The Overseas Situation Report Friday 29 October 2021
by Mike Evans
“The basic fact of today is the tremendous pace of change in human life.”
– Jawaharlal Nehru
In this report we are looking at the latest table from the Bloomberg Covid Resilience chart as well as what is happening in Singapore and Russia amid a surge in Covid 19 cases.
Ireland has been ranked as the best country in the world for the second month in a row in an index measuring where the Covid-19 pandemic is being handled most effectively and with the least social and economic upheaval.
Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking is a monthly snapshot of how the pandemic is being handled in the world’s 53 biggest economies. It uses 12 data indicators that span containment, quality of healthcare, vaccination coverage, mortality, and restarting travel.
Bloomberg said reopening is “gathering pace” across the world, with deaths set to fall to an almost one-year low in October. European nations continued to dominate the top rungs of the index, joined by the United Arab Emirates and Chile.
Ireland remained the top country for a second month in a row “even as cases rise”, Bloomberg said.
“Having fully vaccinated more than 90 per cent of adults and weakened the link between infection and deaths, the country is reopening cautiously, allowing bars and restaurants to resume normal opening hours for inoculated customers,” it continued.
“Hospitalisations are at about a quarter of what they were in a January outbreak. It also benefited from a jump in gross domestic product thanks to the success of multinationals operating there, though that may mask a lacklustre domestic economy.”
Bloomberg said the State held on to its top ranking due to “one of the world’s best vaccination rates, signs for a rapid economic rebound and the Government’s decision to loosen both domestic restrictions as well as travel quarantine rules”.
However, it also pointed out that “weekly Covid fatalities hover in the double digits”.
“Still, the country has been burnt on reopening before, easing curbs prematurely late last year which triggered a surge in cases,” it said. “With daily cases currently at their highest level since January, Ireland’s continued success will depend on widespread vaccination severing the link between easing curbs and virus spread.
The Government will widen a booster shot program to all over-60s from next month.”
Close behind Ireland were Spain and the UAE, which rounded out the top three. One of the worst hit at the start of the pandemic, Spain saw cases, positive testing rates, and fatalities fall in October after being hit by the Delta variant in the summer.
The US climbed two spots to number 26, but “may come under further pressure unless it can re-energise a plateauing vaccination drive and move beyond a relatively high death toll from Delta”. The UK, meanwhile, slid 9 places to 25th amid rising cases.
Southeast Asian countries continued to rank lowest, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines in the bottom six for the third month running.
“While the region’s outbreak may have peaked and vaccination has progressed, especially in Malaysia, many of these export-reliant economies are still reeling from Delta’s hit,” Bloomberg said. “That’s spurring these nations to chart clearer paths to reopening, though it’ll take time for them to catch up to Europe and the US.”
Bloomberg added that Europe’s success “will be put to the test” as vaccines face their “first real Covid winter”.
“While the region’s pioneering strategies of longer dose intervals and largely limiting quarantine-free entry to immunized people kept fatalities low even as Delta spread, places like the UK, Belgium and Ireland are already seeing a worrying uptick in cases,” it said.
Singapore was once at the top of the Bloomberg charts in April 2020 and never fell below the first 6 countries until recently when the pandemic started to take hold again. As recently as August 20 the 7 day rolling average of cases was just 44. This last week that figure was 3,691. The Authorities are looking into an “unusual surge” of 5,324 new infections of COVID-19, the city-state’s health ministry said, its highest such figure since the beginning of the pandemic, as beds in intensive care units fill up.
Ten new deaths on Wednesday carried the toll to 349, after 3,277 infections the previous day, while the ICU utilisation rate is nearing 80%, despite a population that is 84% fully vaccinated, with 14% receiving booster doses.”The infection numbers are unusually high today, mostly due to many COVID-positive cases detected by the testing laboratories within a few hours in the afternoon,” the health ministry said in a statement. “The Ministry of Health is looking into this unusual surge in cases within a relatively short window, and closely monitoring the trends for the next few days,” it added in Wednesday’s statement.
While nearly 98.7% of the past month’s 90,203 cases had no symptoms, or only mild ones, about 0.2% of those had died, and 0.1% each were being monitored closely in intensive care units (ICU) or were critically ill and intubated there.
About 72 ICU beds were vacant by Wednesday, at an overall ICU use rate of 79.8%, with 142 coronavirus sufferers accounting for about half of occupied beds. The ministry said it was adding more ICU beds. The Asian city-state, which has set aside 200 ICU beds to be used by COVID-19 patients, can add 100 more at short notice.
