COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Weekend Update 4th/5th July 2020.
Local UK testing data is now much more comprehensive (someone has bought a calculator apparently), and as a result, lots of duplicate cases have been taken off the total. Thousands of other cases have been correctly added to their own region - as a result the total is lower, but regional figures are higher. By regional, I mostly mean 'England'.
The UK added 516 cases today and now has reported a new total of 285,416 positive cases of COVID-19. We completed 205,673 tests yesterday. 2,838 people are in hospital, 231 on a ventilator..
In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we lost another 22 people who have tested positive to COVID-19. We now very sadly have a total of 44,220 losses of life in all settings.
England 245,483 / 39,647
Northern Ireland 5,747 / 554
Scotland 18,296 / 2,488
Wales 15,890 / 1,531
Rep. Of Ireland 25,527 (+18) cases and 1,741 losses of life.
There have now been a total of 11,466,228 officially reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 535,028. Already 6,487,946 people have recovered.
"We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States!"
Kanye "2020 crazy is now at level 48/10" West.
Pubs and bars reopened in England yesterday, and judging by the news reports and the videos, anyone watching would assume we were just leaving 3 years of temperance. No we weren't. Alcohol sales have never been prohibited in England, and we haven't had a shortage. People really were just that desperate to go out and see their mates. Social distancing was, as anticipated, appalling in some busy places, but reports are that most people behaved sensibly.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) haven't been able to find any benefit from using hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir with hospitalised patients, so there's no point carrying on with those trials - especially when we know we definitely can get improved results from Dexamethasone and Remdesivir.
"These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care. Solidarity trial investigators will interrupt the trials with immediate effect."
According to NBC News, the USA public message is going to change from next week, stressing the potential longevity of the pandemic, but giving a really negative message that I'm pretty sure will make many world leaders despair, "We need to live with it".
When Spain's economy started to open up, they were desperate for seasonal farm workers - and understandably migrant workers flooded in because they were desperate to work. Too many arrived unfortunately, and there isn't enough work for them all. Now they are destitute, living in shelters or on the streets, with no money to even go home. Infection numbers are starting to rise, so much so that Spain has had to reimpose restrictions in the heavily agricultural region of Lleida, Catalonia.
Scientists looking at data collected by UK BioBank participants have discovered 5 novel risk variants in 4 genes (It's not yet peer-reviewed). These little variations seem to make an individual more likely to succumb to covid.
"We confidently identify the gene ERAP2 with a high-risk variant, as well as three other genes of potential interest. Although mostly rare, a common theme of genetic risk factors affecting survival might be the inability to launch or modulate an effective immune and stress response to infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus."
So basically, it's possible that people with a body that fails to recognise COVID as a threat, and don't launch an immune response and attack it, are the ones who are best off...
They also looked at whether they could find anything to explain why BAME population suffer disproportionately. Although "non-coding intronic variant rs151256885 is seen almost exclusively in people of African ethnicity, the highest risk group, and that it is quite common in that group (7.6%)." they add that they don't have a big enough sample of BAME people to say for sure that there is an ethnic bias in genetic risk.
Remember a few days ago I told you about the Swine Flu virus G4, and that some of the pig workers had antibodies? Scientists found around 10% of those working with the pigs had antibodies, but far more excitingly, around 4.4% of the general population did too - which is actually a very good thing.
The Chinese CDC has reassured the public that they don't see any major threat from this virus at all, and the US CDC agree. It will continue to be monitored.
The British Heart Foundation has a fascinating article asking whether COVID is actually a disease of the blood vessels:
"From reports of ‘sticky blood’ raising the risk of deep vein thrombosis, heart attack or stroke, to neurological effects, to painful red and swollen areas on the feet known as ‘Covid toe’ – many of these symptoms are thought to be linked to effects on our blood vessels."
This is something scientists have been wondering since at least February, when more and more symptoms started to become evident. Up to 30% of severely ill COVID patients develop dangerous clots. COVID is certainly far, far more than the 'flu with pneumonia' we were originally expecting.
Trump or Kanye, Trump, Kanye.... tricky....
Matt Hancock was on the telly this morning and said the UK government are very concerned about the outbreak in Leicester.
"We have seen outbreaks in food factories and in clothing factories; there are some quite significant concerns about some of the employment practices in some of the clothing factories in Leicester."
It's a sad day when a first world country can't keep staff safe in a clothing factory - and it makes me wonder how much fluff the workers usually breathe in...
There's been a huge fire at Fife Zoo today. All living creatures were moved away and are safe. Zoos have had a hard time recently and this won't help. If you live locally and fancy an outdoor day out, I'm sure they'd appreciate seeing you once they reopen.
The NHS Louisa Jordan hospital at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow has thankfully not been needed for Covid-19 patients. The massive space makes social distancing pretty easy, and from this month it'll be used for orthopaedic outpatient consultations, staff training, teaching and examinations.
Trump of the day (it was actually Wednesday, but it's a keeper):
“I think we’re gonna be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point that’s going to sort of just disappear, I hope.”
Aaaaaaand open your eyes....
Some people. All of them used to believe that the monster was under the bed:
Countries / Cases / Losses of life (in larger countries some states /provinces yet to report):
USA 2,954,999 (+19,229) 132,393 (+75)
Brazil 1,578,376 no states yet reported today 64,365
India 695,396 (+21,492) 19,692 (+413)
Russia 681,251 (+6,736) 10,161 (+134)
Peru 299,080 (not yet reported today) 10,412
Spain 297,625 (not yet reported today) 28,385
Chile 295,532 (+3,685) 6,308 (+116)
UK 285,416 (+516) 44,220 (+22)
Mexico 252,165 (+6,914) 30,366 (+523)
Italy 241,611 (+192) 34,861 (+7)
Iran 240,438 (+2,560) 11,571 (+163)
Pakistan 228,474 (+3,191) 4,712 (+93)
Luxembourg 4,522 (+46) 110
Hungary 4,183 (+9) 589
Palestine 4,043 (+208) 16 (+3)
Madagascar 2,941 (+213) 32 (+3)
Albania 2,893 (+74) 76 (+2)
Lebanon 1,873 (+18) 36 (+1)
New Zealand 1,533 (+3) 22
Hong Kong 1,269 (+10) 7
Mozambique 987 (+18) 8 (+1)
Syria 358 (+20) 13 (+3)
.
Sources
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.01.20144592v1.full.pdf+html
https://covid19.who.int/
https://coronavirus-staging.data.gov.uk/
https://apnews.com/dee33ef7f5fdf371009231b1501bc4d0
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/04-07-2020-who-discontinues-hydroxychloroquine-and-lopinavir-ritonavir-treatment-arms-for-covid-19#.XwDQ50f7pSY.twitter
https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/trump-again-claims-coronavirus-will-just-disappear_uk_5efd8abac5b6ca9709195420
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-huge-fire-erupts-zoo-22304780
https://news.stv.tv/west-central/nhs-louisa-jordan-hospital-to-receive-first-patients-in-july?top
You are right. That American President vote, Wow. How can we possibly choose? I don't know what to think about the changes. I can't believe how desperate people are for a drink in the pub, I really can't. x
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