H5N1

Brazil registers 3,950 deaths by Covid-19 today and closes the worst month of the pandemic with 66,868 deaths

Appalling. Via g1.globo.com: Brazil registers almost 4 thousand deaths by Covid on the day and closes the worst month of the pandemic with 66.8 thousand deaths. Excerpt from the Google translation:

Brazil returned to its worst day of the pandemic, with the record of 3,950 deaths by Covid recorded in the last 24 hours, totaling this Wednesday (31) 321,886 deaths.  With this, the month of March ends with the amount of 66,868 deaths. This is more than double the deaths recorded in July 2020, the second worst month of the pandemic - when we registered 32,912 victims of the disease.

The moving average of deaths in the country in the last 7 days reached 2,971, the worst mark in the index for the 6th consecutive day. Compared to the average of 14 days ago, the variation was +42% , indicating an upward trend in deaths from the disease. The average indicates that Brazil recorded for the 1st time more than 20 thousand deaths in a week. 

This is what a new survey by the consortium of press vehicles shows on the situation of the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil, based on data from the state health departments, consolidated at 8 pm on Wednesday. 

There are already 70 days in a row with the moving average of deaths above the thousand mark; the country now completes 15 days with this average above 2 thousand dead per day; and it is already the fifth day with the average above the 2.5 thousand mark , now approaching the average of 3 thousand lives lost per day.

 • Thursday (25): 2,276 

• Friday (26): 2,400 (record) 

• Saturday (27): 2,548 (record) 

• Sunday (28): 2,598 (record) 

• Monday (29): 2,655 (record) 

• Tuesday (30): 2,728 (record) 

• Wednesday (31): 2,971 (record) 

In confirmed cases, since the beginning of the pandemic 12,753,258 Brazilians have had or have the new coronavirus , with 89,200 of these confirmed on the last day . The moving average in the last 7 days was 75,154 . This represents a variation of + 5% in relation to cases registered in two weeks, which indicates a tendency for stability in diagnoses. 

Sixteen states and the Federal District are on the rise in deaths : ES, MG, RJ, SP, DF, GO, MS, MT, AP, TO, AL, CE, MA, PB, PE, PI and RN. 

The consortium also raised that eleven states are at their worst moment of the pandemic so far, taking as a parameter the evolution of the moving average of deaths in each of them: DF, ES, GO, MA, MT, MS, MG, PB, PI, SC and SP. 

Brazil, March 31 

• Total deaths: 321,886 

• 24-hour death record: 3,950 

• Average new deaths in the last 7 days: 2,971 (variation in 14 days: + 42%) 

• Total confirmed cases: 12,753,258 

• Record of confirmed cases within 24 hours: 89,200 

• Average new cases in the last 7 days: 75,154 per day (variation over 14 days: + 5%)

COVID-19 in Brazil: 90,358 new cases, 3,869 deaths today

Two screenshots from today's CONASS PANEL dashboard:

This is a new fatalities record, breaking the one set yesterday at 3,780.

Hungarian journalists say state conceals impact of world's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak

Via Reuters: Hungarian journalists say state conceals impact of world's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian journalists accused the government on Wednesday of putting lives at risk by barring the media from covering the full extent of what is now the world’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak. 

In an open letter published by most of the country’s independent news outlets, reporters said they had been blocked from hospitals and barred from speaking to medics, making it impossible to alert the public to the crisis. 

Hungary, with 10 million people, reported 302 deaths on Tuesday, its highest since the start of the pandemic, and now has the highest weekly toll per capita in the world. Doctors speaking on condition of anonymity have told Reuters that hospitals are being overrun. 

Hungary’s nationalist government denies there is a capacity crisis, and state-run media have depicted the situation in hospitals as under control. The government says it aims to reopen the economy by bringing in vaccines, including shots from Russia and China yet to be approved by the EU. 

