Monthly Archives: July 2021

View from India: Genome labs initiated to study virus mutations – E&T Magazine

Posted: July 7, 2021 at 2:45 pm

Delta Plus, a sub lineage of Delta, a variant of Covid-19, has spread across many nations. It has also affected people in Indian states.

On the one side, the national vaccination programme is in full swing. The jab appears to be reassuring. In fact, the Centre has invited bids for drone-led vaccine delivery in remote areas and challenging locations. A standard protocol for vaccine delivery through Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has been developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.

That doesnt mean to say that everyone is safe. No, far from that, theres a murky dimension to it. Delta itself has boosted the second wave of the infection in India. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described Delta as a Variant of Concern (VoC). The second wave is not yet over, though the case trajectory is coming down. Being highly infectious, Delta has now mutated into Delta Plus, also known as AY.1.

What makes Delta Plus more dangerous than Delta is that it contains an additional mutation called K417N first found in the Beta variant of South Africa. This is in addition to the Delta variant (B.1.617.2), which drove India's deadly second wave of the pandemic. Delta Plus is very resistant to medication, treatment and vaccination, quite apart from being highly transmittable. Alarmingly, it affects the lung cells and is less responsive to the monoclonal antibodies therapy. That means those who have been vaccinated are likely to be affected by Delta Plus and it can even lead to clinical illness.

All these characteristics have been identified by INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia), a consortium of 28 laboratories of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of Biotechnology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for whole genome sequencing in the context of Covid-19. INSACOG also offers timely inputs on appropriate public health response measures to be adopted by states and union territories.

Many nations are weighed down by Delta Plus, but Indias burgeoning population makes the situation much more serious than many parts of the world. Its understandable that ICU beds are being filled up as mortality rates are increasing. This has already hit the headlines as many people have succumbed to it. Wherever the transmission of Delta Plus has happened, the Centre has said that the states should take up immediate containment measures. The emphasis is on enhanced testing, tracking and vaccination in districts and clusters where Delta Plus has spread.

Given its pace of spread, the Centre has initiated genome sequencing labs at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) Hospital. These Delhi-based labs are gearing up for what could be a third wave of the pandemic by studying the mutating coronavirus. R&D professionals will work towards building scientific data on the strain. After detecting Delta Plus variants, Haryana and Rajasthan have become home to genome sequencing facilities. Scientists can monitor the changing variants of Covid-19.

Even as Delta Plus is making news, biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has partnered with healthcare startup Docon Technologies to digitise 1,000 clinics across the country. The clinics will be provided with electronic medical record (EMR) systems to manage patient history and administer treatment accordingly.

All this is happening as the country is inching closer towardsa third wave of Covid. ICMR has informed the media that its too early to say if the Delta variant would contribute to the third wave. It definitely remains a matter of concern, as Delta Plus continues to spread rapidly.

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View from India: Genome labs initiated to study virus mutations - E&T Magazine

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Could editing the genomes of bats prevent future pandemics? – STAT – STAT

Posted: at 2:45 pm

Amid the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, two researchers are proposing a drastic way to stop future pandemics: using a technology called a gene drive to rewrite the DNA of bats to prevent them from becoming infected with coronaviruses.

The scientists aim to block spillover events, in which viruses jump from infected bats to humans one suspected source of the coronavirus that causes Covid. Spillover events are thought to have sparked other coronavirus outbreaks as well, including SARS-1 in the early 2000s and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

This appears to be the first time that scientists have proposed using the still-nascent gene drive technology to stop outbreaks by rendering bats immune to coronaviruses, though other teams are investigating its use to stop mosquitoes and mice from spreading malaria and Lyme disease.

The scientists behind the proposal realize they face enormous technical, societal, and political obstacles, but want to spark a fresh conversation about additional ways to control diseases that are emerging with growing frequency.

With a very high probability, we are going to see this over and over again, argues entrepreneur and computational geneticist Yaniv Erlich of the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel, who is one of two authors of the proposal, titled Preventing COVID-59.

Maybe our kids will not benefit, maybe our grandchildren will benefit, but if this approach works, we could deploy the same strategy against many types of viruses, Erlich told STAT.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 3.9 million people and triggered $16 trillion in economic losses, scientists, public health officials, ecologists, and many others have called for deeper investments in longstanding pandemic prevention measures.

