COVID-19 News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

COVID-19: UK records 39,950 new cases and 19 more coronavirus-related deaths

Monday 19 July 2021

The UK has recorded 39,950 new COVID cases and 19 more coronavirus-related deaths in the latest 24-hour period, according to government data.

The figures compare with 48,161 and 25 deaths announced on Sunday while 34,471 infections and six fatalities were reported this time last week.

Meanwhile, another 18,186 people had their first jab on Sunday, taking the UK total to 46,314,039.

Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world

And a further 128,878 had their second jab yesterday, meaning 36,099,727 are now fully vaccinated.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-uk- ... s-12359190

[wjfox]

CDC tells individuals to ‘avoid travel’ to the UK as Covid cases rise

Published Mon, Jul 19 2021 2:57 PM EDT Updated 20 Min Ago

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday said to “avoid travel” to the U.K. as the delta Covid-19 variant continues to spread.

The warning is “Level 4” is the CDC’s highest. It isn’t binding but it comes after airline executives and other members of the travel industry have pressed the Biden Administration to loosen Covid travel restrictions.

[...]

The CDC said if individuals must travel to the U.K., they should be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Meanwhile, England lifted remaining Covid-19 restrictions on Monday, allowing for indoor gatherings and the reopening of nightclubs.

[...]

U.S. airline stocks fell sharply on Monday as the rise of delta variant cases has raised concerns about the economic recovery and the potential impact on the recent rise in travel demand after a slump for much of the past year.

Covid cases in the U.S. have jumped by about 66% in the past week to a seven-day average of about 32,300 new cases per day, according to Hopkins’ data.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/19/cdc-tel ... -rise.html

[Xyls]

Full speed ahead to crazy town! Choo choo!

[wjfox]

Massive tragedy for Myanmar, if these figures are even partially true.

Really highlights the difference between rich and poor countries.

Could this pandemic turn out even worse than 1918...?

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‘Everyone is dying’: Myanmar on the brink of decimation

Myanmar desperately needs an international health intervention but its military regime seems content to let the people die

July 17, 2021

[...]

One estimate provided by public health experts in Myanmar predicts that 50% of Myanmar’s 55 million people will be infected within three weeks by either the Alpha or Delta variant of Covid-19.

One very reputable public health specialist expects that the population will be decimated by at least 10-15 million by the time Covid is done with Myanmar.

[...]

I have worked in and on Myanmar for more than 30 years. Everyone I know there is either infected or caring for an infected person. No hospitals accept patients anymore, not even the priciest private ones.

Some of the Covid-infected die on the steps in front of hospitals that reject them. They undoubtedly go untested, with death certificates likely reading “pneumonia” as cause of death.

[...]

One does not need to be an epidemiologist, statistician or econometrician to see where this is going. The public health system, to the degree it still exists, will utterly collapse, at this rate of infection, probably within two weeks.

https://asiatimes.com/2021/07/everyone- ... ecimation/

[weatheriscool]

What made the spanish flu so deadly is what it did to india with 11 million dead. If these numbers out of Myanmar are true then covid is shaping up to be a very nasty pandemic even within historical terms.

[weatheriscool]

2 more fully vaccinated Texas House Democrats test positive for COVID-19, bringing total to 5
Source: NBC KXAN/Austin

The positive rapid tests bring the total to five who have contracted COVID-19.

“All of the HDC Members who tested positive are feeling good, with no symptoms or only mild symptoms,” a release from the House Democratic Caucus said.

All members and staff were provided daily rapid tests as a precautionary measure after they learned three members tested positive for COVID-19 in the days prior.

Read more: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/three-f ... -covid-19/

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

India's Excess Deaths During Pandemic up to 4.9 Million, Study Shows
By Ankur Banerjee and Neha Arora
July 20, 2021

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/artic ... tudy-shows

Introduction:

(Reuters) -India's excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic could be as high as 4.9 million, a new study shows, providing further evidence that millions more may have died from coronavirus than the official tally.

The report by the Washington-based Center for Global Development, co-authored by India's former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, included deaths from all causes since the start of the pandemic through June this year.

India's official tally of more than 414,000 deaths is the world's third highest after the United States and Brazil, but the study adds to growing calls from experts for a rigorous nationwide audit of fatalities.

A devastating rise in infections in April and May, driven largely by the more infectious and dangerous Delta variant, overwhelmed the healthcare system and killed at least 170,000 people in May alone, official data show.

"What is tragically clear is that too many people, in the millions rather than hundreds of thousands, may have died," the report said, estimating between 3.4 million and 4.9 million excess deaths during the pandemic.

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Driven by covid deaths, U.S. life expectancy dropped by 1.5 years in 2020
Source: Washington Post

Life expectancy in the United States dropped by a year and a half in 2020 — a continuation of a worrisome decline that was observed in the first half of last year as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged the country, according to federal data released Wednesday.

The decline, which is the largest seen in a single year since World War II, reflects the pandemic’s sustained toll on Americans, particularly the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on communities of color. Black Americans lost 2.9 years of life expectancy while Latinos, who have longer life expectancy than non-Hispanic Blacks or Whites, saw a drop of three years. There was a decrease of 1.2 years among White people.

“It’s horrific,” said Anne Case, a professor emeritus of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. “It’s not entirely unexpected given what we have already seen about mortality rates as the year went on, but that still doesn’t stop it from being just horrific, especially for non-Hispanic Blacks and for Hispanics.”

The provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that life expectancy at birth — a generally reliable measure of the nation’s health — for the total population declined from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.3 years in 2020. Almost three-fourths of that decline is attributed to deaths from covid-19, according to the report. The report did not include data for Asian Americans or other racial groups.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2 ... ncy-covid/