Last week, it extended some social curbs for about a month, to rein in the spread of COVID-19 and ease pressure on healthcare facilities. The city-state in late September reimposed curbs that include limiting social interactions and dining out to two people in order to slow virus transmission.
Meanwhile in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin last Wednesday announced a nationwide week-long paid holiday starting on October 30 to curb Covid infections as record virus deaths hit the country. In the fresh order, Putin urged all Russians to vaccinate themselves.
At a televised assembly with officers, the Russian President said he supported a proposal to “declare non-working days between October 30 and November 7 all through the nation” and asked Russians to “show responsibility” and get Covid jabs. The Kremlin has hesitated to impose unpopular restrictions because of economic fears and widespread public nonchalance about the pandemic.
The “non-working week” is a new and vaguely defined concept created after the onset of the pandemic. It is not a full lockdown; instead, nonessential workers are encouraged to stay home, while their employers are encouraged to pay them at least the minimum wage to do so. The chosen week appears to be a compromise: four of the days are already public holidays in Russia. The last time the Kremlin announced a similar non-working week was in May, a time when there were also several public holidays. Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova, who first proposed the measure, said she hoped some regions would introduce the non-working week earlier, starting Oct. 23.
Ms. Golikova proposed restricting access to certain institutions, including workplaces, to vaccinated, tested or recently recovered people. Moscow introduced and then withdrew a similar measure over the summer.
The development comes as Russia on Wednesday reported 257,776 new cases in the past week compared to 233,144 in the previous 7 days. The Russians also declared 7,545 people had died in the past week, a rise of 7% on the previous 7 days.
Mr. Putin said that workers should be paid even if they don’t work, but did not stipulate who would foot the bill. Details about implementing the decree, including who would be considered an essential worker, will be left to regional leaders.
Russian-made coronavirus vaccines, including Sputnik V and the one-dose Sputnik Light, are widely available in the country, but only 45 million of the country’s 146 million people have been fully vaccinated. Scholars attribute the hesitancy to low levels of trust in the authorities, who have sent conflicting messages about the pandemic since it began last year.
Sputnik V has not been approved by the World Health Organization or the European Medicines Agency, the European Union regulator.
Russian authorities have been critical of Western-made vaccines, which are not available in Russia, while promoting Sputnik. Analysts say that has also contributed to confusion and mistrust. There is also widespread skepticism about the state’s pandemic statistics, with allegations that officials are underreporting cases and deaths.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin of Moscow announced on Monday that people who rode the subway without wearing masks would be fined. On Tuesday, he asked Muscovites over 60, who make up 60 percent of all Covid patients in hospitals, to get vaccinated or stay at home.
On Oct. 13, Mr. Sobyanin announced he would pay the equivalent of $140 to older residents as an incentive to get the vaccine. Only one-third of people in Moscow over 65 have been vaccinated, lower than the city’s average.
Andrei Makarov, chair of the lower house of parliament’s budget committee, said Tuesday that 1,100 doctors in Russia had died from Covid during the first six months of this year, more than twice the number who died in all of 2020. Officials estimate that more than 225,300 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic, though independent experts say the government has drastically underestimated the death toll.
Until the next time Stay Safe.
Total Cases Worldwide – 246,070,236
Total Deaths Worldwide – 4,992,552
Total Recovered Worldwide – 222,965,370
Total Active Cases Worldwide – 18,112,314 (7.4 % of the total cases)
Total Closed Cases Worldwide – 227,957,922
https://www.worldometer.info/coronavirus/
Information and Resources:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/weekly-trends/#countries
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/world/europe/russia-covid-restrictions.html
It was announced yesterday that Vice Admiral Gouveia e Melo was the winner of the National Bioethics Award, a distinction made by the National Bioethics Association, with the support of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP). According to the note sent to newsrooms this Tuesday, the “choice was unanimous” and is a reflection of the coordination of the task force of vaccination against covid-19, which the jury considered to be “an example”.
In addition to the early identification of cases, the main variant detected among cases registered in the last month is influenza A, which, according to the ECDC, disproportionately affects the elderly and is associated with lower vaccine efficacy.
Tuesday’s publication warns that countries’ current pledges would reduce carbon by only about 7.5% by 2030, far less than the 45% cut scientists say is needed to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C, the aim of the Cop26 summit that opens in Glasgow this Sunday.
“The Prize, awarded by the National Bioethics Association, with the support of the FMUP, distinguishes the vice-admiral for the ‘personal integrity with which he performed his duties, as well as for the ‘demonstrated organizational and planning qualities’. The award is also intended to be a recognition ‘for the example it has given to Portuguese society, an example of public service and dedication to common causes’”, can be read in the note. “Known for the decisive role he played in a critical phase of the pandemic, Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo was, for the jury of this Award, “a natural and unanimous choice”.
