Hong Kong to tighten air crew quarantine rules amid Omicron threat - CNA

HONG KONG: Hong Kong health authorities said on Tuesday (Dec 28) the city would tighten quarantine rules for air cargo crew to tackle the growing threat of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

The global financial hub has identified several dozen Omicron infections via regular testing during quarantine but neither Omicron, nor other variants, have spread into the community in recent months.

But some of the new infections with Omicron were detected among air crew, who had only been required to quarantine at home, unlike most other people returning to the city, who have to quarantine in hotels.

The new measures require that returning air cargo crew spend three days in hotel quarantine before a period of home isolation. Most recent infections of air crew staff have been discovered in the first three days.

"We expect most cases in the future to be of the new Omicron variant," said Edwin Tsui, controller of the Centre for Health Protection. "We have a very high community outbreak risk. A single spark can start a fifth wave."

Vaccination rates in Hong Kong are lagging those in many similar cities with less than 70 per cent of the eligible population having received two doses of either China's Sinovac or Germany's BioNTech vaccines.

This month, authorities demanded that all government workplaces ensure that all eligible staff are vaccinated by mid-February.

The South China Morning Post newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources, that the measure may soon be extended to schools.

Hong Kong has followed Beijing's lead and implemented some of the world's strictest travel restrictions, hoping China, its main source of economic growth, would allow some cross-border movement.

Most non-residents are banned from travelling to the city and authorities demand mandatory hotel quarantine of up to 21 days for arrivals from most countries at the expense of the travellers.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jb3ZpZC0xOS1ob25nLWtvbmctdGlnaHRlbi1haXItY3Jldy1xdWFyYW50aW5lLXJ1bGVzLW9taWNyb24tdGhyZWF0LTI0MDQzNTHSAQA?oc=5

2021-12-28 09:38:27Z
1231992179

Record snowfall hits south-central Japan after severe weather grounds over 100 domestic flights - South China Morning Post

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiK2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlvdXR1YmUuY29tL3dhdGNoP3Y9VVd5MVpod2dUTlXSAQA?oc=5

2021-12-27 09:00:21Z
1213017497

It could be a long road to recovery, even after patients get all-clear from Covid-19 - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Madam Loh Luan Kim has lupus, an autoimmune disease, but medication has kept it at bay to the extent that no one knows she has the disease.

The 50-year-old Malaysian, who works as a cashier in a massage outlet, got her Covid-19 vaccination the moment she could.

All was well until she was infected with breakthrough Covid-19 on Nov 2.

Now, almost two months on, and more than a month after she became free of the virus, the after-effects of the disease still linger.

She suffers from long Covid, a name coined for the extended suffering by some people following a Covid-19 infection that could last for weeks, months, even a year or more.

International data says as many as half the patients suffer some form of long Covid. In Singapore, one in 10 people infected suffer long Covid for more than six months.

Some lose their sense of taste or smell, tire easily, have muscle and joint pain, loss of appetite, or like Madam Loh whose lungs were affected, become easily breathless with minor exertion.

This can happen not just to people who had severe illness, but also those with just a mild bout.

Dr Mark Chan, divisional chairman for integrative and community care and a senior geriatric medicine consultant at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), said long Covid may affect people without pre-existing medical conditions, although older patients and those with existing medical conditions are more likely to suffer from it.

Madam Loh was one of those with a pre-existing medical condition.

An X-ray following her Covid-19 infection found black spots in her lungs, and she was in TTSH for a week.

She still needed about two litres of oxygen a day even after her body was clear of the virus and she had been moved to TTSH’s Covid-19 treatment facility (CTF) at Ren Ci Community Hospital to recover.

"When I walked, my heart beat very fast. It was like I couldn't breathe," she said in Cantonese. "It was usually worse in the morning, and better in the afternoon."

The second week she was at the CTF, a nurse taught her how to start exercising, with frequent rests in between.

She recalled: "Even going to the toilet, I needed to rest. I was very worried when I got so tired just going to the toilet.

"But the nurses kept saying I would recover, so I was not so concerned, not so depressed, even though I saw older patients in their 80s and 90s who did not need oxygen."

