Category: COVID-19

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-Top News COVID-19 UK News

First Covid inquiry report to show plan failures

During the hearings for this module, last year, 69 experts and politicians, including former Prime Minister David Cameron and Health Secretaries Jeremy Hunt and Matt Hancock, gave evidence…reports Asian Lite News

The failures and weaknesses in the UK’s pandemic preparations are expected to be laid out in the first report published by the Covid inquiry. Baroness Hallett, who is chairing the public inquiry, will set out her findings at lunchtime.

Her report will cover the state of the healthcare system, stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the planning that was in place. It is the first of at least nine reports covering everything from political decision-making to vaccines and the impact on children.

During the hearings for this module, last year, 69 experts and politicians, including former Prime Minister David Cameron and Health Secretaries Jeremy Hunt and Matt Hancock, gave evidence.

The inquiry heard much of the UK preparations had been based on planning for a flu virus. This meant an over-reliance on vaccines and antivirals that would have no impact on a Covid virus and an acceptance only so much could be done to curb the spread of a new virus.

Hunt told the inquiry the UK should have been paying more attention to Asian countries such as Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea, which had seen earlier outbreaks of two other coronaviruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers).

Those countries suppressed the initial wave of Covid more effectively, by rolling out targeted test, trace and quarantine systems and establishing border controls.

And this helped reduce the number of deaths and limited the use of lockdowns. Another issue Lady Hallett is likely to address is why the government failed to act on the recommendations made when the civil service ran Exercise Alice, in 2016, simulating a major Mers outbreak.

Witnesses were also critical of austerity and the state it had left the NHS and public health systems in. England’s former chief medical officer Prof Dame Sally Davies was heavily critical of the state of the NHS, saying it had fewer doctors, nurses, beds and ventilators than in similar countries.

And University College epidemiology professor Michael Marmot said the UK had entered the pandemic with “depleted” public services, leaving it less able to cope. But George Osborne, the Chancellor between 2010 and 2016, told the inquiry austerity had meant the UK had had the financial resources to deal with the pandemic.

The inquiry heard a number of Department of Health workstreams relating to pandemic planning had been paused or slowed as planning for a no-deal Brexit had been prioritised.

But former cabinet minister Michael Gove said Brexit planning had increased staffing and made departments work more closely together. And former Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the same work had secured medical supply chains and prevented hospitals running out of some intensive-care drugs.

Prof Adam Kucharski, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who advised the government during the pandemic, told BBC News preparedness was a crucial issue and the report’s findings would require action. “We’re going to face more pandemic threats in future,” he said.

“We need to ask the question, ‘If there’s a pandemic next year, what do we want a good response to look like and what do we need to be putting in place now to ensure that response is feasible?’”

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

Biden Positive for COVID-19

Biden is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms….reports Asian Lite News

US President Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19 following his first event in Las Vegas, the White House said on Wednesday.

Biden is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms.

“He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to Biden’s doctor, the President presented on Wednesday afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorrhea (runny nose) and a non-productive cough.

“He (President Biden) felt okay for his first event of the day, but given that he was not feeling better, point of care testing for Covid-19 was conducted, and the results were positive… Given this, the President will be self-isolating in accordance with CDC guidance for symptomatic individuals,” the doctor was quoted in the statement.

“PCR confirmation testing will be pending. His symptoms remain mild, his respiratory rate is normal at 16, his temperature is normal at 97.8 and his pulse oximetry is normal at 97 per cent. The President has received his first dose of Paxlovid. He will be self-isolating at his home in Rehoboth,” said the doctor.

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-Top News COVID-19 Health

Protein Behind Fatigue in Long Covid, Alzheimer’s Identified

The study, conducted in fruit flies and mice, also identified ways to block this process. This may help physicians treat or prevent muscle wasting caused by bacterial infections, Alzheimer’s disease, and long Covid…reports Asian Lite News

US researchers have identified a protein responsible for causing fatigue in people with long Covid, Alzheimer’s and other diseases.

While infections and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s are known to cause inflammation in the brain, the patients often develop muscle problems that seem to be independent of the central nervous system.

