Coronavirus pandemic - World News

[sweep_shot]

BRASILIA — Brazil recorded 17,341 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 293 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Brazil has registered more than 7.7 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began 10 months ago, while the official death toll has risen to 196,018, according to ministry data. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/brazil-reports-17341-new-coronavirus-cases-293-more-deaths.

 

[sweep_shot]

Tokyo reported a Sunday record of 816 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

The number of severely ill patients based on Tokyo’s standards increased by seven from the previous day to 101 on Sunday, hitting the highest level since a state of emergency over the epidemic was lifted in the country in May.

Tokyo’s daily figure comes after 2,828 tests were conducted on Thursday, the metropolitan government said in a statement. Among the new cases, people in their 20s made up the largest group at 214, followed by 182 for people in their 30s and 123 among people in their 50s.

The cumulative number of infections in the capital stood at 62,590.

“Tokyo’s medical system is now put under strain, but we still see no sign of infection cases having peaked out,” an official of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said.

The daily count of new coronavirus infections in Japan reached 3,059 on Saturday, hitting above the 3,000 mark for the fifth straight day. The figure was down from a record high of 4,520 logged on Thursday, apparently because some local governments suspended the announcements of infection numbers during the New Year’s holidays.

The total number of COVID-19 fatalities climbed by 49 on Friday and by 31 on Saturday, with the cumulative nationwide sum coming to 3,585. The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients across the country increased by 35 from the previous day to a record 716 on Friday, according to the health ministry. The total fell to 711 on Saturday.

In other parts of Japan, daily cases were also high on Sunday.

Kanagawa Prefecture posted 365 cases and two deaths.

Osaka Prefecture reported 253 cases.

Chiba Prefecture reported 225 cases and three deaths.

Saitama Prefecture reported 205 cases and four deaths.

Aichi Prefecture reported 185 cases.

Hyogo Prefecture reported 98 cases and eight deaths.

Kyoto Prefecture reported 89 cases and three deaths.

Hokkaido reported 68 cases and 12 deaths.

Miyazaki Prefecture reported 30 cases, tying a record high marked on Saturday.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/03/national/tokyo-covid-cases/.

 

[sweep_shot]

ROME (Reuters) - Italy reported 347 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 364 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,245 from 11,831.

Some 102,974 swab tests were carried out in the past day, the ministry said, against a previous 67,174.

Italy has registered 75,332 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world. The country has also reported 2.155 million cases to date, the health ministry said.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 23,075 on Sunday, up by 127 on the day before. There were 154 admissions to intensive care units, compared with 134 on Saturday.

The current number of intensive care patients rose by 14 to 2,583, reflecting those who died or were discharged after recovery.

When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic was accelerating fast in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.

Source: https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-italy-tally-idINKBN2980H0.

 

[sweep_shot]

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan confirmed four new COVID-19 cases Sunday (Jan. 3) imported from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Eswatini, bringing its total number of cases to 812.

The newly announced cases all arrived before the new entry restriction for non-resident foreigners took effect on Jan. 1, which came after Taiwan imported two cases of the new, highly infectious viral strain from the U.K. last week.

Case No. 810 is a Taiwanese woman in her 20s who went to the U.K. in August 2020 to study and returned home to Taiwan on Dec. 31, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. She reported to the health authorities upon arrival that she had an itchy throat on Dec. 30 when she boarded the plane.

The woman then had a fever during her stay in the quarantine center and tested positive on Sunday. Passengers sitting near the woman were ordered to isolate at home.

Case No. 811 is also a Taiwanese woman in her 20s, who studied in Germany and returned on Dec. 28. During her 14-day home quarantine, she had a sore throat and tested positive on Sunday. The case had not been in contact with any other people during her quarantine, according to the CECC.

A Taiwanese man in his 60s was listed as case No. 812. He arrived on Dec. 27 after visiting relatives in the U.S., where he tested negative before boarding.

The man undertook home quarantine after arrival and began experiencing muscle pain, fever, and he also developed a cough on Dec. 29. Passengers sitting around the man during the flight were contacted and ordered to isolate at home.

Case No. 813 is an Eswatini man who arrived on Dec. 24 for work. He tested negative before boarding and undertook home quarantine, alone, after arrival. However, six days later, he began suffering from headaches, a runny nose, and nasal congestion. He had not been in contact with any other people during the quarantine.

