General Covid 19 news

[Bri Roberts]

The company that makes Lysol and Dettol has just issued a statement making it clear that only a lunatic would consider injecting themselves with disinfectant. Company says it is responding to “recent speculation and social media activity”.

[SteveH]

I understand some are suggesting the president follows his own advice: injects himself with dettol then drinks a cup of Jeyes fluid.

The company that makes Lysol and Dettol has just issued a statement making it clear that only a lunatic would consider injecting themselves with disinfectant. Company says it is responding to “recent speculation and social media activity”.

Thought you would like these..........

[SteveH]

The Royal Mint is to manufacture nearly two million medical visors to help protect NHS staff from coronavirus across England and Wales.

Engineers developed a successful prototype in 48 hours, and already 150,000 have been made for hospitals.
Production has moved to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at the Royal Mint’s site in Llantrisant, South Wales.

The Royal Mint, which is more commonly known for making coins and investment products, has transformed its visitor attraction into an emergency production line – making more than 100,000 medical visors per week.

Companies including Brammer, TJ Morgan and Technical Foam Services have worked with the Royal Mint to source the components needed.

“When people think of the Royal Mint, they think about the coins in their pockets, but we’ve been making useful products for the nation for 1,100 years and have a team of skilled designers, engineers and production staff.

“Together they turned a rudimentary visor design into a working model in just 48 hours, and within a week we were manufacturing thousands per day.”
REF PIoneer

[SteveH]

Drakeford begins press briefing........       ref Pioneer
12:44pm
Amendments in the reporting of deaths?

"Not all parts of Wales are using the same reporting mechanisms," said Mr Drakeford.
"I would expect that to be put right so that figures are as accurate as they can be."

12:41pm
Mr Drakeford also spoke of Welsh firms, such as Trascend Packaging, which are working to provide items of PPE to the health service and beyond.
"For the first time we are self-sufficient in scrubs," he said.

"We have brought back jobs from overseas.
"One of the lessons we are learning is that we can't simply rely on supplies from overseas. We must have a 'home grown' supply of the essential equipment."

12:38pm
Generosity from overseas   !!!!

"Over the weekend we received a shipment of masks from China," he said.
"These are for use in Wales but will be used across the UK is needed.

"We have also received a generous offer of masks from Vietnam."

12:38pm
PPE provision
"As of today we have provided more than 56m pieces of PPE to our NHS and local authorities," said Mr Drakeford.

"We're provided that to thousands of places across Wales.
"Unlike in England, PPE is being provided free of charge to care homes.

"Our system identifies 19 categories of PPE, masks and gowns have been the most under-pressure.
"Coronavirus has put supplies under pressure around the world.
"The costs have also risen."

[SteveH]

There appear to be mixed messages appearing on social media, some saying llandudno test centre, has not opened ?  others saying they are being redirected, as far as Manchester, it could be that people think it is for everyone, I have found the Gov. link  https://gov.wales/new-testing-centres-and-online-booking-be-rolled-out-wales-week

New testing centres and online booking to be rolled out in Wales this week.

The testing centre in Llandudno will open tomorrow (Wednesday 29 April) and the Carmarthen centre will start testing critical workers on Thursday (30 April).

Staff from the NHS, police, fire and ambulance services; care homes and other critical staff will be tested by appointment at the centre in Builder Street. They will have a self-swab test without leaving their vehicles.

The Showground in Carmarthen will host a new drive-through testing centre for critical workers in west Wales. This will support other existing testing centres across west Wales, which already provide tests for NHS staff and critical workers, including the police, fire and ambulance services, care homes workers and other local authority staff.

From Thursday, the new web-based booking system will be available for those booking a test at the Cardiff and Newport drive-through testing centres. The new system will be rolled-out to other parts of Wales.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said:
The new centres and online system will help to make testing more accessible and speed up referrals.

I want to ensure that the process is as quick and easy to use as possible so that people are not left waiting for appointments and so can keep critical services up and running by enabling workers to get the tests they need quickly and easily.

Critical workers include social care workers, police, fire service, prison workers and teachers.

[SteveH]

Please read this in conjunction with the above.

Posted at 12:0112:01  BBC
Why is Wales not testing over 65s as in England?
A Covid-19 test
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
The staff and residents of care homes in England can now be tested for coronavirus, even if they don't have any symptoms, while anyone over 65 with symptoms can also be tested.

But in Wales, the approach is different for the moment.

The Welsh Government is committed to testing key workers with symptoms, including care home staff and also care home residents, but not to test anyone else over 65 if they have symptoms.

So why not mirror the way England is operating?

Well, the Health Minister Vaughan Gething said he has clear advice from medical and scientific advisers that this is a best use of testing resources and to not simply test "everyone and anyone".

The inference is that you will have to keep on testing people, perhaps multiple times, and at the moment Wales does not have the capacity.

[Ian]

One major issue if that all politicians seem to retreat to the 'We're following the science" line. But scientists often say different things about the same phenomena. And because no good scientist will ever say anything in absolute terms, it's left to politicians to interpret their advice.

There may well be a good case emerging for government by AI.

[SteveH]

This is another "Asian Boss" Youtube video, I found it very interesting, however please judge for yourself, with an open mind.

Dr. Jerome Kim, the Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI),  https://www.ivi.int for sharing his expert insight on the development of a vaccine for COVID-19.

