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(27.12.2020)
Just 388 people aged under 60 with no underlying health conditions have died of Covid-19 in England’s hospitals since the start of the pandemic, NHS data has showed.
The figures show that 1,979 previously healthy people died in hospitals in England after testing positive for Covid-19 between April 2 and December 23.
“We don’t know yet whether an individual can, although not becoming ill from the virus because they have been vaccinated, still catch it and spread it on to others.
Asked whether people who had received the jab could hug their children, Janet Lord, director of Birmingham University’s Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, said: “I would certainly advise not to do that at the moment because as you probably know with the vaccines they take several weeks before they are maximally effective.“
(05.12.2020)
In order to halt the spread of coronavirus completely, a vaccine would need to produce antibodies that stop the virus from replicating. „To prevent asymptomatic infection and transmission, you need what’s called sterilizing immunity,“ Greg Poland, MD, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, explained to USA Today. While it’s possible that one or more of the vaccines could produce sterilizing immunity, it currently remains unproven.
(16.07.2020)
Ms Alfaro added that the outbreak may have been exacerbated by the fishermen’s hardiness and acclimatisation to rough conditions, in that they may have spent significant time in discomfort without recognising or acknowledging symptoms.
The news comes depsite the Vaccines Minister, Nadhim Zahawi, ruling out immunity passports back in December, a week after suggesting it was something ministers were considering, saying: “We are not looking at immunity passports at all.”
Matt Hancock also denied plans to implement passporting last week, telling the Spectator: „It’s not an area that we’re looking at.“
Sir John Bell, regius chair of medicine at the University of Oxford, said stubborn NHS bureaucrats were standing in the way of a high-speed mass inoculation programme that could prevent many further deaths.
“The NHS has the theoretical capacity to immunise everybody in five days if they want to, but I don’t get the sense they are really motivated,” Bell told the Times.
Prof Whitty commended the public for their efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19 and noted the hope offered by various vaccines, but he echoed other experts in saying it would be some weeks before the jabs start to reduce the number of people taken to hospital.
(09.01.2021)
(2) Clearly what is happening is a reclassification of deaths. Non-Covid deaths are being reclassified as ´Covid deaths’ by means of ramped up PCR testing. Which begs the question: why are they doing this, if not to justify lockdowns and other restrictions?
(10.05.2020)
Palantir was co-founded in 2004 by Paypal owner and billionaire Peter Thiel. What the blog doesn’t reveal is that Palantir’s client list has included amomgst others, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the Centre for Disease Control, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, Special Operations Command, West Point and the IRS.
Furthermore, in 2016, it was revealed Palantir had a $34.6m contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and helped the Customs and Border Protection Agency create the Analytical Framework for Intelligence (AFI) system to track immigrants.
Nor does the blog mention that Palantir worked for UK intelligence and was awarded contracts to handle vast data sets on UK citizens for British spy agency GCHQ.
(05.06.2020)
UK government has published the contracts it holds with private tech firms and the NHS for the creation of a COVID-19 data store, just days after campaigners fired legal shots over a lack of transparency.
Available on the openDemocracy website, the contracts describe how the arrangements between the NHS and Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and AI firms Faculty and Palantir (which subcontracts to AWS) will operate.
As Palantir’s executives were preparing over the summer to release shares publicly for the first time, they faced a challenge: how do you convince investors to buy into a 17-year-old company that has never turned a profit?
(09 Dec 2020)
Vallance and chief medical officer Chris Whitty were asked if there was something that could be done in the structure in scientific advice that could be a bit more forensic about those restrictions on the sector that have a very big impact on certain people. The scientific advisers said they are trying very hard to get data but can´t give specific data on it, and nor can anyone else across the world.
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said that Boris Johnson’s tier system is “no longer strong enough” to deal with the new more virulent variant of coronavirus.
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said at the time that it was ‘just not possible’ for Ferguson to continue advising the Government. But this was not true. The professor was said to have resigned from the SAGE advisory committee. But did he? Not really. A current State website lists him as a member of the ‘New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group’ (NERVTAG). Minutes suggest he was only ever away from that for a few weeks.
Despite assurances by Health Minister Greg Hunt that the progression of the vaccine was well under way, the Australian Government is unlikely to start immunising health workers and the elderly until at least March.
(31.12.2020)
The Australian government could grant final approval for the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine by late January, according to AstraZeneca Australia.
A spokesperson for the company told SBS World News that the federal government has indicated the vaccine could get final approval by January 31, with a roll out in March.
Everyone can see what a serious emergency this is. We have to act. Bin the bureaucracy, and get this miracle vaccine to work right now.
(18 August 2020)
Amid rising pressure to lock in supply of a coronavirus vaccine, the Government has signed an agreement with UK-based drug company AstraZeneca to secure the potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University, if its trials prove successful.
