1st Apr 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=633 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

The New York Times As Americans shed masks and return to offices and restaurants local and state officials are scaling back the most visible public health efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic. States like Illinois are shuttering free Covid19 testing sites after nearly two years of operation. Arizona Nevada Hawaii and Ohio have stopped releasing daily data on virus hospitalizations infections and deaths. And perhaps most notably some places are diminishing their campaigns to vaccinate residents even as federal authorities announced on Tuesday that people 50 and older could get a second booster shot. The slowing of state and local efforts comes as the virus in the United States appears at least for now to be in retreat with cases falling swiftly in recent weeks. But the cutbacks also arrive at a moment when a more transmissible version of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus known as BA.2 is spreading through Europe Asia and is now the dominant version of new virus cases in the United States. New coronavirus infections are edging upward once again in several states including New York. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/us/covid-vaccine-testing-states.html 31st Mar 2022

Lockdown Exit

Sky News In England the majority of people who want to be tested for COVID19 will have to pay for their own lateral flow tests from this Friday under new plans put forward by ministers. The government has announced who will be eligible for free tests when free universal testing in England comes to an end. People have been discouraged from ordering packs of lateral flow tests LFTs from the government website in a lastminute scramble to get hold of them by 1 April. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-how-can-i-get-lateral-flow-tests-from-friday-and-how-much-do-they-cost-12578233 31st Mar 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC on Wednesday removed its COVID19 notice against cruise travel around two years after introducing a warning scale showing the level of coronavirus transmission risk on cruise ships. The move offers a shot of hope to major U.S. cruise operators such as Carnival Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise that have struggled to bring in revenue since the pandemic started. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-cdc-eliminates-warnings-against-cruise-travel-2022-03-30/ 31st Mar 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Vaccinated and boosted Kim and his wife are among South Koreans joining in a rush for revenge travel a term that has been trending on social media as people scramble to book overseas trips that were delayed by coronavirus restrictions. The boom started after March 21 when South Korea lifted a sevenday mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from most countries. The restriction had been eased last year but was reimposed in December as the highly infectious Omicron variant spread. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skoreans-flock-overseas-revenge-travel-covid-rules-ease-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Lockdown Exit

Associated Press The city of Shanghai prepared Thursday to reopen its eastern half and shut its western half while authorities elsewhere announced the lifting of a citywide lockdown in the province hit hardest by Chinas ongoing omicrondriven coronavirus outbreak. Residents of the city of Jilin will be able to move about freely starting Friday for the first time in more than three weeks state broadcaster CCTV said citing a notice issued by the city. They will be required to wear masks and when indoors stay one meter three feet apart. Public gatherings in parks and squares are prohibited. https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-china-shanghai-ef1a875b77200fb005b10aaa1fac0c0b 31st Mar 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters U.S. Senate negotiators on Thursday were nearing a deal on a 10 billion COVID19 bill to help the federal government acquire more vaccines and medical supplies as it prepares for future variants of the virus that upended American life. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer a Democrat said senators were close to a final agreement on a bill aiming to shore up stockpiles to be used both domestically and internationally. If a deal is finalized in coming days the Senate might be able to pass the bill and send it to the House of Representatives before the start of a spring recess at the end of next week. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-negotiators-near-agreement-10-bln-round-covid-funds-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Shanghai is set to put the vast majority of its residents under COVID lockdown from Friday as it expands curbs to include the western half of the city and extends restrictions in the east where people have already been forced to stay home since Monday. The Chinese commercial hub home to 26 million people is on the fourth day of a 10day lockdown that was to cover the city in two phases with first the east and then the west entering lockdowns of five days each. The stayathome measure in the financial and industrial districts in the east began on Monday and was due to lifted at 5 a.m. on Friday. However the city government late on Thursday said it would lift the curbs in stages instead. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/shanghai-urges-covid-lockdown-patience-case-numbers-drop-first-time-2-weeks-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Wall Street Journal Many patients have died in recent days at a large Shanghai elderlycare hospital that is battling a Covid19 outbreak according to people familiar with the situation a sign that a new wave of infections is hitting Chinas financial capital harder than authorities have publicly disclosed. Shanghais government hasnt reported any Covidrelated deaths or outbreaks in its hundreds of elderlycare centers since cases began climbing in the city in March. Six replacement orderlies at the citys Donghai Elderly Care Hospital brought in after previous caretakers were sent away to quarantine told The Wall Street Journal that they had witnessed or heard of the recent removal of several bodies from the facility where they said at least 100 patients had tested positive for Covid19. https://www.wsj.com/articles/unreported-covid-infections-deaths-plague-a-shanghai-hospital-for-the-elderly-11648734696 31st Mar 2022

