The Evening Report - Mar 10
Europe looks to wean itself off of Russian oil. Omicron ravages Norway
🇺🇦/🇷🇺 War
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The President of the European Union Commission didn’t mince words in reacting to Russia bombing a maternity hospital in Ukraine. Ursula von der Leyen called it a war crime.
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European leaders met in Versailles, France on Thursday for the European Council Summit, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine topping the agenda.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been trying to keep communication lines open with Russian President Vladimir Putin, appeared to throw his hands up in the air in his efforts to get the Russian leader to see reason.
“Nevertheless, I have to confess that today the conditions Putin has put on the table are not acceptable to anybody. The question is, is Mr. Putin ready to reengage honestly and propose something?”
Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Karins wants the European Union to follow the United States and United Kingdom in stopping energy imports from Russia and ending Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas.
“We need to stop energy imports from Russia, to get Putin to the negotiating table to stop the war. My argument is very simple: if not now, when?"
Another big topic was allowing Ukraine to become a member of the European Union. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte was not a fan of viewing Ukraine as being on a fast track to joining the trading bloc.
“There is no doubt that the Netherlands and Ukraine stand shoulder to shoulder, but there is no such thing as a fast-track accession; it doesn't exist. All countries in the Western part of Europe that I speak to say that you shouldn’t try to have a fast-track procedure or an accelerated accession process.”
🇫🇮🇩🇰🇸🇪/ 🇷🇺
Three major Nordic newspapers, Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat, Sweden’s Dagens Nyheter and Denmark’s Politiken, have announced they will offer all their stories on state-sponsored terrorism underway in Ukraine in the Russian language.
The Editor in Chief of all three newspapers say they have “watched appalled” as Russia has ordered the closure of the last independent television and radio media outlets in the country. This while dozens of Russian and international journalists have been detained while reporting on anti-war protests.
“Russian mothers must get to know how their sons have been sent to the unknown; how innocent civilians are getting killed or wounded, and millions of Ukrainians have been forced to escape from their own country. And how the childhoods of millions of Ukrainian kids have been destroyed. We aim to provide Russians with impartial and trustworthy news and coverage. Democracy dies in Darkness. Free flow of independent information is imperative to keep up the hope for peace and humanity.”
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Ukraine has asked Denmark to take Ukrainian children who are being treated for cancer as hospitals services in the country are incredibly strained if they haven’t already been bombed into rubble by Russian forces. The Danish National Health Board has sent out a request to hospitals across the country to see how many patients they can take and what treatments they can offer. So far Rigshospitalet, Odense University Hospital, and Aarhus University Hospital have all indicated they are ready to take Ukrainian children needing cancer treatment.
🇩🇰/ 🇳🇴
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre paid an official state visit to Denmark on Wednesday where he met with Danish Statsminister Mette Frederiksen. High on the list of discussion topics was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Associated with that was Norway’s role in helping wean Denmark and the rest of the European Union off of Russian oil and gas. Denmark and other European nations have pledged to phase out Russian oil and gas due to its illegal occupation of Ukraine.
Støre says Norway will do what it can to help.
“Norway stands by its obligations to supply gas to Europe. We deliver the maximum of what we can.”
The Baltic pipeline is due to be completed this fall carrying gas from Norway through Denmark to Poland.
Russia currently supplies about 40% of the gas consumed by EU countries, but the European Union Commission has pledged to phase out Russian gas by 2030.
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Sweden, which is not a member of NATO, announced today that it is going to increase defense spending to 2% of its GDP. This is on top of a pronounced push to update military hardware and reenergize the Swedish Armed Forces since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sweden has also been busy sending troops and equipment to shore up the strategically important island of Gotland.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said the increase in defense spending will reach the target of 2% “as soon as possible.”
“The war in Europe is going to affect the Swedish people. We need to continue to strengthen Sweden's defense capability. The security situation in Sweden's vicinity has deteriorated over time. The Russian attack on Ukraine further exacerbates that.”
Andersson also advised the European Union to follow suit and increase its defense spending as well.
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On Thursday, the Swedish Navy asked people, especially those in Stockholm’s archipelago, to keep a sharp eye out and report any suspicious underwater activity they spot. It is specifically asking that they watch for any unnatural looking waves or submarine periscopes.
