Loop News- St Vincent and the Grenadines has recorded its first fully-vaccinated COVID-19 death.The Ministry of Health says a 67-year-old woman who presented to the Accident and Emergency Department on January 5, 2022, after a one-week illness, died of COVID-19 pneumonia on January 6.
The patient, who, tested positive on admission had preexisting non-communicable diseases. She was fully vaccinated during the period April to July 2021.
Her death brings the death toll from COVID-19 to 84.
The news comes as St Vincent and the Grenadines recorded 208 new COVID cases during the period January 3 to January 4, 2022.
There are currently no patients admitted for COVID-19 at the Argyle Isolation Facility. Sixteen patients are admitted to the COVID-19 ward at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, two of whom are fully vaccinated and fourteen patients are unvaccinated.
St Vincent and Grenadines has over 700 active COVID cases.
Britain’s Prince William appealed for innovators around the world to submit nominations for his Earthshot Prize, a competition aimed at finding new ways to tackle climate change.
William and his charity, The Royal Foundation, launched the prize in 2020 inspired by US President John F Kennedy’s 1962 “Moonshot” speech that challenged Americans to go to the moon by the end of the decade.
The prize, to be awarded to five winners every year until 2030, is billed as the most prestigious of its kind. Each winner will receive a grant of 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) to develop and scale up their ideas.
This year’s prizes will go to projects aimed at “tipping point” issues where there are opportunities to create significant benefits over the next few years, the foundation said. These include personal transportation, agriculture that restores the environment, buildings designed to minimize pollution and energy use, and initiatives that extend the life of clothing, food and plastic products.
“I can’t wait to see what solutions the prize helps to champion this coming year,” William said in a statement. “In 2022, we are determined to go further by seeking even more nominations from every corner of the world, ensuring that we spotlight and scale the very best ideas and innovations that will put our planet on a sustainable path and protect our world for generations to come.”
The Antigua and Barbuda Ministry of Health has confirmed that the Omicron Covid-19 variant has officially been detected in the twin island nation, while Covid infections continue to escalate this week.
In a media statement published yesterday, the ministry said the variant was identified in a batch of samples sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) for testing last month.
With the discovery, Antigua and Barbuda joins Barbados, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, among other countries that have also confirmed the variant’s presence.
Based on the rapid spread of Omicron across the world, many believed it was only a matter of time before it touched down in the country and the Health Ministry confirmed in the statement that it too had previously suspected its presence.
It means all five of the World Health Organization (WHO)-designated variants of concern – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omicron – have now been found in Antigua and Barbuda, and this latest variant could not come at a worse time.
Just hours prior to confirming the presence of Omicron, the Health Ministry reported that 229 new Covid infections were recorded over the period January 1 to January 4.
That followed a similar report on Tuesday, when 203 new infections were confirmed to have been detected over the period December 27 to December 31 last year.
This shot the number of active cases up from just 27 in the middle of December, to a whopping 499 up to last night.
Health officials had been warning of a likely spike in infections following the festive season, based on last year’s experience when returning nationals and visitors flocked to the country, resulting in hundreds of persons contracting the virus early in 2021.
The major difference in this case is that Covid vaccines are widely available and nearly 60,000 persons have already been fully vaccinated.
According to physician Dr Dwayne Thwaites, the fact that so many people are already inoculated, coupled with the low number of hospitalisations reportedly being caused by the Omicron variant globally, means the variant’s presence shouldn’t cause more alarm than the Delta, for example.
“When viruses variate, we have what we call nonsense variation and that is where the viruses change, but [the change] doesn’t affect [persons afflicted] in any way.
“Here, we have a change, where the variant is more contagious and spreads easier, but it is not as dangerous, it doesn’t destroy [organs] like we used to see with the Delta variant.
“Because of what we’re seeing now in Antigua and Barbuda, with the number of [Covid] cases, it seems like people are getting some kind of immunity. People who are vaccinated are getting extra immunity, because they’re still picking up the disease and they’re not getting as sickly,” Dr Thwaites told Observer.
The urologist warned though, that residents should still get vaccinated as a matter of priority in order to reduce the likelihood of more variants being formed.
“If you’re unvaccinated and the virus gets to you, it keeps multiplying and the more it multiplies, the greater the chance that it will variate again,” Dr Thwaites said.
To date, the Omicron variant, which was first identified in South Africa, has been detected in more than 120 countries.
In this role, Thompson will lead international marketing efforts for the destination, with a focus on trade and airline relationships; earned, paid and owned media; partnerships; and stakeholder communication.
