Health News Roundup: China approves five COVID-19 antigen kits for self-testing – CCTV; Hong Kong reports 32,430 COVID cases, 264 deaths and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

China approves five COVID-19 antigen kits for self-testing – CCTV

China has granted approval to five COVID-19 antigen kits made by local companies to be used for self-testing, state broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday, as it tweaks its testing regime that has been pressured by Omicron. China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) published a notice on Friday saying Beijing Huaketai Biotechnology had been allowed to make changes to its COVID-19 antigen test kit’s device certificate.

Hong Kong reports 32,430 COVID cases, 264 deaths

Hong Kong health authorities reported 32,430 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as the city’s leader said her government was trying to build capacity to deal with the crisis that has swept through care homes. Although Chief Executive Carrie Lam said government efforts were improving, she said they had yet to reach everyone in isolation to see whether people needed help.

China’s daily cases of symptomatic COVID more than triple

Mainland China reported 1,807 new local symptomatic COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily figure in two years and more than triple the caseload of the previous day, as surging infections in a northeastern province squeeze health resources. The number of domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms reported for Saturday spiked from 476 the previous day, data from the National Health Commission showed on Sunday. The daily count included 114 people initially classified as asymptomatic who later developed symptoms.

Alzheimer’s patient groups pressure US to pay for Biogen drug

Patient groups are mounting a public pressure campaign aimed at persuading the US government to loosen proposed restrictions on new Alzheimer’s treatments, spending millions of dollars on television and local advertisements that began running during the Sunday morning political shows. The unusual ad campaign comes after a high-profile disagreement between government health agencies over who should have access to Biogen’s Aduhelm, the first treatment for the mind-wasting disease to be approved in 20 years.

China’s Guangdong could see 75,000 daily COVID cases if curbs are lifted – study

Daily COVID-19 cases in the southern manufacturing hub of Guangdong province could surge to more than 75,000 if curbs are removed and travel is allowed to recover to a fifth of pre-pandemic levels, China’s disease control body said. As China’s efforts to sustain its “zero-COVID” strategy come under growing scrutiny, Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong, is on the frontline of a new outbreak fueled by highly infectious variants like Omicron.

Australians told to get boosters amid COVID threat from new Omicron strain

Australian authorities on Monday warned the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots could unleash a new wave of infections amid the threat from the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of the Omicron coronavirus strain. Australia battled record cases and hospitalization rates during the initial Omicron wave, but they have steadied over the past six weeks. Most states have been easing social distancing rules, with mask requirements being rolled back at indoor venues and businesses asking staff to return to offices.

France to launch fourth COVID shot for over-80s, PM says

France is to start offering a fourth COVID-19 vaccination shot to people over 80 years old who had their previous booster dose more than three months ago, French Prime Minister Jean Castex told daily Le Parisien in an interview published on Saturday. The prime minister had said in January that France was ready to launch a campaign for fourth vaccine shots, or second booster, as soon as health authorities gave the green light.

(With inputs from agencies.)