NASA says global temperatures are on the rise, and that could spell trouble for future Winter Games. Plus, Australian astronomers discover an unidentified space object, and a pair of satellites touch the sky. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us a Winter Olympics-edition of The Week in Space.
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Day: February 3, 2022
The fashion industry has always had a relationship with some forms of social activism. But all too often the industry is also seen as one of excess and consumerism gone wild. That could change if New York’s Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act – or FSSAA – becomes law. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera – Vladimir Badikov.
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The World Health Organization’s European region director says that while COVID-19 cases on the continent continue to rise, he sees a plausible endgame for the pandemic in Europe in coming months.
Speaking during his weekly virtual news briefing from his headquarters in Copenhagen, WHO Europe Region Director Hans Kluge told reporters the region recorded 12 million cases in the past week, the highest weekly case incidence since the start of the pandemic, largely driven by the omicron variant.
But Kluge said, while hospitalizations continue to rise – mainly in countries with lower vaccination rates — they have not risen as fast as the rate of new infection, and admissions to intensive care units have not increased significantly. Meanwhile, deaths from COVID-19 have remained steady.
Kluge said the pandemic is far from over, but, for the first time, he sees what he called an opportunity to take control of transmission of disease because of the presence of three factors: an ample supply of vaccine plus immunity derived from a large number of people having had COVID-19; the favorable change of the seasons as the region moves out of winter; and the now-established lower severity of the omicron variant.
The WHO regional director said those factors present the possibility of “a long period of tranquility” and a much higher level of population defense against any resurgence in transmission, even with the more virulent omicron variant.
Kluge called it “a cease-fire that could bring us enduring peace,” but only if nations continue vaccinating and boosting, focusing on the most vulnerable populations, and people continue “self-protecting behavior,” such as masking and social distancing, though he added, “with lower governmental oversight to limit unnecessary socio-economic impacts.”
More nations in Europe are scaling back or removing government-imposed COVID-19-related restrictions.
Kluge said officials need to intensify surveillance to detect new variants. He said new strains are inevitable, but he believes it is possible to respond to them without the disruptive measures that were needed early in the pandemic.
Some information in this report came from the Associated Press.
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Crushing fatigue. Brain fog. Trouble breathing weeks after contracting COVID-19. Scientists call it post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. Most people just call it “long COVID.”
For millions of people, these and other symptoms are keeping them from getting back to their lives months after their last positive COVID-19 test.
But what is long COVID, exactly? How common is it? Who gets it, and why?
As with so many things over the past two pandemic years, the answer to the most basic questions is, “We don’t know yet.”
Studies are starting to narrow things down. But a lot still is up in the air.
“I would take everything we have so far with a grain of salt,” Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, founding director of the Boston University Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research, said on a press call organized by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
The silver lining may be that with so many suffering the aftereffects of COVID-19, research may shed light on similar but poorly understood syndromes, such as chronic fatigue syndrome that have debilitated people long before COVID-19 showed up.
With time and support, “the majority — and I would almost say the vast majority — of people with long COVID will get better,” added Dr. Kathleen Bell, chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “But I don’t think, at this point, that anyone can say how long does long COVID last.”
How common is it?
Estimates of how many people get long COVID are all over the map.
An analysis summing up 57 studies on the subject found that on average, more than half of COVID-19 patients still had symptoms six months after infection.
But the range was enormous. In some of the studies, less than a quarter of patients had long-term symptoms, while in others, three-quarters did.
One of the difficulties with pinning down long COVID is defining what it is and what it isn’t.
“Currently, the bucket is very large,” Bhadelia said. “It’s anybody who has persistent symptoms four weeks or longer” after infection.
Fatigue is the most common symptom. Many complain of “brain fog” — memory problems and difficulty concentrating or processing information. Patients frequently have trouble breathing. Other common symptoms include headaches, muscle pain, rapid heartbeat, dizziness or ringing in the ears.
There’s also a lot of anxiety, depression and insomnia, which may be partly reactions to the symptoms but also appear to be related to the virus itself, Bell said.
