International COVID-19 Megathread

[Tender Branson]

The Austrian ConservaGreen government today passed a law that will allow the police to become contact tracers:

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000118565632/polizei-soll-kuenftig-corona-infektionsketten-ermitteln

[President Johnson]

The Austrian ConservaGreen government today passed a law that will allow the police to become contact tracers:

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000118565632/polizei-soll-kuenftig-corona-infektionsketten-ermitteln

I don't know... Police usually has too much responsibilities already. In Germany, local health departments hired a lot of students for contact tracking by phone. Most of the students have enough time these days and need the money. That actually is a good idea.

[Mr. Illini]

Bolsonaro experiencing what he inflicted on millions in his country unnecessarily and without remorse. It's only fair.

[Crumpets]

I know this is evil from me, but just imagine Trump trying to explain COVID away if Bolsonaro were to die from it.

"Bolsonaro, like many Latinos, was a disease-ridden criminal. This is why we need to build the wall and make all the Mexicans with ChinaVirus pay for it! Law and Order!"

[palandio]

For the whole time I was wondering why there were no news about COVID-19 hotspots in German student dorms. One possible explanation is that at the typical student age symptoms are usually very mild. Another explanation is that some students could already have been infected in March when there was not enough testing capacity to detect it.

Anyways, three student dorms in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate have been put under quarantine because of COVID-19 cases. Together they normally provide housing for up to 350 students, but due to the online semester the number of people under quarantine should be considerably lower.

[RGM2609]

Also there are riots happening in Serbia due to the response of the government towards the pandemic

[Mike88]

Also there are riots happening in Serbia due to the response of the government towards the pandemic

In the news here I heard they are  protesting also against corruption, the decreasing quality of democracy and some even chanted "Kosovo is part of Serbia".

[CumbrianLefty]

Not any more it ain't

[urutzizu]

Faced with a projected 11% decline in GDP this year, and experiencing a second wave already anyway, Croatia has apparently just said fk it and lifted the travel restrictions and quarantine for American tourists, in violation of what was agreed at the EU level. This is why Europe cannot have nice things.

[Tender Branson]

Even though the Evangelical Church cluster in Upper Austria is the main reason for the recent increase in cases here, there could be a correlation with the recent spike in the Balkans as well, with many Balkan immigrants to Austria visiting their families there in the past weeks and bringing the disease back into the country. Just as tourists who are visiting Austria now in droves (a German one was recently tested positive here in Salzburg).

Despite the recent rise (active cases are now 3x the number of the previous low point), hospitalizations are still at the record-low we saw before cases started to rise.

And the total number of deaths is unchanged for a week now.

[Tender Branson]

New daily cases in Austria are now back down to higher double digits (ca. 75/day), rather than triple digits (100-120).

A meat plant has been tested here in Salzburg with more than 300 workers, with none of them positive.

But there were other meat plants in nearby Upper Austria, where a handful of workers tested positive.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Daily infections at an average of ca. 350 in Germany and no local hotspots for the moment, making the pandemic almost a non-event around here.

You wear masks in public transportation and stores, clubs are still closed, and mass events (well except political rallies and protests) remain cancelled. That's about it. Main issue in the media seems to be whether Markus Söder will become the CDU/CSU chancellor-candidate in next year's election. And there was a debate whether to rename the Mohrenstraße ("Blackamoor Street") subway station in Berlin in the aftermath of the recent BLM protest wave.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Germany has lifted its travel warning for Sweden, the final EU member state which still had one.

[CumbrianLefty]

UK government makes masks mandatory in shops from July 24th, with non-compliance risking a fine.

This comes just after senior cabinet member Michael Gove said he did not agree with compulsion.

Don't suppose there is any chance they could change their minds again, I suppose.......

[President Johnson]

A pre-print study, discussed in German media yesterday, found that just few people with mild Covid19 had enough antibodies for a longer period of time (some months). Obviously, this needs further research, but if generally the case, it may be bad news in search for a vaccine. If antibodies disappear in a matter of months, it's going to be difficult to get some sort of herd immunity to effectively stop the virus. Any effective vaccine must make humans immune for at least one or two years, similar to the flu.

[Silent Hunter]

T-cells might be more important there.

[Lechasseur]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.20minutes.fr/amp/a/2821875

Emmanuel Macron has announced his intention to make masks mandatory in indoor public places starting from August 1st.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

A pre-print study, discussed in German media yesterday, found that just few people with mild Covid19 had enough antibodies for a longer period of time (some months). Obviously, this needs further research, but if generally the case, it may be bad news in search for a vaccine. If antibodies disappear in a matter of months, it's going to be difficult to get some sort of herd immunity to effectively stop the virus. Any effective vaccine must make humans immune for at least one or two years, similar to the flu.

Getting a vaccine every few months is still a huge improvement from the status quo.

[Tender Branson]

A new daily record of infections not seen since April has been reported here today (+133), but also more than 100 recoveries.

The number of deaths only increased by 5 in the past 14 days though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Austria#Timeline

[Tender Branson]

Today could see a new high of daily infections not seen since mid-April:

Until 3pm, more than 100 new cases have been reported already. Until tomorrow 8am, when the daily reports are due, it could be as high as 150-200.

On the other hand, there are now more than 10.000 tests performed every day, compared with the usual 5.000-6.000 or so a couple weeks ago.

But even adjusted for the testing increase, the daily numbers are still much higher than they used to be ...

People in hospitals and ICU are still unchanged at a record-low level.

[Lechasseur]

https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2020/07/16/en-mayenne-le-gouvernement-veut-rendre-le-masque-obligatoire-sans-attendre-le-1er-aout_6046327_3244.html

France has advanced its plans to make masks in indoor public places. It should now take affect next week.

The Health Secretary also confirmed he didn't have the intention to put the country under a stay at home order again.

[Tender Branson]

178 new cases here until 8am.

Just a matter of time until Kurz re-introduces the mandatory mask-wearing in shops etc.

[Mike88]

The slow burn of cases continues in Portugal.

17 July update:

Active cases: 13,605 (-5)
Total cases: 48,077 (+312)
Recoveries: 32,790 (+314)
Deaths: 1,682 (+3)
Hospitalizations: 447 (-29)
ICU cases: 67 (-5)

1,413,519 tests conducted so far.

[Tender Branson]

178 new cases here until 8am.

Just a matter of time until Kurz re-introduces the mandatory mask-wearing in shops etc.

Kurz will make a decision tomorrow:

https://orf.at/stories/3174039

Signs are pointing towards re-introduction of mask-wearing everywhere in public.

[Tender Branson]

The Austrian Greens are hitting the brakes on re-introducing mandatory mask-wearing in public:

https://kurier.at/chronik/oesterreich/maske-vor-comeback-im-supermarkt-zahl-der-aktuell-infizierten-sinkt-wieder/400973939

Remains to be seen what Kurz and Kogler are going to announce today ...

I'm also not a big fan of wearing masks in public or in supermarkets. No infection cluster in Austria has ever developed from a supermarket, or traced back to one.

Besides, the number of active cases has fallen by 50 again during the last days, as there have been more recoveries than new infections again.