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Troubling signs of another evolution of the COVID pandemic in the U.K. For the first time in many weeks the rate of positive tests, deaths, and hospitalizations have all increased.
The reason behind the surge in one of the world’s most vaccinated countries is the India B.1.617.2 variant. Public Health England is now forecasting it will become the dominant COVID strain in the country. In fact, it says 58% of all sequenced tests are already coming back as the variant.
According to studies in the United Kingdom, the variant poses a lot of problems. One dose of vaccine is much less effective against the variant, it seems to be more contagious than the U.K. variant, and according to Public Health England’s latest threat assessment, there are indicators it can evade natural immunity. This means for someone who has had COVID, the variant has a higher chance of slipping around antibodies to reinfect the person.
One thing to keep an eye on is if the trend seen in India, and now the United Kingdom, begins to show up elsewhere. Every previous evolution has swept across the globe within weeks.
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The Danish Agency for Patient Safety says the COVID outbreak linked to the Brøndby Stadium football celebration continues to increase. The agency says it has now confirmed 37 coronavirus infections linked to the big win and the celebration afterward. The agency says the infections are widespread, from people in the stands to those who showed up afterwards to celebrate. It is urging anyone who was at the game and who celebrated in the streets afterwards to get tested immediately and then do a follow-up test 48 hours later.
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Danish Foreign Affairs has made more countries a COVID low-risk yellow. As of Saturday at 4pm, both Poland and Bulgaria move from orange to yellow. Also becoming yellow are the Niederösterreich and Salzburg regions of Austria. Joining them are the Ligurien, Abruzzo, Veneto (including Venice), and Umbrien regions of Italy. In France, the island of Corsica has also been downgraded to yellow.
Travelers from yellow countries are not required to have a negative test to fly into Denmark, nor are they required to quarantine.
The newly yellow countries and regions join those below.
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Denmark’s full vaccine passport app has arrived. The coronapas is now available for download.
You can grab it for your iPhone —> HERE
For Android users you can download it —> HERE
The coronapas app has two settings one for use in Denmark and the other for traveling abroad. The Justice ministry says the app can be used immediately to access events, go to museums, and eat in restaurants, etc. in Denmark. As of July 1 it can also be used for travel across Europe.
The user can see their vaccine status, last test result, and any previous infection; however the information shown to others is very limited. The app uses a QR code or green screen, which is scanned to show simply whether the person is valid for entry or not. Because the app is valid as official identification in Denmark, you will also not be required to show ID as well.
Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen:
“The Corona Passport symbolizes how far we have come in Denmark. The reopening of Danish society is progressing steadily and in a controlled manner, and infection rates remain under control. The new corona passport is easier to use and citizens can safely display it without giving private information to others. The passport will also live up to the common European regulations, so that in step with the gradual reopening of the EU countries, we will be able to travel more and more places with the new corona passport.”
Wammen says information on the coronapas app is secure.
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Denmark is reporting 997 COVID infections and one more coronavirus death in the last day.
Yesterday there were 680,387 total corona tests done, 149,048 PCR and 531,339 rapid, for a (PCR only) positivity percentage of 0.67%.
The number of kommunes with infection incidence rates above 200 per 100,000 residents continue to dwindle with just four as of today.
COVID hospitalizations (143) have decreased (-6) while the number of infected people in an ICU (33) is also down (-3) and if those the number of people on a ventilator (22) is unchanged day to day.
On the vaccination front, to date 2,033,923 1st dose vaccinations (34.8% of the population) have been administered while 1,230,320 people (21%) are now fully vaccinated.
Yesterday there were 61,630 total vaccinations done.
Denmark’s Staten Serum Institut is revealing the findings behind a yet-to-be published study on the efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on the first five priority groups. In all, there are 860,000 people who were vaccinated between December and April taking part in the study. The first five target groups were seniors in nursing homes, those 65 and older receiving care in their own homes, seniors over 85, health care workers in seniors care, and people considered highly vulnerable to COVID.
The study found efficacy was high but also varied based on who was getting vaccinated. Overall, it concluded the Pfizer vaccine has a major impact on reducing coronavirus infection, hospitalization, and death.
The study found that seven days after a second vaccine dose, the infection risk was reduced by between 53% and 86%. The highest efficacy was among those 65 years old and older receiving care in their own homes.
The lead author of the study, Hanne-Dorthe Emborg:
“In three out of the five target groups, a protective effect against SARS-CoV-2 infection is seen 0-7 days after the second vaccine dose. In the last two target groups, people in nursing homes and people aged 85 and over, the effect comes a little later, just over seven days after the second dose.The slightly lower effect in people in nursing homes was not unexpected, as other studies have also shown a lower effect in this group. This is probably due to the people's old age and possible illnesses.”
For hospitalizations, the Pfizer vaccine was found to reduce the chance of being hospitalized by 75% for nursing home residents, by 87% for seniors over 65 receiving home care, and by 81% for people in vulnerable populations.
When looking at the vaccine’s impacts on coronavirus deaths, the study found the risk of COVID related deaths was reduced by 94% overall after a second dose. For seniors in nursing homes, the risk of virus death was reduced by 89% and by 97% for those over 65 receiving home care. Study authors say there were no deaths after a second dose in the other groups during the study period.
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The Swedish Public Health Agency says there will be no update on coronavirus numbers today due to attempts to hack into its infectious disease database. The database, which also contains COVID case information, has been taken offline while officials investigate. It says until access is restored, it cannot update corona numbers. At this point, it is not clear if anyone gained access to the database and if they did, what information that they may have had access too. Police and other Swedish authorities are investigating.
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Sweden has eased travel restrictions, including requirements to enter the country, for most of Europe but especially for its Nordic neighbors.
