Covid 19 Resources

Data Commons Place Explorer
The Place Explorer tool helps you understand the core data underlying a place. It pulls together a set of charts on the demographics, education, economics, etc., of the place, placing them in context with comparisons to other places. You can also see how different places rank along different metrics line unemployment, crime and income.
datacommons.org/place

Worldometer is run by an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers with the goal of making world statistics available in a thought-provoking and time relevant format to a wide audience around the world. www.worldometers.info
Note: You can switch the toggle "Deaths/1m pop" to compare relative numbers, Confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people.

2020-2021

Total Deaths end of 2020: 1,812,050
Total Deaths end of 2021: 5,446,271
Total Cases end of 2020: 83,060,556
Total Cases end of 2021: 286,875,007
Total Recovered Cases end of 2020: 58,862,045
Total Recovered Cases end of 2021: 253,172,195

Data 2020

Worldometer Health Data: 01.01.2020 - 30.12.2020

11,165,618 People who died of hunger
8,199,460 Deaths caused by cancer
7,588,598 Deaths of children under 5
4,990,847 Deaths caused by smoking
2,497,017 Deaths caused by alcohol
1,794,726 Covid 19 Deaths
1,678,318 Deaths caused by HIV/AIDS
1,347,688 Road traffic accident fatalities
1,070,593 Suicides
489,238 Seasonal flu deaths
393,695 Deaths caused by malaria
308,584 Deaths of mothers during birth

Total active Covid cases as per 30.12.2020

Infected: 22,193,201
Mild condition: 22,087,469 (99.5%)
Serious or Critical: 105,731 (0.5%)

Confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people.

Country	Deaths per million people
Belgium:	1,656
Italy:	1,209
Spain:	1,079
UK:	1,051
USA:	1,043
France:	981
Brazil:	903
Sweden:	837
Austria:	671
Germany:	383
India:	107
Australia:	35

Source: worldometers.info, date: 30/12/2020

Data 2021

11,172,128 People who died of hunger
8,204,245 Deaths caused by cancer
7,593,026 Deaths of children under 5
4,993,757 Deaths caused by smoking
3,651,545 Covid 19 Deaths
2,498,455 Deaths caused by alcohol
1,679,291 Deaths caused by HIV/AIDS
1,348,474 Road traffic accident fatalities
1,071,218 Suicides
494,745 Seasonal flu deaths
393,925 Deaths caused by malaria
308,763 Deaths of mothers during birth

Total active Covid cases as per 31.12.2021

Infected: 28,256,541
Mild condition: 28,166,333 (99.7%)
Serious or Critical: 90,208 (0.2%)

Confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people.

Country	Deaths per million people
Peru:	6,021
Bulgaria:	4,496
Bosnia and Zerzegovina:	4,131
Hungary:	4,063
USA:	2,533
France:	1,887
Brazil:	2,882
Sweden:	14,98
Austria:	1,508
Germany:	1,336
India:	344
Australia:	86

Source: worldometers.info, date: 31/12/2021

Covid-19

World Health Organisation: Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants
All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus’ properties. However, some changes may affect the virus’s properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of vaccines, therapeutic medicines, diagnostic tools, or other public health and social measures.
SARS CoV2 Variants

Living Evidence - SARS-CoV-2 variants
Currently, the World Health Organization has identified four variants of concern.
Source: Australia, NSW Government, Agency for Clinical Innovation
aci.health.nsw.gov.au

Articles

Global deaths: This is how COVID-19 compares to other diseases
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the media continues to rattle off statistics at full force.
Source: Wold Ecomomic Forum
Read article

Europe

Data Dashboards

EuroMOMO is a European mortality monitoring activity, aiming to detect and measure excess deaths related to seasonal influenza, pandemics and other public health threats. www.euromomo.eu

A pandemic primer on excess mortality statistics and their comparability across countries
Excess mortality data avoid miscounting deaths from the under-reporting of Covid-19-related deaths and other health conditions left untreated. Excess mortality is defined as actual deaths from all causes, minus ‘normal’ deaths.
Source: ourworldindata.org
Read Article

EudraVigilance - European database of suspected adverse drug reaction reports
https://www.adrreports.eu/

Australia

Population: 25,507,330 (2020)
Deaths / Year: 160,909 (2017)
Deaths / Day: prox 440

Life expectancy: In Australia, a boy born in 2015–2017 can expect to live to the age of 80.5 years and a girl would be expected to live to 84.6 years

Perspective 01.01.2020 - 31.12.2020:

Estimated total deaths: 160,600
Covid 19 related deaths: 909 (0.56%) average age 86 (30.12.2020)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) at a glance infographic
As at 3pm on 29 December 2020, a total of 28,350 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Australia, including 909 deaths, and 25,750 have been reported as recovered from COVID-19.
COVID-19 cases were reported across all ages. The median age of all cases is 37 years (range: 0 to 106 years). The median age of deaths is 86 years (range: 27 to 106 years).

