What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 30 September

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 30 September: Top stories: 'Never too late'; World Bank funding plan; a fine for non-mask wearers in NYC.

Indicateurs Covid-19 : quand le virtuel surpasse le réel

Indicateurs Covid-19 : quand le virtuel surpasse le réel: Indicateurs non pertinents, non mesurés, en retard, mal compris, et même bidons : pour la Covid comme pour de nombreux sujets, sans données, on
ne peut rien gérer.

Virologist saying China released coronavirus worked with Steve Bannon

Virologist saying China released coronavirus worked with Steve Bannon: A group of Chinese virologists released a strange new paper on Monday that claims the new coronavirus was engineered in a Chinese lab.
One of the virologists, Li-Meng Yan, told the Fox News host Tucker Carlson it was a "man-made virus" that the Chinese government released "intentionally."

Yan and her coauthors work for groups cofounded by the former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. He directed the groups before his arrest in August.

Some members of the Trump administration have pushed a fringe theory that the virus accidentally leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, but there's no evidence of this.

Twitter Suspends Account of Chinese Virologist Who Claimed Coronavirus Was Made in a Lab: The social media profile of Dr. Li-Meng Yan, with just under 60,000 followers, went dark this week as the scientist claimed to have scientific evidence the Chinese government was involved in manufacturing the highly-infectious novel coronavirus.

A pre-print report pushed online this week by Dr. Yan and three colleagues contained a series of unsubstantiated claims about the origins of the global pandemic.

 

The Most Complicated Vaccine Campaign Ever

COVID-19: The Most Complicated Vaccine Campaign Ever - The Atlantic: The COVID-19 vaccines furthest along in clinical trials are the fastest to make, but they are also the hardest to deploy.

Forecasting the COVID-19 recession and recovery

Forecasting the COVID-19 recession and recovery: Forecasting the recession and recovery from the COVID-19 crisis is of substantial policy interest. The pandemic shock shares both similarities and differences with previous crises, such as the financial crisis of 2007-2009. This column evaluates the ability of different forecasting and nowcasting approaches to predict the COVID-19 economic shock and forecast the potential recovery path. It shows that adjusting for forecasting errors made during the financial crisis of 2007-2009 better aligns the COVID forecasts with observed data. The results suggest a slow recovery to pre-COVID-19 levels, lasting several years.

How does COVID-19 compare to other major causes of death?

How does COVID-19 compare to other major causes of death? The number of deaths from COVID-19 has passed one million in almost nine months.

The WHO has warned that could double if countries don’t take greater action to tackle the pandemic.
56 million people died in 2017, with cardiovascular disease the leading cause of death globally.

 

We may never know COVID-19’s real death rate - Here’s why:

• Experts estimate that coronavirus kills 0.5% to 1% of people infected, but this figure varies greatly with age.
• Increased testing and better treatments since the start of the pandemic, have seen the fatality fall, but there is still much unknown.

What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 29 September

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 29 September: Top stories: Deaths pass 1 million; antigen tests to be made available globally; positive tests rise in New York state.

Covid-19 : bienvenue dans un monde complètement administré

Covid-19 : bienvenue dans un monde complètement administré: La crise de la Covid-19 a ceci de merveilleux, qu’outre d’avoir permis aux dirigeants du monde entier d’assigner à résidence pendant de nombreuses semaines la totalité de leurs citoyens et de les avoir empêché de travailler librement, et cela sans opposition, elle  devient maintenant un fabuleux prétexte à faire entrer de manière coordonnée, et cette fois le monde entier, dans un monde parfaitement administré.

Police told not to download NHS Covid-19 app

Police told not to download NHS Covid-19 app - BBC News: The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has confirmed officers are being told not to install the NHS Covid-19 app on their work smartphones.

The app detects when users have been in proximity to someone with the virus.

Some officers have also been told they may not need to obey self-isolate alerts generated by the app when downloaded to their personal phones.

Lancashire Constabulary has told staff to call the force's own Covid-19 helpline instead.

The BBC contacted the North-West of England force after a source claimed the advice had been given because of "security reasons".

The source also said officers had been told not to carry their personal phones while on duty if they had activated the app.

What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 28 September

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 28 September: Top stories: India reports more than 6 million cases; Europe further tightens restrictions; China targets frozen food imports to stop the virus spreading.

Germans Disappointed By Coronavirus Tracking App: Lots of Work But Little Utility

Germans Disappointed By Coronavirus Tracking App: Lots of Work But Little Utility: Officials touted it as an important weapon in the fight against the pandemic, but there have been numerous glitches and shortcomings with Germany's corona app. Some argue it does more harm than good.

