3rd Feb 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=593 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

The Guardian Exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid19 according to a landmark trial in which healthy volunteers were intentionally given a dose of the virus. The trial the first to have monitored people during the entire course of infection also found that people typically develop symptoms very quickly on average within two days of encountering the virus and are most infectious five days into the infection. The study was carried out using a strain of the virus before the emergence of the Alpha Delta and Omicron variants. The trials chief investigator Prof Christopher Chiu of Imperial College London said Our study reveals some very interesting clinical insights particularly around the short incubation period of the virus extremely high viral shedding from the nose as well as the utility of lateral flow tests with potential implications for public health. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/02/exposure-to-one-nasal-droplet-enough-for-covid-infection-study 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

CNBC Africa Throngs of revellers filled The Levels bar in Ugandas capital Kampala dancing to live music and ordering bottle service to their tables on Monday night. Nearly two years after the government shut down bars and nightclubs and banned outdoor musical performances and other entertainment activities to combat COVID19 https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2022/ugandas-night-life-roars-back-after-nearly-two-years-of-covid-restrictions/ 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Germany will allow up to 10000 spectators at major outdoor events such as Bundesliga soccer games the 16 federal states agreed on Wednesday. The decision which also allows up to 4000 participants in indoor spaces aims to harmonize currently varying rules for stadium attendance at a statebystate level. The new rules take effect as soon as the federal states update their regulation. Masks must be worn and proof of vaccination or recovery as well as a booster shot or negative test status depending on the state will also be required said the resolution seen by Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-passes-10-million-mark-covid-19-infections-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Finland will begin lifting restrictions put in place to check the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant with the aim of removing all curbs at the beginning of March Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters on Wednesday. Heavy restrictions put in place just after Christmas had forced many restaurants and cultural and sports venues to temporarily lay off staff and cancel events. The government now plans to allow restaurants to remain open until midnight and remove curbs on public gatherings from Feb. 14 Marin said adding the aim is to remove all restrictions at the start of next month. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finnish-government-remove-covid-19-restrictions-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Norway will scrap most of its remaining COVID19 lockdown measures with immediate effect as a spike in coronavirus infections is unlikely to jeopardise health services the prime minister said on Tuesday. Restaurants will again be allowed to serve alcohol beyond 11 oclock at night working from home will no longer be mandatory and the limit of 10 visitors in private homes will be removed Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news conference. Even if many more people are becoming infected there are fewer who are hospitalised. Were well protected by vaccines. This means that we can relax many measures even as infections are rising rapidly Stoere said. