The Evening Report - June 28
The path to NATO clears for Sweden & Finland. Denmark’s COVID R0 falls.
🇺🇦/ 🇷🇺 War
🇫🇮 🇸🇪 🇹🇷/ NATO
The road to NATO membership has been cleared in the 11th hour for Sweden and Finland. Turkey had seized the opportunity to leverage an opportunity out of the situation, first saying it supported the NATO applications from both countries, then opposing it after they were submitted. All 30 NATO countries have to unanimously vote to approve any new member.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced after days of furious negotiations an agreement has been reached.
“We now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. I thank Presidents Erdogan and Niinisto and Sweden’s Prime Minister for the constructive spirit that made this historic decision possible.”
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö says a trilateral memorandum was signed by the Foreign Affairs Ministers of all three countries on Thursday. He says Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO is now “imminent.”
“The concrete steps of our accession to NATO will be agreed by the NATO Allies during the next two days.”
As for what, if anything, Turkey got out of its ploy is a question that remains at the moment largely unanswered.
“Over the past weeks, Türkiye has raised its concerns over the threat of terrorism. Finland has constantly taken these concerns seriously. Finland condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. As an NATO member, Finland will commit fully to the counterterrorism documents and policies of NATO. As we enhance our cooperation on counterterrorism, arms exports and extraditions, Finland naturally continues to operate according to its national legislation.”
The reaction to the news was swift across the Nordics.
Denmark’s Statsminister (PM) Mette Frederiksen:
“Great news! Great start to a crucial NATO summit. The Nordic countries will be united in NATO. Congratulations to Finland and Sweden.”
Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Jeppe Kofod:
“Extremely pleased with agreement between Turkey, Finland, and Sweden, paving way for NATO enlargement. Will increase security for all of NATO. A truly historic moment for the Alliance.”
And Norway’s Statsminister (PM) Jonas Gahr Støre:
“This is a historic day. With Sweden and Finland in NATO, we get an even stronger alliance in Europe. That has never been more important. For us in Norway, this means a safer and stronger defense cooperation with our Nordic neighbours.”
A special NATO summit is taking place in Madrid and a vote could be held on Sweden and Finland’s memberships between now and the summit ending on Thursday.
NATO/ 🇷🇺
NATO is drastically increasing its forces to “well over 300,000” troops who will be on “high readiness” in one or the biggest overhauls the military alliance has seen since the Cold War. The alliance is currently fielding about 40,000 troops. NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg says the new 10 year plan to be approved at the special summit in Madrid this week will classify Russia as its “most significant and direct threat.” And for the first time, China will be classified as a looming challenge.
🇳🇴/ NATO
In light of what it is calling a “changed security situation” Norway is extending and adding to its military contributions to NATO forces along the border with Russia in Europe. Its current military mission was due to expire this August, but the Norwegian Defense Ministry has now extended it to 2023. It is also increasing its troop commitment by another 200 soldiers to alliance efforts in Lithuania.
Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram:
“It is important to stand up for the Baltic states now. The situation is tense, and Norway is prepared to contribute. We have therefore increased our contribution during the crisis to up to 200 soldiers.”
Currently, Norway has contributed one company of armour with tanks and about 140 personnel. In February, another 50 to 60 troops were deployed to NATO battle groups.
At the moment NATO has multinational battle groups in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary. These are in addition to those already in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
G7/ 🇷🇺
In a press release this week, the G7 nations have demanded that Russia immediately allow for the safe return of all Ukrainian citizens that have been taken out of the country by force to exfiltration camps in Russia. The G7 countries also expressed “serious concern” over Russia saying it will transfer nuclear weaponry to Belarus. It is also vowing 'financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic' support for Ukraine 'for as long as it takes.’
🇩🇪 🇳🇱/ 🇺🇦
More heavy weapons are headed to Ukraine as Germany and the Netherlands will each send three PzH 2000 155 mm self-propelled howitzers to the war-torn country as it battles a Russian invasion.
🇧🇬
Bulgaria, a country that has had to walk a fine line between opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and maintaining a cordial relationship with Moscow, appears to have turned a corner. The day after Russia bombed a crowded shopping mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, Bulgaria has expelled 70 Russian diplomats accusing them of espionage.
🦠Pandemic🦠
🇩🇰
Denmark’s COVID contact number (reinfection rate or R0) has dropped. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Tuesday that after two weeks of being 1.1, the R0 has dropped back to 0.8 this week.
