Tag: coronavirus

COVID Lockdowns Have No Clear Benefit vs Other Voluntary Measures, International Study Shows

Anew study evaluating COVID-19 responses around the world found that mandatory lockdown orders early in the pandemic did not provide significantly more benefits to slowing the spread of the disease than other voluntary measures, such as social distancing or travel reduction.

The peer reviewed study, which was conducted by a group of Stanford researchers and published in the Wiley Online Library on January 5, analyzed coronavirus case growth in 10 countries in early 2020.

The study compared cases in England, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the U.S. – all countries that implemented mandatory lockdown orders and business closures – to South Korea and Sweden, which implemented less severe, voluntary responses. It aimed to analyze the effect that less restrictive or more restrictive measures had on changing individual behavior and curbing the transmission of the virus.

Keep reading

Montreal woman says officer insisted on searching her lunch bag during curfew stop

Sarah Vresk was heading to work at around 4 a.m. Tuesday when she was stopped near her home by Montreal police and asked to prove she had the right to be on the road during curfew.

“I got my letter out of my glove compartment and he asked for my ID. I gave him that,” said Vresk. “He then asked me what was in my bag.”

Vresk demanded to know why that mattered, and why she wasn’t free to go after showing a letter from her employer stating she works for a snow-removal contractor and needs to be on the job during curfew.

The officer questioned the validity of that letter, saying it’s just a piece of paper, and threatened to give her a ticket anyway, Vresk said. The officer accused her of delaying detainment by not co-operating and showing the bag’s contents.

Vresk finally gave into the officer’s demands, allowing him to inspect her lunch bag.

The officer then returned to his cruiser to check her credentials while his partner took over questioning. Finally, Vresk was let go without a ticket.

Keep reading

Moderna CEO says the world will have to live with the coronavirus ‘forever’

The CEO of Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna warned Wednesday that the coronavirus that has brought world economies to a standstill and overwhelmed hospitals will be around “forever.”

Public health officials and infectious disease experts have said there is a high likelihood that Covid-19 will become an endemic disease, meaning it will become present in communities at all times, though likely at lower levels than it is now.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel appeared to agree Wednesday that Covid-19 will become endemic, saying “SARS-CoV-2 is not going away.”

“We are going to live with this virus, we think, forever,” he said during a panel discussion at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

Keep reading

HSBC says customers who refuse to wear a face mask will have their accounts withdrawn

HSBC has issued a warning to customers as retailers step up coronavirus safety measures amid a further 1,243 deaths.

The lender – which also owns First Direct and Marks & Spencer bank – said customers who break the law could forfeit their bank account.

Speaking to The Mirror, a spokesman said face masks are mandatory in all branches as per government guidelines.

Those who refuse to comply will be refused service and could have their bank accounts withdrawn.

Jackie Uhi, head of branch network, HSBC UK said: “Our branch colleagues are key workers, continuing to go to work in our branches every day so that customers who need them can access essential financial services.

Keep reading

Los Angeles County officials are advising essential workers to wear masks at home to avoid further spread of Covid-19

Things are so bad in Los Angeles County that health officials are now advising all essential workers to wear masks inside their own home to prevent spreading Covid-19 within their household.”Right now, because there is so much spread, we’re recommending that people wear their face coverings while they’re inside the home,” Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a news conference Monday. That’s for people who are either leaving their home every day for work or who are running errands regularly for their family, Ferrer said.Doing so, she said, “will add a layer of protection while we get through this surge.”

Keep reading

A ‘healthy’ doctor died two weeks after getting a COVID-19 vaccine; CDC is investigating why

Two weeks after getting a first dose of a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a 56-year-old doctor in South Florida died this week, possibly the nation’s first death linked to the vaccine.

Health officials from Florida and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating what role, if any, the vaccine played in the death of Dr. Gregory Michael, a Miami-Beach obstetrician who, his family says, was in otherwise good health.

Michael received his first dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 18 at Mount Sinai Medical Center, according to a Facebook post from his wife, Heidi Neckelmann.

Three days later, small spots began to appear on his feet and hands and he went to the emergency room at Mount Sinai, where he has worked in private practice for 15 years, according to his personal website.

His blood count was far below normal ranges, according to Neckelmann, and he was admitted to the intensive care unit.

For two weeks, she said, doctors tried to raise Michael’s platelet count. “Experts from all over the country were involved in his care,” she wrote. “No matter what they did, the platelets count refused to go up.”

She wrote that Michael was “conscious and energetic” through the process. But just days before a last resort surgery, he suffered a stroke and died.

Neckelmann did not respond to calls and emails Thursday seeking comment.

Darren Caprara, director of operations at the Miami-Dade medical examiner’s office, said Michael died sometime between the night of Jan. 3 and the early morning of Jan. 4.

Keep reading