The COVID-2019 Thread

[strigils]

After a year of clapping for the NHS...

I do think that given what they have been through, they do deserve something, perhaps a one off payment. They fared quite well in the previous three years with a 12% deal when most struggled to get 1-2% pa and i don't begrudge them that, just laying it out for balance.

The country will take a generation to bail out this COVID induced debt but as usual you sit there Cyrille in the ME with your tax free income making jibes safe in the knowledge that you'll not have to contribute. You are a vacuous little coward really, akin to goading kids to fight whist you sit there smug on the sideline.

Here's cartoon for you and now perhaps we can move on.

[Joe 90]

I had a go at self testing tonight and came up virus free..

Brits will be the tourists holiday destinations want first.

Cypress and Portugal have threw their hats in the ring first.

[harrybarracuda]

You can't fault them for trying.

Thailand's tourism industry launched a campaign on Tuesday, hoping to persuade the country to welcome visitors back by July.

Launched Tuesday, the #OpenThailandSafely campaign hopes to welcome international tourists back to Thailand by July 1, campaign organizers shared with Travel + Leisure, a date which they believe provides enough time for vaccines to make their way around the world.

In addition leaving enough time for travelers to get vaccinated, organizers argued the July 1 date would give Thai medical authorities the opportunity to vaccinate front line staff and vulnerable citizens, and would give the tourism industry (like airlines and hotels) time to prepare to welcome visitors.

Organizers estimate it will take at least a year to return to pre-pandemic tourism numbers in Thailand.

"The 1 July reopening would be a strategic opportunity for Thailand to show a leadership role among Asian countries and prepare the way for a solid recovery of the Thai economy in 2022," CEO of YAANA Ventures, one of the groups supporting the campaign, Willem Niemeijer, told T+L in a statement.

The group plans to send their request to the country's prime minister general, minister of tourism and sports, and governor of the tourism authority of Thailand.

The effort comes a few weeks after the popular beach destination Phuket laid out its plan to vaccinate its own residents in order to begin welcoming vaccinated tourists by October. It also comes after Thailand started allowing tourists to enter the country, but only if they agreed to stay for several months and underwent a two-week quarantine.

The rollout of the vaccine around the world has put a spotlight on the concept of vaccine passports. Some countries — like the Seychelles and Georgia — have embraced the idea, welcoming vaccinated Americans to their shores, while some states — including Vermont — are allowing vaccinated travelers to skip quarantine measures.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/tra...0on%20July%201.

[Slick]

^ there’s no “quarantine” in the states, and when they say there is, it’s completely unenforced.

[misskit]

Health Ministry Panel Suggests Private Sector to Import Covid-19 Vaccines


BANGKOK (NNT) -A panel of advisers at the Public Health Ministry has suggested private companies be allowed to import another 15-20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this year.


Vice-minister Dr Sopon Mekthon said the panel agreed that Thailand still needed more doses of Covid-19 vaccines, in addition to the planned 63 million doses.


He said Thailand has a population of about 65 million. If about 15 million teenagers were subtracted from the sum, the number of those eligible for vaccines would be about 50 million, plus another five million foreign migrants. With a calculation based on 80% of the 55 million people, about 40 million would receive two jabs of vaccines each which would require about 80 million doses.


Dr Sopon said apart from the planned 63 million doses, about 15-20 million more should be procured, though details regarding the prices had yet to be discussed.

National News Bureau Of Thailand

[misskit]

Covid is a real sh!t at the moment with my Dad living alone...

It is so bad on elderly people. My mom had a cerebellar stroke earlier this week and was hospitalized. It was planned to send her to a skilled rehabilitation center to get her back on her feet. THEN I asked if the rehab centers would let in visitors and they said NO. Couldn’t stand the thought of my mother being stuck in a room with no family allowed to visit. Brought her home yesterday with rehab coming here. What a pain in the bum but better than the alternative, I reckon. (Ask me again next week and I may have changed my mind.)

