The Evening Report - March 9th
The U.K. variant takes over in Denmark
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The U.K. variant is now so dominate it has all but eliminated the original COVID strain in Denmark. Health Minister Magnus Heunicke says the variant now makes up 80% of all positive test results.
Heunicke said today the reinfection rate, or R0, for the original COVID strain is 1.0, up from 0.9 last week. While the R0 for the U.K. variant is down slightly to 1.14 from 1.28.
This is the last week that reinfection numbers for the original strain will be reported. Heunicke says the U.K. variant is so dominate now it doesn’t make sense anymore to differentiate between the two.
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The head of the Staten Serum Institut, Henrik Ullum, says Denmark has so far avoided the worst case modeling scenarios, including hospitalization forecasts, as the country gradually reopens.
“Fortunately, the development of infection has followed one of the more favorable scenarios our modelers were counting on. So, right now, we are not heading towards 870 inpatients in mid-April.”
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Testing continues at a furious rate in both Vollsmose on Fyn and Ishøj on Sjælland in order to try and wrestle down infection rates.
The National Board of Health says 3,902 PCR tests and another 1,065 COVID rapid tests have been administered in Vollsmose since March 1st.
In Ishøj, which has struggled with soaring infection rates for a while now, 20,974 PCR tests and another 6,410 COVID rapid tests have been administered since February 13th.
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Denmark’s National Board of Health issued new guidelines for those who are vaccinated and experience flu like symptoms in the first 24 to 48 hours. In such instances, COVID testing is not required to return to work unless the symptoms persist past a day or two.
Sundhedsstyrelsen Unit Manager Bolette Søborg says that while most people don’t experience any side effects, fever, headache, chills, weariness, muscle aches, and joint pain are quite common and to be expected.
"If well known, mild symptoms occur, which spontaneously disappear again within 48 hours after vaccination, they are most likely a reaction to the vaccination. In that situation, you do not need to be tested for COVID before you return to work.”
The agency notes that they are seeing side effects for the AstraZeneca come after the first inoculation, while it’s after the second shot for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
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Denmark is reporting 527 COVID infections and no new coronavirus deaths in the last day.
Yesterday, 134,448 COVID tests were administered for a positivity percentage of 0.39%.
Corona related hospitalizations (221) are down (-13), the number of people in an ICU (38) is unchanged, and the number of people on a ventilator (23) edged up slightly (+1).
On the vaccination front, 549,062 1st dose (9.4% of population) vaccinations have been administered, while 210,098 people (3.6% of population) are now fully vaccinated against COVID.
Yesterday 15,934 total vaccinations were done, which is still not a very high number.
Vaccine utilization is at 99.4%.
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The number of traffic accidents and crash related fatalities have dropped significantly across Denmark during January of this year compared to January of 2020. Transportation Minister Benny Engelbrecht says the COVID pandemic is at least partially responsible with most businesses closed and more people staying home. Overall road traffic fell 31% this January compared to last while crash related deaths went from 18 last year to five this year.
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Beginning today, Denmark’s Staten Serum Institut is beginning a 30 day project to monitor and test wastewater on the island of Bornholm for COVID. Wastewater samples will be tested daily and even checked to see if it can not only identify coronavirus levels across the population but also if specific variants can be identified.
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Sweden has added 11,014 infections and another 39 corona deaths since Friday’s update.
To date, 669,950 1st dose (8.2% of the population) vaccinations have been administered while 316,439 people (3.9% of the population) are fully vaccinated.
The Swedish Public Health Agency has introduced new COVID restrictions. Business and public facilities must ensure 10 square meters per person.
A maximum of 500 people can be in department stores, shops, swimming pools, gyms, and sports facilities at any give time. Shopping centers and malls are exempt.
People can only be in the above facilities on their own without accompanying friends or family. Those with small children or who need support are exempt.
The new restrictions will remain in place until at least April 11th.
It also worth noting that mask use inside the above facilities is still recommended but not mandated.
