FTTISI:The bedrock of Covid-19 infection control — Dr Musa Mohd Nordin and Dr Mohammad Farhan bin Rusli

‘The key element in the blueprint of action to mitigate this Covid-19 national emergency, must surely be a well executed Find, Test, Trace, Isolate and Support (FTTIS) system recommended by the WHO, which has fallen terribly short in national implementation.

‘The FTTIS system Finds and Tests hotspots of Covid-19 outbreaks. Rapid Isolation of cases and quarantine of close contacts through Tracing is extremely critical. Isolation will only work if the rakyat, especially the B40, receive Support during the MCO period with food security and financial Support.

‘The government through its relevant ministries and agencies must provide this social security net and support to this new policy of home isolation to ensure its success. Otherwise, the rakyat will fail to comply with home isolation, in order to search for and put food on the table and scour for basic home essentials. The government already has in place Low Risk Isolation Centres for households who are unable to effectively isolate at home.

‘Clinical support is also vital for monitoring the health of cases and contacts who are undergoing home isolation in the community.’

Read here (Malay Mail, Jan 15, 2021)

Ivermectin is now a therapeutic option for doctors & prescribers

‘One week after Dr. Paul Marik and Dr. Pierre Kory – founding members of the Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) – along with Dr. Andrew Hill, researcher and consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), presented their data before the NIH Treatment Guidelines Panel, the NIH has upgraded their recommen­da­tion and now considers Ivermectin an option for use in COVID-19.

‘Their recommendation has now been upgraded to the same level as those for widely used monoclonal antibodies & convalescent plasma, which is a “neither for nor against” recommen­da­tion. The significance of this change is that the NIH has decided to no longer recommend against the use of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19 by the nation’s health care providers. A consequence of this change is that ivermectin has now been made a clear therapeutic option for patients.’

Read here and press release here (FLCCC Alliance, Jan 15, 2021)

Covid: WHO team probing origin of virus arrives in China

‘A World Health Organization (WHO) team has arrived in the Chinese city of Wuhan to start its investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The long-awaited probe comes after months of negotiations between the WHO and Beijing. A group of 10 scientists is set to interview people from research institutes, hospitals and the seafood market linked to the initial outbreak.’

Read here (BBC, Jan 14, 2021) 

Covid-19 herd immunity unlikely in 2021 despite vaccines: UN

‘The World Health Organization’s chief scientist warned that even as numerous countries start rolling out vaccination programs to stop COVID-19, herd immunity is highly unlikely this year.

‘At a media briefing on Monday (Jan 11), Dr Soumya Swaminathan said it was critical countries and their populations maintain strict social distancing and other outbreak control measures for the foreseeable future. In recent weeks, Britain, the US, France, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands and others have begun vaccinating millions of their citizens against the coronavirus.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Jan 12, 2021)

WHO team blocked from entering China to study origins of coronavirus

‘The World Health Organization said that China has blocked the arrival of a team investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, in a rare rebuke from the UN agency. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said two scientists on the United Nations team had already left their home countries for Wuhan when they were told that Chinese officials had not approved the necessary permissions to enter the country. The arrangements had been jointly agreed with China in advance.’

Read here (CNN, Jan 6, 2021)

New Covid strain in the UK: What we know in 500 words

‘European countries ban UK passengers in bid to contain new mutation, which is 70 percent more infectious and ripping through London...

‘Vaccines should still be effective against it and the new strain is not believed to be any more deadly, but people are increasingly worried because this mutation appears to be 70 percent more infectious. The new variant, which has been named VUI-202012/01 (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020), is thought to have first occurred in mid-September in the country’s southeast, in the capital London or the county of Kent.

‘Susan Hopkins of Public Health England said the agency notified the government on December 18 when modelling revealed the full seriousness of the new strain. The UK submitted its findings to the World Health Organization the same day.’

Read here (Aljazeera, Dec 20, 2020)

WHO vaccine scheme 'risks failure', leaving poor countries with no COVID-19 shots until 2024

 ‘In internal documents reviewed by Reuters, the scheme's promoters say the programme is struggling from a lack of funds, supply risks and complex contractual arrangements which could make it impossible to achieve its goals.

"The risk of a failure to establish a successful COVAX Facility is very high," says an internal report to the board of Gavi, an alliance of governments, drug companies, charities and international organisations that arranges global vaccination campaigns. Gavi co-leads COVAX alongside the WHO.’

