Coronavirus

Sweden's special path in the fight against corona has caused quite a stir internationally. In a study, researchers have now investigated how the different corona strategies in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland have affected the spread of the virus within the respective country and beyond the country's borders.

One of their findings: "Sweden was a net exporter of Sars-CoV-2 virus to our Nordic neighbours in the first year of the pandemic." John Pettersson of Uppsala University told Swedish TV station SVT on Tuesday.

Sweden had a higher number of Covid-19 cases and deaths. The World Health Organisation (WHO) lists the following incidences accumulated over the pandemic:
• Sweden: 11,450 corona cases and 146 covid-19 related deaths per 100,000 people,
• Denmark: 7333 cases and 48 deaths per 100,000 people,
• Norway: 4276 cases and 18 deaths per 100,000 people.
• Finland: 3099 cases and 22 deaths per 100,000 people,
• Iceland: 4385 cases and 9 deaths per 100,000 people.

The countries are a good example of geographically, politically and socially similar states whose corona measures differ significantly, the team writes in the journal "Eurosurveillance". It created a kind of genetic family tree using around 71,000 virus inheritance sequences. This shows how the viruses spread within countries and across national borders.

The impact of public health interventions in the Nordic countries during the first year of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and evolution

According to a report by "ZiB 1" [tv news show by the public Austrian broadcaster] on Wednesday, a woman from Eastern Styria is in intensive care due to an overdose of Ivermectin. The woman is still receiving intensive medical treatment, but her life is currently out of danger.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), among others, has already warned against taking the deworming drug Ivermectin with Covid-19, and now the manufacturer itself is doing the same. MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) on Wednesday spoke out "clearly against the use of Ivermectin (Stromectol) in Covid-19, in line with current medical recommendations".

"There is no meaningful evidence to support the use of Ivermectin (Stromectol) in Sars-CoV-2," MSD stressed.
The drug is used mainly in veterinary medicine, but corona deniers and vaccination opponents also promote it. MSD now warns of the possibility of severe side effects, as ivermectin is neither approved nor effective for treating Covid-19.
"Supply shortages due to the misuse of Ivermectin furthermore hinder the correct treatment of parasitic diseases," Christoph Steininger of the Medical University of Vienna was quoted as saying.

Major Tennessee universities can enact vaccine mandates in order to keep federal funding


Multiple Tennessee universities were granted exemptions to the state's new COVID-19 legislation, allowing them to enforce vaccine mandates so they can continue to collect millions in federal funding.

The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury granted the exemptions this week after Gov. Bill Lee signed the bills Friday, according to John Dunn, the director of communications at the comptroller.

The universities would have been in violation of federal law if they weren't granted exemptions. The new Tennessee laws prohibit state-funded institutions from requiring vaccines or masks, except in very specific circumstances.

The universities granted exemptions are:

East Tennessee State University
University of Memphis
University of Tennessee System schools
Vanderbilt University

Read more: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2021/11/16/tennessee-universities-can-enact-vaccine-mandate-keep-federal-funds/6392796001/

Major New Global Study Proves Mask-Wearing Is Super-Effective at Stopping COVID

https://www.thedailybeast.com/mask-wearing-is-super-effective-at-stopping-covid-major-new-study-proves?ref=home

Major New Global Study Proves Mask-Wearing Is Super-Effective at Stopping COVID
WRAP IT UP
Jamie Ross
News Correspondent
Published Nov. 18, 2021 6:51AM ET


Mask-wearing is by far the most effective non-pharmaceutical method to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to a major new global study. According to The Guardian, the new study—written by researchers at Monash University and the University of Edinburgh—is the world’s first robust review that can reliably rate the effectiveness of various public-health measures in slowing down the pandemic. It reportedly showed a 53 percent reduction in the incidence of COVID with mask-wearing, and a 25 percent reduction with physical distancing. Handwashing also appeared to be effective, but more research is required to rate it accurately. “This systematic review and meta analysis suggests that several personal protective and social measures, including handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing are associated with reductions in the incidence of Covid-19,” the researchers wrote in the British Medical Journal.

Interesting article on military medics who cannot apply their service training to get civilian jobs in the medical field, something that would be nice given the pandemic.