“Doctors and nurses are not free to talk to the public, while journalists are not allowed in hospitals, so we cannot assess what happens there,” read the letter published in 28 independent newspapers, websites and other outlets. 

The Council of Europe said on Tuesday bit.ly/3wdSwh2 that Hungarian media workers faced increasing problems covering the pandemic. The government dismissed those remarks as "based on presumptions and allegations". 

Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said there would be no laxer rules, and accused “left-wing portals” of spreading “fake news” to embarrass the country’s health care system. 

“We must use hospitals to heal, not shoot footage,” Kovacs wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. “Hungarian doctors and nurses perform exceptionally. Let them work!” 

Activists and international bodies have accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government of cracking down on free media since it took power in 2010. The government denies interfering with what it calls a free press. 

Doctors have also raised the alarm that news coverage which fails to show the extent of the crisis could make it worse. 

“I warn all political forces and their media that one-sided information, censorship delays recognising the faults of health care, which could cost lives,” Janos Szijjarto, chairman of the doctors’ association from Gyor, Western Hungary, wrote on Facebook earlier this month.

COVID-19 in Brazil: 17 states and Federal District have more than 90% of ICUs occupied, says Fiocruz

Via globo.com: 17 states and DF have more than 90% of ICUs occupied, says Fiocruz. Excerpt from the Google translation:

The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) warns that "the general picture of the country remains extremely critical" in the country, with 17 states and the Federal District with more than 90% of occupied ICUs (see below). 

The situation is worse than two weeks ago, when Fiocruz warned that Brazil is going through the "biggest health and hospital collapse in history" . At the time, 15 states had an occupancy of over 90% . 

Tuesday's bulletin (30) highlights that "states reveal difficulties to increase the number of ICU beds Covid-19 in order to meet the sharp growth in demand". 

It also warns that "essential supplies and drugs for patients with Covid-19 and other health problems have also become a major concern in view of the prospect of exhaustion". 

States with Covid-19 ICU bed occupancy rates for adults over 90%: 

•  North: Amapá (100%), Rondônia (98%), Acre (97%) and Tocantins (97%) 

• Northeast: Pernambuco (97%), Piauí (96%), Rio Grande do Norte (95%) and Ceará (94%) 

• Midwest: Mato Grosso do Sul (100%), Mato Grosso (97%), Federal District (97%) and Goiás (94%) 

• Southeast: Minas Gerais (94%), Espírito Santo (94%) and São Paulo (92%) 

• South: Santa Catarina (99%), Rio Grande do Sul (95%) and Paraná (93%) 

Another 7 states have rates above 80% ( critical alert zone ): 

•  North: Pará (85%) 

• Northeast: Maranhão (88%), Alagoas (86%), Sergipe (86%), Bahia (86%) and Paraíba (84%) 

• Southeast : Rio de Janeiro (88%)

The Covid-19 Observatory bulletin on Tuesday (30) warns that only Amazonas (76%) and Roraima (62%) are not in the critical alert zone. 

Despite the less serious situation in the two states, Fiocruz points out that "both have also gone through the critical alert zone for several moments, and Manaus has already had two moments of collapse in the health system".

Coronavirus: At the height of the pandemic, Brazilian companies distribute 'COVID-19 kits' to employees

Via BBC News Brasil: Coronavirus: at the height of the pandemic, Brazilian companies distribute 'covid kit' to employees. The Google translation:

Brazilian companies are distributing to employees the "covid kit", as it became known a set of drugs with no proven efficacy or already proven ineffective for covid-19. 

BBC News Brasil found at least four companies that are doing this in São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina. In one of them, employees heard last week, in person, a lecture by a doctor about the so-called "early treatment".

"The decision was made by the board because we believe in the treatment and do the treatment. We want to do for our employees the same thing that we do for our family", says Giselle Rêgo, industrial director at Tecnocuba, which produces stainless steel parts in Sao Paulo. 

The company offered the possibility of "early treatment" to all 105 employees. 

