The coronavirus disease COVID-19 is currently reaching pandemic levels in various countries.
France's 42-year-old President Emmanuel Macron confirmed he has tested positive for COVID-19 and will self-isolate for seven days at the Elysée Palace, reported France24 on December 17, 2020.
'This diagnosis was made following a PCR test performed at the onset of the first symptoms,' without detailing what symptoms Macron exhibited.
New Zealand's government has signed an Advance Purchase Agreement with Novavax, Inc. to purchase 10.7 million doses of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’s experimental vaccine against COVID-19. Under the terms of the agreement, Novavax will target delivering initial vaccine doses by mid-2021.
Stanley C. Erck, CEO of Novavax, stated in a press release: “We appreciate the confidence of the government of New Zealand and are pleased to contribute to ensuring that New Zealanders will have access to a protein-based vaccine through standard distribution channels, should it receive regulatory approval.”
The U.S. CDC reported that between January 22 - December 14, 2020, there were 47,096 pregnant women diagnosed with COVID-19 in the United States. Furthermore, the CDC confirmed 58 fatalities related to women with COVID-19 this year.
'Based on what is known at this time, pregnant women are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant women,' says the CDC.
Because only about a third of case report forms include information on pregnancy status, these numbers likely do not include all pregnant women with COVID-19 must be interpreted with caution. The cases reported are only confirmed cases with laboratory evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
As of October 2020, the CDC excluded reports of cases of COVID-19 among pregnant women who are younger than age 9 and older than age 54 in the weekly reporting. Cases of unknown age are still included, reported the CDC on December 16, 2020.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated 'a small number of pets worldwide, including cats and dogs, have been reported by the OiE to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, mostly after close contact with people with COVID-19. And, it appears that the virus that causes COVID-19 can spread from people to animals in some situations.'
On December 11, 2020, the CDC's advisory says, 'Treat pets as you would other human family members. If a person inside the household becomes sick, this means isolate that person from everyone else, including pets.'
The Los Angeles County (LAC) Department of Public Health (Public Health) confirmed 86 new fatalities related to COVID-19 on December 15, 2020. This is the highest number of daily deaths reported by Public Health since the summer surge in California.
Seventy people who died had underlying health conditions, including 29 people over the age of 80 years old. Pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19 accounted for 29% of all deaths registered in LAC during week #49, reported Public Health.
A small team of experts assembled by the World Health Organization to research the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 betacoronavirus says they plan to sift through samples and medical data from China to determine its origin, reported the AP on December 15, 2020. As the name indicates, the new virus is related to the SARS coronavirus that caused deadly outbreaks in 2002-2003.
Fabian Leendertz, a biologist at Germany’s Robert Koch Institute who specializes in emerging diseases, said that this team's goal is to gather data to be better prepared for possible future outbreaks. It’s about trying to understand what happened and then see if, based on those data, we can try to reduce the risk in the future.'
Coronaviruses are the 2nd leading cause of the common cold after rhinoviruses. People commonly get infected with human coronaviruses 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1, says the U.S. CDC.
A France-based specialty vaccine company, Valneva SE, announced the initiation of a clinical study in sites across the United Kingdom for its inactivated, adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine candidate, VLA2001, which consists of inactivated whole virus particles of SARS-CoV-2 with high S-protein density, in combination with two adjuvants, alum and CpG 1018.
VLA2001-201 is the first-in-human Phase 1/2 study that will evaluate three dose levels of VLA2001 (low, medium, high) for safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity in a two-dose schedule with intra muscular vaccinations three weeks apart.
Alok Sharma, UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said in a press statement: "Thanks to significant investment from the UK government, we are doing all we can to ensure our country has the capabilities in place to produce hundreds of millions of doses of this vaccine for the UK, and those around the world.”
Researchers participating in the United Kingdom's RECOVERY clinical trial issued a preliminary analysis from the azithromycin arm of the trial that 'patients hospitalized with COVID-19, azithromycin did not provide any clinical benefit.'
