Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Surging In Parts Of Europe, But CDC Says Flight Ban Unlikely
USA Today: COVID-19 Updates: Europe Air Travel To US Won't End, Says CDC Chief
An alarming rise in cases of the "delta plus" COVID-19 variant in the United Kingdom is unlikely to result in a ban on flights from Britain and Europe, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Sunday. "We’re not anticipating that now," Walensky said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We're absolutely following the science very, very carefully, but we are not anticipating or looking into that right now." The delta plus variant, identified by British scientists last month, is considered a relative of the delta variant that fueled a deadly surge across the U.S. this summer. Because it isn’t a variant of interest or concern, it has not yet been named after a letter of the Greek alphabet. The U.N. health agency is tracking about 20 variations of the delta variant. (Santucci and Bacon, 10/24)
CNN: Covid In Europe Enters A Second Pandemic Winter As Chaos Grips The East And Uncertainty Haunts The West
Lockdowns, spiraling cases and a vaccine divide is framing the start of Europe's second pandemic winter, bringing chaos to eastern European countries and uncertainty to those in the West. Despite the widescale availability of vaccines this winter compared to the last, Europe is the only part of the world reporting an increase in new Covid-19 cases globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday. This is the third consecutive week the region has recorded a rise in cases, it added. The suffering has been acute in Eastern Europe and Russia, battling mounting deaths and cases fueled by vaccine hesitancy that has seen coverage rates dip as low as 24%, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). (John, 10/25)
CNN: Tens Of Millions Of Filthy, Used Medical Gloves Imported Into The US
Trash bags stuffed full of used medical gloves, some visibly soiled, some even blood-stained, litter the floor of a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok. Nearby is a plastic bowl, filled with blue dye and a few gloves. Thai officials say migrant laborers had been trying to make the gloves look new again, when Thai health authorities raided the facility in December. There are many more warehouses just like it still in operation today in Thailand -- trying to cash in on the demand for medical-grade nitrile gloves, which exploded with the coronavirus pandemic. And they're boxing up millions of these sub-standard gloves for export to the United States, and countries around the world amid a global shortage that will take years to ease. (McLean, Davey-Attlee, Olarn and Lister, 10/24)
The New York Times: Here’s Why Developing Countries Can Make MRNA Covid Vaccines
Across the developing world, hundreds of millions of people are unable to get a vaccine to protect themselves from the ravages of Covid-19, and millions of them have already become infected and died. Depending on wealthy nations to donate billions of doses is not working, public health experts say. The solution, many now believe, is for the countries to do something that the big American mRNA vaccine makers say is not feasible: Manufacture the gold-standard mRNA shots themselves. (Nolen, 10/22)
In other global news —
New York Post: ‘Flesh-Eating’ STD That Causes ‘Beefy Red’ Sores Is Spreading In UK
A once-rare flesh-eating sexually transmitted disease that causes "beefy red" ulcers is spreading across the UK, according to a report Friday. Cases of donovanosis — which causes thick sores that damage genital tissue — have been steadily growing in the region since 2016, and cases are expected to rise, according to data and experts cited by Birmingham Live. "Figures suggest that donovanosis — which was previously thought to be restricted to places including India, Brazil, and New Guinea — is becoming more common on these shores," Dr. Datta, of MyHealthCare Clinic in London, told the outlet. Health officials reported 30 cases of the STD in the UK in 2019, but more infections in the past two years could pose a public-health risk, she warned. (10/24)
