Coronavirus - 19 February 2022

Lifting all Covid restrictions by end of February will be ‘damaging’ and ‘premature’

Poppy Wood - i News
Health chiefs have accused the Government of “ignoring” millions of vulnerable people across the country and warned that lifting all Covid restrictions is “damaging” and “premature”.
Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA), said the Prime Minister’s plan to scrap self-isolation rules in England by the end of February could result in a surge of Covid cases that could result in millions contracting Long Covid.
“Living with Covid doesn’t mean ignoring its continued harm to many, and must not result in removing protections to some of the most vulnerable in our society,” he said.
“Scrapping all restrictions and allowing the infection to spread in an unmonitored and unfettered manner would be damaging to the health of millions, including for those who go on to suffer Long Covid symptoms.
Boris Johnson is due to unveil his “Living With Covid” strategy next week, which will outline Government plans to ditch all remaining coronavirus regulations in England, including the requirement for people who test positive for coronavirus to self-isolate.
The strategy will also provide a framework for winding down the UK’s testing sites and provide a date for removing the offer of free lateral flow tests.
The move, which will see Covid rules scrapped a month earlier than originally planned, will mark England as one of the first countries in Europe to declare its exit from the pandemic. Only Denmark, which announced last month that it would scrap all remaining restrictions, has done the same.
But Dr Nagpaul warned that the decision is “not based on current evidence and is premature,” adding: “It clearly hasn’t been guided by data or done in consultation with the healthcare profession.”
He added that case rates remained exceptionally high, with the latest Office for National Statistics survey suggesting one in 20 people in England were infected with Covid last week.
Experts on the Government’s pandemic modelling group, known as SPI-M, also warned that ending testing and isolation could lead to a return to rapid epidemic growth of the virus.
In a document published on Friday, the group noted that estimates from a modelling team at the University of Warwick suggest that a combination of measures and behavioural change such as testing, self-isolation, mask-wearing are currently helping reduce Covid transmission by around 20 to 45 per cent.
“Warwick’s estimates are equivalent to there being the potential for transmission to increase by between around 25 per cent and 80 per cent if the population were to return to pre-pandemic behaviours and no mitigations,” the group said.
The BMA warned that a potential increase in Covid cases would have a particularly damaging effect on the estimated 3.7 million clinically extremely vulnerable people across the country, as well as the UK’s health service.
“Covid poses a serious risk to public health as well as NHS capacity if cases are allowed to spread rapidly again,” said Dr Nagpaul, adding that it was “particularly important” to maintain efforts to protect the vulnerable.
“[The] Government must ensure that these groups are allowed to live as normal a life as possible as the pandemic subsides,” he said.
It comes after i revealed earlier this week that the Government is set to end all guidance for millions of people previously considered “clinically extremely vulnerable” as part of plans to start living with Covid.
i understands that they are instead expected to seek advice about Covid from their GPs and consultants, though they have not yet been contacted telling them to do so.
Deepti Gurdasani, an epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said the news was “hard to swallow” and she believed it was not based on science but politically motivated.

Boris Johnson hands completed ‘Partygate’ questionnaire back to Met Police

Alex Nelson - National World
Boris Johnson has returned his legal questionnaire regarding claims that lockdown-busting parties were held in Downing Street to the police.
No 10 confirmed the Prime Minister has complied with a Metropolitan Police request for his answers to be submitted within a week of receiving the form last Friday (11 February).
Officers involved with Operation Hillman, which is examining whether Covid restrictions were broken in Downing Street and across Whitehall, sent formal questionnaires to approximately 50 people as they look into the details of alleged Covid rule-breaking.
Downing Street has said Johnson’s responses will not be made public.

What’s next for the Gray inquiry?

Cabinet Office official Sue Gray carried out a probe into claims of lockdown breaches at the top of Government, but has only published an interim report while she waits for the police investigation to be completed.
Out of 16 events Gray reviewed, police are investigating 12 of them, including as many as six that the Prime Minister is reported to have attended.
News of Johnson’s handing back of his questionnaire came as a union representing civil servants said it had pushed for officials involved in the investigation to be able to consult notes on the evidence they gave to the Gray inquiry to help inform their Met Police Q&A.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the Association of First Division Civil Servants (FDA), said the decision to allow the notes to be viewed followed a bid by the union, which represents senior and middle management public servants.
“To be clear, this has been agreed following a request from us, the FDA, their trade union,” he tweeted.
“They will only be able to see what they said in their own interview, to assist them in completing the questionnaires from the Metropolitan Police, who have raised no objection to this.”