Exit Strategies

Egypt Independent In Egypt the Ministry of Health and Population announced that they will provide the coronavirus vaccines to refugees and asylum seekers through medical teams without registering on the ministrys website pointing out that the vaccination can be obtained with a passport or a UNHCR certificate. The ministry pointed out in an official statement that coronavirus vaccines were available at several metro stations. The Ministry added it targets vaccinating 70 percent of citizens by the end of June to reach herd immunity so that coronavirus precautionary measures could be eased. https://egyptindependent.com/health-ministry-provides-coronavirus-vaccine-to-refugees-using-unhcr-certificate/ 31st Mar 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Doctors without Borders Oxfam America Amnesty International and other top civil society groups on Wednesday urged US President Joe Biden to reject a potential deal on COVID19 vaccine intellectual property rights at the World Trade Organization. In a letter the groups called the proposal a rehash of a European Union position that fell far short of the rights waiver Biden backed in May 2021 to speed vaccines to developing countries. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/groups-urge-biden-reject-potential-wto-concept-covid-19-vaccine-barriers-2022-03-30/ 31st Mar 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters U.S. President Joe Biden rolled up his sleeve for a second COVID19 booster shot on Wednesday as his administration rolled out efforts to help Americans live with the coronavirus including a new website and a renewed push for vaccinations and funding. If we fail to invest we leave ourselves vulnerable if another wave hits Biden said in remarks at the White House to launch COVID.gov a clearinghouse of information aimed at helping people manage the virus as they seek a return to normalcy. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-launches-covidgov-amid-push-more-funds-booster-shots-2022-03-30/ 31st Mar 2022

Exit Strategies

Associated Press Germanys independent vaccination advisory panel is recommending a booster shot with a messenger RNA vaccine for people who have had a full course of four Chinese Indian and Russian COVID19 vaccines that arent currently approved for use in the European Union. In a draft recommendation Thursday the panel known by its German acronym STIKO said the advice applies to people given a full course and also a booster of the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines the Indianmade Covaxin and Russias Sputnik V. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-covid-health-business-germany-70cff436588327eb89c603e0d1b6fb5c 31st Mar 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Germany plans to end mandatory quarantine for most people who catch COVID19 the health ministry proposed on Thursday as numbers isolating with the infection top four million. Under the existing rules people with COVID must quarantine for at least seven days. But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wants to change that to a voluntary five days of selfisolation with the recommendation of a COVID test at the end of that period proposals seen by Reuters showed. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-plans-relax-covid-quarantine-rules-cases-soar-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Chinas financial hub of Shanghai reported 4144 asymptomatic COVID19 cases and 358 symptomatic cases for March 31 the city government said on its official WeChat account on Friday. That compared with 5298 new asymptomatic cases and 355 new cases with symptoms reported a day earlier. Shanghai put the vast majority of its residents under COVID lockdown from Friday as it expanded curbs to include the western half of the city and extended restrictions in the east where people have already been forced to stay home since Monday https://www.reuters.com/world/china/shanghai-reports-4144-new-asymptomatic-358-new-symptomatic-covid-cases-march-31-2022-04-01/ 31st Mar 2022

