25th Jan 2021 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=184 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

FiercePharma As AstraZeneca nears European authorization for its highly anticipated COVID19 vaccine the drugmaker has notified officials that initial shipments will come in lighter than originally expected. Two Germanlanguage publications Bild and oe24 report that AZ notified EU officials this week that its firstquarter deliveries will come in lower than originally expected. An AstraZeneca spokesperson attributed the dip to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain. We will be supplying tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union as we continue to ramp up production volumes she said. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-deliveries-europe 23rd Jan 2021

Lockdown Exit

Nature.com The World Health Organization WHO sounded its highest alarm on 30 January 2020 a declaration called a public health emergency of international concern or PHEIC signalling that a pandemic might be imminent. Few countries heeded the WHOs call for testing tracing and social distancing to curb the coronavirus. By midMarch it had spread around the world. Now health officials and researchers are evaluating why the organizations warning system failed and how to overhaul it. Many say the organization should have declared a PHEIC about a week earlier than it did. But the largest failing researchers agree is that so many countries ignored it. The biggest issue to me is that for six to eight weeks after the PHEIC declaration countries except for in Asia sat on their hands says Joanne Liu a former president of Mdecins Sans Frontirs also known as Doctors without Borders who serves on an independent panel tasked with assessing and improving the WHOs alarm system. World health officials are evaluating potential improvements to the system during the WHOs executive board meeting being held 1826 January. Talks will continue in advance of the annual World Health Assembly in May when any changes would occur. Some of the proposals include modifying the PHEIC alarm to have colourcoded warning levels and having countries sign on to a new treaty on preparing for pandemics. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00162-4 23rd Jan 2021

Lockdown Exit

BBC News People who have received a Covid19 vaccine could still pass the virus on to others and should continue following lockdown rules Englands deputy chief medical officer has warned. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph Prof Jonathan VanTam stressed that scientists do not yet know the impact of the vaccine on transmission. He said vaccines offer hope but infection rates must come down quickly. A further 32 vaccine sites are set to open across England this week. Prof VanTam said no vaccine has ever been 100 effective so there is no guaranteed protection. It is possible to contract the virus in the two to threeweek period after receiving a jab he said and it is better to allow at least three weeks for an immune response to fully develop in older people. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55784199 23rd Jan 2021

Lockdown Exit

The Guardian Belgium will receive less than half the number of COVID19 vaccines it had expected from AstraZeneca in the first quarter the countrys vaccine taskforce said on Saturday. Belgium had been expecting 1.5 million doses of the vaccine which has still to be approved by March but would instead get around 650000 doses. Reuters reported on Friday that AstraZeneca had informed European Union officials it would cut deliveries of the vaccine by 60 to a total 31 million doses in the first quarter due to production problems. Belgium had been expecting 1.5 million doses of the vaccine which has still to be approved by March but would instead get around 650000 doses. Reuters reported on Friday that AstraZeneca had informed European Union officials it would cut deliveries of the vaccine by 60 to a total 31 million doses in the first quarter due to production problems. The EU has a deal to purchase at least 300 million doses from AstraZeneca with an option for an additional 100 million. The EU drug regulator is due to decide on approving the vaccine on Jan. 29. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-vaccine-belgium-idINKBN29S0OU?taid=600ceaece8fa030001a3d398&amputm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amputm_medium=trueAnthem&amputm_source=twitter 23rd Jan 2021

Lockdown Exit

Al Jazeera English Jyoti Bhambure is usually the one dispensing medicine this week she was at the receiving end among the first in Indias millionstrong force of women health workers to win a COVID19 vaccine. Dressed in a bright green sari with a gold border Bhambure visited the small rural hospital in western India at the time allotted and said the jab had lifted a weight off her shoulders. I no longer fear the coronavirus said Bhambure after getting her initial dose on Tuesday one of the first tranche of front line workers to win protection in the pandemic. We handle children and interact with mothers she said. So I am glad I am vaccinated. I have no fear left in my mind. India has suffered 152000 deaths due to the virus and has prioritised about 30 million frontline workers in the first phase of an inoculation drive that began on January 16. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/22/tables-turn-as-indias-female-health-workers-get-covid-vaccine 22nd Jan 2021

Lockdown Exit

The Times There was nervous anticipation at Saxonbury House surgery as doctors and staff prepared for their first coronavirus vaccination clinic last weekend. The seven surgeries that combined for the vaccination programme on the Sussex High Weald had been cautious waiting for the national rollout to be well under way before joining wave six. Then last Friday afternoon the eve of their local V Day months of careful planning were thrown up in the air. The white refrigerated van carrying their vaccines arrived as scheduled at Saxonbury House Crowborough around 2pm. The driver carefully unloaded the consignment and drove off. Mistakenly however he left two boxes of Pfizer vaccine rather than the one that had been promised and planned for. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/covid-vaccine-over-my-dead-body-are-we-wasting-a-drop-of-this-gqrn5qc80 23rd Jan 2021

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Even as President Joe Biden laments the nations sluggish COVID19 immunization launch for a pace he calls dismal West Virginia is touting its relative success in making the most of vaccine supplies it has received so far. Fewer than half of the nearly 38 million vaccine doses shipped to date by the federal government have actually made it into the arms of Americans the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC reported on Thursday. Some individual states have lagged behind with just a third or 40 of their vaccine allotments being administered as of Thursday marking the oneyear anniversary of the first locally transmitted COVID19 case documented in the United States. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa/west-virginia-touts-covid-19-vaccination-success-story-as-national-rollout-sputters-idUSKBN29Q320 21st Jan 2021

Lockdown Exit

Reuters China premiered a patriotic documentary film on Friday to mark the oneyear anniversary of Wuhans coronavirus lockdown part of a broader effort by authorities to cast the governments early response to COVID19 in a positive light. Small numbers of viewers gathered in Beijing to watch the film Wuhan Days and Nights as it opened to the public exactly a year after Wuhan went into a surprise 76day lockdown in the early hours of Jan. 23 2020. Wuhan in the central province of Hubei is believed to be the epicentre of the global pandemic that has infected nearly 100 million people and killed over two million so far. China managed to quash the virus months later with strict control measures and life in Wuhan has largely returned to normal but the governments early response drew widespread public criticism. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-wuhan-documentary-idUSKBN29R1FY 23rd Jan 2021

