Giovanni Apolone, a co-author of the study, said that four cases from the study dated to the first week in October last year, which means those people had been infected in September…reports Asian Lite News
The novel coronavirus might have been circulating in Italy since September 2019, three months before it first emerged in China, according to a study.
If true, it would mean that the virus was present in Italy three months before it was first reported in China’s Wuhan in December 2019, and five months before the first official case was recorded in Italy on February 21, 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.
The study by the Milan-based National Cancer Institute (INT) which was released on Sunday showed that 11.6 per cent of the 959 healthy volunteers who participated in a lung cancer screening trial between September 2019 to March 2020 had developed Covid-19 antibodies well before February.
Giovanni Apolone, a co-author of the study, said that four cases from the study dated to the first week in October last year, which means those people had been infected in September.
The northern region of Lombardy, whose capital is Milan where the pandemic first emerged in late February, had previously reported an unusually high number of cases of severe flu and pneumonia in the last quarter of 2019 in a sign that Covid-19 may have circulated earlier than previously thought.
As of Monday, Italy’s overall coronavirus caseload and death toll stood at 1,178,529 and 45,229, respectively.
The protest went ahead in defiance of the lockdown restrictions in England, the month-long social curbs starting November 5, which bans gatherings of more than two people….reports Asian Lite News
Around 14 people have been arrested in Bristol, England, after anti-lockdown protesters defied police orders to cancel their demonstration.
Local police said about 400 people gathered on College Green at mid-day on Saturday before marching through the city center in protest of the lockdown measures, Xinhua news agency quoted the London-based Evening Standard newspaper as saying in a report on Sunday.
The protest went ahead in defiance of the lockdown restrictions in England, the month-long social curbs starting November 5, which bans gatherings of more than two people.
Warning the event was unlawful in advance, local police said several people were identified as leaders of the protest and were arrested.
Most arrests were for breaches of the coronavirus regulations, with one man also arrested for assaulting a police officer, local police said.
By law, anyone organizing or facilitating a gathering of more than 30 people is liable to a fixed penalty notice of 10,000 pounds, while those participating in a gathering of more than two people can be fined 200 pounds.
England’s lockdown, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in the country, is expected to end on December 2.
Another 26,860 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,344,356.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 462 to 51,766, the data showed.
Britain is the first European nation to record more than 50,000 coronavirus deaths.
It is the fifth country in the world to hit the tragic milestone, following the US, Brazil, India and Mexico.
The United States is now home to more than 11 million coronavirus cases, with the latest one million cases coming at breakneck speed in the last week alone, according to Johns Hopkins Covid-19 data. The US death toll has gone past 2,46,000 on November 15.
More than 45 states are seeing record spikes during the pandemic’s winter surge. Hospitals are at capacity in several states and doctors are pleading with Americans to hunker down because the “vaccines are coming, it’s just a matter of a couple of months.”
North Dakota is in such dire straits that hospitals there are allowing infected but asymptomatic nurses to treat Covid-19 patients.
But outside, in malls and grocery stores, Americans are out in full force – a stark contrast to the grim public health crisis that continues to hammer the country.
The seven-day rolling average for daily new deaths was more than 1,000 this weekend, ticking higher than in preceding weeks.
Based on current trajectory, America is hurtling towards an ominous coronavirus toll of more than 4,00,000 by next Spring, according to new projections from a predictive model used often by data crunchers in Donald Trump’s White House coronavirus task force.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington is predicting a total of 438,941 deaths in America by March 1, 2021.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who serves on the Trump coronavirus task force, and President-elect Biden are pleading with Americans to wear masks and socially distance until the vaccines arrive – very soon.
Roughly 20 million people could be vaccinated against the coronavirus in December, the chief of the Donald Trump administration’s vaccine coordination program has indicated. Anywhere from 25 to 30 million people could be vaccinated each month afterward.
