https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/covid-19-coronavirus-us-army-scientists-warn-that-deadlier-pandemics-are-coming/5UQACBIWS3OPQRJZEBS6IPVAQI/

Covid 19 coronavirus: US Army scientists warn that deadlier pandemics are coming
23 Jun, 2021 06:09 AM

A group of American scientists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic "may not be the big one", with fears deadlier viruses are on the horizon and could occur within this generation's lifetime.

The US Army scientists, based in the emerging infectious diseases branch at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, have spent the past year finding vaccines and therapeutics to stop not only the "original" strain of Covid-19 but also any new variants.

The director of the branch, Dr Kayvon Modjarrad, told the Defence One 2021 Tech Summit on Monday that the likelihood this generation will see another pandemic during its lifetime is "high".

"We have seen the acceleration of these pathogens and the epidemics that they precipitate."

"And it may not be a coronavirus, this may not be the big one. There may be something that's more transmissible and more deadly ahead of us.

"We have to think more broadly, not just about Covid-19, not just about coronavirus, but all emerging infectious threats coming into the future."

Modjarrad joins a chorus of virologists and infectious diseases experts who, almost since coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, have said it's "inevitable" that other diseases are waiting in the wings, and that humans could play a role in how severe those outbreaks might be and where they'll come from.

Speaking to the Guardian last week, Kirby Institute virologist Professor Stuart Turville said that how much responsibility we take for our impact on the environment could be a defining factor.

"We are clever and unfortunately naive at the same time with respect to the planet.

"Economics and big leaps and bounds in technology bring great standards of living across the globe, but can unearth many unwanted nasties."

While about three-quarters of all novel emerging viral diseases over the past 20 years have been zoonotic (transmitted from an animal source) – most often birds, rodents or bats – missing from discussions of their origins is the role of humans, Turville added.

"Unfortunately, things like climate change and habitat destruction will bring with them 'surprises' as animals struggle to deal with their changing environments courtesy of us."

Medical virologist Professor Dominic Dwyer – a member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) team investigating the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic – agreed, adding that a key part of planning for future pandemics will be understanding animal, environment and human interaction.

"All the viruses that have emerged in the last 50 years have come from either animals or the environment, and the connection, the network, between those factors and humans is so important," he told the Guardian.

"Preparing and planning includes considering demographics, the crowded environments people live in, the healthcare environments that allow some things to spread but not others, climate change and the influence of the way we use the land and interact with wildlife, the way we do trade, farming and tourism.

"All of those things have an impact on what lets a pandemic emerge and get going."

Researcher in viral immunology at Murdoch University, Professor Cassandra Berry, said Australia needs to "start training and investing in its next generation of virus hunters now" in order to respond to future threats more rapidly.

"There are viruses just waiting in the wings. The next pandemic will likely be an airborne virus that's highly transmissible, already out there, highly mutable and with an animal reservoir.

"It will be particularly dangerous if it has no visible signs, if it spreads by stealth.

"We are way overdue for another flu pandemic, and there are ones out there a few mutations away from moving from birds to humans. We need the funding invested now in our researchers to prepare."

Next pandemic 'could be next year'
In March, researchers discovered a series of 24 new coronaviruses in bats in a small region of the Yunnan province, in China's southwest.

"In total, we assembled 24 novel coronavirus genomes from different bat species, including four SARS-CoV-2 like coronaviruses," the team wrote in a report, published in the journal Cell.

One of the 24 – viral sample RpYNO6 – was the closest strain yet to Covid-19, though it had genetic differences on the spike protein, the knoblike structure that the virus uses when attaching to cells, the researchers said.

"Together with the SARS-CoV-2 related virus collected from Thailand in June 2020, these results clearly demonstrate that viruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2 continue to circulate in bat populations, and in some regions might occur at a relatively high frequency," they wrote.

5 Benefits of Metta Meditation and How to Do It

Metta meditation is a type of Buddhist meditation. In Pali — a language that’s closely related to Sanskrit and spoken in northern India — “metta” means positive energy and kindness toward others.

The practice is also known as loving-kindness meditation.

The goal of metta meditation is to cultivate kindness for all beings, including yourself and:

family
friends
neighbors
acquaintances
difficult people in your life
animals
The main technique of metta meditation involves reciting positive phrases toward yourself and these beings.

Like other types of meditation, the practice is beneficial for mental, emotional, and physical health. It’s especially useful for reducing negative emotions toward yourself and other people.

What to know about metta meditation
Metta meditation is a traditional Buddhist practice. It’s been used for thousands of years.

Different traditions approach the practice in different ways. However, all forms of metta meditation share the common goal of developing unconditional positive emotions toward all beings.

This includes feelings of:

joy
trust
love
gratitude
happiness
appreciation
compassion
To cultivate these emotions, you silently recite phrases toward yourself and others. These phrases are meant to express kind intentions.

Some examples of metta meditation phrases include:

“May I be safe, peaceful, and free of suffering.”
“May I be happy. May I be healthy.”
“May you be strong and confident.”
It’s important to repeat each phrase with mindfulness. This helps you focus on the phrase and the associated emotions.

What are the benefits?
A regular metta meditation practice can be beneficial for both your mind and body. Let’s look at some of these benefits more closely.

1. Promotes self-compassion
Since metta meditation involves reciting kind phrases toward yourself, it can foster a sense of self-compassion.

The idea is that you must love yourself before you can love other people.

Self-compassion can also reduce negative emotions toward yourself, including:

unworthiness
self-doubt
judgment
anger
self-criticism
These benefits were observed in a small 2014 studyTrusted Source. Participants who practiced metta meditation became less critical toward themselves than those who didn’t use this practice.

Another 2013 studyTrusted Source found that routine metta meditation had the ability to increase self-compassion and mindfulness in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These effects helped decrease PTSD symptoms.

2. Decreases stress and anxiety
According to research from 2013Trusted Source, mindfulness meditation can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms.

Additionally, clinical evidence has shown that mindfulness meditation, when practiced regularly, can also reduce the inflammation response that’s caused by stress.

Metta meditation can take this even further, according to meditation practitioners. As you develop self-compassion, you perceive yourself in a more positive light. This promotes emotions like love and gratitude.

These emotions can increase your level of life satisfaction, thus reducing stress and anxiety.

3. Reduces physical pain
There’s some evidence that metta meditation can decrease some types of physical pain.

In an older 2005 studyTrusted Source, the practice decreased persistent lower back pain.

A 2014 studyTrusted Source found a similar effect in people with frequent migraine attacks. The researchers in both studies attributed the lower pain levels to the stress-relieving effect of metta meditation. Emotional stress, after all, can worsen physical pain.

Negative emotions can also reduce your tolerance for pain. Positive emotions, like those cultivated through metta meditation, have the opposite effect.

4. Improves longevity
Telomeres are DNA structures at the ends of each chromosome. They work to protect genetic information.

As we get older, our telomeres naturally shorten. Chronic stress can speed up this process, causing faster biological aging.

Stress-relieving activities, like metta meditation, can ease this effect. A small 2013 studyTrusted Source found that metta meditation is associated with longer telomere length. The researchers speculated that the practice could help improve longevity.

5. Enhances social connections
Metta meditation can also nurture stronger social relationships.

After you recite kind phrases toward yourself, you extend that kindness to other people. This allows you to display compassion and empathy toward them.

It also encourages you to think about others and to recognize how they make you feel.

Plus, as you develop self-love, you may be less likely to view yourself negatively. This makes it easier to hold space for others, which can cultivate more positive connections.

https://www.healthline.com/health/metta-meditation#benefits

Breaking Down Market Noise and How to Avoid It

In 1986, American economist Fisher Black developed a landmark theory of pricing known as “noise.” This term describes things such as hype, inaccurate ideas, and inaccurate data. Black viewed noise as being the opposite of information and that there was a disproportionate amount of trading happening based on it.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Isn’t all trading based on these kinds of speculations?” While trading itself is somewhat speculative at its core, it’s based on careful, fundamental analysis and research that leads to more well-informed decisions. Noise traders, on the other hand, are more reactionary. They rely on trending news, sudden surges or declines in prices, and word of mouth that's not based on any tangible evidence.

