% increase in infections recorded across the continent. Brazil saw an increase of 11% in new cases in the past week and there were also big increases from Chile, Columbia and Peru, although it must be noted that the actual numbers are by far smaller than we saw at the start of the pandemic for these three nations.

However, while the number of new cases is rising albeit in a much smaller number the death rate in the region continues to rise. Across the continent in the past week we have seen deaths due to Covid 19 rise by 8% compared to the previous week. Brazil leads the way with a rise of 13% compared to the previous seven days. The actual death figure for Brazil in the past week was 1,834, again way lower than we saw at the peak of the epidemic but still concerning for the citizens.

A senate investigation has recommended indictment of officials including President Jair Bolsonaro over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lise Alves reports from São Paulo.
A Brazilian senate committee investigation approved on Oct 26 a 1200-page report that recommends the indictment of over 80 people and two companies on charges of inciting an epidemic, crimes of responsibility, delays in negotiating the purchase of vaccines, and marketing of dubious treatments that have no scientific backing. Among those charged are Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, three of his sons, and some current and former cabinet members.

According to the report, “the constant minimization of the severity of COVID-19, the creation of ineffective mechanisms for the control and treatment of the disease, the lack of political coordination, the lack of educational campaigns on the importance of non-pharmacological measures, personal behavior against these measures, and the omission and delay in the acquisition of vaccines were some of the conducts of the head of the Federal Executive Branch that unquestionably attacked public health and administrative probity.”
Whatever the outcome of the enquiry it remains to be seen if there will be charges filed.

No one should be in any doubt that this pandemic still has a way to go and across the world we must all remain vigilant and do all we can individually to stop the spread of this virus.

Until the next time stay safe.

The Overseas Report 16 November 2021 by Mike Evans | Safe Communities Portugal

The Overseas Report 16 November 2021 by Mike Evans

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