The challenge for both doctors and patients is that many other things can cause these symptoms besides long COVID, she noted.
Who gets it?
Vaccination cut the rate of long COVID symptoms in half in one study and down to baseline in another.
Diabetes and asthma raise the risk.
People who got seriously ill with COVID-19 are more likely to have prolonged symptoms, but even some people who had only mild to moderate cases are struggling months later.
“In general, you can say that people who have more severe infections will have a longer period of time of recovery. But that’s not the whole story,” Bell said.
Some recent studies are pointing to what may be causing long COVID, but nothing is conclusive yet.
One theory is that long COVID is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the patient’s own body.
In a new study, researchers found patients with long COVID had high levels of antibodies to components of the patient’s own immune system, even though very few of them had a previously diagnosed autoimmune condition.
Viral reawakening?
The study also raised the possibility that COVID-19 wakes up latent infection of another common virus, called Epstein-Barr.
An estimated 90% of the world’s population carries the Epstein-Barr virus, but usually the immune system keeps it under control.
The virus also causes mononucleosis, which “puts you flat on your back with fatigue for a month or more, which is not that different from some long COVID symptoms,” study co-author James Heath, president of the University of Washington Institute for Systems Biology, noted in a YouTube video the institute posted.
Overactive inflammation may be another factor, perhaps involving tiny blood clots carrying inflammatory molecules throughout the body.
Whatever the cause, COVID-19 is not the only ailment to leave patients with lingering symptoms.
Scientists are studying persistent headaches, joint pain and vision problems in Ebola survivors in West Africa. Chikungunya can leave patients with arthritis lasting months. Other viral illnesses may leave patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
“We just haven’t understood many of these conditions,” Bhadelia, at Boston University, said.
Now that there are millions of people suffering with long-term, debilitating symptoms, scientists may learn a lot more about what causes them and how to treat them.
“This is going to tell us a lot more about other viruses and other pathogens,” Bhadelia said. “Everything that affects us from our environment, everything that triggers a change in our body, leaves a fingerprint on us.”
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The police chief of Canada’s capital said Wednesday there is likely no policing solution to end a protest against vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions that has snarled traffic around Parliament.
He also said there is a “significant element” of the protest’s funding and organization coming from the United States.
Thousands of protesters descended on Ottawa over the weekend, deliberately blocking traffic around Parliament Hill. Police estimate the protest involved 8,000-15,000 people Saturday but has since dwindled to several hundred. But trucks were still blocking traffic.
“We are now aware of a significant element from the United States that have been involved in the funding, the organizing and the demonstrating. They have converged on our city and there are plans for more to come,” Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said.
Organizers, including one who has espoused white supremacist views, raised millions for the cross-Canada “freedom truck convoy” against vaccine mandates. There was a public GoFundMe page.
The protesting truckers also have received praise from former U.S. President Donald Trump and tweets of support from Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.
Ottawa residents frustrated with the incessant blare of truck horns and traffic gridlock are questioning how police have handled the demonstration.
“There is likely no policing solution to this,” Sloly said.
Many Canadians have been angered by some of the crude behavior of the protesters. Some urinated or parked on the National War Memorial. One danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A number carried signs and flags with swastikas.
The most visible contingent of protesters were truck drivers who parked their big rigs on Parliament Hill. Some of them were protesting a rule that took effect Jan. 15 requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully immunized against the coronavirus. The Canadian Trucking Alliance has estimated that 85% of truckers in Canada are vaccinated.
Meanwhile, officials said there had been some movement toward resolving a protest blockade at the United States border in southern Alberta.
Chad Williamson, a lawyer representing truckers blocking access to the crossing at Coutts, Alberta, said they spoke with police and agreed to open some blocked lanes. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Corporal Curtis Peters said there were indications that the lane openings might only be temporary.
Demonstrators began parking their trucks and other vehicles near the crossing Saturday in solidarity with the protest in Ottawa.
The tie-up stranded travelers and cross-border truckers for days. Police tried to peacefully break up the demonstration Tuesday, but demonstrators breached a nearby checkpoint.