Saturday, 25 April 2020
Inside a COVID-19 lab and why more people return inconclusive tests
Read here (The Sydney Morning Herald, April 25, 2020)
Time to wake up to Western media bias
‘Admittedly, Al Jazeera and CGTN are nowhere near CNN or the BBC in reach and brand value but any fair-minded reader/viewer who has followed their work for a sustained period knows their products are nothing to sniff at.
‘And not to forget: their own English language national or regional media too - whether it be the South China Morning Post, The Star in Malaysia, or The Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia in Singapore. They make no self-glorifying claims to being the gold standard for good journalism but they do try to be objective, fair and balanced.’
Read here (Straits Times, April 25, 2020)
Immunity passports 'could increase virus spread': WHO
Read here (BBC, April 25, 2020)
US says will not take part in WHO global drugs, vaccine initiative launch
“There will be no US official participation”, he said in an email reply to a query. “We look forward to learning more about this initiative in support of international cooperation to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 as soon as possible.”
Read here (Reuters, April 25, 2020)
Related:
- WHO initiates ACT (Access to Covid-19 Tools) Accelerator. Read here
Friday, 24 April 2020
McKinsey & Co: The phase of Return is in sight. But rapid Return comes with higher risk, and a new reality
- Weeks of shelter-in-place provisions globally have caused a deep economic challenge, straining governments’ ability to save lives while safeguarding livelihoods
- Governments are now considering options and timing for a gradual re-opening, with the US being the most recent announcement.
- Many of these re-openings are occurring in very different environments. Some geographies are considering opening after they have plateaued, while others are seeking to return after additional verifications are complete (e.g., hospital capacity, testing capacity, other)
- These variations are driving concerns within businesses around risks associated with a return-to-work, and whether these risks can be adequately managed
- Additionally, COVID-19 has changed many realities for businesses. Remote first may be a goal achievable in months, consumers have structurally adopted digital channels, and the prospect of the largest economic recession since the second World War could quickly challenge the business
The section goes on to discuss ‘Return planning’ which is relevant to all Malaysians as we enter the phase of conditional MCO.
Download the report here (McKinsey & Co, April 24, 2020)
The architect of Sweden’s controversially lax coronavirus response says he thinks it’s working
Read here (Business Insider, April 24, 2020)
Health D-G: Malaysia now in recovery phase
‘ “Then, we were expecting a peak on April 14, so much so that the prediction was 6,300 total cases. But we did not see that peak. We thought perhaps Phases 1 and 2 of the movement control order (MCO) had flattened the curve. Now, we have come to realise that we are in the recovery phase,” Noor Hisham said during his daily press briefing on the Covid-19 situation in the country today.
‘Nevertheless, he did not rule out the possibility that a surge in new cases may occur if the precautions undertaken during Phases 1 and 2 of the MCO are not continued.’
Read here (The Edge, April 24, 2020)
MCO extension has grave consequences, UOB Kay Hian warns
‘“We also fear that the country’s unemployment rate will spike well beyond the 4% baseline assumed by the government.”
Read here (The Edge, April 24, 2020)
The architect of Sweden’s controversially lax coronavirus response says he thinks it’s working
Read here (Business Insider, April 24, 2020)
Japan to subsidise 100% of salaries at small companies
Read here (Nikkei, April 24, 2020)
WHO and ”immunity passports”: No clear evidence people who have recovered cannot be reinfected
Read here (WHO, April 24, 2020)
In Italy, home is also a dangerous place that may be propping up the infection curve the lockdown was meant to suppress
‘The problem is one the Chinese government bludgeoned quickly. It ordered the roundup of all residents in Wuhan infected with the coronavirus, warehousing them in quarantine camps, sometimes with little care. While that approach may have helped contain the virus, ripping people apart from their homes is anathema to Western democracies, especially Italy, where tight-knit families are the rule.’
Read here (New York Times, April 24, 2020)
Covid-19 pandemic: A perfect ecosystem for fraudsters to operate in
‘"What we're worried about is that not only do we have these existing conditions, but we are awaiting — like everybody in the country — the arrival of $2 trillion to hit the streets," Merrill said. "And anytime there's that much money out there, you can just multiply the amount of frauds that are going to take place. So we're preparing for many more complaints to come in and new schemes to arrive on a daily basis."’
Read here (NPR, April 24, 2020)
The results of coronavirus ‘serosurveys’ are starting to be released. Here’s how to kick their tires
‘Already, though, experts are raising concerns about the validity of some of the studies and cautioning officials and the general public not to put too much weight on any one finding.
‘Known as serological surveys, the studies involve testing the blood of people not diagnosed with Covid-19 to determine whether they had previously been infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They are important because they can flesh out the picture of how many people in any given community may have had Covid-19, even if they were unaware they were infected.‘
Read here (STAT News, April 24, 2020)
Download here Q&A from The Wadsworth Center (WC), the public health laboratory of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH)
Malaysia almost reaching target test capacity of 16,500 samples per day, says Health DG
“We are also looking to optimise our labs with the installation of automated testing devices from the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI). This will increase our testing capacity... The BGI automated testing device at IMR will increase our testing capacity by another 5,000 a day, while in Sabah, it would give us another 1,000 tests in a day.”
