Showing posts with label #WasYourHands #DoTheRightThing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #WasYourHands #DoTheRightThing. Show all posts

Thursday, 31 December 2020

The Unfolding Pandemic - August

1 August 2020 – The International Health Regulations Emergency Committee says the COVID-19 outbreak is still a public health emergency of international concern. They urge WHO to provide a nuanced, pragmatic guidance to reduce the risk of response fatigue and counter misinformation and disinformation. Russia announce plans to launch a vaccination campaign in October with a vaccine that has not completed clinical trials.
2 new cases were reported in New Zealand, both imported by travellers returning from overseas.
397 new cases in Victoria bringing the total for the state to 10,931, there were 3 new deaths; 2 are linked to aged care facilities. There are currently 5919 active cases in the state. Seventeen new cases were reported in New South Wales as well.
2 August 2020 —
3 new cases were reported in managed isolation in New Zealand.
671 new cases and a further 7 deaths in Victoria prompt Premier Daniel Andrews to announce changes to restrictions in Greater Melbourne and regional Victoria. Melbourne will move to Stage 4 restrictions, with a curfew from 8pm-5am. This will stay in place for 6 weeks. Exercise for 1 hour is permitted, other than that people can only leave their home to shop (one person per household), seek medical care, go to work or caregiving. Nobody can travel further than 5 kilometres from their home. Uni and TAFE must be learnt remotely, from Wednesday 5 August weddings can not occur, wearing masks is compulsory, all school learning will be learning from home from 5 August. The same will apply to kinder and early childhood centres from 6 August. Regional Victoria returns to Level 3 restrictions.
3 August 2020 — Confirmed cases globally surpass 18 million. Some studies have estimated the infection fatality rate of COVID-19 at 0.6% which although it doesn’t sound like a lot, is actually quite high. It means just over 1 in 200 people infected will potentially die, but it is hugely skewed by age, with the risk much higher in older people. By comparison the infection fatality rate for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic is believed to be between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 1,000,000. In addition long term health effects are still not well understood.
2 new cases were reported in managed isolation and for the 17th day in a row no new cases reported were in the community in New Zealand.
429 new cases and 13 deaths in Victoria.
4 August 2020 – Pan American Health Organisation say half of programmes on diabetes and hypertension are stopped at primary care level, as health workers increasingly cater to COVID-19 patients and many of them become sick, according to a survey on 27 countries in the Americas.
There are 22 active cases in New Zealand in managed isolation. No new cases reported.
439 new cases and a further 11 deaths in Victoria.
5 August 2020 – Confirmed deaths from COVID-19 surpass 700,000 globally.
No new cases reported.
725 new cases and 15 deaths in Victoria.
6 August 2020 – Three days after reaching a global total of 18 million, cases have surpassed 19 million.
No new cases reported in New Zealand.
471 new cases and 8 deaths are reported in Victoria.
7 August 2020 – Cases on the African continent exceed 1 million.
No new cases reported and there are 23 active cases in New Zealand.
450 new cases in Victoria, total for the state is now 13,867. There were 11 new deaths reported. The State Government announces more support for VCE students and further mental health resources for young people struggling with the pandemic. All Victorians arriving in New South Wales from today are required to quarantine at their own expense for 14 days. Air travel from Victoria is restricted to solely arrivals at Sydney Airport.
8 August 2020 – Confirmed cases in the USA surpass 5 million.
No new cases reported.
In Victoria there were 466 new cases and a further 12 deaths, half of which are linked to aged care facilities.
9 August 2020 – New Zealand reports 100 days without community transmissions although there are 23 COVID-19 cases in isolation facilities.
No new cases reported.
394 new cases and 17 deaths in Victoria.
10 August 2020 – Globally cases reach 20 million. Brazil is sustaining a very high level of epidemic, while the curve has shown signs of flattening it is not going down with 50,000-60,000 new cases each day.
No new cases reported. There are now 21 active cases in New Zealand
322 new cases and 19 deaths in Victoria. The total for the State is nearing 15,000 and 228 deaths have been recorded in total.
11 August 2020 – New cases are reported in NZ in a family not linked to overseas travel. Russia grants regulatory approval for a COVID-19 vaccine even though it is yet to enter large scale safety & efficacy trials.
One new case was reported in managed isolation. After 102 days with no community transmission four members of a family in South Auckland tested positive, the source of infection is unknown. Four probable cases are also linked to the family.
Victoria reported 331 new cases and 19 deaths.
12 August 2020 – The US Government secures 100 million doses of Moderna’s candidate vaccine mRNA-1273 which is in late-stage clinical trials.
At noon the greater Auckland region moved back into Level 3 restrictions, initially for three days. The remainder of the country moved to Level 2. The number of active cases in New Zealand has risen to 25. Police checkpoints set up to monitor who is entering an leaving the city.
410 new cases in Victoria. Twenty-one more deaths bringing the total for the state to 267, 16 of the 21 new deaths are linked to clusters in aged care facilities.
13 August 2020 – Russia’s candidate COVID-19 vaccine is not part of the COVAX-Global Vaccines Facility portfolio. Seven African nations will start to administer antibody testing to help understand how many people within their population have had the disease.
Fifteen testing centres open across Auckland. 13 new cases confirmed with 12 linked to the Auckland family bringing the total for that cluster to 17. The remaining new case is in managed isolation after returning from the Philippines. The total number of cases is now 36.
