(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Strain on Tokyo hospitals severe
Japan’s capital Tokyo said on Thursday the strain on its medical system from the COVID-19 pandemic was severe, raising its alert level to the highest of four stages as hospital beds filled up with rising infections.
At a coronavirus monitoring committee meeting attended by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, a health official said it had become difficult to balance the care of COVID-19 patients with regular ones, assigning a “red” alert for medical preparedness for the first time. The number of positive cases in Tokyo hit a daily record of 678 cases on Wednesday.
Australia races to trace after small cluster found in Sydney
Australia on Thursday scrambled to trace the source of new COVID-19 cases after a small cluster was detected in Sydney, with authorities urging residents to get tested if they had any flu-like symptoms.
Two new cases of the novel coronavirus were found in Sydney’s northern coastal suburbs, a day after the city recorded three cases, ending a nearly two-week run of zero cases.
Australian state violated human rights in COVID lockdown, report says
The decision by Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, to lock down more than 3,000 people in nine public housing towers to contain a second COVID-19 outbreak was not based on direct health advice and violated human rights, Victoria’s state Ombudsman said in a report.
Residents in eight towers were confined in their apartments for five days but the ninth tower, which had the highest number of infections, went through a total lockdown for two weeks. Some were left without food and medicines while many others waited more than a week to be allowed outside, the report said.
The state government conceded mistakes were made, but said decisions were made to ensure the safety of the residents. It was not immediately clear on Thursday whether the findings would open up any legal remedies for residents to pursue against the government.
WHO-led team expected in China in Jan to probe COVID-19 origins
An international mission of 12-15 experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to go to China in the first week of January to investigate the origins of the virus that sparked the COVID-19 pandemic, a member and diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday.
Thea Fischer, a Danish member, said that the team would leave “just after New Year’s” for a six-week mission, including two weeks of quarantine on arrival.
Keith Hamilton, an expert at the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) who will take part, said a similar but not identical virus was identified in a horseshoe bat, indicating that it was transmitted first to an animal, or intermediate host, before infecting humans.
Peter Ben Embarek, the WHO’s top expert in animal diseases, said last month the mission would like to interview market workers about how they were infected with the virus.
Alaskan has allergic reaction after getting Pfizer’s vaccine
An Alaskan health worker had a serious allergic reaction after receiving Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, but is now stable, public health authorities said on Wednesday. The adverse reaction, minutes after the person took the shot on Tuesday, was similar to two cases reported last week in Britain.
The Alaskan patient did not have a history of allergic reactions, Lindy Jones, the director of the emergency department in the capital Juneau, where the patient was treated, told reporters at a virtual briefing. The symptoms in the middle-aged patient resolved after being administered with allergy treatment epinephrine, Jones said.
Pfizer said the vaccine comes with a clear warning that appropriate medical treatment and supervision should always be readily available in case of anaphylaxis, but it would update the labelling language for the vaccine if needed.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
