From April to now, Alpha has become the dominant strain in the US. Alpha’s superiority made scientists wonder why this virus strain spread so quickly. Recently, a study published online on June 7 was New York Times The quote has found the “secret of success” of this mutation: Alpha disables the first immune “stronghold” gland in the human body, giving the virus more time to multiply when it enters the body. up quickly. The Alpha mutation once made the UK crippled. Photo: Reuters. “Turn off the bell” alert Alpha has a total of 23 mutations – what sets it apart from other coronavirus strains. When this strain began to spread widely in the UK, researchers began examining the genetic sequence to look for an explanation of why it spread faster than other strains. Many researchers focused on nine mutations that change the proteins that coat the coronavirus and allow them to enter cells. One of those mutations helps the virus bind more closely to these cells, increasing the likelihood of successful infection. But other scientists focus on how Alpha affects the human immune response. Virologist Gregory Towers and colleagues at University College London cultured the coronavirus in human lung cells. They compared cells infected with Alpha with those infected with previous variants of the coronavirus. The team found that alpha-containing lung cells produced less interferon. Interferon is a protein produced naturally by cells in the immune system. They also found that in cells with Alpha, defense genes activated by interferon were less effective than in cells infected with other strains. Somehow, the most important “alarm bell” of the immune system barely “sounds” in the presence of the Alpha variant. “It becomes almost invisible (when it enters the human body),” Dr. Towers said. The UK has to impose strict restrictions because the strain B.1.1.7 spreads quickly. Photo: LBC. To find out how Alpha achieves this “invisibility,” the researchers looked at how the coronavirus replicates inside infected cells. They found that Alpha-infected cells made a lot of extra copies – about 80 times more than other variants – of a gene called Orf9b. According to previous research by molecular biologist Nevan Krogan and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, Orf9b makes a viral protein that attacks Tom70 — a protein needed to release interferon when the virus enters the body. body. From all of these studies, Dr. Krogan concluded that the Alpha variant contained a mutation that produced more Orf9b protein than normal. The Orf9b protein surrounds the Tom70 protein, reducing interferon production. The infected virus is no longer hindered by the immune system, so it rapidly multiplies in the human body. About 12 hours after infection, the immune system starts working again. Therefore, Dr. Towers speculates, people infected with Alpha have a stronger response than those infected with other strains. The virus-laden mucus lingers in both their oral and nasal cavities, making Alpha more contagious than ever. However, Dr. Laurent-Rolle insists more evidence is needed to support this conclusion. For example, scientists have not yet run a standard test to test the amount of the Orf9b protein. Dr. Krogan said he and his colleagues are looking to practice that experiment now. Totally different Dr. Krogan’s group also started similar tests on other strains, including the strain first identified in South Africa, called Beta (B.1.351) and the first identified strain. first in India, called Delta (B.1.617.2). The preliminary results surprised them. Both Beta and Delta reduce interferon in infected cells. But there is no indication that these two strains did so in the same way that Alpha did. Each strain evolved in a different way to control the immune system. Virus mutant particles B.1.1.7 from patient samples in the laboratory. Photo: NIAID. Cecile King, an immunologist at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, stressed that understanding how the virus evades the immune system will help in the development of a Covid-19 vaccine. Vaccines now help the immune system recognize mutated proteins. But research on patients recovering from Covid-19 shows that their immune systems learn to recognize viral proteins, including Orf9b. Some researchers are looking to include the coronavirus protein in a new vaccine. But this process needs care because some proteins reduce immunity. “It’s a pretty complicated process. But if we take a closer look, it might be possible,” Dr. King said.

Because of the more frequent mutations of the new coronavirus recently, “is the vaccine still effective?” has become a concern for everyone. If you want to add annual keywords to the new crown virus, then “mutation” is probably not inferior to “popularity.” “Preliminary research results show that my country’s existing vaccines can cope with the variant strains emerging in India.” Shao Yiming, a researcher at the China Centers for Disease Control and a member of the Vaccine R&D Team of the Scientific Research Group, said in an interview a few days ago that the domestic new crown vaccine still has a protective effect. . How can the domestic new crown vaccine be able to deal with the variant strains emerging in India? A reporter from Science and Technology Daily interviewed industry experts on this matter. The virus has changed Can the antibodies raised by the vaccine not drop? Today, when the antibodies in our body encounter the new coronavirus, it is very likely that we will whisper the phrase “you have changed.” In fact, it is difficult to stay the same, because it travels the world and meets different people and even animals. In the latest “Epidemiology Weekly Report” released by the World Health Organization on May 18, 10 variants were “named”, including 4 “needs of concern” that were first discovered in the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and India. The mutated strains also include 6 strains that “need attention” found in the Philippines, France and other places (slightly lower than the strains of concern). The report specifies the location of the virus mutation sequence change in detail. When the virus changes, can the antibodies raised by the vaccine fail to drop? Not necessarily, it depends on where the virus has changed. Most of the mutations of the concerned strains and the concerned strains fall on the key spike protein, which is responsible for allowing the virus to invade the cell. Its mutation may enhance the virus’s infectivity and may also invalidate existing vaccines, especially for the spike protein. Designed vaccine. “Relevant departments have previously shown based on sequence mutation predictions that although the mutation of the Indian strain falls on the spike protein, it may have little impact on the protective effect of the existing vaccine. Of course, this needs further experimental confirmation.” Said Lu Shan, project commissioner and deputy director of the Public Health and Modern Medicine Division of China Biotechnology Development Center, Ministry of Science and Technology. Changes in viral RNA sequence must pass at least three passes to affect the formation of a protein structure, including changes in coding amino acids, changes in protein folding, and changes in protein three-dimensional conformation. Therefore, from the perspective of sequence analysis, protein simulation, neutralization reaction prediction, etc., the mutation of the Indian strain has not reached the level of “cannot be reduced”. In addition, for the mutant strains that emerged in India, relevant departments are also conducting “practical drills” on them with neutralizing antibodies. Previously, similar studies were conducted on the mutant strains discovered for the first time in South Africa. “The Lancet-Microbe” published the results of two Chinese vaccines on April 13th. The 24 serum samples of vaccine subjects were tested for the neutralization activity of live virus, and wild-type virus strain HB02 and the virus strain BJ01 carrying the D614G mutation were used as controls. The results showed that the neutralization ability of the vaccine evoked antibodies was maintained at a percentage. It’s about sixty or seventy. Multi-party attention and continuous tracking of virus changes Shao Yiming said at the meeting that relevant departments and companies are closely following the mutation of the new crown virus. Once there are variant strains that cannot be dealt with by existing vaccines, we will have new vaccines into use. So, what does close tracking mean? If a new vaccine is needed, how quickly can it be developed? “Vaccine research and development teams continue to pay attention to virus mutations and carry out research and development of new vaccines based on virus mutations.” Lu Shan introduced, for example, the Academy of Military Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and related companies have gradually carried out. “The eighth edition of the prevention and control plan requires genetic sequencing of all imported cases and the first or early cases in the local epidemic.” Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the National Health Commission’s Disease Control Bureau, said at a press conference earlier that through gene sequencing dynamics Monitoring virus mutations can provide a scientific basis for subsequent studies on the impact of virus mutations on pathogen detection and vaccine protection. Source: Visual China These sequence information will be aggregated to the National Bioinformation Center (National Genome Science Data Center), the new coronavirus information database released by the center, which will continue to track virus mutations. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and other units continue to track the sequence changes of the new coronavirus and conduct in-depth virus mutation analysis. In addition to continuous gene sequencing and analysis for continuous tracking, vaccine research and development companies and research institutes will also conduct dynamic cross-protection experiments on newly emerging mutant strains. The above-mentioned “Lancet-Microorganism” published research is one of the typical studies of various units concerned about the strength of vaccines and viruses. For newly mutated strains, inactivated vaccines have a very quick way to deal with them. Shao Yiming introduced that as long as the virus of the new mutant strain is added to the feeding end, the entire production process does not need to be changed, and a new vaccine against the mutation can be produced. A reporter from Science and Technology Daily also contacted relevant units. In response, Dr. Hangwen Li, the founder of Sri Lanka Microbiology, said that the iterative vaccine development for mutant strains was carried out earlier. The serum produced in animal experiments can be tested by relevant national institutions to have a good neutralizing effect on the new coronavirus mutant strains of concern to the World Health Organization. At present, the iterative vaccine is improving related research applications to carry out a phase 1 clinical trial. Academician Zhong Nanshan judged in an interview not long ago: Due to the mutation of the virus, the new crown vaccine may be given regularly in the future like influenza prevention. So in response to mutations, the new crown vaccine may also be similar to the flu vaccine. After continuous research and development by the R&D team, several vaccines against variant strains of the new coronavirus have been produced, and the corresponding vaccines have been vaccinated. Source: Science and Technology Daily

A man is vaccinated with AstraZeneca in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 15. Photo: AP The results showed that only 166 cases required hospitalization. Those who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 92% effective without requiring hospitalization, while those who received the Pfizer vaccine, the figure was 94% after dose 1 and 96% after dose 2. “These findings suggest that the level of protection of people with Delta variant from hospitalization is very high. Understanding this is important in assessing the danger that Delta variant poses to the general population.” , the study authors concluded. “The effect of not requiring hospitalization because the Delta variant after one injection of AstraZeneca is 71% and after two injections is 92%. This metric really reassures India. To choose the direction, I think we should should use modeling approaches to devise different implementation strategies and compare the impact of vaccines at each stage of the epidemic,” commented Professor of Microbiology Gagandeep Kang of India. The Delta variant first appeared in India and has been classified as a “variant of concern” by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while the World Health Organization (WHO) has called it a “variant of concern”. it is a ‘disturbing variation’. The Delta variant is expected to become a common strain in the US next fall, increasing the risk of a new wave of disease in unvaccinated people later this year.

In this phase 3, Nano Covax vaccine will be tested in multi-centers at domestic facilities with the deployment of vaccination for 13,000 volunteers. Specifically, in the North, experimental injections were carried out at the Military Medical Academy (Hanoi) and in Hung Yen province; The southern area is carried out by the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, and is planned to be injected in 2 provinces: Long An and Tien Giang. In the immediate future, in phase 3, 1,000 registered volunteers will be tested, and then continue to recruit more. In this phase 3, there is also research and evaluation of the effect of the vaccine against the variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus found for the first time in India. By the end of September 2021, after the phase 3 trial is completed, depending on the test results and epidemic developments, the vaccine will be considered for approval for emergency use on a large scale in our country. Step 1: Visit https://www.bluezone.gov.vn or download directly at App Store or CH Play. Step 2: Once downloaded, the application will ask for permission to use Bluetooth to record contact with other Bluezone installed users. If Bluetooth is not open, drag the status bar and turn on Bluetooth; or go to Settings, select Bluetooth and turn it on. Step 3: Once the installation is done, click Scan Around. If someone near you less than 2m has used Bluezone, the application will automatically identify these users and put them in the contact list.

“Will hug everyone who can” Most Britons will be free to hug, albeit with caution, have a few beers in pubs, sit down to eat in restaurants or visit the cinema after a series of strict lockdowns. Britain’s biggest public health crisis in a century has brought parties, gatherings and religious services to a halt, with fines of up to £10,000 ($14,000) for violators. The UK has begun to relax the anti-epidemic restrictions. (Photo: Reuters) British actress Joanna Lumley told The Telegraph: “I’ll literally hug everyone I can.” However, besides the excitement, there is also anxiety. Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned people to be cautious and suggested that the spread of the variant first identified in India meant the final reopening in the UK in June could be delayed. “Together, we have reached another important milestone in our path out of lockdown, but this next step must be taken with extreme caution.” he said. There is growing concern about the B.1.617.2 variant, which British scientific advisers say will become the dominant variant in the country, more contagious than B.1.1.7. From May 17 in the UK, gatherings of up to 30 people will be allowed outdoors, two families will be allowed to meet indoors; cafes, bars and restaurants will reopen for indoor service; nursing home residents will be allowed five visitors; and the use of masks will no longer be compulsory in schools. Clare Smyth, head chef of Core restaurant in London, who won her third Michelin star in January, said: “It’s been a long time.” Restrictions will be eased to varying degrees in different regions. The UK death toll from COVID-19 is 127,679 – the highest in Europe and the fifth highest in the world, behind the US, Brazil, India and Mexico, according to Johns Hopkins University. The UK economy last year suffered its worst contraction in three centuries. The government spends hundreds of billions of pounds saving jobs and companies. France opens the door cautiously Meanwhile, with vaccination being accelerated and the number of cases falling, the French are waiting for the anti-epidemic restrictions to be eased on April 19. Groups of up to six people will be able to dine together as restaurants with outdoor spaces open at 50% capacity, people get access to museums, theaters and cinemas, while curfews are in will be rescheduled from 7pm to 9pm. Locations in France will be opened to operate at partial capacity. (Photo: The Connexion) This is the latest step in a gradual reopening plan in France, starting with allowing travel between regions from the beginning of May. Public health official Jerome Salomon told JDD Sunday: “Continued social contact is one of the factors that make up public health” However, some restaurant owners are complaining about serving limits, especially in light of the risk of rain in May. “Imagine you restarting the whole machine, creating a new menu, bringing all the staff back, but then you have to destroy everything and throw away your merchandise because it rains.” Chef Philippe Etchebest told JDD. Furthermore, less than half of restaurants across France have outdoor dining spaces, he said. Movie theaters can open at up to 35% capacity. Museums, theatres, zoos, libraries and all shops will be allowed to reopen at partial capacity. In France, 20.3 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine to date, and 8.8 million have received both doses. The government aims to hit the first 30 million doses by mid-June and is currently rescheduling injection appointments for people over 50 to anyone over 18. However, President Emmanuel Macron warned that if infections flare up again, the government could “emergency brake” on reopening.

The warehouse was converted into an isolation area for infected people during the 1918 flu pandemic. Photo: According to Live Science “The research results, although not directly applicable to the Covid-19 pandemic, show that humans can eventually overcome their variants. This is being expected by the world in the context of the corona virus outbreak. evolved with many dangerous mutations today,” evolutionary biologist Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer, lead author of the study, told Live Science. According to Spencer, as now, when focusing on studying the virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, the research team questioned whether its new variants worked differently from the original? Since then, the team has studied six human lungs dating from the pandemic years of 1918, which are preserved in formalin at pathological archives in Germany and Austria. The researchers determined that three of the six sample lungs – two from young soldiers who died in Berlin, the other from a young woman who died in Munich – contained the 1918 flu virus. “The virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic is still around today. But it’s more attenuated, mainly because we are descendants of people who survived the outbreak 103 years ago. Because So we’ve inherited some form of genetic immunity,” explains Calvignac-Spencer. Estimates suggest that the 1918 strain of influenza infected about 1 billion people, while the global population was only 2 billion. About 50-100 million people may have died in three consecutive outbreaks then. The first wave of the pandemic occurred in early 1918, it was less deadly than later waves: “The preserved lungs of two German soldiers were determined to be dead at this time”, the research team at the Institute of Robert Koch confirmed. The researchers extracted viral RNA from those lung samples. Both German soldiers died on the same day and when decoding the genome of the virus that killed them there was almost no difference. Spencer added: “But the form of the flu virus found in the soldiers’ lungs, is somewhat genetically different from the form of the virus that infected the young woman who died in Munich. Presumably, the woman. did not survive a subsequent outbreak.” The scientists also compared viral genomes from the US and Germany, and conducted laboratory studies with synthetic copies of virus samples. They wanted to learn to assess the infectivity and replication ability of different strains inside cells. The findings of German scientists also show that the 1918 flu virus has mutated to make the next outbreak stronger and more dangerous than the previous one, by evolving to overcome the human ability to “defence”. The genetic mutations that emerged between the first and second waves may have made the virus better adapted for human-to-human transmission, rather than between birds, its natural host. The other mutation may have changed the way the virus interacts with a human protein called MxA, which helps regulate the body’s immune response to new pathogens. Although the scientists are not sure how the variants changed the “strength” of the virus, “it can be predicted that these changes helped the virus avoid one of the mechanisms by which cells respond.” to kill the flu virus,” Calvignac-Spencer said. The evolution of the virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic has similarities to the current Covid-19 pandemic, such as consecutive outbreaks with many different strains, and the following outbreaks are more dangerous than the previous one. . Thanks to the advancement of science, today when understanding the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers can better understand the 1918 influenza pandemic: “The more we understand about the current pandemic, that The more we can understand the pandemic in the past, rather than vice versa,” Calvignac-Spencer emphasized. One significant advance is that researchers have been able to accurately sequence the viral genome in human tissue preserved in formalin for more than 100 years – something that has hitherto been thought to be very difficult. “Thanks to new techniques, the study ended up being much easier than we expected,” added Calvignac-Spencer, adding: “We can now sequence the viral genome from infected humans. buried in permafrost for up to 1,000 years, because the cold can help preserve DNA even longer.” The team of German scientists also wanted to sequence viral genomes that could have been stored in the bodies of ancient Egyptian mummies – the earliest mummies are about 5,000 years old.”The mummies were prepared to prevent biological processes, and that’s exactly what we want. So we will also embark on research to better understand other diseases of the past,” the German scientist said. about the group’s future plans.