30 December 2020, 11,174,245 tests have been conducted.

https://www.health.gov.au/

Data Dashboards

COVID LIVE data is collated from media reports and verified against Federal and State Health departments. It shows cases, number of tests, number of people in hospitals including ICU, recoveries, .... per state and suburbs. covidlive.com.au

health.gov.au The data is collated and updated every day by 9pm AEST and reflects the previous 24 hours. health.gov.au

Daily confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, Australia
Source: Our World in Data:
View Data

Charting the COVID-19 spread in Australia
www.abc.net.au

Deaths, Australia
Statistics about deaths and mortality rates for Australia, states and territories, and sub-state regions
www.abs.gov.au

Provisional Mortality Statistics
Provisional deaths data for measuring changes in patterns of mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period.
www.abs.gov.au

Victoria

Population: 6.359 million (Sept 2017)

30.12.2020 Total Cases: 20,365
Total Tests: 3,862,796
Total Covid 19 related deaths: 820

31.12.2021 Total Cases: 176,614
Total Tests: 17,357,466
Total Covid 19 related deaths: 1,525

Total deaths per year:
2014: 38,606
2015: 40,060
2016: 40,311
2017: 41,133
2018: 40,215
2019: 41,385
2020: 41,147

Total deaths per year from June to September:
2016: 14,164
2017: 14,976
2018: 13,416
2019: 15,839
2020: 14,203
2021: 15,014

Source: bdm.vic.gov.au

Vaccines

Database of Adverse Event Notifications (DAEN)
Australian Government Department of Health
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) receives adverse event reports associated with medicines and medical devices. These reports come from a wide range of sources, including members of the public, general practitioners, nurses, other health professionals and the therapeutic goods industry.
Search Database

Australia’s vaccine agreements
Australia has entered into 5 separate agreements for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, if they prove to be safe and effective.
https://www.health.gov.au/

Medical

Provisional Mortality Data - Jan - Apr 2020
Provisional deaths data for measuring changes in patterns of mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
View Data

Surge capacity of Australian intensive care units associated with COVID-19 admissions
Objectives: To describe Australian intensive care unit (ICU) capacity to respond to predicted increased demand associated with pandemic COVID-19.
Published online: 30 March 2020, Source: mja.com.au
mja.com.au

Theoretical modelling to inform Victoria’s response to coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Victorian Government has released modelling to provide greater understanding of the spread of coronavirus in Victoria.
Source: dhhs.vic.gov.au
View Website

Modelling how COVID-19 could affect Australia
The Australian Government has released modelling of how COVID-19 could spread through the Australian population under different scenarios. This modelling helps governments take action to slow the spread of COVID-19 and prepare our health system.
health.gov.au

Australia's hospitals at a glance 2016–17
Australia’s hospitals 2016–17 at a glance provides summary information on Australia’s public and private hospitals. In 2016–17, there were 11.0 million hospitalisations in public and private hospitals combined, including 2.7 million involving surgery. Public hospitals also provided care for 7.8 million patients presenting to emergency departments, with 73% of patients seen within recommended times for their triage category and 72% completed within 4 hours. This publication is a companion to the 2016–17 Australian hospital statistics suite of publications.
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
View Website - Download .pdf

Ten years of intensive care in Victoria 2001-02 to 2010-11
2010-2011 average Adult admissions to ICU / day: 56

Adult admissions to ICU increased over this period, from 16,329 in 2001–02 to 20,484 in 2010–11, an average increase of 2.3% per year, or 0.7% per year after adjusting for the rise in population numbers. Over the same period, paediatric admissions increased from 1,412 to 2,006.

While 42% of patients admitted to ICU receive mechanical ventilation, these patients occupy 71% of ICU beds.

Source: health.vic.gov.au - Victoria State Government
View Website - Download Report .pdf

Residential aged care in Australia 2010-2011 - statistical overview
This report on residential aged care presents statistics from July 2010 to June 2011. Together with its companion report, Aged care packages in the community 2010-11: a statistical overview, it provides a comprehensive overview of Australian Government-funded aged care.
www.aihw.gov.au

DEATHS DUE TO INFLUENZA, 2017
In 2017 there were 1,255 deaths due to influenza, recording a standardised death rate of 3.9 per 100,000 persons. This is a significant increase from 2016 where 464 influenza deaths were recorded. An individual dying from influenza in 2017 was most likely to be female, aged over 75 years, have multiple co-morbidities and living in the eastern states of Australia. Influenza and pneumonia accounted for 4,269 deaths, and were the 9th leading cause of death, moving from the 11th leading cause of death in 2016 (3,334 deaths). The majority of the increase was driven by the influenza virus (84.6%).
Source: Australian Bereau of Statistics
Read Article

Seasonal influenza reports for 2021
Download Influenza Weekly Summaries
health.vic.gov.au/

Pneumonia Explained
Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection that impacts one or both lungs. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi (WHO 2019; Normandin et al. 2019; Health Direct 2018). It is estimated that there are over 77,000 hospitalisations of pneumonia each year (Poulos et al. 2014; Medianet 2019). There were 4,269 pneumonia deaths in Australia in 2017, making it the 9th leading cause of death that year (ABS 2018; Medianet 2019).
Source: ausmed.com.au
Read Article

Potential medicines to treat COVID-19
This document summarises medicines being investigated to treat COVID-19. Medicines where there is emerging evidence against COVID-19 are described. There is a lack of robust evidence on specific treatment options for COVID-19 and any proposed therapies are considered experimental at this stage.
www.safetyandquality.gov.au

Articles

Life expectancy & death Looking at how many people die and what caused their death can provide vital information about the health of a population. Examining patterns and trends in deaths can help explain differences and changes in the health of a population, contribute to the evaluation of health strategies and interventions, and guide planning and policy-making.
Facts and figures at: aihw.gov.au

