by Dillon De Shong

At least 31 employees of the Royalton Hotel in Antigua and Barbuda have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).

The infections were detected in tests carried out on all of the hotel’s 500 employees.

A note from yesterday’s cabinet meeting said that “contact-tracing continues to determine if any employee may have infected family members and others with whom they came into contact.”

Loop Caribbean News contacted the acting Chief Medical Officer Teriann Joseph to confirm whether the source of infection was a guest or staff member but she was unavailable for comment.

Health Minister Molwyn Joseph was at a funeral when Loop Caribbean News contacted him.

He was unaware of the source of infection but said he would contact ministry officials to obtain the information.

Loop Caribbean News also reached out to the hotel for a comment.

The cabinet notes said the government “continues to urge all employees, in both the public and private sectors, to obey the protocols that have been established while on the job and when in public spaces. A three- to six-feet space is to be maintained between all persons; masks are to be worn at all times when away from home; and, frequent hand-washing or hand-sanitizing is to take place.”

News of this cluster of infections came a day after the country recorded 24 new infections in samples tested up to 6 pm on August 10.

The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment said 10 of these cases were recorded on August 9 and 14 were confirmed on August 10.

Of the 44 infections recorded between August 6 and 10, 31 were contracted locally and 11 were imported.

The source of two infections is under investigation.

Since March 2020, Antigua and Barbuda has recorded 1,372 infections of which 74 are active.

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Australia: Sydney seeks to tighten curbs, Canberra to enter lockdown

Extra Australian military personnel may be called in to ensure compliance with lockdown rules in Sydney, the New South Wales state government said on Thursday, as the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant spreads into regional areas. Some 580 unarmed army personnel are already helping police enforce home-quarantine orders on affected households in the worst-affected suburbs of Sydney, Australia’s most populous city.

The move comes as Australia’s capital, Canberra, 260 km (160 miles) southwest of Sydney, announced a snap one-week lockdown from Thursday evening after reporting its first locally acquired case of COVID-19 in more than a year. read more

Fortress New Zealand eyes opening to vaccinated travellers

New Zealand plans to allow quarantine-free entry to vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from early 2022, as it looks to open its borders again after nearly 18 months of pandemic-induced isolation.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that the country is still not ready to open up entirely, but will open in phases from early next year. Despite the phased reopening, the government will stay on its elimination strategy to maintain its hard-won gains as one of the few virus-free countries, Ardern said. read more

Asymptomatic COVID-19 very common

Roughly a third of people with COVID-19 have no symptoms, according to a review of data from more than 350 studies published through April 2021. Asymptomatic infections were more common in children than in the elderly or in people without preexisting medical conditions, said Pratha Sah of the Yale School of Public Health, who led the analysis published on Tuesday in PNAS.

Her team estimates that 46.7% of infected children have no symptoms, she said. “This is especially concerning because settings with close, extensive contact among large groups of younger individuals are particularly susceptible to superspreader events of COVID-19, which may go undetected” if school authorities only watch for symptoms. Senior author Alison Galvani, also of the Yale School of Public Health, noted that asymptomatic individuals can still pass the virus to others. read more

U.S. FDA set to authorize vaccine boosters for immunocompromised

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc for people with weakened immune systems, NBC News reported on Wednesday.

The health agency will amend the emergency use authorizations for the two vaccines as soon as Thursday to allow immunocompromised people to get an additional dose, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. read more

EU looking into new possible side-effects of mRNA shots

Three new conditions reported by a small number of people after vaccination with COVID-19 shots from Pfizer and Moderna are being studied to assess if they may be possible side-effects, Europe’s drugs regulator said on Wednesday.

Erythema multiforme, a form of allergic skin reaction; glomerulonephritis or kidney inflammation; and nephrotic syndrome, a renal disorder characterised by heavy urinary protein losses, are being studied by the safety committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), according to the regulator. read more

Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Kim Coghill

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WORLD STATS

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