Indonesia: Can Jakarta get its raging Covid-19 outbreak under control?

‘Seven months after Indonesia reported its first cases, the country is struggling with mounting infections. It reported 4,071 new cases on Tuesday, bringing its total to 252,923, with 9,837 fatalities – the highest death toll in Southeast Asia.

‘While other countries have managed to slow the spread of infections with partial lockdowns – only to see a resurgence in cases when they reopened – Indonesia has not yet passed the peak of the first wave, according to Mahesa Paranadipa Maikel, the chairperson of the Indonesia Health Law Society, an industry body of medical workers and legal experts.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Sept 22, 2020)

Coronavirus: Constantly surprising virus found to be heat tolerant, self-healing and very resilient in lab tests

‘Hungarian team finds virus particle withstands being probed by a nano needle 100 times, possibly making it the most physically elastic virus known. French scientists find it can replicate in animal cells after being exposed to temperatures of 60 degrees Celsius for an hour.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Sept 18, 2020)

Only 15 per cent in 13 advanced economies in Europe, North America and Asia approve of US handling of the coronavirus: Pew Research Centre survey

‘The median percentage of people polled in 13 countries who said the US has done a good job dealing with the coronavirus was only 15 per cent, the study says... China received a median approval rating of 37 per cent, while nearly two out of three people believed the WHO, from which the US withdrew this year over allegations of a bias toward China, had done a good job. The study “clearly indicates that around the globe no one is buying the Trump administration’s ardent efforts to pin blame on the pandemic upon China and the WHO,” said Allen Carlson, an associate professor in Cornell University’s government department.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Sept 15, 2020)

How coronavirus pandemic has fuelled the rise of QAnon conspiracy theories in Europe

‘QAnon, the US-based conspiracy about a Satan-worshipping, paedophile cabal secretly running the world, is taking root in Europe feeding on fears stirred up by the coronavirus outbreak, analysts say. Anti-vaxxers, white supremacists and government sceptics in Europe are starting to buy into the ill-defined but pro-Donald Trump conspiracy that emerged across the Atlantic in 2017.

‘Dozens of European QAnon offshoots have sprung up online, while protesters have brandished Q-themed messages at demonstrations in Berlin, London and Paris denouncing face masks and other measures to curb the pandemic. “While the conspiracy’s growth in the US has been an outward and visible process, what has gone less noticed is QAnon’s extensive root growth and spread in Europe,” fake news monitor NewsGuard warned in a report in July. It identified the Covid-19 crisis as a “catalyst”.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Sept 15, 2020) 

Battered travel industry will take years to recover even after coronavirus vaccines are rolled out, says Booking.com

“We believe that a vaccine and/or proven treatment is critical for people to feel safe to travel again, and even then, it will be years – not quarters – before travel returns to 2019 pre-pandemic levels,” said Angel Llull Mancas, vice president and managing director, Asia-Pacific, at the online travel service provider. If and when a successful vaccine programme is rolled out globally, the travel industry’s recovery will also be dependent on the world economy and consumers’ willingness to spend money on leisure amid a downturn that has decimated corporate revenues and triggered salary cuts and even redundancies for many workers.

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

Hundreds of thousands have been given Covid-19 vaccines without a single infection, Chinese drug firm says

‘Hundreds of thousands of Chinese have been given two experimental Covid-19 vaccines under an emergency scheme without a single case of infection, a top official with a state-owned vaccine developer has said. Zhou Song, secretary for the commission for discipline inspection with China National Biotec Group, also said the company’s two candidate vaccines were likely to protect people for up to three years. Zhou told China National Radio on Monday that the firm’s vaccines were the most widely used in the emergency scheme, adding: “Hundreds of thousands have taken the shot and no one has shown any obvious adverse effects or got infected.”

Read here (South China Morning Post, Sept 8, 2020)

CRISPR, the gene-editing technology, carries much promise – and peril – amid pandemic

‘As the battle against Covid-19 intensifies, one scientist calls CRISPR ‘our power pellet to help us fight this horrible virus’. The genome-editing tool could indeed bring an end to disease and drastically improve our lives, but with it comes the spectre of bioengineered abomination...

‘It might turn out that CRISPR and its spin-off techno­logies arrive too late to have any effective and lasting impact on the current pandemic. There could be a backlash against CRISPR’s darker potential that undermines the hope for the life-changing good it undoubtedly holds. Fear and scepticism could outmuscle reason and diligent inquiry as the CRISPR saga plays out against a backdrop of polar­isation and bias.

“In the old days, people came to herbs to find new medicine,” says Qi. “In the past century, people turned to chemistry. While human lifespans become longer, the quality of human life still needs to be improved. There are many age-related diseases which simply cannot be addressed using herbs or chemical drugs. The solution is likely in molecules – and CRISPR is probably one of them. One ultimate hope is that CRISPR can help to address ageing, and help people with age-related diseases.”

