Category: Self Care

The World Health Organization this week recommended nations lift or ease their existing COVID-19-related travel restrictions, saying they could exacerbate economic and social stress related to the pandemic.

The new recommendation was made Wednesday by the WHO’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on COVID-19 following its most recent meeting.

The report says countries should lift the bans and restrictions because the committee found “they do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress experienced” by citizens.

The report said such travel restrictions failed to limit the international spread of the omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, which, the committee said, demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures over time.

The report went on to say other travel safety measures such as masking, testing, isolation/quarantine, and vaccination should be based on risk assessments to avoid placing an excess financial burden on international travelers.

Meanwhile, the WHO this week recommended two new drugs for treating COVID-19.

The first drug, baricitinib, is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical COVID-19. The drug is taken orally and usually used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The WHO recommends that it be given with corticosteroids.

The WHO has also conditionally recommended the use of the monoclonal antibody drug sotrovimab for treating mild or moderate COVID-19 in patients who are at high risk of hospitalization. That includes patients who are older, immunocompromised, having underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, and those unvaccinated.

With COVID-19 cases surging throughout the America’s, and COVID-19 test kits in short supply, Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa Etienne on Wednesday called on countries to prioritize rapid antigen tests for those with symptoms who are most at risk of spreading the disease.

Etienne told reporters at a briefing that 7.2 million new COVID-19 cases were reported in the region over the past week, and countries must “expand testing at the community level to relieve pressure on hospitals, which are working overtime.”

Given the current shortage of rapid antigen tests, Etienne said countries need to advise those without symptoms who have been exposed to COVID-19 to quarantine where possible and follow public health measures.

Source: Voice of America

NEW YORK — A new study in two states that compares coronavirus protection from a prior infection and vaccination concludes that getting the shots is still the safest way to prevent COVID-19.

The study examined infections in New York and California last summer and fall and found people who were both vaccinated and had survived a prior bout of COVID-19 had the most protection.

But unvaccinated people with a past infection were a close second. By fall, when the more contagious delta variant had taken over but boosters weren’t yet widespread, that group had a lower case rate than vaccinated people who had no past infection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the study Wednesday, noted several caveats to the research. And some outside experts were cautious of the findings and wary of how they might be interpreted.

“The bottom-line message is that from symptomatic COVID infection you do generate some immunity,” said immunologist E. John Wherry of the University of Pennsylvania. “But it’s still much safer to get your immunity from vaccination than from infection.”

Vaccination has long been urged even after a case of COVID-19 because both kinds of protection eventually wane — and there are too many unknowns to rely only on a past infection, especially a long-ago one, added immunologist Ali Ellebedy at Washington University in St. Louis.

“There are so many variables you cannot control that you just cannot use it as a way to say, ‘Oh, I’m infected, then I am protected,’ ” Ellebedy said.

Other studies

The research does fall in line with a small cluster of studies that found unvaccinated people with a previous infection had lower risks of COVID-19 diagnosis or illness than vaccinated people who were never before infected.

The new study’s findings do make sense, said Christine Petersen, a University of Iowa epidemiologist. She said a vaccine developed against an earlier form of the coronavirus is likely to become less and less effective against newer, mutated versions.

However, experts said, there are a number of possible other factors at play, including whether the vaccine’s effectiveness simply faded over time in many people and to what extent mask wearing and other behaviors played a part in what happened.

Another thing to consider: The “staunchly unvaccinated” aren’t likely to get tested and the study only included lab-confirmed cases, Wherry said.

“It may be that we’re not picking up as many reinfections in the unvaccinated group,” he said.

CDC officials noted other limitations. The study was done before the omicron variant took over and before many Americans received booster doses, which have been shown to dramatically amplify protection by raising levels of virus-fighting antibodies. The analysis also did not include information on the severity of past infections or address the risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19.

‘Safest strategy’

The study authors concluded vaccination “remains the safest strategy” to prevent infections and “all eligible persons should be up to date with COVID-19 vaccination.”

The researchers looked at infections in California and New York, which together account for about 18% of the U.S. population. They also looked at COVID-19 hospitalizations in California.

Overall, about 70% of the adults in each state were vaccinated; another 5% were vaccinated and had a previous infection. A little less than 20% weren’t vaccinated; and roughly 5% were unvaccinated but had a past infection.

The researchers looked at COVID-19 cases from the end of last May until mid-November and calculated how often new infections happened in each group. As time went on, vaccine-only protection looked less and less impressive.

By early October, compared with unvaccinated people who didn’t have a prior infection, case rates were:

— Sixfold lower in California and 4.5-fold lower in New York in those who were vaccinated but not previously infected.

— 29-fold lower in California and 15-fold lower in New York in those who had been infected but never vaccinated.

— 32.5-fold lower in California and 20-fold lower in New York in those who had been infected and vaccinated.

But the difference in the rates between those last two groups was not statistically significant, the researchers found.

Hospitalization data, only from California, followed a similar pattern.

Source: Voice of America

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia reported another 2,342 COVID-19 infections as of midnight, bringing the national total to 2,810,689, according to the Health Ministry.

There are another 180 imported cases, with 2,162 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed.

Another 16 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 31,809.

The ministry reported 2,907 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 2,738,262.

There are 40,618 active cases, 184 are being held in intensive care and 87 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

The country reported 242,705 vaccine doses administered yesterday alone, and 79.7 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 78.6 percent are fully vaccinated and 29.4 percent have received boosters.

 

Source: Nam News Network

The White House on Tuesday launched a website for U.S. citizens to order free at-home COVID-19 tests one day earlier than the launch was set to go online.

Americans can now go to COVIDTests.gov and request four at-home tests per household that will be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters the website was in “beta testing” and functioning at a “limited capacity” before it officially launches Wednesday morning.

The preliminary launch is part of a Biden administration effort to tackle inventory problems and long lines for testing as the omicron variant pushes coronavirus infections in the U.S. to record high levels.

After saying in December the federal government would buy 500 million at-home tests for the online program, President Joe Biden announced Thursday he was increasing the order to 1 billion tests.

The tests will typically be shipped within 7-12 days of ordering through the USPS. Shipping times could be between 1-3 days within the continental U.S.

The Biden administration has also ordered private insurance companies to cover the cost of eight at-home rapid tests per month, starting January 15, enabling Americans to be reimbursed for tests they bought from retailers.

 

Source: Voice of America

MANILA, The Philippines reported 37,070 new COVID-19 infections yesterday, raising the number of confirmed cases in the country to 3,242,374.

The Department of Health (DOH) said, the number of active cases soared to an all-time high of 290,938, as the country’s positivity rate dipped to 46 percent from 47.4 percent the previous day.

The DOH added, 23 more people died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country’s death toll to 52,929, and 12 testing laboratories failed to submit data on Monday.

The Philippines is grappling with its fourth wave of COVID-19 infections as cases surged to record highs this month, due to high mobility, poor compliance with safety health protocols, and the fast-spreading Omicron and Delta variants. The DOH reported the highest single-day tally on Saturday with 39,004 new cases.

The Philippines, which has around 110 million population, has tested more than 24 million people since the outbreak. The number excludes the rapid antigen tests results.

 

Source: Nam News Network

SINGAPORE, Singapore reported 863 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total tally of the disease in the country to 291,849.

Of the new cases, 500 were in the community, 363 were imported cases, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

There were 675 new Omicron cases confirmed yesterday, of whom 422 were local and 253 were imported, the ministry said.

A total of 196 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with eight cases requiring oxygen supplementation and 13 cases being in the intensive care unit.

 

Source: Nam News Network