Canada: Omicron infections have peaked nationally, Canada's top doctor says - by John Paul Tasker

Canada's chief public health officer said Friday that cases of the Omicron variant have peaked nationwide and the number of new infections has dropped significantly over the past week.

Canada's molecular testing system has been hampered by constrained capacity and staffing issues that have made PCR tests unavailable to many. Dr. Theresa Tam pointed to other indicators — daily case counts, test positivity rates and wastewater surveillance trends — that she said suggest Canada is now through the worst of the Omicron wave.

But the number of people in hospitals with COVID-19 is still at a record high, putting Canada's health care system under severe strain.

Read more at: Omicron infections have peaked nationally, Canada's top doctor says | CBC News

Covid variant or ‘scariant’? Experts warn a future ‘Deltacron’ is possible

Health experts have cast doubt on reports of a possible Covid-19 mutation combining elements of both the Delta and Omicron variants. While the evidence on “Deltacron” remains scarce, French virologists warn that the emergence of such hybrid strains is a distinct possibility.

Talk of a possible new hybrid variant with a name from a Hollywood disaster B-movie spread like wildfire on social media at the weekend, leaving behind the now customary trail of conspiracy theories and black humour. While some prominent scientists rushed to warn against the risk of peddling disinformation, others have argued that rampant variants make the threat of such mutant strains all too real.

The controversy kicked off on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, currently roiled by Europe’s highest Covid-19 rate of infection, where a local team of scientists claimed last week to have discovered the new variant. Led by Leondios Kostrikis, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Cyprus, the scientists said the new strain presented Omicron-like genetic signatures within the Delta genomes – hence the name “Deltacron”.

Read more at: Covid variant or ‘scariant’? Experts warn a future ‘Deltacron’ is possible

The Netherlands: COVID-19 in Europe: Netherlands to allow bars, restaurants and cultural venues to reopen

The Dutch government has announced that bars, restaurants, museums, theatres and other venues are to be allowed to re-open under conditions, loosening some of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions in Europe.

For more than a month, bars, restaurants, and cultural venues have been closed, while strict quarantine rules have shut a quarter of primary school classes in the Netherlands.

The announcement by Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday evening comes despite record new coronavirus infection levels, as hospitalisations from the country's Omicron wave have been lower than initially feared.

Read more at: COVID-19 in Europe: Netherlands to allow bars, restaurants and cultural venues to reopen | Euronews

The Netherlands: Dutch cabinet to discuss COVID-19 rules as OMT advises further relaxations

The government’s decision to leave a number of lockdown measures in place at the last press conference was met with much controversy and various protests and demonstrations across the Netherlands. Now, however, less than two weeks later, the outlook appears to be more positive and Prime Minister Mark Rutte is optimistic about lifting various COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday.

The OMT is also feeling more hopeful, with the latest report from medical experts advising the Dutch government to reopen the hospitality and cultural industries, albeit with an enforced closing time of 8pm.

Sources in The Hague have suggested that Rutte and Health Minister Ernst Kuipers will opt to open restaurants, museums, theatres, and cinemas, with an enforced closing time of 10pm. With these venues reopening, the government will also reintroduce the use of coronavirus certificates.

Read more at: Dutch cabinet to discuss COVID-19 rules as OMT advises further relaxations

The Netherlands: Inside the surreal Dutch lockdown - by Senay Boztas

Sitting respectfully in our ‘pews’, we put our hands together… and clap. This is not a service but a comedy night. And Amsterdam’s newest ‘church’ is really a theatre for debate and cultural centre in disguise. Incensed by the illogical nature of the current Dutch coronavirus restrictions, Yoeri Albrecht, director of De Balie, last week changed the statutes of his organisation and registered it with the chamber of commerce as a faith-based movement: overnight, The Philosophical Society; the Community of Reason was born.

It is unlikely to be the last. His example, a group of Dutch mayors predicted wryly in an open letter to the government, is likely to mark the start of “an unprecedented religious revival in the coming weeks”.

The Netherlands has been in partial or full lockdown since November, primarily due to the pressure of patients with the Delta variant on the hospital system and one of Europe’s least efficient booster campaigns. But just over a week ago, the restrictions were loosened — albeit in a strikingly surreal fashion.

Read More at: Inside the surreal Dutch lockdown - UnHerd

Covid 19: 3 U.S. studies suggest COVID-19 boosters improve Omicron protection

Three studies released Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the Omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots.

They are the first large U.S. studies to look at vaccine protection against Omicron, health officials said.