Such measures include boosting global health funding, reducing poverty and health inequity, strengthening disease surveillance networks and community education, preventing deforestation, controlling the wildlife trade, and beefing up investments in infectious disease diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.

Erlich and his co-author, immunologist Daniel Douek at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, now propose an additional measure: creating a gene drive to render wild horseshoe bats immune to the types of coronavirus infections that are thought to have triggered the SARS, MERS, and Covid-19 pandemics. They shared the proposal Wednesday on the Github publishing and code-sharing platform.

Though there is heated debate about whether the Covid-19 virus originated in a lab, most scientists say the virus is most likely to have originated in wild animals. There is strong evidence, for instance, that horseshoe bats carry the coronavirus that caused the SARS outbreak.

A gene drive is a technique for turbocharging evolution and spreading new traits throughout a species faster than they would spread through natural selection. It involves using a gene editing technology such as CRISPR to modify an organisms genome so that it passes a new trait to its offspring and throughout the species.

The idea of making a gene drive in bats faces such enormous scientific, technical, social, and economic obstacles that scientists interviewed by STAT called it folly, far-fetched, and concerning. Among other objections, they worried about unintended consequences with so radically tampering with nature.

We have other ways of preventing future Covid-19 outbreaks, argued Natalie Kofler, a trained molecular biologist and bioethicist and founder of Editing Nature, a group focused on inclusive decision-making about genetic technologies.

We need to be thinking about changing the unhealthy relationship of humans and nature, not to gene drive a wild animal so that we can continue our irresponsible and unsustainable behavior that is going to come back to bite us in the ass in the future.

Coming from anyone else, the idea might be laughed off.

But Erlich has a reputation as a visionary. In 2014, for instance, he and another scientist predicted that genetic genealogy databases might one day be used to reveal peoples identities. Four years later, that happened, when law enforcement officials used the method to identify a former California police officer as the notorious Golden State Killer. Erlich has since become chief scientific officer of the genetic genealogy company MyHeritage and he is also founder of a biotech startup, Eleven Therapeutics.

Now, Erlich says, its worth thinking about how a gene drive could work in bats.

Erlich proposes to modify bat genomes so that they would block coronavirus infections. He would create a genetic element, called a shRNA, that targets and destroys coronaviruses. He would then use CRISPR to insert this element into the bat genome. The insertion would also contain a component that pushes bats to preferentially pass the shRNA to their offspring, so that entire bat populations would soon resist coronavirus infection.

Its almost like creating a self-propagating vaccine in these bats, Erlich said.

The idea is intriguing, said geneticist and molecular engineer George Church of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

Most of the proposals Ive heard involving gene drives have seemed quite attractive, and this is probably the most attractive, he said.

Creating a gene drive in bats would be enormously difficult, and perhaps impossible, other scientists say. Researchers have created gene drives in mosquitoes and mice in the lab, but none has been released in the wild. The most advanced gene drive projects intended for field use involve modifying mosquitoes to prevent the spread of malaria and attempting to engineer mice to stop them from causing ecological damage.

But its been difficult to engineer effective gene drives in mammals. Developmental geneticist Kim Cooper and her team at the University of California, San Diego, engineered a gene drive that spread a genetic variant through 72% of mouse offspring in her lab. That isnt efficient enough to quickly spread the desired trait in the wild.

Whats more, creating a gene drive in bats would be much harder than it is in mice, because bat researchers lack the genetic tools available in mice, said Paul Thomas, a developmental geneticist at the University of Adelaide in Australia, who is trying to engineer mouse gene drives.

And unlike mice, which can breed at 6 to 8 weeks of age, bats take two years to reach sexual maturity, so it would take much longer for a trait to spread throughout wild bat populations than in lab mouse populations.

They say the proposal is not an easy feat from a technical standpoint, and I think that underplays how hard it might be, Cooper said.

Biologists also say that Erlichs proposal is unlikely to work in the wild even if researchers get bat gene drives to work in a lab because bats are incredibly diverse.

There are 1,432 bat species, including multiple horseshoe bat species that carry coronaviruses and pass them among each other.

