The Evening Report - Dec 1
Omicron variant continues to make inroads in Denmark and across Europe
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In a news conference to update Denmark’s COVID situation, Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said they have confirmed a total of seven Omicron variant infections so far, with another 18 suspected cases awaiting genome sequencing results. He says the new variant, while concerning, is not to blame for surging COVID infection numbers after a record high number of cases were reported today.
Statsminister Mette Frederiksen says the number of Omicron infections will continue to rise. Frederiksen says Denmark’s health agencies are keeping a close eye on developments.
The Director of the Staten Serum Institut, Henrik Ullum, says evidence so far seems to indicate it spreads significantly faster than the Delta variant. Ullum says developments over the next few days and weeks in Denmark, across Europe, and in South Africa will shed more light on what we are dealing with.
Ullum added that if Danes show “common sense” then we should be able to navigate through the winter without having to lockdown.
“The winter and holiday season will put further pressure on the COVID situation but it can be prevented by complying with the current restrictions and the super weapon, which is vaccines and especially getting a booster dose.”
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A person attending a DJ Martin Jensen concert in Aalborg last Saturday night has been confirmed to have been infected with the Omicron variant. The Danish Agency for Patient Safety estimates some 1,600 people attended that event. But it also has to chase down all of their close contacts making the number of potentially impacted people much larger.
Deputy Director Birgitte Drewes spoke to DR:
“The person in question has been confirmed to be infected with Omikron variant. The important thing is that people are tested as soon as possible today and again the day after tomorrow, and they must pay special attention to symptoms. And if they have any, they must be isolated and PCR tested.If you do not have symptoms, a quick test is sufficient.”
Region Nordjylland is increasing its COVID testing capacity to handle the thousands of people who were at the DJ Martin Jensen concert. The region is also removing the appointment requirement to get a PCR test for concert attendees who can now show up to get tested. The Danish Agency for Patient Safety is urging concert-goers to get tested today and then again on Friday. Anyone with symptoms should isolate immediately.
In order to walk in and get tested without an appointment concert-goers need to show their ticket to join the line at PCR testing clinics. This applies to the PCR test sites in Vejgaard and at Aalborg University Hospital, South.
The region is warning people that line-ups to get tested might be a little longer but it is deploying extra capacity, and Region Midtjylland has also dispatched mobile testing sites north to help out.
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Denmark is tightening entry restrictions even further “to limit and delay the spread of the Omikron virus variant in Denmark.” All passengers arriving in Denmark from Hamad International Airport in Qatar and Dubai International Airport must be tested on arrival. Anyone who refuses COVID testing will be fined. The Danish health ministry says those two airports are main hubs of travel in and out of countries in Southern Africa where the Omicron variant is a major concern.
Denmark now has ten African countries on its COVID red-zone list. They are South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Malawi, Zambia.
Anyone who has been in a country deemed a COVID red zone by Denmark in the ten days prior to arriving in Denmark now faces the same testing and isolation requirements as people coming from high-risk countries.
For travelers from COVID red zones who have to isolate on arrival in Denmark, they can now get out of quarantine after a negative test on day six instead of day seven.
For people arriving in Denmark relying on immunity in their vaccine passports from a recent COVID infection, their coronapas will now be valid for six months instead of one year. The coronapas requirement at the border will also now apply to anyone 15 years old and older.
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The Staten Serum Institut publishes a COVID variant update every Wednesday. It has about a two week lag so the latest numbers cover week 46 and show that Delta was still king in Denmark at the time. The variant made up 100% of all sequenced positive test results for a ninth week in a row. It has made up over 90% of all sequenced results for the last 19 consecutive weeks.
This report will provide an interesting gauge of the new Omicron variant in the weeks ahead. We should get a pretty good idea of its growth rate and if it will or will not outpace the monster Delta variant. As of yet, being two weeks behind the Omicron variant has not yet shown up in the weekly variant update.
