#covid-testing

#covid-testing

A new COVID-19 variant is making its way through the Bay Area.But health experts say there's no need to panic yet.The XBB.1.16strain - dubbed "Arcturus" by some online - was added to the World Health Organization's list of variants of interest in April, and has been detected in California, according to wastewater surveillance systems.

Helen Whately has said claims about government advice on testing people leaving hospital for care homes were based on a "selection" of messages.The social care minister was referring to a newspaper report of Matt Hancock's handling of discharging people to care homes in April 2020 when he was health secretary.

Abbott Laboratories saw its sales rise in 2022, but had a rougher fourth quarter as people bought fewer COVID-19 tests and the company grappled with continued fallout from a recall of its powdered infant formulas.Abbott, which is based in the north suburbs and makes medical devices, tests and formula, had sales of $43.7 billion in 2022, up 6.4%, on an organic basis, compared with the previous year, the company said in an earnings report released Wednesday morning.

The government is reviewing whether to require travellers from China to take Covid tests, the defence secretary has said  following a surge in cases in the country.Speaking on a visit to Manchester airport on Thursday Ben Wallace said the idea was being looked at as we speak and that there could be an announcement today and tomorrow.

Howard Brown Health, a nonprofit community health center in Chicago that is the largest provider of health and wellness care for the LGBTQ+ community and people living with HIV in the US midwest, has announced it wants to lay off at least 100 employees, or about 15% of staff.The layoffs were proposed as voluntary in the first instance, but the company says a reduction in workforce is required, suggesting that if 100 volunteers are not found then layoffs will be compulsory.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock has insisted he does not regret his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.Mr Hancock told fellow contestants on ITV's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here that he regretted breaking social distancing guidance during his affair with aide Gina Coladangelo.But he defended his stewardship of the health service during the outbreak, insisting that problems were caused by the virus, not the people who were trying to solve the problem.