【無了期唔知幾時完嘅武漢肺炎】國際疫情討論區09

Brazil Halts Shots for Young Teens

Brazil’s health minister says people under 18 should only be vaccinated in case of other underlying conditions or disabilities, according to an order published on its website.

The ministry now says benefits of vaccinating healthy teenagers are not yet clear, with most of them recovering well when infected by the coronavirus. On Sept. 2, Brazil announced a plan to vaccinate all people aged 12-17.

U.K. Set to Ease Travel Curbs

The British red list that hinders travel to 62 countries will be more than halved as the government relaxes curbs next month, the Times reported.

The list, which has 62 countries at present, requires passengers to pay to quarantine in a hotel for almost two weeks. Countries on the list include Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, the Maldives, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

22歲嫩妹打莫德納服用這藥物 肺部全血栓 醫嘆恐終生治療

一名22歲女子今年7月接種第一劑莫德納疫苗後，開始出現上下樓梯喘不過氣等狀況，不料2周後就醫檢查，竟發現雙側肺部都出現血栓，醫師初步研判，恐與接種疫苗後服用避孕藥有關，影響凝血功能，日後可能需終生服用血液稀釋藥物治療。

根據英國《每日郵報》報導，22歲的艾倫7月24日接種莫德納第一劑疫苗後，隔天上下樓梯就開始感到喘不過氣，原本她以為只是因為疫情太久沒運動，造成體力下降，沒想到幾天後連刷牙、梳頭髮都覺得疲憊，側躺時甚至覺得肺部快要被壓碎。

艾倫後來又和男友去露營，結果途中差點暈倒，就醫檢查才發現，她的肺部竟已有2處血栓，恐為雙側肺血栓栓塞症，住院治療4天後才出院，目前在家隔離中，不過回到家後，大部分時間都臥床不起，只能做簡單的運動。

醫師解釋，艾倫打完疫苗後有血栓狀況，加上她同時服用避孕藥，藥物成分嚴重影響凝血因子，日後可能需要終生服用血液稀釋藥物，但目前還不確定血栓是否與長期服用避孕藥有直接關係。《UK Medical Freedom》在推特寫道，22 歲的艾倫原本是一名馬術選手，不過由於接種莫德納疫苗後出現罕見雙側肺血栓反應，日後可能不能再騎馬了。

李秉穎酸柯P「不是所有醫師都懂疫苗」 藥師忍不住回3字

台北市市長柯文哲15日表示，高端連「單打」的臨床三期實驗都還沒做完，居然在做「混打」的實驗，不曉得算第幾期，這實在超越醫學院訓練的認知；衛福部傳染病防治諮詢會預防接種組召集人李秉穎昨對此回應稱：「不要以為每一個醫師都懂疫苗。」而藥師林士峰對李秉穎的說法十分不以為然，反問：「包括你？」痛批李過去曾有不少爭議，說這句話「應該也心有戚戚焉」。

李秉穎昨日接受媒體人周玉蔻訪問時表示，自己不針對任何人評論，但醫界真正熟悉疫苗的人非常少，日前連台大小兒科的同事都問他新冠疫苗選哪支比較好。李強調，台灣的醫學教育長期輕視疫苗，很多醫師講的話不符合專家對疫苗的認知，「不要以為每一個醫師都懂疫苗。」

林士峰昨日在臉書發文指出，李秉穎過去曾經提及不少疫苗相關謬論，包括：一，機組人員第一優先施打會成為國際笑話；二，莫德納跟高端是兄弟；三，高端和諾瓦瓦克斯都是棘蛋白疫苗，保護力應該差不多。

林士峰表示，李秉穎說「不要以為每一個醫師都懂疫苗」，他自己應該也心有戚戚焉，讓人忍不住問這句話是否「包括你？」何況即便「李醫師」可能對疫苗的了解不夠透徹，但也別認為「柯醫師」喊「超越認知」就代表他不懂疫苗。

本土＋2都在台北 境外6例「4人接種過疫苗」

中央流行疫情指揮中心今天(17日)公布國內新增8例新冠肺炎確定病例，分別為2例本土及6例境外移入；另確診個案中無新增死亡。由於指揮官陳時中前往立法院備詢，因此由發言人莊人祥出席，他表示境外移入的病例中，有4名個案都接種過疫苗。

