Coronavirus - 23rd April 2022

Delhi: Every Covid-19 positive person is infecting two others, says IIT-Madras study

Delhi’s R-value, which is a way of rating the spread of coronavirus, stood at 2.1 this week. An epidemic is contained when R-value goes below 1.
Delhi’s R-value stood at 2.1 this week indicating that every coronavirus positive person is infecting two other residents of the city, PTI reported citing an IIT-Madras study.
The R-value is a way of rating Covid-19 or any other disease’s ability to spread. The pandemic is considered to be contained if the R-value goes below one, according to Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine. The national R-value has been below one between coronavirus waves. It means that the pandemic was restrained at those points. However, it has not ended.

However, it was too early to declare if the rising R-value indicated the onset of another Covid-19 wave in India, said Dr Jayant Jha, assistant professor of Department of Mathematics, IIT-Madras.
“We don’t know about the immunity status and whether the people who got affected during the third wave in January are getting affected or not again,” he said,
While Delhi is witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases, Dr Jha said that other cities such as Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, were recording lower numbers. Thus, it was difficult to ascertain a trend of coronavirus waves, Jha said.
On Friday, Delhi registered 1,042 new coronavirus cases and two deaths. The count of positive persons was the highest since February 10, when the city had recorded 1,104 cases. The number of new cases was also 7.97% higher than Thursday’s count of 965 cases.
The Delhi government on Friday also made the use of masks compulsory in public places, merely three weeks after the mandate was lifted.

Boris Johnson yet to be fined over infamous No 10 lockdown garden party

The National


UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has not yet been issued with a fine over a No 10 lockdown drinks party, amid reports the police have started dishing out fixed-penalty notices in relation to the event.
According to reports, fine notices have started landing in the email inboxes of officials who attended a "bring your own bottle" Downing Street garden party on May 20, 2020, during England's first Covid-19 lockdown.
The Metropolitan Police said they would not be giving an update on fixed-penalty notices (FPNs) before the local elections next month but a Downing Street source told PA Mr Johnson had not received a fine.
Mr Johnson previously apologised for attending the party for around 25 minutes, but has insisted he believed it to be a work event to thank staff for their efforts during the pandemic and therefore not a breach of social distancing rules.
It comes as a Conservative peer and polling expert said a confidence vote in Mr Johnson's leadership has become inevitable as the prospect of further lockdown party fines hangs over the prime minister.

There have been growing calls from the Conservative benches for Mr Johnson to resign, having already been issued with one fine by Scotland Yard in relation to his own birthday bash in June 2020. Mr Johnson apologised but refused to resign.
He is said to have been present at half of the 12 possible rule-breaking incidents being looked into by police.

Former MP Lord Hayward told the BBC on Friday it is "a matter of when, not if" the prime minister faces a no confidence vote from his own MPs as pressure continues to mount.
Boris Johnson will be subject to a third investigation over partygate after MPs on Thursday agreed to refer him for an investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee into whether he misled Parliament when denying Covid-19 rules were broken in No 10.
There has already been a review by senior civil servant Sue Gray into the allegations of coronavirus law breaches at the heart of government and the police's Operation Hillman inquiry is continuing.

Lord Hayward said the result of the three probes would amount to "death by a thousand cuts".
"What clearly the Conservative Party, not just the MPs but particularly the MPs, are seeing is they don't want that and they are moving more towards a position where this matter has to be resolved," he said.
"I expect there to be a challenge to his leadership in one form or another."
Duncan Baker, Tory MP for North Norfolk, said he had not considered the birthday party FPN to be a resignation matter but indicated more fines could change that view.
"If there are multiple fixed-penalty notices, clearly that is going to make pressure much, much greater," he told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

Partygate 'done and dusted', says defence minister

But Defence Minister Leo Docherty said partygate was "done and dusted" given Mr Johnson had apologised after receiving an FPN earlier this month.
"People I think are sick of it and want us to move on," he told the PA news agency at the Invictus Games in The Hague.
It comes after a row broke out between the PM's allies and critics over his future.
Senior backbencher Tobias Ellwood said there had been "a huge breach of trust" with the British people as he called on Tory colleagues to force a change of leader.
But that drew a furious accusation of disloyalty from Northern Ireland Minister Conor Burns who said there was "no question" of the prime minister stepping down.

The row overshadowed Mr Johnson's much-trumpeted visit to India for trade talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two leaders shake hands before meeting to discuss free trade deals and enhanced security co-operation. / AFP

At a closing press conference in New Delhi, Mr Johnson largely sidestepped questions about the issue, although he insisted he will still be in office by Diwali in October, which he has set as the target date for a trade deal with India.
The Metropolitan Police announced on Thursday it will not provide further updates on partygate fines until after May's local elections, a comment the force reiterated when asked on Friday about whether fines had been issued in relation to the BYOB party.
Downing Street, however, has stated it will still declare whether the prime minister receives further fines in the lead up to polling day on May 5.
A Met spokesman said on Thursday: "While the investigation will continue during the pre-election period, due to the restrictions around communicating before the May local elections we will not provide further updates until after May 5."