Hong Kong ramps up isolation facility plans as Covid infections climb

CNA / Reuters
Hong Kong reported 6,063 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (Feb 19), as the the city's government made more plans for isolation facilities to take some strain off a healthcare system as infections have risen by more than 60 times since the month began.
City leader Carrie Lam said on Saturday the government will build 10,000 isolation units in two new community facilities, with the help of China.
Some 114 Chinese medical personnel arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday - the second batch that has been sent from the mailand.
The first cargo ship carrying three tonnes of "choy sum", or Chinese cabbage, arrived in Hong Kong early on Saturday from Guangzhou, TVB reported, as mainland authorities try to restore vegetable supplies to the city after recent shortages caused by truck drivers testing positive.
Lam said on Friday that it would take up to three months to stabilise a surge in infections that has overwhelmed health facilities and forced the postponement of an upcoming leadership election.
The chief executive election, initially scheduled for March, will be postponed to May, adding to uncertainty about the former British colony's future as Beijing imposes its rule.
The government is detailing plans for universal mandatory city testing, Lam said, while ruling out a city-wide lockdown.
Quarantine facilities have reached capacity and hospital beds were more than 95 per cent full as cases spiral, with some patients, including elderly, left for prolonged periods this week on beds outside in chilly, wet weather.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who backs a "dynamic zero-COVID" strategy, has said fighting the virus was Hong Kong's "over-riding mission".
Hong Kong health authorities confirmed 6,063 new COVID-19 cases and 15 new deaths on Saturday versus Friday's 3,629, with about an additional 7,400 preliminary positive cases compared with 7,600 the previous day.
The city has recorded more than 40,000 infections and less than 300 deaths since the pandemic started, far fewer than in other major cities. However some epidemiologists expect daily infections to approach 30,000 by the end of March.
On Friday, Lam said Hong Kong had identified more than 20,000 hotel rooms for quarantine accommodation, with property developers piling in to show support.
Henderson Land said it would provide rural land to build a makeshift hospital, while New World Development said it would offer a major convention centre to serve as a COVID-19 testing centre.

13,516 new COVID cases reported in Tokyo on Feb. 19

The Mainichi Japan
TOKYO -- Japan's capital registered 13,516 new coronavirus infections on Feb. 19, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced, after reporting 16,129 cases the previous day.
Of the 13,516 newly infected people, 6,675 had received two coronavirus vaccine shots, 99 one shot, and 3,532 were unvaccinated. The vaccination status of 3,210 was unknown.
As of Feb. 19, a total of 4,145 of Tokyo's 6,919 coronavirus-designated beds were filled, bringing the proportion of beds in use to 59.9%, while 33.7% of beds for severe patients were in use, with 253 out of 750 available beds filled.
There were 27 COVID-19 deaths reported on Feb. 19, and total coronavirus fatalities in Tokyo stood at 3,431.
The capital is battling a sixth wave of coronavirus infections. In the first week of February, Tokyo registered a daily average of 18,193.9 new cases, followed by an average of 15,446.3 cases per day in the second week. It recorded a total of 194,723 infections in January for an average of 6,281.4 cases per day. In the entire month of December 2021, the capital saw 905 coronavirus infections, for a daily average of 29.2 cases.

Tokyo has recorded 893,629 infections to date

TOKYO -- Japan's capital registered 13,516 new coronavirus infections on Feb. 19, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced, after reporting 16,129 cases the previous day.
Of the 13,516 newly infected people, 6,675 had received two coronavirus vaccine shots, 99 one shot, and 3,532 were unvaccinated. The vaccination status of 3,210 was unknown.
As of Feb. 19, a total of 4,145 of Tokyo's 6,919 coronavirus-designated beds were filled, bringing the proportion of beds in use to 59.9%, while 33.7% of beds for severe patients were in use, with 253 out of 750 available beds filled.
There were 27 COVID-19 deaths reported on Feb. 19, and total coronavirus fatalities in Tokyo stood at 3,431.
The capital is battling a sixth wave of coronavirus infections. In the first week of February, Tokyo registered a daily average of 18,193.9 new cases, followed by an average of 15,446.3 cases per day in the second week. It recorded a total of 194,723 infections in January for an average of 6,281.4 cases per day. In the entire month of December 2021, the capital saw 905 coronavirus infections, for a daily average of 29.2 cases.

