14th Apr 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=639 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

The Wall Street Journal Passengers will be required to wear masks on airplanes and other forms of transportation through May 3 as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks to evaluate whether rising Covid19 case numbers will lead to more hospitalizations the CDC said. The Transportation Security Administrations directive requiring masks was set to expire after April 18 but is being extended another 15 days. The recent rise in newly reported Covid19 cases in parts of the country fueled by the Omicron BA.2 variant has complicated efforts to topple one of the most visible and persistent remnants of pandemic restrictions. The extension will give additional time for the CDC to learn more about BA.2 the latest Covid19 variant and make an informed decision the CDC said. Since early April there have been increases in the sevenday moving average of cases in the U.S. and the extension will help the CDC assess the potential impact of the uptick on severe disease including hospitalizations and deaths and healthcaresystem capacity the CDC said. https://www.wsj.com/articles/transportation-mask-mandate-to-be-extended-15-days-11649863476 14th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Countries around the world are working to diversify their supply chains and reduce their dependence on China which is probably good for everyone World Bank President David Malpass said on Tuesday. Malpass said crossborder trade would remain important to the global economy and China already the worlds second largest economy and likely to become the largest had a big role to play as both a consumer and producer of goods. But speaking at an event in Warsaw he said China also needed to be part of a value system shared by other countries in the global trading system and added I dont know that that will happen. https://www.reuters.com/business/diversifying-supply-chains-china-probably-good-everyone-world-bank-chief-2022-04-12/ 14th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Mexico will vaccinate more children against COVID19 President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday urging global health authorities to deliver the doses it had ordered for the purpose. Mexico last year began inoculating some atrisk children and children with disabilities but has so far held back from rolling out a broader vaccination program for minors. Lopez Obrador said he was awaiting doses under the COVAX program run by the World Health Organization WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization GAVI. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-plans-vaccinations-more-children-presses-covax-doses-2022-04-13/ 14th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters The United States on Wednesday renewed the COVID19 public health emergency allowing millions of Americans to keep getting free tests vaccines and treatments for at least three more months. The public health emergency was initially declared in January 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic began. It has been renewed each quarter since and was due to expire on April 16. The Department of Health and Human Services HHS in a statement said it was extending the public health emergency and that it will give states 60 days notice prior to termination or expiration. This could be the last time HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra extends it policy experts have said. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-renews-covid-19-public-health-emergency-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Associated Press On the deadliest day of a horrific week in April 2020 COVID took the lives of 816 people in New York City alone. Lost in the blizzard of pandemic data thats been swirling ever since is the fact that 43yearold Fernando Morales was one of them. Two years and nearly 1 million deaths later his brother Adam Almonte fingers the bass guitar Morales left behind and visualizes him playing tunes a treasured blue bucket hat pulled low over his eyes. Walking through a park overlooking the Hudson River he recalls longago days tossing a baseball with Morales and sharing tuna sandwiches. He replays old messages just to hear Morales voice. When he passed away it was like I lost a brother a parent and a friend all at the same time says Almonte 16 years younger than Morales who shared his love of books video games and wrestling and worked for the city processing teachers pensions. I used to call him just any time I was going through something difficult and I needed reassurance knowing he would be there... Thats an irreplaceable type of love. https://apnews.com/ea745d462d47a65029a8c507c94e679e 13th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Guardian The rising number of documented Covid reinfections sometimes occurring relatively quickly after the initial infection as well as the high number of infections with the Omicron variant among the fully vaccinated means that herd immunity is likely impossible even if seroprevalence hits 100. Relying on herd immunity to manage Covid19 rather than on the strategies of east Asian countries to suppress it until a vaccine was available was a gamble that Britain took early in March and unfortunately lost. Especially given the presence of variants SarsCoV2 will just keep circulating and reinfecting people. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/12/herd-immunity-covid-reinfection-virus-world 13th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Associated Press Greeces health minister announced Wednesday that most remaining coronavirus measures will be lifted over the next couple of months until the end of August including the use of vaccine certificates for access to certain services and the mandatory use of masks indoors. Health Minister Thanos Plevris said the need for vaccine certificates or negative COVID19 tests will be lifted from May 1 to Aug. 31 and would be reevaluated on Sept. 1. The use of masks indoors will no longer be mandatory as of June 1 https://apnews.com/34379f432aa7881a2140a6889b357021 13th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