Thompson will focus on leisure and cruise, two perennially high performing areas for tourism to St. Kitts. He will also prioritize the romance and MICE markets, with the goal of increasing tourism’s economic benefits across the island. Thompson begins work on January 10, 2022.
“Mr. Thompson brings more than three decades of Caribbean tourism sales and marketing experience, including a deep knowledge of marketing Bahamas’ outer islands,” said Nick Menon, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. “He has proven success increasing leisure travel, expanding key industry relationships, and implementing creative global marketing campaigns. We are thrilled to have his expertise at the helm of the Tourism Authority.”
“Tommy Thompson’s experience working with tourism ministries and destination marketing entities make him the premier choice to lead the St. Kitts Tourism Authority,” added Lindsay F.P. Grant, Minister of Tourism, Transport and Ports. “We are confident that under his leadership, we will continue driving high demand for the destination among air and cruise passengers as part of tourism’s continuous rebound.”
Thompson will utilize a data-driven approach to assess St. Kitts’ primary audiences and their behaviors. His initial intentions also include working closely with travel agents and tour operators, and partnering with airlines to increase passenger load and service to the destination.
“St. Kitts is an emerging destination with tremendous potential to excite travelers from around the world,” Thompson said. “I am looking forward to developing and implementing creative strategies that will increase St. Kitts’ visibility in our key source markets, put St. Kitts into the consideration set for travelers, and ultimately drive bookings.”
Most recently, Mr. Thompson served as Deputy Director General of The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism. In this role, he developed global marketing strategies for the Ministry, with a focus on the Family Islands, Grand Bahama Island, and niche market promotions.
He also led the sales teams in the United States, Canada and Europe as well as Asia and Latin America, and oversaw campaigns targeting consumers, tour operators and wholesalers, travel agents and airlines. Mr. Thompson has also held a number of other positions for both The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and The Bahamas Tourist Offices in the UK. He has additional experience managing visitor relations, cruise development, product development, and sales representation.
WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday barred eight Cuban officials from entering the country over their role in the detention and sentencing of protesters in July demonstrations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
The State Department did not name the officials. Blinken said they are implicated in attempts to silence Cuban people through repression, unjust detentions and harsh prison sentences.
“The United States took steps to enforce visa restrictions in response to Cuban government attempts to deny Cubans their freedom and rights through continued intimidation tactics, unjust imprisonment, and severe sentences,” Blinken said.
The largest protests since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution erupted in Cuba in July amid an economic crisis and surge in COVID-19 infections.
Thousands took to the streets, angry over shortages of basic goods, curbs on civil liberties and the handling of the pandemic. Hundreds of protesters were arrested.
Blinken said 600 protesters remain jailed after the protests, some with no access to proper food or medicine and with worsening health conditions.
Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Eric Beech; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
OTTAWA, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Canada, Britain, Sweden and Ukraine on Thursday said they had abandoned efforts to talk to Tehran about reparations for an airliner downed by Iran and would try to settle the matter according to international law.
Most of the 176 people killed when Iran shot down the Ukrainian jet in January 2020 were citizens from those four countries, which created a coordination group that seeks to hold Tehran to account.
“Despite our best efforts over the past two years and multiple attempts to resolve this matter through negotiations, the Coordination Group has determined that further attempts to negotiate with Iran … are futile,” it said in a statement.
“The Coordination Group will now focus on subsequent actions to take to resolve this matter in accordance with international law,” it continued, but did not give details.
Tehran says Revolutionary Guards accidentally shot down the Boeing 737 jet and blamed a misaligned radar and an error by the air defense operator at a time when tensions were high between Tehran and the United States.
A court in Ontario, Canada, this week awarded C$107 million ($83.8 million), plus interest, to the families of six people who died. In June, Canada said it had found no evidence that the downing of the plane had been premeditated. read more
($1 = 1.2772 Canadian dollars)
Reporting by David Ljunggren Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
BBC-Two arrests have been made after 10 bodies were found inside a car in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas.
The discovery came after the vehicle was left outside a historic local state governor’s office in the middle of a public square.
Officials became suspicious of the car, a Mazda SUV, and found the bodies early on Thursday morning.
David Monreal, governor of the central state, later confirmed on social media that two suspects had been detained.
“They came to leave them here in front of the palace,” he said of the crime, adding the victims were “apparently beaten”.
The Mexican security ministry confirmed they are sending assistance to help the local investigation.
Mexico has long suffered with high levels of crime and rising murder rates.
Zacatecas state has also seen a surge in violence linked to a turf war between rival drug gangs operating in the area, including incidents where bodies have been left or displayed in public places.
