25th May 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=668 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

The Wall Street Journal The gold rush for drugmakers making Covid19 vaccines and treatments might be over as demand plateaus supplies turn ample and the pandemic evolves. Merck Co. and Johnson Johnson are among the companies cutting sales expectations for pandemic products this year as they assess the outlook. Analysts meantime are lowering sales estimates for Covid19 drugs such as Pfizer Inc.s antiviral Paxlovid citing softening demand and few new supply deals. The situation marks a new phase in the pandemic according to analysts one without the record sales that certain companies such as Pfizer and Moderna Inc. notched just a few months ago. https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccine-and-drug-sales-once-booming-plateau-11653384780 25th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg The darkest days of the pandemic might be long gone but for chain stores and other merchants its March 2020 all over again. And its getting worse. A selloff in Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. shares has pushed the SPDR SP Retail exchangetraded fund ticker XRT down 44 from its November record high outpacing the funds 41 rout during the pandemic. The 484 million ETFs 16 slump in May would be the secondworst month since 2009 according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Rising costs on everything from transportation to labor are eating into the profit margins of some of Americas best known retailers stoking concerns over whether companies will be able to pass on the increased expenses to consumers. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-24/retail-carnage-leaves-pandemic-slump-in-the-dust-as-rout-widens 25th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Beijing stepped up quarantine efforts to end its monthold COVID outbreak as fresh signs of frustration emerged in Shanghai where some bemoaned unfair curbs with the city of 25 million preparing to lift a prolonged lockdown in just over a week. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-ramps-up-covid-quarantine-shanghai-residents-decry-uneven-rules-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

Business Insider Two years into the pandemic most people underestimate the prevalence of long COVID19 according to a new survey from fintech leader Policygenius. More than half of Americans 61 estimate that long COVID affects up to 20 of COVID19 cases when studies show that it actually affects 31 of North Americans who have contracted COVID19. https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/61-of-americans-underestimate-their-odds-of-contracting-long-covid-19-1031485446 24th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

ABC News Sweden is recommending a fifth COVID19 vaccine dose for people with an increased risk of becoming seriously ill including pregnant women and anyone aged 65 and over authorities said Tuesday adding that the country must be prepared for an increased spread during the upcoming autumn and winter season. The vaccine is our strongest tool for preventing serious illness and death Swedish Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren said adding the pandemic is not over. As of Sept. 1 Sweden recommends that another booster shot is given to people aged 65 and older and people over 18 in the risk groups. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/sweden-5th-covid-19-shot-people-65-pregnant-84929370 24th May 2022

Lockdown Exit

TIME Now a new experiment has given us a more exact sense of just how many aerosols a single person can spew during an intense workoutand the results arent pretty. According to research by scientists in Germany published in PNAS on May 23 people emit about 132 times as many aerosols per minute during high intensity exercise than when theyre at rest which the researchers warn raises the risk of a person infected with COVID19 setting off a superspreader event. At rest people emitted an average of 580 particles each minute but during maximal exercisein which researchers gradually increased intensity until the subjects were exhaustedpeople emitted an average of 76200 particles a minute. https://time.com/6180385/gym-covid-19-risk-tips/ 23rd May 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Guardian Damage to the bodys organs including the lungs and kidneys is common in people who were admitted to hospital with Covid with one in eight found to have heart inflammation researchers have revealed. As the pandemic evolved it became clear that some people who had Covid were being left with ongoing symptoms a condition that has been called long Covid. Previous studies have revealed that fewer than a third of patients who have ongoing Covid symptoms after being hospitalised with the disease feel fully recovered a year later while some experts have warned long Covid could result in a generation affected by disability. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/23/covid-can-cause-ongoing-damage-to-heart-lungs-and-kidneys-study-finds 23rd May 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Patients who experience recurrence of COVID19 symptoms after completing treatment with Pfizers drug Paxlovid should isolate again for five days the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an advisory issued on Tuesday. Dozens of individuals have reported rebounding COVID symptoms on social media or to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after taking Paxlovid but Pfizer suggests the experience is rare. A recent rise in COVID cases has driven up use of therapeutics in the country https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-cdc-recommends-re-isolation-if-covid-recurs-after-taking-pfizers-pill-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Efforts by financial firms and others to bring workers back to Manhattan offices more than two years after the start of the coronavirus pandemic face persistent headwinds consultants said with commuters still worrying about COVID19 as well as safety. New York has lagged others major markets in the percentage of employees regularly working in the office in part because of high usage rates of public transportation and COVID concerns said David Lewis chief executive of HR consultant firm OperationsInc which works with several firms in the financial sector. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/manhattan-return-to-office-plans-face-persistent-headwinds-over-covid-safety-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters South Korea will issue a call this week at the World Economic Forum for COVID19 vaccines and other medical help for North Korea even if that means exemptions from U.N. sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme a senior official said on Tuesday. Secretive North Korea went for more than two years insisting it had no COVID but it confirmed its first outbreak nearly two weeks ago. It has since reported some 2.95 million people showing fever symptoms it has limited testing capacity for COVID and 68 deaths and has imposed a sweeping lockdown and other antivirus measures https://www.reuters.com/world/south-korea-call-davos-covid-aid-north-envoy-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Exit Strategies