Exit Strategies

Bloomberg Chinas Covid Zero strategy has been drastic and effective saving lives and keeping the economy on track. But a new wave of virus cases is highlighting the growing costs of that approach as well as the perils of any attempt to change it. Authorities are fighting to curb the spread of the omicron variant among a population that lacks natural immunity and only has access to homegrown vaccines that are less effective than some of the global alternatives. Shanghai the countrys financial center is locking down just weeks after the technology hub of Shenzhen was forced to do so. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-03-31/china-s-covid-zero-strategy-what-could-xi-jinping-do-next 31st Mar 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Volkswagen on Thursday said it would halt work at its factory in Shanghai between April 15 reversing an earlier plan to maintain some of its production as the city extends a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of COVID19. The German automaker which has a Shanghai joint venture with SAIC Motor said it would carry out maintenance work in the factory. Volkswagen earlier in the day said it would maintain some production over the period by providing accommodations and meals at its factory for employees volunteering to work. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-suspends-shanghai-production-amid-covid-lockdown-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Volkswagen on Thursday said it would halt work at its factory in Shanghai between April 15 reversing an earlier plan to maintain some of its production as the city extends a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of COVID19. The German automaker which has a Shanghai joint venture with SAIC Motor said it would carry out maintenance work in the factory. Volkswagen earlier in the day said it would maintain some production over the period by providing accommodations and meals at its factory for employees volunteering to work. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-suspends-shanghai-production-amid-covid-lockdown-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Shanghai is set to put the vast majority of its residents under COVID lockdown from Friday as it expands curbs to include the western half of the city and extends restrictions in the east where people have already been forced to stay home since Monday. The Chinese commercial hub home to 26 million people is on the fourth day of a 10day lockdown that was to cover the city in two phases with first the east and then the west entering lockdowns of five days each. The stayathome measure in the financial and industrial districts in the east began on Monday and was due to lifted at 5 a.m. on Friday. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/shanghai-urges-covid-lockdown-patience-case-numbers-drop-first-time-2-weeks-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

PMLiVE PfizerBioNTech have been given an expanded emergency use authorisation EUA by the US Food and Drug Administration FDA for its COVID19 vaccine. This allows the vaccine to be given to adults ages 50 years and older as a second booster. Eligible adults can have had any authorised COVID19 vaccine as their first booster. A second booster dose has also authorised for those aged 12 years and older who are immunocompromised and have had a first booster dose of any authorised COVID19 vaccine. The second booster should be given at least four months after the initial booster and could potentially restore antibody levels and improve protection in older people. It is the same formulation and strength as previous PfizerBioNTech COVID19 vaccine doses. The companies vaccine already has EUA authorisation for use as a single booster for those aged 12 and older who have already had two doses of the vaccine. Those aged 18 and older could have received any approved COVID19 vaccines for their initial two doses. https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/fda_grants_pfizerbiontech_expanded_eua_for_an_additional_covid-19_vaccine_booster_1389641 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

PharmaPhorum CureVac and GlaxoSmithKlines first attempt to develop a COVID19 vaccine was a salutary reminder of the pitfalls in drug development as the mRNA shot crashed and burned in a clinical trial last year but they arent giving up. The first participants have been dosed in a new second generation version dubbed CV2CoV which uses a different mRNA backbone and will be a key test of CureVacs new vaccine design approach. When the first generation vaccine CVnCoV failed its phase 2b3 test last summer the writing looked to be on the wall for the alliance with multiple COVID19 shots already available with more coming down the pipeline including GSK and Sanofis recombinant protein candidate and prospects looking slim in an increasingly crowded market. CureVac and GSK are banking on continued longterm demand for SARSCoV2 shots as boosters as COVID19 shifts from a pandemic to an endemic disease with regular shots to control infections like flu. https://pharmaphorum.com/news/curevac-and-gsk-try-again-with-covid-19-vaccine/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Guardian How to Survive a Pandemic investigative journalist and director David Frances documentary on the road to developing producing and inequitably distributing several Covid19 vaccines begins on the day vaccines went from murky future to clear horizon. The film opens in December 2020 in the remarkably bespoke basement of the US Food and Drug Administrations Dr Peter Marks. The room is decked in Mardi Gras beads and a teddy bear Markss clunky work laptop is surrounded by cans of oats. On camera and on the phone with Gen Gustave Perna the chief operating officer of the federal Covid19 response for vaccine and therapeutics Marks celebrates the FDAs emergency use authorization of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine. Sorry you had to deal with all that political crap says Perna. Vaccines will be moving tomorrow. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/30/david-france-covid-how-to-survive-a-pandemic-film-hbo 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

