COVID-19 New Corona

Citizens who plan to travel overseas can now apply online for their COVID-19 smart vaccination certificate, Health Ministry, Director - Health Information, Consultant Dr. Palitha Karunapema said.

Speaking to the media yesterday at the Health Promotion Bureau, Dr. Karunapema said that the issuance of a digital vaccination certificate was started one month ago via MOH offices and relevant institutions. But considering the difficulties faced by the public, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) has launched an online service to issue Smart Vaccine Certificates.

The online service is currently open only for those who plan to travel overseas. This service launched two days back and since then more than 1,000 applications have been received. The certificates will be sent via e-mail within seven days since some time is required to check the accuracy of information provided by the applicant.

The public can visit the online portal https://covid-19.health.gov.lk/certificate/ to obtain a soft copy of the vaccine certificate. After accessing the online portal, one needs to enter requested details such as the National Identity Card (NIC) number, passport number, vaccination card details, proof of travel, and some other personal data.

Upon successfully entering the requested particulars and approval, the user will be given a link to generate a soft copy (PDF version) of the vaccine certificate. In addition, a printout of the certificate can be presented to the relevant authorities here and abroad when needed.

The initiative will avoid the inconvenience of physically visiting the nearest MOH office to collect hard copies of the vaccine certificate.

The smart vaccination certificate is a globally recognized system created by the Institute of Information and Communication Technology of Sri Lanka.

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 01:08

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/28/local/257837/online-portal-obtain-covid-19-smart-vaccine-certificate

Quarantine curfew extended till Sept 6

Vaccination drive to be expedited

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It has been decided to extend the quarantine curfew which is in force until 4 a.m. on September 6. The decision was taken at the meeting of Special Committee on COVID-19 Control held at the Presidential Secretariat last morning.

In view of this, the Head of the National Operation Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak – Army Commander General Shavendra Silva yesterday urged the heads of those institutions listed under essential services to only summon the staff members who are absolutely vital for operations and to allow others to Work From Home (WFH).

The Army Commander speaking to the Daily News said staff attached to Ports and Airports and those working for the apparel industry will be able to travel to work in the same manner as in the past week.He noted that the essential services, export industry and the agriculture sector would be allowed to operate.

All pharmacies are allowed to remain open during the lock-down but, all other stores have to remain closed. “We don’t expect people to get onto the streets and they are strictly advised to remain at home,” he said.

He also said that even those with provisions to travel, such as persons engaged in essential services, should not misuse their facilities as this is a serious situation. “We appeal to the people to remain at home during this period and not venture out unless it is an absolute emergency or those engaged in essential services.”

General Shavendra Silva said existing regulations will remain in place until the 6th of September while essential services and other sectors exempted from curfew regulations can continue to function during the period.

The progress of the vaccination drive was reviewed at length during the Covid committee meeting. The President instructed to inform the Medical Officers of Health to submit requests for necessary vaccines to cover those who are over the age of 30 and not received the vaccines so far.

In the event anyone fails to obtain the first dose, it was mentioned that they are able to get the first dose from the centres where the second doses are being administered.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa pointed out that local politicians should take action to encourage the people to obtain the vaccine.

The President said the doctors and the Heads of the Health Sector who have been making recommendations on the actions that need to be taken to contain the virus should continue to pay constant attention to necessary actions that need to be taken in the future as well.

If anyone over the age of 60 or suffering from non-communicable diseases has contracted the virus, they should be hospitalized immediately. The President pointed out that such patients are being discharged early after being recovered following proper medical treatment.

The attention was also paid to the issues concerning the death of persons who are not COVID-19 patients and no one in the family is being quarantined and the need to continue with the decision to conduct the last rites within 24 hours.

The measures taken to meet the daily needs of the people during the quarantine curfew period were reviewed and the President emphasized the need to pay special attention to the daily wage earners and low-income earners.

Minister Basil Rajapaksa pointed out the need to control the pandemic while managing the national economy as well.

Minister Bandula Gunawardana explained the programme implemented by the Sathosa to provide essential food items to the people at concessionary prices.

State Minister Sisira Jayakody described the projects implemented by the State Ministry of Indigenous Medicine to provide Ayurvedic medicines to the people covering the entire country to boost immunity.

Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said that all state and private media institutions are committed to carry out their responsible media duty by constantly educating the public on the pandemic and the steps that should be taken to protect from it. The Minister also said that the initiatives in this regard will be coordinated by the Ministry of Mass Media.Specialist Dr. Prasanna Gunasena, member of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control, said that it is the responsibility of the public to protect themselves from this virus by adhering to proper hygiene practices.

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 01:09

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/28/local/257836/quarantine-curfew-extended-till-sept-6

Home Care: Over 36,000 COVID patients recover

* Another 14,000 recovering at home

* Most patients from WP

* Service available for patients aged 2-65

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Around 36,220 patients who had been referred to home treatment for COVID-19 under the Patient Home Isolation and Management System (PHIMS) had recovered and another 14,152 are recovering at home, Director of Tertiary Services of the Ministry of Health Dr. Ayanthi Karunaratne said. Speaking at a media briefing held at the Health Promotion Bureau yesterday (27), Dr. Karunaratne said that more than 68 per cent of patients currently receiving home treatment are from the Western Province, and the rest of the patients are reported from all the other parts of the country.

She said the patients being treated at home for COVID-19 infection can only call the 1390 hotline if they are registered with their local Medical Officer of Health (MOH).

After informing the area health officer or Public Health Inspector (PHI) that an individual is exhibiting symptoms of Covid infection, the officer will complete the necessary registration after their observations. This service is only for patients between ages 2 - 65 with no medical complications.

The area MOH will register the eligible individual in the PHIMS. Then the MOH will hand over the responsibility of patient care to the Call-Centre and the Medical Care Team through the PHIMS system. After that, everything related to the patient will be done under medical supervision.

The call centre will coordinate with the patient and a medical care team assigned for home care management. An assigned medical officer in the medical care team will conduct an initial assessment and daily monitoring of the patient.

The PHIMS was recently introduced for asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic COVID-19 positive patients as hospitals have exceeded their capacity. Dr. Karunaratne said a number of factors are taken into account when referring Covid patients for home treatment and it was up to the area health officer or the PHI to decide whether to hospitalize or refer the patient for home treatment.

Health Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella said that his Ministry was contemplating introducing COVID-19 self-diagnosis kits for people to test themselves at home to check whether they have been infected.

He was speaking at a discussion with a delegation of trade unions at the Ministry of Health on Thursday.

The Minister said that the Ministry of Health would never provide fake data on COVID or any other health issue and denied allegations of providing fake data and said that some had made baseless allegations due to minor changes in certain technical and time frameworks.

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/28/local/257835/home-care-over-36000-covid-patients-recover

Vaccination drive expedited

More than 22 million vaccine doses received

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The vaccination programme throughout the country has been expedited with the availability of ample stocks of various vaccines. The total number of all COVID-19 vaccine doses brought to the country so far for the immunisation programme exceeds 20 million, according to Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Minister Professor Channa Jayasumana.

The number of doses of all vaccines brought to the country increased to 22.8 million with the arrival of three million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in China this week.

The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry said that 12,255,121 persons have been given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and that 6,464,296 persons have obtained the second dose as well.

The country has received 2.8 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses, 195,000 Sputnik V doses, 17.7 million Sinopharm doses, 540,540 Pfizer doses and 1.5 million Moderna doses. Incidentally, Pfizer has received full US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. It is the first vaccine to get full approval – until now, all vaccines had only Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA). Moderna, the other mRNA-based vaccine, is also due to receive full FDA approval soon. Both vaccines are being administered in Sri Lanka.

The vaccines now available in Sri Lanka were received through purchases, donations and the World Health Organization’s Covax facility. Sri Lanka received 1.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine through the Covax facility operated by the WHO as a donation from the United States of America.

Also, 264,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were received through the same WHO Covax facility and similarly, another 1.6 million doses of AstraZeneca were received from Japan. Initially, India donated 500,000 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine, the version licensed by the Serum Institute of India (SII). However, the export ban imposed by India curtailed further shipments of Covishield from the SII. Similarly, 2.7 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine were received as a donation from China while the rest of the Sinopharm doses were direct purchases.

