Covid-19 Daily Bulletin

07 May

7 May 2021

A series of daily updates for CHO members regarding relevant updates pertaining to Coronavirus from home and abroad.

Key Announcements:

  • UK government statistics show the number of new confirmed cases of Covid-19 yesterday was 2,613, and there were 13 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
  • The figures show 34,934,171 people have had a first dose of a Covid vaccine, and 16,291,719 have had a second dose.
  • Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will deliver a Downing Street press conference at 5pm this afternoon. Shapps will set out the ‘green list’ of countries from which returning Brits will not have to quarantine from May 17.
  • Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty has warned that Covid-19 is unlikely to ever be eradicated and the outlook for the pandemic remains “pretty bleak” in the medium term.
  • The Independent reports that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization will hold a press conference at midday to announce that under-40s should be offered alternative vaccines to AstraZeneca due to concerns around blood clots. The recommendation is expected to come with the caveat that the under-40s should still get AstraZeneca if not doing so would slow down the rollout.

Devolved/Regional

  • Seven cases of the Indian Covid variant have been found in Northern Ireland. Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said it was not unexpected but added that this did not mean that the variant was “going to become the most prevalent or the dominant strain in Northern Ireland”.
  • Public health officials have warned that the Moray region of Scotland is experiencing “uncontrolled, sustained community transmission” of Covid. Deputy director of public health at NHS Grampian, Chris Littlejohn, said the situation was “rapidly deteriorating”.

International

  • The European Commission has unveiled a new plan to mass produce three ‘course-changing’ Covid drugs from October. An initial €90m has been available for clinical trials, and a further €40m will be allocated to manufacturers to increase production.
  • Brazil reported 73,380 new Covid cases yesterday, bringing its total number of confirmed cases to more than 15 million.
  • Japan ‘s Government is expected to extend a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May in order to prevent a surge in coronavirus cases ahead of the start of the Tokyo Olympics.
  • Nepal has appealed for urgent help to contain a surge in Covid cases amid concerns that the situation in the country may be as bad, if not worse, than in neighbouring India.

Stakeholders

  • The World Health Organisation has warned of a new wave of Covid-19 infections in Africa due to delayed vaccine supplies, a slow rollout and new variants.
  • Labour MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy has expressed concern that pregnant women are struggling to get a Covid vaccine because clinics are unable to guarantee they will have the right type of jab available. The Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna jabs are preferable for pregnant women because there is more safety data available.
  • International Airlines Group has reported a €1.2bn pre-tax loss for the first quarter and reiterated its call for the rollout of digital vaccine passports to enable the aviation industry’s recovery.

Unconfirmed reports

  • The Guardian reports that Public Health England could publish documents today showing clusters of the Indian variants of Covid across England, and that one could be escalated to a mutation “of concern”.