Health News Roundup: India approves two COVID vaccines for children under 12; WHO chief says we are 'increasingly blind' on COVID transmission and more

Lopez-Gatell, the country's coronavirus czar, was speaking at a regular government news conference on Tuesday. More than half of Americans have had COVID infections -U.S. study Following the record surge in COVID-19 cases during the Omicron-driven wave, some 58% of the U.S. population overall and more than 75% of younger children have been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to a U.S. nationwide blood survey released on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Exclusive: EU to move away from emergency phase of COVID pandemic - document

The European Commission is set to say the EU has entered a new post-emergency phase of the pandemic in which testing should be targeted and monitoring of COVID-19 cases should be similar to sample-based flu surveillance, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. The shift comes amid a gradual drop of cases and a fall in the number of deaths linked to COVID-19, thanks to the spread of the less virulent Omicron variant and the immunisation of over 70% of the EU population, with half of the population having received also a booster shot.

Beijing to test 20 million for COVID in bid to avert Shanghai lockdown misery

Three-quarters of Beijing's 22 million people lined up for COVID-19 tests on Tuesday as authorities in the Chinese capital raced to stamp out a nascent outbreak and avert the debilitating city-wide lockdown that has shrouded Shanghai for a month. Having seen the struggles of China's commercial hub to meet the basic needs of its increasingly frustrated 25 million residents, people in Beijing were stocking up on food and supplies.

India approves two COVID vaccines for children under 12

India has approved emergency use of Biological E's COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for children aged five to 12 and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for six to 12-year olds, the country's health minister said https://bit.ly/3OF11Ly in a tweet on Tuesday.

WHO chief says we are 'increasingly blind' on COVID transmission

The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday urged countries to maintain surveillance of coronavirus infections, saying the world was "blind" to how the virus is spreading because of falling testing rates. "As many countries reduce testing, WHO is receiving less and less information about transmission and sequencing," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference at the U.N. agency's headquarters in Geneva.

China reports first human case of H3N8 bird flu

China has recorded the first human infection with the H3N8 strain of bird flu, the country's health authority said on Tuesday, but said the risk of it spreading among people was low.

A four-year-old boy from central Henan province was found to have been infected with the variant after developing a fever and other symptoms on April 5.

U.S. to widen COVID antiviral pill distribution

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is aiming to expand access to COVID-19 oral antiviral treatments like Pfizer Inc's Paxlovid by doubling the number of locations at which they are available, the White House said on Tuesday. Pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy program for distributing antiviral treatments will be able to order the free treatments directly from the U.S. government starting this week.

Explainer-Scientists investigate hepatitis outbreak in children in Europe and US

Health authorities around the world are investigating a mysterious increase in severe cases of hepatitis - inflammation of the liver – in young children. Below is a summary of what is known about the outbreak:

Mexico to enable COVID vaccination of all children aged 12 and above

Mexico will let all children aged over 12 be registered for COVID-19 vaccination from Thursday, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said. Lopez-Gatell, the country's coronavirus czar, was speaking at a regular government news conference on Tuesday.

More than half of Americans have had COVID infections -U.S. study

Following the record surge in COVID-19 cases during the Omicron-driven wave, some 58% of the U.S. population overall and more than 75% of younger children have been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to a U.S. nationwide blood survey released on Tuesday. The study issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention marks the first time in which more than half of the U.S. population has been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus at least once, and offers a detailed view of the impact of the Omicron surge in the United States.

Almost 200 cases of unexplained acute hepatitis reported in children -ECDC

Around 190 unexplained cases of severe hepatitis have been reported in children around the world, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said on Tuesday. The outbreak was first reported this month in Britain - which has registered 111 cases, mostly in children under 10 - and has since been identified in at least 12 countries worldwide.