Health News Roundup: Inside Ontario's strained intensive care units; South Korea widens public access to virus self-test kits and more

"We have very clear assurances (from Brussels) that AstraZeneca does not have to apply through the EU export transparency regime to send those one million doses to Papua New Guinea," Minister Dan Tehan told reporters in London on Thursday, speaking during a trade mission to Europe. Canada to suspend passenger flights from India, Pakistan over COVID-19 fears Canada's government said it would temporarily bar passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days starting on Thursday as part of stricter measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

'Unnecessary sadness': Inside Ontario's strained intensive care units

Over the course of a single shift last week, critical care physician Laveena Munshi saw her intensive care unit (ICU) at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital fill with pregnant and post-partum COVID-19 patients. During that week, the ICU doubled the total number of pregnant COVID-19 patients it had previously seen throughout the entire pandemic. Swamped with patients with complex medical needs, one day Munshi ended up pulling a 36-hour shift.

South Korea widens public access to virus self-test kits amid surge

South Korea granted conditional approval on Friday that will allow the public to use two coronavirus self-test kits for the first time, as a surge in infections has rekindled calls to step up testing. The decision comes as South Korea grapples with a nationwide rise in cluster infections, spurring authorities to urge tougher enforcement of distancing rules to avert a fourth wave of the pandemic.

British regulator says AstraZeneca COVID shot clots rise to 168

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's medicines regulator on Thursday said there had been 168 major blood clots following a dose of COVID-19 vaccine, a rate of 7.9 clots per million doses, a jump in incidence from the previous week's figure. This was up from the 100 cases reported last week, when the overall case incidence was 4.9 per million doses.

Australia urges AstraZeneca to send 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to PNG after EU clearance

Australia's Minister for Trade has urged AstraZeneca to dispatch 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Papua New Guinea amid concerns about the spread of the virus there, saying the EU had pledged no hindrance to the exports. "We have very clear assurances (from Brussels) that AstraZeneca does not have to apply through the EU export transparency regime to send those one million doses to Papua New Guinea," Minister Dan Tehan told reporters in London on Thursday, speaking during a trade mission to Europe.

Canada to suspend passenger flights from India, Pakistan over COVID-19 fears

Canada's government said it would temporarily bar passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days starting on Thursday as part of stricter measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The center-left Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acted after prominent right-leaning politicians complained Ottawa had not done enough to combat a third wave of infections ripping through Canada.

India's posts world record daily COVID cases for second straight day

India recorded the world's highest daily tally of coronavirus cases for a second day in a row on Friday, while daily deaths from COVID-19 also jumped by a record. With 332,730 new cases, India's total caseload has now passed 16 million. Deaths rose by 2,263 to reach a total of 186,920, according to health ministry data.

Japan to issue 'short, powerful' state of emergency for Tokyo, elsewhere

Japan will declare "short and powerful" states of emergency for Tokyo, Osaka and two other prefectures, a cabinet minister said on Friday, as the country struggles to contain a resurgent pandemic just three months ahead of the Olympics. Under a new state of emergency for April 25 to May 11, the government will require restaurants, bars, and karaoke parlours serving alcohol to close, and big sporting events to be held without spectators, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.

J&J COVID-19 vaccine expected to be imported to India by July: report

Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be imported to India for "fill and finish" by June or July, financial daily Mint reported on Friday, citing ANI. Fill and finish is the final step in the manufacturing process of putting the vaccine into vials or syringes, sealing them and packaging them up for shipping.

Eerily empty, Thai tourist island Phuket desperate to reopen

A year after one of Southeast Asia's most popular fun-and-sun destinations became an eerily quiet shell of empty resorts, shops and nightclubs, residents of the Thai island of Phuket are hoping to save their economy with an inoculation programme. For now, beach umbrellas rest rolled up on vacant hotel verandas, overlooking empty stretches of sand, while mannequins languish in dust-covered windows of shuttered shops.

Texas woman hospitalized after J&J shot with similar symptoms as blood clot cases

A woman in Texas who received Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine has been hospitalized after showing symptoms similar to those of six people who recently suffered blood clots after taking the shot in the United States, a Texas health agency spokesman said on Thursday. The incident comes as advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will meet on Friday to consider whether it is safe to resume injections of J&J's COVID-19 vaccine and senior U.S. health officials prepare for a green light.

(With inputs from agencies.)