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WHO warns of tipping level in Covid pandemic

WHO warns of tipping point in Covid pandemic

A nurse is adjusting her PPE in the intensive care unit at St. George’s Hospital in Tooting, South West London, where the number of intensive care beds for the critically ill had to be increased from 60 to 120, the vast majority of them for coronavirus patients.

Victoria Jones – PA Pictures | PA Pictures | Getty Images

LONDON – The World Health Organization on Thursday warned of a turning point in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic amid mounting fears about more infectious variants of the virus, which have led to a rapid surge in infections.

Countries are trying to find two variants, found in the UK and South Africa, which are much more transferable. Public health experts are concerned about the potential impact on vaccination efforts.

While the variants spread more easily, there is no clear evidence that the mutated viruses are associated with more severe disease outcomes. However, being more communicable means more people can become infected, and that could mean more serious infections and more deaths.

In recent weeks, optimism about the mass rollout of Covid-19 vaccines appears to have been tempered by the resurgent rate of spread of the virus.

“We were prepared for a challenging start to 2021 and that was exactly what we were looking for,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, in an online press conference.

“This moment marks a turning point in the course of the pandemic where science, politics, technology and values ​​must form a united front to drive back this persistent and elusive virus.”

“We are right in the middle”

A year after the Health Department’s first report on Covid-19, Kluge reflected the fact that the WHO European Region had more than 26 million Covid cases and over 580,000 deaths in 2020.

Several countries in Europe have introduced national lockdown measures in the past few days. More are expected to follow in the coming week to ease pressure on already overburdened healthcare facilities.

View of an almost deserted city center on December 15, 2020 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Niels Wenstedt | BSR agency | Getty Images News | Getty Images

As of Wednesday, nearly half of all countries and territories in Europe had a seven-day incidence of over 150 new cases per 100,000 population. The WHO estimated that more than 25% of them reported “very high” incidence rates and stressed health systems.

“I have to say that we are very right in the middle of it right now. We’re not just in the middle of it, we are probably in the most acute phase of transmission in the European region and we continue to see (a) a really big impact on clinics,” said Dr Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergency Officer at WHO Europe, during the online briefing.

“To change any of this, we really need to reduce transmission and control the spread despite the introduction of vaccinations,” said Smallwood.

The European Commission on Wednesday issued final approval for the use of the Covid vaccine developed by the US company Moderna.

It was the second vaccine to be approved by the EU executive, with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine having previously received the green light.

The EU, which launched its vaccination program on December 27, has been criticized for slowly introducing shocks across the bloc.

Attempts are being made to catch up with Israel and the US, where large numbers of people have already been vaccinated against the virus.

To date, according to the WHO, Europe has registered 27.5 million confirmed Covid cases and 603,563 deaths.

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Fauci warns of post-Christmas surge in Covid infections

Fauci warns of post-Christmas surge in Covid infections

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, speaks to Alex Azar, the unpictured Secretary for Health and Human Services (HHS), before receiving the Cova-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc. during an event at the NIH Clinical that Center Masur Auditorium in Bethesda, Maryland, the United States, on Tuesday, December 22, 2020. The National Institutes of Health are hosting a livestream vaccination event to kickstart the organization’s efforts for its workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Photographer: Patrick Semansky / Associated Press / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned on Sunday that an already soaring tide of coronavirus infections could get another surge as Americans reunite for Christmas and New Years despite warnings from health officials.

“We could very well see an increase after the season – in the sense of Christmas, New Year – and, as I have described it, as an increase after another,” Fauci said of CNN’s State of the Union.

Fauci, a White House advisor and one of the foremost infectious disease specialists in the country, was optimistic about the pace of vaccine distribution, which began this month after federal regulators approved two drugs made by Pfizer and Moderna.

But he said he agrees with President-elect Joe Biden’s assessment, who warned Tuesday that “our darkest days in this fight against Covid are ahead, not behind”.

“I share President-elect Biden’s concern that things may actually get worse in the next few weeks,” said Fauci.

According to a CNBC analysis of the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the United States saw an average of 189,578 new Covid-19 cases per day and 2,250 deaths over the past week. It is possible that these numbers are undercounted due to a decline in holiday coverage.

“When you’re dealing with a baseline of 200,000 cases per day and 2,000 deaths per day in hospitalizations over 120,000, we are really at a very critical point,” said Fauci.

Fauci said “Travel and the likely gathering of people for the good, warm causes of being together on vacation” add to the pressure on the deepening crisis.

