Bill Gates says there's a better way to fight Covid, future pandemics

Bill Gates says there's a better way to fight Covid, future pandemics

A piece of that preparedness puzzle includes optimizing vaccine distribution. COVAX, the world’s vaccine facility, finally has enough doses to allocate and distribute to countries. However, COVAX is still struggling to quickly put shots in arms, particularly in low- and middle-income countries with weaker health systems. Gates said the process should be based on each … Read more

Scrapping free Covid tests risks exposing UK to new variants, scientists warn

The next Covid variant may be much more deadly, warn leading scientists

A top immunologist has warned we will be ‘flying blind’ if free lateral flow tests are scrapped as Britain could be exposed to new variants. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to unveil his living with Covid plan for England next week, which could also see the ending of mandatory isolation for those testing positive … Read more

Nowhere is safe: Record number of patients contracted Covid in the hospital in January

Nowhere is safe: Record number of patients contracted Covid in the hospital in January

A record 4,734 patients were recorded as having caught Covid-19 in-house on Jan. 19. During the January Covid-19 surge a year ago, hospitals reported around 2,000 patients each week on average had contracted Covid during their stay, compared to roughly 3,000 this year. The total number of people who contract Covid-19 while in the hospital … Read more

Biden officials ask Congress for $5B in global Covid funds

Biden officials ask Congress for $5B in global Covid funds

“I am carefully reviewing the information the Biden administration has provided about funding required to respond to the coronavirus,” House Appropriations Chair Pink DeLauro (D-Conn.) told POLITICO in a statement. “I will work with my colleagues to meet these important public health needs at home and around the world.” A USAID spokesperson said in a … Read more

'Feels like Covid pandemic is over and virus has become far less dangerous' says frontline NHS consultant

'Feels like Covid pandemic is over and virus has become far less dangerous' says frontline NHS consultant

An NHS frontline consultant has said it “feels like the pandemic is over” as he backed ending legal self-isolation requirements – but warned scrapping free Covid tests now would be “premature”. Dr Richard Cree, who works in intensive care at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital, said it was “obvious” the virus has become “far less … Read more

Overrun hospitals in Hong Kong forced to leave Covid patients on beds in car parks

Overrun hospitals in Hong Kong forced to leave Covid patients on beds in car parks

Dozens of patients were seen waiting on stretchers outside hospitals in Hong Kong which has recorded an average number of new infections at 2,940 per day Covid patients get treated in Hong Kong hospital Covid patients are being forced to wait outside hospitals in Hong Kong gripped by a surge in Omicron infections. A record … Read more

Newsom rolls out 'next phase' Covid strategy that relies on rapid response

Newsom rolls out 'next phase' Covid strategy that relies on rapid response

Instead, the Democratic governor provided a series of levers that the state expects to use when new variants or surges arise. “We aren’t announcing thresholds of disease transmission that trigger this or that but, rather, we’re announcing what I like to call response metrics that if we need them, these are going to be what … Read more