Eskişehir, Turkey, Sunday 26 December 2021

“It was about the beginning of September 1664, that I, among the rest of my neighbours, heard in ordinary discourse that the Plague was returned again in the Netherlands.

For it had been very violent there, particularly at Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in the year 1663, whither, they say, it was brought, some said from Italy, others from the Levant, among some goods which were brought home by their Turkey fleet.

Others said it was brought from Candia.

Others from Cyprus.

It mattered not from whence it came, but all agreed it was come into the Netherlands again.

We had no such thing as printed newspapers in those days to spread rumors and reports of things….

But such things as these were gathered from the letters of merchants and others who corresponed abroad, and from them was handed about by word of mouth only…..

Hence it was that this rumor died off again and people began to forget it as a thing we were very little concerned in, and that we hoped was not true.“

Daniel Defoe, Journal of the Plague Year

It had been a stressful week thus far, especially the last 48 hours, for not only was I changing apartments in Eskişehir, but I was preparing to take a leave of absence from Turkey until mid-February 2022.

I worked every day Monday to Sunday this week, allowing our newly arrived American colleague the opportunity to have Christmas weekend off.

I worked Christmas Day, that night I attended the staff Xmas party, and I spent the remainder of the evening packing to change apartments this Boxing Day evening after my PCR test, required before I would be allowed to fly on Tuesday.

COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2.

The two main branches detect either the presence of the virus or of antibodies produced in response to infection.

Molecular tests for viral presence through its molecular components are used to diagnose individual cases and to allow public health authorities to trace and contain outbreaks.

Antibody tests (serology immunoassays) instead show whether someone once had the disease. 

They are less useful for diagnosing current infections because antibodies may not develop for weeks after infection. 

It is used to assess disease prevalence, which aids the estimation of the infection fatality rate.

Individual jurisdictions have adopted varied testing protocols, including whom to test, how often to test, analysis protocols, sample collection and the uses of test results. 

This variation has likely significantly impacted reported statistics, including case and test numbers, case fatality rates and case demographics. 

Because SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs days after exposure (and before onset of symptoms), there is an urgent need for frequent surveillance and rapid availability of results.

Test analysis is often performed in automated, high-throughput, medical laboratories by medical laboratory scientists.

Alternatively, point-of-care testing can be done in physician’s offices and parking lots, workplaces, institutional settings or transit hubs.

Positive viral tests indicate a current infection, while positive antibody tests indicate a prior infection.

Other techniques include a CT scan, checking for elevated body temperature, checking for low blood oxygen level, and the deployment of detection dogs at airports.

Detection of the virus is usually done either by looking for the virus’ inner RNA, or pieces of protein on the outside of the virus.

Tests that look for the viral antigens (parts of the virus) are called antigen tests.

There are multiple types of tests that look for the virus by detecting the presence of the virus’s RNA.

These are called nucleic acid or molecular tests, after molecular biology.

As of 2021, the most common form of molecular test is the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

Other methods used in molecular tests include: 

• CRISPR gene editing is a genetic engineering technique in molecular biology by which the genomes of living organisms may be modified. It is based on a simplified version of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defense system. By delivering the Cas9 nuclease complexed with a synthetic guide RNA (gRNA) into a cell, the cell’s genome can be cut at a desired location, allowing existing genes to be removed and/or new ones added in vivo (in living organisms). The technique is considered highly significant in biotechnology and medicine as it allows for the genomes to be edited in vivo with extremely high precision, cheaply, and with ease. It can be used in the creation of new medicines, agricultural products, and genetically modified organisms, or as a means of controlling pathogens and pests. It also has possibilities in the treatment of inherited genetic diseases as well as diseases such as cancer. However, its use in human genetic modification is highly controversial. 
• Isothermal nucleic acid amplification – A nucleic acid test (NAT) is a technique used to detect a particular nucleic acid sequence and thus usually to detect and identify a particular species or subspecies of organism, often a virus or bacterium that acts as a pathogen in blood, tissue, urine, etc. NATs differ from other tests in that they detect genetic materials (RNA or DNA) rather than antigens or antibodies. Detection of genetic materials allows an early diagnosis of a disease because the detection of antigens and/or antibodies requires time for them to start appearing in the bloodstream. Since the amount of a certain genetic material is usually very small, many NATs include a step that amplifies the genetic material — that is, makes many copies of it. Such NATs are called nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs).
• Digital polymerase chain reaction (digital PCR, DigitalPCR, dPCR, or dePCR) is a biotechnological refinement of conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods that can be used to directly quantify and clonally amplify nucleic acids strands, including DNA, cDNA or RNA. The key difference between dPCR and traditional PCR lies in the method of measuring nucleic acids amounts, with the former being a more precise method than PCR, though also more prone to error in the hands of inexperienced users. A “digital” measurement quantitatively and discretely measures a certain variable, whereas an “analog” measurement extrapolates certain measurements based on measured patterns. PCR carries out one reaction per single sample. dPCR also carries out a single reaction within a sample, however the sample is separated into a large number of partitions and the reaction is carried out in each partition individually. This separation allows a more reliable collection and sensitive measurement of nucleic acid amounts. The method has been demonstrated as useful for studying variations in gene sequences — such as copy number variants and point mutations — and it is routinely used for clonal amplification of samples for next generation sequencing.
• Microarray analysis techniques are used in interpreting the data generated from experiments on DNA (Gene chip analysis), RNA, and protein microarrays, which allow researchers to investigate the expression state of a large number of genes – in many cases, an organism’s entire genome – in a single experiment.Such experiments can generate very large amounts of data, allowing researchers to assess the overall state of a cell or organism. Data in such large quantities is difficult – if not impossible – to analyze without the help of computer programs.
• Next generation sequencing – Massive parallel sequencing or massively parallel sequencing is any of several high-throughput approaches to DNA sequencing using the concept of massively parallel processing. It is also called next-generation sequencing (NGS) or second-generation sequencing. Some of these technologies emerged between 1994 and 1998 and have been commercially available since 2005. These technologies use miniaturized and parallelized platforms for sequencing of 1 million to 43 billion short reads (50 to 400 bases each) per instrument run.

Many NGS platforms differ in engineering configurations and sequencing chemistry.

They share the technical paradigm of massive parallel sequencing via spatially separated, clonally amplified DNA templates or single DNA molecules in a flow cell.

This design is very different from that of Sanger sequencing — also known as capillary sequencing or first-generation sequencing — which is based on electrophoretic separation of chain-termination products produced in individual sequencing reactions.

At this point in time, if your eyes have glossed over in the realization that you, like myself, haven’t the foggiest idea of what all this science actually means in terms that anyone can comprehend, please know that you are not alone in this regard.

The first COVID case in Turkey was recorded on 11 March 2020, when a local returned home from a trip to Europe.

The first death due to COVID-19 in the country occurred on 15 March 2020. 

Turkey stood out from the rest of Europe by not ordering a legal lockdown until April 2021 (a month after I arrived in the Republic), when the country enacted its first nationwide restrictions.

The government kept many businesses open, and allowed companies to set their own guidelines regarding workers.

The resulting wave of infections never came close to overwhelming the Turkish health system, which has the highest number of intensive care units in the world at 46.5 beds per 100,000 people (compared to 9.6 in Greece, 11.6 in France, and 12.6 in Italy).

As of 3 May 2021, Turkey’s observed case-fatality rate stands at 0.84%, the 148th highest rate globally.

This low case-fatality rate has generated various explanations including the relative rarity of nursing homes, favorable demographics, a long legacy of contact tracing, its high number of intensive care units, universal health care, and a lockdown regime that led to a higher proportion of positive cases among working-age adults.

On 30 September 2020, Turkish Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca acknowledged that since 29 July 2020, the reported number of cases was limited to symptomatic cases that required monitoring, which was met with rebuke by the Turkish Medical Association. 

This practice ended on 25 November, when the Ministry started to report asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases alongside symptomatic ones.

As of November 8, 2021, the total number of patients infected with the corona virus in Turkey was 8,259,503 and 1,405 of the existing patients were being treated in intensive care.

So far, the number of patients recovering is 7,737,259 and the number of patients who have died is 72,314.

A total of 99,834,300 tests have been carried out to date.

A total of 24,278,886 people were vaccinated as of 5 May 2021.

Of these, 14,327,674 people received the first dose of the vaccine, while 9,951,212 people received a second dose. 

(I was vaccinated on 17 July 2021, 3 August 2021, and 1 January 2022 in Weinfelden, Switzerland.)

Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and Antalya were among the top five cities where the most vaccines were applied.

In addition, Turkey is the 6th most vaccinated country in the world after the US, China, India, the UK and Brazil.

As of 30 April 2021, Turkey was the 5th country with the highest number of cases among 193 countries, behind Brazil and France, and 19th after Ukraine in the number of deaths. 

The outbreak has led to radical decisions in Turkey that have had many significant impacts and consequences in social, economic, political, economic, administrative, legal, military, religious and cultural fields.

Education and training in primary, secondary and high schools in the country was suspended, while spring semester classes were canceled and exams were postponed in all universities. 

The Directorate of Religious Affairs announced a pause in prayers with the community in mosques and mosques, especially Friday prayers.

All restaurants, cafes, museums, classrooms, courses, shopping malls, hotels, barber shops, hairdresser salons, beauty centres, coffee shops, gyms, concert venues, nightclubs, association locales and wedding/engagement halls were temporarily closed.

All citizens were banned from picnics and barbecues in forests, parks and gardens.

All football leagues in the country have been postponed and all sporting events cancelled until further notice. 

The Ministry of National Defense announced that all subpoenas, referrals and discharges at military barracks have been postponed for a month.

(My WSE colleague has had his conscription twice postponed.)

About 90,000 prisoners and detainees were released after Parliament passed a law aimed at reducing the occupancy of prisons, with the risk of the epidemic spreading to prisons and disrupting public order.

In the amnesty law, terrorism, murder, drugs and sexual offences were excluded. 

The Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) announced that all hearings, deliberations and discoveries were suspended until 15 June 2020, except for detainees and emergency work and statute of limitations.

All airlines, especially Turkish Airlines, announced that they were terminating all international and domestic flights until further notice.

The obligation to use masks in public areas, such as markets, was put into effect.

Intercity travel was granted the Governor’s permit and sparse seating arrangements were introduced on public transport. 

Hundreds of settlements, villages and towns were quarantined under COVID-19 measures.

In order to minimize the economic impact of the pandemic, many arrangements were made and support packages were announced.

Flexible working systems were introduced with minimum staff in private and public sectors. 

The Treasury and Finance Ministry (HMB) said it had lowered, deferred or waived taxes on many items.

Under the law, employers were banned from laying off for three months by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services (ASHB).

In a speech, President Erdoğan described the outbreak as the biggest crisis since World War II in terms of its economic consequences.

The government first imposed a curfew on people aged 65 and over to reduce the rate of spread of the epidemic and maintain social distancing between people.

(A practice much ignored generally in my experience in Turkey.)

It later extended the restriction to include children and young people aged 20 and under.

The public was urged not to travel outside the country and also to stay indoors unless they had to.

On 10 January 2020, the Corona Virus Science Board was established within the Ministry of Health to combat COVID-19 in Turkey. 

Thermal cameras were installed at airports by the Ministry of Health on 24 January. 

The Ministry also began to subject passengers from China to additional screenings and announced that anyone showing signs of corona virus infection would be quarantined.

Screenings were later expanded to include countries that reported large numbers of confirmed cases.

Other measures at airports included infrared screenings, disinfection of all customs gates, free masks and the distribution of instruction leaflets.

On 31 January, the Turkish Government sent a plane to pick up 34 Turkish citizens and citizens of other countries from Wuhan. 

Other nationals included seven Azerbaijanis, seven Georgians and one Albanian. 

China ordered 150 million masks annually, as well as 200 million masks from Turkey.

On 3 February, Turkey announced that it had suspended all flights from China.

On 23 February, the Iranian border was closed and flights with Iran were unilaterally suspended after the Iranian authorities failed to comply with Turkey’s recommendation to quarantine the Iranian city of Qom.

On 29 February, Turkey said flights to Italy, South Korea and Iraq had been mutually suspended.

Shortly afterwards, the Iraqi border was also closed.

The Ministry also established field hospitals close to the borders of Iraq and Iran.

On 8 March, disinfection began in public places and public transport in some provinces.

In Istanbul, the municipality decided to install hand sanitizers at metro and bus stations.

On 10 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that a Turkish man who contracted the virus while travelling to Europe was the country’s first case of the corona virus.

The patient was isolated to an undisclosed hospital and his family members were taken into custody.

On 12 March, a five-hour meeting was held under the chairmanship of President Erdoğan, attended by all ministers, some presidencies and members of the Health and Food Policy Council, to discuss measures against the corona virus.

Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin announced the decisions after the meeting.

It was decided that sports events should be played without spectators until the end of April, that the departure of public employees abroad should take place with special permission, and that the President should postpone his visits abroad.

On 13 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on his official Twitter account that a person close to the first patient under observation had also been diagnosed with the corona virus. 

With the new announcement made in the evening, it was determined that three more people in the same family as the first patient carried the corona virus, thus increasing the number of confirmed cases in Turkey to five. 

On 14 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that a person returning from Umrah (the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca) had been diagnosed with the corona virus, bringing the number of cases in Turkey to six. 

