After delays and missing pieces, limited rhino-pharyngeal PCR testing for Covid-19 can now begin in the Principality.
Monaco’s Minister for Social Affairs and Health, Didier Gamerdinger, has announced that the automaton donated by the Monaco Scientific Centre (CSM) and adapted to process rhino-pharyngeal PCR tests is ready for action.
There are enough materials to carry out 150 to 200 tests to start, followed by an expected delivery of 1,000 more. After this, systematic replenishments will come into effect, ensuring that a steady stream of testing materials will be on hand.
The first tests were carried out by CSM’s Jérôme Durivault and Guillaume Groshenry before being cross-checked with the hospital in Nice. In normal practice, the samples will be taken at the Princess Grace Hospital (CHPG) and will be subject to an initial treatment within the hospital.
This makes it possible to send only the DNA and RNA of the virus, if a positive result is returned, to the Scientific Centre. This method has the advantage of not bringing the virus into the CSM, avoiding furthercontagion.
The test analyser can handle up to 30 tests at a time, taking approximately three to four hours to get final results. Having direct access to this machine is of great advantage to the Principality. Previously, it was necessary to send samples to Nice, Marseille or even Paris, prolonging waiting times by several days.
The automaton has been approved by the World Health Organisation and is simple to operate. Cartridges are placed in the machine where the tests are analysed and within hours, results can be obtained. The drawbacks are that the cartridges are expensive and currently in short supply.
Despite these issues, the tests are invaluable to the hospital, especially in cases of potential emergency situations. Due to the limited supply, only symptomatic people who are elderly, pregnant, organ/tissue donors or a health care professional can ask for the tests.
In addition to the nasal swab testing, serological and saliva tests are also being considered by the government, but probably not until the next generation come out.
Serological, or blood, tests only determine whether a person has produced antibodies to the virus, so are tricky as they cannot determine if a person is contagious or not. So far, no blood test has worked completely effectively, though researchers are working on this now.
As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the organisers of this year’s Transition Forum have announced that this, the third edition, will take place entirely online over the course of a month.
The Transition Forum was launched under the High Patronage of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2018, becoming a new global platform to accelerate the transition towards a clean future across all sectors and industries. The event is normally held in the Principality each June, attracting hundreds of global influencers, decision makers and innovators.
Given the current coronavirus crisis, the event will not go ahead as planned, however organisers will be hosting a series of inspiring and interactive online discussions around the topic of scaling up climate action.
“The current Covid-19 crisis is a harsh reminder of how the health of people and the health of our planet are interconnected, and of the need to rethink our business models and lifestyles,” say organisers. “It is more important now than ever to accelerate the transition to a resilient, sustainable and inclusive future.”
The 2020 edition of the Transition Forum will be completely online, connecting digitally with global business leaders, innovators and visionaries to turn insights into collective action.
The forum will feature five live sessions with inspiring talks from world-class speakers and dynamic panel discussions with global innovators, leaders and visionaries.
There will also be interactive Q&A and breakout sessions for participants to exchange ideas and turn insights into action.
And finally, the forum will offer one-on-one networking opportunities via a dedicated event platform during and after each live event.
Kicking off on Thursday 28th May (CEST), the forum will run over the course of a month, with different topics covered weekly: food, housing, mobility, and production and consumption.
Registration for the Transition Forum opens soon. Stay tuned to Monaco Life for updates.
Tennis fans may have missed out on all the action of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters this year, but tennis star Roger Federer is making sure his sport stays in the headlines.
Roger Federer has taken to Twitter to ask his 12.7 million followers what they think about merging the men’s and women’s tennis worlds.
In his post the Swiss legend said: “Just wondering… am I the only one thinking that now is the time for men’s and women’s tennis to be united and come together as one?”
Needless to say, an avalanche of responses came his way, both positive and negative. They included a thumbs up from Judy Murray and a slap from Nick Kyrgios, prompting Federer to add, “I am picturing a merger between the WTA and ATP. I am not talking about merging competition on the court but merging the two governing bodies (ATP and WTA) that oversee the men’s and women’s professional tours. It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time. These are tough times in every sport, and we can come out of this with two weakened bodies or one stronger body.”
It probably should have happened a long time ago, but maybe now is really the time.
These are tough times in every sport and we can come out of this with 2 weakened bodies or 1 stronger body. https://t.co/30SbbAla5g
Federer argued that it is confusing having different ranking systems, logos, websites and tournament categories for men’s and women’s tennis.
The merger idea isn’t a new one. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) was formed in 1972 as a backlash to the arrival of the Open era to look after male tennis players’ interests. The ladies struck back the following year with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) building on the work started by Billie Jean King.
