Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[Neiler]

New measures to be announced over here this evening - don't go far enough in my opinion.

Midnight closing time for pubs from Thursday as Cabinet agrees on measures to curb Covid-19

The government’s previous advice for people to work from home if possible is to come into force again from Friday morning.

www.thejournal.ie

 

[LinekersLegs]

The pandemic didn't increase suicides. That shouldn't be a surprise

Pandemic-related changes may have actually reduced stressors of a large portion of the population, particularly those who were already struggling with mental health issues.

www.statnews.com

 

[grandjoeblue]

New measures to be announced over here this evening - don't go far enough in my opinion.

Midnight closing time for pubs from Thursday as Cabinet agrees on measures to curb Covid-19

The government’s previous advice for people to work from home if possible is to come into force again from Friday morning.

www.thejournal.ie

Haven't businesses like nightclubs only recently reopened in Ireland?

Doesn't Ireland have one of the highest vaccination percentages in the world?

 

[efcfanwirral]

New measures to be announced over here this evening - don't go far enough in my opinion.

Midnight closing time for pubs from Thursday as Cabinet agrees on measures to curb Covid-19

The government’s previous advice for people to work from home if possible is to come into force again from Friday morning.

www.thejournal.ie

These strange punitive measures on hospitality based on very little evidence it seems, purely based on older people thinking young people drinking is fuelling the spread

It can't possibly be them gathering in private houses...never

 

[LinekersLegs]

 

[LinekersLegs]

Encouraging data

Pfizer booster shot could offer protection for 9-10 months — initial data

Leaked research conducted by Israeli hospital indicates that third shot yields more antibodies, and that these antibodies are also better at preventing disease

www.timesofisrael.com

Pfizer’s booster COVID-19 shot is effective for 9 – 10 months and maybe even longer, according to preliminary data from Israeli research leaked to Channel 12 news on Sunday.

The network said initial results from a study on antibody levels being conducted by the Tel Hashomer Hospital are set to be made public in 2 – 4 weeks, and will show that the third shot offers different, apparently improved, protection from the first two doses.

The booster shot yields more antibodies, and the antibodies are also better at preventing the disease, the channel quoted people involved with the study as saying.

 

[dublinbluenose]

Haven't businesses like nightclubs only recently reopened in Ireland?

Doesn't Ireland have one of the highest vaccination percentages in the world?

We also have little or no ICU capacity despite having one of the EU's highest per capita spend on health - lots of duplication in and of administration roles.

Also the headline is a little misleading. Its just an earlier closing time not that nightclubs are closing.

 

[Deleted member 48881]

Portuguese PM warns restrictions may return before Christmas​

Portugal’s prime minister Antonio Costa has said that authorities in one of the world’s most vaccinated nations may bring back some measures to stop the spread of Covid in the run-up to the Christmas as infections soar across Europe, Reuters reports.

The number of new cases has been gradually rising over the past month in Portugal, reaching a two-month daily high of 1,816 infections on Saturday.
The 14-day infection rate stood at 156 cases per 100,000 people on Monday, about double that in neighbouring Spain, which has a slightly lower share of its population fully vaccinated, but still well below over 500 in Germany and more than 900 in the Netherlands.

Costa told reporters on the sidelines of an event in central Portugal:

We must try to act now so we can reach the Christmas period with less fear. The later we act, the greater the risks.

Government ministers are expected to meet health experts on Friday to evaluate the situation and only then will decide on which rules to impose. Costa said measures would be only applied when “strictly necessary”.

About 86% of Portugal’s population of just over 10 million is fully vaccinated against Covid-19. It has reported about 1.1 million cases and 18,265 deaths since the pandemic began.

The country faced its toughest battle against Covid in January, forcing authorities to impose strict lockdown measures, that have since been lifted.

Costa said the government was unlikely to bring back a lockdown and that the new measures would aim to “disturb people’s lives as little as possible”.

Mask-wearing is still required in public transport, shopping malls and large gatherings. The EU digital Covid-19 certificate is required to enter nightclubs and big events, as well as to travel.

 

[grandjoeblue]

Portuguese PM warns restrictions may return before Christmas​

Portugal’s prime minister Antonio Costa has said that authorities in one of the world’s most vaccinated nations may bring back some measures to stop the spread of Covid in the run-up to the Christmas as infections soar across Europe, Reuters reports.

The number of new cases has been gradually rising over the past month in Portugal, reaching a two-month daily high of 1,816 infections on Saturday.
The 14-day infection rate stood at 156 cases per 100,000 people on Monday, about double that in neighbouring Spain, which has a slightly lower share of its population fully vaccinated, but still well below over 500 in Germany and more than 900 in the Netherlands.

Costa told reporters on the sidelines of an event in central Portugal:

We must try to act now so we can reach the Christmas period with less fear. The later we act, the greater the risks.

