Friends and family will be able to hug and mix indoors from next week, while cinemas and museums can reopen, Boris Johnson is to confirm on Monday despite growing concerns over the spread of the India coronavirus variant.

Yat, scientists warned this weekend that cases are doubling in some areas where the variant, B1.617.2, has been detected. More deprived areas and those with large ethnic minority communities where vaccination rates may be lower are most affected, they said.

But at a press conference today the prime minister will hail the Covid vaccine rollout, with more than two-thirds of UK adults having had a first dose and a third now fully vaccinated. Just two deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported on Sunday.

Johnson will confirm that the next stage in the easing of Covid restrictions for England will go ahead from 17 May. Indoor drinks and meals will be allowed for groups of up to six or two households, while cinemas, galleries and the rest of the accommodation sector will reopen.

International leisure travel will be possible, with some destinations given a “green light” enabling return without self-isolation, and ministers indicated that “intimate contact” will once more be permissible.

“The roadmap remains on track, our successful vaccination programme continues – more than two-thirds of adults in the UK have now had the first vaccine – and we can now look forward to unlocking cautiously but irreversibly,” Johnson said in comments released overnight.

Speaking on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, said that the government wants to see families able to hug again. “As we move into stage three of our roadmap it will be the case that we will see people capable of meeting indoors. And without prejudice to a broader review of social distancing, it is also the case that friendly contact, intimate contact, between friends and family is something we want to see restored,” he said.

Scientists are concerned about the possible spread of variants as the country relaxes. The notification by Public Health England that one of three variants first seen in India is now “of concern”, with increased transmissibility, demonstrates the need for continued caution, they said. There is anxiety about the anticipated ending of mask-wearing in schools, where clusters of cases linked to the variant have been reported.

Prof Susan Michie, director of UCL’s Centre for Behaviour Change, talked of a mixed picture. If people carry on getting vaccinated at the current rate, it should be possible to keep transmission low, she said.

But the spread of the virus was very uneven. “We have pockets of high rates of transmission, especially in more deprived communities, and where you get high rates of transmission, you obviously also get the likelihood of variants that might undermine the vaccine programme,” said Michie.

Cases of the Indian variant are thought to be doubling every week. “There’s definite signs of community transmission in London. Now that’s obviously concerning, because we don’t yet know what effects it’s likely to have on our vaccine programme,” she added.

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said it was “the Indian variant that is giving me most unease”. The Kent variant (B.1.1.7) had been collapsing in recent months but the Indian variant had been increasing quite rapidly. “I do worry that we will see cases increasing again soon when and if the Indian variant B.1.617.2 becomes dominant,” he said.

But it was difficult yet to know how serious an issue this was. “The signs are troubling but probably not yet strong enough to delay the next stage of lockdown easing. In particular we don’t know how severe the Indian variant will be in people who have been vaccinated,” he said.

Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University, said his personal view was that we could encourage larger outdoor gatherings but leave the reopening of indoor settings until all adult groups are vaccinated, which is expected by mid-July.

“Meeting friends and relatives outdoors is much lower risk. Personally, I’d be happier to spend two hours sat outdoors in a sports stadium with a few thousand spectators than I would be inside a cinema watching a film with 100 other people,” he said.

Michie said she thought the public should be given more information about the importance of ventilation indoors to prevent aerosol transmission. Hugs, as long as people did not breathe in each other’s faces, were not so risky, she said. “I think the issue about opening up all the indoor spaces, whether it’s pubs, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, etc, is the ventilation. I don’t know how that’s going to be communicated.”

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• France to reopen outdoor bars and restaurants on 19 May
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• Johnson to unveil timetable for lifting England restrictions

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US ‘turning the corner’ on pandemic but pressure grows to help other nations

Daily new cases plummet in US with advent of vaccines while they rise at alarming rates in south Asia, with India bearing the brunt

Ed Pilkington in New York

GUARDIAN (UK)

 

The US is approaching a turning point where Covid vaccinations are sharply reducing infection and hospitalization rates, key figures in the fight against the disease said on Sunday, though the Biden administration is facing mounting pressure to do more to help other nations still in the grip of the disease.

“We are turning the corner,” said Jeffrey Zients, the White House Covid response coordinator. With about 58% of adult Americans having received at least one shot of vaccine, and with some 113 million people now fully vaccinated, the country was on track to meet Joe Biden’s goal of 70% of the population at least partially vaccinated by 4 July, he said.

“I think everyone is tired, and wearing a mask can be a pain. But we are getting there, and the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter and brighter,” Zients said, speaking on CNN’s State of the Union show.