Sweden is removing all travel and entry restrictions for any traveler who is fully vaccinated regardless of where they are coming from.
As of June 1 anyone from Denmark, Norway, or Finland can go into Sweden without the requirement for having to have a negative test or having to quarantine.
The negative test requirement to enter Sweden stays in place for all travelers from other countries within the EU, EEA, Schengen zone, and the United Kingdom. But the quarantine requirement has also been dropped. For travelers from all other countries, the recommendation continues for people traveling to Sweden for testing and isolation for one week after arrival, even if they have no symptoms.
Sweden is also lifting its advice against all unnecessary travel for countries within the EU, EEA, Schengen zone, as well as the United Kingdom.
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An investigation by Radio Sweden found the COVID pandemic resulted in several Swedish hospitals delaying essential procedures. Radio Sweden checked with 51 hospitals and found 15 that admitted the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in “serious consequences” for patient care. “For example, delays in cancer surgery may have meant that some tumours have gown and cannot now be operated on.”
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Finland has registered 182 infections and another two corona deaths since yesterday’s update.
COVID hospitalizations (107) are up (+8) ICU numbers (20) also rose slightly (+1).
To date 2,405,122 (43.2% of the population) 1st dose and 458,962 (8.2%) 2nd vaccine dose vaccinations have been administered
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Next week Finland will see a sharp increase in the number of vaccine doses arriving. This week the country saw around 240,000 doses show up and next week that number will ratchet up to 356,000.
Finnish Institute of Health’s Mia Kontio:
“Of course, it’s a very great thing that we’re getting such a large number of doses of vaccine next week. In the weeks after that, deliveries will continue at an estimated weekly rate of more than 280,000 doses of vaccine, which means that we will be able to maintain a good vaccination pace.”
Finland has been geographically targeting vaccine doses at hot-spot areas, but with the infection situation improving and vaccine deliveries increasing, that practice had now been ended.
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The Finnish Institute of Health says a flaw in the software of the country’s infection-detection app has been found. It had to do with the Google interface. The institute, along with Finland’s Cyber Security Center, alerted Google and the problem has been fixed. They says there has been no detected intrusions, using the flaw to access any information.
This is the second Android related vaccine passport flaw found and reported by a Nordic country. Norway had previously alerted Google to a potential security vulnerability earlier this year. Google pushed out a fix in April.
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Norway has added 308 infections and had no new virus deaths in the last day.
COVID hospitalizations (88) and ventilator numbers (18) are unchanged while ICU numbers (33) slipped (-2).
To date 30.26% of Norwegians have had one vaccine dose while 17.94% have had both.
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A vaccination study by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has found a very small percentage of fully vaccinated people become infected again. Using data from Norway’s Notification System for Infectious Diseases (MSIS) and the National Vaccination Register (SYSVAK) the agency found one in 2,000 vaccinated people become infected with COVID, or 0.05% of those who are vaccinated. It says of those, an even smaller number develop any symptoms.
NIPH Infection Control Director Geir Bukhom:
“This shows that coronary vaccination gives the vaccinated very good protection for those who are fully vaccinated. At the same time, it reminds us that vaccination does not have 100% protection against infection or the disease it is vaccinated against.”
He say there are “very few” cases of fully vaccinated people becoming seriously ill and Norway is doing further research to better understand why.
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For the first time in almost ten weeks, COVID infections increased in Norway during week 20. The weekly assessment of the pandemic situation says infections rose 22% last week compared to the week prior. While infections have dropped significantly in Oslo and Viken, longtime hot spots, they rose in the regions of Agder, Innlandet, Troms, and Finnmark, which now have the highest infection rates in the country.
Hospitalizations dipped slightly from week to week. But regions of Vestfold and Telemark both saw increased hospital numbers. By age, the health agency notes, they are seeing increasing numbers of patients in the 40-to-49-years-old age group.
The UK variant continues to be the dominant strain in Norway, with 93% of sequenced tests coming back positive for the variant. However the health institute warns the Indian B.1.617.2 variant has been showing up in increasing numbers in the last four weeks. Overall numbers are still low, with 27 new infections of the concerning variant detected in the same timeframe. That said, the NIPH cautions “If this variant proves to have a greater dispersal ability than the English variant, it may become dominant in Norway as well, but it will be possible to keep it under control with the same measures.”
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The European Medicines Agency has approved an application by Pfizer/BioNTech to expand its COVID vaccine to those between the ages of 12 and 15 years old. The approval means EU countries can begin inoculating children as soon as possible. Germany has already approved the move and will begin vaccinating kids next week.
The addition of younger age groups will likely mean extending the vaccination timeline for many European countries.
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Canada is reporting 2,969 infections while losing another 51 lives to the coronavirus.
On the vaccination front, to date there have been 20,539,146 1st dose vaccinations administered (54.04% of the population) while 1,807,609 people are now fully vaccinated.
As for Ontario today Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted “Ontario is reporting 1,273 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 40,900 tests completed. Locally, there are 269 new cases in Toronto, 268 in Peel, 101 in Ottawa, 78 in Hamilton and 72 in Durham. As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 8,690,473 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.” There were also another 14 deaths.
Quebec reported 419 infections NDP four deaths.
In Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia recorded 40 infections and one death. The province plans to begin reopening in June. Newfoundland and Labrador had 14 infections. New Brunswick nine.
Manitoba recorded 297 infections and more deaths as it continues to struggle with its variant driven infection wave.
There were 118 infections and six more virus deaths in Saskatchewan yesterday.
Alberta registered 513 infections and one more corona death.
B.C. reported 378 infections and another seven corona deaths. There 286 people in hospital and 88 in an ICU. In the province 65.8% of adults have received at least one vaccine dose.