Market noise can lead to knee-jerk trading that comes from haste rather than carefully analyzed data over time. It’s those irrational and erratic decisions to buy, sell, or hold that can really hurt someone's portfolio. We’re to help you avoid market noise with well-executed financial planning that won’t fall for the jump scares of the market.

How to Spot Market Noise

In layman’s terms, the difference between noise and information is simple: information provides evidence to back up a claim, while noise doesn’t. Noise is simply there to cause confusion and uncertainty about something on the market.

For example, if a negative news story about a company comes out in the morning, a noise trader may oversell stock at a lower price. An informed trader, on the other hand, will remain calm and suggest that stock price shouldn’t dip as low as the noise traders are selling it for. An informed investor who picks up on the noise trader risk can feasibly buy the stock at that lower price with the confidence that it will rise again.

Positive news about a company can also artificially inflate market value if noise traders decide to buy stocks at an abnormal rate. This overreaction to good and bad news is what causes market noise in a nutshell. The inability to remain calm and collected while taking things at face value causes noise trader risk, but there's a way to prepare for it.

Planning Ahead of Market Noise

To say that you can completely avoid market noise may be an overstatement depending on who you ask. That said, experienced traders who have a well-developed system in place are always going to be more strategic in their financial planning.

The best way to do that is through careful research. Then, based on that research, create standards and processes that you don't deviate from at random. Know your risk limits and trade based on real information as opposed to noise. While it’s impossible to completely eliminate noise as an influencer, this can minimize it and give you a personal code of conduct to follow.

Remember, don’t always take news or word of mouth as it is. Do your own research, and you can build the confidence to avoid impulse trading. Once you’ve established a system, it will be much easier for you to function with a better understanding of the difference between information and noise.

https://www.oceanwealth.ca/blog/posts/breaking-down-market-noise-and-how-to-avoid-it

The Compulsive Impulsive Trader

The Stereotype

We are all familiar with the stereotype of the compulsive trader. Traders who are compulsively looking for trading thrills, while telling themselves they are doing it to make a profit.

The rush of adrenalin that comes from making the big trade and then watching to see if it is followed by a big win.

It is not so different from betting at the race track.

It is far removed from what is required for successful market timing.

Compulsive impulsive market timers take trades because of emotional responses to news events, market rallies, or market sell-offs, because they feel they know what is going to happen next in the markets.

They take trades not because the trade is required, but for the thrill of the trade itself. All risk controls are ignored, no logical trading strategy is followed, and no exit strategy is prepared ahead of time.

Of course, anyone can act impulsively at times. But in the investing world, impulsive trades are almost always losing trades. And compulsive impulsive trading, can lead to outright ruin.

Delaying Gratification

An interesting test was run to measure a person's impulsive tendencies:

Participants were asked to decide between taking an immediate, small monetary reward (that is, $200 right now) or a larger reward given later, $500 in six months.

Impulsive people tended to take the smaller, immediate reward. They have difficulty delaying gratification. They can't wait for the larger reward. They want what they can get as soon as possible.

Even disciplined people can act impulsively when the conditions are right.

There is little harm in impulsively going for a latte instead of your usual morning coffee, black with two equals.

Yet while some impulsive decisions may have little effect on one's life, impulsive decisions when trading the stock market can have major negative consequences.

Compulsively Impulsive

Trading (market timing) requires that investors clamp down on emotional impulsive behavior. Market timing is possibly the perfect example of unemotional, non-compulsive, and non-impulsive planning. Timers look far ahead in time, planning for gains that may not be realized for months. If in cash during a bear market, actual profits may be postponed years.

Instant gratification is the exact opposite of what market timers must expect. Those who think that long-term buy and hold investors hold the edge in long-term planning are not correct. It is market timers, following a plan that takes years to unfold but offering gains far in excess of a simple buy and hold who have the real long-term strategy.

Conclusion

Compulsive traders will have great difficulty being successful (profitable) market timers. Market timing is the non-compulsive execution of a planned strategy that can only be successful over time.

Impulsive traders will have great difficulty being successful (profitable) market timers. Market timing requires adherence to a trading strategy that requires trading not when you feel the urge, but only at specific points in time when your trading strategy tells you to do so.

Compulsive impulsive personalities face many difficulties. But in investing, be sure to hold those impulses at bay if you want to successfully beat the markets.

https://www.moneyshow.com/articles/daytraders-42883/

Covid: Lockdown easing in England to be delayed by four weeks
By Becky Morton & Joseph Lee
BBC News

Most coronavirus rules will remain in place in England for another four weeks after the planned 21 June unlocking, government sources have told the BBC.

Senior ministers have signed off on the decision to delay the lifting of all legal restrictions on social contact.

That could mean capacity limits for sports, pubs and cinemas will remain, and nightclubs would stay closed.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to confirm the delay at a news conference at 18:00 BST on Monday.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57464097

In China’s latest outbreak, doctors say the infected get sicker, faster

June 12, 2021, 9:52 a.m. ET
As the Delta variant of the coronavirus spreads in southeastern China, doctors say they are finding that the symptoms are different and more dangerous than those they saw when the initial version of the virus started spreading in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan.

Patients are becoming sicker and their conditions are worsening much more quickly, doctors told state-run television on Thursday and Friday. Four-fifths of symptomatic cases developed fevers, they said, although it was not clear how that compared with earlier cases. The virus concentrations that are detected in their bodies climb to levels higher than previously seen, and then decline only slowly, the doctors said.

Up to 12 percent of patients become severely or critically ill within three to four days of the onset of symptoms, said Guan Xiangdong, director of critical care medicine at Sun Yat-sen University in the city of Guangzhou, where the outbreak has been centered. In the past, the proportion had been 2 percent or 3 percent, although occasionally up to 10 percent, he said.

Doctors in Britain and Brazil have reported similar trends with the variants that circulated in those countries, but the severity of those variants has not yet been confirmed.

The testimonies from China are the latest indication of the dangers posed by Delta, which the World Health Organization last month labeled a “variant of concern.” First identified this spring in India, where it was blamed for widespread suffering and death, Delta has since become the dominant variant in Britain, where doctors suggest that it is more contagious and may infect some people who have received only one of two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

China has uniquely detailed data, however, because it has essentially universal testing in the vicinity of outbreaks, allowing officials to gather detailed information on the extent of cases.

Delta’s spread in southeastern China focuses more attention on the effectiveness of China’s self-made vaccines. The Chinese authorities have not indicated how many of the new infections have occurred in people who had been vaccinated. In some other countries where Chinese-made vaccines are in wide use, including the Seychelles and Mongolia, infections among vaccinated people are rising, although few patients have reportedly developed serious illness.

Nearby Shenzhen had a handful of cases last week of the Alpha variant, which first emerged in Britain.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/world/china-covid-delta-variant-guangzhou.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

The Forever Virus
Strategy for the Long Fight Against COVID-19

July/August 2021

It is time to say it out loud: the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic is not going away. SARS-CoV-2 cannot be eradicated, since it is already growing in more than a dozen different animal species. Among humans, global herd immunity, once promoted as a singular solution, is unreachable. Most countries simply don’t have enough vaccines to go around, and even in the lucky few with an ample supply, too many people are refusing to get the shot. As a result, the world will not reach the point where enough people are immune to stop the virus’s spread before the emergence of dangerous variants—ones that are more transmissible, vaccine resistant, and even able to evade current diagnostic tests. Such supervariants could bring the world back to square one. It might be 2020 all over again.