Read here (The Star, April 24, 2020)
The pandemic shows what cars have done to cities
‘The single-occupancy car itself is the original social-distancing machine. Knoflacher has likened it to a virus—a pathogen that has infiltrated its host (the city) and hijacked its molecular infrastructure to create a more welcoming environment for its own replication. “Normal human social behavior,” he writes, is transformed “into the rules of road traffic regulations in which car traffic [has] advantages in relation to all other users of public space.” We have laws to ensure sufficient parking, but no laws to ensure sufficient parks. So complete is the viral takeover that when President Donald Trump and others seek to minimize the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, they equate its number of victims with the largely preventable death toll from traffic crashes—as if losing tens of thousands of Americans in that way every year were perfectly acceptable.’
Read here (The Atlantic, April 24, 2020)
WHO/Europe publishes considerations for gradual easing of COVID-19 measures
- Evidence shows COVID-19 transmission is controlled;
- Public health and health system capacities are in place to identify, isolate, test, trace contacts and quarantine them;
- Outbreak risks are minimised in high-vulnerability settings, particularly in homes for older people, mental health facilities and crowded places of residence;
- Workplace preventive measures are established, including physical distancing, handwashing facilities and respiratory etiquette;
- Importation risks can be managed; and
- Communities have a voice and are aware, engaged and participating in the transition.
‘Due to the complex nature of the COVID-19 situation, countries are at different stages. Some are beginning to ease restrictions while others are choosing to continue strict lockdown measures.’
The WHO also called for adaptability and a staggered approach.
Read here (WHO/Europe, April 24, 2020)
Work smart, travel alone, eat out fast: South Korea's prescription for coronavirus recovery
“Some experts predict COVID-19 will stay for as long as two years, and we have to accept the reality that we can’t go back to pre-COVID-19 life during that time,” Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told a briefing.
‘The guidelines detail a code of conduct in areas including workplaces, transport, restaurants, shopping and sporting fixtures, starting with general rules such as washing hands, maintaining distance and regular temperature checks and disinfection.’
Read here (Reuters, April 24, 2020)
392 NGOs call on WHO to operationalise fair and equitable benefit sharing of Covid-19 medical products
Specifically, they have asked WHO to urgently:
- Secure binding commitments from biopharmaceutical companies and other manufacturers for the rapid supply of existing and future medical products, especially diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to developing and least developed countries at an affordable price.
- Organise open platforms for the widespread and unconditional sharing of technology and knowledge including technical specifications, designs, blueprints and any other know-how to scale-up local/regional manufacturing of medical products required for COVID-19 response including diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines; and towards that end to secure binding commitments from biopharmaceutical companies and other medical product manufacturers.
- Proactively coordinate and direct COVID-19 R&D by setting up an open innovation platform for the rapid public sharing of all research outcomes, knowledge gaps and problem solving, and towards that end secure binding commitments from entities and individuals engaged in the R&D.
- Ensure that intellectual property rights do not affect or hinder efforts to curb the Covid outbreak.
Download here (Third World Network, letter dated April 24, 2020)
Republican Party memo urges anti-China assault over coronavirus
‘The memo includes advice on everything from how to tie Democratic candidates to the Chinese government to how to deal with accusations of racism. It stresses three main lines of assault: That China caused the virus “by covering it up,” that Democrats are “soft on China,” and that Republicans will “push for sanctions on China for its role in spreading this pandemic.”’
Read here (Politico, April 24, 2020)
WHO initiates ACT (Access to Covid-19 Tools) Accelerator
Download here (WHO, April 24, 2020)
Lift MCO on areas without new Covid-19 cases over 28 days: Ex-MOH official
Read here (Code Blue, April 24, 2020)
The COVID-19 paradox in South Asia: It is surprising that the region has far fewer infections and deaths compared with North America and Western Europe
Read here (The Hindu, April 24, 2020)
How would the property sector fare against the Covid-19?
Download here (The Edge, April 24, 2020)
Lockdown, vaccine, herd immunity. Can there be a winning exit strategy?
NOTE: Dr Yap Wei Aun is a health systems specialist and adviser to the former Malaysian Minister of Health
Read here (South China Morning Post, April 24, 2020)
Thursday, 23 April 2020
Learning how to dance - Part 2: The basic dance steps everybody can follow. Tomas Pueyo
‘It’s time to dive deep into all these possible measures, to understand them really well and decide which ones we should follow. We can split them into 4 blocks:
- Cheap measures that might be enough to suppress the coronavirus, such as masks, physical distancing, testing, contact tracing, quarantines, isolations, and others
- Somewhat expensive measures that might be necessary in some cases, such as travel bans and limits on social gatherings
- Expensive measures that might not always be necessary during the dance, such as blanket school and business closures
- Medical capacity
Read here (Medium, April 23, 2020)
UN chief: Pandemic is fast becoming 'human rights crisis'
Read here (DW, April 23, 2020)
UrbanFutures: The marathon fight against Covid-19 and beyond
- ‘By all accounts, it looks highly probable that the pandemic and its direct consequences will be with us for a while, possibly for another 12 to 18 months, and its social, cultural and economic impact will be felt many years after...
- ‘To face this challenge, unified public health strategies should be implemented so that risks can be managed and, with a degree of regularity, brought into everyday life...
- ‘The Covid-19 crisis is going to redefine our lives, our economy and our future. We are in the early phase of a protracted slowdown and there is discussion in the international media about the possibility of global depression. The challenge is managing the economic shock and slowdown...
