Saturday, January 28, 2023
  • Login
198 Japan News
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • BUSINESS NEWS
  • VIDEO NEWS
  • FEATURED NEWS
    • JAPAN US TRADE NEWS
    • JAPAN EU NEWS
    • JAPAN UK NEWS
    • JAPAN INDIA NEWS
    • JAPAN RUSSIA NEWS
    • JAPAN GULF NATIONS NEWS
    • JAPAN AFRICA NEWS
    • JAPAN EGYPT NEWS
    • JAPAN NIGERIA NEWS
    • JAPAN MEXICO NEWS
    • JAPAN BRAZIL NEWS
    • JAPAN THAILAND NEWS
    • JAPAN INDONESIA NEWS
  • CRYPTO
  • POLITICAL
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • JAPAN AGRICULTURE NEWS
    • JAPAN MANUFACTURE NEWS
    • JAPAN AGRICULTURE NEWS
    • JAPAN IMMIGRATION NEWS
    • JAPAN UNIVERSITY NEWS
    • JAPAN EDUCATION NEWS
    • JAPAN VENTURE CAPITAL NEWS
    • JAPAN JOINT VENTURE NEWS
    • JAPAN BUSINESS HELP
    • JAPAN PARTNESHIPS
  • ASK IKE LEMUWA
  • CONTACT
198 Japan News
  • HOME
  • BUSINESS NEWS
  • VIDEO NEWS
  • FEATURED NEWS
    • JAPAN US TRADE NEWS
    • JAPAN EU NEWS
    • JAPAN UK NEWS
    • JAPAN INDIA NEWS
    • JAPAN RUSSIA NEWS
    • JAPAN GULF NATIONS NEWS
    • JAPAN AFRICA NEWS
    • JAPAN EGYPT NEWS
    • JAPAN NIGERIA NEWS
    • JAPAN MEXICO NEWS
    • JAPAN BRAZIL NEWS
    • JAPAN THAILAND NEWS
    • JAPAN INDONESIA NEWS
  • CRYPTO
  • POLITICAL
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • JAPAN AGRICULTURE NEWS
    • JAPAN MANUFACTURE NEWS
    • JAPAN AGRICULTURE NEWS
    • JAPAN IMMIGRATION NEWS
    • JAPAN UNIVERSITY NEWS
    • JAPAN EDUCATION NEWS
    • JAPAN VENTURE CAPITAL NEWS
    • JAPAN JOINT VENTURE NEWS
    • JAPAN BUSINESS HELP
    • JAPAN PARTNESHIPS
  • ASK IKE LEMUWA
  • CONTACT
No Result
View All Result
198 Japan News
No Result
View All Result
Home JAPAN UK NEWS

COVID-19 testing policies under scrutiny worldwide as omicron surge drives up demand

by 198 Japan News
January 6, 2022
in JAPAN UK NEWS
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

[ad_1]

LONDON/JERUSALEM – The U.K. and Israel are overhauling their COVID-19 testing policies as governments seek to reduce the burden on laboratories and struggle with tight supplies of test kits amid soaring infection rates fueled by the omicron variant.

This time last year, vaccines offered hope that the pandemic might be over by now. But omicron has brought new challenges, including overloading public health systems, even if — as many scientists say — it leads to less severe illness than the earlier delta variant.

Demand for testing kits has squeezed supply. Last week, queues formed outside pharmacies in Spain’s capital, Madrid, in what has become a common scene since omicron began driving up infections. Madrid, where a conservative government has put supporting the hospitality sector at the top of its agenda, is opting for increased testing and no restrictions on socializing.

A surge in demand for tests has led to issues in the U.K. and Italy. The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that 100,000 more PCR booking slots per day had been made available since mid-December and that capacity had been doubled to 900,000 PCR and LFD test kits a day.

People in England who test positive for COVID-19 on rapid lateral flow device (LFD) tests will not need to confirm their results with a follow-up PCR test if they are not showing symptoms, the UKHSA said Wednesday.

A record-high one in 15 people had COVID-19 in England in the week ending Dec. 31, estimates published by the Office for National Statistics showed on Wednesday.

“While cases of COVID continue to rise, this tried-and-tested approach means that LFDs can be used confidently to indicate COVID-19 infection without the need for PCR confirmation,” said agency Chief Executive Dr. Jenny Harries.

PCR tests are processed in a lab and can be used to determine which variant a person has, while an LFD can be used at home and gives an indication of whether someone is infectious within half an hour.

Virologists and experts said the move was logical given the incredibly high infection rates, as long as LFD supplies were sufficient, as the tests identify the majority of people who are at their most infectious and need to isolate.

“There is really no need to confirm (a positive LFD test) with a PCR, a step that not only wastes time but costs a lot of money and uses up laboratory resources that could be better used elsewhere,” said John Edmunds, a professor of mathematical modelling of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

But authorities will have less data about the spread of different variants, as PCR swabs are used for genotyping and sequencing.

‘Supersonic’ rise in cases

Israel has changed its quarantine and testing policies as part of efforts to save resources and ensure continued protection for vulnerable people.

PCR tests will be earmarked for people age 60 and over or with weak immune systems, while those at lower risk will be checked with rapid antigen tests, the health ministry said.

