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☆ WHO says Covid remains a global emergency but pandemic could near its end in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

But WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was hopeful that the world will transition out of the emergency phase of the pandemic this year. The World Health Organization on Monday said Covid-19 remains an global health emergency as the world enters the fourth year of the pandemic. The WHO decision comes after the U.S. earlier this month extended its public health emergency until April. Last month, the WHO chief said the end of the emergency phase of the pandemic is closer than ever before. "We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic.

☆ FDA withdraws Covid antibody treatment Evusheld because it's not effective against 93% of subvariants
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The FDA pulled Evusheld from the market because it is not effective against more than 90% of the Covid subvariants that are currently circulating in the U.S. People with compromised immune systems, such as cancer chemotherapy and organ-transplant patients, are some of the groups most vulnerable to severe disease from Covid. More than 7 million adults in the U.S. have a compromised immune system. He said lawmakers' failure to pass additional Covid funding means there isn't money to invest in new antibodies. President Joe Biden told people with compromised immune systems to consult with a doctor.

☆ China looks past Covid as tourist bookings surge for the Lunar New Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — People in China are moving past the pandemic and going out to travel, preliminary data for the Lunar New Year holiday show. China's Covid "exit wave" is quickly ending as official data show a drop in infections, hospitalizations and deaths, he said. "China has been rapidly reaching its Covid herd immunity, as the government estimates about 80% of the population has already been infected with Covid." The country saw a surge in Covid infections in December, just as Beijing ended nearly three years of stringent contact tracing and border controls. The seven-day Lunar New Year, which officially began Saturday, is the first major holiday since the end of China's Covid restrictions.

☆ China's Covid wave drives up consumer interest in insurance after health system shortfalls
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

For people planning to spend more on that health category, 47% said in December they intend to spend more on health insurance. "This experience is also driving increased interest in commercial health insurance which could cover access to premium private providers," Lipson said. Anecdotes depict a public health system overwhelmed with people at the height of the wave, and long wait times for ambulances. Some of the players in China's health insurance industry include Ping An , PICC and AIA . Hospital fundingHowever, one of the barriers to improving China's public health system is its fragmented financing system, according to Qingyue Meng, executive director at Peking University's China Center for Health Development Studies.

☆ 'Avatar: The Way of Water' is the third James Cameron movie to gross $2 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Disney 's "Avatar: The Way of Water" has topped $2 billion at the global box office, making it the third James Cameron film to reach this benchmark. As of Sunday, "The Way of Water" had tallied $598 million from domestic ticket sales and $1.426 billion from foreign markets. "The film has now joined that very exclusive box office club and has made it look almost effortless," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. As the industry rebounds, films like "The Way of Water" have proven that moviegoers are eager to return for big blockbuster spectacles. Correction: This story was updated to reflect that "The Way of Water" is the third James Cameron movie to gross $2 billion at the global box office.

☆ Fact Check-High numbers of vaccinated hospitalized in Australia not evidence of higher risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Data from Australia on COVID-19 hospitalizations based on vaccination status has circulated online without context, alongside false claims that vaccinated people are at higher risk of hospitalization with the virus than the unvaccinated. The posts also suggested that the more vaccine doses people received, the higher the chance of COVID-19 hospitalization (here, here and here). In Australia as a whole, 97.4% of adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine, while 96% have received two doses (here). The NSW surveillance report does not include an analysis of risk for hospitalization based on vaccination status. Comparisons of New South Wales hospitalization figures based on vaccination status omit the fact that nearly all of the region’s adults are vaccinated against COVID-19.

☆ U.S. Covid-19 Pandemic Enters Fourth Year With Hospitalizations on the Decline
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jon Kamp | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Three years after health authorities announced the first known Covid-19 case in the U.S., the virus behind the disease remains persistent but thus far hasn’t triggered the severity of the waves seen in prior winters. A recent climb in hospitalizations and Covid-19 wastewater readings—two key metrics for spotting trends—appears to have stalled following the quick rise of the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant. The U.S. was gripped in significantly more deadly waves at this point in the last two winters, though currently there are still hundreds of deaths reported each day.

☆ Fact Check-High COVID-19 vaccination rates in New South Wales mean that those admitted to hospital are likely to have been vaccinated
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

High COVID-19 vaccination rates in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, mean that most people admitted to the hospital are likely to have been vaccinated against the virus. New South Wales Health advises that unvaccinated individuals are more likely to experience severe illness from COVID-19. Nearly 100% of over-65s are vaccinated, a spokesperson for NSW Health told Reuters Fact Check by email. Reuters has previously factchecked false claims that a higher proportion of vaccinated people contracting COVID-19 or dying from it reflects vaccine effectiveness (here ) (here). A respiratory surveillance report from New South Wales, Australia, found that nobody admitted to hospital with COVID-19 during a two-week period was confirmed to have been unvaccinated.