Rather than die out, the virus will likely ping-pong back and forth across the globe for years to come. Some of yesterday’s success stories are now vulnerable to serious outbreaks. Many of these are places that kept the pandemic at bay through tight border controls and excellent testing, tracing, and isolation but have been unable to acquire good vaccines. Witness Taiwan and Vietnam, which experienced impressively few deaths until May 2021, when, owing to a lack of vaccination, they faced a reversal of fortune. But even countries that have vaccinated large proportions of their populations will be vulnerable to outbreaks caused by certain variants. That is what appears to have happened in several hot spots in Chile, Mongolia, the Seychelles, and the United Kingdom. The virus is here to stay. The question is, What do we need to do to ensure that we are, too?

Conquering a pandemic is not only about money and resources; it is also about ideas and strategy. In 1854, at a time when germ theory had yet to take hold, the physician John Snow stopped a cholera epidemic in London by tracing its source to an infected well; after he persuaded community leaders to remove the handle from the well’s pump, the outbreak ended. In the 1970s, smallpox was rampant in Africa and India. The epidemiologist William Foege, working in a hospital in Nigeria, recognized that the small amount of vaccine he had been allocated was not enough to inoculate everyone. So he pioneered a new way of using vaccines, focusing not on volunteers or the well-connected but on the people most at risk of getting the disease next. By the end of the decade, thanks to this strategy—first called “surveillance and containment” and later “ring vaccination”—smallpox had been eradicated. It is a twenty-first-century version of this strategy, along with faster mass vaccination, that could help make COVID-19 history.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-06-08/coronavirus-strategy-forever-virus?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=www-foreignaffairs-com.cdn.ampproject.org&utm_campaign=amp_kickers&_gl=1*1em4b0p*_ga*TE1mOXpDQ2IyU1hkTVZySnZjOWd3RTdGNWk5QXVObWt6Vmxsc05KcXJYYkY3UWt2THh2RGUxSWxjRkZqdS13VA..

Covid super variants could lead to '2020 all over again', scientists and doctors say

A new essay from top scientists and doctors, 'The Forever Virus' warns about the need for a complete 'system reboot' in the global fight against Covid


Scientists have warned that Covid super-variants could lead to "2020 all over again" and bring us back to square one in the fight against the virus.

As the world continues to try to fight against coronavirus, gradually unlocking and vaccinating people, concern remains about mutations of the virus.


In an essay called 'The Forever Virus', six scientists, doctors and experts warned that herd immunity is "unreachable" and the virus isn't going away.

They warned that a lot of countries don't have enough vaccines to go round, and in those that do, not enough people are coming forward to get their jab.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/covid-super-variants-could-lead-24281462.amp

Vaccine giving Britain ‘false sense of security’ as Covid deaths and cases increase

Expert warns UK in ‘early’ third wave of the virus and calls for reopening plans to be delayed

May 31 2021 08:19 PM
The UK's vaccination programme is offering a "false sense of security" amid a mounting third wave of infections, according to Government advisers who have called for next month's unlocking to be delayed.

Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said that with the UK in the grip of an "early" third wave of Covid-19 infections, ministers should consider pushing back their target of scrapping all Covid measures on June 21 "by a few weeks".

The University of Cambridge academic said there had been an "exponential growth" in the number of cases, fuelled by the more transmissible Indian variant, but that the "explosive" impact it could have was currently being masked by the high vaccination rate.

More than 39 million people have been given a first jab and a further 25.3 million have had both doses.

Thousands more are likely to be added to that tally after organisers at a major walk-in vaccination centre at Twickenham Stadium opted on Monday afternoon to open up the jab offer to anyone aged over 18 in order not to waste doses, leading to lengthy queues in south-west London.

https://m.independent.ie/world-news/coronavirus/vaccine-giving-britain-false-sense-of-security-as-covid-deaths-and-casesincrease-40489324.html

Some Countries With The Highest Vaccination Rates Are Facing A Surge In Covid Deaths And Infections–Experts Say Complacency Is Partly To Blame

Some countries with the world’s highest vaccination rates are also battling devastating surges of Covid-19 and the highest death tolls, a worrying trend that has left experts and officials wondering whether successful inoculation drives have lulled governments into easing restrictions too soon and the public into a false sense of security.

Uruguay has endured the highest Covid-19 death rate in the world per capita for several weeks, despite having one of the world’s most successful inoculation drives, a common situation in a number of other highly vaccinated countries like Bahrain and the Maldives.

Controlling for population, Bahrain (0.9 deaths per 100,000 people) and the Maldives (1) have similarly grim metrics and have reported far greater death rates than countries like the U.S. (0.15) and India (0.29) for a large part of May.

Other countries like Chile and the Seychelles rank among the worst Covid infection surges in the world, though each have higher vaccination levels than the U.S., with experts warning that lifting restrictions too early may have made the public unduly complacent.

COVID-19 cases surge 73% in Washington state

New coronavirus cases leaped in Washington in the week ending Sunday, rising 73% as 8,355 cases were reported. The previous week had 4,829 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Washington ranked first among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 20.4% from the week before, with 140,886 cases reported. With 2.29% of the country's population, Washington had 5.93% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, five states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Many places are not reporting data on a regular schedule because of Memorial Day, making week-to-week comparisons inaccurate.

Within Washington, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Lincoln, Spokane and Grays Harbor counties. Adding the most new cases overall were Pierce County, with 1,721 cases; King County, with 1,409 cases; and Spokane County, with 1,299. Weekly case counts rose in 32 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Pierce, Spokane and King counties.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kitsapsun.com/amp/44845637

'New coronavirus variants are coming', warn scientists behind Moderna's Covid vaccine

Scientists across the world have expressed concern over COVID-19 developing lethal mutations which could bypass the protection offered by current vaccines. Recently, more infectious variants first reported in the United Kingdom and India have stirred a wave of fear worldwide. A highly mutated strain has higher chances of crossing the threshold of protection offered by vaccines.

Now, Moderna officials have warned against new variants sprouting up globally. During a virtual investor event on Thursday, scientists and executives carved out plans to combat new strains.

Scientists across the world have expressed concern over COVID-19 developing lethal mutations which could bypass the protection offered by current vaccines. Recently, more infectious variants first reported in the United Kingdom and India have stirred a wave of fear worldwide. A highly mutated strain has higher chances of crossing the threshold of protection offered by vaccines.

Now, Moderna officials have warned against new variants sprouting up globally. During a virtual investor event on Thursday, scientists and executives carved out plans to combat new strains.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wionews.com/science/new-coronavirus-variants-are-coming-warn-scientists-behind-modernas-covid-vaccine-388394/amp

‘Super mutant’ variants may emerge as Indian Covid was ‘just the beginning’

‘Super mutant’ Covid strains even more infectious than the Indian variant are likely to emerge as more people get vaccinated, an expert has warned.

Professor Ravi Gupta, a University of Cambridge professor of clinical microbiology, said the virus will try to become more efficient at spreading from person to person under ‘severe’ pressure from the lack of new hosts.

He said this was ‘not necessarily a terrible thing’ as most people who catch coronavirus after the vaccine rollout will experience it as a mild illnes.

But Covid’s ‘unpredictable’ nature means ‘we shouldn’t be overconfident’ about the odds of eliminating it as a killer among vulnerable groups, Prof Gupta added – warning that the mutations seen in the Indian variant are ‘just the beginnings.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2021/05/26/warning-over-super-mutant-covid-variants-as-virus-adapts-14651420/amp/

Covid-19: UK in early stages of third wave - scientist

There are signs the UK is in the early stages of a third wave of coronavirus infections, a scientist advising the government has said.

Prof Ravi Gupta, from the University of Cambridge, said although new cases were "relatively low" the Indian variant had caused "exponential growth".