The Military's Secret to Fighting COVID-19

The Military's Secret to Fighting COVID-19: Discounting reserve units, the National Guard, and civilian contractors, the U.S. military has approximately 1.3 million active duty members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Marines. Of that lofty number, only one active member of the United States armed forces has died of COVID-19.

The six other deaths were among the reservists and the Guard, all military personnel who spend most of their times as civilians. Of those who died, only one man, an Army reservist, was under the age of 40. You’ll find that report at the Military Times.

This same article reports that the Pentagon found 38,500 cases of coronavirus among military personnel.

Allow me to repeat myself: our active military forces of 1.3 million people count one death from the coronavirus.

What might we gather from that mind-boggling statistic?

Masks are neither effective nor safe

Masks are neither effective nor safe: A review of the peer-reviewed medical literature examines impacts on human health, both immunological, as well as physiological. The purpose of this paper is to examine data regarding the effectiveness of facemasks, as well as safety data. The reason that both are examined in one paper is that for the general public as a whole, as well as for every individual, a risk-benefit analysis is necessary to guide decisions on if and when to wear a mask.

COVID-vaccine results are on the way — and scientists’ concerns are growing

COVID-vaccine results are on the way — and scientists’ concerns are growing: Researchers warn that vaccines could stumble on safety trials, be fast-tracked because of politics or fail to meet the public’s expectations.

The truth about Sweden's voluntary lockdown

The truth about Sweden's voluntary lockdown: Sweden didn’t ‘refuse’ to lockdown. Nor does it have a herd immunity strategy, although it was recognised that some level of immunity in the population could be a side effect of its approach. The false premise of that rumour is that Sweden stayed open in order to allow the virus to spread, thus promoting herd immunity. In reality, Swedish law does not allow for many types of lockdown measures. Even something as simple as closing a beach is tricky because, in general, beach access is covered by the Right of Public Access which, in turn, is enshrined in the Swedish constitution. The limitations of Swedish law partly explain why the parliament passed temporary amendments to the Communicable Diseases Act in the spring, which would have allowed for the closure of shops and other commercial spaces (this provision expired at the end of June without being used).

So Sweden did not refuse to lockdown; rather it was not really an option. The Public Health Agency also believed that voluntary measures would work as well as compulsory ones and that people could be trusted to act responsibly. However, Swedes are not inherently more responsible than other people. But by repeatedly and consistently telling us that we were responsible and could be trusted to use our judgement, the government and authorities performed an extremely effective Jedi-mind trick: we were told that we were responsible, so most of us were responsible.

Digital Tools for COVID-19 Contact Tracing: Identifying and Mitigating the Equity, Privacy, and Civil Liberties Concerns

Digital Tools for COVID-19 Contact Tracing: Identifying and Mitigating the Equity, Privacy, and Civil Liberties Concerns: This paper outlines the equity, privacy, and civil liberties risks posed by digital tools as well as safeguards that policymakers can adopt to mitigate these concerns. Further, the paper recommends that policymakers take affirmative steps to address vulnerable populations that are unlikely to be reached by digital apps, partner with developers and community organizations, promote public education campaigns when deploying digital tools, take steps to close the digital divide, and pass comprehensive privacy legislation with effective enforcement mechanisms.

Misinformation and vaccine acceptance

Misinformation and vaccine acceptance: In this report, the authors assess respondents’ acceptance of false claims circulated online since the beginning of the pandemic. Along with this, they also explored some of the factors associated with higher or lower likelihood of believing false claims. The authors then took this information and considered the association between believing false information about COVID-19 and vaccine acceptance.

Between 7 percent and 22 percent of respondents indicate that they believe each false claim that was asked about in the survey.

Coronavirus apps were supposed to be the answer to COVID-19. They are not

Coronavirus apps were supposed to be the answer to COVID-19. They are not: At the heart of the problem is trust.

What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 24 September

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 24 September: Top stories: Russia has highest daily increase since July, Finland warns pandemic expanding at 'alarming' rate, WHO urges more action to fight disinformation.

Here's what Google trends can tell us about the spread of coronavirus

Here's what Google trends can tell us about the spread of coronavirus: No one—not even Google—is suggesting that Google Trends is proven enough to replace existing epidemiological models. Instead, the fact that the data are now public means that researchers can continue to evaluate how it stacks up to the real world.