“The new naming does not replace the scientific names of the variants, but can aid in public discussion,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical team leader on Covid-19. Other SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest will be labeled with the words “Epsiloon”, “Zeta”, “Eta”, “Theta” and “Iota”. (Artwork: BBC) Under the new system, the British variant (B.1.1.7) is called “Alpha”, the South African variant (B.1.351) is “Beta”, the Brazilian variant (P1) is “Gamma”. The Indian variant B.1.617 is divided into sub-lineages, where the B.1.617.2 variant is called “Delta” and the B.1.617.1 variant is called “Kappa”. Names such as variant B.1.1.7.2 will continue to be used in scientific circles, because of the mutational information their names convey. “Despite their advantages, scientific names can be difficult to say and remember, and easily misinterpreted. As a result, people often refer to variants by the places where they were first discovered, causing stigma and discrimination,” according to the WHO statement. “To avoid this and simplify mass communication, WHO encourages authorities, national media and everyone else to use these new names,” the WHO said. The Greek alphabet has 24 letters and WHO has not yet planned what to do next if all 24 letters are used. According to AFP, “Epsilon”, “Zeta”, “Eta”, “Theta” and “Iota” are names for variants of interest.

WHO technical team leader on Covid-19 Maria Van Kerkhove. Photo: AFP According to the new announcement, WHO will use Greek letters to refer to variants that were first detected in countries such as the UK, South Africa and India. For example, the variant in the UK is called Alpha, in South Africa it is Beta, and in India it is Delta. The full list of names has been published on the WHO website. The Government of India earlier this month criticized the naming of variant B.1.617.2 – first detected in the country last October – as “Indian variant”, despite WHO never officially called it that. “No country should be discriminated against in detecting and reporting variants,” said WHO’s Covid-19 technical team leader Maria Van Kerkhove, “we don’t want to replace scientific names.” available, but only to assist in the transmission of certain information to the general public” If more than 24 variants are officially identified, meaning the system will run out of Greek letters, WHO will announce the new designation. Ms. Van Kerkhove on May 31 also called for close monitoring of variants and sharing of scientific data to help prevent the spread. Over the weekend, Vietnamese health officials warned of a new virus variant, which is believed to be a dangerous combination of two Alpha and Delta variants. While a scientific adviser to the British Government on May 31 said that the country is in the early stages of a third wave of Covid-19 infections, partly due to the Delta variant.

Also according to Prof. Dr. Le Thi Quynh Mai, B.1.617.2 data on GISAID currently has not recorded the loss of Y144 mutation, so this mutation needs to be further monitored and studied. GISAID is an updated map of SARS-CoV-2 gene sequencing results, which is continuously updated by scientists around the globe. This map was consulted by scientists in different countries, closely following the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Earlier, at the National Online Conference on the situation and urgent solutions to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic taking place on the morning of May 29, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long informed: The strain is currently common in Vietnam. Nam is an Indian strain that has shown signs of increased infectivity and more severe disease compared to previous outbreaks. Step 1: Visit https://www.bluezone.gov.vn or download directly at App Store or CH Play. Step 2: Once downloaded, the application will ask for permission to use Bluetooth to record contact with other Bluezone installed users. If Bluetooth is not open, drag the status bar and turn on Bluetooth; or go to Settings, select Bluetooth and turn it on. Step 3: Once the installation is done, click Scan Around. If someone near you less than 2m has used Bluezone, the application will automatically identify these users and put them in the contact list.

The unique design enables the Su-17/22 to fly at low altitudes at high speed or at high altitudes at supersonic speeds. Weapons are quite diverse and for a long time it is always the nightmare of any ground force confronting them. Su-17/22″ fighter Su-22M4 is the last production variant of this swing-wing fighter with significant upgrades to the avionics including: RSDN navigation system, inertial navigation system, range measurement system. laser way, radar warning system SPO-15LE, in addition on the aircraft design additional air intake slots to have more airflow to cool the engine. Su-22M4 – the most powerful variant of this fighter line After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited a lot of this fighter, this is also the only single-engine supersonic fighter that Russia owns, they continue to serve effectively in the frontline air force. and it was not until 1996 that they were completely scrapped to be replaced by more modern fighter lines.

The effectiveness of the vaccine so far cannot be denied. The United States, although not widely open to the world, has dragged down its number of infections in just the past few months. Based on data collected during vaccination, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that the effectiveness of major vaccines such as Pfizer or Moderna is up to 95%. even with new variants. This makes it possible for American people to comfortably go out without having to wear a mask, while the US Government considers lifting the ban on international movement. Similar effects have also been observed in Israel and Europe, where vaccination rates have reached 60% – that is, herd immunity can be generated. The “miracle” that brought life back to its normal rhythm seemed to be at last. Small doses of vaccines are becoming the hope of the whole world in the fight against COVID. However, at the same time, a new wave of infections broke out in India. Since mid-April, an additional 5 million new infections have been recorded in this South Asian country. The number of new infections continuously reached approximately 300 thousand cases per day, of which several thousand people died from the disease every day. The epidemic tsunami was so great that it knocked down India’s health system in just a few days, a real disaster. It is hard to believe, until the 4th wave of infections broke out, India was the country with the 3rd highest number of COVID vaccines in the world and was a hope for the whole world thanks to its huge vaccine supply. However, the number of nearly 100 million doses of vaccine administered out of a population of 1.3 billion is still too small to achieve a state of herd immunity, as epidemiologists hope. The government’s subjectivity then caused the contagion to erupt violently at a time when major religious ceremonies were held in this huge country. Consequences for the people and country of India so far have not been fully enumerated, but more dangerous, it is slowing down the whole world’s efforts to open up, when the supply of vaccines is mainly for people. Poor countries under the WHO COVAX program have stalled, because India has urgently applied a ban on vaccine exports to save itself first. In addition, the fourth wave of infections has also begun to spread around the world, from Asia, Africa to South America, where vaccination rates are far from reaching the thresholds that can create health problems. herd immunity. No one can stand alone The Indians cannot be blamed for the decision to close the vaccine supply at this time, because indeed the images and death figures every day in the newspaper make anyone horrified. Before that, it was India that took the lead in efforts to help the poorer people to have access to 66 million doses of vaccine in the first quarter of this year. Now that responsibility needs to be reinforced. In contrast, the US, UK, EU and Israel have come up with plans to reopen. Learning from India’s mistakes, these countries have been more cautious. From May 23, tourists can return to Israel and the EU if they comply with the mandatory conditions. The problem is that if that rule is followed, there are not many qualified guests. Because, in addition to having received the correct vaccines recognized by the EU, that traveler must also be from countries with the number of new infections below 25 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the previous 14 days. Those are the countries that the EU calls “safe”. However, there are currently only 7 countries outside the EU that meet this criterion, such as Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, etc., but that list does not include the US. That is, the invitation to travel to Europe is still only “give it up”. The door was opened but very few people could enter. The “Indian lesson” makes us realize that vaccination speed will determine the success or failure of a global vaccine strategy. As the United States and Israel quickly immunized the majority of the population, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was easily defeated. But, the drip vaccination rate will not be enough to create herd immunity and even allow the virus to mutate against the same old vaccines. Finding a vaccine for the poor is never easy. The fourth wave of contagion, therefore, has broken out in these very countries, with new variants that are more dangerous and could completely hit countries that already have high vaccination rates. Therefore, in order to solve the problem at the root, it is the rich countries that will have to take the lead in a new effort, to rescue the worldwide shortage of vaccines. Conflicts of interest A group of 13 countries has been identified by the World Bank (WB) as holding control and global distribution of vaccines. Among these, there are of course big countries like India, China, Russia, the G7 group and a few other European countries like Austria, Switzerland, Sweden. They are collectively known with a beautiful name, “The Club of Vaccine Producing Countries”. This club controls up to 88% of vaccines and 91% of vaccine companies in the world. Among them, mainly developed countries in the West. It is not surprising that the US and EU have achieved the highest vaccination rates in the world in a short time. Despite earlier claims to share vaccines with the world, “vaccine nationalism” prevailed initially. They have even started to have an oversupply of vaccine in their inventory after the last 3 months of intense vaccination. Therefore, when making the call for the rescue of vaccines in the world, both WHO and the United Nations are directly targeting this group of countries. Now it’s time for them to extend their hand to play the role of “saving the world”. However, this is also the time when the controversy broke out the most. The US has announced that it will deliver 70 million doses of its vaccine to developing countries between now and July. The EU will also contribute back to the COVAX program, after a temporary withdrawal to keep the vaccine for itself. But, even so, it’s still not enough. Because the most advanced vaccines being used by the US and EU require extremely complex preservation technologies that are not easy for poor or developing countries to meet. In Africa, hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccines have been destroyed, even though they still have their expiry date, because they cannot guarantee the storage conditions on the way to users. This situation may be even more serious, when the number of vaccines from the EU and the US is brought in in large numbers in the near future. And the cost of high-end vaccines like Pfizer or Moderna is never cheap, when Pfizer – BioNtech or Moderna apply the most advanced technologies that not even Russia or China have access to. A new call has been made, for rich countries to share vaccine copyrights with poor countries, in order to create a vaccine that suits them. However, advanced genetic technologies are copyrighted by major pharmaceutical companies, where they want to hold the secret not only for this COVID vaccine. As a result, the controversy has shifted from the states to the people of the vaccine-hungry poor countries, with the wealthy owners of the big pharmaceutical companies. Loss of motivation to research to find new products is the reason that big pharmaceutical companies rely on to protect their patents. Meanwhile, inequality in vaccine distribution has serious consequences for the lives of hundreds of millions of other people. Still, it wasn’t easy for those wealthy owners to give in. Therefore, before relying on the “kindness” of pharmaceutical companies, the most concrete thing that rich countries can do is probably just to try to fill this inequality by giving poor countries the opportunity to do so. access to their starting surplus vaccine resources. Saving people is actually saving yourself.
Tu Uyen

The 5G variant of the Galaxy A22. The camera system on the product includes three cameras, with a 48 MP main camera combined with a 5 MP and 2 MP secondary camera, but the specific function is unknown. However, based on what happened before with the Galaxy A series, it is likely that these secondary cameras will work as macro and depth respectively. On the front, the Galaxy A22 5G phone will have a 6.4-inch screen with Full HD + resolution. Samsung has opted for LCD technology over AMOLED, which explains its use of a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. To support 5G, it uses the same MediaTek Dimensity 700 chip as on the recently launched Realme 8 5G. There is no word on RAM and internal storage yet, but it will have a 5,000 mAh battery. Realme launched a smartphone with 5,000 mAh battery, 33W charging, 90Hz screen, 6 GB RAM, priced at more than 4 million VND As for the Galaxy A22 4G, the LTE variant of this product is very similar to the 5G version but there are some important differences both inside and out. For example, the screen is still 6.4 inches, but the resolution is reduced to HD + and the V-shaped notch has been moved to a U. Waterproof smartphone, S888 chip, 12 GB RAM, 240Hz screen, 2,000 nits brightness The 4G variant of the Galaxy A22. Interestingly enough, Samsung has also ditched LCD technology in favor of an AMOLED display with thinner bezels. That has allowed the company to add an in-display fingerprint scanner, as opposed to the 5G variant. Inside, the device integrates the Helio G80 chip like on the Galaxy A32 4G instead of Dimensity 700, but the battery is still 5,000 mAh. Detailed photos of Asus ZenFone 8 Flip: ‘super terrible’ configuration, 5,000 mAh battery, 90Hz screen, rotating camera, priced at more than 22 million The rear camera part is also a bit different from the 5G variant when it equips up to four cameras, including 48 MP, 5 MP, 2 MP and 2 MP respectively for main, ultra-wide, macro and camera functions. deep. See the waterproof smartphone, the world’s best screen, S888 chip, 12 GB RAM, ‘super big’ camera Both the Galaxy A22 4G and A22 5G are expected to be announced in the coming months, even weeks. Their prices have not been announced yet, but the images shown above show they come in four color options, including Black, Purple, White and Green.

The new Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik Light was registered on May 6. (Source: Sputnik) According to Russian Health Minister Murashko, just registered a few days ago, the Sputnik Light vaccine has attracted interest abroad. However, Mr. Murashko did not specify which countries have shown interest in this vaccine. Sputnik Light is the first component of Sputnik V – a recombinant human viral vector of serotype 26 (rAd26). The Gamaleya Research Institute, together with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), conducted a global trial of the effectiveness of Sputnik Light on February 21, and the vaccine was officially registered on May 6. The data showed that the vaccine was 79.4% effective, higher than many two-component vaccines. The nearly 80% efficacy level is higher than many of the world’s two-dose vaccines, highlighting the vaccine’s proven effectiveness against all new variants. According to a report by the Russian Direct Investment Fund, no serious side effects were noted after vaccination with Sputnik Light; vaccines comply with standard logistics and storage requirements. The single-dose vaccine, which allows more people to be vaccinated in less time, is effective in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic during the acute phase of development. (according to Sputnik)

As of 7am on May 11, related to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases 2, there were 89 Covid-19 cases, of which 78 were at the hospital, 23 were Hanoians and 55 were at other hospitals. other province. Previously, as the new Han Newspaper reported, on the afternoon of May 9, the Ministry of Health announced the results of gene sequencing of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on 8 samples of patients with Covid-19 in 3 provinces and cities. streets: Hanoi, Hung Yen and Thai Binh. As a result, all 8 samples belong to the Indian variant B1,617.2. Step 1: Visit https://www.bluezone.gov.vn or download directly at App Store or CH Play. Step 2: Once downloaded, the application will ask for permission to use Bluetooth to record contact with other Bluezone installed users. If Bluetooth is not open, drag the status bar and turn on Bluetooth; or go to Settings, select Bluetooth and turn it on. Step 3: Once the installation is done, click Scan Around. If someone near you less than 2m has used Bluezone, the application will automatically identify these users and put them in the contact list.

Illustration. Image source: Internet The benefits of push-ups include increased joint support, muscle tone, and strength. Push-ups are especially effective at strengthening the muscles around the shoulder joint. Increasing the number of push-ups gradually will build enough strength in the muscles. It should be noted that overloading weakens muscles, which can lead to muscle and tendon injuries, according to Medicine News Line. Increase muscle and strength There are several different variations of push-ups, and each activates the muscles in different ways. One small study looked at variations such as standard push-ups, wide push-ups, narrow push-ups, forward push-ups, and backward push-ups. Research has found that push-ups backwards with your hands shoulder-width apart but 20cm behind your shoulders – activate the most muscle groups. The authors concluded that the backward push-up may be the most beneficial push-up variation for upper body strength, according to Medicine News Line. The chest area is more muscular and firm, more robust Men also often imagine that if their chest muscles are bigger, it will make them more masculine. When doing push-ups, they can work the chest muscles at the same time. This is really a special case that only with push-ups can you achieve this goal, from loose muscle to a toned muscle. After a period of practice, the entire pectoral muscle is better shaped and looks more attractive. Reshape the body to be more standard In terms of appearance, people who regularly do push-ups will have a more elegant and beautiful physique. As we often say “standard form”. Due to the nature of the job, many people will have to sit and work all day, the body has the wrong posture, not only makes the muscles work poorly and you can also have a hunchback, affecting your physique and image. . If you persist in doing push-ups for a while, you will soon realize your body becomes noticeably better. If you are busy, do this exercise in the morning and evening, until you reach 100. This is a very good pose for body shaping. Because when doing push-ups, the whole body will be straightened and at the same time stretching the back will be clearer with a feeling of evenness and strength. You will have an extremely attractive, masculine body. Stimulate metabolism Planks are a great way to challenge your whole body because doing it daily will burn more calories than other traditional moves such as sit-ups. The muscles you strengthen through this exercise on a daily basis will ensure you burn more energy, even if you are sedentary. This is especially important for office workers who spend most of their time sitting at a computer. Even better, doing it 10 times a minute before or after work will increase your metabolic rate and keep it high throughout the day (and even during sleep).