The Associated Press China is trying to navigate its biggest coronavirus outbreak without a tool it could have adopted many months ago the kind of vaccines that have proven to offer the best protection against the worst outcomes from COVID19. As early as the spring of 2020 a Chinese pharmaceutical company Fosun Pharma reached an agreement to distribute and eventually manufacture the mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech. It still has not been cleared in mainland China despite being authorized for use by separate authorities in Hong Kong and Macao. Now health experts say that delay a result of putting politics and national pride above public health could lead to avoidable coronavirus deaths and deeper economic losses because whole cities would be locked down to insulate the countrys unprotected population. https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-technology-health-00e7e5ebf9460bad115b491009b58bef 24th May 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters on MSN.com A leading entrepreneur in China who had questioned the wisdom of the countrys zeroCOVID strategy was banned from posting on Weibo with the social media platform accusing Trip.com cofounder James Liang of violating laws. Weibo a platform similar to Twitter did not specify which laws Liang had broken and it was unclear when the ban took effect or what had triggered it. But on Tuesday online users noticed changes to Liangs account which has 817000 followers. https://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/markets/chinas-weibo-bans-tripcom-co-founder-who-questioned-zero-covid-strategy/ar-AAXDIoD 24th May 2022

Exit Strategies

Bloomberg The US Supreme Court turned away a challenge to New Yorks requirement that schoolchildren be vaccinated against serious diseases refusing to question the states 2019 repeal of its longstanding exemption for families with religious objections. The justices without comment left in place a state court ruling that said New York wasnt targeting religion when it eliminated the exemption after the worst measles outbreak in a quarter century. The vaccine requirement applies to children under 18 in both public and private schools. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-23/n-y-school-vaccine-mandate-survives-as-top-court-rejects-appeal 24th May 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters New photographs of Prime Minister Boris Johnson drinking at a leaving party at his Downing Street residence have been published reigniting opposition accusations that he breached his own COVID19 lockdown rules. The photographs obtained by ITV News were taken at a gathering in honour of Downing Streets outgoing director of communications Lee Cain in November 2020 an event previously investigated by police for potential breaches of the law. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/fresh-photos-uk-pm-johnson-drinking-reignite-partygate-row-2022-05-23/ 24th May 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters A leading entrepreneur in China who had questioned the wisdom of the countrys zeroCOVID strategy was banned from posting on Weibo with the social media platform accusing Trip.com cofounder James Liang of violating laws. Weibo a platform similar to Twitter did not specify which laws Liang had broken and it was unclear when the ban took effect or what had triggered it. But on Tuesday online users noticed changes to Liangs account which has 817000 followers. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-weibo-bans-tripcom-co-founder-who-questioned-zero-covid-strategy-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters A British minister defended Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday over photographs of him drinking at a coronavirus lockdownbreaking gathering at Downing Street saying he did not knowingly lie to parliament about the event. New photographs of Johnson drinking at a leaving party in Downing Street in November 2020 were published by ITV News on Monday reigniting opposition accusations that he breached his own COVID19 lockdown rules and calls for his resignation. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-pm-johnson-did-not-knowingly-lie-parliament-about-lockdown-party-minister-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Continued Lockdown

Reuters Beijing stepped up quarantine efforts to end its monthold COVID outbreak as fresh signs of frustration emerged in Shanghai where some bemoaned unfair curbs with the city of 25 million preparing to lift a prolonged lockdown in just over a week. Even as Chinas drastic attempts to eradicate COVID entirely its zeroCOVID approach bite into prospects for the worlds secondbiggest economy new reported infection numbers remain well below levels seen in many Western cities. The capital reported 48 new cases for Monday among its population of 22 million with Shanghai reporting fewer than 500. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-ramps-up-covid-quarantine-shanghai-residents-decry-uneven-rules-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Continued Lockdown