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Norway has added 850 infections with no new corona deaths.
COVID hospitalizations (155) are up, (+8) Ventilator numbers (19) are also up (+5).
To date, 391,072 1st dose (7.29% of the population) and 209,419 2nd dose (3.9% of the population) vaccinations have been administered.
Today, Norway changed its vaccination strategy to a geographic model. This means municipalities with lower infection rates and hospitalization numbers will receive fewer vaccine doses while high infection areas will get more.
Norway’s National Institute of Public Health says the change means Oslo and four other municipalities will see a 20% increase in the number of vaccine doses.
With the strategy change, Norway is essentially shifting its vaccination focus from vulnerable seniors over the age of 65 to everyone over the age of 18.
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Norway has joined a number of countries, including Denmark and Sweden, in reversing course to allow the AstraZeneca vaccine to be used for anyone over the age of 18 years old, including seniors.
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Finland has registered 588 infections and two more virus deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (208) are down (-6). ICU numbers (40) are up (+3).
To date, 490,479 1st dose (8.8% of the population) and 84,930 2nd dose (1.5% of the population) vaccinations have been done.
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Infection numbers in Italy continue to head back up as it reported 19,749 new infections and 376 more COVID deaths.
As Italy reaches its one year anniversary since last spring’s pandemic nightmare, the situation is growing disturbingly familiar. A 160 bed hospital in the northern Italian town of Chiari has reached capacity. Health officials there report that people between the ages of 45 to 55 years old are particularly hard hit.
The U.K. variant driven infection surge has hospitals in the nearby Brescia province at 90% of capacity.
More restrictions are being considered in Rome, and Lombardy has closed schools and put students back on distance learning.
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Things are still dire in the Czech Republic as infections roared back up today to reach 10,466, while daily corona fatalities remain too high, with another 110 today.
Nationally, there are only 14% of ICU beds not occupied as the number of infected people in intensive care reached 1,789 yesterday, a record high, as the health care system teeters on the brink.
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The situation in Greece is growing more concerning as it saw 3,215 new infections today, a big increase, and the second highest of any day in the pandemic yet. It also marks the first time daily infections have exceeded 3,000 in the country since November.
The strain on the hospital system continues to grow, especially for ICU beds, with 484 people on a ventilator.
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In the U.K. numbers continue to fall. Today, it reported 5,766 new infections and 231 more corona deaths.
The number of fatalities, hospitalizations, and rate of positive tests continues to decline over the last seven days.
On the vaccination front, 22,592,528 1st dose and 1,181,431 2nd dose vaccinations have been administered.
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Yesterday Canada reported 4,124 new infections and another 37 deaths. However, with both B.C. and Alberta reporting three days worth of numbers only 3,043 infections and 27 virus deaths occurred in the previous 24 hour period.
On the vaccination front, 1,896,426 1st dose vaccinations (4.99% of population) have been administered, while 569,009 people are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
B.C. reported 1,462 new infections along with 11 deaths over the three day period since it last reported on Friday.
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In the province next door, Alberta logged 278 new infections and six more virus fatalities yesterday.
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Today, Ontario’s Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted, “Ontario is reporting 1,185 cases of COVID19 and nearly 33,300 tests completed. Locally, there are 343 new cases in Toronto, 235 in Peel and 105 in York Region. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 943,533 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.” There were also six more corona deaths.
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Today Quebec recorded 650 infections and 12 more virus deaths. There are 576 in hospital with 110 in an ICU.
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In Atlantic Canada, both Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick each reported one new infection, while there was also one virus death in New Brunswick. Nova Scotia has not yet reported.
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Yesterday there were 63 new infections and one more virus death in Manitoba.
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Saskatchewan saw 97 infections and one more corona death on Monday.
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The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine appears to work well against the concerning Brazilian P1 variant. According to research conducted by scientists from two medical companies and the University of Texas and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, vaccine induced antibodies in the blood were able to neutralise the test P1 virus.