ASUS ZenFone 8 will launch with a 5.92-inch display with Full HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The device will feature an OLED panel with an in-display fingerprint scanner. This compact flagship will feature the Snapdragon 888 chipset, which is expected to ship with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 memory. It will come pre-installed with Android 11 operating system based on ZenUI. ZenFone 8 has a 4,000mAh battery with 30W fast charging support. The phone has a 12 MP front camera and the rear camera system will include a 64 MP Sony IMX686 main sensor and 12 MP wide-angle camera, which can also take macro photos. The handset is expected to have other features such as dual speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack. Currently, there is no information about the price of ZenFone 8 Flip. As the name suggests, this device will own the same flip camera technology as the predecessor ZenFone 7 and ZenFone 6. According to Gizmochina

Australia ordered 25 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine. AAP photo. Moderna pharmaceutical company said Australia will receive two batches of vaccines, including a booster batch of vaccine capable of dealing with new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel also said that the company intends to set up a vaccine production facility in Australia this year and this intention is being discussed by the company with the Australian government. Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine has not been approved in Australia, but the company said it will quickly submit an application to the Therapeutic Goods Administration for approval. Moderna’s vaccine is manufactured on the same mRNA technology platform as Pfizer’s vaccine and is considered highly effective in preventing deaths and hospitalizations due to Covid-19. Moderna’s vaccine has not yet been approved for use by the Australian Drug Administration, but it is being used widely in vaccination programs in the US. Thus, with the agreement with Moderna, Australia has ordered a total of nearly 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, enough to vaccinate nearly four times the population of this country.

Nigeria will become the next big Covid-19 “outbreak” after India. (Source: Anadolu Agency/Getty) And experts are cautiously observing a developing country, with a large area, disparities in health services and unequal access to vaccines, like India, that is Nigeria. With 200 million people, it is the most populous country in West Africa and the 7th most populous country in the world. Ngozi Erondui, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House Center for Global Health Security in the UK, said that “Nigeria is really vulnerable” and “has a lot in common with India”. When rich countries are not willing to share The world will not be able to do anything to prevent Covid-19 from ravaging Nigeria like the situation is happening in the past days in India. A more equitable distribution of vaccines could build a “firewall” against the rise in infections in Nigeria, as well as in other less developed countries. However, that will require the more economically developed countries of the world to share rescue resources with poorer countries. The tragic case of India proves that the vaccine-rich country in the world will not be in a hurry to help poor countries on distant continents. In fact, Africa is not necessarily synonymous with “poverty”. The continent is huge and diverse, comprising 54 countries with 1.2 billion people running economies from large to small, rich to poor, strong to weak. Likewise, African countries’ pandemic experiences vary widely. South Africa, one of the wealthiest countries on the continent, was hit hard last summer and then returned in January. Officials in the region recorded more than 54,000 deaths. The mortality rate is 93 deaths per 100,000 population, a number far below the US 175 deaths per 100,000 population, but much higher than the global average of 38 deaths. per 100,000 inhabitants. So far, many less industrialized African countries have avoided catastrophic spikes in infections, recording fewer deaths than rich countries. A total of 580,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 while only 1,600 Nigerians have died from the pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 virus – “opportunistic” virus However, that doesn’t mean Covid-19 won’t reach Nigeria and other African countries, it just means it hasn’t arrived yet. Lawrence Gostin, a global health expert at Georgetown University, told T he Daily Beast : “I am seeing the possibility that the Covid-19 fires will ravage around the world in the weeks and months to come. And I’m most worried about Africa.” According to Mr. Gostin, “the crisis in India is a leading indicator of what is to come in other low- and middle-income countries”. Despite its crowded cities, limited public health measures and a patchwork health care system, India has so far been considered relatively fortunate. The South Asian country has 1.37 billion people but only 160,000 deaths so far in March, with a rate of 11 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. Then, in April, a new and more contagious variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, known as B.1.617, emerged and spread across India, causing a record increase in cases and deaths. green. In just a few weeks, India had nearly 50,000 more deaths. The death rate rose to 15 per 100,000 population. When this article was published, the Covid-19 wave in India was underway, but the trend was already decreasing. The rate of new cases and deaths is decreasing. And while it is predicted that tens of thousands of more Indians will die before this spike is over, at least the pandemic has not gotten any worse in the country. But the SARS-CoV-2 virus is an opportunistic virus. It always finds places that are densely populated but have no protection. Spreading through the air from person to person, Covid-19 establishes a “laboratory” in each body that the virus infects. Each SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates after two weeks of infection for as long as it is active, and seeks to evolve so that it can create a new variant that is increasingly contagious. New variants help the virus spread even faster in a self-reinforcing cycle that ends only with drastic social distancing, vaccinations and antibodies among survivors, or more likely a combination of the virus. all three methods to cut off the transmission route of Covid-19. It is no coincidence that SARS-CoV-2 thrived in India this month. Popular religious festivals have attracted thousands of people who attended without wearing masks. Meanwhile, India’s vaccination effort is very bad. According to statistics, the South Asian country has fully vaccinated only 3% of the population, compared with more than 30% in the US. The global average for full immunization is also a little over 3%. From the epidemiologist’s point of view, Nigeria, with its many overcrowded cities, high poverty rates and shabby health system, is quite similar to India, but worse in some respects. India has at least some domestic vaccine manufacturers, while Nigeria has none. The African country must import all doses of the vaccine from outside. That explains why Nigeria only partially immunizes 1% of the population and almost no one is fully vaccinated. The Lagos government is expected to receive 84 million doses of the vaccine from AstraZeneca and Johnson&Johnson in the coming weeks. But that number is only enough to inject a fifth of the country’s population. Meanwhile, the proportion that experts say could lead to “herd immunity” is vaccination of three-quarters of the population, which blocks most routes of transmission and can last up to year 2022. Shortage side, surplus side To help Nigeria and the underserved countries, the rich countries of the world should stop hoarding vaccines excessively. Of course, more shots are not a panacea, and even a country with many vaccines can have trouble administering. However, the vaccine shortage, and the hesitation among people who doubt the vaccine’s effectiveness, could further slow the vaccination process. Shaun Truelove, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that “the only way to know if Nigeria is managing vaccines well is to keep shipping the vaccine to the country”. Global supply is not the biggest problem. The United States, a country with many vaccine manufacturers, has a stockpile of more than 60 million doses of vaccine while continuing to have more vaccines supplied by factories, while vaccination rates are falling. especially for Republicans. It was only a few weeks after the sudden spike in Covid-19 in India that the administration of President Joe Biden promised to ship an additional number of vaccines to New Delhi. The AstraZeneca vaccine isn’t even authorized in the US. For Americans, those doses of vaccines are not only redundant but also useless. The problem of severe delays in the release of excess vaccines was anticipated a year ago. In the spring of 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) together with a number of international public-private partners, came together to establish the Global Access to Vaccines Covid-19 initiative, or COVAX. The COVAX initiative allows rich countries to pay for vaccines to poor countries. COVAX’s goal was to deliver 100 million doses by March, but it actually delivered less than 40 million doses. “This has failed Nigeria and many countries,” Mr. Erondu said [trong việc tiêm chủng]”. America is part of the problem. The Trump administration has refused to sign on to COVAX, a move that reflects its narrow “America First” philosophy. The Trump administration at the time either didn’t understand, or didn’t care, that vaccinating poor countries also helped protect rich countries. After all, the virus doesn’t care about borders. Mr. Biden reversed the decision in February. The administration has committed $4 billion in cash, making the US the largest donor of COVAX, albeit somewhat belatedly. In a parallel move, Mr. Biden also signaled support for a controversial proposal to give the WTO a copyright exemption for a Covid-19 vaccine. In theory, the decision would allow any manufacturer in any country to produce doses of the vaccine. However, experts are still divided on whether the patent waiver will lead to more doses of the vaccine being shipped to countries in need. Meanwhile, many richer countries have been slow to implement their COVAX commitments. Meanwhile, strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus continue to target unprotected populations from one area to another. Nigeria is about to become the “storm center” of Covid-19. However, this West African country may not suffer the same fate as India. Because vaccines are available. Existing mechanisms will get the vaccine to the countries that need it most. It is worth mentioning that many countries have a surplus of vaccines but do not appreciate the importance of sharing vaccines with other countries. (According to Daily Beast)

Improvements to the Challenger 2 will cost £800 million ($1 billion) for the 148 tanks currently in service, or £5.4 million ($6.6 million) per tank, including tank capacity. incorporating a new smoothbore cannon to replace the older one, a digitized turret, improved visibility and upgraded armor protection, engines, etc. According to many experts, although the German Leopard 2 has the advantage of being still in production and being invested more in research and development to continuously upgrade its design, the continued investment in The Challenger has many notable advantages over purchasing a “pre-existing” German design. The British Ministry of Defense has decided to upgrade the Challenger 2 tank to the Challenger 3 standard; Source: armytimes.com The Challenger 2 has had limited export success, and around 40 are currently operated by the Royal Oman Army. The Challenger 3 upgrade package is likely to be sold to Oman, which has long been a top customer for British weapons. The large number of British Challenger 2 tanks in storage can be refurbished and upgraded to Challenger 3 standard for export to any interested partner. The cost and burden of abandoning the Challenger and adopting a foreign tank would also be enormous, forcing the British Army to retrain not only the crew, but also the maintenance crews. It would also force the military to scrap all existing maintenance infrastructure and source spare parts from abroad, and thus end the domestic parts industry. The cost of buying a new Leopard 2 will also be significantly higher than the £5.4 million ($6.6 million) that the Challenger 3 upgrade package costs per vehicle. One of the most obvious drawbacks of switching to Leopard 2 was the loss of credibility as a major tank manufacturer, with Britain having invented and being the first country to use tanks in combat, This means that the country has lost its strong industry. It is also important to note that the Leopard 2 is much older in design than the Challenger 2, and first entered service 20 years ago – in 1979, older than the retired Challenger 1 that entered service. active in 1983. While the Leopard 2 was a faster and more maneuverable tank, the Challenger 2 was considered to have much better armor protection – although this diminished over time as German tanks were continuously upgraded. customary. The decision to upgrade Challenger 2 instead of buying Leopard 2 is justified for various reasons; Source: wikipedia.org The Challenger 2 is the most modern Western tank class and has been in service since 1998, although the problem of a lack of smoothbore guns reduces its export potential, combined with the relatively small size of the units. The British tank status means it will be discontinued much sooner than the Leopard 2. With the Leopard 2 more than 40 years old, Germany is currently investing in developing a successor, with the UK investing in the acquisition. The old German design is arguably not going to be a sensible choice. Furthermore, it is important to consider that if the UK really needs to replace the Challenger 2 with a foreign design, the Leopard 2 will not necessarily be the best choice – not only in terms of capabilities but also for political reasons. . As Britain seeks to forge ties with advanced economies outside of Europe after leaving the European Union, the better option may be South Korea’s K2 Black Panther, developed a few decades after Leopard 2. century and is generally considered to be much more powerful. The next-generation tank program in cooperation with Japan, or even buying an American M1 Abrams tank with some domestic improvements, may ultimately prove to be more affordable than buying the Leopard 2. The Challenger 2 upgrade provides a low-cost solution to modernizing armored units while avoiding the difficulties of transitioning to an entirely new vehicle type and, at the same time, preserving the weapons industry in the future. water for more potential programs in the future.

VOCs include corona virus variants that are more dangerous than the original strains, with a higher potential for infection and lethality. WHO previously classified B.1.617 as a “strain variable” (VOI), a level of danger lower than that of the VOC. Variant B.1.617 was first discovered in the Vidarbha region of the Indian state of Maharashtra last December. B.1.617 contains 2 mutations L452R and E484Q, or “double mutation”. According to WHO, variant B.1.617 is already present in more than 20 countries. Malaysian soldiers and security personnel at a blockade to block the entrance of the capital Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Bloomberg Malaysia blockade nationwide for 3 weeks Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on May 10 announced that the country would again apply a nationwide blockade within three weeks. According to Reuters, Prime Minister Yassin said the decision to blockade from May 12 to June 7 is necessary, as the number of new infections and the emergence of corona virus variants are putting pressure on. public health system. “Malaysia is facing a third wave of Covid-19 that is likely to cause a national crisis,” explained Mr. Yassin. “Data and science continue to show gathering practices, which make it difficult to maintain social disparity, and the presence of people in confined spaces as the main cause of social disparity. spread of Covid-19 “. Malaysia’s Ministry of Health said on May 10 that the country had 3,807 new cases of Covid-19 infection, bringing the total number of cases to 444,484. The number of Covid-19 deaths increased by 17 to a total of 1,700. The Malaysian government has also introduced the Movement Control Order (MCO), which prohibits all activities with crowds such as weddings or dining at restaurants, closes schools, limits 3 to 1. car (including driver) … The body of a suspected Covid-19 washed up on the banks of the Ganges River At least 40 bodies were washed ashore on the banks of the Ganges section between the two Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “The incident happened at the Ganges section in Buxar district, near the state border of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. We instructed authorities to dispose of the bodies by burial or cremation,” said Ashok Kumar, local official. , said May 10. Buxar district media said, the number of bodies washed ashore could reach about 100. Many of these are decomposing and may have been in the river for many days. Some officials are concerned that these may be the remains of victims recently passed away from Covid-19. Locals believe that the bodies were dropped into the river because the cremation area was overloaded or relatives of the dead could not afford firewood. “This is what really shocked us,” said Kameshwar Pandey, a person who lives near the riverbank. According to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU), on May 10, India recorded more than 366,000 new cases and nearly 3,800 deaths. To date, the country has recorded a total of more than 22.6 million cases and more than 246,000 deaths by Covid-19. Taiwan isolating China Airlines pilots Tran Thoi Chung, head of the Taiwanese health agency (China), said on May 10 that all pilots of the island’s largest airline would be quarantined for 14 days to prevent spread of Covid-19. Chung said the only way he could stop what he believed was a cluster of infections at China Airlines was to isolate all of the airline’s returning and returning pilots, Chung said. “This will have a big impact on China Airlines, for its passenger, cargo and crew flights. But for the safety of the entire community, we can’t help but make a decision. This, “he announced. China Airlines did not comment on the decision, although it has repeatedly said it will work with authorities to end Covid-19 infection, and increase vaccination of its employees, including both the pilot. Vietnamese-English

