【無了期唔知幾時完嘅武漢肺炎】國際疫情討論區09

Italy's Draghi dismisses China's COVID vaccine, casts doubt on Sputnik

BRUSSELS, June 25 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said China's anti-COVID vaccine did not fully work and questioned whether Russia's Sputnik jab would ever get approval from European regulators.

"The Chinese vaccine ... has shown itself not to be adequate. You can see that from Chile's experience of tackling the epidemic," Draghi told reporters at the end of a European Union summit.

Chile has relied heavily on the COVID-19 shot developed by China's Sinovac, but health authorities in the South American country have questioned how effective it is against more transmissible virus variants and are also looking into how long it remains effective once injected.

A study published in April said the Chinese vaccine proved minimally effective at preventing illness after one dose. With a second jab, it was 67% effective in preventing symptomatic infection, 85% effective in preventing hospitalizations and 80% in preventing deaths.

Draghi also questioned Russia's Sputnik vaccine.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had been expected to conclude its review of the Russian jab and issue a decision in May or June. However, approval was delayed because the makers missed a June 10 deadline to submit data, sources told Reuters earlier this month.

"The Russian vaccine Sputnik has never been able to get approval from EMA and perhaps it never will," Draghi said.

Over a dozen vaccinated doctors dead as Indonesia's virus cases surge

Over a dozen fully vaccinated doctors have died of Covid-19 in Indonesia, a medical association said Friday, as the Southeast Asian country battles a rash of severe cases in inoculated medical workers and highly infectious new virus strains.

Infections have surged in the nation of 270 million people in the past week, passing two million cases on Monday as hospital occupancy rates soared to over 75 percent in Jakarta and other hard-hit areas.

Nearly 1,000 Indonesian health workers have died from the virus since the pandemic started, with the country's medical association confirming Friday that 401 doctors were among the victims -- 14 of whom were fully vaccinated.

"We are still updating the data and confirming whether the other cases had been vaccinated or not," the association's Covid-19 mitigation head Mohammad Adib Khumaidi told journalists.

The rise of severe cases in inoculated medical workers has raised questions about the China-produced Sinovac jab, which Indonesia is heavily relying on to vaccinate more than 180 million people by early next year.

This month, more than 300 vaccinated doctors and health care workers in Central Java were found to have been infected with Covid-19, with about a dozen hospitalised.

The country is also grappling with new virus strains, including the highly infectious Delta variant first identified in India.

Clinical symptoms suggest that strain is responsible for a surge in cases in West Java, the medical association's spokesperson for the province, Eka Mulyana, said.

"In West Java, bed occupancy rates have exceeded 90 percent. Some hospitals' rates are even more than 100 percent," he told reporters. "At this rate, our health system is close to collapse."

Dozens of communities in Central Java's Kudus regency were put under lockdown after the Delta variant was detected in local testing samples, causing a sudden spike in virus cases.

The surge has been partly blamed on millions travelling from that region across the Muslim-majority nation at the end of Ramadan last month, despite an official ban on the annual migration.

The Indonesian medical association's Kudus representative, Ahmad Ipul Syaifuddin, has said the mass movement of people had made it next to impossible to determine where the surge began.

Israel reimposes indoor mask rule as virus cases spike

The Israeli health ministry reimposed a requirement Friday for masks to be worn in enclosed public places, following a surge in Covid-19 cases since the rule was dropped 10 days ago.

The spike in new infections is a blow for a country which has prided itself on one of the world's most rapid and comprehensive vaccine rollouts.

The head of Israel's pandemic response taskforce, Nachman Ash, told public radio the requirement came after four straight days of more than 100 new cases per day, with 227 cases confirmed Thursday.

"We are seeing a doubling every few days," Ash said.

"Another thing that's worrying is that the infections are spreading. If we had two cities where most of the infections were, we have more cities where the numbers are rising and communities where the cases are going up."

Ash said the rise in cases was likely due to the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, first identified in India.

Reimposing the mask requirement is a setback for Israel, just days after it was lifted on June 15.

Some 5.2 million people in the country have received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Ash said despite the increased number of positive cases, he did not yet see a parallel rise in hospitalisations or deaths.

"It's clear it's a factor of time, that not enough time has passed," Ash said. "But we hope the vaccines will protect us from a rise in hospitalisation and difficult cases."

- Pride march with few masks -

The health ministry urged Israelis to wear masks in crowded outdoor spaces too.

But a pride march Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv saw tens of thousands of people dancing in the streets, many without masks, according to an AFP reporter.

The event, which organisers called the largest of its kind worldwide since the start of the pandemic, had been suspended last year due to the virus.

The return of masks met a mixed reception.