Lockdown Exit

Reuters For some a postlockdown group activity that combines exercise with alcohol may seem like the ideal coronavirus stressbuster though yoga purists should probably avoid Phnom Penhs TwoBirds Craft Beer brewery while its taking place. The brewerys yoga classes resumed after a sixweek lockdown across Cambodia which has officially recorded not a single COVID death was lifted on Jan. 1 combine holding a pose with clutching a beer and theyre attracting devotees. I have more fun with beer yoga. Its not as serious as traditional yoga said Sreyline Bacha 25 as she reached for a beer glass wobbling just a little to maintain her balance in a pose. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-cambodia-beer-yoga-idUSKBN29R06J 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Daily Mail AstraZeneca has warned EU countries it will cut deliveries of its Covid19 vaccine by 60 per cent to 31 million doses in the first quarter due to production problems. The decrease deals another blow to Europes Covid19 vaccination drive after Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE slowed supplies of their vaccine to the bloc this week saying the move was needed because of work to ramp up production. AstraZeneca was expected to deliver about 80 million doses to the 27 EU countries by the end of March a senior official who was involved in the talks said. The official said AstraZeneca planned to begin deliveries to the EU from February 15 in line with original plans. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9178293/AstraZeneca-warns-EU-countries-cut-deliveries-Covid-19-vaccine-60-quarter.html 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Reuters Italy will take legal action and step up pressure in Brussels against Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca over delays in deliveries of COVID19 vaccines with a view to securing agreed supplies Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Sunday. The aim was to get the companies to meet the vaccine volumes they had promised and not to seek compensation Di Maio said on RAI state television. This is a European contract that Pfizer and AstraZeneca are not respecting and so for this reason we will take legal action... We are working so our vaccine plan programme does not change he said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy/italy-to-take-legal-action-on-covid-vaccine-delays-to-get-doses-idUSKBN29T0GO 24th Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

The New York Times Amazon wrote to President Biden on Thursday offering to assist with communication and technology. Microsoft is opening up its largely empty office campus as a vaccination center as part of a broader partnership with the State of Washington. Starbucks is assigning workers from its operations and analytics departments to help design vaccination sites donating the labor to the same state while continuing to pay employees. While some retailers and pharmacy chains have been directly involved in the rollout of coronavirus vaccinations more surprising is the number of companies that have offered help despite having little to do with health care. What these companies do have are vast national footprints significant manpower huge distribution warehouses and in some cases empty office buildings. And they have the money to spare for a public service effort that could boost both their public image and their bottom line. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/business/vaccines-microsoft-amazon-starbucks.html 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

NPR NPRs Steve Inskeep speaks with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf former president of Liberia and cochair of a WHO review panel on what could be a yearslong COVID19 delay in Africa. https://www.npr.org/2021/01/22/959529638/behind-africas-delayed-coronavirus-vaccine-access 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

BBC News Vaccinations in parts of Europe are being held up and in some cases halted because of a cut in deliveries of the PfizerBiontech vaccine. Germanys most populous state and several regions in Italy have suspended first jabs while vaccinations for medics in Madrid have been stopped too. The US pharmaceutical firm has had to cut deliveries temporarily while cases in many European countries surge. Germany has reached 50000 Covid deaths and Spain has seen record infections. Italy and Poland have threatened to take legal action in response to the reduction in vaccines. Pfizer said last week it was delaying shipments for the next few weeks because of work to increase capacity at its Belgian processing plant. The EU has ordered 600 million doses from Pfizer and has also authorised the Moderna vaccine. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55765556 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Reuters on MSN.com AstraZeneca informed European Union officials on Friday it would cut deliveries of its COVID19 vaccine to the bloc by 60 to 31 million doses in the first quarter of the year due to production problems a senior official told Reuters. The decrease deals another blow to Europes COVID19 vaccination drive after Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech slowed supplies of their vaccine to the bloc this week saying the move was needed because of work to ramp up production. The good news is that if the AstraZeneca vaccine is approved at the end of January we expect at least 3 million vaccine doses for Germany in February Spahn told Bild am Sonntag in an interview. https://www.msn.com/en-au/lifestyle/wellbeing/germany-expects-astrazeneca-to-deliver-3-million-covid-19-vaccine-doses-in-february/ar-BB1d1yO4 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Sky News Vulnerable inpatients who are eligible for a COVID19 jab are not being vaccinated in at least three hospitals in England. Sky News has seen evidence of hospitals telling the families of elderly nonCOVID patients that they are only vaccinating outpatients and not those staying overnight. Some 17.5 of COVID19 patients caught the virus in hospital according to analysis from the Daily Telegraph. Maria Thompsons 80yearold mother has been in Merseysides Whiston Hospital with an autoimmune disease for more than a week. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-three-hospitals-criticised-for-not-vaccinating-vulnerable-inpatients-12196479 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Reuters Germanys coronavirus infection numbers are encouraging but remain too high Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday dampening expectations that restrictions to curb the spread of the virus could be lifted. Spahn told a news conference that new more transmissible strains of the virus made it imperative to reduce case numbers further. Its like an antibiotic if you stop too early stop too soon resistance can develop he said. We dont want to be accused of having relaxed too soon. Germany in lockdown since early November reported over 800 deaths and almost 18000 new infections on Friday. The 7day incidence fell to 115 cases per 100000 its lowest since Nov. 1. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-germany-spahn/update-1-german-minister-warns-against-relaxing-covid-19-measures-too-soon-idUSL8N2JX2AU 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Reuters Greece will loosen some lockdown restrictions on Feb. 1 letting high schools reopen for the first time in more than two months after signs that the spread of COVID19 infections has stabilised officials said on Friday. The country in lockdown since early November due to a spike in infections has seen pressure on its public health system ease with infections receding. It reopened primary schools and kindergartens earlier this month. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-greece/greece-lifts-more-lockdown-curbs-to-open-highschools-on-feb-1-idUSS8N2CG07U 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Sky News Crowds at Heathrow Airport have sparked super spreader concerns after pictures emerged of a packed departures hall with limited social distancing. Former British ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott posted a photo of Terminal 2 on Friday with the caption T2 Heathrow Friday afternoon. No ventilation. Long delays. Super spreading. Pictures and videos of huge queues for passport control have appeared on social media in recent days despite international travel being largely banned. Britons are only allowed to go abroad for a small number of legally permitted reasons during lockdown with arrivals requiring a negative coronavirus test from the past 72 hours before they are allowed entry. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-crowds-at-heathrow-airport-spark-social-distancing-concerns-12196069 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