Australia has secured 53.8 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, most of which could be manufactured locally by CSL. The federal government has also ordered 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which will all have to be imported.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Monday he expects Australia to be „fully vaccinated“ against coronavirus by October next year.
The approval by UK government is a good news for India because as per sources, the government was waiting for this approval and it is expected that Indian regulators would call SEC meet soon and reconsider the data and approve AstraZeneca vaccine for its use in India.
The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorise Oxford University/AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for use.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, with the first doses due to be given on Monday amid rising coronavirus cases.
Government sources have indicated an announcement later will see more areas move into tier four – „stay at home“.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is due to detail the changes – which could be introduced within days – in the House of Commons after 14:30 GMT.
(23.12.2020)
(28.11.2020)
Sir Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust who advises Number 10’s advisory panel Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said: „We’re not going to be free of this pandemic by February, this is now a human endemic infection.
Calum Semple, professor of outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), described the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine as a “game changer” if it is approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the coming days.
But he told BBC Breakfast…
The Oxford/AstraZeneca jab could be approved early next week by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), after the final cut of data was submitted by the Government last Monday.
(23.12.2020)
Government sources say that between 12 million and 15 million people have been identified as likely to require hospital treatment if they contract coronavirus, or be at risk of dying from it. Once this group has received the vaccine – which some officials hope could be achieved by the end of February – then the NHS would no longer be at risk of being overwhelmed if the virus spread through the greater population. That would remove the main argument for shutting the economy at a stroke.
A source said: ‚The path to liberation is finally becoming clear.‘
„We have seen the best of British at every stage, from our world-leading scientists working around the clock to carry out vital research, to builders and engineers constructing new facilities.
“Manufacturers are boosting their capabilities and hundreds of thousands of people in every corner of the UK are taking part in clinical trials — developing, finding and preparing for a vaccine has involved us all.
“It has and continues to be a truly UK-wide effort and one which showcases what a fantastic nation we are.”
(28.11.2020)
(21.12.2020)
The Government is aiming for two million people to receive their first dose of either the Oxford vaccine or the Pfizer jab within a fortnight as part of a major ramping up of the inoculation programme.
(today)
A fourth case had been discovered in an Israeli who had not been abroad recently. The Health Ministry said they are investigating the case and will update accordingly.
„Over the past few days we are making a concerted effort to check that the mutation from Britain has not infiltrated [Israel]. Until several minutes ago, we had been optimistic, and now we are less optimistic,“ Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said.
(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.
– Blood samples unveiled this week show people in California, Oregon and Washington infected in December
– Further tests on blood taken in mid-to-late December and into early January found virus in six more states
– Italy, Brazil and France have all since found traces of the virus before China even acknowledged it existed
– Evidence has emerged in Spain and the UK suggesting that Covid-19 was around before testing was possible
– Claims the virus emerged in a market in Wuhan last winter have crumbled in the face of scientific evidence
Today’s comments fly in the face of Mr Johnson, who this week railed against “sneak” culture.
The Prime Minister urged Brits not to snitch on their neighbours unless they are having “Animal House parties” with “hot tubs and so forth”.
Meetings today are going on to make a decision, health secretary confirms.
The United States, European Union, Canada and Switzerland, home to some of the world’s biggest food companies, have pressed Mexico to delay upcoming health warnings on processed food and drinks, a World Trade Organization document showed.
Dr Jason Oke and Professor Carl Heneghan said figures from Public Health England — which are published each day by the Department of Health — contained ‚inaccuracies‘ and could cause confusion.
Deaths are still falling, the professors said, even if at a slower rate than they were earlier in the crisis.
(29.06.2020)
Congressman Doggett has been seeking information from both Secretary Azar and Gilead on remdesivir pricing for almost two months. Neither disclosed the huge taxpayer expenditure that the Trump Administration is making today to purchase remdesivir supplies through September. Copies of related correspondence are available upon request.
±400,000 patients had symptomatic influenza in the period between the beginning of October until the end of May.
±11,000 hospitalisations Many people were admitted to hospital with flu complications, such as pneumonia.
FLU VACCINE About half of the people who were eligible to receive a flu vaccination were vaccinated against flu.
2,900 more people than expected died during the epidemic period. These extra deaths were associated with the flu epidemic.
Current numbers COVID-19: 22 June 2020
Positive tested persons: 49,658* (+69)
Admitted to hospital: 11,851 (+2)
Reported deaths: 6,090** (+0)
Many states, including New York, came under fire for a policy requiring nursing homes to admit COVID-19 positive patients. Data shows that Minnesota now has 81.4% of deaths from long term care facilities and assisted living centers.