Anthony Fauci struck a similar upbeat note on ABC News’s This Week. The nation’s top infectious diseases expert said it was time to start loosening guidelines and allowing Americans to start enjoying the benefits of vaccination.

“Yes we do need to start being more liberal as we get more people vaccinated,” Fauci said. But he added that the battle was still on to get the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated, because when that happened “the virus has nowhere else to go”.

The daily load of new Covid cases has plummeted with the advent of vaccines in the US, from a seven-day average of more than 250,000 per day in January to the current average of about 43,000. Hospitalisations and deaths are also dramatically down.

But as the US begins to feel the benefits of widespread vaccination, other parts of the world are still mired in the depths of the pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the inequity in access to vaccines “grotesque” and a “moral outrage”.

The WHO has pointed out that across the globe the past two weeks have seen more cases recorded than in the entire first six months of the pandemic, with India bearing the brunt. Daily cases are rising at alarming rates across south Asia, and observers are especially worried about Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

India continues to smash global records for new cases – more than 400,000 – and deaths (3,915). The country is grappling with dire shortages of oxygen and other essential hospital supplies.

Last month Biden promised that the US would send oxygen-related supplies and vaccine materials to India. The US has also indicated it will provide up to 60m doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to other countries struggling to protect their people from the virus, an act of altruism arguably diminished by the fact that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not approved for use in the US.

In addition, the Biden administration has backed the campaign to waive patents on vaccines to allow low-income countries to make their own versions.

Despite these recent concessions, Biden has come under intense pressure to do more to help ailing nations. In the early weeks of his presidency he refused to budge from the position that the US would only send vaccines abroad once all Americans had had the chance of being immunised.

On Sunday, Fauci called on the manufacturers of vaccines in the US to scale up production “in a great way” to allow large quantities of supplies to reach India quickly. He said the ambition would be for “literally hundreds of millions of doses” destined for India and other needy countries.

Picture of two pandemics: Covid cases fall in rich west as poorer nations suffer

 

 

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By Monique Washington 

A mysterious fire in the backyard of a Cane Garden residence has left a mother fearing for her life and those of her children. She suspects it was intentionally set.

On Wednesday (May 5) evening, Fiona Leitch and her family were at home when a neighbour called to say there was a fire in their backyard.

Speaking with the Observer, Leitch detailed the night’s experience.

“I was on the phone with a friend about 11 pm when I heard my dogs barking, and they would not stop barking.  I thought they were barking at donkeys. I told my husband to go and check. Shortly after, I heard my neighbour calling ‘Fiona, Fiona, fire in your backyard’,” she said.

Leitch said that when she looked out, she saw the fire blazing, and called her husband and her brothers who quickly put it out. She noted that she was terrified and did not come out of the house until the police came.

“When the police came, they came with nothing. I was expecting them to bring a searchlight, but the officer pulled out his phone and used his phone light. You could have seen where they (possible suspects) threw the gas and where the fire was blazing. They threw the bottle there, but when we got up this morning the bottle was gone,” she said.

Leitch expressed that she was disappointed, because as of press time the police had not returned to take a statement. She said that she also fears for her children, as a similar incident happened in the past 18 months. She said that in 2019, J & T produce stall that she owns was burnt to the ground. She noted that no one was prosecuted for that incident.

 Leitch added that she rebuilt the stall and started her business again, but something bad happened.

“One day I got a call that someone had thrown oil on my stall so I would not be able to use it. I could not risk doing it again, so I decided that I would not run a stall again. Another time I came home and over 1000 of my chickens were dead. I use my chickens for eggs. Someone poisoned all of them,” she said.

Though Leitch has been on the island for over two decades, the recent incidents have caused her to want to return to her native country of Guyana.

“I am feeling very scared, and feeling like right now I want to go back home. Honestly, it has been hard. I am supposed to feel comfortable like any other person. I didn’t do anything to anyone. I work hard for whatever I want. I have to work for my children. I want to be here as a mother for my children,” she said.

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Former St. Kitts and Nevis National football star, Atiba Harris, is ready to lead the St. Kitts- Nevis Football Association (SKNFA) as its President, stating that he owes the game and his country “a debt of gratitude”.

Harris, who played professionally in the USA and Mexico for the past 15 years, recently retired from professional football, and plans to run for President of the SKNFA. The Association’s Congress is set to be held in August.

“I’ve made my intention clear, and football is my only and sole purpose in coming home and contesting the presidency of the SKNFA. I’m loyal to football; I fell in love with the game at an early age, and learned how to play this beautiful game in St. Kitts & Nevis, and owe a debt of gratitude to this game and my country.”

