With the headlines dominated by coronavirus, not least on this website, Transport Network has decided to bring you a brief selection of good news stories. For the most part, it’s some of the better news about the fightback against COVID-19 and how people are responding in a positive way.
1 Vaccine trials under way.
Institutions and drug firms across the world are racing to find a vaccine that will stop people catching COVID-19 in the first place.
On Tuesday Pfizer and BioNTech announced that they are to collaborate to develop BioNTech’s mRNA-based vaccine candidate BNT162.
Across the Atlantic, a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine designed to protect against COVID-19 has begun at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.
The caveat is of course that it could be a while before such vaccines are widely available.
2 Flu medication appears to be effective.
The Guardian relays reports from Japanese media that medical authorities in China have said a drug used in Japan to treat new strains of influenza appeared to be effective in coronavirus patients.
‘Zhang Xinmin, an official at China’s science and technology ministry, said favipiravir, developed by a subsidiary of Fujifilm, had produced encouraging outcomes in clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen involving 340 patients.’
The drug appears to be more effective in patients with mild to moderate symptoms but shares in Fujifilm are reported to have soared.
3 Elderly and vulnerable first.
Sainsbury’s is the latest supermarket to announce measures to help the elderly and vulnerable get hold of essentials amid widespread panic buying and reports of less than civilised behaviour. Iceland, whose key demographic was previously mothers, appears to have started the trend.
According to ITV News, ‘all its stores will only open to these two groups for the first hour of trading on Thursday, chief executive Mike Coupe said, but will open for an hour longer so other shoppers do not miss out’.
4 Tube cleaners to get full sick pay
Tube cleaners are in frontline of the fight against COVID-19
The RMT union has welcomed the news that ‘tube cleaners in the frontline of the fight to contain the Coronavirus on London Underground are to get full sick pay after a campaign of union pressure’.
General secretary Mick Cash said: ‘The union has been demanding that all privatised staff on the transport network get full sick pay in light of the Coronavirus outbreak and the news that tube cleaners working for ABM are to get just that is a welcome breakthrough others must now follow.’
ABM appears confident in its hygiene practices. Its website features colleagues hi-fiving across their desks, presumably before washing their hands for 20 seconds while singing Happy Birthday.
5 Some of us will be able to breathe more easily
Campaign group ClientEarth, which ‘has won three cases against the UK government over the country’s illegal and harmful levels of air pollution’ welcomed the Budget announcement of new support for local authorities to deal with air pollution, in the form of a £304m cash boost.
The group’s praise for the move was qualified with a warning that ‘the devil will be in the detail’ but this merely served to entertain players of catchphrase bingo across the land.
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