Eliminating COVID-19 a false hope
An opinion piece by the Australian Government’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nick Coatsworth.
The current Victorian COVID-19 outbreak has seen renewed calls for Australia to pursue a coronavirus “elimination” strategy. This is surprising. It’s unrealistic – and it’s dangerous.
Source: health.gov.au, Date: 16 July 2020
Read Article

Up to 500,000 Australians may have been infected: NSW chief doctor
Preliminary results of studies to discover how many people are naturally immune to COVID-19 suggest between 250,000 and 500,00 Australians may have already been infected, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says. The analysis, based on blood samples taken from pregnant women and pathology tests used for other purposes, indicates the 12,428 official diagnoses vastly underestimate the spread of the novel coronavirus in Australia. ........ But the analysis suggests that the virus spreads much faster than most people realise, and is less deadly. If 1 per cent of people in Australia have been infected, or 250,000, the 126 deaths equates to a fatality rate of 0.05 per cent, which is similar to influenza.
Source: Financial Riview, Date: July 22, 2020
Article

Australian develops effective Triple Therapy to treat COVID-19
'A combination of FDA and TGA approved Ivermectin, Zinc and Doxycycline has shown positive results for COVID-19 and should be considered immediately to fight the pandemic' says CDD Medical Director Professor Thomas Borody
Source: Biospectrum Asia
biospectrumasia.com

Monash University Continues its Investigation into Ivermectin & Other Novel Therapies as Potential Treatments for COVID-19
Led by Dr. Kylie Wagstaff and team, Monash University, in collaboration with the Doherty Institute, triggered global interest in ivermectin, an FDA-approved marketed anti-parasitic drug, as a potential antiviral for the COVID-19 causative virus, SARS-CoV-2.
Source: trialsitenews.com
www.trialsitenews.com

Mental Wellbeing

National suicide register needed soon to manage increased risk from coronavirus
"About 3,000 people die by suicide in Australia each year." .... "Preliminary modelling by the Brain and Mind Centre suggests the COVID-19 crisis could cause up to 750 extra suicides a year, if the unemployment rate was around 11 per cent."
Source: abc.net.au
Read article

Economy

Australian Bureau of Statistics abs.gov.au The ABS purpose is to inform Australia's important decisions by partnering and innovating to deliver relevant, trusted, objective data, statistics and insights. (CPI, DDP, average earnings, Unemployment rate and more ....)

Unemployment Rate Australia
January 2020: 5.2%
June 2020: 7.4%
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
View data at abs.gov.au

alphabeta: COVID19 ECONOMIC IMPACT
This page provides weekly data on the impact of COVID19 on the Australian economy. The information is provided by leading credit bureau, illion, in partnership with economists at AlphaBeta. For further information including access to greater frequency, additional variables and detailed analysis of industries and geographies.
View Tracker

Economic Response to the Coronavirus
The Government’s economic support package of $259 billion represents fiscal and balance sheet support across the forward estimates of 13.3 per cent of annual GDP. Direct fiscal measures are equivalent to around 6.9 per cent of GDP.
Source: Australian Govenrment - The Treasury
View Website

Health expenditure Australia: 2017–18
In 2017–18, an estimated $185.4 billion was spent on health goods and services in Australia. This equates to an average of approximately $7,485 per person and constituted 10% of overall economic activity for this period.
Download .pdf

Federal Government's record coronavirus spending dwarfs assistance for previous disasters
The Government has forked out a record amount of financial assistance during the coronavirus pandemic, but how does it compare to spending on other natural, man-made or economic disasters?
Source: ABC NEWS
Read Article

Coronavirus Analysis & Outlook
After analysing Western European data, their collective outcome suggests that Victoria’s lockdown measures will drive down its coronavirus cases (at least in the short-term). An extrapolation of the data points to Victoria’s current wave likely peaking on 5 August, and that its 7-day average local cases may fall to ~75 by ~mid-September. The analysis also suggests that Stage 4 lockdowns were not necessary to contain Victoria’s outbreak.
Source: BELL POTTER
bellpotter.com.au

Government

Directions from Deputy Chief Health Officer (Communicable Disease) in accordance with emergency powers arising from declared state of emergency.
Restricted Activity Directions (No 12) Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (VIC) Source: dhhs.vic.gov.au
Download .pdf

Queensland Health: Restrictions on Businesses, Activities and Undertakings Direction (No. 4)
Direction from Chief Health Officer in accordance with emergency powers arising from the declared public health emergency
View Website

Huge Expansion Of Our Health System To Fight Coronavirus
Victoria’s health system will receive a massive $1.3 billion injection to quickly establish an extra 4,000 ICU beds as we respond to the coronavirus pandemic and protect Victorian lives.
Date: 1st April 2020, Source: Media Release premier.vic.gov.au
Read Media Release has since been removed from website.

Leaving Australia
Australians and permanent residents: You should apply for an exemption at least 4 weeks, but not more than 3 months before your planned travel. Please make only one request per person. Duplicate requests will delay assessment. If you are not granted an exemption, you should not continue with your travel plans. If granted an exemption, you must take evidence of that exemption decision to the airport.
covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au

Opinion

A Doctors’ Open Letter to Daniel Andrews
The purpose of this letter is to make you aware that not all medical practitioners are in agreement with the Chief Medical Officer and the Victorian government regarding the most effective way to control this disease. We believe that an alternative medical response is required that reflects what we know about the spread of the virus, those who have died from it, and the impact that the stage 3-4 lockdown restrictions are having on the physical and mental health of the general population.
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2020/09/a-doctors-open-letter-to-daniel-andrews/

Covid-19 Medical Network
A group of senior medical doctors and health professionals who are concerned about the health impacts of the lockdowns used in response to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in Victoria and across Australia.
covidmedicalnetwork.com

Comparison

Timeline showing increase in corona positive tested / infected comparing Australia, South Africa and Argentina. Three countries on three different continents in the Southern Hemisphere.
NOTE: This graph does not compare the actual numbers of cases.