Of the 10,330 citizens who returned from Umrah, 5,392 were quarantined in Ankara and 4,938 were quarantined in state dormitories in Konya, according to the Ministry of Youth and Sports (GSB) on 15 March.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that the first case had been diagnosed with two people in the vicinity who were under observation, and that there were seven cases from European countries and three from America.

The number of confirmed cases has risen to 18. 

On 16 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that 29 new diagnoses with contacts in the US, Europe and the Middle East, bringing the total number of patients to 47.

On March 17, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the death of an 89-year-old patient with Chinese contacts who had been quarantined, 51 new diagnoses and a total of 98 cases. 

On 17 March 2020, the Turkish Medical Association, the TTB Specialist Association, the Public Health Professionals Association, the Turkish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the Turkish Thorax Association, and the Turkish Intensive Care Association held a meeting to evaluate developments related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The final statement of the meeting called for transparency.

The statement also found that the pandemic poses significant dangers to health workers and patients, that deficiencies in information and measures lead to confusion, and that inadequate information on medication use, access to tests and various issues complicates the fight against the pandemic. 

On 18 March, a “Anti-Coronavirus Co-ordination Meeting” was held in Çankaya Pavilion within the scope of the fight against the corona virus. 

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on his Twitter account that a 61-year-old patient had died, bringing the number of cases to 191.

Also on 18 March, it was announced that the Commander of the Army, Aytac Yalman had died of the corona virus three days earlier and that his wife was in quarantine. 

The Sultan Abdulhamid Khan Training and Research Hospital Chief Medical Officer announced on 19 March that Yalman’s cause of death was COVID-19, which developed within the framework of the pandemic.

“Given that the clinical picture of the deceased Aytaç Yalman was also compatible after his wife’s test result was COVID positive, it was concluded that he had died due to COVID-19,” the chief medical officer said. 

On 19 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca stated that the corona virus was the cause of death of former Army Commander Aytaç Yalman, who died on 15 March 2020.

Thus, the number of people who died due to the corona virus in Turkey increased to three. 

The Minister of Youth and Sports Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu announced the postponement of football, volleyball, basketball and handball leagues. 

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that an 85-year-old woman had died, with 168 new cases.

The total number of cases was 359, bringing the death toll to four. 

On 20 March, all private and foundation hospitals were declared pandemic hospitals with the circular issued by the Ministry of Health.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, in a message posted on his Twitter account, said there were 311 new cases and five more had died.

The total number of cases rose to 670, while the death toll was nine. 

The Human Rights Association (IHD), the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, the Lawyers Association for Freedom, the Association of Contemporary Lawyers, the Health and Social Workers Union, the Civil Society Association in the Penal System, Covid-19 Outbreak and Measures to Be Taken Urgently in Prisons issued a statement.

The statement included provisions such as the release of elderly and sick, children, pregnant, pregnant, child detainees and the necessity of regular public information about quarantine practices and the health status of prisoners, especially family and lawyers.

On 21 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, in a message posted on his Twitter account, reported 277 new cases and 12 deaths.

The total number of cases rose to 947, with 21 deaths. 

On 22 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, in a message posted on his Twitter account, said there were 289 new cases, nine people had died and the total number of tests carried out was 20,345.

The total number of cases rose to 1,236, with 30 deaths.

On 23 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced at a press conference that the drug Favipiravir had been brought in from China that was said to be good for the virus and was being applied to patients in intensive care.

Koca also announced that health workers would be paid additional wages for three months.

Koca posted a new message on his Twitter account later in the day, explaining that there were 293 new cases and that seven people had died.

The total number of cases increased to 1,529 and the number of deaths increased to 37.

On 24 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on his Twitter account that there were 343 new diagnoses and that seven people had died.

The total number of cases increased to 1,872 and the death toll increased to 44. 

On 25 March 25, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk held a joint press conference.

It was stated that schools were closed until 30 April, the number of existing patients in the intensive care unit was 136 and two patients over the age of 60 were discharged and that data on the cases in Turkey would now be published digitally. 

Later, Fahrettin Koca posted on his Twitter account that there were 561 new diagnoses and that 12 people had died.

The total number of cases rose to 2,433 and the death toll rose to 59. 

On 26 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on his Twitter account that there were 1,196 new diagnoses and 16 more had died.

The total number of cases was 3,629, while the deaths rose to 75. 

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced after the Corona Virus Science Board meeting on 27 March that 42 people had recovered, 341 people were in intensive care, 241 were in intensive care, 2,069 positive cases had been detected in the last 24 hours and 17 people had died.

Thus, the total number of cases increased to 5,698 and the number of deaths increased to 92.

On 28 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that there were 1,704 new cases and 16 people had died.

Thus, the total number of cases increased to 7,402, while the death toll was 108.

The total number of tests carried out so far was 55,464.

On 29 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that there were 1,815 new cases and 23 people had died.

Thus, the total number of cases increased to 9,217, while the death toll was 131.

The total number of tests carried out so far was 65,446. 

On 30 March, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that there were 1,610 new cases and 37 people had died.

Thus, the total number of cases increased to 10,827, while the death toll was 168.

The total number of tests carried out so far was 92,403.

On 31 March 31, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that there were 2,704 new cases and 46 people had died.

Thus, the total number of cases increased to 13,531, while the death toll was 214.

The total number of tests carried out so far was 92,403. 

Also on 31 March, Turkish business leader Ergun Atalay issued a written statement demanding a ban on layoffs and a halt to all work except mandatory production of goods and services for at least 15 days.

Atalay stressed the need to quickly deploy the resources of the Unemployment Insurance Fund against the loss of income caused by these, and to provide income support to all workers who lose jobs and income by the employer, the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the state. 

The Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey (DISK), the Confederation of Public Workers Union (KESK), the Union of Turkish Chambers of Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) and the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) published texts containing seven emergency measures and started a petition.

Among the emergency measures:

“All jobs except basic, mandatory and emergency goods and services should be stopped urgently during the epidemic.

Layoffs should be banned during the epidemic, small trades should be supported, employees should be given paid leave and unconditional unemployment benefits should be paid for the unemployed.

Consumer, residential and vehicle loans, credit card debts and electricity, water, natural gas and communication bills should be deferred without interest being processed during the risk of an epidemic.” 

(According to data from the Istanbul Police Department during the epidemic, the rate of domestic violence in Istanbul increased by 38.2% in March 2020.)

On 1 April 2020, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that a total of 277 infected people had died, with 15,679 current cases.

At the same time, it was announced that there were cases in all 81 provinces and deaths in 39 provinces. 

The province with the highest number of cases and deaths was Istanbul with 8,852 cases and 117 deaths.

Istanbul was followed by Izmir with 853 cases and 18 deaths, and Ankara with 712 cases and seven deaths.

It was also stated that 601 health workers were infected and one doctor died. 

On 2 April 2020, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that 18,757 new tests had been carried out, 2,456 new cases had been identified and 79 new deaths had occurred.

With these figures, the total number of tests increased to 125,556, the total number of cases increased to 18,135 and the total number of deaths increased to 356.

Koca said on his Twitter account that the number of tests increased by around 4,000 compared to the previous day and the number of positive cases decreased compared to the number of tests, explaining that 82 patients had recovered in the last 24 hours and that 82% of those who died during this time were 60 years of age or older.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yavuz Selim Kiran announced that as of 4 April 2020, the total number of citizens of the Republic of Turkey who lost their lives abroad due to COVID-19 had reached 156.

Kıran said on his Twitter account that 55 Turkish citizens died in France, 31 in Germany, 22 in the Netherlands,16 in the UK,14 in Belgium, seven in the US, five in Sweden, three in Switzerland, two in Austria and one in Lebanon.

The Istanbul Medical Chamber said the figures provided by the Ministry of Health are based on cases that test positive for PCR and do not include the number of “suspected/probable cases” in hospitals or outpatient follow-up.

The Medical Chamber also criticized the practices of private hospitals in Istanbul. 

On 11 April 2020, a large-scale curfew was declared for the first time, 20 years after the 2000 census.

The Interior Ministry announced two hours in advance that a two-day curfew would be imposed over the weekend in Zonguldak Province, where lung diseases are common in 30 metropolitan areas with 64 million people, equivalent to 78% of Turkey’s population.

In many cities where the ban would be enforced, citizens flocked to grocery stores and bakeries, causing long queues, mayhem and heavy crowds.

Interior Minister Suleymann Soylu announced that he accepted criticism of the timing and implementation of the ban and announced his resignation the next day.

However, his resignation was not accepted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Soylu was announced to continue in office.

The curfew was continued the following weekend.

On 20 April 2020, President Erdoğan announced that the curfew would be maintained in 30 metropolitan areas and Zonguldak between 23 April and 26 April, including National Sovereignty and Children’s Day (23 April) and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the first three days of Ramadan (24 – 27 April 2020). 

Between 23 May and 26 May 2020, curfews were imposed in all 81 provinces for four days.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on 5 May that 473 Turkish citizens had died from the corona virus abroad.

Cavusoglu also said that more than 65,000 Turkish citizens from 103 countries had been evacuated and brought to Turkey.

While 116 countries requested assistance from Turkey, medical supplies, including N95 masks, overalls, protective goggles, respirators, test kits and visors were sent to 44 countries, including the US, the UK, Spain, Italy and Iran, which were most affected by the outbreak.

The IBB Scientific Advisory Board shared the results of the meeting and announced that a 7+4 day curfew should be announced to cover 16 May to 26 May.

Addressing the risks of starting to discuss normalization steps, the statement said:

“The plateau provided was achieved as a result of the great compliance of our people with the restriction guidelines carried out.

This state of well-being should not bring relief or a temporary relaxation of measures.

In the report prepared by the IBB Scientific Advisory Board, the transition period in the restrictions is defined in excess and the transition process is detailed.” 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke after a cabinet meeting on 4 May 2020.

He noted that the daily increase in patients had now decreased to thousands, the number of patients connected to condensation care and respirators was constantly decreasing and the number of patients recovering had increased exponentially.

He announced that 1 billion 910 million Turkish Liras had been raised in the campaign against the corona virus.

Announcing the gradual start of the return to normal life, President Erdoğan stated that the government had made arrangements for the gradual stretching of restrictions by spreading them to May, June and July in general.

The explanations for this normalization process were as follows:

1. People over the age of 65 would be able to go outside for one of the curfew days and for four hours.
2. Malls would start operating as of 11 May, provided that the rules were followed.
3. Children up to the age of 14 would be able to walk outside between 11.00 and 15.00 on 13 May.
4. The 15-20 age group would be able to walk outside between 11.00 and 15.00 on Friday 15 May.
5. City entry and exit restrictions would be completed for Antalya, Aydin, Erzurum, Hatay, Malatya, Mersin and Mugla.
6. Military discharges would begin on 31 May.
7. The Ministry of National Defense’s appointment, assignment and personnel procurement activities would resume on 1 June, subpoenas on 5 June, and paid military service on 20 June.
8. As of 5 May, the application of single-double plates for commercial taxis in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir would end.
9. Businesses such as barbershops, hairdressers and beauty salons would be able to operate on 11 May.
10. The High School Entrance Exam (LGS) would be held on 20 June, and the Higher Education Institutions Exam (YKS) would be held on 27 June.

On 5 May 2020, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank announced that all major automotive factories in the country would resume operations as of 11 May.

On 6 May 2020, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the normalization process and called this new period “controlled social life“. 

Minister Fahrettin Koca said the risk remains and citizens should remain vigilant.

Koca stated that the outbreak has been contained in Turkey, but the threat has not disappeared and the last carrier will not be removed without isolation and treatment.

Minister Koca also said that the phrase “return to normality” is not true, they constitute “the normals of new life“.

Minister Koca stated that their goal in the first period was to control the disease and explained that their aim in this second and new period was to eliminate the opportunities in front of the disease and to reorganize life.

He said citizens would live a free but cautious life.

Stating that it is now confirmed that the virus is transmitted through breathing, he noted that the mask and social distancing are two complementary measures.

Minister Koca also mentioned the mobile application “Life Fits Home” (HES) developed by the Ministry.

Minister Koca noted that they see the application as one of the extremely important needs of this new era, and mentioned that thanks to the application, people can see the extent to which they can face a risky situation in their environment and where they want to go and take immediate measures.

According to the density map prepared with Ministry data, users can see where there are patients and how much social distance is exceeded during the day using Bluetooth and location services.

Minister Koca also announced that they will increase the number of tests instead of reducing them.

He said they would detect cases early and conduct regular screenings at public places.

Minister Koca added that citizens will need masks more during this period, explaining that more than 40 million people have accessed the application, which includes the free delivery of a five-pack mask every 10 days to the 20 – 65 age group, and that 160 million masks had been distributed to date.

He stated that there would be citizens who may need more during this period of limited freedom, and emphasized that it paved the way for people to buy surgical masks from many places, including pharmacies, grocery stores and medical stores, provided that there is a ceiling price.

Minister Koca stated that the Ministry was responsible for the announcement by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) that football leagues would continue in Turkey, and that the Federation could make its own decisions.