Of Taiwan's 812 total cases, 717 were imported, 56 were local, 36 originated from the Taiwan Navy’s "Goodwill Fleet," two were infected onboard a flight, and one case was classified as unresolved.

The most recent fatality occurred in May, taking the coronavirus death toll for Taiwan to seven. As of Sunday, a total of 116 patients were still being cared for at hospitals, with 689 having been released from care, according to the latest CECC statistics.

Source: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4093046.

 

[sweep_shot]

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea reported 657 new coronavirus cases for Saturday, the lowest daily infection total in nearly four weeks, as tougher restrictions during the New Year holiday season helped fight the spread.

That was much lower from 824 the day before, but brought the total cases to 63,244 with 962 deaths, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The country decided on Saturday to expand a ban on private gatherings larger than four people to include the whole country, and extend unprecedented social distancing rules in Seoul and neighbouring areas until Jan. 17.

(Reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: https://wtvbam.com/2021/01/02/south...w-daily-covid-cases-fewest-in-nearly-4-weeks/.

 

[sweep_shot]

ISTANBUL — The daily number of coronavirus cases in Turkey fell to 9,877 in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,241,912 since the country’s outbreak emerged in March.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Turkey fell to 193 in the last 24 hours from 202 a day earlier, falling below 200 for the first time since Dec. 6. The total death toll stands at 21,488.

Turkey has been in a four-day lockdown for the New Year which will be lifted at 5 a.m. local time on Jan. 4. Ankara has also imposed curfews each weekday evening. (Reporting by Daren Butler, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/turkeys-daily-coronavirus-cases-dip-below-10000-ministry.

 

[sweep_shot]

Jamaica recorded 154 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

It brings the total number of COVID-19 cases on record for the island to 13,203. Meanwhile, recoveries increased by 140 on Sunday, bringing total recoveries to 10,973.

There were no deaths officially linked to the respiratory illness on Sunday; however, two deaths involving COVID-19 patients on the day are under investigation. The overall death tally from the coronavirus in Jamaica remains at 304.

Of the newly confirmed cases, 84 are males and 69 are females, with the gender involved in one case awaiting confirmation. Ages range from nine months to 98 years. The cases were recorded in Westmoreland (28), Kingston and St Andrew (24), Manchester (24), St Catherine (21), St James (17), Clarendon (12), Trelawny (seven), St Ann (six), St Elizabeth (six), Hanover (five), St Mary (two), St Thomas (one) and Portland (one).

There are 10 moderately ill patients and eight critically ill patients among the 1,766 active cases now under observation in Jamaica.

Source: https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/154-new-covid-19-cases-recorded-jamaica.

 

[sweep_shot]

VIENNA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Austria has detected five new cases of the mutant strains of coronavirus first found in the UK and South Africa, the Health Ministry announced at a press conference on Monday.

The five cases include four infected with the strain first found in the UK and one with the variant first detected in South Africa. Three of the five infected people are children.

"There was no infection in the family circle," Franz Allerberger, head of Austria's Public Health Agency, told the press conference, adding that contact tracing procedures in all cases were well followed.

The Austrian government on Monday decided to further extend the current COVID-19 lockdown to Jan. 24.

The latest data from Austria's Public Health Agency show that Austria has recorded 366,525 COVID-19 cases over the course of the pandemic, with 6,357 deaths.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 232 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 60 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Dec. 29.

Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/05/c_139641668.htm.

 

[sweep_shot]

Belgium’s daily average new coronavirus infections have dropped below 1,600, according to the latest figures published by the Sciensano public health institute on Monday.

Between 25 and 31 December, an average of 1,588.7 new people tested positive per day over the past week, which is a 27% decrease compared to the week before.

The total number of confirmed cases in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic is 650,011. The total reflects all people in Belgium who have been infected, and includes confirmed active cases as well as patients who have since recovered, or died as a result of the virus.

Over the past two weeks, 229.5 infections were confirmed per 100,000 inhabitants, which is a 22% decrease compared to the two weeks before.

Source: https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/...ntilator-deaths-positivity-reproduction-rate/.