In terms of fighting Covid-19, Google Trends might be most useful to scientists figuring out the disease’s secondary health impacts.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: Real-time surveillance using Google Trends

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: Real-time surveillance using Google Trends.: In the wake of COVID-19, the capacity to track emerging trends in mental health symptoms and needs will guide public health responses at multiple ecological levels. Using Google Trends to track population-level mental health-related Google searches in the United States, this investigation identified pandemic-associated spikes in searches related to anxiety symptoms and remote treatments for anxiety, such as deep breathing and body scan meditation. As other discernable population-level changes in mental health have yet to emerge, continued surveillance is warranted.

Managing the COVID-19 infodemic

Managing the COVID-19 infodemic: Promoting healthy behaviours and mitigating the harm from misinformation and disinformation: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the first pandemic in history in which technology and social media are being used on a massive scale to keep people safe, informed, productive and connected. At the same time, the technology we rely on to keep connected and informed is enabling and amplifying an infodemic that continues to undermine the global response and jeopardizes measures to control the pandemic.  

An infodemic is an overabundance of information, both online and offline. It includes deliberate attempts to disseminate wrong information to undermine the public health response and advance alternative agendas of groups or individuals. Mis- and disinformation can be harmful to people’s physical and mental health; increase stigmatization; threaten precious health gains; and lead to poor observance of public health measures, thus reducing their effectiveness and endangering countries’ ability to stop the pandemic.

How disinformation could be clouding the true pandemic picture in Africa

Corona-free? How disinformation could be clouding the true pandemic picture in Africa: Of the roughly 28.6 million cases of COVID-19 logged by the World Health Organization, only 1.1 million are in Africa, 4 percent of the global total. The relatively low number of cases, along with a similarly low figure for coronavirus deaths, has researchers stumped. But despite the coronavirus’s relatively light touch so far, the continent faces a problem familiar throughout the world: pandemic misinformation.

China has almost eliminated Covid-19. What can the world learn?

China has almost eliminated Covid-19. What can the world learn? Countries around the world need to work out the right balance between restricting the virus and restricting freedoms

No Second Lockdown Without A Full Parliamentary Debate

Abaixo-assinado : No Second Lockdown Without A Full Parliamentary Debate: Holding a parliamentary debate before a second lockdown is vital to maintaining public confidence in our politicians and support for their actions.

The Vaccine Protocols

The Vaccine Protocols: We now have the official clinical trial designs for the three biggest and most advanced coronavirus vaccine trials: Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca. Now, as for you, J&J, Novavax, Merck, and all the others that are pushing into efficacy trials as fast as possible – don’t think for a moment that you won’t be expected to do the same. But this is a good start. So how do these trials differ?

The NHS Test and Trace app’s biggest flaw? Botched QR codes

The NHS Test and Trace app’s biggest flaw? Botched QR codes: England and Wales’ contact tracing app is finally set to launch nationally tomorrow

Face shields ineffective at trapping aerosols, says Japanese supercomputer

Face shields ineffective at trapping aerosols, says Japanese supercomputer: Plastic face shields are almost totally ineffective at trapping respiratory aerosols, according to modelling in Japan, casting doubt on their effectiveness in preventing the spread of coronavirus.

Why Modeling the Spread of COVID-19 Is So Damn Hard

Why Modeling the Spread of COVID-19 Is So Damn Hard
: Too many of the COVID-19 models have led policymakers astray. Here’s how tomorrow’s models will get it right

Charting the pandemic over the next 12 months — and beyond

Charting the pandemic over the next 12 months — and beyond: In this project, STAT describes 30 key moments, possible turning points that could steer the pandemic onto a different course or barometers for how the virus is reshaping our lives, from rituals like Halloween and the Super Bowl, to what school could look like, to just how long we might be incorporating precautions into our routines.

Plano da Saúde para o Outono-Inverno 2020-21 - DGS

Plano da Saúde para o Outono-Inverno 2020-21: O Ministério da Saúde apresentou hoje o Plano da Saúde para o Outono-Inverno 2020-21, uma estratégia que visa dar resposta não só à pandemia, mas a todas as necessidades em saúde da população.

COVID-19: aumenta número de internados mas mantém-se proporção face aos ativos

COVID-19: aumenta número de internados mas mantém-se proporção face aos ativos: Até 20 de setembro de 2020, foram registados um total de 68 577 casos confirmados da doença em Portugal. Destes, 45 596 (ou seja, 66.5%), já recuperou, havendo um total de 1912 óbitos, o que equivale a 2.8% do total de infetados.

