The Evening Report - May 17th
The European Union sounds the alarm over the India COVID variant
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In non-COVID news, Sydjyllands (South Jutland) Police called out the bomb squad today after what was thought to be an old WWII naval mine, was spotted in the waters off of Anslet Strand (beach) south of Kolding. It turned out to be a false alarm after it was determined to be an old concrete block and not an antique explosive device. Police say the block has been removed.
Pic courtesy of Sydjyllands Politi
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The European Union Commission is calling on all member nations to enact an ‘emergency brake’ on all non-essential travel from India. The E.U. says it is concerned about the B.1.617.2 variant first detected in India and now spreading in other jurisdictions including the United Kingdom.
The E.U. says “it is important to limit to a strict minimum, the categories of travellers that can travel from India for essential reasons and to subject those who may still travel from India to strict testing and quarantine arrangements.” It says the testing and quarantine requirement include people traveling for “compelling reasons” and even those who are fully vaccinated.
In the U.K., concern over the B.1.617.2 variant is growing as the sub-strain is spreading much faster than its parent variant B.1.617. Here is the case and point.
Graph courtesy of Dr. Christine Pagel
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Denmark’s Foreign Affairs ministry announced today that all of Portugal has now been reassessed as a ‘yellow’ COVID risk. This means people can travel from Denmark to Portugal and return without the requirement for a pre-flight corona test or having to isolate when coming home. That said, the Udenrigsministeriet reminds travelers that Portugal may have its own entry restrictions and requirements.
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A Danish research project called “We Test Denmark” has found significantly higher COVID antibodies among vulnerable populations and in social housing areas.
Staten Serum Institut Chief Physician Robert Skov:
“The studies confirm what we had feared. That vulnerable groups and people living in vulnerable housing areas are at increased risk of getting COVID19. This emphasizes the importance of having a special focus in those places.”
The study involved voluntary antibody tests and questionnaires among the homeless, sex workers, and in social housing areas across 21 municipalities. It found among the homeless population, and especially among sex workers, coronavirus prevalence was twice as high as the background population.
Among areas with social housing there were 13,279 participants where 17.3% had corona antibodies, or three times higher than the background population.
Herlev-Gentofte Hospital and the University of Copenhagen Chief Physician Kasper Iversen:
“The high incidence of infection in the vulnerable groups is of course a little disturbing. A remarkable finding was that it seemed that more than 98% of the participants stated to follow the National Board of Health general recommendations to use a mask, frequent hand washing, as well as avoiding handshakes, etc. So the explanation for why there is such a high infection must be found somewhere else.”
The pre-print of the study involving the homeless and sex workers can be found HERE.
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Denmark is reporting 836 COVID infections and one coronavirus death in the last day.
Yesterday there were 482,628 total corona tests done, 138,779 PCR and 343,849 rapid, for a positivity percentage of 0.60%.
The number of kommunes with COVID incidence rates exceeding 200 per 100,000 people has increased to 14. Of those, Høje-Taastrup is the highest with an incidence rate of 276. Infection activity in Ishøj has shot back up with incidence rate of 262.
Godthaab Parish in Frederiksberg Kommune is right on the edge of passing infection benchmarks triggering an automatic shutdown. The incidence rate yesterday in the district was 376.43 per 100,000 people with a positivity percentage of 2.18%.
Frederiksberg's mayor Simon Aggesen has taken to his Facebook to rally people to abide by all restrictions and do everything possible to prevent a closure. He says they are looking at launching “preventative initiatives” including texting everyone living in the area to urge them to go get tested.
“We need everyone to take the restrictions seriously, keep their distance and be tested. It's absolutely crucial that we do not have to shut down parts of the city.”
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Hørsholm Kommune can reopen as of tomorrow morning after seventh straight day with its COVID incidence rate under 200.
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COVID hospitalizations (173) are up (+9), while the number of infected people in an ICU (29) dipped slightly (-3) and, of those, the number on a ventilator (18) also inched down (-1).
On the vaccination front to date, 1,662,452 1st dose vaccinations (28.4% of the population) have been administered while 1,040,386 people (17.8%) are now fully vaccinated.
Yesterday there were 34,087 total vaccinations done.
The vaccination impacts are still very evident among new infections over the last seven days. New infections remain extremely low for those over 60 while new infections over the last week are highest in the younger unvaccinated age groups, especially those 10 to 29 years old.
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As politicians begin negotiations over what the next round of reopening on May 21st will look like, Dansk Industri would like some more flexibility.
The group is pushing for more business travel freedoms, getting people working from home back into their workplace and for some flexibility when it comes to automatic local shutdowns.
Emil Fannikke Kiær, Political Director of DI, says while quick action is needed to contain infections, aspects of the automatic shutdowns are tough on businesses. He says if a Kommune or district is ordered closed then people simply go elsewhere, often in a nearby district or town that isn’t shut down. He says in Metro Copenhagen with a number of municipalities jammed together this is very problematic.
