28th Apr 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=649 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg The Chinese city of Hangzhou home to tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will start mass testing for Covid19 while cases in Shanghai fell for a fifth day. The testing drive will cover most of Hangzhous downtown area with 10000 free test sites to be set up the municipal government said in a statement late Wednesday. It urged residents to get tested every 48 hours. Just a short train ride from Shanghai the city of around 12 million people is home to a small but notable network of tech companies including games maker NetEase Inc. and videosurveillance product company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/china-s-hangzhou-home-to-alibaba-to-start-mass-covid-testing-l2i7d9qa 28th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg Around seven in 10 people in England are likely to have had coronavirus since the early months of the pandemic new figures suggest. An estimated 38.5 million people in private households or 70.7 of the population have had at least one infection since the end of April 2020. The figures have been compiled by the Office for National Statistics ONS using data from its longrunning Covid19 infection survey. The survey began in England on April 27 2020 which means the estimates do not cover most of the initial wave of the virus that began in early March. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-22/-seven-in-10-people-in-england-have-had-covid-19-since-early-in-pandemic 28th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg Even in a country where the credibility of official statistics frequently comes under question a data release on April 18 looked particularly suspicious. It showed Chinas gross domestic product growth accelerated to 4.8 in the first quarter from 4 in the final three months of 2021 even though property sales worsened and lockdowns were imposed in dozens of cities. With access to data from satellites independent surveys and industrial output China watchers can make corrections to the official picture. Their information suggests the reality is worse though some government numbers seem reliable. Heres a users guide on Chinas economic statistics this year. With the real estate sector and demand for materials accounting for 20 of GDP the rest of the economy would have to grow at a 7 to 8 pace to produce the official growth number for the first quarter. Logan Wright head of China markets at Rhodium Group LLC says that would imply a highly improbable acceleration from prepandemic growth rates. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/china-economy-data-paints-different-tale-than-party-line 28th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters The European Commission said that between 60 and 80 of the EU population was estimated to have been infected with COVID19 as the bloc enters a postemergency phase in which mass reporting of cases was no longer necessary. In preparing for this less acute phase European Union governments should ramp up COVID19 immunisations of children the blocs executive body said signallingit was considering plans to develop antivirals. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-looks-ramping-up-covid-vaccinations-kids-developing-antivirals-2022-04-27/ 28th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Hill President Bidens chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Tuesday said that the United States has moved out of the pandemic phase with COVID19. We dont have 900000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now the infectious diseases expert said to host Judy Woodruff during an appearance on PBS NewsHour. So if youre saying if we are out of the pandemic phase in this country We are Fauci added. Fauci however warned that the U.S. was not going to eradicate the virus and said that globally the pandemic is ongoing. Were not going to eradicate this virus Fauci said. If we can keep that viral level low and intermittently vaccinate people and I dont know how often that would have to be Judy that might be every year that might be longer in order to keep that level low. https://thehill.com/news-by-subject/healthcare/3467436-fauci-us-out-of-the-pandemic-phase/ 27th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

ABC News The Mexican government said Tuesday that COVID19 has passed from a pandemic to an endemic stage in Mexico meaning authorities will treat it as a seasonally recurring disease. Mexico never enforced face mask requirements and the few partial shutdowns of businesses and activities were lifted weeks ago. It is now retreating almost completely said President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador. New case numbers have declined. But that may be because Mexico which never did much testing is now offering even fewer tests. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexico-coronavirus-now-endemic-pandemic-84326485 27th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

