COVID-19 update

1 April 2021

The Mar 30 WHO epi update outlines a further rise in new COVID-19 cases and deaths in Brazil, but also a 55 percent weekly increase in new cases in India which comprised almost 85 percent of the new infections reported in the SE Asian region. While in the Philippines, more regions of the country have been placed under varying levels of community quarantine to curb rising rates of new cases. Read More

In other COVID-19 news:

-This year’s Hindu religious festival of Kumbh Mela, to be held in the northern Indian city of Hardiwar, has been pared back to one month (April) in response to India’s accelerating case numbers and attendees are required to show a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test taken within the previous 72 hours. Read more

-The European Medicines Agency granted conditional authorisation to the AstraZeneca vaccine in late January and has now announced its new name – Vaxzevria. Read more

-Thai news media report that plans are under consideration to allow vaccinated tourists to fly directly into Phuket from July without having to submit to quarantine requirements– a so-called tourism ‘sandbox’. There are likely to be conditions attached to entry, such as testing and the use of an official app, but the scheme will probably be extended at a later date to other resort areas such as Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Phang Nga and Surat Thani.

-Counterfeit vaccines for sale on the dark web and also on the clearnet has led to a warning for Australians to avoid third party suppliers at all costs. Falsified products have been found in South Africa, South America, the USA, Europe and the UK. Together with law enforcement agencies, the TGA is actively monitoring for evidence of the ‘illegal import, supply and advertising of COVID-19 vaccines’ and the vaccine companies also ‘have measures in place’. AstraZeneca is only supplying vaccines to the government in Australia. Read more

-The WHO has released its findings from the global study into the origins of SARS-CoV-2. In response, 14 countries (including Australia) have issued a joint statement.