The papers echo previous research — including studies in Germany, South Africa and the U.K. — indicating available vaccines are less effective against Omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but also that booster doses rev up virus-fighting antibodies to increase the chance of avoiding symptomatic infection.

Read more at: 3 U.S. studies suggest COVID-19 boosters improve Omicron protection | CBC News

Ireland: Nphet signals end to most restrictions including Covid certs and limits at events- by Cónal Thomas and Donal MacNamee

he National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has recommended the ending of most Covid-19 restrictions in a letter to government this evening.

The team met earlier today and outlined its advice in a letter to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. It said the limit on attendance at events, the two-metre social distancing rule and restrictions on hospitality could end but has left it to government to decide on exact dates.

Read more at: Nphet signals end to most restrictions including Covid certs and limits at events | Business Post

WHO: : Travel bans ineffective, WHO says

The World Health Organization on Wednesday said international travel bans "do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress" of countries.

In a statement issued after a WHO meeting, the UN health agency said travel restrictions that were introduced to curb the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus demonstrated "the ineffectiveness of such measures over time."

Read more at: Coronavirus digest: Travel bans ineffective, WHO says | News | DW | 19.01.2022

Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Tuesday

You can also read more from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which provides a detailed look at every region — including seven-day average test positivity rates — in its daily epidemiological updates.

Read more at: Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Tuesday | CBC News

USA - Covid: Surgeon general on COVID: “Next few weeks will be tough.”- by Daniel Politi

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warned Sunday that COVID-19 infections are set to continue increasing in much of the country and the “next few weeks will be tough.” Speaking as the number of daily COVID-19 cases passed 800,000, Murthy said there was reason to be optimistic cases would decrease in some parts of the country but others are still set to see an increase. “The challenge is that the entire country is not moving at the same pace,” Murthy said on CNN’s State of the Union. “The Omicron wave started later in other parts of the country. We shouldn’t expect a national peak in the coming days.”

Read more at: Surgeon general on COVID: “Next few weeks will be tough.”

The Coronavirus Saga: Will omicron delay the end of the pandemic — or speed it up in 2022?

The good news is that it will end. Experts agree on that. We’re not going to totally eradicate Covid-19, but we will see it move out of the pandemic phase and into the endemic phase.

Endemicity means the virus will keep circulating in parts of the global population for years, but its prevalence and impact will come down to relatively manageable levels, so it ends up more like the flu than a world-stopping disease.

For an infectious disease to be classed in the endemic phase, the rate of infections has to more or less stabilize across years, rather than showing big, unexpected spikes as Covid-19 has been doing. “A disease is endemic if the reproductive number is stably at one,” Boston University epidemiologist Eleanor Murray explained. “That means one infected person, on average, infects one other person.”

Read more at Will omicron delay the end of the pandemic — or speed it up in 2022? - Vox

Germany: COVID and diplomacy will challenge the German government in 2022

The most important issue facing Germans as 2022 begins is the same as a year ago: the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is one key difference: Back then, the upcoming vaccination campaign still gave hope that the end would soon be in sight.

But one year and well over 100 million vaccine doses later, the number of new infections in Germany is substantially higher than it was at the start of 2021.

In order to get more people to get vaccinated, the government could soon implement a universal vaccine mandate. That would mean politicians across the board would be guilty of breaking a promise, with former Christian Democrat Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Social Democrat successor Olaf Scholz and Free Democrat leader Christian Lindner, now finance minister, all previously ruling out such a move.

Read more art: COVID and diplomacy will challenge the German government in 2022 | Germany | News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 01.01.2022

Coronavirus - a communication disaster: How Communication around COVID Fuels a Mistrust of Science - by Joseph V. Sakran

Throughout the pandemic, we have seen how inconsistent messaging around COVID has fueled doubt around science, giving place to consistently messaged misinformation that has found its way into communities all across America. This has undermined our ability to implement data-driven policymaking.

Even before the pandemic, science has been under attack with debates over whether climate change is real, whether tobacco or vaping causes lung damage, whether guns are associated with gun violence, and whether mental illness is simply a chemical imbalance or more broadly related to a bio-psycho-social model.

We have seen anti-vaccine sentiment prevail after Andrew Wakefield’s work linking autism to vaccines was published. Dozens of peer-reviewed studies have found exactly the opposite. Wakefield’s paper was retracted, and he’s been resoundingly discredited as a scientist, but the damage is done. Prior to COVID-19, we saw measles outbreaks reach their highest numbers since measles was all but eliminated. Why? Pockets of American communities, fearing autism, simply refused vaccination. Children died of a preventable disease.