He said ending Covid restrictions in England on 21 June should be postponed.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said the government could not rule out a delay to the planned lockdown easing.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-57304515.amp

PPE shortage could become a challenge in case of another pandemic, expert says

With vaccinations causing COVID-19 cases to drop, one U.S. hospital president is warning the country may not be adequately prepared for another pandemic.

Dr. Shereef Elnahal, president and chief executive of University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, was asked to speak to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week.

He said that while the nation has learned a lot, it’s not where it needs to be. One of the biggest problems he noted was the availability of resources, specifically personal protective equipment like masks and gloves.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/wtop.com/coronavirus/2021/05/ppe-shortage-could-become-a-challenge-in-case-of-another-pandemic-expert-says/amp/

Restocking for Next Pandemic

The last supply of COVID-19 pandemic related personal protective equipment from FEMA is delivered May 20 to the Rio Arriba County facility in Española. County Fire Marshal Alfredo Montoya said Rio Arriba County was serving as the distribution hub for 18 different agencies within Mora, Santa Fe, Taos and Rio Arriba counties as well as the City of Santa Fe. Deliveries like this came every other Thursday and were usually about six to ten pallets of equipment, but Montoya said this was the largest supply drop at 64 pallets. Montoya said the extra supplies were meant to restore the agencies reserve stockpiles that were depleted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

http://www.riograndesun.com/news/county/restocking-for-next-pandemic/image_a1f383d4-be6b-11eb-884b-cff65401d2f4.html

Vietnam detects hybrid of Indian and UK COVID-19 variants

Authorities in Vietnam have detected a new coronavirus variant that is a combination of the Indian and UK COVID-19 variants and spreads quickly by air, the health minister said on Saturday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/vietnam-detects-hybrid-indian-uk-covid-19-variant-2021-05-29/

UK Covid: 4,182 new cases in a day in highest rise since 1 April; Glasgow remains in level 3 – as it happened

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/may/28/uk-covid-live-calls-delay-21-june-reopening-boris-johnson-india-variant-coronavirus-viktor-orban

Moderna Warns New Waves of Covid-19 Are Coming

Moderna scientists and executives laid out their plans to combat new strains of the virus that causes Covid-19 at a virtual investor event on Thursday, saying that new waves of the epidemic are on their way.

“As the virus spreads, it is rapidly mutating,” the company’s chief scientific officer, Melissa Moore, said on the call. “Some of these new viral strains appear to be even more transmissible than the original strain… We already know that some of these new strains are less susceptible to neutralization by our current vaccine.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.barrons.com/amp/articles/at-modernas-science-day-focus-is-on-covid-variants-51622204258

The Most Dangerous Form of Investing
Don't gamble with your future.

Those who “play” the stock market hope to become rich. But they are more likely to become poor.

That’s because “playing” the market — frequent buying and selling — is akin to playing roulette. And compulsive trading could turn you into a gambling addict, researchers say.

Although many people agree that obsessive stock trading — often called day trading — is a form of gambling, most consider it harmless. What they fail to understand is that such investors share most of the same attributes as problem gamblers, says Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling. Both have let their desire for a steady jolt of adrenaline spiral into a disease, he says.

Dr. Paul Good, a clinical psychologist in San Francisco, offers 11 warning signs that an investor might actually be a gambler in disguise. Exhibiting just five of these signs suggests you could have a gambling problem:

High-volume trading where the “action” has become more compelling than the objective of the trade.

Preoccupation with your investments — excessive studying of investment newspapers and websites, constant thoughts about the market that interfere withwork or social life, or constant calls to a broker.

Needing to increase the amount of money you have in the market; borrowing money from brokerage firms, called “margin” or “leverage”; or using options and futures contracts to feel excited.

Repeated failed attempts to stop or control your trading activity (such as tapping into accounts you previously declared off-limits or changing instructions to your broker).

Restlessness or irritability when attempting to cut down or stop market activity, or when cash is sitting in your account “uninvested.”
Involvement in market activity to escape problems, relieve depression or distract yourself from painful emotions.

After taking losses, continuing to take positions or increasing a position as a way to break even.
Lying to family members and friends to conceal the extent of your market involvement.
Committing illegal acts, such as forgery, fraud, theft or embezzlement to finance market activity.

Jeopardizing significant relationships, your job, or educational or career opportunities because of excess time spent playing the market.
Relying on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling in the markets.

One major difference between compulsive investors and chronic gamblers is the age in which the disease is most prevalent, says Dr. Carlos Blanco, a psychiatrist who heads the Gambling Disorders Clinic at Columbia University, which sees a lot of Wall Street patients. Chronic gamblers are typically in their late teens and early 20s, while those who immerse themselves in the stock market to the point of excess are typically in their 30s and 40s, Blanco says.

If you or someone you know suffers from this form of gambling addiction, the self-help group Gamblers Anonymous says total abstinence is required — just as it is for those addicted to alcohol or drugs. In a pamphlet titled “The Stock Market, Retirement Accounts and Gamblers Anonymous,” the group says:

“Turning over control of investments to a spouse, relative or professional financial planner is an important step toward recovery. The more distance there is between the investments and the compulsive gambler, the stronger the recovery will be.”

https://www.edelmanfinancialengines.com/education/planning-investing/the-most-dangerous-form-of-investing/

WHO warns the world a new pandemic is an ‘evolutionary certainty’

MAY 25, 2021 7:36AM

The director-general of the World Health Organisation has painted a bleak picture for life beyond coronavirus, warning the world against getting complacent as we fight the surge of COVID-19.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the potential of an even deadlier virus emerging is an “evolutionary certainty”.

In an annual address to the UN‘s assembly of health ministers from its 194 member states, Mr Ghebreyesus said COVID-19 could be just a taster for the future of worldwide airborne viruses.

“Make no mistake, this will not be the last time the world faces the threat of pandemic,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “It’s an evolutionary certainty that there will be another virus with the potential to be more transmittable and more deadly than this one.”

While global death rates are slowly beginning to fall, Mr Ghebreyesus says the planet is still “in a fragile situation“ and that no nation is “out of the woods, no matter its vaccination rate”.

Having seen the incredible side-effects to democracy, human discourse and the world economy a global pandemic can produce, Mr Ghebreyesus remains tentative for the future, especially with the potential for a disease more devastating than COVID-19 emerging.

He went on to warn countries against the danger of low vaccination rates, referring the worst performing countries as having a “vaccine apartheid“.

Just 10 countries have administered over 75 per cent of their vaccine doses, following a study revealing just under one third of Australians were hesitant to get the jab.

Mr Ghebreyesus hailed the sacrifices made by healthcare workers around the world, revealing the true toll the pandemic has had on hospitals since the emergence of the coronavirus.

“For almost 18 months, health and care workers all over the world have stood in the breach between life and death,” he said.

“Many have themselves become infected, and while reporting is scant, we estimate that at least 115,000 health and care workers have paid the ultimate price in the service of others.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is being perpetuated by a scandalous inequity in vaccine distribution.”

Mr Ghebreyesus went on to reveal an alarming statistic from the WHO’s database, explaining how the cataclysmic outbreak in India last month contributed to the world’s infection rates.

“The world remains in a very dangerous situation,” he said.

”As of today, more cases have been reported so far this year than in the whole of 2020. On current trends, the number of deaths will overtake last year`s total within the next three weeks. This is very tragic.”

Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu Outbreak Already Reported in 46 Countries, Scientists Warn

PETER DOCKRILL
24 MAY 2021

While the world was distracted with the rampant spread of a novel coronavirus, 2020 also witnessed an explosion in another deadly pathogen that could pose a threat to global public health.

H5N8, a subtype of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), was identified decades ago, but during 2020 a series of emerging and ongoing H5N8 outbreaks in avian populations across dozens of countries have led to the death or slaughter of millions of birds worldwide.

"The affected geographic regions have been expanding continuously, and at least 46 countries have reported highly pathogenic H5N8 AIV outbreaks," virus researchers Weifeng Shi and George F. Gao write in a new perspective article in Science, warning of the dangers of H5N8 if we don't closely monitor and contain this worrisome trend.