Hadar Lavy, in Jerusalem, said she was not pleased, saying that "our smiles are much more important than masks."

But Esther Hamshalom, another Jerusalem resident, said it was better to be safe than sorry.

"The mask all the time, inside, outside," she said. "I feel safety with the mask, so it's better for us."

Israel became a pioneer in Covid inoculations after then prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtained millions of doses from Pfizer in exchange for sharing health data on their impact.

The resulting fall in new cases allowed a broad return to normality -- but it did not save Netanyahu's job.

He was replaced as prime minister earlier this month by his former aide turned foe Naftali Bennett.

Bennett warned Tuesday of a "new outbreak" of coronavirus, asking Israelis to cancel their travel plans and delaying plans to reopen the country's borders to individual tourists.

Bennett urged parents to vaccinate children aged 12 and older "as soon as possible," noting that Israel's stock of vaccines would soon expire.

A deal to trade soon-to-expire vaccines with the Palestinian Authority for new shots arriving in the autumn fell apart last week amid mutual accusations of bad faith.

Israel has faced criticism for refusing to vaccinate most Palestinians living in the West Bank, or in the Gaza Strip, which is under Israeli blockade.

Indian state tightens curbs on fears of new virus variant

India's richest state Maharashtra tightened restrictions Friday, citing fears of a "more severe third wave" as the country recorded its third death caused by a new coronavirus variant.

The announcement came days after India's health ministry called Delta Plus a "variant of concern", citing its increased transmissibility and ability to bind to lung cell receptors more easily.

India has recorded 48 cases of the variant so far, with Maharashtra reporting 21 infections -- higher than any other state.

Three people have died after contracting Delta Plus, including one in Maharashtra, the state's health department spokesman Ajay Jadhav told AFP.

Under the new guidelines, malls and theatres in Maharashtra, home to financial hub Mumbai, will remain closed, while restaurants will be permitted to operate on weekdays at 50 percent capacity until 4:00 pm.

Gyms, salons and shops will also have to shut their doors at 4:00 pm, while a limit of 50 guests will be imposed on weddings.

The curbs come less than a month after the state eased restrictions in most districts as coronavirus cases declined following a devastating second wave in the country.

Infections and deaths in India soared to record levels in April and May, overwhelming health services in some places and prompting lockdowns in most of the country.

India has recorded more than 30 million infections since the pandemic began, with Maharashtra accounting for around a fifth of the total cases.

新冠肺炎增78例本土 添13死、累計623人病逝

指揮中心表示，今日新增之78例本土病例，為36例男性、42例女性，年齡介於未滿5歲至80多歲，發病日介於今(2021)年6月11日至6月25日。個案分佈以新北市36例最多，其次為臺北市30例、桃園市、基隆市及屏東縣各3例，苗栗縣、彰化縣及新竹縣各1例。其中雙北地區以外縣市12例中，10例為已知感染源、2例關聯不明；相關疫情調查持續進行中。


7-day moving average drops to 92.43
Keep improving.

21,665 new cases and 619 new deaths in Russia

Keep worsening. The number new deaths is the second highest in record.

The national record of daily new deaths is 635 set on 24 Dec, 2020.

Moscow has dropped off from the peak with 8457 new cases today:

武漢肺炎我屌你老母

泰國收緊防疫措施 曼谷和周邊五個府周一起禁止堂食

泰國的新一波新型肺炎疫情未見緩和，政府宣布收緊首都曼谷和周邊五個府的防疫措施，包括禁止餐廳堂食，由明日起實施，為期一個月，其他措施包括商場要在晚上九點關閉，禁止超過20人的派對及活動。

另外，由於曼谷自上月起，先後有37個地盤工人營地出現群組爆發，當局宣布關閉六個地區的地盤和圍封工人營地，亦會設置檢查站，限制地盤工人流動，以免疫情蔓延。

其實有冇人研究緊治療方案?
點解淨係開發疫苗就算
係咪存心想利用疫情淘汰人口?

18,270 new cases and 23 new deaths in the United Kingdom

Keep worsening!

英國疫情持續反彈 倫敦幾千人抗議推遲解除防疫措施

受變種新冠病毒影響的英國，疫情持續反彈，單日新增18270宗確診個案，是2月5日以來最多，再多23名患者死亡。

報道說，雖然新增確診人數持續上升近一個月，但在疫苗接種計劃下，單日死亡病例維持在大約20宗左右。英國至今有近八成四的成年人，已經接種一劑疫苗，六成一人已經打了兩針。

幾千人星期六在倫敦市中心遊行，抗議政府推遲四星期解除防疫措施，認為封鎖措施影響民眾的自由和權利。

1,708 new cases and 28 new deaths in Japan

Appear to start worsening again, but we need a few more days to know the trend.