Austria

Population: 8,859,000 (2019)
Deaths / Year: 83,386 (2019)
Deaths / Day: prox 228
Life expectancy: 81.64 years (2017)

According to the latest WHO data published in 2018 life expectancy in Austria is: Male 79.4, female 84.2 and total life expectancy is 81.9 which gives Austria a World Life Expectancy ranking of 16.

Data Dashboards

Gesundheitsministerium © Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz gesundheitsministerium.at
Note: Jede verstorbene Person, die zuvor COVID-positiv getestet wurde, wird in der Statistik als „COVID-Tote/r“ geführt, unabhängig davon, ob sie direkt an den Folgen der Viruserkrankung selbst oder „mit dem Virus“ (an einer potentiell anderen Todesursache) verstorben ist.

AGES COVID19 Dashboard
covid19-dashboard.ages.at

Coronavirus COVID-19 Fälle in Österreich
Aktuelle Daten, Diagramme und Karten.
coronavirus.datenfakten.at

Coronatracker
Statistiken und Daten zur Ausbreitung des neuartigen Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in Österreich
coronatracker.at

Vaccines

Bundesamt für Sicherheit im Gesundheitswesen
Meldungen vermuteter Nebenwirkungen nach Impfungen zum Schutz vor COVID-19
www.basg.gv.at

Articles

Statistik Austria: Pressemitteilung 12.453-044/21
Rund 7% aller Sterbefälle im Jahr 2020 aufgrund von COVID-19
Read press release

Aktuelle Zahlen zum Coronavirus
Source: Der Standard
Read Article

Verursachte das Coronavirus in Oberösterreich eine Übersterblichkeit?
Source: land-oberoesterreich.gv.at
Read Article

Influenza-Epidemie: Bis zu 6.000 Tote in Österreich
Das tödliche Risiko ist offenbar noch viel größer als bisher angenommen: Laut einer Analyse sterben in Österreich bei einer Grippe-Epidemie bis zu 6.000 Menschen zusätzlich, vor allem Ältere sind betroffen.
Source: Science ORF
Read Article

Economy

Austrian joblessness hits record despite government bid to avoid layoffs
Unemployed jump 66% to highest since records began in 1946!
Source: Reuters
Read Article

Germany

Population: 83,790,088 (2020)
Deaths / Year: 954,874 (2018)
Deaths / Day: prox 2616

Life Expectancy: 78.5 Male and 83.3 Female.

Data Dashboards

NPGEO Corona Hub 2020 Nutzen Sie diese für das Kombinieren, Analysieren und Kommunizieren Ihrer relevanter Anwendungsfälle.
npgeo-corona-npgeo-de.hub.arcgis.com

Activity of acute respiratory diseases in Germany
Karten der Aktivität akuter respiratorischer Erkrankungen in Deutschland (ARE-Aktivität). Die Karten werden generiert mit den wöchentlichen Daten der AGI-Sentinelpraxen. Sie zeigen die regionale ARE-Aktivität auf Bevölkerungsebene, die im ambulanten Bereich erfasst werden kann. Die Datendichte erlaubt keine Beurteilung der lokalen Situation.
NOTE: You can use the drop down toggle to change between and to compare flue seasone.
influenza.rki.de

Medical

Heinsberg-Studie: Prof. Hendrik Streec - Neue Erkenntnisse zur Corona-Pandemie
Jede fünfte Erkrankung verläuft asymptomatisch", erklärt der Virologe Prof. Hendrik Streeck zur Untersuchung der Corona-Fälle aus dem Kreis Heinsberg. Das bedeutet, viele Infizierte würden ihre Erkrankung nicht erkennen.
Watch interview on ZDF.

Inteveiw: Prof. Hendrik Streeck
Watch on UnHerd
Freddie Sayers talks to Professor Hendrik Streeck about why he thinks lockdown measures were initiated too quickly, and how his findings show a Covid-19 fatality rate of 0.24-0.36%. The deadliness of Covid-19, measured by the “Infected Fatality Rate” or what percentage of infected people end up dying, has become an issue of global significance. At UnHerd, we’ve spoken to experts at both ends of the range of estimates, from Neil Ferguson (who believes the IFR to be just under 1%, perhaps 0.8-0.9%) to Johan Giesecke who maintains that it is nearer 0.1%, or one in a thousand.

