Health News Roundup: Beijing's local COVID cases rise before Olympics; more areas find Omicron; Austria ends lockdown on unvaccinated as pressure on hospitals eases and more

Around 75% of the population have received at least one dose of a vaccine - less than in western European peers such as France, Italy or Spain, where the equivalent figures are 80%, 83% and 86% - and the vaccination campaign is stuttering. S.Korea's daily COVID-19 cases surge as new testing scheme begins South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases exceeded 13,000 for the first time on Wednesday, driven by the spread of the Omicron variant, as the government launched a new pilot testing scheme to meet skyrocketing demand.


Reuters | Updated: 26-01-2022 18:41 IST | Created: 26-01-2022 18:29 IST
Health News Roundup: Beijing's local COVID cases rise before Olympics; more areas find Omicron; Austria ends lockdown on unvaccinated as pressure on hospitals eases and more
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Beijing's local COVID cases rise before Olympics; more areas find Omicron

Beijing reported 14 local confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest daily count in its current outbreak, less than two weeks before the Winter Olympics are set to start in the Chinese capital and the neighbouring province of Hebei. Although the numbers for Beijing's outbreak since Jan. 15 are lower than elsewhere in the world, the city has ordered targeted lockdowns for tens of thousands of people and tested a few million residents to block infection.

Austria ends lockdown on unvaccinated as pressure on hospitals eases

Austria's lockdown for people not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will end on Monday because the pressure on hospitals has eased, the government said on Wednesday. New daily coronavirus infections are rising, driven by the extremely contagious Omicron variant. They hit a new record above 30,000 on Wednesday, Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein told a news conference, adding that they would peak in the next two weeks at around 35,000 to 40,000.

Abbott sales rise 7.2% as COVID test demand surges

Abbott Laboratories on Wednesday reported a 7.2% rise in quarterly sales on strong demand for diagnostics products, including its COVID-19 tests, led by a sharp surge in cases due to the Omicron variant. The company's net earnings fell to $1.99 billion, or $1.11 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 from $2.16 billion, $1.20 per share, a year earlier.

Exclusive-U.S. funding to WHO fell by 25% during pandemic -document

U.S. financial contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO) have fallen by 25% during the coronavirus pandemic, provisional data show, with Washington's future support to the United Nations agency under review. The large drop in funding versus the previous two-year period arose from cuts decided by former U.S. President Donald Trump that reveal for the first time the scale of the Trump administration's retreat from the U.N. body.

German parliament debates compulsory vaccination as COVID surges

Germany reported a new daily record of 164,000 COVID-19 infections on Wednesday as the lower house of parliament prepared to debate proposals to either require or robustly encourage residents to be vaccinated. Around 75% of the population have received at least one dose of a vaccine - less than in western European peers such as France, Italy or Spain, where the equivalent figures are 80%, 83% and 86% - and the vaccination campaign is stuttering.

S.Korea's daily COVID-19 cases surge as new testing scheme begins

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases exceeded 13,000 for the first time on Wednesday, driven by the spread of the Omicron variant, as the government launched a new pilot testing scheme to meet skyrocketing demand. The record 13,012 cases for the previous 24-hour period came just a day after the tally first topped 8,000 despite the extension of tough social distancing rules.

New York state mask mandate back in effect as judge grants stay in appeal

An appeals court judge on Tuesday granted a stay in an appeal over mask mandates in New York, keeping the rule in effect during the legal process, New York Attorney General Letitia James said. A day earlier, a judge had struck down the state's mask mandate, one week before it was due to expire. The state attorney general had filed a motion to stay the ruling in an attempt to put it on hold while the state filed a formal appeal.

Sweden extends pandemic curbs by two weeks amid record Omicron spread

Sweden will extend its current pandemic measures by another two weeks, the minister for health said on Wednesday, as the Omicron variant is spreading at record speed. The curbs mean bars and restaurants have to close at 2300 and there is a cap of 500 people inside larger indoor venues.

Eastern Europe reports COVID daily infection records as Omicron spreads

Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania all hit their highest infection rates of the pandemic on Wednesday, driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, and yet were reluctant to impose sweeping curbs to limit the spread. The region has some of Europe's lowest vaccination rates, particularly in Romania and Bulgaria, and saw some of the highest COVID-related death rates towards the end of 2021.

Breath of fresh air: lockdown pollution slump may have saved 800 lives, study says

More than 800 deaths may have been avoided thanks to better air quality during Europe's first coronavirus lockdown, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (CAMS) said on Wednesday. By comparing people's exposure to air pollution between February and July of 2020 across 47 major cities, scientists concluded that government measures to limit the spread of the virus protected people from deadly pollution.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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