November Pandemic Update

First two countries where decisions may need to be made

Czech Republic

Population 10.7 million

Extended its state of emergency to 20th November

German MEP and health expert Peter Liese

Need to reduce contacts

regrettably Belgium and the Czech Republic are too late, so that the health systems there are already overloaded

Belgium

Population 11 million

Current prevalence, 300,000

5% of 300, 000 is 15,000

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-belgium-hospitals-on-the-brink-as-caseloads-soar/a-55459225

Friday (30th October), from Monday, all non-essential shops will have to close for at least one month

Dr. Philippe Devos, (Medical Union of Belgium)

ten days there will be only one bed remaining, and two patients

the doctors will have to choose which one of the two patients will be able to be in the only bed we have

Germany

Increased restrictions from Monday

Chancellor Merkel

If infections in Germany continue at this rate, we will push our health system to its limit

German MEP and health expert Peter Liese

European Union had underestimated the impact of COVID-19

some member states’ health care systems are just days from collapsing

Greece

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-digest-new-lockdowns-across-europe-as-cases-resurge/a-55462194

New lockdown measures from Tuesday, bars, cafes, restaurants, gyms being

Until the end of November.

Austria

Partial second lockdown from Tuesday

Closures and people required to stay home from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m

Schools, non-essential shops are allowed to remain open.

UK

England, 4 weeks from Thursday

From Thursday until the start of December, you must stay at home

Unless we act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day

From Thursday until 2nd December

Restaurants, pubs and bars will close, except for takeaways and deliveries.

All leisure and entertainment venues and most non-essential shops

Work from home if possible

Domestic travel, except for essential purposes, will be frowned upon

Schools, universities and colleges will remain open

Construction and manufacturing open

No indoor household mixing

Religious services stopped

Limited international travel

United States

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fauci-covid-winter-forecast/2020/10/31/e3970eb0-1b8b-11eb-bb35-2dcfdab0a345_story.html

Anthony Fauci

We’re in for a whole lot of hurt

It’s not a good situation

All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors

You could not possibly be positioned more poorly

abrupt change, in public health practices and behaviours

Could surpass 100,000 new cases a day

(Cases, + 554, 322 in past 7 days)

Rising deaths in the coming weeks

Australia

Cases, + 0

Taiwan

Population, 22.5 million

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/hugs-sequins-and-rainbows-as-taiwan-enjoys-victory-over-virus

Cases, 550

Deaths, 7

Mandatory masks on public transport

Digital registration for some events

Isolation for people with symptoms

Normal life

202 days with no local transmission

Mandated quarantine for new arrivals, 340,000

Monitored by the Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC) and police, and tracked by mobile phones.

SARS in Taiwan: an overview and lessons learned

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971204001766

14 March and 30 July 2003, SARS

Cases, 668

Deaths, 181 (27%)

Risk factors

Increasing age

Male

Exposed through hospital contact

Have a coexisting medical disorder

A total of 151,270 quarantined

Among them, 46 were subsequently diagnosed

Hospitals implemented WHO infection control recommendations

Conclusions

Patient isolation and strict hospital infection control

Strengthened and centralised its disease control framework and pandemic preparations

Started annual drills

Excluded from global WHO briefings

Therefore, did not rely on WHO information

Professor Yawen Cheng, health policy, National Taiwan University

We couldn’t get direct information from international organisations

Taiwan has always been careful about what happens in mainland China

so the Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC) of Taiwan tried to get information from informal channels

Taiwan received a social media message in late December

Flight and travel restrictions

New technologies to monitor, track and trace potential cases

Phone tracking to allow people to quarantine at home, police automatically informed

Support people deliveries, counselling, information

Pharmacies supplied masks

Contactless payments

Online food deliveries

Source