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-bins-most-pandemic-curbs-2022-02-01/ 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Associated Press Pfizer on Tuesday asked the U.S. to authorize extralow doses of its COVID19 vaccine for children under 5 potentially opening the way for the very youngest Americans to start receiving shots as early as March. In an extraordinary move the Food and Drug Administration had urged Pfizer and its partner BioNTech to apply earlier than the companies had planned and before its settled if the youngsters will need two shots or three. The nations 19 million children under 5 are the only group not yet eligible for vaccination against the coronavirus. Many parents have been pushing for an expansion of shots to toddlers and preschoolers especially as the omicron variant sent record numbers of youngsters to the hospital. https://apnews.com/article/covid-vaccine-children-pfizer-07d72ab0b76329d3899c135afd2a93f5 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Associated Press With more than 30 new COVID19 cases being detected daily ahead of the Beijing Olympics organizers said Wednesday they arent worried and expect numbers to drop within days. A total of 32 new cases 15 in tests of people arriving at the airport and 17 within the Olympic bubbles were reported by the Beijing organizing committee on Wednesday two days before the opening ceremony. The average was 31 cases over the past three days. Athletes and team officials accounted for nine of the latest cases and 23 were stakeholders a category that includes workers and media. Athletes testing positive now could miss their events. Eleven people have been treated at the hospital for a symptom among the 232 positive tests registered since Jan. 23 though none of those are seriously ill in any way Olympic medical advisor Brian McCloskey said. https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-coronavirus-pandemic-sports-health-beijing-83a375acae5e3a1080b7b128795dba52 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Associated Press Beijing reported three new COVID19 cases on Wednesday as officials said the virus situation was under control with the Olympic Games set to open later in the week. The three cases reported in the 24hour period from Tuesday to Wednesday all involved people under some sort of quarantine. The current pandemic situation in the capital is overall controllable and its headed in a good direction said Xu Hejian a spokesman for the city government at a daily press briefing. Beijing is safe. The Chinese capital has been on highalert as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics starting Friday. https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-coronavirus-pandemic-sports-health-beijing-3ef7fe8c79db51725420eb9a0d3baed4 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters U.S. regulators are considering the first COVID19 vaccine for children under the age of 5 the only age group not yet eligible for the shots after Pfizer Inc PFE.N and BioNTech SE began the regulatory approval process on Tuesday. A decision is expected as soon as this month. The companies said they began submitting data for an emergency use authorization even though they did not meet a key target in their clinical trial of 2 to 4 year olds. They are submitting the data at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in order to address an urgent public health need in the age group they said. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-submits-data-seeking-us-approval-covid-vaccine-young-kids-bloomberg-2022-02-01/ 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Associated Press The Czech Republics government has agreed to end mandatory coronavirus testing at schools and companies this month the prime minister said Wednesday. The testing undoubtedly helped slow down the spread of infections and prevented the health system from being overwhelmed Prime Minister Petr Fiala said. Given the development weve decided to end the compulsory testing on Feb. 18 Fiala said. All company employees have been tested twice a week while schoolchildren and all school employees have been tested once a week since Jan. 17. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-europe-education-731de0e97c6cfe997c7550d680f26408 2nd Feb 2022