Bloomberg Chinas top official for pandemic control has shifted her attention from Shanghais ebbing Covid19 crisis to Beijing raising pressure on the capital to contain its lengthy outbreak and potentially signaling harsher curbs to come. Sun Chunlan Chinas Vice Premier and health czar whose appearance at virus hotspots across the country typically reflects the central governments priorities on Monday urged authorities in Beijing to adhere stringently to Covid Zero and eradicate community spread more swiftly. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-23/beijing-covid-cases-drop-as-capital-remains-under-restrictions?utm_source=google&amputm_medium=bd&ampcmpId=google 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The outbreak of monkeypox cases outside of Africa can be contained the World Health Organization said on Tuesday as more governments said they would launch limited vaccinations to combat rising infections of the virus. The moves came as authorities investigated 237 suspected and confirmed cases of the virus in 19 countries since early May. That number is expected to increase WHO officials have said but most of the infections so far have not been severe. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-says-monkeypox-containable-convening-research-meeting-support-member-states-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

PharmTech AstraZenecas recombinant COVID19 vaccine originally invented by the University of Oxford has been approved as a third dose booster vaccine in the EU. AstraZeneca has revealed in a May 23 2022 press release that its recombinant COVID19 vaccine originally invented by the University of Oxford Vaxzevria ChAdOx1S has been given the nod by the European Medicines Agency EMA as a third dose booster vaccine for use in the European Union EU. Through this latest market authorization healthcare professionals will be able to use the vaccine as a third dose booster in patients who have already been administered a primary vaccine schedule of either Vaxzevria or other EUapproved messenger RNA mRNA COVID19 vaccines. The authorization has been based on EMAs Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use CHMP recommendation for which there was a review of data demonstrating an increased immune response with a third dose booster Vaxzevria jab. https://www.pharmtech.com/view/vaxzevria-gains-approval-in-eu-as-a-third-dose-covid-19-booster-in-adults 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

PMLiVE Pfizer and BioNTech have announced recent data from a topline safety immunogenicity and vaccine efficacy phase 23 trial assessing a third 3g dose onetenth of the adult dosage of their COVID19 vaccine for children aged from six months to under five years old. The vaccine resulted in a strong immune response following the third dose in this particular age group and showed a positive safety profile similar to placebo. One of the second endpoints in the trial was vaccine efficacy which was 80.3 in children aged six months to under five years. This analysis was taken during a period when the Omicron strain was the predominant variant and was based on ten symptomatic COVID19 cases identified seven days after the third dose and accrued as of 29 April 2022. https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/pfizerbiontech_covid-19_vaccine_produces_strong_immune_response_in_children_1449180 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

FiercePharma Bharat is seeking approval for the shot in more than 60 other countries even amid declining demand for COVID19 vaccines worldwide. Europe recently delayed deliveries from Pfizer and BioNTech by three months. Earlier this month Bloomberg reported that Johnson Johnsons vaccine manufacturing partner in South Africa Aspen had received no orders. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/fda-lifts-hold-ocugens-covid-19-vaccine-trial-it-too-late-shot 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Atlantic The shots arent perfect They cant completely block infections or keep the debilitating symptoms of long COVID at bay. Still against the severest outcomes I think vaccination is holding up Ali Ellebedy an immunologist at Washington University in St. Louis told me. It provides a lot of comfort just knowing that layer is there says Natalie Dean a biostatistician at Emory University. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/05/covid-vaccine-effectiveness-severe-disease/629955/ 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Financial Times Pfizer has said it will seek emergency authorisation in the US for its Covid19 vaccine for children under the age of five after interim results from its clinical trial showed the jab is safe and highly effective. The US drugmaker said on Monday that three doses of its childrens jab each about a tenth of the size of an adult dose produced a strong immune response with a favourable safety profile similar to a placebo in the age group. https://www.ft.com/content/48c88652-502c-4b33-9866-589eeafcf302 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Global News People living in areas with higher levels of air pollution are more likely to develop severe COVID19 illness that leads to hospitalization and even death a new study suggests. The research published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal CMAJ found an elevated likelihood of hospitalization admission to an intensive care unit and death among COVID19 cases who were chronically exposed to fine particulate matter nitrogen dioxide and groundlevel ozone. These results suggest that chronic exposure to air pollution before SARSCoV2 infection may contribute to COVID19 severity particularly chronic exposure to ozone the researchers write. https://globalnews.ca/news/8864147/covid-air-pollution-hospital-study/ 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Independent Covid19 is associated with impaired function of the right side of the heart a new study of intensive care patients has found. The research led by experts from NHS Golden Jubilee aimed to help improve future care and outcomes for those most at risk from Covid19 by gaining a better understanding of the impact the virus has on the sickest patients who require invasive ventilation. The CovidRV study was carried out in 10 intensive care units across Scotland and examined 121 critically ill patients who were receiving treatment on ventilators due to the impact of coronavirus on their system. Researchers found that about one in three of the patients in the study showed evidence of abnormalities in the right side of the heart the area that pumps blood to the lungs. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/covid-nhs-heart-lung-b2085947.html 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The BMJ Covid19 vaccination is effective for cancer patients but protection wanes much more rapidly than in the general population a large study has found. Vaccine effectiveness is much lower in people with leukaemia or lymphoma those with a recent cancer diagnosis and those who have had radiotherapy or systemic anticancer treatments within the past year according to the research published in Lancet Oncology. The authors of the worlds largest real world health system evaluation of covid19 in cancer patients highlighted the importance of booster programmes nonpharmacological strategies and access to antiviral treatment programmes in order to reduce the risk that covid19 poses to cancer patients. The study jointly led by the universities of Birmingham Oxford and Southampton and the UK Health Security Agency included 377194 people with active or recent cancer who had received two doses of a covid19 vaccine of whom 43882 had breakthrough SARSCoV2 infections. The control population consisted of 28010 955 people of whom 5748708 had a breakthrough infection. https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1305 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