The vaccination programme will soon be extended to the 18-30 group, though some among this group have already got the vaccine as they work for essential services such as garment factories, ports and airports and media. Moreover, the on-call at home vaccination programme launched by the Army in the Western Province has now been extended to many other provinces.

Those over 60 who are unable to leave home due to whatever reason to get the jab at a vaccination centre can call 1906 to get registered for this service. Upon registration, a team will come to the caller’s residence and administer the vaccine.

Overall, the vaccines are being given at nearly 300 centres islandwide. Meanwhile, the five million mark was passed for PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests performed islandwide to detect COVID patients, with a daily average of 18,000 tests. Sri Lanka has so far recorded 412,000 COVID cases, with 351,000 recoveries. There are 53,000 active cases under observation, while 8,157 deaths have been recorded.

Pictures by Wimal Karunathilake, Ranjith Asanka, Hirantha Gunathilake, Sudath Malaweera, Anuradha Priyadarshana

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Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/28/local/257801/vaccination-drive-expedited

Chinese envoy urges WHO to uphold science-based origins-tracing

Experts attend a WHO-China joint origin-tracing study press conference held in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, in this February 9, 2021 file photo. - XINHUA

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CHINA: As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, a Chinese envoy here has urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to stick to science-based origins-tracing rather than yield to political manipulation by parties with selfish interests.

The WHO Secretariat should uphold the institution’s earlier position that the search for the COVID-19 virus origins is not and should not be exercised in attributing blame, finger-pointing or political point-scoring, said Chinese ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong in an article published in the local Daily Monitor newspaper on Saturday.

Zhang said any origins-tracing that goes against the World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution should be disregarded.“The WHO Secretariat should act on the WHA resolution, conduct thorough consultation with member states on any global origins-tracing work plan including the follow-up mechanism, and fully respect the views of member states,” said the envoy.

He said accusations that China is refusing cooperation on origins-tracing are baseless, noting that instead the country has since the onset of the pandemic been cooperating with WHO.

“China has been actively engaging in origins-tracing cooperation with the WHO, shared the genome sequencing of the virus at the earliest time possible, and invited WHO experts to China twice for origins-tracing research,” Zhang said.

WHO in March this year released the Joint Report by the WHO-China joint study team, which provides the most authoritative, professional and science-based conclusions on origins-tracing and sets out detailed recommendations for future work in origins-tracing, he added.

“No country has the right to put its own political interests above people’s lives, nor should a matter of science be politicized for the purpose of slandering and attacking other countries,” he said.

He said the findings and recommendations of the WHO-China joint study report are widely recognized by the international community and scientists, and must be respected and implemented by all parties, including WHO.

Future global work on origins-tracing, according to Zhang, should be based on the WHO-China report, instead of starting all over again and ignoring all serious and productive efforts therefrom.

“Very importantly, the plan for origins-tracing involving a particular country must be decided through consultation with the country concerned, as it provides the basis for effective cooperation to be conducted,” said Zhang.

More than 70 countries have expressed support for the WHO-China joint study report and opposition to politicization in their letters to WHO director-general, noted Zhang. - XINHUA

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/28/world/257793/chinese-envoy-urges-who-uphold-science-based-origins-tracing

Australia’s NSW state easing COVID rules for vaccinated adults

From September 13 some fully vaccinated people in Sydney, New South Wales will be able to gather for picnics.

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AUSTRALIA: Authorities in Australia’s New South Wales state say they will ease pandemic restrictions for vaccinated adults next month even as they are reporting a record 1,029 coronavirus infections and three deaths from COVID-19.

The record reported Thursday surpassed the previous high for a 24-hour period of 919 infections just a day earlier.State Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the slight easing of restrictions is coming because the state reached 6 million vaccine doses in a population of 8.2 million.

The lockdown in regional NSW has also been extended until September 10, with western NSW the area of most concern. Ms. Berejiklian has also revealed a number of small changes to restrictions. Ms. Berejiklian confirmed a slight easing of restrictions for the Sydney LGA of concerns.

Beginning September 13, families in the highest-risk parts of Sydney will be allowed to leave their homes for an hour of recreation as long as any adults are fully vaccinated. The recreation hour is in addition to the hour people are already allowed out to exercise.

