England Records Unexpected Numbers Of Children With Rare Covid Illness

The Guardian: Up To 100 UK Children A Week Hospitalised With Rare Post-Covid Disease
Up to 100 children a week are being hospitalised with a rare disease that can emerge weeks after Covid-19, leaving them in intensive care, doctors have said. In a phenomenon that is worrying paediatricians, 75% of the children worst affected by paediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome (PIMS) were black, Asian or ethnic minority (BAME). Almost four out of five children were previously healthy, according to an unpublished snapshot of cases. (Campbell and Bannock, 2/5)

Bloomberg: U.K. To Bring In Mandatory Quarantine For Travelers From Feb. 15
The U.K. will require travelers from coronavirus hot spots to quarantine starting Feb. 15, the government said, adding flesh to a policy first announced last month. Arrivals from countries on the U.K.’s travel ban list will be required to isolate for 10 days in government-approved accommodation, the Department for Health and Social Care said Thursday in a statement. The government said it’s seeking bids from hotels near airports and ports to support the program. The announcement comes after days of confusion over how soon the government would implement a policy it announced last month as a key tool to stop mutations of the coronavirus that may be more resistant to vaccines from entering the country. (Morales, 2/4)

AP: Canada Bans Cruise Vessels Until Feb. 28, 2022
Canada is banning all cruise vessels in Canadian waters until Feb. 28, 2022.Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced Thursday cruise vessels carrying 100 or more people will remain prohibited from operating in Canadian waters. Alghabra said they pose a risk to health care systems. Vessels carrying more than 12 people are will also stay prohibited from entering Arctic coastal waters. (Gillies, 2/4)

Reuters: 'I Thought I Had COVID, But It Was Cancer,' Says Suarez Navarro
When Spanish player Carla Suarez Navarro had stomach pains and sickness last summer she suspected it was COVID-19. After tests, however, the news was far worse than she could have imagined as she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer, and would need months of chemotherapy. The former world number six, known for one of the best backhands in tennis, had already decided earlier in the year to retire, but this was not how she wanted to bow out. A few months since that anxious September news she has made a strong recovery and is targeting a proper farewell to the sport at the re-scheduled Tokyo Olympics. (2/3)

In news from China —

AP: WHO Team In Wuhan Says Discussions Open, Meetings Frank
World Health Organization investigators looking for clues into the origin of the coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said that the Chinese side has provided a high level of cooperation, but cautioned against expecting immediate results from the visit. “I keep saying that we need to be realistic, a short mission like this one will not have all the answers but it helps advance the understanding of the #virusorigin #wuhan,” Hung Nguyen-Viet, co-leader of the Animal and Human Health Program of the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, said in a tweet Thursday. (Fujiyama, 2/4)

The New York Times: A ‘Masculinity Crisis’? China Says The Boys Are Not All Right 
Government officials in China believe that boys are getting more effeminate and want to toughen them up. In the latest attempt to tackle what academics and news outlets call a “masculinity crisis,” the Education Ministry has proposed emphasizing the “spirit of yang,” or male attributes, by hiring more sports instructors and redesigning physical education classes in elementary and secondary schools. (May, 2/5)

The Wall Street Journal: The 2022 Beijing Olympics Are One Year Away. Covid Concerns Are Already On The Agenda. 
With the viability of the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo still in serious doubt because of the coronavirus pandemic, the opening ceremony for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing is now just a year away—and Covid-19 looms large over those Games, too. In recent days, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has lavished praise on Beijing Olympic organizers, while International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has called the preparations in Beijing “almost a miracle.” (Cheng and Bachman, 2/4)