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Here's the timeline of how the Coronavirus outbreak evolved from Wuhan city in China and spreading its tentacles across the world.

China is grappling with an outbreak of infections from a new coronavirus that began in December.

A further 18 new products have been entered the list of 'Drugs for which Discount is Not Deducted' (DND) in Part II of the Drug Tariff on 1 November, following applications made by the PSNC. This takes the number of products added to the DND list by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the last 18 months to over 400. The latest list of products include Aciclovir 200mg/5ml oral suspension sugar free, Acitretin 25mg capsules and Strattera 4mg/1ml oral solution. The DND list is updated monthly by the DHSC and includes grouped and individual items, the latter being separately listed in Part II of the Drug Tariff. Any items covered by the 'Group Items' heading are not listed again individually in Part II. See here to see a list of all the monthly changes to the DND status of products.

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).

AstraZeneca said its antibody cocktail against Covid-19 would - unlike its vaccine - be priced commercially as it negotiates supply contracts with governments around the globe. "We are looking at a commercial pricing strategy. That is part of our negotiations with governments," Iskra Reic, Astra's executive vice president for vaccines and immune therapies, said in a media call on Thursday. She added that the group's main objective was to make the shot affordable and broadly available.

As part of its inclusion and diversity strategy, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched a campaign to challenge barriers to working in pharmacy for those with disabilities. A profession-wide survey on the subject conducted by the RPS, identified disability as the biggest barrier to working in pharmacy, highlighting the area of work to support pharmacists. The campaign will focus on reducing barriers to enter the profession, developing more accessible working environments and encouraging employers to collect data on disability in the workplace. The campaign, based on inputs from the RPS Ability Group volunteers with visible and non-visible disabilities, will run until the end of March. Following recommendation of the RPS Ability Group, RPS has written to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) the Higher Education Occupational Practitioners (HEOPS) to update the guidance on standards of medical fitness for pharmacy students.

The Department of Health and Social Care has issued a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) in response to a significant ongoing disruption to the supply of Paracetamol 120mg and 240mg suppositories. Effective from Tuesday (Jan 25), SSP015 provides that for every Paracetamol 120mg or 240mg suppository originally prescribed, one Paracetamol 125mg or 250mg suppository must be supplied. SSP015, authorised by the Secretary of State, has been developed by clinicians and provides pharmacists with procedures to follow in providing either of these suitable alternative products to help reduce the number of patients having to return to their prescriber for a replacement prescription. The SSP may be amended or revoked at any time but currently expires on 18 February 2022 - PSNC will update contractors on any changes.

The UK Health Security Agency on Friday said it had designated a sub-lineage of the dominant and highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant as a variant under investigation. BA.2, which does not have the specific mutation seen with Omicron that can be used as a proxy to easily distinguish it from Delta, is being investigated but has not been designated a variant of concern. "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge," Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said. "Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant." Britain had identified 53 sequences of the BA.2 sub-lineage as of January 10, with updated figures due to be published later on Friday.

Bambuterol 10mg tablet, used in the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is facing supply disruption as sole supplier of the medicine, Astra Zeneca, is discontinuing its production, according to an update by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The available stock of the medicine is expected to be exhausted by the end of June 2022. Meanwhile, other oral β2-agonists, which are the preferred route of administration, remain available, DHSC said.

Nearly 9,000 pharmacy contractors benefitted from earlier advance payment in January, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) said in an update. Contractors who declared their December FP34C submission figures (for the dispensed prescriptions) through the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal by January 6, would have received earlier advance payments on January 12. Meanwhile, all contractors who made submissions after January 6 or used the FP34C paper document, will receive payments as per the normal payment schedule i.e. on February 1, 2022. PSNC encouraged contractors to submit their monthly declaration through the MYS portal by the 5th of the month to avail early payments.

A married couple who are investing in a pharmacy for the first time have bought Paydens branch in Peterborough for an undisclosed price. A standard hour community pharmacy with a substantial home delivery service, West Town Pharmacy is located on the outskirts of the city centre and sits on a predominantly residential street, within half a mile of three GP surgeries. The pharmacy has been operating from a sizeable premises with a large, open plan sales area and has excellent potential to improve its over-the-counter sales, in addition to its strong travel vaccine customer base. West Town Pharmacy was purchased by Paydens in 2016 as part of a group acquisition and was brought to market because the company realised that geographically it "did not fit" with the group's, mainly Kent-based, portfolio.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) for Salazopyrin EN-Tabs 500 mg due to ongoing shortage of the medicine. With SSP014 in place from today (November 26), for every prescription one Sulfasalazine 500mg gastro-resistant (GR) tablet will be supplied. This SSP will expire on December 20, 2021, and PSNC will update contractors in case of any change. PSNC has advised pharmacists to notify the patient's prescriber while supplying in accordance with this SSP. Besides, the supervising pharmacist should refer back to the prescriber if a non-chewable atorvastatin tablet would not be appropriate for the patient.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) says initial tests of the antibody-based Covid-19 therapy it is developing with US partner Vir suggest the drug is effective against the Omicron variant. A GSK statement on Thursday (December 2) said that lab tests and a study on hamsters have demonstrated the sotrovimab antibody cocktail to work against viruses that were bio-engineered to carry a number of hallmark mutations of the new variant. The tests are continuing to confirm the results against all of the Omicron mutations, with an update expected by the end of the year, it added. The antibody is designed to latch on to the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, but Omicron has been found to have an unusually high amount of mutations on that protein. "Sotrovimab was deliberately designed with a mutating virus in mind," said Vir chief executive George Scangos, adding that the drug was targeting a region of the spike protein that was highly unlikely to mutate.