The Guardian South Africa will have to buy doses of OxfordAstraZenecas Covid19 vaccine at a price nearly 2.5 times higher than most European countries the countrys health ministry has said. The African continents worst virushit country has ordered at least 1.5m shots of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India SII expected in January and February. A senior health official on Thursday told AFP those doses would cost 5.25 4.32 each nearly two and a half times the amount paid by most European countries. European Union members will pay 2.16 1.78 for AstraZenecas shots according to information leaked by a Belgian minister on Twitter. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/22/south-africa-paying-more-than-double-eu-price-for-oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine 23rd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Al Jazeera English Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Friday his government could impose stricter restrictions on travellers at any moment in response to new likely more contagious variants of the coronavirus possibly making it mandatory to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense when they arrive in Canada. Trudeau said at a news conference that such measures could be imposed suddenly and bluntly warned against nonessential trips abroad. No one should be taking a vacation abroad right now. If youve still got one planned cancel it. And dont book a trip for spring break Trudeau said. Canada already required those entering the country to selfisolate for 14 days and to present a negative COVID19 test taken within three days before arrival. The suggested measure would require isolating at a hotel rather than at home. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/22/canada-considering-quarantining-travelers-in-hotels 22nd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Reuters A Beijing unit of Sinovac Biotech manufacturing a COVID19 vaccine said it is facing difficulties in finding staff to expand production because of surging local infections and the imminent Lunar New Year holiday. Eleven people living in the Daxing district of the capital Beijing where Sinovac Life Science is based were confirmed as COVID19 patients between Sunday and Wednesday forcing authorities to seal up some residential compounds and launch a mass testing scheme. Many people dare not go to Daxing district to apply for jobs nor do people outside Beijing dare to come to the city to work said Ma Hongbo recruitment manager of Sinovac Life Science in an article published by the Beijing Talent Market News backed by the citys human resources authority. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vaccine-sinovac-idUSKBN29Q25E 22nd Jan 2021

Exit Strategies

Washington Post Faced with new more contagious strains of the coronavirus and a winter surge in cases European nations have begun to tighten mask regulations in the hope that they can slow the spread of the virus. Germany on Tuesday night made it mandatory for people riding on public transport or in supermarkets to wear medical style masks either N95s the Chinese or European equivalent KN95 or FFP2s or a surgical mask. It follows a stricter regulation from the German state of Bavaria this week that required N95 equivalents in stores and on public transport. Austria will introduce the same measures from Monday. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/europe-coronavirus-masks-regulations/2021/01/20/23463c08-5a74-11eb-a849-6f9423a75ffd_story.html 20th Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Reuters on MSN.com Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government is preparing to force travelers from countries where there is a high risk of COVID19 to go into quarantine for 10 days after arriving in Britain the Daily Mail reported on Saturday. Travelers from Brazil and South Africa and neighbouring countries will be met on arrival and escorted to hotels to quarantine under plans being discussed by UK ministers the Daily Mail said https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/uk-to-quarantine-visitors-from-nations-with-high-covid-19-risk-daily-mail-says/ar-BB1d2sc0 24th Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Reuters Rioters looted stores set fires and clashed with police in several Dutch cities on Sunday resulting in more than 240 arrests police and Dutch media reported. The unrest came on the second day of new tougher coronavirus restrictions including a night curfew which had prompted demonstrations. Police used water cannon dogs and mounted officers to disperse a protest in central Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon witnesses said. Nearly 200 people some of them throwing stones and fireworks were detained in the city police said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-netherlands-protes/police-detain-100-in-amsterdam-after-protest-over-lockdown-curfew-idUSKBN29T0B2 24th Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

The Independent Vaccine supplies sent to the North East and Yorkshire are to be rationed because the region is ahead of others in getting the coronavirus jab out it has been reported. Deliveries to GP practices in the area one of seven English NHS regions will be halved from 200000 doses to 100000 next week according to the Health Service Journal. It comes amid growing controversy that many over 80s in the south have still not been called for their innoculation while GPs in the North East and Yorkshire are already starting to move onto lower age brackets. It is not clear if supplies will also be slashed to the patchs hospitals and mass vaccination hubs such as the Centre for Life in Newcastle but given it is GP practices that administer the majority of jabs the known reduction will come as a major blow. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/coronavirus-vaccine-supplies-yorkshire-north-east-b1790773.html 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Daily Mail Nurse leaders calling for all NHS staff to be given the higher grade of PPE Royal College of Nursing wrote a letter to the Health and Safety Executive HSE College said was aware that some NHS trusts are using higher grade face masks https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9178839/Nurses-call-higher-grade-face-masks-protect-against-new-coronavirus-strains.html 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Wales Online Some frontline health and care staff are refusing to have the coronavirus vaccine and UK leaders are so worried that they are meeting to discuss the problem. First Minister Mark Drakeford said he did not have specific figures for how many in Wales have declined vaccination offered but said he was meeting Whitehall ministers and other First Ministers next week to look at the issue. He urged all staff working in health and social care to have the vaccine saying it would protect them and more importantly those they care for. Asked how much of a problem health and care staff turning down the vaccine was at Fridays Welsh Government briefing the First Minister said I did discuss this with other First Ministers and the UK Government. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/covid-vaccine-refused-health-workers-19680715 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

The Times Fears coronavirus vaccine may be less likely to work against South African variantDaily RecordNew Covid variant could reduce vaccine efficacy by 50 per cent Matt Hancock warnsBirmingham LiveCovid vaccine less likely to work on mutant South African coronavirus strainMirror OnlineMatt Hancock warns South African variant could cut vaccine efficacyEvening StandardView Full coverage on Google News https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hancock-rebuked-for-suggesting-coronavirus-vaccine-wont-combat-new-strain-08glv6wbd 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Daily Mail on MSN.com Antimask protesters tried to enter a Sydney Westfield on Saturday but had their efforts blocked by a wall of police officers. The defiant protest came as authorities fear the hot Australia Day long weekend weather may spark another Covid19 outbreak. Police blocked about two dozen antimaskers from entering the Parramatta Westfield shopping centre. Officers turned them away as they marched through Centenary Square on Saturday waving homemade placards and shouting that the coronavirus was a scam. It was the second week in a row that the group which coordinates its protests on social media has tried to storm the mall. https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/anti-mask-protesters-packed-beaches-spark-sydney-covid-outbreak-fears/ar-BB1d1MGG 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Wired.co.uk Kim Jongun acted quickly. On January 22 2020 North Korea closed its borders with China and Russia to stop a new mysterious virus from spreading into the country. At the time what we now know as Covid19 had killed just nine people and infected 400 others. More than a year later the hermit kingdoms border remains sealed tight shut. North Koreas response to the pandemic has been one of the most extreme and paranoid in the world experts say. The lockdowns and quarantines it has imposed have been strict while border restrictions have put a halt to fishing and the smuggling of goods into the country. At the same time the nations state media and propaganda apparatus has pumped out messages warning its citizens of the dangers of Covid19 and praising the countrys flawless approach to the pandemic. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/north-korea-covid-news 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Medical News Today A recent study finds misinformation on the new coronavirus spreads differently across various countries. However there was a consistent misunderstanding of 5G technology. Among the search topics examined the myth around 5G having links to COVID19 was the one that spread fastest. Dispelling myths and encouraging people to factcheck sources could help build trust with the public. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/5g-doesnt-cause-covid-19-but-the-rumor-it-does-spread-like-a-virus 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Wired.co.uk The Facebook videos were short but unsettling. One posted on the profile of Indiana resident Shawn Skelton shows her shuddering on what looks like a hospital bed an exhausted look on her face. In another Skelton spends over a minute sticking her tongue out as it writhes oddly. Three other videos all just a few seconds long were posted by Louisianabased Brant Griner and feature his mother Angelia Gipson Desselle violently trembling and struggling to walk in a dimlylit hospital room. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/covid-vaccine-misinformation-facebook 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