Interview: Rechtsmediziner Klaus Püschel
Date: 21. APRIL 2020, Source SAT 1
Watch interview

Report on the Epidemiology of Influenza in Germany 2018/2019
The information on the epidemiology of influenza in Germany for the 2018/19 season is mainly based on the analysis and assessment of data collected by the Robert Koch Institute’s (RKI) various surveillance systems for the monitoring of acute respiratory infections (ARI), particularly influenza, in Germany.
Source: Robert Koch Institut:
Read Article

Articles

Grippewelle war tödlichste in 30 Jahren
Date: Montag, 30. September 2019, Source: Deutsches Ärzteblatt
Berlin – Die außergewöhnlich starke Grippewelle 2017/18 hat nach Schätzungen rund 25.100 Menschen in Deutschland das Leben gekostet. Das sei die höchste Zahl an Todesfällen in den vergangenen 30 Jahren, wie der Präsident des Robert-Koch-Instituts (RKI), Lothar Wieler, heute mit Blick auf eine eigene aktuelle Auswertungen erklärte. Es gebe auch saisonale Wellen mit wenigen Hundert Todesfällen.
Read Article

Fact Check

Grippetote in Deutschland 2018 und 2020: Warum man diese Zahlen nicht miteinander vergleichen kann
Auf Facebook wird behauptet, es habe dieses Jahr etwa 24.500 weniger Grippetote gegeben als vor zwei Jahren. Das stimmt so nicht. Die aufgeführten Zahlen lassen sich nicht miteinander vergleichen. Trotzdem verlief die Grippewelle dieses Jahr milder als sonst.
Source: Corrective.org
Read Article

Italy

Population: 60,459,342 (2020)
Deaths / Year: 641,640 (2020)
Deaths / Day: prox 1,757

Life expectancy: Male 80.5 and Female 84.9 years.

Absolute number of deaths from ambient particulate air pollution: 33,700 (2015)
Source: ourworldindata.org

Date Dashboards / Statistics

Healthdata for Italy:
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent population health research center at UW Medicine, part of the University of Washington, that provides rigorous and comparable measurement of the world's most important health problems and evaluates the strategies used to address them. IHME makes this information freely available so that policymakers have the evidence they need to make informed decisions about how to allocate resources to best improve population health.
healthdata.org

Coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in Italy as of June 30, 2020, by age group statista.com

Corona deaths by region
As per 11.07.2020: Lombardy 47.9%
View Data

Articles

Milan, intensive care to collapse for the flu: 48 seriously ill patients already postponed operations
January 10 2018, Source: milano.corriere.it Read Article

Coronavirus was already in Italy by December, waste water study finds
Italian scientists say sewage water from two cities contained coronavirus traces in December, long before the country's first confirmed cases. The National Institute of Health (ISS) said water from Milan and Turin showed genetic virus traces on 18 December. Source: BBC News
Read Article

Spain

Population: 46,940,000 (2019)
Life expectancy: 83.33 years (2017)

Medical

Highlights on Health in Spain
Source WHO
Download .pdf

Research

Sentinel surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater anticipates the occurrence of COVID-19 cases
Gemma Chavarria-Miró, Eduard Anfruns-Estrada, View ORCID ProfileSusana Guix, Miquel Paraira, Belén Galofré, Gloria Sáanchez, View ORCID ProfileRosa Pintó, View ORCID ProfileAlbert Bosch
SARS-CoV-2 was detected in Barcelona sewage long before the declaration of the first COVID-19 case, indicating that the infection was present in the population before the first imported case was reported. Sentinel surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater would enable adoption of immediate measures in the event of future COVID-19 waves.
www.medrxiv.org
Download .pdf

Articles

Scientists say coronavirus traces have been found in Spanish wastewater samples collected on 12 March 2019 - months before the pandemic shook the world. Source: SBS News
Read Article

Colapso en los hospitales - Collapse in hospitals
January 14 2015, Source Elpais.com Read Article
Workers in public health centers have been denouncing for days that the emergencies have collapsed. The Ministry of Health finally admitted yesterday afternoon that it has been forced to open 150 beds that were closed in hospitals and to hire 190 professionals - 80%, nurses and nursing assistants - to "meet the existing demand." She attributes the collapse to the flu "and other seasonal diseases." The unions and emergency workers consulted reply that these services are always on the limit because more and more beds are kept closed and because the workforce is reduced year after year. The flu, they come to say, is just the drop that fills the glass.

¿Por qué la gripe significa colapso en los hospitales españoles? - Why does the flu mean collapse in Spanish hospitals?
13/01/2017 - Source: huffingtonpost.es
Google translate: The flu makes Spanish hospitals the protagonists of Groundhog Day; once after another, one year yes, and another year too, the same situation: outbreak of the virus and collapse in health centers. While thousands of citizens suffer from the symptoms of the virus, doctors and nurses clamor for more means, and political authorities try to deny that there is saturation. It seems a kind of ritual ceremony that had to be faced with patience and rest, like the annoying symptoms of the disease. Read Article

Sweden

Population: 10,100,959 (July 11, 2020)
Deaths / Year: In 2019, almost 89 thousand individuals died in Sweden
Deaths / Day: prox 243
Life expectancy 82.31 years (2017)

Sweden Population statistics
Source: www.scb.se

Medical

The infection fatality rate of COVID-19 in Stockholm – Technical report
Our point estimate of the infection fatality rate is 0.6%, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.4–1.1%. For the age group 0–69 years, we get an estimate of 0.1% (c.i. 0.1–0.2%), and for those of age 70 years or older our estimate is 4.3% (c.i. 2.7–7.7%).
Source: © Public Health Agency of Sweden, Year 2020
Download Report

Interview with Professor Fredrik Elgh
Freddie Sayers speaks with Fredrik Elgh, a Professor of Virology at Umeå University in Northern Sweden and a clinical physician.
Watch Clip

