Thread by @fredwalton216

1) Covid live: Germany sets second consecutive daily record for new cases; US vaccine manufacturer loses contract theguardian.com/world/live/202…

2) Pfizer’s antiviral pill for Covid-19 trial stopped early, after drug cut H admission or death risks by 89%, for adults at risk of developing severe disease. Pfizer results surpass trial results of Merck molnupiravir, which halved death or H admission risk for similar patients;

3) German state leaders said on Friday that hospitals could soon soon become swamped by Covid-19 patients and a new lockdown might be needed unless urgent action is taken to reverse a surge in cases;

4) Slovakia reported 6,805 new cases Fri, the health ministry said today, a daily record;
5) Germany records 2nd straight daily record for new cases on Fri, reporting 37,120 new cases over last 24 hours, as per Robert Koch Institute. 154 new deaths also reported by RKI;

6) Russia reported 40,735 new Covid-19 cases & 1,192 covid linked deaths. That is up from 40,217 cases TH;
7) Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam said she expected border with ML China to largely reopen in February 2022, as the two governments stick to their zero Covid-19 policies;

8) US gov’t cancels $628M w/Emergent BioSolutions, a
💉 manufacturer. In March it contaminated 15M 💉doses of J&J;
9) GOP Govs expected to sue today to stop Biden Admin
💉mandate on ~ 2M US employers, to get workers tested or💉 for Covid-19, saying it tramples civil liberties;

10) French MPs voted to allow gov’t to continue to enforce controversial pass sanitaire until next August. People in 🇫🇷 must use health pass, introduced in full in August, to partake in aspects of life as routine as visiting a cafe or museum, or traveling on an intercity train;

11) Europe is once again at centre of the Covid pandemic, the WHO has said. Cases are at near-record levels & 500K more deaths forecast by February. Uneven vaccine coverage and a relaxation of preventive measures have brought Europe to a “critical point” in pandemic, WHO says;

12) Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan (jailed for her coverage of China’s initial response to Covid in Wuhan) is close to death after going on hunger strike. Her family announced this news, prompting renewed calls from rights groups for her immediate release;

13) In New Zealand a second person infected with Covid-19 has died while isolating at home alone, as the country recorded 163 new cases in the community – its highest ever daily number;

14) UK becomes 1st nation to approval oral antiviral pill to treat Covid. ~500K doses of molnupiravir (pill taken 2X daily at home), due for delivery from mid-Nov & to be prioritized via NHS study for elderly Covid patients & the vulnerable - such as compromised immune systems;

15) About 1.1M people (~ 1 in 50 ) in England had covid in the week to Oct 30, according to Friday’s data. ONS said % of people testing (+) for covid had ⬆️ more slowly over a 2 week period, but that trend was uncertain in that week, the most recent for which data is available;

16) Authorities in Croatia to limit gatherings and widen the use of Covid passports after the numbers of infected people hit new records again on Friday. Croatia reported nearly 7,000 new infections on Friday after confirming around 6,300 a day before, according to the AP;

17) Denmark epidemiologist Lone Simonsen has said the pandemic will effectively be “over” in her country by next spring as sufficient people will have been either vaccinated or have acquired immunity through infection;

18) Japan will ease border controls for fully vaccinated travellers, excluding tourists, from Monday, responding to lobbying by businesses that followed a rapid decline in infections;

19) Indonesia COVID-19 update for November 5.

https://twitter.com/nuicemedia/status/1456562163628216323

20) Flash: New Covid-19 infections dropped to 4,922 on Nov 5, bringing cumulative number of positive cases to 2,497,265 — Health DG

https://twitter.com/theedgemalaysia/status/1456610767650770946

21) Belgium sees largest one day increase since November 2020.

https://twitter.com/bnodesk/status/1456576833407832064

22) Good round of COVID-19 news items for Canada and globally.

https://twitter.com/Crof/status/1456622727146606597

23) South Korea's new covid cases stayed above 2.3K for
3rd straight day Friday, 4 days after 🇰🇷 relaxed its virus curbs nationwide, in line w/its "living w/COVID-19" scheme.

🇰🇷 reported 2,344 new cases (2,324 local cases), raising the total cases to 375,464, the KDCA said.

https://twitter.com/Crof/status/1456619236302856200

24) Vietnam dashboard for November 5 👇🏾

https://twitter.com/vietcetera/status/1456619929738809351

25) Every single person in Germany should get Covid-19 💉 booster jab, 🇩🇪 Regional Health Mins agree. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn also has called for booster jabs for all. But 🇩🇪 Stiko Vaccine Commission hasn’t recommended that, just boosters for >70s or vulnerable people;

26) German state of Saxony announced sweeping new curbs for un💉 people or those recovered from covid.

From Monday, access to indoor dining & other indoor events limited to fully💉 or people show proof of recovery, local gov’t minister Petra Koepping said in Dresden presser;

27) French President Emmanuel Macron is to speak to the nation on Tuesday evening about the resurgence of Covid-19 infections as well as other issues including economic reforms, 🇫🇷 Gov’t Spokesman Gabriel Attal said;

28) 193 further deaths within 28 days of a positive test for coronavirus in the UK, according to the latest official data. The UK Gov’t’s COVID Dashboard also reported 34,029 more people testing (+) on Friday, and 1,072 patients being admitted to Hospitals;

29) Italy reported 51 covid-related deaths on Friday, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose by 6,764;
30) Every person in Malta will be offered Covid-19 vaccine booster doses, after a recent increase in cases, the health minister said on Friday;

31) France’s Prime Minister Jean Castex said the national incidence rate - the number of new infections per week per 100,000 inhabitants - was now well above alert level of 50;

32) US secures millions of doses of Pfizer’s experimental antiviral pill, in case it turns out to be an effective treatment for Covid-19, President Biden said Friday.

“If authorized by the FDA we may soon have pills that treat the virus in those who become infected,” Biden said;

33) As of November 5 2021, MOH has detected a total of 1,767 new COVID-19 cases (1,639 community cases, 120 dorm resident cases & 8 imports). For local cases, today are 284 seniors (aged 60 years & ⬆️). The ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before is 0.81.

https://twitter.com/sporemoh/status/1456634723715858441

34) And all of the deer in the wild…

https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1456723101128040449

35) There are now 73 people in hospital, with seven people in ICU care. The average age of those in hospital is 51.

https://twitter.com/radionz/status/1456780420360536064

36) Victoria overview :
Doses at state run clinics yesterday: 15,058
Total: 4,681,798
Fully vaccinated (12+): 82%

Hospitalised: 651
7 Day Average: 667
In ICU: 106
Ventilated: 70

Tests: 65,410
New cases: 1,268
Lives lost: 7
Active cases: 16,662

https://twitter.com/vicgovdh/status/1456744226172010496

37) NSW #COVID19 update – Saturday 6 November 2021

In the 24-hour reporting period to 8pm last night:

- 93.8% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 89.4% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 72,350 tests

https://twitter.com/nswhealth/status/1456773584072839169

38) For the first time, reported cases nationally are now most commonly children under the age of 12, who do not qualify to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Children under 12 make up about 20% of new daily cases, Dr. Tam said, though they represent only 12% of the population.

https://twitter.com/crof/status/1456768898917802028

39) US COVID update: Daily cases rise for second day in a row, 7 day average continues trend, however, reporting issues have muddled things a bit.

- New cases: 92,359
- Average: 72,191 (+295)

https://twitter.com/bnodesk/status/1456782104633745416

40) Interesting…….

https://twitter.com/spwells/status/1456789584646340609