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COVID no longer a global health emergency, World Health Organization says | UK News
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World Health Organization (WHO) officials have said COVID is no longer a global health emergency, marking a symbolic end to the pandemic. “It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat.” “COVID-19…
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COVID may no longer be a global health emergency, but virus hasn’t disappeared into the background | UK News
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The declaration that COVID is no longer a global health emergency is an historic moment. It can be seen as an official declaration of the end of a pandemic that in three years killed nearly seven million people globally and made billions sick. In itself, it is a bureaucratic step. When the WHO declares a…
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New long COVID drug may significantly reduce fatigue in patients | UK News
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An experimental drug could significantly reduce fatigue in people with long COVID, a new study suggests. Scientists who carried out the small-scale clinical trial believe the drug, called AXA1125, may increase energy production in cells and reduce inflammation for people fighting the virus and its aftereffects. They are calling for larger studies to confirm the…
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Millions of rats in New York could carry COVID, study finds | Science & Tech News
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Millions of rats living across New York City are susceptible to COVID-19, researchers have found. Like humans, the rodents have proved vulnerable to multiple variants of the virus, from the original to Omicron, including high levels of infection in their upper and lower airways. A World Health Organization (WHO) report in 2021 concluded that the…
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Constipation, bloating, and diarrhoea among long COVID symptoms | Science & Tech News
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Catching COVID-19 can cause long-term gastrointestinal problems such as constipation and diarrhoea, a study has found. Other such symptoms that stayed with people up to a year after infection were chronic acid reflux, bloating, and stomach pain. The US study was based on the medical records of more than 11.6 million people, 154,000 of whom…
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How much of a difference did school closures make to spread of COVID and impact on NHS? | Science & Tech News
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The latest dump of WhatsApp messages between ex-health secretary Matt Hancock and former education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson might be shocking in what they reveal about the men’s attitudes to teachers. But what isn’t surprising, or even that revelatory, is that there was a long-running spat about the benefits of closing schools to control the…
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Past COVID infection ‘as good as vaccines’ at preventing severe illness | Science & Tech News
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Previous COVID infection boosts long-term immunity and lowers the risk of hospitalisation and death at the same level as vaccination, new peer-reviewed research shows. The study, led by the University of Washington and published by The Lancet medical journal, is said to be the “most comprehensive study to date” on the impact of natural immunity…
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Unvaccinated COVID patients ‘at greater risk of death’ for at least 18 months after infection | Science & Tech News
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Unvaccinated COVID patients retain a greater risk of death and cardiovascular disease for at least 18 months after infection, new research suggests. The findings come following a study of more than 160,000 people during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic – before any jabs were available. Those who caught the disease between March and…
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Long COVID symptoms ‘resolve in a year’ for most with mild illness, study finds | UK News
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Long COVID sufferers who had a mild bout of the virus should expect their symptoms to resolve within a year, researchers have suggested. People with ongoing effects after illness have been concerned that lingering symptoms will not disappear. But academics suggest that “mild disease does not lead to serious or chronic long-term morbidity”. The team…
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COVID R number: UK to stop publishing virus modelling data after nearly three years | UK News
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After almost three years, the UK Health Security Agency will stop publishing COVID modelling data next month. The increasingly sporadic updates on the virus’s R number will cease from 6 January, with it deemed “no longer necessary” thanks to vaccines and therapeutics. COVID’s reproductive rate, which referred to the number of people an infected person…