COVID-19 data scandal prompts tweaks to elite journal’s review process

COVID-19 data scandal prompts tweaks to elite journal’s review process: The now-retracted study, published in May, relied on data from the small Chicago-based company Surgisphere, which purported to have collected and analyzed patient records from hundreds of hospitals around the world. But the paper’s central claim—that antimalarial drugs increased COVID-19 patients’ risk of death—quickly unraveled as observers questioned the study’s large sample size and details about patient demographics and dosing. The Lancet retracted the paper when Surgisphere declined to make underlying data available for an independent audit. The same day, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) retracted another study using Surgisphere data, which found that certain blood pressure drugs didn’t increase risk of death from COVID-19.

Top stories on the coronavirus pandemic, 22 September

COVID-19: Top stories on the coronavirus pandemic, 22 September: Top stories: South Korea flu vaccine troubles; grim milestones for Mexico and the US; restrictions are relaxed in Bogota; Disneyland Hong Kong reopens.

Income inequality and the welfare state during COVID-19

Income inequality and the welfare state during COVID-19: The economic crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic may disproportionately affect the most vulnerable segments of the population, creating serious challenges for social cohesion and political stability. This column constructs a high-frequency measure of income inequality using anonymised data from bank records on the wages and public transfers of over three million account holders in Spain. Wage inequality increased by almost 30% during the COVID-19 crisis, mainly due to job losses and wage cuts for low-income workers. However, public transfers were very effective at offsetting most, though not all, of this increase.

Experts explain the two most common and confusing questions about Covid-19

Experts explain the two most common and confusing questions about Covid-19: Thirty-four percent of Inverse's survey respondents thought the public was still the most confused about mask effectiveness. That was followed by 26 percent of people, who believed that the asymptomatic spread of the virus was especially perplexing.

Making an apocalypse out of a pandemic

Making an apocalypse out of a pandemic: The great 20th-century pandemics, comparable in so many ways to their 21st-century heir, accounted for myriad private tragedies. Yet, unlike this novel coronavirus, their public, political significance was negligible. They were treated as public-health challenges, problems for clinicians, virologists and epidemiologists. And there were arguments at the time that more should have been done to mitigate their harm. But there was no sense of a world ending. No talk of a new normal. No attempt, that is, to reorganise the entirety of societal life around the threat they posed.

Open letter: We, Belgian doctors and health professionals...

Open letter: We, Belgian doctors and health professionals, wish to express our serious concern about the evolution of the situation in the recent months surrounding the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We call on politicians to be independently and critically informed in the decision-making process and in the compulsory implementation of corona-measures. We ask for an open debate, where all experts are represented without any form of censorship. After the initial panic surrounding covid-19, the objective facts now show a completely different picture – there is no medical justification for any emergency policy anymore.

The current crisis management has become totally disproportionate and causes more damage than it does any good.

We call for an end to all measures and ask for an immediate restoration of our normal democratic governance and legal structures and of all our civil liberties.

A new approach to scientific collaboration can beat COVID-19

A new approach to scientific collaboration can beat COVID-19: A number of challenges have disrupted efforts to create a coordinated and unified scientific response. Universities and researchers are struggling to engage across borders due to heightened political tensions worldwide. Conspiracy theories about the origin and spread of the novel coronavirus have accentuated this tension and stoked dangerous nationalist trends. Vaccine development has itself become a national competitive race for commercial ascendance. Ideological differences are trumping the value of data exchange and research partnerships. Despite earlier calls for “science diplomacy” in the wake of the pandemic, in reality the idea has received scant attention.

TRUST IN COVID-19 VACCINES ALIGNS WITH POLITICAL PARTIES

NEW STUDY FINDS TRUST IN COVID-19 VACCINES ALIGNS WITH POLITICAL PARTIES: supporters of Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci were significantly more likely to get vaccinated than backers of President Donald Trump

Sistema de Informação dos Certificados de Óbito

SICO - eVM: Os dados apresentados são atualizados automaticamente a cada 10 minutos com base na informação recolhida pelo Sistema de Informação dos Certificados de Óbito (SICO). São dados provisórios e as atualizações efetuadas podem afetar qualquer dia dos dois últimos anos apresentados.

The Covid hysteria is getting worse

The Covid hysteria is getting worse: we continue to be fed a steady diet of Covid hysteria, which amounts to government-sponsored terrorism. After all, what is terrorism? The instillation of pervasive social fear to achieve political ends. Sounds like this administration’s Covid strategy in a nutshell. Good gracious, and I thought governments were meant to protect us from terrorism.

What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 18 September

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 18 September: More than 170 countries join WHO's global vaccine plan; one in seven COVID cases is among health workers; global confirmed cases pass 30 million.

