30th Jun 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=692 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

The Wall Street Journal If you could have flown anywhere in the world in 2019 to ride out a hypothetical pandemic you probably wouldnt have picked Norway. In fact when a group of distinguished health experts gathered that year to rank hundreds of countries based on their pandemic readiness they put Norway in 16th place. They were quickly proven wrong. It turned out that few places outperformed expectations more than Norway. Not long ago the World Health Organization published mortality stats from the past two years which showed that nearly every countrys excess death count spiked during the pandemic. Norways barely moved. The Norwegians had pulled off the closest thing possible to an optimal response to the most vexing problems that Covid19 presented. So how did they do it As it happens the Norwegians also wanted to know. https://www.wsj.com/articles/norway-covid-pandemic-commission-11656453506 30th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg China cut in half the length of time inbound travelers must spend in quarantine making it easier for citizens to return and foreign companies to tend to business in the worlds secondlargest economy after twoandahalf years of isolation. Experts on topics from economics to health to business welcomed the move though they said the reduction to 10 days of quarantine from as long as three weeks previously was just a first step toward reintegrating with the world. Health leaders in China said it wasnt a major policy change but a subtle adjustment as the virus itself continues to mutate. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-28/what-experts-say-about-china-s-seismic-covid-quarantine-shift 30th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg On this episode of The Pay Check Bloomberg Digital Originals explores how closed schools and economic hardship created a crisis for young women and girls in Kenya and how an afterschool program in Nairobis biggest informal settlement is creating a safe haven for some of them. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-29/video-the-dance-school-lifting-up-kenya-s-lost-girls-of-covid 30th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters on MSN.com Online searches for air tickets on international routes with China surged after Beijing unexpectedly said it would slash COVID19 quarantine norms travel platforms said on Wednesday a sign of pentup demand after two years of tough curbs. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/searches-for-overseas-flights-surge-after-china-shortens-quarantine/ar-AAYZhdi 30th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Online searches for Chinese airline tickets on domestic and international routes surged on Wednesday after Beijing said it would slash COVID19 quarantine requirements and made changes to a statemandated mobile app used for local travel. The unexpected moves mark a significant easing of rigid curbs that have severely curtailed travel and battered Chinas economy although tough measures remain in place including a scarcity of international flights and many social media users voiced caution. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/searches-overseas-flights-surge-after-china-shortens-quarantine-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Restaurants and eateries in Chinas largest city Shanghai begun reopening their doors to diners on Wednesday bringing widespread relief to an industry that was badly hit by the citys two month COVID19 lockdown. Large chains such as hot pot brand Haidilao fine dining establishments and family owned eateries had started scrubbing tableware and getting uniforms laundered since Saturday when authorities announced the curbs were lifting a month after the citys lockdown eased on June 1. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/widespread-relief-shanghais-restaurant-sector-dine-in-resumes-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters With two days to go until opening to the public workers rush to put the finishing touches on the Kwena Square shopping complex a shiny 13 million sign that South Africans are defying the global retail apocalypse. Not even COVID19 could separate them from their beloved malls. I love going to the mall with my daughter and my grandkids said 54yearold Kowie Erasmus whos eagerly awaiting Fridays grand opening of Johannesburgs Kwena Square which broke ground at the height of the pandemic. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/covid-cant-break-south-africas-love-affair-with-shopping-malls-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters Japanese retail sales rose for a third straight month in May reinforcing views that strong consumption will lead an economic rebound this quarter although rising inflation poses a risk to household spending for the rest of 2022. Retail sales rose 3.6 in May from a year earlier government data showed on Wednesday slightly higher than the median market forecast for a 3.3 gain. It followed an upwardly revised 3.1 increase in April and marked the third month of advancement since March when the government lifted all coronavirus restrictions on facetoface services. https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/japan-may-retail-sales-rise-faster-than-expected-covid-curbs-ease-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg Since November 2020 Bloombergs Covid Resilience Ranking has tracked the best and worst places to be during the pandemic using a range of datapoints to capture a monthly snapshot of how the worlds biggest economies were handling this onceinageneration health crisis. Twenty editions in the virus has become something most countries are living with. After nearly two years of fluctuationduring which the top and bottom of the Ranking shifted as the pandemic shapechangedplaces have largely settled into their permanent positions drawing the project to a natural close. June 2022 will be our last update. In a reflection of how far weve come since the coronavirus first emerged in central China this months top ranked are those most effectively putting the pandemic in the rearview mirror with the fewest scars. Theyve been able to reopen their borders and economies without a substantial spike in deaths. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/?srnd=premium-uk 29th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg China reduced quarantine times for inbound travelers by half the biggest shift yet in a Covid19 policy that has left the worlds secondlargest economy isolated as it continues to try and eliminate the virus. Travelers will now only need to spend seven days in a quarantine facility and then monitor their health at home for a further three days according to a revised government protocol released Tuesday by Chinas National Health Commission. Thats down from 14 days hotel quarantine in many parts of China currently and as many as 21 days of isolation in the past. The change which still leaves China an outlier in a world that has mostly adjusted to living with the virus comes after Beijing and Shanghai said they had no new locallytransmitted Covid infections on Monday for the first time since February following months of bruising curbs. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-28/china-cuts-quarantine-in-half-for-travelers-and-close-contacts 28th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Ireland agreed on Tuesday to put the army on standby to help with security at Dublin airport should staffing be hit by a resurgence of COVID19 during the rest of the busy summer travel period. Irelands main airport is one of many around Europe that has struggled to hire staff fast enough to deal with a sharp rebound in travel although it has had relatively few issues since more than 1000 passengers missed their flights in a single day last month https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ireland-puts-army-standby-help-dublin-airport-amid-covid-surge-2022-06-28/ 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