17,956 new cases and 157 new deaths in South Africa

Worsening rapidly!

COVID-19 Ontario reopening: What you can do in Stage 2 and why Waterloo won't be moving forward

Details at https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ontario-covid19-reopening-waterloo-stage2-rules-stage3-145352387.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink

India

49,851 new cases and 1,256 new deaths in India

Although India is talking about the third wave due to the Delta Plus variant, it is still improving:

Namibia Runs Out of Vaccines

Namibia, which currently has Africa’s most severe coronavirus infection rate, said it will from June 29 halt Covid-19 vaccinations except in cases where people need a second shot to complete an inoculation course. Supplies from Covax, the vaccine-sharing initiative, have run out and there are delays to deliveries of vaccines the country has bought itself.

Namibia had an infection rate of 3,404 per million people in the seven days through June 24, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, putting it ahead of neighboring Botswana and South Africa.

新冠肺炎今增88例本土、1例境外 添9死、累計632人病逝

指揮中心表示，今日新增之88例本土病例（其中27例為居家隔離期間或期滿檢驗陽性者），為48例男性、40例女性，年齡介於未滿5歲至90多歲，發病日介於今（2021）年6月10日至6月26日。個案分佈以新北市41例最多，其次為台北市33例、台南市8例、桃園市3例，屏東縣、南投縣及新竹市各1例；其中60例為已知感染源、2例關聯不明、26例調查中，相關疫情調查持續進行中。

指揮中心說明，今日新增9例死亡個案，為3例男性、6例女性，年齡介於40多歲至90多歲，發病日介於5月15日至6月22日，確診日介於5月20日至6月25日，死亡日介於6月22日至6月26日。
指揮中心表示，今日新增1例境外移入個案（案14719），為本國籍20多歲男性，5月3日曾在奧地利當地檢出COVID-19陽性，6月11日自奧地利返台，持有搭機前3日內檢驗陰性證明，入境後至防疫旅館檢疫，6月24日進行檢疫期滿前採檢，於今日確診。個案在台期間並無症狀，相關接觸者匡列中。

屏東群聚感染 指揮中心研判12例皆為Delta變種病毒確診者

Delta 變種病毒 （原稱印度變種病毒）襲台，屏東計程車司機新冠肺炎群聚案今天新增2例Delta病例，累計共8例，中央流行疫情指揮中心研判此案12名確診者皆為Delta病毒。

全球新冠肺炎（2019冠狀病毒疾病，COVID-19）疫情嚴峻，屏東近日爆發計程車司機群聚疫情，經疫調發現，有染疫乘客親戚是從秘魯返台祖孫，據最新病毒基因定序，確認秘魯祖孫感染最早在印度發現的Delta變異株，其餘確診者進行病毒基因定序。

中央流行疫情指揮中心指揮官陳時中下午在疫情記者會中公布病毒基因定序結果，屏東群聚疫情12名確診個案中，除昨天公布的6例Delta變異株外，今天新增2人完成基因定序，結果同樣為Delta變異株。

今天新增的Delta變異株確診者分別為該起群聚事件指標個案當地白牌司機（案14298）在20日一起泡茶者（案14412）及21日共餐者（案14410）。本案日前已知Delta變異株則為秘魯境外移入確診祖孫2人（案13332、13333）及案14298、14407、14408、14409。

指揮中心指揮官陳時中表示，同樣在20日與當地白牌司機一起泡茶者的另一名確診者（案14413），因為病毒量過低，難以進行病毒定序，但考量案14413與已經確定為Delta變異株的案14412為兄弟，研判同為Delta變異株可能性高。

另外，此案剩下的3名尚未完成病毒定序的確診者（案14594、14595、14596），中央流行疫情指揮中心醫療應變組副組長羅一鈞表示，3名確診者會繼續收集檢體，但以過去群聚經驗，應該都會是相同變異株。強調現階段應該是當其他縣市出現不明原因個案，更需要檢視是否為Delta病毒。

陳時中進一步說明，上述3個案為當地白牌司機同住家人，屬於家庭親密接觸群聚，也認為同為Delta變異株可能性高，所以現階段認為屏東群聚12名個案應該都是Delta病毒株。避免疫情擴大，屏東縣政府正積極礦大匡列及採檢，已採檢444人，尚未出現新個案。

1,730 new cases and 11 new deaths in Kazakhstan

Worsening!

Germany to Quarantine Travelers from Portugal

Germany imposed a 14-day quarantine on travelers returning from Portugal for failing to heed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s calls to crack down on the spread of the delta variant.