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Finland's President Sauli Niinistö will speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, saying the call is a part of Finland’s policy to keep communication channels open.
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Universities in Finland are ending all research and other cooperative projects with Russian institutions over the invasion of Ukraine.
🇨🇦/ 🇺🇦
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday and promised him more military equipment from Canada would soon be headed to Ukraine. The Canadian government has approved another $50 million for military and humanitarian aid for the war-torn country. Canada has already sent five shipments of weapons, medical supplies, and other gear to Ukraine. This next package will include cameras for surveillance drones.
“We have obtained a number of specialized equipment, including cameras used in drones, that a Canadian company makes, that we will be able to start sending in the coming days to Ukraine.”
Trudeau also extended a special invitation to the Ukrainian President.
🦠Pandemic🦠
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The Danish National Health Board is making a major change to its COVID testing recommendations. It is now recommending that most of the population not get tested even if they are symptomatic or are a close contact of an infected person. Instead, it says COVID testing should be directly targeted at vulnerable and high risk populations.
Unit Manager Bolette Søborg:
“Now we should get tested only if there is a special professional health reason to do so. It may be in situations where a test result may lead to early treatment against COVID to reduce the risk of hospitalization and serious illness. People aged 65 and over, as well as other people at increased risk of severe infections, including pregnant women, may be in the target group for early treatment. It is therefore important that people in those groups get tested as soon as possible if they get COVID symptoms and feel sick, and that they contact their own doctor if they get a positive test.”
The health board says it made the decision to relax a major plank in the COVID response because “the epidemic is under control.” It also points to falling infection rates, high vaccination, and stable hospital admissions.
“Once the infection subsides, the contribution to epidemic control by testing close contacts to infected people will be limited. Therefore, there is no longer a need to recommend testing close contacts and others. This means that those people who in the future test positive for one reason or another no longer need to notify their close contacts. However, they must still follow the Danish Health and Medicines Authority's current recommendations for self-isolation.”
The agency stresses that there will still be outbreaks, including in healthcare facilities and nursing homes. In cases where COVID is flaring up in a hospital or care home, then targeted testing will likely be required.
Per the health board’s new testing recommendations:
Take a COVID test:
If you are 65 years old and older, pregnant, or are a high COVID risk.
If your family doctor advises you get tested.
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The Omicron infection wave continues to loosen its grip on Denmark, according to the latest pandemic snapshot from the Statens Serum Institut. New hospitalizations continue to ease from there once record-setting heights. There were 2,169 COVID admissions last week, a 15% decrease from the week before, with falling numbers across all age groups except those 60 to 69 years old. The bulk of hospitalizations continue to be seniors over the age of 60.
The SSI continues to track hospitalizations due directly to a coronavirus infection and those being admitted for other reasons but with an infection. It says the proportion of admissions due to a COVID infection was 52% in week 6 up from 50% the week before. Numbers continue to be reported on a bit of a lag. Intensive care admissions were the opposite story, with 54% of patients being admitted because of a severe infection in week 9, which was down 10% from the prior week.
COVID fatalities declined slightly week to week, with 268 lives lost last week compared to 275 deaths the week before. The SSI has been analyzing death certificates and pouring over the death registry to separate out deaths due to an infection and those who died for another reason but with an infection. Last week, it says the cause of death in 39% of the cases was due to something non-pandemic related. Since the middle of January, it says, the number of deaths with COVID but not because of COVID, has increased to 62%. That said, it notes that 44% of fatalities last week have yet to have their death certificates checked.
New infections, an unreliable pandemic barometer, decreased by 27% across Denmark from week 8 to week 9. Over the same period there was a 24% decline in the number of PCR tests taken. The positivity percentage inched downward week to week, going from 36% to 35%.
While the COVID incidence rate per 100,000 residents is declining in all five of the Danish regions, it still remains highest (2,385) in North Jutland, which also had the highest positivity percentage with 39.4%.
Looking at the different age groups, while the COVID incidence rate decreased across the board, it was highest among 60 to 69 year olds (2,438 per 100,000 people) followed by those 50 to 59 year olds (2,386).