He said that through football, he was afforded the opportunity to accomplish many things.

“This beautiful game has provided me with a platform to help elevate myself and my peers out of difficult situations. The dream of a little boy from our federation whose family didn’t have much, but was able to go on and become a professional footballer, and prove to the world that St. Kitts and Nevis have persons who are capable of competing on the world’s stage.”

He said that in St Kitts and Nevis, many young boys and girls have similar ambition, and he wants to enable them with the opportunity to fulfill their dreams through the beautiful game.

“I can assure you that I’m 100% committed to St. Kitts & Nevis football. I’m a proud citizen of this country. I’m not affiliated with any political party, and I will remain neutral, as I’m a person of moral integrity and strong values, who believes that the support of everyone is necessary in bringing the whole country together, so that we can raise the standard and become a successful football nation.

“I’ve been made aware that my name has been mentioned as a potential candidate in party politics, and although I’m flattered by the interest, I have no intention to venture into any politics outside of football.”

He said football has made him the man he is, and he will remain loyal to the sport.

“The growth and development of football in our country is my main focus. This is ‘Our Game’, and we deserve to have a body that truly represents the best interest of football with transparency and fairness. Football has to be the winner, and I would encourage everyone who has a genuine interest to fully support this movement, in moving St. Kitts & Nevis football forward. I’m confident that we can achieve this objective with everyone onboard.”

Harris, 36, represented St. Kitts and Nevis 63 times, scoring 17 goals. He also made 275 appearances for six clubs in Major League Soccer, and most recently, 55 appearances for OKC Energy in the United States Soccer League.

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Haiti has still not taken the necessary steps to receive a single vaccine, lamented the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

“Haiti is still in the process to finalize the arrangements that all the other countries have made to be able to receive these vaccines,” said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Deputy Director without specifying the reasons for the delay. 

She explained, “Prior to receiving vaccines, Haiti’s health ministry needs to ensure that all measures are in place, like the training of personnel and logistics including storage and surveillance, as well as authorizing the import of the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

As part of its first shipment, the country should receive 756,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine (first phase) that Haiti initially refused.

Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, the Director of the World Health Organization, has informed Haiti that “if it confirms that it does not want to receive these free vaccines, they will be reassigned to other countries” stressing “there is no option to change these doses by another vaccine for the countries which receive them in the form of donations.”

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33495-haiti-covid-19-the-refusal-of-the-astrazeneca-vaccine-donation-could-cost-haiti-millions-of-dollars.html

Note that with the generalization of international vaccination cards or “passports”, it may be impossible in the future for an unvaccinated person to travel…

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TRAVEL: by Eric Mackenzie Lamb

 

 

 

During the summer of 2001, I was fortunate enough to embark on one of my most memorable trips- to Siberia and Russia’s Far East. Even today, more than twenty years later, this vast area still remains relatively unknown when it comes to international tourism. And I wasn’t alone. My son Antonio, then eight years old and on his summer school break, shared the adventure with me, the first of many.

This sector of our trip started in Beijing, China, where we boarded the legendary Trans Siberian Railway. The Russian section of the railway was completed in 1906 and involved hundreds of thousands of laborers. Ordered by the Tsar, its purpose was to open the vast Siberian territories to trade, exploration, military linkage with Russia’s Far East, and scientific studies. Years later, a branch of the railway line was extended to China. We’d booked our own private compartment, which had a shower, toilet, and two bunk beds-an absolute necessity as we’d be traveling across seven time zones. Altogether, the total distance we’d cover would come to 4,735 miles in six days, not including a three day break in the Russian city of Irkutsk.

Our train departed Beijing at precisely 11 AM, and by one in the morning the next day we had reached the Mongolian border. It was here that Antonio and I, still awake, witnessed some amazing technology. As we learned later,  Chinese railway gauges are different from those in Mongolia and Russia. To solve that problem, the train’s undercarriages are jacked up and their wheels replaced. In less than an hour, we were on our way.

When we woke up the next morning and peered through the window, it was almost as if we’d arrived at another planet. This, we knew, was the legendary Gobi Desert.

 

From time to time, we could see a yurt in the distance, a typical Mongolian tent made of wood and felt.  The traditional structure, dating back thousands of years, serves as a home which can be moved from one location to another.

Image by the author.

 

That same evening, we crossed the Russian/Mongolian border. About four hours later, we arrived at Irkutsk, disembarked, and took a taxi to our hotel. Although the hotel itself was of a rather stark Soviet era style, it turned out to be surprisingly comfortable.

