With Australia and New Zealand it appears the only countries in the world letting very few people in and very few people out and strict lockdowns, it is interesting to see what is happening elsewhere in this COVID world!
So, check out what our friends at Canada’s Travel Industry Today have to say in their article updates about COVID elsewhere.
Among their this week’s COVID-19 news: a 116-year-old woman beats the virus in Turkey, anti-vaxxers run amok, nursing shortages plague the US, big trouble in Tahiti, and deadly days in Florida.
TURKEY
A 116-year-old woman in Turkey has survived COVID-19, making her one of the oldest patients to beat the disease. “My mother stayed in the intensive care unit for three weeks,” Ayse Karatay’s son Ibrahim said, adding, “Her health is very good now and she’s getting better.”
Ayse, from Emirdag in Afyonkarahisar, western Turkey, was treated in Eskisehir City Hospital after falling ill and testing positive for COVID-19 last month. Ibrahim said she had only received one shot of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine before she became sick, stating that she was probably infected by a family member.
Ayse was born during the Ottoman Empire, when exact dates of birth were rarely officially recorded. French nun Sister Andre recovered from the virus in February, days before her 117th birthday. She is the world’s second-oldest living person.
GERMANY
A man injured two members of a vaccination team in eastern Germany after he demanded a vaccination certificate without wanting to get vaccinated and was denied it. Police said that the man walked up to the mobile vaccination team, refused to get vaccinated and then became violent when he didn’t get a certificate.
The two injured team members had to be treated in a hospital but were later released. The attacker was later detained by police in a nearby parking garage; his identity was known to police because he had registered with his name for the vaccination in advance.
SLOVENIA
A group of virus deniers and anti-vaccination protesters broke into the building of Slovenia’s public broadcaster, triggering a police intervention. The confrontation happened Friday night evening in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. Local media say about 20 people burst into the RTV Slovenia building and managed to push their way into a news studio before police arrived and drove them out.
The studio wasn’t on the air when the protesters broke in demanding to be allowed to broadcast their opinions. Vaccine opponents have gathered outside the building for months, often disrupting journalists coming to or from work, the STA news agency reported.
FRANCE
A group of rowdy protesters angry at France’s virus rules descended on a big Paris shopping mall Saturday and resisted police efforts to disperse them. The incident at the Les Halles shopping centre in central Paris came as protests were held across the country against government efforts to boost vaccinations, and against virus passes required to enter restaurants and other venues.
Protesters shouting “Liberty!” and pumping their fists forced their way past security guards into the underground mall. Some wore yellow vests or armbands, in a reference to the 2018-19 yellow vest movement against perceived economic injustice and President Emmanuel Macron’s government. Earlier Saturday, thousands of people marched under a canopy of French tricolour flags at a rally organized by far-right figure Florian Philippot. Other protests were held in Marseille and other cities.
While such protests have been held every Saturday for weeks, a majority of French people support the virus rules: some 73% have had a first vaccine dose and 67% are fully vaccinated. France’s latest surge in infections started receding after the virus passes came into effect, and hospitalisations are also declining.
GREECE
Greece has begun administering vaccinations for COVID-19 outside churches in a pilot program recently announced by the government as a means of encouraging more people to get the shots. Authorities have been seeking to boost Greece’s vaccination drive with a series of incentives and have sought the support of the country’s powerful Orthodox Church.
SPAIN
Spain is tweaking its travel entry rules starting this week to require vaccination certificates from US tourists, adjusting to recent European Union advice on stricter rules due to growing anxiety over coronavirus contagion in the US.
The European Council’s decision last week to remove the US from a safe list of countries for non-essential travel also came amid unanswered calls from European officials for “reciprocity” in travel rules. Despite the EU’s move to open its borders to US citizens in June, the US didn’t allow EU tourists in.
UK
Britain’s government has confirmed that it plans to introduce vaccine passports for nightclubs and large-scale gatherings from next month. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said Sunday that officials are looking to begin the certification measures from the end of September, when the whole over-18 population would have been offered two COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The plans mean that people who want to enter nightclubs and other large-scale events will be required to show proof they have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said earlier this week vaccine passports will be required for nightclubs and large events from later this month as Scotland faces a spike in infections.
