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LATEST SCIENCES AND RESEARCH
READ | Covid-19: Does Age Matter? Not with your likelihood of being infected – study
Scientists from the University of Hokkaido, Japan, have found that an individual’s age does not indicate the likelihood that they will develop Covid-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.
However, three factors depend on age: development of symptoms, disease progression, and mortality.
These results are based on the work of a team of scientists who used mathematical models to study the susceptibility to Covid-19 in patients from Japan, Spain and Italy. Their results were published in the journal Scientific Reports this month.
The three countries were chosen based on well-recorded and publicly available data, the researchers stated in a university news release.
The data revealed that, as of May 2020, the death rate (number of deaths per 100,000) was 382.3 for Italy, 507.2 for Spain and 13.2 for Japan.
Despite the large disparity in mortality rates, the researchers explained that the age distribution of mortality (the proportional number of deaths by age group) was similar for these countries.
READ | Covid re-infection case study: rare, symptoms may be more severe a second time
As scientists try to make sense of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, a new study has found that not only is reinfection possible, but people can experience more severe symptoms the second time they are infected. .
The study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, reports on the first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in the US, and warns that exposure to the virus and subsequent antibodies may not guarantee immunity against a second one. reinfection.
“Our findings have implications for the role of vaccination in response to Covid-19,” write the study authors.
“If we have actually reported a case of reinfection, the initial exposure to SARS-CoV-2 may not result in a level of immunity that protects all people 100%.”
According to the report, the patient, a 25-year-old man from Nevada, was infected with two different variants of the virus within 48 days.
The second and most serious infection of the patient led to hospitalization with oxygen support.
LATEST CORONAVIRUS CASES
SA cases update:
The latest number of confirmed cases is 696,414.
According to the latest update, 18,151 deaths have been registered in the country.
There have been 626,898 recoveries.
So far, more than 4.4 million tests have been performed, and 24,793 new tests have been reported.
Global Cases Update:
For the latest global data, follow this interactive map from Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
As of early Thursday morning, positive cases worldwide were 38,344,196, while deaths were 1,088,979.
The United States had the highest number of cases in the world, more than 7.8 million, as well as the highest number of deaths, about 217,000.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SA
Last News:
READ | Covid-19: Dlamini-Zuma extends national disaster status by 30 days
The national state of disaster declared due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be extended for another month to prevent a second wave of infections, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said on Wednesday.
“The cabinet has decided to further extend the National State of Disaster for a month. This period will allow the government a progressive and responsible return to normalcy. It will help us implement measures to avoid a second wave of infections,” he said in a tweet.
The state of disaster was scheduled to end on Thursday, and the government had not previously said whether it would be extended.
Covid-19 as of Tuesday night has claimed 18,028 lives in South Africa, with a total of 694,537 cases registered and a recovery rate of 90%.
The first state of disaster was declared on March 15 when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the country’s response to the global pandemic.
READ | Mkhize wants powers to restrict citizens’ behavior and movements beyond a state of disaster
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize wants powers to restrain South Africans even when there is no national state of disaster in place.
At a hastily arranged meeting of the health portfolio committee Tuesday evening, Mkhize presented a set of regulations that would give him powers similar to those that the Disaster Management Act confers on the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs during a state of disaster.
Mkhize told the committee that the regulations would be “important munitions to deal with the pandemic.”
He said he discussed the proposed regulation with the National Health Council, which included all provinces, but has yet to be presented to the Cabinet, which he intended to do on Wednesday.
He said that at a certain point it would be more appropriate to use the National Health Law instead of the Disaster Management Law.
The Disaster Management Law required the director of the National Center for Disaster Management to assess a disastrous event and whether it should be declared a disaster under the law.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE REST OF THE WORLD
Last News:
READ | YouTube to remove misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine
YouTube said on Wednesday it would remove content that contradicts the expert consensus on Covid-19 vaccines, updating its policies on misinformation about the pandemic.
The move is the latest of online platforms struggling to contain the spread of hoaxes and false information about the coronavirus and treatments.
YouTube, the Google-owned video-sharing service, said it was expanding its medical disinformation policy “to remove claims about Covid-19 vaccines that contradict expert consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization. Health”.
YouTube said it was acting in anticipation of the launch of one or more vaccines and skepticism among many about their usefulness.
He said the content to be removed would include claims that a vaccine could kill people or cause infertility, or that people who receive a vaccine will be microchipped.
YouTube said it has removed more than 200,000 videos with “dangerous or misleading” Covid-19 information since February, including unverified claims about transmission or unsubstantiated treatments.
READ | Herd immunity approach to Covid-19 is ‘unethical’, says WHO
The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that allowing Covid-19 to spread freely in the hope of achieving herd immunity is “simply unethical.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said herd immunity, where a large part of a community becomes immune to a virus, limiting its spread, must come from a vaccine and cannot be achieved by allowing people to become infected.
His comments, made at a press conference on Monday, came days before senior US officials said the White House was accepting the herd immunity strategy.
Tedros said that “herd immunity is achieved by protecting people from a virus, not exposing them to it.”
“Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy to respond to an outbreak, much less a pandemic. It is scientifically and ethically problematic.”
Too little is known about immunity to Covid-19 to be sure whether herd immunity can be achieved, he said, referring to documented cases in which people have been infected with the virus a second time.
HEALTH TIPS (as recommended by the NICD and WHO)
• Keep your physical distance: stay at least one meter from someone who is coughing or sneezing
• Practice frequent hand washing, especially after direct contact with sick people or their surroundings.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, as your hands touch many surfaces and could transmit the virus.
• Practice respiratory hygiene: Cover your mouth with a bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Remember to dispose of the tissue immediately after use.
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