Here we go again

[WHL]

Over 2000 new covid cases yesterday, authorities currently discussing more measures.

[Jimgym]

I’m dreading new restrictions. It’s just never ending.

[Jim B]

The restrictions don't really bother us even though we do have a varied social life. Must be due to spending many years living on Construction camps throughout the world which generally was similar to a military lifestyle. Rules were very strict and we just got on with it.

[Dominic]

Same here. We've just got used to getting takeaways from restaurants. As long as I can go for walks and explore the countryside its no big deal to me.

[galexinda]

Not helped when there are incidents such as this:

'Panic prevailed in a supermarket when they heard from the loudspeakers the people in charge calling a person, who according to confirmed information was suffering from coronavirus.
According to information, a doctor saw a patient who had been diagnosed the day before with Covid-19 shopping in the supermarket.
He immediately informed the managers of the store, who made an announcement.
At this point it is worth noting that the supermarket took all the necessary measures by notifying through loudspeakers'.

https://www.taxidromos24.com/2021/12/29 ... -megafona/

[The Aquila]

The 3002 new cases today aren’t going to help either

[Lincoln]

Lock down s needed. It is not getting any better is it. We shall just have to wait and see what they have decided. Stay safe folks and keep taking ALL the precautions.

[staffie]

Jeeps, 3002, is that vaxed or unvaxed peeps, vaxed I think as more stringent tests for work commitments I guess.

[The Aquila]

Can the government afford to lock down again?

80% of hospitalisations are unvaccinated, vaccinated folks are not being badly affected and the dopey conspiracists still can’t see it!

PreCovid, how many people caught a cold and spread it? How many people caught the flu and spread it? Nothing was really reported about that.

It’s time to stop testing and only report the unvaccinated hospitalisations and deaths to hammer the message home.

[staffie]

80% of hospitalisations are unvaccinated, vaccinated folks are not being badly affected and the dopey conspiracists still can’t see it!

proof please, never hear that on any kind of news here, only hear the news they want you to hear.

[staffie]

DOPEY conspiracists still can’t see it!

that's a bit of discrimination.

[The Aquila]

80% of hospitalisations are unvaccinated, vaccinated folks are not being badly affected and the dopey conspiracists still can’t see it!

proof please, never hear that on any kind of news here, only hear the news they want you to hear.

perhaps you only read what you want to read

“ Of all patients, 80.96 per cent are not vaccinated against Covid.”

https://cyprus-mail.com/2021/12/28/coro ... h-of-2241/

[jeba]

Not helped when there are incidents such as this:

'Panic prevailed in a supermarket when they heard from the loudspeakers the people in charge calling a person, who according to confirmed information was suffering from coronavirus.
According to information, a doctor saw a patient who had been diagnosed the day before with Covid-19 shopping in the supermarket.
He immediately informed the managers of the store, who made an announcement.
At this point it is worth noting that the supermarket took all the necessary measures by notifying through loudspeakers'.

https://www.taxidromos24.com/2021/12/29 ... -megafona/

I´m surprised that a doctor is allowed to disclose medical information about a patient. Is there no law protecting patient´s privacy in Cyprus?

[staffie]

Of all patients, 80.96 per cent are not vaccinated against Covid.

so they say.???

[WHL]

Not helped when there are incidents such as this:

'Panic prevailed in a supermarket when they heard from the loudspeakers the people in charge calling a person, who according to confirmed information was suffering from coronavirus.
According to information, a doctor saw a patient who had been diagnosed the day before with Covid-19 shopping in the supermarket.
He immediately informed the managers of the store, who made an announcement.
At this point it is worth noting that the supermarket took all the necessary measures by notifying through loudspeakers'.

https://www.taxidromos24.com/2021/12/29 ... -megafona/

I´m surprised that a doctor is allowed to disclose medical information about a patient. Is there no law protecting patient´s privacy in Cyprus?

The law of common sense is still alive in Cyprus, thank goodness.