BBC News There are no plans to pay everyone in England who tests positive for Covid 500 to selfisolate No 10 has said. The PMs official spokesman said there was already a 500 payment available for those on low incomes who could not work from home and had to isolate. A universal 500 payment was among suggestions in a leaked Department of Health document. There are fears the current financial support is not working because low paid workers cannot afford to selfisolate. But a senior government source said the idea of extending the 500 payments to everyone who tests positive had been drawn up by officials and had not been considered by the prime minister. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55760467 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Reuters Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Thursday to stop complaining about the slow rollout of a vaccine against COVID19 and defended a decision to extend a lockdown as necessary to stem a more aggressive variant of the coronavirus. Speaking at a news conference Merkel said it would be a mistake to ease curbs now given the mutation first identified in England had been found in Germany Europes most populous country and largest economy. Our efforts face a threat and this threat is clearer now than at the start of the year and this is the mutation of the virus said Merkel adding that the new variant was not yet dominant in Germany. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-germany-merkel/update-1-extended-lockdown-needed-to-slow-spread-of-covid-mutation-merkel-idUSL8N2JW2N1 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Reuters British police said on Friday they had broken up a wedding with about 150 guests in violation of COVID19 lockdown rules which only allow six people to attend. Weddings are currently supposed to take place only under exceptional circumstances. However officers found a large gathering in Stamford Hill in north London with the windows covered to stop people seeing inside. The organiser of the wedding could be fined up to 10000 pounds 13700 and five others were issued 200pound penalties. The police had initially reported that some 400 people had attended the wedding. An investigation has been launched to identify further offences. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-arrests-idUSKBN29R1JG 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

ITV News The new fastspreading variant of Covid19 may also be more deadly than the original strain of the virus Boris Johnson has warned. The prime minister told a Downing Street press conference In addition to spreading more quickly it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant the variant that was first identified in London and the South East may be associated with a higher degree of mortality. He said the NHS is under intense pressure due largely to the impact of the new variant but reassured that both vaccines being used in the UK Pfizer and AstraZeneca remain effective against both the older strain and the new one. https://www.itv.com/news/2021-01-22/boris-johnson-new-fast-spreading-covid-19-variant-may-be-more-deadly 23rd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Mirror Online Britons are jumping Covid19 vaccine queues by signing up through NHS appointment links shared on WhatsApp and social media it is reported. It means ineligible people are being given jabs which should go to the UKs most vulnerable residents and health workers thanks to an IT loophole. The links are part of Swiftqueues online booking system which is being used by some NHS trusts an investigation by the Evening Standard found. It said there is evidence that people who are not on a priority list have used the portal to get Covid19 jabs in east London and parts of the north. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/brits-jumping-covid-vaccine-queue-23358088 22nd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Evening Standard A huge fire has broken out at a plant being built in the worlds biggest vaccine maker but it will not affect production of coronavirus vaccines a source close to the firm said. The Serum Institute of India SII has been contracted to manufacture one billion vaccine doses developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca for India and many other low and middleincome countries. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/vaccine-fire-india-oxford-b900591.html 22nd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

MSN - Bloomberg The coronavirus exposed lingering divisions in the Balkans and now Europes most volatile region is once again cleaving along geopolitical and ethnic lines over efforts to get people vaccinated. The European Union has pledged to give six prospective members 70 million euros 85 million to buy Covid shots but deliveries are facing delays. Thats empowered Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to leverage his links with China and traditional ally Russia into pledging vaccine donations to North Macedonia and to the ethnic Serbs in Kosovo and BosniaHerzegovina. The 18 million people who live in the western Balkans have been severely hit by coronavirus with parts of former Yugoslavia recording among the worlds highest percapita death rates. The fallout is threatening efforts to resolve lingering border disputes and risks pushing the region further away from the EUs orbit as Russia and China extend their reach. Western Europe was already failing a place thats synonymous with hardship and war according to Zijad Becirovic director of the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies in Ljubljana. The U.S. meanwhile has gradually loosened political ties with the region since intervening in Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts in the 1990s https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/vaccines-turn-into-geopolitics-in-europes-most-volatile-region/ar-BB1cZ0ik 22nd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Al Jazeera English Coronavirus is spreading and the death toll is mounting but what most worries the leaders of Brazils isolated and vulnerable communities is how on earth to feed people now that the government has pulled their main emergency aid. Ivone Rocha is cofounder of Semeando Amor Sowing Love a nonprofit that distributes basic staples to some of the very poorest people in Rio das Pedras one of Rio de Janeiros many favelas. For most of last year they had received a decent government stipend to survive the pandemic but that all ended with 2020 unleashing a frenzy of favela requests for food. People here have no jobs Rocha told Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone. Now the aid has ended. My God what will happen It was April when Congress first passed a bill that established the monthly 600 real 112 stipend a little over half the countrys minimum wage pledging to tide people over for three months during the pandemic. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/1/21/coronavirus-hits-brazils-isolated-poor-hardest 22nd Jan 2021

Partisan Exits

Al Jazeera English on MSN.com Imams across the United Kingdom are helping a drive to dispel coronavirus misinformation using Friday sermons and their influential standing within Muslim communities to argue that COVID19 vaccines are safe. Qari Asim chairman of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board MINAB which is leading a campaign to reassure its faithful is among those publicly advocating that the inoculations are compatible with Islamic practices. We are confident that the two vaccines that have been used in the UK Oxford AstraZeneca and Pfizer are permissible from an Islamic perspective he told the AFP news agency. The hesitancy the anxiety and concern is driven by misinformation conspiracy theories fake news and rumours. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/uk-imams-influencers-counter-covid-vaccine-misinformation/ar-BB1d0gTJ 21st Jan 2021

Continued Lockdown

Reuters The British region of Northern Ireland on Thursday extended its COVID19 lockdown for an additional four weeks to March 5 and its deputy first minister said the measures might have to be extended again. Northern Ireland introduced a sixweek lockdown on Dec. 26 closing schools nonessential shops bars and restaurants. Its an additional four weeks and there may well be something beyond that Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill told a press briefing. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-nireland/northern-ireland-extends-covid-19-lockdown-to-march-5-idUSKBN29Q2F4 23rd Jan 2021

Continued Lockdown

Prince Edward Island Guardian Britains relapse into a third national COVID19 lockdown has sparked the sharpest drop in business activity since May with services companies hit hardest a survey showed on Friday. A preliminary flash IHS MarkitCIPS UK Composite Purchasing Managers Index PMI fell to 40.6 in January down from 50.4 in December. The drop below the 50 threshold for growth was bigger than any economist forecast in a Reuters poll which had pointed to a reading of 45.5. In addition to the latest lockdown data company IHS Markit said Britains postBrexit shift to a more bureaucratic trading arrangement with the European Union had contributed to the decline. Services have once again been especially hard hit but manufacturing has seen growth almost stall blamed on a cocktail of COVID19 and Brexit which has led to increasingly widespread supply delays rising costs and falling exports Chris Williamson chief business economist at IHS Markit said. The pace of job losses accelerated after easing in December. https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/business/reuters/renewed-lockdown-sends-uk-economy-tumbling-again-pmi-543779/ 23rd Jan 2021

