Tag Archives: COVID-19

U.S. adds 116 countries to its ‘Do Not Travel’ advisory list

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department has added at least 116 countries this week to its “Level Four: Do Not Travel” advisory list, putting the UK, Canada, France, Israel, Mexico, Germany and others on the list, citing a “very high level of COVID-19.”

On Monday, the State Department said it would boost the number of countries receiving its highest advisory rating to about 80% of countries worldwide.

Before Tuesday, the State Department listed 34 out of about 200 countries as “Do Not Travel.” The State Department now lists 150 countries at Level Four. It declined to say when it would complete the updates.

The State Department said on Monday the move did not imply a reassessment of current health situations in some countries, but rather “reflects an adjustment in the State Department’s Travel Advisory system to rely more on (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s) existing epidemiological assessments.”

The recommendations are not mandatory and do not bar Americans from travel.

Other countries in the “Do Not Travel” list include Finland, Egypt, Belgium, Turkey, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. Some countries like China and Japan remain at Level 3: Reconsider Travel.”

Most Americans already had been prevented from traveling to much of Europe because of COVID-19 restrictions. Washington has barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in most of Europe, China, Brazil, Iran and South Africa.

On Tuesday, the United States extended by a further 30 days restrictions in place for 13 months that bar non-essential travel at its Canadian and Mexican borders.

Nick Calio, who heads Airlines for America, a trade group representing major U.S. carriers, told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday that policymakers needed to find a “road map” to reopening international travel.

Earlier this month, the CDC said fully vaccinated people could safely travel within the United States at “low risk,” but its director, Rochelle Walensky, discouraged Americans from doing so because of high coronavirus cases nationwide.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Cambodia police defend caning of lockdown offenders for breaching COVID-19 rules

By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodian police defended on Wednesday making arrests and punishing people by beating them using rattan canes for breaching coronavirus restrictions during a two-week lockdown aimed at containing a spike in infections.

The Southeast Asian country still has one of the world’s smallest coronavirus caseloads, but an outbreak that started in late February has seen overall cases spike to 7,747 and with 54 deaths.

Phnom Penh went into lockdown on April 15 and has declared some districts “red zones,” banning people from leaving their homes except for medical reasons.

A Phnom Penh police spokesman said the caning and arrests were in order to save lives, claiming that most of the public supported them.

“The Phnom Penh administration has decided that no one is allowed to leave their homes because the area is at risk of infections,” spokesman San Sokseiha said.

“A small number of people didn’t listen, and we must take measures to save their lives,” he added.

But Cambodian human rights groups condemned the canings and arrests, saying that there were better ways to ensure people protected themselves and others from the coronavirus.

“We are shocked such severe punishments are used against people for some small infractions,” Naly Pilorge, director of rights group Licadho, said.

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) echoed the concerns.

“We are also dismayed at footage showing use of force by authorities against individuals. Violence is never the answer,” CCHR’s executive director Chak Sopheap said.

Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith also criticized the use of canes and said police should not use such force if perpetrators did not react violently.

“Do not forget the word serve the people,” Khieu Kanharith said on Facebook, next to pictures of police holding sticks.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Ed Davies)

‘Hands of love’: warm latex gloves mimic human touch for COVID-19 patients in Brazil

By Leonardo Benessatto

SAO CARLOS, Brazil (Reuters) – The fight against COVID-19 is a lonely one with patients forced into isolation in intensive care wards, removed from family and friends.

But two nurses in the small city of Sao Carlos, in Sao Paulo state, have discovered a way to help with a millimeter of latex and some warm water that mimics a human touch.

Semei Araújo Cunha and Vanessa Formenton improvised the technique they call “little hands of love” while working in the Santa Felicia Emergency Care Unit.

They fill latex medical gloves with warm water in a hospital shower, tying them off like water balloons.

Cunha demonstrated how she puts the gloves on an unconscious man fighting for his life against COVID-19, placing one glove on each side of the hand.

“The patient feels comforted as if someone were holding hands with them,” Formenton said.

The man is one of several patients sharing a small hospital room, each person hooked to an array of machines tracking their vitals with a cacophony of beeps and alarms.

The two nurses developed the method about a month ago, as the current brutal surge in COVID-19 was gaining speed. Brazil is now leading the world in daily average COVID-19 deaths and is second only to the United States in total death toll.

Warming patients hands has several benefits beyond the emotional support it can provide, they say, including increased blood flow.

Cold hands can result in incorrect readings of patients’ blood oxygen levels, falsely showing that oxygen levels are low. The gloves ensure that doesn’t happen.

Hospitals around the city are now using the technique, with staff praising the “hands of love” for delivering immediate results.

“It’s unbelievable that you can see how fast the change in the patient is, it’s magnificent,” Cunha said.

(Reporting by Leonardo Benassatto; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Philippines to start clinical trials on ivermectin, other drugs for COVID-19

By Reuters Staff

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines will begin clinical trial of several drugs, including the anti-parasite medication ivermectin, in patients with COVID-19 to determine their efficacy in combatting the coronavirus, a senior government official said.