Wild viruses similar to the human Covid-19 virus have been found in bats across Asia, and in pangolins. And in June, Weifeng Shi of the Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences in Taian, China, found 24 coronavirus genomes in bat samples taken from in and around a botanical garden in Yunnan province, in southern China.

Engineering one gene drive in just one bat species would not solve the problem, biologists say.

Youd have to develop systems for entire bat communities, said evolutionary biologist Liliana Dvalos of Stony Brook University. Its the job of visionaries to come up with creative ideas, but this is a giant blind spot in their thinking.

Biologists are also concerned about focusing on bats themselves, because they may not be the most important source of human epidemics. No one has found the exact bat analog to the human Covid-19 virus, or definitively proven that spillover from bats did start the pandemic. Coronaviruses have also been found in other species, including palm civets, pangolins, and camels.

Further, nobody knows how eliminating coronaviruses might affect bats.

We dont know the implications of wiping out coronaviruses in bat populations, because we dont know how bats have evolved to coexist with these viruses, said virologist Arinjay Banerjee of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada.

Some scientists, though, welcomed Erlichs proposal, hoping that it will focus attention on what it would take to create successful mammalian gene drive systems.

Royden Saah, for instance, coordinates the Genetic Biocontrol of Invasive Rodents (GBIRd) program, which is trying to engineer gene drives in mice to prevent island bird extinctions. He wants to see more funding to help scientists solve the technical obstacles to such projects, and involve more communities in discussions about these ideas.

I would be concerned if this proposal detracted from the need to fund public health infrastructure, said Saah. But with that caveat, he added, I think this proposal could make people think, OK, if we were to use this technology in this animal in this system, what would we need to do? There would need to be a foundation of ethical development, of clear understanding, of social systems and trust, and technology built in a stepwise manner.

Virologist Jason Kindrachuk of the University of Manitoba said that there are numerous technical and political challenges to a bat gene drive project, and that preventing future outbreaks should mainly involve tackling the challenges that drive spillover events, such as underfunded public health systems, poverty, food insecurity and climate-change-driven ecological disruption. But, he said, given the enormous economic and human toll of Covid-19 and other recent outbreaks, scientists and public health officials might also need to consider new approaches.

In the past, maybe we were blinded a little bit by our belief that we would just be able to increase surveillance and identify these pathogens prior to them spilling over, Kindrachuk said. We now realize that this is going to take a lot of different efforts, so theres an aspect from a research standpoint where we continue to look at things like this, and say, what are the top 5 to 10 things we should invest in.

Erlich acknowledges the obstacles to his proposal, but thinks they arent insurmountable. He thinks the project would require an international investment involving a multidisciplinary consortium.

While we totally agree about the technical complexities, technology advances at exponential rates, Erlich said. Things that are nearly impossible now can be totally reachable within a decade or so.

He also thinks a gene drive could be a better alternative than culling bats, which has been tried (unsuccessfully) in communities around the world, and that scientists could monitor for negative impacts on bat populations.

Lets discuss the idea and think about what we can do to identify a very rigorous and cautious way to test this approach, Erlich said. We dont like to mess with nature, but the current situation is not sustainable.

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Could editing the genomes of bats prevent future pandemics? - STAT - STAT

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[Exclusive] Delay in another Covid-related project of BMC, genome sequencing lab to take more time to start – Times Now

Posted: at 2:45 pm

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (File photo) | Photo Credit: IANS

Mumbai: As per the experts, the 03rd wave of Coronavirus is likely to hit Mumbai and Maharashtra by July mid-week. But as far as the preparations for it are concerned, BMC has a list of delayed projects.

Setting up of a genome sequencing lab is one such project. BMC announced this Rs 12 cr project two months ago. It will be set up in Kasturba hospital. This decision happened after various experts, including the members of the state Covid task force pointing out the need of one such lab since last year. It was said that the lab will be functional by June end.

But this promise is far from being fulfilled. As per BMC, the lab machine (Next seq) is stuck in Singapore and this cargo issue is causing the delay. As per BMC, the machine is being brought from the US and because of Covid related situation, the machine is stuck in cargo in Singapore. BMC is expecting that they will receive the machine by the end of the week.