A further 278 new cases and 8 deaths in Victoria.
14 August 2020 – Global cases surpass 21 million.
Another 13 new cases are confirmed, two in the South Waikato town of Tokoroa, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces that the current alert levels will stay in place for 12 more days. There are 49 cases with one person in hospital.
372 new cases and 14 new deaths in Victoria.
15 August 2020 –.
Prime Minister Ardern released  the Government’s COVID-19 response framework, which would involve localised lock-downs in the event there was another community-wide outbreak of COVID-19.
303 new cases and 4 deaths reported in Victoria.
16 August 2020 –.
There are now 69 actives cases with 49 being linked to the South Auckland cluster.
279 new cases and a further 16 deaths in Victoria
17 August 2020 –.
9 new cases are reported. The Prime minister announces that the General Election will be moved to October 17.
Another 282 new cases and 25 deaths in Victoria. There are now 17,027 cases in the state and 334 people have died.
18 August 2020 – A letter signed by former world leaders, people in the education sector and economist calls for urgent action in response to the global education emergency. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation fear up to 30 million children may never return to school.
Another 13 cases are confirmed. Two cases which had not been linked to the South Auckland cluster through contact tracing have now been identified through genomic sequencing; one connected to the South Auckland cluster and the other to a managed isolation hotel in Auckland.
17 more deaths and 222 new cases
19 August 2020 – Globally more than 22 million cases and the death toll approaches 800,000.
6 new cases reported, 5 are linked to the Auckland cluster and the other imported. Five people are in hospital.
216 new cases and a further 12 deaths in Victoria.
20 August 2020 – A WHO survey of 39 countries in sub-Saharan Africa finds that schools are fully operational in 6 countries, closed in 14 and partially open in 19.
Five more cases reported all linked to the Auckland cluster
240 new Victorian cases and 13 deaths.
21 August 2020 –
9 new cases in the community and 2 imported cases were reported.
179 new cases in Victoria and 9 deaths.
22 August 2020 – Globally cases surpass 23 million and death toll now exceeds 800,000.
Six new cases were reported bringing the total number of active cases to 111.
182 new cases and 13 deaths.
23 August 2020 –
There are now 114 active cases in New Zealand the death toll remains at 22.
208 new cases and a further 17 deaths.
24 August 2020 – University of Hong Kong reports the first case of reinfection in a 33 year old man who previously had a mild case in April, now infected by a different strain.  WHO say It is important not to jump to conclusions and that ongoing studies following patients show that some do show a strong antibody response that stays.
Another 9 new case; 8 linked to the Auckland cluster, bringing the total to 123. The Prime Minister extends the Level 3 lockdown to 11.59pm 30 August. The remainder of the country also to remain at Level 2.
116 new cases and 15 deaths in Victoria. All the deaths are linked to aged care facility outbreaks. There are a total of 18,330 cases in the state and there have been 430 deaths.
25 August 2020 – Long turnaround times in testing are still hindering the response on the African Continent.
7 new cases in New Zealand, all but one are linked to the Auckland cluster. There are 8 people in hospital, three in a critical condition in intensive care units.
There have been 148 new cases in Victoria in the past day and 8 more deaths.
26 August 2020 – A decade of economic growth has been lost in Africa and the recovery will be long and difficult.
Five more cases reported, 2 are linked to the Auckland cluster.
Another 149 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours in Victoria and 24 deaths.
27 August 2020 – Over the past four weeks, on average, there has been a 17% decrease in the number of cases reported for the African continent. UNICEF finds that 463 million children globally have not had access to remote learning opportunities during the pandemic. The number of cases globally surpasses 24 million.
Six more cases are reported in the community and one at the border. There are 126 active cases  of which just 11 are imported and in managed isolation.
There were 113 new cases overnight and 23 deaths in Victoria.
28 August 2020 –
12 new cases (5 in the community) were reported in New Zealand.
There were 113 new cases and 12 deaths in Victoria.
29 August 2020 –
13 new cases (11 in the community) were reported.
94 new cases and 18 deaths were reported in Victoria.
30 August 2020 – Confirmed cases surpass 25 million globally. USA, Brazil and India are the most affected countries. Australia is 69th and New Zealand 147th. India reports the highest single day increase of any nation so far with 78,751 new cases. In the week ending today more than 1.8 million new cases and 38,000 deaths were reported to the WHO.
2 new cases were reported in the community. The greater Auckland region moved to Alert Level 2.5 at 11.59pm today. A modified version of Level 2 but with stricter limitations on public gatherings, funerals and weddings. Masks were mandatory on public transport throughout the country for passengers aged 12 or older. The rest of the country remains at Level 2.
Victoria recorded 114 new cases overnight and a further 11 deaths.
31 August 2020 – Cases in the US surpass 6,000,000 the highest number in any country. A WHO survey of 105 countries finds that 90% have had disruption to their health services due to the pandemic.
9 new cases were reported, 5 in the community. 9 of the community cases in the past week are members of a church group which has been classed as a subcluster of the main Auckland cluster. Eleven people are in hospital, there are 131 active cases.
There are now 19,080 cases in Victoria, 2620 are active cases. There have been 565 deaths in the state with another 41 deaths recorded overnight and a further 73 new cases.
 
