COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 8th /9th August 2020.

 COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News update 8th /9th August 2020.

The UK added 1,062 cases today and now has reported a total of 310,825 positive cases of COVID-19. That is the highest daily total since June 26th. 

We completed 165,176 tests yesterday. 1,067 people were in hospital on Thursday 6th, with 67 using a ventilator on Friday 7th.

In the 24 hours up until 5pm yesterday, we reported the loss of another 8 people who have tested positive to COVID-19. We now very sadly have a total of 46,574 losses of life in all settings.

England 268,312 / 41,948
Northern Ireland - Not given today (I don't think it's sinister, I think it's just a day off.)
Scotland 18,998 / 2,491
Wales 17,451 / 1,579

Rep. Of Ireland 26,712 (+68) cases and 1,772 losses of life.

There have now been a total of 19,919,745 reported cases worldwide. The number of people who have lost their lives worldwide to COVID-19 is 731,727. Already 12,801,438 people have recovered.

The African continent has now reported over 1 million cases
The United States of America has now reported over 5 million cases.
Brazil has now reported that over 100,000 people have succumbed to COVID
By tonight there will be over 20 million cases of COVID reported worldwide.
Almost 13 million people have been reported as recovered.  

Even now, after almost 8 months, COVID has not managed to infiltrate the entire globe. Okay, at least 2 of these countries and territories are maybe not entirely truthful, but I believe most of them when they officially say they have never had a single case:  Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, North Korea, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. 

From tomorrow in the Republic of Ireland face coverings are mandatory in indoor settings such as hairdressers, cinemas and museums.

There will be more and more research coming out around long term and possible permanent effects of COVID-19.  This will be in large numbers, and it will be incredibly costly for governments who have had large outbreaks, and for the people involved. We know it's a factor, it always has been. Don't let the horror stories scare you - the vast majority of people get mild symptoms and seem to recover well, but it may take more time than you'd expect. And you may think you are well and then become ill again. Be gentle on yourself.  

Research by Italian scientists published in Jama found that at 60 days (2 months) after the first COVID-19 symptoms started, in a study of 143 patients who had been hospitalised with COVID:
"Only 18 (12.6%) were completely free of any COVID-19–related symptom, while 32% had 1 or 2 symptoms and 55% had 3 or more. None of the patients had fever or any signs or symptoms of acute illness. Worsened quality of life was observed among 44.1% of patients. The Figure shows that a high proportion of individuals still reported fatigue (53.1%), dyspnea / shortness of breath (43.4%), joint pain, (27.3%) and chest pain (21.7%)."
Only 7 of those patients had needed ventilation and another 21 had needed oxygen. Helps explain why we haven't seen much of Boris since he became seriously ill back in March. 

New research out today from IpsosMORI and Kings College London has found some really disturbing results about how little UK people understand. It's actually quite depressing and shows WE NEED EDUCATING BETTER BORIS!!
- 37% believe face masks are bad for people’s health
- 34% believe masks do not reduce the spread of Covid-19
- 34% think the government only wants people to wear face coverings as a way of controlling the public.
I shared evidence of mask safety on 4th August. They DON'T reduce your oxygen or increase CO2 levels dangerously.  SAFE
I've shared no end of evidence about how face coverings reduce spread. FACT.
How does anyone think mask-wearing benefits any government who wants to control their population? What possible use could it have? DIVS.
-27% of people said they don't find coronavirus stressful. (A round of applause to you all!)
- 33% don't trust scientific experts more as a result of how they’ve helped during the crisis.
Scientists really have found themselves suddenly thrust forward into the public eye, and in countries where political policy doesn't match the science, those who have spoken out have found themselves sidelined, off public media, sacked or even falling from windows.
Sometimes people are more easily quietened or bought than others. Definitely there has been a lot of truth-bending. (For example when they give statistics that don't seem trustworthy, turn them around - e.g. '80% fat free' might mean 20% lard.) 
- 27% believe the UK government acted too slowly to control the spread.
(73% are currently blissfully ignorant.)
- Only half the population (53%) say they’d be certain or very likely to get a vaccine, with one in five (20%) fairly likely.
Plausibly more people will accept a vaccine once it's further into trials, and been proven safe in the longer term. We really, really are poor at information-sharing compared to many countries, high, middle or low income. 

I did report this the other day, but it was just breaking at the time, and it deserves a repeat. India's Serum Institute has partnered with GAVI (the Global Vaccine Alliance), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and they'll deliver 100m doses of a possible COVID-19 vaccine for just Rs 225 ($3 / £2.30 / 2.54€) per dose, for low and middle-income countries during 2021.
They are the world's biggest drugs manufacturer, and have deals already with the UK's Oxford candidate trial and the US' Novavax trial.

New Zealand and Fiji have now both gone 100 days without a locally transmitted case of COVID. It really CAN be done. Never lose hope. Congratulations to the citizens, health officials and politicians who made it happen. You are our example. (Still in awe of your balls Jacinda.)

New Zealand's success has been clearly laid out:
1. Ongoing border controls to stop Covid-19 from entering the country
2. A lockdown and physical distancing to stop community transmission
3. Case-based controls using testing, contact tracing and quarantine.

We will beat this. This is a pause, not an end. 

Some people. All in the wrong place at the wrong time:

Countries / Cases / Losses of life (some states /provinces yet to report):

USA 5,166,319 (+16,596) 165,269 (+199)

Brazil 3,018,286 (+4,917) 100,667 (+124)

India 2,212,429 (+60,409) 44,457 (+1,004)

Russia 887,536 (+5,189) 14,931 (+77)

South Africa 553,188 not yet reported today 10,210

Mexico 475,902 (+6,495) 52,006 (+695) 

Iran 326,712 (+2,020) 18,427 (+163)

UK 310,825 (+1,062) 46,574 (+8)

Saudi Arabia 288,690 (+1,428)3,167 (+37)

Pakistan 284,121 (+634) 6,082 (+14)

Bangladesh 257,600 (+2,487) 3,399 (+34)

Italy 250,566 (+463) 35,205 (+2)

Argentina 241,811 not yet reported 4,556 (+33) 

Iraq 150,115 (+2,726) 5,392 (+82)

Philippines 129,913 (+3,028) 2,270 (+61)

Indonesia 125,396 (+1,893) 5,723 (+65)

Canada 119,404 (+183) 8,981 (+5)

Qatar 112,947 (+297) 184 (+2) 

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Sources

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

https://coronavirus-staging.data.gov.uk/

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12354489

https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2815

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768351

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12354489

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/whos-most-likely-to-refuse-a-covid-19-vaccine

https://twitter.com/i/events/1291730043404615682

https://www.rferl.org/a/coronavirus-out-of-control-in-turkmenistan-medics-claim/30686406.html

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/e78ab-statement-from-the-national-public-health-emergency-team-sunday-9-august/