But that won't be all. Even after receiving the machine, BMC has to conduct trial runs, BMC will then have to write to the Central govt to approve the lab. The Central govt will send a deputation for testing of the lab to give it approval. And only after all this clearance, the lab will be functional.

BMC is claiming that all this will happen in the next 7-10 days. But the opposition parties in the corporation are claiming that the speed at which things are happening, the lab won't be functional for another 03 weeks.

The significance of this lab has increased by many folds since the cases of Delta plus variant are found in the state. Now all the samples have to be sent to NIV, Pune and it takes 02-03 months to get the report. The Delta plus cases were also of April month. With this lab, the reports will be available in 02-03 days and it will help the authorities in rapid screening and contact tracing. But the city will have to wait for some more weeks for this lab.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani told Mirror Now that, "The machine is in Singapore cargo as of now. We are expecting to get it this week and the lab should be functional in a week after that."

Ravi Raja, Congress, Opposition leader BMC, told Mirror Now that, "This is happening because of the lack of seriousness in BMC officials. Many such projects are delayed because of this approach of BMC."

3) Reporter toss

4) Shots of Kasturba hospital

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[Exclusive] Delay in another Covid-related project of BMC, genome sequencing lab to take more time to start - Times Now

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Why do chess engines cause immediate draws rather than …

Posted: at 2:44 pm

Engines are usually coded with the assumption that their opponent will play the best moves that they can imagine, as pointed out by Pat Barron above. This is called a minimax decision rule.

Just to explain why this rule is used - it is a simplifying assumption. If you code or train the engine any other way, you will need two models - one for the opponent, and one for the engine. Using minimax, you only need one model - the engine effectively assumes it is playing itself and acts accordingly.

The idea of exploiting opponents based on a reading of their ability is a very interesting one, but it would be a wholly different challenge to just learning to play chess as well as you can. The problem with an engine that assumes its opponent is weak, is that (for example) you can hustle it by pretending to be weak, and springing a trap. AI algorithms tend to be extremely fragile to exploitative attacks like this, and have limited ability to learn between games to prevent it happening over and over again.

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More than fireworks and hot dogs – Shreveport Times

Posted: at 2:44 pm

Byron Moore| Shreveport Times

On this day 245 years ago, the Second Continental Congress signed a declaration that the 13 American colonies were no longer under British rule.

That feisty letterwhich our forefathers sent across the pond to King Georgeeffectively said, As of today, we are free to build and become a different kind of nation.

We call the Fourth of July Independence Day. What a joyous celebration of freedom it is!

And what a word freedom is. Few words have such power to stir our souls. Why? What does freedom really mean?

Here are some things it doesnt mean:

Freedom isnt freedom from cost. As the saying goes, Freedom isnt free. It always comes at a price. At least one mark of maturity is the realization that everything of value has a cost. A mothers love is free to her child, but very costly to her.

Freedom isnt freedom from conflict. We dont always agree with the choices of others. This creates tensions among free people. While we should never seek conflict, the mere possibility of disagreement is not a good reason to abdicate our rightful freedoms. Many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence gave their lives to secure this right of dissent for us.

Freedom isnt freedom from consequences. As Tony Evans likes to say, You can choose your choices, or you can choose your consequences. But you cant choose both. Hes right. Actions have consequences. We cannot escape them. But we can choose them.

Ironically, when we use our freedom to choose a consequence, we effectively (and voluntarily) bind ourselves to whatever actions are required to achieve that consequence!

The concert pianist, scratch golfer, skilled surgeon, and chess grandmaster didnt stumble into greatness. They got there via an arduous path they freely chose so they might enjoy the consequence they deeply valued.

So if freedom isnt freedom from cost, conflict, or consequences, what is it?

Its:

Freedom of conscience. Its wrong to force people to violate their conscience. Thats why the first freedom in our Bill of Rights is the freedom of religion. This is deeper than ones preference of worship style or steeple color. It goes to the core of what someone believes about God, and how that beliefor unbeliefplays out in daily civic life. Though we often disagree about these matters, we must never force someone to violate their conscience.