Emergency room visits related to three of the most disruptive viruses — the flu, respiratory syncytial virus and Covid — are falling nationwide. "We were really curious to see what this year would look like" following several years of almost no flu, Thomas said. Flu hospitalizations for very young children in Tennessee have already reached peak levels seen in other bad flu seasons, at 12.6 per 100,000, the new study found. While most flu cases so far have been A strains of the virus, B strains tend to pop up by spring. "I do suspect that we will have more bumps in the road this respiratory viral season," Passaretti said.

☆ Moderna, Pfizer's new race: The RSV vaccine FDA approval process
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Both companies have released results from RSV vaccine trials with efficacy results strong enough to expect expedited approval from the FDA. The companies — which have been involved in litigation brought by Moderna alleging mRNA patent infringement, a claim Pfizer disputes — are both expected the FDA approval process for the RSV vaccine to occur soon. We can use the same, the same equipment and raw materials as the Covid vaccine." The RSV approval process is just one part of a widening vaccine industry for these two companies. "Every strain is treated as suspicious and we start working on it to see if it can overcome the vaccine," Bourla said.

☆ Moderna says RSV vaccine is 84% effective at preventing disease in older adults
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Moderna on Tuesday said its vaccine targeting respiratory syncytial virus is effective at preventing disease in older adults. The vaccine was 83.7% effective at preventing lower respiratory tract disease, defined as two or more symptoms, in people ages 60 and older, according to the Boston biotech company. It was 82.4% effective at preventing lower respiratory tract disease with three or more symptoms. Moderna's RSV vaccine uses the same messenger RNA technology as the company's successful Covid shots. Morgan Stanley estimates the market for an adult RSV vaccine is $7 billion to $10 billion.

☆ WHO says its chief spoke with Chinese officials, welcomes COVID-19 data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke with Ma Xiaowei, director of China’s National Health Commission, about the wave of infections which erupted after the country abruptly dismantled its anti-virus regime last month. "WHO appreciates this meeting, as well as the public release of information on the overall situation," the Geneva-based agency said in a statement. The release follows global criticism of China's data. "The reported data indicate a decline in case numbers, hospitalizations, and those requiring critical care. WHO has requested a more detailed breakdown of data by province over time," the agency said.

☆ China reports huge rise in Covid deaths after WHO criticized Beijing for heavily undercounting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The World Health Organization said this week that China was heavily under-reporting deaths from COVID, although it was now providing more information on its outbreak. China, which last reported daily COVID death figures on Monday, has repeatedly defended the veracity of its data on the disease. On Saturday, Jiao said China divides COVID-related deaths between those from respiratory failure due to coronavirus infection and those from underlying disease combined with coronavirus infection. Last month, a Chinese health expert at a government news conference said only deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure after contracting COVID would be classified as COVID deaths. However, he said, it was unclear whether the new data accurately reflects actual fatalities because doctors are discouraged from reporting COVID-related deaths and the numbers include only deaths in hospitals.

A high school football coach in Texas was taken off the job this week after multiple student-athletes had to be hospitalized following a strenuous off-season workout, officials said. Rockwall-Heath HS coach John Harrell was put on paid administrative leave on Tuesday following the workout a week ago Friday that led to player hospitalizations, Rockwall Independent School District representative Renae Murphy said in a statement to NBC News on Friday. Harrell is also athletic coordinator at Rockwall-Heath HS, which is about 25 miles northeast of downtown Dallas. He was named head varsity coach in January 2022 and the Hawks went 7-5 in his season at the helm. The Hawks' final game of the season was a 52-7 loss to DeSoto HS in the 6A DII playoffs on Nov. 17.

☆ UnitedHealth quarterly profit beats as medical costs stay low
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies UnitedHealth Group Inc FollowJan 13 (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) on Friday reported a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by lower medical costs and a boost from its Optum health services unit, which operates the company's pharmacy benefit management business. Health insurers' costs have been in flux during the pandemic, but have eased over the past year as COVID-related hospitalizations have fallen from their peak. Revenue from Optum rose 16.5% to $47.87 billion, aided by strong growth in its health service and pharmacy benefit management business. Optum includes the company's pharmacy benefit management business that helps negotiate the terms of coverage between health insurers, their clients and drug manufacturers. Reporting by Leroy Leo and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden administration extends Covid public health emergency as highly infectious omicron XBB.1.5 spreads
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Eduardo Munoz | ReutersThe Biden administration has extended the Covid-19 public health emergency until April as a highly transmissible omicron subvariant stokes concern that the U.S. may face another wave of hospitalizations from the disease this winter. The U.S. has renewed the Covid public health emergency every 90 days since the Trump administration first issued the declaration in January 2020.watch nowThe emergency declaration has had a vast impact on the U.S. health-care system over the past three years. It has protected public health insurance coverage for millions, provided hospitals with greater flexibility to respond to patient surges and expanded telehealth. Once U.S. officials decide to end the public health emergency, hospitals will lose flexibility in how they deploy staff, add beds and care for patients when there's a surge in admissions. Congress banned states from kicking people off the program for the duration of the public health emergency.

