A girl walks by a digital memorial to MTA staff known as “Travels Far: A Memorial Honoring Our Colleagues Lost To Covid-19” in the subway station at Union Square in New York City.
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Latest coronavirus information as of 4.45pm on 18 February
Life expectancy fell by one year in 2020, helped by the coronavirus
Life expectancy in the US fell by one year on common in the first half of 2020, in keeping with figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The covid-19 pandemic is prone to be a important contributor, consultants informed CNN. US life expectancy is now the lowest it has been since 2006. “Covid is on track to cause more deaths than cancer or heart disease,” Eileen Crimmins at the University of Southern California informed CNN.
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The fall was seen throughout ethnic teams however was most pronounced in minorities. Black Americans misplaced 2.7 years off their life expectancy, and Hispanics misplaced 1.9 years, whereas white Americans misplaced 0.8 years. Life expectancy disparities between Black and white folks in the US had been shrinking in latest years however the pandemic has reversed a few of that progress. Over the previous 40 years, life expectancy had been step by step rising in the US, other than between 2014 and 2017, when it fell by one third of a year. This has been attributed to the epidemic of opioid misuse in the nation, in addition to stagnating decline in deaths from coronary heart illness.
Other coronavirus information
New coronavirus infections in England fell by two-thirds between mid-January and the first two weeks of February. The fall exhibits “lockdown measures are effectively bringing infections down”, stated Paul Elliott at Imperial College London in a assertion. The figures come from certainly one of the largest and most authoritative surveys of infections known as REACT. Currently about one in 200 persons are contaminated in England, a related stage to September. The nationwide R quantity – the common variety of folks one particular person will infect – is estimated to be between 0.69 and 0.76, which means that infections are falling. The findings are primarily based on greater than 85,000 swab assessments from randomly chosen folks. While all areas of England confirmed declining infections, they fell most steeply in London, the South East and West Midlands, and fewer steeply in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber. This may very well be linked to more durable lockdown guidelines being launched earlier in London and the South East, the BBC reported.
Greece has agreed to a trial of permitting vacationers to enter the nation if they’ve been vaccinated towards covid-19, as soon as flights resume. The preliminary trial shall be with guests from Israel, which has given the coronavirus vaccine to a greater proportion of its inhabitants than every other nation. Greece’s tourism minister, Haris Theoharis informed BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the nation is in talks with British officers about how a related scheme would possibly work with the UK.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.41 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 110 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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The New York Times is monitoring hospital mattress occupancy in England in an interactive graphic.
Panorama: The Race for a Vaccine is a BBC documentary about the inside story of the improvement of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine towards covid-19.
Race Against the Virus: Hunt for a Vaccine is a Channel 4 documentary which tells the story of the coronavirus pandemic via the eyes of the scientists on the frontline.
The New York Times is assessing the progress of various vaccine candidates and potential drug remedies for covid-19, and rating them for effectiveness and security.
Humans of COVID-19 is a mission highlighting the experiences of key staff on the frontline in the combat towards coronavirus in the UK, via social media.
Belly Mujinga: Searching for the Truth is a BBC Panorama investigation of the demise of transport employee Belly Mujinga from covid-19, following reviews she had been coughed and spat on by a buyer at London’s Victoria Station.
Coronavirus, Explained on Netflix is a quick documentary sequence inspecting the on-going coronavirus pandemic, the efforts to combat it and methods to handle its psychological well being toll.
New Scientist Weekly options updates and evaluation on the newest developments in the covid-19 pandemic. Our podcast sees knowledgeable journalists from the journal focus on the largest science tales to hit the headlines every week – from expertise and house, to well being and the setting.
COVID-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened, and How to Stop the Next One by Debora Mackenzie is about how the pandemic occurred and why it would occur once more if we don’t do issues in a different way in future.
The Rules of Contagion is about the new science of contagion and the stunning methods it shapes our lives and behavior. The creator, Adam Kucharski, is an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and in the guide he examines how ailments unfold and why they cease.
Previous updates
A coronavirus lateral circulate machine exhibiting a constructive take a look at consequence.
Thrive Images/Alamy
17 February
UK authorities plans to ship 400,000 assessments a day to properties and workplaces
Rapid coronavirus assessments will begin being despatched out by put up subsequent month to permit twice-weekly testing of individuals with out covid-19 signs for as much as two-thirds of England’s inhabitants. The pregnancy-test-style lateral circulate assays, which search for viral proteins in a swab from the nostril or throat, produce outcomes inside half an hour, however they don’t seem to be as correct as the slower PCR assessments used in labs and clinics. The lateral circulate assessments are already getting used for screening folks with out covid-19 signs in settings comparable to healthcare, care properties and in sure faculties and universities. The variety of these assessments carried out has elevated massively in the previous month. The newest deliberate enlargement would contain finishing up greater than 400,000 assessments a day in properties and workplaces, in keeping with paperwork seen by The Times. The roll-out would start earlier than faculties open up face-to-face instructing – at the moment slated for 8 March in England – and the assessments can be despatched to schoolchildren, their households and lecturers, in addition to anybody who can’t work from home. It can be accompanied by a marketing campaign to encourage uptake provisionally known as “Are you ready? Get testing. Go.”
