The Evening Report - June 22nd
Delta variant gaining a foothold in Denmark
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The Delta variant is very slowly gaining some traction in Denmark. University of Aalborg Professor, and co-founder of DNASense, Mads Albertsen heads up the team in Denmark doing the sequencing of positive tests screening for COVID variants.
According to the Staten Serum Institut the number of Delta variant cases has increased to 235 with 20 new infections since the last update on Saturday.
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The Danish Agency for Patient Safety said in a press conference today that there are 29 confirmed infections connected to the European Football Championship tournament. Agency Director Anette Lykke Petri says that there very well could be more.
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For anyone looking to make a run to Holland to catch the next Denmark game in the EURO2020 tournament, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggest maybe don’t. Ministry Citizens Services Director Erik Brøgger Rasmussen says the coronapas cannot be used in the Netherlands at the moment. It is currently not one of the 17 countries linked up to the EU digital COVID certificate. Rasmussen says the Netherlands lists Denmark as high risk, so anyone coming from Denmark can only stay in the country for an absolute maximum of 12 hours. Any stay longer than that requires a negative PCR test, a plan to isolate, and a ten-day quarantine.
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Denmark’s Justice Ministry says the COVID testing program is being scaled down. It says as more and more Danes get vaccinated, even with just one dose, the need for testing also declines. Daily testing numbers have already dropped from highs of over 700,000, down to less than 500,000.
The ministry says it will be rapid testing that will be gradually wound down, while PCR testing will stay as is, at least for the time being.
Justice Minister Nick Hækkerup says PCR testing is much more reliable and is still needed, especially with so many COVID variants.
“Even though many Danes have been vaccinated and have received corona passes, there is still a need for testing. At the same time, of course, we must not test more than is necessary as the vaccines are rolled out. Therefore, we will adjust the test effort in the coming time. But we also continue to ensure that those who have not been vaccinated can easily get to a test center. Testing together with vaccinations, is the key to reopen society.”
Rapid testing will be scaled down over five phases. Each phase will be triggered when testing demand regularly falls under certain levels for seven days straight.
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Region Midtjylland says testing demand has fallen to the point that it is now closing 21 test centers.
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Denmark is reporting 155 COVID infections and no new coronavirus deaths since yesterday’s update.
Yesterday there 474,216 total corona tests done, 71,648 PCR and 402,568 rapid, for a (PCR only) positivity percentage of 0.22%.
COVID hospitalizations (67) dropped (-15) while the number of infected people in an ICU (18) have inched upward (+1) and of those the number on a ventilator (13) edged down (-1).
Hospitalizations haven’t been this low since last summer.
On the vaccination front, 3,068,184 1st-dose vaccinations (52.5% of the population) have been administered while 1,676,621 people (28.7%) are now fully vaccinated.
92,898, total vaccinations for ‘yesterday’ seem to be split between Sunday/Monday. So 65,378 total vaccine inoculations done yesterday, while Sunday’s very low 16,743 vaccinations now rises to 43,483.
Region Syddanmark has released its weekly vaccination status update. This week, the health region has 100,560 vaccine doses, with again, most of them being the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The region is still working its way through those aged 16 to 24 years old and 40 to 74 years of age.
This week, they are sending vaccination invitations to those 20 to 24 and 40 to 44 years old. Also, the first invitations are also going out to those who are 16.
The bad news is, that as of next week, the vaccine supply is diminishing and Region Southern Denmark says vaccinations will also slow down.
To date, 619,631 people (50.6%) in the health region have had a first vaccination, while 346,287 (28.3%) are fully vaccinated.
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Sweden has updated its COVID statistics for the first time since June 15th. It has added 3,378 infections and another 34 corona deaths since then.
The Swedish Public Health Agency still cautions of a numbers “lag” after bringing its SmiNet infectious disease database back online. The database was taken offline on June 14 due to a security issue. This was the 2nd time since the end of May the database has had to be taken offline due to online security concerns.
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To date, 4,419,991 1st doses (54% of the population) and 2,603,462 2nd vaccine doses have been administered.
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The Swedish Public Health Agency has decided to begin vaccinating children as young as 12, but only those “with certain medical conditions.” The health agency has also approved vaccinations for all children aged 16 and 17 years old.
Director General Johan Carlson says they hope to begin vaccinating the two age groups sometime in August.
“The main argument for vaccination for those as young as 16 is the benefit to the adolescents themselves. Although young people are less likely than older people to suffer from severe COVID disease, there is a risk, both for acute serious illness and for long-term problems.”
The public health agency says vaccinating young people will also help reduce infection spread in society. It says to date, they have had about 150 people aged 16 and 17 who were infected and required hospitalization.
Carlson says if they can really limit coronavirus spread then that allows for COVID restrictions to be lifted “little by little.”
