Japan Says People With Mild Covid Should Recover At Home, Not Hospital
The policy is stirring controversy in Japan, even as the nation is hit with record levels of new covid cases as the Olympic Games continue. Reports say China is being hit by a huge surge of delta covid, reaching nearly half the country, and other southeast Asia nations are also suffering.
AP:
Japan To Limit Hospital Care As COVID-19 Cases Hit New High
Japan’s government is introducing a contentious new policy in which coronavirus patients with moderate symptoms will isolate at home instead of in hospitals, as new cases surge in Tokyo to record levels during the Olympic Games. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s plan, which aims to save hospital beds almost exclusively for those with serious symptoms or at risk of developing them, is a major policy shift as new cases in the capital have more than tripled since the Olympics began on July 23. (Yamaguchi, 8/4)
Bloomberg:
China Hunkers Down As Delta Reaches Nearly Half The Country
China imposed new restrictions on travel in a bid to slow a delta-driven outbreak that’s grown to more than 500 cases scattered across half the country, as the government stuck to an aggressive containment playbook rather than rely on its high vaccination rate. Public transport and taxi services were curtailed in 144 of the worst-hit areas nationwide, while officials curbed train service and subway usage in Beijing, where three new cases were reported Wednesday. Hong Kong re-imposed quarantine on travelers from the mainland, though an exception remained for the southern Guangdong province which neighbors the financial city. (8/5)
CNN:
Covid-19 Delta Variant Is Pushing Southeast Asia To Breaking Point
Countries across Asia are grappling with their worst coronavirus outbreaks of the pandemic, spurred by low vaccine rates and the highly-contagious Delta variant. While nations such as China, Japan and South Korea are seeing growing outbreaks, the sharp edge of the Delta wave is being keenly felt in Southeast Asia, with countries seeing rapid rises in case numbers and deaths. (Regan, 8/5)
AP:
UK To Roll Out COVID-19 Vaccines To 16 And 17-Year-Olds
The U.K. plans to offer coronavirus vaccines to 16 and 17-year-olds in the next few weeks after the independent body of scientists that makes vaccine recommendations to the government changed its advice. The four nations of the U.K. all accepted the change from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, which now says healthy 16 to 17-year-olds can be offered a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. They will not need parental consent. (Pylas, 8/4)
Bloomberg:
France's Macron Says Anti-Vaccine Protesters Have ‘Lost Their Minds’
French President Emmanuel Macron has stepped up criticism of radical anti-vaccine demonstrators who oppose his push to boost vaccination across the country. “I won’t give in to their radical violence at all,” Macron said in an interview with Paris Match magazine, according to excerpts made available online before the full article is published on Thursday. “Their attitude is a threat to democracy. They mix up everything.” (Adghirni, 8/4)
In other global developments —
Modern Healthcare:
Memorial Sloan Kettering Launching Telemedicine Hub In India
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is setting up shop in India, offering its oncologists through video calls or even arranging patient travel to the provider's main campus in New York, the company announced Wednesday. MSK oncologists who specialize in a patient's specific form of cancer will review their medical records and test results and provide a comprehensive written opinion, meet with them virtually or speak with their local oncologist about their care plan. (Bannow, 8/4)
Stat:
Canadian Agency Loses Battle Over Drug Maker's 'Excessive' Pricing
In a withering ruling, a Canadian appeals court overturned a controversial decision issued four years ago by a government agency that ordered Alexion Pharmaceuticals to lower the price of a rare disease medicine and reimburse the government for “excessive” pricing. The ruling follows a long-running struggle that began after the drug maker six years ago refused to lower its price for Soliris, which, depending upon the disease, costs approximately $400,000 to $560,000 per patient. The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, which demanded a lower price, also ordered the company to repay sales generated by the drug from 2012 through the first half of 2014. (Silverman, 8/4)