CNN on MSN.com The United States is certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase Dr. Anthony Fauci President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said on PBSs NewsHour on Tuesday. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/the-us-is-out-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-phase-fauci-says/ar-AAWErY2 27th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters The city streets around the Netherlands streamed with festivalgoers wearing orange on Wednesday in celebration of the national holiday Kings Day in traditional fashion with music and openair markets for the first time since 2019 without COVID19 restrictions. King WillemAlexander who turns 55 on Wednesday and whom the holiday celebrates was visiting the southern city of Maastricht with his family keeping a promise that had been postponed for two years due to the pandemic. In Amsterdam where Kings Eve is a party comparable to New Years Eve the streets of the historic centre have been mobbed with tens of thousands of celebrants since late Tuesday. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-celebrate-first-kings-day-holiday-without-covid-curbs-since-2019-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Malaysia will ease more COVID19 curbs from the start of next month including lifting restrictions on those who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus and scrapping the need to wear masks outdoors its health minister said. The Southeast Asian nation has seen some of the worst COVID19 outbreaks in the region but infection surges have since subsided amid a ramped up vaccination programme. Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Wednesday people will now be able to enter public premises regardless of their vaccination status except those who have tested positive for COVID19 or unvaccinated travellers undergoing quarantine. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/malaysia-lift-more-covid-curbs-eases-mask-mandate-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Millions in Beijings largest district on Wednesday took their second COVID19 tests this week as the Chinese capital tried to keep an outbreak of dozens from spiralling into a crisis that could force it into a distressing Shanghaitype lockdown. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-presses-with-mass-covid-testing-locked-down-shanghai-seethes-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

The Japan Times In Japan the health ministry adopted a plan Wednesday to limit eligibility for fourth doses of COVID19 vaccines to those age 60 or over as well as those who are age 18 or over with underlying conditions. Arrangements for fourth doses positioned as part of a publicly funded emergency vaccination program are aimed at preventing people from developing severe COVID19 symptoms. Under the program those age 60 or older will be obliged to make efforts to receive fourth vaccine shots. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/04/27/national/japan-fourth-covid-vaccines/ 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Medical Xpress Issues around vaccine acceptance must be addressed alongside equity of access and logistics if the goal of vaccinating 70 of the worlds population against COVID19 is to be met says a report by global health policy experts. Emerging causes of socalled vaccine hesitancy described by the World Health Organization WHO as the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines should be monitored continually in order to better understand the problem according to the InterAcademy Partnership IAP. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-04-transparency-urged-covid-vaccine-uptake.html 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

The Guardian Australians have been urged to get their flu vaccinations to help hospitals cope in the months ahead as they deal with a rise in Covid19 cases and as some states experience doubledigit daily death tolls. At least 42 coronavirus deaths were recorded on Wednesday in Australia with 10 in New South Wales 13 in Victoria 10 in Western Australia and nine in Queensland. There were 4027 Covid deaths nationally in the first quarter of 2022 data from the Actuaries Institute shows including 1668 in January 1520 in February and 839 in March. So far in April there have been 770 deaths. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/27/australians-urged-to-get-flu-shots-as-covid-deaths-rise-and-winter-sets-in 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

