Month: June 2022

There have been 3,108 non-Covid excess deaths registered in England and Wales in the last four weeks, including 869 in the most recent week, official data show. Taking into account that currently around 35% of ‘Covid deaths’ are registered with a different underlying cause, we also need to add around 1,000 deaths to the non-Covid total, giving over 4,000 non-Covid excess deaths in the last four weeks (4,234 to be exact).

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Covid deaths have been dropping as the Omicron waves have subsided, but non-Covid deaths have spiked. No explanation has been provided for this, but ambulance services have reported very high demand, including for strokes, said to be at a record high. Ambulance call-outs for cardiac or respiratory arrest are also trending above average.

Read More: Over 4,000 Non-Covid Excess Deaths in England and Wales in Last Four Weeks, ONS Data Show

he death of a retired police officer whose head became trapped between the rails and mattress of his hospital bed was an “avoidable accident”, a coroner has concluded.

Max Dingle, 83, died 15 minutes after he was found “entrapped” on a ward at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on May 3 2020.

Concluding an inquest into Surrey-born Mr Dingle’s death, a senior coroner found resuscitation had not been attempted despite the pensioner electing for life-saving intervention and having a pulse when he was found.

Earlier this month, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, was fined £1,333,334 for failing to provide safe care to Mr Dingle and another patient – whose case is not linked – who died in different circumstances.

Senior coroner John Ellery said Mr Dingle, of Newtown, Powys, in mid-Wales, was originally admitted to hospital with “shortness of breath” on April 27 2020.

His medical history showed he had suffered with a heart condition, lymphoedema and sleep apnoea.

The coroner said: “He remained in hospital until May 3, at 10am, when he was found with his head trapped between the rails and mattress of his hospital bed.

“He suffered a cardiac arrest – from which resuscitation was not attempted – and he died at 10.15am.”

Nobody from the hospital trust was present for the hearing but family members, including Mr Dingle’s son Phil, dialled in from Australia.

Read More: Retired police officer’s hospital bed death was an ‘avoidable accident’

More than 3,000 diabetics in England may have died due to a lack of health checks during the first year of Covid, a major NHS study warns. MailOnline has more.

The review of more than 3 million diabetic patients found a massive drop-off in critical checks and tests for diabetes patients in 2020, after the first two lockdowns.

Diabetes patients are meant to have check-ups and tests to look for heart problems, infection or other changes that could be deadly. But researchers found just 26.5% received their full set of checks in England 2020/21, compared with 48% the previous year. They said diabetes took a “double mortality hit” when the NHS moved to remote working and routine appointments were cancelled to focus on Covid.

The study, led by NHS bosses, compared deaths among diabetics in a 15-week period in summer 2021 with the same period in 2019. They found non-Covid related deaths among diabetes patients rose 11% over this period, an extra 3,075 fatalities than would normally be expected.

Diabetes charities said the study showed sufferers had been “pushed to the back of the queue” during the pandemic and had suffered ‘absolutely devastating consequences’ as a result.

The authors, which include Professor Jonathan Valabhji, the NHS’s national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, linked the deaths to the fall in health checks during lockdown. The study also found patients who did not get all their diabetes health checks before the onset of the pandemic were 66% more likely to die than those who did.

Read More: Covid Lockdowns Caused 3,000 Extra Diabetes Deaths in England, NHS Report Finds

Top doctors told the New York Times that transgender swimmer Lia Thomas still has an unfair advantage over biological females despite the athlete having undergone testosterone suppressing therapy.

The transgender swimmer, who was born a man, stoked controversy after winning the 500-yard NCAA women’s championship in March.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded by asserting that the real winner was the biological female competitor who came in second place.

After entering female competitions, Thomas has soared in national rankings, jumping from 32nd place in men’s meets to eighth in the 1,650-yard female freestyle.

Female athletes who have questioned whether Thomas has an unfair advantage have been branded “transphobic.”

Vile: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) declares Floridian runner-up Emma Weyant the 500-yard freestyle champion over trans swimmer Lia Thomas and calls transgender women “basically men.” pic.twitter.com/LjRDAVmaEA

— The Recount (@therecount) March 22, 2022

Read More: Top Doctors Say Trans Swimmer Has Unfair Advantage

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that his government will introduce new legislation to implement a ‘national freeze’ on handgun ownership and prevent people from buying and selling handguns anywhere in the country.