 

[sweep_shot]

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil on Monday registered 20,006 new cases of coronavirus and 543 fresh COVID-19 deaths, the health ministry said.

(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca Editing by Chris Reese)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health...-deaths-over-20000-cases-health-ministry-says.

 

[sweep_shot]

KATHMANDU: Nepal on Monday reported 403 new cases of coronavirus infection from across the country. With this, the nationwide infection count has advanced to 262,262.

Of the total cases, 159 are females while 244 are males.

In the last 24 hours, 185 cases surfaced in Kathmandu valley. The capital hosts the highest number of active cases.

Likewise, 594 people who were earlier infected with the virus are reported to have recovered in the past 24 hours as per the latest data provided by health ministry. As of today, 255,088 individuals have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. The recovery rate, as such, is 97.3 per cent.

Nepal’s active Covid-19 case count currently stands at 5,289.

Meanwhile, seven more fatalities from the disease have taken the total death-toll to 1,885.

According to the health ministry, 4,401 PCR tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. With this, a total of 1,952,903 PCR tests have been carried out in Nepal till date.

Currently, there are 342 individuals in various quarantine facilities across Nepal.

On Sunday, Nepal’s coronavirus case count reached 261,859 with 421 newly confirmed cases.

Globally, over 85 million people have contracted the virus till date while 1.85 million deaths have been reported. Meanwhile, over 60 million people have recovered from the disease while over 23 million cases are still active.

Source: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...tered-on-monday-nationwide-tally-hits-262262/.

 

[sweep_shot]

ANKARA — Turkey reported 13,695 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,255,607.

It reported 197 related deaths over the same period, raising the total toll to 21,685.

Ankara has imposed curfews each weekday evening and full weekend lockdowns for more than a month. (Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/turkey-reports-13695-new-coronavirus-cases-197-deaths.

 

[sweep_shot]

A total of 157 people in Bulgaria who had tested positive for Covid-19 died in the past 24 hours, bringing the country’s death toll linked to the virus to 7835, the national information system daily report on January 5 said.

The report said that 1029 people in Bulgaria were diagnosed with new coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Of these cases, 525 were detected by PCR tests and 504 by rapid antigen tests.

In all, 10 774 tests were done in the past day, of which 5435 were PCR tests and 5339 were antigen tests. This means that 9.5 per cent of tests proved positive.

A total of 204 080 cases of new coronavirus have been confirmed in Bulgaria to date, of which 71 621 are active, a decrease of 1341 compared with the figure in the January 4 report.

Of the newly-confirmed cases, 178 are in the city of Sofia, 102 in the district of Varna and 94 in the district of Plovdiv.

There are 4405 patients in hospital, 284 fewer than 24 hours earlier. A total of 411 are in intensive care, a decrease of 42.

Forty-two medical personnel have tested positive, bringing the total to 8975.

According to the national information system, 2213 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 124 624.

Source: https://sofiaglobe.com/2021/01/05/c...57-more-deaths-active-cases-decrease-by-1341/.

 

[sweep_shot]

BERLIN — The German government said Tuesday it is extending the country's lockdown by three weeks until Jan. 31, tightening curbs on social contacts and planning limits on people's movements in the worst-affected regions as it tries to reduce stubbornly high infection figures and worrying numbers of coronavirus-related deaths.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was “absolutely necessary” to maintain restrictions, particularly in light of a more infectious variant of the virus that emerged in England.

“We must reach a point where we can once again follow the chains of infection,” Merkel said after a lengthy videoconference with Germany's 16 state governors. “Otherwise, we will just go keep going back into a lockdown after a short relaxation.”

The chancellor said that restrictions on social contacts will be tightened. People will be allowed to meet only one person outside their own household.

In a new move, authorities across Germany will allow people in areas with more than 200 new infections per 100,000 residents over seven days to travel only 15 kilometres (just over nine miles) from their hometown unless they have a good reason to go further.

“In particular, day trips are not a good reason,” Merkel said. She pointed to a string of recent incidents in which day-trippers hoping to ski or sled have overrun winter resorts even though lifts and other facilities are closed.

Merkel and the governors plan to confer again Jan. 25 on what happens after the end of the month.

