UK Hits Highest Daily Covid Death Total Since Mid-March

Reuters: UK Records Highest Daily COVID-19 Death Toll Since March
Britain reported 146 new deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday, the highest daily total since March 12, as the impact of last month's surge in cases fed through into fatalities, government data showed. The number of new cases reported on Tuesday fell to 23,510 from 25,161 on Monday - less than half the peak of 54,674 recorded on July 17, shortly before most social distancing measures were removed in England. (Milliken, 8/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Fresh U.K. Covid-19 Data Boosts Hopes That Delta Variant Can Be Held In Check
The latest surge of Covid-19 cases in the U.K. is giving rise to growing optimism among doctors and scientists that the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus can be held at bay with high levels of vaccination and public caution. Although caseloads are now ticking higher after Prime Minister Boris Johnson dropped almost all public-health restrictions in mid July, hospital admissions have been falling and deaths are a fraction of the level seen in earlier phases of the pandemic, according to the latest official data through early August. (Douglas and Shah, 8/11)

The Washington Post: Covid Vaccine Protesters Tried To Storm The BBC But Got The Address Wrong 
A group of coronavirus vaccine protesters attempted to storm the offices of British public broadcaster BBC on Monday. But they had one big problem: the wrong address. Instead of targeting the BBC’s news operations, which some activists have blamed for helping promote coronavirus vaccines, they charged toward a former BBC building in west London that now houses upscale apartments, restaurants and studios used by another British media company to produce daytime talk shows. “Not sure what protesters were hoping to achieve, but all they would’ve found was me, Jane, Nadia and Penny on @loosewomen talking about the menopause,” tweeted Charlene White, a host on the ITV show “Loose Women,” which was live on air when protesters attempted to enter the building. (Pannett, 8/10)

The Washington Post: Delta Outbreak In Southeast Asia Prompts Shift Away From China's Covid Vaccines 
Southeast Asian countries that had widely rolled out Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines are turning away from the shots in favor of Western alternatives as they scramble to contain deadly outbreaks caused by the delta variant. The shift in a region where China vies with the United States for influence underscores the limits of Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy. Countries such as Indonesia and Thailand once bet heavily on China’s Sinovac, despite warnings from medical experts, but their health systems have come under intense strain as the delta variant tears through towns and cities. Indonesia has recorded more than 100,000 deaths overall. (Mahtani, 8/10)

Axios: Chinese Officials Punished For Not Controlling Spike In Delta Cases 
At least 47 Chinese officials are facing disciplinary actions for failing to control a worsening outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant, CNN reports. China's "zero tolerance" COVID strategy stands in stark contrast to the ongoing virus response in the U.S., where vaccine hesitancy persists and some states have passed measures to ban mask mandates. (Doherty, 8/10)

AP: Australian Team Condemns Double-Quarantine For 16 Olympians
A strict four-week quarantine imposed on 16 athletes returning from the Tokyo Games has been criticized as “cruel and uncaring” by the Australian Olympic Committee. All travelers entering Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic are subjected to a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine, and members of Australia’s Olympic delegation have returned in groups to undergo two weeks of supervised isolation in various state capitals. But South Australia is imposing an additional 14-day domestic quarantine on those athletes who want to return to the state after isolating in Sydney, where a coronavirus outbreak has forced the city into lockdown. And that has sparked outrage among athletes and Olympic officials. (8/11)

CIDRAP: Polish Minks Show New SARS-CoV-2 Variant
Fifteen of 91 minks (17%) on a Polish mink farm tested positive for a novel variant of SARS-CoV-2, according to an Emerging Infectious Diseases study yesterday. The researchers sampled all minks culled for pelting on Nov 17, 2020, at one farm in Pomorskie Voivodeship in northern Poland. None displayed respiratory symptoms, according to the owner, but 15 were diagnosed as having SARS-CoV-2. (8/10)

Also —

The Washington Post: Long Lines, Restrictions Between Canada, U.S. Border
Pettis Y. Cousins left her house at 11:30 p.m. Sunday to reach the Rainbow Bridge across the Niagara River at midnight for what she thought would be a timely crossing. It turned into a three-hour stop-and-go wait on the bridge. “Good thing my gas tank was on F,” she wrote to The Washington Post. By the end of the first day of the opening, waits died down. Around noon Tuesday, estimated wait times varied at different crossing points from no delay to 45 minutes. (Westfall, 8/10)

Stat: Patient Access To Antibiotics Is Lacking Even In The Wealthiest Countries
Although 18 innovative antibiotics were approved by regulators in the wealthiest nations over the past decade, a new analysis finds few of these life-saving medicines were accessible due to delayed product launches stemming from concerns over sales and profitability. Of those new antibiotics, most were available only in the U.S., the U.K., and Sweden, while only two were accessible in all 14 high-income countries that were examined. Just four antibiotics were launched in all of the 11 European countries where approvals and product launches were reviewed, according to the analysis published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. (Silverman, 8/10)