指揮中心說明，今日新增2例本土病例中，案16226為70多歲女性，9月15日因其他原因就醫採檢，於今日確診；目前匡列接觸者1人，列居家隔離，餘匡列中。案16227為20多歲女性，9月15日因陪病需求採檢，於今日確診；目前匡列接觸者8人，列居家隔離，餘匡列中。衛生單位將持續進行疫情調查及防治，以釐清感染源。

指揮中心表示，今日新增6例境外移入個案，為3例男性、3例女性，年齡介於20多歲至60多歲，分別自美國(案16228、案16230)、印尼(案16229、案16233)、立陶宛(案16231)、馬來西亞(案16232)入境，入境日介於9月3日至9月15日，皆持有搭機前3日內檢驗陰性報告。

指揮中心統計，截至目前國內累計3,104,233例新型冠狀病毒肺炎相關通報(含3,086,845例排除)，其中16,123例確診，分別為1,494例境外移入，14,575例本土病例，36例敦睦艦隊、3例航空器感染、1例不明及14例調查中；另累計110例移除為空號。2020年起累計839例死亡病例，其中829例本土，個案居住縣市分布為新北市411例、臺北市318例、基隆市28例、桃園市26例、彰化縣15例、新竹縣13例、臺中市5例、苗栗縣3例、宜蘭縣及花蓮縣各2例，臺東縣、雲林縣、臺南市、南投縣、高雄市及屏東縣各1例；另10例為境外移入。

1,197 new cases and 6 new deaths in Lithuania

Keep worseninf.

英國政府簡化入境英格蘭的防疫規定 以提振旅遊業

英國政府簡化入境英格蘭地區的防疫規定，以提振旅遊業，從10月4日起，來自低風險國家，並完成接種新冠疫苗人士，入境後毋須再接受昂貴的病毒檢測，只是需要接受較便宜的快速抗原測試。

另外，當局只會保留疫情風險最高的紅色名單，從紅色名單以外國家入境的旅客，若果已經接種兩劑新冠疫苗，出發前不需要做病毒檢測。

從下星期三起，土耳其、巴基斯坦和馬爾代夫等八個國家，會被剔出紅色名單，來自這些國家的旅客，將毋須在酒店隔離。

運輸大臣夏博思表示，新措施容許更多人在全球旅遊、與最愛的人見面，或者開展業務。

Vietnam approves Cuba's Abdala vaccine as Delta variant outbreak continues

Vietnam has approved Cuba's Abdala vaccine for use against the coronavirus, the government said on Saturday, as the Southeast Asian country battles its worst outbreak of the pandemic.

Abdala becomes the eighth Covid-19 vaccine approved for use in Vietnam, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the region, with only 6.3% of its 98 million people having received at least two shots.
The announcement came hours after President Nguyen Xuan Phuc left Hanoi for an official visit to Havana.
Vietnam has recorded 667,650 coronavirus infections and 16,637 deaths -- the vast majority of which were part of the Delta-driven outbreak which began in late April.
"The Ministry of Health has approved (the) Abdala vaccine, based on the country's urgent need for its Covid-19 fight," the government said in a statement.
The ministry last month said Cuba would supply large quantities of Abdala to Vietnam and transfer the production technology by the end of the year.
Vietnam and Cuba are among the last five Communist-ruled countries in the world, along with China, Laos and North Korea.

Surge in Singapore COVID cases 'much earlier' than expected: Ong Ye Kung

SINGAPORE — Singapore's current surge in COVID-19 cases came much earlier than authorities had hoped for, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday (17 September), a day after the city-state reported 910 new infections – the highest since 1 May last year.

"We had hoped that this transmission wave can come later, maybe at Transition Stage B, but it has presented itself much earlier largely because Delta is so much more infectious," he said during a virtual doorstop interview.

Since 10 August, Singapore has been in the first stage – or the Preparatory Stage – of a four-part road map towards endemic COVID-19. The other three stages are Transition Stage A, Transition Stage B, and lastly, COVID-19 Resilient Nation.

While this "major wave of transmission" came earlier than expected here, it is inevitable for every country that has decided to live with the virus, said Ong, who is the COVID-19 multi-ministry taskforce co-chair.

"This is almost like a rite of passage before humans and the virus achieve a new equilibrium and things stabilise," he stressed.

However, Ong noted that Singapore is going through the current COVID-19 wave after about 80 per cent of the population have been fully vaccinated against the disease, as opposed to other countries which encountered the wave very early in the pandemic, incurring many casualties.

Friday marks the 26th day of the current wave, which typically peaks between four and eight weeks.