Continued Lockdown

Reuters British Prime Minister said the government could not consider easing lockdown restrictions with infection rates at their current high levels and until it is confident that the vaccination programme is working. You cant unlock whilst rates of infection are so very high he told a press briefing on Friday. We really cant begin to consider unlocking until were confident that the vaccination programme is working. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-lockdown/uk-cannot-consider-easing-lockdown-while-rates-are-so-high-pm-idUSKBN29R2AP?il=0 23rd Jan 2021

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Norways capital Oslo and nine neighboring municipalities imposed some of their toughest lockdown measures yet on Saturday after an outbreak of a more contagious coronavirus variant first identified in Britain. Shopping centres and other nonessential stores will be closed from noon for the first time in the pandemic and will not reopen until Feb. 1 at the earliest the government announced. Shops selling food will remain open along with pharmacies and petrol stations. Organised sports activities will be halted restaurants must close and schools must rely more on remote learning while households have been asked not to have any visitors at home. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-norway-idUKKBN29S079 23rd Jan 2021

Continued Lockdown

Wired.co.uk Ten months have passed since Suzanne Hughes first fell ill. Before March 2020 the 56yearold would go for long walks along the Welsh coast and spend hours tending to her garden. Now she feels lucky if she manages to walk more than a couple of minutes from her front door. I can only do 30 per cent of what Id like to do Hughes says. Even small exertions require a tradeoff between what she wants to achieve now and how shell be feeling hours later. Everything I do I have to think What is this going to do to me Whats the payback Although we are still deep within the darkest days of the pandemic with almost six per cent of the UK population already vaccinated against Covid19 it is becoming possible to imagine life beyond the pandemic. In the coming months many of us will return to lives no longer dominated by a virus that has already taken so much from us. Covid19 long haulers may never get that luxury. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/covid-19-long-haulers 19th Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters on MSN.com Australias medical regulator has approved the PfizerBioNTech COVID19 vaccine for use under a formal process one of the first countries to complete a comprehensive approval Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday. The vaccine had been provisionally approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administrations TGA for Australians aged 16 years and over Morrison told reporters noting it was a year since the first coronavirus case was detected in the country. Vaccination of priority groups is expected to begin in late February at 80000 doses per week Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters. Two doses will be required at least 21 days apart a government statement said. Australia will administer both doses of the vaccine at the recommended time. https://www.msn.com/en-au/lifestyle/wellbeing/australia-regulator-approves-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-for-use/ar-BB1d3tbJ 24th Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Outlookindia South Africa Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Friday announced that the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority SAHPRA has granted approval to Serum Institute of India SII to supply COVID19 vaccine to the country. The approval by the health regulatory body comes amidst growing public concern that the 1.5 million vaccine doses to be shipped to South Africa in the next few weeks have not been approved yet. We will in the next coming days engage with the public in order to give an update on the progress of the first batch of the vaccines that we committed would be received in the first quarter Mkhize said. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/world-news-south-africa-health-regulatory-body-approves-serum-institute-of-indias-covid-19-vaccine/371615 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Daily Mail on MSN.com AstraZeneca has warned EU countries it will cut deliveries of its Covid19 vaccine by 60 per cent to 31 million doses in the first quarter due to production problems. The decrease deals another blow to Europes Covid19 vaccination drive after Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE slowed supplies of their vaccine to the bloc this week saying the move was needed because of work to ramp up production. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/finance/other/astrazeneca-warns-eu-countries-it-will-cut-deliveries-of-vaccine/ar-BB1d0FR5 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

The New York Times At least two American companies as well as Russian researchers are working on coronavirus vaccines for mink. The animals have grown sick and died in large numbers from the virus which they have also passed back to people in mutated form. Zoetis a large veterinary pharmaceutical company in New Jersey with more than 6 billion in annual revenue in 2019 and Medgene Labs a small company with about 35 employees that is based in South Dakota are both testing vaccines in mink. They are seeking licensing of their products from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Both companies said their vaccine technologies are generally similar to the one used by Novovax for a human vaccine which is in latestage trials. That system involves making insect cells produce the spike protein on the coronavirus which is then attached to a harmless virus that enters into the bodys cells and trains the immune system to be ready for the real thing. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/22/science/covid-mink-vaccine.html 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Daily Mail Latest data shows case counts fall in 43 states and District of Columbia according to COVID Tracking Project. Hospitalizations also on the decline in 24 states as experts say lockdowns and behavior are yielding fruit. But public health officials warn that case counts may surge as new variant of COVID19 circulates in the US There were nearly 189000 new cases of COVID19 on Friday nationwide 116264 Americans are hospitalized. The COVID19 death count remains high as the number of fatalities recorded on Friday was 3655. Since the start of the pandemic 414117 Americans have died of COVID19 with 24.8 million people infected Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday he believes a new coronavirus vaccine is two weeks away from FDA approval. Singledose shot developed by Johnson Johnson is in final phases of clinical trials with data expected soon https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9178525/Dr-Fauci-says-one-shot-Johnson-Johnson-vaccine-approved-two-weeks.html 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

The Washington Post People who have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine can schedule their second shot up to six weeks later if they are not able to get one in the recommended time frame according to updated guidance this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency also said that in exceptional situations patients may switch from one of the authorized vaccines to the other between the first and second doses. The recommended interval between doses is three weeks for the PfizerBioNTech vaccine and four weeks for Modernas. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/22/cdc-says-2nd-coronavirus-vaccine-shot-may-be-scheduled-up-6-weeks-later/ 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

The Times Russia and China are carving out global influence with their Covid19 vaccines despite lingering concerns about insufficient testing of the jabs. Hungary this week became the first European Union state to give preliminary approval to the Russian vaccine Sputnik V which has been touted as a symbol of Moscows scientific prowess despite its patchy healthcare system. Many Russians are expressing scepticism about receiving the jab with a recent opinion poll indicating that only 16 per cent of respondents would definitely get it while another 24 per cent said they were likely to do so. However the partially tested Sputnik vaccine is establishing footholds abroad including in South America where Argentina Venezuela and Bolivia have signed up to receive it. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/china-and-russia-find-markets-for-their-covid-19-vaccines-despite-safety-doubts-q3qmqf5sj?shareToken=ac456e989bac23aed3542a9b6152a062 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

