Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Canada Opens Border For Fully Vaxxed Americans
The New York Times: Canada Reopens To Vaccinated Americans But Few Rush To The Border
When Heidi Linckh peered down at the border between Canada and the United States from the 400-foot-high sightseeing lookout she owns with her husband on Monday, she saw something that had been long been missing from the view: a string of passenger cars. Hours earlier, Canada had reopened its borders to nonessential travel by fully vaccinated citizens and residents of the United States for the first time since March 2020. (Austen, 8/9)
Axios: CDC Raises Travel Advisories For France And Israel To Highest Level
The CDC raised the travel advisories for France and Israel to the highest level Monday, a result of surging COVID-19 cases in those countries. The recent rapid spread of COVID across the world is largely a result of the Delta variant, which is more contagious than the original strain of the virus. (Reyes, 8/9)
In other global covid developments —
AP: Mexico Seeks At Least 3.5 Million More COVID-19 Jabs From US
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday that he discussed the reopening of the U.S.-Mexico border, immigration and cooperation in facing the COVID-19 pandemic in a call with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. The president did not provide additional details of their discussions in a brief message he put out on Twitter afterward. Earlier Monday, López Obrador had said Mexico would ask the United States to send at least 3.5 million more doses of coronavirus vaccine as the country faces a third wave of infections. (8/10)
The Washington Post: Despite Weeks Of Protests, France Implements Health Pass At Cafes And Train Stations With Little Drama
After weeks of protests, France saw relatively little drama on Monday as it expanded its national experiment with coronavirus mandates and began to require that people show a health pass to sit at cafes, eat at restaurants, board long-distance trains and access many other venues. (Noack and Pitrelli, 8/9)
CNBC: Vaccine Incentives: Asia Countries Give Away Land, Gold, Cattle, Homes
Businesses and local governments in Asia are coming up with creative ways to encourage vaccines among people still hesitant to get one — doling out everything from gold to farm animals. The Asia-Pacific region is battling a Covid resurgence as major cities in China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia report rising daily cases, especially from the highly contagious delta variant of the disease. But most of Asia is struggling with low inoculation rates as vaccine hesitancy persists, and vaccine disinformation spreads. (Jacob, 8/9)
Bloomberg: China’s Covid-Zero Strategy Risks Leaving It Isolated For Years
As most of the world learns to live with Covid-19, China is tethering itself to eliminating the virus over the long term -- an approach that risks leaving the world’s second-biggest economy isolated for years to come. China this month saw the contagious delta variant pop up in more than half of 31 provinces despite water-tight border controls, triggering yet another round of targeted lockdowns, travel curbs and mass testing across the country. While the outbreak is the most widespread in China since the initial flare-up in Wuhan last year, the World Health Organization said total cases last Friday were 141 -- around .01% of the new infections that day in the U.S. (8/9)
Axios: Cabin Fever In "Fortress Australia" Due To Slow Vaccination Rate
With the possible exception of North Korea, no country has gone to greater extremes to cut itself off from the world during the pandemic than Australia. Australia's approach of shutting down at the first hint of an outbreak and keeping the borders hermetically sealed — including to its own citizens — have proved both effective and popular, until now. With vaccinations lagging, some Australians are wondering how long they can go on like this. (Lawler, 8/9)
Also —
Bloomberg: Guinea Confirms First Marburg Fever Case After Beating Ebola
Guinea has reported its first-ever case of Marburg hemorrhagic fever, a close cousin to the Ebola virus, according to its government and the World Health Organization. Testing came back positive for the rare disease after samples were sent to neighboring Senegal’s Institut Pasteur last week, Sory Keira, a spokesman for Guinea’s National Health Security Agency, said by phone Monday. The samples were taken from the suspected case on Aug. 5 in the southern district of Gueckedou. (Camara, 8/9)
The Washington Post: Tiny Baby In Singapore, Just 7.5 Ounces At Birth, Goes Home After 13 Months In Hospital
The newborn girl, Kwek Yu Xuan, weighed only 7.5 ounces at birth, barely half of the weight doctors had expected. Roughly the same weight as an apple or grapefruit, she appears to have been one of the smallest newborns on record to have survived. After just more than 13 months of medical care, Yu Xuan was released last month, the hospital announced this month, weighing nearly 14 pounds. (Taylor, 8/9)