Cases in Singapore have been doubling every week, with the average number of daily cases increasing from 146 a fortnight ago, to 682 in the past week. Over 98 per cent of these cases have exhibited no or mild symptoms. Only 1.6 per cent and 0.1 per cent of total infections over the last 28 days required oxygen supplementation and are in critical condition in the intensive care unit respectively.

"We are not the first country to have gone through this baptism of fire, and we will not be the last," Ong cautioned.

If the current rate of infection persists, which is "rising faster than expected", he observed, Singapore could see 2,000 daily new cases next month.

"But what we are quite clear, is that you can't sustain many rounds or doubling, even when we have a very small conversion into oxygen supplementation needs or ICU care," Ong said, noting that the next two weeks would be crucial, especially in determining whether Singapore will run out of ICU beds and overburden hospitals as a whole.

Expanding the home recovery programme to make it a default arrangement for eligible COVID-19 patients aged 12 to 69 – up from 50 previously – will help address such uncertainties. This will start from Saturday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) director of medical services Kenneth Mak noted that the number of severely ill cases is not rising in sync with the total number of infections here.

This trend in cases is being watched closely and if it continues to follow a similar "disconnect" between the number of community cases with those hospitalised, Singapore "may actually be alright and the healthcare resources we have would be well able to cope", he added.

But Associate Professor Mak noted that while the indications are encouraging at this point, the data collected is still at a very early stage.

"We do need to look at the situation over the next two weeks to better understand whether that trend continues," he reiterated.

南韓新增2087宗確診 連續兩日新增逾2千宗

南韓新增2087宗新型肺炎確診個案，連續兩日新增超過2千宗確診。新增確診個案，絕大部分為社區感染，累計超過28萬宗確診。新增5宗死亡個案，累計2394名患者死亡。

悉尼及墨爾本反封鎖示威 部分人與警察衝突被捕

澳洲新增1882宗新型肺炎確診個案，新南威爾士州及維多利亞州分別佔1331宗及535宗，大部分來自兩州首府悉尼及墨爾本。

悉尼及墨爾本均有人發起反封鎖示威，當局部署數千警力，設置檢查站和路障，阻止民眾前往集會，並警告參與者或會面臨罰款及拘捕。在墨爾本市中心，部分地區幾乎被劃成禁區，公共交通工具停駛，部分計劃參與集會的人與警方衝突被捕。悉尼則有防暴警察在街上駐守。

為遏止Delta新冠變種病毒的傳播，悉尼、墨爾本及首都坎培拉正實施嚴格封鎖措施，大部分措施將維持至16歲以上人口完成接種疫苗的比例達到七成。報道指，按現時接種速度預測，10月底或11月初有望達到目標。

20,329 new cases and 799 new deaths in Russia

Worsening again.

新加坡新增1009宗新型肺炎確診病例

新加坡新增1009宗新型肺炎，當中926宗屬社區感染，累計76792宗確診病例。單日新增病例的數字是去年4月以來新高。在新增的社區感染中，78宗同海外勞工宿舍有關。另外，新增一名90歲男子死亡，相信同新型肺炎引發的併發症有關。直至9月17日，新加坡8成2人口完成接種兩劑新冠疫苗，8成4人口接種至少一劑疫苗。

2021-09-19 00:41:53 (1)

1,009 new cases and 1 new death in Singapore

Keep worsening!

More than 100 part-timers at Indiana University Health left jobless for refusing Covid-19 vaccine

At least 125 part-time employees at Indiana University Health system, the largest physicians network in the state, have lost their jobs for not complying with Covid-19 vaccination requirements, a spokeswoman said Friday.

"Indiana University Health has put the safety and well-being of patients and team members first by requiring employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 1," said Berkley Rios, an Indiana University Health spokeswoman.
"After a two-week unpaid suspension period ending Sept. 14, a total of 125 employees, the equivalent of 61 full time employees, chose not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and have left the organization."
The vacancies "will have a minimal effect on staffing," according to Rios.

IU Health's website says the system has more than 34,000 staff members.
"IU Health has been working to hire for positions in areas where team members have shown non-compliance," Rios said.
More and more private companies across the country are announcing vaccine mandates.
Companies ranging from Disney to Walmart to Google have recently begun mandating their employees get shots to protect against Covid-19.
President Joe Biden last month announced a requirement that all federal employees and on-site contractors be vaccinated or submit to regular testing and mitigation requirements.
In April, Houston Methodist, a network of eight hospitals with 26,000 employees, became one of the first major hospital systems in the US to mandate vaccination among employees and move to fire them if they didn't comply.