- ‘We should all be thinking about and having conversations around the type of future we want — not just for ourselves and our children, but for our friends, neighbours and fellow humans. More importantly, we need to have this conversation today, even as we manage the complexity of the first wave and its fallout.’
Coronavirus: Charting the way forward for Malaysia (Jeyakumar Devaraj)
Read here (Aliran, April 23, 2020)
The Oxford Vaccine Centre COVID-19 Phase I clinical trial explained
Read here (The Oxford Vaccine Centre, April 23, 2020)
A WORD OF CAUTION: ‘News about trial progress - We are aware there have been and will be rumours and false reports about the progress of the trial. We urge people not to give these any credibility and not to circulate them. We will not be offering a running commentary about the trial but all official updates will appear on this site.’
Read here (The Oxford Vaccine Centre, April 26, 2020)
Congested Milan to turn roads into cycle lanes after drop in air pollution due to lockdown
Read here (The Independent, April 23, 2020)
Invest in the overlooked and unsung: Build sustainable people-centred long-term care in the wake of COVID-19
‘We have inherited the European rights, values and opportunities that define us from the generations that came before – so we must care for them. It is our duty to leave no-one behind. We must step up. So what must we do? (1) Empower care workers (2) Change how long-term care facilities operate and (3) Build systems that prioritise people’s needs.’
This is a press statement by Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
Read here (WHO, April 23, 2020)
Health service disruptions due to drug shortage could lead to 769,000 malaria deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa
‘Under the worst-case scenario, in which all insecticide-treated net campaigns are suspended and there is a 75% reduction in access to effective antimalarial medicines, the estimated tally of malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 would reach 769 000, twice the number of deaths reported in the region in 2018. This would represent a return to malaria mortality levels last seen in the year 2000.’
Read here (WHO, April 23, 2020)
Coronavirus is not an enemy rather a courier
‘The Dao philosophical and medicinal way of tackling Covid-19 has been effective in China and need to be widely adopted...
‘If we regard COVID-19 as an ecological crisis, it requires a brand new thinking, a comprehensive, organic thinking which treats COVID-19 as political, economic, philosophical, ethical, and psychological issue.
‘We recommend Dao thinking. According to Dao or process-relational thinking, everything is closely related to one another. The COVID-19 crisis is a result of many causes. This means that tackling COVID-19 should be carried out in a multi-faceted way. Therefore it will require everybody’s active participation, and everyone including scientists, economists, educators, philosophers, government officials, ordinary people should take some responsibilities. We should rethink our development model, our way of thinking, our way of living, our way of consumption, our way of production, our dietary habits, and our education system, etc. All of them are closely related to the cause and cure of COVID-19.’
Read here (MR Online, Apr 23, 2020)
Could it be time to swop fast car for slower, sturdier one?
Upclose and personal: “Post-Covid-19, the new focus will concentrate more sharply on individual well-being and individual responsibility. Old political dogmas about individual rights and state surveillance and control need to be recalibrated. In a world of spillovers, individual rights are immediately social ones too. Covid-19 has shown how our economic world is rife with externalities, where we ourselves rise by lifting others around us."
Two paradigms: The overall tradeoff involves two paradigms of development. Comparing a highly souped-up car with a slower sturdier one, he concluded: “The critical trade-off is between driving an economic system to maximal efficiency and building in redundancies and resilience through spare back-up capacity. Government intervention is needed to repair the problems created by externalities in health systems.”
Read here (Straits Times, April 23, 2020)
Seniors with Covid-19 show unusual symptoms, doctors say
Read here (CNN, April 23, 2020)
Finland considers controlled herd immunity: HUS infections chief calls for healthy groups to be exposed to virus to spread immunity
Read here (Utiset, April 23, 2020)
Covid-19 crisis forces Penang to review PSP, Penang 2030 vision
‘State Local Government, Housing Development and Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said that both documents are crucial to map out the future of Penang – however, current circumstances have affected their implementation.’
View here (New Straits Times, April 23, 2020)
Wednesday, 22 April 2020
No benefit, higher death rate for malaria drug in coronavirus study
Read here (Straits Times, April 22, 2020)
Amar Singh and other doctors offer guidelines for supermarkets
We offer here a “Guide for Supermarkets to Standardise Covid-19 Prevention”: The “new normal” for supermarkets. This guide aims to help standardise the measures to be taken by all supermarkets, as well as offer ideas and initiatives that could be taken.’
Read here (The Malay Mail, April 22, 2020)
Amar Singh and other doctors offer guidelines for supermarkets under new normal
‘We offer here a “Guide for Supermarkets to Standardise Covid-19 Prevention”: The “new normal” for supermarkets. This guide aims to help standardise the measures to be taken by all supermarkets, as well as offer ideas and initiatives that could be taken.’
Read here (The Malay Mail, April 22, 2020)
“Hammer and the dance” in Bahasa Malaysia
Read here (Medium, March 22, 2020)
Potential to develop a more effective cloth mask with finer weave, more layers and a better fit
‘The protection afforded by gauze masks increases with the fineness of the cloth and the number of layers, indicating potential to develop a more effective cloth mask, for example, with finer weave, more layers and a better fit.