Using lateral circulate assessments for mass screening is controversial, as a result of they’ve a greater false-negative charge than PCR assessments. Proponents say lateral circulate assessments discover people who find themselves most infectious. Critics say they miss people who find themselves nonetheless able to transmitting the virus and who’re then falsely reassured they’re freed from the virus, so could behave extra riskily. A spokesperson for the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care stated their plans for increasing testing haven’t but been finalised.
Other coronavirus information
Four extra signs ought to be added to the record of indicators that individuals want a coronavirus take a look at, researchers say. The new signs are fatigue, headache, sore throat and diarrhoea. The current signs that point out the want for a take a look at are cough, fever or lack of style or scent. The findings come from an evaluation of customers of an app known as the Zoe Covid Symptom Study, which tracks covid-19 signs and circumstances. Using these further indicators as a set off for testing would result in many extra folks being examined who don’t have the virus, however it might additionally decide up 40 per cent extra coronavirus circumstances, the researchers have calculated.
The world’s first examine that can intentionally infect wholesome volunteers with the coronavirus will start subsequent month. Initially, 90 folks aged 18-30 may have a small dose of the virus squirted up their nostril and can then be fastidiously monitored to see how their immune system reacts and to seek out the smallest dose wanted for a delicate an infection. In future the experimenters will examine how efficient vaccines are towards present and novel variants of the virus, stated Chris Chiu at Imperial College London.
South Africa will this week develop into the first nation in the world to begin giving folks the Johnson & Johnson covid-19 vaccine. This one-shot jab is efficient at stopping extreme illness from the coronavirus variant prevalent in that nation.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.43 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 109.6 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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A girl in a retirement residence seems out at the view from her balcony
Westend61/Getty Images
16 February
Nearly two million extra folks shall be added to England’s shielding record
About 1.7 million folks in England shall be informed to protect and take further precautions from covid-19 after they had been discovered to be at critical threat of illness or demise. They can even be prioritised for covid-19 vaccination. The addition will convey the whole quantity on the UK authorities’s shielding record to nearly 4 million, all of whom are being suggested to protect till 31 March.
The folks being added to the record have been recognized utilizing an algorithm to foretell whether or not a particular person is prone to extreme illness or demise from covid-19. The algorithm incorporates info on age, ethnicity, physique mass index, different well being situations and postcode (which is indicative of the stage of deprivation). “As we learn more about covid-19, we’re continuously reviewing the evidence,” Jenny Harries, certainly one of England’s deputy chief medical officers, informed a briefing on 16 February. “It was very clear that not all of those individuals who were at risk were identified by the binary approach,” she stated. Harries stated it is going to be as much as the people to determine whether or not to observe the shielding recommendation or not.
Other coronavirus information
An estimated one in 5 folks in England had antibodies towards the coronavirus in the 28 days as much as 1 February, suggesting they’d beforehand been contaminated or had obtained a covid-19 vaccine, in keeping with the Office for National Statistics. In Wales and Northern Ireland the equal estimate was one in 7 and for Scotland it was one in 9 folks. People had been examined for antibodies as a part of the COVID-19 Infection Survey in the UK. In England, folks aged 80 and over had been more than likely to check constructive for antibodies with 40.9 per cent testing constructive, which might be attributable to the excessive vaccination charge in this group. “It could be tempting to assume that quantifying antibody levels like this tells us the level and distribution of immunity to covid-19 in the population, but we do not know what components of the immune system are required for immunity or how long protection will last,” stated Simon Clarke at the University of Reading in a assertion.
Early information from vaccinations in Israel point out that the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine prevents 94 per cent of symptomatic coronavirus infections. The examine checked out 600,000 totally vaccinated folks and the identical variety of unvaccinated folks. This is a very related stage of effectiveness to that recorded in medical trials of the vaccine. Israel’s well being fund, Clalit, used coronavirus take a look at outcomes extracted from folks’s well being information to check numbers of infections between those that had obtained two doses of the vaccine and those that hadn’t obtained any doses. There had been 94 per cent fewer infections amongst those that had been vaccinated. Nearly half of Israel’s resident grownup inhabitants have obtained a minimum of one dose of covid-19 vaccine to date.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.41 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 109 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist
Merged variants: The UK and California variants of coronavirus seem to have mixed into a closely mutated hybrid, sparking concern that we could also be coming into a new section of the covid-19 pandemic.
Genome sequencing of the coronavirus and its variants at the Centre National de Reference in France
CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP by way of Getty Images
15 February
Coronavirus variants carrying related mutations detected in the US
Seven coronavirus variants carrying related mutations have been detected in the US. All the variants, reported in a preliminary examine, have gained a mutation at the identical location in their genome and seem to belong to the identical lineage as a virus first sequenced on 1 December, which subsequently grew to become extra frequent. “There’s clearly something going on with this mutation,” Jeremy Kamil at Louisiana State University and co-author of the examine, informed the New York Times. It isn’t clear if the mutation makes the variants extra transmissible, like the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant first sequenced in the UK, however its location in a gene that influences how the virus enters human cells is regarding. “I think there’s a clear signature of an evolutionary benefit,” stated Kamil. The preliminary examine was launched on a pre-print server and has not been peer-reviewed.
