COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Wednesday 14th of April:
- World: JHU page still malfunctioning. Google News indicates 137,209,066 confirmed cases and 2,956,537 confirmed deaths.
- Denmark: Suspends all use of Oxford/AZ vaccine amid concerns of clotting reports. Officials say they may resume use of this vaccine in future, but with the country in its third wave, they have chosen to cease use altogether. AstraZeneca said in a statement: “We recognise and respect the decision taken by Sundhedsstyrelsen (health agency) in Denmark,” [...] “We will continue to collaborate with the regulators and local authorities in order to provide all available data to inform their decisions”
- Czech Republic: Offers to buy Denmarks 2.4 million Oxford/AZ doses.
- Brazil: New analysis of deaths data from Brazil indicates since the beginning of the crisis 1,300 babies under the age of one year old have died from COVID-19.
- Brazil: Supreme Court gives go ahead for Senate to install a committee to investigate the countries Pandemic response and the hypercritical crisis which spawned as a result.
- Brazil: Sao Paulo, Brazils most populated and richest state, warns it is running out of supplies such as key medicines to treat COVID-19 patients.“The supply situation regarding drugs, mainly neuromuscular blockers and sedatives, is very serious, [...] Collapse is imminent,”
- China: Urges the population to help it accelerate vaccination but advises it is still voluntary.
- UK: Extends Vaccine mixing trial, currently there are 800 participants but organizers hope to recruit 1050 additional people who have already had at only one dose of any vaccine in the last 12 weeks.
- UK: Mass testing starts in 2 more areas of London taking the total to 4 to counter the spreading South African variant, and in one area in the West Midlands as South African variant detected there too.
- UK: Government defends the spending of public funds on a documentary about the countries COVID-19 vaccine rollout that the makers described in a tweet as "Extraordinary. Unexpected. Fantastic.". Critics point out this has been made before the rollout is finished, and that with the South African variant to emerging this may have been a bit premature and may have been a misuse of tax payers fund to promote the incumbent political party rather than record any successes for prosperity. Number 10 (UK version of the White House) states and "this was produced entirely in-house by No 10 staff as part of their work" however more critics ask if this is what staff were doing rather than doing things like publishing the details of COVID-19 contracts within the legal 30 day requirements.
- Israel: World views the country with interest as number of vaccinated persons nears the 65% to 70% it is theorized is required for functional herd immunity.
- EU: Pfizer gives the Bloc good news that 50 million vaccines expected to arrive by the end of the year will be with them by June.
- India: Hundreds of atendees of the Kumbh Mela festival in the city of Haridwar test positive for COVID-19.
- India: Sees record high daily new cases at 184,372
- Turkey: Sees record high daily new cases and deaths.
- Poland: Extends Lockdown to 25th of April as number of new cases and deaths remain high, registering the second highest number of deaths in a single day at 803.
- Isle Of Man: Active cases fall to just 21, public is advised restrictions may begin to be lifted from Monday.