Health News Roundup: Countries ponder wider wastewater testing amid hope airports offer China COVID-19 clues; Uganda declares itself Ebola-free after swiftly turning tide on outbreak and more

The EU's Integrated Political Crisis Response group (IPCR) last week recommended that member states introduce requirements on air travellers from China as the country prepared to ease travel restrictions despite a wave of new COVID infections. Chinese health expert: local production of Paxlovid should be able to start soon Supplies of Pfizer's Paxlovid in China are still unable to meet demand but local production of the anti-viral COVID drug should be able to start soon, a Chinese health expert said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Countries ponder wider wastewater testing amid hope airports offer China COVID-19 clues

An international meeting this week will discuss setting up a global system of wastewater monitoring for COVID-19, including at airports, after several countries said they would start tests on flights coming from China. Countries including the United States and Australia have moved to set up wastewater testing on flights and in airports amid a surge of cases in China. The European Union also recommends a similar measure and has drawn up guidelines for member states.

Uganda declares itself Ebola-free after swiftly turning tide on outbreak

Uganda on Wednesday declared the end of a nearly four-month Ebola outbreak that it briefly struggled to contain but was then able to swiftly bring under control despite the absence of a proven vaccine against the viral strain in question. "We have successfully controlled the spread of Ebola in Uganda," Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said during a ceremony to mark the outbreak's end.

British scientists plan to expand genomic sequencing from COVID to flu

Genomic sequencing allowed the world to track new coronavirus variants throughout the pandemic. Now British researchers plan to use it to better understand a host of other respiratory pathogens, from influenza to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The work is aimed at shedding more light on known threats and, potentially, emerging ones, the team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, working with the UK Health Security Agency, said.

Nearly 16 million Americans sign up for 2023 Obamacare plans

Nearly 16 million Americans have so far signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace, a 13% jump from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday. Enrollment for 2023 healthcare plans under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is open between Nov. 1 and Jan. 15.

Bayer shares gain on prospect of second activist pushing for change

Bayer is facing demands from activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners to break up, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, pushing shares in the diversified health and agriculture group to a five-week high. The source said Bluebell had invested in Bayer a few months ago and is pushing for a sale of the company's consumer health unit and, at a later stage, for a separation of Bayer's pharmaceuticals and agriculture businesses.

China imposes transit curbs for S.Korea, Japan in growing COVID spat

China introduced transit curbs for South Korean and Japanese nationals on Wednesday, in an escalating diplomatic spat over COVID-19 curbs that is marring the grand re-opening of the world's second-largest economy after three years of isolation. China removed quarantine mandates for inbound travellers on Sunday, one of the last vestiges of the world's strictest regime of COVID restrictions, which Beijing abruptly began dismantling in early December after historic protests.

WHO urges travellers to wear masks as new COVID variant spreads

Countries should consider recommending that passengers wear masks on long-haul flights, given the rapid spread of the latest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 in the United States, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday. In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant was detected in small but growing numbers, WHO and Europe officials said at a press briefing.

Cyprus requires negative COVID tests for China arrivals

Negative COVID-19 tests will be required for people travelling by air from China to Cyprus from Jan. 15, the island's health ministry said on Wednesday. The EU's Integrated Political Crisis Response group (IPCR) last week recommended that member states introduce requirements on air travellers from China as the country prepared to ease travel restrictions despite a wave of new COVID infections.

Chinese health expert: local production of Paxlovid should be able to start soon

Supplies of Pfizer's Paxlovid in China are still unable to meet demand but local production of the anti-viral COVID drug should be able to start soon, a Chinese health expert said on Wednesday. Wang Qingquan, head of the infectious diseases department at Peking University First Hospital, made the comment at a press conference.

Merck's COVID treatment expected to launch in China on Friday

Merck & Co's COVID-19 antiviral treatment molnupiravir is expected to be launched in the Chinese market on Friday, Sinopharm's president Liu Yong was quoted as saying by state-backed media outlet Kankan News on Wednesday. Merck said earlier in a filing that Sinopharm is the only legally authorized distributor of molnupiravir in China, which is sold under the brand name Lagevrio and was developed by Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.