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Denmark has reported a record-high 5,120 COVID infections, with 14 more coronavirus deaths in the last day.
Yesterday there were 386,071 total corona tests done, of which 195,137 were PCR tests equaling a positivity percentage of 2.62%.
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Despite soaring infection numbers, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is refusing to entertain the idea of another lockdown.
“Right now we still have an open society. We must do everything we can to preserve that. It is our clear desire that Denmark should remain open.”
Danish National Health Board Director Søren Brostrøm says all the tools in the toolbox are now in use to try and bend the infection curve down.
Over the weekend, we have tightened our guidelines for close contacts with infected people. It is part of our strategy to contain infection spread with the new variant. We have gone out to the third degree, so that we are now tracing contacts of the close contacts.”
The Prime Minister says they will now also double down on vaccinations.
“Time is the deciding factor right now. Today, we have one central message. To you grandparents, parents, vulnerable people, frontline health. staff. All of you who were vaccinated this spring: Go get a booster dose. There will be a doubling of the vaccine effort in Denmark; the ambition is to be able to vaccinate 500,000 Danes a week.”
The message was echoed by Director Brostrøm
“We have so far vaccinated 4,600,000 people in Denmark. It's absolutely amazing but that is not enough. We have expanded the vaccine program for children aged 5-11, and we need to increase vaccine efforts even further.”
He says parents must get their children vaccinated “as soon as possible.”
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In Wednesday’s news conference, another major topic was the strain on hospitals. Statsminister Mette Frederiksen said the winter months, a COVID surge, other respiratory infections, and staffing shortages mean hospitals will continue to be under significant pressure.
“The government is currently negotiating a corona winter package with special temporary efforts to help the health service through this winter.”
Danish Regions Chair Stephanie Lose says staffing shortages are making a bad situation worse in hospitals across the country.
“People should not have to be worried that if they become acutely ill, that they can not get the care they need in the health care system. We are in a situation now where we have to prioritize care and where people are getting their treatments canceled.”
She hopes the parliamentary parties can hammer together a health deal.
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COVID hospitalizations (439) have increased (+6) while the number of infected people in an ICU (61) inched upward (+1) and of those the number on a ventilator (35) also edged upward (+1).
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On the vaccination front, 4,739 people had their 1st vaccine dose yesterday, which is great. But booster doses (30,340) remained the lion’s share of yesterday’s 38,188 total inoculations.
77.8% of total population have had one vaccine dose, 75.9% have had two, and 14.5% have had a 3rd.
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Pharmacies and private clinics are joining the effort to increase influenza vaccination numbers among children. Since Denmark launched a massive flu shot campaign on October 1, which included vaccinating children aged two to six years old for the first time, numbers have been lackluster. The Danish National Health Board says two months into the vaccination campaign and just 24% of young children have taken both influenza vaccine doses. To try and reach more children, the special nasal spray vaccine can now be administered by private clinics, pharmacies, and family doctors and in many cases without needing an appointment.
Chief Physician Bolette Søborg:
“We encourage you as a parent to get your child vaccinated as soon as possible. Then the child is well protected before flu season really hits us. That is why we make it as easy as possible for parents to get their children vaccinated.”
Søborg says vaccinating children against influenza not only protects the child but also other family members, vulnerable relatives, and younger brothers or sisters. She says children under two years old have a greater risk of having flu complications.
“It is important to prevent as much influenza as possible. We are facing a harsh winter that will put pressure on hospitals, both due to the continuing COVID epidemic, which has now flared up again, and due to the seasonal pressure hospitals always experience from respiratory infections and other acute illness in the colder months.”
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Sweden has added 2,639 infections and 10 more corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
To date, 7,589,482 1st vaccine doses (84% of the population 12 years old and older) and 7,146,405 2nd doses (79.1%) have been administered.
