Will BoJo make it worse or better in just over 4 hours time with his "televised address"?

He's going for the East Enders audience. His ratings must have been falling.

It is a massive political stunt by the ____

overwhelmed medical staff, created a shortage of oxygen and led to a directive to ambulance crews to stop transporting patients they can’t revive in the field
the county also told ambulance crews not to provide supplemental oxygen to patients whose oxygen saturation levels drop below 90%.

You know they are all crises actors

Well the New Year weekend was even more disruptive to getting numbers reported than the Xmas weekend was, but I should get a proper race report in finally now that things get back to normal.

Since my last update the world's daily case and death counts reached new highs settings new records of 760,601 and 15,191 respectively and at the end of the last reporting period saw those totals pass 86.8 million and 1,874,400. :-(

The U.S. has now passed the combined case totals of India (2nd), Brazil (3rd) and Russia (4th) with over 21,578,600 infections being reported while passing 365,600 reported deaths (will they add 5th place to that next?). :-O

The U.K. also set a new daily case record of 60,916 and have knocked France out of 5th place, they also look determined to reclaim 5th spot in the death count from Italy as Colombia knocked Argentina from 11th spot on that same grim list.

South Africa moved past the Ukraine to take up 16th place, Canada removed Iraq from 25th while there's no stopping those Swedish as they knocked Switzerland out of 30th, Israel slipped past Morocco for 32nd and Austria took 35th from Saudi Arabia. The U.A.E. jumped over Croatia and Ecuador to land in 45th, Bolivia nudged Armenia out of 55th while Lithuania did the same to Qatar and Moldova to claim 59th as Tunisia put in a mighty leap over Greece, Qatar and Moldova to land in 60th, Egypt passed Guatemala, Greece and Palestine to gab 63rd.

Slovenia leapt past Honduras, Ethiopia and Myanmar to take over 68th, Malaysia jumped over Bosnia/Herzegovina and Venezuela to claim 72nd while Ireland hurdled over Bahrain, Kenya, Algeria, Libya and Paraguay to land in 75th, Nigeria passed China for 81st, Albania bumped Singapore out of 87th as El Salvador took 93rd from Luxembourg and Estonia passed Australia to claim 99th place.

Meanwhile in the regional case race North America has claimed 1st place back from Europe by just 900 cases and here down under our COVID-19 vaccine roll-out has been brought forward by 2 weeks from late March to early March, but no actual dates have been revealed.

Anyhow I should be able to get back to more regular updates again, at least until Easter gets here.

Covid-19 has exposed it as sluggish when required to respond to rapidly shifting realities.

Sadly, they're not alone in that.
Vaccine stragglers
Funny thing though, They cut budgets & manpower, but when bureaucrats & politicians cock up big time, who do they turn to straighten their knickers?

There is a problem in the US if the new strain has got a foothold over there, and it probably has.
The UK spotted it because has sequenced 209,038 coronavirus genomes so far, nearly two-thirds of all those sequenced in the world.
The US with a population five times larger has sequenced 58,560 genomes so far.

The new strain is about 50% more spreadable than all the previous strains.

If you can get there. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/health/coronavirus-variant-tracking.html

2 quotes, one from a doctor & one from a patient.
Shame those who flout the rules are not shown just how much their stupidity is costing.

That could have very serious consequences, she adds. "If we get to that point, we can't offer anyone ICU, not just Covid patients, but anyone who has a traffic accident or a heart attack or a stroke - whatever it is, to take them in."

"People are moaning and groaning. Even in A&E. They need to get a life. Don't be idiots, forget about meeting your mate, stay home. No-one is invulnerable."

About a week...

Even though the numbers arn't complete for the last reporting period the world set another new daily case record of well over 781,400 taking that total past 87.6 million along with over 1.89 million deaths. :-(

The U.S. also set itself a new daily case record of over 260,900 taking their total past 21,857,600 along with well over 369,900 deaths. :-O

The U.K. (5th) also set itself another new daily case record of over 62,300 taking their total past 2,836,800 while reclaiming 5th place on the death list, Germany also took 13th place from Peru on that same grim list. :-(

Anyhow at the other end of the case race, Vietnam is now down to 171st place while New Zealand is down to 167th and Australia looks like it'll keep 100th for several days yet before being hit by a wave of others.

Nigeria took 80th place from Bahrain, Malaysia removed Honduras from 71st while Slovenia swept Oman from 67th, Egypt knocked Qatar out of 62nd as Tunisia took 60th from Moldova, Panama bumped Nepal from 40th, Canada kicked Chile out of 24th and Romania took over 22nd from Belgium.

Well that's the update for today.