‘Pandemics and emerging infections are more likely to arise in low-income or middle-income settings than in wealthy countries. In the interests of global public health, adequate attention should be paid to cloth mask use in such settings. The data from this study provide some reassurance about medical masks, and are the first data to show potential clinical efficacy of medical masks.’
Read here (NCBI, April 22, 2015)
UChicago Medicine doctors see 'truly remarkable' success using ventilator alternatives to treat COVID-19
Read here (UChicago Medicine, April 22, 2020)
US CDC, in the face of personal protection equipment (PPE) shortages, issues strategies to optimise the supply of PPEs
‘CDC’s optimisation strategies for PPE offer options for use when PPE supplies are stressed, running low, or absent. Contingency strategies can help stretch PPE supplies when shortages are anticipated, for example if facilities have sufficient supplies now but are likely to run out soon. Crisis strategies can be considered during severe PPE shortages and should be used with the contingency options to help stretch available supplies for the most critical needs. As PPE availability returns to normal, healthcare facilities should promptly resume standard practices.’
Read here (CDC, April 22, 2020)
We should applaud the Cuban health system — and learn from it
Read here (Jacobin, April 22, 2020)
Leaked study data finds no benefits of Remdesivir on coronavirus patients, sending Gilead stock tumbling
‘Gilead challenged the results in an emailed statement, however, deeming them "inconclusive" given the clinical trial was ended early resulting in low enrollment, though it noted there were trends suggesting potential benefit for patients who received treatment early.
‘That didn't stop Gilead's stock from diving down 8% to $75.37 a share in the afternoon before recovering slightly to $77.78.’
Read here (Forbes, April 22, 2020)
Developing a National Strategy for Serology (antibody testing) in the United States: Publication by John Hopkins
Download here (John Hopkins Center for Health and Security, April 22, 2020)
Children and Covid-19: Systematic review of 18 studies
Read here (JamaNetwork, April 22, 2020)
Yuval Noah Harari on COVID-19: ‘The biggest danger is not the virus itself’
Read here (DW, April 22, 2020)
Sweden health agency withdraws controversial coronavirus report
‘The decision was announced via Twitter: “We have discovered an error in the report and so the authors are currently going through the material again. We will republish the report as soon as it is ready”.’
Read here (Forbes, April 22, 2020)
Stiglitz: US coronavirus response is like 'third world' country
Stiglitz, a long-term critic of Trump, said 14% of the population was dependent on food stamps and predicted the social infrastructure could not cope with an unemployment rate that could hit 30% in the coming months.
Read here (The Guardian, April 22, 2020)
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
World risks ‘biblical’ famines due to pandemic, says the UN
Read here (BBC, April 21, 2020)
Give me liberty and give me death: Paul Krugman
‘If you ask me, this isn’t just cruel, it’s politically stupid. As we’ve just seen, viruses move fast. A few days ago we were starting to see signs that Covid-19 might be peaking. But relax our vigilance, even a bit, and a second, bigger wave of deaths could easily happen well before the election.
‘But Trump and his allies don’t seem able to wrap their minds around the idea that it’s their job to solve problems, not shift the blame. And I don’t know about you, but I’m getting even more scared than I was.’
Read here (New York Times, April 21, 2020)
America isn't just a failing state, it is a failed experiment. And the mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic is just another proof
Read here (Aljazeera, April 21, 2020)
MOH Malaysia lists six criteria for lifting MCO and help develop a ‘soft landing’ exit strategy
- Strict border control: “If we open our borders then people will start coming in and there’s a big possibility they may have the virus.”
- Single-digit number of cases: Only when cases start to fall in the single-digit can the government seriously consider lifting the MCO
- Having a good health system and improving testing standards: Look carefully at e.g. (a) testing capability of labs (b) if we have enough wards and intensive care units. Raise the detection standards from say 48 hours to 24 hours or less.
- Capability to look after high-risk groups — the handicapped, elderly, and those with co-morbidity illnesses, including patients receiving hospital treatment like chemotherapy
- (5) Adherence to new social norms: “Putrajaya needs to study this and instil in Malaysians’ minds that following social distancing, washing hands frequently and avoiding crowding around each other is the way to go moving forward.”
- (6) Community cooperation in infected areas: Identify infected areas and get their communities to work with MOH and the relevant authorities to make sure the virus doesn’t spread again.
Read here (The Malay Mail, April 21, 2020)
Has the pandemic accelerated the growth of technology?
Read here (ISIS Malaysia, April 21, 2020)
Undaunted by COVID-19 and border controls, Malaysian mums in Singapore send around 3,000kg of breast milk to babies back home
Read here (Channel News Asia, April 21, 2020)
The role of banks in a pandemic
Read here (LinkedIn, April 21, 2020)
Covid-19 has a grandma, grandpa and great grandpa. Where are they?
Read here (Indian Punchline, April 21, 2020)
County of Santa Clara identifies three additional early COVID-19 deaths -- much earlier than the one on March 9, 2020, originally thought to be the first in the US
‘The Medical Examiner-Coroner performed autopsies on two individuals who died at home on February 6, 2020 and February 17, 2020. Samples from the two individuals were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today, the Medical Examiner-Coroner received confirmation from the CDC that tissue samples from both cases are positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).’
Read here (Santa Clara County Public Health, April 21, 2020)
Coronavirus is accelerating eight challenging mega trends
- Eurozone existential crisis: ‘To put it crudely, Italians will not work as productively as Germans, and Germans will not agree to pay off the debts of Italians.’