Responding to the discovery in a video at the scene, Mr Monreal pledged to try and tackle the problem.
“Bit by bit we will recover our peace. What we received was a cursed inheritance,” he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying about the violence.
(CNN) Two Haitian journalists were burned alive by a gang in the country’s capital on Thursday, a source with the Haitian Security Forces told CNN.
The source said the Ti Makak gang carried out the killings in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. The motive and details of the attack remain unclear, the source said.
A third journalist managed to escape, the source added.
Haitian media outlet Radio Écoute FM confirmed that one of its journalists, John Wesley Amady, was killed in the attack while he was on assignment documenting the lack of security in the area.
In a statement to CNN Thursday, the outlet said Amady “was savagely shot and burned alive by armed bandits.”
“We condemn with the utmost rigor this criminal and barbaric act,” Radio Écoute FM said, calling it a “serious attack on the right to life.”
Radio Écoute FM has suspended operations until further notice “as a sign of solidarity with the family of the victim,” the statement said.
The attacks come against the backdrop of extreme violence and deteriorating security conditions in Port-au-Prince, with rival groups battling one another or the police for control of the streets, displacing tens of thousands of people in one of the poorest nations in the Americas.
In July last year, Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise was assassinated during an attack on his private residence, leaving a power vacuum that deepened the turmoil from the violence, Haiti’s growing humanitarian crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The United States on Tuesday arrested a Colombian man for his alleged involvement in Moise’s assassination.
Pressure on London hospitals has increased over the past month, with 4,000 patients currently in hospital with Covid compared with 1,100 in early December.
The Royal College of Nursing’s director for England, Patricia Marquis, said the deployment showed the government could not deny there was a “staffing crisis” in the NHS.
“The prime minister and others can no longer be dismissive of questions about the ability of NHS staff to deliver safe care,” she said.
As of Thursday afternoon, 17 hospital trusts in England were experiencing critical incidents – about one in eight of the total.
A critical incident is declared when a trust is worried it might not be able to provide core priority services, such as emergency care. It means they can get extra help and draft staff in from other duties.
In London, there are 236 patients on ventilators – compared with 190 last month – and daily admissions are about four times higher than the beginning of December.
Vaccination rates in the capital are also running behind the UK as a whole, with 69% having had a first dose, 63% a second and 40% a booster jab.
Across the UK, 90% have had their first jab, 83% have had a second, and 61% a booster.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged people to get their vaccinations to help cut the pressure on the NHS, as he welcomed support from the military.
He said: “Once again they are stepping up to assist NHS workers who are working round the clock across the capital, helping the health service through this difficult winter period where the need is greatest.
“The most important thing you can do is get boosted now to protect your loved ones and communities from Covid-19.
Army medics and support staff have been used to support health services throughout the pandemic – they were deployed to work in Northern Ireland’s hospitals in September and were also needed in London this time last year.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Armed Forces would again be working “hand-in-hand” with NHS staff “to protect the nation from Covid-19”.
He added: “They have shown their worth time and again throughout this pandemic, whether driving ambulances, administering vaccines or supporting patients in hospital and they should be proud of their contribution to this truly national effort.”
There are 40 teams of five, with one medic and four general duties personnel, who have started work this week and will be allocated according to need.
Medics will work with patients, whereas the soldiers will be working on maintaining stocks, checking in patients on arrival, and conducting basic checks.
Paramedics in the South Central Ambulance Service will also be bolstered with 32 military co-responders, who are expected to stay with them until the end of March.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
About 10% of staff at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust are off sick
Jane Clegg, the regional chief nurse for the NHS in London, said: “We are thankful for the support of the armed forces alongside thousands of NHS staff, as they respond to the increased demands brought by Covid – ensuring continued high quality care and treatment for the many Londoners being looked after by the NHS this winter.”
Across the UK there are about 1,800 armed forces personnel supporting the NHS response to the Covid-19 pandemic, made up of regulars and reservists from the Army, Navy and the RAF.
More than 400 military paramedics are assisting ambulance trusts, with 313 in the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust and 96 in the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Another 1,000 are working on the vaccine booster programme, with 730 in England, 221 in Scotland and 98 in Wales.
The world set a record last week for confirmed COVID-19 cases, with more than 9.5 million new cases reported in a seven-day period, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
The number of confirmed cases between Dec. 27 and Jan. 2 was 71 percent higher than the previous seven-day period, which tallied around 5 million new cases.
Cases for months ranged between 3 million to 5 million per week, but the highly transmissible omicron variant, first detected in November, has led to a spike in global cases.