BBC News In Northern Ireland the number of school pupils absent due to Covid19 has fallen to its lowest level of the 202122 school year. That is according to attendance data provided by schools and published by the Department of Education DE. In the last full week before most schools broke up for Easter only 1 in every 200 pupils 0.5 was off sick with Covid19. However pupil absences for other reasons are higher than they were prepandemic. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61094664 13th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

EURACTIV The average number of daily COVID19 infections in the Netherlands has fallen below 10000 for the first time since November health authorities revealed in a new report. According to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment 66788 people tested positive since 4 April a 48 drop compared to the previous week when 129188 people tested positive. Meanwhile the Dutch have slowly relaxed COVID19 rules like lifting the mandatory mask and teleworking requirements. https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/dutch-covid-19-rate-sees-significant-drop/ 13th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Sky News Border restrictions for New Zealand have eased with residents visa holders and Australians now able to enter quarantinefree after two years. Other travellers will be allowed easy access from next month. https://news.sky.com/video/covid-19-emotions-released-as-new-zealand-eases-border-restrictions-for-first-time-in-two-years-12589174 13th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters The International Monetary Funds executive board on Wednesday approved creation of a new facility to help lowincome and most middleincome countries deal with longerterm challenges such as climate change and pandemics. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced approval of the new Resilience and Sustainability Trust in a statement after the board meeting and said it would take effect from May 1 with a goal of raising at least 45 billion. She said the trust would amplify the impact of last years 650 billion allocation of IMF Special Drawing Rights by allowing richer members to channel their emergency reserves to allow vulnerable countries to address longerterm challenges that threatened their economic stability. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/exclusive-imf-hopes-mobilize-45-bln-new-trust-aid-broader-range-countries-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

The Wall Street Journal China is moving tentatively forward with a plan to test shortened quarantines for international arrivals as it seeks to gradually open up and ease the economic damage wrought by strict Covid19 control policies even as the countrys financial capital struggles to contain a major outbreak. International travelers arriving in eight pilot cities will be subject to 10 days of quarantine in a designated facility followed by seven days of self monitoring at home according to a copy of a document issued by Chinas cabinet the State Council that has circulated widely on Chinese social media and was verified by people who have seen the original. https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-flirts-with-shorter-quarantines-for-overseas-arrivals-amid-shanghai-covid-outbreak-11649858993 14th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

The Associated Press Delta Air Lines has dropped a 200 per month surcharge that it had been levying against unvaccinated employees who were on the companys health plan. We have dropped as of this month the additional insurance surcharge given the fact that we really do believe that the pandemic has moved to a seasonal virus CEO Ed Bastian said on a call Wednesday with analysts and reporters. Any employees that havent been vaccinated will not be paying extra insurance costs going forward. U.S. airlines tried different approaches to get employees vaccinated against COVID19 including a mandate by United Airlines which ended up dismissing about 200 employees. Delta was the only one to impose an insurance surcharge and it credited the move with helping get more than 90 of its U.S.based workers vaccinated. https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-ed-bastian-f8aec5e1512625f2baf0399cd8bcc094 13th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

ABC.Net.au In Australia a fourth dose of a COVID19 vaccine is now available to eligible Territorians Northern Territory Health Minister Natasha Fyles has announced. The dose is recommended as an extra booster shot for vulnerable people who are at greatest risk of severe illness from the coronavirus. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-13/nt-fourth-covid-booster-vaccine-available/100987098 13th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