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/17/1056397211/military-vets-with-medical-skills-find-it-difficult-to-get-civilian-health-care-

Part of the certification knot has to do with the military's desire to not educate personnel who leave and work as civilians.

As a nuclear machinist mate, my education and training offered no certification that translated into civilian nuclear power industry.

A civilian nuclear reactor operators has to be certified. Military operators do not and are not.

In '73 when I went off active duty, military operators were moving to the Scandinavian nations to work in the nuclear industry because they weren't required the certification the US requires.

And I get it. The military needs veterans to keep from becoming purely a trade school for civilian industry.

I'm nuclear Navy myself, so I get that but in the article it says the obstacle is really in state certification. Some states completely don't recognize military training and some do but make it so complicated that people leaving service can't figure out how to get credit.

Almost all active-duty sailors are at least partially vaccinated against the coronavirus, Navy says

Stars & Stripes

WASHINGTON — About 99.7% of all active-duty sailors are at least partially vaccinated against the coronavirus less than two weeks ahead of the Navy’s deadline, the service announced Wednesday.

The Navy also said all but about three percent are fully vaccinated. The Pentagon considers troops fully vaccinated two weeks after their final coronavirus shot.

The total does not include the Marine Corps’ numbers, though the two services share the same Nov. 28 deadline for troops to be vaccinated. As of Nov. 10, about 94% of active-duty Marines were at least partially vaccinated and 89% were fully vaccinated, according to the service.

The deadline was established after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in August ordered all services members to be vaccinated. The Marine Corps said it would publish its number of approved exemptions after the deadline passes.

A study in the journal Science claims patient zero was a female market worker on 11 December, rather than a man on 8 December.

The report published in the journal Science, will revive, though certainly not settle, the debate over whether the pandemic started with a spillover from wildlife sold at the market, a leak from a Wuhan virology lab or some other way. The search for the origins of the greatest public health catastrophe in a century has fueled geopolitical battles, with few new facts emerging in recent months to resolve the question.
NYT; The Guardian

Science: Dissecting the early COVID-19 cases in Wuhan

Bavaria cancels all (!) Christmas markets (sic!).

In view of the dramatic Corona situation, all clubs, discos, bars and pubs (sic!) in Bavaria will have to close for the next three weeks. This was announced by Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) on Friday after consultations of the CSU-Free Voter coalition government in Munich.

He added that there would also be restrictions in the retail and restaurant sectors with a curfew at 22:00 h. "The Corona drama continues," said Söder.

Stay safe, Walter.

Thanks - I'll try

Saxony is currently the German federal state most severely affected by the fourth wave of the pandemic.
There, the seven-day incidence is higher than anywhere else, and at the same time the vaccination rate is the lowest.

From Monday, stricter rules will apply in the state it was announced a couple of minutes ago: cultural institutions will have to close, and unvaccinated people will no longer be allowed into restaurants and retail outlets.
For unvaccinated people in the Saxon hotspots with an incidence above 1000, a night-time exit restriction will apply from Monday.
Contacts must also be reduced. Accordingly, a household is allowed to meet with one other person. Children, vaccinated persons and convalescents are not counted.

Awww... that's too bad. I've been to the Kindlesmarkt (sp?) in Bayreuth - it was a lot of fun.

I went on coach trip to Koblenz and Trier, and somewhere else I can't remember. It was very good.

We have a "German Market" in Southampton but it's not the same at all.

You Europeans are so lucky that you're in such close proximity to so many cultures. I've always envied that. It's an 8 or 9 hour flight from the West Coast to anywhere, including our own country... it really inhibits people from travelling and experiencing all those wonderful joys. I've loved everywhere I've ever been, with the exception of Punta Canoa, which was absolutely disgusting (ugh, ugh, ugh)

I'm not a European any more.

I live in a rogue nation.

LOL that's true You have a rogue PM, too. Who's the last PM you actually admired or respected?

Gordon Brown was a decent man. He just wasn't that politically savvy.

I quite admired Tony Blair until Bush got in and we ended up fighting an illegal, pointless war.

So I suppose the last pm I really respected was Harold Wilson, he at least kept us out of Vietnam.