COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES | UK calls for action on racial bias in medical devices

November 21 2021 - 21:21

Around 35,000 protest against COVID restrictions in Brussels, police say

Around 35,000 people took to the streets in Brussels on Sunday to protest against restrictions imposed by the government in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, police said.

There were some confrontations between demonstrators and police, with protesters throwing smoke bombs and fireworks, the newspaper Le Soir reported.

The situation normalized later, police said.

Belgium had tightened its coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday, mandating wider use of masks and enforcing work from home, as cases rose in the country's fourth Covid-19 wave. 

Reuters

November 21 2021 - 20:39

Putin has been revaccinated against COVID-19, Russian agencies say

 Russian President Vladimir Putin has been revaccinated against Covid-19, Russian news agencies quoted him as saying on Sunday.

Putin said in June 2021 that he had been vaccinated with Sputnik V vaccine.

"Today, on your recommendation and that of your colleagues, I got another vaccination, Sputnik Light. This is called revaccination," Putin said at a meeting with the deputy director of the Gamaleya Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, which developed both vaccines.

Reuters

November 21 2021 - 17:49

Four more Bayern Munich players in quarantine amid COVID-19 chaos

Four more Bayern Munich players have gone into quarantine after coming into contact with a Covid-19 infected person, the German champions said on Sunday.

The Bavarians, who suffered a 2-1 shock loss to Augsburg on Friday and play Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League next week, will be without Serge Gnabry, Jamal Musiala, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Michael Cuisance.

"They have gone into quarantine following agreement with local health authorities," the club said in a statement. "They had contact with a person in the immediate proximity to the team who tested positive for coronavirus."

Bayern were without defender Niklas Suele until a few days ago after he tested positive, while fellow defender Josip Stanisic and a staff member went into quarantine earlier this week.

Midfielder Joshua Kimmich is also in isolation for the second straight week following contact with an infected person. Kimmich has publicly refused to get vaccinated, saying he has concerns over the potential long-term effects.

Reuters

November 21 2021 - 15:55

UK calls for action on racial bias in medical devices that may have cost lives during Covid-19 pandemic

Britain called on Sunday for international action on the issue of medical devices such as oximeters that work better on people with lighter skin, saying the disparities may have cost lives of ethnic minority patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he had commissioned a review of the issue after learning that oximeters, which measure blood oxygen levels and are key to assessing Covid-19 patients, give less accurate readings for patients with darker skin.

"This is systemic across the world. This is about a racial bias in some medical instruments. It's unintentional but it exists and oximeters are a really good example of that," Javid said during an interview with the BBC.

Asked whether people may have died of Covid-19 as a result of the flaw, Javid said: "I think possibly yes. I don't have the full facts."

He said the reason for the discrepancies was that a lot of medical devices, drugs, procedures and textbooks were put together in white majority countries.

"I want to make sure that we do something about it but not just in the UK. This is an international issue so I'm going to work with my counterparts across the world to change this," said Javid.

He said he had already spoken about the issue to his U.S. counterpart, who was as interested in it as he was.

Javid said he had become aware of the problem after looking into why, in Britain, people from black and other minority ethnic backgrounds had been disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

He said that at the height of the early stages of the pandemic, a third of admissions for Covid -19 into intensive care units were for ethnic minority patients, which was double their representation in the general population.

Reuters

November 21 2021 - 12:20

Victorian child under ten dies with Covid-19  

A child under ten with pre-existing medical conditions has become the youngest person in Australia to die from Covid-19.

November 21 2021 - 10:30

Three in hospital after police fire on Dutch Covid-19 protesters

Three people were being treated in hospital in Rotterdam on Saturday after they were seriously injured when Dutch police fired shots during a violent protest against Covid-19 measures, authorities said.

Crowds of several hundred rioters torched cars, set off fireworks and threw rocks at police during the protests on Friday evening. Police responded with warning shots and water canons.

Rotterdam police posted on Twitter on Saturday that 51 people had been arrested, half of whom were under 18.

"Three rioters were wounded when they were hit by bullets, they remain in hospital," police added, in an update after earlier reporting two wounded.

Authorities are investigating the shootings including whether the wounded people where hit by police bullets, they added.

The city's mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, said the protest had turned into "an orgy of violence."

"Police were forced to draw their weapons and even fire direct shots," he told a news conference early on Saturday.

Dutch Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus said in a statement the "extreme violence" against police and firefighters in Rotterdam was "repulsive."

"The right to protest is very important in our society but what we saw last night was simply criminal behaviour," Grapperhaus said.

Protesters had gathered to voice opposition to government plans to restrict access to indoor venues to people who have a "corona pass," showing they have been vaccinated or have already recovered from an infection.

The pass is also available to people who have not been vaccinated, but have proof of a negative test.

