Surge in Covid-19 cases in Tokyo, less than a month out from Olympics | Coronavirus | The Guardian
A rise in daily cases of the coronavirus in Tokyo has triggered fears of a possible fifth wave of infections, less than a month before the city is due to host the Olympics.
Tokyo reported 317 infections on Monday – an increase of 81 from the same day last week and the ninth week-on-week rise in a row.
The rise in cases, coupled with evidence that the more transmissible Delta variant is spreading, raises the likelihood that Tokyo will still be subject to emergency measures in some form when the Olympics open on 23 July. …
… The perils of holding an event on the scale of the Olympics during a pandemic were underlined this month when two members of the Ugandan team tested positive for Covid-19 – the second while staying in the town hosting their training camp. Both had the delta variant of virus, local media reported. …
(Source: theguardian.com)
Greek police recover two stolen paintings by Picasso and Mondrian | Art | The Guardian
(Source: theguardian.com)
(Source: theguardian.com)
An NHS hospital that upgraded the type of face masks used by staff on Covid-19 wards recorded a dramatic fall of up to 100% in hospital-acquired coronavirus infections among those workers, research has indicated.
Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge upgraded the masks from fluid resistant surgical masks (FRSMs) to filtering face piece 3 (FFP3) respirators, with the change made in late December in response to its own staff testing data.
Public Health England (PHE) had, until recently, recommended that healthcare workers caring for Covid-19 patients should use FRSMs as respiratory protective equipment.
PHE recommended that an FFP3 respirator should be used if an aerosol-generating procedure were being carried out, such as inserting a breathing tube into a patient’s windpipe.
Guidance has been updated recently to oblige NHS organisations to assess the Covid-19 risk to staff and provide FFP3 respirators where appropriate.
Addenbrooke’s has been testing staff for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, even when workers showed no symptoms.
Tests indicated that healthcare workers caring for Covid-19 patients were at greater risk of infection than staff on non-Covid wards, even when using the recommended respiratory protective equipment. In response, the hospital’s infection control committee upgraded the type of masks used by staff on Covid-19 wards.
Prior to the upgrade, Covid-19 cases were higher among staff on Covid-19 wards compared with non-Covid wards in seven out of the eight weeks analysed by researchers.
Following the change in protective equipment, the incidence of infection on the two types of ward was similar.
The research has not yet been peer-reviewed, but is being released early because of the urgent need to share information relating to the pandemic. …
(Source: theguardian.com)
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The fine should have been large enough to bankrupt them.
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New Mexico legalizes recreational weed, and you can grow your own | Boing Boing
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Brett Parson - Tank Girl
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