Freedom of commerce. When an enterprising individual takes a business risk, it will cost her. If her venture pays off, she will experience consequences . . . like a huge profit! If we want her (and other entrepreneurs) to do this over and over again, we need to think long and hard before we (a) punish (i.e., over-tax and over-regulate) such efforts and (b) reward others who arent willing to take such risks.

One reason America is leading the world out of the economic quagmire caused by COVID-19 is that we actually encourage risk takers with the prospect of financial success. While a few entrepreneurs are greedy opportunists, most are not evil pirates. They are engines of productivity and prosperity. Its this freedom of commerce that leads to more prosperity for us all.

Freedom to critique and convince. Not everyone today is enthusiastic about Americas brand of freedom. In fact, it seems fewer today believe in it than at any point in my lifetime.

We do ourselves no favors by pretending everything in our country is perfect. In truth, theres much that needs fixing. Freedom lovers understand America has always been a work in progress . . . and that the only way to learn from our past failures is to look them squarely in the eye, admit them, and forge a better way.

We still have work to do in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The struggle continues. Its a struggle that requires all of us pulling together, not fighting each other.

Im reminded of a fact from the early days of our free, yet often fractured nation. In 1782, six years into this new experiment of freedom, our leaders finally agreed on a national seal bearing the Latin motto, E pluribus Unum. Translation? Out of many, one.

If you ask me, thats the message our nation needs on this Independence Day.

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Cryonics Technology Market to Eyewitness Massive Growth by 2028: Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics The Manomet Current – The Manomet Current

Posted: at 2:42 pm

Cryonics Technology Market Forecast 2029: Revenue, Size & Growth

Global Cryonics Technology MarketForecast till 2029research includes reliable economic, international, and country-level forecasts and analysis. It offers a holistic view of the competitive market and thorough analyses of the supply chain to help companies identify closely significant trends in the company practices seen in the sector. Major Companies listed in this Reports arePraxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Custom Biogenic Systems, Oregon Cryonics, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Osiris Cryonics, Sigma-Aldrich, Southern Cryonics.

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Regional Breakout for Cryonics Technology Market: North America XXX million $, Europe XXX million $, Asia XXX million $ & Rest of World.

OverviewCryonics Technology Market including Types & Application:

North America:United States, Canada, and MexicoSouth & Central America:Argentina, Chile, and BrazilMiddle East & Africa:Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, Egypt and South AfricaEurope:UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Russia

Application: [Application]

Types:[Type]

Cryonics Technology Market Leading Competition:In this section, the report provides information on Competitive situations and trends including merger and acquisition and expansion, market shares of the top ten players, and market concentration rate. Readers could also be provided with production, revenue, and average price shares by manufacturers.

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Research Methodology:

The market engineering process uses a top-down and bottom-up approach and several data triangulation methods to evaluate and validate the size of the entire market and other dependent sub-markets listed in Cryonics Technology report. Numerous qualitative and quantitative analyzes have been conducted in the market engineering process to list key information / insights. The major players in the market were identified through the second survey and the market rankings were determined through the first and second surveys.

Primary Research:

During the first survey, we interviewed various key sources of supply and demand to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to Cryonics Technology report. Key supply sources include key industry participants, subject matter specialists from key companies, and consultants from several major companies and organizations active in the digital signage market.

Secondary Research:

The second study was conducted to obtain key information on the supply chain of the Cryonics Technology industry, the markets currency chain, pools of major companies, and market segmentation, with the lowest level, geographical market, and technology-oriented perspectives. Secondary data was collected and analyzed to reach the total market size, which was verified by the first survey.

Global Cryonics Technology Market Detailed study of each point:

TheCryonics Technology Marketstudy offers a comprehensive overview of the current market and forecasts by 2020-2029 to help identify emerging business opportunities on which to capitalize.

The report provides an in-depth review of industry dynamics in Cryonics Technology, including existing and potential developments to represent prevailing consumer pockets of investment.

The report provides details concerning key drivers, constraints and opportunities and their effect on the Cryonics Technology market.

Industry players Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Custom Biogenic Systems, Oregon Cryonics, Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Osiris Cryonics, Sigma-Aldrich, Southern Cryonics strategic analysis and industry position in the global Cryonics Technology market;

The report elaborates on the SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces model.

The market-study value chain review gives a good view of the positions of the stakeholders.