In several towns in the Netherlands on Saturday evening there were small pockets of unrest as youths clashed with police.

In The Hague, riot police used water canons to clear part of the central Schilderswijk area after rioters threw fireworks at police and damaged traffic lights, local police said on Twitter.

There was a heavy police presence in several other major towns after social media calls to riot followed the Rotterdam clashes, but any further violence was largely contained, with only a handful of arrests, Dutch media reported.

Organisers of a protest that had been planned in Amsterdam on Saturday against the coronavirus measures said they had canceled the event after Friday's violence.

Even so, several thousand protesters showed up for a march around the city's central Dam square. The march remained peaceful, monitored by a heavy police presence.

The Netherlands reimposed some lockdown measures last weekend for an initial three weeks in an effort to slow a resurgence of coronavirus contagion, but daily infections have remained at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic.

Reuters

November 21 2021 - 10:00

Disney World puts Covid-19 vaccination mandate policy on hold

Disney World near Orlando, Florida, operated by Walt Disney Co, has put its Covid-19 vaccination mandate on hold, a spokesperson said on Saturday.

The move comes amid the Biden administration's workplace Covid-19 vaccine rule, which requires businesses with at least 100 employees to require staff get vaccinated against Covid-19 or be tested weekly and wear a face covering at work.

Local TV station Fox 35 was first to report the news, citing a cast member at the resort complex.

A Disney spokesperson had earlier told Reuters by email: "We believe that our approach to mandatory vaccines has been the right one as we have continued to focus on the safety and well-being of our Cast Members and Guests."

"At this point, more than 90% of active Florida-based Cast Members have already verified that they are fully vaccinated," the spokesperson added.

Executives of Walt Disney Co, along with United Parcel Service Inc and others, met with White House officials last month to discuss President Joe Biden's Covid-19 vaccine requirement plan for private-sector workers, amid concerns it could worsen labor shortages and supply-chain woes.

In addition, vaccine mandates are deeply controversial in the United States. Supporters say they are helping to end the nearly two-year coronavirus pandemic, while opponents argue they violate the US Constitution and curb individual liberty.

Biden imposed the requirement in September, telling Americans that "our patience is wearing thin" with those refusing to get inoculated.

Walt Disney Co had made vaccination mandatory on July 30 for all its on-site salaried and non-union hourly employees in the United States, as the highly infectious Delta Covid-19 variant drove a resurgence in cases then. 

Reuters 

November 21 2021 - 08:40

Dogs help US kids with vaccine hesitancy

Ollie, a 6-year-old goldendoodle therapy dog, is helping kids at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego to overcome the anxiety associated with getting a Covid-19 vaccine.

November 21 2021 - 07:51

‘Workcations’ and ‘bleisure’ boost tourism amid pandemic fatigue

A sandy white beach, sparkling ocean and blue sky have become the “office” for Johannesburg entrepreneur Sandhya Singh.

The idyllic Mozambique beach resort of Macaneta is where Singh is on “workcation” — a popular trend that combines business and vacation for those who want to work while escaping Covid fatigue.

Singh has taken four trips in the past year to beat the humdrum of working from home.

South African hospitality and travel experts are seeing an uptick in demand for workcations both by locals and foreigners who want to work and play at SA destinations.

An EY survey of more than 16,000 workers from 16 countries found that more than half would consider leaving their job post pandemic if they are not afforded some form of flexibility in where and when they work.

November 21 2021 - 07:00

How to 'build back fairer' from the Covid-19 pandemic

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, SA was mired with low growth, structural unemployment, and high inequality. Weaknesses in electricity and transport infrastructure, a scarcity of skilled workers, constrained fiscal space, poor institutional governance, and consequent low confidence, reduced the country’s growth potential and ability to achieve its development goals. 

The pandemic worsened already muted economic prospects. Lockdowns and other restrictions were necessary but blunt health responses to limit the spread of the virus in the absence of other pharmaceutical interventions at the time.

November 21 2021 - 06:30

Holiday travel sends TSA screens to pandemic high

The US Transportation Security Administration screened 2.24 million airline passengers on Friday, the highest number since the start of the pandemic.

November 21 2021 - 06:00

Hopes for milder run as early warning signs of fourth wave of Covid-19 for Gauteng detected

Gauteng is starting to show the first signs that a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is approaching. With the festive season ahead, unvaccinated South Africans could put its hospitals under pressure again, like they were last December.

University of KwaZulu-Natal geneticist professor Tulio de Oliveira said on Friday: “At present, there are early warning signs from the laboratory data that a fourth wave may be starting in Gauteng.

“The epidemic may be showing the first signs of growing” since the third wave dropped off, he said, flagging an increase in the positivity rate and the reproductive number.