i_need_contribute
|
Country, |
Total |
New |
Total |
|
World |
186,320,350 |
+480,890 |
4,026,388 |
|
34,676,896 |
+19,347 |
622,213 |
|
|
30,752,108 |
+43,538 |
405,967 |
|
|
18,962,786 |
+53,749 |
530,344 |
|
|
5,799,107 |
+4,442 |
111,284 |
|
|
5,707,452 |
+24,818 |
140,775 |
|
|
5,465,094 |
+5,171 |
50,096 |
|
|
5,022,893 |
+32,551 |
128,336 |
|
|
4,613,019 |
+19,256 |
97,904 |
|
|
4,450,086 |
+23,275 |
111,155 |
|
|
4,267,105 |
+1,394 |
127,731 |
|
|
3,915,313 |
+17,317 |
80,997 |
|
|
3,741,451 |
+910 |
91,701 |
|
|
3,327,526 |
+23,391 |
85,397 |
|
|
2,880,596 |
+93 |
75,135 |
|
|
2,558,369 |
+8,507 |
234,192 |
|
|
2,417,788 |
+38,391 |
63,760 |
|
|
2,239,591 |
+617 |
52,560 |
|
|
2,135,246 |
+22,910 |
63,499 |
|
|
2,074,186 |
+2,549 |
193,909 |
|
|
1,701,911 |
+5,431 |
17,762 |
|
|
1,668,637 |
+278 |
30,331 |
|
|
1,579,591 |
+3,255 |
33,514 |
|
|
1,455,585 |
+5,484 |
25,650 |
|
|
1,419,196 |
+564 |
26,405 |
|
|
1,406,289 |
+9,189 |
17,444 |
|
|
1,091,095 |
+1,990 |
25,196 |
|
|
1,081,120 |
+30 |
34,168 |
|
|
989,219 |
+11,651 |
15,792 |
|
|
967,633 |
+1,626 |
22,493 |
|
|
899,295 |
+3,269 |
17,135 |
|
|
844,989 |
+611 |
6,432 |
|
|
811,712 |
+2,193 |
14,897 |
|
|
808,658 |
+8,868 |
5,903 |
|
|
808,393 |
+55 |
30,004 |
|
|
755,480 |
+553 |
9,812 |
|
|
717,293 |
+97 |
7,064 |
|
|
651,380 |
+1,218 |
9,320 |
|
|
651,128 |
+120 |
10,721 |
|
|
645,653 |
+1,539 |
1,849 |
|
|
546,766 |
+400 |
7,869 |
|
|
538,589 |
+1,336 |
9,346 |
|
|
497,773 |
+1,257 |
7,933 |
|
|
473,229 |
+8,315 |
15,861 |
|
|
465,878 |
+849 |
21,768 |
|
|
449,687 |
+1,474 |
17,067 |
|
|
445,091 |
+2,800 |
4,544 |
|
|
434,264 |
+1,463 |
13,729 |
|
|
433,021 |
+2,061 |
12,749 |
|
|
424,554 |
+1,035 |
3,225 |
|
|
422,353 |
+55 |
18,134 |
|
|
412,466 |
+1,240 |
6,604 |
|
|
391,813 |
+33 |
12,516 |
|
|
378,938 |
+1,847 |
4,760 |
|
|
375,298 |
+633 |
5,772 |
|
|
373,728 |
+1,043 |
5,414 |
|
|
370,932 |
+1,705 |
2,071 |
|
|
360,593 |
+110 |
8,226 |
|
|
336,788 |
+104 |
4,980 |
|
|
331,826 |
+885 |
3,870 |
|
|
311,342 |
+3,069 |
9,609 |
|
|
308,230 |
+7,058 |
2,462 |
|
|
297,543 |
+658 |
2,538 |
|
|
282,737 |
+155 |
16,351 |
|
|
281,907 |
+927 |
3,253 |
|
|
281,688 |
+1,453 |
3,371 |
|
|
279,024 |
+34 |
4,396 |
|
|
276,799 |
+116 |
4,341 |
|
|
276,104 |
+533 |
5,006 |
|
|
270,689 |
+669 |
7,175 |
|
|
269,946 |
+1,270 |
3,391 |
|
|
266,919 |
+122 |
1,371 |
|
|
257,619 |
+68 |
4,423 |
|
|
257,272 |
+85 |
6,205 |
|
|
225,987 |
+186 |
4,536 |
|
|
223,031 |
+113 |
598 |
|
|
218,396 |
+3,819 |
1,431 |
|
|
199,526 |
+1,384 |
3,227 |
|
|
187,525 |
+566 |
3,716 |
|
|
180,055 |
+4,132 |
3,621 |
|
|
170,456 |
+1,453 |
2,672 |
|
|
168,256 |
+146 |
2,122 |
|
|
164,028 |
+1,275 |
2,034 |
|
|
143,652 |
+620 |
3,798 |
|
|
137,797 |
+50 |
2,535 |
|
|
135,739 |
+1,238 |
2,073 |
|
|
132,796 |
+222 |
796 |
|
|
132,565 |
+8 |
2,456 |
|
|
131,962 |
+1,510 |
655 |
|
|
131,586 |
+1,473 |
5,561 |
|
|
131,357 |
+58 |
1,270 |
|
|
114,529 |
+490 |
760 |
|
|
101,001 |
+1,193 |
1,812 |
|
|
100,414 |
+22 |
1,619 |
|
|
97,349 |
+300 |
976 |
|
|
96,971 |
+263 |
797 |
|
|
91,966 |
+17 |
4,636 |
|
|
81,581 |
+993 |
380 |
|
|
24,385 |
+1,314 |
104 |
|
|
22,997 |
+209 |
563 |
Retrieved from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Medical staff prepare a dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine in Sant Vicenc de Casteller, north of Barcelona, this month.Credit...Albert Gea/Reuters
Pfizer and BioNTech announced on Thursday that they are developing a version of the coronavirus vaccine that targets Delta, a highly contagious variant that has spread to 98 countries. The companies expect to launch clinical trials of the vaccine in August.
The Delta variant, first identified in India, is believed to be about 60 percent more contagious than Alpha, the version of the virus that tore through Britain and much of Europe earlier this year, and perhaps twice as contagious as the original coronavirus. The Delta variant is now driving outbreaks among unvaccinated populations in countries like Malaysia, Portugal, Indonesia and Australia.
