The Nobels Fredssenter, or Nobel Peace Center, located in an old train station from 1872, in Oslo
Good afternoon. This is Jonathan Spira, director of research at the Center for Long Covid Research, reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on its 1,454th day.
THE LEDE
A Letter to the Editor (of the Washington Post): The Pandemic Isn’t Over and We Shouldn’t Act As If It Is
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s potential loosening of coronavirus isolation guidelines is a reckless, anti-public health policy that goes against science, encourages disease spread and puts everyone at greater risk. The bare minimum we should have learned from a devastating pandemic that has killed and disabled millions is that we should stay home when we are sick. Yet, inexplicably, by caving in to corporate interests, governments are encouraging people to not even do the bare minimum.
The truth is that covid is still killing and disabling way too many people, and too many people are locked out of society and can’t even access medical care safely because of high levels of covid transmission. We still need science-based isolation guidance, and we need better public health protections. For some, there are understandable financial reasons they can’t take time off work for an extended period. But instead of weakening isolation guidance for everyone, governments can more effectively reduce harm by pushing for increased structural supports that reduce virus spread, such as free N95 masks and more paid sick leave and clean-air infrastructure.
The pandemic isn’t over, and covid isn’t over. The coronavirus might look different than in 2020, but it is still harming many people, and we need to make long-term adjustments to make society healthier and accessible to everyone.
-Lucky Tran, Ph.D
The writer is a scientist and public health advocate at Columbia University.
In other news we cover today, low levels of iron may turn out to be a trigger of Long Covid, a new study suggestions, and the White House made major changes in its Covid protocols by ending them, and public health experts are concerned about the state of Florida’s refusal to follow well-established public health guidance to protect unvaccinated children.
LONG COVID
A new study suggests that low blood iron levels may be a trigger for Long Covid. The study, published this week in the journal Nature Immunology, was based on blood samples from 214 patients collected via the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease.
Study participants provided multiple blood samples during and after a SARS-CoV-2 infection for a period of 12 months.
The study, entitled Iron Dysregulation and Inflammatory Stress Erythropoiesis Associates with Long-Term Outcome of Covid-19 and led by researchers at the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, suggests that Long Covid was associated with how quickly inflammation and low iron levels regulated after acute infection.
The researchers found that patients who took a longer time to demonstrate regulation, and had more severe initial infections, were at an increased risk of Long Covid.
Two new studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine suggest that a bout of Long Covid can cause a drops in IQ and trouble with standard memory-related and cognitive tasks such as verbal reasoning and accurately defining words. Together, the two studies examined the cognitive abilities of nearly 200,000 Covid patients in England and Norway who then completed follow-up cognition and memory task assessments.
The British study findings suggest that the longer it takes someone with SARS-CoV-2 to recover from his symptoms, the more his measurable IQ would drop compared with individuals who never had tested positive for Covid, while the Norwegian study noted that those individuals who were admitted to an ICU or hospitalized, and those who hadn’t kept up with their Covid-19 vaccinations or were infected earlier in the pandemic, experienced a more serious cognitive decline at various points over more than 36 months.
UNITED STATES
In Washington, D.C., the White House lifted its coronavirus testing requirement for individuals who would be in close contact with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as their respective spouses.
The move signifies the end of all coronavirus prevention protocols at the White House, as this requirement was the last remaining one.
The protocol was instituted shortly after the start of the pandemic in 2020 under the Trump administration.
The change comes on the heels of new isolation guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that allow people to leave home isolation and return to activities such as work provided symptoms are only mild and at least a day has passed since having a fever.
OTHER HEALTHCARE NEWS
Multiple public health researchers are coming out strongly against Florida’s current response to the measles outbreak, saying that it goes against well-established public health guidance.
Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on the planet and has been around for well over a century, so best practices to fight infection are well established at this point.
The problem stems from the state’s controversial and seemingly unqualified surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, who has not told parents of unvaccinated children to either get their kids vaccinated or keep them out of school in quarantine during the outbreak. Instead, he left it to parents to decide what to do, despite the high risk of contagion.
GLOBAL STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Monday, March 4.
As of Monday, at press time, the world has recorded 703.88 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.01 million in the last 48 hours, and 7 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 674.81 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.02 million in the past 24 hours.
The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls as well as the occasional downward or upward adjustment as corrections to case figures warrant.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Monday at press time is 22,062,134, a decrease of 14,000 in the past 24 hours. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 22,026,670, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 35,464, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past 19 months.
Since the start of the pandemic, the United States has, as of Monday, recorded 111.56 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.22 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 45.03 million, and a reported death toll of 533,496.
The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July 2022, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States. Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.
Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 40.14 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38.82 million total cases.
Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 709,963, has recorded 38.45 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.
The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are South Korea, with 34.57 million cases, as number six; Japan, with 33.8 million cases placing it in the number seven slot; and Italy, with 26.72 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with 24.9 million, and Russia, with 23.98 million, as nine and ten respectively.
CURRENT U.S. COVID STATISTICS AT A GLANCE
In the United States, in the week ending February 10, 2024, the test positivity rate was, based on data released on February 16, 2024 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was 7.4%, and the trend in test positivity is -1.1% in the most recent week. Meanwhile, the percentage of emergency department visits that were diagnosed as SARS-CoV-2 was 1.5%, and the trend in emergency department visits is -14.6%.
The number of people admitted to hospital in the United States due to SARS-CoV-2 in the same 7-day period was 17,310, a figure that is down 10.3% over the past 7-day period. Meanwhile, the percentage of deaths due to SARS-CoV-2 was 2.1%, a figure that is down 10.7% in the same period.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
Some 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Monday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.57 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 3,620 doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 32.7% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain at or below 10%.
In addition, with the beginning of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, 2023, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines in any significant number.
Anna Breuer contributed reporting to this story.
The Coronavirus Daily News Brief is a publication of the Center for Long Covid Research. www.longcov.org
If you have Long Covid and need to talk to someone, call the Long Covid Patient Peer Counseling Phone Line, or HOPELINE. The HOPELINE is our free, confidential support and information service.
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