- Trans-Pacific tensions: ‘...the process of “deglobalisation” - more of what we consume being made closer to home, even if it is more expensive - will accelerate.
- Greater rise of the Asian tigers: ‘[Asia] was already going to account for 90 per cent of new middle-class people in the next decade. Perhaps we can revise that up to 95 per cent now.’
- Oil price volatility: ‘Countries dependent on oil production already faced forecasts that petroleum demand would peak and fall before 2030.’ We have in recent days seen negative oil prices.
- Politics of inequality: ‘It will push to the forefront of politics fundamental issues about the taxation of wealth, the case for basic incomes provided by governments, and the responsibility of companies for their employees.’
- Debts: ‘Political parties will campaign for debt forgiveness and write-offs, and for the cancelling by central banks of money borrowed by governments, with inflationary consequences.’
- Data: ‘Once we are all carrying around an app on our phones to show where we have been and who we have met, pressure will grow to use that information for other purposes.’
- Crisis as the mother of innovation: ‘More optimistically, they have one positive companion - the massive incentive this crisis provides for innovation’
Read here (The Age, April 21, 2020)
Monday, 20 April 2020
Everything we know about coronavirus immunity and antibodies — and plenty we still don’t
‘They caution that policymakers may be making sweeping economic and social decisions — plans to reopen businesses or schools, for example — based on limited data, assumptions, and what’s known about other viruses. President Trump last week unveiled a three-phased approach to reopen the country; he said some states that have seen declining case counts could start easing social distancing requirements immediately. And some authorities have raised the idea of granting “immunity passports” to people who recover from the virus to allow them to return to daily life without restrictions.’
Read here (STAT News, April 20, 2020)
When Americans go back to work, things won't be the same... and what can be done
‘For the record, Caulkins thinks restaurants should stay open, too. But, with more creativity and flexibility from governments, he sees a pathway for millions of additional workers to soon join cooks and cashiers back at work with even greater safety than we have today. Even furniture and electronics stores are potential candidates.’
Read here (Futurity, April 20, 2020)
Learning how to dance - Part 1: A dancing masterclass, or what we can learn from countries around the world. Tomas Pueyo
‘This article will explain when, and how, we will dance. Specifically, we will discover:
- What can we learn from the experiences of countries around the world?
- What measures will we need to implement during the dance, so we can get back to a new normal? At what cost?
- How can we make them a reality?’
Read here (Medium, April 20, 2020)
Distance learning isn’t working: Instead of trying to move classes online, schools should support parents in educating their children
‘Schools can still play a constructive role, even if they aren’t holding online classes for kids stuck in their homes. Instead of spending time on online lessons and hours of videochats, schools need to provide a crash course in education for parents, provide loose individual lesson plans and suggestions, and operate as a help line...’
Read here (The Atlantic, April 20, 2020)
China ever vigilant with ‘stronger, more rigorous’ testing
‘China, where the new virus emerged late last year, reported 12 new confirmed cases on April 19, the lowest since March 13. Despite the downtrend, officials remain concerned about the re-emergence of local transmissions in parts of the country, including Beijing, where a central district has been re-classified as high-risk following three recent local infections.’
Read here (Reuters, April 20, 2020)
The relation between media consumption and misinformation at the outset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the US
Read here (Harvard Kennedy School Misinforrmation Review, April 20, 2020)
Download 24-page PDF here
Could the power of the sun slow the coronavirus?
Read here (New York Times, April 20, 2020)
David Nabarro underscores and defends WHO's role in the pandemic
View here (BBC, Youtube, April 20, 2020)
Coronavirus’s ability to mutate has been vastly underestimated, and mutations affect deadliness of strains, Chinese study finds
- The most aggressive strains of Sars-CoV-2 could generate 270 times as much viral load as the least potent type
- New York may have a deadlier strain imported from Europe, compared to less deadly viruses elsewhere in the United States
“Drug and vaccine development, while urgent, need to take the impact of these accumulating mutations … into account to avoid potential pitfalls.”.
Read here (South China Morning Post, April 20, 2020)
‘There is a reason the rest of India cannot be Kerala’
Read here (Live Mint, April 19, 2020)
Covid-19, ‘silent hypoxia’ and a simple way to identify patients sooner (even do it at home with a ‘pulse oximeter’)
‘There is a way we could identify more patients who have Covid pneumonia sooner and treat them more effectively — and it would not require waiting for a coronavirus test at a hospital or doctor’s office. It requires detecting silent hypoxia early through a common medical device that can be purchased without a prescription at most pharmacies: a pulse oximeter...
‘Pulse oximetry is no more complicated than using a thermometer. These small devices turn on with one button and are placed on a fingertip. In a few seconds, two numbers are displayed: oxygen saturation and pulse rate. Pulse oximeters are extremely reliable in detecting oxygenation problems and elevated heart rates.’
Read here (New York Times, April 20, 2020)
Sunday, 19 April 2020
The hammer and the dance -- What the next 18 months can look like, if leaders buy us time
In this article he deals with: (1) What’s the current situation? (2) What options do we have? (3) What’s the one thing that matters now: Time (4) What does a good coronavirus strategy look like? (4) How should we think about the economic and social impacts?