ABC.Net.au Rapid antigen tests better known as RATs have become an important tool in Australias arsenal against COVID19. While PCR tests are still available many of us have turned to rapid tests out of convenience or as part of a requirement to return to work or school. RATs can provide results within minutes but they also have their limitations theyre less accurate cost money unlike PCRs which are free and can provide false negative or false positive results. https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2022-04-13/covid-rapid-antigen-test-most-common-questions/100983842 13th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Vox.com In late February the CDC made big changes to its recommendations for monitoring and responding to Covid19 surges. Now as US cases are once more on the rise these recommendations face their first test. But how will we know if they are working The hard truth several public health experts tell Vox is that determining whether they are effective will be difficult. Even in the bestcase scenario where institutions follow the guidelines and the latest wave recedes it would be hard to prove that the CDCs framework deserves the credit. https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/23020191/cdc-covid-19-guidelines-omicron-ba2 13th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters China is trying out reduced quarantine times for overseas arrivals and close contacts of positive cases in eight cities in a potential easing of some of the worlds most stringent pandemic entry controls financial media outlet Caixin reported. Shanghai and Guangzhou are among the cities picked by the State Council for a trial that will see quarantine times reduced to 10 days from 14 days currently plus seven days of health monitoring with regular testing as before Caixin said. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-trying-out-reduced-quarantine-some-groups-eight-cities-media-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters China must not relax COVID control and prevention measures President Xi Jinping said during a visit to the southern island of Hainan on Wednesday state radio reported. His comments came as Chinas commercial capital Shanghai reported more than 25000 new cases. It is under huge pressure to contain Chinas biggest COVID outbreak since the coronavirus was first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/no-relaxation-covid-measures-china-says-president-xi-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters South Koreas health ministry said on Wednesday it will administer a second COVID19 vaccine booster shot for people over 60 as the country continues to battle the highly contagious Omicron variant. The government plans to expand the fourth round of vaccination to those aged 60 and older Health Minister Kwon Deokcheol told a meeting adding the infection rate in the age group has continued to rise to stand above 20. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-give-second-covid-booster-shot-people-over-60-yonhap-2022-04-12/ 13th Apr 2022

