Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[The Larch]

There's apparently an outbreak amongst the Eurovision delegations. 

Oh no!

This better not end in another cancellation

There are two positive cases and four national delegations (Iceland, Poland, Romania and Malta) that share hotel have been locked down in it.

[celedhring]

I'm checking the odds and we are listed 38th out of 39 

I wish we actually tried. Our entries aren't even entertaining. 

[The Larch]

I'm checking the odds and we are listed 38th out of 39 

I wish we actually tried. Our entries aren't even entertaining. 

Only ahead of the UK, I guess. 

At least we tried going down the joke entry route once with Chikilicuatre.

[mongers]

More than 2,000 covid-19 dead now recovered from the Ganges. 

[Sheilbh]

Great news on Pfizer - they've reformulated and done tests and now approved by EMA for fridge temperature storage. Apparently the practical points on how to do this have been circulated and will now be implemented globally (subject to regulatory approval - maybe?).

But that opens up a huge range of new distribution possibilities for Pfizer

Hopefully they'll also tell (or be forced to tell) Moderna how to do it so we can move away from any super-cool facilities being necessary.

[Tamas]

Not that I mind this as I do want to visit home late summer, but the government is back to "you are not supposed to do X but we are not going to ban it" territory.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/may/17/dont-travel-to-amber-list-countries-says-no-10-despite-no-ban

Don't travel to amber list countries, says No 10 despite no ban
PM's spokesperson declines to say why holidays to places such as Spain are allowed to remain on sale

Downing Street has urged Britons not to take holidays in so-called amber list countries including France and Spain, but declined to explain why it remains legal for people to do so.

Boris Johnson's spokesperson said the advice was that people should not travel to these destinations for leisure, but did not say why travel companies were being permitted to sell holidays to them.

"Our advice is that no one should be travelling to amber list countries, in the interests of public health," he said when asked why amber list holidays were on sale. "There may be unavoidable, essential reasons for people to travel to amber list countries."

Under the new coronavirus rules for travel that came into force on Monday, people can holiday in a dozen green list destinations including Portugal, Gibraltar and Israel, People who return to the UK from green list countries have to take Covid tests before travelling and within two days of return, but do not need to quarantine.

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Just over 40 places are on the red list, connected to the prevalence of Covid variants, and UK nationals who travel back from these are obliged to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days. Other arrivals from these places are barred.

All other countries, including the bulk of popular holiday destinations for UK travellers, are on the amber list. Travellers must take tests before they head to the UK and twice on return, and quarantine at home for 10 days.

Government advice says travel to amber list countries should only happen for work or for a small number of urgent reasons. However, it is not illegal to take holidays to them and people cannot be punished for doing so.

Asked why it was legal, Johnson's spokesperson said only: "Amber countries are effectively the default that countries are put in, beyond the small number of green list countries we have, where we have identified it is safe to travel to, and the red list, where we are banning travel because of concerns such as variants."

Pressed about the discrepancy between the advice and the law, he said: "Like I say, we don't want the public to travel to amber list countries. There are a small number of reasons why people can travel."

When asked again, he said: "We don't want people to go on holiday to amber list countries. The rules are set out very clearly."

Downing Street is facing significant pressure from the travel industry and from some Conservative MPs to expand the green list so people can take summer holidays.

However, scientists are warning that more widespread travel could help bring in new cases of concerning variants such as that first identified in India. Fears about the greater transmissibility of the Indian variant has put into question plans to remove many lockdown restrictions next month, and could even lead to some easing measures introduced on Monday being reversed.

[Admiral Yi]

Not that I mind this as I do want to visit home late summer, but the government is back to "you are not supposed to do X but we are not going to ban it" territory.

Will you be quarantining for 10 days if you do?

[Zanza]

Great news on Pfizer - they've reformulated and done tests and now approved by EMA for fridge temperature storage. Apparently the practical points on how to do this have been circulated and will now be implemented globally (subject to regulatory approval - maybe?).

But that opens up a huge range of new distribution possibilities for Pfizer

Hopefully they'll also tell (or be forced to tell) Moderna how to do it so we can move away from any super-cool facilities being necessary.

The BioNTech CEO also said that instead of the planned 1.3 billion doses, they are now projecting up to 3 billion doses in 2021.

[Tamas]

Not that I mind this as I do want to visit home late summer, but the government is back to "you are not supposed to do X but we are not going to ban it" territory.

Will you be quarantining for 10 days if you do?

Yes, that's the rule, and it's not like my very limited social life warrants risking a fine and being a douche.

EDIT: if you mean in Hungary, possibly but my proof of vaccination will probably exempt me from that.

[Sheilbh]

The BioNTech CEO also said that instead of the planned 1.3 billion doses, they are now projecting up to 3 billion doses in 2021.

Which is great and combined probably means they can be used for Covax which would be great (as long as Western governments are willing to pay more - and they should be).

[Legbiter]

There are two positive cases and four national delegations (Iceland, Poland, Romania and Malta) that share hotel have been locked down in it.

Our delegation was jabbed 10 days ago with the Jansen vaccine before travelling to the competition.

It takes 2 weeks to start building up immunity so they could quite conceivably catch it.