As the pandemic continues, our public health agencies, starting at the very top, need to be reliable, evidence-driven, and consistent sources of information. But the CDC is not alone. Our top drug regulatory agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has shown inconsistency that not only affects the general public, but everyone who is involved in health care delivery.

Read more at: How Communication around COVID Fuels a Mistrust of Science - Scientific American

Europe: COVID in Europe: UK deaths pass 150,000 as Germany plans to further restrict bars and restaurants

Europe is once again seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases — here is our summary of the measures being taken across the continent.

Several nations have been reporting record numbers of new daily cases, the increase compounded by the emergence of the new Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa.

Some countries have taken steps targeting the unvaccinated, while programmes are also being rolled out to vaccinate young children. United Kingdom

Read more at: COVID in Europe: UK deaths pass 150,000 as Germany plans to further restrict bars and restaurants | Euronews

WHO: Omicron is 'killing people' and should not be called 'mild', WHO warns

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Thursday against describing the Omicron variant as "mild" amid a "tsunami of cases" overwhelming health systems across the world.

"Last week, the highest number of COVID-19 cases were reported so far in the pandemic," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters during a regular press briefing.

Read more at: Omicron is 'killing people' and should not be called 'mild', WHO warns | Euronews

Coronavirus: Caging the dragon: Research approach to COVID‐19–related thrombosis -

The incidence of venous thrombosis, mostly pulmonary embolism (PE), ranging from local immunothrombosis to central emboli, but also deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in people with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is reported to be remarkably high. The relevance of better understanding, predicting, treating, and preventing COVID-19–associated venous thrombosis meets broad support, as can be concluded from the high number of research, review, and guideline papers that have been published on this topic. The Dutch COVID & Thrombosis Coalition (DCTC) is a multidisciplinary team involving a large number of Dutch experts in the broad area of venous thrombosis and hemostasis research, combined with experts on virology, critically ill patients, pulmonary diseases, and community medicine, across all university hospitals and many community hospitals in the Netherlands. Within the consortium, clinical data of at least 5000 admitted COVID-19–infected individuals are available, including substantial collections of biobanked materials in an estimated 3000 people. In addition to considerable experience in preclinical and clinical thrombosis research, the consortium embeds virology-hemostasis research models within unique biosafety facilities to address fundamental questions on the interaction of virus with epithelial and vascular cells, in relation to the coagulation and inflammatory system. The DCTC has initiated a comprehensive research program to answer many of the current questions on the pathophysiology and best anticoagulant treatment of COVID-19–associated thrombotic complications. The research program was funded by grants of the Netherlands Thrombosis Foundation and the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development. Here, we summarize the design and main aims of the research program.

Read more at: Caging the dragon: Research approach to COVID‐19–related thrombosis - Kruip - 2021 - Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis - Wiley Online Library

Covid - no end in sight: Governments Worldwide Continue Imposing COVID Measures, 2 Years After Pandemic's Start

Exactly two years after the World Health Organization issued an alert about "a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause" in the central Chinese city of Wuhan that evolved into the global COVID-19 pandemic, the world is now struggling under the weight of the fast-moving omicron variant of the coronavirus that sparked the disease.

In Brazil, a surge of new COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant has prompted authorities in Rio de Janeiro to cancel its iconic Carnival street festival for the second consecutive year. <

Read more at: https://www.voanews.com/a/governments-worldwide-continue-imposing-covid-19-measures-two-years-after-pandemic-s-start-/6384416.html

The Netherlands: Thousands gather to oppose Dutch virus measures despite ban

Thousands of people in the Netherlands defied a ban on assembling and demonstrated Sunday against the Dutch government’s coronavirus lockdown measures, gathering on a central square before marching toward a park in Amsterdam.

Read more at: Thousands gather to oppose Dutch virus measures despite ban | AP News

USA: Florida reports 56,865 new COVID cases, positivity rate continues to soar

After days of record-breaking COVID-19 cases in the Sunshine State, Florida reported 56,865 new cases on Saturday and the positivity rates in South Florida continue to soar.

According to the latest figures released, both Miami-Dade and Broward counties have positivity rates of 30%.

Public health experts don’t consider the virus to be under control in an area unless the positivity rate is under 5%.

Read more at: Florida reports 56,865 new COVID cases, positivity rate continues to soar