He also addressed a mutation in the coronavirus identified in the UK, saying, “We are looking at it intensely now.” Doctors in that country have said the mutation appears to be spreading faster, causing a number of countries to suspend travel off the block. In the US, those flying out of the country will have to test negative for Covid-19 as of Monday.

Initial evidence suggests the mutation does not affect the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine and that it is not a “more serious virus in terms of virulence,” Fauci added.

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Politics

Dominion Voting warns Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani of litigation

Dominion Voting warns Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani of litigation

President Donald Trump’s attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to journalists outside the West Wing of the White House on July 1, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and White House attorney Pat Cipollone have reportedly received letters from defamation attorneys instructing them to keep all records relating to allegations that the Dominion Voting Systems were operating played a key role that Trump allegedly cheated out of an election victory.

Giuliani was also warned by Dominion’s lawyers that “litigation regarding these issues is imminent,” according to a new report from CNN shown a copy of the letter.

The letters to Cipollone and Giuliani reportedly requested that Giuliani stop “making defamatory claims against Dominion,” leading to voting machines.

Trump, his campaign attorneys and allies, including attorney Sidney Powell, have alleged without evidence that illegal voting changes on election counting machines fraudulently passed the national presidential election on to Joe Biden.

Powell received a similar letter from Dominion’s attorneys last week about their “wild, knowingly baseless, and false allegations” about the company. The letter requested that she withdraw her claims and keep related documents.

Giuliani and a White House spokesman had no immediate comment when contacted by CNBC about CNN’s report. CNBC has contacted Dominion and its attorneys for comment.

The article followed a lawsuit brought by Dominion’s Director of Security, Eric Coomer, against the Trump campaign, Giuliani, Powell and a range of conservative media outlets.

Coomer’s lawsuit alleges that he has been the target of death threats and other harmful communications because of the defendants’ false claims about Dominion’s machines.

Dominion has posted a page on its website titled “Setting the Record Out: Facts and Rumors” addressing allegations about the company calling it “disinformation” and a threat to democracy.

“Baseless claims about the integrity of the system or the correctness of the results have been rejected by electoral authorities, subject matter experts and outside fact-checkers,” the site says.

“Malicious and misleading false claims about Dominion have created dangerous threats and harassment to the company and its employees, as well as to election officials.”

Biden was confirmed as the election winner by the electoral college last week. Trump has refused to admit defeat.

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Health

Biden warns doses will not cease deaths of ‘tens of 1000’s’ Individuals

Biden warns doses won't stop deaths of 'tens of thousands' Americans

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday urged Americans to remain “vigilant” over the holidays, adding that Pfizer and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines are unlikely to stop the deaths of “tens of thousands” from the pandemic in the coming months will.

The United States is currently recording an average of nearly 3,000 Covid-19 deaths per day, Biden said during his remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, Tuesday afternoon. The vaccines, which are currently in short supply in the US, “won’t stop that,” he added.

“Putting the vaccination in the arms of millions of Americans from a vial is one of the greatest operational challenges the United States has ever faced,” he said, adding that vaccinating 320 million Americans “will continue for months ” will take. “Meanwhile, the pandemic rages on. Experts believe it could get worse before it gets better.”

US health officials have repeatedly announced that they will vaccinate at least 20 million Americans by the end of the year, in less than two weeks. More than 4.6 million doses of vaccine had been distributed in the U.S. as of Monday, and at least 614,117 people have received their first shots, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines require two doses three to four weeks apart.

Biden was among those who received gunshots and received a Covid-19 vaccine on live television Monday afternoon. White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, who will remain in a similar position as Biden’s advisor on Covid-19 next year, also received a public shot Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in the United States. The nation has at least 215,400 new Covid-19 cases and at least 2,600 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using data from Johns Hopkins University. The United States still has the worst outbreak of any other country in the world.

A coronavirus model once quoted by the White House suggests that by April 1, more than 561,600 Americans could die from Covid-19 as new deaths hit record highs in many parts of the country. A worst-case forecast by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation assumes that up to 715,000 Americans could die by that time.

To heighten fears, the UK has identified a new variant of the coronavirus that appears to be spreading faster.

Scientists and experts in infectious diseases are still putting together what they know about the new strain SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01, which, according to the CDC, represents the first variant examined in December 2020. It has not yet been discovered in the US, but the agency said Tuesday it could already be spread across the country unnoticed.

“Ongoing travel between the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the high prevalence of this variant in current infections in the United Kingdom, increases the likelihood of imports,” said a CDC statement. “Given the low proportion of US infections sequenced, the variant could already be in the US without being discovered.”

When asked about the new variant of the virus on Tuesday, Biden said he had asked his Covid-19 task force if further pandemic restrictions were needed.

