New Coronavirus News from 28 Dec 2021

Is One Health approach the gateway towards pandemic preparedness? [Mangalorean.com, 28 Dec 2021]

BY Shobha Shukla & Bobby Ramakant

Is One Health Approach The Gateway Towards Pandemic Preparedness?
Covid pandemic is a grim reminder of what can go wrong when we do not work with an integrated “One Health” approach to human health, animal health, food system and climate.
The critical link between these sectors has only deepened over the years. But will our public health approach pass the litmus test of effective collaboration with other health and non-health sectors? Preventing future pandemics start with recognising links between human health, animal health, food system and climate, and ensuring our health response is socially just and ecologically sustainable.

One Health approach addresses shared health threats by recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, food systems, and the environment. Undoubtedly, the One Health approach has become critically important than ever before as we navigate the Covid pandemic.

“60% of emerging infectious diseases in humans have an animal origin, and 72% of these are coming from wildlife. So, with increasing interaction at the human-animal-ecosystem interface we really need to have a more holistic approach in managing health problems” said Dr Ronello C Abila, Subregional representative for Southeast Asia, World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) based in Bangkok, Thailand.

“We can only prevent future pandemics with an integrated One Health approach to public health, animal health and the environment we share”, had said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this year. More importantly, Dr Tedros added: “We cannot protect human health without considering the impact of human activities that disrupt ecosystems, encroach on habitats, and further drive climate change”. These activities include pollution, large-scale deforestation, intensified livestock production and the misuse of antimicrobials, along with how the world produces, consumes and trades food.

Local Actions For Global Goals
Dr Tedros had also said that “to keep people safe, One Health must be translated into local-level systems.”

That is why, local leaders including Mayors, Members of Parliament, Governors, and other government officials and public health experts from around 80 cities of over a dozen countries in Asia and the Pacific endorsed a Declaration rooted in One Health approach, at the 6th Asia Pacific Summit of Mayors (6th APCAT Summit), organised by Asia Pacific Cities Alliance for Health and Development, said Dr Tara Singh Bam, Asia Pacific Director of International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).

“The local government plays a significant role in the success of one health implementation on the ground. Mayors play a very important role at the local level. OIE has been working with national governments and this is the first time I am talking to the Mayors who are working on the ground. Hopefully, we could also reach out on the implementation of one health approach for controlling future pandemics” rightly said Dr Ronello C Abila of OIE.

Coronavirus, Animals And Humans
One of the lessons learned from Covid is that emerging zoonotic infectious diseases (animal diseases that can spread to humans) are here to stay and fighting new disease threats such as Covid, Ebola, and Zika warrants One Health collaboration across human, animal, and environmental health organizations.

“More than 400 animals from 29 countries have been reported infected with coronavirus, including nearly 300 animals, as well as thousands of mink in mink farms in the USA. The virus has infected companion, wildlife, zoo and production animals, including cats, dogs, tigers, lions, gorillas, white-tailed deer, mink, and others” said Professor Tjandra Yoga Aditama, former Director-General (Disease Control), Ministry of Health, Indonesia, and former Director (communicable disease control), of the WHO for Southeast Asia region.

“With Covid, the main source is coming from coronavirus in bats but it is yet to be ascertained what is the intermediate host before infection came to humans – this is still under investigation. This is unlike the first SARS epidemic of 2003 where we know that civet bat was the intermediate host” shared Dr Ronello C Abila of OIE.

Bird Flu Epidemic Forced Us All To Recognise One Health Approach
One Health approach got major support in wake of zoonotic influenza or bird flu. The bird flue epidemic had indeed triggered the alarm globally for lack of pandemic preparedness. “That is why all the countries had adopted One Health approach during the ministerial meeting of 2008” said Dr Ronello C Abila.

“The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) works closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to prevent, detect, control and eliminate health threats. We reaffirmed this commitment by signing the memorandum of understanding to strengthen long-standing partnership in May 2018. A formal alliance helps facilitates putting the One Health vision into practice. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) joined the tripartite alliance in November 2020 and we now call it tripartite + UNEP” said Dr Abila.

Almost nine years before Covid struck us, tripartite alliance of OIE, WHO and FAO had met in Mexico City in November 2011 to address health risks at the human-animal and environment interface. One important outcome of this meet was commitment for demonstrating how One Health approach can be applied at the global, regional, national and field level on three issues: rabies, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and zoonotic influenza.