Delta is also now the dominant variant in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week. Until recently, infections in the United States had plateaued at their lowest levels since early in the pandemic. Hospitalizations and deaths related to the virus have continued to decline, but new cases may be rising, although it’s not yet clear to what extent the variant is responsible. A slowing vaccination drive and swift reopenings also are playing roles.
In their news release, Pfizer and BioNTech also reported promising results from studies of people who received a third dose of the original vaccine, but the companies did not provide the data. A booster given six months after the second dose of the vaccine increases the potency of antibodies against the original virus and the Beta variant by five to tenfold, the companies claimed.
The vaccine makers expect to submit that data to the Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks, a step toward gaining authorization for booster shots. Antibody levels in the blood may decline six months after immunization, the companies said, and booster doses may be needed to fend off variants.
But antibodies are only part of the body’s immune response, and independent studies have suggested that immunity induced by full vaccination is likely to remain robust for years, even against variants. A study published in Nature on Thursday found that two doses of the vaccine are highly effective against the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants.
Delta is in the spotlight now, but it is a harbinger of variants to come, underscoring the need to vaccinate the world as quickly as possible. Already the Gamma variant, first identified in Brazil, has found a foothold in Washington State, and a more recent variant, Lambda, is on the march in South America.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the more transmissible and lethal variant is spreading rapidly in communities with low vaccination rates.CreditCredit...Bryan Anselm for The New York Times
The Delta variant of the coronavirus can evade antibodies that target certain parts of the virus, according to a new study published on Thursday in Nature. The findings provide an explanation for diminished effectiveness of the vaccines against Delta, compared with other variants.
The variant, first identified in India, is believed to be about 60 percent more contagious than Alpha, the version of the virus that thrashed Britain and much of Europe earlier this year, and perhaps twice as contagious as the original coronavirus. The Delta variant is now driving outbreaks among unvaccinated populations in countries like Malaysia, Portugal, Indonesia and Australia.
Delta is also now the dominant variant in the United States. Infections in the country had plateaued at their lowest levels since early in the pandemic, though the numbers may be rising. Still, hospitalizations and deaths related to the virus have continued a steep plunge. That’s partly because of relatively high vaccination rates: 48 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, and 55 percent have received at least one dose.
But the new study found that Delta was barely sensitive to one dose of vaccine, confirming previous research that suggested that the variant can partly evade the immune system — although to a lesser degree than Beta, the variant first identified in South Africa.
French researchers tested how well antibodies produced by natural infection and by coronavirus vaccines neutralize the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants, as well as a reference variant similar to the original version of the virus.
The researchers looked at blood samples from 103 people who had been infected with the coronavirus. Delta was much less sensitive than Alpha to samples from unvaccinated people in this group, the study found.
