China Abandons Zero Covid Policy

This past weekend, China abandoned its previous policy of fighting for zero percent of covid inflicted patients in its country. This new movement has been brought on by widespread protests, international pressures, and media highlighting the mistreatment of large portions of the country’s population. 

As China breaks down its covid barriers, many citizens are also reentering international travel centers. The world is responding with increased precautionary measures surrounding border entries. 

Public Outcry Influences Scrapping the Zero Covid Policy

As countries begin to observe increased travel from China amidst the scrapping of their strict covid lockdown measures, there have been many discussions over precautionary measures to prevent covid spikes. 

China has been experiencing severe surges in positive covid cases over the past six months, with current case numbers well over 30,000 with more than 5,000 positive cases added daily. The alarming increase in cases was partially responsible for the ambitious policy targeting a zero percentage of infection across the enormous country.

The zero covid policy consisted of extraneous lockdowns, travel restrictions, public zoning, and widespread testing mandates. Although many media outlets are blocked and restricted within the country, some videos that made it to the western world shined a light on the egregious lockdown procedures officials were enacting across Chinese cities. 

Many people were forcibly locked into their apartment buildings, grocery stores, and even taxis when officials determined there was a positive case. The public outcry began to heighten with widespread protests, international media pressure, and significant losses of lives due to unforeseen complications associated with strict lockdown measures. 

Protests Arise From Strict Lockdowns

Protests are not common in China, with its strict unitary and communist government. However, amidst many rigorous and extensive lockdown measures, protests began to gain traction in many large Chinese cities. 

Many citizens began to protest after being forcibly locked into their apartments for the 14-day quarantine period outlined by health officials like the CDC. There appear to be many instances where the people locked in the building had to struggle for food and water, as they could not access necessary resources themselves, relying entirely on government subsidies that were few and far between. 

Several recorded examples of people getting arrested after attempting to leave their apartments, and many others suffered injuries and even death in the mandated lockdowns. 

Significant protests began after a fire broke out in a locked-down apartment building in late November, killing ten people and injuring many others. This was the second major fire disaster in the nation amidst these severe lockdowns. 

The Chinese public outcries and comments on social media calling for justice, demanding to understand if the lives were lost due to the covid restrictions hampering rescue efforts. Of course, many points to the inability of fire rescue to adequately approach the 15-story high-rise where the fire began due to roadblocks and covid infrastructure at the building’s base.

Chinese covid protocols were categorized into risk levels, and it is still unknown which level of restriction this building faced at the time of the emergency. Local officials said in a statement that this block was on a low-risk enforcement level, meaning residents could leave their buildings provided they self-monitor and avoid gatherings. However, local communities around the compound shared the building had recently been placed under stricter enforcement potential making it more difficult for residents to evacuate quickly. 

Efforts to quell the fire were also hampered by cars in the parking lot with dead batteries from sitting so long, preventing the fire trucks from getting close enough to disperse water on the upper floors, which were also engulfed in flames. 

China’s New Covid Protocols

China has responded to the increasing pressures to reassess its protocols and has released new forms of restrictions to combat covid. 

• People are no longer required to relocate to state facilities or quarantine if they or someone they have contact with test positive for covid. 

• China has also ended its mass testing program, which means it will no longer have an accurate assessment of its ongoing cases. 

As of November, Chinese officials also released statistics that they have successfully vaccinated almost 40% of people over 80 years old with two doses of covid vaccines. These people are in the demographic for the most risk of severe covid complications. 

Precautionary Measures Applied to Chinese Flights and Tourists Across the EU and USA

Some EU countries have responded to the entrance of many Chinese tourists with mandatory testing despite controversies over its injustice and political motivations. Many argue that mandatory testing is not an effective use of resources or time due to the high vaccination rates already prevalent across Europe. 

The decision to implement testing continued, though, as there have been constant misrepresentations of current infection statistics by China and unknown information on the rise of new variants due to a lack of data. 

Chinese officials suggested that these restrictions are politically motivated and threatened to retaliate against unjust policies. 

The United States of America has also enacted its policies toward incoming travelers from China. US officials cited a need for adequate and transparent covid data for the decision to require entry tests. The decision is also backed by scientists who want to allow time to slow the disease's spread via travel and identify any potential new strains. 

The consensus is shared by many areas of the world as other countries, including Japan, Australia, India, Taiwan, and Malaysia, will require any travelers arriving from China to test negative for covid. 

