Coronavirus live news: WHO chief criticises booster campaigns; China says it has zero new cases
WHO director general also questions effectiveness of booster vaccinations; Chinese health authorities report zero locally transmitted symptomatic cases
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1.36pm BST
The de facto leader of a group of New York state hospital employees who are against mandatory vaccination and testing has been suspended without pay.
John Matland, a CT scan technician at Staten Island University hospital, has led opposition to his employer Northwell Health requiring unvaccinated staff to get weekly coronavirus tests by nasal swab or risk losing their jobs, the New York Times reports.
1.22pm BST
A new study from researchers at the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s hospital suggests that hospital-acquired Covid-19 tends to be picked up from other patients, not from healthcare workers.
The peer-reviewed paper analysing data from 22 cases where patients were infected in hospital between March and June last year established that a minority of individuals can cause most of the transmission. It said 20 of the infections were the result of inter-patient spreading.
The fact that the vast majority of infections were between patients suggests that measures taken by hospital staff to prevent staff transmitting the virus to patients, such as the wearing of masks, were likely to have been effective. But it also highlights why it is important that patients themselves are screened for Covid-19 regularly, even if asymptomatic, and wear face masks where possible.
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