Two more life-saving Covid drugs discovered

Two more life-saving drugs have been found that can cut deaths by a quarter in patients who are sickest with Covid.
The anti-inflammatory medications, given via a drip, save an extra life for every 12 treated, say researchers who have carried out a trial in NHS intensive care units.

...

As well as saving more lives, the treatments speed up patients' recovery and reduce the length of time that critically-ill patients need to spend in intensive care by about a week.
Both appear to work equally well and add to the benefit already found with a cheap steroid drug called dexamethasone.
Although the drugs are not cheap, costing around £750 to £1,000 per patient, on top of the £5 course of dexamethasone, the advantage of using them is clear - and less than the cost per day of an intensive care bed of around £2,000, say experts.

...

In the REMAP-CAP trial carried out in six different countries, including the UK, with around 800 intensive care patients:

Nearly 36% of intensive care Covid patients receiving standard care died
The new drugs reduced that by a quarter, to 27%, when given to patients within 24 hours of them entering intensive care

The last reporting period saw the world set another new daily case record of over 820,790 (though some have still to report yet) taking that total past 88.48 million along with passing 1,905,500 deaths. :-(

Now for the latest moves in the case race, Norway took 90th place from Afghanistan as Ireland jumped over Honduras and Ethiopia into 71st, Lithuania passed Kuwait to claim 58th while Denmark swept Costa Rica from 53rd and Lebanon became the 50th country to pass 200,000. Portugal blew Morocco out of 33rd while Sweden claimed 29th from the Philippines (before they go off for their 4 day weekend)as Iraq became the 26th to pass 600,000 and the U.S. set itself another new daily case record of 274,190 to take them well past 22.1 million along with over 374,000 deaths.

That'll do for today's update, but stay tuned for more.

What some people do for money.
Despicable
Just a thought...
...what has the City of London police got to do with this incident?
The main force too busy in hiding waiting for unsuspecting cashcows?

"We can't be sure where he caught Covid, but he had an eye appointment at the Royal Glamorgan hospital on 21 December.
"A few days later, he became ill and at Prince Charles hospital, he tested positive for Covid-19."

Just a thought, maybe time to return all services in-house rather than outsource.
Aberfan survivor dies from Covid

"We can't be sure where he caught Covid, but he had an eye appointment at the Royal Glamorgan hospital on 21 December.
"A few days later, he became ill and at Prince Charles hospital, he tested positive for Covid-19."

Just a thought, maybe time to return all services in-house rather than outsource.
Aberfan survivor dies from Covid

Yes.

See: https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=84710&postid=2065297

Greedy profit really is incompatible with patient care.


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Here in the England there is talk about the current restrictions being further tightened.....
But, there is a fair number of people who are not even following the spirit of the current restrictions, such as over-sized groups gathering, gyms being open, people travelling stupid distances to get exercise. Perhaps it is time for the current restrictions to be enforced with a uniform degree of rigour?

Or will the bleating hearts claim that wearing masks, not gathering in over-sized groups, not going to the gym, staying local to get one's exercise etc. is an infringement of their civil liberties...

(As a bit of a guide, Scotland has set a limit of travelling a maximum of five miles for anything other than essential purposes - and there is a list of said essential purposes which does not include going for a walk, walking the dog, going to the gym.....)

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Further ammunition for the anri-vaxxers, who knows.

Originally, advice in the UK was that after having the first dose of the vaccine, people would need the second dose three weeks later.
But this later changed to 12 weeks on advice of the UK's chief medical officers.

However...

Pfizer said that it had tested the vaccine's effectiveness only when the two doses were given up to 21 days apart from one-another.

There's too much B/S in the air regarding Covid.
With the new variant spreading as much as 50-70% faster, time for someone to step up to the plate & sort out once & for all!
Nurse hit by Covid, 3 weeks after 1st jab

The World Health Organisation (WHO) however, does not recommend the UK's approach

It seems WHO knows.

Edited for spelling error.

Time now finally for the UK to get serious about not spreading COVID further and deadly faster?

And why oh so far and long too late??...


Covid-19: Act like you've got the virus, government urges
wrote:

People in England are being told to act like they have got Covid as part of a government advertising campaign aimed at tackling the rise in infections.

Boris Johnson said the public should "stay at home" and not get complacent...

... "With over 1,000 people dying yesterday it's more important than ever everyone sticks to rules," a source told the BBC.

As cases and deaths soar, the government is releasing its advertising campaign, which will be shared across television, radio, newspapers and on social media...

... Prof Michie, who sits on a subcommittee of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, also said the current restrictions were "too lax".