Partisan Exits

Bloomberg Chinas government is channeling its Covidrelated financial aid toward businesses rather than households an approach thats increasingly being challenged as consumers struggle to cope under stringent lockdowns. Officials say the support for firms aims to preserve jobs but many households required to stay at home for weeks on end are battling to pay rent and other living costs according to social media posts and charity workers. A total of 45 Chinese cities are now imposing partial or total lockdowns according to Nomura Holdings Inc. restricting the movement of some 370 million people. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-13/lockdown-financial-aid-in-china-leaves-households-behind 14th Apr 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters A senior British minister said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not set out to break COVID laws with malice and is mortified after he was fined by police for attending a gathering during lockdown as calls mounted for Johnson to quit. Johnson his wife Carrie and finance minister Rishi Sunak were fined on Tuesday for breaching laws the government imposed to curb the coronavirus drawing a wave of condemnation including from the families of those who died alone during the pandemic. Senior ministers have rallied round Johnson while a number of previous critics in his Conservative Party have said now was not the time for a change in leadership given the war in Ukraine https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-johnson-did-not-break-covid-laws-with-malice-minister-says-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised but defied calls to resign on Tuesday after being fined for breaking coronavirus lockdown rules by attending a gathering in his office to celebrate his birthday. Johnson said people had the right to expect better after he his wife and his finance minister Rishi Sunak were fined for breaching laws his government brought in to curb COVID19. It didnt occur to me that as I say that I was in breach of the rules. I now humbly accept that I was Johnson said. I think the best thing I can do now is having settled the fine is focus on the job and thats what Im going to do. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-issues-more-than-50-fines-downing-st-lockdown-parties-2022-04-12/ 13th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Sky News Amid a lockdown in Chinas most populous city firefighters have used drones to deliver medicines to people in contactless fashion. Around 25000 new cases were reported in the city on Monday. https://news.sky.com/video/covid-19-shanghai-firefighters-use-drones-to-deliver-medicine-to-people-in-lockdown-12589016 13th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Chinas race to stop the spread of COVID19 is clogging highways and ports stranding workers and shutting countless factories disruptions that are rippling through global supply chains for goods ranging from electric vehicles to iPhones. While some factory owners try to tough it out through closed loop management that keeps workers isolated inside some said that is becoming harder to sustain given the extent of local COVID19 curbs aimed at heading off the Omicron variant complicating efforts to procure materials or ship products. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-widening-covid-curbs-threaten-global-supply-chain-paralysis-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters More than 30 Taiwan companies many making electronics parts said on Wednesday that government COVID19 control measures in eastern China had led them to suspend production until at least next week as disruption from the measures spreads. China has put Shanghai under a tight lockdown since late March and neighbouring Kunshan has also tightened curbs to control the countrys biggest COVID19 outbreak since the coronavirus was discovered in late 2019 in the city of Wuhan. Global companies from mobile phone to chip makers are highly dependent on China and Southeast Asia for production and have been diversifying their supply chains after the pandemic caused havoc. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/more-taiwan-firms-say-east-china-covid-curbs-stop-production-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Chinas commercial capital Shanghai warned on Wednesday that anyone who violates COVID19 lockdown rules will be dealt with strictly while also rallying citizens to defend their city as its tally of new cases rebounded to more than 25000. The city police department spelled out the restrictions that most of the 25 million residents are facing and called on them to fight the epidemic with one heart ... and work together for an early victory. Those who violate the provisions of this notice will be dealt with in strict accordance with the law by public security organs ... If it constitutes a crime they will be investigated according to law the department said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/shanghai-warns-covid-lockdown-violators-will-be-punished-cases-hit-25000-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Bloomberg China is allowing Shanghai Guangzhou and six other cities to shorten quarantines for overseas travelers and those whove had close contact with infected individuals as authorities test potential tweaks to the countrys rigorous Covid measures according to people familiar with the matter. The cities are reducing the period to 10 days from 14 days as part of a trial that began on Monday this week and will run for a month the people said asking not to be identified as they werent authorized to discuss the issue publicly. Apartment complexes retail outlets office buildings and other locations locked down because of infections will also be allowed to open after 10 consecutive days without a positive test result shortened from the 14 days previously required they said. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-13/china-is-said-to-let-some-cities-shorten-quarantines-in-trial 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Wednesday that the company could possibly develop a new vaccine that protects against the Omicron variant as well as older forms of COVID19 by autumn. Its easy to do something only against Omicron. What is scientifically and technically more challenging ... is to be effective against everything known so far so you dont have two different vaccines for different variants Bourla said speaking at a press conference held by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizers-bourla-covid-vaccines-new-variants-possible-fall-2022-04-13/ 14th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Seeking Alpha Novavax said Swissmedic granted conditional marketing authorization to its COVID19 vaccine Nuvaxovid for individuals 18 years of age and older.The company said https://seekingalpha.com/news/3822969-novavaxs-covid-19-vaccine-nuvaxovid-gets-conditional-approval-in-switzerland 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

News-Medical.Net The CRP study was carried out from April 2020 to June 2021 and is a prospective multisite cohort syndromic COVID19 surveillance study of participants from ten healthcare settings in the midAtlantic and southeastern USA. Participants were contacted via email or text and provided with surveys regarding their exposure to COVID19 any COVID19related symptoms and mask use. Yes No or No interactions were used to report the participants mask use. The study inclusion criteria consisted of 18 years or older enrolled by December 2020 and daily surveys needed to be completed 5 times a month. In this study for a participant to be considered vaccinated they needed to have received at least one dose of vaccine by August 31st 2021. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220413/Study-finds-a-consistent-temporal-association-between-mask-use-and-COVID-19-vaccination-status.aspx 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

News-Medical.Net SARSCoV2 the causative pathogen of COVID19 pandemic is a deadly member of the human betacoronavirus family. The virus has so far caused more than 497 million infections and 6.1 million deaths worldwide. Among various variants of SARSCoV2 the most recently emerged omicron variant has been found to have high immune evasion ability leading to a global rise in breakthrough infections. There is realworld evidence indicating that previous SARSCoV2 infection could provide 90 protection against reinfection and related hospitalization. However because of the immune evasion potency of the omicron variant a considerable reduction in infectionmediated protection has been observed globally during the omicrondominated wave. In the current study the scientists have estimated the effectiveness of mRNAbased COVID19 vaccines in providing protection against reinfectionrelated hospitalization among previously infected adult individuals. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220413/CDC-study-highlights-effectiveness-of-COVID-19-booster-vaccination-against-reinfection-and-hospitalization.aspx 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