Image by the author.

 

The following morning, we began our tour of Lake Baikal.

 

Here are some facts we learned from Tamur, our highly knowledgeable guide and boat driver.

The world’s deepest freshwater body of water, Lake Baikal-a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996-has a maximum depth of 5,387 feet. It contains an astonishing 23 percent of the Earth’s fresh water. It’s also the world’s oldest lake in geological history, between 25 and 30 million years since its formation, encompassing a length of 395 miles and an average width of 79 miles. The lake is home to at least one thousand species of plants and 2,500 animals, eighty percent of which are endemic and found nowhere else, including the Baikal seal (Pusa sibirica), one of the world’s only freshwater mammals of its kind.

Image by the author.

 

For the area’s commercial fishermen, the most rewarding and sought after catches consist of Omul (Coregonus migratorius) and the Baikal sturgeon, a source of caviar.

When it comes to weather, violent winds are not uncommon during summer months, when waves can reach heights of 15 feet or more. But in winter, usually between January and May, the lake’s surface is frozen solid. You can even legally drive your car  across it, which many locals do for the purpose of ice fishing.

 

Finally, to conclude this story, Lake Baikal itself isn’t the only amazing thing  we learned about the area. In 1978, a party of government surveyors was making their way over the area’s impenetrable forests by helicopter when they spotted a tiny isolated village, which, as they subsequently learned,  was inhabited by members of a religious sect called True Believers whose ancestors had emigrated from western Russia in the early 1920’s to escape prosecution for their anti-Orthodox beliefs. The village had no cars, no electricity, and no means of communication with the outside world. For all practical purposes, it could have been the far side of the moon.  None of Its few dozen settlers,  was even aware that Russia was no longer ruled by the Tsars, or that Lenin’s Communist revolution had taken place.

Just like Lake Baikal, history itself had been frozen in time.

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There is no need for alarm at Mount Liamuiga, as there are no signs of an impending eruption. 

This is according to the University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre. 

Director of the Centre, Dr. Erouscilla Joseph, said the social media video that made the rounds this week, of a bubbling puddle, was not out of the ordinary.

“What the video did show is people in the crater in the hot spring area and the bubbles. Liamuiga is considered live, and that means it has the potential to erupt again in the future.”

Dr. Joseph said the activity that was seen at Mount Liamuiga is normal, and it is not unusual.

“It does not look any different to what was seen in the past – in terms of how the future looks and the type of activities that are associated with these features that are in the crater.”

She said in the other volcanic areas such as Dominica and St Lucia, one will see more effusive activities associated with their hot springs that could look a lot more active than what was seen in the video.

She explained what caused the activity at the crater 

“There is magma at depth below the volcano. What happens is that it heats the rocks above. It is so hot, the rock is there and then you have water coming in from the rain that filters through the cracks on the volcano, and it percolates down into the earth and is heated by the hot rock, the magma itself also degasses.

“Together with that, hot water that is heated up and boils, that comes up to the surface and is manifested as the hot springs, vents.”

Dr. Joseph said the feature is something that is seen in most volcanic systems, and is not related to an eruption.

“When a volcanic system becomes more active, you tend to see more changes in the activity as well as the appearance of these features, and this is not what is happening at Liamuiga.

“The type of activity seen is a normal hydrothermal activity, it was not unusual and does not indicate there was an increase in the activity of the volcano.”

She said there is no truth in volcanoes being linked, so the eruption in St Vincent will not impact other volcanoes in the region.

“The processes throughout the region that allow for the formation of the volcanoes, that is the same…but in terms of the plumbing systems, each volcano is different and has its own plumbing system, and activity at one does not necessarily allow for another to increase in activity or erupt.”

National Disaster Coordinator, Abdias Samuel, said the volcano is dormant but live. He noted that the last verified eruptions would have occurred 1800 years ago, though some historians have suggested that possible eruptions may have occurred in 1692 and 1843.

Samuel said the continuous hot springs activity and the occasional burst of shallow earthquakes directly beneath the volcano mean that it is still alive. He said people should also be aware of similar activity at Nevis Peak.

“There have been no recent signs of increased volcanic activity in Nevis, however frequent shallow earthquake swarms and the existence of hot spring activity associated with Nevis Peak, indicate that this volcano is live and can erupt in the future.”

As it relates to preparedness, Samuel said scientists provide advice as well as produce maps and other public information material to enable the public and authorities to better prepare for any future volcanic eruption. 

“Being prepared for these events can considerably reduce risks to you and your family. If there is any eruption on Nevis, the entire island would have to be evacuated

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