Keeping you up to date on the latest novel coronavirus (Covid-19) news from around the world.
WHO warns "too early to ease up" from Covid-19 lockdowns in Europe
GENEVA – The World Health Organisation's European director Hans Kluge said on Thursday that Covid-19 transmission rates in Europe remained too high, putting health services under severe strain, and therefore it was "too early to ease up".
"We need to be patient, it will take time to vaccinate," he told an online briefing. "We have learned harsh lessons – opening and closing, and reopening (societies) rapidly is a poor strategy" in seeking to curb coronavirus contagion, he said.
"Transmission rates across Europe are still very high, impacting health systems and straining services, making it too early to ease up," Kluge said. "Pushing transmission down requires a sustained, consistent effort. Bear in mind that just over 3% of people in the region have had a confirmed Covid-19 infection. Areas hit badly once can be hit again."
Kluge said a total of 35 countries in Europe had launched vaccination programmes with 25 million does administered so far.
"These vaccines have shown the efficacy and safety we all hoped they would...This monumental undertaking will release pressure on our health systems and undoubtedly save lives."
- REUTERS
UK vaccine rollout must not be interrupted, UK minister says of EU demand
LONDON – Britain's supply of vaccines from AstraZeneca must not be interrupted, Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove said on Thursday, when asked if the government would allow shots to be diverted to the European Union.
"We must make sure that we continue with the effective acceleration of our vaccination programme," Gove told BBC Radio. "That relies on the supply schedule that has been agreed being honoured."
When asked if Britain would allow the vaccine to be diverted to the EU, as requested by some politicians in the bloc, Gove said: "It is the case that the supplies which have been planned, paid for and scheduled should continue. Absolutely, there will be no interruption to that."
- REUTERS
Brazil's Covid-19 response worst, New Zealand's best - study
Sydney – Brazil's handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been ranked the world's worst, while New Zealand topped the class, according to research published by a leading Australian think tank on Thursday.
Sydney's Lowy Institute assessed almost 100 countries on six criteria, including confirmed cases, deaths and testing metrics.
"Collectively, these indicators point to how well or poorly countries have managed the pandemic," according to the report by the independent body.
Aside from New Zealand – which has largely kept the virus at bay with border closures and "go early, go hard" lockdowns and testing regimes – Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Cyprus, Rwanda, Iceland, Australia, Latvia and Sri Lanka made the top 10 for their responses.
In bottom place at number 98 was Brazil, closely followed by Mexico, Colombia, Iran and the United States.
Brazil has recorded more than 218 000 coronavirus deaths – a toll second only to that of the United States.
For much of the last year, the two most populous nations in the Americas have been led by nationalist leaders who have actively downplayed the threat of Covid-19, ridiculed mask-wearing, opposed lockdowns and contracted the virus themselves.
China – where the virus first emerged – was not included in the rankings because of what the think tank described as a lack of publicly available data on testing.
- AFP
India says it contained spread of Covid-19, no new cases in fifth of country
NEW DELHI – India said on Thursday it had curbed an increase in Covid-19 infections, with a fifth of its districts reporting no new cases for a week, even as its immunisation campaign has covered 2.4 million people.
The country of 1.35 billion has recorded the highest number of cases in the world after the United States, though the rate of infection has come down significantly since a mid-September peak. Some studies have suggested pockets of India have attained herd immunity through natural infection.
"India has successfully contained the pandemic," Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said, noting that fewer than 12 000 cases were reported in the past 24 hours.
He said 146 of India's 718 districts have had no new cases for a week and 18 districts for two weeks. "India has flattened its Covid-19 graph," Vardhan added.
The world's second most populous country started its Covid-19 immunisation programme on 16 January, with the aim to reach 300 million people by July-August.
India has so far reported 10.7 million infections and 153 847 deaths – one of the world's lowest fatality rates from the disease, attributed partly to its younger population.
- REUTERS
Mexico Covid deaths far higher than reported, new data shows
Mexico City – Mexico, one of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, released new figures on Wednesday showing that the death toll was far higher than first reported for much of last year.
The Latin American nation registered 108 658 deaths from Covid-19 up to the end of August 2020, national statistics institute INEGI said.
The figure is more than 68% higher than the 64 414 deaths from the new coronavirus reported at the time by the health ministry for the same period.
"Many people aren't dying in hospitals, they're dying at home... That may partly explain this difference," INEGI statistician Edgar Vielma told a Mexican radio network.