The Jerusalem Post European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is no longer in possession of text messages that she exchanged with Pfizer chief Albert Bourla to seal a COVID19 vaccine deal the Commission said in a letter published on Wednesday. In an interview in April 2021 von der Leyen revealed she had exchanged texts with Bourla for a month when they were negotiating a massive vaccine contract. But in response to a public access request by a journalist because of the importance of the deal the Commission did not share the texts triggering accusations of maladministration by the EUs ombudsman Emily OReilly. The Commission can confirm that the search undertaken by the Presidents cabinet for relevant text messages corresponding to the request for access to documents has not yielded any results the EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova said in the letter to the ombudsman an EU watchdog. https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/article-710702 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

TIME COVID19 vaccines for some of the youngest children in the U.S. are now rolling out and parents are faced with a new question Moderna or PfizerBioNTech Both of the mRNA shotswhich are now authorized for kids ages 6 months and upare effective at preventing severe illness and they both help prevent symptomatic infections. They offer vital protection in this age group even for kids who have already recovered from COVID19. The vaccines provide protection against a broader variety of variants than a previous infection which generally provides protection mostly against the variant that you had says Dr. Alissa Kahn a pediatric hematologist and oncologist in Paterson N.J. https://time.com/6190753/covid-19-vaccine-kids-pfizer-or-moderna/ 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

CNBC For months the country has been waiting on a pandemic turning point and it might be here in the form of kids under age 5 becoming eligible for Covid vaccines. Just dont expect it to make Covid disappear overnight experts say. Covid vaccines for small children are absolutely a game changer for some families Andrew Noymer an associate professor of population health and disease prevention at the University of California Irvine tells CNBC Make It. But this isnt the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle unfortunately. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/28/how-covid-vaccines-for-kids-under-5-can-help-end-the-pandemic-experts.html 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

ABC on MSN.com A North Korean defector group in Seoul claimed on Tuesday to have launched air balloons carrying medical supplies near the interKorean border. The Fighters for Free North Korea an activist group of North Korean defectors who send antipropaganda leaflets across the border said they flew 20 air balloons carrying 50000 pain relief pills 30000 vitamin C and 20000 N95 masks. Dispatching unauthorized materials at the border is against the law in South Korea. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/defectors-sends-balloons-carrying-medicine-to-north-korea-defying-law-in-south/ar-AAZ03wn 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Chinese president Xi Jinping said the ruling Communist Partys strategy to tackle the COVID19 pandemic was correct and effective and should be firmly adhered to the official news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday. China with its large population would have suffered unimaginable consequences had it adopted a strategy of lying flat the agency quoted Xi as saying during a visit on Tuesday to the central city of Wuhan where the virus was first reported. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-xi-says-covid-strategy-is-correct-effective-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Taiwan will take delivery of its first doses of the Novavax Inc COVID19 vaccine this week received under the COVAX sharing scheme the government said on Wednesday. Taiwans Central Epidemic Command Centre said the 504000 doses would arrive on Thursday at Taipeis main international airport. Taiwan is scheduled to receive 2.268 million doses of the Novavax vaccine in batches this year through the COVAX mechanism it added. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/taiwan-receive-first-doses-novavax-covid-vaccine-this-week-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters A statemandated Chinese mobile app that shows whether or not an individual has travelled in a city with COVIDaffected areas will no longer specify such travel history the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Wednesday. The asterisk mark indicating an individual has travelled in a city with COVID19 cases will no longer appear on the app as part of efforts to make domestic travel more convenient the ministry said. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-removes-indication-travel-through-covid-hit-cities-mobile-app-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Norway recommends a booster COVID19 vaccine dose to those who are 75 years and older in response to a rising number of cases the government said on Wedneday. Local municipalities should also plan to be able to offer a booster jab which for most people would mean a fourth shot to citizens from 65 years and up and to people with an underlying disease from Sept 1 it added. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/norway-recommends-booster-covid-shot-those-aged-75-older-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters Eli Lilly and Co said on Wednesday it will supply additional doses of its COVID19 antibody drug to the U.S. government in order to meet demand through late August. As per the modified supply agreement with the government Lilly will provide an additional 150000 doses of bebtelovimab for about 275 million. The drug has also shown effectiveness against the Omicron variant. The FDA authorized the drug earlier this year for emergency use in patients with mildtomoderate COVID19 who are at high risk of progression to severe disease including hospitalization or death. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eli-lilly-supply-additional-doses-covid-antibody-drug-us-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

