The Overseas Situation Report Tuesday 1 March 2022
by Mike Evans
“We have an unprecedented opportunity to change the narrative in our country away from divisiveness towards shared hope”
Dr. Susan Hillis, Senior Research Officer, Oxford University
As the world’s attention is now focused on the attack on Ukraine by Russian forces you could be forgiven to think that the pandemic has gone away. True, the number of cases is dropping across the world. In the past week there has been a drop of 16% in new reported cases and a drop of 18% in deaths across the world.
However, there were still around 10.6 million new cases reported across the world in the past week, so it is not going away anytime soon.
While the situation in Ukraine is taking all the headlines there are still many stories around covid which have left an impact on so many people around the world. One such issue is something we have written about before but the latest research from the Lancet shows a much bigger impact than first thought. We are talking about how children have been affected by losing a parent or caregiver to the virus.
Approximately 5.2 million children have lost a parent or caregiver during the pandemic, according to a new study published in The Lancet medical journal recently.
An analysis by the same team of researchers in July 2021 had estimated 1.5 million children were orphaned during the first 14-months of the pandemic, meaning they lost at least one parent. But with new variants and a rising death count, the researchers said they felt compelled to re-evaluate the analysis.
Between May 2021 and October 2021, deaths globally nearly doubled compared to the months prior, a jump attributed predominantly to the Delta variant. This new study estimates that approximately 5.2 million children are experiencing COVID-related orphanhood.
“What we found was shocking,” said Dr. Susan Hillis, the study’s lead author and a senior research officer at Oxford University, who completed this work while at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The number of children who lost at least one parent at the end of the first 20-months of the pandemic was greater than the total number of COVID deaths, and this gap is increasing, according to the study.
Children aged 10 through 17 were more likely to have lost a parent, with 2.1 million children affected. Still, over 490,000 children between ages 0 and 4, and 750,000 children between ages 5 and 10 lost a parent or caregiver.
Among all children, 3 out of every 4 lost a father, which is even more significant in low-income countries where the father is more likely to be the primary earner.
“COVID-related orphanhood does not come in waves,” Hillis said. “It is a steadily rising slope with the summit still out of our sight.” Although many may recover from an infection, losing a parent is not something that can be easily recovered from, she said.
“These are 5 million kids in one generation that will be living the rest of their lives in a very different way, and this affects us all,” said Dr. Natasha Burgert, a paediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Paediatrics. Burgert was not involved with the study.
As part of their work, Hillis and her team said they developed a real-time calculator to predict loss of parent or caregiver by current mortality data for every country in the world. By the end of January 2022, the estimate had risen to 6.7 million children worldwide affected by COVID orphanhood, according to the research. In the United States, the researchers estimate over 149,000 children have lost a parent or caregiver.
However, despite these staggering numbers, Hillis says there is hope.
For the last 20 years, the U.S. government has been investing in evidence-based programs to ensure orphaned and highly vulnerable children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic could be protected and supported to reach their potential, the researchers noted.
“We actually know the models that work,” Hillis says. “We have an opportunity to lead by example.”
Experts say these findings underscore the importance of vaccinating adults across the globe. “Vaccines are keeping people alive in the face of this terrible virus and keeping families whole,” says Burgert.
While authors continue to call for equitable access to vaccines and treatment globally, the millions of children already orphaned still need support, they said.
“We need to be supporting our childcare centres, local schools and larger university systems with the resources needed to create a cushion of support and a safe place for social-emotional learning,” says Burgert. “Educators, counsellors, administrators, physicians and legislators need to be preparing for the upcoming impact, and they will need everyone’s help.”
The CDC, WHO and many top experts around the world have agreed to the importance of adding an additional pillar to the world-wide COVID response: Caring for and protecting these children.
There is currently no governmental funding in the United States aimed at acknowledging and protecting these children in their hidden pandemic, the researchers noted.
“We have an unprecedented opportunity to change the narrative in our country away from divisiveness towards shared hope,” says Hillis. “It is a moral imperative for us to do what we know works to help the ones at home and to encourage every country in the world to do the same.”
Within the same report some interesting facts were detailed. Peru had the highest rate of orphanhood cases per capita with eight out of every 1,000 children affected followed by South Africa.
