Monday Morning News & Notes
Denmark’s infection curve is bending back downward
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Get some sleep, eat well, and lay off the partying the night before. That is the advice from Region Hovedstaden (Metro Copenhagen Health Authority) for anyone, especially young people who are getting vaccinated. On Friday, between 30 to 50 young people got sick after being inoculated at a vaccination center in Ballerup. The center’s head, Svend Hartling, told Ritzau they vaccinated about 1,200 young people between 16 to 24 years old that day. But in number of those cases, staff had to step in and help when they began throwing up, feeling faint, or felt unwell after getting the shot.
Hartling says it is called a vasovagal response and it isn’t uncommon during vaccination or when donating blood. It happens when someone experiences a sudden loss in blood pressure. They feel faint, get sick, and sometimes pass out. He says it is less common for older people but more frequent for those who are younger.
"And then the elderly are probably also better at making sure they have eaten, are hydrated, and slept well the night before. Drinking alcohol, sleeping too little, and not having breakfast can increase the risk of getting sick.”
He says other vaccination centers across the country have seen it happen as well. Each has a place where people can go receive care, and recover.
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Over the weekend Denmark added 1,445 new COVID infections and one more coronavirus death. On Saturday there were 592 infections and one fatality reported and then on Sunday there were another 853 infections.
Important to note the infection curve has begun to bend downward again.
On the vaccination front, to date there have been 2,361,340 1st vaccination doses administered (40.4% of the population). Four out of every ten people in Denmark has now begun the vaccination process. While 1,353,878 people (23.2%) are now fully vaccinated.
Yesterday there were 42,529 total vaccinations done.
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Five high school students in Aarhus have been charged after forging their coronapas to have the requisite negative test to attend school. East Jutland Police say in a release two of the students were girls and three were boys. The age range for the five was between 16 and 18 years old.
Police Inspector René Raffo:
“It is really stupid to falsify his corona passport, because it can have long-term consequences for a young high school student.”
He is not kidding either. Charges for this type of forgery would usually see a penalty of between 20 to 40 days of probation. However, because it is COVID-related any potential penalty could be doubled.
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What happened to the influenza season in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden? The public health agencies in all three countries have published a study trying to figure that out. The study looked at the different ways each country reacted to the emerging coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020 to see if there was something specific that wiped out the influenza season. What they found is that there were differences in how each country responded to the pandemic, but they all saw roughly the same decline of influenza cases at roughly the same time last spring.
The study finds that overall COVID measures certainly played a role, it was likely behavior changes within the population itself that did the flu season in. People were nervous at the exploding coronavirus pandemic and took all sorts of precautions to protect themselves. The study says this served as a powerful tool to kill the flu season much earlier than usual in the spring of 2020.
In 2020/21, the usual influenza season in Denmark, Norway, and Finland was non-existent.
However, in the study, the agencies - Denmark’s Staten Serum Institut, Sweden’s Public Health Agency, and Norway’s Institute for Public Health - all sound a warning about the potential for significant “rebound” influenza season.
“With low or no circulation of influenza viruses for one or two seasons, young children are not exposed and a larger group of children will be susceptible in the following influenza seasons.”
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Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s Chief Physician Preben Aavitsland caused a bit of a stir yesterday. He tweeted a graph of COVID hospital admissions in Norway, saying “Det var den pandemien” or in English ‘That was the pandemic.’ The tweet, suggesting the coronavirus pandemic was over received a lot of attention. Aavitsland spoke to VG and admitted the wording he used was a little tongue-in-cheek. But he does believe the pandemic is nearing its end in Norway. He says people still need to follow the rules and be careful, but with increasing numbers of vaccinations and declining infections and hospitalizations, Norway is in its “final sprint.”
But Aavitsland believes there will still be local outbreaks, but he compares it to the final stages of knocking down a wildfire, where it is a matter of being vigilant and managing any hot spots.
“This is not a big threat, because we know how to stop them, and it usually takes three to four weeks.”
The uproar forced the NIPH to rush out a press release titled ‘The pandemic is not over yet in Norway.”
Institute Director Camilla Stoltenberg:
“It is too early to state that the pandemic is over in Norway. But it is a very gratifying development that both the number of infections and positive tests are declining, and that the incidence of new hospital admissions and intensive care units has been stably low in recent weeks.”
She says outbreaks are certain to continue in some areas, but with a rising number of vaccination “there is less and less risk of new regional or national waves. The municipalities are now well-prepared to handle local outbreaks.”