Total cases globally as of August 31, 2020: 25,275,602 and 843,281 deaths
Total cases in Australia: 25,746, 652 deaths, 21,345 recovered
Total cases in New Zealand: 1,738, deaths 22, 1,585 recovered
(figures from WHO)
 
 
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Wednesday, 5 August 2020

The Unfolding Pandemic - July


1 July 2020 – WHO holds a second research and innovation forum to discuss progress and knowledge gaps, and to define research priorities for the remainder of the year.
The total number of cases in Victoria is 2303 with 77 new cases. This is the sixteenth consecutive day of double-digit case growth in Victoria, with a continuing and concerning number of new cases associated with transmission in households and families. There are 63 active cases in New South Wales, that majority are returned internal travellers in hotel quarantine.
2 July 2020 — New Zealand’s Health Minister David Clark resigns after a series of blunders amid the country’s COVID-19 response.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appointed Chris Hipkins as interim Health Minister until the General Election scheduled for 19 September, in the wake of David Clark’s resignation from that role. Megan Woods took on the responsibility for Border Management (Covid response and Quarantine).
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced a Judicial inquiry into Hotel Quarantine program. This follows some cases of coronavirus in Victoria being linked to a breach in hotel quarantine infection control. There were 66 new cases confirmed. A returned traveller to New South Wales tested positive after leaving hotel quarantine in Victoria.
3 July 2020 — Confirmed cases globally surpass 11 million only 5 days after the total reached 10 million. UNITAID and UNICEF agree to an initial purchase of dexamethasone to expand the drug’s access for low-and middle-income countries.
No new cases reported in New Zealand for the 12th day in a row.
108 new cases in Victoria.
4 July 2020 – WHO discontinues the lopinavir/ritonavir treatment arm of the Solidarity Trial after a recommendation from the trial’s steering committee that found the treatment produced little or no difference to patient mortality when compared to standard of care.
A further two postcodes in Victoria are placed in lockdown until 29 July, and nine public housing towers  with 3,000 residents were added, with an additional condition that residents cannot leave the tower under any circumstances for 5 days – possibly longer, raising concerns about residents mental health. 74 new cases confirmed in Victoria.
5 July 2020 –
At the request of the New South Wales Government, the Federal Government introduced restrictions on the number of passengers arriving at Sydney Airport. A maximum of 50 passengers per flight, and 450 international arrivals per day was set. 127 new cases in Victoria.
6 July 2020 – The US submit their formal notification to withdraw from WHO. UN is reviewing whether they have met the conditions to do so. 239 scientists urge the agency, in an open letter, to recognise the potential for airborne spread of the virus.
127 new cases are reported in Victoria. The New South Wales and Victorian Governments announce their border would close on 8 July. 191 new Victorian cases.
7 July 2020 – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive following months of downplaying the crisis, while cases and deaths from the virus continue to rise. Brazil has the world’s 2nd largest confirmed caseload with 1.7 million cases. Globally there are 11.5 million cases, and 536,000 deaths.
There are 22 active cases in New Zealand. The Government asked Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines to manage international bookings to New Zealand over the next three weeks to ensure that quarantine facilities are not overwhelmed. Air New Zealand said 5,500 people were booked to travel in the next three weeks.
Premier Andrews announced that metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire would re-enter lockdown for a minimum of 6 weeks starting at 12am 9 July. 134 new cases in Victoria.
8 July 2020 – Confirmed cases in Africa surpass 500,000, in the past month cases have doubled in 22 countries. WHO say Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa account for 71% of cases on the African continent.
165 new cases in Victoria.
9 July 2020 – Former New Zealand Prime Minster Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will co-chair the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response tasked with evaluating the global response to COVID-19. The panel is expected to deliver an interim report in November and the full report at the World Health Assembly in May 2021. In response to the open letter from scientists, WHO updates a scientific brief on transmission of COVID-19 saying more research is required on airborne transmission.
Lockdown begins for metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. 288 new cases in Victoria.
10 July 2020 –
216 new cases in Victoria. The number of cases in New South Wales number 3,278 the majority of new cases are returning travellers in hotel quarantine. Two new case are linked to the Crossroads Hotel at Casula after they had been there on 3 July.
