Archiv: contaminations / spreads


05.07.2023 - 12:20 [ Times of Israel ]

Netanyahu in weekend interview: Overhaul necessary as Supreme Court ‘too powerful’

(27 March 2023)

In an interview recorded Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his government’s planned judicial overhaul was necessary as the Supreme Court is “too powerful,” claiming the controversial attempts to neuter the court would result in a “stronger democracy.”

While the interview was expected to air Monday evening, it was released online hours earlier amid concerns it was fast becoming outdated as the country was roiled by mass protests and Netanyahu was expected to announce a freeze to the controversial overhaul.

19.06.2023 - 10:12 [ Independent.co.uk ]

New Partygate video ‘shows Tories dancing, drinking and laughing at lockdown rules’

At least 24 guests were reportedly at the gathering which was held just a few days before Mr Johnson’s 19 December announcement that Tier 4 Covid curbs would be implemented. This put London and the southeast of England under severe restrictions which meant many could not see their families on Christmas Day.

“It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as planned,” he said just five days after the party.

19.06.2023 - 10:06 [ Mirror.co.uk ]

Exclusive: First ever Partygate video revealed as Tories drink, dance and laugh at Covid rules

When one man sees he is being recorded, he says: “Oh Christ.” Then another asks: “Are you filming this?” Someone else responds: “It’s for party, erm, party use.”

A man then laughs after declaring: “As long as we are not streaming that we’re, like, bending the rules.”

It was just days after the party that Mr Johnson announced even tighter restrictions which meant people in the areas worst hit by Covid could not see their loved ones over Christmas.

21.12.2021 - 14:18 [ theNewAmerican.com ]

Could Contaminated COVID-19 Tests Help Spread the Virus?

(06.04.2020)

Imagine that you are not carrying the virus, but you go in for testing and leave carrying the virus.

The Telegraph report stated that it is “not clear” how the tests were contaminated.

21.12.2021 - 14:09 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Coronavirus testing effort hampered by kits contaminated with Covid-19: Traces of the virus were detected in parts due for delivery from overseas in the coming day

(30.04.2020)

One of the suppliers – the Luxembourg-based firm Eurofins – sent an email on Monday morning to government laboratories in the UK warning that a delivery of key components called “probes and primers” had been contaminated with coronavirus and would be delayed.

The firm admitted there had been “an issue” and insisted other private providers had suffered the same problem.

21.12.2021 - 14:06 [ Axios ]

Scoop: Lab for coronavirus test kits may have been contaminated

(01.03.2020)

A senior administration official added that the government also moved the manufacturing of the coronavirus tests out of the Atlanta laboratory of CDC.

The official said that the CDC engaged with a third party contractor on Feb. 20 to help manufacture the testing kits. The official added that the FDA regulator, Stenzel, visited the Atlanta laboratory on Feb. 22.

21.12.2021 - 13:49 [ New York Times ]

C.D.C. Virus Tests Were Contaminated and Poorly Designed, Agency Says

(15.12.2021)

In January 2020, the C.D.C. developed a polymerase chain reaction, or P.C.R., test for the virus. (…)

Problems emerged soon after the C.D.C. had begun shipping its test kits out to public health laboratories in early February. (…)

In mid-February, the agency acknowledged that the kits were flawed, and in April, officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that poor manufacturing practices had resulted in contamination of the test kits.

The new paper
presents the results of the C.D.C.’s own internal investigation into the problems with the tests.

(…)

The investigation also confirmed that the test kits had been contaminated with synthetic fragments of the virus’s genetic material.

25.11.2021 - 11:16 [ theLancet.com ]

COVID-19: stigmatising the unvaccinated is not justified

(20.11.2021)

In the USA and Germany, high-level officials have used the term pandemic of the unvaccinated, suggesting that people who have been vaccinated are not relevant in the epidemiology of COVID-19. Officials’ use of this phrase might have encouraged one scientist to claim that “the unvaccinated threaten the vaccinated for COVID-19”.1
But this view is far too simple.