In addition, Minister Koca announced that 150,000 people would be screened by sampling method as part of their study with the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) to see the degree, carriership and disease status of the outbreak throughout Turkey, and that this study would be a large, perhaps rare, study that would demonstrate carriership, protection and disease status by performing both PCR and antibody tests.

On 7 May 2020, the ceiling price of surgical masks was set at ₺1. 

A guide published on this day announced that barbershops, hairdressers and beauty salons would not accept unmasked and unscheduled customers in the process and that no one would be present at work except the customer and the employee. 

In June 2020, the Association of Emergency Medicine Specialists announced the launch of a story contest titled “Covid-19 Stories“.

The Association said they would evaluate the stories that processed the impact of the pandemic in the competition.

In August 2020, “How has the information ecosystem in Turkey been affected by the pandemic process?” research conducted jointly by Tandans Data Science Consultancy was published with Onay.

On 30 September 2020, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said at a press conference after the Corona Virus Science Board Meeting:

“Not every case is sick.

Because there are those who tested positive but showed no symptoms, and they make up the vast majority of them.”

Explaining the distinction between patient and case definitions, Koca said:

“The number of new patients announced every day and we focus on should be the subject of attention.” 

On 9 October 2020, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the latest developments in domestic vaccination, saying that vaccinations on human subjects would probably begin after two weeks.

On 25 November 2020, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca stated that they will also start to disclose asymptomatic (symptomless, mild) cases that they have not previously disclosed.

As of 25 November, 28,351 new positive cases and 6,814 new patients were announced.

(There has been various controversy since Health Minister Koca announced on 25 November that an agreement had been reached with Sinovac for the Covid-19 Vaccine and that 10 million doses of vaccines would be provided.

It was claimed that the Coronavac vaccine was inadequate and unreliable due to the fact that phase-3 studies had not been carried out.

HDP Istanbul MP Garo Paylan proposed adding TL 15 billion to the Ministry of Health budget and applying the German (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine to citizens free of charge instead of the Chinese (CoronaVac) vaccine, but the motion was rejected.

On 9 December 2020, CHP Ankara MP Murat Emir claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine from China had arrived in Turkey and had been being made to AKP politicians and their relatives for 10 days.  

Health Minister Koca denied the allegation.) 

On 25 December 2020, Health Minister Koca announced that 4.5 million doses of the Pzifer BioNTech vaccine would arrive by the end of March 2021.

“By the end of March, 4.5 million doses of vaccines will be delivered to our country,” Koca said.

On 30 December, the first batch of the CoronaVac vaccine produced by Sinovac was brought to Turkey.

On 13 January 2021, the CoronaVac vaccine produced by Sinovac received “emergency use approval” in Turkey.

On the same day, national vaccination began.

The vaccination process in Turkey began on 13 January 2021, when Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and members of the Scientific Council were vaccinated live on air to encourage citizens to get vaccinated.

(In January 2021, the vaccination, scheduled to start on 23 December, had not yet begun. 

According to Sebnem Koru Fincanci, president of the Central Council of the Turkish Medical Association, on 26 January 2021, only 10 million people can be vaccinated in three months if 100,000 vaccinations are given per day.

He said that figure was not enough for social immunity.)

On 3 February, the South African and Brazilian variants were also seen in Turkey.

(On 23 February 2021, CHP Leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu claimed that $12 million was paid for 1 million doses of free vaccines. 

On 6 March 2021, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca rejected CHP Leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s claim and accused Kılıçdaroğlu of putting the vaccination programme at risk.

Koca said that there was absolutely no free vaccine agreement between us and China, and our state did not pay anything other than the prices agreed with Sinovac.“)

(Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on 25 February:

“The important thing for us is to be able to complete this vaccination process in April, May at the latest.

In total, we know that we will have access to 105 million dosesof the vaccine by the end of April, May at the latest.

If we vaccinate 50 million people before the fall, the epidemic will cease to be severe pressure”.

There was a reaction when the vaccination calendar, which Minister Koca announced as “spring“, was postponed to “autumn“.)

On 1 March, Turkish President Erdogan announced that an on-site decision period would be implemented as part of controlled normalization.

He said 81 provinces would be separated by “low, medium, high and very high” risk based on the risk situation of each province, and that governorships would make decisions.

He also said the risk map would be updated every two weeks.

In low- and medium-risk provinces, the ban on the over-65s and under-20s was lifted, training begun at all levels of education, and the weekend curfew lifted.

In high and very high risk provinces, only primary schools and preschool education institutions were opened.

The ban on the over-65s and under-20s was not over, but curfews were increased.

On weekends, it was only forbidden to go out on Sundays.

In all provinces except very high risk provinces, businesses such as cafés and restaurants started to accept customers again at a 50% capacity.

The curfew between 2100 and 0500 continued throughout Turkey.

In all provinces, all high school levels were tested for the 1st semester. 

On 24 March, 1.4 million doses of the vaccine arrived in Turkey.

On 12 April 2021, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine became available.

As of 14 April 2021 at 19.00, a two-week partial shutdown was implemented.

Restrictions were imposed in many areas, especially the implementation of curfews between 1900 and 0500 on weekdays to cover the entire weekend. 

A full shutdown was announced until 17 May 0500 to be implemented from 1900 on 29 April 2021.

Training was suspended at all levels and exams were postponed.

It was announced that intercity public transport would operate at a 50% capacity.

Chain stores were to be closed on Sundays.

On 28 April 2021, Health Minister Koca announced the signing of 50 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. 

On 30 April, the Sputnik V vaccine was approved for emergency use.

On 16 May 2021, the Ministry of the Interior issued a circular effective from 17 May 2021.

According to the circular, curfews would be imposed between 2100 and 0500 on weekdays and full days at the weekend.

Curfews were lifted for citizens under 18 and over who have been vaccinated with two doses.

For individuals aged 65 and over who were not vaccinated despite being eligible for vaccinations, they were allowed to go out between 1000 and 1400 on weekdays.

Citizens under the age of 18 and over 65 were banned from public transport regardless of whether they were exempt from the restriction.

Shopping malls opened between 1000 and 2000 on weekdays and were completely closed on the weekend.

The visitor restriction, which was already in place in social protection/care centers such as nursing homes, aged care home rehabilitation centers and children’s homes, was extended until 1 June 2021.

Ugur Sahin, the founder of BioNTech, attended the Corona Virus Science Board meeting held on 20 May 2021.

The first shipment of the Sputnik V vaccine took place on 14 June. 

On 30 June 2021, Health Minister Koca announced that it had been decided that those over 50 and health workers should get a 3rd dose of the vaccine.

Turkey moved to the 3rd stage of gradual normalization as of 1 July 2021.

Many of the restrictions that had existed for 15 months disappeared.

Accordingly, the curfew ended completely, while many restrictions on food and drink places were lifted.

Mask and social distancing rules taken within the scope of corona measures continue throughout the country.

(On 30 July 2021, the Sputnik V vaccine, which received Emergency Use Approval on 30 April 2021, was criticized for still not being used. 

Following the Scientific Council meeting on 2 September, Health Minister Koca was asked why the vaccine was not available.

“There was a dose for 200,000 people related to Sputnik, that is, 400,000.

There is a difference of the first and second doses related to Sputnik, not the same vaccine.

They’re different.

Therefore, due to the vaccine difference that has come in, we have been in contact in the new period, especially yesterday, we are striving for the arrival of both one and second doses of the vaccine more intensively.”)

On 16 August 2021, due to the request of two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by some countries on their departure abroad, two doses of Sinovac and one dose of BioNTech were granted a 4th dose of vaccine.

(After the 4th dose vaccine decision, Prof. Dr. Esin Davutoglu Şenol explained that:

“There is currently no direct evidence for repeated doses other than indirect data.”

Prof. Dr. Kayihan Pala stated:

“Making arrangements without data/evidence that are not based on scientific knowledge is another example of mismanagement.”)

On 19 August 2021, President Erdogan announced after the cabinet meeting that all levels would start full-time training on 6 September 2021, while non-vaccinated teachers and staff would be asked to test for PCR at least twice a week. 

Starting from 6 September 2021, the Ministry of the Interior circular issued on 20 August 2021 required PCR testing for non-vaccinated persons for activities such as concerts, cinemas, theatres and public transport such as non-private vehicles (planes, buses, trains). 

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said vaccination appointments have been opened for those with chronic diseases over the age of 12 and for the over-15s.

In the new period, it announced that there was no closure.

Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer said that students and teachers can come to school wearing masks. 

(WSE teachers tend to wear masks these days whilst teaching.)

On 3 November 2021, Health Minister Koca announced that two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would be given after six months.

During the pandemic, Turkey has provided funds, doctors, dispatched medical equipment such as PPE, PCR testing kits, and other assistance to at least 55 countries.

The dispatched medical equipment includes 1,300,000 N-95 masks and 300,000 PCR testing kits in April 2020 alone.

By setting itself up as a provider rather than a recipient of aid, Turkey portrayed itself as a valuable partner in combating the global spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Has the pandemic been handled well in Turkey?

In my assessment, it has.

In Turkey, a person is required to obtain a HES code for contact tracing.

(I was issued mine on 1 March 2021 at the Istanbul bus terminal before I was permitted to take a bus to Eskişehir.)

HES stands for Hayat Eve Sığar, which in the Turkish language means “Life Fits Into Home“.

The code helps you safely share your Covid-19 risk status with individuals and institutions for daily activities such as transportation or circulations for traveling. 

It is mandatory to have a valid HES (Hayat Eve Sığar) code when purchasing a bus, train, plane ticket, travelling long distances between cities inside Turkey, or entering public assembly areas such as shopping centres.

In order to get the code you have to fıll in a form. 

In case you haven’t filled in the form correctly or you gave misleading statements, you might face administrative and legal sanctions or even may not be permitted to enter Turkey.

(Unless you are a Turkish citizen or residence permit holder).

The HES Code is a personal code implemented by the Ministry of Health in order to reduce the presence of those who tested positive for COVID-19 or have had contact with a positive patient, to prevent them from participating in public activities.

Shopping centres will often have sensors that record your body temperature to ensure that feverish individuals are denied access to public exposure.

The PCR test at the hospital this evening was performed by a woman encased behind a plexiglass barrier with plastic sheathed openings where her gloved arms reached out with a large stick to impale me in my nostril.

I am reminded of the line used by Chandler (Matthew Perry) in an episode of Friends:

“You have to stop the Q-tip when there is resistance”

Before cleaning one’s ears, a person has to make sure that they don’t push the cotton swab too deep inside the ear because the more you push it inside, it actually starts damaging your brain.

So when Joey (Matt Leblanc) talks utter nonsense, Chandler just came up with the line: 

“You have to stop the Q-tip when there is resistance”.

This is to portray how Joey had been pushing the cotton swabs too deep inside his ear that his brain got damaged and couldn’t make sense while he was talking.

It feels like brain matter must surely be punctured when the test stick is violently rammed up one’s nose.

Clearly it takes a special sort of person to regularly stab folks up the nose on a constant basis.

I wonder what the job description must be for this activity.

I received a negative result the following morning and then dashed off to the train station bound for Istanbul.

I would need to show this result before boarding the train in Eskişehir, at the Istanbul airport check-in, at the airplane boarding gate, upon arrival at customs in Zürich, Switzerland, and upon entering a steakhouse restaurant that same evening in Konstanz, Germany.

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Thursday 30 December 2021

The only ray of light which illuminates the gloom is when – miracle of miracles, wonder of wonders – you have somehow still avoided contracting the corona virus.

You have been a sensible soul – for the most part.

These past two years you have worn a protective mask, have endured lockdowns, have kept your distance from others, have been vaccinated (twice) and you anticipate your appointment to get your 3rd shot – a booster – soon.

You certainly are not enjoying these times wherein you find yourself.

Masks are uncomfortable and make it challenging for those with glasses to see.

You cannot remember the last time you attended a concert and you wonder when or if you might ever go to one again.

You resent the compulsion of governments and institutions that demand proof of health and record of vaccinations as almost an invasion of your private medical history.

And yet in the name of public safety you cooperate with all the rules and restrictions, seeing no reason to doubt science or the deadly dangers of this prevalent pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

The novel virus (a virus that has not previously been recorded) was first identified from an outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, and attempts to contain it there failed, allowing it to spread across the globe.

The World Health Organization (WHO) (a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (a formal declaration of “an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response“, formulated when a situation arises that is “serious, sudden, unusual, or unexpected”, which “carries implications for public health beyond the affected state’s national border” and “may require immediate international action“) on 30 January 2020, and a pandemic on 11 March 2020.

As of 28 December 2021, the pandemic had caused more than 281 million cases and 5.4 million deaths, making it one of the deadliest in history.

113 countries have more confirmed cases than the People’s Republic of China, the country where the outbreak began.

All countries with more cases than China have at least 100,000 cases, including Greece, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Chile, Egypt, Austalia, Japan and South Korea.

Thailand was the first country to report at least one case outside China.

The United States and Italy were the first two countries to overtake China in terms of the number of confirmed cases.

The country that overtook China in terms of the number of confirmed cases several days later was the United Kingdom.

Japan was the first country in East Asia to overtake China in terms of the number of confirmed cases.

The second country in East Asia that overtook China in terms of the number of confirmed cases was South Korea, while the third and most recent one was Mongolia.

The most recent country that overtook China in terms of the number of confirmed cases was Laos.

