NuseReal
COVID-19 2024-25
Curated by Peter Hulm
COVID-19 scoreboard: Reported cases and deaths by country, ordered by totals
As of April 13, 2024, the Coronavirus Tracker is no longer being updated due to the unfeasibility of providing statistically valid global totals, as the majority of countries have now stopped reporting.
From July 2023 see general news for non-medical news
Millions in COVID relief funds went to shadowy companies registered at a Wyoming storefront that hundreds of thousands of firms used as an address. — 4 March 2025 (LINK)
Covid-19: Study breaks down which Western European countries responded best: Countries that took measures to restrict social contact before waiting for their hospitals to become overwhelmed saved more lives and better preserved their economies, according to a ground-breaking study by the Institut Pasteur. — 9 December 2024 (LINK)
— The Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), along with Ireland, lead the pack, with "only" 0.5 to 1 extra death per 1,000 inhabitants. Italy was hit the hardest, with excess mortality reaching 2.7 per 1,000 inhabitants. After Italy are, in descending order of magnitude: Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, with excess mortality between 2 and 1.7 per 1,000. Next come France, Switzerland and Germany, with excess mortality close to 1.5 per 1,000.
17 key charts to understand the COVID-19 pandemic: over 20 million deaths. — 18 November 2024 (LINK)
— Deaths directly averted by vaccines December 2021-December 2022: 15.5 million. Excess deaths: 11.6m.
Michigan jury awards $12.6m to a woman fired after 30 years when she refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine. — 13 November 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 58 media reports (LINK)
— A Catholic, she claimed religious discrimination when her request for an exemption from the vaccine in 2021 was denied.
Zermatt restaurateurs sentenced for defying Covid-19 measures in 2021 — 27 September 2024 (LINK)
— Their restaurant, the Walliserkanne, was closed for two weeks at the end of October 2021 by order of the Valais government. The three landlords, a married couple and their son, have received conditional fines between CHF7,680 and 9,750 with a probation period of two or three years. Staff were not wearing face masks and were not checking customers' contact details and Covid certificates.
— Immediately after the public reading of the verdict by the district court in Visp in Valais, the lawyers for the three defendants announced that their clients would appeal to the cantonal court.
Free COVID-19 tests are now available in the U.S. — 26 September 2024 (LINK)
What to know about the new covid-19 XEC variant: it may spread more easily than past variants, but current vaccines are still effective against it — 20 September 2024 (LINK)
— XEC is a combination of two other SARS-CoV-2 variants known as KP.3.3 and KS.1.1. It formed when the two variants infected the same organism — such as an animal or person — simultaneously, allowing them to share genetic material. It shares many of the same characteristics as other omicron subvariants, such as spreading easily and causing less severe disease than the earliest SARS-CoV-2 strains. XEC was first identified in August among samples collected in Berlin 2 months earlier.
New Scientist: Genetic evidence points to Wuhan market as source of covid-19 outbreak — 20 September 2024 (LINK)
— A new study by an international team concludes it is more likely that the virus emerged from wild animals sold at the market and not from a lab escape. The researchers re-analysed data from 800 samples collected at the Huanan market by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention beginning on 1 January 2020, and also studied viral genomes from the earliest covid-19 cases.
— Contrary to some statements made by Chinese investigators, the team found evidence for a variety of wildlife being sold at the market that could have been an intermediate host for the virus, including common raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), masked palm civets (Paguma larvata) and hoary bamboo rats (Rhizomys pruinosus).
— Importantly, traces of these animals were found in exactly the same stalls as SARS-CoV-2. "This suggests — but does not prove — that the animals were infected. Hence, it is very likely that SARS-CoV-2 emerged in a live animal market."
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Study confirms one type of COVID mask is 'significantly better' than others — sciencealert.com — 21 June 2024 (LINK)
— The duckbill N95 mask came out on top: it blocked 99 percent of large particles and 98 percent of small particles from getting out into the air. Overall, 98 percent of the viral load was blocked by the N95.
— "The research shows that any mask is much better than no mask, and an N95 is significantly better than the other options," says Donald Milton, an environmental health scientist and clinician at the University of Maryland.
— The researchers also tested a cloth mask (blocking 87 percent of viral load), a surgical mask (74 percent), and a KN95 mask (71 percent). The team behind the study suggests that the amount of breath allowed to escape around the sides of the widely recommended KN95 smask contributes to its bottom ranking.
— The study didn't look at virus particles going in the other direction: in other words, how much protection the masks would offer to a wearer against virus particles that might be currently circulating in the air.
We finally know why some people seem immune to catching covid-19: Unique cell responses mean some people may be immune to catching the coronavirus, even if they are unvaccinated — newscientist — 19 June 2024 (LINK)
Pentagon ran secret 2020-2021 anti-vax campaign in Philippines, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Middle East to undermine reputation of Chinese Sinovac vaccine during pandemic — payback for Beijing's efforts to blame Washington for the pandemic — Reuters ● — 14 June 2024 (LINK) — ground.news: 22 media reports (LINK)
Long COVID finally gets a universal definition: The new description includes more than 200 symptoms and doesn’t put limits on when they start — sciencenews.org — 12 June 2024 (LINK)
— A key part of the Middle East strategy: amplify the disputed contention that, because vaccines sometimes contain pork gelatin, China's shots could be considered forbidden under Islamic law.