Patient COVID-19 was treated in an isolation ward in New Delhi, India on May 8, 2021. Photo: THX / TTXVN Half a month ago, when the COVID-19 crisis shook India, the Regional Director of South Asia at the International Association of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Udaya Regmi warned the rate of infection. The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the region is “really frightening”, possibly making South Asia “the new epicenter of the next US pandemic”. In the past two weeks, according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, the number of new infections in this region has been higher than the total number of cases in the first six months of the pandemic combined – an explosion that has stunned at South Asia. Along with India, the number of new infections is increasing alarmingly across South Asia, especially in Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Charities fear South Asia is approaching “disaster”. Experts say that the epidemic situation in South Asia has become more serious recently, mainly due to the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, especially the double mutation in India. Over the past week, Nepal has seen a number of new cases of more or less 9,000 cases / day, while this number during March was only a few dozen cases. The number of reported infections in Nepal is 57 times more now than in April 2021. The rate of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection per 100,000 population per day increased more than 7 times in just two weeks. In Sri Lanka, since the beginning of May alone, more than 18,000 new infections have been recorded. If on April 27, for the first time, the number of cases per day in this country reached 4 digits, then on May 10, the South Asian country witnessed the highest number of cases ever, 2672 cases. Pakistan in February averaged 1,100 cases per day, now this number has increased 5 times. Maldives on 11/5 recorded 1,204 cases, while a week ago the average daily number was about 600 cases. The rapid infection rate in all South Asian countries makes experts warn a new global epidemic wave is emerging that South Asia is the epicenter. Dr. Ashish Jha, Rector of Brown University of Public Health (USA) commented: “Here’s the bottom line: When there are big outbreaks, those variations will arise… India is a large country. “People and at large, when there are big outbreaks there, we will have to worry about new variants that are more harmful to the people of this country and of course they will spread around the world.” India first discovered variant B.1.617 in October 2020 and WHO classified it as a “variant of concern” at a global level due to its more contagious nature and higher mortality. as well as being resistant to many current vaccines and treatments. According to reports, this variant has appeared in at least 17 countries. Explaining the cause of the current devastating COVID-19 “tsunami” in South Asia, experts say that the region is inherently densely populated, with a large number of poor living together in the Narrow spaces in the slums of the city or rural areas turn this into “fertile ground” for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to rage. Currently more than 35% of the about 800 million poor people worldwide are struggling with the pandemic living in South Asia. People wait in line for the COVID-19 vaccine to be vaccinated in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. Photo: THX / TTXVN As one of the poorest countries in the world, Nepal was hit by a pandemic while still sinking in serious crises after the 2015 earthquake disaster. Currently, 44% of health care facilities here are damaged after The earthquake has not yet been reconstructed, more than 70% of the population has to earn a living by informal jobs so they do not have access to the social safety net. Since 2015, an additional 700,000 Nepalese have fallen into the poverty line. High density of the population, the proportion of people who are malnourished and have no income are factors that increase the risk of COVID-19 more easily and make medical care almost impossible. Although Nepal has increased its border controls and imposed blockades in heavily affected areas, including the capital, Kathmandu, experts fear that is not enough to keep the virus from spreading. As fast as a wind from the Kathmandu valley to the foot of Mount Everest. Meanwhile, the Maldives archipelago has an economy dependent on tourism, so it reopened the border to international tourists since July 2020 after 3 months of blockade, becoming the first country to celebrate. welcome foreign tourists in the midst of a pandemic still raging around the world. Until India’s other neighbors have begun to close their borders and impose a travel ban, resorts in the Maldives still welcome Bollywood stars and Indian citizens who want to visit the island nation. avoid the domestic epidemic crisis. As a result, early May, the Center for Medical Emergencies (HEOC) Maldives said hospital admissions had tripled in just a few days and that a new variant of the virus could have entered the island nation. In Sri Lanka, in the early days of May, the number of new infections in the day quickly exceeded the peak of the first wave in February. Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi admitted this was the result of mass gatherings in New Year’s Eve (April 13-14), when many people go to the streets to celebrate and go shopping. In Pakistan, schools and restaurants have been closed, shops have shortened hours of operation and troops have been deployed in response to the epidemic. But every night, groups of devout Muslims flock to temples across the country to pray, though Pakistani authorities have tightened restrictions on and banned travel during Eid al- Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Pakistan has recorded more than 861,000 cases and nearly 19,000 deaths, but the testing system in the country is very limited while the health care infrastructure is sagging, prompting experts to warn of epidemics. much worse. Home to half of the world’s poor, South Asian countries lack adequate public health facilities and are increasingly scarce in the medical supplies needed during a pandemic outbreak today. The countries in the region depend on India, the largest country in South Asia, for medical equipment and especially vaccines. However, India is also facing a serious shortage of both anti-epidemic products. The current very low vaccination rates in South Asia are one of the reasons the virus spreads “out of control”. According to UNICEF data, in most countries in the region, less than one tenth of the population is vaccinated. About 1.7 million out of nearly 30 million Nepalese people have just received the first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Among them, 380 thousand people received the second shot. It is also worrying that investment in public health in most countries remains modest. According to World Bank (WB) data, in 2017, Sri Lanka invested about 2% of GDP in public health, Bangladesh at 2.27% of GDP, the figure in Pakistan was 2.9% and 3 , 19% are in Bhutan, while the US is 17.06%, Austria is 10.4%, and Brazil 9.47%. Due to limited investment in health, most South Asian countries are “ragged” in the pandemic. For example, Nepal has about 1,600 hospital beds with active treatment and less than 600 ventilators, on average 0.7 doctors will care for 100,000 people. Sri Lanka, at a rate of 3.6 hospital beds for every 1,000 people and 1,200 people with only 1 doctor, quickly fell into overcrowding due to the pandemic. Cremation of patients dying from COVID-19 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: THX / TTXVN Moreover, since South Asia is one of the two regions with the highest poverty rates in the world (along with the southern Sahara), experts warn the consequences of this outbreak for South Asia will be. very cruel. According to the World Bank, COVID-19, which has been raging for more than a year, can push an additional 115 million people deep into poverty and most of the “new poor class” will be concentrated in South Asia. It can be said that the “terrible storm” COVID-19 that swept through India has also swept into other poor countries of South Asia. Dr. Netra Prasad Timsina, of the Red Cross of Nepal, warned “what is happening in India right now is the terrible future of South Asian countries” if we do not take drastic action. IFRC Asia Pacific Director Alexander Matheou also affirmed, “We need to act now, quickly to have hope of preventing this disaster,” because the virus “does not distinguish borders and strains are spreading throughout Asia “. South Asia is the region that accounts for 25% of the world’s population and whether the region can overcome the COVID-19 crisis will determine the “success or failure” of the fight against the global pandemic.

Pilot Wang Zunxi (a fairly well-known PLAAF officer) in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV 7) gave a very remarkable point of view. According to the veteran pilot, the multi-purpose fighter J-16 manufactured in Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and is being massively employed for PLAAF combat units of generation 4 ++. “J-16 fighter jets (including the J-16D electronic warfare version) have surpassed Russia’s Su-30 series heavy multi-role fighters in almost all tactical specifications. “. “The superiority shown in both avionics and electrodynamic properties, the radar reflection area reduction coefficient (RCS), the J-16 retains only the aerodynamic layout of the airframe”, pilot Vuong said clearly. Faced with the above situation, the Russian press stated that in order to seek export contracts or bring high morale and psychological state to the soldiers, the weapons manufacturers used very sophisticated promotional tools and are not always objective. Russian military experts rebuttal when emphasizing that the Chinese pilot is comparing the technical specifications of the electronic equipment on the Su-30MKK and Su-30MK2 fighters that are somewhat out of date. These fighters were supplied to the PLAAF 20 years ago, and they are actually significantly inferior to the J-16 when facing exercises (both for surface attack and long-range interception missions). ). The reason is that China’s Su-30 integrates the N001VE passive phase array radar (PESA), which ensures the realization of “truncated” synthetic aperture and “truncation” (SAR) mode with low resolution. , only allows the detection and classification of targets with large RCS parameters. In addition, the capacity and anti-interference ability of the N001VE radar is quite low, it can only catch the 1m2 RCS aerial target, 75 – 80 km away in case the enemy does not use electronic countermeasures. In fact, the J-16’s high energy and anti-interference active phase array (AESA) radar has a target capture range with 1 m2 RCS from 130 to 150 km, and high anti-interference ability, range is only slightly reduced in a highly noisy environment. This is due to the presence in the electronic architecture of the advanced AESA radar, which consists of more than 1,500 transceiver modules, each equipped with an individual arsenide / gallium nitride microwave transistor. Moreover, this type of radar is also capable of operating in synthetic aperture (SAR), reverse synthesized aperture (ISAR) and tracking ground targets moving in real time. Although the equipment for the J-16 is very advanced, the Russian side thinks that it is necessary to compare the J-16 with more modern modifications, for example the Su-30SM2 variant is about to enter service. Although the N035 Irbis radar that will equip the Su-30SM2 of the PESA class may be significantly inferior to the J-16’s AESA radar in terms of interference resistance, the capacity is higher (providing target acquisition range. with 1 m2 RCS at a distance of 250 – 270 km). With the N035 Irbis radar, the Su-30SM2 will have the ability to “foresee and shoot before” the J-16 in a direct confrontation situation, especially when Russia is still completing the long-range air-to-air missile “product. 180 ”. But it must be noted that the Su-30SM2 is still on paper, while the J-16 has been on duty for many years and there is no guarantee that the Russian fighter really possesses outstanding features. as they still publish.

“Then, the nurse in charge told me that that day India did not have a new hospital stay due to Covid-19. A surge of relief,” said Mr. Udwadia. Financial Times . Indian people and hospitals struggled because of Covid-19. Photo: Reuters. The joy is short-lived After 245 days of continuously fighting the epidemic, that moment brought rare happiness to Mr. Udwadia. He and his colleagues smiled with relief that across India, the number of new cases per day had fallen below 15,000. This encouraging sign also corresponds to the declining Covid-19 observed at the hospital at that time. But the joy is short: Summer welcomes India with a terrible April. The worrying numbers are constantly inching up. On April 26, India set a global record with 352,991 new cases within 24 hours. “On the hospital beds, the scene seems to have been cut from the ‘Hell’ part of poet Dante’s Divine Song,” Udwadia said. With the meager source of oxygen, long lines of patients fought for life with death. Meanwhile, echoing in space are calls for help. The patient’s expectation seems hopeless amid the indifference of the medical staff, who are also strained by the great pressure of the mission to save lives. In the warehouse, oxygen gradually runs out, while many essential pharmaceuticals are in short supply. Even patients in hospitals will not be able to hold out for long once the oxygen supply is depleted. In the black markets, oxygen cylinders are for sale for $ 670, eight times the usual level. Even so, the patients still buy in stock, preparing for the worst possible scenario. India struggled in the second wave of infections. Photo: Reuters. Mistakes All positive signs disappear after three months. In January, the Indian Minister of Health proudly declared: “India has stabilized the Covid chart”. This confidence cannot help India obscure a painful reality: The corona virus is besieging a country of 1.4 billion people. Instead of capitalizing on that precious time in January to ramp up vaccine deployment, secure oxygen supplies and tighten social gaps, India has allowed more localities to campaign for elections and 3, 5 million followers crowded along the banks of the Ganges River during the Kumbh Mela festival. “The virus is forgotten because we declare ourselves the winners,” Udwadia said. Then, as a matter of course, the second Covid-19 wave hit like a fierce tidal wave, making its own impact in 2020 just like a ripple of water. Many believe this wave is caused by the Indian variant B.1.617. This variant has two frightening mutations, the E484Q and the L452R. The lethality of the new variant causes nations to race to close their borders with India. The corona virus pushed the nation of billions of people into turmoil. Photo: Reuters. “As a doctor, I guarantee that the virus appears to be more contagious, has more serious fatalities and affects young people more often than before,” Udwadia said. Currently, patients between the ages of 26 and 44 account for about 40% of cases and nearly 10% of deaths in India. Meanwhile, the story of the vaccine still has its own questions. Instead of calling for 1.7 billion doses of vaccine stockpiling from trusted manufacturers, India has left it all for its “vaccine superpower” label. Early miscalculation now gives way to despair. Waiting for vaccinations crowded in Mumbai had only received an answer that most of the distribution sites were out of stock. Given the current situation (about 5% of India’s population is vaccinated), the coveted prospect of public immunity (when 70% of the population has viral antigens) will take at least another 700 days to be successful. realistic. ‘I lost my wife and children on the same day because of Covid-19’ Most hospitals in India are overcrowded, relatives miserable begging for beds and oxygen cylinders for patients. The furnaces were incinerated, many trucks carrying corpses lined up in long queues.

“I promise to take them home,” said Rommel, the man’s voice distorted behind the two masks he wore on his face. Mr. Rommel finally broke his promise. Just three days later, Rommel’s brother Juan Carlos, 52 years old, died waiting for his turn to be used in the active treatment room at Rebagliati hospital in the capital Lima. The very next day, Rommel’s 80-year-old mother died of encephalitis, a symptom the doctor said was Covid-19. Four days after the mother’s death, Rommel’s father also passed away. “The pain is really so great, I cannot face this truth,” Mr. Rommel could not hide his agony. Massacre in South America On April 18, Peru experienced the deadliest day since the pandemic broke out with 433 patients dying of Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths to more than 57,000. New strains, the most serious of which are strain P1, are pushing Peru into the next wave of epidemics, the country’s authorities warned. And Peru is no exception in South America. Latin American countries are in despair when the P1 strain spreads faster than ever, making the epidemic situation worse and worse. New cases and deaths rose again in Argentina, Boliva, Peru, Venezueala and Uruguay, with the P1 strain being thought to be the cause behind the new epidemic wave. Hospitals in many South American cities are overcrowded due to too many patients with Covid-19. Photo: AP. “The Brazilian sea of ​​strains has infiltrated nearly every corner of the region,” warned Peruvian Health Minister Osscar Ugarte. Peru, one of the most serious outbreaks in the world, is now entering the deadliest phase of the pandemic. Ester Sabino, a Brazilian scientist tracking the spread of the P1 strain, said genetic analysis confirmed the P1 strain appeared from the city of Manaus in the Brazilian state of Amazon in the second half of November 2020. In just a few weeks, Manaus gained worldwide fame after city hospitals were overwhelmed by a surge in patients. The P1 strain knocked out the medical system at the places it passed, depleting the oxygen stores, causing many patients to die from not receiving timely treatment. “What we are witnessing is a massacre,” said a health worker at Manaus. Sabino initially hoped the Brazilian epidemic, along with the spread of the P1 strain, could be under control by 2021 when the vaccine begins to be widely distributed. But the Brazilian authorities failed. The spread of the P1 strain is now completely out of control. In Araraquara, a city south of Sao Paulo, a blockade was issued after the outbreak of P1 positive cases. Across Brazil, hospitals are overflowing with Covid-19 patients, many of them in their youths, in contrast to what happened in the early onset of the epidemic. The number of deaths in Brazil doubled in just three months, from 195,000 in early January to more than 384,000 as of April 23. “This strain not only spread much more strongly, it also significantly reduced the effectiveness of the vaccine, increasing the rate of re-infection,” said Antonio Quispe, a Peruvian epidemiologist. Quispe described the P1 strain spreading “quickly and brutally”, bringing a bad nightmare to South America. Incubator of dangerous strains Fearing new strains with vaccine resistance, governments of some countries have tightened traffic control and closed borders with South America. Recently, France has banned all flights from Brazil, French Prime Minister Jean Castex explained that Brazil is experiencing a “terrible” epidemic. “Europe has the right to fear what is happening in Brazil. The more the virus spreads, the more new strains appear. The situation is now extremely, extremely serious,” said Marcos Boulos, infectious disease expert. from the University of Sao Paulo, said. South American countries, where the epidemic is spreading out of control, provide ideal environments for the incubation of new virus strains, Boulos warned. Mr. Boulos’s judgment was correct in India. Variant B.1.617 – Indian variant – is the product of the superinfection in the South Asian country. Last week, India has twice set a world record for corona virus cases on April 22-23. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi likened the health crisis to a “hurricane” that swept across the country. Scientist Miguel Nicolelis criticizes President Jair Bolsonaro’s erroneous strategy that has turned Brazil, South America’s most populous nation, into a global corona virus threat. The coffin carrying the body of the deceased Covid-19 patient is taken to a cemetery in Manaus, Brazil. Photo: AFP. “Brazil is now like an incubator, creating all kinds of strains of the virus,” said Nicolelis. While some mutations can weaken the virus, others have the potential to make the virus spread more aggressively, or increase their virulence, the scientist warns. Scientists also rang alarm bells about the epidemic situation in India’s 1.3 billion population. “Change can happen even faster there. India is paving the way for the advent of countless mutations. It’s a terrifying prospect,” warned Nicoleles. “Countries like Brazil and India cannot be spurned or abandoned. They need help, because disease is not a problem for any country, it is a worldwide problem,” said Nicolelis. . In Lima, Mr. Rommel still does not know what type of virus has killed three of his relatives. Even so, the man understands the scale of the disaster engulfing the country, where more than 57,000 people have died from Covid-19. “There are 30 patients waiting in line for each intensive care bed, and they prioritize young patients,” which was what the doctor told Rommel when he took his brother Joan Carlos to the hospital at the end of the month. 3. After being admitted to the hospital, Rommel’s brother never got a chance to leave the emergency room. He died only 3 days after pneumonia and pneumothorax. “The plague here is like a war where people are dying because they can’t find a hospital bed,” Rommel said sourly. India ‘broke the game’ in the second wave of Covid-19 India is being devastated by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. In just 24 hours, the number of deaths due to the country’s pandemic reached 2,000 people and more than 300,000 new cases.

