International COVID-19 Megathread

[Omega21]

Serbia:

After meeting the Serbian president, child Pneumologist stated the following during a Govt press conference regarding the coronavirus.

Women ... Estrogens definitely protect women, they have milder forms and don't die from this virus. So, women, you are free to go shopping in Italy, because I hear there will be big discounts there because no one alive will go there now. Just prepare your husbands for that mentally.

[Omega21]

The whole of Italy is now on full quarantine lockdown.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51810673

[Omega21]

The Austrian state of Vorarlberg will have municipal elections on Sunday (just like Bavaria) and the state of Styria the week after.

People are advised to bring their own pens with them (but the ones used at the precincts will get disinfected after every vote too ... )

Vienna's universities have also been closed.

[Omega21]

https://twitter.com/Flanas07/status/1237649661005086720

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-respirators/china-sends-medical-supplies-experts-to-help-italy-battle-coronavirus-idUSKBN2101IM


Gotta hand it to them, they're showing much more solidarity than some others.

[Omega21]

Serbia has declared a state of emergency and completely closed the borders. Serbs returning from infection hotspots must enter quarantine, failure to do so can result in a up to 3-year prison sentence according to the President.

[Omega21]

It currently stands at 177 infections and 4 deaths. Not a big increase since my last post.

Poland stronk.



Happy to hear it's not out of control, hopefully, you guys don't reach West EU levels.

[Omega21]

For the bros in Italy.

[Omega21]

Sweeping state socialism just announced in the UK.

What do you mean?

[Omega21]

Can't help but think all this stuff about East Asians being more inclined towards submission and collectivism than Caucasians is a bit racist tbh.

It's not a race thing or genetics, it's cultural and societal.

[Omega21]

Germany has hit 50,000 cases now. Still remarkable we have just over 300 deaths. Italy is a tragedy beyond any words.

Why is the German welfare state succeeding, while the Italian is one not?

Germany is a welfare state?

Maybe for an American, but not for the other 96% of the world.

[Omega21]

Scientists investigate possible positive effects of nicotine. It is being assumed that nicotine somehow (clinging onto the receptors the virus needs) has a positive shielding effect against the virus. 

https://m.oe24.at/coronavirus/Coronavirus-Wissenschafter-vermuten-positive-Wirkung-von-Nikotin/427320386

Obviously testing will be done with patches, not cigarettes.

The reason for the theory is that so far smokers have 80% lower infection rates than the General population.

[Omega21]

Scientists investigate possible positive effects of nicotine. It is being assumed that nicotine somehow (clinging onto the receptors the virus needs) has a positive shielding effect against the virus. 

https://m.oe24.at/coronavirus/Coronavirus-Wissenschafter-vermuten-positive-Wirkung-von-Nikotin/427320386

Obviously testing will be done with patches, not cigarettes.

The reason for the theory is that so far smokers have 80% lower infection rates than the General population.

Study paid for by tobacco company?

Don't think so. Only thing it could lead to is a surge in nicotine patch sales.

Either way I'm hoping it's true if all it takes is for people to receive some nicotine for a lower chance of infection..

Cigarettes make you more vulnerable if infected, so no one in their right mind would start smoking just because of this.

Either way, still better than the bleach IV/UV therapy you guys a re planning over there 😉

[Omega21]

is it possible to isolate the specific element of nicotine that might be causing this effect in order to create some new product of utility in helping against corona?

I assume so, but it may be too much work and too little time...

Nicotine in itself is not that bad, so if their theory is true the benefits most definitely outweigh the risks.

Many other drugs being tested can have life threatening side effects, so this would be a big, relatively safe step towards at least protecting health professionals from getting infected.

A bit more in depth in English

http://www.rfi.fr/en/science-and-technology/20200423-french-researchers-suggest-nicotine-could-protect-against-covid-19

The same phenomenon was seen in China as well, with smokers having significantly lower rates of infection.

In France, the phenomenon was even more pronounced, with smokers being up to 80% less affected.

[Omega21]

Bottom line:

In the 4 weeks since the lockdown in Austria, March 16 - April 12, there were 836 deaths more compared to the 2016-19 average in those weeks.

The Health Ministry has only announced 365 official COVID-deaths in hospitals and nursing homes during these 4 weeks.

Draw your own conclusions what the cause of death was for the other 471 people ...

5g network and microchips they inject into us.

[Omega21]

ALL stores are open again today in 🇦🇹 Austria 🇦🇹.

Look at that line of people outside a Graz IKEA:

Plebs who don't know how to use the internet...

[Omega21]

"With the US, Germany & EU should pursue forceful decoupling from China. It would be expensive but not as expensive as the alternative. Corona recession presents a unique opportunity to correct the wrong path".

Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axelspringer (largest Media Conglomerate in Europe) with the most radical statement so far within mainstream German centre-right circles.


Source: Welt am Sonntag + Abaca

Europe should remain neutral.

Swiss-style foreign policy for the EU, NOW.