Other coronavirus information
UK well being minister Matt Hancock revealed that a third of social care staff in England haven’t had a covid-19 vaccine but, regardless of being amongst the first precedence teams. “We’ll keep offering and keep contacting people who work in social care,” Hancock informed the BBC’s Breakfast present. “Obviously the uptake there is very important,” he stated. Separately, a preliminary examine discovered decrease covid-19 vaccine uptake amongst Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in England. “These findings give significant cause for concern, as ethnic minority groups (especially those working in healthcare) are at higher risk of infection with [the coronavirus] and adverse outcome from covid-19,” stated the report, which has not been peer-reviewed. More than 15 million folks have obtained a dose of covid-19 vaccine in the UK to date, in preserving with the authorities’s goal of providing a first dose of vaccine to 4 precedence teams by mid-February.
“We’ll do everything we can” to reopen faculties in England by 8 March, UK prime minister Boris Johnson has stated, including: “But we’ve got to keep looking at the data, we’ve got to keep looking at the rates of infection, don’t forget they’re still very high.” The UK authorities is predicted to set out plans for ending restrictions at a briefing on 22 February. Johnson stated the authorities’s plans shall be “cautious but irreversible”.
The first travellers required to remain at quarantine lodges in England arrived at London’s Heathrow airport on 15 February. People arriving in the UK from 33 “red list” international locations at the moment are required to enter obligatory lodge quarantine for 10 days on arrival, at their very own expense.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.4 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 108 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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A girl receives the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid19 vaccine at an NHS vaccination heart in Ealing, west London
NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
12 February
Vaccinations of individuals underneath 70 start in England subsequent week
Vaccinators in England can now begin giving covid-19 vaccines to folks aged between 65 and 69, so long as they’ve already provided jabs to older and clinically susceptible folks in the high precedence teams. “We have been told by NHS England that, in exceptional circumstances, where we have reached other groups, we can move on to cohort five [people aged 65 to 69],” an nameless physician informed the Guardian. Across the UK, 14 million folks had obtained a first dose of covid-19 vaccine as of 12 February – equal to about 20 per cent of the whole inhabitants.
Infections fall throughout the UK
Coronavirus infections seem like falling throughout the UK. The Office for National Statistics estimates that about one in 80 folks in England had covid-19 in the week as much as 6 February, down from one in 65 folks the earlier week. In Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland the equal figures for the most up-to-date week are roughly one in 85, one in 75 and one in 150 folks respectively, all down from the earlier week’s figures. The newest official estimate of the R quantity – the common variety of folks every particular person with coronavirus infects – places it between 0.7 and 0.9 for the UK as a complete, indicating the nation’s epidemic is shrinking.
Neil Ferguson at Imperial College London, who advises the UK authorities as a part of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, stated lockdowns have helped drive down circumstances. “They’re basically halving about every 17 days at the moment,” he informed Politico’s Westminster Insider podcast. Ferguson stated it may be potential to reopen a minimum of major faculties in a month’s time. “And if we continue to see then a continued decline without large outbreaks, then perhaps starting to relax other aspects of society the following month,” he added. UK prime minister Boris Johnson has stated discussions on reopening faculties will occur in the week beginning 22 February, with faculties probably capable of reopen from 8 March.
Other coronavirus information
Germany is imposing strict new border controls attributable to concern over coronavirus variants, with a ban on journey into the nation from the Czech Republic and Austria the place the B.1351 and B.1.1.7 variants of the virus had been discovered to be prevalent. Returning residents and sure important staff shall be exempt.
French well being authority Haute Autorite de Sante really helpful that individuals who have already had covid-19 and recovered ought to solely be provided a single shot of covid-19 vaccine. “The single dose of vaccine will act as a reminder,” it stated in a assertion.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.37 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 107 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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A pharmacist in France shows a field of tocilizumab, which is used in the therapy of rheumatoid arthritis
PASCAL ROSSIGNOL/REUTERS/Alamy Stock Photo
11 February
Roche’s arthritis drug tocilizumab discovered to chop threat of demise amongst sufferers with extreme covid-19
The arthritis drug tocilizumab reduces the threat of demise amongst severely unwell covid-19 sufferers, in keeping with findings from the RECOVERY trial, which has been testing a vary of potential remedies for the illness since March final year. The examine discovered that 29 per cent of covid-19 sufferers who obtained tocilizumab died inside 28 days, in comparison with 33 per cent of those that didn’t obtain the drug. Treatment with tocilizumab – offered underneath the model identify Actemra by Swiss firm Roche – additionally shortened the time to restoration and diminished the requirement for mechanical air flow. The trial included 2022 covid-19 sufferers randomly allotted to obtain tocilizumab in addition to their normal care and 2094 sufferers allotted to plain care solely, which for 82 per cent of all sufferers in the examine included therapy with a steroid, comparable to dexamethasone. Last year, dexamethasone grew to become the first drug discovered to scale back demise charges in covid-19 sufferers. The most up-to-date outcomes point out that tocilizumab supplies further advantages when used with steroids, like dexamethasone. “Used in combination, the impact is substantial,” stated Martin Landray at the University of Oxford, certainly one of the lead investigators on the trial. “After dexamethasone (steroids), this is the most significant advance in the treatment of covid,” stated Athimalaipet Ramanan at the University of Bristol in a assertion.