Uttar Pradesh lifts night curfew as COVID-19 cases drop

Sagar - NewsBytes
The government of Uttar Pradesh has decided to lift the night curfew imposed due to COVID-19, with effect from Saturday (February 19). The restriction was in place across the state between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am, but had been eased by one hour starting February 13. The decision has been taken amid a drop in daily new coronavirus cases and the test positivity rate.

• The decision comes as the COVID-19 situation in UP and across India improves.
  
• On Friday, the state added 842 fresh coronavirus infections, taking the tally past 20.63 lakh.
  
• Meanwhile, the number of active cases has come down from around 15,000 a week ago to 8,683.
  
• Daily new COVID-19 cases in UP had crossed the 18,000-mark in the ongoing wave.
  

"In view of a sharp drop in coronavirus cases, it has been decided to end the night curfew from today," Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Awanish Awasthi, said in a statement. The UP government had announced the night curfew in December amid a fresh wave of infections triggered by the Omicron variant. Restrictions on gatherings and social functions had also been imposed across the state.
The night curfew has been eased a day before UP holds the third phase of the 2022 assembly elections. A total of 59 assembly constituencies spread across 16 districts will go to the polls and over 2.15 crore people are eligible to cast their vote.
Across India, 22,270 new COVID-19 cases were added on Saturday morning as the nationwide tally climbed to 4,28,02,505. Meanwhile, the country's death count stood at 5,11,230 after an addition of 325 fatalities, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. Daily COVID-19 cases have remained below one lakh for nearly two weeks now. India had seen a third wave peak of around 3,50,000 infections.

Armenia's Covid-19 infections grew by 1469 in the past day

PanARMENIANnet
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Armenia grew by 1469 to reach 414764 on Saturday, February 19 morning, according to information provided by the Health Ministry.
Fresh figures also revealed that 2587 more people recovered, 30 patients died from Covid-19, while three others carrying the virus died in the past 24 hours.
A total of 5879 tests have been performed in the past day, the National Center For Disease Control and Prevention said.
So far, 388,780 people have recovered, 8308 have died from the coronavirus in the country, while 1588 others carrying the virus have died from other causes.

UAE reports 790 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death and 2,064 recoveries

Tawfik Nasrallah - Gulf News
Abu Dhabi: The UAE has confirmed the detection of 790 cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, shooting up the total number of infections to 873,882, the Ministry of Health and Prevention announced on Saturday.
One more COVID-19 fatality has been confirmed, taking the country’s death toll at 2,293. A total of 2,064 COVID-19 patients has also made full recovery, bringing the overall recoveries to 815,990.

The newly detected infections were identified after conducting 388,495 PCR tests across the country.
The ministry expressed its condolences to the family of the deceased and wished patients speedy recovery, urging the public to cooperate with health authorities and comply with precautionary measures, particularly social distancing protocols, to ensure the safety and protection of the public.

Ottawa crackdown: police arrest 100 after three-week COVID-19 protest

AP / Euronews

Police take action to put an end to a protest, which started over mandatory COVID vaccine mandates and grew into a wider anti-government demonstration, Feb. 18, 2022, Ottawa. - Copyright Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP

Police arrested scores of demonstrators and towed away vehicles Friday in Canada's besieged capital, and a stream of trucks started leaving under the pressure, raising authorities' hopes for an end to the three-week protest against the country's COVID-19 restrictions.
By evening, at least 100 people had been arrested, mostly on mischief charges, and nearly two dozen vehicles had been towed, including all of those blocking one of the city's major streets, authorities said. One officer had a minor injury, but no protesters were hurt, interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell said.
Police “continue to push forward to take control of our streets,” he said, adding: “We will work day and night until this is completed.”
Those arrested included four protest leaders. One received bail while the others remained jailed.
The crackdown on the self-styled Freedom Convoy began in the morning, when hundreds of police, some in riot gear and some carrying automatic weapons, descended into the protest zone and began leading demonstrators away in handcuffs through the snowy streets as holdout truckers blared their horns.
Tow truck operators — wearing neon-green ski masks, with their companies’ decals taped over on their trucks to conceal their identities — arrived under police escort and started removing the hundreds of big rigs, campers and other vehicles parked shoulder-to-shoulder near Parliament. Police smashed through the door of at least one RV camper before hauling it away.
Scuffles broke out in places, and police repeatedly went nose-to-nose with the protesters and pushed the crowd back amid cries of “Freedom!” and the singing of the national anthem, “O Canada.” Later police on horses were used to push back the crowd for a time.
Police said late in the afternoon that protesters had assaulted officers and tried to take their weapons. Many protesters stood their ground in the face of one of the biggest police enforcement actions in Canada’s history, with officers drawn from around the country.

Ontario reports 14 more COVID-19 deaths; under 1,200 hospitalizations

Kerrisa Wilson - CP24
Ontario reported under 1,200 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 14 net new deaths on Saturday, as hospitalizations continue to steadily decline.
There are currently 1,191 people battling the virus in Ontario hospitals, down from 1,704 a week ago, according to the Ministry of Health.
Of those hospitalized, 329 are in intensive care, compared to 414 a week ago.
Fourteen more people died with the virus in the past month.
The ministry says four deaths were removed from the cumulative total due to data cleaning. The virus-related death toll now stands at 12,247.
Provincial labs processed over 14,100 tests in the past 24 hours, producing a positivity rate of 11.8 per cent, the ministry says.
Ontario reported 2,244 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases today, but health officials say this is an undercount due to testing restrictions.
Among the latest cases, 1,651 are fully vaccinated, 303 are unvaccinated, 77 are partially vaccinated and 213 have an unknown vaccination status.
So far, 89 per cent of eligible Ontarians aged five and older have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 85 per cent have received two doses and 48 per cent have received three doses.

Qatar reports one death and 434 Covid-19 cases on Feb 19

The Peninsula Online
Doha: Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) reported 434 Covid-19 cases in Qatar on February 19, 2022.
Cases
Cases among community: 348
Cases among travelers: 86
Total number Covid-19 cases today: 434
Total number of active cases: 5975
Total number of positive Covid-19 cases recorded in Qatar till now: 353,780
Recovery
Recovered cases in the last 24 hours: 738
Total number of recovered cases till now: 347,143
Death
Number of deaths in the last 24 hours: 1 (66-year-old)
Total number of deaths till now: 662
Vaccines
Number of Covid-19 vaccines administered in the last 24 hrs: 2,357
Total number of booster doses administered till now: 1,126,907
Total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered since the start of vaccination campaign: 6,198,407
Covid-19 Test
Total number of tests in the last 24 hrs: 16,986
Total number of people tested till now: 3,355,395
ICU
Number of ICU admissions in the last 24 hrs: 1
Total number of Covid-19 patients in the ICU: 32
Hospitalisation
Number of acute hospital admissions in the last 24 hrs: 4
Total number of Covid-19 patients in the hospital: 46
With Covid-19 still a threat in the country, it is important for everyone to play their role in controlling the virus by following precautionary measures:
- Adherence to physical distancing.
- Avoid close contact with others, crowded places and confined closed spaces where other people congregate.
- Wearing a face mask
- Washing hands regularly.

Sri Lanka identifies 1,273 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, total rises to 635,606

ColomboPage
Feb 19, Colombo: According to Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry, 1,273 new COVID-19 infections were reported so far on Saturday.
According to the Epidemiology Unit report at 7 pm Saturday, a total of 635,606 COVID-19 cases have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic.
While 22,746 infected patients are currently under medical care at hospitals and homes, 596,891 patients have fully recovered and been discharged from hospitals.
Sri Lanka Saturday reported 20 deaths raising the total to 15,969.
According to the Epidemiology Unit report, so far total of 16,836,546 people have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 14,063,861 have received the second dose. In addition, 6,372,961 have received the third booster dose.