The US is working with a portfolio of six vaccines, using three different platform technologies and two candidates from each platform: messenger RNA, live viral vectors and recombinant protein.
Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines use the messenger RNA platform, Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca in partnership with Oxford University are on the live vector path while Novavax and Sanofi/ GlaxoSmithKline are building out their vaccine candidates on the recombinant protein platform.
One of them – Pfizer – announced that it has achieved 90 per cent efficacy. The company hopes to file for emergency use authorisation as soon as its final efficacy results arrive in the third week of November.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-quarantining after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19, a Downing Street spokesman said in a statement Sunday.
The spokesman said the prime minister “will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.”
“The PM is well and does not have any symptoms of Covid-19,” the statement added.
Johnson had a meeting with some MPs in 10 Downing Street on Thursday morning, including Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, who later developed coronavirus symptoms and tested positive, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The prime minister recovered from Covid-19, the coronavirus-caused illness, after contracting the virus in late March and spending three days in intensive care in early April.
England is currently under a month-long national lockdown until December 2, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in Britain, in a bid to quell the resurgence of coronavirus.
Another 24,962 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the national tally to 13,69,318, according to official figures released Sunday.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 168 to 51,934, the data showed.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.
Apart from providing 750 ICU beds in the DRDO Centre out of which 500 will be made available in the next two days itself and doubling of RT-PCR tests in the national capital to nearly 1.25 lakh tests daily, the Modi government on Sunday decided to provide additional doctors and paramedical staff from the CAPFs, in view of the shortage of doctors in the city.
In view of the shortage of medical staff in Delhi, the Modi government has decided to provide additional doctors and paramedical staff from the CAPFs and they would soon be air-lifted to Delhi, the Union Home Ministry statement said.
In what can be bad news for those who refuse to wear masks in spite of government’s directions and mass media campaigns, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday directed the Delhi government and Delhi Police Commissioner to “strictly enforce the necessary measures, especially wearing of face masks, so that there is no laxity” in observance of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.
Shah, once again taking charge of Delhi’s fight against Covid-19 in his hands against the backdrop of rising number of cases and the increasing strain on the capacity of medical infrastructure in the city hospitals, took the decisions at an emergency meeting.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Health Minister Satyendar Jain were also present at the meeting which was also attended by the Union Home and Health & Family Welfare Secretaries, Niti Aayog’s Dr. V.K Paul, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava, the DRDO Secretary, the Armed Forces Medical Services Director General and other senior officials.
The meeting began with Paul making a presentation, which highlighted the deteriorating situation of Covid-19 in Delhi.
“It was pointed out that the number of active cases per day has increased substantially. While the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) continues to remain in control, the health and medical infrastructure, such as dedicated Covid-19 beds, beds with ventilators, and ICUs, is already showing signs of strain. Accordingly, it is essential to enhance surveillance, strictly enforce containment measures, increase testing, and rapidly build up the requisite medical infrastructure,” the Home Ministry statement said.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Kejriwal said: “Covid cases have been sharply rising ever since October 30. We still have a decent number of Covid beds, but ICU beds are fast getting exhausted. The Centre said that 500 ICU beds will be made available in the DRDO centre in the next couple days and additionally another 250 in the coming days.”
In a series of tweets, Shah informed about the “directions” given in the “high-level meeting” to review the growing cases of Covid-19 and the medical infrastructure in Delhi.
“Today gave various instructions in the meeting. First, the RT-PCR test in Delhi will be increased two-fold. Secondly, mobile testing vans of the Ministry of Health and ICMR will be deployed where there is a high risk of getting Covid and making maximum use of the capacity of labs in Delhi,” he said.
Shah also asked the Kejriwal government to increase capacity of hospitals in Delhi and availability of other medical infrastructure. He added that 250 to 300 ICU beds will be added in DRDO’s Covid hospital located in Dhaula Kuan, where, presently, around 250 beds have been provided with ICUs, out of the total available 1,000 Covid-19 beds.
