San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
India election drives crowds — and virus
Coronavirus cases fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant are rocketing through India, prompting the federal government and states to swiftly reintroduce a string of restrictions.
Night curfews are back. Restaurants and bars are running at half their capacity. Some states have closed schools and movie theaters. Large gatherings are to be downsized. But India’s political leaders are busy on the campaign trail ahead of crucial state polls, addressing packed rallies of tens of thousands of people, many without masks.
The scenes are strikingly similar to last year’s election season, when the delta variant ravaged the country and made India one of the world’s worst-hit countries. Some political parties have begun to curtail their campaigns, but health experts worry that the lessons learned last year have already been forgotten.
“The highly transmissible omicron variant chases and catches you. But our politicians are out there to welcome it with a hug,” said Dr. T. Jacob John, an Indian virologist. “I fear it is beginning to look a lot like last year.”
A devastating surge of infections tore through India last year. It was partly fed by large crowds at election rallies, where politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, often appeared without masks and addressed teeming crowds.
That surge left the country’s health system battered. Daily deaths crossed 4,000 during the peak of the crisis, with at least 200,000 people dying between March and May, a number widely believed to be a vast undercount.
Health officials say the new surge is causing fewer deaths and many cases are asymptomatic. But they warn against taking the omicron variant too lightly, and say that numerous cases, even if milder, could still pressure the country’s fragile health system. Overall, new daily cases have increased nearly fourfold in the last week.
BRITAIN Advisers: No 4th vax dose
U.K. government advisers have recommended against giving a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home residents and people older than 80 because data shows that a third shot offers lasting protection against admission to the hospital.
For people older than 65, protection against hospitalization remains at about 90% three months after the third dose, according to data compiled by the U.K. Health Security Agency.
As a result, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization advised the government that there was no need to offer a fourth dose, or second booster, to vulnerable people at this time. Instead, the government should focus on giving a third dose to as many people as possible to boost protection against the highly transmissible omicron variant.
The variant has fueled a surge in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.
GREECE Doctors told to aid hospitals
Greece’s government issued a civil mobilization order that will oblige some doctors in the private sector to support the state health service during a surge in COVID-19 infections driven by the omicron variant.
The emergency order, which takes effect Wednesday, applies to doctors specializing in pathology, pulmonology and anesthesiology in four regions in northern Greece where state hospitals are suffering acute staffing shortages.
The omicron variant has been blamed by experts for a huge increase in infections over the past 10 days that have hit record levels. The surge has not led to a significant increase in intensive care unit admissions but has pushed up daily general hospitalizations, adding pressure on the public health service, with many hospitals also struggling with staff coverage as more doctors and nurses get infected.
Civil mobilization orders are used to keep essential services running, and have been introduced in the past to counter strikes. The current order will require doctors to work for the state for 15 days.
NEVADA Attendance sinks at CES
Attendance at last week’s CES gadget show in Las Vegas fell more than 75% compared with its previous in-person event two years ago, its organizer.
The Consumer Technology Association said more than 40,000 people attended the multiday event on the Las Vegas Strip. That’s less than a quarter of the more than 170,000 the CTA said were there for its 2020 convention.
The COVID-19 pandemic led the CTA to take 2021’s conference online, but the trade group decided eight months ago to bring a physical CES 2022 back to Vegas. That proved challenging amid a global spike in infections caused by the fast-moving omicron coronavirus variant that emerged late last year.
Conference attendees were required to wear masks on the exhibition floors that opened Wednesday and show proof of vaccination before they arrived. But the rise in COVID-19 cases led a number of big tech companies to pull out of the conference in the weeks before the event.