11 July 2020 – A study in the UK of 90 patients and healthcare workers finds that only 17% of patients retained a potent antibody response to COVID-19 three months later.
The New South Wales Government announced that compulsory hotel quarantine, previously free to international arrivals, would now be charged for from 18 July. Those already in quarantine would not be charged and neither would those who had purchased flights and had a confirmed international arrival date before 11.59pm 12 July 2020 AEST. Victoria reported 273 new cases.
12 July 2020 – WHO received reports of 230.000 new cases, almost 80% are from just 10 countries.
The number of active cases in New Zealand has risen to 25.
177 new cases in Victoria. New South Wales Government urges anyone who has visited the Crossroads Hotel at Casula to be tested after a business person from Victoria tested positive. The total number of cases linked to the hotel is 9.
13 July 2020 – The 2020 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report estimates that between 83 million and 132 million people could be pushed into hunger this year, many through job losses amid lockdown measures. Globally cases surpass 13 million.
270 new cases in Victoria.
14 July 2020 – American biotech Moderna publishes interim results from ongoing human clinical trials of its candidate vaccine for COVID-19 finding that it was safe and provoked an immune response in all 45 volunteers.
Because of an increase in new cases the New South Wales Government announced tightened preventative measures reintroducing new requirements for pubs. 238 new cases in Victoria.
15 July 2020 – 75 countries have expressed an interest in joining the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility – COVAX, which is a mechanism aimed at increasing equitable access to future COVID-19 vaccines.
Prime Minister Ardern released  the Government’s COVID-19 response framework, which would involve localised lock-downs in the event there was another community-wide outbreak of COVID-19.
317 new cases reported in Victoria, the total number of cases in the State have more than doubled in the last two weeks. The total is now 4750.
16 July 2020 – Research  from the Jubilee Debt Campaign finds that $11.3billion in International Monetary Fund loans to countries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic is effectively enabling those countries to continue paying loans to private lenders rather than tackling their health and economic crises.
428 new cases in Victoria
17 July 2020 – Globally cases of COVID-19 reach 14 million. The UN releases the third updated appeal for the global COVID-19 humanitarian response plan, amounting to $10.3 billion – a more than fivefold increase to the initial $2 billion appeal in March. The issue of reinfection is an active area of research globally. It is known that people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus will develop an immune response providing some protection against reinfection, but is not clear how long the protection lasts or whether a person can be reinfected after the immunity wears off.
In New South Wales the number of diners at tables in venues was reduced from 20 to 10 and a maximum number of 3000 are permitted at any venue. Another 217 new cases in Victoria,
18 July 2020 – Confirmed deaths globally surpass 600,000.
Federal Government announced that the scheduled sitting for the first wo weeks of August would  be cancelled after medical advice stated there would be significant risk of members returning to Canberra from all over  the country. The sitting will now start on 24 August. 363 new cases in Victoria. New South Wales saw an increase of 62 new cases.
19 July 2020 –
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that wearing masks or face coverings would be mandatory in metropolitan Melbourne from 11.59pm on 22 July. The State of Emergency was extended to 16 August. 275 new cases in Victoria.
20 July 2020 – WHO raises concerns over the spread of COVID-19 among Indigenous peoples of America saying there have been more than 700,000 cases reported in the region and over 2000 deaths. They stress the importance of contact tracing to suppress the transmission of the virus. A new study at Oxford University is showing a promising vaccine candidate. The UK announces it has secured 90 million doses of three promising vaccine candidates in advance.
The number of daily overseas arrivals at Sydney Airport was reduced from 450 to 350 daily. Federal Government announced that the Coronavirus Supplement and JobKeeper subsidy would be extended but in an altered form at a lower level beyond 24 September. 374 new Victorian cases.
21 July 2020 – The Pan American Health Organisation warns that 3 in 10 people in the Americas are at risk of developing severe COVID-19 due to underlying health conditions. The region recorded almost 900,000 new cases and close to 22,000 deaths in the past week. Brazil, Mexico and the United States account for the majority of cases.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins announce the Government would be investing $302 million into health services.
484 new cases in Victoria.