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The Norwegian Institute for Public Health says vaccination uptake is Norway remains very high and as a country herd immunity is within reach. The agency says about three-million vaccinations have been administered to date, but to get 90% of the adult population inoculated against the coronavirus, almost five-million more vaccinations are needed.
NIPH Infection Control Director Geir Bukholm:
“It is therefore important that the good support continues. We do not have full control in Norway until we get most people vaccinated over the age of 18.”
The agency is concerned about the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) noting its spread in the United Kingdom and studies showing reduced efficacy as low as 33% with just one vaccine dose.
Department Director Line Hold:
“The estimate is low and worrying. If we have a high incidence of variants where the first dose alone does not give a good enough effect, this must be considered in connection with the quarantine provisions.”
That said, she adds, Norway is in a position now where she is confident that even if the variant takes hold and spreads, they should still be able to keep infections under control.
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Belgium’s COVID Commissioner Pedro Facon said over the weekend the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals has fallen below 1,000 for the first time in eight months. At the same time, he lamented that the country’s pandemic death toll surpassing 25,000 lives lost over the weekend.
“We must never forget that loss.”
Facon also announced that CO2 meters will be mandatory in hotels, restaurants, bars, banquet halls, and fitness centers. Facon says they should be in a central area of the room and accessible by the public. He says the meters will offer one avenue to see if a space is well-ventilated, or not. A ventilated space, he says, is key to reducing the spread of the coronavirus.
“The lower the ppm value, the better. Well-ventilated rooms have maximum concentration values of 900 ppm. Values between 900 and 1,200 ppm indicate a less well-ventilated space and require a supply of fresh outside air. From 1200 ppm, the quality of the air in a room is insufficient.”
Spaces that exceed safe standards, where the CO2 meters will be mandatory, will be closed until the air quality improves.
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French health authorities are racing to contain scattered cases of the more concerning Delta variant, B.1.617.2. The variant arrives just as country prepares to reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors and celebrates plunging infection and hospitalization rates.
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France has adopted a similar COVID threat assessment travel traffic light system, as has been introduced in Denmark. However, France is using red, orange, and green, while Denmark has opted for red, orange, and yellow.
Countries currently classified as low risk ‘green’ by France include all European Union countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Israel, Lebanon, and Singapore. As of July 1 travelers from ‘green’ countries in the EU will use the European digital vaccine passport system showing proof of vaccination, a negative test, or proof of previous infection within the last six months. Vaccinated travelers from ‘green’ countries outside the EU will be able to enter the country as normal, while those who are unvaccinated must have a negative COVID test no more than 72 hours old.
The United States and United Kingdom are both classified as ‘orange’ countries. All travelers from an orange country need to provide a negative corona test no more than 72 hours old if it is a PCR test and no more than 48 hours old if it is a rapid test. Non-vaccinated travelers will also have to provide a reason for entry into France and must serve a seven-day quarantine.
Countries classified as high-risk ‘red’ include South Africa, Brazil, India, and Turkey. All travelers whether vaccinated or not from a ‘red’ country must have a reason for entry, a negative test, and serve a seven to ten-day quarantine upon arrival.
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The United Kingdom has removed Portugal from its low-COVID-risk ‘green’ list and upgraded the country to amber. The change comes into force as of tomorrow, June 8, and means arrivals from Portugal, including returning Brits, will face a mandatory 10-day quarantine.
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The Trudeau government has approved cross border travel exemptions for NHL players in the final two rounds of the playoffs. Teams will be able to cross the Canada-US border without having to quarantine. Players and staff can cross using private planes and will be tested before departure and again when arriving. The deal stipulates they must go into an NHL “modified quarantine bubble” and have no contact with the general public.
The border itself remains closed for most other travelers without, as of yet any exceptions for those in the United States who are fully vaccinated.
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Pfizer doses are flooding into Canada as vaccination numbers continue to climb. Nine million doses will arrive in July, followed by another 9.1 million in August. Canada also has the recourse in its contract with Pfizer/BioNTech for three-million more doses in September if it wants to exercise the option.
All this and the current pace of vaccination so far has Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, feeling optimistic.
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Over the weekend infection numbers continued to drop in Ontario. The province reported 1,407 total new infections with 744 on Saturday and then another 663 on Sunday. As of yesterday afternoon the province had administered 9,992,575 COVID vaccinations.