COVID-19 Coronavirus UK and World News Weekend Update 19th / 20th March 2022
No UK daily statistics at weekends. .
World: 470,427,307 reported cases and 6,099,458 losses of life.
Scientists in Europe have now identified 2 different Delta/Omicron 'Deltacron' hybrid or 'recombinant' variants, and another variant which is a mix of the 2 different BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron Variants. None are considered to be any extra cause for concern - they don't seem to have, and shouldn't have, any special features - and we already know what Delta and Omicron are like.
They occur when a single person catches both at once, and the 2 viruses both enter a single cell at the same time. It's a rare thing, but when we have 3 million people in the UK catching COVID each week, rare things happen more often.
Around 5 million UK care home residents, people who aged 75 or over, and immunosuppressed people aged 12+ will soon be offered a Spring Booster Jab. The first 600,000 invitations will go out this week. People aged 12-17 get Pfizer and 18+ Pfizer or Moderna.
In the largest trial to date, Ivermectin de-wormer yet again failed to save people with COVID in Peru. The trial included 1418 patients, average age 58 years and 944 (66.6%) were male. The median length of hospitalization was 7 (4–13) days, and the mortality rate was 46% (patients in Peru who arrive at hospital are generally already very unwell, and their mortality rate has been horrific.)
"Treatment with ivermectin (HR 1.44; 95%CI 1.18–1.76) and azithromycin (HR 1.25; 95%CI 1.03–1.52) were associated with higher mortality. Treatment with corticosteroids at low to moderate doses was associated with lower mortality (HR 0.56 95%CI 0. 37–0. 86) in comparison to no steroid use."
So for every patient who would have died, it seems with Ivermectin 1.44 died.
On the opposite side of the coin, giving a small dose of corticosteroids such as Dexamethasone made a huge positive difference, and almost halved the number of people who died.
A lot of people have seemed desperate for Ivermectin to work, and prepared to put a lot of money into proving it. It's a real shame they've failed, because it's cheap and readily available. It is however great for internal parasites, although it'll give a lot of users a tummyache. And as a reminder, if you still believe Ivermectin is the drug you need, don't take doses designed for any animal other than a human.
This week's Friday Report from the COVID Actuaries Response Group talks about recent studies which have shown that Omicron survives for longer on surfaces. In a study from Honk Kong, Omicron was recovered alive from smooth surfaces (stainless steel, polypropylene sheets and glass) after 7 days, whereas original wild COVID has rarely been recovered after 4 days.
It could help explain why we just had that Omicron case in China which appears to have arrived through the mail...
That world keeps turning, and there are a few news stories squeezing through in between war and COVID. Notably It’s 70 degrees warmer than normal in Eastern Antarctica. Yes, 70. Seven zero. SEVENTY degrees warmer than usual. That's a staggering amount, and apparently until it happened, no-one believed it was possible...
A freak weather event to do with air flow and condensing ocean water has caused a heatwave which has lasted a few days, and instead of being -45 to -51 C (-50 to -60 degrees F) it's been closer to -18 to -12 C (zero or 10 degrees F).
I think we are very lucky it stayed above freezing, but obviously scientists are concerned this may become something that happens more often... (climate change just reminding us it's still there...)
Remember the Avian Flu? Well, fairly manageable outbreaks have continued all Winter and into Spring, and now UK chickens have had to be kept indoors for too long to officially count as 'free range'. Over 16 weeks inside and they become "barn eggs". Just as with human flu, Avian Flu tends to ease off with warmer weather, so the hope is that they can be allowed outside soon, safely.
If an outbreak occurs in any flock or population, the fatality rate is high, and the entire group are culled to protect wild birds, so being indoors is a better option for the birds. Until the situation resolves, 'Free Range Eggs' will not be available to buy.
"More than two million items of medical supplies have been flown to Ukraine from the UK.
Vital medicines, wound packs and intensive care equipment donated by NHS England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been flown to the country on 10 flights."
UK Government Department of Health and Social Care.
All refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and arriving in the UK are entitled to free NHS medical care - including at least 3 COVID jabs if you are an adult or especially vulnerable...
I hope you took some time away from news if you could. It has been a gorgeous weekend weatherwise here, and we do have some warm weather forecast. Fresh air and sunshine are our friends. They are free, and they are still our best defence against COVID. They are also very good for the soul... Grab some when you can.
Back Tuesday. I wish everyone peace...
Some people. All floating on a tiny piece of rock in a great big sky.
Countries / Cases / Losses of life (since midnight GMT. In larger countries, such as the USA and India, some states /provinces have yet to report today):
S. Korea 9,373,646 (+334,708) 12,428 (+327)
Germany 18,664,874 (+72,112) 127,432 (+24)
Italy 13,861,743 (+60,415) 157,785 (+93)
Japan 6,061,939 (+45,733) 27,045 (+126)
Australia 3,903,113 (+40,001) 5,728 (+7)
Austria 3,466,203 (+37,192) 15,409 (+22)
Netherlands 7,511,397 (+34,823) 21,793 (+8)
Russia 17,582,692 (+31,035) 364,492 (+434)
Thailand 3,353,969 (+24,996) 24,249 (+84)
Turkey 14,693,917 (+13,081) 97,267 (+85)
Greece 2,788,654 (+12,462) 26,937 (+44)
New Zealand 483,222 (+11,997) 151 (+7)
Chile 3,392,978 (+10,472) 44,518 (+78)
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Sources:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-spring-booster-jabs-to-be-offered-to-millions-of-vulnerable-people-in-england-12570906
https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1505138376218972167?t=YRAnQ8CbvOXDoU2qYFgfLg&s=19
https://twitter.com/FrankLuntz/status/1505205596068331521?t=xPknMhrFTvyM-XYWYMkTUg&s=19
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0264789#sec016
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/ivermectin-didn-t-curb-covid-19-hospitalizations-in-largest-study-to-date.html
https://twitter.com/AdeleGroyer/status/1505106413340798990?t=KpDyVQ59oyfpDeXMUrRw6Q&s=19
https://covidactuaries.org/2022/03/18/the-friday-report-issue-63/
Image in Prague
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1505033676152885255?t=U9ao9p-7LXIRJW5ecvLzng&s=19
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/it-e2-80-99s-70-degrees-warmer-than-normal-in-eastern-antarctica-scientists-are-flabbergasted/ar-AAVfk4m?ocid=uxbndlbing
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/18/free-range-eggs-unavailable-britain-avian-flu
2 million
https://twitter.com/DHSCgovuk/status/1505574894683234313?t=k-HjgICm-3s9SQuTHoB99Q&s=19
Ukrainian news lady
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1505205371878899713?t=e1oRdi97Dut4S5AWfEmEmQ&s=19
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