STAT News A couple months before the pandemic started Joseph Ford started experiencing a rash of pinpoint polka dots around his lips ankles and lower legs. They were itchy inflamed painful and for him the first signs of nonHodgkin lymphoma. Petechiae he explained. Just as he was starting to deal with that Covid19 changed the world. Go home and stay there Ford a 77yearold retired librarian in Tumwater Wash. recalled a physician telling him as Covid hollowed out society. You wont survive a Covid infection. That advice has largely remained unchanged over the last two years for the millions who like Ford are immunocompromised and havent produced adequate or any antibodies from the Covid19 vaccines. But researchers at the University Hospital Tbingen are designing a vaccine to elicit a deeper T cell response than the currently approved vaccines by targeting several key points on viral proteins epitopes that are good at stirring up immune T cells. https://www.statnews.com/2022/04/12/new-covid-vaccine-being-developed-immunocompromised-people/ 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Phys.org Rapid antigen tests can quickly and conveniently tell a person that they are positive for COVID19. However because antibodybased tests arent very sensitive they can fail to detect early infections with low viral loads. Now researchers reporting in ACS Sensors have developed a rapid test that uses molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles rather than antibodies to detect SARSCoV2. The new test is more sensitive and works under more extreme conditions than antibodybased tests. The gold standard test for COVID19 diagnosis remains the reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction RTPCR. Although this test is highly sensitive and specific it generally takes 12 days to get a result is expensive and requires special lab equipment and trained personnel. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-nanoparticles-enable-sensitive-durable-rapid.html 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Global News The number of new COVID19 cases and deaths reported to the World Health Organization fell for a third consecutive week a trend likely helped by the dismantling of testing and surveillance programs. In its latest weekly report on the pandemic issued late Tuesday the UN health agency said the more than seven million new cases reported represented a 24 per cent decline from a week earlier. The weekly worldwide number of COVID19 deaths was down 18 per cent at over 22000. https://globalnews.ca/news/8757032/global-covid-19-decline-interpret-with-caution-who/ 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Hospital Healthcare Europe Convalescent plasma use in people unvaccinated against COVID19 significantly reduced the need for hospitalisation due to disease progression according to a US study. Convalescent plasma CP use in people unvaccinated against COVID19 within 9 days of symptom onset led to a significant reduction in the proportion of individuals requiring hospital admission due to disease progression. This was the conclusion of a randomised doubleblind controlled trial by a multidisciplinary group of researchers from New York US. https://hospitalhealthcare.com/covid-19/convalescent-plasma-use-reduces-hospitalisation-in-unvaccinated-covid-19-patients/ 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CIDRAP From March 2020 to the emergence of the Omicron variant in late 2021 about 3.8 billion COVID19 infections and reinfections occurred with nearly 44 of the worlds population infected at least once but with wide regional variations estimates a statistical analysis of 190 countries and territories published late last week in The Lancet. Led by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation researchers the COVID19 Cumulative Infection Collaborators created and refined statistical models of global and locationspecific daily and cumulative COVID19 infections using data from Johns Hopkins University national databases and seroprevalence surveys adjusting for lags in reporting undercounting of deaths waning antibody sensitivity vaccinations and reinfection by SARSCoV2 variants. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/04/estimate-less-half-world-has-had-covid-19 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Vaccines against COVID19 have roughly halved the death toll from the disease in Italy preventing some 150000 fatalities and 8 million cases last year the National Health Institute ISS estimated on Wednesday. The ISS study which ran from the start of 2021 until the end of January this year concluded the inoculation campaign also prevented more than 500000 hospitalisations and over 55000 admissions to intensive care. Italy has registered 161032 deaths linked to COVID19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020 the secondhighest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/vaccines-have-halved-italys-covid-19-death-toll-study-shows-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Associated Press 2021 was the deadliest year in U.S. history and new data and research are offering more insights into how it got that bad. The main reason for the increase in deaths COVID19 said Robert Anderson who oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions work on death statistics. The agency this month quietly updated its provisional death tally. It showed there were 3.465 million deaths last year or about 80000 more than 2020s recordsetting total. Early last year some experts were optimistic that 2021 would not be as bad as the first year of the pandemic partly because effective COVID19 vaccines had finally become available. We were wrong unfortunately said Noreen Goldman a Princeton University researcher. https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-robert-anderson-ff2f01e401abce778bea8ac2e9c6e53e 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Associated Press Shanghai released 6000 more people from the central facilities where they were under medical observation to guard against the coronavirus the government said Wednesday though the lockdown of most of Chinas largest city was continuing in its third week. About 6.6 million people in the city of 25 million were allowed to leave their homes Tuesday but some were restricted to their own neighborhoods. Some housing compounds also appeared to still be keeping residents locked inside and no further lifting of restrictions was apparent Wednesday. Officials warn that Shanghai still doesnt have its latest surge in cases of the omicron variant under control despite its zerotolerance approach that has seen some residents confined to their homes for three weeks or longer. https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-shanghai-china-734a2cb546b51ec5c0df31f7ae3a197e 13th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