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zdHJhaXRzdGltZXMuY29tL3NpbmdhcG9yZS9oZWFsdGgvaXQtY291bGQtYmUtYS1sb25nLXJvYWQtdG8tcmVjb3ZlcnktZXZlbi1hZnRlci1wYXRpZW50cy1nZXQtYWxsLWNsZWFyLWZyb20tY292aWQtMTnSAQA?oc=5

2021-12-26 12:30:00Z
CBMigQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zdHJhaXRzdGltZXMuY29tL3NpbmdhcG9yZS9oZWFsdGgvaXQtY291bGQtYmUtYS1sb25nLXJvYWQtdG8tcmVjb3ZlcnktZXZlbi1hZnRlci1wYXRpZW50cy1nZXQtYWxsLWNsZWFyLWZyb20tY292aWQtMTnSAQA

Heavy rains displace thousands in northeast Brazil - CNA

The Bahia and federal governments mounted a joint operation on Saturday, in collaboration with other states, to mobilise personnel, aircraft and equipment, as well as provide relief to residents in the flooded areas.

"We are fully mobilised, taking all measures to ensure the necessary support to the victims of the heavy rains that hit Bahia this Christmas," the state's governor, Rui Costa, said in a video message.

Flooding and traffic blocks were reported on 17 roads, with some caused by landslides and rockslides, the state's infrastructure secretary reported.

December rainfall in Bahia's capital Salvador totalled 250mm through Friday, a figure five times the historic average, city officials said.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiXWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvaGVhdnktcmFpbnMtZGlzcGxhY2UtdGhvdXNhbmRzLW5vcnRoZWFzdC1icmF6aWwtMjQwMTQzMdIBAA?oc=5

2021-12-26 01:11:00Z
CBMiXWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvaGVhdnktcmFpbnMtZGlzcGxhY2UtdGhvdXNhbmRzLW5vcnRoZWFzdC1icmF6aWwtMjQwMTQzMdIBAA

Thousands of flights cancelled globally as Omicron mars Christmas weekend - CNA

NEW YORK: Commercial airlines around the world cancelled more than 4,300 flights over the Christmas weekend, as a mounting wave of COVID-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant created greater uncertainty and misery for holiday travellers.

Airline carriers globally scrapped at least 2,366 flights on Friday (Dec 24), which fell on Christmas Eve and is typically a heavy day for air travel, according to a running tally on the flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. Nearly 9,000 more flights were delayed.

The website showed that 1,616 Christmas Day flights were called off worldwide, along with 365 more that had been scheduled for Sunday.

Commercial air traffic within the United States and into or out of the country accounted for more than a quarter of all the cancelled flights over the weekend, FlightAware data showed.

Among the first US carriers to report a wave of holiday weekend cancellations were United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which scrubbed nearly 280 flights combined on Friday alone, citing personnel shortages amid the surge of COVID-19 infections.

COVID-19 infections have surged in the United States in recent days due to the highly transmissible variant Omicron, which was first detected in November and now accounts for nearly three-quarters of US cases and as many as 90 per cent in some areas, such as the Eastern Seaboard.

The average number of new US coronavirus cases has risen 45 per cent to 179,000 per day over the past week, according to a Reuters tally.

New York reported more than 44,000 newly confirmed infections on Friday alone, shattering that state's daily record. At least 10 other states set new one-day case records on Thursday or Friday.

Rising hospitalisations were hitting healthcare systems especially hard in the US Midwest, with intensive care units in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan bracing for the worst even as they remain under pressure from an earlier wave of Delta variant cases.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jYW5jZWxsZWQtZmxpZ2h0cy1nbG9iYWxseS1vbWljcm9uLWNocmlzdG1hcy13ZWVrZW5kLTI0MDA4MTbSAQA?oc=5

2021-12-25 00:02:00Z
1227706405

UK study on Covid-19 variant Omicron bolsters evidence of lower hospital risk - The Straits Times

LONDON (BLOOMBERG) - Omicron appears to be less severe but more contagious than any other Covid-19 strain to date, a British government study concluded, bolstering research that has shown a lower risk of hospitalisation from the fast-spreading variant.

People infected with Omicron are 50 per cent to 70 per cent less likely than those infected with Delta to be admitted to hospitals, the UK Health Security Agency said on Thursday (Dec 23).

Patients infected with Omicron are also 31 per cent to 45 per cent less likely to arrive at emergency departments than those infected with Delta.

