Roche launches new test to detect fast spreading Omicron sub-variant Roche has launched a new PCR test to detect a fast-spreading sub-variant of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus, the Swiss drugmaker said on Thursday. Reuters Reuters

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Broad focus planned for revamped COVID panel under GOP majority - Roll Call The panel's new chairman wants an “after-action review” but also plans work on the origins of the coronavirus. Roll Call

The new chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is planning a wide focus on future pandemic preparedness and the impacts of the pandemic on the economy, education and the national supply chain.

Delays, snags hampered HHS pandemic relief efforts to vulnerable groups CIDRAP

A new US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) distribution of federal pandemic relief funds to support communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 was hampered by delayed state acceptance of the funds and resource problems.

House GOP Stacks COVID Response Panel With Top COVID Conspiracy Theorists Marjorie Taylor Greene compared masks to the Holocaust. Ronny Jackson said omicron was a Democratic hoax. Definitely a credible committee! YahooNews

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) unveiled his picks on Tuesday for the new Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic: Republicans who have spread dangerous misinformation about COVID-19, compared wearing face masks to the Holocaust, and suggested that the omicron variant of the deadly virus was a Democratic hoax.

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UK to give COVID booster dose to higher-risk groups in autumn British health minister Steve Barclay said on Wednesday a COVID-19 booster vaccination would be offered in autumn this year for those at higher risk of severe disease. Reuters Reuters

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Updated boosters are cutting the risk of getting sick from Covid-19 by about half | CNN The updated Covid-19 boosters are cutting the risk that a person will get sick from the coronavirus by about half, even against infections caused by the rapidly spreading XBB.1.5 subvariant. Brenda Goodman CNN

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Setting the record straight: There is no 'Covid heart' In a world where success is measured by clicks, the idea that even mild cases of Covid-19 could pose a new and unprecedented threat to the heart took off, even though it was largely unsubstantiated. Patrick Skerrett STAT

After a year of frightening headlines, widespread concern, and countless retweets that the virus that causes Covid-19 may attack the heart more aggressively than any other viral illness, the verdict is in: It doesn’t.

The COVID vaccine success story as a springboard for future research CIDRAP

The harmonized approach and broad database created by the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), or Operation Warp Speed (OWS), to rapidly develop life-saving SARS-CoV-2 vaccines can be harnessed for future research on other public health threats that require a speedy response, according to a special communication published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

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China says COVID deaths, severe cases have fallen over 70% since peak Critically ill COVID-19 cases in China are down 72% from a peak early this month while daily deaths among COVID-19 patients in hospitals have dropped 79% from their peak, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. Reuters Reuters

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CDC chief to create new offices to boost public health response - Bloomberg News The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky is creating new offices as part of the agency's revamp to prioritize public health response, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. Reuters Reuters

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Pandemic jobless benefits fraud likely tops $60 billion. House GOP to start investigating next week | CNN Politics More than $60 billion may have been paid out in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report released Monday by the US Government Accountability Office. Tami Luhby CNN

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