FiercePharma In April of last yearsoon after receiving a 200 million government grant from India to beef up its manufacturing capacityBharat Biotech proclaimed an ambitious goal to produce 700 million COVID19 vaccines annually. Reaching that figure wont be easy in the near future considering the regulatory setbacks Bharat and its U.S. commercial partner Ocugen have faced. The most recent came this week when the FDA put a clinical hold on an immunobridging study by Ocugen designed to show that Bharats vaccine could protect people in the U.S. as effectively as it has done in trials in India. https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/fda-slaps-another-clinical-hold-ocugen-and-bharats-covid-19-vaccine 12th Apr 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

CNN According to the latest estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BA.2 caused 86 of new Covid19 cases nationwide last week. In some ways this feels like a familiar place. Cases are going up again. At least one major city is reinstating its mask mandate. Broadway shows have canceled some performances. But there continue to be reasons for optimism. Despite BA.2s nearcomplete takeover from two other circulating Omicron subvariants BA.1 and BA 1.1 US hospitalizations are at record low levels and they continue to drop. Deaths also continue to fall. https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/12/health/cases-rise-ba-2/index.html 13th Apr 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters The BA.2 Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus is now responsible for 86 of U.S. COVID19 cases and more than 90 of infections in the Northeast according to data on Tuesday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC. COVID19 infections have been back on the rise during the last few weeks particularly in Northeast states such as New York Connecticut and Massachusetts although overall cases have dropped sharply nationally since hitting record levels in January according to data from the agency. A resurgence in COVID19 cases in parts of Asia and Europe has raised concerns that another wave could follow in the United States as has been the case with previous surges during the pandemic. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/omicron-sub-variant-ba2-makes-up-859-covid-variants-us-cdc-2022-04-12/ 13th Apr 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Taiwan is in only the early stages of a COVID19 outbreak and domestic cases will keep rising for the time being its health minister said on Wednesday as the island recorded its highest number of daily COVID infections since the pandemic began. Unlike much of the rest of the world Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control with strict and early measures including implementing an efficient contacttracing system and largely closing borders. But local cases have been steadily rising since the start of this year though the numbers are still relatively small at 4932 discovered since January 1. Only 16 people have been classified as even moderately ill and just two have died. Taiwans population is 23 million. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-says-its-only-early-stage-covid-outbreak-cases-will-rise-2022-04-13/ 13th Apr 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Bloomberg Covid is wreaking havoc on stage again. Broadways Plaza Suite has extended its run to allow for ticket rescheduling after stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick both tested positive. It was put on pause through April 13. Americano will resume April 18 and has set a new opening night for May 1. Performances of At The Wedding will resume April 18 with Paradise Square returning April 19. A Strange Loop pushed its opening to April 14. And Heartland canceled all remaining performances after Covid spread throughout its company. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-13/covid-cancellations-hit-broadway-as-ba-2-variant-spreads 13th Apr 2022