Worldwide COVID news at a glance

1 WHO says Covid misinformation is a major factor

A top World Health Organization official said Tuesday that misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines is keeping people from getting the shots, driving an increase in cases around the world.

“In the last four weeks or so, the amount of misinformation that is out there seems to be getting worse, and I think that’s really confusing for the general public,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid, said during a Q&A livestreamed on the organization’s social media channels.

Public health leaders have blamed conspiracy theories and misinformation for growing distrust of the vaccines around the world — so much so that in July U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared Covid misinformation a “serious public threat.”

2 Dubai dog squad sniffs out Covid from sweat

Dubai Reuters reported police in Dubai have built a special unit of 38 sniffer dogs that can detect Covid-19 from human sweat samples with 92 per cent accuracy, the supervisor of the training programme told Reuters.

The Dubai police trained the cohort, which includes German Shepherds, Labradors, Cocker Spaniels and Border Collies, to recognise the scent of Covid-19 using samples of sweat from people with confirmed infections, collected by holding a swab in an armpit for a few minutes.

Dubai has received requests from around the world to share knowledge about how to train dogs to sniff out Covid-19, the Dubai police’s Major Salah Khalifa al-Mazroui said.

3 Dutch to end social distancing rule

The Netherlands will say goodbye to its 1.5m social distance rule for the first time since the start of the pandemic, starting on September 25, “a symbolic move,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said during a press conference in the Hague. “This is an exciting but positive step”.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte

The Dutch government is also expanding the use of its vaccine certificate, making it a requirement for entry to cinemas, theaters and catering businesses. Nightclubs will be allowed to reopen with limited opening hours until midnight, as is the case for bars and restaurants. Outdoor events such as festivals and sport competitions can take place at full capacity. A 75% capacity limit applies to unseated indoor events. 

People with severe immune disorders will be offered a third vaccination dose in October. 

4 India may resume vaccine exports to Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) said talks are under way with India for a resumption of Covid-19 vaccine exports to African countries following a pause during a deadly wave of infections earlier this year. 

“Be assured the conversation is ongoing, be assured that supply will restart this year,” Bruce Aylward, a senior WHO official, said at a briefing on Tuesday. “We are hoping we can get assurance it can start even faster than later this year and in the coming weeks.” 

India had been supplying doses to Covax, the equitable vaccine initiative on which most African countries are reliant. The government then moved to prioritise its own population after the Delta virus variant began sweeping through major cities. 

5 Portugal the most fully vaccinated country

Portugal is reckoned to be number one or two of the most fully vaccinated nations in the world, but there are serious concerns of a possible expansion of COVID’19 if vaccinations continue to lag so far behind in Africa.

About 80% of Portugal’s total population of just over 10 million have been fully vaccinated, according to Direção-Geral da Saúde (DGS) the national health authority.

Almost all adults over 65 and half of young people aged between 12 and 17 have now been fully vaccinated.

6 World first for AI and machine learning to treat Covid patients

The research was sparked by the pandemic and set out to build an AI tool to predict how much extra oxygen a Covid-19 patient may need in the first days of hospital care, using data from across four continents.

The technique, known as federated learning, used an algorithm to analyse chest x-rays and electronic health data from hospital patients with Covid symptoms.