Coronavirus News Highlights: China Covid deaths accelerate to 9,000 a day, says UK research firm Airfinity

Around 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day fromCovid-19, UK-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday, nearly doubling its estimate from a week ago, as infections ripped across the world's most populous nation.

Covid infections started to sweep across China in November, picking up pace this month after Beijing dismantled its zero-Covid policies including regular PCR testing on its population and publication of data on asymptomatic cases.

. Maharashtra on Thursday reported 27 new coronavirus infections which took the tally of cases in the state to 81,36,615, the health department said in a release. With one death being reported since previous evening, the death toll due to the pandemic rose to 1,48,417.

Maharashtra had reported 26 newCovid-19 cases and one death on Wednesday. A resident of Navi Mumbai, who arrived by an international flight at the Mumbai airport, tested positive and his swab sample has been sent for genome sequencing, the release said. With 14,648 swab samples tested since previous evening, the number ofCovid-19 tests conducted across the state so far rose to 8,59,04,776. Pune administrative circle recorded the highest 12Covid-19 cases, followed by Mumbai circle with 11 cases.

. Italy's screening of visitors from China has not detected any new coronavirus variants, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Thursday, a day after mandatory testing was introduced.

Those who have tested positive so far are carriers of "Omicron variants already present in Italy", Meloni told her end-of-year press conference.

Italy made the tests on arrivals from China mandatory on Wednesday following an explosion in cases reported by Beijing.

Meloni said the screening was likely to be less effective than if it was being done on a European level, as only people arriving on direct flights from China were being tested, not those with stopovers.

Health Minister Orazio Schillaci would be pushing for the EU to roll out bloc-wide screening, she said.

. Moves by several countries to mandateCovid-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak — and that the government may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough.

There have been no reports of new variants to date, but China has been accused of not being forthcoming about the virus since it first surfaced in the country in late 2019. The worry is that it may not be sharing data now on any signs of evolving strains that could spark fresh outbreaks elsewhere.

The US, Japan, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Italy have announced testing requirements for passengers from China. The US cited both the surge in infections and what it said was a lack of information, including genomic sequencing of the virus strains in the country.

. The European Union is assessing the increase inCovid-19 cases in China following Beijing's rollback of its strict anti-infection controls in an attempt to streamline the testing of travellers from China in the 27 EU nations.

The European Commission said on Thursday that the BF7 omicron variant prevalent in China was already active in Europe and that its threat has not significantly grown.

“However, we remain vigilant and will be ready to use the emergency brake if necessary,” the EU's executive arm said in a statement.

. The booster dose ofCovid-19 vaccine is safe, according to a study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine that monitored heart measures through smartwatches.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University equipped close to 5,000 Israelis with smartwatches and monitored their physiological parameters over two years.

Of those monitored, 2,038 received the booster dose of theCovid-19 vaccine, allowing the researchers to objectively compare measures before and after the participants took the vaccine, and confirm the safety of the vaccine.

. Italy "expects and hopes" that the European Union will follow its lead on imposing mandatoryCOVIDtests for all passengers flying in from China, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday.

In a press conference, Meloni said Italy's measures risked not being effective if not extended across the EU, and indicated that preliminary tests show thatCOVID-positive travellers from China had already known Omicron variants.

. The United States has joined a growing number of countries in imposing restrictions on visitors from China after Beijing announced it would remove curbs on overseas travel asCovidcases surge at home.

Hospitals across China have been overwhelmed by an explosion of infections following Beijing's decision to lift strict rules that had largely kept the virus at bay but tanked the economy and sparked widespread protests.

. Japan on Thursday reported 420Covid-19 deaths, another high for a country that is going through the eighth wave of the pandemic.

The country reported 192,063 new coronavirus cases, down 24,146 from Wednesday, according to Japan Today.

Tokyo reported 18,372 new cases, down 1,871 from Wednesday.

The number of infected people hospitalised with severe symptoms in Tokyo was 47, down two from Wednesday, health officials said.

The nationwide figure was 565, down 12.

. The European Union's Health Security Committee called an urgent meeting in Brussels on Thursday to coordinate the bloc's response to China's decision to lift its COVID-19 restrictions amid a wave of infections there, the European Commission said.

Chinese hospitals and funeral homes were under intense pressure as a surge of new COVID-19 cases drained resources. The scale of the outbreak and doubts over official data prompted the United States, India, Italy, Taiwan and Japan to impose new travel rules on Chinese visitors.

. A businessman from nearby Salem who arrived here from China via Singapore has tested positive forCovid-19, official sources said on Thursday. The 37-year old man, who arrived in the city by a connecting flight on Wednesday, tested positive at the airport, the sources said.

"The man, a textile businessman hailing from Ilampillai near Salem, is asymptomatic and under follow-up of health authorities," they said. He is under surveillance of the health authorities and quarantined, they added.

. Moves by the US, Japan and others to mandate COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak — and the government may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough. There have been no reports of new variants to date. But given the country's track record, the worry is that China may not be sharing data on any signs of evolving strains that could spark fresh outbreaks elsewhere.

. An explosion of Covid-19 cases in China as the country lifts its zero-Covid measures could create a "potential breeding ground" for new variants to emerge, health experts warned. China announced this week that incoming travellers would no longer have to quarantine from January 8, the latest major reversal of strict restrictions that have kept the country largely closed off to the world since the start of the pandemic.

While the country's National Health Commission has stopped issuing daily case numbers, officials in several cities estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have been infected in recent weeks. Hospitals and crematoriums have been overwhelmed across the country.

Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, told AFP that each new infection increased the chance the virus would mutate.

"The fact that 1.4 billion people are suddenly exposed to SARS-CoV-2 obviously creates conditions prone to emerging variants," Flahault said, referring to the virus that causes the Covid-19 disease.

. China reported one newCOVID-19 death in the mainland for December28, compared with three deaths a day earlier, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. The death toll was raised to 5,246.

. The UK will consider imposing restrictions including requiringCOVID-19 tests for arrivals from China, the Telegraph reported on Thursday.

(Reuters)

Coronavirus News Highlights: China Covid deaths accelerate to 9,000 a day, says UK research firm Airfinity

China Covid deaths accelerate to 9,000 a day - UK research firm Airfinity

Maharashtra reports 27 Covid-19 cases, one death

Italy finds no new Covid variants in China screening

Lack of info on China's Covid-19 surge stirs global concerns

Health minister reviewed status of essential medicines with pharma companies amid Covid-19 alert

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