Minnesota’s Department of Health did so to lower the risk of overwhelming hospitals with COVID-19 patients.
“It was the single dumbest decision anyone could make if they wanted to kill people,” Daniel Arbeeny said of the directive, which prompted him to pull his 88-year-old father out of a Brooklyn nursing home where more than 50 people have died. His father later died of COVID-19 at home.
Petition and email campaigns warned introducing COVID patients to nursing homes put vulnerable residents at risk.
Cuomo rescinded the order on May 10, and this week blamed the original policy on the Trump administration.
“Why did the state do that with COVID patients in nursing homes?” said the governor. “It’s because the state followed President Trump’s CDC guidelines.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the Georgia Department of Health said it would remove the antibody testing data from the diagnostic data, although it had been following the current CDC guidance on the reporting data.
Thursday, Toomey addressed the issue during a state news conference.
“I’m actually am grateful that the media are looking at this closely because often you can recognize things that I did not see, or there are some inconsistencies that I didn’t notice,” Toomey said.
As of May 16, the state had performed close to 700,000 COVID-19 tests, according to the Florida Department of Health; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that Florida had conducted more than 900,000 COVID-19 tests.
With a 33% difference between the two agencies, Florida is one of 10 states to report such large discrepancies in testing numbers, with Florida being the most extreme case, according to an analysis by The COVID Tracking Project, which compared cases, deaths and testing numbers reported by each state and by the CDC’s Data Tracker.
This is not merely a technical error. States have set quantitative guidelines for reopening their economies based on these flawed data points.
Several states—including Pennsylvania, the site of one of the country’s largest outbreaks, as well as Texas, Georgia, and Vermont—are blending the data in the same way. Virginia likewise mixed viral and antibody test results until last week, but it reversed course and the governor apologized for the practice after it was covered by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Atlantic. Maine similarly separated its data on Wednesday; Vermont authorities claimed they didn’t even know they were doing this.
The CDC combines the results of genetic tests that spot people who are actively infected, mostly by using a process known as polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, with results from another, known as serology testing, which looks for antibodies in people’s blood. Antibody testing is used to identify people who were previously infected.
We share the common goal of preserving public confidence in systems that can help make us all safer. Therefore, before the NHS continues its plans, we urge you to provide the public with more information and take appropriate measures to reduce risk of data sharing and keep the aggregated data under democratic control.
In March, the NHS announced a new plan to build a datastore that aggregates COVID-19 health data. Microsoft, Google, Palantir, Faculty and Amazon will assist in the development of the datastore and the processing of the data.
(yesterday)
In an open letter directly addressed to the health secretary, civil society organisations, privacy advocates and academic researchers urged Hancock to give the public more information about the datastore and take appropriate measures to reduce data-sharing risks and keep it under democratic control.
Coronavirus is likely to result in a high mortality rate in care homes, England’s chief medical officer has said.
Chris Whitty said it was hard to prevent deaths in care homes „sadly because this is a very vulnerable group“.
Current statistics were likely to be an „underestimate“, he added.
Dr Viz and Dr Joshi said: „Every time a healthcare worker becomes hospitalised with Covid-19, it exacts an extraordinary toll on our friends, family and colleagues. To sedate and ventilate your own colleague takes a mental toll on the entire workforce.
„The Government owes an apology to these bereaved families, many of whom were unable to be with their loved ones in their dying moments. Their trauma and grief is unimaginable – we want to ensure that no other family has to endure this suffering.
(22.04.2020)
Sally Copley, Director of Policy, Campaigns and Partnerships at Alzheimer’s Society, said:
“The true impact of the coronavirus in care homes is becoming increasingly clear, and that’s why we’re demanding swift Government action. With the further report today of a possible 2000 deaths just over Easter weekend, this is a frightening time for everyone with relatives with dementia in care homes. People with dementia’s lives matter, and every death is a terrible loss to a grieving family.
“We hear daily from desperately concerned families who want to know that the Government is doing all it can to keep people in care homes safe, and it is good to hear that the CQC is actively booking testing appointments for care staff.
(today)
Katz praised the work of Jerusalem’s diplomatic mission in Tokyo, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Health Ministry for „having successfully brought this groundbreaking research to Israel.“
The private cellphone of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman was tracked after he was suspected of flouting social distancing guidelines despite testing positive for the coronavirus, Israeli health officials said on Friday.
In an interview with Bild newspaper (link in German), federal health minister Jens Spahn said that there “are early indications that certain medications seem to help,” and that there were ongoing studies in Germany into what drugs could potentially work in treating coronavirus, “including with this old malaria drug.”
He added that more studies are needed as all drugs have side effects. However, he expects an effective drug to treat COVID-19 to come on the market much earlier than a vaccine.
(20.03.2020)