‘Mutant coronavirus’ seen before on mink farms, say scientists

‘The coronavirus mutation causing concern in Denmark has arisen before in mink, scientists have revealed. The mutated virus has been detected retrospectively in mink at a farm in the Netherlands, but it did not spread to humans, said a leading Dutch expert...

‘The genetic data from Denmark was released on an international database a few days ago, with some scientists questioning why it had not been released sooner. "I think that it is most disappointing that the data have only just reached the light of day," said Prof James Wood, head of the department of veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge, UK...

‘Six countries have reported coronavirus outbreaks at mink farms: the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Italy and the US.’

Read here (BBC, Nov 9, 2020)

Denmark to cull millions of minks over mutated coronavirus

‘Denmark, the world's biggest producer of mink fur, said Wednesday it would cull all of the country's minks after a mutated version of the new coronavirus was detected at its mink farms and had spread to people. The mutation "could pose a risk that future (coronavirus) vaccines won't work the way they should," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a press conference, adding: "It is necessary to cull all the minks."

“The mutated virus could thereby have serious negative consequences for the whole world’s response to the ongoing pandemic,” she said. Danish police estimated that between 15 and 17 million minks would need to be put down. Twelve people are currently registered as infected with a mutated form of the coronavirus in Denmark, according to news wire Ritzau. The mutated virus is reported to respond weakly to antibodies.’

Read here (The Local, Denmark, Nov 4, 2020)

For Covid-19, as with everything else, Americans on the right and left live in different universes when it comes to trusting the media

‘More in Common — a group that tries to “counter polarization” and “build bridges across dividing lines” — has a new report out this morning called “The New Normal,” which looks at “the impacts of COVID-19 on trust, social cohesion, democracy and expectations for an uncertain future.” It looks at seven countries (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands) and is based on surveys of about 14,000 people.’

This story focuses on ‘how people in [the] seven countries view the motives of the news media in covering the pandemic. Only in the United States is that a profoundly partisan question.’

Read here (Nieman Lab, Sept 17, 2020)

Covid-19 symptoms usually last months, large-scale Dutch survey suggests

‘A survey in the Netherlands has suggested that most people who showed signs of having Covid-19 still had multiple symptoms nearly three months later. Only 0.7 per cent of respondents said they were completely symptom-free 79 days after first showing signs of infection, according to research published on Thursday in the European Respiratory Society’s Open Research journal. The survey is the first to show only a partial recovery among a large sample of people, according to the researchers. It involved more than 2,100 mostly non-hospitalised people confirmed or suspected to have had Covid-19 in the Netherlands and Flanders, the northern Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Sept 11, 2020)

Manifesto for post-neoliberal development: Five policy strategies for the Netherlands after the Covid-19 crisis

‘The Manifesto calls the Dutch Government to implement five key policy strategies for moving forward during and after the Covid-19 crisis:

• A move away from “development” focused on aggregate GDP growth;
• An economic framework focused on redistribution;
• Transformation towards regenerative agriculture;
• Reduction of consumption and travel; and
• Debt cancellation.

‘This Manifesto brings to the forefront some fundamental concerns of degrowth scholars and activists, and shows that these concerns are close to the hearts and minds of many academics who may not (yet) see themselves as part of the degrowth community. Particularly relevant is the link between economic development, the loss of biodiversity and important ecosystem functions, and the opportunity for diseases like COVID-19 to spread among humans. The Manifesto proposes policies that, as research tells us, are critical for a more sustainable, equal and diverse society - one that can better prevent and deal with shocks, including climate change related ones, and pandemics to come.’

Read here (Ontgroei, April 16, 2020)

Related:

Use crisis to make post corona society fairer and sustainable, say scientists. Read here

Dutch study suggests 3% of population may have coronavirus antibodies

“This study shows that about 3% of Dutch people have developed antibodies against the coronavirus,” Van Dissel said. “You can calculate from that, it’s several hundred thousand people” in a country of 17 million. The blood donation service Sanquin announced it would begin testing on 10,000 samples weekly on March 19, but later said it would only disclose results to the RIVM.’

The confirmed cases in Netherlands as of April 18 (Wikipedia) was 32,655 with 3,684 deaths

Read here (Reuters, April 16, 2020)

Use crisis to make post corona society fairer and sustainable, say scientists

‘In a manifesto published in Trouw, a group of 170 sociologists and environmental scientists from eight Dutch universities said that the disruption of economic certainties caused by the pandemic offers a chance for radical reforms. These could include the introduction of a universal basic income and debt cancellation for poor countries, the scientists state.’

Read here (Dutch News, April 13, 2020)

Coronavirus: Don’t politicise medical supply problems, China says

‘China has urged countries not to “politicise” concerns about the quality of medical supplies after some countries in Europe reported defective products sourced from China. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday, March 30, that an objective approach was needed to solve the problems.’

Countries affected include Slovakia, the Netherlands, Spain and the Philippines.

Read here (South China Morning Post, March 30, 2020)