The latest news on the pandemic on Friday 13 May
• There are 39,317 new cases of Covid in Italy (here the bulletin). The number of people who have contracted the Sars-CoV-2 virus since the beginning of the epidemic thus rises to at least 16,954,784. The deaths registered yesterday are 130, for a total of 164,976 victims since February 2020.
• Two years after Covid-19 infection, half of the patients who were hospitalized at the time still have at least one symptom. This is suggested by a study just published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine which has followed patients since the beginning of the pandemic and therefore represents the research with the longest follow up published so far.
• North Korea has imposed a lockdown to control its first recognized Covid outbreak after the country had declared for more than two years that it had managed to keep the virus outside its borders.
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09:08 – Iss, Rt index stable at 0.96
The Rt index stable at 0.96, the incidence drops from 559 to 458 cases per 100 thousand, intensive employment and hospitalizations are decreasing: these are the latest data from the monitoring of the Higher Institute of Health. The employment rate in intensive care fell to 3.4% (Ministry of Health daily survey as of May 12) compared to 3.7% in the previous week (Ministry of Health daily survey as of May 5). The employment rate in medical areas at the national level drops to 12.6% (daily survey by the Ministry of Health on 12 May) against 14.5% (daily survey by the Ministry of Health on 5 May) in the previous survey. No high-risk regions.
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08:42 – The nightmare risk for North Korea: 18 thousand confirmed cases
More than 18,000 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in North Korea, the North Korean news agency Yonhap reported, citing Pyongyang’s official KCNA news outlet. According to a report, 6 people have died from the virus. Yesterday the country detected its first case of the Omicron BA.2 variant, also known as the Omicron stealth. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party and ordered a nationwide lockdown: the maximum prevention system of the epidemic emergency in North Korea has been activated. Together with Eritrea, North Korea one of only two countries that have not started a vaccination campaign against COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The COVAX global COVID-19 vaccine sharing program has reduced the number of doses allocated to the country, under sanctions for its nuclear program, and Pyongyang has also turned down offers of vaccines from China. Leader Kim Jong Un was reportedly vaccinated in July 2021, but there is no confirmation. And on the same cases tested (350 thousand) do not add up with respect to the capacity of tampons shown by the country. As of the end of March, only 64,207 of the 25 million people had been tested for COVID and all results were negative, the latest WHO figures show. It is not even clear whether North Korea has imposed the mask since the beginning of the pandemic: citizens have been seen wearing them, but also participating in important political events, which have mobilized tens of thousands of people, without any protection.
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08:28 am – Seoul offers vaccines and medical equipment to North Korea
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol offered to send Covid-19 vaccines to North Korea in the aftermath of the announcement of the first outbreak in the country in over two years of pandemic. President Yoon Suk-yeol plans to provide vaccines and other medical supplies, spokesman Kang In-sun said in a statement, assuring that discussions will be held with the North Korean side on the details. Pyongyang, on the other hand, said today that six people have died (including the Omicron variant) after a fever has spread explosively in the country, affecting 350,000 people since the end of April.
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May 13, 2022 (change May 13, 2022 | 09:17)
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