Quarantine Pay? Britain Weighs Idea Of Issuing Payments For Positive Tests

Reuters: UK Says No Decision On Payment For Positive COVID-19 Tests 
The British government has taken no decision on whether to pay 500 pounds ($683) to everyone in England who tests positive for COVID-19, environment minister George Eustice said on Friday. Newspapers cited a policy paper which they said showed the government was considering such a move to encourage more people to take tests for the new coronavirus though it would cost 453 million pounds a week. (1/22)

The New York Times: U.K. Hospitals Struggle To Cope With A New Coronavirus Variant 
As a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus pounds Britain’s overstretched National Health Service, health care workers say the government’s failure to anticipate a wintertime crush of infections has left them resorting to ever more desperate measures. Hundreds of soldiers have been dispatched to move patients and equipment around London hospitals. Organ transplant centers have stopped performing urgent operations. Doctors have trimmed back the level of oxygen being given to patients to save overloaded pipes. (Mueller, 1/21)

Reuters: A Sick Couple Rushed To Marry In UK COVID Ward. Now They Have A Second Chance
British couple Elizabeth Kerr and Simon O’Brien had been planning to marry in June. Then COVID-19 struck. oth contracted the disease and were rushed to Milton Keynes University Hospital in the same ambulance when their oxygen levels fell dangerously low. Kerr and O’Brien became so ill that medical staff scrambled to organize a wedding before it was too late. When O’Brien’s condition got even worse, it was decided he should be transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU). Even that did not stop them: staff delayed his intubation just long enough for them to tie the knot. (Sandle and Thomas, 1/22)

In other global developments —

Reuters: Japan Stands Firm On Tokyo Olympics Schedule, Denies Report Of Cancellation 
Japan stood firm on Friday on its commitment to host the Tokyo Olympics this year and denied reports of a possible cancellation but the pledge looks unlikely to ease public concern about holding the event during a global pandemic. Though much of Japan is under a state of emergency due to a third wave of COVID-19 infections, Tokyo Olympic organisers have vowed to press ahead with the re-scheduled Games, which are due to open on July 23 after being postponed for a year because of the coronavirus. (Tarrant and Gallagher, 1/21)

Bloomberg: Pfizer Delay Compounds Canada’s Problems In Vaccine Campaign
Canada came out No. 1 in the global race to secure vaccines against Covid-19, pre-ordering enough shots to inoculate its 38 million people three times over. You wouldn’t know it, though, from the pace of vaccinations. Canada has administered about 684,000 doses, enough to give first shots to about 1.8% of the population, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, though some people have already received two. That compares with about 7.6% in the U.K. and 5.2% in the U.S. Israel, leading all nations, has administered enough vaccine to give first shots to nearly a third of its population. Health officials in Ottawa tried to reassure the public Thursday that the situation will improve in the spring. They released projections that 13 million people could be vaccinated by the end of June and 36 million by the end of September -- even if no additional shots are approved. (Rastello and Bolongaro, 1/21)

Stat: Canada's Drug Makers Weigh In On Government Plan To Control Spending
A majority of pharmaceutical executives in Canada say new regulations designed to cut prescription drug spending by the Canadian government are delaying product launches and R&D investment and will subsequently hurt employment, according to a new survey sponsored by an industry trade group. Specifically, 94% of 43 executives queried project product launches will be delayed by a year or more, and 35% indicated delays already occurred. (Silverman, 1/21)

AP: French Doctor Who Made Down Discovery Closer To Sainthood
The French doctor who discovered the genetic basis of Down syndrome but spent his career advocating against abortion as a result of prenatal diagnosis has taken his first major step to possible sainthood. Pope Francis on Thursday approved the “heroic virtues” of Dr. Jerome Lejeune, who lived from 1926-1994 and was particularly esteemed by St. John Paul II for his anti-abortion stance. (Winfield, 1/21)