Read here (Medium, updated March 19, 2020)
Saturday, 18 April 2020
Malaysia’s youth on the unemployed frontline: Five additional measures to effect reform
‘These [existing] measures [to address the problems of youth unemployment] however are not enough. There is an urgent need to engage in meaningful reform to address underlying issues to ameliorate the negative impact of Covid-19. In keeping with our aim to offer constructive suggestions to address Covid-19, we offer five additional concrete ideas for consideration.
- First, the government can strengthen private-public sector partnerships through incentives to hire, retain and train young employees.
- Second, the government should consider ramping up training for younger Malaysians, not just those in the Klang Valley, but those in the states hardest hit by youth unemployment.
- Third, a rethink is needed on how to aid those young workers stuck in the low-paying jobs, with possible structured tax incentives for companies that offer training and advancement for employees to hire young workers who show promise.
- Fourth, while there have been important reforms in encouraging student debt repayment, including incentives for repayment, Covid-19 may provide an opportunity to consider broader measures of student debt relief based on need and debt restructuring.
- Fifth, we need to appreciate that the social safety net in Malaysia is inadequate. The relief measures are tiny, compared to the scale of the economic downturn coming ahead, and the reality of being experienced now by those facing insecurity.
Read here (Malaysiakini, April 18, 2020)
The Achilles heel of Malaysia’s Covid-19 battle
‘The PSM has been advocating since March 19 that the government reaches out to this community and win their trust as our main weapons for containing Covid-19 – case identification, contact tracing, isolation of cases and contacts – will be resisted by the migrant community because they will be afraid that, after the two weeks of quarantine in a government facility, they might be charged for immigration violations, flogged, jailed and/or deported.’
Read here (Malaysiakini, April 18, 2020)
How did Britain get its coronavirus response so wrong? Three factors
Going on its own: ‘Britain was still doing quite well in containing the disease by testing, tracing contact and setting up quarantine for those suspected of being infected with Covid-19 at this time [February]. “Then, in March, the government decided to abandon this approach and shift from containing the disease to delaying its progress,” says Wingfield. “I would really like to know why the decision to give up testing and contact tracing was taken.”
Absence of social memory of epidemics: ‘One conclusion that experts are already drawing is that it was those countries close to China, with memories of Sars, or cultural ties to their neighbour, which were much faster to act in response to Covid-19. Perhaps most notable in its success was Taiwan...’
Read here (The Guardian, April 18, 2020)
What history can teach us about building a fairer society after coronavirus
‘There are great strategic challenges ahead. Lockdown gives workers and renters power – the government has to pay people not to work, and landlords are struggling to evict tenants or get new ones – but it will not last. While previous pandemics cut the labour force, this crisis will increase unemployment, perhaps to levels unknown for centuries, and bosses will exploit workers’ desperation so that they can keep wages low and conditions poor.’
Read here (The Guardian, April 18, 2020)
Friday, 17 April 2020
Stanford study finds presence of Covid-19 may be 50 to 85 times higher than official figures
‘The study confirms the widely-held belief that far more people than originally thought have been infected with the coronavirus, said Arthur Reingold, an epidemiology professor at UC Berkeley who was not involved in the study, but it doesn’t mean the shelter-in-place order will be lifted any time soon.’
Read here (The Guardian, April 17, 2020)
Trump fans protests against Democrat governors
‘LIBERATE MICHIGAN!’ Trump tweeted. ‘LIBERATE MINNESOTA,’ he continued. ‘LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!’
Read here (Washington Post, April 17, 2020)
Public health principles for a phased reopening during COVID-19: Guidance for US governors
Download here (John Hopkins Center for Health and Security, April 17, 2020)
How Covid-19 immunity compares to other diseases
View here (Wired, 9-minute video, April 17, 2020)
Transmission of Covid-19 to health care personnel during exposures to a hospitalised patient
What is added by this report? ‘Among 121 HCP exposed to a patient with unrecognised COVID-19, 43 became symptomatic and were tested for SARS-CoV-2, of whom three had positive test results; all three had unprotected patient contact. Exposures while performing physical examinations or during nebuliser treatments were more common among HCP with COVID-19.’
What are the implications for public health practice? ‘Unprotected, prolonged patient contact, as well as certain exposures, including some aerosol-generating procedures, were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCP. Early recognition and isolation of patients with possible infection and recommended PPE use can help minimise unprotected, high-risk HCP exposures and protect the health care workforce.’
Read here (US CDC, April 17, 2020)
Coronavirus outbreak may have started as early as September 2019
Read here (Newsweek, April 17, 2020)
Related
Characteristics of health care personnel with Covid-19: A US CDC profile from Feb 12 to Apr 9, 2020
What are the implications for public health practice? ‘It is critical to ensure the health and safety of HCP, both at work and in the community. Improving surveillance through routine reporting of occupation and industry not only benefits HCP, but all workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.’
Read here (US CDC, April 17, 2020)
Our front-liners deserve better
Read here (The Star, April 17, 2020)
The Malaysian Health Coalition (MHC), representing 44 member societies and 16 individuals, calls for four measures to effect a rationalised opening-up
- Decision-making on a phased restart that includes MOH, other relevant ministries or agencies and relevant medical health experts.
- An exit strategy for the post-MCO period based on the advice of medical health and public health experts with guidelines according to the colour-coded zoning system: green, yellow and red.
- Large-scale disinfection and sanitisation efforts that follow evidence-based procedures.