In Peru the covid 19 virus killed at least one parent or primary caregiver for nearly 100,000 children in Peru, the country with the world’s highest coronavirus death rate. “Unfortunately, our country has almost 98,000 children who lost their father, mother or guardian during the pandemic,” said Peru’s Minister of Women Anahi Durand, citing figures published in the medical journal The Lancet. Peru leads the world in overall Covid deaths per capita, with more than 6,000 Peruvians per million having died from the disease, according to an AFP analysis of official figures.
In all 20 countries studied, children were more than three times more likely to have lost a father than a mother. The report also suggested that older children were affected more than younger children, with adolescents aged 10-17 accounting for almost two out of three children who lost a parent to COVID-19.
In California, A bill introduced in the California Legislature last month seeks to give children who are in this situation some hope for a better future, and one children welfare policy expert told ABC News this legislation could serve as a blueprint for the rest of the country. Under California state Sen. Nancy Skinner’s Hope, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Empowerment (HOPE) for Children Act, children who lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19 and are in the state’s foster care system or a low-income household would be eligible for a state-funded trust fund.
Speaking in an interview with the broadcaster ABC News, Skinner said there is a great need for this program since data has shown a large number of COVID-19 orphans were of low-income families who didn’t have options such as life insurance to provide for their loved ones after they died.
“Those children would be in an especially vulnerable situation when they’re adults and on their own,” she said. Over 200,000 Americans under 18 have lost a parent or adult caregiver to COVID-19, according to research released by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, up from 140,000 in October.
Skinner’s office estimates that 20,000 Californian children have lost their parents or caregiver to the virus so far. They are working to ascertain exactly how many of those children are in the California foster system.
If the bill passes, the state will make an initial deposit of $4,000 for eligible children under 10 and $8,000 for eligible children over 10. Annual deposits would continue with an amount that will be later determined, and the state would handle the investment options, according to the bill’s current language.
Once the eligible children turn 18 or 21, depending on their status in the foster care system, they would be able to withdraw the funds from the HOPE account.
“The money wouldn’t be available to them now, but the very presence would ensure that they have some financial wellness when they are adults,” Skinner said.
Skinner said her office is still determining the income thresholds for eligible COVID-19 orphans not in the foster care system, though she is considering using the same income requirements used for MediCal, the state’s Medicaid system.
She noted that data shows the majority of the state’s COVID-19 orphans are children of colour.The program will be paid for using taxpayer money already in the state budget and would not seek tax increases, Skinner said.
The bill also seeks to create a California survivor benefit program that would create a cash benefit for minors who aren’t eligible for other forms of financial assistance, such as Social Security, when their parent or caregiver dies.
AS we begin to see the end of this pandemic, we should all be mindful that for many the memories will never go away of losing loved ones.
Until the next time stay safe.
Total Cases Worldwide – 436,400,525
Total Deaths Worldwide – 5,970,270
Total Recovered Worldwide – 367,091,218
Total Active Cases Worldwide – 63,339,037 (14.5 % of the total cases)
Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 373,061,488
Information and Resources:
https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/weekly-trends/#countries
A total of 6 flights were cancelled and 40 flights were diverted or delayed as a result of strong winds that had hit Funchal Airport. Flights were diverted to Faro, Las Palmas, Lisbon, Porto Santo and Tenerife. Two aircraft had to stay overnight in Porto Santo. More than 7,500 passengers were affected by these flight disruptions. Strong winds had been affecting flights to Funchal for over 4 days. It is hoped that the weather will have improved by the end of the day and that all affected travellers will be able to travel.
Vladimir Putin made the request during a session broadcast live on the Federation Council’s website. On the same occasion, one of the Defence Secretaries of State argued that the country had no option but to embark on the use of force across borders. He added that Western-brokered peace agreements seeking to end a conflict in eastern Ukraine no longer existed, after he recognised the independence of the ex-Soviet country’s separatist regions.
Self-scheduling of the first dose of vaccination is now available for children aged 5 to 11 years, on the weekend of February 26 and 27. On this new date, it is again possible to choose the most convenient location, “according to the availability and installed capacity of the existing vaccination posts”.
According to data for the month of January, in the last four years “the average number of arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol is 468”, explained a source from the PSP. The average number of crimes – not necessarily including arrests – for driving under the influence is 545 between 2018 and 2021.
On this issue, the Vila Real de Santo António Parish Council promotes on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th of this month, an action on dating violence with the theme “Dating makes you talk”, in a protocol with the University of Algarve, within the scope of the internship in Social Education, where through a group dynamic, it is intended to alert young people to the distinction of a healthy relationship, an unhealthy relationship and an abusive / violent relationship.