Today, 13 most affected countries have at least five million cases, including the United States, India, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Argentina.

At the moment, 27 most affected countries, including Thailand, the Czech Republic, South Africa, Canada and Poland, have at least two million cases.

The first person infected with the disease, known as COVID-19, was discovered at the beginning of December 2019.

The disease has spread very easily to the United States, India, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Poland, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Canada, Romania, Chile, Japan, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, South Korea, Egypt, Australia, and many other countries.

The COVID-19 outbreak has been a pandemic since 11 March 2020.

A total of about 5.4 million deaths worldwide pertaining to COVID-19 was reported as of late December 2021 (early winter in the northern hemisphere and early summer in the southern hemisphere).

At the beginning of December 2021, the second anniversary of the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak was commemorated.

COVID-19 symptoms range from none to deadly.

Severe illness is more likely in elderly patients and those with certain underlying medical conditions.

COVID-19 is airborne, spread via air contaminated by microscopic virions (viral particles).

The risk of infection is highest among people in close proximity, but can occur over longer distances, particularly indoors in poorly ventilated areas.

Transmission rarely occurs via contaminated surfaces or fluids.

Infected persons are typically contagious for 10 days, often beginning before or without symptoms.

Mutations produced many strains (variants) with varying degrees of infectivity and virulence.

There are many variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Some are believed, or have been stated, to be of particular importance due to their potential for increased transmissibility, increased virulence, or reduced effectiveness of vaccines against them.

These variants contribute to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five SARS-CoV-2 variants have been designated as variants of concern (a category used for variants of the virus where mutations in their spike protein – the largest of the four major structural proteins found in corona viruses. 

The spike protein assembles into trimers (a macromolecular complex formed by three, macromolecules) that form large structures, called spikes or peplomers  that project from the surface of the virion.

The distinctive appearance of these spikes when visualized using negative stain transmission electron microscopy, “recalling the solar corona“, gives the virus family its name.

The Alpha variant, also known as lineage B.1.1.7, is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

One of several variants of concern, the variant is estimated to be 40% – 80% more transmissible than the wild type (the typical form of a species as it occurs in nature) SARS-CoV-2 (with most estimates occupying the middle to higher end of this range). 

Alpha was first detected in November 2020 from a sample taken in September in the UK, and began to spread quickly by mid-December, around the same time as infections surged.

This increase is thought to be at least partly because of one or more mutations in the virus’ spike protein.

The variant is also notable for having more mutations than normally seen.

As of January 2021, more than half of all genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 was carried out in the UK.

This has given rise to questions as to how many other important variants may be circulating around the world undetected.

On 2 February 2021, Public Health England reported that they had detected “a limited number of B.1.1.7 VOC-202012/01 genomes with E484K mutations“, which they dubbed Variant of Concern 202102/02 (VOC-202102/02).

Imperial College London investigated over a million people in England while the Alpha variant was dominant and discovered a wide range of further symptoms linked to Covid.

“Chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches” were most common in infected people, as well as classic symptoms.

(The name of the mutation, E484K, refers to an exchange whereby the glumatic acid (E) – an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins, non-essential in humans, meaning that the body can synthesize it – is replaced by lysine (K) – another α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins, which the human body cannot synthesize, but is essential in humans and must be obtained from one’s diet.

It is nicknamed “Eeek“.

E484K has been reported to be an escape mutation (i.e., a mutation that improves a virus’s ability to evade the host’s immune system) from at least one form of monoclonal antibody (an antibody made by cloning a unique white blood cell) against SARS-CoV-2, indicating there may be a “possible change in antigenicity (the capacity of a chemical structure to bind specifically with a group of certain products that have adaptive immunity)”.

(White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders.

All white blood cells are produced and derived from cells in the bone marrow known as hematopoietic stem cells.

Leukocytes are found throughout the body, including the blood and lymphatic system.)

The Gamma variant (lineage P.1), the Zeta variant (lineage P.2, also known as lineage B.1.1.28.2) and the Beta variant (501.V2) exhibit this mutation.

A limited number of lineage B.1.1.7 genomes with E484K mutation have also been detected. 

Monoclonal and serum-derived antibodies are reported to be from 10 to 60 times less effective in neutralising virus bearing the E484K mutation.

On 2 February 2021, medical scientists in the United Kingdom reported the detection of E484K in 11 samples (out of 214,000 samples), a mutation that may compromise current vaccine effectiveness.)

One of the mutations (N501Y) is also present in the Beta and Gamma variants.

N501Y denotes a change from asparagine (N) (an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins, non-essential in humans, meaning the body can synthesize it) to tyrosine (Y) (one of the 20 standard amino acids used by cells to synthesize proteins, and found in many high-protein food products (such as chicken, turkey, fish, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, peanuts, almonds, pumpkn seeds, soy products and lima beans, but also in avocados and bananas), the Dietary Reference Intake (recommended dietary allowance: RDA) is 42 mg per kilogram of body weight).

N501Y has been nicknamed “Nelly“.

This change is believed to increase binding affinity because of its position inside the spike glycoprotein’s receptor-binding domain, which binds ACE2 in human cells.

(Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is an enzyme (a protein that acts as a biochemical catalyst) that can be found either attached to the membrance of cells (mACE2) in the intestines, kidney, testis, gallbladder and heart, or in a soluble form (sACE2). 

Both membrane bound and soluble ACE2 are integral parts of the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS) that exists to keep the body’s blood pressure in check.

mACE2 also serves as the entry point into cells for some corona viruses.)

On 31 May 2021, the WHO announced that the Variant of Concern would be labelled “Alpha” for use in public communications.

The Beta variant, also known as lineage B.1.351, is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

One of several SARS-CoV-2 variants believed to be of particular importance, it was first detected in the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa in October 2020, which was reported by the country’s health department on 18 December 2020.

The WHO labelled the variant as Beta variant, not to replace the scientific name but as a name for the public to commonly refer to.

The WHO considers it to be a variant of concern.

The Gamma variant, also known as lineage P.1, is one of the variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

This variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been named lineage P.1 and has 17 amino acid substitutions (a change from one amino acid to a different amino acid in a protein due to point mutation in the corresponding DNA sequence), ten of which in its spike protein, including these three designated to be of particular concern: N501Y (Nelly), E484K (Eeek) and K417T.

This variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first detected by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) of Japan, on 6 January 2021 in four people who had arrived in Tokyo having visited Amazonas, Brazil, four days earlier.

It was subsequently declared to be in circulation in Brazil.

Under the simplified naming scheme proposed by the WHO, P.1 has been labeled Gamma variant, and is currently considered a variant of concern.

Gamma caused widespread infection in early 2021 in the city of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, although the city had already experienced widespread infection in May 2020, with a study indicating high seroprevalence (the number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology (blood serum) specimens, which is often presented as a percent of the total specimens tested or as a proportion per 100,000 persons tested)  of antibodies for SARS-CoV-2. 

A research article published in Science Journal indicates that P.1 infected people have a greater chance of transmissibility and death than B.1.1.28 infected ones.

The Gamma variant comprises the two distinct subvariants 28-AM-1 and 28-AM-2, which both carry the K417T, E484K, N501Y mutations, and which both developed independently of each other within the same Brazilian Amazonas region.

Gamma is notably different from the Zeta variant (lineage P.2) which is also circulating strongly in Brazil.

In particular, Zeta only carries the E484K mutation and has neither of the other two mutations of concern, N501Y and K417T.

The Delta variant is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

It was first detected in India in late 2020.

The Delta variant was named on 31 May 2021 and had spread to over 179 countries by 22 November 2021.

The WHO indicated in June 2021 that the Delta variant was becoming the dominant strain globally.

It has mutations in the gene encoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein causing the substitutions T478K, P681R and L452R, which are known to affect transmissibility of the virus as well as whether it can be neutralised by antibodies for previously circulating variants of the COVID-19 virus.

The name of the mutation, P681R, refers to an exchange whereby proline (P) (an amino acid used in the biosynthesis of proteins) is replaced by arginine (R) (another amino acid used in protein biosynthesis, which determines the development stage amd health status of the individual).

The name of the mutation, L452R, refers to an exchange whereby leucine (L) (an essential amino acid used in the biosynthesis of proteins in humans, meaning the body cannot synthesize it, so it must be obtained from one’s diet) is replaced by arginine (R) (another α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins, classified as a semiessential or conditionally essential amino acid, depending on the developmental stage and health status of the individual, though most healthy people do not need to supplement with arginine because it is a component of all protein-containing foods).

L452R is found in both the Delta and Kappa variants which first circulated in India, but have since spread around the world.

L452R is a relevant mutation in this strain that enhances ACE2 receptor binding ability and can reduce vaccine-stimulated antibodies from attaching to this altered spike protein.

L452R, some studies show, could even make the corona virus resistant to T cells, that are class of cells necessary to target and destroy virus-infected cells.

They are different from antibodies that are useful in blocking corona virus particles and preventing it from proliferating.

The Delta variant is thought to be one of the most transmissible respiratory viruses known. 

In August 2021, Public Health England (PHE) reported secondary attack rate in household contacts of non-travel or unknown cases for Delta to be 10.8% vis-à-vis 10.2% for the Alpha variant. 

The case fatality rate for those 386,835 people with Delta is 0.3%, where 46% of the cases and 6% of the deaths are unvaccinated and below 50 years old.

Immunity from previous recovery or COVID-19 vaccines are effective in preventing severe disease or hospitalisation from infection with the variant.

On 7 May 2021, PHE changed their classification of lineage B.1.617.2 from a variant under investigation (VUI) to a variant of concern (VOC) based on an assessment of transmissibility being at least equivalent to B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant).

The UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) (a British government body that advises the central government in emergencies, usually chaired by the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser) using May data estimated a “realistic” possibility of being 50% more transmissible.

On 11 May 2021, the WHO also classified this lineage VOC, and said that it showed evidence of higher transmissibility and reduced neutralisation.

On 15 June 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared Delta a variant of concern.

The variant is thought to be partly responsible for India’s deadly second wave of the pandemic beginning in February 2021.

(India began its vaccination programme on 16 January 2021.

On 19 January 2021, nearly a year after the first reported case in the country, Lakshadweep became the last region of India to report its first case.

By February 2021, daily cases had fallen to 9,000 per-day.

However, by early-April 2021, a major second wave of infections took hold in the country with destructive consequences. 

On 9 April, India surpassed 1 million active cases, and by 12 April, India overtook Brazil as having the second-most COVID-19 cases worldwide.

By late April, India passed 2.5 million active cases and was reporting an average of 300,000 new cases and 2,000 deaths per-day.

Some analysts feared this was an undercount.

On 30 April, India reported over 400,000 new cases and over 3,500 deaths in one day.

Multiple factors have been proposed to have potentially contributed to the sudden spike in cases, including highly-infectious variants of concern such as Lineage B.1.617, a lack of preparations as temporary hospitals were often dismantled after cases started to decline, and new facilities were not built, and health and safety precautions being poorly-implemented or enforced during weddings, festivals (such as Holi on 29 March, and the Haridwar Kumbh Mela which was linked to linked to at least 1,700 positive cases between 10 and 14 April including cases in Hindu seers), sporting events (such as the Indian Premier League), state and local elections in which politicians and activists have held in several states, and in public places.

An economic slowdown put pressure on the government to lift restrictions.

There had been a feeling of exceptionalism based on the hope that India’s young population and childhood immunisation scheme would blunt the impact of the virus.

Models may have underestimated projected cases and deaths due to the under-reporting of cases in the country.

Due to high demand, the vaccination programme began to be hit with supply issues.

Exports of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were suspended to meet domestic demand, there have been shortages of the raw materials required to manufacture vaccines domestically, while hesitancy and a lack of knowledge among poorer, rural communities has also impacted the programme.

The second wave placed a major strain on the healthcare system, including a shortage of liquid medical oxygen due to ignored warnings which began in the first wave itself, logistic issues, and a lack of cryogenic tankers.

On 23 April, Modi met via videoconference with liquid oxygen suppliers, where he acknowledged the need to “provide solutions in a very short time“, and acknowledged efforts such as increases in production, and the use of rail and air transport to deliver oxygen supplies.

A large number of new oxygen plants were announced.

The installation burden was shared by the centre, coordination with foreign countries with regard to oxygen plants received in the form of aid, and DRDO.

A number of countries sent emergency aid to India in the form of oxygen supplies, medicines, raw material for vaccines and ventilators.

This reflected a policy shift in India.

Comparable aid offers had been rejected during the past 16 years.

The number of new cases had begun to steadily drop by late May.

On 25 May, the country reported 195,994 new cases — its lowest daily increase since 13 April.

However, the mortality rate has remained high. 

By 24 May, India recorded over 300,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19. 

Around 100,000 deaths had occurred in the last 26 days, and 50,000 in the last 12.

In May 2021, WHO declared that two variants first found in India will be referred to as ‘Delta‘ and ‘Kappa‘.

Karnataka announced a COVID-19 Memorial.

On 25 August 2021, Soumya Swaminathan said that India “may be entering some kind of stage of endemicity where there is low level transmission or moderate level transmission going on” but nothing as severe as before.

In other words, India is learning to live with the virus.