NPR With a spotlight on COVID19 vaccine distribution shortcomings theres another bottleneck that could prevent inoculations from significantly speeding up in the near future Pfizers and Modernas ability to scale up manufacturing and deliver doses to the U.S. government. The companies promised to deliver 100 million doses apiece to the United States by the end of March. But theyll need to make huge leaps in a short time to meet that goal. In the last few weeks theyve each been steadily delivering about 4.3 million doses a week according to an NPR examination of vaccine allocation data. But to hit their targets of 100 million doses on time they each need to deliver 7.5 million doses a week for the next nine weeks. I think it is going to be a real challenge for them to hit that contracted target. Theres just no question about that said consultant John Avellanet whos advised pharmaceutical companies since the 1990s on manufacturing and compliance issues. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/22/959732433/moderna-and-pfizer-need-to-nearly-double-covid-19-vaccine-deliveries-to-meet-goa 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

BBC News A group of experienced scientists has issued a statement supporting the use of lateral flow tests in the battle against Covid. They say the rapid devices have identified 27000 infected people in the UK who would not otherwise have had to selfisolate. The findings of a recent report suggested the tests were inaccurate and potentially harmful. But the scientists say that report was flawed and confused. Signatories to the statement include Prof Calum Semple professor of outbreak medicine and child health from the University of Liverpool Prof Sir John Bell regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford and Dr Susan Hopkins interim chief medical adviser from Public Health England. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55751874 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Evening Standard The British Medical Association has written to chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty calling for the gap between vaccine doses to be reduced to six weeks it has been revealed. The private letter seen by the BBC said the current plans of people waiting up to 12 weeks for a second dose which Health Secretary Matt Hancock said is supported by data from an Israeli study are difficult to justify. It said The absence of any international support for the UKs approach is a cause of deep concern and risks undermining public and the professions trust in the vaccination programme. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/bma-gap-vaccine-doses-halved-pfizer-b900878.html 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

BBC News We already knew that the Covid19 variant first discovered in southeast England was more transmissible but now speaking at a Downing Street briefing Prime Minister Boris Johnson has revealed it may also be associated with a higher degree of mortality. On how much more deadly the UK strain might be the UKs chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said if the old variant might lead to the deaths of 10 in 1000 men in their 60s who caught the virus the new variant might kill 13 or 14 in 1000. However he added Theres a lot of uncertainty around these numbers and we need more work to get a precise handle on it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55770350 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

The Guardian Scientists have warned against alarmism over the new variant of coronavirus after Boris Johnson announced there was evidence it was more deadly. Speaking at the daily coronavirus news briefing on Friday Johnson said scientists had found the new variant may be associated with a higher degree of mortality. Sir Patrick Vallance the UK governments chief scientific adviser said that for every thousand people in their 60s infected with the original strain of coronavirus 10 would be expected to die. With the new variant this figure is thought to ris https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/23/too-early-to-say-scientists-unsure-if-uk-covid-variant-is-more-deadly 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Financial Times A single shot of the BioNTechPfizer vaccine produces a robust antibody response within weeks according to Israeli data that could help inform whether scarce global supplies can be stretched by delaying second doses. At the Rambam Health Care Campus in northern Israel 91 per cent of the 1800 doctors and nurses that received the two dose vaccine showed a major presence of antibodies 21 days after their first shot before receiving the second dose according to Michael Halberthal chief executive of the hospital. A further 2 per cent showed a moderate presence of antibodies. If 93 per cent had a major response three weeks after the first injection this raises a good question that you might rather be using the first injection on more people said Dr Halberthal. At the Sheba Medical Center similar serological tests at different intervals showed at least 50 per cent of staff with a level of antibodies above the cutoff point two weeks after the first jab said Arnon Afek the associate directorgeneral of the hospital chain. https://www.ft.com/content/4d9fe80d-e604-4bbe-b0f8-fd4b8df9b7f1 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Financial Times AstraZeneca has warned EU countries to expect significant shortfalls to early deliveries of its coronavirus vaccine in a fresh blow to the rollout of the blocs immunisation programme European officials have said. The EU was expecting 100m doses of the jab in the first quarter of the year. But people with knowledge of the discussions said the company may fail to deliver even half that amount although they stressed that final figures had not been established. AstraZeneca insisted there was no scheduled delay to the start of shipments of its vaccines but said initial volumes would be lower than originally anticipated due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain. We will be supplying tens of millions of doses in February and March to the EU as we continue to ramp up production volumes the company said adding that the change in expected volumes did not affect the UK https://www.ft.com/content/3dbfe495-5947-4dd0-9f43-5edc5e6d6dc7 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters AstraZeneca told European Union officials on Friday it would cut deliveries of its COVID19 vaccine to the bloc by 60 to 31 million doses in the first quarter of the year due to production problems a senior official told Reuters. The company was expected to deliver to the 27 EU countries about 80 million doses by the end of March the official who was involved in the talks said. The company had also agreed to deliver more than 80 million doses in the second quarter but on Friday was not able to indicate delivery targets for the AprilJune period due to the production issues the official said. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-eu-astrazeneca/exclusive-astrazeneca-to-cut-eus-covid-19-vaccine-deliveries-by-60-in-q1-eu-source-idUSB5N2B301S 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

iNews The British Medical Association BMA has called on Englands Chief Medical Officer to reduce the gap between the first and second doses of the PfizerBioNTech Covid19 vaccination stating that it is difficult to justify. Health officials increased the time between jabs from three to 12 weeks to allow as many people as possible to receive a first dose. But the BMA has since written to Professor Chris Whitty calling for an urgent review and a reduction in time between jabs to six weeks. https://inews.co.uk/news/health/covid-19-gap-vaccines-pfizer-british-medical-association-chris-whitty-842075 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Sky News Public Health England PHE officials are resisting senior doctors calls to halve the gap between the first and second doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. The British Medical Association BMA has said the gap between doses being given to patients should be cut from 12 weeks to six. But officials at PHE have said it is essential to protect as many people as possible to prevent the coronavirus getting the upper hand over the healthcare service. The World Health Organisation has recommended that the gap should be a maximum of six weeks but the UKs Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency MHRA has opted to delay a second Pfizer dose for up to 12 weeks to ensure more people get the first jab sooner. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-halve-the-gap-between-vaccine-doses-senior-doctors-urge-12196068 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Daily Mail German researchers enrolled nearly 2500 parents and their children in a study Found three times as many adults had coronavirus antibodies than children Data also shows a previously infected adult and an uninfected child was 4.3 times more common than a previously infected child and an uninfected parent https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9176751/Children-NOT-play-key-role-spreading-coronavirus.html 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Medical Xpress California said its safe to immediately begin using a batch of coronavirus vaccine doses after health officials urged a halt to injections and held a review because several people had reactions. Wednesdays decision frees up more than 300000 doses to counties cities and hospitals struggling to obtain supplies. With the largest U.S. population at 40 million people California has the secondhighest COVID19 death toll in the country behind New York. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-illnesses-california-virus-vaccine.html 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