The agency's data came with an important caveat: While a booster shot improves protection against Omicron, its effectiveness starts to wane more rapidly than with Delta and is 15 per cent to 25 per cent lower starting 10 weeks after the third dose.

The agency also cautioned that the new variant is so infectious that it could still produce significant numbers of severe cases.

The findings build on studies released a day earlier with similar assessments of Omicron's lower hospitalisation risk - a rare reassurance for a variant whose transmissibility is fast overtaking Delta's.

Researchers in Scotland found Omicron was associated with a two-third lower risk of hospitalisation compared to the earlier variant, while a South African study pegged the reduction of hospitalisation risk at 80 per cent.

Another study, from an Imperial College London team working with a larger data set, found that people infected with Omicron were almost half as likely to need an overnight hospital stay.

Separate developments related to prevention and treatment added to the moment of optimism in a pandemic that has killed almost 5.4 million people worldwide and sickened millions more. A third dose of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine significantly boosted neutralising antibodies against Omicron, according to lab studies at the University of Oxford.

A separate study involving a booster made by China's Sinovac Biotech - producer of one of the most world's most widely used Covid-19 vaccines - did not fare as well.

That shot did not produce sufficient levels of neutralising antibodies to protect against Omicron, according to lab test results published on Thursday.

The research suggests that people who have received Sinovac's shot, known as CoronaVac, should seek out a different vaccine for their booster.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMid2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vd29ybGQvZXVyb3BlL3VrLXN0dWR5LW9uLWNvdmlkLTE5LXZhcmlhbnQtb21pY3Jvbi1ib2xzdGVycy1ldmlkZW5jZS1vZi1sb3dlci1ob3NwaXRhbC1yaXNr0gEA?oc=5

2021-12-23 23:22:30Z
1191888452

Omicron may double risk of getting infected on planes, IATA says - The Straits Times

MONTREAL (BLOOMBERG) - Aircraft passengers are twice or even three times more likely to catch Covid-19 during a flight since the emergence of the Omicron variant, according to the top medical adviser to the world's airlines.

The new strain is highly transmissible and has become dominant in a matter of weeks, accounting for more than 70 per cent of all new cases in the US alone.

While hospital-grade air filters on modern passenger jets make the risk of infection much lower on planes than in crowded places on the ground such as shopping malls, Omicron is rapidly spreading just as more travellers take to the skies for year-end holidays and family reunions.

Business class may be safer than more densely packed economy cabins, said Dr David Powell, physician and medical adviser to the International Air Transport Association, which represents almost 300 carriers worldwide.

As before, passengers should avoid face-to-face contact and surfaces that are frequently touched, and people sitting near to each other should try not to be unmasked at the same time during meals, he said.

"The relative risk has probably increased, just as the relative risk of going to the supermarket or catching a bus has increased," said Dr Powell, former chief medical officer at Air New Zealand, who spoke to Bloomberg News on Tuesday (Dec 21) about flying during the pandemic.

What are the risks of infection during a flight?

Whatever the risk was with Delta, we would have to assume the risk would be two to three times greater with Omicron, just as we've seen in other environments. Whatever that low risk - we don't know what it is - on the airplane, it must be increased by a similar amount.

What should passengers do to minimise the risks?

Avoid common-touch surfaces, hand hygiene wherever possible, masks, distancing, controlled-boarding procedures, try to avoid face-to-face contact with other customers, try to avoid being unmasked in flight, for meal and drink services, apart from when really necessary. The advice is the same, it's just that the relative risk has probably increased, just as the relative risk of going to the supermarket or catching a bus has increased with Omicron.

For a two-hour flight, it's pretty easy to say, 'just keep your mask on the whole time'. But if it's a 10-hour flight, it becomes pretty unreasonable to ask people not to eat and drink. What most airlines have been doing is encouraging, but not insisting, on customers trying to stagger their mask-off periods a little bit.

In simple terms, two people masked have minimal transmission from one to the other. If one of you removes your mask, then that person's at greater risk of transmitting and at slightly greater risk of receiving. But if both of you remove then obviously, there's no barrier there and you can freely transmit one to the other.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiYmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vd29ybGQvb21pY3Jvbi1tYXktZG91YmxlLXJpc2stb2YtZ2V0dGluZy1pbmZlY3RlZC1vbi1wbGFuZXMtaWF0YS1zYXlz0gEA?oc=5

2021-12-23 02:42:14Z
1215306581