Germany launched a nationwide partial shutdown on Nov. 2, closing restaurants, bars, leisure and sports facilities. That failed to reduce infections, and the current lockdown -- which also closed nonessential shops and schools -- took effect Dec. 16. It was initially due to run through Jan. 10.

Authorities say Germany's reported numbers for COVID-19 cases are distorted by lower testing and delayed reporting over the Christmas and New Year's period. The country's disease control centre says it expects to have a reliable picture of what is going on only from Jan. 17, Merkel said.

But even according to the current figures, Germany is far from its declared aim of getting new confirmed cases below 50 per 100,000 residents over seven days — the maximum level at which officials say contact-tracing can work properly.

On Tuesday, the infection rate stood at 134.7 per 100,000 nationwide, and 944 more deaths were reported to authorities in 24 hours, one of the highest daily death tolls yet in a country that had a relatively low COVID-19 mortality rate during the pandemic’s first phase.

Merkel said the emergence of the new variant in England is “one reason more” to keep up restrictions. A few cases of the variant have been detected in Germany.

The chancellor defended Germany's approach to vaccinations following criticism fueled by perceptions that Europe has made a slow start and that the European Union was too hesitant in ordering the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, the only one so far cleared for use in the 27-nation bloc.

Germany had vaccinated nearly 317,000 people by Tuesday, just over a week into the campaign. That's a better showing than in several other EU countries, but critics have pointed to faster progress in the U.K., the United States and Israel.

Merkel said it was “right and important” for the EU rather than individual countries to order vaccines for the whole bloc. She said that it “is in Germany's interests” since the country is surrounded by other EU member nations and in the middle of the EU trade zone that relies on open borders.

“A high number of vaccinated people in Germany combined with many who aren't vaccinated in our neighbourhood won't be good for Germany,” she said. “So we don't want national solo efforts. We think the most effective health protection for us can be attained through a common European procedure.”

Health Minister Jens Spahn, who has faced criticism from inside Germany's governing coalition, has repeatedly said that vaccinations are progressing as expected and that the slow start is because teams are first going to nursing homes to vaccinate the most vulnerable. Merkel said she thinks Spahn is doing “a great job.”

Source: https://www.orilliamatters.com/nati...kdown-until-jan-31-and-toughens-curbs-3234620.

 

[sweep_shot]

With a state of emergency looming, Japan on Tuesday recorded new record highs for COVID-19 infections, deaths related to the disease and the number of severe cases.

The nationwide tally of new cases was 4,913, while the single-day death toll linked to the virus reached 76, both record highs. Also on Tuesday, the number of patients with severe COVID-19 cases rose by 40 from the previous day to a record 771.

The previous daily record for nationwide cases was 4,520, marked on Thursday.

Tokyo confirmed 1,278 new infections, its second highest daily tally on record after the 1,337 cases reported on Dec. 31. The figure is also the highest for a Tuesday, after 856 cases were recorded on Dec. 29. The number of severely ill patients based on Tokyo’s standards rose to 111 on Tuesday, up by three from the previous day and the most on record for the capital. The cumulative number of infections in the capital stood at 64,752.

The news comes as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would make a decision Thursday about declaring a fresh state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures amid surge in infections.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/05/national/tokyo-coronavirus-over-1200/.

 

[sweep_shot]

SEOUL (Reuters) - The number of deaths linked to the coronavirus in South Korea passed 1,000 on Tuesday, while an increasing number of gym owners said they would reopen in protest against strict social distancing rules.

After using aggressive testing and tracing to blunt several earlier waves of the coronavirus without widespread lockdowns, South Korea has imposed increasingly strident social distancing rules as it struggles to stop its largest wave yet.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 28 new deaths and 715 new cases, for a total of 1,007 deaths and 64,979 cases overall.

President Moon Jae-in told a cabinet meeting that the country’s top goal was to make it out of the “long tunnel of coronavirus” and said the daily numbers appeared to have peaked thanks to residents.

“This year, we will surely overcome the COVID-19 quickly to recover the everyday lives the people have lost,” he said.

For weeks, gyms have been among the venues forced to close under the rules, although Taekwondo and ballet classes have been allowed to continue under certain limits.