[WHL]

One of the changes, everyone coming to Cyprus, irrespective of being vaccinated or not, will require a PCR test to enter Cyprus.

https://www.pio.gov.cy/en/press-release ... 25053#flat

[memory man]

J&J booster slashes Omicron hospitalizations

A booster dose of Johnson & Johnson Inc’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine was 84% effective at preventing hospitalization in South African healthcare workers who became infected as the Omicron variant spread, researchers said on Thursday.

The real-world study, which has not been peer-reviewed, was based on a second dose of the J&J vaccine administered to 69,092 workers between Nov. 15 and Dec. 20.

An initial course of inoculation has been shown to offer only greatly reduced protection against infection by Omicron, which is spreading quickly through many countries after first being identified in late November in southern Africa and Hong Kong.

However, several studies have suggested that a booster dose provides significant protection against severe illness from the variant.

The South African study showed the J&J vaccine’s effectiveness at preventing hospitalization rose from 63% shortly after a booster was administered to 84% 14 days later. Effectiveness reached 85% at one to two months post-boost.

“It reassures us that COVID-19 vaccines continue to be effective for the purpose they were designed, which is to protect people against severe disease and death,” said Linda-Gail Bekker, the study’s co-lead investigator.

“This is yet another piece of evidence that we have not lost that impact even in the face of a very mutated variant.”

Bekker said the jury was “still out” on the issue of further boosters of the J&J shot.

“What we are showing is that two doses really restore full protection, and I don’t think we can extrapolate from this that we are going to need a third or a fourth boost at all.”

Researchers said their analysis had several limitations, including short follow-up times, which averaged eight days for healthcare workers who had received their boost within the previous 13 days, or 32 days for those boosted for 1-2 months earlier, and which could skew overall vaccine effectiveness.

Another South African-based study this month showed that a first round of inoculation with two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine had been less effective in South Africa at keeping people infected with the virus out of hospital since the Omicron variant emerged.

https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/jj-boos ... lizations/

[PhotoLady]

This is what Spain are showing, which makes for interesting reason by comparison with the new variation and last year:

Hospitalizations are also on the rise in Spain. But by how much? This graph (can be seen through the link to the article posted below) compares the current curve and that of January 2021, which saw tens of thousands of hospital admissions and 18,000 deaths. The current figures are far from the worst of those weeks, but they are growing and are by no means insignificant: daily admissions are already at 39% of the peak back then. And admissions into intensive care units (ICUs) are worse, and are nearly at half of that peak (44%), and continue to rise.

The Spanish Health Ministry also offers data on ICU admissions that require respirators, and those figures are also rising in many of the country’s regions. In Catalonia, for example, daily admissions occupy 2.2% of available beds (without including discharges), compared to 3.4% during the worst moment of January 2021. In the Basque Country the figure is 2% compared to 3% in January. And in Asturias, it’s 1.3% compared to 3% at the start of the year.

https://english.elpais.com/society/2021 ... sions.html

[wantoosoon]

If these charts in the Guardian are anything to go by, UK hospitalisations are about 25% of the January peak and deaths are about 5%, while cases have been higher for about a month.

It's thought that over 90% of new Covid cases in the UK are Omicron, while only around 50% of Spain's cases are, from what I can tell. That could be why Spain's faring worse, relatively speaking.

[Kili01]

According to what I've just read on 'In Cyprus', hospitals are now worrying about the sheer scale of the Omicrom virus cases. Apparently, there are now a much larger number of Covid patients who are requiring intensive care, including intubation and others also seriously ill who need the extra care wards. The last figure given last night was 174 patients, including over 80 who are on respirators or extra care. They are spread across the islands state hospitals.
The other problem is that hospital staff are catching it too,
It's time for the Health Ministry to decide on 'further stricter measures' next week.
Apparently, there are still people who are choosing not to obey the existing health advice. Not wearing masks, not social distancing, and so on. Both customers and owners of businesses.
Dee