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Merck's Covid-19 Pill Shows Promise Against Omicron. After reviewing the article, please provide your feedback. 

Article Link: Merck's Covid-19 Pill Shows Promise Against Omicron - WSJ

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Merck & Co. and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP said Friday that their Covid-19 pill molnupiravir was active against the Omicron variant in laboratory tests, an encouraging sign as the treatment's use grows globally.

Merck cited six preclinical studies performed by researchers outside the company. The examples include research published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine that found molnupiravir among several Covid-19 antiviral drugs that "may show efficacy for treating patients infected with the Omicron variant."

Molnupiravir, which was cleared for use in the U.S. in December, hasn't been studied in people infected with Omicron.

The U.S. continues to see a decline in the number of patients with Covid-19 in hospitals. The daily average of Covid-19 deaths recorded over the seven days to Thursday fell to 2,267 after hitting its highest level in nearly a year.

In France, a rash of Covid-19 infections is ripping through schools, shutting down tens of thousands of classrooms across the country and testing President Emmanuel Macron's decision to keep schools open during the Omicron wave.

More than half a million students in France, representing 4.7% of all students from preschool through high school, have tested positive for the virus over the past seven days, the government said Friday, contributing to the closure of 21,000 classrooms, or about 4% of the total.

The wave of closures comes despite efforts by the Macron government to loosen the rules for closing schools in recent months, by allowing students in classrooms with positive cases to return to class immediately, provided they test negative for the virus.

The complicated testing measures, which involve three tests over four days, have frustrated some parents and sent teachers into the streets to protest. Even with the protocol, schools are often forced to close classes because of a lack of substitute teachers, forcing many parents across the country to stay home at times to care for their children.

Still, France has managed to avoid a complete shutdown of the school system, which had occurred at the start of the pandemic. Such a move would risk slowing France's economic recovery and angering parents who are due to vote on whether to re-elect Mr. Macron in April. Economic output grew by 7% last year, France's fastest rate in decades, after an 8% decline in 2020, France's statistics agency reported Friday. The country's economic output in the second half of the year outpaced that in 2019.

The number of people being admitted to intensive care in France has started ticking upward. Some 294 people were admitted a day to intensive care in France in the week ending Jan. 27, up 3% from a week earlier. More than 2,800 people a day are being admitted to hospitals with Covid, up 11% from a week earlier.

The growth in caseloads in France is starting to slow, however. Some 3.8% of French people tested positive for the virus in the seven days ended Jan. 24, up 16% from a week earlier. A few days ago, that week-to-week growth rate was above 22%.

France isn't alone in seeing its school system tested. In the Northern Italian region of Lombardy about 30% of recent infections have been in children under the age of 18. More than 100,000 students-almost 10% of the total-were home this week in quarantine in Lombardy, either because they tested positive or they had close contact with somebody infected, according to regional data.

In Italy, the seven-day moving average of new cases has declined every day over the past week, indicating the country has passed the Omicron peak. However, deaths are still rising, averaging more than 350 a day over the past week.

On Thursday, Italy's National Institute of Health estimated that 96% of new infections are of the Omicron variant. At the end of December, the variant accounted for less than a third of new cases.

Starting Tuesday, more than 1.5 million people 50 and older in Italy who are unvaccinated or haven't recovered from Covid in the past six months are subject to a 100-euro fine, equivalent to $114.

Sweden has decided against recommending vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11. The country's public health agency said Thursday that the medical benefits of vaccination for young children were too small to issue a general recommendation that children under 12 get the shot.

The agency said recommending the shot for young children wouldn't impact the dynamic of infections within or outside the age group either, adding that it would continue to weigh evidence and would issue an updated recommendation in the fall.

Vaccination is already approved in the country for children aged 5 and older, but only recommended for children under 12 who are at risk of developing severe symptoms from Covid-19.

Wales joined the rest of the U.K. in lifting most of the Covid-19 restrictions imposed last month to address the Omicron wave. As of Thursday, nightclubs can reopen, a legal requirement to work from home where possible no longer applies, and social-distancing rules are lifted, as are requirements for table service in pubs and restaurants. Proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test will still be required for large indoor events and masks are still needed indoors, except in hospitality settings.

Across the U.K., a sharp fall in cases from peaks early this month has started to level off, while hospitalizations and the number of people needing mechanical ventilation beds continued to fall, having never reached the levels seen earlier in the pandemic.