22 July 2020 – Globally cases surpass 15 million.
Visiting aged care/health care settings in Victoria is restricted to carers only and a limit of one hour per day. 403 new cases.
23 July 2020 – Low levels of testing in the Central African region is a serious concern. One of the main challenges is access to testing facilities, for example there are only one or two testing sites in the country of Chad. Globally the WHO reported 247,225 new cases and 7097 deaths in the last 24 hours.
There are 22 active cases in New Zealand, all in Managed Isolation facilities.
300 new cases.
24 July 2020 – 15 lawmakers and 11 parliamentary staff test positive for COVID-19 in Zambia.
357 new cases in Victoria
25 July 2020 –
No new cases in New Zealand.
There have been 459 new cases in Victoria in the past day and 10 more deaths. The total cases for the State now number 8181, almost doubling again in the last ten days. There are 560 cases linked to aged care facilities, 369 cases are linked to public housing towers. 228 patients are in hospital including 42 in intensive care. In New South Wales this week there have been 81 new cases, most have been locally acquired through community transmission after the initial cluster introduced by an interstate traveller.
26 July 2020 – Vietnam reimposes social distancing restrictions in the city of Danang after confirming locally transmitted COVID-19 cases over the weekend. Cases globally have reached 16 million.
Another 532 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours in Victoria and 6 deaths.
27 July 2020 – Nearly 15 million children were vaccinated against measles in a 10 day vaccination campaign in Ethiopia according to WHO, it was originally scheduled for April but delayed because of the challenges of conducting a vaccination campaign during the pandemic.
There were 384 new cases overnight and 6 deaths in Victoria.
28 July 2020 –
There were 295 new cases and 9 deaths in Victoria. 3 new cases are reported in Queensland after 2 residents returned from Victoria and gave false border declarations about their movements.
29 July 2020 –
Housing Minister Megan Woods announced that some travellers entering New Zealand would have to pay for their 14 day stay in managed isolation. The isolation stay will cost $3100 for the first adult in each hotel room, $950 for each additional adult and $475 for each child sharing the room. Travellers affected by the ruling include New Zealanders who have left the country after the rules came in to effect , those who intend to stay for less than 90 days, and most temporary visa holders with the exception of family members of citizens who were not liable, diplomats, or those in the country for the Christchurch Mosque trial. New Zealanders returning home permanently will be exempt.
A staggering 723 cases were recorded overnight bringing the state total to 9,998. The State Government announced that from midnight 2 August it would be mandatory to wear a face mask outside of homes across the state. Queensland records 3 new cases, two had returned from New South Wales but had not been in a declared hot-spot, the 3rd had returned from overseas. There are now 11 active cases in Queensland including 5 in hospital. Aged care facilities in South Brisbane are not permitted to accept visitors due to the increased risk of COVID-19.
30 July 2020 – Six months after the WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern confirmed cases surpass 17 million globally. In the past 25 days cases on the African continent have almost doubled. The number of cases in the US have now surpassed 4,495,000.
Victoria recorded 627 new cases overnight and a further eight deaths. Queensland records a further 3 cases.
31 July 2020 – COVID-19 Emergency Committee meets again to discuss and review thegloabal pandemic response via videoconference.
There are now 10,931 cases in Victoria, close to 6,000 are active cases. There have been 116 deaths in the state with another 4 recorded overnight and a further 397 new cases. The State of Emergency has been extended until midnight 16 August. There were 17 new cases in New South Wales bringing the state total to 3,584. Queensland have announced that their border is closed to residents of the Sydney Metropolitan area. The Northern Territory have closed their border with Queensland in response to the now 7 new cases in that state.

Total cases globally as of July 31, 2020: 17,396,943 and 675,060 deaths
Total cases in Australia: 17,282, 200 deaths, 10,201 recovered
Total cases in New Zealand: 1212, deaths 22, 1190 recovered
(figures from WHO)


Sources:
https://www.devex.com/news/covid-19-a-timeline-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak-96396
https://shorthand.radionz.co.nz/coronavirus-timeline/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_coronavirus_pandemic_in_Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_New_Zealand
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation
https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus/updates
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/2020-nsw-health.aspx
https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19

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