One dose of vaccine significantly boosted the sensitivity, suggesting that people who have recovered from Covid-19 still need to be vaccinated to fend off some variants.
The team also analyzed samples from 59 people after they had received the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
Blood samples from just 10 percent of people immunized with one dose of the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were able to neutralize the Delta and Beta variants in laboratory experiments. But a second dose boosted that number to 95 percent. There was no major difference in the levels of antibodies elicited by the two vaccines.
“A single dose of Pfizer or AstraZeneca was either poorly or not at all efficient against Beta and Delta variants,” the researchers concluded. Data from Israel and Britain broadly support this finding, although those studies suggest that one dose of vaccine is still enough to prevent hospitalization or death from the virus.
The Delta variant also did not respond to bamlanivimab, the monoclonal antibody made by Eli Lilly, according to the new study. Fortunately, three other monoclonal antibodies tested in the study retained their effectiveness against the variant.
In April, citing the rise of variants resistant to bamlanivimab, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked the emergency use authorization for its use as a single treatment in treating Covid-19 patients.
Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/health/delta-variant-covid-vaccine-immunity.html?smid=url-share-live
Patients waited for coronavirus test results at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Referral Hospital in Kisumu County, Kenya last month.Credit...Brian Otieno for The New York Times
Africa has just had its “worst pandemic week ever,” the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The continent is short of vaccines, and the virus is sickening its young people and overwhelming its already fragile health care systems.
More than 251,000 new cases were reported in Africa in the week ending July 4, a 20 percent increase from the previous week, according to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the W.H.O. regional director for Africa.
For several weeks now, the continent has been experiencing a brutal wave of infections driven by the more contagious Delta variant, which is increasing hospitalization and fatalities, filling intensive-care beds, depleting oxygen supplies and pushing governments to institute new lockdown measures.
Sixteen African countries are reporting a resurgence in infections, with Malawi and Senegal added to the list this week. New case counts are doubling every 18 days, Dr. Moeti said, and have been rising for seven straight weeks.
“A few weeks ago, we projected this milestone would be reached shortly, and it brings me no joy to be right,” Dr. Moeti said at a news conference on Thursday. “For Africa, the worst is yet to come,” she warned, adding, “The end to this precipitous rise is still weeks away.”
A third wave of the pandemic is ripping through countries mainly in southern and eastern Africa, and one country in North Africa — Tunisia — is experiencing its fourth wave.
Namibia, a nation of just over 2.5 million people, has been recording more than 1,000 new cases a day, and several senior government officials have succumbed to the virus. A spike in cases in Zambia has pushed the government to restrict social gatherings and close schools.
In Uganda, which was praised for its initial coronavirus response, hospitals have been stretched thin, with some patients racking up huge medical bills. Rwanda restricted movement in its capital late last month, and Kenya instituted partial lockdowns and extended curfew hours in over a dozen counties where the Delta variant was contributing to surges.
Many African countries continue to face challenges in detecting and sequencing virus variants, Dr. Moeti said. Testing and tracing remain limited as well: In a continent of 1.3 billion people, just over 54 million Covid-19 tests have been conducted, according to Dr. John Nkengasong, the director of the Africa C.D.C.
But the biggest challenge has been vaccination. With just over 53 million doses administered, only about 1 percent of Africa’s population is fully vaccinated.
African officials have accused wealthy nations of hoarding vaccine doses while millions of Africans remain vulnerable. Most African countries are dependent on the Covax vaccine-sharing initiative, which has been severely hampered by the Indian government’s decision in April to hold back doses manufactured there for domestic use and restrict exports.
As cases surge in Africa, some wealthy nations have begun donating vaccine doses to nations on the continent. And as more supplies come in, health officials are urging African countries to prepare to receive and administer the doses quickly.
“Governments and partners can do this,” Dr. Moeti said, “by planning to expand vaccination sites, improving cold chain capacities beyond capital cities, sensitizing communities to boost vaccine confidence and demand, and ensuring operational funding is ready to go when it is needed.”
Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/world/africa-coronavirus-cases-who.html?smid=url-share-live
By Gina Kolata
A medical worker tended to patients infected with the coronavirus at Marlinksy Hospital in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday.Credit...Olga Maltseva/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
While highly effective Covid-19 vaccines were developed with unprecedented speed, the search for drugs to treat people infected with the coronavirus has lagged. Researchers hope that drugs already on the market for other diseases might be found to help Covid patients, but the challenge has been to identify the best candidates.
In a new article published in Nature on Thursday, an international group of researchers, led by Andrea Ganna of the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Helsinki, reported that when they scoured the genomes of nearly 50,000 people in 19 countries who had Covid-19, they found 13 genetic areas of interest that might focus the search for useful drugs.