Read here (Reuters, Dec 16, 2020)

Intellectual property monopolies block vaccine access

‘The authors of “Want Vaccines Fast? Suspend Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)" argue that IPR are the main stumbling block. Meanwhile, South Africa and India have proposed that the World Trade Organization (WTO) temporarily waive its Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) rules limiting access to COVID-19 medicines, tools, equipment and vaccines.

 ‘The proposal – welcomed by the WHO Director-General and supported by nearly 100 governments and many civil society organisations around the world – goes beyond the Doha Declaration’s limited flexibilities for national emergencies and circumstances of extreme urgency. But Brazil, one of the worst hit countries, opposes the proposal, together with the US, the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, Australia and Japan, insisting the Doha Declaration is sufficient.’

Read here (ksjomo.org, Dec 14, 2020)

WHO to make decisions on Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in weeks

‘The World Health Organization expects to make decisions on whether to give emergency use approval to COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca in the coming weeks, its chief scientist said on Friday (Dec 11).

‘Soumya Swaminathan said the global health body could decide on Pfizer's vaccine candidate in the next "couple of weeks", and later said it could also review Moderna's and AstraZeneca's candidates in a few weeks.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Dec 12, 2020)

WHO against mandatory Covid-19 vaccines

‘The World Health Organization said on Monday (Dec 7) that persuading people on the merits of a COVID-19 vaccine would be far more effective than trying to make the jabs mandatory. The WHO said it would be down to individual countries as to how they want to conduct their vaccination campaigns against the coronavirus pandemic.

‘But the UN health agency insisted making it mandatory to get immunised against the disease would be the wrong road to take, adding there were examples in the past of mandating vaccines use only to see it backfire with greater opposition to them.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Dec 8, 2020)

WHO to look at controversial Italian samples in search for origins

‘The World Health Organization is looking into controversial research suggesting the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 was circulating in Italy months before it was first detected in China, the health body said on Friday, while cautioning against using such data to speculate about the disease’s origins.

‘The WHO plans to run tests with the Italian researchers who made waves earlier this month for their peer-reviewed findings based on tests of blood samples from a cancer screening carried out starting before the pathogen was detected in China.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Nov 27, 2020) 

WHO head has singled out one developing country for its success in managing the coronavirus pandemic

‘Thailand’s numbers “speak for themselves,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in closing remarks to the World Health Assembly, which took place this week. Thailand was the first country outside China to report a case of COVID-19, but to date it has counted fewer than 4,000 cases and just 60 fatalities, despite having a population of 70 million and one of the world’s biggest and most tightly packed cities in Bangkok. By comparison, the U.K., with a population of about 68 million, has had 1.3 million cases and 51,396 fatalities, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.’

Read here (Market Watch, Nov 23, 2020)

WHO advises against remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment

‘The anti-viral drug remdesivir should not be used to treat COVID-19 patients no matter how severe their illness as it has "no important effect" on survival chances, the World Health Organization said on Friday (Nov 20).

‘Scratching one of the few treatments that had shown some initial promise in severe patients, a WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) of international experts said there was "no evidence based on currently available data that it does improve patient-important outcomes".’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Nov 20, 2020) 

World's top intensive care body advises against remdesivir for sickest Covid patients

‘Antiviral remdesivir should not be used as a routine treatment for COVID-19 patients in critical care wards, the head of one of the world's top bodies representing intensive care doctors said, in a blow to the drug developed by U.S. firm Gilead GILD.O.

‘Remdesivir, also known as Veklury, and steroid dexamethasone are the only drugs authorised to treat COVID-19 patients across the world. But the largest study on remdesivir’s efficacy, run by the World Health Organization (WHO), showed on Oct. 15 it had little or no impact, contradicting previous trials.

‘In light of the new interim data from the WHO’s Solidarity trial “remdesivir is now classified as a drug you should not use routinely in COVID-19 patients,” the President of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), Jozef Kesecioglu, said in an interview with Reuters.’

Read here (Reuters, Nov 13, 2020) 

WHO-backed probes move forward to try to shed light on early days of coronavirus

‘Among the work laid out is further investigation into wild animals traded at Wuhan’s Huanan market, where a number of the first known patients worked and shopped. The virus is believed to have originated in bats before passing to humans, likely through an intermediary animal, but it remains unclear whether this crossover happened at the market or outside it, according to the WHO. So far that market has proved a dead-end for animal clues: of the 336 samples from “frozen animal carcasses” that were tested in the market, none were positive for the virus, according to the November 5 report, which updated known figures on animal sampling.