[harrybarracuda]

Health Ministry Panel Suggests Private Sector to Import Covid-19 Vaccines

Gosh, imagine having the political authority to "suggest" something.

Meanwhile farang up and down the country still wonder if they are ever going to get vaccinated.

Except the dumb trumpanzee ones of course.

[Slick]

Thailand really is dropping the ball on vaccination. Waiting until stupid o’clock to order the shittiest vaccine in an amount that will barely vaccinate the government cronies.

And STILL blocking private hospitals from procuring their own and allowing people to make their own choices.

Retarded.

[harrybarracuda]

Thailand really is dropping the ball on vaccination. Waiting until stupid o’clock to order the shittiest vaccine in an amount that will barely vaccinate the government cronies.

And STILL blocking private hospitals from procuring their own and allowing people to make their own choices.

Retarded.

I expect as usual they are fighting over who gets what slice of the skim.

[harrybarracuda]

Another cracking idea from the governmental equivalent of the Keystone Kops.

A proposal to allow foreign visitors to leave their hotel rooms after the first three days of their mandatory 14-day quarantine period will be submitted to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

If approved, visitors next month would only be required to spend three days in their hotel rooms. Visitors could leave their rooms after three days but they must not leave their hotel for 11 more days.

Although

The government will also consider a plan to allow visitors who have received Covid-19 vaccinations to enter Thailand without having to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine period, the source said.

but then again

Some foreign visitors who arrived in Thailand on Feb 18 under the Golf Quarantine programme, which allows foreigners to quarantine in golf resorts to boost the ailing tourism sector during the coronavirus pandemic, tested positive for the virus, the source said.

New plan for hotel quarantine

[harrybarracuda]

The countries opening their doors to vaccinated travellers

Seychelles
The Seychelles has announced that vaccinated tourists from any part of the world are welcome – as long as they have received the complete dose, have certification to prove it, and more than two weeks have passed since the final jab. Its own vaccination schedule continues apace.
Cyprus
In December, Cyprus announced a plan to waive testing requirements for arrivals who have been vaccinated, making it the first destination to specify that immunised travellers will not need to meet other COVID-related entry rules. However, the country's ministry of health is yet to confirm if this will go ahead, as planned, in March.
Estonia
Estonia said it will waive mandatory quarantine for travellers who can provide proof of vaccination or who can prove they have recovered from the virus in the previous six months.
Georgia
"Citizens of all countries, travelling by air from any country may enter Georgia if they present the document confirming the full course (two doses) of any COVID-19 vaccination at the border checkpoints of Georgia," said the Georgian Government.
Hungary
Hungary's government said it could require visitors to prove their vaccination status to gain access to the country via an app showing immunity to COVID-19. "The need for citizens to provide proof that they have gained protection against the coronavirus is increasing all over the world," a government spokesperson said.
Romania
The country's National Committee for Emergency Situations (CNSU) said that people coming from countries or areas of high risk, or who have come into direct contact with someone who's tested positive for COVID, are exempt from quarantine measures if they are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 vaccine passports: The countries rolling out

[harrybarracuda]

US drug maker Moderna Inc said on Saturday, March 7, that it has agreed to supply the Philippine government 13 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.

The company will work with regulators to pursue necessary approvals prior to the distribution, it said in a press release. Delivery of initial doses was estimated for mid-2021, it added.