BioSpace Rokote Laboratories Finland Ltd. a vaccine development company focussing on a secondgeneration COVID19 vaccine and Exothera S.A. will collaborate to bring the intranasal coronavirus vaccine FINCoVac 2.0 to clinical Phase III trials. Exothera will finetune the industrialization of the FINCOVAC 2.0 process and manufacture clinical material for Phase III trials. FINCoVac 2.0 is designed to address the most critical current coronavirus variants and it is based on adenoviral vector gene transfer technology. The FINCoVac vaccine is designed to program the nasopharyngeal cells to produce an immune responseinducing modified SARSCoV2viral spike protein. FINCoVac 2.0 represents an easytoadminister booster for those who are already fully vaccinated with other coronavirus vaccines. https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/rokote-laboratories-selects-exothera-for-gmp-manufacturing-of-its-second-generation-coronavirus-vaccine-fincovac-2-0-/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

POLITICO Europe Novavax has submitted a request Thursday to expand the authorization of its coronavirus vaccine to adolescents in the EU. The vaccine which was approved for use in adults in the EU in December was the first proteinbased COVID19 jab to be authorized in the bloc. In a statement Thursday Novavax said it had submitted a request to the European Medicines Agency to expand the conditional marketing authorization of their vaccine called Nuvaxovid to young people aged between 12 and 17. We are continuing to see spikes in COVID19 across Europe and recognize the need to improve vaccination rates particularly in the pediatric population said Stanley C. Erck Novavaxs CEO. We look forward to a decision from the European Medicines Agency and firmly believe in the benefit of diversified vaccine options. The request includes data from an ongoing trial of the jab in teenagers in the U.S. which the drugmaker said demonstrated 80 percent efficacy at a time when the Delta variant was the dominant strain in the U.S. https://www.politico.eu/article/novavax-eu-approve-coronavirus-vaccine-adolescents/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Hill A study published on Wednesday found the use of ivermectin to combat COVID19 did not lead to reduced hospitalization. In Brazil 3515 people participated in a study where a group received ivermectin a group received a placebo and another group received a different form of treatment for COVID19. The study posted in The New England Journal of Medicine says the results concluded ivermectin does not lower the risk of COVID19 hospitalization. Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of Covid19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of Covid19 the study states. https://thehill.com/policy/3012080-ivermectin-ineffective-at-preventing-covid-19-in-new-large-study/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

EurekAlert! A Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating various additional COVID19 booster shots has begun enrolling adult participants in the United States. The trial aims to understand if different vaccine regimensprototype and variant vaccines alone and in combinationscan broaden immune responses in adults who already have received a primary vaccination series and a first booster shot. The study known as the COVID19 Variant Immunologic Landscape COVAIL trial is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases NIAID part of the National Institutes of Health. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/948289 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Pharmaceutical Technology The US Food and Drug Administration FDA has placed a complete clinical hold on CytoDyns Covid19 programme in the country. With the full clinical hold in place the company will not launch any new clinical trials until the regulatory agency lifts the hold. At present CytoDyn is not carrying out any Covid19 trials in the US as the company is analysing the most ideal programmes to invest its resources and focus. A clinical stage biotechnology company CytoDyn is analysing its leronlimab an investigational humanised IgG4 monoclonal antibody for its potential in various treatment areas including infectious disease cancer and autoimmune conditions. https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/fda-hold-cytodyn-covid/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The BMJ The force of the omicron BA.2 variant this week met the immovable object that is Chinas zero covid policy as Shanghai locked down amid the countrys worst outbreak since early 2020. World oil prices fell and Indian drug manufacturers warned of ingredient shortages as the city responsible for 4 of Chinas gross domestic product posted record case numbers on 30 March. About 9 million residents of Pudong the eastern half of Shanghai have been locked down since 28 March. Bridges across the Huangpu River are closed. On the other bank roughly 15 million people in the west of the city centred around Puxi were to begin a lockdown on 1 April as Pudong reopened. But many western districts were locked down two days early as city authorities released figures showing a continued steep rise in cases. In Puxi a robot patrolled the streets announcing the new schedule. In Pudong residents were warned that drones with facial recognition technology would identify those illegally outdoors. A new lockdown was also imposed on 30 March in Xuzhou a city of three million in Jiangsu province. https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o859 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