[viper37]

This better not end in another cancellation

No Eurovision, I can live with.  But no Wacken, no Helfest, for one more year, that will suck

[Tamas]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/17/uk-cases-of-indian-covid-variant-almost-doubled-in-four-days-says-hancock

India variant will be dominant UK Covid strain 'in next few days'
Scientists' warning comes as government comes under pressure to explain border policy

Coronavirus – latest updates
See all our coronavirus coverage
Matt Hancock
01:44
Matt Hancock: Covid India variant more transmissible, evidence suggests – video
Peter Walker, Nicola Davis and Jessica Elgot
Mon 17 May 2021 19.59 BST

942
The Covid variant first detected in India is set to be the dominant strain in the UK within days, experts have said, with the government and health teams struggling to contain cases, which have risen by more than 75% since Thursday.

With the rapid spread of the more transmissible B.1.617.2 variant threatening to reverse moves to ease lockdown, the government faced intense pressure to more fully explain the delay in adding India to the so-called red list of countries.

Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's former chief adviser, joined the criticism on Monday, calling the UK's border policy a "joke".

Johnson is now set to delay plans to announce an end to social-distancing rules, postponing the conclusion of a review expected by the end of the month, casting significant doubt over the wider plan to relax most lockdown rules on 21 June.

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Speaking on the day indoor hospitality and other venues were allowed to reopen, Matt Hancock told MPs that 2,323 cases of the variant known as B.1.617.2 had been confirmed, up from 1,313 on Thursday, with 483 of those in the outbreaks in Bolton and Blackburn. There are now 86 local authorities with five or more confirmed cases, he said.

Describing a "race between the virus and the vaccine", the health secretary rejected calls from Labour to consider a push to vaccinate all adults in the most affected areas, saying that surge testing was the best remedy.

Hancock said 35,000 more tests had been distributed or collected in Bolton and Blackburn, along with a push to target those eligible for vaccinations, with 6,200 jabs carried out in Bolton alone over the weekend.

But new data from the the Wellcome Sanger Institute's Covid-19 genomic surveillance, which excludes samples from recent travellers and surge testing, has shown how rapidly and widely the variant appears to be embedding.

According to an analysis of the data by Prof Christina Pagel, the director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at University College London and a member of the Independent Sage group of experts, the variant was detected in almost 30% of Covid samples collected in England in the week ending 8 May.

Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the India variant seemed set to supplant that first detected in Kent, which was in turn notably more transmissible than earlier forms of coronavirus.

"There is no evidence that the recent rapid rise in cases of the B.1.617.2 variant shows any signs in slowing," he said. "This variant will overtake [the Kent variant] and become the dominant variant in the UK in the next few days, if it hasn't already done so."

This has prompted renewed questions about why India was not added sooner to the red list of countries, where all arrivals apart from UK nationals are banned, and those who do come must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.

Responding in the Commons, Labour's shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said UK borders "have been as secure as a sieve".

Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the Commons home affairs committee, said people would "understandably feel angry" if reopening from lockdown was put at risk due to border decisions, citing statistics showing that in early April, arrivals from India tested positive for Covid at 50 times the then UK rate.

Separately, in a Twitter thread prior to his appearance before the Commons health and science committees on 26 May, Cummings lambasted the UK's response to Covid, citing as an example "our joke borders policy".

In a sentiment likely to raise some eyebrows given his own long-distance drives last spring, Cummings also argued that lockdowns only worked with "serious enforcement".

Hancock defended the government's approach in the Commons, saying it had added India to the red list on 23 April, six days before the B.1.617.2 variant was put under investigation and two weeks before it was labelled as being of concern.

However, another variant first discovered in India and closely related to the variant of concern, called B.1.617.1, was was designated under investigation on 1 April, weeks before travel from India was restricted.

Ministers could face a significant backlash if the spread of the B.1.617.2 variant derails the planned June reopening, or even forces the reversal of some of Monday's changes.

A government source said more time was needed to gather data about the effect of the variant, but stressed it did not necessarily mean the 21 June date would slip. "We thought we would be in a position to give some notice well in advance, now we will need a bit more time," the source said.

The review into social distancing was expected to announce an end to the 1-metre rule for hospitality venues, which has seen some needing to significantly reduce capacity, as well as an end to fines for not wearing masks.

In a sign that the UK government could be preparing ground for its roadmap to slip, a Downing Street spokesman said: "The variant first identified in India could pose serious disruption to this progress, and could make it more difficult to move to step 4.

"Our decision will be based on the very latest data, and we want to allow as much time as possible to assess this so we will set out plans as soon as the data allows."

Some Conservative MPs have expressed grave worries at the idea of a reversal to reopening.

"When will this government actually take a little bit of risk and allow people to get on with their lives again?" Huw Merriman, the Tory MP who chairs the transport committee, told Hancock in the Commons.

Giles Watling, who represents the seaside resort of Clacton in Essex, said that local businesses had reported a boom in bookings as people planned UK holidays this summer, and there was huge worry about the idea of new restrictions.

"I understand that ministers have to act, but we didn't really get a summer season last year, and it would be a real kick in the teeth if we couldn't open up in the way we have been planning."

Since we have just opened up indoor hospitality and places like cinemas, i can't see how this variant won't wash over all over us. Hopefully the vaccination can pick up further pace to keep up with it.

The city where my workplace is, is now deep in 30s territory when it comes to vaccinating, Hopefully it'll be my wife's turn soon over here as well.

[garbon]

Though not advertised as such, as of yesterday, NHS booking website was letting people 36 and up book appointments.

[garbon]

I've also noticed booking site now says 36 and up - but there is also a virtual queue.