Since then, the idea has been casually bandied about, though no firm plans for combining the two ever came to fruition. With the onset of the Covid pandemic the tennis world, rocked by cancellations causing millions in revenue loss, loosely revisited the idea, though not in the way Federer imagines.
The ATP’s new chief executive, Andrea Gaudenzi, did not throw his weight behind support for the idea of combining the two administrative bodies, but conceded that greater cooperation was a good way to move forward. His argument is that the game is most popular and marketable when men and women play in the same tournaments, such as in Grand Slam events.
This attitude has been the predominant one, looking at bringing together the ATP and WTA tours under “one roof” whilst still maintaining separate governance. Perhaps the economic crisis spawned by the health one will force the two sides to look at viable solutions to financial woes.
Prince Albert has delivered a message of hope as part of the 50th Earth Day, saying each one of us has a key role to play in shaping a better, sustainable world.
The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation released the recorded message on Wednesday 22nd April, calling for a new equilibrium between humans and nature.
“While our world is experiencing an unprecedented health crisis, I would like to send you a message of hope and mobilisation. Over the past few weeks, our lives have changed at an unprecedented speed. These upheavals will inevitably continue. It is up to us to turn this situation to our advantage, to ensure that the current suffering leads to a better world. The human frailty we are seeing should lead to us to think about our priorities and reinvent our relationship with nature.”
To see the video, click here.
The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. “Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable,” said Earth Day organisers.
The first Earth Day in 1970 launched a wave of action, including the passage of landmark environmental laws in the United States. The Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts were created in response to the first Earth Day in 1970, as well as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Many countries soon adopted similar laws.
Earth Day continues to hold major international significance. In 2016, the United Nations chose Earth Day as the day when the historic Paris Agreement on climate change was signed into force.
Over the course of 24 hours on 22nd April 2020, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day filled the digital landscape with global conversations, calls to action, performances, video teach-ins and more.
The global fitness industry is worth roughly €100 billion a year, an enormous sector which was effectively shut down last month as fitness studios and gyms closed their doors amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While the crisis has been catastrophic for the physical fitness industry, it has provided the digital fitness industry with fertile ground to penetrate the market and establish itself as a long-term major player.
One such digital fitness device is Activ5, developed right here in the Principality by Dr. Kostadin Yanev and the team at Shibuya Productions. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ]
Monaco Life: Can you tell us the philosophy behind Activ5?
Dr. Kostadin Yanev: The philosophy is simple – get people to a happier and healthier lifestyle. Our aim is to make exercising fit effortlessly into anyone’s daily routine. Fitness can be accessible and fun, and people should be empowered to take charge of their health progress. Activ5 is “the tiny gym in your pocket” that allows you to keep active anywhere and at anytime. How did its development come about?
The idea of Activ5 was first conceived in Monaco. It came to me when I was in a taxi on the way to yet another meeting. I knew I had to work out that day, but was dreading going to the gym – taking the time to go there, exercise and come back home … it also seemed too much. In the midst of yet another self-motivating speech getting me to go exercise, I realised that I had idle time now, during my commute, but had no means to exercise in the back seat of the car.
I approached solving this problem using my experience as a physicist and computer scientist. Fitness can be viewed simply as applying force using one’s muscles. I found that isometric exercise best captures the body’s force to allow for work outs that are efficient, intense and that can take place under any conditions.
I wanted to also measure the exerted force and save the data so as to track my progress. Thankfully, due to modern technology, this idea didn’t seem very far fetched. That’s when I started working on the use cases, patents, and in a short time organised an enthusiastic international team to develop the first prototype. The hardware was initially made using 3D printing, while the firmware was based on a small microcomputer, with the software being developed step-by-step by subcontractors.
The Monaco based company Shibuya Productions, which is a specialist in the videogames industry, works actively on the entertainment side of Activ5 with my team and represents Activ5 in Monaco.
My friend and partner Cédric Biscay from Shibuya Productions believes in the concept of “Gamification” which can be defined as a way to add fun in order to reduce the constraint. What challenges did you face initially?
The main challenge was to overcome the desire to make a very universal device, that included multiple sensors, games, nutrition information, calendar, etc. While this was successful (the first prototype won a ‘Best Of CES’ nomination, the biggest computer electronics show in Las Vegas), marketing specialists advised to test the market with a simpler, more intuitive model that focuses on isometric training and tracking. Thus, a new challenge presented itself – we had to promote and popularise the concept of isometrics, for example using intensive muscular force in a static position, with no movement. Something which is very convenient when you’re in a confined space, with very little time to exercise. We wanted to highlight these benefits in the device name – Activ5, you only need to exercise for as short as five minutes. What is the connection to China?
The device’s mechanical instruments were created in China. It is also where production began.