While the number of cases has increased, deaths fell in the latest reporting week compared to the prior seven-day period.
More than 41,000 deaths from COVID-19 were reported last week, down from more than 44,000 in the previous week, the WHO found.
While preliminary studies have found omicron to be less severe than the delta variant, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has cautioned nations to not take omicron lightly.
Argentina breaks COVID-19 case record as daily infections near 100,000
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Argentina broke its record for COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, approaching 100,000 daily cases as it faces a third wave of the pandemic, driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.
But the record of 95,159 officially confirmed cases, coming in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere summer holiday season with tourist centers full of travelers, has not translated into a similar exponential rise in COVID-related deaths, which totaled 52.
“We do not have a strong impact on intensive therapy units and less in terms of deaths,” the chief of staff of the Ministry of Health, Sonia Tarragona, told local radio station Urbana Play. “The cases are mild or moderate and they are not putting stress on the health system.”
Argentina accelerated its vaccination campaign in recent months, which started with the Sputnik V vaccine, then added AstraZeneca and Sinopharm and, later, CanSino, Pfizer and Moderna.
Tarragona said she does not know “what the ceiling for infections is going to be,” but some experts believe the true number among the country’s 45 million population is already significant.
“Today in Argentina we could be quietly at around 150,000 or 200,000 cases of new infections per day,” biochemist Jorge Geffner told Reuters TV.
He estimated that the infection peak could come in mid-January.
Neighboring Brazil had 27,267 new daily cases and 129 deaths, the government said on Wednesday. read more
Reporting by Agustin Geist and Lucila Sigal; Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by John Stonestreet and Mark Porter
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Guyana Government Urges Adherence to COVID Protocols
The Guyana government urged the population to get vaccinated and adhere to the protocols put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 as the country recorded a significant increase in new cases and the union representing teachers called for the immediate closure of schools across the country.
President Irfaan Ali, speaking at an emergency virtual news conference, called on nationals to get vaccinated, as well as adhere to a mandatory mask-wearing amid suspicions that the more transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 is in Guyana.
“It is still critical that while you are still making up your mind whether you will get vaccinated that you adhere to a self-imposition of mandatory mask wear to minimize the viral load or your exposure,” Ali said.
Ali, who was flanked by Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony and other officials, reiterated that vaccination remains the best option against contracting the virus or becoming severely ill.
“Vaccination with booster minimizes the impact of the new variant. Some describe (the symptoms) as being mild, but those who are not vaccinated need to take additional precautions for themselves and families.”
Ali said that while there is a high positivity ratio, there has been no steep increase in hospitalization, adding “we don’t have control over the variant and how it will operate but we have control over our own options”.
President Ali said his government was keen on keeping public services functional while managing health facilities and personnel who are critical to the fight against COVID-19.
The Health Minister confirmed that 788 new cases of the virus had been recorded within the last 24hours, representing the highest number of new cases to ever be recorded in a single day, pushing the number of active cases in the country to over 2,500.
Dr. Anthony said the increase in new cases was expected as the country comes out of a busy holiday season.
“We are operating on the advice that it [Omicron] is here and we are taking action on that advice,” he said, adding “we have anticipated this, these numbers are going to double and we are seeing this happening right now”.
The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) has called for the immediate closure of schools, two days after students returned for the new academic year and for face-to-face learning.
In a statement, the GTU said based on its own assessment, 65 teachers and more than 40 students have tested positive for the virus and that while at least 15 schools have been forced to close their doors, many other schools have remained open although cases have been confirmed among staff and students.
The union said based on visits to schools, there are no social distancing guidelines being followed in many classrooms as students are seated close to each other and in many cases, two students are sharing one bench.
The union is demanding that schools be closed immediately to facilitate testing and sanitizing of the school environment. It said while it understands the challenges presented by online learning and that reopening schools for face-to-face is the preferred option,
“The rate at which persons are getting sick due to COVID 19 infections has to be addressed now. The only way to preserve the lives of our children, teachers, and their families is to suspend all face-to-face engagements in schools”, the union said.
During the news conference, President Ali said public schools will remain open.
Ali said of the estimated 200 health workers who are infected with the virus, 50 are doctors, 75 are nurses and 41 are technicians.
Medical Director of the Georgetown Public Hospital, Dr Fawcett Jeffrey said that seven of the 32 doctors of the obstetrics and gynecology department have been infected by the virus.