A team led by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that it is caused by a specific protein that travels from the brain to the muscles and leads to loss of muscle function.

The study, conducted in fruit flies and mice, also identified ways to block this process. This may help physicians treat or prevent muscle wasting caused by bacterial infections, Alzheimer’s disease, and long Covid.

Aaron Johnson, Associate professor of developmental biology explained that when people are ill, “messenger proteins from the brain travel through the bloodstream and reduce energy levels in skeletal muscle.”

The “process reduces energy levels in skeletal muscle, decreasing the capacity to move and function normally”, he said, in the study, published in the journal Science Immunology.

For the study, the team modelled three different types of diseases — an E. coli bacterial infection, a SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, and Alzheimer’s.

They found that when the brain is exposed to inflammation, it builds up damaging chemicals called reactive oxygen species. This causes brain cells to produce an immune-related molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6), which travels throughout the body via the bloodstream.

In mice, IL-6 was responsible — and the corresponding protein in fruit flies — for reducing energy production in muscles’ mitochondria, known as the cells’ energy factories.

They also found that IL-6 activates what is called the JAK-STAT pathway in muscle, and this is what causes the reduced energy production of mitochondria.

Currently, several therapeutics already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for other diseases can block this pathway, the team said.

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

Kamala Harris’ husband tests positive for Covid

Second Gentleman on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19 after experiencing mild symptoms…reports Asian Lite News

US Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff recently tested positive for Covid-19, the latter’s office has announced. 

In a statement on Sunday, Emhoff’s Communications Director Liza Acevedo said the Second Gentleman on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19 after experiencing mild symptoms.

“He is fully vaccinated and three times boosted,” she said, adding that the Second Gentleman is “currently asymptomatic, continuing to work remotely, and remaining away from others at home”.

“Out of an abundance of caution, yesterday (on Saturday), the Vice President was tested for Covid-19. She tested negative and remains asymptomatic,” Acevedo said.

Emhoff was photographed at the White House standing near Harris, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden during the Independence Day celebration on Thursday.

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Business COVID-19 India News

Employment Surges in India’s Non-Agricultural Sector Post-Covid

During the same period, the gross value of output (GVO) per establishment also increased from Rs 3,98,304 to Rs 4,63,389…reports Asian Lite News

India’s unincorporated non-agricultural sector has registered a robust increase in employment with both manufacturing and services segments recording a significant expansion in establishments in the post-Covid period, according to a survey released by the Ministry of Statistics on Friday.  

“The unincorporated non-agricultural sector employed about 11 crore workers from October 2022 to September 2023, up from 9.8 crore in 2021-22, showing a healthy labour market growth. This 7.8 per cent annual growth demonstrates the sector’s capacity to generate employment,” the survey said.

Sector-wise, the maximum annual growth in employment during the period was observed in the ‘other services’ sector (13. 42 per cent), followed by the manufacturing sector (6.34 per cent).

According to the survey, the estimated number of establishments grew by 5.88 per cent from October 2022 to September 2023 in comparison to April 2021 to March 2021. Construction activity was excluded from the figures.

The majority of the workers in the non-agricultural unincorporated sector are informal workers. The survey shows that the average annual earnings for informal workers rose to Rs 1,10,982 in 2022-23 from Rs 1,06,381 in 2021-22. This reflects improved wage conditions in the informal sector, the survey said.

During the same period, the gross value of output (GVO) per establishment also increased from Rs 3,98,304 to Rs 4,63,389.

This indicates increased productivity with more efficient use of resources, including labour, which is critical for sustained economic growth and competitiveness, the survey pointed out.

The gross value added (GVA) also grew by 9.83 per cent (at current price) during this period.

The unincorporated non-agricultural sector plays a pivotal role in the Indian economy, contributing significantly to employment, gross domestic product, and the overall socio-economic landscape.

The sector also supports the incorporated sector by acting as suppliers and service providers, thereby forming an integral part of the domestic value chain, the survey added.

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COVID-19 Health Lite Blogs

Breakthrough Covid Infections Boost Immunity

Covid vaccines are given in the upper arm, which means immune cells fighting the virus develop far away from the upper respiratory system…reports Asian Lite News

The immune cells of people who received Covid 19 vaccines and also experienced “breakthrough” or repeated infections can build an “immunity wall” against future SARS-CoV-2 infections, according to scientists.

