COVID-19 News and Discussions

User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8663
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Xyls
Posts: 689
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 9:20 pm

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by Xyls »

Glad this has it's own thread separate from the infectious disease thread as it is such a large topic.
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8663
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2023
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: Clermont, Indiana, USA, October 7th 2019 B.C.E

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by Time_Traveller »

COVID-19: More than 2,300 cases of Indian variant now in UK, Matt Hancock says
17 May 2021

A total of 2,323 cases of the Indian coronavirus variant have been reported in the UK, the health secretary has said.

Delivering a COVID-19 statement in the Commons, Matt Hancock said 483 cases have been confirmed in Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen, where the variant is now the dominant strain.

Mr Hancock revealed there are 86 local authority areas where there are five or more confirmed cases of the variant - and said that surge testing will take place in Bedford following a rise in cases.
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-mor ... s-12309280
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12727
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Gov. Cuomo: New York will adopt CDC guidelines that ease masking rules for fully vaccinated
Source: WIVB
The governor said effective Wednesday, the state will adopt the new CDC guidance that eases mask requirements for fully vaccinated people.

The new guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters but will help clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools, and other venues — even removing the need for masks or social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated. The CDC will also no longer recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks outdoors in crowds.

“If you are vaccinated, you are safe,” Gov. Cuomo said. “No masks, no social distancing.”

The governor said individual private venues still have the ability to add additional guidelines to existing state and federal guidance should they choose to do so.

Read more: https://www.wivb.com/news/new-york/watc ... usic-hall/
weatheriscool
Posts: 12727
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Hundreds of bodies found buried along Indian riverbanks
Source: Associated Press
RAYAGRAJ, India (AP) — Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or washing up on the Ganges River banks, prompting speculation on social media that they were the remains of COVID-19 victims.

In jeeps and boats, the police used portable loudspeakers with microphones asking people not to dispose of the bodies in rivers. “We are here to help you perform the last rites,” police said.

On Friday, rains exposed the cloth coverings of bodies buried in shallow sand graves on the riverbank in Prayagraj, a city in Uttar Pradesh state.

Navneet Sehgal, a state government spokesman, on Sunday denied local media reports that more than 1,000 corpses of COVID-19 victims had been recovered from rivers in the past two weeks. “I bet these bodies have nothing to do with COVID-19,” he said
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/india-corona ... 3c291bc946
weatheriscool
Posts: 12727
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Unvaccinated People Are Most at Risk by Unmasking, C.D.C. Director Says
Source: The New York Times
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, facing blowback over the agency's new liberalized mask guidelines, offered a stark reassurance on Sunday: Only unvaccinated people are at risk if they take off their masks. "If you are vaccinated, we are saying you are safe, you can take up your mask and you are not at risk of severe disease or hospitalization from Covid-19," the C.D.C. director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, said on "Fox News Sunday."

"If you are not vaccinated, you are not safe. Please go get vaccinated or continue to wear your mask."

Dr. Walensky's appearance on Fox was part of a round of appearances on Sunday talk shows that came in the wake of the fresh guidelines and the confusion that has accompanied them. The guidance the C.D.C. issued on Thursday said that it was no longer necessary for fully vaccinated people to mask or maintain social distance in many settings. The change set off public confusion and drew objections from some local officials and labor unions, including the country's largest union of registered nurses.

A number of major U.S. retailers have already lifted mask requirements, essentially turning to an honor system that relies on unvaccinated people to keep their masks on in public. In her interviews on the Sunday news shows, Dr. Walensky revealed a subtle but marked shift in her agency's emphasis from community to individual protection. She acknowledged on Fox that "for 16 months, we've been telling people to be cautious, be careful, cases are going up," and made clear that the C.D.C.'s new bottom line is that individuals could make their own choices.

She also noted that communities where cases are high should consider keeping mask requirements, and that children who are not vaccinated -- including everyone under 12 because they are not yet eligible for the shot -- and people with compromised immune systems should keep their faces covered. "This was not permission to shed masks for everybody everywhere," Dr. Walensky said on the NBC program "Meet the Press," but about "individual assessment of your risk."...

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medica ... r-BB1gNxyH
Xyls
Posts: 689
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 9:20 pm

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by Xyls »

Births stopped by pandemic may exceed death toll.

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detai ... e-pandemic

Seems the pandemic will have a lasting demographic legacy for the rest of the century and may accelerate population decline in many countries as the world ages faster than anticipated...
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8663
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
Time_Traveller
Posts: 2023
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:49 pm
Location: Clermont, Indiana, USA, October 7th 2019 B.C.E

Re: COVID-19 News and Discussions

Post by Time_Traveller »

Europe's air traffic might not get back to normal until 2029, says Eurocontrol

21/05/2021

Image

Air traffic in Europe might not return to its pre-COVID levels until 2029, Eurocontrol has said.

In a report published on Friday, the Brussels-based air traffic management agency said the number of flights in European airspace between January and April this year was down 65 per cent compared with the same period in 2019.

Depending on vaccine rollouts and the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against new variants, the body predicted three different models for the future of European air travel.

The best-case scenario assumed travel restrictions were lifted across the board by summer 2021 and predicted a recovery to 2019 traffic levels by 2024.
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
Post Reply