New Scientist In the UK the risk of being reinfected with SARSCoV2 virus is 10 times higher with omicron than delta. The Office for National Statistics ONS Covid19 Infection Survey estimates the number of reinfections that occurred in the UK between July 2020 and 20 March 2022. From 20 December 2021 to 20 March 2022 when omicron was the dominant variant the risk of reinfection was about 10 times greater than when delta dominated defined as midMay 2021 to 19 December. Reinfection definitions vary. The ONS defines it as a positive PCR test result after a number of negative results following an initial infection. The specific number of negative results required between infections depends on when the reinfection occurred as definitions have changed over time. Covid19 immunity whether naturally acquired or via vaccines wanes over time leaving people more vulnerable to reinfection. Omicron has also evolved to better evade immunity. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237475-covid-19-news-omicrons-reinfection-risk-10-times-higher-than-deltas/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The European Unions drug regulator has started reviewing Sanofi and its British partner GlaxoSmithKlines application seeking conditional authorization for their COVID19 vaccine the agency said on Wednesday. The drugmakers had earlier said that they would seek regulatory approval for their COVID19 vaccine to be used as a booster as well as a standalone twodose shot. In support of the companies application the final data package comprising a latestage trial of the vaccine and another trial testing it as a booster was submitted to the European Medicines Agency EMA on March 29 the drugmakers said in an email to Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ema-starts-review-sanofi-gsk-covid-vaccine-application-2022-03-30/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Children ages 5 to 11 who received the Pfizer BioNTech COVID19 vaccine were 68 less likely to be hospitalized during the Omicron wave in the United States than unvaccinated children according to a study published on Wednesday. Adolescents aged 1218 who received two shots of the vaccine were around 40 less likely to be hospitalized with the Omicron variant of the virus the study led by scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC and Boston Childrens Hospital found. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The risk of more serious outcomes including need for mechanical breathing assistance or death was nearly 80 lower for those who received the shots in that age group. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizerbiontech-covid-vaccine-slashes-pediatric-hospitalization-risk-us-study-2022-03-30/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The World Health Organization on Wednesday released an updated plan for COVID19 laying out three possible scenarios for how the pandemic will evolve this year. Based on what we know now the most likely scenario is that the COVID19 virus continues to evolve but the severity of disease it causes reduces over time as immunity increases due to vaccination and infection DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a briefing. However the WHO head cautioned that periodic spikes in cases and deaths may occur as immunity wanes which may require periodic boosting for vulnerable populations. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/whos-tedros-says-most-likely-scenario-covid-severity-will-reduce-over-time-2022-03-30/ 31st Mar 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters As governments prepare to live with COVID19 some are questioning how much to rely on drugmakers to adapt vaccines to ward off future virus variants amid signs of tension between companies and regulators over the best approach according to several sources familiar with the matter. Some vaccine experts say government agencies should fund and help develop a new generation of COVID shots and seek innovation from smaller developers as they did to identify current vaccines. We have established a research infrastructure that could do this relatively reasonably rapidly if we primed the pump and created the same kind of plan for secondgeneration vaccines as we did for the firstgeneration vaccines Dr. Larry Corey a virologist who is overseeing U.S. governmentbacked COVID vaccine trials told Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/governments-want-covid-vaccine-developers-aim-higher-hunt-better-shots-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

iNews The Covid pandemic is likely to remain unpredictable for the next 18 months to two years Dr Jenny Harries chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency has said. Britain must learn to come to terms with the virus in a similar way to flu with an annual booster vaccination programme not an unreasonable position to reach Dr Harries said. Around three and a half million people had Covid in England in the week up to March 25 as infections rose to their second highest level ever with the BA.2 variant continuing to spread. https://inews.co.uk/news/covid-pandemic-remain-unpredictable-two-years-1549272 31st Mar 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