The New York Times The Food and Drug Administration has not yet cleared a coronavirus vaccine for children under 5 because the vaccine manufacturers have not finished their applications for authorization to distribute doses a top official at the agency suggested on Tuesday. The official Dr. Peter Marks who oversees vaccine regulation for the F.D.A. said the agency will release a schedule this week for outside expert review of vaccines for the nations 18 million children younger than 5. That is the only age group still not eligible for coronavirus vaccination. Despite growing pressure including from Congress the F.D.A. might not rule on whether to authorize a pediatric vaccine dose for that group until June administration officials have said. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/26/world/mandates-cases-vaccine-covid-19 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters The European Commission said that between 60 and 80 of the EU population was estimated to have been infected with COVID19 as the bloc enters a postemergency phase in which mass reporting of cases was no longer necessary. In preparing for this less acute phase European Union governments should ramp up COVID19 immunisations of children the blocs executive body said signallingit was considering plans to develop antivirals. It is estimated that between 60 to 80 of the EU population has by now had COVID EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides told a news conference. The EU public health agency said reported cases had covered about 30 of the European population so far but if unreported infections were added cases could be as high as 350 million about 77 of the European population. With a recent drop in infections and deaths linked to COVID19 the EU is now shifting away from mass testing and reporting of cases Kyriakides said confirming what Reuters reported on Tuesday. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-looks-ramping-up-covid-vaccinations-kids-developing-antivirals-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Pfizers COVID19 pill Paxlovid is packaged in Ascoli. U.S. President Joe Bidens administration is aiming to expand access to COVID19 oral antiviral treatments like Pfizer Incs Paxlovid by doubling the number of locations at which they are available the White House said on Tuesday. Pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy program for distributing antiviral treatments will be able to order the free treatments directly from the U.S. government starting this week. Currently pharmacies depend on states to obtain the pills. The government sends the treatments to select pharmacies as well as directly to states and community centers. Under the current system the treatments are available in around 20000 locations. The administration expects to boost their direct distribution to more than 30000 locations soon and reach 40000 sites over the coming weeks the White House said. Treatments are really the next phase of this pandemic where we have to make the treatments these highly effective treatments widely available Dr. Ashish Jha the White House COVID19 response coordinator said in an interview on CNN. Demand for Paxlovid has been unexpectedly light due to complicated eligibility requirements reduced COVID testing and potential for drug interactions. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-widen-covid-antiviral-pill-distribution-2022-04-26/ 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey is ready to lift all measures against the coronavirus adding that mask wearing will no longer be obligatory indoors. Speaking after the final meeting of the advisory science council Erdogan said masks will still be mandated on public transport and in medical institutions until daily new cases drop below 1000. Turkey had previously lifted the requirement to wear masks outdoors and in indoor areas with good ventilation. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-ready-lift-all-covid-19-measures-erdogan-says-2022-04-26/ 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters A leading lobby group for global financial services firms has urged Shanghai authorities to let hundreds of exhausted staff go home after a monthlong strict COVID19 lockdown that has kept them in office buildings. The Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association ASIFMA in a letter dated April 26 urged the authorities to let financial firms rotate staff who need to work from offices. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/financial-lobby-group-urges-shanghai-ease-covid-rules-staff-stuck-offices-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters The European Commission is set to say the EU has entered a new postemergency phase of the pandemic in which testing should be targeted and monitoring of COVID19 cases should be similar to samplebased flu surveillance according to a draft document seen by Reuters. The shift comes amid a gradual drop of cases and a fall in the number of deaths linked to COVID19 thanks to the spread of the less virulent Omicron variant and the immunisation of over 70 of the EU population with half of the population having received also a booster shot. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-eu-move-away-emergency-phase-covid-pandemic-document-2022-04-26/ 27th Apr 2022

Exit Strategies

Bloomberg The Chinese city of Hangzhou home to tech giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will start mass testing for Covid19 while cases in Shanghai fell for a fifth day. The testing drive will cover most of Hangzhous downtown area with 10000 free test sites to be set up the municipal government said in a statement late Wednesday. It urged residents to get tested every 48 hours. Just a short train ride from Shanghai the city of around 12 million people is home to a small but notable network of tech companies including games maker NetEase Inc. and videosurveillance product company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/china-s-hangzhou-home-to-alibaba-to-start-mass-covid-testing-l2i7d9qa?srnd=premium-europe 27th Apr 2022

Partisan Exits

Bloomberg It began when state media accounts on Weibo Chinas Twitter equivalent promoted the hashtag The U.S. is the country with the largest humanrights deficit. Tens of thousands of Chinese internet users turned the accusation around onto Beijing. They criticized not only Chinas Covid response of strict stayathome orders and minimal financial support for households but also wider social problems long working hours high property prices violence against women and censorship itself. Our doors are locked down. Our pets are killed. Our medical resources are wasted so that people with acute illness cant be treated wrote one poster. The American government is so horrible Im so lucky to be born in China read a typically ironic post. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/covid-zero-criticism-is-new-test-for-china-censorship 28th Apr 2022

Partisan Exits

The Independent A British court ruled Wednesday that the governments decision to discharge hospital patients into nursing homes without testing them for COVID19 which led to thousands of deaths early in the pandemic was illegal. Two High Court judges said the policy from March and April 2020 was unlawful because it failed to take into account the infection risk that nonsymptomatic carriers of the virus posed to older or vulnerable people. The judges said officials did not consider other options including keeping such patients separate from other nursing home residents for a time as much as practically possible. This was not a binary question a choice between on the one hand doing nothing at all and on the other hand requiring all newly admitted residents to be quarantined the judges said. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit by two women whose fathers died when the virus swept through the homes where they lived. Their lawyers said the decisions that allowed COVID19 to spread among the elderly and vulnerable was one of the most egregious and devastating policy failures in the modern era. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-matt-hancock-high-court-london-boris-johnson-b2066577.html 27th Apr 2022

