12 October
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), in partnership with the Australian Department of Defence has conducted a study on the survivability of the Covid-19 virus on different surfaces. Titled ‘The effect of temperature on persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on common surfaces’, the study was carried out at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong. According to the results published in Virology Journal, the SARS-CoV-2 can survive for up to 28 days on common surfaces including banknotes, and stainless steel at 20 degrees Celsius. The five Nation Research and Development (5RD) Council also took part in the research.
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The Israeli Army has opened a new Covid-19 unit at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus to support hospitals in the north, reported The Washington Post. The new unit has been established in a converted parking garage at the hospital. Around 100 military doctors, nurses and other medical personnel will work in partnership with the hospital staff to treat the patients. Defense Minister Benny Gantz was quoted by the publication as saying: “We are working on closing the gaps that have formed within a good public health-care system that has been neglected for a decade.”
The Tennessee National Guard has achieved a milestone by conducting more than 400,000 people in the state. Of the total, over 57,000 tests were administered to the most vulnerable populations. Members of the West Virginia National Guard’s Task Force Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Response Enterprise (CRE) (TF-CRE) are assisting in introducing a new innovative electronic record system to enhance the Covid-19 testing process. The system is designed to allow collection of data of people tested electronically. This is then linked to the individual’s specific testing kit with a barcode scanner.