The epidemic situation in nursing homes is improving, with 1,700 infections last week, down from the 2,002 of the week prior. Fatalities among seniors in care also dropped, with 116 lives lost last week, 18 fewer than the week before.
The Omicrom sub-variant BA.2 is absolutely dominant in Denmark, accounting for 98% of all sequenced positive test results last week. The proportion of BA.2_H78Y mutations remains stable week to week, going from 27.90% to 28.35% of BA.2 infection cases.
COVID wastewater surveillance results are also promising, with virus activity declining at the national level and across all five Danish regions.
The Statens Serum Institut is forecasting that infection activity will keep dropping in the weeks ahead, and with it hospitalizations and pandemic fatalities will also decline.
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In Denmark, COVID hospitalizations (1,567) continued to drop (-36) while the number of severe infection cases in an ICU (26) also dipped (-3) and of those the number on a ventilator (8) declined as well (-3). Admissions to a psychiatric ward (398) crept down (-6).
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Denmark reported 14,309 COVID infections (underreported), including 806 reinfections, and 41 more coronavirus deaths in the last day.
Yesterday, there were 62,194 COVID tests done, of which 60,970 were PCR tests equaling a positivity percentage of 23.46%.
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On the vaccination front, the inoculation effort continues to trudge along with just 777 booster doses administered Wednesday.
To date, 82.4% of the total population have one vaccine dose, 81% have two, and 61.3% have a booster shot.
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Denmark’s National Board of Health has struck a new vaccination council. The agency says it will be made up of a number of experts who will advise the health board on national vaccination programs from influenza to coronavirus. The council will have people with a broad array of experiences from ethics, health economics, to behavioral research. One of its first tasks, once members are named, will be to advise the health board on what is expected to be another round of COVID vaccine booster shots this fall.
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The influenza season continues to threaten a late resurgence as flu numbers increase, especially in Metro Copenhagen and on Fyn. Influenza-related hospitalizations have been increasing for the last two weeks. The Statens Serum Institut warns “the increase in recent weeks may indicate an incipient delayed flu season.”
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Sweden has added another 56 corona deaths and another 2,147 infections (wildly underreported) since yesterday.
So far, 86.9% of those 12 years old and older have one vaccine dose, 84.6% have two, and of those 18 years old and older 61% have a booster dose.
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COVID numbers are declining almost across the board in Sweden, but pandemic fatalities continue to rise. The Swedish Public Health Agency’s latest epidemic update says infection rates dropped by 29% in the past week. That should be taken with a large grain of salt considering COVID testing is restricted to just people in senior care or in hospital. But even then, the numbers are hopeful as the agency notes a 17% drop in confirmed COVID cases among seniors in care.
Department Head Britta Björkholm cautioned the positivity percentage was 26% indicating Sweden is not out of the pandemic woods yet.
“We see a clear downward trend for the spread of infection in Sweden. At the same time, the dark figure is greater than before, as testing has decreased. It is now concentrated on health care and elderly care, where it is judged to do the most effective at reducing the risks of further infection spread and to protect the most vulnerable groups from serious illness and death.”
A more reliable pandemic barometer, intensive care admissions, also shows decreasing numbers, with 24 new admissions in the last week. This compares to an average of 55 in each of the previous three weeks.
There were 355 pandemic deaths in week 7, and the hearth agency says it will be some time before that number begins to decline. This is due to COVID deaths naturally lagging behind other indicators and that Sweden has been struggling with a backlog of coronavirus fatalities for months now.
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Sweden will launch its national ‘vaccination week’ next week to try and reach about one-million people 18 years old and older who have so far refused to get vaccinated.
Swedish Public Health Agency Director Karin Tegmark Wisell:
“The pandemic is not over; the vaccine is the single most important thing to give us protection for the future. We would need an even higher, and more evenly distributed, vaccination coverage in the population.”
Sweden’s national health agency will work with the regions, municipalities, and county administrative boards to launch a wide array of initiatives to try and convince vaccine holdouts to get their shots.
“We hope that the attention will make everyone who has not yet been vaccinated think about it, and that as many as possible will choose to be vaccinated, both for their own sake and for the sake of others.”
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Sweden’s State Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell is leaving his position and in March will start a new job with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Tegnell will coordinate efforts between the WHO, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the COVAX global vaccination initiative to get people in developing countries vaccinated.