But all hospitals are full. “We couldn’t find a hospital bed for him, but I couldn’t take him home, after all, under this condition”, Naharshetivar responded to local television, wearing a towel instead of a mask. They drove industriously for 24 hours. “He’s running out of oxygen.” He looked at his father. After 24 hours driving his father from hospital to hospital, Naharshetivar didn’t know how much longer he could do this. He looked urgently into the camera camera of the TV station and pleaded: “If I can’t give my father a hospital bed, is there a doctor that only needs to give him a shot? Can you help my father die painlessly?” People cremate those who have died because of COVID-19. (Photo: Getty) More than 1,200 kilometers away from the capital New Delhi, many COVID-19 patients die on stretchers outside the hospital overnight. Relatives tried to bring them in but could not make it in time. In Western Gujarat, a man cried painfully next to the body of his family – a cancer patient had just been tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and died in a parking lot when the hospital was overloaded. Some people argue and blame each other. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in hospitals and clinics across India. The country’s health system struggled as the number of COVID-19 cases skyrocketed. On April 22, India confirmed nearly 315,000 new infections in 24 hours – the highest number of cases per day in the world. In the following days, the record constantly being “shattered” in the epidemic is like a “tsunami” that can make anyone unlucky to fall. The disruption of the medical system brings with it fears that law and order will also wobble: oxygen trucks must move under police protection to deal with looting. The black market for selling medical equipment is “vibrant”. Vaccine theft was stolen from a hospital warehouse in Haryana but returned it with an apology. Police say the thief may have been planning to steal anti-virus drugs – drugs are also in serious shortage in this country. Some Indians have a self-sufficient inventory of oxygen at home, thinking that even trying to go to the hospital won’t do any good. Social media is full of desperate calls for help from bed seekers, oxygen, antivirals, vaccines. One longtime journalist even tweeted directly about his oxygen depletion levels until his death. The body of a person who died from COVID-19 was taken to the cremation site. (Photo: Getty) “I’ve never felt so hopeless or helpless”, Dr. Trupti Gilada said on Facebook. She cries while squatting in her car outside the Mumbai hospital, where she works. “We are seeing young people as well. We have a 35-year-old on mechanical ventilation. Please pray for our patients.” Vertical chart On the charts, the sudden increase in the number of cases in India is almost erect, rather than an ascending curve. This bewildered development hit the heads of Indians not long after their cases plunged to a record low in February. Dr. K. Srinath Reddy, epidemiologist and public health specialist working on a technical team that advises the Indian government on COVID-19, said: “Here many people, from the general public to the policymakers, are convinced that India will not have a second wave. Unfortunately, they have let their guard down. It is clear that society is open – tourism. , local elections, religious gatherings, weddings – have led to super contagious events. And the emergence of variations has also certainly increased this pace. “ The number of daily COVID-19 cases in India, the chart starts to “climb up” from mid-March 2021. (Source: Times of India) Last month, the Indian Ministry of Health announced it had detected 771 variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the country, including a “collection” of variants identified first in the UK, South. African and Brazilian, as well as the new variant is called “double mutation”. In that variant, Indian scientists say they are working on two mutations that could increase the virus’s infectivity and help it avoid vaccines. Fears are heightened when Indian media reported fully vaccinated people who are still ill, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 88. He was hospitalized for COVID-19 almost three weeks after a second dose of vaccine on April 3. As of April 20, his condition had stabilized. However, experts say concerns about the reduced efficacy of the vaccine have yet to be scientifically proven. It is not clear how sick people were, or what of the hundreds of SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating throughout India. The country’s Ministry of Health said it has so far distributed 132 million doses of vaccine to a population of nearly 1.4 billion people. That means less than 10% of India’s population has received one dose and less than 2% have received 2 doses. On April 20, the Indian government released data showing that only 0.03% or 0.04% of fully vaccinated people tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. India has been using two vaccines with high efficacy rates in clinical trials: Oxford – AstraZeneca and another produced by Indian company Bharat Biotech. Cruel record Bodies were piled up in the morgue. The crematorium is not running at full capacity. According to official data, the number of new cases in India on April 25 increased by 352,991. However, this may not be the complete number, according to NPR . The number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in India also broke the record, 2,104 people on April 22, and 2,812 people on April 25, not to mention many deaths outside the hospital and not being tested. “The second wave of COVID-19 comes like a storm”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. The Indian government announced it would extend the vaccination population from May 1 to anyone over 18 years old. But in early April, hundreds of clinics across the country ran out of vaccines. Many people who came to the appointment saw signs posted at the hospital gates indicating the vaccination room was closed. It was a shock to the nation that prides itself on being the world’s largest producer of vaccines. India once exported COVID-19 vaccine, but now there are not enough vaccines for domestic use. (Illustration) Unlike the first phase, on January 20, Prime Minister Modi ruled out the possibility of continuing to block the country and told the states that blockade should only be used as a last resort. His government is facing criticism for allowing large numbers of events to unfold during the epidemic. In March 2020, when the number of cases was relatively low in India, Modi imposed the largest national blockade in the world. Residents are only notified 4 hours in advance. And the economic costs are staggering: India’s economy slumped by nearly 24%, migrant workers starved to death on the streets. This week, amid new restrictions imposed in the capital Delhi, one of the main bus stops here is once again filled with migrant workers, as they try to escape the city to return home. Social distance continues to become a luxury.

Ancient corona virus illustration, 25,000 years ago. The current COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 3 million people and shows how vulnerable people are to the genetically modified corona virus. However, this threat seems to have occurred since the early days when humans had to fight these dangerous viruses. “There are always viruses that infect humans,” said senior study author David Enard, associate professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Arizona, USA. Viruses are actually one of the main drivers of natural selection in the human genome. That’s because genes that increase the chances of the pathogen’s survival are more likely to be passed on to new generations. ” Using modern tools, researchers can detect traces of these ancient pathogens by precisely identifying how they promote natural selection in today’s human DNA. Accordingly, this information can provide valuable insight to help predict future pandemics. Enard said: “Almost always is when things that happened in the past are more likely to happen in the future.” Using information available in public databases, Enard and his team analyzed the genomes of 2,504 people across 26 different human populations around the world. When corona viruses get inside human cells, they attack the cell’s machinery to replicate. This means that the viral success depends on its interaction with hundreds of different human proteins. Researchers magnified a set of 420 human proteins known to interact with the corona virus, 332 of which interact with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Most of these proteins help viruses multiply inside cells, but some help cells fight viruses. The genes that encode those proteins mutate continuously and randomly, but if the mutation gives the gene an advantage, such as a better resistance to the virus – then the gene has a chance to be passed on. next or selected higher. Indeed, the researchers found that, in people of East Asian descent, certain genes interacting with the corona virus were selected. In other words, over time certain variations show up more often than expected. This set of mutations may have helped the ancestors of the human population in this region become more ancient antiviral by altering the amount of protein produced by the cell. The genetic variations encoding 42 of the 420 proteins they analyzed began to increase in frequency about 25,000 years ago, the researchers found. The spread of beneficial variants continued until about 5,000 years ago. This suggests that the ancient virus continued to threaten these populations for a long time. Viruses cause pressure to adapt “Viruses exert some of the strongest selective pressures on humans to adapt, and corona viruses have probably been around since,” said Joel Wertheim, associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. long before man existed. However, it is difficult to say whether the virus that caused this evolution is the corona virus, but it seems to be a plausible theory. David Enard agrees that the ancient pathogen that harmed our ancestors may not have been the corona virus; instead, it is possible that another virus that has happened to interact with human cells in the same way that corona viruses do. Another group of researchers recently discovered that sarbecovirus, a family of the corona virus that includes SARS-CoV-2, first evolved 23,500 years ago, at the same time as variations in the genes that encode the proteins related to the corona virus have appeared for the first time in humans. Findings of the sarbecovirus virus were also published in bioRxiv on February 9 and have yet to be peer reviewed. While these findings are compelling, they do not change our understanding of which populations are more likely to survive SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although, there is no evidence that adaptation of this ancient gene protects modern humans from SARS-CoV-2. Enard and his team now hope to work with virologists to understand how this adaptation helped ancient humans survive exposure to this protozoan strain of the corona virus. The team also hopes that such ancient genomic studies could eventually be used as an “early warning system” for future pandemics. David Enard adds, although we clearly see the impact of this ancient virus on human ancestors, future generations will not be able to see traces of SARS-CoV-2 in the genome. our. Thanks to vaccination, there is no time for the virus to promote evolutionary adaptation.

Illustration. “We don’t want to talk, because people ask me to share. Actually, Bkav researched Corona virus vaccine (Covid-19) a year ago, ”Mr. Quang told VnEconomy a few minutes ago, regarding a recent online discussion about Covid-19 and he revealed. Bkav has established a new generation vaccine research group. Bkav Chairman said that after finishing the first epidemic, around May 2020, Bkav went to meet with representatives of the Central Epidemiological Party to learn about vaccines, and this activity of Bkav came. Currently still in theoretical research phase. Mr. Nguyen Tu Quang. The new technology vaccine is like making a chemical – 3D printed – that gives the shape of a virus “to fool the body into making antibodies”. “At that time, Bkav’s Institute of AI Technology set up a group to specialize in researching vaccines and epidemic prevention issues, which Mr. Quang said he often shared. Research activities on this vaccine are still going on, ”said Bkav Chairman. According to Mr. Quang, now the new generation vaccine mainly uses technology. Vaccines are like 3D printing. Conventional vaccines have to be grown on other hosts or have real samples and then transplanted to other things before it can be replicated and vaccinated. While new technology vaccines are like creating chemicals, but in 3D printing with nanotechnology, the technology content is very high. This vaccine can be produced in large quantities, and cultured normally cannot do much. According to this leader, the field of research and production of vaccines is very potential because the technology is very high. Because you can imagine virus variation very quickly. If the traditional method of making vaccines responds to variations is many years. But the new method can be adjusted immediately by technological measures … like programming. To put it simply, it is very related to Bkav as programming anti-virus software in your computer, this is a program to create a new virus shape corresponding to a variant virus, like programming anti-virus software. So, Mr. Quang added. Vietnam’s current vaccine technology, according to Bkav President, is still using mainly culture, of course there is also new technology in culture, but the efficiency is still low – it is difficult to produce hundreds of millions of doses. Whereas the new technology vaccine is like making a chemical – in 3D printed form – that gives the shape of a virus “to fool the body into making antibodies”. This is like programming to make vaccines, and technology plays an important role. Mr. Quang also said that when he met with the leader of a vaccine manufacturing company, the leader also analyzed research and production of new generation vaccines now that the technology factor occupies more position – the computer, programming, is information technology, with a lot of content. Of course, there must be knowledge about biomedical science, so Bkav has recruited more human resources in this biomedical field. However, according to Mr. Quang, this is a long-term story, of many decades, not a day or two. And in fact, new technology vaccines have been studied for decades, so when facing the urgent “Covid” period, they were immediately brought to the market and confirmed that they are effective. Why does Bkav want to participate in this field? Mr. Quang questioned and explained to VnEconomy that, as the “Covid disaster” has been going on, the coming here will not be a nuclear weapon and a biological weapon, which everyone can see. And if there is no technology to make vaccines with new technologies, it is “difficult to survive” with viruses similar to Corona virus. Second, according to Quang, in the world today, the production of vaccines depends on several companies, so Vietnam must also master new vaccine production technologies. . “Especially in Vietnam with a hundred million people, we have to master such things, as before, other vaccines we also have to master. Bkav’s goal in entering this field is to master new vaccine technologies, and this is something technology companies must take part in, ”said Bkav Chairman Nguyen Tu Quang. And only that, according to Mr. Quang, if an epidemic occurs, Vietnam can take the initiative. Bkav’s “Vaccine Journey” is a long story with a vision of a biological weapon, after the Covid-19 story, there will certainly be more (large) countries that have more motivation to manufacture weapons. biogas, but Bkav must prepare (research vaccine) right now ”, said Mr. Nguyen Tu Quang.

Photo: Getty Images On October 5, 2020, the GISAID global database shared the genetic makeup of the mutant virus B.1.617 for the first time. India is the country with the most patients infected with B.1.617, followed by the UK, then the US, so far there are a total of 22 countries infected with different degrees. It is not clear what country B.1.617 is from. There are two misunderstandings that should be avoided: one is the concept of the B.1.617 mutant strain originating from India, the other is the term “double mutation”. India is only a country with many patients infected with B.1.617 but no evidence of this mutant virus originated from India. The term “double mutation” is used to refer to two mutations, E484Q and L452R. According to the evolutionary principle of all viruses, strain B.1.617, when sequencing its genes, scientists found there were many different mutations. But there are two mutations that have caught the most attention of scientists; that is, the E484Q mutation could help the virus evade the immune system, and the L452R mutation could help the virus spread faster. In fact, the evolutionary virus had so many mutations at once, so two mutations like strain B.1.167 are not uncommon, and were even frequent in SARS-CoV-2 during pandemics. . Can not say “double mutation” B.1.617 is doubling the danger. The E484Q mutation is similar to E484K – a mutation previously found in the virus variant in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Similarly, mutation L452R appeared in variant CAL.20C causing disease in the state of California (USA). Scientists disagree with the term “double mutation” when referring to variant B.1.617 because it is misleading that if two mutations occur, the danger level will increase. double. Variation B.1.617 not too dangerous Most experts believe that the mutant virus strain B.1.617 is not the cause of the epidemic in India out of control. Dr Jeffrey Barrett, COVID-19 genomic research director at the Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK), said that variant B.1.617 is less severe than variants in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. On the extent of the spread, Mr. Barrett argues, it is clear that this variation has increased the frequency in India creating a huge and tragic wave, but it will take months to reach the present dangerous state, which This suggests that variant B.1.617 is less contagious than the UK mutant. Professor Richard Neher, who leads the research group on viral evolution at the University of Basel (Switzerland), also said that variant B.1.617 is not more severe than other variants. Although B.1.617 is causing a serious, out-of-control crisis that threatens to collapse the health system in India, according to Dr. Christian Drosten, Head of Virology at Charité Hospital (Germany), There is no reason to worry too much about the B.1.617 variant being called a “double mutation”. Virology experts shared that the B.1.617 variant was no more dangerous than the variants that appeared in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Vietnam once appeared outbreaks due to the B1.1.7 variant of the UK occurred in Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and some other localities, but we have controlled and extinguished completely. B.1.617 has become the “tsunami” that knocked down the Indian giant, but with Vietnam, will we once again win? My answer is: Vietnam has won against B.1.617 again. Deadliest day For India, yesterday was the deadliest day with 3,293 deaths, bringing the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the country to 201,187. Ambulances line up for hours in the New Delhi capital to take the bodies of COVID-19 victims to the temporary crematoriums in the park, the parking lot where the bodies were cremated, Times of India reported. Subjective, off guard India has had 215 new infections and 1 death every minute, and world records are being set every minute. With more than 18 million patients and nearly 200,000 deaths, India became the second most affected country in the world, only temporarily behind the US. The reason for the disaster was not due to sudden B.1,617. But due to some inaccurate information that has created the illusion, such as India has achieved excellent herd immunity, excellent epidemic control, a series of “humanitarian vaccine” policies are praised by the world. The Indian government prides itself on crushing the epidemic curve. In early 2021, the government’s anti-epidemic measures were loosened, and people’s guarding is inevitable. Google tracks the flow of people across countries. Accordingly, since January this year, Indians shop and move much more, the density of people is quite high in public areas, on public transport, the frequency of activities of people are close to normal status when the epidemic has not happened. When people are subjective, personal protective measures such as wearing a mask, measuring body temperature, disinfecting, and keeping social distance are almost not complied with. That is a significant factor contributing to the rapid spread of the epidemic. A series of exciting activities in the locality, such as campaigning, rally, election, demonstrations of farmers, even holding a big wedding are also opportunities for COVID-19 to break out. Before the serious epidemic in India, on April 28, State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc paid a visit to Indian President Ram Nath Kovind. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh paid a visit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the same day, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son sent his greetings to Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. But the most unfortunate is probably related to the traditional festivals, especially the Kumbh Mela festival with a huge influx of Hindu pilgrims, estimated in the hundreds of millions, stretching through April. During the festival, nearly 5 million people jumped into the Ganges and baptized, every day about a million people join the pilgrimage to pray, they squeeze their shoulders like wings and do not wear masks because they think that India has exempted. community epidemic, while in reality both the infected person and the person being vaccinated are less than 10% of the population.

