Part 2 - The Evening Report - Mar 31
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Norway has added 3,980 infections and another 179 pandemic deaths since Tuesday’s report.
Norge no longer reports COVID hospitalization numbers.
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Unpredictable. That is how the Norwegian Institute of Public Health is describing the COVID epidemic in the weeks and months ahead. In its latest pandemic risk assessment, it warns the winter COVID wave seems to be returning. While new admissions have fallen from 545 to 345 in the last four weeks and ICU numbers have also dropped, the NIPH notes the BA.2 variant is driving numbers back up across Europe. The Omicron sub-strain is almost totally dominant in Norway.
Director Camilla Stoltenberg:
“As the situation looks now, society can continue with normal everyday life without special infection control measures against COVID. At the same time, we have reason to expect a new infection wave, probably in the autumn or winter, but we may also see a new wave of a new variant already in the summer. It is also possible that the epidemic will continue at a medium level right through the summer.”
Stoltenberg warns any new COVID infection wave could be complicated by surging influenza numbers creating a concerning one two punch for hospitals. She says hospitals should brace for the worst and people should prepare for the possibility of another major infection wave to come especially if a nasty new variant arrives. The NIPH warns that while COVID restrictions are gone for now, there could be a situation coming where they may have to be reintroduced.
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The Norwegian Institute for Public Health is warning hospitals to brace for a major influx of influenza patients in April.
Doctor Trine Hessevik Paulsen:
“There was an unusually low level of influenza in Norway until week 10, when there was a marked increase in influenza cases.”
The NIPH says there were 1,179 confirmed influenza cases last week, equaling a positivity percentage of 11.4%. The most commonly detected strain is H3N2, which is bad news as it is a slightly changed strain meaning even less immunity among the population.
The agency says there has been a corresponding increase in flu-related hospitalizations as case numbers have mounted. Last week, influenza was responsible for 135 hospitalizations. The institute says it is expecting that number to keep increasing in the coming days.
The NIPH is cautioning that because this explosion of influenza cases is happening much later than ever seen before, and because it’s coming after two years of a near absence of influenza seasons, this is a volatile situation. At this point, the agency says it cannot guess when infections might peak or how extensive this late outbreak will become. All things considered, it says, increasing flu numbers in the coming weeks are almost a certainty. The NIPH is hoping the seasonal effect as we temperatures warm-up will help put a lid on the influenza outbreak
The NIPH says its latest influenza risk assessment warns that hospitals and municipalities should brace for a pretty torrid flu season in April. It urges local governments to be ready to deal with the flu storming through nursing home populations.
Alongside much-reduced immunity due to virtually no exposure to the seasonal flu over the last two years, the NIPH also has another major concern. It says far to few people have had influenza vaccinations. For people under the age of 40, the flu shot uptake is under 40%. Among children with conditions making them a high influenza risk, a mere 8% have had a flu shot. Just 64% of seniors over 65 have had an influenza vaccination.
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Finland has registered 9,541 infections and another 39 virus deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (1,065) are unchanged.
To date, 80.2% of the total population have one dose, 76.8% have two, and 51.2% have a booster dose.
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The COVID pandemic shows no sign of abating. That is how the Finnish Institute for Health begins its latest weekly pandemic assessment. It warns hospitals across Finland remain strained as infections stretch capacity. It says the number of infection patients continued to rise in the two week period up until March 23, with 542 COVID admissions. That compares to 466 in the previous two week period. It says about one-third of COVID-related admissions are people who are infected but are being hospitalized for a non-pandemic reason. In the same two week period, there were 76 intensive care admissions, up from the 30 to 40 seen in previous weeks.
COVID wastewater testing continues to show a high level of virus activity.
There have been 275 pandemic deaths in the last two weeks, of which 252 (91.6%) were seniors over the age of 70. The median age among all COVID deaths in Finland is 83 years old.
The institute urges people to get vaccinated and to take every precaution to minimize their infection risk. This includes staying home when sick, minimizing close contact when possible, and using self-testing kits to screen for infection.
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Germany has recorded 274,901 new infections and 279 more virus deaths since yesterday’s update.
It added another 2,332 COVID hospitalizations while ICU numbers (2,332) were down (-42).
To date, 76.6% of the total population have one dose, 76% have two doses, and 58.7% have a booster dose.
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The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has released its latest map illustrating COVID risk levels around the European Union. It is important to note that both Norway and Sweden have been greyed out because the ECDC says testing rates in both countries have fallen to equal to or less than 600 people per 100,000 population.
Canada reported 6,880 COVID infections (underreported) while suffering another 34 pandemic deaths on Wednesday. The national positivity percentage over the last seven days is 16%.
So far the Canadian vaccination effort has administered 32,324,135 1st vaccine doses (84.54% of the total population) while 31,166,766 people (81.51%) have a 2nd dose, and of those, 18,122,804 people are fully vaccinated with three doses.
In Ontario, a 6th COVID wave has arrived as cases rise and hospitalizations (807) rocket upward (+146) while the number of severe infections in intensive care (166) has crept up (+1). There were 6 more pandemic deaths. The province has a positivity percentage of 17.13%.
Quebec saw hospitalizations (1,238) rise (+176) while the number of severe infections in an ICU (66) increased (+6). There were 12 more corona deaths. The province has a positivity percentage of 16.71%, a week-over week increase.
Newfoundland and Labrador are seeing COVID cases surge again as hospitalizations also rise. It has 40 COVID patients in hospital, an increase of 11, with 11 people in an ICU, an increase of eight. The province has seven more deaths.
In Nova Scotia hospitalizations (51) are up (+9) with 11 people in an ICU (-2). The province has suffered 10 more corona deaths.
New Brunswick saw hospitalizations (142) jump (+13) while ICU numbers (8) dropped (-8). The province saw 13 more pandemic deaths. Its hospitals are at 90% occupancy.
Manitoba has changed how it reports COVID hospital data only reporting new admissions and not overall hospitalizations. This makes it impossible to say if hospitalizations are up or down in these weekly reports. Over the last week, it had 111 new COVID admissions, 16 of which were to an intensive care unit. There were eight new pandemic deaths. The province has a five-day positivity percentage of 13.9%.
Saskatchewan suffered 20 more corona deaths. The province has 324 people hospitalized (+18) with 21 in an ICU (+2).
COVID hospitalizations in Alberta (964) are up (+8) while the number of people in an ICU (47) declined (-6). There have been 30 more corona deaths.
B.C. saw COVID hospitalizations (281) rise (+26) while the number of people with severe infections in an ICU (42) dropped (-10). There has been two more pandemic deaths. The province has a positivity percentage of 7%.