“One thing I’m waiting for from my Covid team is whether we should need testing before they get on a plane to go home, number one,” he said. “And number two, when you get home you should be quarantined. That’s my instinct, but I’m waiting to hear from my experts now.”

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Politics

Dominion Voting warns Fox Information lawsuits are imminent

Dominion Voting warns Fox News lawsuits are imminent

Complaints are coming.

Dominion Voting Systems, one of the targets of President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about the election he lost, has warned Fox News, great Fox figures, other conservative media outlets, radio host Rush Limbaugh, and conservative attorneys that libel disputes are against them ” imminent. “

The voting machine company this week sent 21 letters to the White House, Fox News, its hosts Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Newsmax news outlets, One America News Network, Epoch Times, and others calling for no defamation Make more claims on Dominion and that they are keeping any documents they have regarding the company.

“We are writing to formally indicate that litigation regarding these issues is imminent,” wrote Dominion attorneys Thomas Clare and Megan Meier in one of the letters to CNBC to Fox News Media General Counsel Lily Fu Claffee .

In their letters to individual news presenters, including Bartiromo, a former CNBC employee, the attorneys called for “no more defamatory claims against Dominion” and said they had “introduced and further introduced” the advocates of this misinformation campaign against. the Company.

Others who have received similar letters warning of impending litigation and requests for document retention include Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani; L. Lin Wood, attorney who questioned Georgia presidential election results, and Newsmax host Greg Kelly.

A Fox News spokeswoman pointed out two segments that aired on Fox News last month. In one case, a Dominion spokesman told host Eric Shawn that no significant electronic fraud or tampering with the company’s voting machine had occurred and that Trump’s claims about the company were false. The spokesman noted that the machines’ printed ballots matched the electronic numbers.

In the second segment, host Tucker Carlson elaborated on his staff’s efforts to get former federal attorney Sidney Powell, who was on Trump’s campaign team at the time, to substantiate their controversial claims about Dominion.

“But she never sent us evidence despite many polite inquiries,” said Carlson in the segment.

The spokespersons for the other objectives of the Dominion legal letters did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

During an interview on Thursday on CNN, Dominion CEO John Poulos said the company would take legal action against several people who “promote and reinforce those lies … on various media platforms since election day”.

“We will not overlook anyone,” said Poulos when asked if the company would sue Trump.

Trump has made a number of false claims since losing the national referendum to Joe Biden by more than 7 million votes to argue that he won the election by a landslide and that the ballot papers for him were fraudulently suppressed while the votes were being held for Biden were artificially added in a handful of states where the results were particularly close.

On November 12, just nine days after election day, Trump tweeted a claim that “DOMINION DELETED 2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES NATIONWIDE”.

One of the most ardent proponents of the Dominion conspiracy theories was Powell, who last month was fired from the team of lawyers working on Trump’s campaign to overturn Biden’s victory because her extreme claims were widely criticized. Since last week, Powell has met with Trump at least once and has visited the White House three times in connection with her efforts.

Dominion attorneys have also sent Powell a letter warning them of libel claims.

In his interview with CNN, Poulos said Powell’s allegations that his company’s voting machine contains software developed “at the direction” of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a boogeyman for right-wing media outlets, and that Dominion has ties to the Clinton Foundation and George has Soros are “complete lies”.

Dominion’s director of security, Eric Coomer, sued the Trump campaign, Giuliani, Powell and a range of conservative media outlets.

Coomer’s lawsuit alleges that he has been the target of death threats and other harmful communications because of the defendants’ false claims about Dominion’s machines.

Dominion said on its website that “disinformation” about the company poses a threat to democracy.

“Baseless claims about the integrity of the system or the accuracy of the results have been rejected by electoral authorities, subject matter experts and outside fact-checkers,” the company says.

“Malicious and misleading false claims about Dominion have created dangerous threats and harassment to the company and its employees, as well as to election officials.”

Last week, another voting machine company, Smartmatic, announced that it had served Fox News, Newsmax and OAN legal notices and cancellation notices “in order to publish false and defamatory statements”.

“The letters of formal notice list dozens of factually inaccurate statements made by each organization as part of a” disinformation campaign “to violate Smartmatic and discredit the 2020 US election,” the company said at the time.

“Smartmatic had nothing to do with the” controversies “that certain public and private figures have posed regarding the 2020 US election,” the company said. “Several fact-checkers have consistently exposed these false statements with astonishing consistency and regularity.”

Smartmatic said that despite false claims to the contrary, it was “only involved in the US 2020 election as the manufacturing partner, systems integrator and software developer for the Los Angeles County’s public voting system.”