The government and INEGI also use different methodologies.
Mexico's Covid-19 death toll officially now stands at 152 016, according to the latest update from the health ministry released on Tuesday. It is the world's fourth-highest fatality toll after the United States, Brazil and India.
Including suspected deaths from the virus, the figure stands at 171 378, according to the government.
- AFP
Pfizer vaccine only slightly less effective against key South African mutations - study
NEW YORK – Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine appeared to lose only a small bit of effectiveness against an engineered virus with three key mutations from the new coronavirus variant found in South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the US drugmaker.
The study by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), which has not yet been peer-reviewed, showed a less than two-fold reduction in antibody titer levels, indicating the vaccine would likely be effective in neutralising a virus with the so-called E484K and N501Y mutations found in the South African variant.
The study was conducted on blood taken from people who had received the vaccine. Its findings are limited because it does not look at the full set of mutations found in the new South African variant.
While these findings don't indicate the need for a new vaccine to address the emerging variants, Pfizer and BioNTech are prepared to respond if a variant of SARS-CoV-2 shows evidence of escaping immunity by the Covid-19 vaccine, the companies said.
The scientists are currently engineering a virus with the full set of mutations and expect to have results from that in around two weeks, according to Pei-Yong Shi, an author of the study and a professor at UTMB.
- REUTERS
Germany plans travel restrictions over virus variants
Berlin – Germany is planning to ban most travellers from countries hardest hit by coronavirus variants, the interior minister said on Thursday, in a bid to stop the strains from reversing recent progress on lowering infections.
"At the moment within the government, we are coordinating towards the aim of refusing inbound travel from mutation areas," said Horst Seehofer.
"We are concentrating these travel restrictions on mutation areas, that is at the moment Britain, Portugal, South Africa and Brazil."
- AFP
New Zealand confirms two more virus cases in community
Wellington – New Zealand confirmed two new cases of the more virulent South African Covid-19 strain in the community on Thursday, as investigators scrambled to determine how the virus breached border controls.
Health officials said the pair, an adult and child, caught the virus in the same quarantine facility as a woman who tested positive over the weekend, ending a run of more than two months with no cases in the community.
They said the facility – the Pullman Hotel in Auckland – was allowing no quarantine arrivals or departures as teams examine how the infection spread.
"It does suggest that something's happened in the Pullman where these people have potentially come into contact with each other, that investigation will continue," Minister for Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins told Newstalk ZB.
Hipkins said all close contacts linked to the three cases had so far tested negative and he was hopeful the outbreak had been contained.
"I'm fairly optimistic but you never know with these things," he said. "The first 48 hours is in any of these investigations tells you a lot."
New Zealand demands all overseas arrivals undergo two weeks' quarantine and test negative before entering the community.
- AFP
Australian state borders to reopen with zero local virus cases
SYDNEY – Coronavirus-induced border restrictions separating Australia's three most populous states were set to be eased, authorities said on Thursday, as the country recorded its 11th straight day of zero Covid-19 cases.
Australian states imposed quarantine and hard border restrictions for travellers from New South Wales (NSW) state after an outbreak in Sydney in late December, throwing Christmas holiday plans of thousands of Australians into chaos.
The Sydney clusters have now been curbed, giving other states, who have been recording zero coronavirus cases, the confidence to reopen borders.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday her northeast state would welcome NSW residents from 1 February.
"I want to see families and friends reunited," Palaszczuk said in a televised news conference.
The southeast state of Victoria, which is hosting the Australia Open tennis grand slam, hinted it may change border settings with Sydney on Friday. The state recorded its 22nd day of zero local cases on Thursday.
Victoria introduced a permit system for all travellers which allows for interstate areas to be designated as green, orange or red according to their risk.
- REUTERS
Americas' Covid-19 death toll hits 1 million, hospitals brimming, warns PAHO
BRASILIA – Over 1 million people have died from Covid-19 in North and South America, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) said on Wednesday.
In the last week alone, 2 million more cases were reported in the Americas, with the United States the main driver of the outbreak, the WHO regional branch said. Globally, there have been over 100 million cases and 2.1 million deaths with 44 million cases in North and South America, according to a Reuters tally.
Throughout North America, there is growing pressure on hospital capacity and in some US states nearly 80% of ICU beds are being used to treat Covid-19 patients, PAHO head Carissa Etienne said in a virtual briefing.
