13th May 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=660 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

The Wall Street Journal Article reports that President Biden is seeking to bolster the U.S. role in the worldwide fight against Covid19 pledging to share vaccine patents and urging world leaders to redouble their efforts to thwart the virus. We have to start working to prevent the next variant and the next pandemic now Mr. Biden said Thursday at the second virtual Covid19 Summit held as the U.S. approaches the milestone of 1 million Covid19 deaths. Thats going to require all of us to do more. Heads of state and organizations convened at the Summit to accelerate efforts to get people vaccinated enhance access to tests and treatments and finance and build health security against future pandemics and other health crises. The Summit secured more than 3 billion from countries and philanthropies for Covid19 relief efforts. https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-calls-for-renewed-efforts-to-bolster-fight-against-covid-19-11652391811 13th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters President Joe Biden on Thursday commemorated the COVID19 deaths of 1 million people in the United States marking what he called a tragic milestone and urging Americans to remain vigilant during the ongoing pandemic. In a statement Biden acknowledged the impact of the deaths on families left behind and urged the country not to grow numb to such sorrow. The United States on Wednesday reached more than 1 million COVID19 deaths according to a Reuters tally crossing a onceunthinkable milestone about two years after the first cases upended everyday life. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-marks-1-million-americans-dead-covid-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

Associated Press President Joe Biden appealed to world leaders at a COVID19 summit Thursday to reenergize a lagging international commitment to attacking the virus as he led the U.S. in marking the tragic milestone of 1 million deaths in America. He ordered flags lowered to halfstaff and warned against complacency around the globe. This pandemic isnt over Biden declared at the second global pandemic summit. He spoke solemnly of the onceunthinkable U.S. toll 1 million empty chairs around the family dinner table. The coronavirus has killed more than 999000 people in the U.S. and at least 6.2 million people globally since it emerged in late 2019 according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-health-africa-pandemics-8135c845f812f5047520ffc9b9df80ff 12th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

STAT News The notion of Covid19 causing two Americas was on many minds in the summer of 2021. The Washington Post and LA Times both wrote about it Dr. Anthony Fauci mentioned it in an interview. One America had high demand for Covid19 vaccines the other had widespread vaccine hesitancy and opposition to mask and vaccine mandates. This narrative helped shape the understanding of what happened as well as what the country should be doing now to control the pandemic. But Covid has been dividing the nation since the start of the pandemic. Our recent analysis of Covid19 deaths by region published in PLoS One supports the two Americas idea. https://www.statnews.com/2022/05/12/covid-19-deaths-us-reinforcing-two-americas/ 12th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters The United States will share technologies used to make COVID19 vaccines through the World Health Organization and is working to expand rapid testing and antiviral treatments for hardtoreach populations President Joe Biden said on Thursday. Speaking at the second global COVID19 summit Biden called on Congress to provide additional funds so that the U.S. may contribute more to the global pandemic response. We are making available health technologies that are owned by the United States government including stabilized spike protein that is used in many COVID19 vaccines Biden said in his opening speech. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-helped-raise-31-billion-global-pandemic-response-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Exit Strategies

Daily Mail North Korea has treated 187000 people for fever after the country reported its first Covid cases. The staterun news agency KCNA said up to 187800 people are being isolated and treated and six people who were sick with fever had died including one who tested positive for the Omicron variant. The report added A fever whose cause couldnt be identified explosively spread nationwide from late April. North Korea on Thursday confirmed its firstever case of Covid19 with state media calling it a severe national emergency incident after more than two years of keeping the pandemic at bay. KCNA said samples taken from patients sick with fever in Pyongyang on Sunday were consistent with the virus highly transmissible Omicron variant. The countrys top officials including leader Kim Jong Un held a crisis politburo meeting to discuss the outbreak and announced they would implement a maximum emergency virus control system. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10811697/North-Korea-isolates-treats-187-000-people-fever-reporting-Covid-19-cases.html 13th May 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters South Africas National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Wednesday reported 10017 new COVID19 cases the first day since January the institute has reported more than 10000 new infections. Health authorities have warned South Africa may be entering a fifth wave of infections driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants. South Africa has recorded the most coronavirus cases and deaths on the African continent and only exited a fourth wave in January. Healthcare worker collects a swab from Bronwen Cook for a PCR test against COVID19 before traveling to London at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/safricas-new-covid-cases-cross-10000-first-time-since-january-2022-05-11/ 13th May 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters South Africas president told a global COVID19 summit on Thursday that multilateral agencies and philanthropic organisations should buy vaccines and booster doses from African manufacturers to ensure that manufacturing capacity on the continent was retained. South African firm Aspens COVID19 vaccine manufacturing capacity is at risk because of a lack of orders. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/safricas-ramaphosa-multilateral-agencies-buy-covid-vaccines-african-providers-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters The United States will share technologies used to make COVID19 vaccines through the World Health Organization and is working to expand rapid testing and antiviral treatments for hardtoreach populations President Joe Biden said on Thursday. Speaking at the second global COVID19 summit Biden called on Congress to provide additional funds so that the U.S. may contribute more to the global pandemic response. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-helped-raise-31-billion-global-pandemic-response-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Partisan Exits