B.1.617 dangerous? I think we now have two misunderstandings to avoid. One is the concept of the B.1.617 mutant strain originating from India and the other is the term “double mutation”. Because India is only a country with many patients infected with B.1.617 only, there is no evidence of virus mutation originating from this country. The term “double mutation” is used to refer to two mutations, E484Q and L452R. According to the evolutionary principle of all viruses, strain B.1.617, when sequencing genes, scientists found many different mutations. But two mutations that have caught the most attention of scientists are the E484Q mutation that can help the virus evade the immune system, and the L452R mutation, which can help the virus spread faster. In fact, the evolved virus would have so many mutations at once, so it’s not uncommon for two mutations like strain B.1.167 to even occur frequently in SARS-CoV-2 during the megalomania. Translate. Personally, I cannot say “double mutation” B.1.617 is double the danger. The E484Q mutation is similar to E484K, a mutation previously found in the virus variant in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Likewise, the L452R mutation was present in the epidemic CAL.20C variant in California. Scientists disagree with the term “double mutation” when referring to variant B.1.617 because that term is easily misleading. They believe that if two mutations occur, the danger level will double. Immunologist and microbiologist Kristian Andersen (California Campus) and professor of microbiology Sharon Peacock (Cambridge University) are both very in-depth research on mutant virus strains, but they disagree when using use the term “double mutation”. On the other hand, they do not agree to assign the strain B.1.617 originating from India. Most experts believe that the mutant virus strain B.1.617 is not the cause of the epidemic in India out of control. Logically, strain B.1.617 appeared in India from October 5, 2020. Since that time India has been taking steps to control the disease very well, with many remarkable achievements. By November 2020, India has basically successfully controlled the epidemic, the number of cases per day has fallen to less than 10,000 people since the beginning of 2021. B.1.617 is present in 22 countries but still under control. When a virus variant appeared, scientists immediately studied four problems. The first is the ability to cause disease. The second is the ability to evade immunity and vaccines. The third is the trait of the new mutation from the previous variants and the fourth is the contagiousness of the new mutant strain. Dr Jeffrey Barrett, COVID-19 genomic research director at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said that variant B.1.617 is less severe than variants in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. On the extent of the spread, Barrett argues, it is clear that this variation in frequency increases in India creating a huge and tragic wave, but it will take months to reach the present dangerous state. This suggests that variant B.1.617 is less contagious than the UK mutant. Professor Richard Neher, who leads the research group on the evolution of the virus at the University of Basel also said that variant B.1.617 is no more severe than the other variants. Although B.1.617 is causing crisis, out of control, there is a risk of a complete collapse of the health system in India. But according to Dr. Christian Drosten, head of virology at Charité Hospital in Berlin, there is no reason to worry too much about the B.1.617 variant called a “double mutation”. Similarly, other virologists around the world have shared the same view that variant B.1.617 is more dangerous than the variants that happened in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. Vietnam once appeared outbreaks due to the B.1.1.7 variant of the UK occurred in Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, TP. Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and a few other provinces, but we controlled and extinguished it completely. The question is that B.1.617 has become the “tsunami” that knocked down the Indian giant, but with Vietnam, will we once again win? My answer is: “Vietnam has won against B.1.617 again!”. (Illustration) Causes of outbreaks in India Almost a week, India has 215 new infections and 1 death every minute, world records are continuously set. The old record just yesterday this morning was crushed, with more than 18 million patients and nearly 200,000 deaths. India became the second most heavily affected country in the world, only temporarily behind the US. The reason for the disaster was not due to the B.1,617 mutation, but some inaccurate information that created the illusion of both the government and the people. For example, the news that India has achieved herd immunity, or its outstanding record in epidemic control, has been accompanied by a series of internationally-acclaimed “humanitarian vaccines” policies. The Indian government prides itself on crushing the epidemic curve! In early 2021, the government’s anti-epidemic measures were loosened, and people’s guarding is inevitable. Google tracks the flow of people across countries, since January of this year, Indians have been shopping and moving a lot more. The density of people is quite high in public areas or on public transport, the frequency of activities of the people is close to the normal state when there has not been an epidemic. When people are subjective, personal protective measures such as wearing a mask, measuring body temperature, disinfecting, and keeping social distance are almost not complied with. That is a significant factor contributing to the rapid spread of the epidemic. A series of exciting activities in the locality, such as campaigning, rally, election, demonstrations of farmers, even holding a big wedding are also opportunities for COVID-19 to break out. But the most unfortunate thing is probably the traditional festivals, especially the Kumbh Mela festival with a huge influx of Hindu pilgrims, estimated at hundreds of millions, lasting through April. During the festival, nearly 5 million people jumped into the Ganges to baptize. Every day about a million people join the pilgrimage to pray, they squeeze wings and do not wear masks because they believe that India is immune to the herd, when in fact both the infected and the vaccinated people have not. up to 10% of the population. But … India still has a long way to go to have herd immunity. In Southeast Asia, from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand to the Philippines, the epidemic is booming, every country is also at risk of breaking the battle. What should Vietnam do? Vietnam will also not be immune from invasive diseases. But fortunately, each day Vietnam has more than 20 traditional festivals, but only small ones. I advocate scaling down these festivals, even canceling them if it’s not safe. As for the festival related to tourism, because the epidemic is still long, it is impossible to stop forever, fight against epidemics well to maintain activities aimed at socio-economic development, in which tourism is a very important part. In my opinion, in the coming time, an epidemic outbreak in India and surrounding countries, Vietnam needs to turn tourism and tourism-related festivals into forms of social relaxation. For example, during the 4-day holiday this weekend, tourist destinations just need to change the scale; Cancellation of all public gatherings during the festival, such as cancellation of firework events, cancellation of indoor stage performance events, cancellation of outdoor large stage performance events. If we do so, tourists are mostly going for a break, essentially like a round of social break. On the whole, this weekend of 4-day holiday, in my opinion is a great time to have a break, especially with families returning home, or the few who stay in the city also resting in place, So the 4-day vacation is a very good opportunity to prevent epidemics. Ultimately, we must still have a vaccine to tackle the pandemic.

Mercedes-AMG’s new hybrid supercar has been around since March when the German automaker introduced its Project One hypercar and F1 racing car for the 2021 season. It can be seen that Mercedes is continuing to experiment to perfect the GT 73e. This is confirmed to be the most advanced variant of the next generation Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door and is expected to be officially launched later this year. The Mercedes-AMG GT 73e is developed on a new hybrid technology platform called E Performance. In addition to the GT 4-Door, the new generation C-Class will also have a high-performance variant combining a gasoline engine and an electric motor. The power of the 4-door coupe comes from a twin-turbocharged 4.0L V8 engine and an electric motor developed by AMG, providing a total capacity of 804 hp and maximum torque of 1,001 Nm. This parameter is higher than the 630 hp power of the current Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S version. This model is equipped with a high-performance battery pack, a 2-speed gearbox for an electric motor, a 9-speed AMG Speedshift MCT automatic transmission and shared driving technologies from F1 racing.

Actual casualties are 2-5 times higher The second wave of Covid-19 in India quickly pushed the country into a total crisis, overloading hospitals, depleting oxygen supplies, desperate lines of people not being treated by doctors and there is evidence that the actual death toll is much higher than officially reported, according to the New York Times. Every day the Government of India records more than tens of thousands of new infections – a world record high – more new cases than any other country to date. However, experts say those numbers, no matter how staggering, represent only a small fraction of the true spread of the pandemic that puts the country in a state of emergency. Millions of people dare not even step out the door for fear of spreading the disease. Indian people mourn in front of a cremation site. Photo: NYT The sudden increase in new infections in recent weeks, with a newer variant, is raising suspicions about the actual number of deaths from India’s Covid-19 – currently reported to be 200,000. , with more than 2,000 people dying every day. Investigations from cremation facilities across the country revealed a large number of deaths from Covid-19 far exceeding the official figure. According to analysts, politicians and hospital managers can reduce this number. “It was a complete data massacre,” said Bhramar Mukherjee, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan who has followed India closely. “From all the models we have done, we believe that the actual death toll is 2 to 5 times what is reported.” At one of the major cremation sites in Ahmedabad, a city in the state of Gujarat, western India, flames blazed through the night sky, burning 24 hours a day, like an industrial factory never. Turn off. On April 24, Indian officials reported nearly 350,000 new infections, while the number of deaths continued to increase. At a hospital in New Delhi, doctors said 20 patients in critical condition died after oxygen pressure dropped. Doctors claim that severe oxygen scarcity is the cause of the soaring death toll. In Bhopal, a large city in central India, where the disaster of gas leaks in the 1980s caused thousands of deaths, residents said this was the “busiest” time in cremation zones. since that disaster. Over the course of 13 days in mid-April, Bhopal officials reported 41 deaths related to Covid-19. But a survey by the New York Times found the number of deaths at the same time to more than 1,000. A similar phenomenon took place in Lucknow and Mirzapur – major cities in the state of Uttar Pradesh – and across Gujarat, during the same time period, authorities reported between 73 and 121 Covid-related deaths. -19 per day. But detailed figures compiled by one of Gujarat’s leading newspapers – Sandesh – indicate that the number is many times higher, around 610 people per day. What’s happening in India? Months ago, India appeared to have effective epidemic control. After the stern blockade orders that prevented the first outbreak from being eased, India no longer recorded a large number of cases. Officials and citizens have begun to be subjective and act as if the worst days are over. Now, countless Indians have been forced to go to social media to send an emergency (SOS) calling to give them bed, medicine or “some oxygen to breathe”. At the same time, India’s Covid-19 vaccine campaign is also facing difficulties. Less than 10% of Indians have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, even though the country is the world’s leading producer of the vaccine. Severe Indian needs have had a ripple effect around the world, especially in poorer countries. The country had planned to export millions of doses of vaccine but so far this has stopped completely due to severe shortage of vaccines in the country. This also affects when some countries have to divert imports from other countries Doctors are concerned, this terrible wave originated from the emergence of a virus variant “double mutation” – B.1.617. This variant contains genetic mutations found in two other uncontrolled versions of the SARS-CoV2 virus. One of the mutations included in the highly contagious variant was the cause of California (USA) struggles earlier this year. The other mutation is similar to the one found in South Africa and is thought to make the virus more resistant to the vaccine. However, scientists warn that it is too early to know for certain how dangerous the new variant emerging in India is. The results can be worst when combined with the ability to spread faster and more difficult to control. This is worrying scientists across the globe as high-rate vaccinated countries are easing and starting to be subjective. Because of the failures in India, Brazil and elsewhere that there is a risk that the virus could mutate to “beat” existing vaccines.

Bodies piled up in cremators and mass burial sites across India are raising fears that the number of deaths caused by the second Covid-19 wave in the country is many times higher than figures are officially published. Relatives mourn a patient who has just died of Covid-19 in New Delhi, India. Photo: Reuters Medical services and other essential services across India nearly collapsed when the second wave of Covid-19 swept through the country at frightening speeds in mid-March. The cemeteries ran out of space. The hospital refused to accept patients because of being overloaded, and the families desperately asked for help on social networks On April 22, India broke the record for the number of new cases per day globally with 314,835 new cases. With nearly 16 million people infected with Covid-19, India is the second most severely affected country in the world, behind only the US. The outbreak of the 2nd Covid-19 wave in India not only risks its economic recovery, but also affects the global war against epidemics. “Things are out of control,” said Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Research in New Delhi. There is no oxygen. It is very difficult to find a hospital bed. Can’t get tested. You have to wait more than a week. The health system almost collapsed. Earlier on April 21, at least 22 Covd-19 patients being treated with a ventilator died while waiting for oxygen supplies, a senior official in Nashik district in Maharashtra state, India said. Faced with a serious shortage of medical supplies in hospitals across the country, local and state governments have urged the federal government to provide more oxygen and medicine. On April 21, President Modi announced the plan to supply 100,000 oxygen cylinders nationwide, build a new oxygen production plant and set up hospitals exclusively for Covid-19 patients. But experts fear that the plan was launched too late and the number is too little in the context of virus-infected patients struggling every day with “death” and the continuation of mass gatherings. causing the virus to spread faster and more strongly. Urgent cries for help on social networks With so few options available, many families have been calling for help via social media. Anil Tiwari, 34, lost his beloved father in November 2020 due to the Covid-19 translation. Last week, his mother also tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. She has been admitted to hospital treatment but needs to be in a special care bed (ICU). Due to the lack of ICU beds in the hospital, Anil Tiwari pleaded for help on her Twitter page: “Please save my mother. I love her more than anything. After days of relentless efforts, including calling the city government to be placed on the waiting list, Tiwari’s mother was finally given an ICU bed. But what she needed right now was oxygen – something that the hospital was lacking. “She can still walk, but always find it hard to breathe,” said Tiwari. Demand for Remdesivir for Covid-19 and its medicinal ingredients skyrocketed in the second wave of Covid-19, forcing the Indian government to temporarily ban drug exports to increase supplies. market connection. The government has allowed hospitals to use the drug in emergencies, although the Health Organization (WHO) previously said, there is no evidence that Remdesivir reduces the risk of death in infected individuals. Covid-19 heavy. Abhijeet Kumar, a 20-year-old college student, used Twitter to donate medical bills for his 52-year-old uncle, who is hospitalized in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. “The injections are very expensive. They say it costs between 12,000 and 15,000 rupees (about 160 to 200 USD). He had two doses but needed a third and we could not afford it. My uncle works as a plumber, ”said Abhijeet Kumar. Some states in India said that high demand while limited supply has enabled the “black market” to scream high prices for Remdesivir and some similar drugs. Even nurses and doctors are working hard to find beds and treatment options for their loved ones, said Parkar, a pulmonologist in Mumbai. Indian Mistakes and A Warning to the World Although most attention has been on the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that appeared in India recently, experts believe that the cause of the new Covid-19 outbreak is It can stem from social behaviors, weaknesses in the health system and a number of policy mistakes in the country. Indian officials may have been too subjective to believe that the worst has fallen behind when the number of Covid-19 cases began to decline in September 2020. The number of cases fell for 30 weeks in a row before starting to increase in mid-February and breaking out in mid-March. According to some experts, India did not seize the opportunity to consolidate its infrastructure. health care and immunization campaign intensification. “The authorities have not provided a long-term overview of the pandemic,” said Dr. Vineeta Bal, an immune system researcher at the National Institute of Immunology in India. Suggestions to upgrade the health system, such as building the capacity of hospitals or hiring an epidemiologist to monitor virus growth, have been ignored, she said. Currently, the Indian authorities are trying to restore many emergency measures that were removed when the number of cases decreased. India could have avoided a shortage of oxygen – something Latin America and Africa experienced a year ago if it converted its industrial oxygen production system into a network of supplies. medical. However, many facilities have returned to provide oxygen to industries and hospitals in this country are facing severe hypoxia. Analysts said that India will face a great challenge in preventing the health system from collapsing until enough people are vaccinated to achieve community immunity. Although India halted vaccine exports in March to meet domestic needs, it is not clear whether the country’s vaccine makers will be able to speed up production. “Vaccination is one way to slow the spread of the virus, but it depends on production speed and availability of vaccine doses,” said Srinath Reddy, president of the Indian Community Health Foundation. . In addition, the Indian government has also received criticism for not pausing major religious festivals, such as the Kumbh Mela bleaching festival on the banks of the Ganges River or election events. Many experts believe that the activities of gathering people have caused the number of cases to explode more strongly./.

Patient COVID-19 is being treated at a hospital in Bry-Sur-Marne, France, on April 15, 2021. Photo: AFP / VNA Prime Minister Castex confirmed there is evidence that contagion in the past 10 days has tended to decrease. Castex also announced that measures to restrict people from leaving the area within a 10-kilometer radius around the house will be removed from May 3. France is implementing a third blockade to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but this prevention measure is considered to be more relaxed than the previous two times. During the 3rd blockade, outdoor activities are still encouraged to improve the mental health of residents. Most of the non-essential stores, cafes, restaurants, and cultural venues are closed. In a new statement, Mr. Castex said that shops, certain cultural and sporting activities and cafes could be reopened from mid-May, depending on the disease situation in Vietnam. at that moment. The French Prime Minister also emphasized that the government will allow regional openings, starting with regions with low COVID-19 prevalence. National curfew from 7:00 p.m. daily remains in place until further notice. Mr. Castex noted this measure will be reevaluated in mid-May but the government has not put in place a firm schedule for easing. To date, France has recorded a total of more than 5.4 million cases of COVID-19, of which 102,164 died. Over the past few days, the number of COVID-19 cases requiring special treatment has been contained below 6,000. After a slow start, the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in France is accelerating, with more than 13 million people getting at least the first shot. From April 24, French people aged 55 and over will be vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine from the American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson. This is the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to be licensed in France, after the products of Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca. Meanwhile, to prevent the emergence of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the French Ministry of the Interior decided that all passengers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India and South Africa would have to undergo quarantine. At the accommodation for 10 days, under the supervision of French police. Currently, health officials in all countries are encouraging the implementation of measures to be alert for the types of viruses with faster spread rates. Also on April 22, Belgian health officials announced the presence of the virus variant in India in this country. Specifically, the new variant was discovered in 20 nursing students from Paris (France) to Belgium in mid-April. The group with a total of 43 students was quarantined upon entry. Experts say the group was infected from a super infectious patient, possibly a member of the group, or from another passenger also on the trip from France to Belgium. A variant of the virus detected in India called B.1.617 has also appeared in several other countries such as the US, Australia, Israel and Singapore. Concerned about this variant, some countries, including the UK, applied a restriction on travel with India.