Philippines, Moderna reach supply deal for 13 million vaccine doses

[harrybarracuda]

Covid-19 vaccine: Government has purchased enough for every New Zealander


Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins made the announcement at a post-Cabinet briefing about 4pm.
Ardern said the decision to make Pfizer New Zealand's primary vaccine provider was based on it being shown to be about 95 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infection.
"Whilst the Pfizer vaccine does need to be kept at ultra-cold temperatures, this challenge is offset by only having to deal with one vaccine, rather than multiple vaccines with multiple protocols. It will simplify our vaccine roll out."
Ardern said the government had signed an advance purchase agreement for an additional 8.5 million doses on top of what it has already bought, bringing the total order to 10 million - enough for five million people to get the two shots needed to be fully vaccinated.
She said early evidence of the Pfizer vaccine's efficacy was 'extremely promising'.
"This purchase marks a significant milestone in New Zealand's fight against Covid-19. We can all take heart that we have now secured one of the strongest and more effective tools in the Covid-19 toolkit," Ardern said.
The additional vaccines are expected to arrive during the second half of the year.
Ardern said the purchase meant all New Zealanders would now have access to the same vaccine, which would simplify the vaccine rollout, so it would not slow the rollout of the vaccines at all.

Covid-19 vaccine: Government has purchased enough for every New Zealander | RNZ News

[Seekingasylum]

Given the traditional lack of transparency that surrounds governance in Thailand it is difficult to know just what the national plan for vaccination is.

However, when one sees the Thai MFA PR news notices, particularly relating to their UK embassy, it seems the entire campaign is to rest on the agreement between Thailand Bioscience ( Siam Cment Group ) and the Oxford Astra Zeneca UK partnership to produce the vaccine in Thailand for distribution " on a non-profit basis and for the good of mankind". This agreement was struck last year in November, I believe.

Recent reports in the press suggest June 2021 will see the fruits of this agreement, apparently.

Having regard to this publicly held knowledge, one cannot imagine private hospitals in Thailand will be able to provide 0xford - AZ vaccines at inflated prices. Certainly, if they were to do this then complaints to the British embassy, Bangkok and Oxford and AZ in the UK highlighting the undermining of the public announcements made by the Thai in London with representatives of Oxford- AZ will inevitably have international repercussions.

[harrybarracuda]

[panama hat]

Covid-19 vaccine: Government has purchased enough for every New Zealander

. . . by the end of the year. Still no word on the procedure and who will get it when, the population and media are starting to see through her stances.

More and more people are asking why the delay, particularly in respect to the dying tourism industry that has received and is receiving billions and the lack of farm/plantation workers fro the islands . . . Vaccinate the population and let vaccinated tourists in to revive the economy.

Vaccine passport? Ardern's Minister for Covid Response puppet Hipkins said that the vaccine passport might be a practicality next year.

Utter fuckwits . . . the place is drowning in debt and Ardern wants to keep people believing she is the saviour . . . while she cuts off certain media outlets from interviews. Oddly enough these are these are the ones that tend to disagree with her

[misskit]

Russia’s Excess Death Toll Approaches 400K

Russia recorded more than 55,000 excess deaths in January, data from the country’s official statistics agency (Rosstat) published Friday showed.


Since the start of the pandemic until the end of January — the latest such data is available — Russia has now recorded 394,000 more deaths than in the previous period. That represents a 24% increase in fatality and one of the highest excess death tolls in the world, even after adjusting for population.


Excess deaths are calculated by comparing fatalities during the pandemic with mortality rates in the same months of previous years. It is seen by demographers as the most reliable indicator of the human toll of the coronavirus.


MORE Russia’s Excess Death Toll Approaches 400K - The Moscow Times

[harrybarracuda]

Well fuck.

What'''s causing vaccine delays in some Asian countries? - BBC News

[Klondyke]

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC8 MAR

Russia reports 10,253 new coronavirus cases
This is the lowest figure since October 3

MOSCOW, March 8. /TASS/. The number of coronavirus cases in Russia per day increased by 10,253 over the past day, this is the lowest figure since October 3. The total number of cases has reached 4,333,029, the federal operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus told reporters on Monday.

In relative terms, the increase in new cases, according to the headquarters, was 0.24%.

The lowest growth rates were recorded per day in the Sakhalin region (0.02%) and the Republic of Tyva (0.03%).