The Washington Post In April 2021 the oxygen supply to the intensive care unit of the hospital where Manju Begum was admitted ran out. Manju just 30 was among 20 patients who died this was just one case among scores in hospitals across the country. Amid oxygen shortages hospitals posted desperate SOS messages families carried bottlesize oxygen cylinders to their relatives and Sikh gurudwaras that usually feed the poor for free organized oxygen drives instead. Despite this catastrophe Indias Parliament was informed this year that there was not a single death from oxygen shortage reported by any state during the pandemic. The unforgivable erasure of these covid19 deaths has been underscored again by the recent dispute between the World Health Organization and the Indian government over exactly how many people died during the pandemic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/11/barkha-dutt-india-covid-deaths-who-report/ 12th May 2022

Partisan Exits

The Guardian Trump officials collaborated with the meatpacking industry to downplay the threat of Covid to plant workers and block public health measures which could have saved lives a damning new investigation has found. Internal documents reviewed by the congressional select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis reveal how industry representatives lobbied government officials to stifle pesky health departments from imposing evidencebased safety measures to curtail the virus spreading and tried to obscure worker deaths from these authorities. At least 59000 workers at five of the largest meatpacking companies Tyson Foods JBS USA Holdings Smithfield Foods Cargill and National Beef Packing Company which are the subject of the congressional inquiry contracted Covid in the first year of the pandemic of whom at least 269 died. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/12/meatpacking-industry-trump-downplay-covid-threat 12th May 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters UK British police said on Thursday they had now made more than 100 referrals for fines as part of their investigation into lockdown rulebreaking at gatherings held in Downing Street during the COVID19 pandemic. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised for receiving a fine in April for breaking lockdown rules by attending a gathering in his office to celebrate his birthday but has refused to resign over it. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-police-recommend-100-more-fines-downing-street-parties-probe-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Partisan Exits