The Guardian Israels health ministry has moved to row back on comments by the countrys coronavirus tsar who suggested single doses of the Pfizer Covid19 vaccine had not given as much protection against the disease as had been hoped. The remarks by Nachman Ash reported first in the Israeli media earlier this week drew widespread attention for appearing to suggest that the vaccine was less effective than expected after a single dose had been administered as the country recorded record cases and extended its lockdown earlier this week. As experts in the UK questioned whether it was too soon to make such a judgement the Israeli health ministry pushed back saying that the comments were inaccurate and had been taken out of context. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/22/israeli-covid-chiefs-remarks-on-vaccine-inaccurate-say-officials 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

The Independent Delaying doses of coronavirus inoculations will increase the chances of a vaccineresistant strain of Covid19 emerging government scientists have warned. In new reports released by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies Sage experts also warned that resistant new variants were a realistic possibility driven by the virus reacting to increasing levels of natural immunity among the population. The governments decision to delay the second dose of vaccines to 12 weeks rather than three to try and give more people some protection from the virus has sparked anger among frontline health workers who fear they are being left at increased risk from infections. There have also been suggestions from Israel that have yet to be fully validated that the protection from a first dose could be far less than originally thought. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-vaccine-uk-new-strain-sage-b1791438.html 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The COVID19 variant identified in England last month could carry a higher risk of causing death although data is limited according to one of the governments scientific advisory groups ITV political editor Robert Peston said on Twitter on Friday. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-variant-idUSKBN29R24R 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

The Independent Senior doctors have criticised the decision to make people wait 12 weeks for a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine calling for the wait to be halved. The UK is the only country to have introduced such a long gap flouting a World Health Organisation recommendation the British Medical Association BMA said. What were saying is that the UK should adopt this best practice based on international professional opinion said Dr Chaand Nagpaul its council chairman If the vaccines efficacy is reduced....then of course the risk is that we will see those who are exposed maximally to the virus may get infected. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/coronavirus-pfizer-vaccine-second-dose-time-b1791622.html?utm_content=Echobox&amputm_medium=Social&amputm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1611394166 23rd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID19 the illness caused by the virus. Virus variant found in California drives SoCal surge. A new variant of the coronavirus appears to account for the recent surge of cases in southern California researchers say. The variant called CAL.20C accounted for fewer than one in every 1000 COVID19 cases in Los Angeles county in July. It was not detected again until October but by December accounted for 36 of cases researchers from CedarsSinai Medical Center in Los Angeles reported on Wednesday on medRxiv ahead of peer review. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-science-idUSKBN29R2K9?taid=600b6f385a2f6200019309f8&amputm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amputm_medium=trueAnthem&amputm_source=twitter 22nd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Daily Mail Dozens of cases of the South African coronavirus variant have already been spotted in Britain it was revealed today. The Covid19 Genomics Consortium UK COGUK said 54 Brits have tested positive for the variant so far with the first case spotted in October last year. Its likely that there have been far more than the number reported because COGUK only analyses 10 per cent of random positive coronavirus samples. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9160313/54-cases-South-African-variant-spotted-Britain.html 22nd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Phys.org People taking cholesterollowering drugs may fare better than others if they catch the novel coronavirus. A new study hints at why the virus relies on the fatty molecule to get past the cells protective membrane. o cause COVID19 the SARSCoV2 virus must force its way into peoples cellsand it needs an accomplice. Cholesterol the waxy compound better known for clogging arteries helps the virus open cells up and slip inside Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Clifford Brangwynnes lab reports. https://phys.org/news/2021-01-sars-cov-cholesterol-invade-cells-mega.html 22nd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

The Washington Post Like a speeding car whose brake lines have been cut the coronavirus variant first spotted in Britain is spreading at an alarming rate and isnt responding to established ways of slowing the pandemic according to Danish scientists who have one of the worlds best views into the new more contagious strain. Cases involving the variant are increasing 70 percent a week in Denmark despite a strict lockdown according to Denmarks State Serum Institute a government agency that tracks diseases and advises health policy. Were losing some of the tools that we have to control the epidemic said Tyra Grove Krause scientific director of the institute which this past week began sequencing every positive coronavirus test to check for mutations. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/uk-variant-covid-denmark/2021/01/22/ddfaf420-5453-11eb-acc5-92d2819a1ccb_story.html 22nd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

New Scientist News Preliminary evidence indicates the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus first identified in the UK may additionally be more deadly UK prime minister Boris Johnson told a press briefing on Friday. The government was briefed by researchers in the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group who are assessing the data on the variant which appears to be about 30 per cent more deadly. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and at Imperial College London who analysed data on the new variant concluded it is between 29 and 36 per cent more lethal whereas researchers at the University of Exeter put the figure at 91 per cent. The UKs chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance said the evidence on lethality is not yet strong adding but it is obviously a concern. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237475-covid-19-news-major-incident-declared-in-london-as-virus-cases-surge/ 22nd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Der Speigel In an interview with Christian Drosten the German virologist looks back on the mistakes he has made in the coronavirus pandemic and ahead to the dangers that the pandemic still has in store for us. https://www.spiegel.de/consent-a-?targetUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Finternational%2Fgermany%2Finterview-with-virologist-christian-drosten-i-am-quite-apprehensive-about-what-might-otherwise-happen-in-spring-and-summer-a-f22c0495-5257-426e-bddc-c6082d6434d5&ampref=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FhtSVFHD6CD%3Famp%3D1 22nd Jan 2021

Scientific Viewpoint

Pharma Times UK biotech company ConserV Bioscience will collaborate on the development of a broadspectrum coronavirus vaccine with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory LLNL. The vaccine has been designed to enable broadspectrum protection against coronavirus pathogens originating from humans and animals including MERS SARS and SARSCoV2. The vaccine candidate consists of conserved immunoreactive regions from external and internal coronavirus proteins encoded in messenger RNA mRNA. LLNL will use its proprietary nanolipoprotein particle NLP technology to formulate the mRNA constructs prior to injections. http://www.pharmatimes.com/news/conserv_bioscience_to_develop_broad-spectrum_coronavirus_vaccine_1361587 20th Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Britain has detected 77 cases of the South African variant of COVID19 the health minister said on Sunday also urging people to strictly follow lockdown rules as the best precaution against Britains own potentially more deadly variant. Matt Hancock said all 77 cases were connected to travel from South Africa and were under close observation as were nine identified cases of a Brazilian variant. They are under very close observation and we have enhanced contact tracing to do everything we possibly can to stop them from spreading he said during an interview on BBC television. Oxford professor Anthony Harnden deputy chair of a scientific committee on vaccination that advises the government said the South African and Brazilian variants were of concern because COVID19 vaccines may not be effective against them. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-variants-idUSKBN29T07E?taid=600d8ca55a2f620001931117&amputm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amputm_medium=trueAnthem&amputm_source=twitter 24th Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Crying outside a Mexico City cemetery a family embraced the box that contained the ashes of their beloved grandmother. The grandmother had fallen ill a few days after they met to celebrate New Years and died shortly after family members said. She was not even 60 years old. Mexico is set to surpass 150000 deaths from COVID19 one of the worlds highest death tolls a Reuters tally shows. Its death count is closing the gap with that of India a country with a population several times larger. Only the United States and Brazil have reported higher numbers. You feel so powerless when you see your relative slipping away when you have no way to do anything for them to save them said Lesly Garcia. It hurt me not to see her again. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-mexico/mexicos-death-toll-from-covid-19-set-to-pass-grim-milestone-of-150000-idUSKBN29T0NQ 24th Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Sky News The UK has recorded another 1348 coronavirusrelated deaths and 33552 cases according to the latest government figures. A total of 5861351 people have also had a first dose of a vaccine with another 468617 people so far receiving their second inoculation against the virus. It comes after the UK reported 1401 coronavirus deaths and an additional 40261 infections on Friday. The total number of deaths in the UK is now 97329. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-uk-records-another-1-348-coronavirus-related-deaths-and-33-552-cases-12196504 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Sky News Millions of people in Beijing are being tested for COVID19 after the Chinese capital recorded three new cases on Friday. Provinces around the country have also been ordered to prepare mass quarantine facilities. Mainland China has a current total of 1960 officially confirmed cases but the government is going to extraordinary lengths to stop limited outbreaks turning into a second wave. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-china-orders-millions-in-beijing-to-get-tested-after-three-new-cases-12195301 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

