Health News at Your Fingertips

‘Covid toes’, a chillblain like inflammation of the feet and hands, may be a side effect of the immune system’s response to fighting off the virus, a new study has found.

The condition typically develops within a week to four weeks of being infected and can result in toes and fingers becoming swollen or changing colour. There is evidence of it lasting sometimes for months at a time

Researchers behind the study, which has been published in the British Journal of Dermatology, examined 50 participants with Covid toes and 13 with similar chilblains lesions that arose before the pandemic.

They found one mechanism behind both types of the condition involved the body generating an immune response with high levels of certain autoantibodies, which mistakenly target and react with a person’s own cells and tissues as well as the invading virus. They also found an overlap with type I interferon, a key protein in the antiviral response.

Senior author of the study, Dr Charles Cassius, said the research provided a deeper understanding of the condition. “The epidemiology and clinical features of chilblain-like lesions have been extensively studied and published, however, little is known about the pathophysiology involved,” he said. “Our study provides new insights.”

Good morning I’m Harriet Grant and I’m taking over the liveblog from my colleague Samantha Lock.

Los Angeles is poised to enact one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates which will require residents to be vaccinated in order to enter a variety of indoor public spaces including bars, restaurants, nail salons and gyms.

The ordinance is intended to reduce the risk of new Covid-19 surges after the nation’s second-most populous city faced a huge rise in infections and hospitalisations last winter and a smaller surge this summer linked to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant.

Mayor Eric Garcetti expressed his support for a vaccine measure last week, saying: “I don’t want to bury another city employee, police officer, firefighter.”

The county will require proof of one dose as of Thursday, while proof of full vaccination will be required by 4 November.

Of the county’s roughly 10 million residents, 78% have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose and 69% are fully vaccinated, according to public health officials.
A growing number of places across the US, including San Francisco and New York City, are requiring people to show proof of vaccination to enter various types of businesses and venues.

Australians with compromised immune systems could start receiving Covid-19 booster shots this year before third jabs are rolled out more widely in 2022, AAP reports.

Health authorities are closely monitoring overseas programs with the United States, United Kingdom, Israel and France among countries offering boosters.

Vaccine rollout coordinator John Frewen said science was not yet settled on third jabs, but the health department was working on a strategy.

“It’s possible we may see a third dose for those people who have compromised immune systems in some way, maybe later this year,” he told the Seven Network on Wednesday.

“But otherwise I think that the plan for the boosters will either be later this year or more likely into next year when it will all become a bit like the flu shot.”

China has reported 26 new Covid-19 cases on the mainland for 5 October, the same as a day earlier, the national health authority confirmed.

Two of the new infections were locally transmitted and the rest imported, the National Health Commission said, as reported by Reuters.

It reported zero new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, while one such case was reported the day before. No new deaths were reported.

The highly contagious delta variant is spreading across Alaska, driving one of the nation’s sharpest upticks in infections and posing concerns for those who may not be able to reach medical care, the Associated Press reports.

Alaska’s health care system largely relies on hospitals in Anchorage, the state’s largest city, and experts worry that remote outposts like Tanacross – where the closest hospital is hours away – are at risk.

The state’s largest hospital, Anchorage’s Providence Alaska Medical Center, is said to be overwhelmed with patients and declared crisis-of-care protocols, meaning doctors are sometimes prioritising care based on who has the best odds of survival.

Health care providers worry for those needing higher levels of care who live in rural areas, concerned no beds may be available.

Alaska has contracted nearly 500 medical professionals to help over the next few months but health officials say hospital staffing is still limited and blame rising Covid-19 infections and low vaccination rates in the state. About 60% of eligible residents in the conservative state are fully vaccinated.

According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, one in every 84 people in Alaska was diagnosed with COVID-19 from 22 September to 29 September, the nation’s worst diagnosis rate in recent days.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.

I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be giving you a rundown of the latest coronavirus updates as they happen.

England has been urged to step up the distribution of Covid booster shots and second vaccinations for teenagers to avoid a surge of the virus over winter, a senior scientist advised.

Prof Neil Ferguson, the head of the influential disease modelling group at Imperial College London, said even a moderate rise in infections could put the NHS under pressure.

The head of the International Monetary Fund said the most serious obstacle to a full recovery was the vaccine divide between rich and poor nations and warned the global economy could suffer a cumulative $5.3tn loss over the next five years unless it was closed.

Here is a round-up of all the day’s leading coronavirus news stories.

• A former athlete warns of the debilitating effects of long Covid. Will Smith, now 24 years old, caught Covid-19 in March 2020 and has been battling long Covid ever since.
• The UK reported 33,869 new coronavirus cases and 166 deaths on Tuesday. The official figures showed that 348 out of every 100,000 people have coronavirus.
• The World Health Organization is still reviewing whether Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine can be approved by the UN health agency for emergency use against coronavirus.
• Norway will soon offer a third dose of Covid vaccines to people aged 65 and older, the health minister Bent Høie said on Tuesday.
• Spain has approved administering of third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are based on the same mRNA technology, for people aged 70 or over, the health ministry said.
• A Republican senator in the US was booed and catcalled when he told a party audience in South Carolina to think about getting a vaccine against Covid-19.
• More than 100,000 children in England are off school with confirmed cases of Covid, according to Department for Education figures. The proportion of children at school has fallen below 90% – worse than this time a year ago.