Monday Morning News & Notes
COVID numbers plummet in Europe. Energy crisis impacts in Denmark.
🦠Pandemic🦠
🇪🇺
COVID numbers continue to drop across Europe. In the week ending September 11, infection numbers dropped by another 11% among vulnerable seniors 65 years old and older. This marks the eighth straight week case numbers among seniors have declined according to the latest weekly pandemic assessment from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. At the individual country level, just three European nations reported rising coronavirus numbers and only two saw increases among seniors.
The ECDC is warning there are some indicators that coronavirus spread may be increasing “in a small number of countries”. It attributes this to the end of summer vacations and the return to work and the beginning of a new school year.
COVID hospitalizations either declined or remained stable across the 27 European states reporting hospital and intensive care admissions data. Just four of the 27 registered increasing numbers in one or both categories.
For a sixth straight week, COVID fatality numbers fell across the European Union and the greater European Economic Area. The virus still claimed 1,040 lives across Europe last week, a 27% decline from the week before. Just one country has reported increasing pandemic deaths.
Based on the meager 13 European countries doing COVID testing and sequencing of positive test results in enough numbers to draw meaningful data from the BA.4 and BA.5 variants remain dominant in the EU. The two variants came back in 98.9% of all sequenced positive test results. The concerning BA.2.75 variant continues to spin its wheels in Europe, with just 53 confirmed cases (0.4%) last week.
On the vaccination front, 53.7% of the total population across Europe has two vaccine doses plus a booster shot. That number rises to 83.9% for those 60 years old and older. 6.4% of the total population has had a 4th dose, 15.1% for the 60 years old and older crowd.
🇩🇰
The Statens Serum Institute doesn’t update COVID statistics over the weekend. It will table three days worth of pandemic data later today.
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Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said the fall booster shot campaign managed to administer enough booster doses on its first day to cover 7% of all seniors in care. On Thursday, 6,372 vaccine doses were administered. Seniors in care and those 85 years old and older get a first shot at a 4th dose before eligibility expands to everyone 50 years old and older on October 1.
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The Statens Serum Institute says about 16,500 vaccination invitations went out but with the wrong information in them. The agency says most went to parents to encourage them to get their children vaccinated against influenza, but on the subject of the invitation it mistakenly says it’s about a COVID booster shot. A few others went to seniors also with some mixed-up vaccination invitations. The SSI says they are fixing the situation and new letters to book vaccination appointments are on their way to those affected.
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It is those 40 years old and older who continue to be hit the hardest by COVID infection activity in Denmark. While there is definitely a big step up in infection activity for the 20 to 39year old age group over the last seven days, it is those 40 to 64 years old seeing far and away the most coronavirus infection. Seniors 65 to 79 years old have the 2nd highest infection rate by age group.
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As for COVID hospitalizations, it is seniors who are firmly in the crosshairs of the virus with the majority of infection-related admissions over the last seven days concentrated among those 65 years old and older.
🇸🇪
The Swedish Public Health Agency updates its COVID statistics once a week every Thursday.
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Infection numbers are rising again in Sweden. COVID infection numbers rise by 13% according to the latest weekly update from the Swedish Public Health Agency. It also notes that the numbers of other respiratory infections are also increasing.
It reported 4,300 confirmed infections, up from the 3,800 registered the previous week. The rising number of infections were largely concentrated in the regions of Blekinge, Sörmland, and Jönköping. Infections were also on the rise among seniors in care and those receiving home care.
Not uncoincidentally, the agency notes that the increase in coronavirus numbers comes with a corresponding increase in testing, which was up 9% week over week. Sweden restricts PCR testing to seniors in care and those being admitted to hospital, leaving it almost entirely in the dark about epidemic numbers across the general population.
State Epidemiologist Anders Lindblom:
“With more people being tested for COVID and that we saw 1,177 more calls regarding respiratory symptoms, indicates that respiratory infections in society are increasing. It is connected with people meeting more indoors in connection with the return to work and school after the summer break. It is important that those who have symptoms that may be COVID to stay at home and avoid close contact with others.”