Read here (South China Morning Post, Sept 5, 2020)  

India, Japan, Australia keen to boost supply chain security by reducing reliance on China

‘The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative will look to secure supply chains and reduce dependence on China in wake of the disruptions caused by the coronavirus. The supply chain initiative could also eventually be expanded to include the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 21, 2020)

Chinese vaccine giant quotes higher price for doses

‘Sinopharm chief says two-shot regimen will cost around US$145 and is expected to become available in December. Oxford University and AstraZeneca say their candidate will be about US$4 per dose when sold to the government.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 20, 2020)

Coronavirus vaccine: Chinese scientists plan joint trials with Russia despite doubts over ‘world-beating’ breakthrough

‘Chinese scientists have offered to carry out joint vaccine trials with their Russian counterparts in what could be seen as a vote of confidence following Moscow’s decision to rush through approval for a Covid-19 vaccine. The plan was announced by China’s top respiratory diseases expert Zhong Nanshan on Sunday during a symposium with Russian scientists. He did not specify which vaccine candidate would be tested or where the trials would take place.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 17, 2020) 

Israeli hospital trials super-quick saliva test for Covid-19

‘A newly developed saliva test aims to determine in less than a second whether or not you are infected with the novel coronavirus, Israel’s largest medical center said on Thursday... The center said in an initial clinical trial involving hundreds of patients, the new artificial intelligence-based device identified evidence of the virus in the body at a 95% success rate... The company said they are in the process of getting regulatory approval. Each test costs less than 25 cents and it expects the device will eventually cost less than $200.’

Read here (Reuters, August 13, 2020)

Watch here (South China Morning Post video on Youtube)

Coronavirus vaccine pre-orders top 5 billion doses in worldwide scramble for supplies

‘Although none of the coronavirus vaccines under development has proved its efficacy yet in clinical trials, at least 5.7 billion doses have been pre-ordered around the world. First shipments of a Covid-19 vaccine created by Western laboratories have often been snapped up by the United States. Six vaccines are in phase 3 efficacy trials involving thousands of people. In a surprise announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Tuesday that a vaccine dubbed “Sputnik V” – after the Soviet satellite – conferred “sustainable immunity” against the novel coronavirus.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 12, 2020)

Hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine in early 2021, but that’s only the start of the story, experts say

‘With six Covid 19 vaccine candidates undergoing final clinical trials, initial data about whether they can protect people from the disease is expected to be available in the next two to three months, assuming all goes well. That gives hope to the possibility that a vaccine could hit the market by early next year...

“Most of the data so far supports the notion that they all do what it says on the tin: induce neutralising antibody and T-cells,” said Daniel Altmann, a professor in the department of medicine at Imperial College London. “But it is a long way from there to proof of safe, long-term, protective immunity.”

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 10, 2020)

India’s coronavirus fight and lessons from my family’s struggle with TB in the 1950s

‘During the current Covid-19 pandemic, I often imagine Biji [mother], with her gritty countenance, asking total strangers why they are not wearing a mask, or reprimanding a group of people for not maintaining a minimum social distance. I had already seen her tackling several difficult situations. But how did she get to a position where she could extract compliance and discipline from people around her?

‘The odds were heavily loaded against Biji for most of her wedded life. She lost four children to infant mortality. When Taaya [father, later inflicted with TB and died aged 43] lost his job, she struggled to run our home by stitching clothes or knitting cane chairs. One day in 1956, we had no vegetables, lentils, potatoes or cooking oil left at home. She gave me a one-anna coin to go and buy 200 grams of raw tomatoes, sprinkled salt on them, and we ate them with chapattis (Indian bread).

‘Alone, she braved deprivation but rarely succumbed to hopelessness. Each hardship only made her more determined to face life in a bold, liberated and result-oriented manner...’

J V Yakhmi is a former chairman of the Atomic Energy Education Society in Mumbai and a retired associate director of the physics group at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 7, 2020)

One-two punch of protests, coronavirus playing havoc with mental health in Hong Kong, study finds

‘Some three-quarters of Hongkongers are harbouring negative thoughts in the aftermath of last year’s social unrest and amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with young people suffering significantly more from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, a new study has found.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 6, 2020)

US announces major clinical trial of antibody treatment

‘The US has begun late stage clinical trials into a drug formulated to fight Covid-19, officials said Tuesday. The medicine is an antibody against the new coronavirus called LY-CoV555, which was identified in the blood sample of a recovered patient by Canada’s Abcellera Biologics. It was then developed synthetically for mass production by US-based Lilly Research Laboratories in partnership with Abcellera. The Phase 3 trial will initially enrol some 300 volunteers around the world who have been hospitalised with mild to moderate Covid-19 with fewer than 13 days of symptoms.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 4, 2020)

China positions itself for ‘vaccine diplomacy’ push to fight Covid-19

‘Beijing is offering loans and priority access to developing countries for vaccinations as they move to large-scale trials. As richer nations scramble for early doses manufacturing constraints likely to cause shortages for years...

‘Vaccines being developed in China are among front-runners in the hunt for safe and effective immunisations to counter the pandemic. China’s diplomats are saying, if successful, the vaccines will be a “global public good”, a pledge made by President Xi Jinping at a meeting of the World Health Organisation’s governing body in May. The assurances come as multiple vaccines worldwide move into large-scale late-phase trials, a step away from potential approval. However, supply shortages for any approved products are likely to persist for months or even years due to manufacturing constraints.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, August 4, 2020)

What we know – and what we don’t know – about stopping the spread of the coronavirus

What's successful: (1) Fast action (2) Well-timed lockdowns (3) Travel restrictions (4) Face masks and coverings. What we still don’t know about the virus’ spread: (1) Mass gatherings (2) Super-spreaders (3) Indoor locations (4) Schools 

Read here (South China Morning Post, July 25, 2020)

Lancet says scapegoating China for pandemic ‘not constructive’

‘Prestigious scientific journal The Lancet has praised aspects of China’s response to Covid-19, while pushing back against political rhetoric blaming the country for the pandemic.

‘An editorial published on Friday for the journal’s latest edition acknowledged that China had been “widely criticised for its role and responsibilities during the pandemic because of censorship, transparency, and human rights concerns”, but said the rest of the world could still learn from its disease control successes.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, July 24, 2020)

Download The Lancet editorial PDF here