CMC
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Mexico nears 300,000 deaths from COVID-19 as cases surge after holidays
A medical staff member checks symptoms of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient in the emergency room at Metropolitano Hospital in Monterrey, Mexico, January 6, 2022. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril
MEXICO CITY, Jan 6 (Reuters) – Mexico is likely to surpass 300,000 deaths from COVID-19 this week – the fifth highest death toll worldwide – as infections rise after the holiday season, fueled by the Omicron coronavirus variant and largely unrestricted tourism.
Infections have more than doubled to 20,000 during the last week when many tourists visited Mexico from the United States and Canada. Eleven of Mexico’s 32 states decided not to resume in-person school classes this week with cases climbing fast.
The arrival of the highly contagious Omicron variant reversed a downturn in infections during the autumn, when the widespread application of vaccines provided relief.
Some Mexicans said people had dropped their guard as the holidays came.
“Since December, a lot of people started to go out and there are many who no longer wear face masks,” said Isauro Perez, a 53-year-old taxi driver in Mexico City. “If we don’t take care of ourselves, the government won’t take care of us.”
As of Wednesday, Mexico had registered 299,805 confirmed deaths from COVID-19, a figure that is likely significantly below the real toll, officials say.
Separate government data showed there had been nearly 452,000 deaths “linked to” COVID-19 by mid-December, and lower testing has likely helped to understate the reach of the virus.
Mexico has the highest fatality rate – deaths per confirmed cases – among the 20 nations most affected by COVID-19 worldwide, according to an analysis by Johns Hopkins University.
Laurie Ximenez-Fyvie, an expert on molecular genetics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said in the end, Mexico’s death toll would be the ultimate yardstick of how the government had performed in the pandemic.
So far, she argued, it risked suffering “absolute failure.”
According to figures from Our World in Data, a research group at Oxford University, in the week ending Jan. 1, Mexico was conducting just 0.12 coronavirus daily tests for every 1,000 inhabitants – down from a peak of 0.38 per day in mid-August.
Britain, by contrast, was doing 20.6 tests a day per 1,000 inhabitants as 2021 ended.
While parts of Europe and the United States have imposed added restrictions with the spread of Omicron, Mexico has so far resisted and tourists do not require negative tests to enter the country.
Videos of maskless travelers drinking alcohol and gathering close together while taking a charter flight to the Mexican beach destination of Cancun from Montreal in late December went viral, prompting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call for an investigation.
“It’s a slap in the face,” he said.
The surge of new cases could hit Mexico harder than some countries since it has a lower vaccination rate than the United States and much of Europe, health experts said.
Nationwide, only 56% of the population is fully vaccinated, in comparison to 62% in the United States and 81% in Spain.
But Mexicans have readily taken up vaccines, and 95% of adult residents of Mexico City are fully vaccinated.
However, the government has not rolled out its vaccination program to people below the age of 15, despite more children being hospitalized. More than one in four of Mexico’s population are aged 14 or below, World Bank data show.
Reporting by Diego Ore and Roberto Ramirez, writing by Laura Gottesdiener; editing by Grant McCool
St Kitts and Nevis wrapped up its first week of free COVID-19 testing on Thursday with hundreds of persons taking advantage of the opportunity to get tested for the virus.
This, as the daily number of active cases, continue to rise rapidly at alarming rates.
The most recent COVID-19 Situation Report issued for St Kitts and Nevis dated Wednesday, January 5, indicates 177 new cases compared to the 156 cases from the previous day. The country’s total number of active cases currently stands at 767.
Last week during an emergency National Emergency Operations Center COVID-19 briefing, Chief Medical Officer Dr Hazel Laws announced the emergence of thederation’s fourth COVID-19 wave and the first two cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Since then, the cases have been increasing, causing persons to speculate that Omicron is rampant throughout the islands.
Dr Laws also announced the introduction of the car park free COVID-19 testing. The initiative allows for persons to be tested at three sites during the week during a one-hour period.
The scheduled days are Tuesdays at the Basseterre Health Centre, Wednesdays at the Pogson Medical Center and Thursdays at the Mary Charles Hospital. Testing takes place from 6:30 am to 7:30 am at all venues on the designated days.
The car park testing has been introduced for the month of January in the first instance.
The Ministry of Health has asked persons experiencing fever, sore throat, sniffles, coughing, and those who think they’ve been exposed to COVID-19 to take advantage of the free testing opportunity.
Persons who have not been vaccinated continue to be encouraged to do so and booster shots have been made available for the fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 tests in St Kitts and Nevis usually cost in the range of $100 US dollars/ $270 EC dollars.
On Tuesday, January 4, 100 persons were tested and on Wednesday 99 persons were tested.