Shanghai residents protest on social media as Covid death toll edges up

La Prensa Latina

Note from me (Kitkat) - (You just gotta love the protesting doggy here in this photo )

Beijing, Apr 23 (EFE).- Shanghai residents are taking to social media en masse to voice their mounting anger over the authorities’ handling of the pandemic as 12 additional Covid-19 deaths were reported Friday despite a strict lockdown in China’s largest city.
The data from Friday, published by the Chinese National Health Commission, brings the Covid-19 death toll in Shanghai to 48 since the breakout of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The number of cases detected in the city on Friday increased by 32% from the previous day to 23,370, including symptomatic and asymptomatic infections
From Friday evening, protest videos began to flood pages of the messaging app WeChat, the country’s most-popular.

One viral video, dubbed the Voices of April, showed black and white drone footage of Shanghai complete with statements from local authorities and the testimony of local inhabitants.
It begins with the voices of local politicians denying the possibility of a city-wide lockdown in late March, in particular due to the crucial economic role of Shanghai in China’s economy.
It is followed by fragments of conversations and testimonies detailing the issues that arose in medical care and the supply chain of basic goods, as well as the conditions in the state-run quarantine centers, where all but a few positive patients are sent.

WeChat’s censors began to remove the video from the social network, but users continued to upload it, sometimes flipping its perspective by 180 degrees to avoid detection.
Authorities in Shanghai, a city of 25 million that has been in a total or partial lockdown since late May, have still not indicated when the strict measures would be lifted.

On Friday, even stricter measures were announced, which would limit the movement of health workers and delivery workers in a bid to reduce social contacts while disinfection work is to be boosted.
Authorities also announced that sensors and alarms would be fitted to the doors of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 and were allowed to isolate themselves at home.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Shanghai has reported over 42,000 symptomatic Covid-19 cases and 55 deaths. EFE

UAE announces 261 new COVID-19 cases, 372 recoveries, and no deaths in the last 24 hours

ABU DHABI, 23rd April, 2022 (WAM)
The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced that it conducted 274,597 additional COVID-19 tests over the past 24 hours, using state-of-the-art medical testing equipment.
In a statement, the Ministry stressed its aim to continue expanding the scope of testing nationwide to facilitate the early detection of coronavirus cases and carry out the necessary treatment.
As part of its intensified testing campaign, MoHAP announced 261 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 896,892.
According to the Ministry, the infected individuals are from various nationalities, are in a stable condition, and receiving the necessary care.
The Ministry added that no COVID-19-related deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 2,302.
MoHAP also noted that an additional 372 individuals had fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 879,426.

Ontario COVID numbers: 1,684 people in hospital and 212 in ICU

Isaac Callan - Global News
Ontario is reporting 1,684 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Saturday, with 212 in intensive care.
According to data released by the provincial government, that is up by 93 hospitalizations from the previous day, although the number of people in intensive care dropped slightly. On Friday, Ontario recorded 1,591 hospitalizations and 214 people in ICU.
The figures are also a jump from last Saturday when Ontario reported 1,130 people in hospital with COVID and 185 in an Ontario intensive care unit.
n an interview with Global News on Friday, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, admitted the province faced a “difficult” week. He said the “absolute peak” of community spread had passed but that hospitalizations, a lagging data point, could continue to grow next week.
“We anticipate a potential peak next week, sadly, of 240 Ontarians being in our intensive care unit,” Moore said. “A peak of around 2,000 Ontarians being in our hospital.”
“I just want to acknowledge it will be another rough week,” Moore added, saying that the surge could result in patients being moved between hospitals to reduce the strain on health care.
Ontario also reported 3,820 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday. That figure, experts say, is likely an underestimate of the true number of cases due to testing restrictions that limit access to PCR tests in the province.
The test positivity for results published on Saturday was 17.3 per cent, a small increase from the 16.1 per cent reported for Friday.
The provincial case total since the pandemic began now stands at 1,238,060.
A further 23 deaths were reported Saturday, with one death added due to data cleaning. The provincial death toll since the pandemic began now stands at 12,728.