Lockdown Exit

iNews The Government has refused to rule out cancelling the daily publication of Covid deaths after a senior Whitehall source told i that Boris Johnson wants to end the update by Easter at the latest. Downing Street the Department of Health and Social Care and the UK Health Security Agency UKHSA all refused to comment on proposals to bring an end to the daily Covid figures that have become part of the daily routine of the pandemic. However a senior Whitehall source familiar with the plans told i The Prime Minister has pencilled in Easter as the latest date by which the daily Covid statistics will be published in their current form. In an ideal situation he will bring an end to them sooner if the current downward trend in deaths continues. https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/government-daily-uk-covid-figures-stats-axed-easter-whitehall-1436139 1st Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

CNN Prosecutors are suing an Illinoisbased Covid19 testing company over allegedly storing tests in garbage bags operating without licensure in some locations and improperly collecting customers insurance information. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed the lawsuit Monday against the Center for COVID Control CCC its testing lab and two of its cofounders according to a news release from his office. The company frequently failed to report any test results at all causing potentially COVID19 free individuals to isolate and miss work travel and time with loved ones unnecessarily and often provided inaccurate results the lawsuit alleges. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/us/covid-19-testing-company-sued/index.html 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

The Independent Beijing reported three new COVID19 cases on Wednesday as officials said the virus situation was under control with the Olympic Games set to open later in the week. The three cases reported in the 24hour period from Tuesday to Wednesday all involved people under some sort of quarantine. The current pandemic situation in the capital is overall controllable and its headed in a good direction said Xu Hejian a spokesman for the city government at a daily press briefing. Beijing is safe. The Chinese capital has been on highalert as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics starting Friday. Since Jan. 15 Beijing has reported a total of 115 locally transmitted cases of COVID19 including six cases of the highly contagious omicron variant. In response the city has mass tested millions of people and sealed off several neighborhoods in different parts of the city while avoiding a strict lockdown for the entire capital. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/beijing-covid-chinese-b2005887.html 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters The COVID19 pandemic remains the biggest risk to the global economy and is contributing to rising inflation in many countries International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Wednesday. Georgieva urged redoubled efforts to boost vaccinations and beef up defenses against the coronavirus saying such moves coupled with interest rate increases now being eyed or executed by central banks would help ease supply chain disruptions and combat inflation. Pandemic policy is economic policy the IMF chief said. The biggest risk for the performance of the world economy remains this year COVID and the disruption it causes. https://www.reuters.com/world/fighting-covid-will-help-economy-recover-faster-lower-inflation-imfs-georgieva-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters U.S. soldiers who refuse to get a COVID19 vaccine will be immediately discharged the U.S. Army said on Wednesday saying the move was critical to maintain combat readiness. The Armys order applies to regular Army soldiers activeduty Army reservists and cadets unless they have approved or pending exemptions it said in a statement. The discharge order is the latest from a U.S. military branch removing unvaccinated service members amid the pandemic after the Pentagon made the vaccine mandatory for all service members in August 2021. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-army-discharge-soldiers-who-refuse-covid-19-vaccine-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Many countries have not reached their peak in cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus and measures imposed to curb its spread should be eased slowly the World Health Organizations technical lead on COVID19 said on Tuesday. We are urging caution because many countries have not gone through the peak of Omicron yet. Many countries have low levels of vaccination coverage with very vulnerable individuals within their populations Maria Van Kerkhove told an online briefing. And so now is not the time to lift everything all at once. We have always urged always be very cautious in applying interventions as well as lifting those interventions in a steady and in a slow way piece by piece https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-yet-peak-many-countries-caution-needed-who-2022-02-01/ 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

The Associated Press Latenight partying at clubs. Elbowtoelbow seating in movie theaters. Going without masks in public especially in Europe and North America Step by step many countries are easing their COVID19 restrictions amid hopes the omicron wave may have passed its peak. The early moves to relax precautions based on declining or flattening case counts in recent days represent what could be another turning point in a nearly twoyear pandemic that has been full of them. The extraordinarily contagious omicron has fueled more cases worldwide over the past 10 weeks 90 million than were seen during all of 2020 the outbreaks first full year. But the World Health Organization this week said some countries can now consider carefully relaxing the rules if they have high immunity rates their health care systems are strong and the epidemiological trends are going in the right direction. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-pandemics-united-nations-ca046d38f7e78ad7150a0a8d95d81433 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

The Wall Street Journal France allowed workers to return to offices full time Wednesday amid signs the Omicron wave of Covid19 is approaching its peak in Europe. In the U.S. the number of infections has been in decline for weeks helping to ease pressure on hospitals. https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-omicron-shows-signs-of-peaking-in-europe-france-eases-restrictions-11643801598 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

Bloomberg Europe is accelerating steps to roll back coronavirus restrictions as efforts to control the fastspreading omicron variant have been largely futile. Under pressure from a pandemicweary public politicians across the region are deeming many publichealth measures increasingly unnecessary. Italy Switzerland and Finland are set to join Denmark Ireland and France in easing the bulk of restrictions on public life. Norway also relaxed most rules. While the virus continues to spread rapidly across the continent with more than 2.4 million cases over the past two days the alert level has dropped. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/europe-accelerates-move-to-pandemic-exit-on-waning-scare-factor 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