Health experts say India was caught off guard when the pandemic appeared to be under control this winter – Photo: Reuters On April 22, India recorded 314,835 new Covid-19 infections, the highest number in a day in the world since the outbreak of the pandemic. Days after this information, Canada and Singapore simultaneously decided to stop flights and people entering from the South Asian country. According to Reuters, the Singapore Ministry of Health on April 22 said it would stop accepting admissions – with both short and long-term visas – with a history of moving to India in recent times. Singapore is investigating Covid-19 infections and reinfection cases at a migrant workers’ dormitory and is quarantining more than 1,100 people at the facility. To date, 17 workers here have re-positive for the virus. The Singapore government said the measures to restrict travel with India will help it prevent the risk of infection in migrant labor hostels because there are many people from India. Indian workers at Singapore Changi Airport prepare to board a plane home on June 12, 2002 – Photo: Reuters Also on April 22, Canada announced a ban on direct flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days from 23:30 on the same day to prevent the spread of new Covid-19 variants. Several Canadian provinces have reported cases of new Covid-19 variant from India. Health Canada Minister Patty Hajdu said India currently accounts for 20% of recent air traffic to Canada, but more than 50% of positive tests are detected upon entry. This creates a great risk of infection. Earlier this week, the UK also put India on the “red list”, effective April 23, which banned all flights from the South Asian country, after it recorded 103 cases of infection with a new variant. first discovered in India. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) then advised Americans to “avoid all travel to India”. On Sunday, Hong Kong (China) announced a 14-day ban on passenger flights from India starting April 20. New Zealand also suspended entry for tourists from India earlier this month out of concern about new Covid-19 variants in the billion-pop country. Since the beginning of the pandemic up to now, the total number of Covid infections in India is 15.93 million. The number of deaths recorded on April 22 was 2,104, bringing the total number of deaths from the beginning of the epidemic to 184,657, according to official statistics. India has been caught off guard as the pandemic seems to be under control this winter, health experts say. At that time, the number of new infections a day was only about 10,000 cases and authorities began to relax restrictions, allowing large crowds. According to experts, some new strains of corona virus, especially the double mutation originating from India, are the main cause of the number of new infections in the country soaring.

Malaysia is currently considering purchasing a new type of light single-engine fighter jet to modernize its air force, with the top three candidates being the South Korean F / A-50, the JF-17. of Sino-Pakistan and Tejas of India. According to some sources, the country’s armed forces are now leaning in favor of the JF-17, a significantly longer operational aircraft that has been produced in larger numbers and deployed. operated by three countries including Pakistan, Myanmar and Nigeria. The F / A-50 fighter is also considered a prime candidate, but the Tejas fighter is not. Other contenders believed to have been eliminated were the Yak-130 of Russia, the British Hawk and the US-Swedish Gripen. The Yak-130 and Hawk had much more limited combat capabilities and were unable to fly hypersonic, while the Gripen had limited features in use. The JF-17 and Tejas have long been regarded as rival fighter jet programs, both of which have many similarities including being very light in weight, and they are smaller than class fighters. Light standard as F-16 and J-10 in size. Both are designed to favor low operating costs and use derivative engines, the engine developed for the Cold War medium-weight two-engine fighters, but used in one engine configuration. Tejas engine was derived from the American F-18, while the JF-17 used engines from the Soviet MiG-29, a direct competitor of the US F-18 during the Cold War. . Both fighters are designed to serve the primary goal of air combat and are built to operate at low cost with either minimal fuel consumption or maintenance requirements. It can be speculated that the reason why Malaysia prefers Pakistan’s JF-17. This fighter was produced in larger numbers and had less difficulty in development than during the Tejas development. Indian fighters entered service more than 40 years after development began. The JF-17 is also available in many variants including a two-seat attack and training variant like the JF-17B. Sino-Pakistani jets are also more compatible with modern armament to which Malaysia is currently heavily dependent, while the Tejas is a Westernized aircraft. Tejas uses American engines, especially Israel’s avionics systems, which is a big drawback for an Islamic country like Malaysia – which doesn’t like Israelis. Tejas is also significantly more costly to manufacture due to the less efficient production line and the very high cost of the component parts from the US and Israel on which it depends. The latest Tejas variants especially have a superior radar advantage over the JF-17 Block 2. However the upcoming JF-17 Block 3 variant is expected to go into mass production by the end of 2023 and will be available. the performance is far superior. Among the outstanding features of the JF-17 Block 3, the most prominent are the integration of AESA radar, Chinese PL-15 air-to-air missile, improved engines and generation avionics. Thursday. In the end, no matter what type of fighter aircraft is chosen, the new aircraft will be a secondary force, while the elite Malaysian air force still consists of Russian Su-30MKA heavy fighters. In addition, the country is particularly interested in more modern Su-57 next-generation fighters. Photo source: Pinterest. India introduced the Tejas fighter – the best domestic fighter the country has ever built. Source: Nigel Woolley.

Variant B.117 was first spotted in London and neighboring Ken County. Photo: AP Researchers in Shanghai have traced the original evolutionary trail of variant B.117, which has caused a new wave of COVID-19 infections in several countries, according to the Morning Post. But they found no trace of it in virus samples collected from people around the world. However, when they expanded their search to animals, they discovered some of the original B.117 forms in dogs, including one taken in the US last July. Such precursor variants include most or all of the original variant B117 in the Canidae breed, and they may re-infect humans after a period of rapid mutation. ”, Professor Chen Luonan and colleagues at the National Key Cell Biology Laboratory, wrote in an article published April 16. The appearance of the B117 variant has puzzled researchers. After being isolated from two patients in Kent County, southeast England, and London in September 2020, it quickly became the dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK and many other countries, at a rapid rate. spreads faster than previous strains. Some experts believe this variant may emerge from local communities under pressure from antiviral drugs used during the pandemic. According to a popular theory, it suddenly appeared in Britain and then spread to other parts of the world. But variant B.117 has nine distinct mutations, rarely found in previous human strains – according to Professor Chen et al. These mutations do not occur in adjacent genes, but spread across the entire genome of the virus. The likelihood of all of these mutations appearing at once is extremely low. The Shanghai team believes that the above nine mutations are produced one after the other. Their model suggests that the variant may have originated outside the UK and received mutations on a non-human host. Dogs are the most suspect, followed by weasels or cats. However, Qu Liandong, professor of virology at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, who was not involved in the study, said more solid evidence is needed to support this theory. According to Qu, the strains found in dogs are not quite the same as the first strains identified in British patients. And although the number of genome sequences that researchers have globally reached in the hundreds of thousands, it is still small compared to the total number of patients there. If the dog is to be a host, “we’ll have a big problem.” Photo: AP Professor Qu, who studies infectious diseases in humans and animals, said that if pets like dogs become hosts, “we will have a big problem”. “Nearly all of our measures against the pandemic so far have taken into account people only. If the animal was involved, it would completely change the ‘game’, he said. When bird flu breaks out on a chicken farm, all chickens there must be destroyed, according to standard worldwide practice. If the disease can infect humans, all susceptible animals – including healthy ones – must be disposed of in the affected area. Dogs are close companions for humans, but if they are proven capable of carrying or creating mutant variants of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, they can also be destroyed, Professor Qu said. An alternative solution is to vaccinate animals. “But we can’t give the dogs human vaccines. We may need to develop some completely new versions. We have had a hard time vaccinating humans. How can the program be extended to both dogs or other animals? ”- Professor Gu raised the problem. There is growing concern that the B.117 variant could make dogs very ill. Veterinarians near London noticed a sudden increase in pets – including dogs and cats – with myocarditis earlier this year, and many of these animals tested positive for variant B. 117 – according to a Reuters report in March 2021. Another problem is, humans and animals have different immune systems and it is often difficult for viruses to spread from one species to another. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is thought to have originated in bats, but it can take decades to adapt to humans. When and where it made the animal-to-human transition is still unclear. Professor Chen’s team said that variant B.117 has a unique evolutionary strategy of increasing infectivity, so it can spread more easily from host to host, but at the same time reducing the number of copies it makes in the host. The researchers believe that whether this strategy helps variant B.117 overcome the species gap requires further study.

However, when they expanded their study to animals, they discovered some early forms of B117 in dogs, including a sample taken in the US in July 2020. Artwork: AP “These initial variants included most or all of the B117 mutations in the Canidae breed and they could have infected humans after a rapid mutation,” Professor Chen Luonan and colleagues at the State Cell Biology Key Laboratory said in a report posted on biorxiv on April 16. The arrival of the B117 variant has puzzled researchers. After being isolated from two patients in Kent in southeast England and London in September 2020, the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus quickly became the dominant strain in the UK and many other countries. the ability to spread more strongly than the original virus strain. Some experts believe that the variant may have emerged from the local community due to the selective pressures of antiviral drugs used during the pandemic. According to a popular theory, this variant suddenly appeared in England and then spread to many other parts of the world. However, this variant had nine mutations that were rarely found on previous human variants, said Chan and colleagues. These mutations do not appear in adjacent genes, but spread across the entire genome of the virus. The likelihood of these mutations occurring at the same time is very low. The Shanghai team of researchers believes that these nine mutations created one mutation after another. Their model also suggests that variations may have appeared outside the UK and spawned mutations that were present on non-human hosts. The dogs are the most likely animal in this case, followed by the weasels and the cats. Qu Liandong, a virology professor at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute who was not involved in the study, said that more clear evidence is needed to support the hypothesis. The variations found in dogs do not quite resemble the first confirmed variant in a British patient, although the number of genetic sequences the researchers gathered from hundreds of thousands of patients was still overwhelming. small compared to the total number of patients in the world. Some of the early forms of the B117 variant were missed in the sample collection program, he said. However, if pets like dogs become hosts, “we will have a big problem,” said Professor Qu. “Nearly all of our measures to deal with disease so far have only considered humans. If the animals are also sick, it will completely change the situation,” he said. . When bird flu outbreaks occur in a chicken farm, all chickens are destroyed, even healthy ones, to prevent the risk of infection. Dogs are close friends of man. If they are able to carry or create variant SARS-CoV-2, they could suffer a similar fate, Qu said. Another solution is to inject animals with vaccines. “However, we cannot inject dogs with human vaccines. We need to develop completely new vaccines. Right now, we are still struggling in the campaign to vaccinate humans. Can the vaccination program be extended to both dogs and other animals? “asks Qu. There is growing concern that the B117 could make the dogs weaker. Veterinarians near London discovered a spike in pets, including dogs and cats, with myocarditis, and many of these were positive for the new variant of the SARS-CoV- virus. 2. Humans and animals have different immune systems and it is often difficult for viruses to be transmitted from one species to another. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is thought to have originated in bats and it takes decades to adapt in humans. When and where this virus spreads from animals to humans remains a mystery. The B117 variant has a special evolutionary process to increase infectivity, so it can be spread more easily from one host to another, says Chen’s team. Whether this process helps the variant of SARS-CoV-2 cross the species gap is still in need of further study, the experts said./.

The world has been getting COVID-19 vaccination for several months. Besides the hope that the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be controlled, there is no small concern with the fact that a series of new virus variants have appeared and are still appearing. It can be said that the global market is in the race between the vaccine and the unknown virus variants. The COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson started being distributed in the US in early March amid dangerous spreading of the variants. Photo: GETTY IMAGES Many dangerous variations Virus strain means there is a mutation, changes in the genetic structure of the virus, causing the virus to change the way it works. In addition to the old virus strain, the world currently has many new variants such as B.1.1.7 (originated from England, has spread to more than 90 countries), B.1.351 from South Africa (has spread to more than 40 countries). , P1 and P2 from Brazil (has spread to 25 countries, some cases have been infected and recovered from being re-infected with variant P1), D614G from Europe, A.23.1 from Rwanda. In which the variant appeared from South Africa is said to be the most difficult to prevent and the most dangerous. Studies show that the vaccine strain B.1.351 of the vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech and of AstraZeneca / Oxford is not as effective as the old vaccine. Clinical trials of vaccines by Johnson & Johnson and Novavax also showed that the ability to prevent this variant is not high. These variants – with a faster rate of spread, a higher risk of death, and an easier way to outdo existing vaccines – threaten efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. And yet, the appearance of the variants also points to another concern: More dangerous variants will emerge in the future if the world fails to win the current race. The current pace of immunization globally is worryingly slow, especially in poor countries. It can be understood that even though rich countries vaccinate rapidly, new variants may emerge in poor countries that have not yet had adequate immunization coverage. Understanding these risks, vaccine developers are working hard to increase effectiveness in coping with variants. And the global health organizations are also making efforts to accelerate the speed of global distribution and vaccination. These are difficult times. This will be our toughest time to see which side wins. If we can hold on for another month or six, there’s a big difference. TS PETER HOTEZ , Rector of Baylor College of Tropical Medicine (USA) Vaccine firms’ efforts The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines and Moderna’s vaccines (both doses) both use the mRNA molecule as the foundation. This molecule instructs the body to make a mutant protein found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which signals the immune system to fight off the mutant protein if encountered. The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine (two doses) uses a reprogrammed version of another virus, adenovirus, that uses the DNA encoding the mutant protein of SARS-CoV-2. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine (single dose) also uses adenovirus. With these two vaccine platforms, once they want to redirect to deal with new variants, developers will need to modify their DNA or mRNA codes. Fortunately, this can be done simply and quickly, but the disadvantage is that it will require expensive changes to the vaccine production process and more time to produce and distribute. Hoping to avoid these shortcomings, Pfizer is now considering the possibility of adding a third dose to the current two-dose regimen to reinforce the effectiveness of preventing new variants. Talk to the radio NBC News At the end of February, Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla was confident that “the third dose will increase the antibody response 10 to 20 times”. Moderna is also working on the possibility of giving one-dose booster to the current two-dose regimen. In addition, at the end of February Moderna sent a version of the vaccine optimized to cope with the variant in South Africa to the US National Institutes of Health for further study. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson is confident its vaccine is resistant to many more variants because it is developed later than the above brands. Johnson & Johnson are also working on a two-dose vaccine (currently only available in one-dose version). Last week Pfizer announced that it would soon launch the trial of COVID-19, a positive news that gives further hope to quell the pandemic. Meanwhile according to the news agency Reuters Currently, many Asian countries are speeding up the distribution of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, after a period of concerns about the safety of the information that this vaccination causes thrombosis appeared in Europe. Earlier this week, many countries and territories in Asia activated vaccination. Some regional leaders are also vaccinated to reinforce confidence, including the Head of the Administration of Taiwan Institute – Mr. To Trinh Xuong, Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha. In Europe, after a short hiatus, many continental countries have also restored this vaccination. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received the first dose last weekend and said “nothing strange”. The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of the few first available COVID-19 vaccines, available at a low cost and according to Reuters This vaccine will be at the heart of COVID-19 vaccination programs in most developing countries. The positive side of “vaccine diplomacy” Currently, the giants of vaccine COVID-19 (USA, China, India) are trying to expand distribution of vaccine globally. Compared to the US, the two countries India and China are more enthusiastic about implementing the campaign “vaccine diplomacy”. China has announced it will donate vaccines to 53 countries, and has already shipped millions of doses of its domestic vaccine to Asia, Africa and Latin America. When asked if the US could surpass China in “vaccine diplomacy” last week, the State Department spokesman did not respond. However, according to the news site The Hill The US is working with countries in the quartet group (India, Australia, Japan) to discuss providing vaccines to Asian countries to both stop the COVID-19 epidemic and as a counterbalance to China’s “vaccine diplomacy” campaign. National. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed this with three of their counterparts from February 18. During a meeting with G7 leaders last month, US President Joe Biden promised that the United States would donate 4 billion doses to the World Health Organization (WHO) Gavi vaccine alliance and possibly many more.

In 1969, the Soviet Army received the T-64A variant with the 125 mm cannon instead of the 115 mm one. From 1976 to 1985, the T-64B was produced in Kharkov with an improved fire control system and the ability to launch a guided missile through the barrel. In principle, the manufacturer has managed to get rid of many previously defined problems. Two years later, the T-64 appeared with a version equipped with explosive reactive armor Kontakt-1. It is these means of fighting that are currently the basis of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian T-64E main battle tank carrying 23 mm GSh-23L cannon In 2004, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense adopted the T-64BM “Bulat”, which was developed in the Kharkiv design room for mechanical engineering named after AA Morozov. A total of 85 MBTs were ordered but it turned out to be unsuccessful. Its special edition – the T-64E was created by the Kharkov armored repair plant. Engineers suggest using multi-channel viewfinder with gunner thermal camera and captain’s panoramic viewfinder. Firepower is enhanced by the 23 mm GSh-23L double-barrel air cannon with a ammo base of up to 600 rounds, accompanied by a remote controlled 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun. This weapon can be used by any member of the crew, including the driver. Protection has also been increased thanks to the Nozh explosive reactive armor and a high-speed fire suppression system. Meanwhile, the vehicle’s weight increased to 42,500 kg, the engine capacity also increased to 850 horsepower. Despite the announced new possibilities, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Command is not interested in the amendment. Such tanks would be too complicated and expensive. Also, the repair company itself is not capable of mass-producing them. As a result, only one prototype was born and until recently was rusting in the storage.