Other coronavirus information
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued up to date steerage saying individuals who have been “fully vaccinated” towards covid-19 are not suggested to quarantine if they’re uncovered to somebody who assessments constructive for coronavirus. This applies to individuals who have had each doses of a covid-19 vaccine a minimum of two weeks in the past. However, the CDC stated this doesn’t imply that totally vaccinated people ought to cease taking precautions and added that individuals who had their pictures three months in the past or extra ought to nonetheless quarantine if they’re uncovered, because it isn’t recognized how lengthy safety towards covid-19 lasts.
US well being officers are advising folks in the nation to think about carrying two masks on high of one another to higher shield themselves towards coronavirus an infection. A CDC report recommended carrying a material masks over a disposable surgical masks or bettering the match of a single surgical masks as methods to spice up safety.
It may take six to 9 months to supply and deploy covid-19 vaccines that work towards new variants of the coronavirus, in keeping with AstraZeneca. The UK-Swedish firm made this assertion after its present vaccine was discovered to be much less efficient towards the coronavirus variant first recognized in South Africa.
The Guardian reported that greater than 40 per cent of employees at the UK’s largest care residence supplier haven’t obtained any doses of covid-19 vaccine.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.35 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 107 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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A girl takes a coronavirus take a look at at a short-term testing facility in London, UK
Hollie Adams/Getty Images
10 February
Chills, lack of urge for food, headache and muscle ache linked to covid-19 in new examine
New signs have been linked to covid-19 in sure age teams, together with chills, lack of urge for food, headache and muscle ache, in Imperial College London’s REACT examine. The 4 new signs had been recognized by researchers via random swab testing and questioning of greater than a million folks in England, performed between June 2020 and January 2021. The researchers discovered an affiliation between testing constructive for the coronavirus and reporting any of those new signs or different signs beforehand linked to covid-19, comparable to a persistent cough, fever or a loss or change in sense of style or scent.
The extra signs folks had, the extra probably they had been to check constructive, though there was some variation in signs throughout totally different age teams. Chills had been linked with an infection throughout all age teams, whereas complications had been reported primarily in youngsters aged 5-17, urge for food loss in adults over 18 and muscle aches in these aged 18-54. Infected 5-17 year olds had been additionally much less prone to report experiencing fever, persistent cough and urge for food loss, in comparability with adults.
The REACT examine additionally checked out whether or not reported signs modified earlier than and after the B.1.1.7 variant grew to become the dominant variant in the UK. It discovered that signs had been largely related, regardless of the elevated prevalence of B.1.1.7. However, loss or change of sense of scent was much less predictive of getting covid-19 in January when B.1.1.7 accounted for about 86 per cent of infections, in contrast with November to December when it was 16 per cent. “As the epidemic progresses and new variants emerge, it’s essential that we keep monitoring how the virus affects people so that testing programmes meet changing needs,” stated Joshua Elliott, certainly one of the researchers behind the examine at Imperial College London, in a assertion.
Other coronavirus information
People in the UK are going to should “get used to the idea of vaccinating and revaccinating in the autumn as we face these new variants”, UK prime minister Boris Johnson informed parliament on 10 February. Several vaccine producers have confirmed that they’re already engaged on new variations of their covid-19 vaccines to ensure they continue to be efficient. The UK authorities just lately introduced a partnership with producer CureVac to quickly manufacture new vaccines in response to new coronavirus variants if wanted. “We believe that they may help us to develop vaccines that can respond at scale to new variants of the virus,” stated Johnson.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam stated he doesn’t assume the B.1351 coronavirus variant first recognized in South Africa “is going to be a dominant issue in the next few months”. Speaking on BBC News, Van-Tam stated 90 per cent of circumstances in the UK at the second are brought on by the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in Kent.
South Africa is contemplating promoting or exchanging its doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine, in keeping with the nation’s well being minister. Plans to begin administering the jabs had been placed on maintain this week after a small, preliminary examine indicated it could not shield towards delicate or average covid-19 brought on by the B.1.351 variant.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.34 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 107 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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Peter Ben Embarek solutions questions at the WHO-China joint examine press convention in Wuhan, China on 9 February
Xinhua News Agency/PA Images
9 February
WHO staff in China is investigating principle that coronavirus was unfold via frozen meals
The World Health Organization (WHO) mission in Wuhan, China has dominated out the chance that the coronavirus originated in a laboratory, however the staff is investigating whether or not the virus got here from frozen meals, presumably from outdoors China. The investigation staff chief Peter Ben Embarek stated the virus appears to have originated in bats, as initially thought, but it surely was in all probability transmitted to people by way of an unknown intermediate species, presumably a lifeless or frozen animal meals product. Embarek stated it’s “extremely unlikely” that the virus escaped from a lab. The WHO mission arrived in China in January and spent 4 weeks researching the origin of the coronavirus with website visits to the Huanan seafood market, initially suspected as the supply of the virus, in addition to the laboratories at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was additionally being investigated as a potential supply. It introduced its preliminary findings at a press briefing in Wuhan on 9 February.
