Red Cross using rapid tests in Portugal // What is aerosol/airborne transmission and why does it matter?
Portuguese news in English on October 7, 2020.
By the numbers
Deaths have really started to increase in the last few days, following weeks of high case numbers and hospital admissions. Fourteen covid-19 patients died yesterday, the most since June 1. Confirmed cases are also at close to their highest point ever, depending on how you measure it. On a 14-day average, the start of April was still slightly worse but with a seven-day average, there have never been more daily confirmations. On a more positive note, case numbers in the Algarve have dropped slightly in the past few days and the number of patients in intensive care has held steady for more than a week.
Active, recovered, deaths, contacts under surveillance, confirmed, hospitalised, in ICU.
Red Cross using rapid tests in Portugal
The Red Cross has been carrying out rapid tests for covid-19 in Portugal since the middle of September, Público reports. Red Cross Portugal special testing program manager Gonçalo Órfão said the charity received some thousands of the antigen tests. The organisation’s fixed location in Lumiar opened yesterday for the purposes of “mass testing”, mostly with the more common molecular tests. Mr Orfão said the organisation didn’t have to wait for Directorate General of Health guidelines because the tests are already certified. The European Centre for Disease Control says if well validated, the tests can be used to diagnose people rapidly but might not be as sensitive as the slower PCR tests, so “a negative rapid test may not be able to rule out infection”.
CDC changes guidance on airborne transmission
There’s been an important development this week in terms of what we’re told about how the coronavirus spreads. The US Centres for Disease Control on Monday issued a long-awaited update to its site acknowledging people can get sick through aerosol or airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, as The Washington Post reports in English. Basically, most major scientific bodies say the main way to catch the coronavirus is through large respiratory droplets we all emit when we’re talking, breathing, sneezing, coughing etc, as well as through contact with the virus on your hands and then on to your mouth. The 1.5-2 metres of physical distance is supposed to allow most of these droplets to fall to the floor rather than hit your face. That advice hasn’t changed.
‘Enclosed spaces’ and ‘inadequate ventilation’
But there’s growing evidence that smaller droplets can hang around in the air for many minutes or even hours, which has major implications for inclosed, poorly ventilated spaces. “There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 seem to have infected others who were more than six feet away,” the new CDC guidance states, in English. “These transmissions occurred within enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation. Sometimes the infected person was breathing heavily, for example while singing or exercising.” The European Centre for Disease Control still says “infection is understood to be mainly transmitted via large respiratory droplets containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus”. “Transmission through aerosols has also been implicated but the relative role of large droplets and aerosols is still unclear,” it says.
Experts weigh in
In an article published in the journal Science, in English, several top researchers argue for an even great emphasis to be placed on this transmission method. For his part, Dr Miguel Castanho, group leader of Physical Biochemistry of Drugs & Targets at the João Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine, tells Diário de Notícias this method of transmission is much rarer. “In theory, aerosol transmission is possible,” he says. “It may have happened one time or another, but it is not this tree that makes the forest."
In brief
National Guard and Navy step up patrols after SEF discovers immigrant route from Morocco.
Strong construction performance saves country from an even more severe recession. Instead of a 9.7% fall in GDP predicte in June, the Bank of Portugal is expecting an 8.1% drop this year. (Público)
September 2020 was the hottest on record. The past five years have been the warmest on record, placing the planet dangerously close to the ceiling established by the Paris Agreement. (Lusa)
Court evaluates confidential agreement between Ronaldo and Kathryn Mayorga (Público)
Socialist Party (PS - the party currently in government) parliamentary leader in quarantine. Ana Catarina Mendes tested negative but will have a second test. (Diário de Notícias)
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On a lighter note
Two of the world’s 20 coolest neighbourhoods are in Portugal, according to Time Out’s somewhat haphazard yearly list. The publication highlights Porto’s Bonfim at 14 for its mix of traditional and cutting-edge restaurants, galleries and of course Centro Commercial Stop, the old shopping centre transformed into a music paradise. Lisbon’s Alvalade comes in at 17 thanks to its “welcoming vibe”, traditional market, rock clubs and The Wave Centre, which apparently has an indoor wave you can actually surf. A quick glance at some of the suburbs shows the publication does it best to be a bit off-beat and pick suburbs that are on the way up rather than established. It also doesn’t worry too much about consistency from year to year. Arroios, last year’s “coolest suburb in the world”, and most of the others from last year’s top 10 are nowhere to be found this year.
Combi Coffee on the edge of Porto’s Bonfim neighbourhood. Photo: Jorge Branco
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