• Military
• WMD
• Intelligence

• Security Menu                     

• Systems
• Industry
• Operations
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Space

Other Security News
COVID-19 Pandemic News

Other Security News

• Tennessee National Guard trains with state agencies on search and rescue operations Army News 09 Jan 2023 -- A Black Hawk from the 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion touches down in a bare field in Pickett Civilian Conservation Corps Memorial State Park. Nearby, groups of Tennessee National Guard Soldiers gather with members of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Tennessee State Parks representatives and 10 other state and local agencies training with one mission: finding lost hikers.

COVID-19 Pandemic News

China

• Asia Fact Check Lab: Is China using a global standard to count COVID deaths? Radio Free Asia 09 Jan 2023 -- As outbreaks of COVID-19 cases across China overwhelm hospitals, the official daily death count has remained in the single digits. Chinese officials have repeatedly claimed that China is adopting one of "two main global standards for determining COVID deaths."
• Beijing says no bailouts for local governments after zero-COVID policy drains coffers Radio Free Asia 09 Jan 2023 -- China's finance ministry has warned cash-strapped local governments whose coffers have been depleted by the zero-COVID policy, that there won't be any bailouts from Beijing.
• Angry workers clash with police in Chongqing after test-kit maker fires thousands Radio Free Asia 09 Jan 2023 -- Angry workers at a now-defunct COVID-19 test kit factory in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing clashed with police over the weekend, upset about unpaid wages after the company announced mass layoffs.
• China Touts New Drug for Alleviating COVID-19 Now Undergoing Trials VOA 09 Jan 2023 -- Beijing is touting a promising new drug, VV116, as COVID-19 cases surge nationwide after the abrupt end to its "zero-COVID" policy.
• This winter constitutes the best opportunity for major adjustments to COVID control policies in light of current conditions Global Times 09 Jan 2023 -- This winter is the best opportunity for the major optimizations and adjustments in COVID prevention and control policies and measures as vaccination rates among the elderly have risen to 80 percent and the virulence of Omicron has declined, a senior official from China's top health authority said in response to public's concerns over the surge in infections after China downgraded the management of COVID-19 on Sunday.
• Availability of medicines in China's rural areas should be maintained for more than 2 weeks: top rural administration Global Times 09 Jan 2023 -- Governments and local health authorities at the grassroots level in China's rural areas are required to ensure the supply of materials in the areas, and the availability of medicines should be kept for more than two weeks, according to guidelines for COVID prevention and control in rural areas released by the national rural revitalization administration on Sunday.
• Paxlovid failing to enter China's insurance drug list won't affect patients' access to drug: experts Global Times 09 Jan 2023 -- People in need can still have Pfizer's COVID-19 treatment drug Paxlovid with public insurance covering most of its cost, while arrangements for future purchases of the drug remain unsettled, the Global Times learned from hospitals on Monday after talks between China's insurance authority and US pharmaceutical company Pfizer to include the drug in China's public health insurance system broke down.
• China to take reciprocal countermeasures against countries imposing discriminatory entry restrictions on travelers from China: FM Global Times 09 Jan 2023 -- China vows to take reciprocal countermeasures against a few countries which have imposed discriminatory entry restrictions on travelers from China, and urges the US to be transparent and open in sharing information and data on the currently prevalent Omicron XBB variant in the US, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a press briefing on Monday.
• It's irresponsible for history to ignore China's contributions to COVID-19 fight People's Daily 09 Jan 2023 -- China's National Health Commission and the national administration of disease prevention and control recently held a virtual meeting themed around technical exchange for COVID-19 prevention and control with the World Health Organization (WHO).
• China's insurance system to cover more anti-COVID drugs People's Daily 09 Jan 2023 -- China's National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said negotiations on medicines to be covered by China's national medical insurance system concluded on Sunday, with two more anti-COVID drugs successfully included.
• China to cease criminal charges for breaching COVID-19 response measures People's Daily 09 Jan 2023 -- Those violating COVID-19 prevention and control measures or provisions on frontier health and quarantine will not face criminal charges in China starting Jan. 8, according to a circular released by authorities on Saturday.
• China's latest COVID-19 control protocol highlights vaccination, personal protection People's Daily 09 Jan 2023 -- China released its 10th edition of COVID-19 control protocol on Saturday, highlighting vaccination and personal protection.
• What is China doing to ensure a smooth COVID-19 policy shift? People's Daily 09 Jan 2023 -- China has taken various measures to ensure the supply of medicines, smooth logistics and the safety of vulnerable groups after the country released "a circular on further optimizing the COVID-19 response" last December, which marked the easing of the dynamic zero-COVID policy but led to a rise in infections in the country.
• Spring Festival travel rush begins amid COVID-19 response shift People's Daily 09 Jan 2023 -- China's Spring Festival travel rush, the largest annual human migration worldwide, kicked off Saturday after the world's most populous country adjusted its COVID-19 response.
• XBB subvariants not dominant in China: expert People's Daily 09 Jan 2023 -- The COVID-19 Omicron XBB subvariants have not developed into dominant subvariants in China and will not cause a large-scale epidemic in the country at the current stage, according to an expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC).
• China enters new phase of COVID response People's Daily 09 Jan 2023 -- From Sunday, China starts managing COVID-19 with measures designed for combating Class B infectious diseases, instead of Class A infectious diseases.

Europe

• NIS2 Directive strengthens cybersecurity across the EU - National implementation launched in January Finnish Government 09 Jan 2023 -- The revised Directive concerning the security of network and information systems (NIS2) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 December 2022.

India

• COVID19 Update India PIB 09 Jan 2023 -- Since 29th December, 2022 to 7th January, 2023, Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) sentinel sites referred 324 COVID19 positive samples for sequencing to 22 INSACOG labs. Sentinel sequencing of these positive samples lifted from the community revealed presence of all the omicron variants like BA.2 and its sub-lineages including BA.2.75, XBB (37), BQ.1 & BQ.1.1 (5), etc. No mortality or rise in transmission were reported in the areas where these variants were detected.
• COVID-19 UPDATE India PIB 09 Jan 2023 -- 220.14 cr Total Vaccine doses (95.14 cr Second Dose and 22.43 cr Precaution Dose) have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive

Iran

• COVID-19 kills 2 more Iranians over past 24 hours IRNA 09 Jan 2023 -- The number of deaths from the coronavirus pandemic in Iran increased to 144,710 with two more Iranians killed by the deadly disease over the past 24 hours, Iran's Health Ministry announced on Monday.

Taiwan

• Taiwan reports 17,318 new COVID-19 cases, 40 deaths CNA 09 Jan 2023 -- Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported 17,318 new COVID-19 infections Monday -- all but 416 domestic cases -- and 40 deaths from the disease.

Other Countries

• Just 100 people enter Laos on first day of China border reopening Radio Free Asia 09 Jan 2023 -- Laos and China have officially reopened their borders, closed for almost three years due to the Coronavirus pandemic and Beijing's Zero-COVID policy, but - so far - two-way traffic has been a trickle not a flood.
• Thailand Reverses New COVID Vaccine Rules for Visitors VOA 09 Jan 2023 -- Thailand has withdrawn its decision to request COVID-19 vaccine proof from visitors — only days after announcing new rules for all international arrivals.