In the second case, the following day, and in another patrolling action, the Guard’s soldiers approached three men aged 21, 23 and 30, who had 98 doses of hashish in their possession, having been arrested and the narcotic product seized.
Sweden is among the first countries to announce that it would no longer apply entry rules to incoming travellers. The Swedish authorities announced that starting from February 9, travellers from the EU/Schengen Area will be able to enter the country restriction-free, regardless of their vaccination or recovery status. Such a decision, which was announced by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, means that travellers from the EU/Schengen Area are no longer required to present an EU Digital COVID Certificate or other proof of vaccination, recovery, or negative test results when reaching Sweden.
Across the Atlantic in Canada, another weekend of protests Canada’s Covid-19 mandates saw around 200 arrests in the nation’s capital as authorities moved to end the week- long demonstration, towing vehicles and going after protesters’ pocketbooks with financial penalties. Police said they employed pepper spray and escalated tactics over the weekend to disperse crowds and make arrests with protesters gathered in front of the Parliament building. Some of those arrests included protesters who allegedly had smoke grenades and fireworks, and were wearing body armour, police said.
International tourists and business travellers began arriving in Australia with few restrictions on Monday, bringing together families in tearful reunions after separations of two years or longer forced by some of the strictest pandemic measures of any democracy in the world.
Hong Kong is now dealing with a bigger Covid crisis than the outbreak in Wuhan that heralded the start of the pandemic, throwing into doubt whether China’s Covid Zero playbook of mass testing, isolation and quarantine can stamp it out.
Before any of that, the world has to get past the current wave. Omicron may appear to cause less severe disease than previous strains, but it is wildly infectious, pushing new case counts to once unimaginable records. Meanwhile, evidence is emerging that the variant may not be as innocuous as early data suggest.
While the virus won’t be overwhelming hospitals and triggering restrictions forever, it’s still unclear when – or how – it will become safe to leave on the back burner. Experts agree that in developed countries including the U.S. and much of Europe, the virus could be well in hand by mid-2022. There will be better access to pills such as Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid, rapid antigen tests will be more readily available, and people will have become accustomed to the idea that Covid is here to stay. Vaccinations and new treatments, widespread testing, and immunity as a result of previous infections are helping. Countries like Denmark are getting rid of all pandemic restrictions despite ongoing outbreaks.
This is a pilot project that will only run in Madeira and the Azores aimed at ensuring the process works smoothly before opening it to mainland Portugal.
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake was felt in Madeira early in the morning. It took place at 04h32. Its epicentre was 35 Km south of Funchal and its depth was 7 Km. It was felt more strongly in the Municipality of Câmara de Lobos. It was felt with less intensity in the Municipalities of Funchal, Machico, Ribeira Brava and Santa Cruz. So far, no personal or material damage has been reported by the Regional Civil Protection Service (Serviço Regional de Proteção Civil – Madeira).
With the warming of the planet accelerating, the devastating impacts of climate change follow one another, with heatwaves, droughts, storms or floods, which will now motivate that IPCC report.
The administrator of the Germano de Sousa group, José Germano de Sousa, in an interview on Monday with the Evening Edition of SIC Notícias, explained that since Thursday they have been rebuilding the computer system of laboratories across the country after the “cyberattack” executed by cowards and criminals”.
In a statement, the GNR also indicates that during the year 2020, 1,110 crimes of dating violence were recorded in all age groups. Of these crimes, 365 victims were aged up to 24 years.
This new equipment helps in the diagnosis of various neurological diseases, allowing EEGs to be performed in an outpatient setting, continuous EEGs in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Video-EEG monitoring with night sleep, among other tests.
On the 17th of February, the 153rd anniversary of the birth of Gago Coutinho will be celebrated in the municipality of São Brás de Alportel with an opening ceremony of the commemorative program, a lecture and the inauguration of the traveling exhibition “1st aerial crossing of the Atlântico Sul” which will be on display until February 27, at the atrium of the Covered Municipal Swimming Pools, at 17:00. This exhibition was prepared by the Air Naval Commission for the Centenary Celebration of the South Atlantic Air Crossing (100TAAS).
The regional director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Pedro Monteiro, acknowledged that the region is in a “complicated situation”, with “a substantial part of the Algarve already in extreme drought”, but underlined that “agriculture is increasingly dependent on water, as like other economic activities”, and that the lack of water is also felt in rain fed fruit trees, such as almonds, carob or figs.