That is an unfair double standard, and is hitting gyms right when they usually sign up the most new customers, said Kim Jae-kang, who said he planned to soon reopen his fitness and pilates centre in Seoul. Operators and patrons who flout the rules can face up to 3 million won ($2,760) in fines.

“For the fitness industry, January is the peak season to draw gym members, who decide to start working out from the new year,” Kim said.

Social distancing works better in gyms than in restaurants, said Oh Sung-young, head of South Korea’s gym owners association.

“Those who come to work out actually do care about their health, so they never take their masks off,” said Oh, who estimated that his was among as many as 300 gyms that have or planned to reopen, with many others holding secret training for customers.

The government has said it is avoiding imposing the highest level of lockdown, which would impose a blanket ban on restaurants and other businesses that can currently still operate with some restrictions, in order to avoid economic damage.

Officials have blamed businesses that flout social distancing rules for helping to fuel the wave.

KDCA director Jeong Eun-kyeong said on Monday that authorities are aware of the issue of fairness in the case of gyms but said the ban had been based on the difficulty of wearing masks during workouts.

She said the authorities were in talks to revise the guidelines and make the social distancing rules more sustainable.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...0-gyms-protest-distancing-rules-idUSL4N2JG14G.

 

[sweep_shot]

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Health Ministry shared the latest updates on coronavirus contagion from across the country.

Read more: 231 new cases of Covid-19 recorded today in Kathmandu valley

Till date, 1,957,454 tests through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method have been carried out wherein 4,551 tests were performed in the last 24 hours.

At present, there are 342 people under quarantine in various facilities across the country. The number of active cases in Nepal is 5,225.

522 new cases of the coronavirus infection were registered today taking the national tally to 262,784.

As many as 578 persons earlier diagnosed with the disease have tested negative in the last 24 hours. With the recent addition, the national COVID-19 recovery tally has now reached 255,666.

Meanwhile, eight more fatalities were confirmed by the Ministry today, with which the country’s COVID-19 death tally has reached 1,893.

As of today, the country has witnessed 262,784 cases of the coronavirus infection while 255,666 people have recovered from the disease. Meanwhile, 1,893 COVID-19 fatalities have been confirmed.

Source: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...22-new-cases-578-recoveries-eight-fatalities/.

 

[sweep_shot]

Coronavirus cases up by 23,700 in a single day in Spain, with hospital pressure rising

The worsening data is likely to be underreported, given the slowdown in testing due to the recent national holidays over the Christmas season

The magnitude of the third coronavirus wave in Spain, which is being hidden by the reduced diagnostic capacity of regional health authorities due to the Christmas holiday season, is gradually becoming visible in the daily data offered by the central Health Ministry.In the previous 24 hours, a total of 23,700 new infections were confirmed by the latest ministry report, which was released on Tuesday evening. This is not a record high for a single day, but it is close to the highest figure seen in the second wave. On October 30, for example, a total of 25,595 new coronavirus cases were reported.

Since the pandemic took hold in Spain back in March, a total of 1,982,544 official cases have been confirmed, meaning that it is very likely that on Thursday the count will have exceeded 2,000,000. Data will not be released today, Wednesday, due to the national holiday for Kings’ Day. The ministry also added 352 Covid-related deaths to the overall total in its latest report, bringing the death toll to 51,430. The real figure, however, is likely to be much higher given the number of people who died in the first wave without having been tested.

Source: https://english.elpais.com/society/...n-with-pressure-on-hospitals-on-the-rise.html.

 

[sweep_shot]

Japan's daily coronavirus cases hit record as state of emergency looms

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s COVID-19 cases reached a new daily record on Wednesday, as the government faced mounting pressure from health experts to impose a strict state of emergency for the Tokyo greater metropolitan area.

Rising infections have driven Tokyo and surrounding areas to the highest level of a four-stage alert, prompting regional governors to call for a declaration of emergency that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is expected to announce on Thursday.

The health ministry held a meeting of infectious disease experts on Wednesday, the second in as many days. They have called for stricter and longer countermeasures, while Suga has sought a more limited response to avoid damaging the economy.

“Even if we take strong measures immediately, it will be difficult to bring the Tokyo metropolitan area down to stage 3 by the end of January,” Takaji Wakita, chief of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, told reporters after the meeting.