Heunicke says COVID wastewater surveillance also seems to suggest that the BA.5 infection wave might be slowing down. Wastewater testing seems to show virus activity flatlining in Region Hovedstaden (Metro Copenhagen) while increasing in the other four Danish regions.
But, Heunicke also cautioned that Denmark’s pandemic picture remains uncertain and that at the moment nothing is guaranteed.
-
COVID hospitalizations (307) are up (+14) while the number of severe infection cases in an ICU (12) and of those on a ventilator (6) are both unchanged day to day. The number of infection admissions to a psychiatric ward (46) crept upward (+1).
-
Those over the age of 40, but especially seniors 65 years old and older, have seen the highest concentration of COVID hospitalizations in the last seven days. Also worth noting an upward bump among infants with 24 coronavirus-related hospitalizations in the last week.
-
Denmark has added 6,119 COVID infections (underreported), including 922 reinfections, and another 16 coronavirus deaths since Friday’s update. On Monday alone, there were 2,832 new corona cases, which doesn’t lend to the idea of an epidemic that is slowing down.
Yesterday there were 12,064 COVID PCR tests taken equaling a positivity percentage of 23.47%. The positivity percentage over the last seven days is 22.15%. In both cases, the positivity percentage continues to rise.
-
While Danish health authorities prepare for another major fall vaccination campaign people in vulnerable and high-risk communities can get another jab beginning this week.
Deputy Director of the National Board of Health Helen Probst says anyone who is in that group and who feels they need another booster dose should contact their doctor.
“Our assessment is that there will be a smaller target group who will need a booster vaccination right now. It will be the general practitioner who assesses the need, and it may be, for example, seniors and those with a number of risk factors, such as having a weakened immune system or those battling serious illnesses. And where it is also assessed that they will have an increased risk of becoming infected, both as a result of their own immunity and the place where they stay.”
Probst says even for those who can get another booster shot now, they will likely have to get another dose in the fall.
“The group that receives a booster vaccination now will also have to be vaccinated again in the autumn. We are still expecting an autumn wave and therefore it will be necessary to repeat the booster vaccination. However, there must be at least 3 months between two booster vaccinations.”
The sudden access to booster doses for vulnerable populations now is due to the BA.5 variant, which is driving infection numbers up again. The variant has evolved to be more resistant to immunity and reinfections are increasing. The Statens Serum Institute and the Danish National Board of Health are keeping an eye on the situation but as of yet are not pushing the panic button.
“We consider the rising infection in Denmark to be a minor summer wave. In Denmark, this has not yet given rise to more people becoming seriously ill. But in other countries, such as Portugal, we have seen a smaller excess mortality rate that may be due to COVID. Therefore, based on a precautionary principle, we have chosen to give the general practitioner the opportunity to make an individual assessment of the individual risk and on that basis assess whether the person in question should be given a booster vaccination now.”
The health board says it can expand vaccination eligibility should the BA.5 situation get worse or new evidence emerges, prompting the need for a greater effort to protect the population.
-
There has been a ministerial realignment on the COVID file in the Danish government. The Danish Justice Ministry is relinquishing its pandemic responsibilities after stepping in during the height of the epidemic to help health ministry staff out. From now on the Ministry of Health will have sole responsibility for the coronavirus file. The change will require the Queen to issue a Royal resolution to make the transition official.
🇸🇪
The Swedish Public Health Agency only updates its COVID numbers once a week, every Thursday.
-
After a brief respite COVID hospitalizations are rising again in Sweden’s capital region. There were 164 infection cases in hospital in the last seven days, Region Stockholm says that is 42 more than the week before. There are nine people in intensive care, six more than the week previous.
Chief Physician Patrik Söderberg:
“Today's increase in the number of COVID patients at our hospitals is a clear step in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, there are other signals that are also indicating an increasing infection in society. This is a reminder that the pandemic is by no means over. If the increase in the number of patients at our hospitals continues in the coming weeks, it will be very troublesome for summer care. It is resource-intensive to care for infected patients. It is particularly sad that we have gone from three patients last week to nine patients today in intensive care.”
The split between hospitalizations directly because of a severe infection and those who are infected but are being admitted for another non-pandemic reason remains at about 50/50. Söderberg says people who are not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated remain “over-represented” in the hospital system. He is urging people who have not yet been vaccinated or who are eligible for a booster dose but haven’t had one yet to go get their shots.
Region Stockholm has suffered seven more pandemic deaths. It says a long running backlog of processing COVID deaths continues to plague Swedish health authorities.