The new variants were first spotted in countries like Brazil, South Africa and the UK that spontaneously appeared in the last few months of 2020. The main concern was a change in the mutant protein structure of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, known as E484K, in all three variants in the three countries, the researchers said. The E484K mutation is thought to impair the body’s immune response to the virus. Some scientists expressed concern that the E484K mutation could “elude” the natural immunity from SARS-CoV-2 infection and decrease the protection of existing Covid-19 vaccines. Artwork: Getty Images According to scientists interviewed by Reuters, the appearance of virus variants in different regions of the world shows that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is undergoing “convergent evolution”. Although SARS-CoV-2 will continue to mutate, they suspect the virus will have only a certain number of variants, immunologists and virologists say. However, it is still important to consider whether or not to limit the number of variants that make the SARS-CoV-2 virus less dangerous. “It can be said that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has a relatively limited number of variants that avoid antibodies before releasing the strongest ‘card’,” said Shane Crotty, virologist at La Institute of Immunology. Jolla in San Diego (USA) said. This could allow drug manufacturers to control disease while they develop the booster Covid-19 vaccine to suppress the current variant. Meanwhile, governments around the world are still struggling to control the pandemic that has killed nearly 3 million people globally. The opinion that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has only a certain amount of mutation has been the subject of discussion among experts since the beginning of February. According to a study, scientists have discovered seven variations of SARS. -CoV-2 appears in the US, has the same mutation. The convergent evolutionary process of SARS-CoV-2 According to Reuters, the process by which different species evolve similar traits to improve survival is central to evolutionary biology. The wide spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 128 million infections worldwide, allows scientists to observe the viral evolution in practice. “If you want to write a book about the evolution of viruses, you can do it now,” said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health in an interview. Scientists saw the virus evolve on a smaller scale in 2018 when the H7N9 avian flu virus in China began adapting to a human host. However, there has never been a globally controlled virus such as SARS-CoV-2. Wendy Barclay, a virologist and professor at Imperial College London (UK), said she was amazed at the “staggering amount of convergent evolution” of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. “There are dangerous mutations like E484K, N501Y and K417N that all three variants in Brazil, South Africa and UK are carrying,” Ms. Barclay said. SARS-CoV-2 is not a “particularly smart” virus, the scientists said. Each time it infects people, SARS-CoV-2 makes copies of itself, and for each copy, it can make a mistake. While some of the mistakes are insignificant, the ones that give this virus an existential advantage tend to be long-lasting. “If this is repeated, it will provide some developmental advantages for the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” said Francis Collins. Some experts believe that the virus has a limited number of mutations that can be sustained before affecting its ability to function. Besides, too many mutations will cause the virus to no longer exist in the original version. “If the SARS-CoV-2 virus had an infinite number of ‘tricks,’ we would see a multitude of mutations,” said Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at Rockefeller University in New York. Cautious optimism However, the scientists remain cautious and say, predicting how much SARS-CoV-2 will mutate is a challenge. If there is a limit to how this virus can evolve, that would be simpler for the vaccine developers. The Novavax company is making adjustments to the vaccine to prevent variation in South Africa. However, trials have shown that the efficacy of the vaccine against the variant in South Africa is quite low. “The virus can mutate a lot and it still binds to a human host,” Novavax CEO Stan Erck said and hopes the vaccine will be effective for most of the current strains. According to Mr. Stan Erck, Novavax will continue to test vaccines for new strains of strains. Scientists have recently identified seven variants of SARS-Cov-2 in the US, with all mutations occurring in the same key location of the virus. This provides additional evidence of viral convergence evolution. Other research groups are working on exposing the virus to antibodies to force it to mutate. In many cases, the E484K mutation has appeared in the experiment. According to Reuters, the above evidence adds to the cautious optimism that the mutants appear to have many similar characteristics. However, experts say the world must continue to monitor for changes in the SARS-CoV-2 virus and eliminate its ability to mutate by reducing infection through vaccination and restrictive measures. the spread of the disease. “SARS-CoV-2 is still going very strong. We don’t know when the battle against the pandemic will end, ”said Vaughn Cooper, an expert in evolutionary biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (USA).

People walk on the International Square between the border of Santana do Livramento of Brazil and Rivera of Uruguay. Photo: Reuters Dr. César Salomé felt a sense of fear as he watched patients with COVID-19 rushing to be transferred to their intensive care unit. For many weeks, the doctor at the Mongrut Hospital in Lima (Peru) has been closely monitoring reports on the disease situation. P.1 – a variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the acute respiratory infections COVID-19, which originates in the Amazon jungle, has raged Brazil and put the country’s health system on the brink fall. Now, his patients are brought in critical condition. If their lungs are damaged, they will die within a few days. Even young and healthy people cannot be safe. He clearly noticed that the P.1 virus was attacking his home country. The Washington Post reported that the P.1 variant, with a series of mutations that made it more contagious as well as potentially dangerous, is no longer a Brazilian problem. It has become a problem for South America and the rest of the world. Fragile border line In recent weeks, P.1 has crept across rivers and borders, evading restrictive measures aimed at controlling its spread across the continent. Many regions of South America are worried that P.1 could quickly become the dominant variant, bringing Brazil’s humanitarian catastrophe – countless untreated patients, skyrocketing deaths – to the nation. their. Venezuelan infectious disease expert Julio Castro commented: “It’s spreading. Can’t stop it ”. A woman attending a family funeral dies of COVID-19 in Manaus, Brazil. Photo: AFP In Lima, scientists discovered that the strain originating in Brazil is responsible for 40% of the cases of COVID-19 here. In Uruguay, this rate is 30%. In Paraguay, health officials said half of all cases near the Brazilian border were infected with variant P.1. Other South American countries such as Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, and Chile all have detected P.1 in their territory. P.1’s genomic sequencing limitations prevent it from knowing how widely the virus actually spread. P.1 has been identified in over 20 countries, from Japan to the US. Hospital systems across South America are being pushed to the limit of overcrowding. Uruguay, one of the richest countries in South America and an early success in the pandemic, is at risk of failure of the health system. Meanwhile, health officials said Peru was on the verge of danger, with only 84 empty intensive care beds left by the end of March. The special care system in Paraguay has run out of beds. Ms. Elena Candia Florentín, President of the Paraguay Infectious Diseases Association, said that Paraguay has very little chance of stopping the spread of variant P.1. “With the health system collapsing, medicine is constantly running out, lack of early detection, lack of follow-up exposure, patients waiting in line for treatment, health workers not getting enough vaccines. as it is not clear when this vulnerable group will be vaccinated… the prospects in Paraguay are just dark, ”she explained. How P.1 spread throughout South America is an easy story. Nearly every country on the continent shares a land border with Brazil. People are concentrated in border towns, where traveling to another country can be as simple as crossing a street. The limited border surveillance measures have made the area a haven for smugglers. They also make it nearly impossible to control the spread of P.1. “We share 1,000 kilometers of terrestrial border with Brazil – the” manufacturing plant “of the largest variant in the world, said Gonzalo Moratorio, Uruguayan virologist who tracks the development of the P.1 variant. and is the epicenter of the crisis. And now P.1 doesn’t just appear in one country ”. Vaccine “thirst” The Brazilian city of Tabatinga deep in the Amazon rainforest, where officials suspect the virus has infiltrated from here into Colombia and Peru, is symbolic of the fight to stop this variant. The city of 70,000 people swept the P.1 virus earlier this year. Many people in Tabatinga have relatives living in neighboring countries so they are used to crossing the border by canoeing across the Amazon River to Peru or on foot to Colombia. “People carried the virus from one side of the river to the other,” said Sinesio Tikuna Trovão, a local leader. Crossing the river is no waste, just cross to the other bank to get to another country. The truck carrying 100,000 doses of the vaccine has just been sent to Luque, Paraguay. Photo: AFP Currently, P.1 has infiltrated many countries so its goal of stopping its spread will be very difficult. Most South American countries, with the exception of Brazil, applied strict controls last year. But efforts were wiped out by poverty, indifference and lack of trust. With battered national economies and rising poverty, public health experts worry that it will be difficult to sustain restrictions longer. In Brazil, despite record-high death tolls, many states are lifting restrictions. The deadlock and danger in South America has made vaccination the only way out. But this region still has limited access to the COVID-19 vaccine. The continent has not distributed vaccines domestically or has reached an agreement with pharmaceutical companies. According to the website Our World in Data, it is one of the most affected regions in the world but only provides 6% of the world’s vaccine dosage. Except for Chile, which is vaccinating people faster than anywhere in the Americas, but still suffers from an increase in the number of cases. “We should not just blame the policy of handling,” said Luis Felipe López-Calva, Regional Director of the United Nations Development Program for Latin America and the Caribbean. We need to understand the nature of the vaccine market. ” According to him, vaccines have become so scarce that national authorities have to impose control measures. It is almost impossible to know how much governments are paying for each dose of vaccine. Several regional blocs in other parts of the world, such as the African Union and the European Union, have negotiated joint contracts. But in South America, countries do not have a common voice, which reduces the bargaining power of each individual country. Mr. López-Calva said that the above situation is harmful to South American countries and also to fight against viruses around the world. Because, it is clear that no one is safe until everyone is protected. Paulo Buss, a famous Brazilian scientist, said the situation should not have been as bad as it is now. He is Brazil’s medical representative in the Union of South American Nations, repeatedly negotiating regional agreements with pharmaceutical companies before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this alliance was soon divided because of political differences. “It was the worst possible moment. Our negotiation efforts were fragmented. Multilateralism has been weakened,” Buss stressed.

Illustration. (Source: AP) According to updated data of Worldometers, as of 8:30 a.m. on April 8 (Vietnam time), the world recorded a total of 133,674,314 cases and 2,900,311 deaths caused by Covid-19. Of which, notably, India recorded a new record of the number of Covid-19 cases per day, with 126,315 cases, the highest level since the outbreak to date; while Brazil still records more than 3,700 Covid-19 deaths per day. Specifically, in the past day, the world recorded an additional 650,723 cases and 12,957 deaths due to Covid-19. India is the country with the highest number of Covid-19 cases per day in the world, followed by Brazil (90,973 cases), USA (75,183 cases), Turkey (54,740 cases), Argentina (22,039 cases). , Iran (20,954 cases), … In terms of Covid-19 deaths per day, Brazil is the leading country in the world with 3,733 cases, followed by the US (873 cases), India (684 cases), Poland (638 cases), Italy (627 cases ), Mexico (603 cases), … According to Worldometers, as of 8:30 am on April 8 (Vietnam time), the world has a total of 107,797,186 Covid-19 patients recovered while still 22,976,817 patients are being treated. In Germany, the SARS-CoV-2 virus variant detected in the UK is spreading strongly, with most of the new cases in Berlin and many other states being this variant. Of about 5,300 samples tested positive for Covid-19 in Berlin from March 29 to 4-4, the number of samples detected by the variant in the UK accounted for 86%. One month ago, the prevalence of this variant was less than 50% of cases. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced last week that the average UK variant infection rate is 88%. Two other variants discovered in South Africa and in Brazil have also appeared in Germany, but have not spread as strongly as the British variant. The Cuban government announced the results of the latest study showing that up to five genetic variants and six mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are present in the Caribbean island nation, including The strain was discovered in South Africa and the UK, and is highly infectious. According to the report, the above study was conducted between March and September 2020, showing that the variant of SARS-CoV-2 that appeared mainly in Cuba was D614G, which was derived from the original version being played. appeared in Wuhan (Wuhan), China for the first time. However, between the end of December 2020 and the end of March 2021, Cuban scientists identified a total of five variants and six mutants, of which variant D614G was reduced, in when the variants were discovered in California and South Africa (which appeared in Cuba in January) again increased sharply. In addition, the western Cuban provinces such as La Habana, Mayabeque and Pinar del Rio were the ones with the highest number of virus variants and mutations. Meanwhile, the National Infectious Diseases Institute of Japan (NIID) also analyzed data related to the new variant of the first detected SARS-CoV-2 virus in the UK, within 50 days from date. 1-2 to 22-3. The results showed that the spread of variant SARS-CoV-2 was 1.32 times higher than that of conventional strains, especially in Osaka, Hyogo, and Miyagi prefectures. From March 31 to April 6, Japan recorded 208 new cases of SARS-CoV-2, of which 75 cases were recorded in Osaka. According to Takaji Wakita, General Director of the National Infectious Diseases Institute, the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is spreading strongly mainly in the Kansai region but tends to gradually spread to the capital region, including Tokyo. . Below are specific statistics on the number of cases and deaths caused by Covid-19 in some regions, countries and territories around the world according to Worldometers, up to 8:30 am, April 8 morning (Vietnam time). Male). Statistics of 5 countries with the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world: USA: 31,637,243 cases, 572,849 deaths Brazil: 13,197,031 cases, 341,097 deaths India: 12,926,061 cases, 166,892 deaths France: 4,841,308 cases, 97,722 deaths Russia: 4,606,162 cases, 101,480 deaths Statistics of cases and deaths caused by Covid-19 in parts of the world: Europe: 40,820,041 cases, 936,655 deaths North America: 36,446,922 cases, 829,961 deaths Asia: 30,056,614 cases, 439,983 deaths South America: 21,954,603 cases, 577,670 deaths Africa: 4,336,587 cases, 114,877 deaths Oceania: 58,826 cases, 1,150 deaths

The Japanese wear a Covid-19 fashion mask. Photo: Japan Times.

Minister of Health and Labor Tamura Norihisha in today’s press conference when it comes to Japan’s implementation of the Covid-19 translation of emergency, said, will first consult with experts. and the government will make the final decision.

The expert said that in case strong measures to prevent the spread of infection are not effective, the declaration of a return of emergency should also be taken into account. The Minister of Health and Labor affirmed that before it comes back to declaring a state of emergency, what needs to be done is extremely important.

Meanwhile, Economic Reconstruction Minister Nishimura cum in charge of epidemic prevention said that he had reported to the House of Representatives on the situation of the new virus infection in Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Aichi provinces … and measures. strengthen prevention of the spread especially before there is a possibility of re-declaring emergencies in these areas. These are the provinces and cities where the rate of new virus from the UK and South Africa has increased rapidly despite high warning levels.

Accordingly, this measure will not only include an average assessment of the infection rate among young people, the number of cases, but also pay attention to the participation of the people. Specifically urged people to limit traveling to other provinces when they are not needed, even during long holidays from the end of April to the beginning of May, not neglecting the strict implementation of measures to prevent infection in Vietnam. restaurants and bars.

Since Japan abolished its second emergency in early March, the number of new infections has continuously increased. Some prefectures such as Osaka, Aichi, Hyogo … the number of infected cases skyrocketed, some even surpassed Tokyo, which has always had the highest number of new infections since the outbreak of the new virus.

Yesterday (April 15), Japan recorded 4576 new cases, of which serious infections also increased.

The Covid-19 vaccination operation is still underway. Expected early next May, objects are the elderly and foreigners will be vaccinated. Currently, Japan is still actively promoting connections with international pharmaceutical firms to buy more vaccines. Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide is visiting Japan and is expected to have a phone call with the owner of the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer to increase vaccine imports in the near future.

Meanwhile, according to a report by the Ministry of Health of Thailand, today (April 16) this country recorded nearly 1,600 new cases of Covid-19. This is the highest number of cases per day since the outbreak of the pandemic, in the context that the Southeast Asian country is facing the third wave of infections of the Covid-19 epidemic.

According to Thai officials, the country currently has no new deaths, but the number of new infections has increased sharply in the past week, bringing the total number of cases to more than 39,000 cases, putting the risk of overloading the health system. Therefore, the Thai Ministry of Health yesterday (April 15) had to warn, if hospitals and clinics refuse to receive treatment for Covid-19 patients, they will be handled according to the provisions of the law.

In India, data released by the Ministry of Health today (April 16) shows that, in the past 24 hours, the number of new Covid-19 cases has increased to a record of more than 217,000 cases. This is the record increase for the 8th time in 9 days in India. The total number of cases in this country is nearly 14.3 million cases, behind the US with more than 31 million cases. In addition to the above cases, the total number of deaths caused by Covid-19 also increased by nearly 1,200 people, to more than 174,000 cases./.