India announced a mandatory 10-day quarantine on travellers arriving from United Kingdom irrespective of their vaccination status starting 4 October 2021 after the UK also put the same restrictions on travellers from India by not recognizing India’s vaccine certificate.

On 8 October, the UK opened up the restrictions on travellers from 47 countries and locations including India.

It later contributed to a third wave in Fiji, the UK and South Africa.

The WHO warned in July 2021 that it could have a similar effect elsewhere in Europe and Africa.

By late July, it had also driven an increase in daily infections in parts of Asia, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Yet another COVID variant, Omicron, followed.

The Omicron variant is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

As of December 2021, it is the newest variant.

It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021.

On 26 November 2021, the WHO designated it as a variant of concern and named it “Omicron“, the 15th letter in the Greek alphabet.

The variant has an unusually large number of mutations, several of which are novel and a significant number of which affect the spike protein targeted by most COVID-19 vaccines at the time of the discovery of the Omicron variant.

This level of variation has led to concerns regarding its transmissibility, immune system evasion and vaccine resistance, despite initial reports indicating that the variant causes less serious disease than previous strains.

The variant was quickly designated as being “of concern“. 

Travel restrictions were introduced by several countries in an attempt to slow its international spread.

Compared to previous variants of concern, Omicron is believed to be far more contagious (spreading much quicker) and spreads around 70 times faster than any previous variants in the bronchi (lung airways), but it is less able to penetrate deep lung tissue, and perhaps for this reason there is a considerable reduction in the risk of severe disease requiring hospitalisation. 

However the extremely high rate of spread, combined with its ability to evade both double vaccination and the body’s immune system, means the total number of patients requiring hospital care at any given time is still of great concern.

The new variant was first detected on 22 November 2021 in laboratories in Botswana and South Africa based on samples collected 11–16 November.

The first known sample was collected in South Africa on 8 November. 

In other continents, the first known cases were a person arriving in Hong Kong from South Africa via Qatar on 11 November, and another person who arrived in Belgium from Egypt via Turkey on the same date.

As of 16 December 2021, the variant has been confirmed in more than 80 countries.

The WHO estimated that by mid-December, Omicron likely was in most countries, whether they had detected it or not.

Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.

Common symptoms include:

• headache
• loss of smell (anosmia)
• loss of taste (ageusia)
• nasal congestion
• runny nose
• cough
• muscle pain
• sore throat
• fever
• diarrhea
• breathing difficulties

People with the same infection may have different symptoms, and their symptoms may change over time.

Three common clusters of symptoms have been identified:

• one respiratory symptom cluster with cough, sputum/mucus, shortness of breath, and fever
• a musculoskeletal symptom cluster with muscle and joint pain, headache, and fatigue
• a cluster of digestive symptoms with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

In people without prior ear, nose, and throat disorders, loss of taste combined with loss of smell is associated with COVID-19 and is reported in as many as 88% of cases.

Of people who show symptoms:

• 81% develop only mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia)
• 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea/shortness of breath, hypoxia – a condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level, classified as either generalized (affecting the whole body) or local (affecting a region of the body) – or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging)
• 5% of patients suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shovk or multiorgan dysfunction).

At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time.

These asymptomatic carriers tend not to get tested and can spread the disease.

Other infected people will develop symptoms later, called “pre-symptomatic“, or have very mild symptoms and can also spread the virus.

As is common with infections, there is a delay between the moment a person first becomes infected and the appearance of the first symptoms.

The median delay for COVID-19 is four to five days.

Most symptomatic people experience symptoms within two to seven days after exposure.

Almost all will experience at least one symptom within 12 days.

Most people recover from the acute phase of the disease.

However, some people – over half of a cohort of home-isolated young adults – continue to experience a range of effects, such as fatigue, for months after recovery, a condition called long COVID.

Long-term damage to organs has been observed.

Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.

COVID-19 vaccines have been approved and widely distributed in various countries since December 2020.

A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, an established body of knowledge existed about the structure and function of corona viruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic (coming from animals) origin caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS corona virus species severe acute respiratory syndrome-related corona virus (SARSr-CoV).

The first known cases occurred in November 2002.

The syndrome caused the 2002 – 2004 SARS outbreak.

Around late 2017, Chinese scientists traced the virus through the intermediary of Asian palm civets to cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in Xiyang Yi Ethnic Township, Yunnan.

SARS was a relatively rare disease.

At the end of the epidemic in June 2003, the incidence was 8,469 cases with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 11%.

No cases of SARS-CoV-1 have been reported worldwide since 2004.

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory infection caused by the Middle East respiratory syndrome-related corona virus (MERS-CoV). 

Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe.

Typical symptoms include fever, cough, diarrhea and shortness of breath. 

The disease is typically more severe in those with other health problems.

The first identified case occurred in June 2012 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Most cases have occurred in the Arabian Peninsula.

Over 2,500 cases have been reported as of January 2021, including 45 cases in the year 2020.

About 35% of those who are diagnosed with the disease die from it.

Larger outbreaks have occurred in South Korea (2015) and in Saudi Arabia (2018).

MERS-CoV is a corona virus believed to be originally from bats. 

However, humans are typically infected from camels, either during direct contact or indirectly. 

spread between humans typically requires close contact with an infected person.

Its spread is uncommon outside of hospitals.

Thus, its risk to the global population is currently deemed to be fairly low. 

Diagnosis is by rRT – PCR testing of blood and respiratory samples.

(Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete copies or partial copies) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) to a large enough amount to study in detail.

PCR was invented in 1983 by the American biochemist Kary Mullis at Cetus Corporation.

It is fundamental to many of the procedures used in genetic testing and research, including analysis of ancient samples of DNA and identification of infectious agents.

Using PCR, copies of very small amounts of DNA sequences are exponentially amplified in a series of cycles of temperature changes.

PCR is now a common and often indispensable technique used in medical laboratory research for a broad variety of applications including biomedical research and criminal forsenics.

Applications of the technique include: 

• DNA cloning for sequencing, gene cloning and manipulation, gene mutagenesis
• construction of DNA-based phylogenies, or functional analysis of genes 
• diagnosis and monitoring of genetic disorders
• amplification of ancient DNA
• analysis of genetic fingerprints for DNA profiling (for example, in forensic science and parentage testing)
• detection of pathogens in nucleic acide tests for the diagnosis of infectious diseases)

As of 2021, there is no specific vaccine or treatment for MERS, but a number are being developed.

The WHO recommends that those who come in contact with camels wash their hands and not touch sick camels.

They also recommend that camel-based food products be appropriately cooked.

Treatments that help with the symptoms and support body functioning may be used.

Previous infection with MERS can confer cross-reactive immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and provide partial protection against COVID-19.

However, co-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and MERS is possible and could lead to a recombination event.

Reassortment is the mixing of the genetic material of a species into new combinations in different individuals.

Several different processes contribute to reassortment, including assortment of chromosomes, and chromosomal crossover.

It is particularly used when two similar viruses that are infecting the same cell exchange genetic material.

In particular, reassortment occurs among influenza viruses, whose genomes consist of eight distinct segments of RNA.

These segments act like mini-chromosomes, and each time a flu virus is assembled, it requires one copy of each segment.

If a single host (a human, a chicken, or other animal) is infected by two different strains of the influenza virus, then it is possible that new assembled viral particles will be created from segments whose origin is mixed, some coming from one strain and some coming from another.

The new reassortant strain will share properties of both of its parental lineages.

Reassortment is responsible for some of the major genetic shifts in the history of the influenza virus.

In the 1957 “Asian flu” and 1968 “Hong Kong flu” pandemics, flu strains were caused by reassortment between an avian (bird) virus and a human virus. 

In addition, the H1N1 virus responsible for the 2009 swine flu pandemic has an unusual mix of swine, avian and human influenza genetic sequences.

This knowledge about the structure and function of corona viruses causing diseases accelerated the development of various vaccine platforms during early 2020.

The initial focus of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was on preventing symptomatic, often severe illness.

On 10 January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID).

By 19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a major commitment to address COVID‑19.

The COVID‑19 vaccines are widely credited for their role in reducing the severity and death caused by COVID‑19.

Many countries have implemented phased distribution plans that prioritize those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers.

As of 28 December 2021, 9.02 billion doses of COVID‑19 vaccines have been administered worldwide based on official reports from national public health agencies.

By December 2020, more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by countries, with about half of the doses purchased by high income countries comprising 14% of the world’s population.

GISAID is a global science initiative and primary source established in 2008 that provides open-access to genomic data of influenza viruses and the corona virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 10 January 2020, the first whole-genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 were made available on GISAID, which enabled global responses to the pandemic, including the development of the first vaccines and diagnostic tests to detect SARS-CoV-2.

GISAID facilitates genomic epidemiology and real-time surveillance to monitor the emergence of new COVID-19 viral strains across the planet.

Since its establishment as an alternative to sharing avian influenza data via conventional public domain archives, GISAID has been recognized for incentivizing rapid exchange of outbreak data during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, the H7N9 epidemic in 2013, and the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

GISAID was recognized for its importance to global health by G20 health ministers in 2017. 

In 2020 the WHO chief scientist called the data science initiative “a game changer”.

Its closed access license, however, has been criticized by hundreds of researchers.

Other recommended preventative measures include social distancing, masking, improving ventilation and air filtration, and quarantining those who have been exposed or are symptomatic. 

Social distancing, or physical distancing is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures taken to prevent the spread of a contagious disease by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other.

It involves keeping a distance of six feet or two meters from others and avoiding gathering together in large groups.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and related measures were emphasised by several governments as alternatives to an enforced quarantine of heavily affected areas.

According to UNESCO monitoring, more than a hundred countries have implemented nationwide school closures in response to COVID-19, impacting over half the world’s student population.

In the UK, the government advised the public to avoid public spaces.

Cinemas and theatres voluntarily closed to encourage the government’s message.

With many people disbelieving that COVID-19 is any worse than the seasonal flu, it has been difficult to convince the public to voluntarily adopt social distancing practices.

In Belgium, media reported a rave was attended by at least 300 before it was broken up by local authorities.

In France, teens making nonessential trips are fined up to US $150.

Beaches were closed in Florida and Alabama to disperse partygoers during spring break. 

Weddings were broken up in New Jersey and an 8 p.m. curfew was imposed in Newark.

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania were the first states to adopt coordinated social distancing policies which closed down non-essential businesses and restricted large gatherings.

Shelter in place orders in California were extended to the entire state on 19 March.

On the same day, Texas declared a public disaster and imposed statewide restrictions.

These preventive measures such as social-distancing and self-isolation prompted the widespread closure of primary, secondary and post-secondary schools in more than 120 countries.

As of 23 March 2020, more than 1.2 billion learners were out of school due to school closures in response to COVID-19.

Given low rates of COVID-19 symptoms among children, the effectiveness of school closures has been called into question.

Even when school closures are temporary, it carries high social and economic costs.

However, the significance of children in spreading COVID-19 is unclear. 

While the full impact of school closures during the coronavirus pandemic are not yet known, UNESCO advises that school closures have negative impacts on local economies and on learning outcomes for students.

In early March 2020, the sentiment “Stay The F**k Home” was coined by Florian Reifschneider, a German engineer and was quickly echoed by notable celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Busy Philipps in hopes of reducing and delaying the peak of the outbreak. 

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram also joined the campaign with similar hashtags, stickers and filters under #staythefhome, #stayhome, #staythefuckhome and began trending across social media.

The website claims to have reached about two million people online and says the text has been translated into 17 languages.

It has been suggested that improving ventilation and managing exposure duration can reduce transmission.

Treatments include monoclonal antibodies and symptom control.

Governmental interventions include travel restrictions, lockdowns, business restrictions and closures, workplace hazard controls, quarantines, testing systems, and tracing contacts of the infected.

The pandemic triggered severe social and economic disruption around the world, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression.

Widespread supply shortages, including food shortages, were caused by supply chain disruption and panic buying.

The resultant near-global lockdowns saw an unprecedented pollution decrease. 

Educational institutions and public areas were partially or fully closed in many jurisdictions, and many events were cancelled or postponed. 

Misinformation circulated through social media and mass media.

Political tensions intensified.

The pandemic raised issues of racial and geographic discrimination, health equity, and the balance between public health imperatives and individual rights.

There have been protests, demonstrations and strikes around the world against national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic by governmental bodies.

Some have protested against governmental failure to stem the spread of the virus effectively, while others have been driven by the financial hardship resulting from government measures to contain the virus, including restrictions on travel and entertainment, hitting related industries and casual workers hard.

Protests continue against restrictions on people’s movements, compulsory wearing of face masks, lockdowns, vaccinations and other measures.

The virus was confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on 25 February 2020 when the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed following a COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

A 70-year-old man in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino which borders Italy, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

The man had previously visited Milan.

On 27 February, a 28-year-old IT worker from Geneva, who had recently returned from Milan, tested positive and was admitted to the Geneva University Hospital.

A 55-year-old Italian who worked in an international company also tested positive in Geneva. 

Two Italian children, who were on vacation in Graubünden, tested positive and were hospitalised.

A 26-year-old man in Aargau, who had gone on a business trip the week before and stayed in Verona, tested positive and was hospitalised.

A 30-year-old woman, who had visited Milan, was admitted to a hospital in Zürich. 