15,836 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore; 1,491 patients hospitalised

Nadine Chua - The Straits Times
SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a total of 15,836 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday (Feb 19), down from 18,094 cases recorded the day before.
The number of patients hospitalised stood at 1,491, up from 1,458 on Friday, the health ministry said in its daily update on Saturday.
For the 15th successive day, hospitalisation numbers have exceeded the 1,000 mark.
There were 43 patients in the intensive care unit, up from 39 on Friday. A total of 182 patients required oxygen support.
There were four deaths reported on Saturday.
Of the 15,699 local cases recorded on Saturday, 13,995 were detected through antigen rapid tests (ART), which means the patients displayed no symptoms or their symptoms were mild.
Another 1,704 cases were detected through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
There were also 137 new imported cases, with 71 detected through PCR tests and 66 through ART.
The weekly Covid-19 infection growth rate stood at 1.54, up from 1.46 the day before.
The rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week, over the week before. A rate of more than one shows that the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is increasing.
As at Friday, Singapore has recorded a total of 567,355 Covid-19 cases, with 941 deaths.
About 94 per cent of the eligible population has completed the full vaccination regimen, and 65 per cent has received the vaccine booster shot.

Iraq records about 1240 new cases today, ranks the 1st in the Arab World, 38th globally

Shafaq News
On Saturday, Iraq recorded 1234 new cases of Covid-19 to bring its total to 2,290,011, the Ministry of Health and Environment said.
It reported 11 deaths. Its coronavirus death toll reached 24,851.
It also reported 3668 recoveries to bring its total to 2,216,765 (96.8%).
The COVID-19 intensive care patients count to 208.
Duhok recorded the highest number of infections (271).
So far, the Ministry of Health and Environment has conducted 17,838,851 tests in all governorates.
9,707,608 people have been vaccinated so far
It is worth noting that Iraq ranks 1st in the Arab world and 36th place globally.
According to the Reuters Covid-19 tracker, 43 infections per 100K people reported last 7 days.
The average number of new infections reported each day in Iraq falls by more than 4,300 over the last 3 weeks, 37% of its previous peak.
During the last week reported, Iraq averaged about 40,861 doses administered each day. At that rate, it will take a further 193 days to administer enough doses for another 10% of the population.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan tests positive for Covid-19 in Dubai hours after leaving Pakistan

Pakistan's singing icon Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan tested positive for coronavirus in Dubai hours after testing negative in Pakistan.
It is reported that few hours prior to leaving Pakistan, the global singing sensation had tested negative.
The 47-year-old music legend was in shock to see the report, saying it's surpising how it happened within hours.
Fateh Ali Khan, who is currently in Dubai, will be quarantining for the next 10 days.

Serbia’s coronavirus update: 59 deaths, 5,103 new cases

N1 - Belgrade
Over the last 24 hours, 59 COVID-19 patients passed away and out of 17,025 people tested, 5,103 were confirmed infected with the coronavirus in Serbia, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
To date, COVID-19 has officially claimed 14,787 lives in the country. The mortality rate is 0,79 percent.
Currently, 3,936 people are in hospitals, including 143 on ventilators.
A total of 8,621,254 people have been tested for the virus in Serbia so far and 1,879,237 have been confirmed positive for the coronavirus.

Azerbaijan confirms 3,690 new COVID-19 cases

Baku, February 19, AZERTAC
According to the Task Force, 29 persons have died after testing positive for COVID-19.
“The overall confirmed cases in Azerbaijan have reached 771,709, with 727,828 recoveries and 9,211 deaths, while treatment of 34,670 others is underway.
A total of 6,473,728 coronavirus tests have been conducted in the country so far,” the Task Force added.

Covid kills 191 more people in Iran

IFP News
Iranian Foreign Ministry figures on Saturday showed 191 people died of Covid 19 in the past 24 hours, pushing the total fatalities since the start of the pandemic to 134.798. Over the past day, 12,058 new Covid cases were also logged including 2,062 hospitalizations.
The Coronavirus pandemic is now driven by the Omicron strain of the virus.
Until several weeks ago, most Iranian cities were marked blue, which denotes the lowest level of risk from Covid. Now over 300 cities and towns are red and there are no blue areas countrywide.
Omicron is more contagious than other Covid strains.
Meanwhile, health officials in Iran dismiss claims that the variant is less deadly compared to other strains of the virus.
The officials are urging citizens to get their third dose of vaccine. Over 22 million people have so far done so.
But authorities say all people must be triple-vaxxed. They maintain that this will be instrumental in containing Omicron.