🇳🇴
Since Friday, Norway has added 3,287 infections and had another 57 pandemic deaths.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health no longer reports daily hospitalization numbers but in the last week there have been 241 COVID admissions, 65 more than the week before.
So far, 80.5% of Norwegians 12 years old and older have one vaccine dose, 75.1% have two, and 55.9% have a booster shot.
🇫🇮
Finland only updates its pandemic statistics once a week, every Thursday.
-
COVID entry restrictions at Finland’s borders will be lifted as of July 1, according to the country’s Border Services. That means travelers coming from outside the EU will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test. COVID testing at all border crossings will also come to an end.
-
The Finnish Institute for Health is considering expanding eligibility for a fourth COVID vaccine dose this fall in order to limit an expected winter infection wave. Currently, seniors over 80 years old and people in high-risk and vulnerable populations are the only groups who can get a second booster dose. The agency says it will provide some clarity on the issue in the coming weeks.
🇩🇪
Germany registered 142,329 COVID infections on Monday while losing another 113 lives to the virus.
It added 1,618 more hospitalizations while ICU numbers (928) jumped (+91). As a percentage of all ICU beds in Germany, COVID patients are using 4.3%.
To date, 77.8% of the population has had one vaccine dose, 76.2% have had two, and 61.6% have a booster dose.
🇫🇷/ 🦠
France’s Health Minister is urging people to once again wear a mask in crowded areas. In particular, a mask should be worn when on public transit. France is seeing new infections rise again as variants like BA.5 sweep through.
WHO/ 🦠
The World Health Organization is again taking countries to task for abandoning COVID testing and sequencing. It says this is leaving a void of invaluable information about the state of the pandemic and the spread of threatening variants; that it is now largely blind, too.
Infections Disease Epidemiologist, and WHO COVID lead, Maria Van Kerkhove:
“We are really, really playing with fire here. We know that there is a large amount of circulation around the world. We know that there are differences by country of what variant is circulating where. The challenge that we have right now is our ability to track is based on data that is available from around the world. That data comes from surveillance activities, cases being identified, testing taking place, and a subset of those tests being sequenced. The number of sequences that have been shared that we can analyze has dropped precipitously. And we are looking at very, very few sequences right now. It is very helpful for scientists and public health professionals to be able to track which variants are circulating where. So that we can work with partners around the world to assess what are they doing in terms of transmission, in terms of severity, what is the public health impact of the circulation of these sub-lineages? And do our counter measures still work? Omicron is dominant worldwide. We have got mostly BA.2 being detected around the world. We see increasing numbers of BA.4 and BA.5. BA.2.12.1 is dominant in the US. We are worried about further evolution. This will not be the last variant we will be discussing here.”
🇨🇦
The Public Health Agency of Canada only updates its COVID numbers once a week on Fridays.
-
Researchers in Canada have discovered why people who struggle with long-COVID suffer from breathlessness, fatigue, and brain fog. The hope is now that they have found the why that this will lead to a breakthrough in treating people battling coronavirus symptoms long after having ‘recovered.’
Researchers being led by Western University had patients inhale xenon gas then undergo an MRI scan. That enabled them to identify microscopic abnormalities that impact how oxygen is transferred from the lungs to red blood cells.
Professor at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Grace Parraga, spoke to CBC News:
“They had all been about nine months post-infection, and we wondered if we could find the source of their symptoms because they were all highly symptomatic and their quality of life scores were really very poor. What we see in patients who have long-COVID, and they're symptomatic, is that they actually have normal pulmonary function. So their breathing tests that doctors would prescribe were normal, and their CT scans were normal. But the MRI told us a completely different story."
The data collected by the researchers has been handed over to physicians so they can be better informed on treatment options for long-COVID patients.
🦠Monkeypox🦠
Three more monkeypox cases have been confirmed in Denmark. That pushes the total to-date number of infections to 16. Technically it is 18, but in two cases the people testing positive for a monkeypox infection in Denmark were residents of another country.
The Danish Agency for Patient Safety is running down any contacts for the three new cases. The health ministry says in all three cases the infection source is known, but it doesn’t provide any more details.
Health Minister Magnus Heunicke”
“In total, we now have 16 cases of monkey pox in Denmark. The three new cases do not have a travel history, but all have a known source of infection. The health authorities detect infection and offer very close contacts, a vaccine. We have so far vaccinated 22 people against monkeypox. However, it is still important to emphasize that there is no societal infection in Denmark.”
🇩🇪
Germany is reporting it now has 838 confirmed monkeypox cases with “further cases to be expected.”