The Washington Post Sen. Ted Cruz RTex. shared the clip on Twitter and blasted the popular PBSHBO childrens show for allowing Elmo to aggressively advocate for vaccinating children UNDER 5. He added You cite ZERO scientific evidence for this. The internet was quickly filled with comments on Cruz vs. Elmo with one person tweeting Im here for the rightwing meltdown because a puppet got vaccinated. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/29/ted-cruz-elmo-sesame-street-covid-vaccine/ 29th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

The Associated Press A Paris court ruled on Tuesday that the French government failed to sufficiently stock up on surgical masks at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and prevent the virus from spreading. The ruling came as the number of registered infections with coronavirus variants rises sharply. It wasnt immediately clear if the decision will lead to any specific sanctions for the government. Officials across France are contemplating new measures including an indoor mask mandate in some cities to curb the spread of the virus but keep the economy open amid the summer tourism season. https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-france-paris-pandemics-05815a2e1122926a778073d6d19af32c 29th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

The Guardian The delayed public inquiry into the UKs handling of the Covid19 pandemic has been launched after Boris Johnson accepted calls to widen the terms of reference to consider its unequal impact on minorityethnic people on children and on mental health. The inquiry chair Heather Hallett and her team of 12 QCs have begun work under the terms of the Inquiries Act which makes it an offence to destroy or tamper with evidence. She will be joined by two panellists to be appointed by Johnson although she had argued for presiding alone. The launch of what is expected to be one of the largest public inquiries conducted in the UK comes days after campaigners for the bereaved threatened legal action against the government over the delay to the prime ministers commitment to set the inquiry up in spring 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/28/delayed-public-inquiry-into-uks-covid-19-response-opens 29th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Guardian Doctors have treated the first UK patient in a reopened clinical trial that will explore whether blood plasma from super donors can help fight Covid in those with weakened immune systems. Super donors produce exceptionally high levels of antibodies after infection and vaccination and there are hopes that transfusions of their blood plasma can wipe out the virus in people whose own immune systems are compromised. While two landmark trials known as Recovery and RemapCap found that convalescent plasma from people who recovered from Covid did not benefit other patients a closer look at the RemapCap data showed that plasma with the highest levels of antibodies might help the immunosuppressed. The findings prompted doctors to reopen the plasma arm of the RemapCap trial to investigate specifically whether donated plasma with extremely high levels of antibodies can save the lives of people with weakened immune systems and reduce the amount of time they spend in intensive care. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/30/doctors-treat-first-uk-patient-covid-super-donor-blood-trial-antibodies 30th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Independent The UK is facing its fifth wave of Covid infections experts have warned as cases hit 1.8m in the latest weekly figures a 23 per cent climb weekonweek. More worryingly hospital admissions have increased 31 per cent climbing at a higher rate than the last Omicron revival back in March. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-cases-uk-compared-country-b2112163.html 30th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Washington Post Its time to update coronavirus vaccines to better match the variants currently driving the pandemic outside experts told the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday. The independent scientists and physicians endorsed an updated omicron vaccine by a 192 vote. Despite the overwhelming agreement that it is time to change the vaccine many experts said they felt frustrated and hamstrung by the need to make a decision quickly to prepare for fall with limited data. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/06/28/covid-vaccine-fall-update-booster/ 29th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Germanys BioNTech Pfizers partner in COVID19 vaccines said the two companies would start tests on humans of nextgeneration shots that protect against a wide variety of coronaviruses in the second half of the year. Their experimental work on shots that go beyond the current approach include Tcellenhancing shots designed to primarily protect against severe disease if the virus becomes more dangerous and pancoronavirus shots that protect against the broader family of viruses and its mutations. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/biontech-pfizer-starting-testing-universal-coronavirus-vaccine-h2-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters South Korea approved its first domestically developed COVID19 vaccine manufactured by SK bioscience Co Ltd for general public use following positive clinical data authorities said on Wednesday. The SKYCovione vaccine was authorised for a twodose regimen on people aged 18 or older with shots given four weeks apart according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. In a phase III clinical trial of 4037 adults SKYCovione induced neutralizing antibody responses against the SARSCoV2 parental strain SK bioscience said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/skorea-approves-first-domestically-developed-covid-vaccine-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended a change in the design of COVID19 booster shots this fall in order to combat more recently circulating variants of the coronavirus. The FDAs Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 192 that the next wave of COVID booster shots should include a component that targets the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-advisers-meet-discuss-design-future-covid-vaccines-2022-06-28/ 29th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