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Business

New York Gov. Cuomo warns a January financial shutdown is feasible as Covid instances soar to springtime information

New York Gov. Cuomo warns a January economic shutdown is possible as Covid cases soar to springtime records

Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State, speaks at a press conference in New York City on September 8, 2020.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

New York’s non-essential stores could be forced to close again in January if the state doesn’t tackle escalating coronavirus cases that have soared in recent weeks to record highs not seen since the spring, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.

“Of course, a shutdown in January is possible,” said Cuomo at a press conference in Albany. “But there is a big but,” he said, spelling the word letter by letter “BUT”.

Whether the state will again impose an economic lockdown depends on what New Yorkers do in the remaining vacation and whether new Covid-19 infections decrease or increase, he said.

According to a CNBC analysis of data compiled from data from Johns Hopkins University, New York has been struggling with an average of 10,294 new infections per day for the past week, up more than 7% from the previous week. That’s more new cases every day than the state did in the spring, when the hospital systems in New York City and elsewhere were overwhelmed with patients.

Cuomo didn’t say what a second shutdown would look like. He imposed another ban on indoor dining in New York City on Monday but said he wanted to keep public schools open and has not yet made a decision on whether to close non-essential stores.

“It’s up to us. What will happen in three weeks? What will happen in four weeks? You tell me what you are going to do in the next three or four weeks and I will tell you what will happen,” he said.

At the current rate of spread of the virus, New Yorkers should be prepared for a second shutdown, similar to the one Cuomo issued this spring when unnecessary shops and schools closed and people were told to stay home to avoid the spread of Covid -19 stop, Mayor Bill de Blasio warned.

He said it was “increasingly necessary to just break the back of the second wave, to keep this second wave from growing, to prevent it from taking lives, not to threaten our hospitals,” de Blasio said during a press conference Monday .

Cuomo urged New Yorkers to take “personal responsibility” in order to slow the spread of the virus, especially during the holiday season. The state is now concerned about what the governor calls “living room sprawl”. This is because nationwide contact tracing data has shown that nearly 74% of new Covid-19 cases are from households and social gatherings.

“Nobody knows what New Yorkers will do until Christmas or how they will behave during Christmas week,” said Cuomo. “The numbers are not predestined. The numbers reflect what we are doing.”

The governor also urged that state hospitals move into “crisis management mode,” which means that health systems must work with neighboring hospital systems to “share” the burden of patients and provide resources to hospitals in areas with high Covid-19 Transfer installments.

According to a CNBC analysis of data from the Covid Tracking Project run by journalists from The Atlantic, the New York average is more than 5,400 people hospitalized, an increase of more than 25% from the previous week.

“Balance the load so hospitals aren’t overwhelmed by what we’ve seen in the past,” said Cuomo.

The state has started delivering its initial allocation of Covid-19 vaccines to frontline health workers. The state has received 87,750 doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine so far and plans to receive an additional 80,000 doses in the next few days, Cuomo said.

“That goes for residents of nursing homes,” said Cuomo. New York could receive an additional 346,000 doses of vaccine from Moderna if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration clears the emergency for emergencies this week.

“Slow down the spread, manage the hospitals, give the vaccine,” Cuomo said.

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Health

UK regulator warns these with historical past of serious allergic reactions

UK regulator warns those with history of significant allergic reactions

Assistant Nurse Katie McIntosh gives Vivien McKay, Clinical Nurse Manager at Western General Hospital, the first of two Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 stitches on the first day of the largest vaccination program in UK history in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK December 8 2020.

Andrew Milligan | Reuters

LONDON – People with a history of “significant” allergic reactions should not receive the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the UK Medicines Agency said on Wednesday.

The UK drug and health products regulator has updated its guidance to UK health care providers on who should get the vaccine after two members of the UK National Health Service had allergic reactions to the shot. Both are recovering well, according to the NHS national medical director.

“People with a history of significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, drug, or food (such as a history of anaphylactoid reaction or someone recommended to wear an adrenaline auto-injector) should not receive the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine received, “the regulator said.

Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS, said such a precaution was “common with new vaccines”.

The UK was the first country to approve and administer the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. A massive vaccination campaign began on Tuesday that began in hospitals, with health and nursing home workers and those over 80 being vaccinated first.

Dr. June Raine, head of MHRA, told a UK government selection committee on Wednesday that the regulator would maintain “real-time vigilance” of the vaccine after its use.

“Last night we looked at two case reports of allergic reactions,” she said.

“We know from extensive clinical studies that this was not a feature. However, if we need to step up our advice after having this experience in vulnerable populations, the priority groups, we will get that advice on the spot immediately.”