Aaron Derfel Profile picture
Feb 10 13 tweets 7 min read
1) As countries around the world rush to lift public health protections in the #pandemic, it’s instructive to check out what's happening now in areas that were first hit by the super contagious Omicron variant: South Africa and Denmark. Are they much better off? The answer is no.
2) On Dec. 30, the government of South Africa declared its #Omicron-fuelled wave officially over and proceeded to ease restrictions, including eliminating a nighttime curfew. The country was first buffeted by the supposedly mild variant in mid-November. How is it doing today?
3) It’s true #COVID deaths in South Africa peaked on Jan. 24 and then plunged soon afterward. But the mortality wave has since rebounded, as the chart below by Our World in Data reveals. Epidemiologically, the most reliable indicator of the severity of the pandemic are deaths.
4) Despite the increase in deaths – with South Africa declaring 213 on Thursday, up from a tally of 48 four days earlier – the #pandemic has vanished from the front pages of that nation’s newspapers. South Africa also doesn’t make public its statistics on #COVID hospitalizations.
5) Meanwhile, Denmark is not reporting any let-up in #COVID deaths, either, but to the contrary, a steady increase, as the chart below by Our World In Data indicates. Denmark started observing a surge in Omicron cases in early December, with much of the world watching it closely.
6) Since then, #COVID hospitalizations in Denmark have also been ticking upwards despite the highest booster vaccination rate by far in Europe. Please take a look at the hospitalizations chart below by Our World in Data.
7) Yet Denmark is getting rid of public health protections, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen saying her country wants to return "to life as we knew it before corona." Part of the justification was a decrease in ICU stays. But look: since last week ICU stays stopped dropping.
8) What’s more, positive #COVID screening results reached a record level in Denmark two days ago, with the country registering a testing positivity rate of just under 32%, which is the highest observed during the entire pandemic, according to broadcaster DR.
9) Although Denmark continues to test widely for COVID, other nations – including Canada – have stopped doing so. In the province of Québec, for example, as a result of less testing, the COVID case rate is no longer considered a reliable indicator of the severity of the pandemic.
10) Moreover, although Quebec's COVID hospitalizations have dropped sharply, this comes after a new policy a month ago of transferring patients prematurely back to long-term care so as not to overwhelm hospitals. Indirectly, this has contributed to lowering the official tally.
11) But in Québec, #COVID deaths remain stubbornly high, almost following the recent trend in South Africa. Québec’s latest seven-day mortality average is 35, compared with 32 during its supposedly more virulent #Delta-driven wave last winter. Please review the chart below.
12) Increasingly, our electorally-obsessed politicians tell us we've reached the point where we must “live with the virus.” By that, do they mean live with more #COVID deaths than a year ago, not to mention the proliferation of long COVID? End of thread.
13) ADDENDUM: Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital, considered one of the most efficient in the city, reported an emergency-room occupancy rate of 196% (!) on Thursday afternoon, the highest in the city, possibly an ominous sign in the #pandemic.

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More from @Aaron_Derfel

Feb 12
1) Some Québec parents are now traveling to Plattsburgh to get their teenagers boosted with a third #COVID dose because the government here has chosen not to expand booster immunization for this entire age group. In this thread, I will examine the science behind this decision.
2) First, though, let me share with you what I’ve learned about this example of medical tourism, which is somewhat reminiscent of Québec cancer patients traveling to Plattsburgh in 1999 (but at the government's expense) because of a lack of oncology resources in the province.
3) One Montreal mother drove across the U.S. border on Friday to get her two teens boosted. The shots were free, but the mom had to pay $125 for each child for a #COVID test to return with the all-clear to Canada.
Read 14 tweets
Feb 9
1) In China’s version of “bread and circuses,” the Winter Olympics are in full swing, with journalists unable to report on what is going on outside the Games. Meanwhile, the nation of 1.4 billion declared just three #COVID deaths – on July 23, 2021.
2) On Jan. 31, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China issued a report warning that “as the number of journalists forced out by the Chinese state grows, covering China is increasingly becoming an exercise in remote reporting.”
3) “State-backed attacks against foreign journalists, particularly trolling campaigns online, have made it increasingly hard for journalists remaining in China to operate,” the report adds. You can read the full report here: fccchina.org/2022/01/31/med…
Read 9 tweets
Feb 9
1) Countries and jurisdictions around the world are rushing to lift a wide range of public health restrictions despite the fact that #COVID hospitalizations remain high and testing has dropped off. In this thread, I will survey what I’m calling the Great Resignation. Image
2) In Germany, where #COVID ICU stays have been climbing for the past three weeks, several German states are loosening #pandemic requirements. Bavaria, for example, is opening up for sports and cultural events, while Brandenberg might allow the unvaccinated to shop with a mask. Image
3) In the United States in Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware, schoolchildren will no longer have to wear masks. On Tuesday, New York State announced businesses won't have to ask for proof of full vaccination. Meanwhile, #COVID deaths are still rising in the U.S. See below. Image
Read 11 tweets
Feb 8
1) In less than three weeks – 18 days to be precise – the total number of #COVID hospitalizations in Québec plummeted by 1,000 to 2,425, still high but more manageable. In this thread, I'll focus on this fragile progress while drawing attention to a new blind spot: vaccinations. Image
2) Jan. 18 had marked the highest number of #COVID hospitalizations at any point in the pandemic in Québec. It was at that juncture that the government considered activating its Plan B, which would have meant sending family members into hospitals to care for their loved ones.
3) Another reassuring trend appears to be a steady decrease in #COVID deaths. Québec has posted declining deaths in the past six days. Please see the red line in the chart below and compare the latest daily toll with the 98 deaths declared on Jan. 20. Image
Read 11 tweets
Feb 6
1) Two years into the #pandemic, something odd is now occurring worldwide in the #COVID19 crisis, with the number of global deaths surging while cases seem to be falling. This has not happened quite this way previously. In this thread, I will try to explain why this is occurring.
2) During the first wave of the pandemic in the winter of 2020, #COVID testing wasn't widely conducted around the world. The best indicator at the time was the number of deaths, which quickly skyrocketed. Please see the chart below comparing global cases with deaths at that time.
3) But later on, as countries around the world started testing for #COVID intensively, another pattern emerged. Deaths started to track more closely with the number of new cases, with declared deaths appearing a few weeks after infections were recorded. See an example below.
Read 14 tweets
Feb 5
1) Japan — generally lauded for its response to the #COVID crisis — is now in the grip of what it’s calling a 6th wave in the #pandemic. To be blunt, what the hell is now going wrong in Japan and what lessons can Québec draw from the Land of the Rising Sun?
2) As you can glimpse from the chart below, #COVID hospitalizations in Canada are now in decline, while they are climbing in Japan. Toyko’s metropolitan government has ordered hospitals to boost the number of emergency beds to accept patients at night.
3) In an alarming development reminiscent of what Quebec has been going through, the Japanese government is considering whether it should send low-risk #COVID patients back home to “prevent medical facilities from being overwhelmed.”
Read 9 tweets

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