Weekly news at a glance

(Worldwide) Long-haul Covid still drains patients

While there has indeed been significant research into long Covid over the past two years – including a few studies published last week – some infectious disease experts say we still don’t know enough about the prevalence of the condition, what causes it, and how to treat it.

There is a need for more studies on long Covid featuring control groups, and people should continue to take precautions to avoid contracting Covid despite the lifting of restrictions and exhaustion with the pandemic, the experts say.

(Worldwide) Wastewater surveillance provides crucial COVID data

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater surveillance and analysis became a key tool in monitoring and measuring the amount of virus in communities.

But some experts caution that the data collected from these studies could also lead to privacy concerns, especially because samples are often gathered from public sources without individual consent.

“Bioethics, which sort of underlies what health-care providers do, has historically been based upon ‘do no harm’ — and the idea of informed consent,” said Steve Hrudey, a professor emeritus from the University of Alberta’s department of laboratory medicine and pathology. “Well, informed consent is really not possible for this kind of technique.”

(Worldwide) Nearly 15M people killed globally by COVID 

Nearly 15 million people were killed either by COVID-19 or by its impact on overwhelmed health systems during the first two years of the pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates.

The estimate is more than double the current official death toll of just over six million. Most of the deaths occurred in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas, according to a WHO report issued on Thursday.

They estimated between 13.3 million and 16.6 million people died either due to the coronavirus directly or because of factors linked to the pandemic’s impact on health systems, such as cancer patients who were unable to seek treatment when hospitals were full of COVID-19 patients.

(AUS) Free flu jabs to be available

All West Australian and South Australian residents will be eligible to receive a free flu vaccination in June. From Wednesday, WA residents of all ages will be able to receive their free flu jab at state-run clinics and participating pharmacies and GPs.

Free flu jabs will be made available to everyone in New South Wales from Wednesday. Usually only high-risk groups of people are eligible for free flu shots, but the state government has decided to pick up the tab for everyone in a bid to curb the massive rise in infections.

The Andrews government is slated to announce free flu vaccinations for Victorians as the state grapples with a tough start to the season.The Victorian government is yet to confirm when it will announce the flu vaccination regime. However, Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday authorities would have more to say about the vaccinations soon.

(AUS) States look to boost volunteer numbers as demand increases

Volunteering Victoria has reported a 50 percent fall in volunteer participation since the pandemic began in 2020. According to Volunteering Victoria’s Chief Executive Scott Miller, organisations across different sectors are struggling to fill volunteer roles despite increased demand. 

The Victorian government will open applications next month for 1.3 million dollars in grants – worth up to eighty-thousand dollars individually – to help organisations attract new volunteers. It will also unveil a new volunteering strategy for recruiting new volunteers, enticing former volunteers to return and offering training and professional development.

(AUS) Racism remains rife towards Chinese-Australians

One in five Chinese-Australians are experiencing racist attacks, more than two years after the pandemic began, according to a Lowy Institute report. Research from The Asian Australia Alliance found 61 per cent of racist incidents being reported were happening to Asian women.

According to University of Adelaide Chinese Studies professor Mobo Gao, these incidents were more commonly happening in spaces such as public transport where people are less accountable for expressing prejudice.