While the most vulnerable animals to H5N8 are different kinds of birds (including farmed chicken and ducks, but also wild and migratory birds), human cases of the virus have also been discovered in recent times.

An outbreak of the avian flu in Russia in December 2020 jumped to poultry workers, with seven people on a farm in southern Russia showing signs of the infection – representing the first time H5N8 had ever been found in humans.

While that was a first for H5N8, it certainly wasn't a first for clades and subclades related to H5N8, nor for avian flu viruses in general.

"To date, there have been a total of 862 laboratory-confirmed human cases of infection with H5N1 reported to the World Health Organization (WHO), including 455 deaths," Shi and Gao explain. "These cases were from 17 countries, with ~76 percent from Egypt and Indonesia."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sciencealert.com/highly-pathogenic-h5n8-virus-outbreak-needs-to-be-stopped-scientists-warn/amp

Gambling vs Investing in the Stock Market

Long-term vs. Short-term Focus
Investing is about being patient and seeking consistent returns over the long term. The focus is on buying stocks that will perform best over a period of years. The investor wants a portfolio full of such stocks, knowing that the deck is stacked in his favor over the long haul. Ups in downs either in the stock itself or in the overall market don’t change the investor’s strategy because the real payoff is spread out over many years.

Gambling is more of a short-term focus. It seeks immediate, high returns, but often encounters the opposite because of market fluctuations. For that reason, gambling is often more of an in-and-out trading strategy, the kind that an investor would find hard to take. Because of the high number of trades, gambling will involve paying more in the form of transaction fees, something investing seeks to avoid.

Buying Cash Flow or Price Appreciation
Investing is concerned with building cash flows. That centers the focus on dividends and companies that have a long track record of not only paying them on a consistent basis, but also of regularly raising them. As the dividend increases, the underlying stock becomes more valuable.

Not only does the stock provide a regular income, but capital appreciation on the stock as well. The investor wins on both immediate income and long-term growth. Because of the dividend, and the potential for even higher dividends later, the investor will hold onto his stock even if the price drops.

Gambling is typically a play on price appreciation. The gambler is interested in selling at a higher price, and will hold onto a stock only as long as it’s rising in price. Should the price rise come to a halt, the gambler will sell the stock and search for better prospects.

https://investorjunkie.com/investing/gambling-investing-stocks/

Higher Demand A Prospect For Ansell

Demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), namely specialty gloves, remains elevated and has put Ansell ((ANN)) in line for a strong result in FY21. Moreover, several brokers are starting to envisage permanently higher usage of PPE in certain segments.

Indeed, Morgan Stanley calculates the post-pandemic health care market will be 4% larger, although still expects a slowdown in healthcare sales as demand generated by the pandemic eases from FY22. On the flip-side industrial revenue growth is expected to accelerate through the second half of FY21 and FY22 as vaccination rates increase and industrial activity resumes.

Ansell's guidance upgrade, the fourth in six months, has signalled price increases for examination and single-use gloves and a recovery in mechanical and surgical gloves.

With all its segments firing, the company provided guidance for earnings per share of US192-202c. In total, the range implies 54-68% growth in the second half, despite the cycling of 11% growth from the second half of FY20, Credit Suisse points out.

Despite a "supernormal" performance in FY21, the broker expects a similar outcome in FY22, forecasting earnings per share of US194c, supported by continued demand stemming from the pandemic.

Morgans agrees, believing the pandemic has strengthened the company's position amid a greater focus on PPE and hygiene. Moreover, distributors are also looking for long-term agreements and supply certainty, and there is the prospect of sector consolidation.

Industrial Recovery

Ord Minnett expects some of the features of the pandemic will ease off in FY22 as demand for PPE drops and prices level off while operating costs rise. Still, earnings should be well above pre-pandemic levels because of a recovery in industrial production and elective surgery.

Ansell is expected to extend its market-leading position and the broker forecasts revenue growth of 14% in industrial gloves in FY21 and 42% in healthcare. Further upside to forecasts is also envisaged if Ansell can maintain recent share gains and/or if gross profit margins remain above historical levels.

Examination glove prices have likely plateaued as supplies are catching up with demand, but with the pandemic accelerating in several countries the broker observes demand is still high.

Industrial trends may be favourable and there is a strong balance sheet but Macquarie is more cautious about the sustainability of examination and single-use glove growth over the medium to longer term, given increasing competitor capacity.

Yet the delay for new industry capacity to come on line means it is probable that examination/single-use gloves will be in short supply through all of FY22, Credit Suisse asserts, and this is likely to remain the major driver of elevated earnings because as long as there is an imbalance between demand and supply, the current high price of gloves will continue.

https://www.fnarena.com/index.php/2021/04/29/higher-demand-a-prospect-for-ansell/

Survey: 30% of Food Company Executives Expect New Pandemic Within Four Years
By Pan Demetrakakes, Senior Editor

May 20, 2021

Half of food company executives say they feel unprepared for the next pandemic – which 30% say will happen within the next four years, according to a survey from AIB International.

The poll of 325 North American food industry executives showed that 61% of respondents say they were not adequately prepared for COVID-19, even though 63% said they had a pandemic plan in place. Of those, one-third said their plans proved inadequate.

As for effects of the pandemic, 62% of companies experienced increases in operating costs, which averaged 11%. One in three companies experienced a decrease in revenue, averaging 27%.

The biggest reason for the increased operating costs was having to spend on personal protective equipment and changes to the work environment, cited by about three-quarters of respondents. Other major expenses were sanitation, employee training and supply chain sourcing.

Employee absenteeism was the top problem of the pandemic, cited by half of respondents. A little less than half cited canceled or reduced orders.

Perhaps most surprising is that 30% of executives said they expect another pandemic in the next four years, and 50%, in the next 10.

https://www.foodprocessing.com/industrynews/2021/survey-30-expect-new-pandemic-in-four-years/

As Covid mutations spread, will herd immunity ever be possible?

PUBLISHED FRI, MAY 21 2021 1:22 AM EDT
UPDATED FRI, MAY 21 2021 7:02 PM EDT
Holly Ellyatt
@HOLLYELLYATT

KEY POINTS

The theory goes that if 60-70% of a population have Covid antibodies, then the transmission of the virus would gradually decrease
.
Vaccine hesitancy, the role of children in transmission and the emergence of new Covid variants could prevent herd immunity being achieved.

"We may never hit herd immunity on a global stage and fully eradicate the virus," one expert told CNBC.

When the coronavirus pandemic started to sweep around the world in 2020, a number of governments and health authorities appeared to pin their hopes on "herd immunity."

This approach would see the virus spread though society and cause infections, but also provoke an immune response in those who have recovered.

If enough people gained these antibodies — say, around 60-70% of the population — then the transmission of the virus would gradually decrease, and those who had not yet been infected would be protected by the increasingly small opportunity the virus had to spread.

That was the theory

In reality, Covid-19 swept through the Asia, Europe and the Americas prompting millions of infections — from which millions of people recovered — but also hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths. To date globally, the virus has caused over 164 million infections and 3.4 million deaths.

The strategy of targeting herd immunity was quickly abandoned by most countries — with some notable exceptions such as Sweden — and lockdowns became the primary way of trying to prevent the spread of Covid as vaccines were rapidly developed.

Now we have highly effective vaccines and immunization programs are continuing apace across the world. This has sparked hope that once enough people in populations have been vaccinated, herd immunity could be achieved — that is, once enough people are vaccinated, the virus will have nowhere to go and will die out.

But yet again, Covid-19 is proving to be unpredictable, and we still don't know how long protection from vaccines, or natural immunity acquired by previous infection, lasts.

Vaccine hesitancy, the role of children in transmission (young children are not eligible for vaccines) and, most importantly, the emergence of new Covid variants around the world are also unknowns that could also prevent herd immunity, experts warn.