“In response to the declaration coming from the global level, in Asia we started working from 2010 onwards with the ministries of health, agriculture, and environment on how to overcome zoonosis (animal diseases infecting humans) in context of avian influenza, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and rabies”, said Dr Ronello C Abila.

Last month, like every recent year OIE, WHO, FAO and UNEP, united with several other governments and agencies worldwide to observe World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) from 18 to 24 November 2021. CNS (Citizen News Service) spoke to Dr Haileyesus Getahun, WHO Director of the Tripartite Joint Secretariat on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and WHO Director of the AMR Global Coordination Department. Dr Haileyesus Getahun calls AMR a humanmade problem because “antimicrobials are shared between humans, animals and plants. And we are overusing and misusing them in all these three spheres.”

“We must be prudent and responsible in using antimicrobials, particularly antibiotics. While all antimicrobials are important, special attention must be given to antibiotics, because they are the backbone of our health system in tackling a wide range of bacterial infections. There is also evidence that overuse and misuse of antibiotics in agriculture and animal husbandry can result in drug-resistant bacteria being transferred to human beings. We have to work together with all the sectors to preserve antibiotics for the sake of human and animal health” added Dr Haileyesus Getahun.

Indonesia As President Of G20
Indonesia is the President of G20 since December 2021 onwards. Last G20 meeting of Ministers of health held in 2021 had reaffirmed the urgent need to address global helth under a One Health approach, said Professor Tjandra Yoga Aditama.

“Food safety is an important issue for Asia Pacific, a region with highly diverse food culture and production systems. Veterinary services are responsible for controlling pathogens in animals and work with numerous other stakeholders involved in food systems. They also play a key role in the investigation of, and response to, food borne disease outbreaks which may be attributable to or involve animal products including the implementation of control measures” said Prof Aditama.

We are reminded of the old-gold Chinese proverb, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Second best time to accelerate progress in translating promises on One Health approach into reality is now. No time to die!

WHO warns of Omicron overload as France reports record of nearly 180,000 Covid cases [FRANCE 24 English, 28 Dec 2021]

The WHO warned Tuesday that the Omicron coronavirus variant could lead to overwhelmed healthcare systems even though early studies suggest it sparks milder disease, as countries reintroduced tough restrictions to stamp out Covid-19 surges and France reported a new record number of cases.

Covid-19 surges have wreaked havoc around the world, forcing many nations to make tough choices between economically punishing restrictions and controlling the spread of the virus.
France reported a record high of 179,807 new confirmed cases in a 24-hour period on Tuesday, by far the highest number since the start of the pandemic.

The previous record of 104,611 was set on Saturday.

To quell the rising numbers, the country also ordered companies to have employees work from home at least three days a week.

The United States has halved the isolation period for asymptomatic cases to try and limit disruption.

Contact restrictions were in place in Germany for the second year in a row heading into the New Year, as Europe's biggest economy shuttered nightclubs and forced sports competitions behind closed doors.

Despite facing a much smaller outbreak compared with global virus hotspots, China has not relaxed its "zero Covid" strategy, imposing stay-at-home orders in many parts of the city of Yan'an.

The hundreds of thousands of affected residents there joined the 13 million people in the city of Xi'an, who entered a sixth day of home confinement as China battled its highest daily case numbers in 21 months.

China expands lockdowns as Covid cases climb
01:35
"I'm about to be starved to death," wrote one Xi'an resident on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
"There's no food, my housing compound won't let me out, and I'm about to run out of instant noodles... please help!"

Many Xi'an residents have similarly complained on social media about the restrictions, which include a ban on driving and allowing only one member of a household to go outside for groceries every three days.

This lockdown is the most sweeping in China since the similar-sized city of Wuhan was cut off from the world in the early days of the pandemic.

'Widespread disruption'
The highly transmissible Omicron variant has propelled the surges in many countries, with the Netherlands and Switzerland both saying Tuesday that it has become the dominant strain in their countries.

France, Britain, Greece and Portugal all reported record daily case numbers on Tuesday.
The WHO warned against complacency even though preliminary findings suggest Omicron causes milder disease.

