Public Health

Herd immunity unlikely: The world may need to live with the virus

Mon, 2021-05-10 10:07 — mike kraft

The world may need to learn to live with the virus.

Early in the pandemic, there was hope that the world would one day achieve herd immunity, the point when the coronavirus lacks enough hosts to spread easily. But over a year later, the virus is crushing India with a fearsome second wave and surging in countries from Asia to Latin America.

Experts now say it is changing too quickly, new more contagious variants are spreading too easily and vaccinations are happening too slowly for herd immunity to be within reach anytime soon.

That means if the virus continues to run rampant through much of the world, it is well on its way to becoming endemic, an ever-present threat.

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Covid-19: Africa scrambles to increase genomic testing capacity as variants spread

Fri, 2021-05-07 17:56 — mike kraft

Covid-19: Africa scrambles to increase genomic testing capacity as variants spread African countries are struggling to bolster genomic sequencing as SARS-CoV-2 variants spread on the continent, reports Abdullahi Tsanni As the world entered 2021, the covid-19 pandemic began a new phase, one dominated by worries over emerging variants. But the way of detecting these threats has not been standardised—even in the UK, where genomic sequencing is relatively frequent, only 5-10% of covid-19 positive cases were being sequenced at the start of the year.1 The spotlight on sequencing has highlighted inequalities in global capacity. Many countries in Africa do not perform sequencing themselves, and those that do only do so on a small scale.

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Africa

Conakry

Democratic Republic of the Congo

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As India sets another record, main opposition leader warns COVID-19 wave also threatens other countries

Fri, 2021-05-07 11:33 — mike kraft

Gandhi warns 'explosive' COVID wave threatens India and the world India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi warned on Friday that unless the deadly second COVID-19 wave sweeping the country was brought under control it would devastate India as well as threaten the rest of the world. Anuron Mitra,Nivedita Bhattacharjee Reuters

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India's disaster finds echo in other countries facing COVID-19 surges

Fri, 2021-05-07 11:17 — mike kraft

India's disaster hangs over countries facing COVID-19 surges SOHAG, Egypt (AP) — Countries worldwide wrestling with new coronavirus surges are trying to ensure they aren’t hit by an India-style disaster. They face many of the same risks, including large populations that have shirked restrictions and fragile health systems shaken under the strain... AP NEWS

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India: Claims that Covid emergency relief is not reaching those in need

Thu, 2021-05-06 10:06 — mike kraft

India Covid aid: Is emergency relief reaching those in need? Emergency relief is flowing into India but concerns are mounting about delays in supply. BBC News

As India's devastating Covid-19 crisis mounted last month, countries around the world began sending emergency medical supplies to help stem the surge.

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OPINION: India, Brazil and the COVID cost of sidelining science

Wed, 2021-05-05 21:16 — mike kraft

India, Brazil and the human cost of sidelining science Governments that ignore or delay acting on scientific advice are missing out on a crucial opportunity to control the pandemic. nature

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Biden announces goal of at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot to 70% of US adults and increased funding for community outreach groups fund

Tue, 2021-05-04 15:37 — mike kraft

Biden sets goal of administering at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot to 70% of US adult population by July 4 President Joe Biden on Tuesday set a new goal of administering at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose to 70% of the US adult population and having 160 million US adults fully vaccinated by July 4. Kate Sullivan and Betsy Klein, CNN CNN

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India's virus catastrophe worsens. Hospitals turn to courts for help

Tue, 2021-05-04 09:52 — mike kraft

'Horrible' weeks ahead as India's virus catastrophe worsens NEW DELHI (AP) — COVID-19 infections and deaths are mounting with alarming speed in India with no end in sight to the crisis and a top expert warning that the coming weeks in the country of nearly 1... AP NEWS

NEW DELHI (AP) — COVID-19 infections and deaths are mounting with alarming speed in India with no end in sight to the crisis and a top expert warning that the coming weeks in the country of nearly 1.4 billion people will be “horrible.”

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