In particular, 956 cases were detected per day in St. Petersburg, 746 - in the Moscow region, 382 - in the Nizhny Novgorod region, 268 - in the Rostov region, 266 - in the Voronezh region.

Currently, 321,310 people are undergoing treatment in Russia.

Number of deaths
The number of deaths due to coronavirus in Russia increased by 379 over the past day against 368 a day earlier to 89,473.

The conditional mortality of the disease (the final one can be determined only after the end of the pandemic) remained at the level of 2.06%, the headquarters said.

In particular, 43 deaths were registered over the day in St. Petersburg, 29 - in the Moscow region, 14 - in the Krasnodar region, 13 - in the Voronezh region, 12 - in the Krasnoyarsk region.

Number of recoveries
The number of people who recovered after being infected with coronavirus in Russia increased by 10 322 per day to 3,922,246.

According to the headquarters, 90.5% of all people infected in the country have already recovered.

In particular, 1,411 patients were discharged over hte day after recovery in St. Petersburg, 555 - in the Moscow region, 447 - in the Nizhny Novgorod region, 295 - in the Rostov region, 288 - in the Irkutsk region.

Russia reports 10,253 new coronavirus cases - Russia - TASS

[harrybarracuda]

There are now more people in the United States who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 than the total number of confirmed coronavirus infections the country has seen so far during the pandemic, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Numbers posted to the CDC website on Sunday show that more than 30 million people in the United States have received both their first and second doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

CDC: More people in US fully vaccinated than people who have had the disease since the pandemic began

[harrybarracuda]

There's a word for it: Vaxication



Celebratory ‘vaxications’ are giving the travel industry a boost | Hindustan Times

[harrybarracuda]

Looks like Benny's doing himself a world of good.

Israel took another step towards post-pandemic normalcy on Sunday, opening restaurants, bars and cafes to vaccinated "green pass" holders, with about 40 percent of the population fully inoculated against the coronavirus.

"We are coming to life," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, as he cut into a pastry at a Jerusalem cafe, according to a video posted on Facebook.

Israel, which launched its vaccination campaign in December, has given the recommended two jabs of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to more than 3.7 million of its roughly nine million people.
Nearly five million have received one shot.

The country launched its green pass programme last month, allowing controlled numbers of people with proof of full vaccination -- or those who had recovered from Covid-19 -- to enter gyms, pools and other facilities.

But Sunday's slate of re-openings has been highly anticipated, as it marks the restoration of services that touch the daily lives of many Israelis.

Restaurants are now permitted to resume indoor dining up to 75 percent capacity, with a cap of 100 people and with tables two metres (6.5 feet) apart.

Green pass holders can also now have a drink at a bar -- but cannot yet strike up a chat with a stranger sitting on the stool beside them, with rules requiring an empty seat between patrons, unless they live together.

Eating and drinking on terraces does not require a green pass.

Large numbers of students, many of whom have been out of classrooms for months, will also start returning to school this week, while hotel event halls, sport venues and places of worship are re-opening to green pass holders, with capacity limits in place.

Israelis stranded abroad amid a weeks-long airport closure will also be allowed to return home in increasing numbers this week, beginning with 1,000 arrivals permitted on Sunday.

'We'll be done'

Netanyahu, who faces a tough re-election battle in two weeks, has put Israel's robust vaccination drive at the centre of his campaign.

While many countries have struggled to secure vaccine supply, Netanyahu's government has remained well-stocked thanks largely to an arrangement with Pfizer to share medical data on the product's impact.

The prime minister, in power since 2009, has said he wants Israel's entire over-16 population vaccinated by the end of this month, hoping the economy will be almost fully re-opened in time for the Passover holiday, which begins on March 27.

"Just have to get a few hundred thousand more people... especially the over 50s, and we'll be done," Netanyahu said at the Jerusalem cafe, gesturing as if he were jabbing his arm with a shot.