Despite the studies, Omicron's rapid growth "will still result in large numbers of hospitalisations, particularly amongst unvaccinated groups, and cause widespread disruption to health systems and other critical services", warned WHO Europe's Covid Incident Manager Catherine Smallwood.

To hold back the tide, European nations brought back curbs with painful economic and social consequences.

Finland on Tuesday said it would bar unvaccinated foreign travellers from entering. Only residents, essential workers or diplomats will be exempt.

The Nordic country, like Sweden, had begun requiring negative tests for incoming non-resident travellers from Tuesday, a day after Denmark – which currently has the world's highest rate of infection per capita – applied the same measure.

In Germany, private gatherings are now limited to 10 vaccinated people – or two households where any unvaccinated people are present – and nightclubs have been closed. All sports competitions will now be held behind closed doors.

But a Belgian court thwarted Prime Minister Alexander De Croo's plans to introduce further restrictions by suspending an order closing entertainment venues.

Travel chaos
Beyond social strife, the pandemic has been punishing economically, in particular for sectors like travel.

Some 11,500 flights have been scrapped worldwide since Friday, and tens of thousands more delayed, during one of the year's busiest travel periods.

Multiple airlines have blamed staffing shortages caused by spikes of Omicron cases.

The surge in the US has been fuelled by the Omicron variant, as well as large pockets of unvaccinated residents and a lack of access to quick and easy testing.

But US President Joe Biden offered some respite to the travel sector on Tuesday by announcing an end to a travel ban on eight southern African countries imposed in response to the emergence of Omicron.

Biden on Monday said some US hospitals could be "overrun" but that the country was generally well prepared.

He stressed that Omicron would not have the same impact as the initial Covid outbreak or the Delta variant surge this year.

In an effort to prevent mass labour shortages during the surge, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday cut the isolation period for asymptomatic cases from 10 to five days.

FOCUS: China's COVID-19 policy keeps Japanese families apart before Olympics [Kyodo News Plus, 28 Dec 2021]

By Tomoyuki Tachikawa

As China has been bolstering its "zero corona" policy ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics, many Japanese workers in the capital, who have not returned to their home country for around two years, have remained cut off from their families.

While urging citizens in the city to refrain from traveling to other regions, the Beijing government has tightly restricted the entry of accompanying family members of Japanese employees in a bid to prevent the intrusion of the novel coronavirus.

Even if such families can enter China, they must be quarantined at a designated facility for 21 days upon arrival in a city other than Beijing in the nation, with all direct flights between Japan and the capital suspended since March 2020.

Quarantined people are completely prohibited by the health authorities from stepping out of their room, making families with small children, who are practically bursting at the seams to play outdoors, shy away from visiting China.

"In autumn, the Beijing government resumed accepting applications for invitation letters required for accompanying family members to obtain visas. We were very happy to hear that," said Shinya Tanaka, a Japanese worker for a major trading house.

"The process, however, was closed immediately after infections were detected in Beijing in October and invitation letters for my wife and child ended up not being issued. I haven't met my family for nearly two years," the 38-year-old man said.

"Unfortunately, we've become nothing short of victims of the Beijing Olympics. I miss my family very much," he added.

A 39-year-old Japanese employee for Sony Corp. in Beijing, who has lived separately from his family since January 2020, also said, "My wife has been stressed to the max because she has raised two children alone at a rental apartment in Japan for about two years."

"I really want to invite my family to China as soon as possible, but there's no way to get a nod from the Beijing government. I think a reunion with my family won't be realized at least until the end of the Beijing Olympics" slated for February, he said.

This then 42-year-old reporter, meanwhile, was approved under specific conditions by the Chinese Foreign Ministry to bring my family to Beijing from Tokyo. We had been first quarantined together at a hotel in China's northeastern port city of Dalian in mid-October.

A Beijing resident who was obliged to have a negative certificate of a PCR test taken within 24 hours before entering Dalian, I headed to the city directly from the capital by express train on Oct. 13, without briefly returning to Japan.

On the same day, my wife and 4-year-old son arrived in Dalian by airplane from Narita airport near Tokyo. The three of us reunited for the first time in one year and seven months at the designated quarantine hotel located near the sea in the outskirts of the city.

My wife said, "The hotel room we stayed in Dalian was clean, large and comfortable. We had beautiful scenery. The meals provided by the hotel three times a day, many of which were Japanese food, were delicious. My son and I had enjoyed quarantine life at first."