Analysing blood samples, the team at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) in California, US, found that people who experienced symptomatic breakthrough infections, from the Delta and Omicron variants, developed T-cells that are better at recognising and targeting SARS-CoV-2.

“The virus evolves, but, importantly, so does the immune system. T-cells do not sit idle. Instead, they learn to recognise the parts of the virus that mutate,” said Alessandro Sette, Professor at LJI.

The researchers noted that due to multiple infections, “the cells could recognise multiple features, or antigens, on SARS-CoV-2.” As a result, the volunteers’ T-cells could recognise and target SARS-CoV-2, “even if part of it was mutated.”

The study published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine showed that even asymptomatic breakthrough infections boost T-cell responses, however, the effect was not as significant.

Further, breakthrough infections also led B-cells to produce cross-reactive antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Most of these antibodies targeted the new viral variants and the original vaccine antigens.

“New B-cell responses that are only specific to the infecting variant, but not the vaccine, are very rare,” said LJI Instructor Parham Ramezani-Rad.

Importantly, the researchers discovered that breakthrough infections add more layers of protection to an individual “on top of a vaccine.”

Covid vaccines are given in the upper arm, which means immune cells fighting the virus develop far away from the upper respiratory system.

But, SARS-CoV-2 first infects the upper respiratory tract, which means there can be a delay in getting the right immune cells to the scene of infection, which the breakthrough infections can guard, explained the researchers.

The researchers found no evidence of harmful “T-cell exhaustion,” where T-cells lose their ability to target a pathogen after repeated infection.

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COVID-19 Health

‘AstraZeneca vaccine increases another rare blood clot risk’

New research from Flinders University and international experts shows that PF4 antibodies in both adenovirus infection-associated VITT and classic adenoviral vector VITT have identical molecular signatures…reports Asian Lite News

British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, made in collaboration with Oxford University has been found to raise the risk of vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) — a rare but fatal blood clotting disorder, claimed researchers on Thursday.

While not new, VITT emerged as a new disease following adenovirus vector-based Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine — sold as Covishield in India and Vaxzevria in Europe — at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2021.

“An unusually dangerous blood autoantibody directed against a protein termed platelet factor 4 (or PF4)” was found as the reason for VITT.

In separate research in 2023, scientists from Canada, North America, Germany and Italy described a virtually identical disorder with the same PF4 antibody that was fatal in some cases after natural adenovirus (common cold) infection.

Now in a new research, Flinders University in Australia and other international experts found that the PF4 antibodies in both adenovirus infection-associated VITT and classic adenoviral vector VITT share identical molecular fingerprints or signatures.

“Indeed, the pathways of lethal antibody production in these disorders must be virtually identical and have similar genetic risk factors,” said Professor Tom Gordon from Flinders

The researcher noted that the “findings have the important clinical implication that lessons learned from VITT are applicable to rare cases of blood clotting after adenovirus (a common cold) infections, as well as having implications for vaccine development”.

The same team had in a 2022 study “cracked the molecular code of the PF4 antibody and identified a genetic risk factor”.

Their new findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also have important implications for improving vaccine safety.

The research comes after AstraZeneca “accepted, in a legal document submitted to the High Court in February, that its Covid vaccine ‘can, in very rare cases, cause Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Syndrome (TTS)’.”

TTS is a rare side effect that can cause people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count. It has been linked to the death of at least 81 people in the UK as well as hundreds of serious injuries.

The company has also voluntarily withdrawn “marketing authorisation” of its Covid vaccine from Europe and other global markets.

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-Top News China COVID-19

‘Chinese Lab Mapped Covid Virus Weeks Prior’


Reports from US HHS documents shared with Congress raise concerns about China’s transparency on the virus, questioning what China knew, when, and the time lost in developing tests and treatments….reports Asian Lite News

A team of Chinese researchers identified and mapped SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the deadly Covid-19 pandemic and continues to infect people worldwide, at least two weeks before the country officially informed the world about the virus, according to media reports.