The study cautioned that the genetic variations, which are inherited, could not themselves be used to predict who might contract Covid or, if infected with the coronavirus, who might become seriously ill.
Each of the genetic variations appears to be associated with a minuscule additional risk of infection or severe disease. But even so, a drug for another disease that directs its effects toward a gene variation that also occurs in some Covid patients might also prove to help the Covid patients, the reasoning goes.
The cases the researchers studied included people who were hospitalized with severe Covid, people whose electronic health record showed that they had a positive Covid test, and people who simply self-reported that they had had Covid infections.
Each genetic area found by the researchers represents small differences in a segment of DNA.
The most promising genetic variations, the researchers say, include those in a gene that has been previously reported as a risk factor for lung cancer. The variations result in increased expression of the gene in the lung and are associated with more severe Covid disease. The most severely affected Covid patients have trouble breathing, and some need respirators as the virus affects their lungs.
A second genetic variation, also associated with severe disease, is known to reduce the risk of developing autoimmune diseases but to increase the risk of tuberculosis.
The third genetic variation increases the risk of infection with the virus. This gene binds to a cell surface protein, ACE2, that the coronavirus uses to hitch itself to cells and enter them.
The possible significance of other variations is less clear. Not all are in genes themselves — some are in areas of DNA between genes.
The study’s authors caution in their paper that how important the research will be in finding Covid treatments remains to be seen.
“Future work will be required to better understand the biological and clinical value of these findings,” the authors wrote.
By Emily Anthes
Patients were treated at a special facility for Covid-19 patients in Arequipa, Peru, last month.Credit...Diego Ramos/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Viruses evolve. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is no exception. So the emergence of variants is no surprise, and not every new genetic mutation poses a serious threat.
But in recent weeks, a growing drumbeat of news coverage has started to raise alarm about Lambda, a variant first detected in Peru late last year. The variant, initially known as C. 37, has spread rapidly through parts of South America. On June 14, the World Health Organization designated it as a “variant of interest,” meaning, essentially, that experts suspect it could be more dangerous than the original strain.
Only a handful of studies have looked at Lambda so far. Here’s what we know:
It has spread fast. It has been detected in at least 29 countries and has become especially prevalent in Peru, Chile and other parts of South America.
It has eight notable mutations, some of which are present in other variants and might make the virus more infectious or help it evade the body’s immune response.
Preliminary laboratory studies suggest that the variant may be more transmissible and that the body’s antibodies may be less effective against it. But vaccine-induced antibodies were still able to neutralize the virus, which suggests that vaccines should still provide protection against it.
Although more real-world data is needed, there is not yet any evidence that Lambda poses more risk than other circulating variants, such as the Delta variant. “I don’t think there’s any more reason to be concerned than before we knew about this variant,” said Nathaniel Landau, a microbiologist at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. “There’s no reason to think that this is now something worse than Delta.”
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
· Holidaymakers in Portugal will be required to show a negative Covid-19 test, a vaccination certificate or proof of recovery to stay in hotels or other holiday accommodation from Saturday, the government announced.
· Foreign tourists who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 will not be allowed to enter Canada for some time, with the government unwilling to jeopardise progress made on containing the virus, prime minister Justin Trudeau said.
· Olympic organisers decided to ban spectators from the Tokyo Games after Japan’s prime minister declared a state of emergency in the host city. Olympic minister, Tamayo Marukawa left open the possibility that some venues outside Tokyo could still have fans.
· Greece is to unveil plans to mandate vaccination for specific professional groups next week, the government said, after the country’s bio-ethics experts recommended compulsory shots for health workers and staff at elderly care facilities only “as a last resort measure” if efforts to encourage voluntary inoculation proved ineffective.
· Holidaymakers from England travelling to amber list countries will not have to quarantine on return if they are fully vaccinated, but Britons living overseas will not be able to prove their vaccine status if they have been jabbed abroad.
· Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel left hospital today after treatment for Covid-19 and will resume work this week, officials said. A statement from Bettel’s government said his condition had improved, allowing him to work from home. He had been admitted to hospital on Sunday.
· Pharmacies across Indonesia are running out of ivermectin, an oral treatment normally used to parasitic infections, AFP reported, after it was used widely and reportedly with success in India, Mexico, Bolivia, and elsewhere.
· A case brought by more than 500 families of Covid victims seeking a total of €100m in compensation from the Italian government has reached court, as the first hearing into continental Europe’s deadliest outbreak got under way in Rome.
Medicine