There is increasing evidence that vaccinated individuals continue to have a relevant role in transmission.

25.11.2021 - 11:15 [ theLancet.com ]

The epidemiological relevance of the COVID-19-vaccinated population is increasing

(19.11.2021)

High COVID-19 vaccination rates were expected to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in populations by reducing the number of possible sources for transmission and thereby to reduce the burden of COVID-19 disease. Recent data, however, indicate that the epidemiological relevance of COVID-19 vaccinated individuals is increasing. In the UK it was described that secondary attack rates among household contacts exposed to fully vaccinated index cases was similar to household contacts exposed to unvaccinated index cases (25% for vaccinated vs 23% for unvaccinated).

09.09.2021 - 15:45 [ RairFoundation.com ]

Exposed: CDC Rushed to Change Definition of ‚Vaccination‘ On Same Day Israel Study Touts Natural Immunity over Vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) quietly changed their definition of “Vaccination” on September 1st, exchanging the word “immunity” for “protection,” now that it appears that breakthrough cases can no longer be explained away as an anomaly.

The definition change occurred on the same day – September 1st – that a massive study was released demonstrating that those who had been vaccinated were “13 times more likely to be infected with the Delta variant (what has been called a “breakthrough” infection) than those with natural immunity,” as summarized at the American Conservative.

09.09.2021 - 15:35 [ Advisory.com ]

Covid-19 vaccine immunity may be waning. Here‘s what that means—and doesn‘t.

Explanations for Israel‘s vaccine effectiveness data

When Israeli researchers announced last month that people vaccinated in the winter were more likely to contract Covid than those who had been vaccinated in the spring, many assumed this demonstrated waning vaccine effectiveness.

The data from Israel‘s Ministry of Health suggested that vaccine effectiveness against both infection and symptomatic disease had decreased to around 40%, but this decline may have been due to other factors and not the vaccines, Wu writes

29.08.2021 - 13:51 [ France24 ]

Japan detects more Moderna vaccine contamination

Japan‘s Okinawa region suspended the use of Moderna‘s Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday after another contamination was spotted, the local government said.

It comes a day after the Japanese health ministry said it was investigating the death of two men who received shots from tainted Moderna batches — though the cause of their death is unknown.

29.08.2021 - 04:33 [ Japan Today ]

Japan probes two deaths after jabs from tainted Moderna batch

Both men contracted fever after receiving their vaccinations and neither had underlying health conditions or allergic history, the ministry said.

The suspension affects 1.63 million doses of Moderna COVID vaccines, which have been reportedly shipped to over 800 vaccination centers across Japan.

29.08.2021 - 04:20 [ Japan Today ]

Japan halts use of 1.63 mil Moderna vaccine doses over contamination

The foreign substances have been confirmed since Aug. 16 at eight vaccination sites in five prefectures — Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Gifu and Aichi. They were found in a total of 39 vials.

Takeda reported them to the ministry on Wednesday.

The composition of the foreign matter, a few millimeters in size, has not been determined.

The „small black materials“ reported to the ministry could be metallic fragments, one of its senior officials said.

31.07.2021 - 07:01 [ New York Times ]

C.D.C. Internal Report Calls Delta Variant as Contagious as Chickenpox

The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

The immediate next step for the agency is to “acknowledge the war has changed,” the document said. Its contents were first reported by The Washington Post on Thursday evening.

22.05.2021 - 12:57 [ DailyMai.co.uk ]

Auf Wiedersehen BRIT! Germany BANS Britons from midnight TOMORROW after branding UK a Covid variant hotspot… while Spain lifts restrictions to welcome tourists

Britons will soon be barred from entering Germany after the country‘s Public Health Institute designated the UK as a virus variant area of concern.

From midnight on Sunday people travelling there from the UK may only enter the country if they are a German citizen or resident.