Associated Press During the first year of the COVID19 pandemic the meat processing industry worked closely with political appointees in the Trump administration to stave off health restrictions and keep slaughterhouses open even as the virus spread rapidly among workers according to a congressional report released Thursday. The report by the Houses Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis said meat companies pushed to keep their plants open even though they knew workers were at high risk of catching the coronavirus. The lobbying led to health and labor officials watering down their recommendations for the industry and culminated in an executive order President Donald Trump issued in spring 2020 designating meat plants as critical infrastructure that needed to remain open. https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-congress-donald-trump-0800b4a4e1af64eec53015c38a42a05d 12th May 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters China would strictly limit unnecessary travel outside the country by Chinese citizens as part of its COVID19 response the National Immigration Administration said in a statement on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-strictly-limit-unnecessary-overseas-travels-by-chinese-citizens-combat-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Beijing denied it was heading for lockdown as panic buying gripped the capital on Thursday while Shanghai combed the city for lingering COVID19 cases in the hope of clearing the way to escape from weeks of painful restrictions. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/shanghai-hunts-down-covid-cases-beijing-curbs-taxi-services-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Salon Like an eraser sweeping away a chalkboard the new COVID subvariant dubbed BA.2.12.1 is rapidly excising its predecessors oncerapid spread. Currently this new iteration is on track to outtake its predecessor in the omicron BA.2 lineage notably previous omicron lineages have dropped to zero in studied lab samples. https://www.salon.com/2022/05/12/ba2-12-1-dominant/ 13th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. COVID19 symptoms still afflict many two years later Half of the COVID19 patients discharged from a Chinese hospital in early 2020 still have at least one symptom two years later a new study shows. Overall regardless of initial disease severity the 2469 COVID19 survivors in the study had improvements in physical and mental health over time. Nearly 90 of those who were employed returned to their jobs within two years. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/symptoms-linger-two-years-some-inflammatory-protein-patterns-may-provide-long-2022-05-12/ 13th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Sky News An estimated 60000 NHS workers are believed to be living with posttraumatic stress as a result of the COVID19 pandemic according to new research. NHS Charities Together also found nine in 10 workers 90 say it will take them years to recover. Meanwhile nearly threequarters 73 have expressed concerns about their colleagues leaving the workforce due to poor mental health. Neal Ashurst an operating department practitioner was redeployed during the pandemic switching from anaesthetics to a critical care unit. He told Sky News he had felt incredibly apprehensive initially as it meant significant changes from his usual role which he found very daunting https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-around-60000-nhs-workers-living-with-ptsd-after-battling-the-pandemic-12611786 13th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Nine News Australia Volunteers receive first dose in clinical trial of Melbournemade COVID19 vaccines Doses of two new Melbournemade COVID19 vaccines have been given to six Victorian volunteers. https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/volunteers-receive-first-dose-in-clinical-trial-of-melbourne-made-covid-19-vaccines/cl32r9az000260jo9p99yktag 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CNN Even two years after their initial infection the majority of people who were hospitalized with Covid19 early in the pandemic had lingering symptoms according to a new study that may be one of the longest and largest on record to follow people with long Covid. The study published Wednesday in The Lancet found that 55 of patients still had at least one Covid19 symptom two years later. That was actually an improvement from six months after infection when 68 had symptoms. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/11/health/long-covid-two-years-later/index.html 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Healio Although COVID19 vaccines lower the risk of infection among kidney transplant recipients breakthrough infections can occur and researchers recommend patients continue to receive boosters when available. The SARSCoV2 messenger RNA mRNA vaccines have shown high clinical efficacy in preventing COVID19 in the immunocompetent population Ivan Zahradka MD from the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in the Czech Republic and colleagues wrote. They added However data about the effectiveness of SARSCoV2 vaccines are conflicting and to what extent the two doses of an mRNA vaccine protect kidney transplant recipients KTRs from COVID19 is unclear. https://www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20220511/researchers-recommend-kidney-transplant-recipients-continue-getting-covid19-vaccinations 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

