Today’s covid-19 news: · Chinese researchers predict 2 million deaths if zero covid restrictions lifted · Australia plans to reopen its borders this month · Hong Kong records its highest number of cases
is about the new science of contagion and the surprising ways it shapes our lives and behaviour. The author, Adam Kucharski, is an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and in the book he examines how diseases spread and why they stop.
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesUS soldiers who refuse to get the covid-19 vaccine are to beimmediately. Soldiers who are unvaccinated pose a risk to the force and jeopardise readiness, according to a statement from the army secretary Christine Wormuth, yesterday. The new order applies to regular army soldiers, reservists on active duty and cadets. It follows a mandate from the Pentagon last August that all US military service members get fully vaccinated. Around 90 members of the US military haveSoldiers can seek a temporary exemption to the vaccination order for medical or religious reasons. If the request is denied, they are given seven days to get vaccinated or submit an appeal. Other parts of the US military have already discharged unvaccinated members. The US air force discharged 27 personnel last December and the Navy discharged 45 sailors last week., which will allow some of its vaccinated citizens and visa holders to return to the country without staying in state-managed isolation facilities from the 27 Feb. Foreign vaccinated travellers and some skilled workers will be allowed to enter from 13 March and up to 5000 international students can enter from 12 April. People entering the country will have to self-isolate for 10 days.around 36,000 daily cases , on average. Current restrictions include early closure for bars and restaurants and a cap of 500 people in larger indoor venues. The move follows that of Denmark, which this week became the first European Union country to lift all of its coronavirus restrictions, amid daily new infections of between 40,000 to 50,000.A small trial that involved deliberately infecting volunteers with the virus that causes covid-19 has revealed new details on how it can cause mild to moderate symptoms. This type of research is known as a human challenge trial, and while similar studies have been conducted for various viruses over the years, this is the first to report findings on the coronavirus. Researchers in the UK gave 36 volunteers aged between 18 and 29 a low dose of the virus via droplets placed in the nose. The virus was taken from a person who became ill with covid-19 very early in the pandemic, before any notable variants had emerged. Eighteen of the volunteers became infected with the virus, and 16 of them developed cold-like symptoms, such as a runny rose, sore throat, cough, fever or headache. Many of these symptoms. Thirteen of the volunteers also temporarily lost their sense of taste and smell. Among those who became infected, the virus could be detected, and symptoms began to develop, within 42 hours. This incubation period is significantly shorter thanThe virus could be detected in the throat at 40 hours, before it could be detected in the nose at around 58 hours. Peak levels of the virus were found to be higher in the nose, suggesting that more virus may spread this way – and highlighting the importance of ensuring face coverings shield the nose as well as the mouth. Other findings from the study support the use of lateral flow tests in picking up infectious cases of the disease. “We found that overall, lateral flow tests correlate very well with the presence of infectious virus,” Christopher Chiu at Imperial College London, the trial’s chief investigator, . “Even though in the first day or two they may be less sensitive, if you use them correctly and repeatedly, and act on them if they read positive, this will have a major impact on interrupting viral spread.”Other coronavirus news Pfizer and BioNTech have begun a process that may eventually allow for the vaccination of children against covid-19 in the US aged between six months and four years. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was first rolled out in the US under an Emergency Use Authorisation or EUA. The US Food and Drug AdministrationThe vaccine is currently available for children aged five and older in the US under an EUA, but those under five are not eligible for vaccination. Pfizer and BioNTech