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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