"We spent time mostly playing with toys, reading books, watching television and playing sports inside the room, but around one week after our quarantine started, I became cranky due to the stress that I was not able to go out at all," she said.

"My son also got a tic disorder, often caused by psychological factors such as anxiety.

Although he did not complain about the quarantine, he must have felt highly stressed. He now says he does not want to experience quarantine ever again," she added.

After being forced to be isolated from the outside world for two weeks, we left Dalian for Shanghai, where people completing a 14-day quarantine in another area in China are allowed to go out if needed. We stayed there for one week before entering Beijing.

Naoki Sasaki, a 43-year-old Japanese worker for an electronics maker, said, "Once hearing such a story, I don't think my family can tolerate a severe quarantine in China. I want to meet with my wife and sons, but I've become more reluctant to invite them to Beijing."

Fears are also growing that the Beijing government may extend the mandatory quarantine period from 21 days, given that it has been trying to strengthen anti-virus measures after the first infection with the Omicron variant was confirmed in the mainland in December.

Since late October, when COVID-19 cases increased in Beijing after a week-long national holiday early in the month, the municipal authorities have called for residents including Japanese not to move out of the capital unless necessary.

In addition, the local government has banned people in regions where new infections have been identified from entering Beijing, while compelling visitors to the city to have a negative certificate of a PCR test taken within 48 hours.

When the coronavirus raged in Dalian in November, all flights between the city and Beijing were temporarily suspended, impeding some of those who had already finished a 21-day quarantine from reaching the capital.

"With the Omicron variant spreading globally, the Beijing authorities will of course accelerate efforts to curb the outbreak. In the worst-case scenario, the quarantine period might be extended," said Kiyoshi Yamada, a 45-year-old Japanese employee of a carmaker.

"There's also a rumor that the Chinese government will continue its zero corona policy until the end of the Communist Party's once-every-five-years congress scheduled to be held in Beijing in fall 2022. I'm fed up," he said.

"I think my company may recall me to Japan by the end of 2022. I've almost given up inviting my family to Beijing during my stay in China," he said with a sigh.

Many Japanese workers in Beijing still live alone, as their family members, who evacuated from China amid the epidemic in early 2020, have been stranded in their home country as the government under President Xi Jinping has limited the entry of foreigners.

New Coronavirus News from 27 Dec 2021

Global Covid Crackdowns: France, Germany, Greece Announce New Restrictions, UK, Australia Won’t (Yet) [Forbes, 27 Dec 2021]

By Zachary Snowdon Smith

TOPLINE

With the arrival of the more infectious, but possibly less deadly, coronavirus omicron variant, national governments have been forced to make tough calls on whether to loosen or tighten rules for the holidays, with France limiting public gatherings as the UK promises no new restrictions for New Year’s Eve.

KEY FACTS
Monday, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that, until January 17, public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 people outdoors and that working from home will be mandatory for three days per week where possible, France 24 reported.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the UK would impose no new Covid-19 restrictions before the new year, while Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged the public to voluntarily undertake measures like celebrating outdoors or in a well-ventilated indoor space, the Guardian reported.

From January 3-16, the Greek government will require that bars and restaurants close by midnight, that tables be limited to six seated customers and that entertainment venues allow no standing customers, otherwise the government will “ban music” at those venues, Reuters reported.

Though Australia recorded its first death due to omicron Monday, health officials decided not to implement new restrictions, saying that surges in omicron infections haven’t caused strain on hospitals, Reuters reported.

Germany limited private gatherings for vaccinated people to a maximum of 10 and closed clubs and discos, while the city of Hamburg imposed a 1 a.m. curfew for New Year’s Eve, Reuters reported.

In Canada, response to omicron has varied from region to region, with British Columbia banning all organized indoor gatherings—including New Year’s Eve parties, weddings and funerals— from December 23 to January 18, while Sasketchawan’s current public health order, extending to the end of January, merely requires that people attending indoor public gatherings wear masks, CTV News reported.

KEY BACKGROUND
The coronavirus omicron variant has quickly become the dominant variant in many parts of the world, accounting for 73.2% of cases in the U.S. and leading to an undersupply of a Covid treatment most successful against omicron. Researchers working independently in England, Scotland and South Africa have found omicron may be less likely to send people to hospitals, the New York Times reported. Nonetheless, in Greece, the emergence of omicron has coincided with a rise in hospitalizations large enough to prompt the government to consider asking private hospitals for support, Reuters reported.