Other coronavirus information
People arriving in England who’re required to quarantine in lodges shall be charged a payment of £1750 to cowl the value of their keep, transport and coronavirus assessments, UK well being minister Matt Hancock introduced. People who fail to quarantine face fines of as much as £10,000, whereas those that lie on their passenger locator kinds about visiting any of 33 “red list” international locations resist 10 years in jail. Hancock stated related measures are being checked out for the devolved nations. “People who flout these rules are putting us all at risk,” he informed parliament on Tuesday. He additionally confirmed that an enhanced testing regime for all arrivals would begin on 15 February, from which level all arrivals shall be required to get examined for the coronavirus on the second and eighth days of their 10-day quarantine interval.
Extra covid-19 testing will start in elements of Greater Manchester in the UK, following the discovery of 4 folks contaminated with a mutated model of the B.1.1.7 variant, first recognized in Kent. The 4 folks, from two separate households in Greater Manchester, had been discovered to be contaminated with a virus carrying the E484K mutation. The mutation is regarding, as there’s proof that some covid-19 vaccines could also be much less efficient towards the B.1.351 variant, also referred to as the “South Africa variant”, which has the identical mutation.
The NHS covid-19 app has informed 1.7 million folks in England and Wales to self-isolate since its launch in September. A preliminary evaluation by researchers at the University of Oxford and the Alan Turing Institute signifies 594,000 coronavirus circumstances have been prevented by the app. The app has had about 21.7 million downloads, though inside information suggests about 16.5 million persons are at the moment actively utilizing its contact-tracing software, in keeping with the BBC.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.32 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 106 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist
South Africa variant: South Africa paused its rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine because it won’t be efficient towards the South African B.1.351 coronavirus variant – however it’s nonetheless prone to restrict the severity of covid-19.
An individual receives a covid-19 vaccine at a drive-through vaccination centre in St Albans, UK
REUTERS/Paul Childs
8 February
Researchers are investigating methods to change covid-19 vaccines to deal with the South Africa variant and others that emerge
UK ministers say work is underway to tweak current covid-19 vaccines to deal with new variants of the coronavirus together with the B.1.351 coronavirus variant, generally known as the “South Africa variant”. On 6 February, a small, preliminary examine was reported to point out that the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine could not shield towards delicate or average covid-19 brought on by B.1.351. At least 147 circumstances of this variant have now been detected in the UK. “Our brilliant scientists and medical advisers are now working on the potential for new versions of existing vaccines to offer further protections against covid variants,” Nadhim Zahawi, minister for covid-19 vaccine deployment, wrote in the Telegraph. As a precaution, South Africa – the place the variant accounts for about 90 per cent of recent coronavirus circumstances – has put its rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on maintain. However, the examine, which has not but been revealed or peer-reviewed, was comparatively small and didn’t have a look at the affect of the vaccine on extreme illness or demise.
Sarah Gilbert at the University of Oxford, certainly one of the lead vaccine researchers on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, stated a modified model that’s efficient towards the South Africa variant may very well be able to deploy in the autumn. “What we’re seeing from other vaccine developers is that they have a reduction in efficacy against some of the variant viruses,” Gilbert informed the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on 7 February, including that though vaccines could also be much less efficient at decreasing circumstances with new variants, they nonetheless seem like protecting towards demise, hospitalisation and extreme illness. Other covid-19 vaccine producers are additionally engaged on new variations of their vaccines to ensure they continue to be efficient. “We’re very confident in all the vaccines that we are using, and I think it’s important for people to bear in mind that all of them, we think, are effective in delivering a high degree of protection against serious illness and death, which is the most important thing,” stated UK prime minister Boris Johnson, in an interview with Sky News on 8 February. “We will be continuing to study the results, the effectiveness, of the vaccine rollout.”
Other coronavirus information
All folks dwelling in the UK shall be eligible to obtain a covid-19 vaccine no matter whether or not they have the authorized proper to work and reside in the nation, the UK authorities stated on 8 February. “Coronavirus vaccines will be offered to everyone living in the UK free of charge, regardless of immigration status,” a authorities spokesperson informed Reuters. The authorities stated getting the vaccine wouldn’t set off immigration checks.
Ireland stated it would crack down on travellers returning to the UK from the Middle East by way of Ireland to keep away from just lately launched quarantine guidelines. The variety of folks travelling to Dublin from Dubai has risen since the UK added the United Arab Emirates to its journey ban record in January.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.31 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 106 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist
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People wait to obtain the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine at Copes pharmacy in Streatham, England
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
5 February
Early outcomes counsel the Oxford covid-19 vaccine works towards B.1.1.7 virus variant
Preliminary outcomes point out that the covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is efficient towards the extremely transmissible coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the UK. Researchers at the University of Oxford analysed swabs from vaccine trial individuals who had examined constructive for the coronavirus between 1 October 2020 and 14 January 2021, to find out the variant of the virus with which they’d been contaminated. They discovered related efficacy charges of the vaccine towards the B.1.1.7 variant (74.6 per cent efficient) and the authentic virus (84 per cent efficient). This is regardless of the proven fact that these contaminated with the B.1.1.7 variant produced fewer antibodies that might neutralise the virus. The outcomes had been launched on-line as a pre-print and haven’t been peer-reviewed.