22.05.2021 - 07:48 [ gazettelive.co.uk ]

Just 15 people out of 60,000 tested positive for covid after mass gathering trial

The pilot events included 21,000 people at the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, plus two other matches at the venue.

There was a rave with 3,000 clubbers at the Circus nightclub in Liverpool, which saw partygoers not having to wear a mask.

Others included the Brit Awards, which hosted 4,000 people at London‘s 02 Arena, and the snooker world championships at Sheffield‘s Crucible Theatre

02.05.2021 - 00:22 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

UK records seven Covid deaths – down 75% in a week – while cases drop seven per cent to 1,907 as UK shows no sign of post-lockdown surge

It comes after Office for National Statistics data suggested the total number of infections is lower than at any point since early September and infections have been falling constantly for five weeks.

Experts said the data ‚should be celebrated‘ and were the first proof that, despite the reopening of outdoor hospitality and allowing the rule of six earlier this month, there was still ‚no evidence of an increased transmission risk‘.

25.04.2021 - 10:23 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

Worrying new clues about the origins of Covid: How scientists at Wuhan lab helped Chinese army in secret project to find animal viruses, writes IAN BIRRELL

An update in 2018 said that the scientific teams – who published many of their findings in international journals – had found four new pathogens and ten new bacteria while ‚more than 1,640 new viruses were discovered using metagenomics technology‘. Such research is based on extraction of genetic material from samples such as those collected by Prof Shi from bat faeces and blood in the cave networks of southern China.

Such extensive sampling led to Prof Shi‘s rapid revelation last year of RaTG13, the closest known relative to the new strain of coronavirus that causes Covid.

It was stored at the Wuhan lab, the biggest repository of bat coronaviruses in Asia.

03.04.2021 - 19:50 [ World Health Organization / Weltgesundheitsorganisation - WHO.int ]

Medical certification, ICD mortality coding, and reporting mortality associated with COVID-19, Technical note, 7 June 2020

New ICD-10 codes for COVID-19

– U07.1 COVID-19, virus identified
– U07.2 Clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19
Probable COVID-19
Suspected COVID-19

Details of the updates to ICD-10 are available online at: https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/icd10updates/en/.

ICD-10 cause of death coding of COVID-19

Though “COVID-19” is the standard recommended terminology, certifiers may use a range of terms to describe COVID-19 as a cause of death. A list of potential terms can be found in the annex of this document. Although both categories, U07.1 (COVID-19, virus identified) and U07.2 (COVID-19, virus not identified) are suitable for cause of death coding, it is recognized that in many countries detail as to the laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 will NOT be reported on the death certificate. In the absence of this detail, it is recommended, for mortality purposes only, to code COVID-19 provisionally to U07.1 unless it is stated as “probable” or “suspected”.

11.03.2021 - 19:34 [ Worldometers.info ]

Reported Cases and Deaths by Country or Territory

(today)

Israel:

Total Cases: 812,823

New Cases: +1,331

Total Deaths: 5,955

New Deaths: +5

Total Recovered: 770,156

Active Cases: 36,712

Serious, Critical: 645

11.03.2021 - 19:33 [ Worldometers.info ]

Israel Coronavirus Cases:

Newly Infected vs. Newly Recovered in Israel

11.03.2021 - 19:31 [ CBC.ca ]

Pfizer, BioNTech say Israeli data suggests vaccine greatly reduces asymptomatic infections

Findings not yet peer-reviewed, interaction of vaccine with B1351 variant unclear due to limited data

11.03.2021 - 19:28 [ Haaretz.com / Twitter ]

With rise in infections, health officials weigh slowing down Israel‘s COVID lockdown exit plan

(01.03.2021)

11.03.2021 - 19:24 [ ABC News ]

Israel celebrates 5 millionth coronavirus vaccination

(08.03.2021)

Israel has administered over 8.7 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to its population of 9.3 million. Over 3.7 million Israelis — more than 40% — have received both of the doses required for maximum immunity.

