Health News at Your Fingertips

France has reported 23 new Coronavirus deaths in hospitals, Reuters reports.

There are 1,091 people in intensive care units with the virus.

And 5,578 new Coronavirus cases have been recorded.

Reuters reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) said its newly formed advisory group on dangerous pathogens may be “our last chance” to determine the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and called for cooperation from China.
The first human cases of COVID-19 were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. China has repeatedly dismissed theories that the virus leaked from one of its laboratories and has said no more visits are needed.
A WHO-led team spent four weeks in and around Wuhan earlier this year with Chinese scientists and said in a joint report in March that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal but further research was needed.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the investigation was hampered by a dearth of raw data pertaining to the first days of the outbreak’s spread and has called for lab audits.
As reported earlier, the WHO has named the 26 proposed members of its Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO). They include Marion Koopmans, Thea Fischer, Hung Nguyen and Chinese animal health expert Yang Yungui, who took part in the joint investigation in Wuhan.

Following on from the global study which found scientists were abused and threatened for discussing Covid, Dr Andrew Hill PhD, details how his research into ivermectin led to Twitter Death threats.

Dr Hill, who is a senior visiting research fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Liverpool said: “I know many other scientists who have been threatened and abused in similar ways after promoting vaccination or questioning the benefits of unproven treatments like ivermectin. If scientists cannot communicate for fear of threats and abuse, how can all the misinformation be controlled?”

Following the NHS Covid app disruption earlier today.

Here is a statement from an NHS Digital spokesperson:

The NHS COVID Pass service was temporarily unavailable between 11:45 and 15:15 today as a result of a technical issue with a global service provider that affected many different organisations.

Following an urgent investigation, this has been fixed and COVID Passes are available both via the NHS App and online.

Here is a brief summary of events so far:

• The UK records 136 deaths and 42,776 new cases
• Oliver Dowden, the chair of the Conservative party, said he was “very sorry” and admitted “we didn’t get everything right” regarding the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic.
• The NHS app that lets people prove their vaccine status was not working for a time this afternoon causing havoc for those trying to use it for travel.
• Australia will stop manufacturing the AstraZeneca vaccine onshore after “negative press”. Production will continue into early 2022.
• EU says it will recognise NHS Covid pass ‘soon’
• The NHS in Wales is entering its “most challenging period” as it deals with the coronavirus pandemic and rising waiting lists, its chief executive has said.
• Russia has set a record for the number of Covid deaths in a 24-hour period for the second day running. Today’s official toll of 984 is slightly higher than yesterday’s then-record 973 deaths.
• Canberra, Australia’s capital city, is set to become the most Covid-vaccinated city in the world. “The current evidence suggests that the ACT will be one of the most vaccinated cities in the world,” said the territory’s chief minister, Andrew Barr.

The blog will now be paused for an hour.

In the UK, 42,776 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours and there were 136 deaths reported within 28 days of a positive Covid test, according to UK government figures.

Some 49,252,939 people had been given a first dose of a vaccine by the end of 12 October and 45,239,759 people had been given a second dose.

Some people are now reporting their Covid NHS app is working again.

Awaiting an update from NHS Digital.

More reaction to the NHS app going down, which has meant people cannot prove their vaccine status, including one passenger who says he is now stranded in Greece.

Australia will stop manufacturing the AstraZeneca vaccine onshore after “negative press”, Daily Mail Australia reports].

The biomedical firm CSL was contracted by the federal government to produce 50 million doses of the vaccine at its Melbourne manufacturing base.

However, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation later pulled the plug on younger Australians receiving the dose due to the extremely rare risk of fatal blood clots – about one in 1.6 million.

Out of the 12.5 million doses of the vaccine administered in Australia to date, it reported eight patients have died of TTS (Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome) after getting the shot.

Once CSL delivers the remainder of their AstraZeneca vaccine order it will no longer be produced at their Melbourne hub.

In a statement to investors CSL chairman Brian McNamee said:

‘Notwithstanding the perhaps disproportionate criticism that this vaccine’s reputation has experienced, we couldn’t be prouder that the AstraZeneca vaccine has given protection to many millions of Australians.

A CSL spokesperson said production will continue into early 2022.

The company added: “We are fully committed to our agreement to manufacture approximately 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine – with production expected to be completed early next year.

Associate Professor Paul Griffin from the University of Queensland told Australia’s 9News: “Obviously we don’t want to manufacture something that is not going to be utilised and we will have a number of other options moving into the future.

“It obviously has received a lot of negative press although it’s a vaccine that has proven highly effective and very safe.”

Passengers have been tweeting in response to NHS Digital’s announcement that there are “issues with accessing the Covid pass on the NHS app and website”.

Many are panicking as they are unsure what to do in light of the technical problem.

Others have been enquiring about an alternative so that they can continue with their travels.

One tweeted: “Do you have a work around… What can we do I need to board soon.”

Another added: “Please can you make some sort of workaround with the airports and ferry operators so that we can continue about our lives. This is disgraceful. We have complied with every restriction and requirement asked of us and still we might not be able to travel.”

The NHS Covid App went down today leaving foreign travel in chaos as passengers were unable to access vaccine passports.

Some people complained they were stuck at the airport while others reportedly missed their flights.

People trying to log into the app this afternoon saw the message: “There are currently issues with accessing the Covid pass on the NHS APP and website.

“We are investigating the issue and will update as soon as we can.”

One twitter user tweeted in response: “Cheers guys missed my flight with it.”

Others were unsure even to set out for their travels with another tweeting: “Is there any estimation of how long the fix will take? Due to travel in 4 hours time, but won’t be if the app isn’t working again.”

Some were panicking as their travels were imminent with one passenger lamenting: “On a flight in half an hour, what do I do?”

NHS Digital has been contacted for comment.

The NHS Covid app has crashed, leaving foreign travel in chaos as passengers were unable to access vaccine passports.

Some people complained they were stuck at the airport while others reportedly missed their flights.

People trying to log into the app this afternoon saw the message: “There are currently issues with accessing the Covid pass on the NHS APP and website.

“We are investigating the issue and will update as soon as we can.”