Most of them believe Covid-19 will become endemic like the flu (meaning it will continue to circulate in parts of the population, likely as a seasonal threat) while hoping it will become less dangerous over time.

'Nowhere near herd immunity'
Epidemiologist Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the University of Texas Covid-19 Modeling Consortium, described herd immunity as "the idea that if we vaccinate enough people around the globe, the virus will have nowhere to spread, and the pandemic will completely fade out."

"Unfortunately, we are very far from that reality on a global scale," she told CNBC.

"The virus continues to spread rapidly on many continents, more contagious variants that can possibly break through immunity are continually emerging, and many countries lag far behind the U.S. in rolling out vaccines."

She noted that even in U.S. cities there are critical pockets of low immunity: "Where I live in Austin, Texas, we estimate that vaccination coverage ranges from under 40% to over 80% depending on which neighborhood you live in. Everywhere, children under age 12 cannot yet get vaccinated. As long as there are pockets of low immunity, this stealthy virus will continue to spread and produce new variants."

Nonetheless, Meyers noted that even if we don't achieve full herd immunity, "vaccines may help us get to a place where Covid-19 is a significantly less lethal threat."

There has been a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about the herd immunity threshold, according to Meyers. "Simply speaking, the herd immunity threshold is the fraction of the population that must be immunized before the virus will fade away. But in the real world, it's complicated."

"With emerging variants and pockets of low vaccination coverage, there is no guarantee we'll get there," she said, noting that it's important people realize: "The more people vaccinate, the faster the threat will fade."

"We may never hit herd immunity on a global stage and fully eradicate the virus. But that doesn't mean we won't get back to a sense of normalcy soon. We are already seeing the numbers of new cases and hospitalizations beginning to decline," Meyers added.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/05/21/is-herd-immunity-possible-new-covid-vairants-could-be-a-problem.html

Commentary: Why is COVID-19 surging in the world’s most vaccinated country?

Seychelles offers valuable lessons about mutant strains and vaccine efficacy, says a biosecurity professor.

SYDNEY: The small archipelago nation of Seychelles, northeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, has emerged as the world’s most vaccinated country for COVID-19.

Around 71 per cent of people have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 62 per cent have been fully vaccinated. Of these, 57 per cent have received the Sinopharm vaccine, and 43 per cent AstraZeneca.

Despite this, there has been a recent surge in cases, with 37 per cent of new active cases and 20 per cent of hospital cases being fully vaccinated. The country has had to reimpose some restrictions.

How can this be happening? There are several possible explanations.

One, the herd immunity threshold has not been reached — 62 per cent vaccination is likely not adequate with the vaccines being used. Two, herd immunity is unreachable due to inadequate efficacy of the two vaccines being used.

Three, variants that escape vaccine protection are dominant in Seychelles, four, the B1617 is spreading, which appears to be more infectious than other variants and finally, mass failures of the cold-chain logistics needed for transport and storage, which rendered the vaccines ineffective.

What does the country’s experience teach us about variants, vaccine efficacy and herd immunity?

VARIANTS CAN ESCAPE VACCINE PROTECTION

Let’s break this down.

There are reports of the South African B.1.351 variant circulating in Seychelles. This variant shows the greatest ability to escape vaccine protection of all COVID variants so far.

In South Africa, one study showed AstraZeneca has 0-10 per cent efficacy against this variant, prompting the South African government to stop using that vaccine in February.

The efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine against this variant is unknown, but lab studies show some reduction in protection, based on blood tests, but probably some protection.

However, no comprehensive surveillance exists in the country to know what proportion of cases are due to the South African variant.

The UK variant B117, which is more contagious than the original strain, became the dominant variant in the United States. But the US still achieved a dramatic reduction in COVID-19 cases through vaccination, with most people receiving the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

However, using lower efficacy vaccines means more people need to be vaccinated. If the vaccine is 60 per cent effective, the proportion needing to be vaccinated rises to 100 per cent.

When you get an efficacy of less than 60 per cent, herd immunity is not achievable.

VACCINATING THE WORLD IS THE BEST STRATEGY

However, these calculations were done for the regular COVID-19 caused by the D614G variant which dominated in 2020. This has a reproductive number (R0) of 2.5, meaning people infected with the virus on average infect 2.5 others.

But the B117 variant is 43-90 per cent more contagious than D614G, so the R0 may be up to 4.75. This will require higher vaccination rates to control spread.

What’s more, the B1617 variant has been estimated to be at least 50 per cent more contagious than B117, which could take the R0 to over 7, and takes us into uncharted territory.

This could explain the catastrophic situation in India, but also raises the stakes for vaccination, as lower efficacy vaccines will not be able to contain such highly transmissible variants effectively.

Herd immunity is still possible, but depends on the efficacy of the vaccine used and the proportion of people vaccinated.

A UK modelling study found using very low efficacy vaccines would result in the economy barely breaking even over ten years because it would fail to control transmission. On the other hand, using very high efficacy vaccines would result in much better economic outcomes.

As the pandemic continues to worsen in some parts of the world, the risk increases of more dangerous mutations that are vaccine-resistant or too contagious to control with current vaccines.

Keeping up with mutations is like whack-a-mole while the pandemic is raging.

The take-home message for our pandemic exit strategy is that the sooner we get the whole world vaccinated, the sooner we will control emergence of new variants.

C Raina MacIntyre is Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, at the Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales. This commentary first appeared on The Conversation.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/covid-19-vaccination-seychelles-variants-pfizer-moderna-14856378

COVID-19: Current coronavirus vaccines unlikely to protect against new variants in future, SAGE warns

The government's scientific advisers say COVID may continue to evolve for years to come and "eradication is extremely unlikely".
By David Mercer, News reporter @DavidMercerSky

Saturday 22 May 2021 06:31, UK

Current COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to protect against new variants of the virus in the future, the government's scientific advisers have warned.

In a paper published on Friday, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said coronavirus may continue to evolve for years to come and that "eradication is extremely unlikely".

The experts warn that eventually it is likely "current vaccines will fail to protect against transmission, infection, or even against disease caused by newer variants".

The document, which considers the long-term plan for COVID jabs, says that "loss of vaccine effectiveness will result in further economic and social costs" and "a solution is to update vaccines to keep pace with virus evolution".

The scientists add that "we should also consider whether future vaccination policy will aim to immunise the whole population or only those at risk from severe disease".

The document, which was produced by SAGE's vaccines update subgroup on 4 May, says current COVID jabs are based on the "Wuhan-like virus" that emerged in China in 2019.

Further doses of those vaccines might maintain protection into the winter of 2021/22 "but potentially less so for individuals with a less robust immune response", it states.

The scientists say "worryingly" there is increasing evidence that COVID vaccines are less effective at protecting against infections and mild disease caused by the South African variant of the virus, compared to the Kent variant.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/covid-19-current-coronavirus-vaccines-unlikely-to-protect-against-new-variants-in-future-sage-warns-12312976

The PPE supply chain 1 year into the pandemic: 16 things to know

Most hospitals and health systems are seeing greater availability of various types of personal protective equipment compared to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the overall PPE supply chain is still fragile, according to data from Premier.

Premier, a group purchasing organization that supplies about 4,100 hospitals and health systems in the U.S., conducted an analysis in March on the long-term effects the pandemic will have on the healthcare supply chain. Released April 1, the analysis focuses on the top PPE categories of masks, gowns and gloves. Data comes from hospitals and health systems that use Premier for supplies.

16 key takeaways from the report:

Exam gloves

Availability of exam gloves is expected to be constrained into 2023.

Global demand for nitrile exam gloves exceeds production capacity by about 215 billion units, or about 40 percent.

Shortages have been exacerbated by raw material scarcity, port closures and delays, and a twofold increase in usage since June 2020.