11.03.2021 - 19:21 [ NYmag.com ]

Israel Is the World’s Most Vaccinated Country. Why Are Cases Rising?

(07.02.2021)

While Israel races ahead on putting shots in arms, the country is also seeing a spike in cases, with almost 74 out of every 100,000 Israelis testing positive for the virus, compared to about 40 out of every 100,000 Americans. On Thursday, the death toll in Israel crossed 5,000.

When asked about the seemingly contradictory puzzle, Galia Rahav, the head of the infectious-disease unit at Tel Aviv’s Sheba Medical Center, sighed, chuckled, and said: “This is Israel. We have to be extreme in everything.”

11.03.2021 - 19:19 [ Euroweeklynews.com ]

Infections rise in Israel despite one in three people being vaccinated

(04.02.2021)

INFECTIONS are rising in Israel despite a third of the population having already received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine

07.03.2021 - 11:56 [ World Health Organization / Weltgesundheitsorganisation - WHO.int ]

Medical certification, ICD mortality coding, and reporting mortality associated with COVID-19, Technical note, 7 June 2020

New ICD-10 codes for COVID-19

– U07.1 COVID-19, virus identified
– U07.2 Clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19
Probable COVID-19
Suspected COVID-19

Details of the updates to ICD-10 are available online at: https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/icd10updates/en/.

ICD-10 cause of death coding of COVID-19

Though “COVID-19” is the standard recommended terminology, certifiers may use a range of terms to describe COVID-19 as a cause of death. A list of potential terms can be found in the annex of this document. Although both categories, U07.1 (COVID-19, virus identified) and U07.2 (COVID-19, virus not identified) are suitable for cause of death coding, it is recognized that in many countries detail as to the laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 will NOT be reported on the death certificate. In the absence of this detail, it is recommended, for mortality purposes only, to code COVID-19 provisionally to U07.1 unless it is stated as “probable” or “suspected”.

07.03.2021 - 11:52 [ World Health Organization / Weltgesundheitsorganisation - WHO.int ]

Global surveillance for COVID-19 caused by human infection with COVID-19 virus – Interim guidance, 20 March 2020

Case and contact definitions are based on the current available information and are regularly revised as new information accumulates. Countries may need to adapt case definitions depending on their local epidemiological situation and other factors. All countries are encouraged to publish definitions used online and in regular situation reports, and to document periodic updates to definitions which may affect the interpretation of surveillance data.

Suspect case

A. A patient with acute respiratory illness (fever and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease, e.g., cough, shortness of breath), AND a history of travel to or residence in a location reporting community transmission of COVID-19 disease during the 14 days prior to symptom onset;

OR

B. A patient with any acute respiratory illness AND having been in contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case (see definition of contact) in the last 14 days prior to symptom onset;

OR

C. A patient with severe acute respiratory illness (fever and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory disease, e.g., cough, shortness of breath; AND requiring hospitalization) AND in the absence of an alternative diagnosis that fully explains the clinical presentation.

Probable case

A. A suspect case for whom testing for the COVID-19 virus is inconclusive.

OR

B. A suspect case for whom testing could not be performed for any reason.

Confirmed case:

A person with laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 infection, irrespective of clinical signs and symptoms.

07.03.2021 - 10:31 [ Haaretz ]

Israel‘s COVID Infection Rates Are Rising – but It May Not Matter That Much Now

(02.03.2021)

Health experts say most at-risk Israelis are now vaccinated, and they expect the number of seriously ill coronavirus patients to drop

07.03.2021 - 10:28 [ /inews.co.uk ]

Oxford and Pfizer Covid vaccine has significant effect from one shot as hospital cases fall rapidly

(01.03.2021)

“In fact, the detailed data show that the protection that you get from catching Covid 35 days after a first jab is even slightly better for the Oxford jab than for Pfizer, albeit both results are clearly very strong.”