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Major Highlights of Cryonics Technology Market in Covid-19 pandemic covered in report:

Market Competition by key manufacturers in the Cryonics Technology industry. Discussed Sourcing strategies, industrial chain information and downstream buyers data. Distributors and traders on Cryonics Technology marketing strategy analysis focusing on region wise needs in covid-19 pandemic. Vendors who are providing a wide range of product lines and intensifying the competitive scenario in Cryonics Technology covid-19 crisis. Also highlights of the key growth sectors of Cryonics Technology market and how they will perform in coming years.

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** The demand is measured on the basis of the weighted average sale price (WASP), which requires the manufacturers taxes. The currency conversions that were used to construct this study were determined using a given annual average rate of currency exchange from 2020.

Find more research reports onCryonics Technology Industry.By JC Market Research.

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Cryonics Technology Market to Eyewitness Massive Growth by 2028: Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics The Manomet Current - The Manomet Current

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Delta Is Now The Dominant Coronavirus Variant In The U.S. – NPR

Posted: at 2:39 pm

The delta variant, first detected in India, is spreading across the globe. In parts of the U.S., the strain accounts for more than 80% of new infections, according to CDC estimates. Boris Roessler/DPA/Picture Alliance via Getty hide caption

The delta variant, first detected in India, is spreading across the globe. In parts of the U.S., the strain accounts for more than 80% of new infections, according to CDC estimates.

The highly contagious delta variant now accounts for more than 51% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to new estimates released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The variant, also known as B.1.617.2, was first detected in India and is spreading quickly across the globe.

And in parts of the U.S., the delta strain accounts for more than 80% of new infections, including some Midwestern states such as Missouri, Kansas and Iowa.

The delta variant is already causing 74.3% of infections in Western states, including Utah and Colorado, and 58.8% of infections in Southern states such as Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma, according to CDC estimates.

The good news is the vaccines being used in the U.S. all appear to be highly effective at protecting against serious disease, hospitalization and death. And public health officials are urging the roughly 140 million to 150 million people who remain unvaccinated to get vaccinated.

"Right now we have two Americas: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated America," says Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

"We're feeling pretty good right now because it's the summer. But come winter, if we still have a significant percentage of the population that is unvaccinated, we're going to see this virus surge again," Offit says.

And it's crucial to increase vaccinations in other countries, says Saad Omer, a vaccine researcher at Yale. "The world has to get its act together," Omer says. "Otherwise yet another, potentially more dangerous variant could emerge."

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Delta Is Now The Dominant Coronavirus Variant In The U.S. - NPR

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Coronavirus: Inbound travelers to isolate until receiving test results – The Jerusalem Post

Posted: at 2:39 pm

Inbound travelers will be required to isolate until they receive the results of the PCR test they underwent upon arrival and rapid corona tests also known as antigen tests will be performed at summer camps and programs for children and at the entrance of nursing homes, the coronavirus cabinet decided on Wednesday, announcing that the most important criteria to guide the governments action will be the number of serious patients, which has remained low throughout the current outbreak.

In a press conference later in day, Coronavirus Commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash also announced that the list of countries from which vaccinated and recovered individuals will be required to quarantine is going to be expanded to include not only nations under currently under travel ban that Israelis cannot visit unless they obtain a special governmental permission - but also countries under travel warning.

At the moment, the first includes Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa, the second Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Maldives, Namibia, Nepal, Paraguay, Seychelles, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay. The lists are updated every two weeks.

A cabinets spokesperson said that in order to increase the publics cooperation in observing quarantine regulations, the Health Ministry will start studying the question of whether the isolation period can be reduced. Ash said that they will consider all the data on the topic from Israel and from abroad and then they will see whether it is possible to recommend to shorten the period and of how many days.

Asked about whether vaccinated tourists will be allowed in starting from August 1 as planned, he said that the issue will be discussed in the coming days.

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The new measures approved by the cabinet are expected to come into effect in about a week, in order to give an appropriate window of time for the public to prepare, Ash said, adding that the rapid testing for children and visitors of nursing homes are expected to be funded by the state.

In light of the data we have, we are aiming for maximum protection for those who live in Israel and their health, along with a minimum of economic damage and disruption to daily life, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said while opening the meeting.