Interview with Professor Johan Giesecke
Professor Johan Giesecke, one of the world’s most senior epidemiologists, advisor to the Swedish Government (he hired Anders Tegnell who is currently directing Swedish strategy), the first Chief Scientist of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and an advisor to the director general of the WHO.
Watch Clip

Interview: Soo Aleman (MD, PhD, Associate Professor) - T-cell immunity and the truth about Covid-19 in Sweden
We hear a lot about Sweden’s experience of Covid-19, with the New York Times declaring this week that that country is now “the world’s cautionary tale.” But what’s it really like on the ground? Soo Aleman has been both on the front lines of the Covid-19 epidemic as a senior physician at Stockholm’s leading Karolinska hospital, and on the research side, as Assistant Professor at the Karolinska Institute and one of a group that last week published new data around T-cell immunity.
Source: UnHerd, Soo Aleman (MD, PhD, Associate Professor)
Watch Interview

Interview with Anders Tegnell
In just a few short months Anders Tegnell, architect of Sweden’s unique response to the Covid-19 pandemic, has gone from unknown physician and technocrat to a household celebrity in Sweden and in countries around the world.
Source: UnHerd
Watch Interview

Number of deaths in Sweden in 2019, by cause of death
Source: statista.com
View Data

Government

The Government’s work in response to the virus responsible for COVID-19
Source: government.se
View Website

United Kingdom

Population: 66,796,800 (2019)
Deaths / Year: There were just over 616 thousand deaths in the United Kingdom in 2018
Deaths / Day: prox 1687
Life expectancy: 81.16 years (2017)

NHS hospital bed numbers: past, present, future
The total number of NHS hospital beds in England, including general and acute, mental illness, learning disability, maternity and day-only beds, has more than halved over the past 30 years, from around 299,000 in 1987/88 to 141,000 in 2018/9, while the number of patients treated has increased significantly.
In comparison the UK population in 1988 was 56,916,448 and in 2019 it was 66,796,800 people.
Source: "https://www.kingsfund.org.uk

Data Dashboards / Statistics

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Overview
Employment, Inflation, GDP, Population, ...
www.ons.gov.uk

Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights
A roundup of the latest data and trends about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the ONS and other sources. Comparisions, Infections, Hospitals, Deaths, Vaccines, Antibodies, ...
www.ons.gov.uk

Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Latest data and analysis on coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK and its effect on the economy and society.
www.ons.gov.uk

Deaths registered monthly in England and Wales
Number of deaths registered each month by area of usual residence for England and Wales, by region, county, local and unitary authority, and London borough.
www.ons.gov.uk

Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK
- Testing
- Cases
- Healthcare
- Deaths
GOV.UK - Dashboard

Medical

Analysis of death registrations not involving coronavirus (COVID-19), England and Wales: 28 December 2019 to 1 May 2020
Examines death registrations not involving coronavirus (COVID-19), to understand the apparent increase in deaths compared to the previous five-year average for deaths in the same weeks. Explores explanations for why a greater number of deaths not involving COVID-19 are observed.
Source: Office for National Statistics, ons.gov.uk
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Interview with Prof. Neil Ferguson
Neil Morris Ferguson OBE FMedSci is a British epidemiologist and professor of mathematical biology, who specialises in the patterns of spread of infectious disease in humans and animals.
Prof. Neil Ferguson - Imperial College London
Watch Interview

Vaccines

Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine adverse reactions
A weekly report covering adverse reactions to approved COVID-19 vaccines
www.gov.uk

Articles

Daily updates on English Covid-19 deaths paused amid accuracy concerns
Daily updates on the coronavirus death toll in England have been paused amid growing concern that the numbers could have been exaggerated. A message on the government’s website on Saturday said: “Currently the daily deaths measure counts all people who have tested positive for coronavirus and since died, with no cut-off between time of testing and date of death.
Date:18/07/2020, Source: The Guardian
Read Article

When is life going to go back to normal?
Interview with Dr Michael Tildesley, an epidemiologist from the University of Warwick and formal advisor to the Government.
Watch Clip

USA

Population: 331,002,651 (2020)
Deaths / Year: 2,813,503 registered deaths in the United States in 2017
Deaths / Day: prox 7,708
Life expectancy: 78.54 years (2017)

Data Dashboards

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same.
www.cdc.gov

Weekly Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics
Source: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
List of topics:
- Age and sex
- Race and Hispanic origin
- Place of death
- Comorbidities
- Excess deaths
- State and county data files
https://www.cdc.gov/

Vaccines

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database contains information on unverified reports of adverse events (illnesses, health problems and/or symptoms) following immunization with US-licensed vaccines.
wonder.cdc.gov

Medical

Life Expectancy, Leading Causes of Death and more ...
National-level mortality data help track the characteristics of those who have died, monitor and make decisions about public health challenges, determine life expectancy, and compare death trends with other countries. Source: cdc.gov
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Articles

California hospitals face a ‘war zone’ of flu patients — and are setting up tents to treat them
January 16th 2018, Source: latimes.com - Read Article

Hospitals Overwhelmed by Flu Patients Are Treating Them in Tents
January 18th 2018, Source: time.com - Read Article The 2017-2018 influenza epidemic is sending people to hospitals and urgent-care centers in every state, and medical centers are responding with extraordinary measures: asking staff to work overtime, setting up triage tents, restricting friends and family visits and cancelling elective surgeries, to name a few.