To us, the Chinese market has huge potential and offers many opportunities. This is why ActivBody has reached an agreement with relevant partners to create a joint venture company located in Beijing. The product has some strong endorsement from groups like Apple Store and the Pittsburg Steelers, can you tell us about that?
We are extremely proud to have a product featured in Apple Store. It has been great collaborating with them. We are hoping and looking forward to seeing our new models and apps there soon too. Companies like Apple and Amazon help Activ5 become more easily accessible and widely recognised, and we are happy that such renowned companies support us as a unique, innovative product.
The endorsement from the Pittsburgh Steelers, an extremely acclaimed and celebrated US football team, helped us to discover new uses for Activ5 and offers us unique insights from sport professionals. Their chief conditioning coach, Garrett Giemont, actively shares great ideas about new exercises and tailored accessories, offering us his continuous support, once saying to me: “You don’t even realise what you’ve invented for us”. Online fitness courses and devices are going through the roof during lockdown – what role can Activ5 play at this time?
The strength of Activ5 lies in its ability to actively track and provide users with feedback, thanks to its software and cloud platform. Users are able to visualise their progress, know their exact precision and understand which exercises they are performing best and which still need practice. In a time when you can’t really follow your progress, it can give people that extra bit of motivation. Specifically, for professional users – physiotherapists, fitness instructors, health insurers, game developers – it is very important to track the compliance of their “clients” with the prescribed routines. The possibility to create their own products and develop their own businesses using our tech has also been envisaged as ActivBody is providing specialised APIs and SDK for this purpose. Can you tell us about the gaming element that you are creating for the device?
Our goal has always been to make exercising fun; to make a mundane activity into something you look forward to and motivate people to get moving and lead a happier, healthier lifestyle.
We already have some games, such as Activ5 Fly and Sumo, which are available on Android and iOS, and we are currently working on more opportunities and projects with several gaming companies.
Our next generation of devices are designed specifically to combine fitness with gaming, bringing health and wellness to all who enjoy gaming. We’ll be making public announcements soon on this exciting development.
I believe that Activ5 and its new models (integrated with different tools, such as accelerometer and gyroscope), has the potential to become the first handheld mobile game controller, allowing people to exercise while playing games, and still applying real physical effort, and not just fingertips. Do you think the lockdown has changed the future of fitness?
It seems to me that the current lockdown has empowered people to take real care of their health. We now, more than ever, are faced with the fact that staying in good health is more than just a personal goal. It’s of communal importance. The product we are offering aims to help people live a healthy life no matter the circumstances.
With its compact design, Activ5 can be used anywhere and assist people in reaching their fitness objectives. It is also fun to use, which, particularly in these turbulent times, is no small matter.
Clearly, the lockdown has accelerated the online transition of the fitness industry. Training remotely via video is now more commonplace than ever before. Activ5 and our platform is also particularly well-suited in helping fitness professionals track the progress and provide precise, tailored guidance to their clients, regardless of distance. What is the future of this device?
We are working consistently on providing our customers with the latest in fitness technology. Creativity and innovation can not stop. ActivBody is developing a line of new isometric devices, new applications and accessories. Stay tuned, big changes are coming!
Air France has said it is looking to resume 30% of its normal flights by July, as well as gradually increasing flights to and from major destinations from 11th May.
Air France is already looking ahead to the new reality post-lockdown by increasing the number of flights between Nice, Toulouse and Marseille, three of the major French airports that have remained open during confinement.
Starting in July, the airline is hoping to increase flights from the current 5% of normal capacity up to 30%, subject to border re-openings, both inside and out of the EU.
Currently, more than 90% of Air France-KLM flights have been cancelled leaving 45,000 workers on partial unemployment. Skelton crews have been managing the few flights that are operating from Paris Charles de Gaulle to select European destinations, while Orly has been completely shut since the end of March.
Additionally, there are a small handful of flights heading to international destinations. On the list are New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, Mexico City, Rio de Janiero, Sao Paulo and Tokyo, as well as three destinations in Africa. Service to the dom-toms has continued in a limited way, mainly for repatriation purposes, to Martinique, French Guiana, Guadeloupe and La Reunion.
The good news for those intrepid passengers who are ready to fly again is that, not only will they be able to get flights more readily, they will be less packed. The global airline trade alliance IATA has set out some ground rules for post-confinement flights. Social distancing regulations would mean planes would be no more than two-thirds full. The body will be asking airlines to disallow three passengers seated in a row for the time being, leaving the middle seat empty.
Airlines are shooting back that these measures are not only impractical, but ineffective. The impossibility of keeping social distancing rules on a vehicle with recirculated air makes the regulations sound rather ridiculous indeed. The airlines are instead suggesting taking a page from the Asian airlines who have imposed temperature screenings and mandatory face masks on flights to make them safer.
Photo: Pixabay
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