"When you look at the data, it shows that almost 90% of people are overwhelmingly adhering to the rules despite the fact that we're also seeing more people out and about," ... However, she said in comparison to the first lockdown last spring the restrictions were less strict, with more people allowed to go out to work and children's nurseries open, meaning public transport is busier ... Combined with the more transmissible new variant, she said "we should have a stricter rather than less strict lockdown than we had back in March"...

... The Office for National Statistics recently estimated as many as one in 30 Londoners has coronavirus...

... He warned the NHS had still not seen the impact of the rise in cases following the relaxation of restrictions over Christmas "so it is going to get a lot, lot worse unless we really get this under control".

Covid: Lockdown needs to be stricter, scientists warn
wrote:

... Prof Robert West said the current rules were "still allowing a lot of activity which is spreading the virus"...

Meanwhile, in stark contrast, has China learnt more quickly than others for what is needed to quell the COVID pandemic?

Covid: China places 11m under lockdown after outbreak in northern city
wrote:

... Residents are banned from leaving the city and schools have also been closed.

More than 5,000 testing sites have been set up so every resident can be tested.

The new figures are the highest China has seen in more than five months. The country has been able to contain such outbreaks by immediately taking tough action...

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

NZ Herald - Covid 19 coronavirus update: 31 new cases in managed isolation

UK strain

The ministry said there are 19 cases in total - in people in managed isolation facilities - which are linked to the rapidly spreading UK coronavirus strain. One case is linked to the South African strain, the ministry said.

"Most of these people have come into New Zealand from the UK, via the UAE, Qatar or Singapore," the ministry said.

The last reporting period saw the world set another new daily case record of over 820,790 (though some have still to report yet) taking that total past 88.48 million along with passing 1,905,500 deaths. :-(

Well that daily case count wound up at 833,911 and it's still incomplete while the next day is now up to 833,337 and it is also incomplete as cases now pass 90 million and deaths pass 1,933,700. :-(

Anyhow by the end of the last reporting period the world's case total had passed 90 million while deaths passed 1,933,700, but those will also go up. :-(

Now to the case race. Latvia put in a mighty leap over Sri Lanka, Luxembourg and El Salvador to land in 93rd place, Nigeria swept Kenya out of 79th, Malaysia passed Myanmar and Oman to take over 69th, but Ireland flew over Myanmar, Oman, Malaysia and Slovenia to claim 67th while Palestine took 63rd from Qatar.

Tunisia passed Kuwait to take up 59th as Lebanon jumped past Bulgaria and Belarus into 48th spot while the U.A.E. removed Azerbaijan from 44th, Japan took Nepal out of 41st and Czechia knocked Indonesia out of 20th.

Meanwhile the previous reporting period saw the U.K. set a new daily case record of over 68,000 and a daily death record of 1,325 while the last period saw them break the 3 million case mark, but the U.S. put in a real doozy during the previous reporting period breaking the 300K mark for a daily case count and by the that all their numbers come in for the last reporting period they will have passed 22.7 million cases while likely passing 381,500 deaths (6 states have still to report).

Meanwhile the previous reporting period saw the U.K. set a new daily case record of over 68,000 and a daily death record of 1,325 while the last period saw them break the 3 million case mark

Given the behaviour of so many people in the days leading up to the most recent lockdown I'm not surprised. There were the crowds in the majority of major shopping centres, the crowded pubs (why the chuff-chuff have a massive pre-lockdown party?), tens of people gathering at friends' and or relatives' homes, people travelling to "far flung" places just to walk the dog (I bet the poor pooch needed a walk after several hours in the back of a car), not to mention refusing to wear masks in shops (OK, who remembers the time when we had to take our bike helmets off to enter a bank?). The same people are now moaning that their civil liberties are being infringed because they can't do x, y or z or have to wear a mask to do their shopping..... It is MY civil liberty not be infected by all of us taking sensible actions.

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Well the last reporting period saw the world's case total fly past 90.6 million (possibly past 90.7 million by the time that the rest of the numbers come in) and 1,942,500 deaths. :-(

The case race saw Paraguay remove Bosnia/Herzegovina from 75th place while Ireland put in another might leap over Guatemala, Greece, Qatar and Palestine to land in 63rd as Egypt nudged Moldova out of 61st and Kazakhstan slipped past Armenia to claim 56th.

Japan knocked Panama out of 40th as Israel passed the Philippines to take up 30th, even though the charts say that they're now in 29th I doubt that they passed Sweden as yet once the Swedes finally get their numbers in.

Meanwhile Australia will hang onto 100th spot for just a little weenie bit longer (the race is on between Namibia and Zambia to see who will claim 100th place 1st) while it looks like several states in the U.S. must be still shell shocked after Wednesday and need the weekend off to recover, but it will be interesting when they do finally come in.

Anyhow today's reporting period will see those countries who have the weekend off return their numbers which could see a move or 2 done.