Pandemic-Aid Networks
Pandemic-Aid Networks is an umbrella platform for COVID-19 advocacy groups, Long Covid groups and other COVID-focused groups and organizations across the globe. The network is a grassroots effort that was started by Vicky van der Togt in October 2020. Vicky was one of the first Long Covid patients advocating for Long Covid recognition, research and rehabilitation. After a couple […]
Pandemic-Aid Networks
Pandemic-Aid Networks is an umbrella platform for COVID-19 advocacy groups, Long Covid groups and other COVID-focused groups and organizations across the globe. The network is a grassroots effort that was started by Vicky van der Togt in October 2020. Vicky was one of the first Long Covid patients advocating for Long Covid recognition, research and […]
Can we please stop talking about a second wave of COVID-19
Lockdown is easing. People are returning to work and shops are lifting their shutters. But we don’t have a vaccine and we’re a long way from achieving herd immunity – so this new-found freedom is tainted with fear: fear of a second wave of infections. Indeed, people are already talking about a “second wave” hitting China and Iran. But the concept of […]
Herd immunity in Europe – are we close?
While no country claims to be pursuing herd immunity as a strategy, some – such as Sweden – have taken a more relaxed approach to containing the coronavirus. So how has the relaxed approach fared for Sweden – is it close to achieving herd immunity? How does it compare with other European countries that took more restrictive […]
Coronavirus: is the R number still useful?
A few months ago, most people had never heard of the R number. Now, thanks to the novel coronavirus, we all know – or think we know – what it means. R is the reproduction number of an infectious disease – basically how many people one infected person will transmit the disease to. For highly […]
Coronavirus: four issues that have limited testing in the UK
Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, promised 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of April. On the last day of the month, the government claimed to have surpassed that target with 122,000 tests. However, the figure included 40,000 home tests that were posted but have not yet been taken. On May 3, the number of […]
Coronavirus linked to rare inflammatory disease in children – here’s what we know
The UK Paediatric Intensive Care Society sent out an alert on April 27 about an increase in cases of severe COVID-19-related illness in children. Since then, 19 cases have been identified in children in the UK and 100 cases have been identified in five other countries (US, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland). This is a new situation and only minimal information is […]
Coronavirus: many patients reporting neurological symptoms
As case numbers of COVID-19 continue to rise around the world, we are starting to see an increasing number of reports of neurological symptoms. Some studies report that over a third of patients show neurological symptoms. In the vast majority of cases, COVID-19 is a respiratory infection that causes fever, aches, tiredness, sore throat, cough and, in […]
Coronavirus: the puzzle of why the risk of death is greater for men and for the elderly
For COVID-19, age and sex appear to be strong predictors of who lives and who dies. The fatality rate for the disease is estimated to be 0.66%, according to data from China. In other words, 0.66% of people who are formally diagnosed with COVID-19, die. But the rate varies dramatically for different age groups, ranging from 0.0016% […]
Can I get the coronavirus twice?
There have been some cases, but is it too early to tell what is actually happening here? There have been a few stories in the press of people apparently being re-infected by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. These people reportedly became infected and hospitalised, and then were sent home once they’d tested negative for the virus. Then, days or […]