Elsewhere in the state, groups of five will be allowed to congregate as long as all adults are fully vaccinated.When the state reaches 70 percent full vaccination, “a range of family, industry, community and economic restrictions” will be lifted for people who are vaccinated, Ms. Berejiklian said.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant has confirmed that from September 13, police will be checking the vaccination status of people who are outside and what they are doing.“Police have been consulted on this. If there are any issues of noncompliance or are causing issues, of course, the government has always changed its mind but as the premier has said repeatedly, we have to give the community the benefit of the doubt,” Dr. Chant said. “The vast majority of people in the community do not want to see their loved ones subject to COVID-19 and are doing all they can.” - THE STATESMAN

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/28/world/257791/australia%E2%80%99s-nsw-state-easing-covid-rules-vaccinated-adults

New Zealand extends national virus lockdown

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern holds a map showing potential Covid contacts at a briefing last week.

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NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand on Friday extended a national lockdown sparked by a Delta virus outbreak into next week but warned restrictions would last longer in the infection epicentre of Auckland.

The Delta cluster emerged in Auckland last week, ending a six-month run without local transmission that had made New Zealand one of the world’s last Covid-free zones.

While there were 70 new cases reported on Friday, taking the total to 347, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there were signs the outbreak would soon peak if stay-at-home orders remained in place.

“We may be seeing the beginning of a plateau in cases,” she said.

“Our job is to keep up the hard work in order to bend, and then flatten, the (infection) curve.”

Ardern said a nationwide lockdown imposed on August 17 would now continue until August 31.

She said Auckland, where all but 14 cases have been found, and the neighbouring region of Northland, were set to face at least an extra two weeks of hard lockdown.

New Zealand is pursuing a “Covid zero” elimination strategy -- which has resulted in just 26 deaths in a population of five million -- using strict border controls backed by hard lockdowns when any cases do slip through.

Ardern said that from Wednesday areas outside Auckland and Northland would move down a notch to level three on New Zealand’s four-tier virus alert system.

Most residents must still remain at home during level three but some businesses such as restaurants and retail outlets can reopen using contactless collection methods.

Ardern said police checkpoints would be set up to ensure there was no travel between Auckland, Northland and the rest of the country. - NDTV

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/28/world/257790/new-zealand-extends-national-virus-lockdown

COVID symptoms last a year for many patients - Study

Graphic on ongoing problems experienced by some people who initially showed mild symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

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UK: COVID-19 symptoms like fatigue and shortness of breath still trouble many patients a year after their hospitalisation for the coronavirus disease, according to a new Chinese study. The study published in the British medical journal The Lancet stated that around half of COVID-19 patients discharged from the hospital still suffer from at least one persistent symptom, most often fatigue or muscle weakness after a year.

The researchers noted that one in three patients still have shortness of breath a year after their diagnosis and the number is even higher in patients who are severely affected by the disease. “With no proven treatments or even rehabilitation guidance, long COVID affects people’s ability to resume normal life and their capacity to work. The study shows that for many patients, full recovery from COVID-19 will take more than 1 year,” The Lancet said in an editorial published with the study.

The study observed about 1,300 people hospitalised for COVID-19 between January and May 2020 in China’s Wuhan, the epicentre of the disease. The share of observed Covid-19 patients with at least one symptom decreased from 68 per cent after six months to 49 per cent after 12 months.

The study found respiratory discomfort increased from 26 per cent of patients after six months to 30 per cent after 12 months. It also found affected women were 43 per cent more likely than affected men to suffer from fatigue or persistent muscle weakness and twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression.

The study adds to its earlier research that warned authorities in different nations that they must be prepared to provide long-term support to health workers and patients affected by COVID-19. “Long COVID is a modern medical challenge of the first order,” the editorial said.

It called for more research to understand the condition and better care for patients who suffer from it.

- THE HINDUSTAN TIMES

Saturday, August 28, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/28/world/257789/covid-symptoms-last-year-many-patients-study

Fueled by Delta, US sees surge in COVID cases

Visitors wearing masks because of the coronavirus stroll through the Disney Springs shopping, dining and entertainment complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

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