ISRAEL
Israel says it will soon reopen its gates to foreign tour groups (excluding a handful of “red” countries – even as it battles one of the world’s highest rates of coronavirus infections. The country’s tourism ministry on Sunday said it will begin allowing organized tour groups into the country beginning Sept. 19. Tourists will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, present a negative PCR test before their flight and undergo both PCR and serological testing upon arrival. Visitors would have to quarantine in their hotels until the test results come back – a process expected to take no more than 24 hours. Israel launched a similar program in May after vaccinating most of its population early this year. But the program was suspended in August as the delta variant began to spread.
TAHITI
France’s worst coronavirus outbreak is unfolding 12 times zones away from Paris, devastating Tahiti and other idyllic islands of French Polynesia. The South Pacific archipelagos lack enough oxygen, ICU beds and morgue space – and their vaccination rate is barely half the national average. Simultaneous outbreaks on remote islands and atolls are straining the ability of local authorities to evacuate patients to the territory’s few hospitals.
French Polynesia is France’s latest challenge in juggling resources to battle the pandemic in former colonies that stretch around the world. With more than 2,800 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, it holds the national record for the highest infection rate. And that’s only an estimate: Things are so bad that the multi-ethnic territory of about 300,000 residents stopped counting new infections as local health authorities redeployed medical staff to focus on patient care and vaccination instead of testing.
BRAZIL
Some cities in Brazil are providing booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, even though most people have yet to receive their second jabs. The move reflects the concern in the country over the highly contagious delta variant. Rio de Janeiro, currently Brazil’s epicenter for the variant and home to one of its largest elderly populations, began administering the boosters last week; the rest of the nation will follow this next week. Only 30% of Brazilians are fully inoculated.
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand reported its first coronavirus death in more than six months on Saturday, while the number of new cases continued to trend downward. Health authorities said the woman who died was in her 90s and had underlying health problems.
Most of New Zealand will move out of lockdown today (Tuesday) except for the largest city of Auckland, which will remain in the strictest type of lockdown until at least next week, the government announced Monday. There have been a total of 821 cases found in the outbreak. The government is pursuing an unusual strategy of trying to eliminate the virus entirely.
US
The US government’s top infectious disease expert says he believes delivery of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots will be able to start Sept. 20 for Americans who received Pfizer doses, while Moderna’s may end up rolling out a couple weeks later. Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that it is still the Biden administration’s plan “in some respects” to begin the third doses the week of Sept. 20, pending approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
Meanwhile, a nurse staffing crisis is forcing many US hospitals to pay top dollar to get reinforcements to handle the crush of COVID-19 patients. The problem, health leaders say, is twofold: Nurses are quitting or retiring, exhausted or demoralized by the crisis. Many are leaving for lucrative temporary jobs with travelling-nurse agencies that can pay $5,000 or more a week. In Texas, more than 6,000 travel nurses have flooded the state to help through a state-supported program, but at the same time 19 travel nurses started work at a hospital in the northern part of the state, 20 other nurses there gave notice they’d be leaving for a travelling contract.
Florida
Florida is in the grip of its deadliest wave of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, a disaster driven by the highly contagious delta variant. Hospitals have had to rent refrigerated trucks to store more bodies and funeral homes have been overwhelmed.
While Florida’s vaccination rate is slightly higher than the national average, the Sunshine State also has an outsize population of elderly people, who are especially vulnerable to the virus; a vibrant party scene, and a Republican governor who has taken a hard line against mask requirements, vaccine passports and business shutdowns. As of mid-August, the state was averaging 244 deaths per day, up from just 23 a day in late June and eclipsing the previous peak of 227 during the summer of 2020.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s US $100 reward program for those receiving the COVID-19 vaccine will be extended two weeks until Sept. 19. The program began Aug. 20 and was originally scheduled to end Monday. Between Aug. 20 and Sept. 1, more than 65,000 people received their first dose amid a surge of the delta variant that has seen the level of new cases and hospitalizations reach a level not seen since January. More than 3 million people are fully vaccinated in Wisconsin, about 52% of the total population. Among adults, age 18 and over, more than 62% are fully vaccinated.
A report from Travel Industry Today by John Alwyn-Jones, Special Correspondent Travel and Tourism, Global Travel Media.
.jpg){kind=tracking}