The reports, based on federal documents from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and shared with a US congressional committee, raise concerns about China’s transparency on the virus — how much China knew about the virus and since when, and the time lost to develop tests and treatment to fight the virus.

The congressional investigators said that a Chinese researcher in Beijing uploaded an incomplete sequence of the virus’s structure to a US government-run database in December 2019 — a period where Chinese officials were publicly describing the disease outbreak in Wuhan as a viral pneumonia “of unknown cause”, the Wall Street Journal reported.

On December 28, 2019, Lili Ren, a virologist at the Institute of Pathogen Biology of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, submitted a genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to GenBank — a publicly accessible database of genetic sequences overseen by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Three days later GenBank informed Ren in an email that her submission was incomplete and requested that she provide the complete information, Washington Post reported.

As Ren did not submit the requested annotations, her submission was deleted from GenBank’s processing queue on January 16, 2020.

A “nearly identical” genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 was submitted to GenBank by a separate team of Chinese researchers and was published on January 12, 2020, revealed a letter sent by Melanie Anne Egorin, a senior official at the HHS, sent to House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders and that was made public on Wednesday.

According to public health experts who reviewed the documents, this was a missed opportunity to learn more about the virus at the beginning of the global health emergency, the Washington Post reported.

The failure to publish the genetic sequence submitted by Ren is “retroactively painful,” Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, was quoted as saying.

Bloom noted that the genetic sequences may have expedited new tests and vaccines to combat the coronavirus.

“That two weeks would have made a tangible difference in quite a few people’s lives,” Bloom said.

More than three years after the pandemic, the origins of Covid-19 remain unclear. It has been the subject of a political and scientific debate with scientists and politicians globally contending that the source of the coronavirus was exposure to an infected animal or an event at a laboratory.

“I don’t think this submission tells us anything about the origin of SARS-CoV-2,” Bloom said. “What I think this shows … (is) the Chinese government wasn’t immediately transparent about how quickly they learned about the cause of this outbreak.”

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-Top News China COVID-19

China Braces for January Covid-19 Rebound

A resident collects medicine at a fever clinic in Kaifu District of Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Dec. 20, 2022. Fever clinics have been set up in cities including Xi'an and Changsha to provide timely treatment to patients with COVID-19 symptoms. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)


Mi Feng from the National Health Commission reported a varying decrease in patients at fever clinics nationwide since New Year’s Day….reports Asian Lite News

 China is likely to see a rebound in Covid-19 infections in January, and the highly transmissible JN.1 variant will become the dominant strain, health authorities have said.

At a press briefing on Sunday, Mi Feng, a spokesperson with the National Health Commission, said that since the New Year’s Day, the number of patients received at fever clinics in medical institutions across the country has shown a fluctuating downward trend, Global Times reported.

Currently, the country is majorly seeing influenza cases, while the Covid cases are at a relatively low level.

However, recent data from the multi-channel monitoring system showed the proportion of the JN.1 variant strain having an upward trend, Wang Dayan, director of the China National Influenza Center, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) was quoted as saying.

Due to continuous importation of the JN.1 variant strain, a gradual decrease in domestic influenza, and a decline in population immunity, the Covid-19 epidemic may rebound in January, with the JN.1 variant highly likely to develop into the dominant variant in China, Wang said.

Wang also noted that southern provinces in China entered the influenza season in early October, followed by northern provinces in late October. Initially, the predominant circulating strain was the H3N2 subtype influenza virus. But, in the past three weeks, the proportion of influenza B virus in southern provinces has increased to 36.8 per cent, and in the past five weeks, the proportion in northern provinces has risen to 57.7 per cent.

In some provinces, the proportion of influenza B virus has exceeded that of influenza A, the report said.

Wang Guiqiang, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Peking University First Hospital, told a news conference on Sunday that since winter is the peak season for respiratory infectious diseases, the immunity established after infection with various pathogens is not long-lasting, so repeated infections may occur.

However, the symptoms of a second infection with the same pathogen are often milder.