The first reported Covid-related death of a newborn

Eighteen months into the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Delta variant fueling a massive resurgence of disease, many hospitals are hitting a heartbreaking new low. They're now losing babies to the coronavirus.

The first reported Covid-related death of a newborn occurred in Orange County, Florida, and an infant has died in Mississippi. Merced County in California lost a child under a year old in late August.
"It's so hard to see kids suffer," said Dr. Paul Offit, an expert on infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which — like other pediatric hospitals around the country — has been inundated with Covid patients.

墾丁驚現「升四級的光」 網見多人違規傻眼：破口的產地

許多民眾趁著中秋連假到一些知名景點旅遊，墾丁也湧入不少人潮，著名的墾丁大街更是湧入了約8000名的遊客，有粉絲專頁發出人潮湧入大街的照片，網友還發現了「防疫破口」，讓他們擔憂「彷彿看到了四級的光」，更直言墾丁大街成為「破口與他們的產地」。

根據墾丁大街當地自治會統計，連假次（19）日有大約8000名的遊客湧入墾丁大街。臉書粉專「屏東點Pingtung」有網友投稿「中秋連假首日墾丁」的大街照片，照片中人潮擁擠，密度相當高，難以維持安全社交距離，竟還有民眾手中拿著外帶食物「邊走邊吃」，此舉讓網友看了直喊傻眼。

人潮流量雖然為商家帶來了生意，不過大部分網友都擔憂疫情會就此出現變數，看了照片後引起不少討論，有網友就認為「有些人努力防疫；有人就努力放毒」、「我彷彿看到了四級的光」、「破口與他們的產地」、「這種人群聚集，會不會就中秋結束就疫情崩潰」。

才3天！南韓疫苗不良反應達1萬多例

南韓至今年2月26日開始實施大規模新冠肺炎疫苗接種計畫，截至昨（17）日統計，超過3600萬人以施打第1劑，全國疫苗覆蓋率突破70%，不過隨著施打率提高，接種後發生副作用的通報案例也急遽暴增，15至17日就有高達1萬2703例，其中輝瑞（BNT）占8231例、AZ占1369例、莫德納占3024例以及嬌生的79例。

根據《韓聯社》報導指出，9月15至17日有32例接種疫苗後通報死亡個案，其中AZ為17人，輝瑞、莫德納則分別為12人及3人，不過詳細死因是否與施打疫苗之間有因果關係，還有待進一步釐清。此外，造成全身過敏性休克共新增60例，包含輝瑞的37例，莫德納21例，AZ與嬌生則各占1例。而其副作用產生永久障礙與嚴重後遺症、須入住加護病房治療的共356例，其中輝瑞佔214例，AZ有93例、莫德納47例還有嬌生2例。

南韓自2月26日開始實施大規模疫苗接種計畫，截至目前為止，就有近24萬例接種後產生不良反應，為總施打人口的0.42%。累計至今日0時為止，有922起通報死亡個案，包含因其他副作用惡化後造成的死亡，輝瑞有489例、AZ為400例、莫德納占20例以及嬌生的13例。其餘一般副作用，症狀較輕微，如接種後肌肉痠痛、頭痛、發燒、噁心等共有23萬44例，為總通報案例的95.9%。

Alabama (USA) saw more deaths than births for first time

For the first time in its documented history, the state of Alabama recorded more deaths than births in a year, and state health officials are attributing the 2020 population shrinkage to COVID-19. The state had 64,714 total deaths and 57,641 total births last year, he said. There were 7,182 deaths from COVID-19 in 2020, according to state health data.

“Our state literally shrunk this year for the first time in history, even going back to World War II, when people were serving overseas; going back to the Spanish Flu epidemic, when we had the flu in our state; going back to World War I,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Saturday.

Iran's new government has approved the vaccine developed by U.S. firm Johnson & Johnson, a senior official said, as the Islamic Republic faces a fifth wave of infections.

Police in Dubai have built up a special unit of 38 sniffer dogs that can detect COVID-19 from human sweat samples with 92% accuracy, the supervisor of the training programme told Reuters.

NSW Covid update: cases drop to three-week low of 935, but deaths yet to peak

New South Wales has reported 935 new cases of Covid-19, the lowest daily caseload recorded in more than three weeks, with premier Gladys Berejiklian warning that, despite the falling infection numbers, hospitalisations and deaths are yet to peak.