“This is a significant change intended to identify risk populations sooner, intervene and prevent severe disease,” ministry director-general Nachman Ash told a news conference.

Until now, those exposed to confirmed COVID-19 carriers have been required to take official tests. If found to be positive, they must submit to police-enforced quarantine rules.

The United States reported nearly a million new coronavirus infections Monday, the highest daily tally of any country in the world and nearly double the previous U.S. peak set a week earlier.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday backed its week-old guidance for people seeking to end their COVID-19 isolation at five days, adding that they could take a rapid antigen test if they want to and can access one but that it is not a requirement.

The agency had been pressured by health experts to institute a test requirement after it cut in half its guidance last week for people to isolate after a COVID-19 infection, from 10 days to five.

Spain, Portugal and the U.K. have also slashed the mandatory isolation period for people who test positive for COVID-19 amid fears that lengthy quarantines could paralyze their economies.

Ireland will drop its requirement for vaccinated arrivals to have proof of a negative COVID-19 test and will return to seeking proof of vaccination or recent infection upon entry, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said.

In France, a “supersonic” rise in infections is set to continue in the coming days and there are no signs of the trend reversing, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

Nearly 294 million people are reported to have been infected with the coronavirus globally, and more than 5.8 million have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in central China in December 2019.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

You might also like

India’s forex reserves dip by $7.54 billion as RBI sells dollars to defend rupee

Japan’s only ‘baby hatch’ offers mums a safe and anonymous place to give up newborns

Three Japan-approved drugs may be effective against omicron BA.5

PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

  • A COVID-19 testing center sign at Heathrow Terminal 5 in west London. The U.K. Health Security Agency says 100,000 more PCR booking slots per day have been made available since mid-December. | AFP-JIJI
  • A resident drops off a COVID-19 PCR test at a testing site in Washington on Wednesday. The U.S. recorded over a million coronavirus cases on Monday, nearly doubling the previous records, with hospitalizations increasingly fueled by the virus rapidly spreading among the unvaccinated. | BLOOMBERG

[ad_2]

Source link

Tags: COVID19demanddrivesOmicronpoliciesscrutinysurgeTestingworldwide
Share30Tweet19

Recommended For You

India’s forex reserves dip by $7.54 billion as RBI sells dollars to defend rupee

by 198 Japan News
July 23, 2022
0

Mumbai (Maharashtra) , July 23 (ANI): India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves slumped by $7.541 billion to $572.712 billion for the week ended July 15, the lowest level in...

Read more

Japan’s only ‘baby hatch’ offers mums a safe and anonymous place to give up newborns

by 198 Japan News
July 23, 2022
0

For 15 years, a hospital in southern Japan has been the only place in the country where a child can be anonymously and safely abandoned. Jikei hospital in...

Read more

Three Japan-approved drugs may be effective against omicron BA.5

by 198 Japan News
July 21, 2022
0

Three anti-coronavirus drugs prescribed in Japan, including molnupiravir, may be effective against the omicron subvariant BA.5, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine...

Read more

U.S. dollar climbs, euro retreats ahead of ECB rate decision

by 198 Japan News
July 20, 2022
0

NEW YORK, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar appreciated in late trading on Wednesday, while the euro declined, as market participants awaited a key rate decision from...

Read more

U.S. dollar dips as euro rises

by 198 Japan News
July 19, 2022
0

NEW YORK, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar fell in late trading on Tuesday as the euro rallied on the chance of a big rate hike by...

Read more
Next Post

Japan-US relations at critical juncture as China 'not good neighbour': US Ambassador to Japan

Coinbase Shares Predictions on Future of Ethereum Scalability, Metaverse, Defi, NFTs – Featured Bitcoin News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

FTX to Help Voyager Customers, CEO Says Firm Willing to Deploy ‘Hundreds of Millions’ to Help Crypto Industry – Bitcoin News

July 24, 2022

California governor declares emergency over wildfire near Yosemite

July 24, 2022

China accuses Japan of interfering in its internal affairs on Taiwan question

July 24, 2022

Kyodo News Digest: July 24, 2022

July 24, 2022

With an eye on China, Seoul seeks to prevent tech leaks

July 23, 2022

Brands of Baseball Gloves

July 23, 2022
198 Japan News

198 Japan News will provide the latest news update as the government facing a growing challenging in preventing Japan from breaking apart along ethnic and religious lines.

198massmedia Group. USA. 3821 Dominion Drive, Dumfries, USA. 22026.

Toll Free 1 888 642 8433.
Contact: info@198japannews.com

LATEST UPDATES

FTX to Help Voyager Customers, CEO Says Firm Willing to Deploy ‘Hundreds of Millions’ to Help Crypto Industry – Bitcoin News

California governor declares emergency over wildfire near Yosemite

China accuses Japan of interfering in its internal affairs on Taiwan question

Kyodo News Digest: July 24, 2022

With an eye on China, Seoul seeks to prevent tech leaks

Brands of Baseball Gloves

UPDATE 1-France tells Iran it’s disappointed at lack of progress over nuclear talks

Neymar declares wish to stay at Paris Saint Germain

RECOMMENDED

No Content Available

Copyright © 2021 198 Japan News.

No Result
View All Result
  • Browse the latest updates from Japan
  • Landing Page
  • Buy JNews
  • Support Forum
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2021 198 Japan News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In