And on Tuesday, there were 15 new Covid-19 cases 
The telephone number has been provided to the ASPFAM (Associação de Surdos, Pais, Familiares e Amigos da Madeira), a regional association for the deaf. 
The fisherman had disappeared on Saturday night, when he allegedly travelled to practice fishing in the area around São Miguel Arcanjo, on the island of Pico, not having returned home.
According to the Algarve Tourism Association (ATA) the strategy “is to reinforce the promotion of the destination in markets that, according to the characteristics of its tourist profile, are relevant and capable of contributing to the sustainable development of the region. “
During a patrol action, the Guard soldiers noticed the presence of two men who were picking the Carob.
“We are doing this for Africa at this moment, and that drives us,” said Emile Hendricks, a 22-year-old biotechnologist for Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, the company trying to reproduce the Moderna shot. “We can no longer rely on these big superpowers to come in and save us.”
Vaccines are desperately needed across Africa, the region with the lowest COVID-19 immunization rate in the world. Less than 5 percent of Africans are fully vaccinated, even though surplus doses are still arriving in rich countries with high vaccination rates. There has been a “horrifying inequity” in the distribution of vaccines, according to World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
In Melbourne, people were seen cheering and clapping from their balconies, while cars honked horns continuously at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, when lockdown restrictions in place since early August ended. Many venues, including food outlets and even hair salons, opened at the unusual hour for the occasion.owner of The Bearded Man barbershop in Melbourne, told Reuters he is nearly booked out for the next month and he is encouraging customers to make appointments for Christmas.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is set to meet on Tuesday to discuss a request from Pfizer to allow its lower-dose pediatric vaccine to be administered to 5- to 11-year-olds. That will inform the FDA’s decision, which will then be examined by the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, Fauci said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
However, one study which was published recently by the University of Oxford has shown that the covid pandemic has caused the biggest decrease in life expectancy since WorldWar II, and wiped out years of progress on mortality, according to a study published on Monday by the University of Oxford.
Across most of the 29 countries, males saw larger life expectancy declines than females, according to the researchers. The largest declines in life expectancy were observed among males in the US, who saw a decline of 2.2 years relative to 2019 levels, followed by Lithuanian males (1.7 years), they said. “The large declines in life expectancy observed in the US can partly be explained by the notable increase in mortality at working ages observed in 2020,” said study co-lead author, Ridhi Kashyap from LCDS.
The team’s analysis also shows that most life expectancy reductions across different countries were attributable to official Covid-19 deaths. “Emerging evidence from low-and middle-income countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, that have been devastated by the pandemic suggests that life-expectancy losses may be even larger in these populations,” they said, noting that losses in life expectancy are also likely to vary between subgroups within countries.
As the temperatures begin to drop in Northern Europe and the aged become ill with flu and other ailments many countries will start to see their health services being stretched to breaking point once again. For many of these countries their vaccination figures are well below many of the other nations and this is causing more people to be hospitalised than previously.
The following new rules will be applicable from today until November 30th:
The Regional Health Directorate (Direção Regional da Saúde) has informed that the Madeira archipelago is being hit by dust from Northern Africa.
There were 37,657 travellers under monitoring by the health authorities. Monitoring is being carried out through the ‘MadeiraSafe’ app. There were also 240 people, who had contact with positive cases, being monitored by the health authorities of several Madeira municipalities and of Porto Santo.
If people wish to purchase medicines over the internet, they should do so through authorized means. In Portugal, only pharmacies and non-prescription drug sales outlets authorized by INFARMED, IP can sell drugs to the public via the internet.
A reminder that although the critical fire period has finished, the fire risk remains high, particularly in the Algarve. The Civil Protection have extended the availability of deployment under Level lll of the operational plan, which was due to expire on 15th October, until the end of this month. This decision is based on weather forecasts showing that the fire risk is higher than usual for this period. So please take care.
On an official visit to Portugal, Hans P. Klüge, himself a physician, recalled that “there are some clinical trials in progress”, but “the evidence is still not robust enough”.
Available data analysed by the Technical Commission on Vaccination against COVID-19 (CTVC), which include the results of the World Health Organization expert group meeting on vaccination, show that there is an acceptable safety profile after taking both vaccines.
The initiative aims to understand and understand the impact of the pandemic on daily routines, well-being, eating habits and behaviours, physical activity, socioeconomic variables and perception of the nutritional status of school-age children (6 to 10 years old) on the European continent.