The supposed early treatment, or covid kit, usually refers to a combination that includes ineffective medications or even studies against covid-19, such as hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, azithromycin, vitamin D, vitamin C, among others, which can bring side effects .

COVID-19 in Brazil: 84,494 new cases, 3,780 deaths today

Two screenshots from the CONASS PANEL dashboard:

The relatively low case counts for the last couple of days do look like artifacts of the weekend, and we are now back to steady climbs in both case and fatality numbers, with no sign of a plateau, let alone a consistent fall.

Analysis of excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of Florida

Via the American Journal of Public Health: Analysis of Excess Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the State of Florida. The abstract:

Objectives. To determine the number of excess deaths (i.e., those exceeding historical trends after accounting for COVID-19 deaths) occurring in Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Methods. Using seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average time-series modeling and historical mortality trends in Florida, we forecasted monthly deaths from January to September of 2020 in the absence of the pandemic. We compared estimated deaths with monthly recorded total deaths (i.e., all deaths regardless of cause) during the COVID-19 pandemic and deaths only from COVID-19 to measure excess deaths in Florida. 

Results. Our results suggest that Florida experienced 19 241 (15.5%) excess deaths above historical trends from March to September 2020, including 14 317 COVID-19 deaths and an additional 4924 all-cause, excluding COVID-19, deaths in that period. 

Conclusions. Total deaths are significantly higher than historical trends in Florida even when accounting for COVID-19–related deaths. The impact of COVID-19 on mortality is significantly greater than the official COVID-19 data suggest.

Yahoo! News has a report on this study. Excerpt:

New research published earlier this month in the American Journal of Public Health argues that Florida is undercounting the number of people who died from COVID-19 by thousands of cases, casting new doubt on claims that Gov. Ron DeSantis navigated the coronavirus pandemic successfully.

Conservatives have celebrated DeSantis for his handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 30,000 residents of the state. Critics of the combative governor, meanwhile, say that many of those deaths would have been prevented if he had listened more diligently to health experts. DeSantis resisted lockdowns, downplayed masks and has made it increasingly difficult for localities to institute public health measures of their own.

And the state could be on the cusp of a new coronavirus surge.

Mystery brain disorder baffles Canadian medicine

Via The Guardian: Mystery brain disorder baffles Canadian medicine. Excerpt:

Doctors in Canada are concerned they could be dealing with a previously unknown brain disease amid a string of cases involving memory loss, hallucinations and muscle atrophy. 

Politicians in the province of New Brunswick have demanded answers, but with so few cases, experts say there are far more questions than answers and have urged the public not to panic. 

For more than a year public health officials have been tracking a “cluster” of 43 cases of suspected neurological disease in the province with no known cause. 

Residents first learned of the investigation last week after a leaked memo from the province’s public health agency asked physicians to be on the lookout for symptoms similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – a rare, fatal brain disease caused by misformed proteins known as prions. 

“We are collaborating with different national groups and experts; however, no clear cause has been identified at this time,” said the memo. 

A number of the symptoms including memory loss, vision problems and abnormal jerking movements triggered an alert with Canada’s CJD surveillance network. Despite the initial similarities, screening produced no confirmed cases of CJD. 

“We don’t have evidence to suggest it’s a prion disease,” said Dr Alier Marrero, the neurologist leading New Brunswick’s investigation. 

Now a team of researchers, including federal scientists, are racing to determine if they are dealing with a previously unknown neurological syndrome, or a series of unrelated, but previously known – and even treatable – ailments. 

 Marrero says patients initially complained of unexplained pains, spasms and behavioural changes – all symptoms that could be easily diagnosed as anxiety or depression. 

But over 18 to 36 months they began developing cognitive decline, muscle wasting, drooling and teeth chattering. A number of patients also began experiencing frightening hallucinations, including the feeling of insects crawling on their skin. 