Lindblom continues to urge people to get vaccinated to protect themselves against severe infection, hospitalization, and death.
In Sweden, seniors 65 years old and older and anyone 18 years old and older who is high-risk are eligible for another booster dose.
The healthcare agency says it is seeing intensive care and virus fatality numbers follow the infection curve albeit on a delay. ICU admissions in the last few weeks have “been at a slightly higher level than at the beginning of the summer”. There have been 73 severely infected people admitted to intensive care in the last four weeks, with seven more in week 36. The agency says the average age of severely infect3d people being admitted into an ICU was 64 and the majority of people had underlying health conditions putting them in a high-risk group.
After reporting its deadliest week of the summer in its last update, the Swedish Public Health Agency says with 80 coronavirus deaths so far in week 34, the rising number of fatalities may have peaked. There was an average of 120 pandemic deaths in each of the three previous weeks. The average age of those who have died was 83 years old. The agency also adds the caveat that COVID death statistics don’t separate those who died because of an infection and those who died of another cause but with an infection.
🇺🇸 💉
Get vaccinated. That is the message from the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. It has published a graph showing the major disparity in coronavirus deaths between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.
🇨🇦
COVID hospitalizations continued to decline, albeit slowly, across Canada. The latest weekly snapshot from the Public Health Agency of Canada for the week ending September 12, shows the total number of hospital beds being used by coronavirus patients dropped by 21 to 4,456. Looking at just general admissions, the number of total beds in use dropped slightly (-9) to 4,255. For severe infections requiring intensive care, there were 12 fewer beds in use from week to week. And of those, the number of people on a ventilator eased to 88, three fewer than the previous week.
Canada added another 16,501 infections in the latest reporting week (underreported) while suffering another 217 pandemic deaths.
The seven day positivity percentage is 10.1%.
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The Canadian vaccination effort has so far administered 33,812,008 1st vaccine doses (88.43% of the total population) while 31,445,242 people (82.24%) have a 2nd dose and of those, 20,806,329 have a booster dose.
⚡️Energy Crisis⚡️
🇩🇰
The energy crisis is hitting every sector across Europe. In Denmark, daycares and schools are beginning to sound the alarm over the impact of soaring energy prices. A joint letter has been issued by DGI, the Rural Community Council, Efterskolen, Danish private schools, and the National Organization of Daycare Institutions.
The organizations and groups are asking to be included in the governments deferment scheme for certain people and groups to pay the increase in their energy bills later, albeit with a small amount of interest.
In part the letter reads:
“It is problematic that free, private self-owned institutions that receive state or municipal subsidies are often categorized as public institutions. They are typically not covered by government schemes and pools that are allocated to private companies and institutions. Hence this call.”
The final details of the government’s energy bills deferment scheme are still being forged by Danish politicians in parliamentary negotiations.
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The cost of a gas pipeline to Falster and Lolland is a lot larger than initially thought. TV2 is reporting the pipeline’s initial budget was just over one-billion Danish kroner, but now that price tag has risen by another 409 million kroner.
Energy Minister Dan Jørgensen maintains that despite the pipelines ballooning cost the project is still viable, especially with the unfolding energy crisis.
“It is an even better idea to do so in the situation we are in now. It has turned out that we need a gas infrastructure in Denmark, which is not dependent on other countries, and where we can, for example, transport green biogas, which we would like to replace Putin's gas with.”
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Skyrocketing fuel prices are having an impact on at least one ferry run in Denmark. The Læsø ferry operating between the island and northern Jutland has begun canceling departures for this month and next. The company’s website says despite adding a fuel surcharge on to ticket prices, it hasn’t kept up with the spiraling energy costs and now sailings have to be scrapped.
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Even garden centers in Denmark are scrambling to cut energy costs. Staff at Svendborgsund Plant Sales have been told to dress warmly this winter as the heat in the greenhouses will be turned off to try and keep costs down.