According to the data, 91 per cent of those aged 12 and over are vaccinated against COVID-19 with two doses. The provincial data shows seven per cent remain unvaccinated.
In total, 32,572,210 vaccine doses have been administered in Ontario.
– with files from Global News’ Colin D’Mello

Thailand reports 20,052 new Covid-19 cases, 129 more deaths

Bangkok Post

Covid-19-infected people with mild symptoms receive medicines at a newly-opened Drive Thru service at a public van station in Pathum Thani’s Thanyaburi district on April 18, 2022. The service is operated by the Public Health office and is open from 10am to 6pm daily. (Photo: Apichit Jinakul)

The country registered 20,052 more Covid-19 cases and 129 new fatalities during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced on Saturday morning.
Friday’s figures did not include 19,936 positive results from antigen tests over the past 24 hours. This would raise the total to 39,988.
This compared with 21,808 new cases and 128 coronavirus-related fatalities reported on Friday morning.
As of Friday, a total of 188,342 people received Covid-19 treatment, including 45,847 in hospitals (down from 49,711 the previous day). The remainder were in hospitel facilities or in home/community isolation, according to the daily update posted by the Department of Disease Control.
Of those in hospitals, 1,962 were seriously ill patients with lung inflammation (down from 2,021 the previous day) and 921 were dependent on ventilators (up from 885 the previous day).
Of the seriously ill patients, Bangkok had the most cases at 90, followed by 74 in Samut Prakan, 72 in Kanchanaburi, 68 in Suphan Buri, 67 in Nakhon Ratchasima, 63 in Khon Kaen, 60 in Chon Buri, 57 in Udon Thani, 54 in Ubon Ratchathani and 49 in Nonthaburi.
The 24-hour period also saw 22,361 patients discharged from hospitals after recovering.
According to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), the 129 new fatalities were aged from one to 102 years , with the average age of 75. There were 70 men and 59 women. Two were from Myanmar and the rest were Thais.
There were 19,972 new cases in the general population, 32 among prison inmates and 48 imported ones.
Of the new infections in the general population, 19,878 were confirmed at hospitals and 94 via mass testing.
Of those in hospitals, 1,962 were seriously ill patients with lung inflammation (down from 2,021 the previous day) and 921 were dependent on ventilators (up from 885 the previous day).
Of the seriously ill patients, Bangkok had the most cases at 90, followed by 74 in Samut Prakan, 72 in Kanchanaburi, 68 in Suphan Buri, 67 in Nakhon Ratchasima, 63 in Khon Kaen, 60 in Chon Buri, 57 in Udon Thani, 54 in Ubon Ratchathani and 49 in Nonthaburi.
The 24-hour period also saw 22,361 patients discharged from hospitals after recovering.
According to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), the 129 new fatalities were aged from one to 102 years , with the average age of 75. There were 70 men and 59 women. Two were from Myanmar and the rest were Thais.
There were 19,972 new cases in the general population, 32 among prison inmates and 48 imported ones.
Of the new infections in the general population, 19,878 were confirmed at hospitals and 94 via mass testing.

Bangkok reported 21 more deaths, and there were five in adjacent provinces.
Other provinces in the Central Plains logged 35 new deaths. The Northeast reported 44 deaths, the North saw 16 fatalities, and the South had eight deaths.
Bangkok continued to lead the most daily cases at 3,355, followed by 1,015 in Khon Kaen, 717 in Samut Prakan, 699 in Chon Buri, 689 in Nonthaburi, 510 in Si Sa Ket, 476 in Buri Ram, 443 in Nakhon Ratchasima, 442 in Roi Et and 435 in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
The 48 imported cases came from 21 countries, including eight arrivals from France, six from the United Kingdom, five from Singapore and four each from Switzerland and Australia.
Vaccination continued, with 132.27 million doses administered. As of Friday, 80.7% of the population had received one dose of the vaccine, and 73.2% had received two shots, and 36.4% had got a booster shot.
Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 4,148,090 Covid-19 cases, including 1,924,655 cases this year, with 3,932,099 complete recoveries to date.
The accumulated death toll stood at 27,649 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 5,951 so far this year.
The highest number of Covid-related fatalities in a 24-hour period was 312 recorded on Aug 13, 2021. The highest number of cases was 28,379 on April 1, 2022.
Global Covid-19 cases rose by 668,787 over 24 hours to 508.57 million.
The worldwide death toll went up by 2,527 to 6.24 million. In the past seven days, Germany had the most cases, 654,264, followed by South Korea 650,186 and France, 591,615.

Italy Reports 70,520 Coronavirus Cases on Saturday, 143 Deaths

ROME (Reuters) - Italy reported 70,520 COVID-19 related cases on Saturday, against 73,212 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily number of deaths fell to 143 from 202.
Italy has registered 162,609 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world. The country has reported 16.1 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 9,914 on Saturday, down from 10,076 a day earlier.
There were 43 new admissions to intensive care units, decreasing from 46 on Friday. The total number of intensive care patients stood at 409, edging down from a previous 411.
Some 421,533 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 437,193, the health ministry said.
Source