Category: Asia
Asian Coronavirus News
Japan: A new pandemic record for Covid-19 deaths *1 Update*
A new daily record for Covid-19 deaths has been set in Japan, and the link between deaths and cases appears to be breaking too. More...
Recombination potential between SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV
A June 2021 preprint looking at the potential for a MERS-CoV/SARS-CoV-2 recombination event is receiving a lot of social media attention today following rumours of MERS-CoV/SARS-CoV-2 infections at the World Cup in Qatar. More...
Largest ever Covid wave in China sees over 30,000 new infections a day
The recent relaxation in Covid controls in China comes at a heavy price as the largest Covid wave ever reported takes shape. More...
Recombinant SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 variant found in Chinese bats
A new preprint out today has been looking at viruses in Chinese bats and has turned up some surprises – it looks like a recombinant variant of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 has been found! More...
Preprint: Two thirds of first-wave Covid cases have long Covid
The proportion of patients with at least 1 post–COVID-19 symptom 2 years after acute infection was 59.7% for hospitalized patients and 67.5% for those not requiring hospitalization. More...
Lancet: Protection from previous natural infection compared with mRNA vaccination
The Lancet have published a new article comparing the protection given by a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection versus mRNA vaccination. More...
Emma Hodcroft analyses the XBB recombinant variant
This is one of those very rare occasions when an entire Twitter thread is worth republishing as it answers so many common questions. More...
Japan: new Covid wave begins with BF.5 as leading variant again
Japan is seeing a new wave of coronavirus rolling in, just weeks after the last devastating wave tailed off. More...
Preprint: SARS-CoV-2 may have originated as an infectious clone assembled in vitro
A new preprint out today finds that SARS-COV-2 has “a synthetic fingerprint unlikely to have evolved from its close relatives.” More...
Singapore: XBB variant more prevalent in those without a previous Covid infection
Singapore’s Health Minister, Ong Ye Kung, has said that he expects the current XBB SARS-CoV-2 wave to peak in mid-November 2022. More...