(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
COVID-19 cases more than double in southeast China
New local COVID-19 infections more than doubled in China’s southeastern province of Fujian, health authorities said on Tuesday, prompting officials to quickly roll out measures including travel restrictions to halt the spread of the virus.
Two cities where cases have been reported, Putian and Xiamen, have locked down some areas of higher virus risk, cut offline classes at kindergartens, primary schools and high schools, closed public venues such as cinemas, gyms and bars, and told residents not to leave the city for non-essential reasons. Tough city-wide lockdowns as seen in early 2020 have not yet been announced.
UK PM Johnson to set out COVID-19 booster strategy
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday will unveil how Britain will roll out COVID-19 booster shots for the most vulnerable and elderly as part of his coronavirus strategy for the winter months.
Johnson will lean on vaccines and testing to try and contain COVID-19 heading into autumn and winter, including a booster programme. Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has previously given interim advice that elderly and vulnerable people would be the priority for any booster programme, and that it could start in September.
About 1 in 10 kids have lingering COVID-19 symptoms
About one in 10 children had symptoms that remained after recovering from COVID-19, though that number dropped by more than half as the months passed, an Israeli Health Ministry survey showed on Monday.
The ministry carried out a phone survey in June among 13,834 parents of children aged 3-18 who had recovered from COVID-19, asking if their kids had lingering symptoms, including breathing issues, lethargy and loss of smell and taste. The survey showed 11.2% of children had some symptoms after recovery. The figure declined to 1.8%-4.6% at six months from acute disease, with older kids suffering more.
mRNA vaccines not linked with pregnancy loss
Miscarriages do not occur more often in pregnant women who receive an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed data from eight U.S. health systems on 105,446 women who were between 6 and 19 weeks into their pregnancies.
Overall, 13,160 women suffered miscarriages, but the risk within a month after vaccination was no different than among those who did not get vaccinated, according to a report published on Wednesday in JAMA. The researchers acknowledge that they may have been missing some data. For example, they did not know the women’s previous pregnancy histories. Still, they conclude their findings will help doctors counsel pregnant women in their decision-making about the vaccines.
Florida governor threatens fines over vaccine mandates
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has threatened fines for cities and counties that mandate employees must get vaccinated against COVID-19, which has killed nearly 50,000 people in the state. Florida has recorded more than 3.4 million cases of COVID-19 and over 49,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
“If a government agency in the state of Florida forces a vaccine as a condition to employment, that violates Florida law,” DeSantis said in a press conference. “And you will face a $5,000 fine for every single violation,” he added. “That’s millions and millions of dollars potentially in fines.”
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Kim Coghill)