Different pathogen infections may worsen the condition, especially after damage to the upper respiratory mucosal barrier, which may lead to secondary bacterial infections. For the elderly and those with underlying diseases, infection with Covid-19 or influenza may worsen their underlying conditions, said Wang, stressing that they should pay more attention to early intervention and diagnosis of respiratory diseases.

Feng added that with the approaching winter vacation and Spring Festival, the large-scale movement and gathering of people may accelerate the spread of respiratory diseases, so it is necessary to strengthen monitoring and early warning, the report said.

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-Top News COVID-19 India News

India Reports 602 New Covid Cases, 511 of JN.1 Series Variant

Over 10 per cent of people with Covid in the UK consistently reported anxiety or excess worrying since early November, revealed the winter Covid report from the ONS…reports Asian Lite News

India has recorded 602 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, pushing the the total number of active cases to 4,440 on Wednesday.

The country had recorded 865 new cases on May 19.

Five new fatalities — one each from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, two from Kerala — have been reported in the span of 24 hours, according to the ministry’s data.

As of now, the total number of coronavirus cases in India, since the outbreak in January 2020, has reached 4,50,15, 083.

The death toll related to Covid cases in the country has risen to 5,33,371.

The new variant, JN.1 subvariant is descendent of the Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.86 or Pirola, with Kerala being the first state to report a case.

“A total of 511 cases of the JN.1 series variant have been reported from 11 states till January 2. Karnataka has reported 199 cases of the sub-variant. Kerala has reported 148 cases. 47 cases have been reported from Goa, 36 from Gujarat, 32 from Maharashtra,” the health ministry has said.

The overall recovery from Covid has reached over 4.4 crore individuals, reflecting a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent.

The country has administered a total of 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines, as per the available data.

Symptoms

Health authorities in the UK have identified anxiety and trouble in sleeping as new symptoms of the latest Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1, according to a report.

JN.1, from the lineage of Omicron, was first detected in August and is currently present in over 40 countries.

It has been classified as a variant of interest (VOI) by the World Health Organisation (WHO), due to its rapid spread.

JN.1 is a descendant lineage of BA.2.86. In comparison with BA.2.86, JN.1 has the additional L455S mutation in the spike protein, making it more transmissible. However, no signs of new or unusual symptoms caused by the virus have been reported yet.

So far, the symptoms reported are mostly restricted to upper respiratory tract infections such as fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, and runny nose.

But recent data from December 2023 by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) spotted two new symptoms: trouble sleeping and anxiety.

Over 10 per cent of people with Covid in the UK consistently reported anxiety or excess worrying since early November, revealed the winter Covid report from the ONS.

The most common Covid-19 symptoms are runny nose (31.1 per cent), cough (22.9 per cent), headache (20.1 per cent), fatigue (19.6 per cent), muscle pain (15.8 per cent), sore throat (13.2 per cent), trouble sleeping (10.8 per cent), and anxiety (10.5 per cent), the data showed.

Interestingly, the once-common loss of taste and smell is currently reported in only 2-3 per cent of UK cases.

But whether a person will experience some or all of these symptoms, including those that have not previously been commonly reported, largely depends on each individual’s health and immunity to the virus.

The findings come at a time when there is a fresh global rise in Covid infections. As per the WHO, the global number of new Covid-19 cases has increased by 52 per cent during the last one month.

The UN health body also reported an increase in hospital, ICU admissions as well as deaths globally.

Meanwhile, India recorded 573 fresh cases of Covid and two deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday.

The total number of active cases stands at 4,565. The country reportedly also has a total of 197 cases of the JN.1 from 11 states — Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, and Delhi.

“Overall cases are mild and severity is seen in only less than 10 per cent of the cases, and only when people are having previous comorbidities, involving lungs and old age,” Dr Kirti Sabnis, Infectious Disease Specialist, Fortis Hospital Mulund told IANS.

“Generally, the fatality rate is less than 2 per cent, deaths are occurring very sparingly and is not a common feature,” she added.

The doctor said there are also “no severe illnesses” seen among patients and “not many people are requiring hospitalisation, because of JN.1. Majority of the patients are getting better at home”.

The doctor advised using masks, maintaining hand hygiene and to avoid public gatherings if one is sick.

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