Partisan Exits

Sky News A high court judge rules that the system used to control New Zealands borders during part of the coronavirus pandemic operated as an unjustified limit on the right of New Zealanders to enter their country. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-court-finds-new-zealands-quarantine-allocation-system-infringed-on-rights-12599856 27th Apr 2022

Partisan Exits

Sky News The government broke the law by discharging untested hospital patients into care homes during the early stages of the COVID19 pandemic the High Court has ruled. The case was brought by Dr Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris whose fathers Michael Gibson and Donald Harris died after testing positive for coronavirus. In a ruling on Wednesday Lord Justice Bean and Mr Justice Garnham concluded that policies contained in documents released in March and early April 2020 were unlawful because they failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from nonsymptomatic transmission of the virus. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-government-broke-the-law-by-failing-care-home-residents-who-died-of-coronavirus-high-court-rules-12599918 27th Apr 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters New Zealands once lauded COVID19 response took a hit on Wednesday when a High Court judge ruled a system used to allocate places in border quarantine facilities infringed on some citizens right to return home. Citizens looking to return had to either make emergency requests to the government or secure a spot in state quarantine facilities called MIQ. Due to demand outstripping hotel rooms a type of lottery system was introduced. It left tens of thousands of expatriate New Zealanders cut off from families back home. Critics called the system unfair something that the judgement released Wednesday by High Court Justice Jillian Mallon agreed with. Mallon said restrictions preventing a person from being able to enter their country for three months couldnt be justified and evidence indicates at least some New Zealanders experienced unreasonable delays. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/new-zealand-high-court-finds-quarantine-allocation-system-infringed-rights-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Sky News Shanghai the most populous city in China has been under lockdown for the past month as it pursues a zeroCOVID strategy for eradicating the virus. The countrys approach aims to cut transmission as soon as possible using stringent measures such as short and targeted shutdowns and quick testing schemes where cases are found. Despite this cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant have risen in Shanghai and other cities over the past month. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-is-chinas-shanghai-lockdown-an-overreaction-12599422 27th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Millions of people in Beijing took their second COVID19 tests of the week on Wednesday as the Chinese capital tried to keep an outbreak numbering in the dozens from spiralling into a crisis like the one the lockeddown city of Shanghai is enduring. Evidence that Shanghais monthlong isolation has become almost unbearable for many of the citys 25 million people is emerging on an almost daily basis on the countrys heavily censored internet. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-presses-with-mass-covid-testing-locked-down-shanghai-seethes-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