Tegnell says he will leave his job in Sweden on March 14.
“I have worked with vaccines for 30 years and at the same time have always been passionate about international issues. Now I get the chance to contribute to extensive international work. It is still very important that the vaccines reach countries that have not had the financial conditions to buy their own vaccines.”
Tegnell was the architect behind Sweden’s disastrous pandemic response strategy and a factory of absolutely bonkers quotes. Among them, he insisted COVID was not airborne and most infamously predicted in the summer of 2020 that Sweden would have herd immunity and its second COVID wave in the fall would be much smaller than its first. Sweden’s second COVID wave was exponentially higher than its first and was almost immediately followed by an equally devastating third wave.
Sweden’s COVID strategy, already on the ropes, would be ended when the King of Sweden in his 2020 Christmas speech called it a failure resulting in the needless suffering and death of too many Swedes. In the beginning of 2021 Sweden moved to adopt restrictions and rules it had previously disdained from its neighbouring countries. Tegnell’s pandemic strategy would then be blasted in several different reviews of Sweden’s COVID response including by an independent commission of inquiry struck by the Swedish government.
Anders Linblom will be Sweden’s new state epidemiologist after Tegnell leaves. The Swedish Public Health Agency says Lindblom has a background as an infection control doctor.
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In Norway COVID hospitalizations (597) dropped (-20) while the number of severely infected people in an ICU (52) was down (-3) and of those the number on a ventilator (21) was up (+1).
Norge had no new pandemic deaths and added 7,884 infections (underreported).
To date, 80.3% of Norwegians 12 years old and older have one dose, 74.6% have two, and 53.6% have a booster dose.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has updated vaccination statistics among specific age groups.
12 to 15 year olds - 54% have one dose.
16 to 17 year olds - 83% have one dose and 43% have two.
18 years old and older - 66% have two doses and a booster.
45 years old and older - 82% have a booster shot.
65 years old and older - 89% have been boosted.
18 to 64 years old in a high-risk group - 81% have all three doses.
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Norway is still firmly in the grip of its Omicron variant-driven infection wave with no sign of letting up yet. The latest pandemic assessment from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows hospitalizations and intensive care admissions both increased again last week, as did COVID fatalities.
There were 932 admissions last week, up from the 910 from the week before. Of those, 512 (55%) were directly because of a severe infection, a week-to-week increase of 4. There were 44 people admitted to an ICU due to a COVID infection last week compared to 39 in the week prior. The institute says this is a big increase from the 16 to 20 ICU admissions each week in weeks 4 through 6.
The NIPH says hospital admissions were highest among those 75 years old and older. The largest increase was among those 85 years of age and older. Overall, admissions increased for all age groups over 65, while younger age groups remained stable or were in decline. Of those whose vaccination status was known, 19% were unvaccinated; 16% had two doses, and 63% had two doses and a booster. The institute notes that the majority of hospitalizations among people who are fully vaccinated are those who are elderly, are a high COVID risk, and have underlying health conditions.
Pandemic deaths in Norway have increased in each of the last five weeks. There were 80 lives lost last week, the highest number of weekly deaths seen yet, and a big increase from the 59 of the week before.
Infection numbers in Norway dropped almost in lock step with the decline in PCR testing, with cases falling 35% last week while the number of PCR tests dropped by 32%.
On the variant front, the Omicron sub-strain BA.2 is now dominant in Norway, accounting for 61% of all positive sequenced tests in the last two weeks.
The NIPH says Norway continues to see a high level of infection spread, but it anticipates the COVID wave will peak “in a few weeks”, which is exactly what it said in last week’s pandemic snapshot. It also cautions that even if the wave is at, or near, a peak, that hospitalizations will continue to mount “especially among older age groups.” It says Norway’s hospitals will continue to deal with a “significant burden.”
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Finland registered 10,051 infections (underreported) and had no new virus deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (851) are unchanged.
To date, 79.4% of the total population have one dose, 75.6% have two, and 50% have a booster dose.
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The latest weekly epidemic snapshot from the Finnish Institute for Health paints an incomplete but troubling picture. The Omicron-driven infection had seemed to be easing in Finland, but the latest look at the numbers raises some question marks.