BBC News Senior medics have issued a stark Covid19 warning as health staff brace themselves for a predicted surge in coronavirus cases this weekend. On Saturday 12 further deaths with Covid19 were recorded by the Department of Health taking its death toll to 1716. Another 670 people tested positive for the virus. There are 810 people in hospital with Covid19 of which 66 are in intensive care. Dr Thelma Craig a respiratory consultant at Belfasts Mater Hospital said that more patients are being hospitalised in this wave of the virus. It is affecting younger people too. We are seeing people coming in with very little past medical history coming in in respiratory failure desperately unwell Dr Craig told BBC News NI. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55759346 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

BBC News Medics have been warning that we are now at the peak of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Northern Ireland. While the numbers and statistics used to measure the pandemic can never portray the suffering and individual cost of the virus they do give us an insight into how were coping with the outbreak. In short we are now going through the toughest period since Covid19 became a part of our lives. More people are in our hospitals suffering from the virus. More people are dying with Covid. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-55773107 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

BBC News Nurses are calling for all UK staff to be given a higher grade of face mask to protect them against new variants of coronavirus. The Royal College of Nursing warns that inadequate PPE may be putting the lives of nursing staff at risk. It has written to the workplace safety watchdog detailing its concerns soon after a similar appeal from doctors. Englands Department of Health says there is no reason to change current guidance. It follows a comprehensive review of all the evidence around the new variants and the impact on PPE. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55766409 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters China on Saturday reported more new cases of COVID19 and the financial hub of Shanghai imposed new restrictions as the country marked the anniversary of the worlds first coronavirus lockdown in Wuhan city where the disease emerged in late 2019. The National Health Commission said 107 new COVID19 cases had been identified in the mainland on Saturday up from 103 cases the day before. The commission said in a statement that 90 of the new cases were local infections. The northeastern province of Heilongjiang recorded 56 new cases and neighbouring Jilin province had 13. Beijing and Shanghai recorded three new cases each and the province of Hebei which surrounds Beijing recorded 15 new cases. https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-china-idINKBN29S07K?edition-redirect=in 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters France registered a further 23292 new confirmed COVID19 cases and 649 more deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours as President Emmanuel Macrons government fought against the possibility of a third national lockdown. Health ministry data published on Friday showed that Frances overall COVID19 death toll stood at 72647 the seventh biggest in the world. The number of confirmed COVID cases stood at just over 3 million. Pressure is also building on Frances hospital system with 2912 COVID19 patients currently in intensive care units although France is stepping up its COVID19 vaccination programme. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-france/france-had-23292-new-covid-19-cases-and-649-more-deaths-in-last-24-hours-idUSKBN29R2FX 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Three people in hotel quarantine associated with the Australian Open tennis tournament have tested positive for the highly transmissible coronavirus variant linked to the United Kingdom officials said on Saturday. The three quarantined in Melbourne are not players said the state agency responsible for quarantining overseas travellers. All have been in hard lockdown since their Jan. 15 arrival. Three quarantine residents associated with the Australian Open who tested positive for coronavirus have been found to have the UK variant of the virus COVID19 Quarantine Victoria said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-australia-idUSKBN29S034 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Portuguese voters largely confined to their homes due to a strict COVID19 lockdown will pick a new president on Sunday but many fear going to the polls could worsen a surge in coronavirus cases and low turnout is expected. The country of 10 million people which fared better than others in the first wave of the pandemic now has the worlds highest sevenday rolling average of new cases and deaths per capita. Authorities reported a record daily toll of 274 deaths and more than 15300 new cases on Saturday. It wouldnt have been a problem to wait another month. Exceptional times call for exceptional measures said Lisbon resident Miguel Goncalves 55. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-election-idUSKBN29S0BU 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters UK British ministers are to discuss on Monday further tightening travel restrictions the BBC reported on Saturday adding that people arriving in the country could be required to quarantine in hotels. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a news conference on Friday that the UK may need to implement further measures to protect its borders from new variants of COVID19. Britains current restrictions ban most international travel while new rules introduced earlier in January require a negative coronavirus test before departure for most people arriving as well as a period of quarantine. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-travel-idUSKBN29S08H 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Daily Mail Over 2.5 million of Israels ninemillionpopulation have had first vaccine dose. The countrys campaign is currently leading the global vaccination drive. Teenagers aged 1618 are now being given the first dose starting on Saturday Wednesday saw the country recorded its highest number of Covid19 cases and deaths in a single day with 10213 cases and 101 deaths https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9179413/Israel-begins-Covid-jabs-TEEANGERS.html 23rd Jan 2021

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Panama has registered its first case of a COVID19 variant matching a strain of the virus detected in South Africa the Central American countrys health ministry said on Friday. The variant was detected in a 40yearold native of Zimbabwe who entered Panama on Jan. 5 from South Africa. The person did not show symptoms and has been isolated the ministry said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-panama-idUSKBN29R2R1 22nd Jan 2021

New Lockdown

CNA Thousands of Hong Kong residents were locked down Saturday Jan 23 in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening outbreak in the city authorities said. The order bans anyone inside multiple housing blocks within the neighbourhood of Jordan in Kowloon from leaving their apartment unless they can show a negative test. Officials said they planned to test everyone inside the designated zone within 48 hours in order to achieve the goal of zero cases in the district. The government said in a statement there are 70 buildings in the restricted area. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/hong-kong-orders-2-day-covid-19-lockdown-jordan-kowloon-14025376 23rd Jan 2021