[Omega21]

Major scandal between Coronavirus, the Postal Service and asylum seekers brewing in Austria:

https://www.oe24.at/coronavirus/Asyl-Skandal-um-138-Corona-Faelle-bei-Post/430161560

Long story short:

A temporary employment agency has hired asylum seekers from a Vienna institution (which was closed because of several cases weeks ago already) and forwarded the workers to two main postal distribution centers in the Vienna suburbs for parcel sorting.

Most of these temporary work asylum seekers are from Somalia, who probably got infected at the Vienna asylum seekers facility and infected other workers at the postal distribution centers (they are one of the biggest in the country).

About 140 workers there got infected in the past weeks and they had to send a lot of workers into quarantine, disinfect the buildings and bring in 250 people from the Austrian Army to sort parcels.

AFAIK, Asylum Workers cannot work legally in Austria, and usually, their Beschaeftigungsbewilligung is denied.

[Omega21]

The treatment of students in the UK - starting in Scotland but now moving south of the border too - is shaping up to be a genuine scandal.

I'm not really in the loop, what do you mean?

I know things have been getting uglier there as well, but not much else.

[Omega21]

I think we've learnt that suppressing an endemic disease in the long term is like going down to the beach and telling the tide not to come in.

Yeah, great comparison.

It's like a freight train. No matter how hard you slam the breaks, as long as there's diesel, that thing's not stopping for anyone.

We just need to stick to certain measures to slow down the spread and make sure the healthcare system doesn't get overwhelmed, and that's the best we can do.

[Omega21]

3.300 new cases today.

In US-terms, more than 122.000

I think we need to close down the country again soon.

Where are you getting that number? I can't seem to find today's update...

[Omega21]

Italy had 19,000 new cases today and 91 new deaths today.

It just feels so absurd and insane. I am just glad death rates seem much lower than in the spring, but it ain't saying so much.

It actually is

https://www.corriere.it/cronache/20_ottobre_23/coronavirus-virologo-giorgio-palu-il-95percento-positivi-asintomatico-chiudere-tutto-no-basta-l-isteria-40778a62-156d-11eb-b371-ea3047c1855f.shtml

The only thing we can do is make sure the ICU and hospital beds are not at capacity. If we can do that, this thing is not as bad as it was and we need to live with it.

Stuff like not opening clubs, masks inside and in transit etc. should be enough to limit the infections to a level the healthcare system can cope with.

[Omega21]

Anyway, so Wales' government have now decided that they are the judges of what are essentials and what isn't.

I feel for the whole of UK...

From an outsider's perspective, it looks like an Orwellian country right now...

How the hell can someone "ban sex" between people inside their own home and not have a court strike it down?

Just before Easter, they tried to limit the gatherings inside homes here as well, luckily the court struck it down before the print was even dry.

[Omega21]

Pfizer have claimed their anti-Covid vaccine is 95% effective.

No offense here at all, but many US media don't mention the Pfizer vaccine was actually developed in Germany, for the most part. This vaccine is a joint project between Pfizer and Biontech, a Mainz based firm.

This is the narrative on most US media.

Would be kind of underwhelming to acknowledge a 4x smaller country with highly regulated healthcare did a lot/most of the work...

[Omega21]

In summary, the EU Covid vaccine program has been a complete disaster, and every member state is suffering as a result.

It has gotten to the point that the country vaccinating the fastest in continental Europe is a developing country with a fraction of the resources, namely Serbia, which as a result of abundant vaccines (from China, Russia, and Biotech/Pfizer) has been able to almost completely reopen while we are stuck in lockdown limbo.

https://www.krone.at/2332483

This is because instead of actually prioritizing health and the economy, the EU is playing geopolitics by not authorizing vaccines like Sputnik, which has been positively reviewed by even peers of the Lancet.

Meanwhile, we are allowing AstraZeneca, which has been shown to be ineffective against Covid mutations, but hey, it's at least a western vaccinee amIrite?

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-varian/oxford-astrazeneca-covid-shot-less-effective-against-south-african-variant-study-idUKKBN2A60RH

I don't care if it has Kim Jong Un's face slapped all over it. If it works, and if it's safe we need it yesterday.

[Omega21]

AstraZeneca is not ineffective against mutations - it's less so at preventing mild and moderate illness, but still seems to protect against serious illness and death. That is good enough for most.

Well, the Russians seem to have done it better, so unless there's some new data that says otherwise, they should be the ones getting access to the market first. The Chinese vaccine is also said to be fairly effective, and the EU can pull data from Serbia as they already have over a million doses. Their vaccine uses also very simple, traditional technology (inactivated virus), which has been in use for decades.

Plus:

Italy agency cautious on AstraZeneca jab for over 55s
Spain limits AstraZeneca jab to the under-55s

Not very reassuring to be honest.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-italy-agency-cautious-astrazeneca-jab.html
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-spain-limits-astrazeneca-jab-under-55s.html