The institute cautions that infection and even hospitalization data has been incomplete over the last week due to a technical issue in the database facilitating COVID reporting. It says a fix is still being worked out.
COVID hospitalizations remain high with 353 infected people in hospital last week. iCU admissions crept upward week to week, going from 38 to 41. Although the institute cautions that “some of the patients” were being treated for something other than a coronavirus infection.
Perhaps the most concerning indicator was COVID wastewater surveillance, which had been showing declining levels of coronavirus activity across much of the country. Not anymore. The institute says virus levels remain high in wastewater testing and are “not decreasing anywhere in Finland.”
Pandemic fatalities, measured as deaths within 30 days of a positive test, have increased in the past two weeks, with 294 lives lost compared to 152 in the preceding two weeks.
The health institute is urging people to get vaccinated, noting a “clear slow-down” in the number of inoculations. The vaccination effort has slowed to such a point the institute has now decided to only update inoculation numbers once a week every Wednesday.
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Germany had 262,752 infections and 259 more corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
It added 1,786 new COVID hospitalizations while ICU numbers (2,117) declined (-32).
To date, 76.4% of the total population have one dose, 75.7% have two, and 57.6% have a booster.
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Austria has abolished its headline-grabbing mandatory vaccination law less than a month after it came into force. The law made it mandatory for adults to be vaccinated against COVID and those who weren’t could be fined about €3,300 (around $4,700 Cdn). Austria’s EU Minister Karoline Edtstadler said the restrictions on fundamental rights entailed in the law were no longer justifiable.
“[It] can no longer be defended against the dangers that the pandemic poses. We see no need to continue with mandatory vaccination thanks to the variant (Omicron) that is now dominant.”
Austria was one of the first countries in Europe to go with the stick and not the carrot to compel people to get vaccinated as it struggled with vaccine hesitancy in the population.
🇪🇺🦠
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has published its latest COVID risk assessment map of the EU. The erosion of the high-risk deep crimson with shades of lighter red and for the first time in a long time medium-risk orange has reappeared on the map in a section of Poland.
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Canada reported 6,034 infections (wildly underreported) on Wednesday while losing another 63 lives to the coronavirus.
So far the Canadian vaccination effort has administered 32,251,580 1st vaccine doses (84.35% of the total population) while 30,997,192 people (81.07%) have two doses and of those 17,807,157 people are fully vaccinated with three doses.
In Ontario, COVID hospitalizations (742) fell (-37) while the number of severe infections in intensive care (244) has declined (-2). There were 20 more pandemic deaths. The province has a positivity percentage of 14.46%.
Quebec saw hospitalizations (1,162) drop (-90) while the number of severe infections in an ICU (68) dropped (-9). There were 15 more corona deaths. The province has a positivity percentage of 9.02%
Newfoundland and Labrador has reduced its COVID updates to three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. As of its last update, it had 20 COVID patients in hospital, a decrease of 4, with five people in an ICU. The province saw four more deaths.
Nova Scotia has moved to once-a-week COVID updates with less information offered. Hospitalizations (50) are up (+4). The province has suffered five more corona deaths.
New Brunswick is moving to once a week COVID updates beginning next week. It saw hospitalizations (101) increase (+2) while ICU numbers (18) also rose (+6). The province saw three more pandemic deaths. It has a positivity percentage of 29.44%.
Manitoba saw COVID hospitalizations (424) go up (+18) with 22 people in intensive care, a slight increase of one. There were five new pandemic deaths. The province has a five-day positivity percentage of 12.7%
In Saskatchewan hospitalizations (339) have dropped (-13) since last Thursday’s update. There are 24 people in an ICU, an decline of six. In the last week, there have been 13 more pandemic deaths. The province has a positivity percentage of 12.7%.
COVID hospitalizations in Alberta (1,087) dropped (-19) while the number of people in an ICU (78) nudged up (+1). There have been 7 more corona deaths. The province has a positivity percentage of 17.69%.
B.C. saw COVID hospitalizations (405) fall (-14) while the number of people with severe infections in an ICU (58) also dipped (-5). There has been one more pandemic death. The province has a positivity percentage of 4.89%