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Sweden’s capital region is seeing an increasing number of COVID hospitalizations while the infection rate is rocketing upward. Hospital admissions in Region Stockholm increased by another 15 patients last week compared to the week before, while infection numbers are up almost 80% week to week. In the last seven days, the region has recorded 3,452 new infections, a major increase from the 1,930 the week prior.
Chief Physician Johan Bratt:
“We have seen a sharp increase in the infection spread in the region. However, this is also the first full week with new testing recommendations. This may explain a certain part of the increase, but we are also probably seeing a general increase in the number of people infected.”
A little less than two weeks ago, the Swedish Public Health Agency did an about-face on a controversial recommendation exempting those previously infected and the fully vaccinated from being tested even if they were symptomatic. Now it says everyone should get tested.
“Testing numbers have more than doubled compared to the previous week.”
Bratt is also concerned about an increasing trend of COVID patients needing intensive care.
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Region Stockholm has seen the number of COVID vaccinations increase by just over 160% in the last three weeks. It saw 29,000 inoculations in week 44, which has risen to more than 77,000 in week 47. Now the region is working to increase those numbers even higher.
Vaccination Coordinator Magnus Thyberg:
“We have succeeded in increasing the capacity so much that today we have approximately 17,000 free times to book at one of our vaccination sites. But it is not always that there is both a time and a place that suits everyone. Therefore, we are increasing capacity because we now know that everyone over 18 will sooner or later be offered a booster dose.”
The region is adding to its fleet of mobile vaccination sites going from 11 vehicles to 15. It is also working to add more operators to help administer vaccines. There is even serious consideration being given to reopening the large vaccination clinics used in the initial mass vaccination effort.
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Region Sörmland is broadening access to booster doses to include young people with mental or physical disabilities. In a press release, the region says anyone on disability assistance (LSS) 18 years old and older can book a vaccination appointment for a booster shot. The only requirement is that six months must have passed since receiving a second dose.
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Finland has registered a record high 1,570 infections and another 13 pandemic deaths in the last 24 hours.
COVID hospitalizations (275) have dropped (-42).
So far, 76.3% of the total population have had one dose, 72% have had two, and 4.9% have had a booster shot.
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Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has tested negative for COVID but according to her office will remain working from home as she is suffering flu-like symptoms.
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The Omicron coronavirus variant has still not been confirmed in Finland. The Finnish Institute for Health says of the two suspected cases reported this week one has since proven to be the Delta variant when genome sequencing testing came back and the other is being “re-examined because the viral load in the sample was low.”
However, the agency says it is now investigating three more suspected Omicron variant infections pending sequencing results. The agency also adds “it is quite likely that more suspected cases will be identified.”
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According to the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Finland is putting the finishing touches on its plans to vaccinate young children between the ages of five and 11 years old. Finland’s National Advisory Committee on Vaccines was expected to discuss the matter today before a final decision is made. Children in Finland could begin getting vaccinated around Christmas.
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YLE is reporting that Finland has seen its first breakthrough infection in someone who was fully vaccinated with not two but all three vaccine doses. The Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District says the person in question is now in hospital receiving care. YLE spoke to Asko Järvinen, the Head of Infectious Diseases at HUS, who said that the case was "expected."
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Norway has added 2,231 infections and suffered 38 more virus deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (257) crept upward (+11) while the number of people in an ICU (68) inched (-1) of those, the number on a ventilator (37) increased (+5).
To date, 78.7% of Norwegians 12 years old and older have had one vaccine dose, 71.1% have had two, and11.1% have had a booster dose.
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The Norwegian Public Health Institute says preliminary test results have come back positive for the Omicron variant for two people who flew into Norway from South Africa. Both are in isolation in a government quarantine hotel with mild symptoms, according to the agency. It adds contact tracing efforts are underway with a focus on the people onboard the flights the two were on.
As well, a third and fourth Omicron variant infections have also been confirmed in the municipality of Øygarden.
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Cases of the Omicron variant are piling up in Germany. Four people in the German state of Baden-Württemberg have been confirmed to have been infected with the new variant. Another seven confirmed Omicron infections have also been reported in the state of Hessen.
