Through a combination of bonds and derivatives priced today, a cash window, and future commitments from donor countries for additional coverage, the PEF will provide more than $500 million to insure developing countries against the risk of pandemic outbreaks over the next five years.
There are two windows in the PEF. The first is a ‘insurance’ window comprised of bonds and swaps, including those executed today, with premiums funded by Japan and Germany. The second is a ‘cash’ window, for which Germany initially offered Euro 50 million in finance. From 2018, the cash window will be open for the control of diseases that may not be eligible for funding through the insurance window.
The derivatives deals were also co-arranged by Swiss Re Capital Markets Limited, Munich Re, and GC Securities.
The bonds will be issued through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) “Because investors risk losing part or all of their investment in the bond if an epidemic event triggers pay-outs to eligible countries covered by the PEF, the program is known as a “capital at risk” program.
The Pandemic Epidemic Framework (PEF) comprises six viruses that are most likely to trigger a pandemic. New Orthomyxoviruses (new influenza pandemic virus A), Coronaviridae (SARS, MERS), Filoviridae (Ebola, Marburg), and zoonotic diseases are among them (Crimean Congo, Rift Valley, Lassa fever).
When an epidemic hits preset levels of contagion, such as the number of deaths, the speed with which the disease spreads, and whether the sickness crosses international boundaries, PEF funding to qualifying nations will be triggered. The trigger is determined using publicly available data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
July 15, 2020, up to a maximum of 12 months beyond the Scheduled Maturity Date, extendable in whole or in part on a monthly basis.
Filovirus, Coronavirus, Lassa Fever, Rift Valley Fever, and Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever are among the viruses that can cause illness.
Munich Re’s Chairman of the Board of Management, Joachim Wenning, stated: “The PEF demonstrates how close partnership between the public sector and insurers can help developing countries mitigate the detrimental effects of disasters. Munich Re is happy to have been a key player in the development of this proactive and dependable funding mechanism from the start. I’m certain that our core competencies in risk modeling, detection, and management will contribute to this important goal, which is to increase the resilience of businesses and societies. We sincerely believe that the PEF will become a long-term and vital component of a global health infrastructure that will strengthen our planet’s resilience to dangerous epidemic and pandemic dangers.”
When will the Covid outbreak be over?
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the pandemic’s acute phase might be over by the middle of the year if nearly 70% of the world is vaccinated. According to the World Health Organization’s director-general, the pandemic’s acute phase might end this year if nearly 70% of the world’s population is vaccinated.
COVID-19 was declared a pandemic when?
SARSCoV2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is a coronavirus strain that produces COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory ailment that is causing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus was previously known as human coronavirus 2019 and had a preliminary designation of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) (HCoV-19 or hCoV-19). The World Health Organization labeled the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, and a pandemic on 11 March 2020, when it was first discovered in Wuhan, Hubei, China. SARSCoV2 is a single-stranded RNA virus with a positive sense that is infectious in humans. It is the successor to SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in 20022004, according to the US National Institutes of Health.
SARSCoV2 is a coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (SARSr-CoV). It has zoonotic origins and is genetically similar to bat coronaviruses, implying that it originated from a bat-borne virus. The question of whether SARSCoV2 was transmitted directly from bats or indirectly through intermediary hosts is still being investigated. The virus has limited genetic variability, implying that the SARSCoV2 spillover event that brought the virus to humans happened in late 2019.
When no members of the community are immune and no preventive measures are adopted, epidemiological studies suggest that each infection will result in an average of 2.4 to 3.4 additional infections between December 2019 and September 2020. Some succeeding forms, on the other hand, have become more contagious. Close contact and aerosols and respiratory droplets expelled when talking, breathing, or otherwise exhaling, as well as those produced by coughs or sneezes, are the most common ways for the virus to spread. It binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a membrane protein that regulates the reninangiotensin pathway, and thereby enters human cells.
Is the epidemic affecting people differently?
We, the Ministers of South Africa, Sweden, Argentina, Australia, Albania, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom, are pleased
The COVID-19 virus poses an unprecedented threat to humanity. The pandemic is wreaking havoc on health systems, economies, and people’s lives, livelihoods, and well-being all across the world, particularly among the elderly. To properly respond to this rapidly spreading pandemic, all governments, scientists, civil society organizations, and the commercial sector must work together.
COVID-19 has varied effects on men and women. The epidemic exacerbates existing disparities for women and girls, as well as discrimination against other marginalized groups like as people with disabilities and those living in extreme poverty, and threatens to obstruct the fulfilment of women’s and girls’ human rights. All women and girls’ participation, protection, and potential must be at the forefront of response activities. These initiatives must be gender-responsive, taking into account the various consequences of early detection, diagnosis, and treatment for both women and men.
Domestic violence, especially intimate partner violence, is becoming more common as a result of the stringent measures aimed to stop the virus from spreading over the world. Because the COVID-19 has weakened or put strain on health and social protection services, as well as legal systems that protect all women and girls in normal circumstances, specific measures to avoid violence against women and girls should be adopted. All women and girls who are refugees, migrants, or internally displaced should be protected as part of the emergency response. To maintain continuity, sexual and reproductive health needs, including psychosocial support and protection from gender-based violence, must be prioritized. During school closures, we must also assume responsibility for social protection and ensure adolescent health, rights, and well-being. Any limitations on the exercise of human rights should be enacted by legislation, in line with international law, and rigorously evaluated.