BBC News Face masks have been reintroduced at some Nottinghamshire hospitals just two weeks after they were dropped. Mask policy had been relaxed in all but highrisk areas of Sherwood Forest Hospitals three sites as part of a phased return to prepandemic policies. But a rise in covid cases among staff and patients at Kings Mill Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals has led to the decision being reversed. Bosses said they would keep face mask and visiting requirements under review. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-61983190 29th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

CIDRAP The Food and Drug Administration FDA outside advisory committee today recommended that new booster shot versions include an Omicron variant component as newer subvariants expand their footprint and the nation faces an uncertain fall and winter with the virus. In its weekly update today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC said the proportion of BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants increased sharply last week mainly due to BA.5. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/06/fda-advisers-call-omicron-update-covid-boosters 28th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Bristol Live Bristol is not immune to this rise in covid cases and two areas in particular are now above 400 cases per 100000 people Stapleton 423.8 and Downend South 512. These numbers are for the seven days ending June 23 the most recent date for which data is available and are likely to have increased further in the days since. Most of central Bristol is between 100 and 199 cases per 100000 people during the same time period while the citys suburbs and outer areas are slightly higher at between 200 and 399 cases per 100000 people. The areas with the lowest case rates are Hengrove 98.9 per 100000 Lawrence Weston 96.5 per 100000 Barton Hill 83.6 per 100000 and Lockleaze 78.5 per 100000. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/health/bristol-covid-latest-cases-spike-7271733 30th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

The Wall Street Journal The Biden administration has agreed to pay 3.2 billion for 105 million doses of Pfizer Inc.s Covid19 vaccine. The deal would provide supplies for the federal governments planned fall booster campaign which administration officials are devising to blunt a potential wave in cases possibly driven by variants of the Omicron strain now spreading across the U.S. Under the deal the federal government would have the option to buy 195 million additional doses the Health and Human Services Department said Wednesday. Pfizer which developed and makes the vaccine with partner BioNTech SE would make whatever type of vaccine federal health regulators decide should be featured in the fall campaign. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-agrees-to-pay-3-2-billion-for-more-pfizer-covid-vaccines-11656535593 30th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

CBC.ca on MSN.com Quebecs public health director Dr. Luc Boileau will be holding a news conference at 1130 a.m. today as the province sees an uptick in hospitalizations related to COVID19. On Tuesday the province reported 1226 hospitalizations an increase of 113 since Friday and 36 people in intensive care. It also reported five more deaths. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/quebec-reports-uptick-in-covid-19-hospitalizations-amid-rise-of-new-variants-nationwide/ar-AAYZPnq 29th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters Hong Kong reported more than 2000 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday the highest since April as daily COVID19 cases rise ahead of celebrations to mark the citys 25th anniversary of its handover to China. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/hong-kong-daily-covid-cases-rise-above-2000-highest-since-april-2022-06-29/ 29th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Sky News A number of Glastonbury Festival revellers have reported testing positive for COVID19 in the days after the music event. An estimated 200000 music fans flocked to Worthy Farm in east Somerset for the 37th iteration of Glastonbury last week. Crowds gathered to watch headliners Billie Eilish Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar along with scores of other artists for the worlds biggest outdoor festival. Following three years of cancellations due to COVID restrictions tens of thousands of music fans did not hold back as they soaked up their favourite artists shoulder to shoulder with other fans. But the fun was soon over after many revellers took to Twitter to report bringing COVID19 home with them. https://news.sky.com/story/scores-of-glastonbury-revellers-test-positive-for-covid-as-experts-warn-of-fifth-wave-12642755 29th Jun 2022