BBC News One Christmas Michelle Kibble was given a mug with chaos coordinator printed on the side because she was so busy juggling her fulltime job in a pharmacy with being the main carer for her bedbound father and running a small business with her husband of 25 years Terry. But Michelle and Terrys lives changed forever when Michelle 47 from Swindon almost died after contracting Covid19. It left her disabled she lost her job and became fearful of leaving the house in case she caught the virus again. In her own words Michelle tells the BBC how the trauma has affected her family and how she is managing to cope. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-61517055 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Monday its COVID19 vaccine Vaxzevria has been approved in the European Union by the blocs drugs regulator as a thirddose booster in adults following a committee endorsement last week. The vaccine can now be used as a booster following the twodose Vaxzevria schedule or by those who have been previously vaccinated by an mRNA vaccine such as the ones made by Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/astrazeneca-says-covid-shot-approved-eu-booster-2022-05-23/ 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The U.S. Food and Drug Administration set June 1415 as the new meeting date to review Moderna Incs emergency authorization request for its COVID19 vaccine for children aged 6 months to 5 years and Pfizer Incs vaccine for those aged 6 months through 4 years. The new dates for our pediatric COVID19 vaccine advisory committee meetings will now be June 14 and June 15 the FDA said in a statement Monday. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-sets-june-15-meeting-date-moderna-pfizer-small-children-covid-19-vaccines-2022-05-23/ 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Germanys vaccine advisory panel on Tuesday said one COVID19 shot was enough for healthy five to 11yearolds because most of them had already undergone an infection maintaining its cautious approach. The view by the panel of 18 appointees known as STIKO contrasts with European Union regulators approval for a twoshot regimen in that age group. U.S. regulators last week even authorized a third booster shot for the group https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/germanys-vaccine-panel-says-one-covid-shot-enough-children-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

STAT News As he was treating some of the nations first coronavirus patients Andre Kalil noticed something unusual about the new virus Patients didnt always progress linearly. Theyd get better then worse. Then sometimes better again. Initially most researchers figured these undulating symptoms were collateral damage as a riledup immune system kept firing long after most of the virus was gone. Sometimes though Kalil could swab the lungs of a patient in the ICU and find virus still replicating weeks after they were admitted. Often the amount of virus bounced up and down by the day. I cannot tell you how many times Ive seen patients that late in the disease with very very high viral load said Kalil a physician and professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center home to the nations only federal quarantine center. This virus is different than other viruses in the past. It has the capacity to replicate for much longer. https://www.statnews.com/2022/05/24/paxlovid-rebound-has-covid-researchers-looking-for-theories/ 24th May 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CIDRAP COVID19related multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children MISC was milder amid the Omicron variant surge than during the Alpha and Delta waves in Israel concludes a research letter published late last week in JAMA. Researchers from Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa conducted prospectively studied all pediatric MISC patients at 12 Israeli hospitals during the same 16week period in the Alpha Dec 20 2020 to Apr 10 2021 Delta Jul 18 to Nov 13 2021 and Omicron Nov 21 2021 to Mar 12 2022 pandemic waves. Participating hospitals account for roughly 70 of pediatric intensive care unit ICU admissions in Israel. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/05/kids-covid-syndrome-mis-c-less-severe-omicron 23rd May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