16.02.2021 - 09:39 [ Peter Ben Embarek / Twitter ]

Thanks @kakape for the opportunity to clarify our findings. One of the misunderstanding has been about the nature of our work in the past month. It was a joint @WHO – #China mission to review the July agreed phase 1 studies and plan a series of new studies. Work in progress.

16.02.2021 - 09:37 [ Peter Daszak / Twitter ]

This was NOT my experience on @WHO mission. As lead of animal/environment working group I found trust & openness w/ my China counterparts. We DID get access to critical new data throughout. We DID increase our understanding of likely spillover pathways.

(13.02.2021)

09.02.2021 - 12:00 [ World Health Organization (WHO) / Twitter ]

LIVE from Wuhan : Media briefing on #COVID19 origin mission

08.02.2021 - 16:35 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Did the Covid-19 virus really escape from a Wuhan lab?

Chan and her colleague Dr Shing Hei Zhan scrutinised the evolutions of SARS-CoV-1 (the cause of the 2003 SARS epidemic) and SARS-CoV-2 (the cause of the current pandemic) in the early months of their respective outbreaks and found that while the former mutated rapidly in early human cases, as the virus adapted to its new host, the latter did not. This implies that the virus causing Covid-19 was already well adapted to infecting human beings, a point that was also suggested by the World Health Organization in its global study on the origins of Covid-19, published in November.

There are three possible explanations for this. The first is that the virus had circulated, undetected, in people for months. The second is that the virus was already highly adept at human-to-human transmission, even while it was still in bats or other animals. The third is that it had become adapted in human cells, or humanised animals, in a laboratory.

07.02.2021 - 22:28 [ Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) ]

So you got the vaccine. Can you still infect people? Pfizer is trying to find out.

(02.02.2021)

Whether or not the vaccines stop “onward transmission” of the virus is likely to be a critical variable in determining how the pandemic plays out and how soon life goes back to normal. Right now, researchers say, their best guess is that vaccines will reduce transmission but may not prevent it entirely.

07.02.2021 - 21:21 [ Times of Israel ]

TV: Several vaccinated elderly tested positive for COVID, but had no symptoms

Pfizer and Moderna, which produce the vaccines used in Israel, have said their shots appear to be slightly less effective in preventing the so-called South African strain of the virus, though the companies say they remain quite potent.

07.02.2021 - 21:15 [ KTOO.org ]

Juneau nursing home outbreak could be a model for what COVID-19 looks like after vaccine

(07.02.2021)

Staff and outside experts attribute the health of these people in the face of their COVID-19 infections primarily to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Nearly 80% of the people who live and work in the facility have received at least one of the shots in the two-shot series.

07.02.2021 - 15:40 [ University of Oxford ]

Oxford coronavirus vaccine shows sustained protection of 76% during the 3-month interval until the second dose

(02.02.2021)

The authors also report further on the potential for the vaccine to reduce transmission of the virus, based on swabs obtained from volunteers in the UK arms of the trial with a 67% reduction after the first dose of the vaccine.

05.02.2021 - 21:32 [ Clarity / Twitter ]

The flu abruptly disappeared in March of 2020. It disappeared at about the exact same time covid-19 testing and detection ramped up. See the timing overlay below

05.02.2021 - 21:16 [ theSun.co.uk ]

UK Covid cases fall by a THIRD in a week and deaths down almost 20% piling pressure on Boris to show way out of lockdown

Mark Harper — chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of lockdown sceptics, with 70 Tory MPs — said: “Back-of-the-envelope calculations I did based on two million doses a week mean you could get the top nine priority groups, first doses, and the top four groups, second doses, all done by the end of May.

“So it seems to me by the time you get to the end of May, no later than that, you should be in a position to get rid of restrictions completely.