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Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn is again raising the alarm over the number of people in Germany who are unvaccinated. Spahn says while vaccination rates are rising there are still 12 million people in the country who have not had a single vaccine dose.
“Here lies our problem. This number is simply too large to protect our healthcare system from being overwhelmed in the face of Delta and Omicron coronavirus variants.”
On the vaccination front, Spahn says over 10 million booster doses have been administered to date, and he wants to more than double those numbers by Christmas. He also says Germany has also been able to arrange pediatric doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be delivered across the EU one week earlier. The first shipment was originally supposed to arrive in Europe on December 20.
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The COVID situation in Germany remains dire as it reported another 71,887 corona cases and 415 more deaths today.
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Elsewhere across Europe, this latest COVID infection wave continues to sink its teeth in as countries like France and Switzerland are seeing sharp increases in infection activity. Other countries like the Netherlands and Hungary, are seeing some of the highest daily infection numbers of the pandemic.
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Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That was the message today from European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who said the EU is facing a severe double challenge. One one hand, Europe is in the throes of a fourth infection driven by the Delta variant. On the other, we have the new Omicron variant, which may pose a serious risk.
In the news conference, von der Leyen was asked about making vaccinations mandatory in the EU. While she stressed that is not a decision for her to make, her personal opinion is that this is a conversation Europe needs to have.
She says the good news is we have vaccines and Europe is getting an earlier than expected delivery of pediatric doses for children five to 11 years old.
“During the summer, the Commission concluded its third contract with BioNTech/Pfizer, for about 1.8 billion vaccine doses. Now overall, Moderna and BioNTech, from these, we will have 360 million doses of mRNA vaccines that will be delivered by the end of the first quarter 2022. This is sufficient for all fully vaccinated Europeans to get a boost. That is good news, so go get it. And I have spoken to BioNTech/Pfizer again about the children's vaccines. And since yesterday we have more good news: They are able to accelerate. In other words, children's vaccines will be available as of December 13.”
Von der Leyen says vaccine makers are already hard at work tweaking the mRNA formula to better protect against the Omicron variant. She says, for example, Pfizer/BioNTech says it can produce a reformulated vaccine to better protect against the Omicron variant in about 100 days..
WHO 🌍🦠
The World Health Organization has already backtracked on some of its announcements yesterday, asking everyone over the age of 60, especially if they are in a vulnerable or high risk group, not to travel. The WHO has now amended that statement to specify that it meant that only seniors over the age of 60 who are not fully vaccinated and those with underlying health conditions like diabetes or cancer should not travel.
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Canada reported 2,358 new COVID infections yesterday and another 17 coronavirus deaths. Numbers continue to be driven by increasing case numbers in both Ontario and Quebec.
Canada has passed another vaccination milestone, two in fact, as the number of 1st doses administered, 30,628,532, now covers over 80% of the total population. For 2nd doses so far, 75.85% of the population is now fully vaccinated as total second vaccinations done crosses the 29 million mark. 926,602 people have had a booster dose.
In Ontario today there were 780 new infections and six deaths on Wednesday, of which 393 were people who had just one dose or none at all. There are 296 people in hospital, with 245 of them not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all. Of the 155 people in an ICU that number is 133.
Quebec reported its highest daily total since May with 1,196 infections and two more deaths.
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick has 93 new corona cases and three more deaths. Nova Scotia has 35. Newfoundland and Labrador had two.
Manitoba saw 124 corona cases and another two deaths on Wednesday.
There were 81 more COVID infections and one more fatality in Saskatchewan.
Alberta logged 238 infections and six more deaths Tuesday. There are 434 people in hospital, including 81 in an ICU. Of those in intensive care, 85% are not vaccinated.
B.C. registered 358 COVID cases and no new deaths on Tuesday. There are 300 people in hospital, including 104 in intensive care.