Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Shanghai residents bristle as authorities turn COVID screws
An uncompromising response to a spike in local COVID-19 cases in the Chinese financial hub of Shanghai is testing the resolve of residents, with a wave of school closures and other draconian measures causing disruptions throughout the city. China’s health authority said another 76 asymptomatic local infections were found in Shanghai on Wednesday, and authorities have been sealing off schools, residential compounds and office blocks as part of a “dynamic clearance” approach aimed at shutting down each new transmission route as soon as it arises.
Hong Kong leader plans to reopen city only after controlling latest COVID outbreak
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday it was not the time to lift a ban on flights from nine countries including the United States and Britain, with plans to reopen the city only after the government controls a deepening coronavirus outbreak. The global financial hub has some of the most draconian restrictions in place to combat a surge in coronavirus cases that has seen the city suffer the most deaths globally per million people in the week to March 7, according to the Our World in Data publication.
U.S. health insurer Anthem plans to rebrand as Elevance Health
Anthem Inc said on Thursday it intends to change its name to Elevance Health Inc, as the company looks to shift its focus beyond the health insurance business. The U.S. health insurer’s rebranding move is not its first, having previously changed its identity from WellPoint Inc around eight years ago.
U.S. to extend airplane, transit mask mandate through April 18
President Joe Biden’s administration will extend requirements for travelers to wear masks on airplanes, trains and in transit hubs through April 18 as public health authorities review when mask requirements should be dropped, the White House confirmed. The move extends the current requirements that were set to expire March 18 by a month.
Africa CDC has MOU with Pfizer for supplies of COVID-19 pill
Africa’s top public health agency has agreed a memorandum of understanding with Pfizer to bring supplies of the pharmaceutical firm’s Paxlovid antiviral COVID-19 pills to the continent, its director said on Thursday. Data from a mid-to-late stage study in November showed Paxlovid was nearly 90% effective in preventing hospitalisations and deaths compared to placebo, in adults at high risk of severe illness.
‘You got rich off our dead bodies’ opioid victims tell Purdue’s Sacklers
Victims of America’s opioid epidemic confronted members of the Sackler family that owns Purdue Pharma on Thursday with wrenching stories of suffering they said was caused by the painkillers that built the company fortune. “You got rich off our dead bodies and told us it was our own fault for dying,” Ryan Hampton told Richard Sackler, a former board member, during a Zoom hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
China’s local symptomatic COVID cases nearly double; curbs start to bite
Mainland China reported 402 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections with confirmed symptoms for March. 9, official data showed on Thursday, nearly doubling from the daily count a day earlier. Of those, 165 were in the northeastern province of Jilin, the National Health Commission said in a statement. That marks the highest daily count for the province since China contained its first national outbreak in early 2020.
Britain outlines terms of COVID-19 inquiry
Britain on Thursday outlined the terms of reference of its planned inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, looking into the preparedness of the country as well as the public health and economic response to the coronavirus. Britain has recorded 19.3 million COVID-19 infections and 162,000 deaths – the seventh highest fatality total globally – and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticised for mishandling England’s three national lockdowns.
Germany reports record COVID-19 cases as curbs set to ease
Germany reported a record number of coronavirus infections on Thursday as the country prepares to lift most remaining restrictions. Germany reported 262,752 new infections, 52,079 more than a week ago, with the seven-day incidence rate rising to 1,389 infections per 100,000 people, from 1,319 a day earlier. Another 259 people died, bringing the total death toll to 125,023.
Pandemic fallout could exacerbate Europe’s drinking problem – WHO
Europe saw a fall in alcohol consumption in the first year of the pandemic, but that decline could reverse in coming years as the economic fallout of COVID-19 takes its toll, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The WHO’s European Health Report, published every three years, said that alcohol consumption decreased in Europe between 2000 and 2019.
(With inputs from agencies.)