In order for a new case to be included in the New Brunswick “cluster”, Marrero and his team conduct an extensive study of the patient’s history, as well as a battery of tests including brain imaging, metabolic and toxicology tests and spinal taps, to rule out other possible illnesses like dementia, neurodegenerative disorders, autoimmune disorders and possible infections. 

Only a single suspected case was recorded in 2015, but in 2019 there were 11 cases and 24 in 2020. Researchers believe five people have died from the illness. 

“We have not seen over the last 20-plus years a cluster of diagnosis-resistant neurological disease like this one,” said Michael Coulthart, head of Canada’s CJD surveillance network.

Long-term care and COVID-19 in Canada: The first 6 months

Via the Canadian Institute for Health Information: Long-term care and COVID-19: The first 6 months.

March 30, 2021 — The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected Canada’s retirement homes and long-term care (LTC) homes. Our release takes a closer look at the impact of COVID-19 on LTC residents and staff during the first 6 months of the pandemic (known as Wave 1) and provides early comparisons of outbreaks, cases and deaths between the first and second waves (to February 15, 2021). 

Key findings 

• COVID-19 cases among residents of LTC and retirement homes increased by nearly two-thirds during Wave 2 compared with Wave 1.  

• Compared with pre-pandemic years, in Wave 1, LTC residents had fewer physician visits; fewer hospital transfers; and less contact with friends and family, which is associated with higher rates of depression.  

• In all provinces where it could be measured, the total number of resident deaths was higher than normal during this period, even in places with fewer COVID-19 deaths. 

• Provincial and national inquiries (to date) on COVID-19 in LTC have made similar recommendations and speak to long-standing concerns in the sector.

Download the CIHI report here. 

CBC News has published a news story: Canada's nursing homes have worst record for COVID-19 deaths among wealthy nations: report. Excerpt:

Canada has the worst record for COVID-19 deaths in long-term care homes compared with other wealthy countries, according to a new report released on Tuesday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

The study found that the proportion of deaths in nursing homes represented 69 per cent of Canada's overall COVID-19 deaths, which is significantly higher than the international average of 41 per cent.

In Canada, between March 2020 and February 2021, more than 80,000 residents and staff members of long-term care homes were infected with the coronavirus. Outbreaks occurred in 2,500 care homes, resulting in the deaths of 14,000 residents, according to the report.

"COVID-19 has exacted a heavy price on Canada's long-term care and retirement homes, resulting in a disproportionate number of outbreaks and deaths," the report's introduction says.

The study, which primarily focused on the first six months of the pandemic, found that across the country, nursing home residents received less medical care. They had fewer visits from doctors, and there were also fewer hospital transfers when compared with other years.

Researchers also looked beyond the coronavirus to all deaths in care homes.

"Resident deaths — for all causes, not just from COVID-19 infection — increased by 19 per cent in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador," the report said. "There were 2,273 more deaths than the average in the five years prior to COVID-19, with the largest increase occurring in April 2020."

Last spring, Ontario experienced the largest increase in "excess deaths" at 28 per cent, while B.C. had the smallest at just four per cent, the study found.

"It really tells us that there were things that we could have done to avoid a lot of the deaths that we saw in Canada and that countries, frankly, that were better prepared prior to the pandemic, that had better funded systems, they performed far better than Canada has," said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research and co-chair at the National Institute on Ageing, a partner in the study with CIHI.

"Relative to other nations in the world, Canada has actually the worst record overall."

Unknown men kill 5 polio vaccinators in eastern Afghanistan

Via Radio Killid: Unknown Men Kill 5 Vaccinators in E. Afghanistan.

Unknown gunmen on Tuesday morning gunned down five vaccination campaign workers in the provincial capital of Nangahar province, a security source told TKG. 

The polio vaccination workers were killed in separate attacks in the fourth and seventh districts of Jalalabad city, the provincial capital, the source spoke to TKG on condition of anonymity.  

The source put the toll of the dead to four women and a man who were polio vaccination workers.  Provincial officials confirmed the attack without disclosing details of casualties. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.