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The world has never been in a better position to end the Covid-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on September 14, his most optimistic outlook yet on the years-long health crisis which has killed over six million people. "We are not there yet. But the end is in sight," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a virtual press conference. That was the most upbeat assessment from the UN agency since it declared an international emergency in January 2020 and started describing Covid-19 as a pandemic three months later. The virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed nearly 6.5 million people and infected 606 million, roiling global economies and overwhelming healthcare systems. The rollout of vaccines and therapies have helped to stem deaths and hospitalisations, and the Omicron variant which emerged late last year causes less severe disease. Deaths from Covid-19 last week were the lowest since March 2020, the U.N. agency reported.

England won't have any new Covid-19 restrictions before the end of 2021, health secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday (December 27) whilst the government awaits more evidence on whether the NHS can cope with high infection rates in the new year. "There will be no further measures before the new year," Javid told reporters, adding: "When we get into the new year, of course we will see then whether we do need to take any further measures." He said that the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus now accounted for around 90 per cent of cases across England and urged people to celebrate New Year cautiously. The government's attention is focused on the number of patients being hospitalised with Omicron after early data last week suggested the variant carried a lower risk of admission. The latest data showed the number of patients in hospital in England with Covid-19 was its highest since March, at 8,474, but a long way off peaks above 34,000 in January. A combination of factors, including Britain's vaccination programme, the lag between infections and hospitalisations and the potentially less harmful effects of the Omicron variant have all been put forward by health experts as possible explanations for lower numbers.

Provision of free lateral flow tests could end in the UK, and prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to make the big announcement within weeks, The Sunday Times has reported. The report said that in future free test kits could be provided only in high-risk settings such as care homes, hospitals and schools, and to people with symptoms, and contact tracing by NHS Test and Trace is also expected to be scaled back. The newspaper quoted a senior Whitehall source as saying: "I don't think we are in a world where we can continue to hand out free lateral flow tests to everybody. "It's likely we will move to a scenario where there is less testing, but we have a capacity to ramp it up if necessary." It added that more than £6 billion of public money has already been spent on mass testing. Separately, Dr Clive Dix, former chairman of the country's vaccine task force said that Covid-19 should now be treated as a flu, and mass vaccination campaigns should end after the booster shots in the UK.

Polio has been detected in sewage samples in London, the first sign since the 1980s that the virus could be spreading in the UK, but no cases have been found, authorities said. The risk of infection from the disease, which causes paralysis in children in under one per cent of cases, was also low because of high vaccination rates, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. The agency nevertheless encouraged parents to make sure their children were vaccinated after the discovery of the virus during routine wastewater surveillance - particularly those who may have missed shots during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nationwide vaccination levels are above the 90 per cent needed to prevent outbreaks, but London's coverage rates among the under-twos has dipped below that in recent years. NHS England will begin contacting parents of children under five who are not immunised. Polio, spread mainly through contamination by faecal matter, used to kill and paralyse thousands of children annually worldwide. There is no cure, but vaccination brought the world close to ending the wild, or naturally occurring, form of the disease.

Community pharmacies in England will continue to receive the free protective equipment (PPE) as the Government's scheme has been extended for another year until March 2024. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that it will continue to supply all categories of PPE, free of charge, for frontline health and social care staff according to demand until the end of March 2024, or when stocks run out. Last year, DHSC implemented a new and improved portal platform for eligible providers to access free COVID-19 related PPE supplies. The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Commitee (PSNC) said: "Community pharmacy teams can continue to order PPE from the NHS PPE portal for free for as long as stock is available."

Following centuries of stigma, the importance of mental wellness is finally matching that of physical healthcare. Conditions such as depression have become common topics in the media, particularly in the last few years as celebrities and experts warned against the pressures of social media. The bouts of isolation connected with the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the issue, with the British Medical Association declaring a UK mental health crisis at the end of 2022. This media attention has led to acknowledgement of the realities of mental health problems from the government and medical sector, and a recognition that these need to be approached differently to physical ailments when it comes to providing treatment. If you are motivated to be involved in this rapidly changing industry, consider these rewarding business ideas for developing a career in mental health. Become a counsellor Counselling is a broad term, but essentially it is the practice of having impartial conversation with patients about their life experiences with a view to overcoming emotional obstacles and trauma. Training can take three to five years depending on whether you are getting a degree or diploma, and there are many opportunities to specialise both during and after your education. Psychotherapy is a similar field, but this is a more academically focused course that tends to be concerned with long-term or particularly complex mental health issues. You will need a post-graduate qualification and several years of training to become certified.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has launched a consultation on whether people agree or disagree that its hearings should continue to be held remotely when it is fair and practical to do so. The 12-week consultation - which ends on February 8 - seeks views on a proposed permanent change to the GPhC's procedural rules which will allow it to conduct hearings and meetings by teleconference or videolink. The pharmacy regulator is seeking changes to enable it to continue to hold some hearings remotely in the future following positive feedback from those taking part in hearings during the Covid-19 pandemic which the GPhC held remotely by videolink. "In cases where the GPhC investigates a concern about a pharmacist or pharmacy technician and decides there is evidence to show that their fitness to practise may be impaired, the case may need to be referred for a hearing before a committee," GPhC said in a statement today (November 16).