Similar rates are seen in many states in Mexico, where the number of cases is tripling in some regions, she warned.
The hospital situation in Brazil is particularly worrisome, with three-quarters of ICU beds occupied in many Brazilian states, she said.
In Manaus, many patients await beds in hospitals collapsing under the strain of a second wave of coronavirus infections complicated by a new variant of the virus detected there.
- REUTERS
Vietnam reports first coronavirus outbreak in 55 days; highest single-day tally
HANOI – Vietnam confirmed its first outbreak of the coronavirus in nearly two months on Thursday and warned it could be more serious than its last wave of infections, as authorities rushed to contain the spread and test tens of thousands of people.
The health ministry earlier on Thursday reported two locally transmitted cases, the country's first in 55 days, one of which was exposed to an individual who had tested positive in Japan for the more contagious B.1.1.7 UK variant.
The 83 infections announced on Thursday, were a new record daily for Vietnam which has effectively closed its borders and avoided the larger epidemics seen by its neighbours. Previously the country had recorded just over 1 550 cases and 35 deaths since the virus was first detected.
The outbreak, in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces near the capital Hanoi, is the biggest in Vietnam since a cluster emerged in the central city of Danang in July and quickly spread to most regions of the country, leading to its first coronavirus fatalities.
- REUTERS
Vietnam should prepare for 30 000 coronavirus cases after new outbreak - official
HANOI – Vietnam should prepare for 30 000 Covid-19 cases, state television said, citing the coronavirus taskforce chief, after the country reported its biggest daily number of new infections on Thursday and ended a 55-day run without a local case.
Deputy Prime Minister and taskforce head Vu Duc Dam said the two northern provinces where 83 cases were found should put measures in place to contain the spread, speed up contact-tracing and prepare for the scenario of 30 000 cases, state broadcaster VTV reported.
- REUTERS
Russia reports 19 138 new Covid-19 cases, 575 deaths
MOSCOW – Russia reported 19 138 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, including 2 897 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 3 793 810 since the pandemic began.
Authorities said 575 people had died in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 71 651.
- REUTERS
Brazil sees 1 283 new Covid-19 deaths, nearly 9 million total cases
RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil registered 1 283 new Covid-19 deaths, and 63 520 additional coronavirus cases, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Brazil, home to the world's second highest number of coronavirus deaths after the United States, has registered over 220 000 deaths, and nearly 9 million cases since the start of the pandemic, the Health Ministry data show.
- REUTERS
Mexico coronavirus death toll rises to 153 639
MEXICO CITY – Mexico's health ministry on Wednesday reported 17 944 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 1 623 additional fatalities.
The country's total cases were 1 806 849 with overall deaths at 153 639.
The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Mexico has the fourth-highest death toll in the world and is close to surpassing that of India, a country with a population more than 10 times the size of Mexico's 120 million inhabitants. India's death toll from coronavirus stood at 153 724 on Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Wednesday that doses of the vaccine by German biotech firm CureVac had arrived for Phase III clinical trials in Mexico. Officials have said they are seeking 8 000 volunteers to participate in the trials.
- REUTERS
Malaysia reports 4 094 new coronavirus cases, 10 new deaths
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia reported 4 094 coronavirus cases on Thursday, raising the cumulative total in the country to 198 208 infections.
The health ministry also reported 10 new deaths, bringing total fatalities during the pandemic to 707.
- REUTERS
China reports 54 new Covid-19 cases in mainland vs 75 a day earlier
BEIJING – China reported its lowest daily increase in new Covid-19 cases in nearly three weeks on Thursday, suggesting aggressive countermeasures have helped slow a recent outbreak in the country's northeastern provinces.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the mainland fell to 54 on 27 January, the National Health Commission said in a statement, down from 75 a day earlier. It was the lowest single-day increase since 33 cases reported on 8 January.
The commission said 41 of the cases were locally transmitted infections. Northeastern Heilongjiang province reported 28 new cases, while neighbouring Jilin reported nine new cases. Hebei, the province that surrounds Beijing, saw the number of new patients fall to three.
The number of asymptomatic infections, which China does not classify as confirmed Covid-19 cases, fell to 28 from 61 a day earlier.
The total number of Covid-19 cases reported in mainland China now stands at 89 326, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4 636.
- REUTERS
We know this was a long read and your time is precious. Did you know you can now listen to articles? Subscribe to News24 for access to this exciting feature and more.