We encourage women and girls to take an active role in decision-making at all levels, particularly at the community level, through their networks and organizations, to ensure that activities and responses are gender-responsive and do not further discriminate and exclude those who are most vulnerable.
Leaders must realize the critical significance of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in health emergencies, as well as the importance of strong health systems in saving lives. Sexual health services are critical in this situation. We reaffirm our commitment to everyone immediately implementing the UHC political declaration. To avoid an increase in mother and newborn mortality, increased unmet contraception needs, and an increase in unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections, funding sexual and reproductive health and rights should remain a top priority.
Midwives, nurses, and community health professionals are needed all around the world to contain COVID-19, and they must wear personal protection equipment. All of these health staff, proper health facilities, and rigorous commitment to infection prevention are necessary for a safe pregnancy and childbirth. Because of the increased risk of bad outcomes, respiratory disorders in pregnant women, particularly COVID-19 infections, must be prioritized. As the pandemic has an influence on our national and international supply chains, we recommit to providing reproductive health commodities to all women and girls of reproductive age. We also urge on governments around the world to ensure that all women and girls have full and unrestricted access to all sexual and reproductive health services.
We applaud the UN’s efforts, including UNFPA and UN Women, the WHO, the World Bank and IMF, and regional development banks, as well as the G7 and G20 declarations, in putting together a cohesive and global response to COVID-19. We support them all in their efforts to ensure a successful response and the continuation of key health services and rights in collaboration with national governments and other partners.
In this global health catastrophe, we must coordinate our actions. We back the UN General Assembly resolution titled “Global Solidarity in the Fight Against COVID-19.” We also invite all governments, the commercial sector, civil society, philanthropists, and others to join us in supporting the emergency response, especially in the most vulnerable countries, and to fully implement the global commitment to universal health care access.
COVID-19 was initially discovered where?
It was first discovered in three persons who had pneumonia and were linked to a Wuhan cluster of acute respiratory sickness cases. In nature, all of the structural properties of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus particle are seen in related coronaviruses.
Is Justin Bieber a Covid user?
A spokeswoman for Justin Bieber revealed on Sunday that he tested positive for the coronavirus one day after starting his world tour in San Diego on Friday.
According to an announcement on social media, an event slated for Sunday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas has been rescheduled for June 28. The tour’s third stop, set for Tuesday at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., outside of Phoenix, has also been rescheduled for late June, according to the tour.
Coronaviruses have been around for how long?
Although some estimates place the common ancestor as far back as 55 million years or more, reflecting long-term coevolution with bat and bird species, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all coronaviruses is thought to have lived as recently as 8000 BCE. The alphacoronavirus line’s most recent common ancestor was around 2400 BCE, the betacoronavirus line around 3300 BCE, the gammacoronavirus line around 2800 BCE, and the deltacoronavirus line around 3000 BCE. Bats and birds are suitable natural reservoirs for the coronavirus gene pool since they are warm-blooded flying vertebrates (bats for alphacoronaviruses and betacoronaviruses, and birds for gammacoronaviruses and deltacoronaviruses). Coronaviruses have evolved and spread widely due to the huge number and diversity of bat and bird species that host viruses.
Bats are the source of several human coronaviruses. Between 1190 and 1449 CE, the human coronavirus NL63 had a common ancestor with a bat coronavirus (ARCoV.2). Between 1686 and 1800 CE, the human coronavirus 229E shared an ancestor with a bat coronavirus (GhanaGrp1 Bt CoV). Alpaca coronavirus and human coronavirus 229E diverged more recently, around 1960. MERS-CoV spread from bats to people via camels as an intermediate host. MERS-CoV appears to have split from numerous bat coronavirus species some centuries ago, despite being linked to them. In 1986, the most closely related bat coronavirus and SARS-CoV separated. SARS-ancestors CoV’s first infected leaf-nose bats of the genus Hipposideridae, then progressed to horseshoe bats of the species Rhinolophidae, Asian palm civets, and finally humans.
Bovine coronavirus of the species Betacoronavirus 1 and subgenus Embecovirus is likely to have originated in rodents rather than bats, unlike other betacoronaviruses. After a cross-species jump in the 1790s, horse coronavirus separated from bovine coronavirus. After another cross-species spillover occurrence in the 1890s, human coronavirus OC43 evolved from bovine coronavirus. Because of the pandemic’s timing, neurological symptoms, and unknown causal agent, it’s thought that the 1890 flu pandemic was triggered by this spillover event rather than the influenza virus. Human coronavirus OC43 is suspected of being involved in neurological illnesses in addition to producing respiratory infections. The human coronavirus OC43 began to diverge into its current genotypes in the 1950s. Mouse hepatitis virus (Murine coronavirus), which infects the liver and central nervous system of mice, is related to human coronavirus OC43 and bovine coronavirus on a phylogenetic level. HKU1 is a human coronavirus that, like the other viruses described, has its beginnings in rodents.
