Five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Friday morning.
Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Friday morning.
1. Longest infection lasted more than 16 months – study
UK doctors believe they have documented the longest Covid infection on record – a patient they treated who had detectable levels of the virus for more than 16 months, or 505 days in total. Such prolonged infections are rare and the unnamed individual, who died in hospital in 2021, had other underlying medical conditions, the London-based doctors say.
2. PM faces probe Parliament party probe
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be investigated by a Commons committee over claims he misled Parliament about parties in Downing Street that broke coronavirus laws. MPs have paved the way for the Privileges Committee to launch an inquiry once the police have finished their investigation. A government bid to delay the vote was abandoned amid opposition from its own MPs. Mr Johnson says he has “absolutely nothing, frankly, to hide”.
3. NHS to ban products of slavery after PPE concerns
The NHS in England could be barred from using goods and services linked to slavery or human trafficking under a new law to be discussed next week. The UK bought billions of pounds of protective health equipment during the pandemic, some of it allegedly manufactured using forced labour in China. Reports suggest thousands of people – mostly Muslim Uyghurs – are detained in camps in western Xinjiang province, which authorities insist are for re-educating extremists.
4. One in four Covid patients in ICU because of virus
Only a quarter of Covid patients in intensive care units (ICUs) in the first three months of this year were there because of the virus, a study for Public Health Scotland has found. An audit group said 296 patients who had tested positive were admitted to ICUs in Scotland between 1 January and 13 March. For 26%, Covid was the main reason for them being placed in an ICU, while in another 14% of cases it may have contributed to their admission. In 60% of cases, a positive test was “coincidental”, the report says.
5. Joy for family as more than two years of isolation ends
Seven-year-old twins who have been shielding for more than two years have finally come out of isolation, having received their second vaccinations. Orin and Olivia Arthur have Pompe disease, which affects organs such as the heart and lungs. They have been shielding with their parents in Tain, Easter Ross since early 2020. But now they can finally be reunited with their wider family.
And don’t forget…
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