Government ministers are expected to meet health experts on Friday to evaluate the situation and only then will decide on which rules to impose. Costa said measures would be only applied when “strictly necessary”.

About 86% of Portugal’s population of just over 10 million is fully vaccinated against Covid-19. It has reported about 1.1 million cases and 18,265 deaths since the pandemic began.

The country faced its toughest battle against Covid in January, forcing authorities to impose strict lockdown measures, that have since been lifted.

Costa said the government was unlikely to bring back a lockdown and that the new measures would aim to “disturb people’s lives as little as possible”.

Mask-wearing is still required in public transport, shopping malls and large gatherings. The EU digital Covid-19 certificate is required to enter nightclubs and big events, as well as to travel.

156 per 100,000 people. The UK has been over double/triple that for the last 4 or 5 months in a row?

86% vaccinated too? Doesn't seem to add up.

 

[peteblue]

 

[peteblue]

New measures to be announced over here this evening - don't go far enough in my opinion.

Midnight closing time for pubs from Thursday as Cabinet agrees on measures to curb Covid-19

The government’s previous advice for people to work from home if possible is to come into force again from Friday morning.

www.thejournal.ie

Seems a bit stupid really, does Covid get more contagious after midnight. Either close or stay open, don’t prat around….

 

[LinekersLegs]

156 per 100,000 people. The UK has been over double/triple that for the last 4 or 5 months in a row?

86% vaccinated too? Doesn't seem to add up.

What the UK considers an acceptable/manageable hospitalization/death rate might not be the same in Portugal though either for practical (icu bed levels) or philosophical reasons.

 

[Tipp blue]

Don’t think we will see a lock down till January mate, but I think their is a distinct possibility we may see one, think we will see restrictive measures before Xmas, first of which will be announced this week.

The big concern is the health service at the moment, the Mater already into surge capacity and capacity in narrowing by the day, its getting like a war zone again, we may need to act to intervene to keep to protect capacity. Don’t think the political is there for another lock down, just yet, Jan would be my bet.

Don’t see people rioting in the street to be honest, youl get a looney protest or two, but Irish people won’t riot, no chance. Civil disobedience yes, riot no. People, will tolerate it with in my opinion, risks are real in terms of the health service and capacity.

You called it

Midnight closing time for pubs from Thursday as Cabinet agrees on measures to curb Covid-19

The government’s previous advice for people to work from home if possible is to come into force again from Friday morning.

www.thejournal.ie

 

[LinekersLegs]

A team at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust investigated whether portable air filtration/UV sterilisation devices could reduce airborne SARS- CoV-2 in general wards that had been repurposed as a COVID ward and a COVID Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The results are published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Dr Vilas Navapurkar, a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at CUH, who led the study, said: “Reducing airborne transmission of the coronavirus is extremely important for the safety of both patients and staff. Effective PPE has made a huge difference, but anything we can do to reduce the risk further is important.”
“Because of the numbers of patients being admitted with COVID-19, hospitals have had to use wards not designed for managing respiratory infections. During an intensely busy time, we were able to pull together a team from across the hospital and University to test whether portable air filtration devices, which are relatively inexpensive, might remove airborne SARS-CoV-2 and make these wards safer.”

The team performed their study in two repurposed COVID-19 units in Addenbrooke’s Hospital. One area was a surge ward managing patients who required simple oxygen treatment or no respiratory support; the second was a surge ICU managing patients who required ventilation either through non-invasive mask ventilation or invasive respiratory support, such as involving the use of an invasive tube and tracheostomy.
The team installed a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) air filter/UV steriliser. HEPA filters are made up of thousands of fibres knitted together to form a material that filters out particles above a certain size. The machines were placed in fixed positions and operated continuously for seven days, filtering the full volume of air in each room between five and ten times per hour.

In the surge ward, during the first week prior to the air filter being activated, the researchers were able to detect SARS-CoV-2 on all sampling days. Once the air filter was switched on and run continuously, the team were unable to detect SARS-CoV-2 on any of the five testing days. They then switched off the machine and repeated the sampling – once again, they were able to detect SARS-CoV-2 on three of the five sampling days.
On the ICU, the team found limited evidence of airborne SARS-CoV-2 in the weeks when the machine was switched off and traces of the virus on one sampling day when the machine was active.

Additionally, the air filters significantly reduced levels of bacterial, fungal and other viral bioaerosols on the both the surge ward and the ICU, highlighting an added benefit of the system.

 

[grandjoeblue]

What the UK considers an acceptable/manageable hospitalization/death rate might not be the same in Portugal though either for practical (icu bed levels) or philosophical reasons.

Seems like theres a huge gap between the two though. Can't see UK implementing additional measures until cases hit 50,000+ per day, maybe even higher than that.