Coronavirus Morning News Brief – Feb. 18: Covid Causes Permanent Changes to the Heart, China’s Elderly Protest Healthcare Cuts
Magic Castle at Walt Disney World
Good morning. This is Jonathan Spira reporting. Here now the news of the pandemic from across the globe on the 1,044th day of the pandemic.
A new study shows how SARS-CoV-2 causes changes to the heart with lasting effects.
A presentation by Dr. Andrew Marks, chairman of the department of physiology at Columbia University and his colleagues showed changes in the heart tissue of patients with SARS-CoV-2 who had died from the disease, some of whom who had also had a history of heart disease.
The team at Columbia conducted autopsy analyses and found a range of abnormalities, particularly in the way the heart regulates calcium.
To put this into perspective, the heart, like all muscles in the body, relies on calcium to contract. Muscle cells store calcium and they open special channels inside cells to release it when required. In some cases, such as heart failure, the channel remains open as the body tries to help the heart muscle contract more actively.
In the Covid patients studied, the leaking of the calcium depleted the calcium stores and thus weakened the heart in the end.
“We found evidence, in the hearts of Covid-19 patients, abnormalities in the way calcium is handled,” said Marks.
The team ultimately found that the heart tissue of patients who died of Covid looked remarkably similar to that of people who died with heart failure as an underlying cause.
In other news we cover today, former Brazilian President and vaccine skeptic Jair Bolsonaro did in fact get vaccinated despite protestations to the contrary, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau was justified in dispersing the so-called “Freedom Convey,” and the elderly in China are protesting healthcare cuts in a rare display of dissent.
UNITED STATES
Employees of Walt Disney are unhappy about return-to-office planes that were announced by returning CEO Bob Iger for the “happiest place on earth.” Over 2,000 workers have signed a petition protesting plan to require workers to spend at least four days back in the office. “Flexibility at Disney really felt like a fresh start,” an unnamed employee told the Washington Post. “Now it feels like we’re moving backwards.”
GLOBAL
In Canada, the Public Order Emergency Commission issued a report that found that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was justified in using emergency powers and force to disperse the 2022 so-called “Freedom Convey.” The convey converted on the capital, Ottawa, in late January 2022 to protest a vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border. The protestors also called for an end to all coronavirus pandemic restrictions and for the prime minister to resign.
“Lawful protest descended into lawlessness, culminating in a national emergency,” the report reads.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who after the election fled the country and moved to Florida, had been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the country’s health minister said, despite protestations to the contrary. Records indicate that the vocal skeptic of Covid vaccines who vowed never to get the jab received one in 2021, the country’s comptroller general’s office said Friday.
Meanwhile, in China, the elderly are protesting cuts to health benefits in a rare display of public dissent. Large groups comprised mostly of older people have gathered in several cities including Wuhan and Dalian, yet another indication of the economic fallout of the sudden end of the country’s draconian “zero-Covid” policies.
TODAY’S STATISTICS
Now here are the daily statistics for Saturday, February 18.
As of Saturday morning, the world has recorded 678.6 million Covid-19 cases, an increase of 0.3 million cases, and 6.79 million deaths, according to Worldometer, a service that tracks such information. In addition, 651.1 million people worldwide have recovered from the virus, an increase of 0.2 million.
The reader should note that infrequent reporting from some sources may appear as spikes in new case figures or death tolls.
Worldwide, the number of active coronavirus cases as of Saturday at press time is 20,664,104 an increase of 14,000. Out of that figure, 99.8%, or 20,623,284, are considered mild, and 0.2%, or 40,882, are listed as critical. The percentage of cases considered critical has not changed over the past three months.
The United States reported 46,091 new coronavirus infections on Saturday for the previous day, compared to 70, 512 on Friday, 102,914 on Thursday, and 27,454 on Wednesday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The 7-day incidence rate is now 39,506. Figures for the weekend (reported the following day) are typically 30% to 60% of those posted on weekdays due to a lower number of tests being conducted.
The average daily number of new coronavirus cases in the United States over the past 14 days is 37,160, a figure down 9% over the past 14 days, based on data from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other sources. The average daily death toll over the same period is 383, a decrease of 16% over the same period, while the average number of hospitalizations for the period was 28,683, a decrease of 8%. In addition, the number of patients in ICUs was 3,718, a decrease of 8% and the test positivity rate is now 10%, a figure that is up by 2% over the same period.
In addition, since the start of the pandemic the United States has, as of Saturday, recorded just under 105 million cases, a higher figure than any other country, and a death toll of 1.14 million. India has the world’s second highest number of officially recorded cases, 44.7 million, and a reported death toll of 530,757.
The newest data from Russia’s Rosstat state statistics service showed that, at the end of July, the number of Covid or Covid-related deaths since the start of the pandemic there in April 2020 is now 823,623, giving the country the world’s second highest pandemic-related death toll, behind the United States. Rosstat last reported that 3,284 people died from the coronavirus or related causes in July 2022, down from 5,023 in June, 7,008 in May and 11,583 in April.
Meanwhile, France is the country with the third highest number of cases, with 39.6 million, and Germany is in the number four slot, with 38 million total cases.
Brazil, which has recorded the third highest number of deaths as a result of the virus, 698,047, has recorded just under 37 million cases, placing it in the number five slot.
The other five countries with total case figures over the 20 million mark are Japan, with 33.1 million cases, South Korea, with 30.4 million cases, placing it in the number seven slot, and Italy, with 25.5 million, as number eight, as well as the United Kingdom, with 24.3 million, and Russia, with 22.1 million.
VACCINATION SPOTLIGHT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that, as of the past Saturday, 269.3 million people in the United States – or 81.1% – have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of that population, 69.2%, or 229.9million people, have received two doses of vaccine, and the total number of doses that have been dispensed in the United States is now 670.9 million. Breaking this down further, 92% of the population over the age of 18 – or 237.7million people – has received at least a first inoculation and 79% of the same group – or 203.9 million people – is fully vaccinated. In addition, 19.3% of the same population, or over 49.9 million people, has already received an updated or bivalent booster dose of vaccine.
Starting on June 13, 2022, the CDC began to update vaccine data on a weekly basis and publish the updated information on Saturdays by 8 p.m. EDT, a statement on the agency’s website said.
Some 69.5% of the world population has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine by Saturday, according to Our World in Data, an online scientific publication that tracks such information. So far, 13.29 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered on a global basis and 604,771 doses are now administered each day.
Meanwhile, only 26.9% of people in low-income countries have received one dose, while in countries such as Canada, China, Denmark, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, at least 75% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
Only a handful of the world’s poorest countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Nepal – have reached the 70% mark in vaccinations. Many countries, however, are under 20% and, in countries such as Haiti, Senegal, and Tanzania, for example, vaccination rates remain at or below 10%.
In addition, with the start of vaccinations in North Korea in late September, Eritrea remains the only country in the world that has not administered vaccines.
Paul Riegler contributed reporting to this story.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