Vaccine researchers are investigating methods to change current covid-19 vaccines quickly to make sure continued safety towards different new variants as nicely. “We are working with AstraZeneca to optimise the pipeline required for a strain change should one become necessary,” stated Sarah Gilbert at the University of Oxford in a assertion. “This is the same issue that is faced by all of the vaccine developers, and we will continue to monitor the emergence of new variants that arise in readiness for a future strain change,” she stated. “All viruses accumulate mutations over time, and for influenza vaccines there is a well-known process of global viral surveillance, and selection of strains for an annual update of the vaccines.”
Other coronavirus information
Coronavirus circumstances seem like falling in most of the UK. The most up-to-date outcomes from a random swab testing survey by the Office for National Statistics point out constructive assessments had been falling in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the week as much as 30 January. New infections throughout the UK as a complete are estimated to be falling by between 2 and 5 per cent every day, and the newest official estimate for the UK’s R quantity – the common variety of folks every coronavirus case infects – places it between 0.7 and 1.0. This is more than likely to symbolize the state of affairs two to 3 weeks in the past, attributable to a time lag in the information. The UK authorities stated it goals for all folks aged 50 and above to have been provided a covid-19 vaccine by May, clarifying earlier feedback by a spokesperson for UK prime minister Boris Johnson who on 4 February stated the authorities’s goal was “spring”.
Johnson & Johnson utilized for an emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration for its covid-19 vaccine. The firm introduced final week that the single-dose vaccine had an efficacy of about 66 per cent in section III trials. If authorised, it might develop into the third covid-19 vaccine authorised for emergency use in the US, after these developed by Pfizer and its accomplice BioNTech and by Moderna.
Israel introduced it will ease lockdown restrictions from 7 am native time on 7 February however will preserve its borders closed, after a slight discount in coronavirus circumstances. Almost 80 per cent of individuals over 50 in Israel have obtained a covid-19 vaccine to date. The nation is vaccinating its 9 million residents at a greater charge than every other nation.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.28 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 105 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
A health care provider prepares to manage the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, UK
NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
4 February
UK plans to check impact of giving one dose every of the Pfizer and Astrazeneca covid-19 vaccines
A UK trial is aiming to research the affect of giving folks two totally different covid-19 vaccines for his or her first and second doses. Being ready to make use of both vaccine will create extra flexibility in the supply of doses, and assist take care of disruption in provides, stated England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam. He stated combining two totally different vaccines in this fashion may additionally enhance immune responses, probably main to higher safety towards covid-19. The trial, which is being led by researchers at the University of Oxford and funded by the UK authorities’s vaccine taskforce, will recruit 820 volunteers over the age of fifty who haven’t but obtained a covid-19 vaccine. Participants will then obtain a first dose of both the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca or the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Some of them will get the identical vaccine once more for his or her second dose 4 or 12 weeks later and others will get a second dose of the different vaccine, to check the impact of mixing the two pictures and of various time intervals between doses.
UK vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi stated the nation is on monitor to fulfill its goal of vaccinating all folks in the 4 precedence teams towards covid-19 by 15 February. He informed parliament it has been “an incredible effort” that has “drawn on the hard work of so many”. Last month, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated the UK authorities goals to have given a first dose of covid-19 vaccine to all these over 70, the most clinically susceptible folks and frontline well being and social care staff by 15 February – equal to about 15 million folks. Across the UK, greater than 10.4 million folks had obtained a first dose of covid-19 vaccine as of 4 February.
Other coronavirus information
International journey was related to elevated demise charges in the worst-affected international locations throughout the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, in keeping with a examine revealed in the scientific journal BMJ Open. Tiberiu Pana at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and colleagues analysed the relationship between country-level elements – comparable to worldwide arrivals, inhabitants density and well being indicators – and the common enhance in each day deaths recorded in early 2020 throughout the 37 international locations with the highest demise charges from covid-19. They discovered that the largest enhance in demise charges was related to worldwide arrivals. An enhance of a million worldwide arrivals was related to a 3.4 per cent rise in the common each day enhance in covid-19 deaths.
A World Health Organization scientist has stated society is unlikely to return to “normal” till 2022. “I think we are going to be well into next year before we see a change – that change is likely to be caused by high coverage of the vaccines,” stated Helen Rees, who sits on the WHO’s committee for covid-19. “I think this new normal we all talk about is with us for a very long time,” Rees informed BBC Wales Live.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.27 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 104 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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Royal Navy medics put together syringes of the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Bath, UK
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP by way of Getty Images
3 February
Covid-19 vaccine towards new variants may very well be deployed quickly, says Oxford vaccine researcher
A model of the covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca that may deal with the new, extremely transmissible coronavirus variants may very well be able to deploy in about 7 months in the UK, in keeping with a researcher on the Oxford vaccine staff. “The actual work on designing a new vaccine is very, very quick because it’s essentially just switching out the genetic sequence for the spike protein,” Andrew Pollard at the University of Oxford informed the BBC. “And then there’s manufacturing to do and then a small scale study. So all of that can be completed in a very short period of time, and the autumn is really the timing for having new vaccines available for use,” he stated. Pollard stated work is already underway to replace the vaccine and enhance its efficacy towards just lately recognized coronavirus mutations, comparable to these in the variants first sequenced in the UK and South Africa.