New infections nationwide reached at least 6,001, a new daily record according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK. Tokyo reported 1,591 cases, also an all-time high.

Without new measures, daily infections in Tokyo could nearly triple to 3,500 per day by February and hit 7,000 by March, according to simulations by Kyoto University scientist Hiroshi Nishiura. An emergency declaration would need to last at least two months to bring infections to manageable levels, he said.

A senior ruling party lawmaker said on Tuesday it should be imposed for one month, and extended if necessary. The government is anxious about the economic impact as it prepares to host the Olympics this summer.

The government’s top spokesman, Katsunobu Kato, said a decision would likely come on Thursday on whether and for how long to impose the second state of emergency since the start of the pandemic.

Economists warned of a big hit to gross domestic product (GDP) if restrictions are prolonged or expanded, but said that could be unavoidable.

“If you consider the current number of infected, and weather-related factors, it may be difficult to end it in one month,” said BNP Paribas Securities senior economist Hiroshi Shiraishi. “The probability of it running longer is not low.”

Nationwide, COVID-19 infections reached what was then a daily record of 4,915 on Tuesday, while deaths were also an all-time high of 76.

Shiraishi estimated that a one-month state of emergency in the Tokyo area would push consumer spending down 1.1% and first-quarter GDP by about 0.5 percentage points. That would double to 1 point if extended to two months, and to 2 points if expanded nationally, he predicted.

Tokyo and the three surrounding prefectures have asked residents to refrain from non-essential, non-urgent outings after 8 p.m. from Friday until at least the end of the month, and said restaurants and bars must close by that time.

But measures are likely to be far less sweeping than they were during last year’s six-week state of emergency, during which schools and non-essential businesses shut down.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ord-as-state-of-emergency-looms-idUSKBN29B0L4.

 

[sweep_shot]

South Korea rolls out mass testing in prisons, extends suspension of UK flights

By Sangmi Cha

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea rolled out mass testing for 52 prisons in the country after a massive prison outbreak and decided on Wednesday to extend flight suspensions from Britain for two weeks as part of efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections.

Over half of the total 2,292 inmates and personnel in a prison in southeastern Seoul tested positive after a first cluster infection was reported within the prison last month, Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health ministry official, told a briefing.

The justice ministry is separating the infected inmates by transferring them to a designated hospital, said Yoon.

Authorities will complete mass testing on some 70,000 prison inmates and staff nationwide, as the number of confirmed cases linked to prisons throughout the country surged to 1,191.

Authorities decided later on Wednesday to extend flight suspensions from Britain until Jan. 21, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, after at least 12 cases of a new strain of the coronavirus were found.

The country had extended a ban on direct flights from Britain until Jan. 7, and required any passengers arriving from that country or South Africa to undergo testing before departure.

The country reported 840 new cases as of midnight on Tuesday, a slight uptick from 715 a day before, bringing the national tally to 65,818 infections with 1,027 deaths.

The number of deaths linked to the coronavirus in South Korea passed 1,000 on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Sangmi Cha; Additional reporting by Joori Roh; Editing by Michael Perry and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/n...testing-for-70000-prisoners-and-staff-537698/.

 

[sweep_shot]

COVID claims life of 31-year-old; 84 new cases recorded locally

A resident of Hanover is the latest COVID-19 victim to die of the respiratory illness.

The death of the 31-year-old man was the lone COVID-19 related fatality on record for Tuesday, and brings the overall coronavirus death toll in Jamaica to 306.

In the meantime, the country recorded 84 new COVID-19 cases and 76 recoveries on the day.

The 84 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases bring the total number of cases on record for the island to 13,330, while the 76 recoveries mean that 11,182 persons have now recovered from the virus in Jamajca.

Of the newly confirmed cases, 50 are females and 34 are males, with ages ranging from three to 90 years. The cases were recorded in St Catherine (18), Clarendon (18), Kingston and St Andrew (17), St Ann (17), St Mary (three), St Thomas (three), Trelawny (two), Manchester (two), Portland (two), Hanover (one) and St James (one).

There are four moderately ill patients and seven critically ill patients among the 1,682 active cases now under observation in Jamaica.

Source: https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/covid-claims-life-31-year-old-84-new-cases-recorded-locally.

