Displaying items by tag: Covid

Friday, 23 July 2021 09:42

Japan: Olympic Games - state of emergency

The director of the Olympics opening ceremony was dismissed for making jokes in the 1990s about the Holocaust. Earlier this week, a composer quit the ceremony team after it emerged he had bullied classmates with disabilities at school. In March the Olympics' creative chief quit after suggesting that plus-size comedian Naomi Watanabe could appear as an ‘Olympig’. In February the head of the organising committee had to step down after he made inappropriate remarks about women. The scandals have increased massive unease about the Games. A recent poll found 55% of Japanese were opposed to holding the Games, fearing it could become a coronavirus super-spreader event. Already, organisers are dealing with rising Covid cases. Dozens involved in the Games, including officials and athletes, have tested positive. An increase in cases among Japan's population - only a third of whom have been vaccinated - has led to a state of emergency being declared for the duration of the Games.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 02 July 2021 10:08

Disabled people forgotten during Covid

Over 3,300 people took part in BBC research into the impact of the pandemic on the lives of disabled people. Most said their disability had worsened and over 2,400 said routine, often vital, medical appointments had been cancelled. Disability charity Scope said the findings confirmed that disabled people's needs ‘had been forgotten’. There were young autistic people who had attempted suicide because they could no longer cope with drastic changes; others were isolated and alone, their support networks gone or hours of care cut. A family told how care had been almost stopped for their disabled daughter, while her father, who had had Covid, was offered a range of treatments. Her cochlear implant needs retuning regularly but has not been checked for two years. Her physiotherapy has not continued, and her walking frame no longer fits. Her last eye test was over the phone.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 11 June 2021 09:25

Global: Covid in animals

Neela, an Asiatic lion, died on 3 June at a zoo in Chennai after showing Covid symptoms. Eight other lions also tested positive; they have been quarantined, given antibiotics, and are under observation by veterinary teams. There have been other coronavirus cases reported in animals, including two white tiger cubs dying in Pakistan and lions testing positive in Spain. Many countries have reported infections in farmed mink. There is also evidence that mink have passed the virus back to humans in a mutated form. Meanwhile Russia has started vaccinating animals against coronavirus after registering the world's first animal-specific jab in March. Several regions have now started vaccinations at veterinary clinics. Interest has been shown in the Carnivak-Cov vaccine by the EU, Argentina, South Korea and Japan. Another vaccine is being developed by a US pharmaceutical company.

Published in Worldwide
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