Hospitals and health systems cited access to exam gloves as the second-greatest challenge to care for COVID-19 patients in January, behind clinical staffing.

As of March 1, most hospitals have less than 30 days of exam gloves on hand.

Glove spend rose 250 percent between November 2020 and March 2021.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/supply-chain/the-ppe-supply-chain-1-year-into-the-pandemic-16-things-to-know.html

新冠又一年◢ 专家：变种病毒传播中 接下来两周更糟糕
2021年5月21日

（吉隆坡21日讯）国内昨日新增6806宗新冠肺炎确诊病例，创下单日新高纪录；专家警告，国内疫情或在接下来两周内进入更糟糕的阶段。

马大流行病学家拿督阿旺布吉峇博士接受《每日新闻》访问时指出，变种病毒近两周在国内开始传播，速度非常惊人，再加上一些固执的民众，不遵守标准作业程序，更是使病毒传播速度加快，确诊病例在短时间内激增。

他举例，开斋节才刚过去一周，但这几天的新增确诊病例，或也包括开斋节前两周，与民众违反斋戒月市集SOP有关。

“开斋节前两周左右，不管是社交网络平台或各大媒体，到处都是斋戒月市集人挤人，没有遵守人身距离的照片，这（斋戒月市集人挤人）是防疫大忌。”

“国内疫情在这几天内一直刷新纪录，卫生部或已没有足够人手来应对严峻疫情。”

询及国内疫情会否因政府实施行动管制令3.0（MCO 3.0）而在近期内逐步稳定，阿旺布吉峇直言，MCO 3.0的标准作业程序不够严谨，因此很难断定它会否对稳定国内疫情起关键作用。

另外，国大流行病学家莫哈末罗海扎哈山说，国内单日新增确诊病例近几日创新高，其实反映了民众不遵守SOP的问题。

他说，再加上病毒关切变异体（VOC）正急速扩散，有关当局必须严正看待问题，尽早采取行动阻断病毒进一步扩散。

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.chinapress.com.my/20210521/%25E2%2597%25A4%25E6%2596%25B0%25E5%2586%25A0%25E5%258F%2588%25E4%25B8%2580%25E5%25B9%25B4%25E2%2597%25A2-%25E4%25B8%2593%25E5%25AE%25B6%25EF%25BC%259A%25E5%258F%2598%25E7%25A7%258D%25E7%2597%2585%25E6%25AF%2592%25E4%25BC%25A0%25E6%2592%25AD%25E4%25B8%25AD-%25E6%258E%25A5%25E4%25B8%258B%25E6%259D%25A5%25E4%25B8%25A4%25E5%2591%25A8/amp/

US medical supply chain not ready for another pandemic, hospital CEO tells Senate panel

The CEO of a New Jersey safety-net hospital told U.S. senators May 19 about his facility's struggles to obtain medical supplies and medications during the initial COVID-19 response in 2020, and said even now he does not believe the U.S. is prepared for another pandemic, according to NJ.com

Dr. Elnahal also told senators his facility was on the phone with suppliers and struggled to obtain medical supplies and had to contend with a lack of shortage of many critical medications and increases in prices on medications that were specifically helpful for COVID-19.

Now, more than a year into the pandemic, he said there is still work to do regarding the U.S. medical supply chain, and that the country is too dependent on foreign manufacturers for medications and equipment, NJ.com reported.

"Today, we are in the final miles of the pandemic, but our public health crisis isn't completely over," Dr. Elnahal said, according to the report. "The reality is that I am still not convinced that we are prepared for the next pandemic — whether from a vaccine-resistant variant of COVID-19 or a different pathogen altogether."

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/supply-chain/us-medical-supply-chain-not-ready-for-another-pandemic-hospital-ceo-tells-senate-panel.html

Planning For The Next Pandemic
Monday, May 17th 2021, 5:16 PM EDT

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WENY) — Some people are focused on putting an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, others are looking to the future in preparation for the next pandemic.

Nicole Hassoun, philosophy professor at Binghamton University and Visiting Scholar at Cornell, says research suggests the world is facing threats of more frequent pandemics.

"Potentially much worse ones. Partly this comes from the fact that we haven't invested enough in fighting many other diseases besides COVID," Hassoun said
According to Hassoun, the threat of another pandemic comes from diseases that we know about and ones we don't know about. Researchers are focused on creating global health initiatives to respond to this threat before it's too late.

"We have basic health systems in place for everyone so we can vaccinate people quickly so that if the next pandemic doesn't kill one percent of the global population, but ten percent of all people."

Hassoun says the first step is to get manufacturers on board here in the United States and around the world, making things like PPE and vaccines more accessible.

https://www.weny.com/story/43902543/planning-for-the-next-pandemic

Covid outbreaks in Asia could hit supply chains and raise U.S. inflation, says expert

Fresh waves of Covid-19 cases in major manufacturing hubs in Asia could hit global supply chains — and that could cause inflation to rise quicker in the U.S., a business consultant said Wednesday.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are among Asian manufacturing economies that have reported a renewed Covid outbreak in the last few weeks. Products or components made in those economies are shipped globally to places as far as the U.S.

The increase in infections has come as demand for goods from the U.S. and China — the world's top two economies — has contributed to "a really fast rise" in factory-gate prices in East Asia, said Richard Martin, managing director of IMA Asia.

Martin told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" that any "glitch" in the global supply chain, such as the shutdown of "key factories" across Asia could result in "a big push up in inflation."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/05/19/asia-covid-surges-could-hit-supply-chains-raise-us-inflation-expert.html

Coronavirus latest news: Indian variant risks pushing Britain into third wave, Sage scientist warns

The Indian variant risks pushing Britain into a third wave of coronavirus, a Sage scientist has claimed, despite Boris Johnson’s "increasing confidence" that the lifting of lockdown is on track.

Prof Andrew Hayward, who researches infectious diseases at University College London, said he was "very concerned" about the Indian variant due to its higher transmissibility.

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether the country was at the start of the third wave, he said "I think so" and called for travel to be "minimised full-stop".

"I think what we can see is that this strain can circulate very effectively, although it was originally imported through travel to India, it's spread fairly effectively first of all within households and now more broadly within communities, so I don't really see why it wouldn't continue to spread in other parts of the country," he said.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-covid-indian-variant-lockdown-vaccine-uk-cases/amp/

Coronavirus variant from India could quickly become dominant, U.K. scientists warn

LONDON — British scientists have raised alarm about the coronavirus variant first found in India, advising the government in technical papers that it could be as much as 50 percent more contagious than the highly transmissible strain first found in the U.K. that became dominant in many places around the world this spring.

Much remains unknown about the new variant — known as B.1.617.2 — in part because India has done so little genetic sequencing. Indian officials cannot say how much it is responsible for the devastating outbreak there.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/india-variant-uk/2021/05/18/68e0bf12-b7e0-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html%3foutputType=amp

World’s most vaccinated nation, Seychelles, faces fresh surge of COVID-19 infections

Seychelles, which has vaccinated a higher proportion of its population against COVID-19 than any other country, is facing a fresh surge of infections. The island nation has closed schools and cancelled sporting activities for two weeks as the number of active coronavirus cases has more than doubled since last week.

The hike in coronavirus cases has raised concerns that the vaccination is not helping to reduce the virus infection in some places, reported Bloomberg.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/worlds-most-vaccinated-nation-seychelles-faces-fresh-surge-of-covid-19-infections-6877491.html/amp

大马离单日1万宗病例不远了”　拉菲达医生吁落实全面MCO

（吉隆坡7日讯）布城医院内科和肾脏科顾问拉菲达阿都拉医生直言，我国深切治疗部病床吃紧，甚至非深切治疗部病床都需要放置呼吸辅助器，使我国离单日新增1万宗病例不远了。

她表示，以上情况还只是开始而已，医护人员毫无疑问已经想放弃。

“我还未确定的是——我们会否经历印度现今所经历的？”


我国今日新增4498宗确诊病例，拉菲达医生是在面子书专页上撰文，如是表示。

https://www.orientaldaily.com.my/news/nation/2021/05/07/410039

Moderna CEO expects more Covid variants to emerge in coming months: 'This virus is not going away'
PUBLISHED THU, MAY 6 2021 8:54 AM

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said Thursday the company expects more Covid-19 variants will emerge in coming months as the Southern Hemisphere enters its fall and winter seasons.

