Fauci: ‘Open Mind’ on Lab Leak; Lockdown Protests Erupt in China; Sippy Cup Recall

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NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, MD, said on NBC‘s “Meet the Press” that he has a “completely open mind” about the COVID lab-leak theory, but added that the evidence of a natural occurrence “is pretty strong.”

Shanghai residents took to the streets in protest of China’s zero-COVID lockdowns after a fire in Urumqi killed 10 people who couldn’t get out of their apartment building fast enough; a BBC reporter covering the protests was arrested and beaten. (Washington Post, BBC)

Chinese authorities are ramping up security in areas where there were protests, putting up metal barriers and patrolling the streets. (Reuters)

Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are now responsible for 57% of new infections in the U.S. — increasingly endangering immunocompromised people. (CNBC)

As of Monday at 8:00 a.m. ET, the unofficial COVID toll in the U.S. reached 98,571,212 cases and 1,079,207 deaths, increases of 262,181 and 2,176, respectively, since this time a week ago.

Long COVID patients are turning to costly unproven treatments in their search for relief. (Washington Post)

Measles is now an imminent global threat after 40 million kids skipped routine immunizations due to healthcare disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization and CDC warned.

U.S. abortions in 2020 fell 2% from the year prior, with 51% performed by medication before 9 weeks, according to new CDC data.

Georgia’s supreme court reinstated its 6-week abortion ban Wednesday just days after its enforcement was halted and abortions had resumed. (AP)

Scientists are a step further in developing an mRNA vaccine that would protect universally against all known influenza virus subtypes. (Science)

In Ohio, the Toledo City Council plans to buy out 41,000 of its residents’ medical debt with the help of county funds and money from the American Rescue Plan. (The Hill)

Baxter Hillrom is recalling its WatchCare Incontinence Management System devices as their radiofrequency emissions can interfere with nearby medical devices, the FDA announced.

The FDA also warned restaurants and other consumers of raw oysters from Dai One Foods Co., after at least two people were sickened from possible sapovirus contamination.

Meanwhile, Green Sprouts’ stainless steel bottles and sippy cups for toddlers — sold at Amazon and Whole Foods — are being recalled for potential lead poisoning danger, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

A second death has been linked to lecanemab, Eisai’s investigational antibody for Alzheimer’s disease, after a woman taking the treatment during a clinical trial developed brain hemorrhaging. (Science)

The FDA rejected Spectrum Pharmaceuticals’ poziotinib as a treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with HER2 exon 20 insertion mutations, the company announced; an FDA advisory committee voted against the investigational drug earlier this year.