- Work with religious authorities to adapt upcoming religious and cultural traditions to prevent mass gatherings that would further spread Covid-19.
Musim Sengsara or The Season of Suffering
View here (Youtube, April 17, 2020)
Expanding the military’s role?
Read here (ISIS Malaysia, April 17, 2020)
Digital trade: A boon during the MCO and beyond
Read here (ISIS Malaysia, April 17, 2020)
Malaysia already has a contact tracing app (Gerak Malaysia) and it’s downloadable now
‘At hospitals, the QR code can be used to determine your risk level and it will allow frontliners to assign you to the right queue. For example, if you’ve been to an area that was visited by a confirmed Covid-19 case, you will be flagged as a high-risk...
‘The QR code can also assist the police and armed forces at the roadblocks as they can determine whether you’re travelling within the permitted radius. This feature can potentially replace the approval letters that are required to be presented to the police. As a result, this feature can help speed up the checks and reduce congestion...’
Read here (The Malay Mail, April 17, 2020)
Swedish epidemiologist Johan Giesecke‘s forthright views on Covid-19
- UK policy on lockdown and other European countries are not evidence-based
- The correct policy is to protect the old and the frail only
- This will eventually lead to herd immunity as a “by-product”
- The initial UK response, before the “180 degree U-turn”, was better
- The Imperial College paper was “not very good” and he has never seen an unpublished paper have so much policy impact
- The paper was very much too pessimistic
- Any such models are a dubious basis for public policy anyway
- The flattening of the curve is due to the most vulnerable dying first as much as the lockdown
- The results will eventually be similar for all countries
- Covid-19 is a “mild disease” and similar to the flu, and it was the novelty of the disease that scared people.
- The actual fatality rate of Covid-19 is the region of 0.1%
- At least 50% of the population of both the UK and Sweden will be shown to have already had the disease when mass antibody testing becomes available
View here (LockdownTV, Youtube, April 17, 2020)
Thursday, 16 April 2020
Manifesto for post-neoliberal development: Five policy strategies for the Netherlands 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.
Read here (Ontgroei, April 16, 2020)
Related:
Use crisis to make post corona society fairer and sustainable, say scientists. Read here
Covid-19 & China: A View from Asia -- George Yeo
‘In Dr Li’s case, he has been officially vindicated after his death and the dossier is closed by central edict. In Captain Crozier’s case, the debate will never cease whatever the White House might say. China and the US are built on different foundations, each having the weakness of its strength. Global cooperation requires each to accept the other for what it is.’
Read here (Brunswick Group, April 16, 2020)
Consider 10-year contract extension for public medical officers: MMA
Read here (Malaysiakini, April 16, 2020)
Is China winning? Economist special on China & Covid-19
‘That is not a comforting prospect. The best way to deal with the pandemic and its economic consequences is globally. So, too, problems like organised crime and climate change. The 1920s showed what happens when great powers turn selfish and rush to take advantage of the troubles of others. The covid-19 outbreak has so far sparked as much jostling for advantage as far-sighted magnanimity. Mr Trump bears a lot of blame for that. For China to reinforce such bleak visions of superpower behaviour would be not a triumph but a tragedy.’
Read here (The Economist, April 16, 2020)
The number of new cases of Covid-19 in US has plateaued: Is this a good sign?
‘This tight correlation suggests that if the United States were testing more people, we would probably still be seeing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. And combined with the high test-positivity rate, it suggests that the reservoir of unknown, uncounted cases of COVID-19 across the country is still very large.
‘Each of those uncounted cases is a small tragedy and a microcosm of all the ways the U.S. testing infrastructure is still failing...’
Read here (The Atlantic, April 16, 2020)
Finding effective treatments for COVID-19: Scientific integrity and public confidence in a time of crisis
This paper calls for three important considerations:
- ‘First, the regulatory and research communities owe it to patients, families, and clinicians to quickly learn what treatments are effective...
- ‘Second, it is important to optimise treatments that already exist, including supportive critical care. As learned from the Ebola outbreak, mortality can be reduced through identifying best practices...
- ‘Third, and most important, it is critical to protect the integrity of and resulting public trust in the scientific and regulatory agencies and their advice and decisions. That trust will be needed once vaccines against COVID-19 become available and in future public health emergencies.’
Read here (JamaNetwork, April 16, 2020)
Dutch study suggests 3% of population may have coronavirus antibodies
The confirmed cases in Netherlands as of April 18 (Wikipedia) was 32,655 with 3,684 deaths
Read here (Reuters, April 16, 2020)
WHO's new strategy update outlines six factors for countries as they consider lifting restrictions
- First, that transmission is controlled;
- Second, that health system capacities are in place to detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact;
- Third, that outbreak risks are minimised in special settings like health facilities and nursing homes;
- Fourth, that preventive measures are in place in workplaces, schools and other **places where it’s essential for people to go;
- Fifth, that importation risks can be managed; and
- Sixth, that communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to adjust to the “new norm”
Read here (WHO, April 16, 2020)
Dow futures rally 700 points after Gilead drug reported shows effectiveness. There are reservations about the report and clinical trials funded by Gilead
‘Gilead’s severe Covid-19 study includes 2,400 participants from 152 different clinical trial sites all over the world. Its moderate Covid-19 study includes 1,600 patients in 169 different centers, also all over the world.
