Covid antibody test a 'positive development'
A blood test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by Public Health England, a ‘very positive development’. The test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity. Until now, officials have said such tests are not reliable enough. The government previously spent £16m buying antibody tests which proved to be ineffective. This test is the first one to offer serious potential. Experts at Porton Down evaluated the test and found that if someone had been infected, it gave the correct result 100% of the time. And if someone had not caught coronavirus, then it gave the correct result in 99.8% of cases.
France: medical smuggling networks
Smuggling networks have been trying to take advantage of the rush to buy medical supplies - including face masks - to tackle the coronavirus epidemic. By the end of April, French police had dismantled a number of such networks, stopped scams and attempted scams to the value of over €30 million, and seized 438,000 masks. In addition, 5.7 million masks ostensibly ordered on the internet have been the subject of a scam or attempted scam. While the crisis has shown the best of ourselves and enabled exceptional acts of solidarity, it has also been an opportunity for some to try to take advantage of the situation, to exploit fear of the disease.
Safety first
Three frontline health care workers have mysteriously fallen out of hospital windows in Russia recently, heightening public attention to the working conditions for medical staff. The incidents reflect the stress doctors are under in ill-equipped hospitals where medical workers are getting sick or dying: see Many healthcare staff are scared to complain publicly about working conditions. The UK media claimed 400,000 PPE sent from Turkey failed to meet UK safety standards, with gowns not ‘of the quality good enough for front-line staff'. As France extends emergency measures until 24 July, passengers travelling on Eurostar from the UK will have to wear a face mask or face covering, in line with guidelines from the French and Belgian governments.
Ukraine: anti-Semitism
Ukraine’s police demanded that the Jewish community of Kolommya provide them with a list of all members of their community and of Jewish students, with addresses and phone numbers. The demand was made to the head of the community, Jacob Zalichker, who said he would only comply when presented with a court-ordered warrant for the information. Joel Lion, Israel’s ambassador, brought the document to the attention of Ukraine’s president and two different ministries. He said, ‘I received phone calls from the highest officials of Ukraine strongly condemning this act of anti-Semitism. We will work together to improve education for the police about anti-Semitism’. Ukraine’s first Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was elected last year.