When did Covid-19 become known?
On the 31st of December, the World Health Organization was notified of cases of pneumonia with an unknown origin in Wuhan, China. On January 7, 2020, Chinese authorities identified a novel coronavirus as the cause, which was given the temporary designation “2019-nCoV.”
Coronaviruses (CoV) are a broad group of viruses that can cause everything from a typical cold to more serious illnesses. A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain of coronavirus that has never been seen in humans before. The novel virus was given the name “COVID-19 virus” after that.
The new coronavirus outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on January 30, 2020. There were 98 cases and no deaths in 18 countries outside of China at the time.
The rapid growth in the number of cases outside of China prompted the WHO Director-General to declare the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. More than 118 000 cases have been reported in 114 countries by that time, with 4291 deaths.
The WHO European Region had become the epicenter of the pandemic by mid-March 2020, reporting over 40% of all worldwide confirmed cases. The Region accounted for 63 percent of global viral mortality as of April 28, 2020.
WHO has been working around the clock to help countries prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic since the first cases were detected. “Through transparent knowledge-sharing, customized support on the ground, and steadfast solidarity, we will conquer COVID-19,” says Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
Advice for the public
WHO continues to encourage people to look for their own health and protect others by encouraging them to:
- preserving a social space of one meter (3 feet) between oneself and anybody coughing or sneezing;
- respiratory hygiene (covering your mouth and nose with a folded elbow or tissue when coughing or sneezing, then throwing away the discarded tissue as soon as possible);
- If you have a fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, seek medical help as soon as possible.
- remaining informed and following recommendations on how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 from your health care practitioner, national and local public health authorities, or employment.
Was Prince Charles a Covid user?
Prince Charles, 73, was diagnosed with the virus on February 10th, while his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, 74, was diagnosed with the illness last week. It was the first time the duchess had caught Covid, and Prince Charles’ second.
Is Queen Elizabeth II ill in 2022?
Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022, according to Buckingham Palace. She has moderate symptoms and will continue to perform her duties.
What demographics are more susceptible to the coronavirus?
COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory infection that can be passed from one person to the next. Coughing or sneezing, intimate contact such as touching or shaking hands, or handling an object with the virus on it and then contacting your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands are the most common ways to get the virus from an infected person. Because goods and surfaces touched by a person with COVID-19 can contain the virus, it’s critical to wash your hands frequently and clean commonly touched items and surfaces.
COVID-19 produces a respiratory (lungs) infection that is moderate in the vast majority of the population (about 80%), but can be more severe in the elderly or those with persistent underlying illnesses. A disability may not place you at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 or developing serious disease if you do. However, due of their age, underlying medical issues, or handicap, some persons with disabilities may be at a higher risk of infection or severe sickness, putting them at a higher risk of being exposed and contracting the infection.
Diabetes, hypertension, asthma, chronic lung illness, severe cardiac diseases, chronic renal disease, obesity, or a weakened immune system are all known underlying health disorders that increase one’s risk for COVID-19. Other than age and underlying chronic diseases, other variables that may put a person with a disability at risk of contracting COVID-19 or progressing to a more severe COVID-19 infection include:
- Because of the nature of various disabilities, people may be more susceptible to infection. People who have issues washing their hands, blind or low-vision Canadians who need to physically touch objects for support or information, and those who have difficulty comprehending and/or implementing public health guidelines on physical distance, for example, may be at greater risk.
- Individuals with disabilities living in long-term residential facilities, group homes, jails, foster homes, or assisted living may be at a higher risk of getting COVID-19 owing to communal living and the necessity to interact with persons living outside their accommodations.
- Due to greater exposure, people with disabilities who interact with various care providers/supports and friends are more likely to catch COVID-19.
- Visitor and support person limits in hospitals, long-term care facilities, communal and individual households help prevent virus transmission, but they also put people with disabilities at risk who need help conveying their symptoms and making personal care decisions. It’s crucial to remember that social isolation can have a negative influence on the physical, social, mental, and emotional health and well-being of people with disabilities.
- Access to COVID-19 public communications and response services and programs may be difficult for people with disabilities, especially where several vulnerabilities exist, such as economic, social, rural/remote communities, language, race, age, and gender. There may be a need for help navigating community resources and frequent updates on new information. Information must be communicated in a number of ways and made available via a range of platforms.
- If the health care system is overburdened by COVID-19, treatment of unrelated health concerns may put a person with disabilities at danger. This could create impediments to health care for people with disabilities, and people with multiple disabilities would be particularly affected.
- For some people with disabilities, the loss of key services and supports offered through community programs, employment, access to therapies, and school can be damaging to their general health and well-being, leading to a regression in positive growth.
It’s critical that those who work and live with people with disabilities understand the considerations that must be made during COVID-19. It is critical to adapt, be creative, and proactive at this time to ensure that the voices of persons with disabilities are heard and responded to. And, as is customary, if a person with a disability or their support persons/friends have any questions or concerns about their health, they should contact their primary healthcare professionals.