‘The trial is investigating five- and 10-day treatment courses of remdesivir. The primary goal is a statistical comparison of patient improvement between the two treatment arms. Improvement is measured using a seven-point numerical scale that encompasses death (at worst) and discharge from hospital (best outcome), with various degrees of supplemental oxygen and intubation in between.
‘The lack of a control arm in the study could make interpreting the results more challenging.’
Read here (STAT News, April 16, 2020)
China's post-lockdown monitoring rides on existing hi-tech finance and social media platforms
‘Within a week of its launch, the Alipay health codes were rolled out in more than 100 cities across the country, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. By late February, more than 200 cities had adopted these QR codes, according to Alipay... Tencent's health code system had also expanded to more than 300 cities as of last month, according to the state-run Science and Technology Daily."
Read here (CNN, April 16, 2020)
Twelve lessons from countries that have ameliorated the effects of Covid-19
Lesson #1: Be prepared
Lesson #2: Be quick
Lesson #3: Test, trace and quarantine
Lesson #4: Use data and tech
Lesson #5: Be aggressive
Lesson #6: Get the private sector involved
Lesson #7: Act preventatively
Lesson #8: Use tech, but respect privacy
Lesson #9: You can drive-through test
Lesson #10: Learn from the past
Lesson #11: Test more as restrictions ease
Lesson #12: Build capacity at hospitals
Read here (CNN, April 16, 2020)
For the record -- Beyond containment: Health systems responses to COVID-19 in the OECD
‘Four key measures health systems are putting in place in response to the epidemic are considered: 1) ensuring access of the vulnerable to diagnostics and treatment; 2) strengthening and optimising health system capacity to respond to the rapid increase in caseloads; 3) how to leverage digital solutions and data to improve surveillance and care; and 4) how to improve R&D for accelerated development of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines.’
https://oecd.dam-broadcast.com/pm_7379_119_119689-ud5comtf84.pdf
Download here (OECD, April 16, 2020)
Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Ensuring safe environment for primary healthcare settings — Dr Amar-Singh HSS, Dr Lee Chee Wan, Dr Paranthaman and Dr Timothy William
‘It may also be useful for other clinic settings like speciality clinics, antenatal clinics, dental clinics, etc. We are sharing it to the general public as it may be useful for patients and the community to think though some of these issues.’
Read here (The Malay Mail, April 15, 2020)
Circumventing catastrophes: ‘We will never know unless we try: again and again, and ever harder’
‘It seems that one needs catastrophes to happen in order to recognise and admit (retrospectively alas, only retrospectively...) their coming. A chilling thought if ever there was one. Can we ever refute it? We will never know unless we try: again and again, and ever harder.’
The following is a synopsis of the book published in 2013: ‘It is commonly assumed that the best way to help the poor out of their misery is to allow the rich to get richer, that if the rich pay less taxes then all the rest of us will be better off, and that in the final analysis the richness of the few benefits us all. And yet these commonly held beliefs are flatly contradicted by our daily experience, an abundance of research findings and, indeed, logic. Such bizarre discrepancy between hard facts and popular opinions makes one pause and ask: why are these opinions so widespread and resistant to accumulated and fast-growing evidence to the contrary?
‘This short book is by one of the world’s leading social thinkers is an attempt to answer this question. Bauman lists and scrutinises the tacit assumptions and unreflected-upon convictions upon which such opinions are grounded, finding them one by one to be false, deceitful and misleading.’
Purchase here (Amazon, undated)
Watch a video on making surgical masks as safe as N95 masks: Towards Surgical Mask Brace 2.0, a scalable, open source design by ex-Apple engineers
- ‘Safety: Surgical masks have a government standard that regulates their filtration efficiency. They are regulated to meet ASTM standard F2100 which guarantees filtering 95% or more of COVID-19 sized particles.
- ‘Accessible: Surgical masks are faster to manufacture and more readily available. Currently, of the 200 million masks China makes a day, only 600,000 are N95 standard masks. That means surgical masks can be made more than 300x faster than N95’s.’
Watch here (fixthemask.com, undated)
Down To Earth magazine's e-edition focuses on Covid-19
‘DTEI am giving below a link to our latest issue of Down To Earth (DTE) magazine where you can read an in depth cover story on COVID-19, as well as all our normal coverage.’
Read here (DTEI, April 15, 2020)
The teenager in us re-emerges during the COVID-19 outbreak
“Stress can increase impulsivity, and people are under a lot of stress” right now, Jensen says. “It’s a balance between the executive function parts of your brain and the ‘I want it, I want it, I want it!’ parts of your brain,” which are mainly housed in the limbic system. When you’re under stress, and “your barriers are down,” the limbic system may win out more than normal, giving rise to stereotypically teenage behaviours, she says.
Read here (Time, April 15, 2020)
Rotten: The highly unpalatable side of our food supply chains
Read here (Netflix)
Worst ever Covid variant? Omicron
John Campbell shares his findings on Omicron. View here (Youtube, Nov 27, 2021)
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‘The New York Times recently published a list of “true leaders” in the fight against COVID-19. They spend exactly one sentence on Asia and t...
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‘It appears that vaccine hesitancy is due to lack of information and trust. Despite the government's assurances about Covid-19 vaccines,...
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‘We also used this investigation to quantify the impact of behaviours (i.e. mask wearing, handwashing) that were promoted to reduce the risk...