In a strong message to officials, Shah said that containment strategies cannot be allowed to be taken lightly. “There should be no let up in strictly enforcing these containment strategies. The concerned officers, particularly those at district levels, would be personally responsible for ensuring compliance in this regard, and any deviation observed in this regard would be viewed seriously,” the Home Ministry statement said.
Shah also said that the 10,000-bed Covid Centre in Chhatarpur will be further strengthened with an aim to increase the availability of beds with oxygen facilities. He also said that some identified hospitals of the MCD will be converted into dedicated hospitals for the treatment of Covid patients with mild symptoms.
It was asserted in that meeting that dedicated multi-departmental teams will visit all private hospitals in Delhi to clearly indicate the availability of beds and medical conditions while all previously initiated containment measures, such as the establishment of container zones, contact tracing, and quarantine and screening, will be reviewed.
Shah instructed that especially those who are at high risk of getting the disease should be constantly reviewed so that there is no shortage in implementing preventive measures. He also instructed to track those under home isolation and shift them to hospitals, should the need arise, to save more lives.
He also instructed to prepare protocols for plasma donation in severe corona cases and for providing plasma to affected persons. A high level committee headed by Paul, and comprising the AIIMS and ICMR chiefs will report on it soon, Shah added.
“To save more and more people in Delhi, the Central government will provide oxygen cylinders, high flow nasal cannula and all other essential health equipment to Delhi,” the Home Minister assured.
But he asked the Kejriwal government to inform people about Covid appropriate behaviour which he said is the best way to stay safe. He asked for a strong communication strategy to educate people about it and inform them about the negative impact of the disease on long-term medical and health parameters.
The meeting came at a time when the national capital is witnessing skyrocketing cases on a daily basis for the past few days. Earlier also, Shah had stepped in to contain the situation after Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia predicted a massive surge.
The prime minister recovered from Covid-19, the coronavirus-caused illness, after contracting the virus in late March and spending three days in intensive care in early April…reports Asian Lite News
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-quarantining after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19, a Downing Street spokesman said in a statement Sunday.
The spokesman said the prime minister “will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.”
“The PM is well and does not have any symptoms of Covid-19,” the statement added.
Johnson had a meeting with some MPs in 10 Downing Street on Thursday morning, including Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield, who later developed coronavirus symptoms and tested positive, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The prime minister recovered from Covid-19, the coronavirus-caused illness, after contracting the virus in late March and spending three days in intensive care in early April.
England is currently under a month-long national lockdown until December 2, the second of its kind since the coronavirus outbreak in Britain, in a bid to quell the resurgence of coronavirus.
Another 24,962 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the national tally to 13,69,318, according to official figures released Sunday.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 168 to 51,934, the data showed.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.
The two countries agreed on a health protocol against the pandemic that requires travellers to have a negative PCR test within 72 hours and sign a written pledge for a 10-day quarantine upon arrival…reports Asian Lite News
Libyan authorities have reopened the country’s border crossing with Tunisia after months of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The border has been reopened in coordination with all efforts in both countries. It is now open for movement of travellers of both countries,” Xinhua news agency quoted Abu-Rabee Makhlouf, security director of the Ras Ajdir Border Crossing with Tunisia, as saying on Saturday.
“We call upon travellers from both countries to be totally committed to the precautionary measures of the health protocol,” he said, confirming that all agencies “will provide needed services and facilitate movement”.
On November 11, Libya and Tunisia announced that the border crossing between the two countries will be reopened and flights will be resumed, after months of closure.
The two countries agreed on a health protocol against the pandemic that requires travellers to have a negative PCR test within 72 hours and sign a written pledge for a 10-day quarantine upon arrival.
The total number of registered Covid-19 cases in Libya now stands at 72,628, with 43,256 recoveries and 995 fatalities, according to the National Center for Disease Control.
