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Africa suffers worst surge in Covid instances officers brace for third wave

Africa suffers worst surge in Covid cases officials brace for third wave

Employees of the Tunisian community saw them carry a coffin of a COVID-19 victim in the regional hospital during the coronavirus infections.

Jdidi Wassim | SOPA pictures | LightRakete | Getty Images

Africa, where less than 2% of the population is vaccinated against Covid-19, saw the worst increase in cases since the pandemic began last week, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The second largest continent saw more than 251,000 new Covid cases in the week ending July 4, a 20% increase from the previous week and a 12% increase from the January high. Active cases in Africa recently surpassed 642,000, beating a peak in the second wave of 528,000 active cases in January, according to a BBC analysis of the Johns Hopkins University data.

“Africa has just marked the continent’s worst pandemic week ever. But the worst is yet to come as the fast-paced third wave continues to accelerate and gain new terrain,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “The end of this steep climb is still weeks away. Cases are now doubling every 18 days compared to all 21 days a week ago.”

A security guard takes a man’s temperature at the entrance of a market in Kampala, Uganda on June 20, 2021.

Nicholas Kajoba | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

More than sixteen African countries, including Malawi and Senegal, are seeing an increase in new cases. In at least 10 of these countries, the more easily transferable delta variant was found.

Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Zambia, Rwanda and Tunisia are also experiencing some of the worst spikes in infections, the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Hospital admissions have increased more than 40% across the continent in recent weeks.

“The alarm bells should ring,” says Dr. Tom Kenyon, Chief Health Officer at Project HOPE and former director of the Center for Global Health at the US CDC. He said Africa’s rate of new cases will soon surpass Asia’s. “Given the horrors we have just seen in India, this should be cause for concern and action.”

He said the Covid emergency in Africa “could get worse than anywhere else we’ve seen”.

South Africa is currently battling a devastating third wave of infections after the Delta variant forced the country to lock it down again on June 28. There is currently a 9 p.m. curfew in the country while less than 1% of its residents are against Covid. are vaccinated. Across the continent, less than 2% of people were vaccinated due to a slow international introduction of vaccines that kept poor countries waiting for life-saving syringes. The 50 million doses administered so far in Africa represent only 1.6% of the doses administered worldwide.

A resident receives a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca Plc on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 at Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

Patrick Meinhardt | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“Vaccination nationalism, in which a handful of nations have taken the lion’s share, is morally unjustifiable and an ineffective strategy for public health,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press conference on Wednesday. Tedros also blamed the lack of immunization justice for a “wave of death” in parts of the world, including Africa.

Vaccine deliveries by Covax, a global initiative aimed at ensuring fair access to Covid vaccines, are finally picking up speed after months of delay. More than 1.6 million doses have been shipped to Africa under the initiative and more than 20 million doses of Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines are expected to be shipped to the continent in the near future. Norway and Sweden will also donate large quantities of vaccines to Africa.

“Some vaccine shipments are expected in August, but nowhere near what is needed,” said Kenyon, who also served as CDC country director in Botswana, Namibia and Ethiopia. “To be successful, vaccine supply must be paired with trained labor and delivery systems.”

A total of 66 million doses were shipped to Africa, of which 40 million doses were delivered under bilateral agreements, 25 million via Covax and 800,000 doses via the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team.

“With much larger Covid-19 vaccine shipments expected in July and August, African countries must use this time to prepare for a rapid roll-out,” said Moeti. By comparison, the US has administered approximately 332 million shots to 55% of its population, according to the US CDC.

Roofing Rolling Mills workers load oxygen tanks onto a vehicle for free delivery to various hospitals in Uganda at their plant in Namanve, Wakiso, Uganda on June 29, 2021.

Badru Katumba | AFP | Getty Images

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Health

1 in three Covid survivors suffers neurological or psychological problems: examine

1 in 3 Covid survivors suffers neurological or mental disorders: study

Reyes Magana, Teamsters Local’s 848 business agent, will be tested for COVID-19 at a test site provided by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on July 16, 2020 in Long Beach, California.

Mario Tama | Getty Images

One in three Covid-19 survivors has suffered a neurological or psychiatric disorder within six months of being infected with the virus. This was estimated in an observational study of more than 230,000 patient records.

The study, published Tuesday in the Lancet Psychiatry Journal, analyzed data from the electronic health records of 236,379 Covid-19 patients from the US-based TriNetX network, which includes more than 81 million people.

This group was compared to 105,579 patients diagnosed with influenza and 236,038 patients diagnosed with respiratory infection (including influenza).

Overall, the estimated incidence of a diagnosis of a neurological or mental disorder after Covid-19 infection was 34%. This was the result of a study by researchers at Oxford University who examined 14 neurological and mental illnesses.

For 13% of these people, it was their first recorded neurological or psychiatric diagnosis.

