Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
India Reports First Case Of Omicron XE
Bloomberg: Covid XE Variant: India Reports First Case Of Highly Transmissible Strain
Mumbai’s city administration reported India’s first case of the highly-transmissible coronavirus variant, XE, on Wednesday. The hybrid of two omicron strains BA.1 and BA.2 was detected in a 50-year-old woman who had traveled to the city from South Africa in February, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a statement. The asymptomatic patient had no cormorbidities and had been quarantined after being diagnosed almost a month later in March, the BMC said. (Chaudhary, 4/6)
CBS News: Airlines Cancel Hundreds Of Flights Due To COVID-19 After Dropping Mask Rules
Overseas airlines are having to cancel hundreds of flights as they grapple with coronavirus-related staffing shortages weeks after they ditched rules requiring passengers and staff to mask up in the air. The disruptions also come as the CEOs of leading U.S. airlines urge the Biden administration to roll back a federal rule requiring that masks be worn in the sky. Masks have not been required on flights operated by budget-friendly, Swiss airline EasyJet since March 27, the airline said in a statement. The move came after the UK removed all travel restrictions earlier in March. (Cerullo, 4/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Shanghai Doctor Speaks Out Against China’s Covid Policy, Strikes A Nerve With Weary Public
Until Saturday, Dr. Zhu Weiping was a little-known epidemiologist working for Shanghai’s Pudong district. That was when two recordings in which she shared blunt criticism against the city’s Covid-19 policies went viral and she became a beacon for many fed-up residents. Each recorded phone call, between the government scientist and a member of the public, has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on WeChat, spreading the contention that Beijing’s strategy of mass testing, mandatory quarantine and sweeping lockdowns isn’t working against the highly transmissible Omicron variant in the city of 25 million people. (Fan, 4/7)
In other global news —
AP: Kansas Nonprofit Sends Medical Supplies To Ukraine
A Kansas nonprofit is sending medical supplies to Ukraine after hearing alarming accounts of a hospital in Kyiv low on treatments and basic tools. The Kansas City Star reports that Olathe, Kansas-based Global Care Force raised $21,000 to bring resources overseas. Brenda Poor, a spokeswoman for the organization. said the packages were stuffed into seven large suitcases and checked onto a plane to Warsaw, Poland, alongside the non-profit’s director of operations on Tuesday afternoon. (4/6)
AP: EU Officials Probe Salmonella Cases Linked To Chocolate Eggs
European health officials say they are investigating a “rapidly evolving” outbreak of salmonella in 134 children that appears to be linked to chocolate Easter eggs that normally contain a surprise toy inside. In a statement on Wednesday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said chocolate products were identified “as the likely route of infection,” adding that children mainly under 10 years of age were affected. The first case was detected in Britain in January. (4/6)
