by Summary for Wednesday, 16th February 2022
Here are the key events from today:
Here are the key events from today:
- The number of new coronavirus cases globally fell by 19% in the last week while the number of deaths remained stable, according to the World Health Organization. The Western Pacific was the only region to report a rise in new weekly cases, an increase of about 19%. The biggest drop was in south-east Asia, where new weekly cases fell by 37%.
- Switzerland will lift almost all its coronavirus pandemic restrictions from Thursday, the government confirmed today. Access to shops, restaurants and cultural institutions will no longer require a Covid certificate. Masks will no longer be required in shops, supermarkets and the workplace. Restrictions on private events will also be relaxed.
- Austria also announced that nearly all remaining Covid restrictions will be lifted on 5 March, including scrapping an earlier closing time of midnight for bars and restaurants and allowing nightclubs to reopen. Unvaccinated people will be able to enter restaurants and non-essential shops if they have been tested.
- The Scottish government has confirmed it will offer Covid vaccinations to all children aged five to 11 years, adding to the pressure on UK ministers to do so in England. The Scottish decision follows an announcement on Tuesday from the devolved government in Wales that it would follow unpublished advice from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that all children in that age group should be jabbed.
- Covid-19 infection levels have fallen slightly in England and Wales, but the trend is uncertain in Scotland and Northern Ireland, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
- China’s president, Xi Jinping, has told Hong Kong’s leaders that their “overriding mission” was to stabilise and control a worsening Covid outbreak, pro-Beijing media reported, as infected patients lay in beds outside overwhelmed hospitals.
- South Korea has once again reported a daily record of 90,443 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, as numbers nearly doubled within a week amid the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
- Malaysia also reported a record 27,831 new infections today, the highest daily rise since the pandemic began, the health ministry said. The previous record was on 26 August last year, when daily cases hit 24,599.
- The Dutch government was inadequately prepared for the Covid pandemic and paid insufficient attention to the threat to people in care homes, an independent inquiry has found. The Dutch Safety Board said authorities in the Netherlands failed to protect the economy, education and culture in the early days of the pandemic, and in particular nursing homes where a “silent disaster” was allowed to unfold.
- About 3,000 British volunteers are being sought to take part in a study for Moderna’s Omicron booster vaccine.
- Two men have appeared in court in the UK accused of selling fake coronavirus test kits. The pair are accused of importing illegal Covid testing kits from China to sell in the UK during the early days of the pandemic when PPE and Covid testing was in short supply.
- The relatively short shelf life of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is complicating the rollout to the world’s poorest nations, according to officials and internal World Health Organization (WHO) documents seen by Reuters. Some countries, particularly in Africa, are struggling to administer the excess doses donated by richer states that arrive with only a few months, and sometimes weeks, before their use-by date.
- Russia reported an increase in Covid infections on Wednesday, with a total of 179,284 new infections and 748 deaths reported over the last 24 hours.
- China’s president, Xi Jinping, has told Hong Kong’s leaders that their “overriding mission” was to stabilise and control a worsening Covid outbreak, pro-Beijing media reported, as infected patients lay in beds outside overwhelmed hospitals.
- South Korea has once again reported a daily record of 90,443 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, as numbers nearly doubled within a week amid the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
- A Japanese government delay in rolling out Covid booster shots left it more vulnerable than other rich countries when the Omicron variant brought a surge of deaths, say experts, local governments and a former vaccine czar.
- British ministers’ plans to scale back free PCR Covid tests could weaken the UK’s defences if a new variant of the virus emerges that results in “significant new waves” of cases, a group representing local public health chiefs has warned.
- Italian doctors will take part in a two-day strike from 1 March against what they called an “unbearable workload” amid the Covid pandemic, Italy’s news agency ANSA reported.
- The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organising Committee said on Wednesday that two new Covid cases were detected among Games-related personnel on 15 February.
by 
61-BLUES