Bancel, speaking to investors on a first-quarter earnings call, said people will likely need to get booster shots of its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine as the virus circulates globally.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/05/06/moderna-ceo-expects-more-covid-variants-to-emerge-in-coming-months-this-virus-is-not-going-away.html

What are COVID-19 escape mutants and how much do you need to worry about them?
By Melissa Pandika
May 5, 2021


Many of us are all too eager for Hot Vax Summer, that supposed sunny, balmy paradise when the fully vaccinated among us can finally bask in some semblance of normal. But as Insider points out, much still hangs in the balance. Less than 10% of the global population has been vaccinated, the outlet notes, all while new, in some cases more contagious, variants continue to emerge. Some experts are concerned about the possibility of variants known as “escape mutants.” What are escape mutants, though, and how much do we need to worry about them?

Escape mutants are variants of SARS-CoV-2 that have acquired mutations that allow it to sneak past the immune defenses our bodies have built, whether the result of previous infection or vaccines, per The BMJ. Insider explains that our current conditions — many partially vaccinated people and communities with low immunity to the virus — are ideal for these mutants to surface. They weed out the variants most vulnerable to the vaccines, allowing those that can evade these agents to thrive.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mic.com/p/what-are-covid-19-escape-mutants-how-much-do-you-need-to-worry-about-them-76588158/amp

While India suffers, other Asian countries are also seeing worrying Covid-19 spikes

Countries ranging from Laos to Nepal have all been reporting surges in cases, in a sign the pandemic is far from over


While the world watches the awful scenes of India's funeral pyres burning round the clock and Covid-19 patients gasping for air, other Asian countries are also facing their own surging waves of infection.

The sheer scale of the crisis unfolding in India has grabbed worldwide attention, but India's health system is not the only one under strain.

In recent weeks countries ranging from Laos to Thailand, Fiji and Nepal have all been reporting significant surges in cases, in what health officials say is a warning the pandemic is far from over.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/india-suffers-asian-countries-also-seeing-worrying-covid-19/amp/

First cases of Brazilian, Chilean coronavirus variants detected in Israel

(May 4, 2021 / Israel Hayom) The Brazilian variant of the Covid-19 virus was detected in Israel for the first time on Monday, in a vaccinated adult and an infant entering the country from abroad. One case of the Chilean variant of the virus was also detected in a vaccinated Israeli man returning from abroad. Additionally, 19 foreigners in the country were diagnosed with the Indian variant, bringing the total known cases of this variant to 60.

https://www.jns.org/first-cases-of-brazilian-chilean-coronavirus-variants-detected-in-israel/

Hope for COVID-19 Herd Immunity Is Fading. Here’s Why

Experts say herd immunity is an increasingly elusive goal when it comes to COVID-19.
While the United States is making progress with vaccinations, there’s still a long way to go.

On a global scale, a small percentage of people have been vaccinated.

Until a majority of Americans are vaccinated, it’s still best to follow mask wearing and physical distancing guidelines.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/hope-for-covid-19-herd-immunity-is-fading-heres-why

The Group is encouraged by the consistently strong demand for gloves and its orderbook for the current 2.5 billion pieces of nitrile disposable gloves capacity has been fully taken up until end-2021. Buoyed by the robust demand for gloves and other PPE, the Group anticipates global gloves consumption growth to exceed that of pre-COVID-19 levels and with this foresight, has further committed to invest into additional nitrile disposable glove production lines capable of generating 7.5 billion pieces of gloves annually at a new plant site in Lahat, Kinta district, Perak. Upon completion of this expansion in FY2022, the Group’s annual installed capacity would increase to 10.0 billion pieces, a 300% growth from its current level.

DNA Special: Beware of the 'Don' coronavirus variant

While India is struggling to contain the pandemic, a new, more dangerous variant of the coronavirus has emerged, which specializes in fooling the tests.

When a person is infected with this new variant, he first catches a cough, then a high fever and there is also trouble in breathing. With these symptoms, one may feel that he has COVID-19, but when they get tested, the report comes negative. Not one or two, even after three tests, the result remains the same - negative.

And when the patients assume that they do not have COVID-19 infection and it is just common fever and cold, then this virus attacks their lungs and sends them to the hospital. In many cases, patients have also died. The most dangerous thing about this new variant is that it is not detected in the tests. That is, you will have the infection, but when you get tested, your report will come negative.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dnaindia.com/india/report-dna-special-beware-of-the-don-coronavirus-variant-2886564/amp

Hospitals run short of beds as Asia's COVID-19 cases surge

NEW DELHI/BANGKOK (Reuters) - India and Thailand reported record daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, as a new wave of infections, combined with a shortage of hospital beds and vaccines, threatens to slow Asia's recovery from the pandemic.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2C213Z

A Dangerous New Covid-19 Variant Detected In Oregon

The detection B.1.1.7-O is troubling for several reasons. The variant may spread rapidly in the United States and may be vaccine-resistant. The variant also may be able to re-infect those infected earlier in the pandemic as is the case for both B.1.351 and B.1.1.28.1 that carry the E484K and N501Y mutations.

The appearance of B.1.1.7-O serves as a warning of the continuing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 from older variants, like B.1.1.7, towards increased transmissibility, virulence, and immune evasion in the United States and elsewhere. Effective public health mitigation measures, surveillance, and rapid deployment of second-generation vaccines seem the only way to contain this ever more dangerous virus.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/04/13/a-dangerous-new-covid-19-variant-detected-in-oregon/amp/

THAILAND: More than 28,000 people could be infected by COVID-19 per day over the next month if no disease control measures are put in place during the current spike, which is thought to be more severe than the previous two rounds, a senior public health official warned yesterday (Apr 11).

https://www.thephuketnews.com/grim-warning-amid-covid-surge-79652.php

COVID-19 vaccine shortages to hit world’s poorest countries as COVAX halts deliveries

LONDON (AP) — As many as 60 countries, including some of the world’s poorest, might be stalled at the first shots of their COVID-19 vaccinations because nearly all deliveries through the global program intended to help them are blocked until as late as June.

On Friday, the head of the World Health Organization slammed the “shocking imbalance” in global COVID-19 vaccination. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus said that while one in four people in rich countries had received a vaccine, only one in 500 people in poorer countries had gotten a dose.

The vaccine shortage stems mostly from India’s decision to stop exporting vaccines from its Serum Institute factory, which produces the overwhelming majority of the AstraZeneca doses that COVAX counted on to supply around a third of the global population at a time coronavirus is spiking worldwide.

“In the absence of high vaccination coverage globally, we risk dragging out the pandemic for several more years,” said Lavanya Vasudevan, an assistant professor at Duke University’s Global Health Institute. “Every day that the virus is in circulation is an opportunity for it to mutate into a more deadly variant.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/globalnews.ca/news/7750954/covid-vaccine-shortage-covax-poor-countries/amp/

Devastating Covid-19 Variant In Brazil Now One Of The Most Reported Variants In U.S., CDC Data Shows

The P.1 variant of coronavirus causing devastation in Brazil is now one of the most reported variants in the U.S., data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows, following an uptick in new infections and the spread of the contagious B.1.1.7 U.K. variant officials say is now the dominant strain circulating in the U.S..

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/04/09/devastating-covid-19-variant-in-brazil-now-2nd-most-reported-variant-in-us-cdc-data-shows/amp/