China slashes COVID quarantine time for international travellers China slashed the quarantine time for inbound travellers by half on Tuesday, in a major easing of COVID-19 curbs that have deterred cross-border travel and resulted in international flights running at just 2% of pre-pandemic levels. Reuters Reuters

...

CDC adds a Caribbean beach hot spot to its 'high' Covid-19 risk list The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday added just two destinations to its "high" category for Covid-19 risk: The Dominican Republic and Kuwait. By Forrest Brown and Marnie Hunter, CNN CNN

...

In a weekly update with little movement overall, Monday's move to Level 3 is a big jump up for Kuwait, which had been at Level 1. The Dominican Republic moved up from Level 2.

...

EU countries prolong COVID-19 certificates amid rising cases BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries approved Tuesday extending the use of COVID-19 certificates by one year until the end of June 2023 as cases of the deadly virus start to grow again ahead of the summer holiday season. AP NEWS

...

Updates on the COVID-19 response from CDC. The COVID-19 Outbreak is a rapidly evolving situation and information will be updated as it becomes available.

... Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 Vaccination for Children and Teens ...

France asks citizens to wear masks again in public transport French people should start wearing masks again in crowded areas, especially in public transport, as France has to deal with a new wave of COVID-19 infections fuelled by new variants of the disease, Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon said on Monday. Reuters Reuters

...

France reported new 17,601 coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the highest figure for a Monday since April 18.

Court revives block of vaccine mandate for federal workers NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In a reversal for President Joe Biden, a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday agreed to reconsider its own April ruling that allowed the administration to require federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. AP NEWS

...

Army Guard troops risk dismissal as vaccine deadline looms WASHINGTON (AP) — Up to 40,000 Army National Guard soldiers across the country — or about 13% of the force — have not yet gotten the mandated COVID-19 vaccine , and as the deadline for shots looms, at least 14,000 of them have flatly refused and could be forced out of the service. AP NEWS

...

Opinion | How to Control the 'Information Fire Hose' of the Pandemic Government agencies need to hire a narrative officer Randy Olson, PhD medpagetoday

...

Throughout the pandemic the biomedical community has unleashed a veritable fire hose of information on the public. Experts of all sorts have appeared on national television with countless explanations of the science. But for most of the public, it has simply been TMI: too much information. Not TMI of the silly personal type, but rather the more dangerous public health variety.

...

FDA panel to advise on whether — and how — Covid vaccines should be updated The FDA faces an important decision in coming days — whether to instruct companies that make Covid-19 vaccines to update the viral strain or strains of SARS-CoV-2 those products target. Helen Branswell STAT

...

Study: Many adolescents reported worsened or new-onset headaches during the COVID-19 pandemic Over one-third of schoolchildren who received online lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic reported a worsening of headache symptoms or new onset headaches, a study presented today at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2022 has found. News-Medical.net

...

US Covid-19 vaccine rollout for under-fives must overcome hesitancy For many parents the availability of vaccination to the youngest age group is not before time but others plan to ‘wait and see’ YahooNews

...

WHO panel: Monkeypox not a global emergency 'at this stage' LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said the escalating monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries should be closely monitored but does not warrant being declared a global health emergency. AP NEWS

...

In a statement Saturday, a WHO emergency committee said many aspects of the outbreak were “unusual” and acknowledged that monkeypox — which is endemic in some African countries — has been neglected for years.