🇺🇸 U.S. reports cases of new COVID variant NB.1.8.1 behind surge in China. The CDC's airport screening has detected the new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, tied to a surge in China, in travelers arriving in California, Washington, Virginia, and the NYC area, per Ginkgo Bioworks data. Source: https://archive.md/viSvU @AusCOVID19 group

COVID virus 'reprograms' infection fighters into immune system suppressors, study shows A Johns Hopkins study found SARS-CoV-2 may reprogram neutrophils—the body’s most common white blood cells—disabling their pathogen-fighting role. Instead, they suppress other immune cells, weakening the immune response and potentially worsening COVID-19 outcomes. Study: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.adn7527 Source: https://archive.md/kSXuG @AusCOVID19 group

🇨🇳 China: New COVID-19 infections are rising again across China, driven by Omicron subvariants NB.1 and XDV. "People have confirmed that many people have been infected with COVID-19, and many have died, but the authorities have blocked the news." Source:

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北京突承认或为时已晚 疫情全中国蔓延

中国新冠（COVID-19，即中共病毒）疫情再呈上升趋势，过去一个月内全国哨点医院新冠阳性检出率翻倍。但官方�...

@AusCOVID19 group

Queensland respiratory surveillance report: 14 May to 20 May 2025 Reported cases: 🔹COVID: 552 (+31.7%) 🔹Influenza: 971 (+24.1%) 🔹RSV: 694 (+9.2%) Hospitalisations: 🔸COVID: 53 (-17.1%) 🔸Influenza: 59 (-13.2%) 🔸RSV: 41 (-6.8%) Source: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/surveillance/reports/flu @AusCOVID19 group

Queensland respiratory surveillance report: 7 May to 13 May 2025 Reported cases: 🔹COVID: 419 (+1.2%) 🔹Influenza: 782 (-11.4%) 🔹RSV: 635 (-6.3%) Hospitalisations: 🔸COVID: 64 (+23.0%) 🔸Influenza: 68 (+7.9%) 🔸RSV: 44 (-2.2%) Source: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/surveillance/reports/flu @AusCOVID19 group

🇬🇧 UK: Couple died after COVID ‘taken into house by carers’, daughter tells inquiry "A woman whose parents died of Covid a month apart during the pandemic has told a public inquiry she believes the infection was taken into their house by carers." “People who were working with vulnerable people – carers coming to my mother – were actually not being tested, nor were other healthcare workers." “These people were actually spreading a virus and nothing was being done to counteract that.” #COVID19UK #UKCOVIDInquiry #COVIDisNotOVER Source: https://archive.md/Ltv0J @AusCOVID19 group

Queensland respiratory surveillance report: 30 Apr to 6 May 2025 Reported cases: 🔹COVID: 414 (+36.6%) 🔹Influenza: 883 (+8.2%) 🔹RSV: 678 (+11.5%) Hospitalisations: 🔸COVID: 52 (+1.9%) 🔸Influenza: 63 (-21.2%) 🔸RSV: 45 (-22.4%) Source: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/surveillance/reports/flu @AusCOVID19 group

Air filters in classrooms reduce sick days by more than 10% "Putting air filters in classrooms seems to boost student attendance, which may be due to them reducing levels of air pollution, pollen, pathogens or all three." Report:

Abstract EGU25-20302

Source: https://archive.md/fJMuT

Queensland respiratory surveillance report: 23 Apr to 29 Apr 2025 Reported cases: 🔹COVID: 303 (-12.9%) 🔹Influenza: 816 (-28.9%) 🔹RSV: 608 (-14.8%) Hospitalisations: 🔸COVID: 51 (-20.3%) 🔸Influenza: 80 (-8.0%) 🔸RSV: 58 (unchanged) Source: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/surveillance/reports/flu @AusCOVID19 group

🇮🇪 Ireland: Ireland: 'Paediatricians, GPs, and schools don’t understand childhood long COVID' "Parents can find it difficult to get the right medical support, as it is not widely known that young people can develop the condition." “Children who used to be athletes, who used to run around for hours a day, now they’re barely able to walk to school" “Children, adolescents, can just get exhausted looking at a computer. They are sensitive to noise, sound, and light. And they’re told, ‘You’re just anxious’. They’re not: They have autonomic dysregulation. Their para-sympathetic nervous system is imbalanced, so they’re on edge. This is adrenalin-driven rather than psychologically-driven.” Source: https://archive.md/bRFlI #LongCOVID @AusCOVID19 group