Hospital Overrun By Flu Cases Having To Turn Them Away
January 8, 2018, Source: dfw.cbslocal.com
DALLAS (1080 KRLD) – The flu continues to spread across north Texas. And, one hospital in North Texas wants people to make sure their flu is life-threatening before they take a trip to the emergency room.
Read Article

Medical

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: implications for infection prevention precautions
Source: WHO, Date: 9 July 2010
Read Article

PCR tests

How accurate are COVID-19 tests
There is no such thing as a perfect test- one which correctly answers the question being asked 100% of the time. Many factors come into play, not all of them are obvious. The analytical accuracy and precision of pathology tests are typically very good. If you do the same test multiple times on the same sample you will generally get the same answer. So why isn’t their diagnostic accuracy the same?
www.labtestsonline.org.au

COVID-19 testing in Australia - information for health professionals
Date: 11 June 2020, Source: Australian Government Department of Health
The reliability of COVID-19 tests is uncertain due to the limited evidence base. Available evidence mainly comes from symptomatic patients, and their clinical role in detecting asymptomatic carriers is unclear. tga.gov.au

Overcoming the bottleneck to widespread testing: a rapid review of nucleic acid testing approaches for COVID-19 detection
Source: rnasociety.org
We're a non-profit international scientific society with more than 1800 members dedicated to fostering research and education in the field of RNA science. We host a peer-reviewed scientific journal, RNA, and an annual scientific conference, along with sponsoring other RNA-related scientific conferences through direct financial support and student travel grants. Mostly, we are a community of scientists who are passionate about better understanding the fascinating world of RNA biology. Read Abstract

Exponential growth and epidemics

Exponential growth and epidemics explained Watch clip

Health Care System

Intensivbetten je 100.000 Einwohner ausgewählter Länder bis 2020* / Intensive care beds per 100,000 per capita selected countries
https://de.statista.com/
Germany (2017): 33.9
Austria (28.9): 28.9
USA (2018): 25.8
Spain (2018): 9.7
Italy (2018): 8.6

Corona epidemic and intensive care beds in Europe
Wissenschaft.de

Understanding and managing the hidden health crisis of COVID-19 in Europe
Source: mckinsey.com, Date: June 2, 2020 COVID-19 may produce further, longer-term consequences, not just from reduced care provision, but from the impact of lockdowns on mental and physical health. Read Article

Flu resources

Up to 650 000 people die of respiratory diseases linked to seasonal flu each year
Source: World Health Organisation - www.who.int

CDC Seasonal Flu Vaccine Effectiveness Studies
CDC has been working with researchers at universities and hospitals since the 2003-2004 flu season to estimate how well flu vaccine works through observational studies using laboratory-confirmed flu as the outcome.
Read Article

Terms and Explanations

Understanding excess mortality What is the fairest way to compare COVID-19 deaths internationally?
Source:health.org.uk Read Article

Articles

Coronavirus: How to understand the death toll
Nick Triggle, Health correspondent, Source BBC.com, 16th April 2020
The death figures being reported daily are hospital cases where a person dies with the coronavirus infection in their body - because it is a notifiable disease cases have to be reported.
Read Article

The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide
Eight ways in which scientists hope to provide immunity to SARS-CoV-2.
https://www.nature.com/

Social Impacts

Impact of Media Reporting

If It Bleeds, It Leads: Understanding Fear-Based Media
Source: psychologytoday.com, Date Jun 07, 2011
Managing depression requires you to mind your media intake. News is a money-making industry. One that doesn't always make the goal to report the facts accurately. Gone are the days of tuning in to be informed straightforwardly about local and national issues. In truth, watching the news can be a psychologically risky pursuit, which could undermine your mental and physical health.
Read Article

Mental Health

Emerging evidence on COVID-19’s impact on mental health and health inequalities
Different groups of people in the UK are experiencing the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the lockdown very differently. One area of concern is the impact of the pandemic on mental health and how this is affecting some groups much more than others.
Source: Health.org.aj Read Article

COVID-19 IMPACT LIKELY TO LEAD TO INCREASED RATES OF SUICIDE AND MENTAL ILLNESS
Australia will likely see increases in youth suicide and a surge in demand for specialist mental health services as the full and lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is experienced across the community.
Source: Australian Medical Association
Read Article

Economic Impact

The World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
weforum.org

Articles

The Global Economic Outlook During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Changed World
Source: worldbank.org Read Article

Professional Comments

Global perspective of COVID‐19 epidemiology for a full‐cycle pandemic
John P. A. Ioannidis - First published: 07 October 2020

Read paper

Interview with Nobel Prize winning scientist Prof Michael Levitt
As he is careful to point out, Professor Michael Levitt is not an epidemiologist. He’s Professor of Structural Biology at the Stanford School of Medicine, and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for “the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.” With a purely statistical perspective, he has been playing close attention to the Covid-19 pandemic since January, when most of us were not even aware of it. He first spoke out in early February, when through analysing the numbers of cases and deaths in Hubei province he predicted with remarkable accuracy that the epidemic in that province would top out at around 3,250 deaths. Watch Clip

Perspectives on the Pandemic | Dr. John Ioannidis Update
Dr. John Ioannidis discusses the results of three preliminary studies, (including his latest, which shows a drastically reduced infection fatality rate); the worrisome effects of the lockdown; the Swedish approach; the Italian data; the ups and downs of testing; the feasibility of "contact tracing", and much more.
Watch Clip