The Associated Press Shanghai city authorities said Wednesday they will start rounds of COVID19 testing over the next few days to determine which neighborhoods can safely be allowed a limited amount of freedom of movement as residents in Beijing watch carefully on word for whether the capital city will lock down. On Wednesday China reported 14222 new cases the vast majority of which were asymptomatic. The country is battling its largest outbreak since the pandemic was first reported in Wuhan in late December 2019. Shanghais vice head of its health committee Zhao Dandan announced Wednesday that the city would begin another round of testing for city residents over the next few days to determine which districts were lower risk. https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-business-shanghai-wuhan-469235110d103463dd9479a3161a7eb1 27th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Bloomberg Chinese port activity fell below levels seen during the first coronavirus outbreak in 2020 and construction has plummeted satellite data show suggesting official economic figures will likely worsen as Covid lockdowns spread. Satellite images are becoming an important realtime data tool to measure the impact of Chinas worst coronavirus outbreak since 2020. Official numbers are released only monthly and are increasingly coming under scrutiny as Beijing sticks to its ambitious growth target of about 5.5 even though its Covid Zero approach has forced major hubs like Shanghai to shut down. New Yorkbased SpaceKnow which tracks activity at more than 1300 factories from space said manufacturing output remained strong through the lockdowns in March and early April although inventories are building up. Thats likely a sign of logistical snarls as coronavirus restrictions cause major disruptions and shortages of trucks able to move goods to ports and around the country. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-26/data-from-satellites-shows-extent-of-china-s-crippling-lockdowns 26th Apr 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Finance sector professionals in Shanghai are preparing to move back to Hong Kong and other offshore centres after spending only a few years in the Chinese city as a harsh COVID19 lockdown has hurt their business prospects and upended daily lives. Thousands of bankers traders and investors in the financial hub of the worlds secondlargest economy have found themselves confined to their homes with some even struggling to secure food and other essentials for their families. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/fed-up-with-covid-lockdown-bankers-fund-managers-looking-leave-shanghai-2022-04-26/ 26th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Bloomberg The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions plan to modernize its data operations is too vague lacks deadlines and doesnt assign clear responsibility for completing the project a government watchdog said in a report. The CDCs Data Modernization Initiative was launched in 2020 as part of a broader push to overhaul the countrys public health information systems and improve capacity to respond to threats like Covid19. While the pandemic pushed some of those efforts into high speed the Government Accountability Office report said that the agencys overall plan does not articulate the specific actions time frames and allocation of roles and responsibilities needed to achieve its objectives. And while the CDC has been given 1.1 billion to move ahead with its data plans the agency had yet to fully lay out plans for spending the money according to the GAO the investigational arm of Congress. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/cdc-data-plan-is-too-vague-lacks-deadlines-u-s-watchdog-says 28th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Measles cases jumped by 79 in the first two months of this year compared to 2021 after COVID19 and lockdowns disrupted child vaccination campaigns around the world according to data from UNICEF and the World Health Organization WHO. In January and February there were 17338 measles cases reported worldwide up from 9665 in the same period last year. Measles is a very contagious disease that can be particularly dangerous for young children and babies. It spreads more quickly than Ebola flu or COVID19. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/measles-cases-jump-79-2022-after-covid-hit-vaccination-campaigns-2022-04-27/ 28th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CIDRAP New coronaviruses armed with the capacity to cause severe human disease are becoming more frequent raising the stakes for global preparedness along with a need for a vaccine that could broadly protect against the most dangerous ones such as SARSCoV2. To help jumpstart the process the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy CIDRAP at the University of Minnesota announced today that it has received 1 million in grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation to create a Coronavirus Vaccines Research and Development RD Roadmap. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/04/cidrap-develop-vaccine-roadmap-future-coronavirus-threats 27th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CNN The pink line on Erin Blakeneys first positive Covid19 test was so light that she almost didnt believe it. But there was no denying the fever and sore throat that developed overnight just a few days after she and her husband attended a large memorial service in late March. The couple wore KN95 masks but many others in attendance had not even as the service stretched past 90 minutes. Blakeney a 43yearold researcher at the University of Washingtons School of Nursing is a breast cancer survivor. The Seattle resident says she doesnt meet any strict definition of being immunocompromised which can raise someones Covid19 risk. Both Blakeney and her husband are fully vaccinated and boosted. But she didnt want to take chances because shes taking medications to prevent a cancer recurrence and she lost a family member to Covid19 in November 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/health/paxlovid-covid-rebound/index.html 27th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Guardian More than half of Americans show signs of a previous Covid19 infection including three out of every four children according to a new report released on Tuesday. The findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC come after researchers examined blood samples from more than 200000 Americans and looked for virusfighting antibodies made from infections not vaccines. They found that signs of past infection rose dramatically between December and February when the more contagious Omicron variant surged through the US. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/us-covid-infections-antibodies-children 27th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Pfizer Inc and its partner BioNTech SE said on Tuesday that they had submitted an application to the U.S. health regulator for the authorization of a booster dose of their COVID19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years. The companies earlier this month reported data from a midtolate stage study showing a third dose of their shot increased protection against the original coronavirus version and the Omicron variant among children in the age group. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-biontech-file-us-authorization-covid-19-booster-shot-children-2022-04-26/ 27th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Following the record surge in COVID19 cases during the Omicrondriven wave some 58 of the U.S. population overall and more than 75 of younger children have been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic according to a U.S. nationwide blood survey released on Tuesday. The study issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control CDC and Prevention marks the first time in which more than half of the U.S. population has been infected with the SARSCoV2 virus at least once and offers a detailed view of the impact of the Omicron surge in the United States. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/more-than-half-americans-have-had-covid-infections-antibody-study-2022-04-26/ 27th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday urged countries to maintain surveillance of coronavirus infections saying the world was blind to how the virus is spreading because of falling testing rates. As many countries reduce testing WHO is receiving less and less information about transmission and sequencing DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference at the U.N. agencys headquarters in Geneva. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-chief-says-we-are-increasingly-blind-covid-transmission-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Bloomberg Vice President Kamala Harris will take Pfizer Inc.s Paxlovid Covid19 therapy pill after testing positive for the virus earlier Tuesday a treatment decision coinciding with the Biden administrations push to expand access to the medication. Harris 57 decided to start the treatment after consultation with her physicians spokeswoman Kirsten Allen said in a tweet. Harris tested positive for the coronavirus earlier Tuesday but was not exhibiting symptoms of the disease her office said. She spent the previous week in her home state of California and had not seen President Joe Biden since the April 18 White House Easter egg roll. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/vice-president-harris-taking-pfizer-s-paxlovid-to-treat-covid 27th Apr 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