Preliminary outcomes counsel that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine could cut back coronavirus transmission, in addition to decreasing symptomatic covid-19 and extreme sickness. UK well being minister Matt Hancock praised the findings of the examine led by researchers at the University of Oxford. The outcomes point out that two doses of the jab cut back coronavirus an infection with or with out signs by 67 per cent. They additionally counsel that a single dose of the vaccine is 76 per cent efficient at stopping symptomatic covid-19 for 3 months, with this determine rising to 82 per cent after two doses. Hancock described the outcomes as “absolutely superb” and stated they present that “vaccines are the way out of this pandemic”.
Other coronavirus information
A cellular coronavirus testing unit has been arrange in the city of Southport in England to check residents for the coronavirus and determine if they’ve the variant first recognized in South Africa. Firefighters and council employees are additionally delivering 10,000 residence testing kits to folks dwelling in the space.
Denmark introduced plans to introduce a digital “Corona-Pass”, which might permit Danish residents to show they’ve been vaccinated towards covid-19 for the functions of enterprise and leisure journey, in keeping with the nation’s finance ministry.
Israel will begin increasing its covid-19 vaccination programme to everybody over the age of 16, in keeping with its well being ministry.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.25 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 104 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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Travellers arrive at London’s Heathrow airport
Hollie Adams/Getty Images
2 February
UK science advisers really helpful introduction of journey restrictions two weeks in the past
The UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) suggested the authorities to introduce obligatory lodge quarantine for travellers arriving into the UK two weeks in the past, in keeping with minutes from a assembly on 21 January that had been leaked to the Times. On Thursday 21 January, SAGE reportedly warned that “reactive, geographically targeted” journey bans couldn’t be relied on to forestall faster-spreading coronavirus variants, comparable to these recognized in South Africa and Brazil, from reaching the UK, including that: “no intervention, other than a complete, pre-emptive closure of borders, or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival in designated facilities, irrespective of testing history, can get close to fully preventing the importation of new cases or new variants.”
A Downing Street spokesperson stated SAGE didn’t immediately advise UK prime minister Boris Johnson to shut borders. Universities minister Michelle Donelan informed Sky News that the authorities “always based our decisions on the best medical and scientific advice” and stated “the SAGE advice actually said it would probably be ineffective, in fact, to close the borders, which was the same advice that we got at the time from the World Health Organization”. Johnson introduced geographically focused lodge quarantine measures for travellers coming back from 30 international locations, together with Brazil and South Africa, final week.
UK well being minister Matt Hancock urged folks dwelling in postcodes in England singled out for enhanced coronavirus testing for the so-called South Africa variant to keep at residence except “absolutely essential”. Urgent door-to-door testing for the faster-spreading variant has been deployed after 11 circumstances with no hyperlink to international journey had been recognized in elements of England.
Other coronavirus information
Interim outcomes from section III trials counsel Russia’s covid-19 vaccine is 91.6 per cent efficient, and information on the vaccine is being submitted to the European Medicines Agency, in keeping with Kirill Dmitriev, director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The outcomes, primarily based on a section III trial together with 21,977 adults, three-quarters of whom obtained the Sputnik V vaccine, are revealed in scientific journal the Lancet. Other individuals obtained a placebo.
Sweden introduced it might not advocate the covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with AstraZeneca for folks aged over 65, hours after Poland stated it might not supply the vaccine to over 60s. Last week, medical consultants in Germany and Austria made related suggestions, citing a lack of information in this age group. The European Medicines Agency authorised the vaccine to be used in all grownup age teams throughout the European Union and June Raine, chief government of the UK Medicines and Healthcare merchandise Regulatory Agency, final week stated: “Current evidence does not suggest any lack of protection against covid-19 in people aged 65 or over. The data we have shows that the vaccine produces a strong immune response in the over-65s.”
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.24 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 103 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist
Faster-spreading variants: The faster-spreading UK coronavirus variant has acquired a mutation that can assist it evade immune safety – the identical mutation already discovered in the South African variant.
Article amended on 4 February 2021
We corrected June Raine’s identify.
A well being employee talks with a man taking a swab take a look at in Goldsworth Park, as the South African variant of the novel coronavirus is reported in elements of Surrey, in Woking, UK, 1 February 2021
REUTERS/Hannah McKay
1 February
All adults in elements of England to be examined for South Africa variant after 11 new circumstances recognized
Door-to-door testing for the so-called South Africa coronavirus variant will start in elements of England this week, after 11 circumstances with no recognized hyperlinks to journey or to earlier circumstances had been recognized in eight areas of the nation. Urgent testing of adults, no matter signs, will happen in some postcodes in Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent, Walsall, Sefton and in the London boroughs of Merton, Haringey and Ealing. “We are trying to contain this so it does not spread,” Susan Hopkins, senior medical adviser at Public Health England informed the BBC. Any newly recognized infections shall be analysed to see if they’re brought on by the extremely transmissible coronavirus variant first sequenced in South Africa.