'Therefore, azithromycin use in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 should be restricted to patients where there is a clear antimicrobial indication,' wrote these researchers in a pre-print study published on December 14, 2020.
‘The UK’s RECOVERY trial, as the world’s largest randomized trial of potential COVID-19 treatments, plays a key role in providing evidence of which drugs for COVID-19 can help to save lives.’
The Government of Canada has awarded a contribution of up to $6.7 million to support the Phase II development of Metablok (LSALT Peptide), Arch Biopartners Inc.'s therapeutic drug candidate to prevent organ inflammation and injury in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
The Phase II clinical trial is currently underway in the United States and Turkey. Health Canada has also issued approval and is preparing to begin dosing patients in Canada.
"Once approved, this drug has the potential to be an important tool to save lives, improve long-term health, and reduce the strain on Canada’s medical system. Investments like these not only help protect and support Canadians through this pandemic, but also help lay the foundation for a better-prepared, healthier, and more prosperous future," stated the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, in a press statement.
Abbott announced it received a CE Mark for its new quantitative SARS-CoV-2 IgG (Immunoglobulin G) lab-based serology test that gives a quantitative result providing important insights to people as they recover from COVID-19 and helps evaluate a person's immune response to a vaccine.
The CE mark indicates that a product fulfills the requirements of relevant European product directives.
"Testing will continue to help both identify those who are infected as well as determine whether people have had a natural or vaccine-induced immune response," said John Hackett, Ph.D., divisional vice president of Applied Research and Technology for Abbott's diagnostics business, in a press statement.
REIG JOFRE, a pharmaceutical company based in Spain, announced it has reached an agreement with the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), to execute the technology transfer to manufacture its investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2-S.
Ignasi Biosca, CEO of REIG JOFRE, stated in a press release issued on December 15, 2020: “Having been chosen by Janssen as one of its partners for the manufacturing of its Ad26.COV2-S vaccine candidate will give REIG JOFRE the opportunity to prove the strategic value that strong, competitive, and technologically advanced industries can play in overcoming such difficult situations as the one we are facing at present.”
Matt Hancock, the UK's Health Secretary, stated in a speech on December 14, 2020, 'that over 1,000 cases of a new variant of COVID-19 have been found in the south of England.'
Hancock added 'there is currently no evidence that it will not respond to the COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out.' reported SkyNews.
During April 2020, a study's findings suggested that the coronavirus evolving in Europe, North American, and Asia can be characterized by a different mutation pattern. These researchers identified (8) novel recurrent mutations of SARS-CoV-2, with 2891, 3036, 14408, 23403, and 28881 positions predominantly observed in Europe, whereas those located at positions 17746, 17857, and 18060 are exclusively present in North America.
The Central Epidemic Command Center located in Taipei, Taiwan announced four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 that were imported from the Philippines and Indonesia on December 14, 2020. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Taiwan's 23 million residents have confirmed 740 cases, and just 7 individuals have died from the disease.
The U.S. FDA announced it has authorized 299 coronavirus diagnostic tests, which include 230 molecular tests, 61 antibody tests, and 8 antigen tests during 2020.
The COVID-19 tests most people discuss are RT-PCR, the nasal-swab test that detects viral RNA, and various antibody tests, that detect if you have an immune response due to past exposure to the SARS-CoV-2, the betacoronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Effective December 14, 2020, all travelers coming to Pitkin County, Colorada, must complete an online travel affidavit before arrival. And visitors must receive a negative COVID-19 test result within 72-hours of arrival and have been symptom-free for 10-days before travel.
Aspen City Councilwoman Ann Mullins stated 'that it is about visitors feeling comfortable coming here,' reported the AspenTimes on December 10, 2020.
The required affidavit, along with frequently asked questions and many other details about the program, is available at https://covid19.pitkincounty.com/travel-affidavit.