KEY QUOTE
“Corona won’t take a Christmas break,” German chancellor Olaf Scholz remarked while announcing increased public health restrictions.

BIG NUMBER
9,284. That’s how many Covid-19 cases Greece recorded Monday, setting a new record for the country.

Fauci: US should consider vaccine mandate for domestic air travel [The Detroit News, 27 Dec 2021]

By ZEKE MILLER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday the nation should consider a vaccination mandate for domestic air travel, signaling a potential embrace of an idea the Biden administration has previously eschewed, as COVID-19 cases spike.

Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief science adviser on the pandemic response, said such a mandate might drive up the nation’s lagging vaccination rate as well as confer stronger protection on flights, for which federal regulations require all those age 2 and older to wear a mask.

“When you make vaccination a requirement, that’s another incentive to get more people vaccinated,” Fauci told MSNBC. “If you want to do that with domestic flights, I think that’s something that seriously should be considered.”

The Biden administration has thus far balked at imposing a vaccination requirement for domestic air travel. Two officials said Biden’s science advisers have yet to make a formal recommendation for such a requirement to the president.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said a vaccine mandate on planes could trigger a host of logistical and legal concerns.

The U.S. currently mandates that most foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, though citizens and permanent residents only need to show proof of a negative test taken within a day of boarding.

Federal rules don’t require people travelling by air within the U.S. to show a negative test.
Hawaii requires travelers to test or show proof of vaccination to avoid a mandatory quarantine.
Biden did not respond to questions on whether he was considering implementing a domestic air travel vaccination requirement, but he told reporters the subject was discussed on a call with the nation’s governors Monday morning.

“They asked Dr. Fauci some more questions about everything from whether or not he thought he was going to move to test at home — I mean, on air flights and that kind of thing,” Biden said of the call before departing the White House for his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
During the virtual meeting with governors, Biden pledged the full support of the federal government to states facing surges in COVID-19 cases from the more-transmissible omicron variant and a run on at-home tests that dominated headlines over the holiday season.

“My message is: If you need something, say something, and we’re going to have your back any way we can,” Biden said. He acknowledged long lines and chaotic scenes as Americans sought out testing amid the case surge and as they looked to safely gather with family and friends over the holiday.

“Seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows that we have more work to do,” he said. He referenced his administration’s plan to make 500 million rapid tests available to Americans beginning next month through an as-yet-to-be-developed website.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the National Governors Association chairman, raised concerns Biden’s plan could get in the way of state efforts to boost supply of tests.

“That dries up the supply chain for what we might offer as governors,” he said, saying the lack of supply “has become a real challenge.”

Biden assured Hutchinson that the federal effort won’t interfere with state actions. “This gets solved at the state level,” he said.

A White House official said the new tests would come from new manufacturing capacity and wouldn’t interfere with existing supply chains.

Earlier this year the White House explored a domestic vaccination requirement for flights, or one requiring either vaccination or proof of negative test. But officials have not been eager to mandate vaccination for domestic air travel because they expected it to face immediate legal challenges, mitigating its potential effectiveness as a tool to drive up vaccinations.

Pressed last week on why Biden had not mandated vaccinations for domestic air travel, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told MSNBC that “we know that masking can be, is, very effective on airplanes.”

“We also know that putting in place that additional restriction might delay flights, might have additional implications,” she added. “We would do it, though, if the health impact was overwhelming. So we rely always on the advice of our health and medical experts. That isn’t a step at this point that they had determined we need to take.”

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than 241 million Americans, about 77% of the eligible population age 5 and over, have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Officials believe, though, that there is some overcount in the figures due to record-keeping errors in the administration of booster shots.

Since the summer, the Biden administration has embraced various vaccination requirements as a way to get unvaccinated Americans to roll up their sleeves. It has instituted requirements that federal workers, federal contractors and those who work in health care get their shots, and that employers with 100 or more employees institute vaccination-or-testing requirements for their workers.

Those vaccination requirements have been mired in legal wrangling, with the Supreme Court set to hear arguments Jan. 7 in cases seeking to overturn them.