Update 12 Jan: New coronavirus variant divides England into three contrasting areas – Health Service Journal 
Trends emerging in recent days as the new variant spreads across the country now seem to have stabilised – dividing England into three broad categories during the current third wave of the pandemic.

Daily publication of Covid-19 admissions and bed occupancy data – NHS England
This file contains Covid data on measures of hospital admissions and the number of beds occupied by Covid patients and the number of MV beds (beds capable of supporting mechanical ventilation) occupied by Covid patients. Daily Admissions and Beds 11 January 2021 (XLSX, 161KB)

Update on COVID-19 pandemic, BMJ Best Practice 
Over 88 million cases have been reported globally, with over 49 million cases recovered so far, and approximately 1.9 million deaths according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. What’s new at this update:

• Epidemiology: updated data on children and pregnant women; updated risk factors (residence in a long-term care facility; cardiovascular diseases; diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases).
• Aetiology: new section on SARS-CoV-2 variants; updated data on secondary attack rates.
• Investigations: WHO recommends PCR test results are considered in combination with specimen type, clinical observations, patient history, epidemiological information, and cycle threshold.
• Treatment algorithm: NHS England recommends therapeutic doses of anticoagulation for VTE prophylaxis should not be used unless there is a standard indication for therapeutic anticoagulation.
• Emerging: updated monoclonal antibodies, convalescent plasma, stem cell therapy, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) sections.
• Prevention: AstraZeneca vaccine now authorised in the UK and Moderna vaccine now authorised in Europe; updated guidance on vaccination in people with history of allergies/anaphylaxis and pregnant/breastfeeding women; updated safety and efficacy data on vaccines; new vaccine comparison table.

New quarantine rules for travelers from UAE with removal from the travel corridor list – NHS Employers
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been removed from the UK’ s travel corridor list.

Modern ward rounds: good practice for multidisciplinary inpatient review – Royal College of Physicians
This report (produced together with the Royal College of Nursing, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and NHS England, and developed along with patients) sets out best practice for modern ward rounds. It brings together the good practice currently being delivered in the NHS and enables clinical teams to self-assess against this and identify priorities for improvement.

The Covid-19 vaccine communication handbook – University of Bristol
A team of renowned scientific experts has joined forces from across the world and created this guide to help fight the spread of misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccines. The handbook sets out the facts, highlighting how the vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and effective.

Allergic reactions including anaphylaxis after receipt of the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine United States, December 14-23, 2020, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During 14–23 Dec 2020, there were 21 reports of anaphylaxis after administration of 1,893,360 first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (11.1 cases per million doses) made to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System; 71% occurred within 15 minutes of vaccination.

Interim Position Statement: Interleukin-6 inhibitors (tocilizumab or sarilumab) for patients admitted to ICU with COVID-19 pneumonia (adults), MHRA (issued 8th January 2021)
The REMAP-CAP platform trial has reported survival and time to recovery benefits for tocilizumab or sarilumab. Clinicians should consider prescribing IV tocilizumab (sarilumab an alternative if available) following the criteria defined in this interim position statement.

Continuation versus discontinuation of reninangiotensin system inhibitors in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19: a prospective, randomised, open-label trial ,The Lancet Respiratory Medicine 
The REPLACE COVID trial (n=152) found continuation of RAS inhibitors had no effect on global rank score (time to death, duration of mechanical ventilation, time on renal replacement/vasopressor therapy, multi-organ dysfunction); the authors recommend they can be safely continued.