While Israel's vaccination pace remains among the world's fastest, the Jewish state has faced widespread calls, including from the United Nations, to ensure inoculations of Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank, and those in Israeli-blockaded Gaza.

Netanyahu's government has announced plans to vaccinate 100,000 Palestinians with permits to work in Israel.
(AFP)

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-e...ainst-covid-19

[Iceman123]

Man dies after getting three-hour erection from coronavirus







Nadine CarrollTue, 9 March 2021, 7:54 pm






A Covid-19 patient has suffered from a painful three-hour erection due to a rare complication of the virus.
The unidentified 69-year-old man from the US state of Ohio was diagnosed with the condition, known as priapism, while in hospital for coronavirus in August last year.
The patient was admitted to Miami Valley Hospital and diagnosed with Covid-19. After his condition began to worsen, he was sedated and placed on a ventilator for 10 days.


A Covid-19 patient has suffered from a painful three-hour erection due to a rare complication of the virus. Source: Getty Stock
When his lungs began to fail medics placed the man, described as obese, on his stomach for 12 hours - a technique used to help get air around his body.
When he was turned onto his back later that day, staff noticed he had developed an erection.
According to reports in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine doctors believed Covid had caused blood clots the patient's penis.

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Ice packs were applied to the erection for three-hours to try and reduce the swelling, but when this failed doctors resorted to draining blood from his penis using a needle, which proved to be successful. The priapism did not return. The patient remained sedated throughout.
He was taken to the ICU and eventually died when his lungs failed to recover.
As the patient was unconscious he could not communicate the level of pain caused by priapism, however the condition is known to be excruciating and can cause lasting damage if left untreated.

The patient is only the second known to have had priapism after being diagnosed with Covid. The other was a 62-year-old man in June 2020.
Experts say it makes sense the blood-related condition could occur as a person infected with coronavirus may experience a cytokine storm where their body's immune system goes haywire and creates blood clots, Dr. Richard Viney, a urological surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK, told the Daily Mail.
"In this patient, he had low flow priapism which would certainly fit with microemboli [little clots forming in smaller blood vessels] and this is one of the complications of Covid we see in many other organ systems," said Dr Viney.







Poor guy, 3 hours wasted if you ask me.

[harrybarracuda]

That should encourage a few old trumpanzees to bite the bullet.

meanwhile...

The Pfizer/Biontech coronavirus vaccine is able to combat a new variant of Covid-19 first identified in Brazil, according to a new study.

Scientists tested blood samples from patients who had received the Pfizer jab and found it was effective in neutralising a laboratory-made version of the virus similar to the Brazil variant.

The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, will likely allay fears about the new P1 variant of coronavirus, which is thought to be more transmissible than other Covid strains.

https://www.cityam.com/pfizer-vaccine-neutralises-brazil-covid-variant-study-finds/

[harrybarracuda]

Not much fucking use if their vaccines are shit

BEIJING: China has launched a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate for its citizens planning cross-border travels, joining other countries issuing similar documents as they seek ways to reopen their economies. As vaccines are globally being rolled out, a few countries including Bahrain have already introduced certificates identifying vaccinated people, and the European Union agreed to develop vaccine passports under pressure from tourism-dependent southern countries. The certificate issued by China will have details about the holder's Covid-19 vaccination information and coronavirus test results, the Department of Consular Affairs under China's foreign ministry said on its website. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday the aim of the certificate is to achieve mutual verification of information such as nucleic acid testing and vaccination, and contribute to safe and orderly interaction of people. It is not immediately clear with which countries China is talking to get its Covid-19 certificate recognised. China also has yet announced any relaxation of quarantine restrictions for people arriving in China who are vaccinated against Covid-19. Existing quarantine requirements should remain in place for people arriving in China, as it is possible that vaccinated people can still be infected by the virus, a spokesman with China's National Health Commission said in February.

China launches vaccination certificates for cross-border travel