Four more people have died of Covid in the state, including two unvaccinated men, one in their 80s and one in their 60s. The other two deaths, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 60s, had received one dose of Covid vaccine.

Before Monday, the last day where fewer than 1,000 daily cases were reported in NSW was in the 24-hour reporting period to 8pm on 26 August, when 882 cases were recorded.

Berejiklian, when asked if the peak of cases was behind us, said “we’re feeling more positive than we have in a couple of weeks but we’re not ready to call it”. She said if super-spreading events occurred, “we can easily go back to those 1,500 numbers”.

She sought to stress that “we can’t read too much into” the fact that case numbers appeared to have stabilised in recent weeks, because a predicted surge in hospital pressure was still likely to eventuate in October.

“I don’t want anyone to sit back and think the worst is behind us,” she said.

“I should note that even if case numbers go down, we should expect unfortunately that the number of people in intensive care and the number of people who lose their lives to go up because, as we’ve said consistently, because we have had a number of cases in the last few weeks, people ordinarily get very sick in the second week of the illness and sometimes stay very sick for a long time.

“That is why we need to continue to brace ourselves for October being the worst month for the number of people who pass away and the number of people who need intensive care. We should never lose sight of that … that is the likely scenario in October.’’

Berejiklian warned that, “once we start reopening, cases will go through the roof but it won’t matter as much because people will be vaccinated”, stressing vaccination rates were key to minimising the extent to which hospitals would be overwhelmed. Regardless, she said she still expected hospitals to be “technically overwhelmed” in October, with the health system working “triple as hard” at that time.

On Monday, there were 1,207 people being treated for Covid in hospitals in NSW, with 236 in intensive care and 123 of those on ventilators. Thousands more Covid patients were receiving hospital-grade care in their homes, to avoid exposure.

Last Monday, there were 1,189 Covid patients in hospitals, with 222 people in intensive care and 94 on ventilators. Hospitalisations have only slightly increased over the past week, however, the turnover of patients is not made clear by NSW Health.

Single-dose vaccinations in NSW reached 82.2% on Monday, while 52.7% of the state is now fully vaccinated.

About 20% of 12- to 15-year-olds, who only became widely eligible for vaccines less than two weeks ago, have now had their first dose. This age cohort does not count towards the 70% double-dose vaccination roadmap tied to freedoms for fully vaccinated residents.

Long article, more at https://uk.yahoo.com/news/nsw-covid-cases-drop-three-023204126.html

Further restrictions in Ireland eased

Workers in Ireland have started returning to offices for the first time since March 2020 after the latest easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

The government also allowed indoor group activities, such as dance and yoga, to resume for up to 100 people who are fully-vaccinated or are naturally immune from the virus.

Bowling alleys and amusement arcades can also reopen.

The taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said the full vaccination of 90 per cent of the population has enabled the relaxation of rules.

He said: "If we continue this progress, we can look forward to the further removal of public health restrictions, to be replaced by guidance and advice."

Leo Varadkar, the deputy prime minister, suggested remote working should become a permanent fixture of Irish life.

Thailand trials robot nurses to treat Covid patients

A robot nurse is helping to deliver medicine and record the condition of patients in a Covid-19 field hospital in Khon Kaen province, Thailand.

The KIC Robot 2 is a mobile robot with wheels that is able to carry medication, and allows doctors and patients to communicate through a built-in camera and speaker.

Doctor Wirot Lertpongpipat said: "The robot allows us to communicate with our patients easily. The robot also reduces the chances of Covid-19 transmission to our paramedics.

"Sometimes announcing on the speaker is not clear, so this robot can get closer to the patient and inform them better."

The robot nurse was developed by Thai researchers in response to the pandemic and could be rolled out in other hospitals across the country if the trial is successful.

Laos locks down capital and bans travel

Reclusive Laos has locked down its capital Vientiane and barred travel between Covid-hit provinces, as cases soared to a record high.

The communist country appeared to have escaped the brunt of the pandemic in 2020, and by March this year had reported fewer than 60 cases - though the low number was due in part to limited testing.

But a surge since mid-April has seen its caseload steadily increase, and on Saturday the country reported 467 new cases of community infection, its highest ever single-day tally.

The mayor of Vientiane, where the bulk of the cases were detected, declared a strict lockdown on Sunday for two weeks, ordering residents to stay in their homes unless obtaining food, medicine or making their way to a hospital.

Travel between seven other hard-hit provinces is banned, while entry into Vientiane requires a quarantine of 14 days.