‘Other research will involve looking back before December 2019 to review hospital records, death registers and disease surveillance data, and test stored blood samples to find any cases that appeared before those that are already known. Unpublished government records obtained by the South China Morning Post indicated that Covid-19 cases were identified in Hubei province as early as November 17.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Nov 13, 2020) 

Early and systematic tracking of high-risk contacts helped Uttar Pradesh step up the fight against Covid-19

‘The state of Uttar Pradesh continues to be one of the high-burden states and reported 474 054 cases and 6940 fatalities as of 27 October 2020. Being the most populous state of India, with a population of more than 199 812 341 (as per 2011 census), its fight against COVID-19 has been particularly challenging. When the cases surged post lifting of restrictions, as part of its surveillance response activities with support from WHO, the state government put in place a mechanism to evaluate the status and quality of contact tracing to guide policy level decision making for an informed public health response.

‘The World Health Organization (WHO)- National Public Health Surveillance Project (NPSP) team of medical officers along with 800 field monitors undertook a massive exercise to assess the status and quality of contact tracing amongst the 58 000 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 75 districts across the state during two weeks from 01-14 August 2020...

‘This massive effort led to identification of several cases that would not have been otherwise detected and helped in containing the further spread of the disease. Quality assessment exercise also enabled improved data collection and allowed authorities to make evidence-based decisions on containment measures. The government also deployed more teams to strengthen surveillance activities in districts with high-case load.

‘Acknowledging the key role of contact tracing as an essential public health tool for controlling disease outbreaks, Dr Roderico Ofrin, WHO Country Representative to India shares that systematic tracking of contacts through a proper mechanism is key, along with a well-trained health workforce to implement the surveillance activities.

“The UP government’s strategic response to COVID-19 by stepping up contact tracing efforts is exemplary and can serve as a good example for other states”, he adds.’

Read here (WHO, Nov 12, 2020)

How Biden plans to change the US pandemic response

‘President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris say they will move the US Covid-19 pandemic response in a dramatically different direction... Here are five ways Biden says the US coronavirus response will change when he's President. (1) Increased testing and contact tracing. (2) Additional investment in vaccines and treatments. (3) Mandatory masks and more PPE. (4) A push for 'clear, consistent, evidence-based guidance'. (5) Rejoining WHO and searching for future threats.

‘There were dauntingly high new case numbers last week, and by the time Biden takes office January 20, the influential University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation model projects there will be more than 372,000 Covid-19 deaths -- that's 135,000 more than the current total...’

Read here (CNN, Nov 9, 2020)

Long-term symptoms of COVID-19 ‘really concerning’, says WHO chief

‘The WHO Director-General described the vast spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms that fluctuate over time as “really concerning.” They range from fatigue, a cough and shortness of breath, to inflammation and injury of major organs – including the lungs and heart, and also neurological and psychologic effects. 

‘Symptoms often overlap and can affect any system in the body. “It is imperative that Governments recognize the long-term effects of COVID-19 and also ensure access to health services to all of these patients,” he said. “This includes primary health care and when needed specialty care and rehabilitation.”

Read here (UN News, Oct 30, 2020)

Young and healthy? You may have to wait until 2022 for a Covid-19 vaccine, experts warn

‘Young and healthy people should be prepared to wait their turn for immunization, experts warned this week. The World Health Organization’s chief scientist suggested that the delay could last well over a year for some among the young and healthy. “People tend to think, ah, on the first of January or the first of April, I’m going to get a vaccine and then things will be back to normal,” Soumya Swaminathan said in an online WHO question-and-answer session on Wednesday. “It’s not going to work like that."

Read here (Washington Post, Oct 16, 2020)

WHO study says remdesivir did not cut hospital stay or mortality in Covid-19 patients. Same with hydroxychloroquine, anti-HIV drug combination lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon

‘Gilead Sciences Inc's GILD.O remdesivir had little or no effect on COVID-19 patients' length of hospital stay or chances of survival, a clinical trial by the World Health Organization (WHO) has found. The antiviral medication, among the first to be used as a treatment for COVID-19, was one of the drugs recently used to treat U.S. President Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection.

‘The results are from WHO’s “Solidarity” trial, which evaluated the effects of four potential drug regimens, including remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, anti-HIV drug combination lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon, in 11,266 adult patients across more than 30 countries. The study found the regimens appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or the length of the in-hospital course among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the WHO said on Thursday.’

Read here (Reuters, Oct 16, 2020)