“Here, customers can drive just across the municipal border to shop, and because one store must be open and the other a few hundred meters away must not. We should be able to find pragmatic solutions to this. If, for example we double the requirement for how many square meters social distancing must be available per customer in a business, one would be able to keep the business open but lower the risk of infection. It would also be better than everyone from a highly infected area driving to the neighboring municipality and clumping together in the shops there, just as it will ensure that the business life in, for example in Copenhagen, does not have to close down.”
Dansk Industri would also like the same freedoms for those who are fully vaccinated to be extended to those with just one vaccine dose. He says the coronapas should be adjusted so one dose counts as a pass into restaurants, theaters, and events just as two doses currently do.
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Norway added 899 infections with no new virus deaths since Friday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (101) are down (-6) ICU numbers (36) inched down (-2) while ventilator numbers (21) did the same (-1).
To date 29.24% of Norwegians have had one vaccine dose while 10.92% have had both.
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Finland registered 563 infections and two more corona deaths since Friday’ update. 192 cases were reported on Saturday, 227 on Sunday, and today.
COVID hospitalizations (132) have increased (+10). ICU numbers (27) edged down (-1).
On the vaccination front, to date 2,110,792 1st dose vaccinations (37.9% of the population) have been administered while 282,224 people (5.1%) are now fully vaccinated.
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German Health Minister Jens Spahn announced today that as of June 7th the age based prioritization system for vaccinations will end. Spahn says Germany is going to open vaccinations up to everyone in the country 16 years old and older. He says private companies and family doctors will join the government in administering vaccinations adding more impetus to already robust effort. That said, Spahn says patience is still needed as it will take until at least the end of summer to get everyone inoculated.
According to the minister as of today Germany has administered more than 40 million vaccinations with 30.7 million people (37% of the population) having one dose and over 9.3 million people (11.2%) now fully vaccinated.
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The European Medicines Agency has made a change to its recommendation on how to store vials of the Pfizer vaccine. The agency announced today that unopened thawed Pfizer vials can now be kept in a normal refrigerator for no longer than 31 days. Currently they must be stored in a special deep freeze and used immediately once thawed. This should have a significant impact on the logistics and distribution of the vaccine.
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Positive news for another coronavirus vaccine coming down the pipeline. Manufacturers of a vaccine from French Sanofi and British GlaxoSmithKline showed an efficacy of over 95% after both doses of the vaccine had been administered. The vaccine is expected to start the crucial phase three trials in a few weeks. Then it can apply for approval for use in 2021.
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Bloomberg is reporting that U.S. President Joe Biden will announce later today that for the first time the States will share vaccines authorized for domestic use with countries abroad. To date, the U.S. has shared 60 million AstraZeneca doses with other counties including Canada and Mexico. AstraZeneca is not authorized for use in the United States. Now 20 million doses of perhaps Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses will be shared with other countries over the next few weeks.
To date, the States has enforced that any of the approved for use vaccines made domestically must go to Americans first. This has drawn the ire of the European Union as it saw its supply of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines vastly reduced from what was originally anticipated.
The Biden administration is turning its attention from its domestic COVID situation to throwing its weight behind quelling the pandemic globally.
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Canada reported 4,903 infections and 40 more coronavirus related deaths yesterday as its infection curve continues to head downward.
The downward trend in Canada’s infection curve is mirrored now in hospitalizations as the number of infected people in hospital, in an ICU, and on a ventilator all seem to be easing as of the latest update to May 10th.
On the variant front, B.C’s total to date number of Brazilian P1 variant infections has more than doubled since Friday as it leapfrogs over Alberta to claim the most P1 variant infections of any province. Ontario continues to have far and away the most U.K. variant infections of any province.
Checking in on the vaccination campaign so far, 17,016,450 1st dose vaccinations (44.77% of the population) have been administered while 1,388,991 people are now fully vaccinated.
As for Ontario today Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted “Ontario is reporting 2,170 cases of COVID19 and nearly 24,500 tests completed. Locally, there are 566 new cases in Toronto, 556 in Peel, 215 in York Region, 120 in Durham and 101 in Hamilton. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 7,177,145 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.” There were also four more deaths.
Quebec reported 551 infections, the lowest daily number of infections since the end of last September, and another eight corona deaths.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia has 126 infections. New Brunswick 11. While Newfoundland and Labrador had nine, all of them travel related.
Manitoba recorded 534 infections and another four corona deaths yesterday.
There were 167 infections and one death in Saskatchewan yesterday.
Alberta had 1,140 new infections yesterday and three more virus deaths.
B.C. doesn’t report on weekends and will table three days worth of COVID numbers later today.