COVID-19 Up

2021-03-01 21:34:59 Study Shows COVID-19 Symptoms and Testosterone Levels in Men Are Related

@COVID19Up: An imbalance in men's testosterone levels was linked to the severity of their coronavirus case, a new study has found.
An experiment, led by Andrea Salonia MD of Milan's Urological Research Institute, compared levels of circulating total testosterone (tT) in confirmed and hospitalized male coronavirus patients to healthy male blood donors.

The astonishing finds were published in the study called "Severely low testosterone in males with COVID‐19: a case‐control study" in the scientific journal American Society of Andrology and European Academy of Andrology on February 26, 2021.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 20:59:58 Ukraine Throws Away Unused COVID-19 Shots as Doctors Skip Their Own Vaccinations

@COVID19Up: Ukrainian medical facilities have thrown away some unused COVID-19 vaccines after doctors failed to show up for their own appointments to be vaccinated, ruling party lawmakers said on Monday.

Ukraine has just begun vaccinating its 41 million people against COVID-19 after receiving a first batch of 500,000 doses of Indian-made AstraZeneca shots last week, but faces a battle against vaccine scepticism that predates the pandemic.

The government has prioritised giving shots to frontline medical workers but cited statistics showing that 47% of Ukrainians do not want the vaccine.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 20:34:59 Tokyo Asks China to Stop Anal Swab Tests for COVID-19 on Japanese Citizens

@COVID19Up: Tokyo has requested Beijing to stop taking anal swab tests for COVID-19 on Japanese citizens as the procedure causes psychological pain, a government spokesman said on Monday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said the government has not received a response that Beijing would change the testing procedure, so Japan would continue to ask China to alter the way of testing.

"Some Japanese reported to our embassy in China that they received anal swab tests, which caused a great psychologial pain," Kato told a news conference.

It was not known how many Japanese citizens received such tests for the coronavirus, he said.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 19:59:58 EU to Propose "Green Pass" Vaccine Certificate This Month

@COVID19Up: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday said the EU executive would propose a digital vaccination passport later this month.

Ideas include a forgery-proof universal "green pass" in the form of a QR code that could be carried on paper or on a smartphone.

Members states will then decide whether to press ahead with the scheme to allow each other to recognize citizens' proof of vaccination.

Tourism-reliant southern European countries such as Spain and Greece are pushing hard for so-called vaccine passports to unlock summer travel.

Some countries, such as Germany and France, have expressed doubts about linking the right to travel to such passes, or making them a prerequisite for restaurant and cinema visits.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 19:35:01 Finland Declares State of Emergency as COVID-19 Cases Rise

@COVID19Up: The Finnish government declared a state of emergency on Monday due to rising COVID-19 infections, a step that would allow the Nordic country to shutter restaurants and to impose other measures to blunt the pandemic.

The decision comes as new variants contribute to a sharp rise in infections in the country, which has already closed its borders. The state of emergency would also allow the government to further shut schools and limit movement between regions.

“The government sees it necessary that we all have fewer contacts,” Prime Minster Sanna Marin told a news conference. “Everyone now has the opportunity to impact how the spring and summer will turn out.”
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 18:35:00 Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution to Begin Immediately

@COVID19Up: The first shots of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine could be administered as early as Tuesday, senior Biden administration officials said Sunday.

The drugmaker, which got sign off over the weekend for emergency use of its vaccine from both the FDA and the CDC, is expected to deliver 4 million shots this week.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, signed off Sunday on an advisory committee's recommendation to endorse the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 17:35:00 Quarantining Couple Found Dead by Their 11-Year-Old Daughter

@COVID19Up: An 11-year-old, both in their forties, allegedly found her parents dead in their basement, where they had been quarantining with COVID-19.

Authorities in St Louis, Missouri, said on Friday that the child found her parents dead in their basement bedroom, and that there was no sign of foul play.

Chuck Duy, a neighbor of the family, said the couple recently tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after the woman—who has not been identified—went to hospital.

“Supposedly, she had gone to the hospital,” said Mr Duy. “They thought that she had a stroke, but I guess it was due to COVID.”

“She tested positive, but they sent her home and then her husband, meanwhile, was home with a positive test for Covid, so they both were quarantined,” said Mr Duy.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 16:35:00 Taking COVID-19 Vaccine Will Not Alter Your DNA, Ghana President Says

@COVID19Up: Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo urged citizens of the West African state on Sunday to ignore conspiracy theories surrounding coronavirus vaccines ahead of the launch of its nationwide inoculation campaign against the virus on Tuesday.

“Fellow Ghanaians, I know there are still some who continue to express doubts about the vaccine, others have expressed reservations about its efficacy, with some taking sides with conspiracy theorists who believe the vaccine has been created to wipe out the African race. This is far from the truth,” Akufo-Addo said in a nationwide address on Sunday night.

“Taking the vaccine will not alter your DNA, it will not embed a tracking device in your body, neither will it cause infertility in women or in men,” he said.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 15:34:59 Czech Republic Turns to Russian Vaccine Amid Soaring COVID-19 Cases

@COVID19Up: The Czech Republic has requested a batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine while awaiting delayed EU-procured shots, the president said Sunday, adding that Prague will also consider seeking Chinese jabs.

“After consulting the prime minister, I have sent a letter to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, asking him for a supply of the Sputnik vaccine,” President Milos Zeman said on TV Prima.

“Information from the Russian embassy suggests it could arrive in the next few days,” he said.

The EU member has ranked among the world’s worst-hit countries by the COVID pandemic in the past few weeks, with soaring numbers of infections and deaths, as the situation has been exacerbated by the new variants of the virus.
SOURCE | TIP

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2021-03-01 14:36:08 Hunt for Mystery Person With Concerning Brazilian Variant of SARS-CoV-2

@COVID19Up: A hunt is under way to locate one of the first people in the UK believed to have contracted the Manaus variant of SARS-CoV-2, a new strain that may spread more rapidly and respond less well to existing vaccines.

Public Health England (PHE) said on Sunday that six cases of the concerning P.1 variant first detected in the Brazilian city have been confirmed in Britain, three in England and three in Scotland.

Two were confirmed in South Gloucestershire but the third English case has not been located and could be anywhere in the nation, with PHE saying the person did not complete their test registration card so their contact details are absent.

Anyone who took a test on February 12 or 13 and has not received a result, or has an uncompleted test registration card, is being asked to come forward immediately, as health officials scramble to track down the individual.
SOURCE | TIP

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