Health News at Your Fingertips

European Union (EU) agencies are launching a year-long operation to crack down on fraud targeting the bloc’s multibillion-euro Covid pandemic recovery fund, EU police agency Europol announced today.

Operation Sentinel will coordinate the fight against fraud, tax evasion, excise fraud, corruption, embezzlement, misappropriation and money laundering and and boost the exchange of information and intelligence. The Associated Press reported:

It involves the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, EU judicial cooperation agency Eurojust, the European Anti-Fraud Office and 19 member states and comes as nations begin unlocking funds for projects that are intended to put Europe on more solid economic footing while also making it greener and more digitally advanced.

Europol has repeatedly warned about organized crime gangs seeking to cash in on the global pandemic in ways ranging from selling counterfeit Covid-19 tests to hacking computers as employees work from home. Now, as billions of euros are poured into economic recovery plans, the EU is ratcheting up its vigilance.

In a statement, Europol said:

Recent experience from the evolution of the criminal landscape during the Covid-19 pandemic suggests these efforts will attract criminal groups active in the European Union and beyond.

Criminals have shown themselves to be quick in adapting to the pandemic and its impact, and they are using every opportunity to maximize illegal profits.

Europol’s executive director Catherine de Bolle said that criminal threats to pandemic recovery funds are “a direct threat to the financial well-being of the European Union and its people. Operation Sentinel will strengthen our joint response to fraud and protect the reconstruction of our communities.”

In the United States, people in Washington state will need to either provide proof of Covid vaccination or a negative test to attend large events from 15 November.

The order announced by Governor Jay Inslee applies to indoor events with 1,000 or more attendees and outdoor events that have more than 10,000 attendees.

Events will be required to verify full vaccination status or a negative test within the last 72 hours for all attendees age 12 or older.

The governor’s office said the requirement applied to ticketed or registered events like conventions, concerts, sporting events and fairs.

Religious services or events that are held on K-12 school grounds are exempt from the order.

South Korea will partially ease Covid restrictions in its capital Seoul next week, it has been reported.

The deputy health minister, Lee Ki-il, said the limit on private social gatherings in the greater Seoul area would be expanded to eight people if at least four of the participants are fully vaccinated and that the rules will be employed regardless of the time of day.

Seoul and the nearby metropolitan areas have been under the country’s strongest social distancing measures short of a lockdown since July, which limited gatherings to six people after 6pm if at least four were fully vaccinated.

Gatherings between people who aren’t fully vaccinated had been capped to two but Lee said that would be expanded to four starting on Monday, Associated Press reported.

Lee said professional sports teams in the region would be able to sell 30% of the seats in outdoor venues and 20% of the seats in indoor venues to fans who are fully vaccinated.

The country confirmed 1,684 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, its 101st day of over 1,000, with most of the infections reported in the capital area. About 62% of a population of more than 51 million have been fully vaccinated.

Sri Lanka is vaccinating 18- and 19-year-olds against the coronavirus as it expands its inoculation programme to students.

After beginning with older people, Sri Lanka has now vaccinated 57% of its 22 million population, Associated Press reported.

Vaccinations with the Pfizer shot began on Friday for about 24,000 people in the 18-19 age group in the capital Colombo and suburbs. Officials say jabs in Colombo will be completed within 21 days and they will start giving doses in other parts of the country next week.

Sri Lanka lifted a six-week lockdown on 1 October after Covid cases and related deaths declined. But schools remain closed, unessential trips outside the home are restricted, public gatherings are banned and there are restrictions on transport.

At the peak, Sri Lanka was counting 3,000 daily infections and more than 200 deaths. Daily cases are now below 1,000 and deaths under 100. The Indian Ocean island nation has reported more than 529,000 cases and 13,408 deaths.

In France, coronavirus tests are no longer free for unvaccinated adults unless they are prescribed by a doctor.

While tests remain free for vaccinated adults and all children under 18, adults who have not gotten their shots will have to pay 22-45 euros to get tested as of Friday.

The government introduced the change as a complement to the Covid passes that have been required in France since the summer, the Associated Press reported.

To get a pass, people need to show proof of vaccination, a recent negative test or recent recovery from the virus.

The passes are required to visit tourist sites, for hospital visits and on domestic train trips and flights. The pass requirement, announced in July, helped boost France’s vaccination rate.

Over 49 million people, or about 74% of the population, are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus in France. Everyone age 12 and older are eligible for shots.

An estimated 43,000 people may have been given wrong negative PCR Covid test results, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said this morning.

My colleague Jamie Grierson has put together a helpful Q&A about how this error occurred and what it means for people – please see below.

The prevalence of Covid infections in England increased to about one in 60 people in the week ending 9 October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today.

It means it is now at the highest level since January.

The ONS said prevalence of infections had risen for the third straight week, having been at one in 70 people the previous week.

European Union (EU) countries have sent Covid drugs and equipment to treat patients in Romania, which is facing a surge in infections among unvaccinated people.