The measure, which will go into force Tuesday, comes after Merkel said Portugal’s decision not to tighten rules for British tourists undermined the continent’s defense against the variant spread. Unvaccinated U.K. travelers to Malta face a two-week isolation period.

South Africa Warns Third Wave Worse Than Second

South Africa’s acting health minister said Saturday a third wave of coronavirus infections may be being driven by the delta variant and could be worse than the second.

Hospital capacity in South Africa’s industrial hub of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, is at risk of being breached within days by surging Covid-19 cases. Weekly hospital admissions in the densely populated province are almost as high as during the height of the first wave in July, and the total number of cases is forecast to be twice as large as during the first two waves.

Sydney in Lockdown, New Zealand Restricts Travel

Greater Sydney was put into a two-week lockdown to fight an outbreak of the highly-transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, prompting New Zealand to halt quarantine-free travel from all of Australia until June 29.

Sydney residents can only go out for reasons such as food shopping, medical care or essential work and education that can’t be done from their own homes, Australia’s New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. The decision followed the detection of a dozen more new local infections and increased exposure sites that are complicating contact tracing. The curbs will apply until July 9.

Second Aussie city plunged into snap lockdown

There are at least four new cases linked to a Northern Territory miner who tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the territory is facing its biggest threat "since this crisis began" and believes the Delta variant has escaped into the community.

Greater Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield will go into a snap 48-hour lockdown coming into effect at 1pm on Sunday.

"We are taking extreme action right now to stop or slow any spread of the coronavirus," he said.

"It has been let loose in the territory and that means we need a lockdown."

Greater Darwin and surround parts will lockdown from 1pm today. Source: Getty
Greater Darwin and surrounding parts will lockdown from 1pm today. Source: Getty
Mr Gunner said he could not rule out the lockdown going for longer.

"We know how infectious this can be. One case turns to two, two into four, we know what happens," he told reporters on Sunday.

"I would rather regret us going too hard, too early than going too easy and risk it all."

Locals are only allowed to leave home for work, essential shopping, healthcare or providing care, or exercising within a 5km radius.

Masks are also mandatory.

'We are assuming the worst'
The "extreme" move follows revelations that 900 workers who left Granites Mine 540km northwest of Alice Springs where a man tested positive, flew to Brisbane, Perth and Alice Springs.

Of 244 potentially exposed people who remained in the NT, Mr Gunner says 15 who arrived in Darwin since Friday remain unaccounted for.

As a result, there was a need to "assume the worst, assume they are positive and assume that there are exposure sites".

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner called the snap lockdown
NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner called the snap lockdown "extreme". Source: AAP
One of the four detected cases has since travelled to NSW and was being managed by authorities there.

Two from the cohort were still isolating at the mine in the Tanami Desert but would be evacuated to the Territory's Centre for National Resilience at Howard Springs.

The fourth case was one of the mine worker's close contacts who lived in Palmerston, south of Darwin, and had tested positive to COVID-19 while in the Centre for National Resilience.

Malaysia to stay in Phase One of recovery plan, more assistance will be announced by Tuesday

KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — The first phase of the National Recovery Plan due to expire tomorrow will be extended as the country’s Covid-19 infection numbers have not met the threshold set, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

National news agency Bernama reported the prime minister as saying that daily Covid-19 cases were still above the limit of 4,000 a day, one of the three benchmarks that must be reached before the NRP could move into the second phase.

Muhyiddin also stressed that Malaysia would not exit Phase One until all three NRP indicators — new cases below 4,000 daily, “moderate” demand on intensive care capacity, and 10 per cent vaccination in the country — have been met.

“Now they say the Movement Control Order (MCO) is about to end. I want to say that from now on we don’t call it MCO, but we say we are in a particular phase and now we are in Phase One (of the NRO) until July, maybe the middle of the month or so.

“It is wrong to say June 28 is the end of the MCO,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

However, the prime minister said the government will announce additional financial assistance either tomorrow or Tuesday.

Muhyiddin said he would announce the new measures personally and assured small-medium enterprises (SMEs) that they would not be left out.

The PM stressed that the government has consistently been working on assistance schemes for the around 12 million workers directly affected by measures introduced to suppress the pandemic here.

“We are aware everyone is waiting to see how the government is going to help those affected during this phase (of National Recovery Plan) and subsequent phases until the end of the year. Of course, there will be assistance for B40, M40 and loan moratorium for the T20 (eligible) group.

“We have taken account of the needs of all these groups more comprehensively than before. I will announce the details tomorrow or the day after, so that everyone knows where we stand. But what’s important is that support is given to all groups in society. There may be an increase in the form of assistance to be extended,” he said.

Earlier today, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz appeared to indicate that the loan repayment moratorium from last year would be reintroduced.