☆ Omicron COVID booster cuts hospitalization in over 65s, Israeli study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The study by researchers from healthcare provider Clalit, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Sapir College has not yet been peer reviewed. The study was carried out from the end of September until mid-December and looked at 622,701 people aged 65 and over who were eligible for the bivalent booster. "Hospitalization due to Covid-19 occurred in 6 bivalent recipients and 297 participants who did not" receive it, the study said. "Participants who received the bivalent vaccine had lower hospitalization and mortality rates due to Covid-19 than non-recipients up to 70 days after vaccination." While the bivalent vaccine targets the original strain and its BA.4/BA.5 Omicron subvariant, scientists have been closely watching another Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, which has been rapidly spreading in the United States.

☆ Successfully applying for Social Security disability is difficult. Applying as a long Covid patient is even trickier
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Social Security disability benefits are generally available to workers who have earned enough credits through payroll taxes — typically 40 credits, though younger workers may qualify with less. Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a federal benefit available to disabled individuals who may not qualify for Social Security disability based on their work records. Allsup, which works with NASA, helped Perry get his Social Security disability benefits application approved. "That can really make or break a Social Security disability case," he said. Social Security disability benefits are aimed at long-term conditions.

☆ Travelers rush to take advantage of China reopening
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

After years of separation from his wife in mainland China, Hong Kong resident Cheung Seng-bun made sure to be among the first in line following the reopening Sunday of border crossing points. Those crossing between Hong Kong and mainland China, however, are still required to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 48 hours — a measure China has protested when imposed by other countries. Hong Kong media reports said around 300,000 travel bookings from the city to mainland China have already been made, with a daily quota of 60,000. "I've been under isolated quarantine for six times in different cities (in mainland China)," said Ivan Tang, a Hong Kong business traveler. Meanwhile, more foreign governments are imposing testing requirements on travelers from China — most recently Germany, Sweden and Portugal.

☆ China suspends social media accounts of Covid policy critics
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

China has suspended or closed the social media accounts of more than 1,000 critics of the government's policies on the COVID-19 outbreak, as the country moves to further open up. The popular Sina Weibo social media platform said it had addressed 12,854 violations including attacks on experts, scholars and medical workers and issued temporary or permanent bans on 1,120 accounts. Nonetheless, China is forging ahead with a plan to end mandatory quarantines for people arriving from abroad beginning on Sunday. On Sunday, the National Health Commission reported 10,681 new domestic cases, bringing the country's total number of confirmed cases to 482,057. China has said the testing requirements being imposed by foreign governments — most recently Germany and Sweden — aren't science-based and has threatened unspecified countermeasures.

☆ NY Fed says China's COVID woes are pressuring supply chains
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The regional Fed bank's December Global Supply Chain Pressure Index ticked down to 1.18 from November's revised 1.23 reading. According to the report, supply chain pressures have been easing notably since the spring of last year and bottomed in September, and have since then been bouncing around in a tight range. Given China's large role in manufacturing, that approach has kept pressure on supply chains over recent months. The report noted that China's recent woes were affecting other Asian economies, and said the future of that nation's impact on supply chains is uncertain. Supply chain pressures as measured by the New York Fed have been generally easing since hitting a peak in the closing months of 2021.

☆ WHO Prods China to Release Reliable Covid-19 Data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Joyu Wang | Liyan Qi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The World Health Organization in a briefing Wednesday urged Beijing to be more transparent about its Omicron outbreak, with some officials questioning the accuracy of the country’s Covid-19 data. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency is concerned about the surge in Covid-19 infections in China and again urged the Chinese government to deliver rapid and reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths.

☆ Biden says he was concerned at how China was handling COVID
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HEBRON, Ky., Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he was concerned by how China was handling the COVID-19 pandemic. China's COVID-19 data is not giving an accurate picture of the situation there and under represents the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease, a senior official at the World Health Organization said earlier in the day. Reporting by Steve Holland, writing by Kanishka Singh, editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant is the most transmissible version of Covid yet, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant that's currently dominating the U.S. is the most contagious version of Covid-19 yet, but it doesn't appear to make people sicker, according to the World Health Organization. "It is the most transmissible subvariant that has been detected yet," Van Kerkhove told reporters during a press conference in Geneva on Wednesday. It has been detected in 29 countries so far but it could be even more widespread, Van Kerkhove said. The WHO's advisory group that tracks Covid variants is conducting a risk assessment on XBB.1.5 that it will publish in the coming days, she said. "The more this virus circulates the more opportunities it will have to change," Van Kerkhove said.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization officials met Chinese scientists on Tuesday amid concerns over the accuracy of China's data on the spread and evolution of its outbreak. China reported five new COVID-19 deaths for Jan. 3, compared with three a day earlier, bringing the official death toll to 5,258, very low by global standards. British-based health data firm Airfinity has said about 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID. Bookings for international flights from China have risen by 145% year-on-year in recent days, the government-run China Daily newspaper reported, citing data from travel booking platform Trip.com. But there are signs that an increase in travel from China could further spread the virus abroad.

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