Following concerns raised by the competition watchdog, UK PCR testing provider Randox has improved its terms on cancellations, refunds and liability. The development is part of the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) ongoing engagement in the PCR tests sector. The CMA has also sent letters to 25 PCR providers, warning them to review their terms and conditions or risk facing enforcement action. It currently has formal investigations open into two PCR providers, Expert Medicals and Dante Labs. Randox, one of the largest providers in the sector, has reviewed its its terms and conditions and changed them to: Give clearer information to customers, in particular on when it will provide PCR tests and resultsImprove notification of customers' legal rights on cancellations and refunds Remove terms that could suggest customers aren't entitled to compensation if things go wrong

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Pharmacy owners can proceed with vaccinating patients who have already scheduled their flu vaccination appointments for September, NHS England has said. However, as announced earlier, the official rollout of the vaccination service will commence from October. Pharmacies will receive compensation for conducting appointments in the upcoming month, NHSE stated in a letter addressed to systems, community pharmacies, and general practices. "Payment for vaccinations will ordinarily only be made following the service commencement date. However, we understand that some firm commitments and appointments have already been made, so where this is the case and the patient wishes to receive flu vaccination in September, NHS England will permit payment claims to be submitted," NHSE said. Care home residents and staff will be eligible for the vaccine starting Oct. 2, while all other patients will commence receiving their vaccinations on Oct 7. This news is a significant relief for pharmacy owners, as they won't have to reschedule appointments due to NHSE's one-month service delay.

To help pharmacy owner to better understand the negotiating process, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has published commentary and infographics. "Our work to negotiate fair funding, as well as changes to NHS pharmacy services, with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England is a crucial part of our role," said CPE. "Understandably the sector is eagerly awaiting an update on the progress of the current negotiations on the Government's pledge to invest £645m in community pharmacies and, as part of our ongoing efforts to improve transparency of our work, we have released materials to explain the negotiating process." Negotiating Team Member Stephen Thomas - who joined the team this year - has written a blog about his experiences. He has described both the complexity of the process and volume of work undertaken, and recognises the significance of his role on behalf of pharmacy owners across the country. Whilst speed is of the essence, even higher on the Negotiating Team's list of priorities is working through a large number of important questions - particularly around the funding and logistics that need to be put in place.

In the parliamentary drop-in-event hosted by Community Pharmacy England last week, Members of Parliament (MPs) questioned the Health Secretary on the rising issue of medicines supply. "Eighteen community pharmacists in my constituency are reporting challenges on medicine supplies. What more is the Minister going to do to get a grip of this situation?", Mike Amesbury MP for Weaver Vale, who was present at the event last week, asked the Health Secretary. In his response, the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay MP said: "We have a long-standing team in the Department focused on medical supplies, which are a continual issue; as a matter of routine business, there are often challenges in that area." The Shadow Pharmacy Minister, Karin Smyth MP, also asked: "People across the country rely on local, accessible pharmacies, but whether it is high street closures or supply problems leading to the absurd situation where women are phoning or visiting multiple pharmacies for a prescribed dose of hormone replacement therapy and other drugs…They have repeatedly announced plans to expand the role of community pharmacies but have failed to update legislation that could possibly help. … Why will they not do so?

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is refreshing its Professional Standards for Homecare Services and will be shared for consultation in August to allow comment and input on the updated content. The final version is expected to be completed in the autumn. The standards were originally published in 2013 and are a framework to support teams providing and commissioning homecare services. Homecare medicines services deliver medication, and any necessary associated care, direct to the patient's home with their consent. The standards help patients experience a consistent quality of homecare services, irrespective of provider, will protect them from avoidable incidents and help them get the best outcomes from their medicines. Jennifer Allen, The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer's Clinical Fellow leading the refresh at RPS said: "It has been 10 years since the first set of Homecare Standards were published, so it is important that they are reviewed and brought up to date to reflect current service design, medicine pathways and delivery models to ensure patients receive safe and effective medication supply and associated care."

NHS England has urged the pharmacy owners to continue to voluntarily submit New Medicine Service (NMS) quarterly summary data to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) for Quarter 4 (Q4) 2022/23 (January to March 2023). Community Pharmacy England have agreed with NHS England that the quarterly returns will continue to be on a voluntary basis, with Q4 (January to March 2023) as the second quarter to be reported. It has thanked all the members that submitted NMS quarterly summary data for Quarter 3. The mandatory requirement to submit this data has been suspended since 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "NHS England wants to continue collection of the quarterly returns to provide baseline data to support a long-term evaluation that will be conducted as part of ongoing work to expand the scope of NMS," said Community Pharmacy England. Voluntary submissions can be made via the NHSBSA website, where an updated reporting spreadsheet is also available for head offices to use who are able to submit data on behalf of multiple pharmacies.

Preet Kaur Gill, Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health, has paid a recent visit to a community pharmacy in Staffordshire to personally experience the services it provides to patients, while staying updated on the latest sector developments. Her visit to Eason's Pharmacy in Tamworth on September 22nd marked her first since assuming new responsibilities for pharmacy policy matters within Labour's health team. Gill was also joined by a member of the National Pharmacy Association staff. The Minister received a comprehensive briefing on Eason's Pharmacy from its third-generation owner, Kieran Eason (R). He outlined the NHS services, which include the New Medicines Service and blood pressure monitoring, and showcased two consultation rooms and an operational dispensary. "It's great that Preet came to learn firsthand about the challenges we face and the substantial potential of community pharmacies nationwide," Eason said. "As an independent prescriber, I have the expertise to provide even more convenient care, but the current funding levels severely limit our contribution."