Since the first case was reported in March, Libyan authorities have taken a series of precautionary measures against the pandemic, including closing the country’s borders; shutting down schools and mosques; banning public gatherings; and imposing a curfew.
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab urged the country’s citizens to commit to lockdown measures while prioritizing people’s health over the economy…reports Asian Lite News
Restaurants, bars, cafes, gyms and malls have closed their doors as Lebanon entered a two-week lockdown to restrict the spread of Covid-19.
As per the lockdown which came into force on Saturday, police was deployed in most areas of the country, issuing tickets for people who violate the restrictions, reports Xinhua news agency.
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab urged the country’s citizens to commit to lockdown measures while prioritizing people’s health over the economy.
“Lockdown is not the solution but it is an opportunity to raise the country’s health sector preparedness given the dramatic increase in coronavirus infections over the past weeks,” Diab said.
Lebanon’s number of Covid-19 infections surpassed 100,000 while the death toll is approaching 800.
The country has been fighting against the virus since February 21.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said that celebrating Diwali this year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic will be difficult, but also urged to mark the ‘festival of lights’ while adhering to the restrictions.
Speaking to the BBC, Sunak, who is an Indian-origin, said: “Faith is important to me, I’m a practising Hindu, I pray with my kids, visit the temple when I can – at the moment rather less so because I’m busy.
“For us as Hindus, Diwali is special, and it’s going to be difficult this year.
“But we’ve got Zoom, we’ve got the phone, and most importantly, we’ve got each other. Whether you can see someone or not the bond of family, that bond of love is always going to be there. And it will be there on December 3 as well.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtL_RYGlgYQ
With a nationwide lockdown in place in England, the second of its kind since the onset of the pandemic earlier this year, many councils are providing online Diwali celebrations on Saturday.
Regarding the lockdown, which is due to end on December 2, the Chancellor said that families need “to stick with this for a couple more weeks”.
“We’re going to get through this,” he told the BBC.
“And it’s going to be so much better on the other side. And we’ll have lots of happy times afterwards. But to keep everyone safe right now, just follow the rules.”
Some of the UK’s most popular temples will be hosting virtual ceremonies to mark the festival.
Tens of thousands of people usually join Diwali celebrations in Leicester, believed to be among the biggest outside of India, but the city council has asked to send in video messages.
London’s main Diwali celebration, which usually attracts around 30,000 people to Trafalgar Square, has also been replaced with an online event.
Phase 1 clinical trials had shown the vaccine to be safe and effective at eliciting an antibody response.said UQ vaccine project Co-leader Professor Paul Young ..reports Asian Lite News
A Covid-19 vaccine in development by Australia’s University of Queensland (UQ) was declared ready to progress to later-stage clinical trials ahead of schedule on Friday, following promising Phase 1 results.
Regulatory approval was being sought for the vaccine to progress to Phase 3 clinical trials before the end of the year, with a timeline for widespread distribution to occur in late 2021, reports Xinhua news agency.
Co-leader of the UQ vaccine project and leading Australian virologist, Professor Paul Young said that Phase 1 clinical trials had shown the vaccine to be safe and effective at eliciting an antibody response.
“Early data out of Phase 1 clinical trial says that the vaccine is safe and well-tolerated when given, there’s very little in the way of adverse events on injection of the vaccine,” Young said.
“And it also induces a strong immune response, particularly a neutralizing antibody response, that is equivalent to or in excess of what is seen in patients who have recovered from live virus infection.”
Additionally Young said that lower doses of the vaccine had proved equally effective at inducing the immune response, meaning the manufacturing of the vaccine will be more efficient in terms of dosage numbers.
The university was partnered with local biotech firm CSL, to undertake manufacturing of the vaccine, with the capacity to rapidly produce tens of millions of doses at the company’s Australian facilities.
“Our national goal is to ensure that all Australians who seek to be vaccinated, are vaccinated by the end of 2021,” said Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.
