Health News Roundup: Finland detects small amount of radioactivity, says no health impact; Europe to receive Omicron vaccines within days of approval, says MEP and more

The Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics, based in Melbourne, is the latest in a series of similar initiatives, including from the National Institutes for Health in the United States and the Pandemic Antiviral Discovery (PAD), a group led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners. China's Guangzhou tightens COVID curbs as parts of north join in Parts of China's southern city of Guangzhou imposed COVID-19 curbs on Wednesday, joining the tech hub of Shenzhen in battling flare-ups, but fuelling uncertainty over commerce and daily life in two of the region's most economically vibrant metropolises.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Finland detects small amount of radioactivity, says no health impact

Small amounts of radioactive isotopes have been detected in air samples collected in Kotka in south-east Finland, but there is no risk to humans and similar discoveries are "quite normal", the country's nuclear safety watchdog said on Wednesday. "The observed radioactivity has no impact on the environment or human health, as the concentrations were very low," the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) said in a statement.

Europe to receive Omicron vaccines within days of approval, says MEP

Omicron-adapted vaccines will be delivered to the European Union within days of regulatory approval, European member of parliament Peter Liese said on Wednesday. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to make a decision this week on Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines tailored to target the older BA.1 Omicron variant as well as the original strain that first emerged in China.

Texas reports first U.S. death in person with monkeypox

Texas on Tuesday reported the first death in a severely immunocompromised person who was diagnosed with monkeypox, according to state health department officials. The case is still under investigation to see what role monkeypox played in the death. Although painful, monkeypox is rarely fatal.

Monkeypox outbreak can be eliminated in Europe, WHO says

It is possible to eliminate the monkeypox outbreak in Europe, World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday, highlighting evidence that case counts are slowing in a handful of countries. There are encouraging signs of a sustained week-on-week decline in the onset of cases in many European countries, including France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Britain, as well as a slowdown in some parts of the United States, despite scarce vaccine supplies.

S.Africa's Aspen, India's Serum Institute sign vaccines deal for Africa

Aspen Pharmacare has signed a deal with the Serum Institute of India to manufacture and sell four Aspen-branded vaccines for Africa, as it seeks to utilise its near-idle COVID-19 vaccine production lines in eastern South Africa. Aspen has a contract with Johnson & Johnson to package its COVID-19 vaccine into vials and earlier this year it extended its agreement to allow it to package, sell and distribute the vaccine under its own brand Aspenovax for Africa.

U.S. life expectancy fell further in 2021 due to COVID

Life expectancy fell in the United States in 2021 to its lowest since 1996, the second year of a historic retreat due to COVID-19 deaths, provisional government data showed on Wednesday. The nearly one-year decline from 2020 to 76.1 years marked the largest two-year drop in life expectancy at birth in close to a century, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found.

Cyprus ends mandatory mask wearing as COVID-19 measures eased

Cyprus on Wednesday said it would end all restrictions on gatherings and the mandatory use of face masks in most areas after cases of COVID-19 were declining. Effective Wednesday, all restrictions on public or private gatherings would be eased, while wearing face masks would only be compulsory in areas such as hospitals, care homes and on public transport, Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantela said.

South Korea to end pre-departure COVID test requirement for overseas travellers

South Korea will from Saturday no longer require travellers to the country to test for COVID-19 before departure, although they will still need to take a PCR test within 24 hours of arrival. The latest relaxing of rules comes amid an easing in case numbers with daily COVID infections hovering around 100,000 in recent weeks compared with more than 180,000 in mid-August.

New Australian research centre aims to speed up pandemic drug discovery

A new research institution being launched in Australia will aim to develop drugs to treat diseases caused by pathogens with the potential to cause global pandemics more quickly. The Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics, based in Melbourne, is the latest in a series of similar initiatives, including from the National Institutes for Health in the United States and the Pandemic Antiviral Discovery (PAD), a group led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners.

China's Guangzhou tightens COVID curbs as parts of north join in

Parts of China's southern city of Guangzhou imposed COVID-19 curbs on Wednesday, joining the tech hub of Shenzhen in battling flare-ups, but fuelling uncertainty over commerce and daily life in two of the region's most economically vibrant metropolises. Several of China's biggest cities have stepped up COVID-19 restrictions this week, curtailing the activities of tens of millions of people.