Bloomberg Switzerland will consider lifting almost all pandemicrelated rules including showing Covid certificates in restaurants and wearing masks on public transport later this month. The country will scrap a workingfromhome requirement turning it into a recommendation as well as end quarantine for those who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus from Thursday. Today is a great day Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said. This beautiful day marks the beginning of a new stage in this long and difficult crisis. Of course this does not mean that the pandemic is over but we see a light at the end of the tunnel. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/switzerland-to-scrap-wfh-quarantine-for-contacts-from-thursday 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Switzerland began on Wednesday easing its coronavirus pandemic restrictions as fears waned that the spike in infection cases fuelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant would overwhelm the health care system. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swiss-start-relaxing-pandemic-measures-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters COVID19 infections and deaths in the Americas are still increasing but the rise in infections seems to be slowing down in places hit earliest by the Omicron variant the Pan American Health Organization PAHO said on Wednesday. Most of the 7 million new cases reported in the past week were in North America some 4 million new infections while Chile and Brazil posted record numbers of daily cases. Deaths have more than doubled in Cuba the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda the regional health agency said. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-infections-slowing-where-variant-first-hit-says-regional-agency-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters Spotifys plan to add a content advisory to any discussion of COVID19 on its platform is a positive step but tech platforms should do more to prevent the spread of misinformation on the coronavirus the White House said on Tuesday. Our hope is all major tech platforms and all major news sources for that matter be responsible and be vigilant to ensure that the American people have access to accurate information on something as significant as COVID19 White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a briefing. This disclaimer its a positive step but we want every platform to continue doing more to call out misinformation. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/white-house-says-tech-platforms-should-do-more-combat-covid-misinformation-2022-02-01/ 2nd Feb 2022

Partisan Exits

The Conversation UK The issues with COVID communication are not limited to the statistics describing the spread and prevalence of the pandemic or the safe distance we should keep from others. Initially we were told that herd immunity appears once 6070 of the population has gained immunity either through infection or vaccination. Later with more studies and analysis this number was more accurately predicted to be around 9095 which is meaningfully larger than the initial number. However as shown in our study the role of that initial number can be profound and a simple update wasnt enough to remove it from peoples minds. https://theconversation.com/the-cognitive-bias-that-tripped-us-up-during-the-pandemic-175015 2nd Feb 2022

Partisan Exits

The Wall Street Journal Officials nationwide are trying to stay ahead of a proliferation of Covid19 test sites that they say are offering fraudulent services to the public. Attorneys general in states including New Mexico Oregon Florida Minnesota New York and Illinois have shut down popup test locations or issued warnings citing late or false test results and theft of peoples personal information. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has warned that scammers are preying on people looking for Covid tests. Authorities have alleged that the operators of these sites are making money by sending bills to people whose insurance is supposed to cover Covid19 tests or falsely claiming consumers are uninsured as a way to seek reimbursement from the federal government. https://www.wsj.com/articles/fraudulent-covid-19-test-sites-proliferate-triggering-consumer-warnings-11643810401 2nd Feb 2022

Partisan Exits

Bloomberg Around one in five disabled people believe life will never return to normal following the coronavirus pandemic a survey suggests. Some 18 of those questioned by the Office for National Statistics ONS said they do not think life will ever get back to normal. This compared with 11 of nondisabled respondents. Disabled people said the pandemic has affected their lives more than nondisabled people in two key areas. These were access to healthcare and treatment for noncoronavirus related issues 58 for the disabled compared with 31 for nondisabled people and wellbeing 55 versus 35. Disabled people were more likely to report worse mental health anxiety depression and loneliness the study found. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/covid-pandemic-hits-particularly-hard-for-those-with-long-term-disabilities 2nd Feb 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters A civil liberties group said on Tuesday it sued Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and his administration over his order making masks optional in public schools saying it violates the rights of students vulnerable to complications from COVID19. The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia ACLU said its suit in a federal court in Charlottesville seeks a temporary restraining order and permanent lifting of Youngkins order barring school districts from implementing universal mask requirements. The ACLU said the order violates federal disabilities law. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/virginia-governor-sued-again-over-order-make-masks-optional-schools-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Partisan Exits

The Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that life goes on despite a difficult COVID19 situation in the country that has seen infection records for two weeks straight. The Kremlin continues to hold off from imposing nationwide restrictions even as the state coronavirus task force reported 141883 news infections on Wednesday a massive spike from the daily 15000 cases recorded in early January. Putin appealed for solidarity and mutual assistance to help the country pull through the renewed surge. A subset of the omicron variant BA.2 has been also discovered in Russia. The BA.2 subset is widely considered stealthier than the original version and some scientists worry it could also be more contagious. With only one sixweeklong lockdown in 2020 Russia has avoided imposing nationwide COVID19 restrictions on its citizens leaving these decisions up to the local governments in its regions. Restrictions vary from region to region in Russia ranging from working remotely to limiting access to certain public spaces. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-europe-russia-vladimir-putin-c6d353836d2c9046ceaa2a1ce3e49415 2nd Feb 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CNBC Last week the WHO warned that the next Covid variant will be even more contagious than omicron. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an epidemic occurs when the number of cases of a disease increases often suddenly above what is usually expected. The WHO declares a disease a pandemic when its growth is exponential and it is spreading globally. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/covid-will-never-become-an-endemic-virus-scientist-warns.html 2nd Feb 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Nursing Times People who suffered trauma in childhood are more likely to be hesitant about having the Covid19 vaccine according to a study from Welsh researchers. The study used data from a telephone survey of 2285 people aged 18 and over living in Wales between December 2020 https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/research-and-innovation/study-links-childhood-trauma-to-covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-02-02-2022/ 2nd Feb 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Guardian Refusal or reluctance to have a Covid19 vaccine may be linked to traumatic events in childhood such as parents separating neglect or physical verbal and sexual abuse new research suggests. hose who suffer in childhood are also least likely to trust official NHS coronavirus information follow the rules of restrictions or wear masks during the pandemic public health experts found. Two years after the virus first reached the UK and a year after vaccines to protect against it were made available for free on the NHS millions of people have yet to be vaccinated. Almost one in 10 people in the UK 9 have still not had a single dose. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/01/covid-vaccine-hesitancy-could-be-linked-childhood-trauma-research 2nd Feb 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The worlds first human challenge trial in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to COVID19 to advance research into the disease was found to be safe in healthy young adults leaders of the study said on Wednesday. The data supports the safety of this model and lays the groundwork for future studies to test new vaccines and medicines against COVID19 using this kind of trial by the end of this year the team added. Open Orphan is running the project launched last February with Imperial College London Britains vaccines task force and Orphans clinical company hVIVO. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/worlds-first-covid-human-challenge-trial-found-be-safe-young-adults-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CNBC Just when it looked like Gileads COVID19 medicine Veklury was destined to be crowded out of the market by antibody treatments and antiviral pills the omicron variant helped spark a surge in sales. In the fourth quarter of last year with a late boost in demand in December Veklury rang PDF up 1.4 billion in sales far exceeding the Wall Street consensus estimate of 864 million. Gilead reported the figure Tuesday when it presented its fourth quarter and 2021 earnings. The strong quarter brought Veklury sales up to 5.6 billion for the year and helped push Gileads revenue figure to 27.3 billion in 2021 an 11 increase from 2020 that the company attributed almost entirely to Veklury. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/gilead-credits-veklury-s-strong-sales-to-omicron-s-surge-antiviral-pulled-1-4-billion-q4 2nd Feb 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

STAT News Two years into a pandemic that turned us all into amateur virologists weve learned that the bestspreading coronavirus variant will outcompete any slowpokes. But something curious happened with Omicron The more transmissible version didnt take off first. The virus that the world came to know as Omicron and that ignited outbreaks in countries around the world is just one lineage that made up the broader Omicron grouping. Its known officially as BA.1. For some time its sister viruses including one named BA.2 didnt seem to be doing much. https://www.statnews.com/2022/02/02/omicron-sister-variant-ba2-spreads-faster/ 2nd Feb 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