FiercePharma Even though most people in the U.S. have been eligible for COVID19 vaccines and boosters for quite some time children under 5 still dont have vaccine options. Now lawmakers are asking the FDA to lay out its plans in this age groupand address a perceived delay for Modernas product. Yesterday Congresss Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sent a letter PDF to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf M.D. requesting a briefing on the status of COVID19 vaccines for the under 5 age group. The letter comes after U.S. chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci M.D. indicated on CNN that the FDA is considering holding off on reviewing Modernas vaccine candidate in order to authorize it at the same time as Pfizers to not confuse people with a staggered rollout the lawmakers wrote. That could lead to a potential delay of several weeks for Modernas shot they said. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/congress-requests-fda-explanation-delay-under-5-covid-19-vaccine 26th Apr 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Italy reported 29575 COVID19 related cases on Tuesday against 24878 the day before the health ministry said while the daily number of deaths rose to 146 from 93. Italy has registered 162927 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. The country has reported 16.2 million cases to date. Patients in hospital with COVID19 not including those in intensive care stood at 10328 on Tuesday up from 10050 a day earlier. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italy-reports-29575-coronavirus-cases-tuesday-146-deaths-2022-04-26/ 27th Apr 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Millions of people in Beijing took their second COVID19 tests of the week on Wednesday as the Chinese capital tried to keep an outbreak numbering in the dozens from spiralling into a crisis like the one the lockeddown city of Shanghai is enduring. Evidence that Shanghais monthlong isolation has become almost unbearable for many of the citys 25 million people is emerging on an almost daily basis on the countrys heavily censored internet. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-presses-with-mass-covid-testing-locked-down-shanghai-seethes-2022-04-27/ 27th Apr 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Bloomberg Shanghai hinted at an easing of lockdown measures as coronavirus infections dropped to the lowest in three weeks while the number of new cases in Beijing remained below 50 in a potential sign authorities are starting to bring the twin outbreaks under control. Cases in Shanghai fell for a fourth consecutive day to 13562 though the city added another 48 fatalities. While the financial hub remains in an unprecedented lockdown thats left much of the citys 25 million residents confined to their homes for a month or more an official signaled on Wednesday there may be some easing for certain areas. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/shanghai-cases-fall-a-fourth-day-beijing-finds-more-infections 27th Apr 2022

New Lockdown

The Associated Press Police and new fencing restricted who could leave a lockeddown area in Beijing on Tuesday as authorities in the Chinese capital stepped up efforts to prevent a major COVID19 outbreak like the one that has all but shut down the city of Shanghai. People lined up for throat swabs across much of Beijing as mass testing was expanded to 11 of the citys 16 districts. Another 22 cases were found in the last 24 hours Beijing health officials said at a late afternoon news conference bringing the total to 92 since the outbreak was discovered five days ago. That is tiny in comparison to Shanghai where the number of cases has topped 500000 and at least 190 people have died. No deaths have been reported from the stillnascent outbreak in Beijing. https://apnews.com/article/covid-business-health-china-beijing-546e033cadf71cea75f606ad65ee0e82 27th Apr 2022