With the peak in COVID-19 infections still to come according to the Director-General of Health, by Nov 9 France had taken over #2 spot for total daily incidence and is placed fourth overall in case numbers (per Johns Hopkins tracking dashboard). The Nov 8 PAHO update noted that ‘ the WHO Region of the Americas and the WHO European Region, represent 70% of the total confirmed cases and 78% of the total deaths’, with the European region reporting the highest relative increase in cases and deaths since mid-October. It took just three weeks for the global case count to jump from 40 to 50 million (20 to 30 million in 37 days and 30 to 40 million in 31 days).
In related news:
-Strongly positive early results from the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, phase III trial involving more than 43,000 participants will be followed up with more data due in the third week of November and emergency use authoritisation in the US won’t be sought until ‘half of the patients in their study have been observed for any safety issues for at least two months following their second dose’ - two doses are administered three weeks apart. STAT news reports that data is still lacking on asymptomatic carriage of SARS-CoV-2 and the vaccine’s efficacy in preventing severe COVID-19 infection. Some eventual distribution challenges are anticipated in view of the temperature (-70°C) at which the vaccine must be stored. More from Pfizer.
-The WHO issued a Disease outbreak news post on Nov 6 relating to coronavirus infections in Denmark that were associated with a mink variant. The agency reported on 214 human cases ‘with SARS-CoV-2 variants associated with farmed minks, including 12 cases with a unique variant, reported on 5 November. All 12 cases were identified in September 2020 in North Jutland’. The ECDC added that there are many unknowns relating to any potential implications of the five different clusters of mink variants that have been identified, one of which ‘showed less sensitivity to neutralising antibodies from people with previous COVID-19 infection’. More from GAVI.
-Resulting from news of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in Denmark, the UK instituted a travel ban for visitors from Denmark on Nov 7 (to be reviewed after seven days) and UK residents returning from there must self-isolate for two weeks, with no exceptions (except ‘freight and hauliers’).
-A global dashboard of wastewater monitoring sites for SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been established as monitoring ‘has been shown effective to predict outbreaks of COVID-19 by 2-14 days’. The stated goal of COVIDPoops19 is ‘to provide a global map of SARS-CoV-2 wastewater testing so the public can easily see where testing is happening in their area’. Read more.
-Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infections such as polio, measles, yellow fever, cholera and typhoid are forecast over the next two years unless immunity gaps caused by loss of vaccination services during the pandemic are addressed. Read more
Before you travel, call Travelvax Australia’s telephone advisory service on 1300 360 164 (toll-free from landlines) for country-specific advice and information. You can also make an appointment at your nearest Travelvax clinic to obtain vaccinations, medication to prevent or treat illness, and accessories for your journey.