EURACTIV An increase in the number of new COVID19 cases was not registered during the Labour Day and Easter holidays but everyone should be careful and vaccinations are still necessary said Serbian epidemiologist Predrag Kon on Tuesday. In a statement to Serbian public broadcaster RTS Kon said that with the summer holidays approaching people would be travelling to and from Serbia which would increase the potential of spreading the virus. We are in the situation where we should be extremely strongly recommending vaccination as half of the population has not been inoculated Kon stressed noting that there was much higher vaccine uptake in cities than in rural areas. https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/covid-19-jabs-still-necessary-says-serbian-epidemiologist/ 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Hospital Healthcare Europe Cancer patients with COVID19 have a greater risk of both hospitalisation and death following infection compared with those without the disease Cancer patients with COVID19 have been found to be at a greater risk of hospitalisation and 30day allcause mortality compared to those without the disease according to the results of a study by a US team from Texas. The presence of cancer has become a recognised factor that is associated with a higher risk for severe outcomes in those infected with COVID19 and which is largely due to the presence of a compromised immune system. During the early course of the pandemic studies observed that a higher proportion of cancer patients infected with COVID19 were both hospitalised and subsequently died compared to those without the disease. https://hospitalhealthcare.com/clinical/oncology/study-finds-cancer-patients-with-covid-19-at-greater-risk-of-hospitalisation-and-death/ 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Metro.co.uk A public inquiry into the Covid19 pandemic and its handling will now include the impact of the pandemic on mental health and on children and young people. It will also look into collaboration between the central government and regional government including devolved administrations. The chairwoman of the inquiry has also proposed changes to also look at support for victims of domestic abuse first contact with the NHS including 111 and 999 services care in the home and regulatory control. The updated remit was confirmed in the updated terms of reference published today. https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/12/covid-inquiry-to-look-at-impact-of-pandemic-on-mental-health-and-young-people-16631867/ 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Moderna Inc has made all necessary submissions required by the U.S. Food Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of its COVID19 vaccine in adolescents and children it said on Wednesday. The company is seeking approval for the use of its vaccines in three distinct age groups adolescents aged 12 to 17 years children aged six to 11 and those between six years and six months. The submissions for all three groups were made on May 9 it said. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/moderna-completes-fda-submission-use-covid-shot-adolescents-kids-2022-05-11/ 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Associated Press The first factory to produce COVID19 vaccines in Africa says it has not received enough orders and may stop production within weeks in what a senior World Health Organization official described Thursday as a failure in efforts to achieve vaccine equity. South Africas Aspen Pharmacare said that it cannot let its largescale sterile manufacturing facilities sit idle and will return instead to making anesthetics. At the outset of the COVID pandemic the company shifted its production and achieved capacity to produce more than 200 million doses annually of the oneshot Johnson Johnson vaccine. It was widely hailed as a great achievement for Africa a gamechanger for the continent. But it has not been followed up with orders. We have not received any orders from the big multilateral agencies Stavros Nicolaou senior executive for strategic trade development at Aspen Pharmacare told The Associated Press Thursday. https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-africa-united-nations-7491de8c9634ab2ad88cd92ae1050819 12th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CIDRAP A new study shows that the more than 32000 survivors of severe COVID19 and more than 16000 survivors of other severe respiratory infections studied in England were at significantly higher risk than the general population for new anxiety disorders dementia psychosis bipolar disorder and new neuropsychiatric drug prescriptions in the first year after hospital release. In the observational study published today in JAMA Psychiatry a team led by University of Oxford researchers analyzed data from all 8.38 million adults registered in national databases from Jan 24 2020 to Jul 7 2021. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/05/severe-covid-similar-illnesses-may-raise-risk-psychiatric-disorders 11th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters President Joe Biden on Thursday commemorated the COVID19 deaths of 1 million people in the United States marking what he called a tragic milestone and urging Americans to remain vigilant during the ongoing pandemic. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-marks-1-million-americans-dead-covid-2022-05-12/ 13th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

The Guardian Six people have died amid an explosive spread of fever North Korean state media has announced a day after it admitted for the first time ever that an outbreak of Covid had occurred. There were 187800 people being treated in isolation after a fever of unidentified origin spread in the country since late April the official KCNA news agency reported. Around 350000 people had shown signs of that fever with 162200 of them treated so far. At least six people who showed fever symptoms died with one of those cases confirmed to have contracted the Omicron variant of the virus KCNA said. The North Korean ruler Kim Jongun visited the antivirus command centre on Tuesday a day after declaring the gravest state emergency and ordering a national lockdown. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/12/north-korean-state-media-confirms-first-covid-death 13th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters At least one person confirmed to have COVID19 has died in North Korea and hundreds of thousands have shown fever symptoms state media said on Friday offering hints at the potentially dire scale of countrys first confirmed outbreak of the pandemic. About 187800 people are being treated in isolation after a fever of unidentified origin has explosively spread nationwide since late April the official KCNA news agency reported. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-reports-first-covid-19-death-outbreak-spreads-kcna-2022-05-12/ 13th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Sky News North Korea has imposed a nationwide lockdown to control a COVID19 outbreak after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record in keeping out the virus that has spread to nearly every place in the world. https://news.sky.com/video/covid-19-north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-wears-face-mask-for-the-first-time-amid-outbreak-12611194 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