A 49-year-old man living in France and working in Vaud was confirmed positive in Canton of Vaud.

A young woman, who had travelled to Milan, tested positive in Basel Stadt.

She worked in a daycare centre in Riehen, and after her test had been confirmed, the children at the daycare were put into a two-week quarantine. 

On 28 February, her partner, a 23-year-old man, also tested positive in Basel Landschaft.

Afterwards, multiple cases related to the Italy clusters were discovered in multiple cantons, including Basel City, Zürich and Graubünden.

Multiple isolated cases not related to the Italy clusters were also subsequently confirmed.

The government began to hold COVID-19 press conferences to which several members of the Federal Council (Swiss Cabinet) and the Head of the Swiss Corona Task-Force, Daniel Koch (dubbed “Mr. Corona” by the media) assisted.

On 27 February 2020, following the confirmation of COVID-19 cases in the region, Graubünden cancelled the Engadiner Ski Marathon.

On 28 February, the Federal Council banned events involving more than 1,000 people in an effort to curb the spread of the infection.

Multiple events such as carnivals and fairs were either postponed or cancelled. 

The Geneva Motor Show, Baselworld, the Bern Carnival and the Carnival of Basel were cancelled. 

The University of Bern replaced all face-to-face lectures with more than 250 attendees with online lectures.

On 28 February 2020, the national government, the Federal Council, banned all events with more than 1,000 participants.

On 3 March, the University of Zürich announced six confirmed cases of the corona virus at the Institute of Mathematics.

As of 5 March, there were 10 confirmed cases at the University of Zürich, at least seven at the I-Math and one at the Center of Dental Medicine.

On 5 March, the Lausanne University Hospital announced that a 74-year-old female coronavirus case had died overnight.

The patient had been hospitalised since 3 March, and had been suffering from chronic illness.

On 6 March, the Federal Council announced a “changed strategy” with a focus on the protection of the most vulnerable individuals, i.e., older persons and persons with pre-existing conditions.

On 11 March, a 54-year-old male died from COVID-19 in the Bruderholz Hospital in Basel Landschaft, marking the 4th fatal case in Switzerland.

He had joined a religious event in Mulhouse, France, previous to contracting the virus and suffering from pneumonia.

On 13 March, the Federal Council decided to cancel classes in all educational establishments until 4 April 2020, and banned all events (public or private) involving more than 100 people.

It has also decided to partially close its borders and enacted border controls.

The canton of Vaud took more drastic measures, prohibiting all public and private gatherings with more than 50 people, and closing its educational establishments until 30 April.

On 16 March 2020, a State of Extraordinary Situation under the Federal Law of Epidemics was declared.

Most shops were closed nationwide.

On 16 March, the Federal Council announced further measures, and a revised ordinance applicable on 17 March.

Measures include the closure of bars, shops and other gathering places until 19 April, but left open certain essentials, such as grocery shops, pharmacies, (a reduced) public transport and the postal service.

The government announced a 42 billion CHF rescue package for the economy, which included money to replace lost wages for employed and self-employed people, short-term loans to businesses, delay for payments to the government, and support for cultural and sport organizations.

Shortly thereafter, on 20 March, all gatherings of more than five people in public spaces were banned.

Additionally, the government gradually imposed restrictions on border crossings and announced economic support measures worth 40 billion Swiss francs.

The measures were gradually removed in several phases beginning in late April until June 2020 but new measures were imposed in October as cases surged again.

On 20 March, the government announced that no complete lockdown would be implemented, but all events or meetings over five people were prohibited.

Economic activities would continue including construction.

Those measures were prolonged until 26 April 2020.

On 16 April, Switzerland announced that the country would ease restrictions in a three-step, gradual way.

The first step began on 27 April, for those who work in close contact with others, but not in large numbers.

Surgeons, dentists, day care workers, hairdressers, massage and beauty salons could be opened with safety procedures applied.

DIY stores, garden centres, florists and food shops that also sell other goods could also be opened.

The second step was to begin on 11 May, assuming implementation of the first step without problems, at which time other shops and schools could be opened.

The third step would begin on 8 June with the easing of restrictions on vocational schools, universities, museums, zoos and libraries.

From 25 June onwards, the Government pays for the costs of an eventual COVID test, if a patient has enough symptoms of COVID-19.

In July and August, masks became mandatory, first on public transport and then also in airplanes.

In October 2020, following a rapid increase in corona cases, the authorities imposed stricter public health measures.

These include limiting public gatherings to 15 people, prioritising home office and making masks mandatory in all enclosed public spaces.

On 19 December 2020, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty) for regular use, two months after receiving the application, although it was expected to give a decision later than other European countries, as Swiss laws do not allow emergency approvals.

After the application was processed with high priority using all the available resources, the head of Swissmedic stated that the vaccine fully complied with the requirements of safety, efficacy and quality.

This constituted the first authorization by a stringent regulatory authority under a standard procedure for any COVID-19 vaccine.

Three days later, 107 000 vaccine shots were received by the army to be dispatched in the cantons.

On 23 December, 302 days after the first official case, the first patient, a 90-year-old woman from Central Switzerland, was vaccinated in a retirement home in Lucerne. 

On that day, the cantons of Lucerne, Zug, Schwyz, Nidwalden and Appenzell Innerrhoden launched the vaccination campaign, marking the beginning of mass vaccination in Switzerland and continental Europe outside Russia.

In January 2021, after a month of corona cases remaining at a high level, additional measures were passed that required the closure of all restaurants, sport and cultural venues as well as shops that do not sell products for daily use.

Most cantons followed by 4 January 2021 and all the rest of them by 11 January.

By that day, about 0.5% of the population received the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

On 12 January 2021, Swissmedic approved the second COVID-19 vaccine: the mRNA-1273 made by Moderna.

The Lonza Group where the vaccine is produced was visited by Federal Councilor Alain Berset the previous day.

Up to 800,000 vaccines per day are expected to be produced there.

A year after the first COVID-19 outbreak, the number of vaccinated people largely outnumbered the official cases.

On 7 March, about 10% of the population received at leat one shot of the two approved vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) and about 3% were fully vaccinated.

A third vaccine, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine (AZD1222), which comprised 5.3 million of the doses ordered by Swiss authorities, was rejected for approval by the Swiss medical authority, SwissMedic, citing insufficient data.

In March 2021, the Swiss Federal Health Ministry (BAG) reported that approved vaccine deliveries have increased steadily every month.

Switzerland received 1.1 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in January and February 2021, and another 1 million vaccine doses in March, exceeding initial expectations.

As of 16 March 2021, 843,974 people had taken the first dose of corona virus vaccine.

The country planned to have its 8.6 million residents vaccinated by summer 2021.

In April 2021, there were reports that vaccine administration and production efforts at the Lonza Group plant in Visp had been hampered due to overly stringent immigration rules in Switzerland, reducing the influx of qualified biotech and healthcare workers, particularly with regard to non-EU/EFTA states.

The Valais National Council urged the Swiss federal authorities to create exemptions from the current immigration rules for essential biotech industries.

On 1 August 2021, Switzerland achieved a vaccination rate of 52%. 

From 13 September 2021, access to indoor public spaces like restaurants, bars, museums or fitness centres is only permitted with a valid Covid certificate.

This measure will expire by the end of January 2022.

By 5 November 2021, 11,178,041 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered.

The COVID-19 virus has an especially high mortality rate for the elderly aged 65 and over.

This was especially concerning for Switzerland which had an elderly population of 18.3% in 2018, above the average for OECD countries.

Only two days after my arrival in Switzerland, I am once again required to be tested for COVID-19 – at least until I receive my 3rd dose of vaccine two days from now.

It is not without irony that I note that the testing centre in Kreuzlingen is in the same building where I once went to the gym.

Again the question is:

Am I fit?

Another stick up the nose and half an hour later it is confirmed that I am still virus free.

If only the entire planet could say this…..

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Saturday 1 January 2022

Less than a week has passed since I vacated my apartment in Eskişehir to travel west to Istanbul, Zürich and Landschlacht, and I have already been tested for the corona virus twice and today I received my 3rd dose of a vaccine.

The news of the world in respect to COVID-19 is not as optimistic.

Though Swissmedic has approved the use of the monoclonal antibody cocktail Ronapreve, developed by Roche and Regeneron to treat severe COVID-19 patients, and the use of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose for people over the age of 18, I find myself depressed by news from my home and native land of Canada.

Canada has surpassed two million confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, according to CTVNews.ca’s COVID-19 tracker.

Official tallies of case numbers were delayed over the weekend due to some provinces and territories not inputting data because of the holidays.

However, Monday saw Ontario report more than 9,400 cases for the fourth day in a row and Québec report more than 8,000, pushing the country over the two million mark.

As of Monday afternoon, 27 December, there were 159,431 active COVID-19 cases, 1,836,475 recovered and 30,172 deaths.

Widely reported testing delays during the holiday season, long lines and laboratory backlogs also mean the true scope of where Canada stands with COVID-19 cases may take a while to determine.

The arrival of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has seen case numbers skyrocket across the country, leading to restrictions and cancellations.

On Boxing Day, 26 December, Québec capped private gatherings at six people or two household bubbles.

Athletes testing positive for COVID-19 saw Curling Canada cancel the Olympic mixed doubles Sunday.

Several provinces have requested residents only get tested if they are displaying symptoms.

Quebec’s seven-day average now stands at 8,020 cases with 1,469 recorded active outbreaks, and Ontario’s rolling seven-day average has surged to 7,550 up from 2,863 last week.

And the number of new COVID cases are rising around the world:

• Iceland: 672 new cases (27 December)

• Cyprus: 2,241 new cases (28 December)

• France: 179,807 new cases (28 December)

• Greece: 21,657 new cases (28 December)

• Italy: 78,313 new cases (28 December)

• Portugal: 17,172 new cases (28 December)

• UK: 138,831 new cases (28 December)

• Ontario: 8,825 new cases (28 December)

California became the first state to record more than 5 million known corona virus infections, according to the state dashboard Tuesday, which was delayed by the holiday weekend.

The grim milestone, as reported by the California Department of Public Health, wasn’t entirely unexpected in a state with 40 million residents poised for a surge in new infections amid holiday parties and family gatherings forced indoors by a series of winter storms.

The first corona virus case in California was confirmed 25 January 2020.

It took 292 days to get to 1 million infections on 11 November of that year, and 44 days from then to top 2 million.

California’s caseload is also ahead of other large states.

Texas had more than 4.4 million and Florida topped 3.9 million as of Sunday.

California has recorded more than 75,500 deaths related to COVID-19.

The state has fared far better than many other states that are dealing with a coronavirus surge, with areas in the Midwest and Northeast seeing the biggest jump in cases and hospitalizations amid frigid temperatures that have kept people indoors.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists California as a place with “high” transmission of the virus, along with nearly everywhere else in the country.

But in the last week California averaged 16.4 new cases per 100,000 people, less than a third of the national rate.

Meanwhile, corona virus related hospitalizations have been rising slowly in California, up about 12% in the last 7 days to 4,401.

That’s less than half as many as during the late summer peak and one-fifth of a year ago, before vaccines were widely available.

On Tuesday, San Francisco announced it was canceling its New Year’s Eve fireworks show because of the rising caseload, while Contra Costa County in the Bay Area announced that it would require masks to be worn in all public indoor places as of Wednesday.

Previously, some vaccinated people had been allowed to remove them.

The timeline of COVID-19 in America often comes back to California.

It had some of the earliest known cases among travellers from China, where the outbreak began.

The 6 February 2020, death of a San Jose woman was the first known corona virus fatality in the US.

That same month, California recorded the first US case not related to travel and the first infection spread within the community.

On 19 March 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order, shuttering businesses and schools to try to prevent hospital overcrowding.

It is unclear how many of the newly reported cases were attributed to the Omicron corona virus variant.

Much about Omicron remains unknown, including whether it causes more or less severe illness.

Scientists say Omicron spreads even easier than other corona virus strains, including Delta, and it is expected to become dominant in the US by early 2022.

Early studies suggest the vaccinated will need a booster shot for the best chance at preventing an omicron infection but even without the extra dose, vaccination still should offer strong protection against severe illness and death.

With cases surging, the nation’s largest state-based health insurance marketplace urged more than 1.1 million uninsured Californians to sign up by Friday for subsidized coverage that would then start with the new year.

Covered California said the average cost of an intensive care corona virus hospitalization is $127,000, but estimated that 85% of those eligible for the state-brokered health insurance can get coverage free of charge, with government assistance.

Those who sign up after Friday will have their coverage start on 1 February 2022.

• USA: 512,553 new cases (28 December)
• France: 208,099 new cases (29 December)
• Greece: 28,828 new cases (29 December)
• Italy: 98,030 new cases (29 December)
• Malta: 1,337 new cases (29 December)

The autonomous communities have notified this Wednesday to the Spanish Ministry of Health 100,760 new cases of COVID-19, 59,867 of them diagnosed in the last 24 hours.

These figures are higher than those of the same day last week, when 60,041 positives were reported, which shows the upward trend in the evolution of the pandemic.

The total number of infections in Spain already rises to 6,133,057 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to official statistics. 

The cumulative incidence in the last 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants stands at 1,508.39, compared to 1,360.62 yesterday.