Some politicians in the Philippines have started promoting the use of ivermectin for coronavirus and given out free doses, although the country’s food and drugs regulator has cautioned against the use because of a lack of evidence for the drug as a treatment.

The clinical trial for ivermectin, which could last for six months, “will give us a more reliable estimate of the effects of invermectin as an anti-viral agent in mild and moderate (COVID-19) patients,” science and technology minister, Fortunato Dela Pena, said in a presentation late on Monday.

The Southeast Asian nation, which is facing one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia, is battling a renewed surge in infections, with its vaccination drive on reaching 1.3 million people out of its more than 108 million population.

Ivermectin tablets have been approved for treating some worm infestations and for veterinary use in animals for parasites.

The World Health Organization last month recommended against using ivermectin in patients with COVID-19 except for clinical trials, because of a lack of data demonstrating its benefits.

The European Medicines Agency, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Merck, an ivermectin manufacturer, have also recommended against its use.

Dela Pena said the government has also approved the clinical trials of a new formulation of methylprednisolone, a steroid, and melatonin, as treatments for COVID-19.

The government will also start trials of an herbal supplement, derived from the native tawa-tawa plant that can fight dengue, he said, adding to ongoing tests using virgin coconut oil for severe COVID-19 patients.

“We are trying several (medications). They may not be vaccines but they could potentially speed up the recovery,” Dela Pena said.

The Philippines has recorded more than 945,000 COVID-19 cases and over 16,000 deaths, the second highest rates in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia.

New UK challenge trial studies if people can catch coronavirus again

By Reuters Staff

LONDON (Reuters) – British scientists on Monday launched a trial which will deliberately expose participants who have already had COVID-19 to the coronavirus again to examine immune responses and see how many get re-infected.

In February, Britain became the first country in the world to give the go-ahead for so-called “challenge trials” in humans, in which volunteers are deliberately exposed to COVID-19 to advance research into the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The study launched on Monday differs from the one announced in February as it seeks to re-infect people who have previously had COVID-19 in an effort to deepen understanding about immunity, rather than infecting people for the first time.

“The information from this work will allow us to design better vaccines and treatments, and also to understand if people are protected after having COVID, and for how long,” said Helen McShane, a University of Oxford vaccinologist and chief investigator on the study.

She added that the work would help understanding of what immune responses protect against reinfection.

Scientists have used human challenge trials for decades to learn more about diseases such as malaria, flu, typhoid and cholera, and to develop treatments and vaccines against them.

The first stage of the trial will seek to establish the lowest dose of the coronavirus needed in order for it to start replicating in about 50% of participants, while producing few to no symptoms. A second phase, starting in the summer, will infect different volunteers with that standard dose.

In phase one, up to 64 healthy participants, aged 18-30, who were infected with coronavirus at least three months ago will be re-infected with the original strain of SARS-CoV-2.

They will then quarantine for at least 17 days and be monitored, and anyone who develops symptoms will be given Regeneron monoclonal antibody treatment.

Brazil scrambles to secure sedatives as hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19

By Reuters Staff

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – An emergency shipment of sedatives needed to intubate severely ill COVID-19 patients arrived in Brazil late on Thursday from China, as the South American country scrambles for supplies due to severe shortages of the vital drugs.

In recent days, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have both sounded the alarm over shortages of sedatives, with Sao Paulo’s Health Secretary saying the city’s ability to care for seriously ill COVID-19 patients is on the verge of collapse.

Brazil has become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more Brazilians dying of the virus each day than anywhere else in the world.

President Jair Bolsonaro has opposed lockdowns and held large events in which he often does not wear a mask. He has only recently embraced vaccines as a possible solution.

The cargo of 2.3 million drugs, donated by major Brazilian companies including miner Vale and oil producer Petrobras, touched down in Sao Paulo just after 10 p.m. local time.

As the health crisis worsens, Brazil is also negotiating with other countries for emergency supplies, with donations from Spain expected to arrive next week.

Brazil has recorded a total of 365,444 coronavirus deaths – second only to the United States – and 13,746,681 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

COVID-19 cases in Canada’s most populous province could treble: CBC

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Modeling shows that cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, could treble by the end of May unless tough restrictions are imposed, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said on Friday.

Some hospitals say they are already close to breaking point as a rapidly worsening third wave rips through the province, and the head of its main nurses organization has called for a full lockdown including a curfew.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has so far resisted such wide-ranging steps but is under increasing criticism for how his government has handled the epidemic, is due to make an announcement at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1830 GMT).

Ontario, which accounts for 38% of Canada’s population, announced a record 4,736 daily cases on Thursday and the CBC cited sources as saying this could rocket to 18,000 by end-May if current trends continued.

Canada’s response to the pandemic has been complicated by the division of responsibilities between the 10 provinces and Ottawa, which helps fund healthcare but is not in charge of medical services. The federal government is buying vaccines but the provinces are responsible for inoculations.

Ottawa said Moderna – blaming supply problems – would only be delivering 650,000 doses by the end of April as opposed to 1.2 million. It also said one to two million doses of the 12.3 million doses scheduled for delivery in the second quarter may be delayed until the third quarter.