“We know that restrictions and measures such as social distancing and distance education have affected many young people negatively. The mental health of the group as a whole has deteriorated and feelings of anxiety increased during the pandemic. It is also an aspect we have taken into account because health is about so much more than just protection against disease.”
The Swedish Public Health Agency will announce as soon as possible when the regions can begin vaccinating 16-and 17-year-olds. It cautions that vaccine supply, which is expected to decline beginning next month, will have an impact.
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Region Stockholm, they have had 168 new infections in the last four days. There have been no new deaths in the last week. In week 23, there were 713 infections while in week 24, there were 431. Hospitalizations are also falling.
Acting Director of Health and Medical Care Johan Bratt:
“There are still about 70 patients with COVID who need hospital care. It is important that you continue to adhere to the basics and that you get vaccinated with both doses as soon as you have the opportunity.”
The health region says there are 15,566 total Alpha-variant infections confirmed to date, while the number of Delta variant infections has grown to 101.
So far, 1,036,422 people have had a first vaccination dose, while 538,318 people are fully vaccinated.
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In Region Skåne in Southern Sweden the numbers are also steadily improving as infections and hospitalizations continue to fall.
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Norway has added 198 infections and had no new corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (34) continue to fall (-4) while those in an ICU (7) also declined (-3) and of those the number on a ventilator (5) also edged downward (-2).
To date 40.75% of Norwegians have had one dose and 27.07% have had both.
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The Norwegian Institute of Public Health is now moving to prioritize students, teachers, and other school staff for COVID vaccinations. The health agency says it is important to get teachers and staff at least one dose at least three weeks before a new school year starts.
Infection Control Director Geir Bukholm:
“Before delays in the vaccination program, there was little to gain from prioritizing this group since they would still be offered a vaccine and been protected before school starts, but now it will not be the case for everyone in this occupational group.”
But he cautions that this will be a tricky juggling act between vaccine supply, finishing the other priority groups, and working with the regions to get it done. Ideally, teachers will begin being vaccinated by week 27.
For students, the agency says they are doing a logistical change for vaccinating post-secondary students. Many students will have a first dose in the municipality where they live, but many will be school in another jurisdiction when it is time for a second dose. The institute says it will vaccinate students with a second dose where their schools are, instead of requiring them to travel home.
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Finland has registered 110 infection in the last day. It will update a week’s worth of fatalities and hospitalizations in its Wednesday major update.
To date 3,091,297 1st dose vaccinations (55.4% of the population) have been administered while 859,240 people (15.4%) have had both doses.
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The Iceland Review is reporting that the country’s Chief Epidemiologist, Þórólfur Guðnason, has declared that Iceland has achieved herd immunity. Currently, over 52% of the population over the age of 16 has had one vaccine dose and 28.8% are fully vaccinated. Iceland has just 15 active COVID cases and hasn’t seen a new infection in five days. However Þórólfur cautions there may still be some coronavirus flare-ups, especially among younger people where vaccination rates are lower.
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German Health Minister Jens Spahn says the country has passed the 67 million total vaccinations administered mark. Spahn says 42.5 million people in Germany (51.2% of the population) now have one vaccine dose while 26.3 million (31.6%) are fully vaccinated.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a press conference today COVID border restrictions could be eased further this summer if all goes well. Trudeau linked any further lifting of restrictions to higher vaccination rates but wouldn’t provide details on what exact benchmarks would trigger any further easing of restrictions.
“We're talking about weeks and not months anymore. We certainly hope that we will have more good news about reopening in the coming weeks but, of course, it depends on the vaccination rate, the COVID situation, the variants of concern and what's happening elsewhere."
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Canada reported 588 infections yesterday while suffering 11 more coronavirus deaths
Along with the dropping infection curve hospitalizations numbers continue to decline as well.
On the vaccination front to date, 25,181,605 1st dose vaccinations (66.14% of the population) while 7,405,041 people (19.45%) are fully vaccinated.
In Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted “Ontario is reporting 296 cases of COVID19 and nearly 16,800 tests completed. Locally, there are 123 new cases in Toronto, 61 in the Region of Waterloo, 37 in York Region and 20 in Peel Region. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 12,869,310 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, including 199,535 doses administered yesterday.” There were also 60 more deaths. Elliott adds due to some data issues there are some backlogged cases in today’s count.
Quebec recorded 84 infections and another two deaths.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia has had two new infections and two more deaths. New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador each had one.
Manitoba saw 69 new infections and four more fatalities.
There were 36 new infections in Saskatchewan yesterday and no deaths
Alberta registered 60 infections yesterday, the lowest number since August, and two more deaths.
B.C. reported 229 infections since its last update on Friday, so under 100 new infections for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. All told daily numbers that haven’t been that low since last September. There were also three more virus deaths.