How Will Traveling Look To and From China in 2023

1. Travelers entering China will no longer have to quarantine, as anyone arriving previously had to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a state facility. Some cities may still enact a form of quarantine for international and domestic travelers as their populations may be more vulnerable to the effects of covid. 

2. The EU calls for European-wide mandatory testing for all travelers from China, with many countries already enacting their policies. The USA, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, and many more will be joining the European country's testing mandates. 

3. Many Chinese will likely be traveling this year as they have had some of the most severe and strict lockdowns during the pandemic. Many citizens will have to renew their passports as almost three years have passed since tourism was open in the country.  

4. It needs to be clarified how many cases China is currently facing and what kind of variants travelers may be spreading abroad. The scrapped mandated testing and misreporting of data have led to many inconclusive reports concerning the accuracy of covid infections. 

New Molnupiravir Covid Antiviral Treatment

Molnupiravir is a new antiviral treatment currently in Phase III of its clinical trials in the United Kingdom.

It was developed by the private company Mavenir Therapeutics and is ideal for people infected with HCV who have already completed therapy with an appropriate antiviral agent.

Molnupiravir Covid Treatment Advances In The Fight Against The Pandemic

Molnupiravir covid treatment is an antiviral drug that is effective in its treatment during the pandemic.

Early drug trials have shown a rapid onset action against the virus, and patients tolerate it well.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also approved its use for treating influenza A H1N1 virus infection in adults aged 18 years or older, including pregnant women.

Molnupiravir may also be used to treat other strains of pandemic flu viruses, including seasonal flu; however, there is currently no data from clinical trials that support this use.

Side effects from this treatment are typically mild and include headache, body aches, sore throat, cough, and fever which usually resolve within seven days after beginning treatment. The effects will become more evident as its use becomes more prevalent. However, rare cases have been reported where patients develop a severe respiratory illness such as pneumonia or death.

How Molnupiravir Covid Works To Combat The Virus

Molnupiravir is an antiviral medication given to patients twice a day for five days while infected with the omicron variant of Covid. 

The pill is taken by mouth daily and selected for patients with a higher risk of death or severe hospitalization from Covid, many with underlying ailments associated with age or other health conditions.

While early trials appeared to aid the recovery of treated patients significantly, the data still does not correlate with any significant decreases in covid associated death rates or hospital admissions. 

Side Effects Of Covid Drugs And How To Minimize The

Covid drugs can cause various side effects, some of which have been serious and others with unknown long-term consequences.

Be sure to speak with your doctor or pharmacist about any potential side effects before starting this treatment, as there are many types of recovery aids to help those outside of high-risk categories.

Side effects of the new medication can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain which should all be communicated to your primary physician. 

Some people taking the drug have also experienced changes in their mood or behavior, but any increase in anxiety or depressive symptoms should be addressed immediately by a doctor.

Make sure to notify your doctor if you are using other medications concurrently that could interact with the Covid drug(s) you are prescribed.

Consult a healthcare professional if there is unexplained weight loss or increased appetite when using this coronavirus therapy. The drug has also been shown to react differently with diabetic patients with an increased risk for hypoglycemia and low blood sugar, which may impair the body’s renal function. 

The Current Status Of Covid Treatment And Future Prospects

The current status of this new Covid treatment is highly effective against the virus, with a 95% successful recovery rate in the usual two-week recovery period.

Critics of the therapy suggest many of the unwanted side effects make this treatment undesirable for patients outside high-risk categories. 

There has been significant research in the past few years to find new and better ways to treat Covid, which may improve the success rate even more in the future, and this is just one of those treatments.

Prospects for Covid treatment are very positive as new technologies are being developed all the time.

Patient Outcomes Following Administration Of Covid Therapies

Covid antiviral treatments have resulted in a marked decrease in patients developing illness complications and death.

The use of Covid therapies has also led to a significant reduction in the spread of the virus, meaning that fewer people are affected by it at any time. The resulting decrease in the transmission is due to the shortening of the recovery period and lessening the duration of transmissible symptoms like coughing.

While some risks are still associated with using Covid therapies, these have been significantly reduced over time as researchers continue to develop new ways to prevent severe complications from the pandemic virus.

Patients who receive Covid therapy often experience faster recoveries than those patients who do not receive treatment.

Overall, patient outcomes following the administration of Covid therapies are very positive and demonstrate clear benefits for both infected individuals and society as a whole.

Lessons Learned From Molnupiravir Covid Trials

1. Antiviral treatments are not a cure-all and should always be combined with other therapies to take advantage of their potential best.