“We are disappointed, and while we understand the challenges facing suppliers … our government will continue to press Moderna to fulfill its commitments,” Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand said in a statement.

Separately, a group representing doctors urged authorities to take “extraordinary measures.”

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) said the 10 provinces should band together to pool resources and allocate them where they were most needed.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and John Stonestreet)

Brazil’s COVID-19 response cost thousands of lives, says humanitarian group

By Reuters Staff

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The Brazilian government’s “failed response” to the pandemic led to thousands of otherwise avoidable deaths and created a humanitarian catastrophe that is still playing out, aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday.

Brazil’s COVID-19 outbreak is the deadliest in the world after the United States and is currently leading in average daily mortalities. Last week more than a quarter of all global deaths were in Brazil.

A brutal second wave has hospitals saying they are running short of crucial drugs for intubating patients and most Brazilian states report that intensive care units are at or near capacity.

Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has opposed lockdowns, and has held large events in which he often does not wear a mask. He has only recently embraced vaccines as a possible solution.

“More than one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the failed response in Brazil has caused a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Christos Christou, a medical doctor and president of MSF, sometimes called Doctors Without Borders in English.

“Each week there is a grim new record of deaths and infections – the hospitals are overflowing and yet there is still no coordinated centralized response,” Christou said in a briefing with reporters, adding the situation was expected to become even worse in the weeks ahead.

Bolsonaro has openly fought against state and local governments seeking to institute lockdowns, saying Brazilians need to get on with normal life and that job losses are more dangerous than the virus.

MSF Director-General Meinie Nicolai said the surge in cases cannot be blamed only on the contagious Brazilian COVID-19 variant, known as P.1.

“The P.1 variant is certainly a problem, but this doesn’t explain the situation in Brazil,” she said.

Two to a bed in Delhi hospital as India’s COVID crisis spirals

By Danish Siddiqui and Alasdair Pal

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Gasping for air, two men wearing oxygen masks share a bed in a government hospital in India’s capital New Delhi, victims of the country’s growing COVID-19 crisis.

From reporting under 10,000 new daily cases earlier this year, daily infections crossed 200,000 on Thursday, according to official data, the highest anywhere in the world.

At Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP), one of India’s largest COVID-only facilities with more than 1,500 beds, a stream of ambulances ferried patients to the overflowing casualty ward on Thursday.

Some also arrived in buses and three-wheeled autorickshaws.

The youngest patient was a new-born baby.

“We are definitely over-burdened. We are already working at full capacity,” said the hospital’s medical director, Suresh Kumar.

From an initial 54 beds, the hospital now has over 300 for COVID-19 patients in critical condition. Even that is not enough.

Unrelated patients share beds, while bodies of the recently deceased lie outside the ward before being taken to the mortuary.

“Today we have 158 admissions in Lok Nayak alone,” Kumar said. Almost all were severe cases.

After imposing one of the world’s strictest lockdowns for nearly three months last year, India’s government relaxed almost all curbs by the beginning of 2021, although many regions have now introduced localized restrictions.

LNJP’s Kumar said fast-spreading new variants that evade testing were adding to the burden, as was human behavior as the country reopened.

“People are not following the COVID guidelines,” he said. “They are just careless.”

Outside the hospital’s mortuary, weeping relatives gathered in the hot sun to wait for the bodies of loved ones to be released.

Regeneron to seek U.S. OK for COVID-19 cocktail to be used for prevention

By John Miller

ZURICH (Reuters) – Regeneron is pursuing U.S. approval for its COVID-19 monoclonal antibody cocktail as a preventative treatment after it helped cut the risk of symptomatic infections in households where someone else is ill, the U.S. drugmaker said on Monday.

REGEN-COV, a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab, protected household contacts from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, with 72% protection against symptomatic infections in the first week, and 93% after that, according to trial data released by the company.

In a separate trial, Regeneron also said the treatment reduced overall risk of progressing to symptomatic COVID-19 by 31%, and by 76% after the third day.

Regeneron has enlisted Switzerland’s Roche and its massive biotech facility in South San Francisco to make around 2 million doses annually. The cocktail already has emergency U.S. approval for mild to moderate COVID-19 patients, and the companies are hoping the latest trials convince regulators to expand deployment.

“These data suggest that REGEN-COV can complement widespread vaccination strategies, particularly for those at high risk of infection,” said Myron Cohen, who leads monoclonal antibody efforts for the U.S. National Institutes of Health-sponsored COVID Prevention Network.

A challenge in breaking infection chains, he said, is that some 10% of unvaccinated people in the study who didn’t get the Roche-Regeneron drug while living in a household with an infected individual developed symptomatic infection even with efforts to reduce transmission.

‘HIGH-RISK SETTINGS’

“REGEN-COV could help control outbreaks in high-risk settings” where people haven’t been vaccinated, Cohen said.

In the separate trial, Regeneron said the cocktail also cut symptomatic infection risk and helped nearly halve the total weeks that patients experienced symptoms, with the viral burden – the amount of virus present – cut by more than 90%.

“These data pave the way for REGEN-COV to be used before patients become symptomatic,” Katharine Bar, co-principal investigator and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania hospital, said.