Weekly news at a glance

(Worldwide) Latest spread of coronavirus

ASIA-PACIFIC

* COVID-19-related restrictions on people’s movements and interactions may be linked to a sharp decline in cases of mosquito-borne dengue fever in 2020, offering new insight into how it might be controlled, according to a study.

* As Hong Kong clings to its “zero-COVID” policy, frustrations in the city are boiling over, workplace morale is being hit hard and families are splitting as a growing number of people, especially expatriates, abandon the hub.

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

* South Africa may destroy about 100,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March, due to slow uptake by citizens and doses expiring.

* The World Health Organisation said that it does not expect an immediate impact on vaccine supply to Africa due to the fighting in Ukraine and that Russia’s Sputnik COVID-19 vaccines were a minimal component of imports to the continent.

EUROPE

* Belgium will remove almost all its coronavirus restrictions from Monday.

* US drugmaker Eli Lilly said it would facilitate a $1.8 million supply of baricitinib, used to treat COVID-19 complications, to an aid organisation in Ukraine, as several other firms pledged medical support for refugees.

* COVID-19 cases in Sweden are falling sharply, less than a month after nearly all pandemic-related restrictions were lifted in the country.

AMERICAS

* US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled a $32.5 billion emergency plan to help Ukraine respond to Russia’s military invasion and provide more money to fight the pandemic, sparking a new partisan battle in Congress.

* The United States is waiving a requirement for negative COVID-19 tests from Americans leaving Belarus or Russia to travel home.

* Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said around 93 per cent of the population live in places where COVID levels are low enough that people do not need to wear masks indoors.

(AUS) COVID pandemic set backs Melbourne CBD

Visitor number analysis shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the Melbourne CBD visitors to the same as it was nearly two decades ago. CBD office vacancies are still low with more than one in five shops in the City of Melbourne still empty. Residential occupancy rates for the CBD and Docklands have completely recovered since their 2020 decrease. 

With people choosing to work only a few days per week in the office, it is a challenge to keep city businesses going. The city council wants to entice commuters and visitors back to the city with initiatives such as the Melbourne Money subsidy payment, which has a third phase launching next week.

(AUS) Appeal to help COVID research by donating blood

Victorian researchers are seeking more than 1000 blood donors for a two-year study into vaccine effectiveness. The researchers are the Victorian COVID-19 Vaccines Collection biobank, a Doherty Institute led government-backed project of at least six other health and medical research groups.

The project goal is to look at the long-term immune response to vaccination by analysing blood samples before and after vaccination. The researchers want people who have not yet received a third COVID-19 vaccine dose to donate blood for the project. They are particularly interested in tracking the immunity of immunocompromised people and those who are at higher risk of contracting COVID.

(AUS) Vaccination reduces long COVID risks

A health review has suggested that vaccinations may reduce the risk of developing long term COVID. 

The UK Health Security Agency’s health review analysed data from fifteen different international studies that examined vaccination protections and developing long-COVID.

It found that those who do contract the virus are less likely to develop long-COVID if they have received one or two doses of vaccine, compared with unvaccinated individuals.