New Zealand Herald There are 8435 new Covid community cases today as the country faces at least five more weeks at the orange traffic light setting. The Ministry of Health reported a further 15 Covidrelated deaths. One of these people was aged in their 40s two were in their 60s one was in their 70s three were in their 80s and eight were aged over 90. The deaths took place over the past four days. There are 327 people in hospital with the virus including 10 in intensive care. The sevenday rolling average of cases today is 7507 compared to 7795 last Tuesday the ministry said. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-8435-new-cases-today-15-virus-related-deaths-cases-how-to-download-updated-vaccine-pass/NRYT6TLMQFHWKZ66ZDLNWP6VSQ/ 24th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Belfast Telegraph The number of deaths involving coronavirus registered in England and Wales has fallen for the second week in a row. Some 719 deaths registered in the seven days to May 13 mentioned Covid19 on the death certificate according to the Office for National Statistics ONS. This is down 2 weekonweek and is the lowest total since midMarch when numbers were just starting to rise due to the surge in infections caused by the Omicron BA.2 variant. The drop comes despite the latest figures including a backlog of deaths that needed to be registered following the bank holiday on May 2 when most council offices were closed. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/covid-19-death-registrations-fall-for-second-week-in-a-row-41682493.html 24th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

The Guardian For almost two years weve been glued to a set of numbers the grim trio of cases hospitalisations and deaths that defined coronavirus in the UK. The daily figures led news reports for more than a year people watched in horror as the height of the Omicron wave brought the highest ever daily caseload on Tuesday 4 January 2022 when 275618 people tested positive. And they saw how many people died a number that peaked on Tuesday 19 January 2021 when 1366 people died making it the the worst day of the pandemic. Since March 2022 case numbers from the daily government dashboard have tumbled. A fall that has coincided with the governments Living with Covid plan as restrictions fell away in England so did cases. The government ended restrictions including the legal requirement to selfisolate on 24 February and cut the provision of free tests on 1 April. https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2022/may/24/are-uk-coronavirus-are-cases-going-down-or-harder-to-count 24th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

ABC News For the first time since North Korea which is unable to confirm COVID19 cases revealed it had a fever outbreak state media is reporting no new deaths and a stable downward trend in cases claims doubted by experts. North Koreas COVID19 wave first declared on May 12 has fuelled concerns over a lack of vaccines inadequate medical infrastructure and a potential food crisis in the country of 25 million. But the North said it was reporting successes in stemming the spread of the virus and there was no new fever deaths reported as of Monday evening despite officials recording 134510 new patients. The statistic marked a third consecutive day the daily figure stayed below 200000. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-24/north-korea-says-covid-19-fever-outbreak-under-control/101095958 24th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters North Korea said on Tuesday there were no new deaths among fever patients in the country the first time since it flagged a COVID19 outbreak nearly two weeks ago adding that it was seeing a stable downward trend in pandemicrelated cases. The COVID19 wave which North Korea first declared on May 12 has fuelled concerns over a lack of vaccines inadequate medical infrastructure and a potential food crisis in the country of 25 million. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/nkorea-reports-another-134510-people-with-fever-amid-covid-outbreak-kcna-2022-05-23/ 24th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Chinas capital Beijing recorded 41 new symptomatic coronavirus cases for May 23 down from 83 a day earlier state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday citing official data. Asymptomatic cases fell to 7 from 16 the previous day it said. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/beijing-reports-41-new-symptomatic-covid-cases-7-asymptomatic-cases-may-23-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Billed a COVID19 success story as its economy boomed through the pandemic Taiwan is now battling a record wave of infections as it eases restrictions that had kept outbreaks at bay to start life with the virus. For the whole of 2021 Taiwan reported less than 15000 locally transmitted cases. Now its registering around 80000 cases a day a startling reversal after the effectiveness of its longstanding zeroCOVID policy won it international praise. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/taiwan-kept-covid-below-15000-cases-all-2021-now-it-has-80000-day-testing-its-2022-05-24/ 24th May 2022