We will try as much as possible to be transparent, to explain to the public what we are doing and to give appropriate notice before steps are taken, he added.

The ministers did not approve any new drastic restriction, such as requiring parents of an infected child to quarantine even if they are vaccinated or demanding an additional test for all those entering Israel after four days.

Instead, the authorities will focus on continue to encourage people to get vaccinated and to be careful to wear masks indoors, as it is currently required, as well as to step up enforcement.

The cabinet reconvened on Wednesday after the meeting was adjourned without any decision on Tuesday night.

Some 521 new virus carriers were identified on Tuesday, with over 85,000 tests processed. Both numbers mark the highest since March.

Some 46 patients were in serious condition as of Wednesday afternoon, six more than on the previous days. At the lowest on June 20, the number stood at 21.

While the serious morbidity has registered a slight increase since the beginning of the current outbreak which has seen the number of active cases in the country surging from less than 200 to almost 3,300 - the increase has been very limited compared to what was happening in the past.

A likely explanation for this development is that more than 40% of current virus carriers are schoolchildren, and almost half are people who were fully vaccinated. Both groups are unlikely to develop serious symptoms.

About 40% of the patients in serious conditions were also fully vaccinated. Ash said that most of them belonged to groups considered at risk (over 60 or with pre-existing conditions).

Asked about the possibility of a new lockdown, the commissioner said that he very much hoped that Israel is not going to need it.

It depends on the number of patients in serious conditions, if we were in a situation where the health system is in danger and we want to stop the increase, Ash noted. We are talking about a situation where we have hundreds of serious patients hospitalized.

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Coronavirus: Inbound travelers to isolate until receiving test results - The Jerusalem Post

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The Latest: New Zealand gives tentative OK for 2nd vaccine – The Associated Press

Posted: at 2:39 pm

WELLINGTON, New Zealand New Zealand medical regulators have approved use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, after earlier in the year approving the Pfizer vaccine.

But New Zealands government intends to stick with its plan of primarily using the Pfizer vaccine to inoculate the population of 5 million.

The provisional approval for the J&J vaccine by regulator Medsafe applies to adults aged 18 and over and will need to be signed-off on by the Cabinet, which will likely happen next month.

New Zealand has an agreement to buy 2 million doses of the J&J vaccine. COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says having a second vaccine will provide increased flexibility and it could be used in emergencies or in locations that are hard to reach.

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When will Colorado reach coronavirus herd immunity? – The Colorado Sun

Posted: at 2:39 pm

Dont get too cocky, Colorado, but we have some eagerly awaited news for you: Parts of the state are slowly, but steadily, inching closer to herd immunity from coronavirus one way or another.

The latest from the coronavirus outbreak in Colorado:

>> FULL COVERAGE

More than 50% of the states total population has now been fully immunized against the virus, according to figures from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. (The state was one of only 20 to reach President Joe Bidens goal of having 70% of its adult population receive at least one dose of vaccine by July 4.)

But, when you add in immunity that comes from having been infected by the virus, there are regions of the state where likely more than 60% of the population is currently immune, according to modeling estimates. Herd immunity the level at which enough people are immune that the virus is forced into decline has often been pegged at around 70% for coronavirus, though that number may be changing as more transmissible variants take over.

Where the most-immune regions are and how they achieved their immunity, though, says a lot about the state of the pandemic in Colorado right now. Heres what you need to know.

Theres more than one way to get to herd immunity. Both vaccination and infection get the job done though, of course, the latter route is rougher.

Every few weeks, the Colorado COVID-19 Modeling Group, which is made up of university researchers around the state, releases a region-by-region report on the state of the pandemic. Among the figures it produces is an estimate for coronavirus immunity, which takes into account the vaccination rate in the region and the estimated infection rate.

In its latest report, the modeling team estimated that two regions in Colorado have overall immunity percentages above 55%: The East Central region, which includes Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties; and the metro area, including Gilpin and Clear Creek counties.

Two more regions the Northeast region and the South Central region were above 50%. And, because the reports estimates only considered data through the middle of June, those numbers are all higher now likely above 60% in the most-immune places.

(The team produces estimates by region because it helps smooth over data blips from small population sizes in some counties and because the regions better encapsulate how people actually move around in the state the bubbles where people live and shop and mingle.)