UK well being minister Matt Hancock “has ordered an attempt at eradication of the new variant if at all possible”, with public well being officers beginning to go door-to-door in affected areas this week, in keeping with a briefing seen by the Guardian. “This is a precautionary measure,” stated Ruth Hutchinson, director of public well being for Surrey, in a assertion. “The more cases of the variant we find, the better chance we have at stopping it from spreading further,” stated Hutchinson, including: “It’s really important to say that there is currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness, so you don’t need to worry.”
Other coronavirus information
A covid-19 vaccine has now been provided to older residents at each eligible care residence in England, the NHS introduced, however vaccination charges of care residence employees are lagging behind residents. Fiona Carragher, director of analysis and influencing at Alzheimer’s Society informed the BBC she remained involved that the vaccination rollout for care residence employees “has not been nearly so effective”. In January, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated the UK authorities goals to vaccinate all these over 70, the most clinically susceptible folks and frontline well being and social care staff by 15 February – equal to about 15 million vaccinations. Across the UK, greater than 8.9 million folks had obtained a first dose of covid-19 vaccine as of 30 January.
The European Union stated AstraZeneca has agreed to produce it with 9 million further doses of its covid-19 vaccine, developed in partnership with the University of Oxford. This brings the whole variety of anticipated doses for the first quarter of this year to 40 million, which is about half of what the EU was initially anticipating. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen tweeted saying the firm would broaden its manufacturing capability in Europe, and begin delivering doses a week sooner than scheduled.
Germany’s well being minister Jens Spahn hinted that covid-19 vaccines from China and Russia may very well be used in Europe to compensate for the shortfall of doses provided by Pfizer and its accomplice BioNTech, and by Oxford/AstraZeneca. “Regardless of the country in which a vaccine is manufactured, if they are safe and effective, they can help cope with the pandemic,” Spahn informed German media on Sunday, including that any vaccine will first must be authorised by the European Medicines Agency.
Coronavirus deaths
Matthew Rowett
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.23 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 103 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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Can vaccines cease transmission?: Several research counsel that coronavirus vaccines can considerably cut back transmission of the virus, however not halt it utterly – so social distancing continues to be mandatory.
A lab technician working at Janssen Pharmaceutical in Beerse, Belgium
Virginia Mayo/AP/Shutterstock
29 January
Vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax report constructive trial outcomes
A coronavirus vaccine developed by the US agency Novavax has been proven to be 89 per cent efficient in stopping covid-19 in medical trials. The trials included individuals in the UK and South Africa, and located the vaccine to be 86 per cent efficient towards the UK variant of the virus, however solely 60 per cent efficient towards the variant in South Africa. Novavax stated it would instantly start improvement on a vaccine particularly focused to the South African variant.
Janssen, a subsidiary of US agency Johnson & Johnson, introduced that its covid-19 vaccine confirmed 66 per cent efficacy in a world trial. These outcomes are primarily based on a single dose of the vaccine, which makes it simpler to manage than the two-shot vaccines which have already been authorised. The firm has stated it would promote its vaccine on a not-for-profit foundation.
The UK has already ordered 30 million doses of the Janssen vaccine and the European Union has ordered 400 million. The UK has additionally ordered 60 million doses of the Novavax jab.
Other coronavirus information
The European Medicines Agency has really helpful the approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for all adults, which can permit mass use of the vaccine in the European Union. Yesterday, a German committee really helpful towards approving the vaccine for folks over 65 due to inadequate information in the trials, however the EMA’s consultants stated safety may very well be anticipated in this group and there’s dependable info on security. The vaccine is already the topic of a dispute between AstraZeneca and the EU over the agency’s resolution to produce fewer doses to the EU this year than initially agreed. Today, the European Commission revealed elements of its contract with AstraZeneca, which it says obliges the firm to produce the agreed volumes. The drug-maker says the contract solely obliges it to make its “best effort” to fulfill the EU demand, to not keep on with a particular timetable. The EU additionally introduced export restrictions on vaccines made inside the bloc in response to the deliberate lower in deliveries.
The coronavirus variant from South Africa – which is extra infectiousness than the authentic variant – has been detected in the US for the first time, with two circumstances confirmed in South Carolina.
The New York state authorities has launched new figures exhibiting that it undercounted deaths from covid-19 in nursing residence residents by greater than 3800. The state’s general demise toll has not elevated, however the greater tally in nursing properties has fuelled criticism that governor Andrew Cuomo didn’t do sufficient to guard these residents.
In the UK, covid-19 hospital admissions fell to 33.51 per 100,000 folks from a charge of 35.64 in the week ending 24 January, figures from the Office for National Statistics present. One in 55 folks in personal households in England examined constructive for covid-19 between 17 and 23 January, which is analogous to the earlier week. The an infection charge was roughly one in 70 in Wales, one in 50 in Northern Ireland and one in 110 in Scotland. The R quantity for the UK is between 0.7 and 1.1, in keeping with the newest estimate by the authorities’s scientific advisory group. The R quantity is the variety of folks every particular person with covid-19 will go on to contaminate.
Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist
Global vaccine distribution: While mass immunisation programmes are making speedy progress in wealthy nations, many middle-income international locations have solely simply begun roll-outs and most low-income ones will take months to get began. These delays enhance the threat of mutations resulting in variants which might be extra transmissible,and should render vaccines much less efficient in future.
Coronavirus deaths
The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.19 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 101 million, in keeping with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot greater.
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