02.02.2021 - 23:55 [ Social Science Research Network ]

Single dose administration, and the influence of the timing of the booster dose on immunogenicity and efficacy of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine

If there was no impact of a vaccine on asymptomatic infection, it would be expected that an efficacious vaccine would simply convert severe cases to mild cases and mild cases to asymptomatic, with overall PCR positivity unchanged. A measure of overall PCR positivity is appropriate to assess whether there is a reduction in the burden of infection. Analyses presented here show that a single standard dose of the vaccine reduced PCR positivity by 67%, and that, after the second dose, the SD/SD schedule reduced PCR positivity by 49.5% overall. These data indicate that ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, used in the authorised schedules, may have a substantial impact on transmission by reducing the number of infected individuals in the population.

02.02.2021 - 23:55 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

Single shot of Oxford University‘s Covid jab ‚is 76% effective for 12 weeks and may block seven in 10 people from spreading the disease‘

Meanwhile, analysis of PCR positive swabs carried out on nearly 7,000 patients in the UK arm of Oxford‘s trial suggests the vaccine may reduce transmission by 67 per cent.

31.01.2021 - 20:24 [ VeryWellHealth.com ]

Sterilizing Immunity and COVID-19 Vaccines

As game-changing as the Pfizer vaccine (and Moderna‘s equally effective mRNA-1273 vaccine) may be in affording protection against the COVID-19 illness, the results do not reflect complete „sterilizing immunity.“

This is the type of immunity that completely prevents a disease-causing pathogen like COVID-19 from establishing an infection. Sterilizing immunity differs from effective immunity in that the latter can prevent illness but still lead to asymptomatic infection.

31.01.2021 - 20:14 [ DailyBeast.com ]

Rep. Stephen Lynch Contracts COVID After Two Pfizer Vaccine Doses

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) announced late Friday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after receiving his second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.

23.01.2021 - 19:56 [ theHill.com ]

Pfizer chairman: We‘re not sure if someone can transmit virus after vaccination

(DEc 3, 2020)

Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla told Dateline host Lester Holt that the pharmaceutical company was “not certain” if the vaccine prevented the coronavirus from being transmitted, saying, “This is something that needs to be examined.”

22.01.2021 - 18:38 [ New York Times ]

Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be.

(29.08.2020)

Most tests set the limit at 40, a few at 37. This means that you are positive for the coronavirus if the test process required up to 40 cycles, or 37, to detect the virus.

Tests with thresholds so high may detect not just live virus but also genetic fragments, leftovers from infection that pose no particular risk — akin to finding a hair in a room long after a person has left, Dr. Mina said.

Any test with a cycle threshold above 35 is too sensitive, agreed Juliet Morrison, a virologist at the University of California, Riverside. “I’m shocked that people would think that 40 could represent a positive,” she said.

22.01.2021 - 18:33 [ Weltgesundheitsorganisation - WHO.int ]

WHO Information Notice for IVD Users 2020/05

Description of the problem: WHO requests users to follow the instructions for use (IFU) when interpreting results for specimens tested using PCR methodology.

Users of IVDs must read and follow the IFU carefully to determine if manual adjustment of the PCR positivity threshold is recommended by the manufacturer.

WHO guidance Diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 states that careful interpretation of weak positive results is needed (1). The cycle threshold (Ct) needed to detect virus is inversely proportional to the patient’s viral load. Where test results do not correspond with the clinical presentation, a new specimen should be taken and retested using the same or different NAT technology.

21.01.2021 - 09:45 [ Telegraph.co.uk ]

Oxford scientists preparing new vaccine versions to combat emerging Covid strains

A laboratory study found that the 501Y.V2 variant achieved „complete escape“ from monoclonal antibodies, the man-made proteins that act like the antibodies produced by jabs.

Boris Johnson said he was holding „intensive talks“ with scientists about the new variants. The Prime Minister told MPs he was confident that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was capable of approving new vaccine modifications as quickly as necessary.