Covid China UK latest: UK ‘not ready for new wave’ as XBB.1.5 cases rise

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Ben Wallace says Covid screening for travelers from China ‘under review’

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The UK is not ready for another Covid wave, experts warn, as a ‘highly contagious’ variant XBB. 1.5 continues to circulate in the UK.

Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, told The Independent that the UK is not at all ready for another wave if the rapidly spreading sub-variant continues to spread rapidly.

People have been urged to wear masks and stay home if they feel unwell as the new variant coronavirus XBB.1.5 has led to concerns about a rise in Covid-19 cases.

XBB.1.5 is the highly transmissible version of Covid that caused a surge in cases in the UK last winter. The variant is believed to make up at least 4 percent of the covid viruses that are sequenced.

People coming from China to Britain have been required to present a negative Covid test before entry. However, a cabinet minister announced that travelers who test positive for coronavirus after arriving from China will not have to be quarantined.

The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care said China was hit by the new rules due to a “lack of comprehensive health information”, as Chinese state media continues to downplay the severity of the current outbreak.

Key PointsShow Last Updated 1672844687UK Not ready for more waves of Covid

The UK is not ready for another Covid wave, experts warn, as a ‘highly contagious’ variant XBB. 1.5 continues to circulate in the UK.

This strain has caused an increase in the number of cases in the United States, with some experts concerned that its mutations may lead to a similar rise in the United Kingdom by dodging the wall of immunity that was built from previous waves and vaccine launches.

University of Warwick virologist Professor Lawrence Young told The Independent’s Thomas Kingsley that the UK is not at all ready for another wave if the highly pathogenic sub-variant continues to spread at a rapid pace amid rising rates of influenza.

We haven’t had enough public health messages about the flu vaccine. “We now have a whole storm of various respiratory infections going on at the moment and this will inevitably put more pressure on the NHS,” said Professor Young.

“All the information so far shows that while this is a highly contagious variant and although it can escape protection from previous vaccination and infection, there is no evidence that it causes more severe disease compared to other Omicron variants, but the fact that it spreads more And more quickly, especially in the United States, is very worrying.

“It’s reaching more vulnerable people.”

Thomas Kingsley Jan 4 2023 15:04

1672840847EU is providing assistance, preparing for the Covid crisis in China

The European Union said yesterday that it has offered China help in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, including a donation of vaccines, as the bloc seeks to coordinate how authorities screen passengers arriving from China for any new variants.

Several Member States have announced individual efforts over the past week. At the same time, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the European Union insisted that the situation in China did not pose an immediate, systemic threat to health.

“The variants circulating in China are already circulating in the European Union, and as such do not present a challenge to the immune response” of EU citizens, she said in the latest impact study.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar January 4, 2023 14:00

The minister said that Chinese arrivals infected with the coronavirus will not need to be isolated

Transport Secretary Mark Harper has confirmed that arrivals from China who test positive for Covid will not be forced into quarantine.

Comments from the senior Tory MP confirmed details – first revealed by The Independent – that testing will be voluntary for those arriving at Heathrow – the only airport in the UK with direct flights from China offering tests.

Asked if those who tested positive after arriving in the UK would be required to quarantine, Mr Harper told LBC: “No, because what we do is we collect that information for surveillance purposes.”

Alisha Rehman Sarkar January 4, 2023 13:45

1672838747 | edit | The government should declare a national emergency on the NHS

One of the many worrying statistics about the NHS crisis is that the number of people dying from delays to ambulances and emergency care – between 300 and 500 weeks – is about the same as the current death toll from Covid-19 or cerebrovascular disease (stroke). . ), and ten times as many people die in road traffic.

Were it not for the danger of exaggeration, it would be right to describe the current crisis as an epidemic.

Behind the statistics lie heart-wrenching stories of severely ill and debilitated people, often elderly, dying at home or in the back of an ambulance from a lack of resolve to cope with the crisis. Although it is prevalent and is now taken for granted, this is not a normal occurrence, even though it has become normal.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar January 4, 2023 13:25

How news of the “mysterious disease” in Wuhan first appeared three years ago

Three years ago on New Year’s Eve, The Independent ran a story about a “mysterious disease” that had infected 30 people in Wuhan, China.

There was limited information about the disease, except that most patients had visited the city’s seafood market.

Early reports speculated that the disease was similar to the respiratory disease SARS, which killed nearly 800 people.

Little did they know, it would be much worse, killing more than 6.6 million people worldwide.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain writes.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar January 4, 2023 12:45

1672835147 Is the UK on the verge of a new wave of Covid?

Scientists in the US believe that XBB.1.5 is at least partially responsible for the increase in hospital admissions in New York.

It is uncertain whether the alternative would trigger a new wave of Covid in the UK, but reports suggest there may be a rise in cases.

There is potential for some relief, however, as medical officials point out that outbreaks of influenza and other respiratory viruses in winter could mitigate the threat of a new, rampant wave of Covid.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar January 4, 2023 12:25

South Korea is making mandatory Covid testing on arrival of China passengers

South Korea yesterday made coronavirus tests for Chinese arrivals mandatory, joining a growing list of countries imposing restrictions amid fears of a wave of infections.

Travelers from China are required to undergo a PCR test upon arrival. From 5 January, arrivals can present a negative result from a PCR test taken at least 48 hours before departure, or a negative rapid antigen test 24 hours before departure.

A total of 2,189 people have arrived from China since January 2. The test results of 590 so far have shown that 136 people, or 22.7 percent, have been infected with Covid-19, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar January 4, 2023 11:45

What is XBB Covid? The new Omicron variant that has led to an increased number of cases

New Covid variants raise new health concerns as relatives of Omicron XBB and XBB.1.5 have seen cases increase in countries around the world.

It comes as UK health experts have suggested up to 9,000 people are dying from Covid every day in China, where infections have skyrocketed after the country ended its strict isolation rules.

The surge in travelers has prompted the UK and US governments to require all passengers arriving in the respective countries from China from January 5 to return a negative Covid result before travel.

Maryam Zakir Hussain has more.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar January 4, 2023 11:25 am

China banned from entering England without a negative Covid test

All travelers arriving from China to England will be required to show a negative Covid-19 test prior to departure from January 5, Downing Street confirmed.

Number 10 said that Rishi Sunak’s government would soon work out full details regarding the new rules for travelers entering the UK from China and from Hong Kong.

“We are working on the final details of implementing the policy, and this includes Hong Kong, and we will update it in due course,” said the prime minister’s official spokesperson.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar Jan 4, 2023 10:45

An aviation group criticizing China Covid travel restrictions

The head of the world’s largest airline trade body IATA has criticized travel restrictions imposed on travelers from China, arguing that such measures have proven ineffective in preventing the spread of Covid-19.

“It is very disappointing to see this sudden return of measures that have proven so ineffective over the past three years,” said general manager Willie Walsh.

Alisha Rehman Sarkar Jan 4, 2023 10:25

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