The most common diagnoses after the coronavirus were anxiety disorders (17% of patients), mood disorders (14%), substance abuse disorders (7%), and insomnia (5%). The incidence of neurological outcomes was lower, including 0.6% for cerebral hemorrhage, 2.1% for ischemic stroke, and 0.7% for dementia.

Taking into account the underlying health characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity and existing health conditions, there was an overall 44% higher risk of neurological and mental health diagnoses after Covid-19 than after flu and after Covid a 16% higher risk -19 than after Respiratory infections.

Since the coronavirus first appeared in China in late 2019, over 132 million cases of the virus and over 2.8 million deaths have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Professor Paul Harrison, lead author of the study in the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University, said the latest study underscores the need to equip health systems to potentially cope with higher numbers of neurological disorders in survivors of the virus.

“These are real data from a large number of patients. They confirm the high rates of psychiatric diagnoses after Covid-19 and show that serious disorders of the nervous system (such as stroke and dementia) also occur. especially in patients with severe Covid-19, “he noted.

“Although the individual risks for most diseases are small, the impact on the health and welfare systems of the population as a whole can be significant because of the scale of the pandemic and the fact that many of these diseases are chronic. As a result, health systems must do so . ” Provide funds to meet anticipated needs within both primary and secondary care. “

Dr. Max Taquet, co-author of the Oxford University study, said more research needed to be done to see “what happens after six months”.

“The study fails to uncover the mechanisms involved, but it does indicate the need for urgent research to identify them in order to prevent or treat them.”

Since the pandemic emerged worldwide in spring 2020, numerous studies have been conducted into the short and long-term effects of the virus. Oxford University’s Psychiatry Department noted that there was growing concern that survivors could be at increased risk for neurological disorders.

“A previous observational study by the same research group reported that Covid-19 survivors were at increased risk of mood and anxiety disorders in the first three months after infection. However, there is no extensive data yet investigating the risks of neurological and psychiatric diagnoses in the six months after the Covid-19 infection, “said the department.

Categories
Business

United Boeing 777 suffers engine failure after takeoff from Denver, particles discovered however no accidents

United Boeing 777 suffers engine failure after takeoff from Denver, debris found but no injuries

A United Airlines plane

Nicolas Economou | NurPhoto | Getty Images

A United Airlines Boeing 777-200 bound for Honolulu suffered an engine failure shortly after taking off from Denver on Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The plane returned to Denver, where it landed safely. Images shared on social media showed what appeared to be part of the engine nacelle in front of a house while police shared other debris. United said no injuries were reported on board the flight.

“The FAA is aware of reports of debris near the aircraft’s flight path,” the agency said in a statement.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA said they are investigating the incident. The Broomfield Police Department in Colorado said the plane dropped debris in several neighborhoods and warned not to touch or move any part of the plane.

United Flight 328 had 231 passengers and 10 crew members on board.

United said it is in contact with the FAA, NTSB, as well as local law enforcement agencies.

“All passengers and crew were dropped off and transported back to the terminal,” United said in a statement in Denver. “We are now working on getting our customers on a new flight to Honolulu in the next few hours.”

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents United cabin crews, said its staff support and safety committees provide assistance to the crews.

“We are grateful that the plane landed safely,” said the union.

Boeing said it had received reports of the incident.

Categories
World News

Inventory futures flat after S&P 500 suffers first unfavorable begin to a 12 months since 2016

Stock futures flat after S&P 500 suffers first negative start to a year since 2016

Stock futures remained stable in overnight trading on Monday after the S&P 500 suffered its first decline since 2016.

The futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 points. S&P 500 futures were unchanged and Nasdaq 100 futures fell less than 0.1%.

Movements in futures came after a sharp sell-off on Wall Street at the start of 2021. The S&P 500 fell 1.5%, its worst daily performance since October 27th. Ten out of eleven S&P 500 sectors posted losses, led by real estate.

The blue chip Dow lost 382 points after losing 700 points from its daily low. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.4% as the FAANG block collapsed early in the new year.

The market’s widespread sell-off came ahead of the Georgia runoff election on Tuesday, which will determine whether Republicans can retain control of the Senate. In the meantime, rising Covid-19 cases around the world and new lockdown restrictions kept investors informed.

“Investors are feeling nervous this week,” Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest, said in an email. “COVID cases continue to rise and a new variant of the virus is spreading around the world. Tomorrow’s run-off elections in Georgia could determine the composition of the Senate and the market has generally done better in a divided Congress.”

Many fear that higher tax rates and more progressive policies could become a reality once the Democrats take control of the Senate. However, such an outcome could create the opportunity for a larger and faster package of expenses that will help support the market.

“Even if the Democrats get control, the margin will be remarkably small and analysts are skeptical of the possibility of a significant change in tax or regulatory policy,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, in a note. “However, democratic control could trigger another round of coronavirus stimuli and possibly an infrastructure package.”

England imposed a third coronavirus lockdown on Monday as the region grappled with a more transmissible variant of Covid-19. New York State has confirmed its first case of the new tribe, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

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