Friday’s COVID update from Scandinavia to Canada
Two of Denmark’s largest cities are seeing concerning outbreaks
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In the Odense suburb of Vollsmose both the H.C. Andersen School and Åbildgårdskolen have been ordered to be closed due to “alarmingly high infection rates” in the surrounding neighbourhood. Both schools will be closed as of Monday and remain closed until further notice. The area’s daycares are also under “increased attention” and are being assessed daily. Infection rates in Odense seem to be mirroring increases seen in Kolding prior to its shut down.
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There is an outbreak of the South African COVID variant in Copenhagen’s Northwest District. Everyone there is strongly encouraged to go get tested for corona. At this point officials there cannot say exactly how many cases of the variant have been confirmed but it sounds concerning.
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Today all five of Denmark’s health regions were put to the test to see if 100,000 vaccinations per day is possible. In Region Hovedstaden (Metro Copenhagen) they anticipate they will have 7,500 vaccinations done by the time they close at 10:00pm.
Dorthe Sørensen, Acting Head of the Capital Region’s vaccination centers, says the day “exceeded expectations” but added there was room for improvement.
“It is the development of workflows with a focus on patient safety, so that we can also deliver at the same level when the pressure we faced today becomes everyday.”
The other lesson she says was to communicate better.
“At one point we had some citizens who, through the media coverage, got the impression that they could just show up and stand in line. We had to disappoint them and send them home again.”
Southern Denmark’s vaccination efforts also appeared to be successful. The Southern Denmark Health Region tweeted “All indications are that the region will reach its goal in fine style in the evening.” They report at least 8,800 vaccinations across seven vaccination centers.
A final vaccination total for today’s “big experiment” is not available yet.
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Denmark is reporting 530 COVID infections and two more coronavirus deaths in the last day.
There were 137,844 corona tests yesterday, not including the rapid tests from the private providers, equaling a positivity percentage of 0.38%.
COVID hospitalizations (231) continue to drop (-4) ICU numbers (43) are also down (-2) those on a ventilator (24) is unchanged.
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On the vaccination front to date 375,794 1st doses (6.4% of population) and 181,084 2nd COVID vaccine doses (3.1% of population) have been administered.
The National Health Board is adjusting the vaccination calendar again due to being shorted on vaccine shipments from AstraZeneca. The Health Board says it received just over 72,000 fewer AstraZeneca than was expected by the end of February. The vaccine maker says it will make up the shortfall in March.
The shortage means 80 to 84 year olds will have to wait a little longer to get vaccinated. The National Health Board maintains it can still get everyone vaccinated by the target date of June 27th.
National Health Board Director Søren Brostrøm says the continuing vaccine supply chain issues are disappointing.
“We had hoped that we could now start vaccinating the citizens who belong to group 7, ie those who are between 80 years and 84 years old. But unfortunately we still have too few of the vaccines that can be used.”
The good news, he says, is that by the end of next week they will have given first vaccination shots to everyone in target groups one, two, and three, covering seniors in nursing homes, those over 65 years old receiving home care, and people over 85 years of age, respectively.
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Next week the Staten Serum Institut expects to receive 126,330 total vaccine doses. 80,730 of those are coming from Pfizer. Most will be used for first time vaccinations in the priority target groups, with about 18,000 doses going to fully vaccinate those who have already had a first shot.
46,500 vaccine doses are also coming from AstraZeneca but those will be held in reserve for week nine.
While Moderna won’t deliver a new shipment next week there are 3,400 doses put aside from this week’s delivery. Those are earmarked for second vaccination doses.
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Sweden has added 4,844 infections and suffered another 28 corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
To date 474,028 1st dose (5.7% of population) and 246,603 2nd dose vaccinations (3% of population) have been administered.
Radio Sweden says the vaccination effort is being criticized for poor organization, which combined with vaccine shortages, is causing headaches. It reports, “Several describe the situation as the regions working individually ‘to invent the wheel’.”
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Finland has registered its 2nd highest number of new infections yet with 720 and added two more virus deaths.
COVID hospitalizations (172) are up (+14) ICU numbers ( 38) are also up (+2).
On the vaccination effort to date 346,879 1st dose and 79,644 2nd dose vaccinations have been administered.
The number of variant cases in Finland has leapt up to 1,232 with the lions share, 1,167 infections, being the more contagious U.K. variant.
The country will go back into a national lockdown for three weeks starting on March 8th.
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Norway has added 446 infections and had two more corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (94) inched up (+2) Ventilator numbers (18) are unchanged.
To date 318,722 1st doses (5.94% of population) and 149,622 2nd doses (2.79% of population) of the vaccine have been administered.
As of March 1st people who live in Sweden or Finland but work in Norway can cross the border again. However, cross border commuters will be required to undergo corona testing every seven days.
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In the United Kingdom yesterday, 9,985 new infections and 323 corona deaths were reported.
The rate of positive tests, fatalities, and hospitalizations continues to trend down.
To date 18,691,835 1st vaccine doses and 700,718 2nd doses have been administered.
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The outbreak situation in the Czech Republic remains grim with 13,793 infections and 126 more corona deaths yesterday. The health care system is weeks away from a potential collapse and a complete national lockdown might be an imminent possibility.
Elsewhere in Europe, COVID numbers are threatening to head back upward. France, Germany, and Poland all saw increased coronavirus infections. Hungary saw COVID infections increase yesterday in numbers not seen since mid-December.
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Yesterday Canada reported 3,094 new infections and 59 more virus deaths. Infection declines appear to have leveled off.
To date 1,212,595 1st doses (3.19% of pop) and 494,753 2nd vaccine doses have been administered.
Health Canada approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine today adding millions more incoming vaccine doses to the Canadian vaccination campaign. Canada has already secured 22 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Today in Ontario, Health Minister Christine Elliott stated on Twitter, “Ontario is reporting 1,258 cases of COVID19 and over 64,000 tests completed. Locally, there are 362 new cases in Toronto, 274 in Peel, and 104 in York Region. As of 6:00 p.m. yesterday, 643,765 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.”
There were also 28 deaths from the virus in Ontario.
Corona variants are growing concern in Ontario with modeling yesterday saying they will make up 40% of infections cases in a matter of weeks and the U.K. variant could become the dominant strain by mid-March.
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Quebec reported 815 new infections and 11 deaths today. Yesterday the province began vaccinations for the general public, starting with the oldest age groups.
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In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick, with just one new infection is looking at easing restrictions. Nova Scotia, with ten new infections, introduced new restrictions today. Newfoundland and Labrador had four new infections and saw hospitalizations creep upward.
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Manitoba registered 64 new infections and one more virus death. It is now expanding its eligibility for corona vaccinations.
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Saskatchewan logged 211 infections and a single corona death yesterday.
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There were 399 infections and and eight virus deaths in Alberta yesterday. Infections in Alberta’s care homes have plunged 92% since residents were vaccinated.
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In B.C., numbers are rising with 395 infections and ten deaths yesterday. The number of variant infections, particularly the U.K. variant, are increasing. The province tests very little so chances are excellent the ‘real’ numbers are much higher.