2. New, more effective antiviral treatments are being developed continuously, and patients should remain informed about available options.

3. Many different side effects can occur when taking antiviral medications, but most tend to be mild and short-term.

4. Patients need to remain as active as possible while on an antiviral medication to reduce the risk of complications from the virus or the treatment itself (i.e., build-up of drug resistance).

Autoimmune Diseases Linked to the Black Plague

The Black Death was an unimaginable pandemic that swept through Europe in the mid-1300s, resulting in catastrophic and severe mortality of the global population at the time. The seven-year plague was responsible for up to 200 million deaths, a significantly more significant impact than the current coronavirus pandemic responsible for around less than 6.6 million deaths. Researchers studying gene mutations and modern human DNA recently discovered links between historic Black Death survivors and autoimmune diseases currently affecting millions of people.  

The significance of the Black Death’s impact at the time also coincides with a much smaller global population of around 392 million people, explaining why the plague had such an enormous impact and required centuries for the world to recover from the devastation. The plague was responsible for removing 30 to 60 percent of the European population at the time, meaning many modern humans of European descent originated from the remaining survivors. 

The enormity of the plague’s impact shaped humanity’s evolution, forcing the selection of survivable traits, which the researchers could observe in skeletal remains and descendants of the survivors. DNA analyses from the skeletons of plague survivors discovered genetic mutations that may have been the reason for greater individual survivability. The DNA study published in Nature found a series of mutations around the ERAP2 gene, equating to a 40 percent greater chance of surviving the plague for sampled individuals. 

The ERAP2 gene is responsible for generating proteins that divide and disperse invading microbes to immune system defenses, allowing it to recognize and neutralize invaders effectively. Survivors of the plague had mutations creating a high-functioning version of the gene, allowing their immune systems to overcome any infections by the deadly disease better. These plague-resistant mutations are still prevalent in today’s modern society as they were passed down through generations. However, modern-day humans may be inadvertently affected by those same high-functioning qualities of the mutations.

The massive impact the Black Death had on earlier human populations has continued to affect modern-day society, implicating descendants of survivors with damaging health consequences. Scientists discovered the increased protein production from the high-functioning gene can be linked to various autoimmune disorders like the damaging inflammatory bowel disease called Chrons. Increased protein production by the specific genes consequently has a negative implication forcing the body to damage itself in response to minor microbial invasions or even the lack thereof. The correlation of the plague’s evolutionary impact to modern autoimmune diseases is baffling but will potentially lead to discoveries regarding these diseases’ origins and treatment. 

Human DNA studies are incredibly complex as they attempt to understand many factors like mutations, environmental pressure, survivability, and inheritance. Similar consequences caused by the Black Death are improbable in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Future descendants of covid survivors will not likely need to address mutation complications because of the low significant impact on global populations and the disease’s inability to impact humans over a diverse age spectrum. Coronavirus-19 statistically has the most significant impact on older people, with deaths over 65 accounting for more than 75 percent globally.

Increasing Shipping Tolls to Inflate Medical Supply Costs in 2023

Increasing transit tolls for passage through the Suez Canal may result in increased costs associated with healthcare, medical products, and various other consumer industries. The Suez Canal will increase its toll rates for ships using the maritime route connecting Europe to Asia. Expected increases will begin in January of 2023, raising vessel toll rates by 15% for freighters and 10% for dry cargo and cruise ships. Amidst the ongoing pandemic conditions still affecting many regions of the world, access to affordable healthcare and medical products will inevitably succumb to increases as almost 90% of global trade is facilitated through the vital canal. 

The geographic significance of the Suez Canal places it centrally between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Before its development essential commodities, medicine, and health supplies had to make the arduous journey around Africa’s Cape Horn. Bypassing the southern route for the Suez Canal can reduce shipping time by more than seven days and save substantial money. The decision for the increased toll rates for this vital shipping route arose as higher than average rates of vessel traffic returned amid pandemic recovery, technological advancement in vessel utilization, and continued impacts facing congested shipping ports globally. 

The Suez Canal is often described as the artery at the heart of global trade because a majority of trade is facilitated through the canal that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. The canal observed more than 12% of all global trade and 30% of global container traffic each year. These large shipping containers utilize the much faster route to rapidly deliver critical commercial goods, energy, medicine, and industrial components. 