Professor Karol Sikora: fear is more deadly than the virus
Freddie Sayers interviews Professor Karol Sikora, the Founding Dean and Professor of Medicine at the University of Buckingham Medical School and an ex-director of the WHO Cancer Programme. Professor Karol Sikora has become something of a celebrity in the UK over the past months for his expert commentary on the pandemic, and his unusual tendency for optimism rather than pessimism. Watch Clip

Oxford Epidemiologists: Suppression strategy is not viable
We wanted to learn more about the current state of the pandemic and the direction it was headed. Joining Freddie Sayers was Prof Heneghan and his Centre for Evidence Based Medicine colleague Tom Jefferson who shared their thoughts in this wide-ranging discussion.
Watch Interview

RSM In Conversation Live with Lord Jonathan Sumption
Recorded on Wednesday 15 July 2020 as part of The Royal Society of Medicine's In Conversation Live series. Lord Jonathan Sumption, British author, medieval historian and former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, joined Professor Sir Simon Wessely for a enthralling discussion on his journey to the Supreme Court, his immense capacity for knowledge, his books on the Hundred Years War, and his views on the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
Watch Interview

Freedom of the press

Press freedom critical to countering COVID-19 ‘pandemic of misinformation’: UN chief
Journalists are key to countering the “dangerous outbreak of misinformation” accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Secretary-General said on Monday during a virtual dialogue on promoting press freedom amid the global crisis. Source: UN News
Read Article

Glossary

Clickbait, a form of false advertisement, uses hyperlink text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, with a defining characteristic of being deceptive, typically sensationalized or misleading.[2][3] A "teaser" aims to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make readers of news websites curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content. Click-bait headlines add an element of dishonesty, using enticements that do not accurately reflect the content being delivered.The "-bait" part of the term makes an analogy with fishing, where a hook is disguised by an enticement (bait), presenting the impression to the fish that it is a desirable thing to swallow.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Collateral Damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an unintended result of military operations.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Conspiracy Theory: an attempt to explain harmful or tragic events as the result of the actions of a small, powerful group. Such explanations reject the accepted narrative surrounding those events; indeed, the official version may be seen as further proof of the conspiracy.

Fake News
Fake news, also known as junk news, pseudo-news, alternative facts or hoax news, is a form of news consisting of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional news media (print and broadcast) or online social media. Digital news has brought back and increased the usage of fake news, or yellow journalism.The news is then often reverberated as misinformation in social media but occasionally finds its way to the mainstream media as well.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Infection fatality rate: The term infection fatality rate (IFR) also applies to infectious disease outbreaks, and represents the proportion of deaths among all the infected individuals. It is closely related to the CFR, but attempts to additionally account for all asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections. The IFR will always be lower than the CFR as long as all deaths are accurately attributed to either the infected or the non-infected class.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Practitioners sometimes use the terms "watchdog reporting" or "accountability reporting".
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

An ethical dilemma or ethical paradox is a decision-making problem between two possible moral imperatives, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. The complexity arises out of the situational conflict in which obeying would result in transgressing another. Sometimes called ethical paradoxes in moral philosophy, ethical dilemmas may be invoked to refute an ethical system or moral code, or to improve it so as to resolve the paradox.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Potential years of life lost (PYLLs) Premature deaths can be summarised in terms of potential years of life lost (PYLLs). This measure considers only deaths that occur before a specified arbitrary age. For example, if dying before the age of 75 is considered premature then a person dying at age 40 would have lost 35 potential years of life.
Source: aihw.gov.au

Sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic in mass media. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news report encourages biased impressions of events rather than neutrality, and may cause a manipulation to the truth of a story. Sensationalism may rely on reports about generally insignificant matters and portray them as a major influence on society, or biased presentations of newsworthy topics, in a trivial, or tabloid manner, contrary to general assumptions of professional journalistic standards. Some tactics include being deliberately obtuse, appealing to emotions, being controversial, intentionally omitting facts and information, being loud and self-centered, and acting to obtain attention. Trivial information and events are sometimes misrepresented and exaggerated as important or significant, and often include stories about the actions of individuals and small groups of people, the content of which is often insignificant and irrelevant to the macro-level day-to-day events occurring globally.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Miscellaneous

AUS: Universal Basic income: a radical idea enters the mainstream
A universal basic income (UBI) is a payment made to all adult individuals that allows people to meet their basic needs. It is made without any work or activity tests. The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) is not new but until recently had been pushed to the fringes of policy debate.
Source: aph.gov.au
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Tracking covid-19 excess deaths across countries
In many parts of the world, official death tolls undercount the total number of fatalities
Source: economist.com
Read Article

Air quality statistics Europe
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union, whose task is to provide sound, independent information on the environment. The EEA aims to support sustainable development by helping to achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe's environment, through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policymaking agents and the public.
Source: The European Environment Agency (EEA)
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The winter 2019-2020 has been an exceptionally warm winter
The 2019/2020 winter has been the warmest on record for Europe, with average temperatures 1.4C above the previous high of 2015/2016
Source: BBC - Read Article.

Watch Dog

Worldometers.info - Date 11.07.2020
Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) = Deaths / Cases = 23,430 / 1,694,781 = 1.4% (1.4% of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 have a fatal outcome, while 98.6% recover).
worldometers.info
Correction: Deaths / Cases = Case Fatality Rate