The director of the industry association, Danske Havecentre, Per Boisen Andersen, spoke to DR and said garden centers are going to have to think outside the box if they are to survive.
“We encourage them to think differently. So try to be creative. We are in a situation where energy prices are running wild.”
He suggests that garden centers also limit opening hours to cut costs and perhaps do away with Christmas poinsettias, which require heat, this year and replace them with native plants that are used to Danish temperatures.
🇳🇴
Norway said it will work with the E.U. to try and bring down sky-high gas prices. In comments to reporters late last week, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said he had met with gas companies to discuss ways to reduce gas prices.
“It is not in Norway's interest that we have these extraordinary gas price spikes.”
Europe is in the grip of an energy crisis that is driving up inflation and sending fuel and energy prices skyward. Gas prices in Europe have surged by more than 200% in just the past year as Russia turns the taps off. With Europe desperate looking to severe its energy dependence on Russia, Norway’s role as an energy supplier has become much larger.
🇺🇦/ 🇷🇺 War
🇫🇮 🇱🇻 🇱🇹 🇪🇪/ 🇷🇺
As of today, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia have enacted a near ban on most Russian citizens crossing in their countries
Latvian Foreign Affairs Minister Edvard Rinkēvičs took to Twitter to post a no nonsense message.
“From September 19, Latvia, for security reasons and in connection with Russian aggression, restricts entry to Russian citizens with Schengen visas. Russians, do not try to cross the border, you are not welcome here, stop the war against Ukraine and get out of this beautiful country!”
With those borders all but closed, that will mean the Finnish border will be the only land crossing into Europe for Russian citizens. Southeast Finland Border Guard’s Taneli Repo, in an email to Finnish news agency STT, said they are not anticipating any significant increase in numbers due to Poland and the Baltic states all but closing their borders to Russia. But Repo added they will be keeping a close eye on the situation and if they need more staff then additional manpower will be brought in.
Finland has restricted tourist visas for Russian citizens to a fraction of what was previously allowed.
🇨🇿/ 🇺🇦 🇷🇺
As Ukrainian forces liberate territory from retreating Russian forces, they are discovering new horrors. More than 440 bodies have been found in mass graves near the recently liberated city of Izium. The Czech Republic, which currently holds the office of the E.U. presidency, is calling for a “special international court” to be formed to deal directly with war crimes during the invasion of Ukraine.
Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Lipavsky:
“Russia has left behind mass graves with hundreds of people who have been shot and tortured. In the 21st century, such attacks on civilians are unthinkable and abhorrent. We must not overlook it. We must work to ensure that all war criminals are punished.”
🇵🇹/ 🇸🇪 🇫🇮
Make it 26. Portugal’s parliament voted to approve both Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership applications. That leaves just four countries yet to render a decision on the ascension protocols; among them the big question mark continues to be Turkey.. All 30 NATO member countries must approve the ascension protocols for Sweden and Finland to become full members of the military alliance.
🇪🇺/ 🇭🇺
Things are headed to a boil between Hungary and the E.U. Hungary continues to poke a stick in the European Union’s eye as the Orban government is working counter to Europe’s opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hungary’s government has broken with the E.U.. to broker a gas deal with Russia’s nationalized energy giant Gasprom, agreed to pay in rubles allowing Russia to avoid sanctions, and now has publicly stated it regrets European sanctions against Russia.
Further adding to the friction, the E.U. has now classified Hungary as an “electoral autocracy” saying it can no longer be considered a full-fledged democracy. According to European parliamentarians, the Hungarian government led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, no longer complies with the most basic democratic rules. Being a democracy is one of the main criteria to being a European Union member state.
This change in designation gives E.U. politicians the possibility of withholding European Union funding from Hungary. In fact, over the weekend the European Commission called for around €7.5 billion from European cohesion funds to be withheld. In April, the European Court of Justice approved a rule of law mechanism allowing the E.U. to impose punitive measures on states that have been deemed to have breached core E.U. values.