There are 39,317 new cases of COVID-19 in Italy (Here is the newsletter). Thus, the number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 since the beginning of the epidemic has risen to at least 16,954,784. Yesterday, 130 deaths were recorded, bringing the total number of victims to 164,976 since February 2020.
• Two years after contracting Covid-19, half of the patients who were hospitalized at that time still had at least one symptom. This is suggested by a study just published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine Which has followed patients since the beginning of the epidemic and thus represents the longest follow-up published to date.
• North Korea imposed a lockdown To control the first acknowledged outbreak of Covid after the country announced for more than two years that it had managed to keep the virus outside its borders.

13:34 – China, 57 million molecular tests daily

The National Health Commission said China has developed the capacity to collect and analyze nearly 57 million tubes of molecular test samples per day. Currently, these tests for Covid-19 are being performed by 153,000 technicians at 13,000 medical institutions across the country, said Guo Yanhong, a commission official. With great progress over the past two years, Guo added, residents of major Chinese cities can find a collection site just 15 minutes away from home. Guo added that local authorities were encouraged not only to recruit doctors and nurses for testing, but also people with relevant technical qualifications.

13:11 – GB, 1 in 45 people contracted Covid in the last week

Britain’s latest estimates of the spread of Covid show that one in 45 Britons fell ill last week, compared to the previous week when one in 35 discovered it. Experts say the new decline in infections.

12:14 – Ricciardi: The data is wrong, the epidemic is still there

The data circulating today about the spread of Covid in the world is completely distorted because it is underestimated, but governments are influenced by public opinions that want the epidemic to end, and are largely subject to it, perpetuating the current inadequate detection systems. This was stated by Walter Ricciardi, advisor to the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, associated with the Oxfam festival in Florence. For Ricciardi, the pandemic is still very much there, and it won’t end until we vaccinate the entire population of the world. This is what the political leaders who are unfortunately hesitating about this solution do not understand today, that there will be no temporary suspension of patents. It is important, but not always, to preserve intellectual property, the minister’s advisor added: in the presence of a pandemic, it is necessary to give concessions to global health by temporarily suspending patents until the end of the pandemic, or by making licenses compulsory as president. From the European Commission von der Leyen.

11:50 am – Excess death rate, EU drops to 6% in March

After the fourth wave of excess deaths in the fall of 2021, data in the European Union continued to improve, according to Eurostat. From +7% in January and February, compared to the average pre-pandemic period for Covid-19 (2016-2019), in March 2022 it fell to 6%, which is well below the peaks of November (+26%) and December (+23% ) last year.

11:35 a.m. – Kremlin, Russia ready to supply North Korea with vaccines

Russia will immediately evaluate any requests from North Korea for COVID-19 vaccine supplies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Peskov said the North Korean comrades are well acquainted with the various vaccinations we offer, and they are familiar with our extensive experience with COVID. If there is any appeal from Pyongyang, it will be dealt with immediately.

11:13 am – Study: Very low chance of re-infection after one year

The risk of becoming seriously or fatally infected again from Covid-19 remains very low, even twelve months after the first infection. What a new study reveals – the first in the world in this timescale – published in the journal Frontiers in public health and coordinated by Lamberto Manzulli, Professor at the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences at the University of Bologna. The investigation followed the cases of more than one hundred thousand patients in the Italian region of Abruzzo who were infected with the Covid-19 virus from the beginning of the epidemic until last February, while investigating the infection rate again and secondary disease over a year. .

10:34 a.m. – Shanghai tried to reopen

Yesterday, 312 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 with local transmission were reported in mainland China, of which 227 were in Shanghai. The National Health Commission announced that day. Indeed, Shanghai will attempt to reopen its doors again in a few days after the city’s strict siege, now in its seventh week. The goal is to achieve the eradication of the disease in the community, which means that any new case will only occur in people who are already isolated, Vice Mayor Wu Qing said at a press conference. No specific date has been set for the release of restrictions, and Wu has not said how the reopening will take place, except that the city intends to gradually restore industrial production, education and medical services. The censors removed complaints of food shortages and videos posted online showing people in Shanghai and other regions arguing with police. In Beijing, which has a much smaller outbreak, more daily tests have been ordered, lessons have been suspended, people have been ordered to work from home, restaurants are limited to fast food, and many shops, tourist sites, banks and government offices are closed.

09:08 – Release, Rt index stabilized at 0.96

The Rt index stabilized at 0.96, and the infection decreased from 559 to 458 cases per 100,000, Intensive employment and hospitalizations are decreasing: these are the latest data from the monitoring of the Higher Institute of Health. Intensive care employment rate decreased to 3.4% (Ministry of Health daily survey as of May 12) compared to 3.7% in the previous week (Ministry of Health daily survey as of May 5). The employment rate in medical fields at the national level decreased to 12.6% (the daily survey by the Ministry of Health on May 12) compared to 14.5% (the daily survey by the Ministry of Health on May 5) in the previous survey. There are no high risk areas.

08:42 – Nightmare threat to North Korea: 18,000 confirmed cases

More than 18,000 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in North Korea, Yonhap News Agency, citing Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency, reported. According to one report, 6 people have died from the virus. Yesterday, the country detected its first case of Omicron BA.2, also known as Omicron stealth. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party and ordered a nationwide lockdown: The maximum prevention system for the epidemic emergency has been activated in North Korea. Together with Eritrea, North Korea Only one in two countries has not started a COVID-19 vaccination campaign, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The global COVAX COVID-19 Vaccine Sharing Program has reduced the number of doses allocated to the country, under sanctions imposed over its nuclear program, and Pyongyang has rejected offers of vaccines from China. Leader Kim Jong-un was reportedly vaccinated in July 2021, but there is no confirmation. And on the same tested cases (350 thousand) do not add up to the capacity of tampons shown by the state. As of the end of March, only 64,207 people out of 25 million had been tested for the coronavirus and all had tested negative, according to the latest WHO figures. It is not even clear whether North Korea has imposed the mask since the beginning of the epidemic: citizens have been seen wearing the mask, but also participating in important political events, which mobilized tens of thousands of people, without any protection.

08:28 AM – Seoul provides North Korea with vaccines and medical equipment

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol offered to send Covid-19 vaccines to North Korea Following the announcement of the first outbreak of the epidemic in the country in more than two years of the pandemic. President Yoon Seok Yeol’s spokesman said in a statement that President Yoon Seok Yeol plans to provide vaccines and other medical supplies, stressing that talks will be held with the North Korean side on the details. Meanwhile, Pyongyang said today that six people (including the Omicron variant) have died after the fever exploded in the country, affecting 350,000 people since the end of April.