In the past two weeks, a total of 715,741 positives have been recorded.

Wednesday’s report added 78 new deaths, compared with 50 last Wednesday.

Up to 89,331 people with a positive diagnostic test have died since the virus arrived in Spain, according to data collected by the Ministry.

In the last week, 271 people have died with a confirmed positive COVID-19 diagnosis in Spain.

The positivity rate in diagnostic tests also remains high, up to 20.3%, on a day in which 82 deaths from the corona virus have been reported.

And, according to the report of the Ministry of Health, infections continue to skyrocket, but the hospital pressure is contained, despite the fact that in the ICUs the occupation is 19.1% (4 tenths more than yesterday) and in the plant of 8.5% (half a point more).

The ICUs of Catalonia are the ones with the highest occupancy and almost double the national average (37.5%), followed by those of the Basque Country (26.2%), the Valencian Community (25.6%) and Castilla y León (24.8%).

As for the transmission of the virus, Madrid is the community with the highest number of new positives in the last 24 hours, with 16,612, while the Basque Country is in second place, with 7,179.

In terms of incidence, Navarre occupies the first place, reaching 3,236.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days.

The autonomous communities have carried out 2,386,657 diagnostic tests, of which 1,325,336 have been PCR and 1,061,321 antigen tests, with an overall rate per 100,000 inhabitants of 5,075.16.

Likewise, the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has requested that the positives for self-diagnosis tests in all communities be notified to the national surveillance system to have an accurate accounting of the evolution of the pandemic.

On Wednesday at the press conference after the meeting of the Interterritorial Health Council, it was announced that the members of the Public Health Commission have been placed to continue working on this matter, “especially hand in hand with the presentation of alerts” and will meet again next week.

“It is clear that we need the positives to be communicated to the national system“, said Darias, who acknowledged that there is currently a situation of bottleneck in communications, especially in some primary care centers.

Therefore, the head of Health has ensured that her department works with the communities so that this notification is possible and the accounting of the cases can be kept.

In Madrid, the general director of Public Health of the Community, Elena Andradas, indicated on Tuesday that the positive self-diagnostic tests that citizens perform and that communicate to the number of covid information are counted in the statistics of the region, but they are not dumped in the national surveillance system of the Ministry of Health.

• UK: 183,037 new cases (29 December)
• Australia: 18,243 new cases (29 December)
• Zambia: 5,255 new cases (29 December)

The Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday 42,032 cases of the corona virus in the last 24 hours in Argentina, a record number since the pandemic began in March last year. 

In addition, 26 deaths were reported, bringing the total number of deaths officially registered nationwide to 117,111 and 5,556,239 infected since the beginning of the pandemic, respectively.

The curve of infections continues to grow exponentially since a couple of weeks ago. 

Such is the increase that Wednesday’s figure surpassed the record of 41,080 cases that was set on 27 May 2021. 

Meanwhile, on Monday 20,263 cases were reported, while on Tuesday there were 33,902 in 24 hours.

Regarding the third wave, the Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, admitted that:

“We can say that Argentina avoided a wave, that is an achievement of the whole country, and at this moment we are going through the third wave”. 

In the same vein, the official differentiated the situation in Argentina with that of other regions of the world that “are already going through the fourth wave like the United States and many countries in Europe. 

Most regions are transiting their fourth wave and South America is starting its third wave.“

The Health portfolio indicated that there are 977 inmates with the corona virus in intensive care units, with a percentage of adult bed occupancy in the public and private sector, for all pathologies, of 34.9% in the country and 36.3% in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.

Vizzotti also announced on Wednesday a reduction of the days of isolation to be fulfilled by people infected with coronavirus and close contacts who have the complete vaccination scheme, in a measure that will begin to take effect from this Thursday and that was agreed with all the provinces within the scope of the Federal Health Council (Cofesa).

The Minister said in a press conference held at the Government House that she agreed with her provincial peers to reduce from ten to five days the isolation for close contacts of asymptomatic positive cases, provided they have the complete vaccination scheme, while those who are positive with mild symptoms must be protected for seven days.

The official explained that for those people who are asymptomatic close contacts without vaccination or with the incomplete schedule, the isolation will be reduced to 7 days with a negative PCR test or, if the test is not available, the current ten days will be maintained, as well as for those who are positive and have not been vaccinated.

The positivity rate of the tests continues to rise, with 30.98%, well above the 10% set as a reference by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Of the total infected, 5,556,239 were discharged and 155,218 are confirmed active cases.

According to the Public Vaccination Monitor, the total number of inoculated amounts to 75,644,660, of which 38,036,381 received one dose, 32,587,409 both, 2,436,423 an additional one and 2,584,447 a booster, while the vaccines distributed to the jurisdictions reach 93,954,966.

The Ministry also indicated that 135,645 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours and since the beginning of the outbreak there have been 27,790,142 diagnostic tests for this disease.

The report stated that 16 men died.

On Wednesday, 15,135 cases were registered in the province of Buenos Aires.

• Greece: 35,580 new cases (30 December)
• Italy: 126,888 new cases (30 December)
• Ireland: 20,554 new cases (30 December)
• Portugal: 28,659 new cases (30 December)

Russia has overtaken Brazil to have the world’s second-highest death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic, behind the United States, data from Russia’s state statistics service and Reuters calculations showed on Thursday.

The statistics service, Rosstat, said 87,527 people had died from coronavirus-related causes in November, making it the deadliest month in Russia since the start of the pandemic.

Russia’s overall pandemic death toll reached 658,634, according to Reuters calculations based on Rosstat figures up to the end of November and data from the coronavirus task force for December, overtaking Brazil which has recorded 618,800 deaths.

The death toll in the United States is higher, at 825,663 people, according to a Reuters tally, but its population is more than twice as big as Russia’s.

Reuters calculations also showed Russia recorded more than 835,000 excess deaths since the beginning of the outbreak in April 2020 to the end of November, compared to average mortality in 2015-2019.

Some epidemiologists say that calculating excess deaths is the best way to assess the true impact of a pandemic.

So far, Russia’s death toll has not been affected by the Omicron variant and was mostly caused by a surge of infections in October and November, which health authorities blamed on the Delta variant and a slow vaccination campaign.

On Thursday, Russian authorities ordered hospitals to get prepared for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases.

• UK: 189,213 new cases (30 December)

Québec is bringing back its controversial overnight curfew beginning Friday at 10 p.m., which is New Year’s Eve, and continuing to 5 a.m. the next day.

Québec Premier François Legault made the announcement Thursday amid increasing hospitalizations and an exponential growth in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant.

Also beginning on Friday, private gatherings in homes will be prohibited.

Only people who live alone or need caregivers will be allowed to join another family bubble.

Dining rooms at restaurants will be closed but take-out and delivery options will be allowed to continue.

The province reported a record-breaking 14,188 infections and an increase of 135 pandemic-related hospitalizations for a total of 939 patients, including 138 in intensive care.

Legault said the number of cases to be published Friday is above 16,000.

Earlier in the day, Québec’s Institute for Excellence in Health and Social Services (INESSS) released its modelling predictions which show an already dire situation getting even worse.

The more optimistic scenario, based on average growth rates, shows that COVID-19 hospitalizations could reach 1,600 in the next three weeks, while those for intensive care patients could jump to 300.

The second scenario projects up to 2,100 COVID-19 patients in regular beds and 375 in intensive care, which is higher than what the province saw in previous waves of the pandemic.

The Institute, however, said the intensification of vaccination efforts, coupled with newly-implemented or upcoming public health measures, could slow the predicted increase in hospitalizations.

Legault pointed to INESSS’ report and modelling from the public health institute as reasons to bring in more measures.

“Our experts tell us there is a risk that we won’t be able to treat everyone, all those who need it in the coming weeks,” he said.

“I know we’re all tired but it’s my responsibility to protect all ourselves from this. This is why I’m announcing new restrictions as of tomorrow.”

Essential workers, people seeking medical care, or people travelling for humanitarian reasons will be exempt from curfew.

Anyone outside their home during curfew hours could be asked to justify their movements.

Fines for breaking curfew range between $1,000 and $6,000.

The province first imposed a curfew during the pandemic on 9 January 2021, and only lifted the health order on 28 May.

Québec is the only province in Canada to have imposed a curfew during the pandemic.

Legault admitted bringing it back was an extreme move but a necessary one under the circumstances.

He promised it would be the first restriction to be lifted once the situation in hospitals stabilizes.

“We’re not doing this for fun, but out of necessity to save our network and save lives,” Legault said.

• France: 232,200 new cases (31 December)
• Cyprus: 5,048 new cases (31 December)
• Greece: 40,560 new cases (31 December)
• Italy: 144,243 new cases (31 December)
• Florida: 75,900 new cases (31 December)
• New York: 85,476 new cases (31 December)
• England: 162,572 new cases (1 January)

France became the 6th country in the world to report more than 10 million COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to official data published on Saturday.

French health authorities reported 219,126 new confirmed cases in a 24-hour period, the 4th day in a row that the country has recorded more than 200,000 cases.

France joined the United States, India, Brazil, Britain and Russia in having had more than 10 million cases.

Saturday’s figure was the 2nd highest after the 232,200 record on Friday when French President Emmanuel Macron warned the next few weeks would be difficult.

In his New Year’s Eve address, Macron did not mention a need for more restrictive health measures than those already announced, adding that the government should refrain from further limiting individual freedoms.

But the government said earlier on Saturday that from Monday wearing masks in public spaces would be mandatory for children as young as 6 versus 11 before.

And some big cities, including Paris and Lyon, have re-imposed wearing of masks in the street for everyone.

The seven-day moving average of new cases in France, which smoothes out daily reporting irregularities, rose to an all-time high of 157,651 – jumping almost five-fold in a month.

The number of people hospitalised for COVID-19 has increased by 96 over 24 hours, standing at a more than seven-month peak of 18,811.

But that figure is still almost half the record 33,497 reached in November 2020.

The COVID-19 death toll increased by 110 over 24 hours to 123,851, the 12th highest globally.

The seven-day moving average of new daily deaths has reached 186, a high since 14 May.

• Ireland: 23,281 new cases (1 January)

Europe has surpassed 100 million cases of the corona virus since the pandemic began nearly two years ago, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Corona Virus Resource Center.

Worldwide, nearly 290 million cases have been recorded.

Nearly 5 million of Europe’s cases were reported in the last seven days, with 17 of the 52 countries or territories that make up Europe setting single-day new case records thanks to the highly contagious omicron variant, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Saturday.

More than 1 million of those cases were reported in France, which has joined the US, India, Brazil, Britain and Russia to become the 6th country to confirm more than 10 million cases since the pandemic began, Reuters reported.

India’s health ministry reported 22,775 new cases of the corona virus Saturday, saying the new cases bring the country’s Omicron variant count to 1,431.

Public health officials, however, have warned that the country’s COVID-19 tallies are likely undercounted.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported Saturday that paramedics in the Australian state of New South Wales had a “record breaking” level of calls overnight, resulting in its busiest night in 126 years, as the Omicron variant of the corona virus sweeps across the globe.

New South Wales Ambulance Inspector Kay Armstrong told the newspaper the telephone calls included, “the usual business of New Year’s Eve—alcohol-related cases, accidents, obviously mischief—and then we had COVID on top of that.”

The Herald reported paramedics also received “time-wasting calls from people wanting COVID-19 test results”.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of Britain’s NHS Confederation, said the Omicron variant will “test the limits of finite NHS [National Health Service] capacity even more than a typical winter.”

Taylor also predicted that hospitals will be forced to make “difficult choices” because of the variant.

CNN reports that more than 30 colleges and universities have changed the starting date of their spring semesters as the Omicron variant crosses the United States.

The Johns Hopkins Corona Virus Resource Center on Saturday reported more than 289 million global COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.

The Center said 9.1 billion vaccinations have been administered.

Happy New Year?

I receive my 3rd dose of vaccine today in Weinfelden.

The staff are friendly and efficient.

The process is quick and painless.

I get a message from my cousin Steve, back in Lachute, Québec, Canada, to call him.

He has been organizing our last high school reunion (Class of 1982) set for 13 August 2022.

As one of his oldest friends, he seeks my opinion.

Should he postpone the reunion until 2023?

I tell him to wait until 1 March before making this decision.

But truth be told, I find it hard to maintain my optimism.

COVID-19 has changed normal routines around the world.

During the beginning of the pandemic, everyone wanted to learn more about the virus.

After four months, with death tolls rising and isolation not being over anytime soon, psychological fatigue has set in.

There is fatigue from pandemic news throughout the world.

This fatigue persists despite knowing someone with COVID-19.

Either we simply cannot care any more or we cannot hear any more bad news.

Hi.

I feel badly even writing this, but all of this conversation about COVID-19 is depressing me.

And I mean that clinically…

I have major depressive disorder, and things are hard enough already.

This pandemic is making me feel so much worse, and I just need to tune it out for a while — but that seems so…

Insensitive?

Am I wrong for just needing to ignore it for a while?

Here’s a fun fact for you:

Dozens of people are asking more or less the exact same question.

So if this makes you a bad person?

There are a lot of bad people out there right now.

Let’s address the more basic part of your question first:

Are you a bad person for needing to unplug for a while?

Not at all. 