‘The day this legislation goes into effect it will no longer be possible to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns in Canada,’ Trudeau told reporters.

If passed, the freeze on handguns is expected to come into force in the autumn. Canada’s public safety minister has tabled regulatory amendments in parliament to ensure it can be implemented swiftly, according to a ministry statement.

The killing last week of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas has fed concern about gun violence worldwide. Canada already has significantly stronger gun ownership restrictions than its neighbor to the south.

Canada banned the sale and use of some 1,500 models of assault weapons, like the AR-15 rifle, two years ago. Shortly afterwards, gun supporters marched to Parliament Hill during the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights in protest to the ban.

Read More: Justin Trudeau announces a ‘national freeze’ on handgun ownership

01

If we are going to get to the bottom of whether and to what extent vaccines are contributing to the deaths of the vaccinated, autopsies are a crucial tool. So where are all the autopsies to help us answer these questions?

Back last summer, the Chief Pathologist at the University of Heidelberg, Dr. Peter Schirmacher, was pushing for many more autopsies of vaccinated people. His team had just finished conducting 40 autopsies of people who had died within two weeks of vaccination and concluded that 30-40% of them died from the vaccine.

Dr. Schirmacher warned of a high number of unreported deaths from vaccination and lamented that pathologists don’t notice most of the patients who die from a vaccination. The problem, he explained, is that vaccinated people do not usually die under clinical observation.

The doctor examining the corpse does not establish any context with the vaccination and certifies a natural death and the patient is buried. Or he certifies an unclear manner of death and the public prosecutor sees no third-party fault and releases the body for burial.

Dr. Schirmacher’s claims were dismissed at the time by Government scientists, but he stuck to his guns. “The colleagues are definitely wrong because they cannot judge this specific question competently,” he said. He clarified that he is in favour of the vaccines to fight Covid and has been vaccinated himself, but says the benefits and risks must be considered for each person. He argued in favour of “individual protection considerations” instead of ​​quickly vaccinating everyone.

At the time, the Federal Association of German Pathologists was also pushing for more autopsies of vaccinated people. Johannes Friemann, head of the autopsy working group in the association, said this was the only way that connections between deaths and vaccinations could be ruled out or proven. The association had already in March 2021 sent a letter to Health Minister Jens Spahn requesting that German state governments instruct health authorities to order autopsies on site. Five months later, in August, this letter remained unanswered.

Read More: Fears of Cover-up as Pathologist Who Said 30-40% of Post-Vaccine Autopsies Died of the Vaccine Went Oddly Silent and Suddenly Stopped Carrying Out Autopsies

More children aged 5-11 will be able to access a COVID-19 vaccine this half-term as Solent NHS Trust launches walk-in appointments for children across its mass vaccination centres – including here on the Isle of Wight.

Solent, as part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Vaccination Programme, is offering walk-in appointments at The Riverside Centre in Newport, as well as in clinics in the community, with no need to book in advance.

The next clinic is being held today (Tuesday) for those aged 5-11, between 09:00 and 18:00. The next clinic will be held on Sunday 5th June, also between 09:00-18:00. Vaccines are offered on a first come, first served basis and there may be a short wait for people to receive their vaccine.

Angela Anderson, Deputy Chief Nurse, and Clinical Director for the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme at Solent NHS Trust, said:

“The decision to get your child vaccinated, as a parent or guardian, is yours. Not only can the vaccine help protect your child against serious COVID infection, but it can also decrease the risk of passing on the infection to others and reduce the impact it can have on their education. So, if you or your child have not yet received the vaccine, why not walk-in to one of our centres this half-term.

“Our fantastic teams have created a child and family friendly atmosphere to ensure that everyone is as comfortable as possible when getting their jabs and we are on hand every step of the way to answer any queries you may have about the vaccine.”

Read More: Children aged 5-11 offered more chances to put their lives and health at risk by getting a ‘Covid’ jab this half term

Shanghai eased a range of Covid-19 restrictions on Wednesday in a step towards returning to normal after a two-month lockdown that confined residents of the megacity to their homes and battered China’s economy.

Russian troops fought to take complete control of the eastern industrial city of Sievierodonetsk as the United States said it will provide Ukraine with advanced rockets to help it force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war. Follow FRANCE 24’s liveblog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).