A medical doctor by training and a colonel in the United States Army Medical Corps, Dr. Kim is a recognized leader in HIV research and HIV vaccine development. He was named one of “The 50 Most Influential People in Vaccines” in 2014 by the vaccine industry organization Vaccine Nation. Dr. Kim was the Principal Deputy and Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Pathogenesis at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) and the U.S. Army's Project Manager for the HIV Vaccines and Advanced Concepts Evaluation and Staging.

He was the U.S. Army lead for the Phase III HIV vaccine trial (RV144), which was the first to show that an HIV vaccine could protect against infection, as well as subsequent studies that identified laboratory correlates and HIV sequence changes associated with vaccination. His research interests include HIV molecular epidemiology, host genetics, and HIV vaccine development.  He has authored over 140 publications.

Dr. Kim is a Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He received his M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine, and completed his training in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Duke University Medical Center.

 Easy to understand explanatory Video     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cYWd0N8nO4

[SteveH]

Two pieces of today's news, could be contradictory  ?  .................ref DP re Dr Atherton press conference

12:54
Face masks
There are no plans in Wales to introduce the mandatory wearing of face masks.

12:54
Lack of knowledge of how virus spreads
Dr Atherton says one of the gaps in knowledge is how the virus spreads from those who have Covid-19 but do not display symptoms.

[SteveH]

North Wales' coronavirus peak is expected to be in the middle of May, according to the region's health board.

The forecast by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was released in the minutes from a remote video meeting which took place on April 15.

The minutes included a section on the board's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which was presented by executive director of primary and community services Chris Stockport.

The board heard there were "differing models" on when the "peak surge" would hit North Wales, but there would a "higher degree of certainty and confidence" about it in the coming weeks.

According to the minutes, the peak of the outbreak is "broadly expected in mid May" although members were told that BCUHB was maintaining capacity within critical care.

However, in a Welsh Government press conference today, chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton seemed to disagree when asked about a possible peak in North-West Wales between mid-May and the end of the month.

More   https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-health-board-reveals-18179520

[Dave]

North Wales' coronavirus peak is expected to be in the middle of May, according to the region's health board.

The forecast by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was released in the minutes from a remote video meeting which took place on April 15.

The minutes included a section on the board's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which was presented by executive director of primary and community services Chris Stockport.

The board heard there were "differing models" on when the "peak surge" would hit North Wales, but there would a "higher degree of certainty and confidence" about it in the coming weeks.

According to the minutes, the peak of the outbreak is "broadly expected in mid May" although members were told that BCUHB was maintaining capacity within critical care.

However, in a Welsh Government press conference today, chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton seemed to disagree when asked about a possible peak in North-West Wales between mid-May and the end of the month.

More   https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-health-board-reveals-18179520

Thanks for sharing that Steve but in all honesty it's as clear as mud and I don't understand why they would release it 2 weeks later unless of course they are more confident now then they were then but even so, it's all very hopeful rather than factual. Probably a moral boosting exercise which can backfire of course.

[SteveH]

The leader of a council has called the decision by Wales’ Health Minister not to routinely test care home residents and staff “an outrage”.
Conwy county council leader Sam Rowlands made the comments after Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething told BBC Radio Wales he would not expand testing of Covid-19 in care homes.

UK health minister Matt Hancock announced on Tuesday that all staff and residents in care homes would be tested, whether symptomatic or not.
Cont    https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/18419769.conwy-council-leader-labels-welsh-health-ministers-care-home-testing-decision-outrage/


A quote from another piece in the Pioneer..........
"The committee also heard health minister Vaughan Gething question the change in testing policy in England, after it decided to extend tests to care home staff and residents regardless of whether they had Covid-19 symptoms, something the Welsh Government has refused to follow.

Dr Rob Orford, Wales’ chief scientific adviser for health, said: “I don’t understand the rationale in terms of how it keeps the public safer and how it saves more lives for the way that the testing policy has been changed in England but I’m not responsible for those policy choices.

“Just testing every care home resident doesn’t automatically make them safer because the test tells you whether you had coronavirus at the point in time when the test was undertaken, not whether you could get it the next day.”

https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/18419639.spread-virus-care-homes-remains-worry-says-wales-chief-medic/

[Hugo]

No wonder some people in authority were calling for the Army to keep watch on the two bridges in an attempt to stop the tourists coming in to stay in their second homes or visit the beauty spots on the island.     


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-52499908

[Ian]

The real problem is not the lack of testing; it's the lack of a coherent framework that utilises the results of those tests.

If we test person A and find they're negative, it means little, because they can become infected moments after the test. If we find they're positive, they're simply recommended to self-isolate—which is something, I suppose, but seeing the numbers happily ignoring the current lockdown is it of any use?

There needs to be a framework which operates when a person tests positive. That framework must be able to trace anyone and everyone with whom the infected individual has been in contact over the previous 10-14 days. The only country in the world that's achieved this successfully is South Korea.  There, it's compulsory to use a tracking app on a mobile 'phone and have it activated whenever the person concerned is out of the house.

[SteveH]

All social care workers will get a cash bonus of £500 each, First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced.

The payments will be made to more than 64,000 workers, at a cost of £32.2m.

Deaths with coronavirus in Welsh care homes continue to rise - there were 184 such deaths by 17 April, accounting for 40% of all Covid-19 deaths in Cardiff.

Mr Drakeford said both residential and domiciliary staff were "often accepting a greater degree of risk" and the payment was designed to recognise that.

The first minister said it was a flat-rate payment, and therefore most benefited the lowest paid.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-52502325