ABC News Western Australias COVID19 cases are still yet to reach their expected peak with new figures revealing about onethird of last weeks infections occurred in children aged under 18. COVID19 hospitalisations and ICU admissions remain steady in WA with the state still yet to break the 10000 new daily cases mark. It comes after restrictions were eased today reducing capacity limits and the number of venues where checkins are required. As of 8pm last night there were 219 people in hospital up from 208 yesterday and seven in intensive care. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-31/about-one-third-of-wa-covid-19-cases-aged-under-18-figures-show/100954276 31st Mar 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

CNN Millions of people in China are under lockdown. Hong Kong morgues are overwhelmed. And South Korea is reporting the most cases per capita worldwide. For much of the pandemic these places were held up as Covid19 success stories as stringent border rules helped them avoid high cases and deaths even as the pandemic took hold around the world. Now theyre among a number of places across Asia Pacific battling unprecedented outbreaks. While the surge in cases can partly be explained by the highly contagious Omicron variant breaking through the regions defenses thats not the whole story. In some places rising case numbers are a symptom of living with Covid as governments accept that trying to eradicate the virus is an unrealistic pursuit. In other places skyrocketing cases are being blamed on a lack of planning by authorities caught off guard despite two years of warning. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/30/asia/covid-case-asia-data-intl-hnk-dst/index.html 31st Mar 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

CNN The Omicron coronavirus variant may be reaching around the world but different places are seeing significantly different effects. In the United States Covid19 case numbers have been falling since January. They may have hit a plateau as a subvariant of Omicron BA.2 becomes the main cause of infections. But in China an area of the world that has had few spikes during the pandemic there has been a dramatic increase in cases as BA.2 rips through the country. The difference experts say is part policy and part populationlevel immunity. Whats happening in China doesnt necessarily mean the US is in for another huge spike in cases. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/31/health/covid-19-china-us-different/index.html 31st Mar 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters China reported 1839 confirmed coronavirus cases for March 30 the national health authority said on Thursday compared with 1629 a day earlier. Of the new cases 1803 were locally transmitted the National Health Commission said versus 1565 a day earlier. The number of new asymptomatic cases which China does not classify as confirmed cases stood at 6720 compared with 7196 a day earlier. There were no new deaths leaving the death toll at 4638. As of March 30 mainland China had confirmed 149276 cases. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-reports-1839-new-covid-cases-march-30-vs-1629-day-earlier-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Hong Kong reported 6646 new coronavirus infections on Thursday down from 6981 the previous day and 119 deaths as daily infections continue to decline in the global financial hub which is gradually easing restrictions. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hong-kong-reports-6646-new-coronavirus-infections-2022-03-31/ 31st Mar 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Much of Canada is facing a fresh COVID19 wave just as authorities ease measures meant to curb the spread of the virus emboldened by a brief drop in cases and relatively high vaccination rates. Public health experts are urging caution as COVID19 levels in wastewater rise. Political analysts say looming elections in Ontario and Quebec the most populous of Canadas 10 provinces could deter politicians from reinstating pandemic health measures. Meanwhile less testing is making it hard for individuals to do the personal risk assessments politicians are urging. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/canada-faces-rising-covid-wave-restrictions-ease-2022-03-30/ 31st Mar 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

CIDRAP The worlds COVID19 cases dropped 14 last week compared to the week before with decreases seen across all of the WHOs regions. However deaths rose 45 primarily due to changes in how some countries define COVID deaths and retrospective adjustments from others. Overall about 10 million cases were reported to the WHO last week. The five countries reporting the most cases were South Korea Germany Vietnam France and Italy. The WHO noted that recent case rises earlier this month occurred despite reduced testing in many countries which it says is a sign that the virus is still circulating at very high levels. It warned that a decline in testing could lead to less robust data that makes it harder to track the virus and how it is spreading and evolving. The situation could impair how quickly countries can respond with targeted control measures to reduce hospitalizations and deaths. In its weekly report the WHO said the Omicron variant makes up 99.5 of sequenced samples. Officials added that theyre monitoring recombinant viruses including a BA.1BA.2 version that was first observed in the United Kingdom and appears to be about 10 more transmissible than the Omicrons BA.2 subvariant. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/03/global-covid-cases-ebb-amid-testing-blind-spot-worries 30th Mar 2022