When we live with any kind of mental health condition, it’s very important to set boundaries around social media, the news cycle, and the conversations we can and can’t have at any given time. 

This becomes especially important when something traumatic is happening on a global scale.

I think social media has created a kind of pressure where people feel that if they unplug from what’s happening in the world, it makes them complacent or selfish.

I don’t believe that taking a step back is complacency, though.

I believe that having strong boundaries around issues that activate us emotionally is what allows us to show up for ourselves and others in healthier, more impactful ways.

I also want to just validate how you’re feeling.

Years into this pandemic, so many of us are burning out.

And this makes a lot of sense!

Many of us are experiencing some serious fatigue and dysregulation brought on by chronic, pervasive stress.

And if you’re someone living with depression?

That fatigue is likely going to feel a lot heavier.

Don’t apologize for taking care of yourself, my friend.

That’s exactly what you’re supposed to be doing right now. 

As long as you’re still being mindful of your impact on others (wearing a mask, practicing physical distancing, not stockpiling toilet paper that you don’t need, not blocking traffic because you’re mad that you can’t get your hair cut or go to Olive Garden, etc.), I wouldn’t worry about it.

And if you’re thinking:

“Duh!

I have depression and there’s a pandemic! 

Of course I’m depressed!”

I’d like to ask you to pump the brakes for a second and hear me out.

Sure, yes, it makes a lot of sense that you’d be feeling burnt out and depressed about the state of the world.

Even so, when life gets tough — regardless of the reasons why — we deserve support to get through it.

And I’d say that when we start noticing our mental health taking a hit?

It’s always a good time to check in with a mental health professional.

Because yes, a global pandemic is scary and difficult.

But I can fortify myself by making sure I have all the proper support around me.

There’s a difference between grieving the state of the world and giving our mental illness a free pass to torment us.

You know what I mean? 

One piece of great advice that I heard recently was that, rather than thinking of this as the “new normal”, we can think of it as the “new now” instead. 

So, reader, if in this “new now” you find yourself more depressed than usual?

Meet yourself where you’re at and get some extra support. 

Taking each day as it comes is the best I think any of us can do right now.

And it sounds like today, you’re having a hard time.

So rather than writing off the significance of those feelings or trying to cope by checking out, how about we address them head-on?

Something to consider.

Reader, if taking care of yourself makes you “bad” somehow?

I hope you’re bad to the bone.

If there were ever a time to build a blanket fort and shut out the rest of the world for a while, I’d say the time is definitely now.

Raise your hand if you’re tired of hearing about COVID.

I get it.

On so many levels I am, too.

What makes me tired is the constant information that, seemingly, does nothing to change peoples’ minds on the severity of the issue.

Wear masks.

We know.

Above: “Afectos en pandemia,” Hilda Chaulot

Stay distant.

We know.

No large gatherings.

We know.

No, we don’t.

For every person who has had COVID, some people are quick to point out:

“Yeah, but…look at the number of people who have been cured.”

For every person who has died from COVID, some people are quick to say:

“Yeah, but…so-and-so probably had an underlying condition.”

I’m tired of defending the simple idea that deaths are preventable.

Why?

Because I honestly feel that most of these stories do not make a difference.

My hope is that we realize that COVID is not just a danger for the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions.

This is a virus that is impacting countless people and families – neighbors, loved ones – more than we can truly comprehend.

More than anything, my hope is we will reignite our passion and desire for being proactive, for wearing masks, for staying distant, for staying away from large gatherings.

Be decent.

Be good.

It might not be your safety you’re concerned for.

Maybe you’ll be fine, untouched by COVID-19 or any of its symptoms.

I certainly wish for that to be the case.

Some people, though, have not been that lucky.

I have, so far, been lucky.

I have had colds and headaches and backaches, but none that have proven to be symptoms of a greater consequence.

Certainly, I have known those who have been afflicted by the virus, though, happily, I have not known anyone personally who has died from it.

Am I tired of the pandemic?

Most definitely.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have brought many changes to how you live your life, and with it, at times, uncertainty, altered daily routines, financial pressures and social isolation.

You may worry about getting sick, how long the pandemic will last, whether your job will be affected and what the future will bring.

Information overload, rumors and misinformation can make your life feel out of control and make it unclear what to do.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, you may experience stress, anxiety, fear, sadness and loneliness.

And mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression, can worsen.

Surveys show a major increase in the number of adults who report symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia during the pandemic, compared with surveys before the pandemic.

Some people have increased their use of alcohol or drugs, thinking that can help them cope with their fears about the pandemic.

In reality, using these substances can worsen anxiety and depression.

People with substance use disorders, notably those addicted to tobacco or opioids, are likely to have worse outcomes if they get COVID-19.

That’s because these addictions can harm lung function and weaken the immune system, causing chronic conditions such as heart disease and lung disease, which increase the risk of serious complications from COVID-19.

For all of these reasons, it’s important to learn self-care strategies and get the care you need to help you cope.

Self-care strategies are good for your mental and physical health and can help you take charge of your life.

Take care of your body and your mind and connect with others to benefit your mental health.

Take care of your body

Be mindful about your physical health:

• Get enough sleep. Go to bed and get up at the same times each day. Stick close to your typical sleep-wake schedule, even if you’re staying at home.

• Participate in regular physical activity. Regular physical activity and exercise can help reduce anxiety and improve mood. Find an activity that includes movement, such as dance or exercise apps. Get outside, such as a nature trail or your own backyard.

• Eat healthy. Choose a well-balanced diet. Avoid loading up on junk food and refined sugar. Limit caffeine as it can aggravate stress, anxiety and sleep problems.

• Avoid tobacco, alcohol and drugs. If you smoke tobacco or if you vape, you’re already at higher risk of lung disease. Because COVID-19 affects the lungs, your risk increases even more. Using alcohol to try to cope can make matters worse and reduce your coping skills. Avoid taking drugs to cope, unless your doctor prescribed medications for you.

• Limit screen time. Turn off electronic devices for some time each day, including 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime. Make a conscious effort to spend less time in front of a screen — television, tablet, computer and phone.

• Relax and recharge. Set aside time for yourself. Even a few minutes of quiet time can be refreshing and help to settle your mind and reduce anxiety. Many people benefit from practices such as deep breathing, tai chi, yoga, mindfulness or meditation. Soak in a bubble bath, listen to music, or read or listen to a book — whatever helps you relax. Select a technique that works for you and practice it regularly.

Take care of your mind

Reduce stress triggers:

• Keep your regular routine. Maintaining a regular daily schedule is important to your mental health. In addition to sticking to a regular bedtime routine, keep consistent times for meals, bathing and getting dressed, work or study schedules, and exercise. Also set aside time for activities you enjoy. This predictability can make you feel more in control.

• Limit exposure to news media. Constant news about COVID-19 from all types of media can heighten fears about the disease. Limit social media that may expose you to rumors and false information. Also limit reading, hearing or watching other news, but keep up to date on national and local recommendations. Look for reliable sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

• Stay busy. Healthy distractions can get you away from the cycle of negative thoughts that feed anxiety and depression. Enjoy hobbies that you can do at home, such as reading a book, writing in a journal, making a craft, playing games or cooking a new meal. Or identify a new project or clean out that closet you promised you’d get to. Doing something positive to manage anxiety is a healthy coping strategy.

• Focus on positive thoughts. Choose to focus on the positive things in your life, instead of dwelling on how bad you feel. Consider starting each day by listing things you are thankful for. Maintain a sense of hope, work to accept changes as they occur and try to keep problems in perspective.

• Use your moral compass or spiritual life for support. If you draw strength from a belief system, it can bring you comfort during difficult and uncertain times.

• Set priorities. Don’t become overwhelmed by creating a life-changing list of things to achieve while you’re home. Set reasonable goals each day and outline steps you can take to reach those goals. Give yourself credit for every step in the right direction, no matter how small. And recognize that some days will be better than others.

Connect with others

Build support and strengthen relationships:

• Make connections. If you work remotely from home or you need to isolate yourself from others for a period of time due to COVID-19, avoid social isolation. Find time each day to make virtual connections by email, texts, phone or video chat. If you’re working remotely from home, ask your co-workers how they’re doing and share coping tips. Enjoy virtual socializing and talking to those in your home.If you’re not fully vaccinated, be creative and safe when connecting with others in person, such as going for walks, chatting in the driveway and other outdoor activities, or wearing a mask for indoor activities.If you are fully vaccinated, you can more safely return to many indoor and outdoor activities you may not have been able to do because of the pandemic, such as gathering with friends and family. However, if you are in an area with a high number of new COVID-19 cases in the last week, the CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors in public or outdoors in crowded areas or in close contact with unvaccinated people. For unvaccinated people, outdoor activities that allow plenty of space between you and others pose a lower risk of spread of the COVID-19 virus than indoor activities do.

• Do something for others. Find purpose in helping the people around you. Helping others is an excellent way to help ourselves. For example, email, text or call to check on your friends, family members and neighbors — especially those who are older. If you know someone who can’t get out, ask if there’s something needed, such as groceries or a prescription picked up.

• Support a family member or friend. If a family member or friend needs to be quarantined at home or in the hospital due to COVID-19, come up with ways to stay in contact. This could be through electronic devices or the telephone or by sending a note to brighten the day, for example.

“To have compassion for those who suffer is a human quality which everyone should possess, especially those who have required comfort themselves in the past and have managed to find it in others.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron

Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life.

Everyone reacts differently to difficult situations, and it’s normal to feel stress and worry during a crisis. But multiple challenges, such as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, can push you beyond your ability to cope.

Many people may have mental health concerns, such as symptoms of anxiety and depression during this time.

And feelings may change over time.

Despite your best efforts, you may find yourself feeling helpless, sad, angry, irritable, hopeless, anxious or afraid.

You may have trouble concentrating on typical tasks, changes in appetite, body aches and pains, or difficulty sleeping or you may struggle to face routine chores.

When these signs and symptoms last for several days in a row, make you miserable and cause problems in your daily life so that you find it hard to carry out normal responsibilities, it’s time to ask for help.

Hoping mental health problems such as anxiety or depression will go away on their own can lead to worsening symptoms.

If you have concerns or if you experience worsening of mental health symptoms, ask for help when you need it, and be upfront about how you’re doing.

“Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron

To get help you may want to:

• Call or use social media to contact a close friend or loved one — even though it may be hard to talk about your feelings.
• Contact a minister, spiritual leader or someone in your faith community.
• Contact your employee assistance program, if your employer has one, and ask for counseling or a referral to a mental health professional.
• Call your primary care provider or mental health professional to ask about appointment options to talk about your anxiety or depression and get advice and guidance. Some may provide the option of phone, video or online appointments.

You can expect your current strong feelings to fade when the pandemic is over, but stress won’t disappear from your life when the health crisis of COVID-19 ends.

Continue these self-care practices to take care of your mental health and increase your ability to cope with life’s ongoing challenges.

No, it ain’t over till it’s over.

The pandemic persists.

Let’s try and live through it.

One hundred tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men.

They shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death, which was afflicting the city.

To pass the evenings, each member of the party tells a story each night, except for one day per week for chores, and the holy days during which they do no work at all, resulting in ten nights of storytelling over the course of two weeks.

Thus, by the end of the fortnight they have told 100 stories.

Each of the ten characters is charged as King or Queen of the company for one of the ten days in turn.

This charge extends to choosing the theme of the stories for that day, and all but two days have topics assigned: examples of the power of fortune, examples of the power of human will, love tales that end tragically, love tales that end happily, clever replies that save the speaker, tricks that women play on men, tricks that people play on each other in general, examples of virtue.

Only Dioneo, who usually tells the tenth tale each day, has the right to tell a tale on any topic he wishes, due to his wit.

Recurring plots of the stories include mocking the lust and greed of the clergy; female lust and ambition on a par with male lust and ambition; tensions in Italian society between the new wealthy commercial class and noble families; and the perils and adventures of travelling merchants.

The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic.

Tales of wit, practical jokes and life lessons contribute to the mosaic. 

“And the plague gathered strength as it was transmitted from the sick to the healthy through normal intercourse, just as fire catches on to any dry or greasy object placed too close to it.

Nor did it stop there:

Not only did the healthy incur the disease and with it the prevailing mortality by talking to or keeping company with the sick.

They had only to touch the clothing or anything else that had come into contact with or been used by the sick and the plague evidently was passed to the one who handled those things.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron

“Since the beginning of the world men have been and will be, until the end thereof, bandied about by various shifts of fortune.”
― Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron

Sources: Wikipedia / Google / Facebook / Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron / Albert Camus, The Plague / Daniel Defoe, Journal of the Plague Year / “Spain exceeds 100,000 cases of COVID daily, the highest figure of the pandemic“, El Periodico, 29 December 2021 / Debora Mackenzie, Covid-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened, and How to Stop the Next One / Dr. Michael Mosley, Covid-19: What You Need to Know about the Corona Virus and the Race for the Vaccine / Annabelle Olivier, “Covid-19 – Québec brings back nightly curfew, private gatherings prohibited as cases soar“, Global News, 30 December 2021 / “Russia’s Covid-19 death toll climbs to world’s second highest“, Reuters, 30 December 2021 / Christy Samos, “Canada surpasses 2 million Covid-19 cases since start of pandemic“, CTV News, 27 December 2021