— The military program started under former President Donald Trump and continued months into Joe Biden's presidency, Reuters found — even after alarmed social media executives warned the new administration that the Pentagon had been trafficking in COVID misinformation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that the KP.3 variant is now the dominant variant making up 25% of COVID cases — usatoday — 9 June 2024 (LINK)
Fauci did not say he 'made up' COVID-19 rules on social distancing, masks, despite U.K.'s Daily Mail report: figures came from CDC and "it wasn’t appropriate to publicly challenge a sister health organization" after it was clear it was clear the virus was aerosolized (meaning tiny virus particles that can get suspended in the air. — politifact — 7 June 2024 (LINK)
A CDC spokesperson told PolitiFact that the 6-foot recommendation was based in part on 1955 research examining how respiratory droplets travel. That research was used because there was no other data for COVID-19, the spokesperson said. The guidance was updated Aug. 11, 2022, to no longer recommend 6-foot distancing because of widespread immunity and effective COVID-19 treatments, the spokesperson said.
New study provides the "definitive answer on masks". They work — boingboing.net — 24 May 2024 (LINK)
Global life expectancy dropped by 2 years due to Covid in 2019-2021, reversing a decade of progress: WHO — ground.news: 36 media reports — 24 May 2024 (LINK)
California COVID-testing company Cue Health in San Diego, once worth $2.3 billion, lays off all its 1500 workers — sfgate — 23 May 2024 (LINK)
Fauci under fire after new COVID emails released: according to the select Republican subcommittee, the emails suggest "Dr. Fauci was aware of[...] nefarious behavior and may have even engaged in federal records violations himself" about a Chinese lab origin for the virus — newsweek — 22 May 2024 (LINK)
Biden administration suspends funding for scientist at center of COVID lab leak theory — thehill.com/span> — 22 May 2024 (LINK)
Repeat COVID-19 vaccinations elicit antibodies that neutralize variants, other viruses — medicalxpress.com — 18 May 2024 (LINK)
These are the 2 most common symptoms of the new FLiRT COVID variant doctors are seeing right now: fever and cough, plus fatigue — parade — 10 May 2024 (LINK)
2 COVID variants called 'FLiRT' are making the rounds: FLiRT has some concerning features, including the fact that it has the ability to cause changes in the spike protein, which plays a role in helping COVID-19 colonize the body and make people sick. Current vaccines and immunity from prior COVID-19 infection only provides partial protection — pennlive.com — 9 May 2024 (LINK)
Scientists create vaccine with potential to protect against future coronaviruses — The Guardian UK ● — 6 May 2024 (LINK)
Over 13,000 covid vaccine-injury compensation claims have been filed with the U.S. federal government — but to little avail. Only 19 percent have been reviewed. Only 47 of those were deemed eligible for compensation, and only 12 have been paid out, at an average of about $3,600 — nytimes ● — 3 May 2024 (LINK)
New SARS-CoV-2 KP.2 variant defies vaccines with higher spread, study warns — news-medical.net — 29 April 2024 (LINK)
In a first, AstraZeneca admits its Covid vaccine can cause rare blood clots — ground.news: 28 media reports — 30 April 2024 (LINK)
First-ever nasal spray protects against all COVID variants — see_link — 26 March 2024 (LINK)
U.S. health officials drop 5-day isolation time for COVID-19 — ground.news: 166 media reports — 1 March 2024 (LINK)
Largest multicountry COVID study links vaccines to potential adverse effects — thehill — 19 February 2024 (LINK)
These are the most current COVID-19 symptoms in 2024, according to doctors: The virus is a little different these days — prevention.com — 17 January 2024 (LINK)
— Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) wastewater surveillance suggests that we're now in the second-largest COVID-19 surge since the pandemic began. Currently, hospital admissions are up more than 3% and deaths from the virus are up 14%, per CDC data. "COVID-19's symptoms are generally of the same spectrum that they have always been, with the exception of less frequently reported loss of taste and smell. Overall, COVID-19 tends to look more like a cold, with a sore throat, runny nose, and maybe a fever and aches."
— The CDC recommends that everyone aged five and up get the updated COVID-19 vaccine. But the uptake of the updated COVID-19 vaccine hasn't been high — only an estimated 14% of Americans have gotten it.
Vietnam jails 2 ex-ministers over COVID-19 test kits scandal — ground.news: 9 media reports — 12 January 2024 (LINK)
— Former Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for taking bribes, while Chu Ngoc Anh, former science and technology minister, has been jailed for three years for mismanagement. Viet A Technology Corp, a private medical firm, colluded with officials to sell 4.5 million COVID-19 test kits in Vietnam at inflated prices, generating $50.25 million illegally.