In the first 10 days of October, one person has died from Covid every six minutes in the country, but vaccine scepticism remains high.

The European Commission said it had coordinated the shipment to Romania of 250 oxygen concentrators, crucial devices to boost the supply of medical oxygen which is needed to treat critically ill patients, Reuters reported.

Poland sent 50 of the 250 concentrators, while the remainder came from an EU stockpile. The EU has also coordinated the shipment of 5,200 vials of monoclonal antibodies from Italy to Romania, the commission said in a press release. Monoclonal antibodies are an experimental treatment for Covid patients.

The EU will also ship eight additional oxygen concentrators and 15 ventilators from Denmark. Ventilators help seriously ill Covid patients to breathe.

Only about one third of Romania’s adult population have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to EU public data.

In Denmark, health authorities will start inviting citizens to receive a third vaccination shot against Covid next week.

The health minister, Magnus Heunicke, said invitations will be sent out to everyone who received their second vaccination at least six-and-a-half months ago, Reuters reported.

The Nordic country began giving booster shots last month to residents at homes for elderly people and others at risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus.

Denmark lifted its last coronavirus restrictions in September after vaccinating a large proportion of its population.

South Africa will start vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 17 next week using the Pfizer vaccine, the country’s health minister said today.

It comes as it looks to ramp up inoculations ahead of final year school exams, Reuters reported.

“This service will start on the 20 October to allow the necessary preparations on the EVDS (electronic vaccination data system) registration system and also other logistical preparations,” health minister Joe Phaahla said.

Last month, South Africa’s health regulator approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in children aged 12 and older, as the continent’s worst-hit nation in terms of deaths and overall infections emerges from its third wave of the pandemic.

However, Phaahla said that on the advice of its vaccine advisory committee the government would only give teenagers a single shot of Pfizer’s normal two-shot regime due to concerns it may affect the heart.

“The timing of the second dose will be informed by further information on this rarely observed side-effect which has no permanent risk,” Phaahla said of cases of transient myocarditis.

Morning all, Tom Ambrose here ready to bring you all the big Covid news from the UK and abroad throughout today.

Let’s start with some news coming in from Italy this morning. Protests have been taking place as one of the most stringent anti-coronavirus measures in Europe went into effect today.

Italy is requiring all workers, from magistrates to maids, to show a health pass to get into their place of employment.

Police were out in force this morning and schools planned to end classes early. Meanwhile, embassies issued warnings of possible violence amid concerns that anti-vaccination demonstrations could turn violent, as they did in Rome last weekend.

Protests by port workers in Genoa and Trieste threatened to affect commercial activities, but early reports suggested the ports were operational. Protesters shouted “Liberta” (Freedom) in a largely peaceful demonstration in Florence.

The so-called “green pass” shows proof of vaccination, a recent negative test or of having recovered from Covid in the past six months. Italy already required them to access all sorts of indoor environments, including restaurants, museums, theatres, and long-distance trains.

But the addition of the workplace requirement has sparked heated debate and opposition in a country that was a coronavirus hotspot early in the pandemic and where vaccination rates are among the highest in Europe.

• At least 43,000 people may have been wrongly given a negative Covid test result, the UK Health Security Agency has said, as it announced the suspension of operations at a privately run lab in Wolverhampton. The move comes after an investigation into reports of people receiving negative PCR test results after they had previously tested positive on a lateral flow device.
• Dr Will Welfare, public health incident director at the UK Health Security Agency said: “There is no evidence of any faults with lateral flow or PCR test kits themselves and the public should remain confident in using them and in other laboratory services currently provided.”
• Russia has again set a new record for the number of coronavirus-related deaths, with 999 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours. There was also a record number of new cases recorded – 32,196. This is only the second time that Russia has officially recorded more than 30,000 new cases in a single day.
• Australia’s outbound travel ban will be lifted from 1 November in a move triggered by New South Wales announcing an end to quarantine for fully vaccinated arrivals.
• Public health orders requiring New South Wales health workers, teachers and some construction workers to be vaccinated to keep working are valid, the NSW supreme court has ruled in Australia.
• Hobart and southern Tasmania have been forced into a snap three-day lockdown after a coronavirus-infected New South Wales man allegedly entered the state illegally and escaped hotel quarantine.
• South Korea said it would lift stringent anti-coronavirus curbs on social gatherings next week, as the country prepares to switch to a “living with Covid-19” strategy amid rising vaccination levels.
• Israel is seeing a sharp drop in new infections and severe illness, aided by its use of vaccine boosters, vaccine passports and mask mandates, scientists and health officials said.
• Senior government science advisers from the UK, Europe and Canada have called on countries around the world to offer vaccination certificates to volunteers on Covid jab trials so they can travel internationally.

That’s it from me, Martin Belam, for this week. I’ll see you again on Monday. Tom Ambrose is waiting in the wings to take over. Stay safe and have a great weekend.