WHO's own document recommending face masks said there was very little evidence for them

WHO's own document recommending face masks said there was very little evidence for them: At the present time, the widespread use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not yet supported by high quality or direct scientific evidence.

Gauss and Cellux announce first full at-home rapid coronavirus test

Gauss and Cellux announce first full at-home rapid coronavirus test: Gauss, a computer vision startup, and Cellex, a biotech company that works on diagnostics, are announcing the first rapid COVID-19 test that can be fully performed by people at home without involving a laboratory.

What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 17 September

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 17 September: Top stories: Record daily jump in India; warning as flu season looms; call to protect health workers.

How COVID-19 can damage the brain

How COVID-19 can damage the brain: Some people who become ill with the coronavirus develop neurological symptoms. Scientists are struggling to understand why.

Bill Gates says hoarding Covid-19 vaccines could double deaths

Bill Gates says hoarding Covid-19 vaccines could double deaths: Wealthy countries across the globe have preemptively bought nearly 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines while they’re still in the research pipeline. The US has bought 800 million doses. The UK has bought 340 million, or roughly 5 doses for every person within the country. Japan and the European Union have also purchased hundreds of millions of doses.

That degree of preparation is meant to speed the delivery of vaccines and avert more deaths. But a new report from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation suggests that inequity in these pre-orders will actually increase global mortality from the virus.

These 15 innovations are helping us fight COVID-19

These 15 innovations are helping us fight COVID-19: UpLink is on a mission to surface and accelerate innovators from around the world. Here are the first UpLink COVID cohort who have answered the call:

What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 16 September

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 16 September: Top stories: IEA cuts oil demand forecast; the WHO's key messages to the world; India passes 5 million confirmed cases.

Five good reasons not to wear a mask

Five good reasons not to wear a mask: Here are five good reasons not to wear a mask, numbered in reverse to indicate an ascending order of importance: 

5. No evidence masks reduce community transmission; 

4. Masks may do harm; 

3. Masks signal compliance with the ongoing public health tyranny; 

2. Masks are de-humanising; 

1. Masks perpetuate the elevated levels of fear.

COVID-19 has cut progress on UN Sustainable Development Goals

Gates: COVID-19 has cut progress on UN Sustainable Development Goals: Every year, the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers Report on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is full of good news. Not this year.

Chinese virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan publishes report claiming COVID-19 was made in a lab

Chinese virologist Dr Li-Meng Yan publishes report claiming COVID-19 was made in a lab: A virologist who fled China after studying the early outbreak of COVID-19 has published a new report claiming the coronavirus likely came from a lab.

Researchers highlight ‘questionable’ data in Russian coronavirus vaccine trial results

Researchers highlight ‘questionable’ data in Russian coronavirus vaccine trial results: A group of researchers have expressed concern about repetitive patterns of data in a paper describing early-phase clinical trials of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine — the first jab worldwide to be approved for widespread use.

In an open letter to the study authors, who published the trial results this month in The Lancet, the researchers highlight values that seem to be duplicated, and warn that the paper presents its results only as box plots without providing a detailed breakdown of the data on which they are based.

What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 15 September

COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 15 September: Top stories: India nears 5 million cases; new restrictions in France; progress on global health facing major setbacks.

COVID-19 arrived on a meteorite, claims Elsevier book chapter

COVID-19 arrived on a meteorite, claims Elsevier book chapter: We’ve heard plenty of bizarre theories about the novel coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, from its having been manufactured in a Chinese lab to its links to 5G cell technology. But this one wins the prize for being, as one Twitter user said, “batshit.”

Update COVID-19 safety rules, say researchers

Chart of the day: Update COVID-19 safety rules, say researchers: Current COVID-19 social distancing rules are too rigid and need to reflect real-life risks better, say Oxford and MIT researchers.
They have broken-down situations into high- and low-risk categories – including speaking and singing.
In some situations we should probably relax restrictions, they advise, and in others, increase them.
The researchers say airflow is also a major factor in dispersing infectious droplets carrying the virus.

Mapping global trends in vaccine confidence and investigating barriers to vaccine uptake: a large-scale retrospective temporal modelling study

Mapping global trends in vaccine confidence and investigating barriers to vaccine uptake: a large-scale retrospective temporal modelling study: There is growing evidence of vaccine delays or refusals due to a lack of trust in the importance, safety, or effectiveness of vaccines, alongside persisting access issues. Although immunisation coverage is reported administratively across the world, no similarly robust monitoring system exists for vaccine confidence. In this study, vaccine confidence was mapped across 149 countries between 2015 and 2019.