STAT News The Food and Drug Administrations willingness to consider authorizing a Covid19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for children under the age of 5 without evidence yet that it would be protective is raising concerns among some vaccine experts who fear the plan could backfire and undermine vaccine uptake in this group. Pfizer and BioNTech confirmed Tuesday that they had been asked by the FDA to submit an application for the use of a twodose vaccine in children 6 months to 4 years old. Data on a third shot would be submitted to regulators once they became available in the spring ostensibly clearing the way for the agency to authorize a threeshot regimen for the youngest children who can get vaccinated. If the twodose series is authorized by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention potentially sometime this month parents who want to vaccinate children under 5 could begin to do so before Pfizer has proven that the va https://www.statnews.com/2022/02/02/worry-vaccinating-under-5-could-backfire/ 2nd Feb 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

BioPharma-Reporter.com US government agency BARDA is drawing on industry feedback to assist it in understanding the advanced developmental landscape of nextgeneration COVID19 vaccines. https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2022/02/01/BARDA-scopes-market-as-it-looks-to-partner-next-generation-COVID-19-vaccine-developers 1st Feb 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Turkey has recorded 110682 new COVID19 infections in the space of 24 hours its highest daily figure of the pandemic health ministry data showed on Wednesday. In late December daily cases stood at about 20000 but have since surged due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Data also showed 217 people died due to COVID19 in the same 24hour period. The total death toll stands at more than 87000 according to the official tally. Separately Turkeys coronavirus science council said the antiviral pill molnupiravir will be administered to earlystage COVID19 patients over age 65 or with chronic illnesses as of next week. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-logs-24-hour-record-110682-covid-19-cases-ministry-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Australias COVID19 hospitalisation rate fell to its lowest in nearly three weeks on Wednesday while a steady rate of daily infections raised hopes the worst of an outbreak fuelled by the Omicron coronavirus variant may have passed. Hospital cases fell to about 4600 on Wednesday with all states seeing a dip in admission numbers after a peak of nearly 5400 a week ago. Weve seen the peaks of Omicron I think come through in New South Wales and Victoria Prime Minister Scott Morrison who is under pressure over his handling of the Omicron wave told a media briefing. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australias-covid-19-hospital-admissions-fall-lowest-weeks-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Bloomberg A subvariant of the omicron coronavirus strain known as BA.2 is spreading rapidly in South Africa and may cause a second surge of infections in the current wave one of the countrys top scientists said. BA.2 is causing concern as studies show that it appears to be more transmissible than the original omicron strain the discovery of which was announced by South Africa and Botswana in November. Research also shows that getting a mild infection with either of the two strains may not give a robust enough immune response to protect against another omicron infection. Theres no indication that the subvariant causes more severe disease from infection surges seen in Denmark and the U.K. The omicron wave of infections may end up like a camel Tulio de Oliveira a bioinformatics professor who runs genesequencing institutions and advises the government on the pandemic said at a presentation at Stellenbosch University on Wednesday. A wave with another hump. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/omicron-s-ba-2-may-cause-infection-wave-hump-de-oliveira-says 2nd Feb 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters New COVID19 cases in Tokyo exceeded 20000 for the first time on Wednesday dimming hopes that a wave of infections fuelled by the Omicron variant is peaking in Japan. Nationwide cases reached a record 91760 while 18 prefectures recorded alltime highs according to a tally by online news service JX Press. Tokyo reported 21576 new cases surpassing the previous record of 17631 in the Japanese capital on Friday. The closely watched usage rate of hospital beds reserved for COVID19 patients edged up to 51.4. Officials previously said that a state of emergency would be needed if the rate reached 50 but now say the decision will depend on the number of serious cases and other factors. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/tokyos-daily-covid-19-infections-exceed-20000-first-time-2022-02-02/ 2nd Feb 2022

New Lockdown

Sky News The Pacific nation of Tonga has gone into lockdown following the discovery of two coronavirus infections in the community. The two cases are local port workers who had been helping to distribute aid received after a volcanic eruption and tsunami last month. The disaster polluted drinking water severed communications killed three people and left dozens homeless. https://news.sky.com/story/tonga-goes-into-lockdown-after-tsunami-aid-brings-covid-19-12530784 2nd Feb 2022