South China Morning Post A large Covid19 cluster could be developing in and around Kennedy Town the University of Hong Kongs medical school has warned urging staff and students not to visit the area for lunch this week. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3177436/coronavirus-signs-large-cluster-hong-kongs 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Wales Online The number of people with Covid19 in hospital in England has fallen to its lowest level since last Christmas new figures show. A total of 7034 patients were in hospital as of 8am on May 11 down 21 weekonweek according to NHS England. This is the lowest figure since December 21 2021 when it stood at 6902. It was in late December that patient numbers started to rise sharply driven by the spread of the original Omicron variant of coronavirus. They peaked at 17120 on January 10 2022 then fell back only to rise again due to the subsequent wave of infections caused by Omicron BA.2 hitting a slightly lower peak of 16600 on April 7. Numbers have been dropping for the past month with all regions of England now showing a steady decline. In southeast England they have fallen to levels last seen in midOctober 2021. The trend reflects the large drop in the prevalence of the virus in recent weeks as reported by the Office for National Statistics in its regular infection survey. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/number-covid-19-hospital-patients-23932555 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters North Koreas coronavirus outbreak threatens to deepen its already dire food situation this year as a nationwide lockdown would hamper ongoing antidrought efforts and the mobilisation of labour analysts said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-northkorea-food-an/analysis-covid-crisis-could-deepen-n-korea-food-shortages-amid-drought-warnings-idUSKCN2MY19P 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters South Africas National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Wednesday reported 10017 new COVID19 cases the first day since January the institute has reported more than 10000 new infections. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/safricas-new-covid-cases-cross-10000-first-time-since-january-2022-05-11/ 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Subvariants of the Omicron variant of COVID19 and a relaxation of public health measures are driving a current surge in infections in southern Africa a senior official from the World Health Organization WHO said on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/omicron-sub-variants-driving-africas-covid-surge-who-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters The United States has now recorded more than 1 million COVID19 deaths according to a Reuters tally crossing a onceunthinkable milestone about two years after the first cases upended everyday life and quickly transformed it. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/covid-claims-1-million-us-lives-leaving-trail-loss-2022-05-11/ 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters The Chinese financial hub of Shanghai reported 1305 new local asymptomatic coronavirus cases for May 11 up from 1259 a day earlier the citys health authority said on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/shanghai-reports-1305-new-asymptomatic-covid-cases-144-symptomatic-cases-may-11-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

The Guardian North Korea has declared a severe national emergency after confirming its first outbreak of Covid19 prompting its leader Kim Jongun to vow to quickly eliminate the virus. State media reported on Thursday that a subvariant of the highly transmissible Omicron virus known as BA.2 had been detected in the capital Pyongyang. There has been the biggest emergency incident in the country with a hole in our emergency quarantine front that has been kept safely over the past two years and three months since February 2020 the official KCNA news agency said. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/12/north-korea-admits-to-covid-outbreak-for-first-time 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

The Associated Press The number of new coronavirus cases reported worldwide has continued to fall except in the Americas and Africa the World Health Organization said in its latest assessment of the pandemic. The decline comes as Europe marked a COVID19 death milestone 2 million on the continent. In its weekly pandemic report released late Tuesday the U.N. health agency said about 3.5 million new cases and more than 25000 deaths were reported globally which respectively represent decreases of 12 and 25. https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-world-organization-pandemics-67ac873ce85cdd71620ea11811a159d8 12th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Beijing denied it was heading for lockdown as panic buying gripped the capital on Thursday while Shanghai combed the city for lingering COVID19 cases in the hope of clearing the way to escape from weeks of painful restrictions. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/shanghai-hunts-down-covid-cases-beijing-curbs-taxi-services-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

New Lockdown

Reuters North Korea reported its first COVID19 outbreak on Thursday calling it the gravest national emergency and ordering a national lockdown with state media saying an Omicron variant had been detected in the capital Pyongyang. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-says-it-detected-outbreak-stealth-omicron-virus-state-media-2022-05-12/ 12th May 2022

New Lockdown

The Associated Press North Korea imposed a nationwide lockdown Thursday to control its first acknowledged COVID19 outbreak after holding for more than two years to a widely doubted claim of a perfect record keeping out the virus that has spread to nearly every place in the world. The outbreak forced leader Kim Jong Un to wear a mask in public likely for the first time since the start of the pandemic but the scale of transmissions inside North Korea wasnt immediately known. A failure to slow infections could have serious consequences because the country has a poor health care system and its 26 million people are believed to be mostly unvaccinated. Some experts say North Korea by its rare admission of an outbreak may be seeking outside aid. https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-pandemics-south-korea-north-0e0cb1be7a3878a771124dcdcbdba06c 12th May 2022