As the coronavirus spread globally in early 2020, catastrophic maritime operation reductions in many ports forced freighters to opt for longer routes affecting their deliveries. The massive redirection of freighters during this time congested areas like the Suez, inadvertently forcing ships into smaller ports not designed to accommodate such a large influx of activity. The effects left medical professionals and the public without access to vital medications, tools, and equipment during a worldwide pandemic. The results of the congestion are still unraveling today, reinforced by the recent canal blockage by a cargo freighter in early 2021. The ship got stuck traversing the canal, blocking any passage by other vessels in the queue. Without an active channel to transport the ships, a gridlock of more than 100 vessels piled up on both sides of the canal, further contributing to the already delayed global trade industry. 

After the 2021 blockage was cleared and signs of the pandemic began relaxing, maritime shipping rapidly increased past former heights as countries attempted to account for the economic losses of the last few years. This rapid traffic influx forced the canal to support the passage of more than 50 vessels per day. Additional advancements in vessel utilization has greatly improved larger freighter’s overall performance, extending their transport range and volume. The canal managers are worried that without adequate funding to support the growing daily use of the route, more accidents like the blockage of 2021 will occur and contribute to future stock shortages, delays, and restricted access to healthcare tools.  

It is highly likely the health industries will face price inflation as the cost of consumer goods increase to match shipping costs. More than $1 trillion USD worth of global commerce industry goods pass through the canal each year. Potential welfare effects may impact less developed regions as healthcare costs also increase to afford inflated medical supply costs. Additional revenue generated by the 2023 toll increases is expected to reinforce the canal, prevent future blockages, and maintain increasing influxes of global traffic. Whatever changes American consumers face regarding the toll increases, the associated costs will still be more affordable than any commodity delivered via longer alternative shipping routes.

EPA Designates Forever Chemicals as Hazardous Substances

Synthetic human-made chemicals called PFAS have been rapidly infiltrating many of the world’s vital water supplies, damaging Earth’s environment in the process. These per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are incredibly difficult to break down, often lasting for thousands of years, even contaminating rainfall in certain regions. With increasing knowledge over the last few decades, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to submit an official proposal to classify many of these chemicals as hazardous substances, influencing many additional federal protocols associated with their use and disposal. The decision also comes as new research has been exploring better ways for PFAS management and disposal. 

Many PFAS are common household products like cooking pans, oils, cleaning supplies, and abrasives. PFAS chemicals often produce coatings and products that can repel water, oil, heat, and grease. The chemicals are dangerous because they break down slowly and have been observed leaching into water and soil, leaving trace amounts detectable in the blood of humans and animals. 

Recent studies about the effects of exposure to PFAS suggest earlier assumptions were incredibly limited concerning the risks and knowledge of dangerous exposure levels. Prolonged exposure can result in reproductive complications, heart issues, respiratory disease, cancer, and immunosuppressant responses in communities. PFAS causes various complications as they primarily settle in the body’s blood, kidneys, and liver. These chemicals have been in the commercial market since the 1940s, and previous studies suggest they are present in more than 98 percent of the US population. 

The EPA’s submitted proposal will list at least two of these harmful PFAS as hazardous substances, encouraging effective waste management at facilities that handle these chemicals, with much more likely to be added later. The Federal Drug Administration and many chemical manufacturers have already voluntarily phased out the use of these chemicals, especially in commodities that deal directly with food products. However, the unfortunate reality still suggests more than 70 percent of imported products still contain remnants of older PFAS. Since these chemicals are so slow to break down, they easily contaminate products transported into air, dust, food, ground soil, and water.  

The EPA’s decision to begin managing PFAS use and disposal has had to navigate complicated relationships with the prominent chemical industry leaders, but at the neglect of community and environmental health. Critics of the EPA’s new proposal claim the action is a little too late, without any real repercussions or plans to mitigate the damages from the prolonged incorporation of these harmful chemicals in American communities. The other misfall of the EPA’s new proposal is that it fails to address any future solutions, only acknowledging current problems and only a few harmful PFAS. 

There is little acknowledgment in the proposal to develop plans for future mitigation as these hazardous chemicals continue to leach into the environment and are already waning vital resources of fresh water. Although the proposal may lack future mitigation efforts, chemical scientists have been researching how to dispose of these chemicals effectively, and there may still be some good news. 

Scientists have discovered that effective use of heat in contaminated water can initiate a chemical reaction to break down the strong PFAS bonds, removing them from the water without any remaining byproducts. This new information means water processing plants can effectively remove the harmful PFAS from water without releasing any byproducts into the environment, gradually diminishing their communal effects globally.