Wise Words for You

KEY POINTS The World Health Organization said a heavily mutated version of the virus that causes Covid-19 poses a possible increased risk of reinfection. The WHO named the strain omicron and labeled it a variant of concern. South African scientist Tulio de Oliveira said in a media briefing that the variant contains more than 30 mutations to the spike protein, the component of the virus that binds to cells. The World Health Organization on Friday labeled a new   heavily mutated strain of Covid-19   a variant of concern. “This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the WHO said in a statement released Friday. “Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs.”The variant, first known as B.1.1.529 and now named omicron, has been detected in small numbers in South Africa, WHO officials said. However, the number of omicron cases “appears to be increasing” in almost all of South Africa’s prov...

Air Operations Officer Steve Garvey Originally written on October 11 2021 In August,the Cornwall Air Ambulance crew was tasked to 124 emergency incidents across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Air Operations Officer Steve Garvey takes us on board a busy summer day shift, to offer an insight behind the numbers and the types of incidents the lifesaving team are called out to. The early shift starts at 7am.On Friday, August 6,I was working alongside critical care paramedic Stuart Croft and pilot Richard Dixon. We had barely finished the morning briefing and helicopter checks when the red phone rang at 7.15am. First call of the day was a motorbike accident on the A38 near Bodmin. We were fortunate to be able to bypass all the morning commuter traffic and land right next to the road within 10 minutes. The motorbike rider suffered an open fracture on his ankle and was visibly in a lot of pain. As a team, we administered ketamine to the patient,which allowed us to manipulate his foot and pu...