Interestingly, the East Central and the metro area came about their immunity differently. The modeling teams report estimated that the metro area had one of the highest vaccination rates in the state around 55% of the population was fully vaccinated, as of late June. The East Central region, meanwhile, had the lowest vaccination rate only about 26% were fully vaccinated. Instead, the East Central regions estimated immunity comes largely through infection, according to the report.

This insight into the differences among highly immune regions of the state underlines a bigger issue: Vaccinations rates are extraordinarily uneven across Colorado.

As of Tuesday, CDPHE reported that more than 70% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus in six counties. Another 24 counties have at least 50% of their eligible population fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, fewer than 40% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated in 18 counties, including four counties where less than 30% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Where large pockets of unvaccinated people exist, the virus has the chance to thrive. That will lead to an increasing unevenness in how the pandemic is experienced across the state.

Were going to see a lot of patchiness in whos affected in where there are problems, said Dr. Jonathan Samet, the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health.

A good example of this right now is in Mesa County, where the vaccination rate is low. Coronavirus cases, driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus, have swamped local hospitals. Entering the Fourth of July weekend, 96% of the regions hospital beds were occupied. In the Denver metro area, where vaccination rates are higher, about 80% of hospital beds were occupied.

Samet said this shows how the coronavirus pandemic is no longer a single thing in Colorado. It will take different paths in different communities based on vaccination rates.

We really have a series of epidemics now, Samet said.

Despite these hot spots across the state, infections overall are in decline across the state.

Between 300 and 350 new cases are being reported per day, on average. Thats down from more than 1,500 cases per day in late April.

The decline in cases has leveled off, though. The total number of new cases per week has been increasing slightly for the past two weeks.

Around 280 people are currently hospitalized in Colorado with confirmed coronavirus infections down from nearly 700 in early May. But hospitalization numbers have also flattened out in recent weeks.

About four or five people with coronavirus are dying per day in Colorado.

Overall things are moving in the right direction, albeit slower than I think we all wish as a consequence of the Delta variant, Samet said.

He added: What you might say is we could have declined faster if we had not had this more transmissible strain.

This improvement shouldnt mask the fact that the coronavirus is more prevalent in Colorado now than it was last summer.

At this time last year, the state was seeing about 280 new coronavirus cases per day, and about 170 people were in the hospital with confirmed coronavirus infections.

Nationally, Colorado is ranked eighth among U.S. states for the highest new coronavirus case rates an improvement from May, when the state was ranked No. 1, but still nothing to celebrate.

This is partly due to the Delta variant, which has hit Colorado harder so far than it has hit most other states. The variant is estimated to account for 80% of all new coronavirus cases in the state, compared with about 20% of new cases nationally.

But Samet said the lower case rates at this time last year were also due to the prolonged statewide shutdown last spring. And, he said, people were likely more cautious last year, too.

People are behaving like its 2019 all over again, he said. Its not.

One advantage we have this year over last: Samet said it is unlikely we will see the same kind of post-Fourth of July case wave that we saw in 2020.

Why? Because last years wave the states second of what have now been four distinct waves of the virus was caused by people breaking their isolation and gathering around the July 4 holiday. But Samet noted that in 2021 weve been gathering with abandon for months now.

Bars and restaurants are operating at full indoor capacity. The Rockies can host full-capacity games. Mask orders have gone away. And cases continue to decline overall.

Were sustaining all of that, Samet said.

Just as Colorado starts creeping up toward herd immunity, though, the goal posts have moved.

Blame the Delta variant as well as the Alpha variant, which is also more transmissible than the original form of the coronavirus and accounts for an estimated 14% of new cases in the state. These more-transmissible forms mean that the herd immunity threshold has risen perhaps to around 80%, Samet said.

Thats because herd immunity comes from a relatively simple calculation, one where the only variable is how transmissible the virus is. The more transmissible the virus, the higher the percentage needed for herd immunity.

And, to Samet, the best way to continue boosting those immunity numbers in Colorado is through vaccination.

The more people who are vaccinated, he said, the better off we are as a society.

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When will Colorado reach coronavirus herd immunity? - The Colorado Sun

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