 

[sweep_shot]

Brazil sees 1,242 COVID-19 deaths, 63,430 new cases

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil has recorded 63,430 new cases of coronavirus and 1,242 fresh COVID-19 deaths, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

Source: https://in.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-brazil-idINKBN29B2ZZ.

 

[sweep_shot]

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency for the greater Tokyo region, as alarm at rapidly increasing coronavirus case numbers overtook concerns about economic losses. The emergency will take effect Friday, and last until Feb. 7.

As with an earlier state of emergency last April, which was expanded nationwide, the latest restrictions entail no punishments for violators. Residents will simply be asked to avoid nonessential outings, especially at night.

At a news conference Thursday, Suga pleaded with Japan's young people to "protect the precious lives of all generations, including your parents, grandparents and friends."

"I'd like to make sure to improve the situation after one month," he added.

While Japan's case numbers are low by Western standards, their rapid increase has alarmed Japan. Thursday's tally of 6,100 cases set a record with Tokyo making up about half.

The push for the emergency came largely from the governors of Tokyo and surrounding prefectures and from medical experts. Before Christmas, nine medical groups declared their own state of emergency.

"The collapse of the health care system is a reality, all over Japan," Toshio Nakagawa, head of the Japan Medical Association, one of the nine groups, told a media briefing on Wednesday.

"Everyone knows it's not limited to just Tokyo and its three surrounding prefectures," he added.

Dr. Shigeru Omi, the head of a government advisory panel on the pandemic, said at a news conference on Tuesday that COVID-19 cases in the metropolitan Tokyo area are at a stage of "explosive growth," and it would be hard to significantly reduce case numbers in less than a month, even if the state of emergency were declared immediately.

Tokyo area schools, gyms, theaters, karaoke parlors and cinemas, which were asked to close during the last emergency, will be allowed to stay open this time with some restrictions. Restaurants will also remain open, although they'll be asked to shorten their hours. Those that refuse to comply can be "named and shamed" by the government.

All of this has led to concerns that the emergency won't be tough enough to bring the virus under control.

Suga has said he will propose legislation to specify punishments for violations of the emergency. But some opposition lawmakers have argued that the government should worry less about punishment and instead focus on increasing financial support to small businesses, many of which have gone bankrupt during the pandemic.

Suga may also be concerned, the Kyodo News Agency and other Japanese media point out, that declaring a state of emergency will sap public confidence in holding the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to begin in less than 200 days after being rescheduled from last summer.

A recent opinion poll by public broadcaster NHK found about a third of respondents were in favor of canceling the games, up 9% since a similar poll in October.

Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/corona...ate-of-emergency-for-tokyo-as-infections-rise.

 

[sweep_shot]

Seoul, Jan 7 : Twenty-one more American soldiers and four civilians tested positive for the novel coronavirus upon their arrival in South Korea, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said on Thursday.

In a statement, it said that the 25 USFK-affiliated individuals were infected after arriving in South Korea between December 22, 2020, and January 6, reports Xinhua news agency.

Fifteen service members and four dependents arrived at the Osan Air Base on US government-chartered flights on January 3, 4 and 5.

The Osan Air Base is located in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul.

Six service members arrived at the Incheon airport on international commercial flights on December 22, 2020, January 2, 3, 4 and 6.

The confirmed patients have been transferred to designated isolation facilities at the US Army Garrison Humphreys and the Osan Air Base, both of which are located in Pyeongtaek, and the Kusan Air Base in the southwestern city of Kunsan.

The total number of infections among the USFK-affiliated personnel rose to 538, according to Yonhap news agency.

On Thursday, South Korea reported 870 nw coronavirus cases, raising the total number of infections to 66,686.

Source: https://www.siasat.com/21-us-soldiers-4-civilians-test-covid-19-positive-in-s-korea-2062494/.

 

[sweep_shot]

Dozens of Bulgarian men breached coronavirus (COVID-19) safety measures on January 6, dancing together in the waters of the Tundzha river in the town of Kalofer to celebrate the Epiphany holiday.

The celebration provoked mixed reactions in Bulgaria, ranging from from outrage to defence of the tradition. The country holds holding top place in Europe in terms of the share of the population who have died from coronavirus, and has imposed a lockdown since the end of November as the health system was struggling and was unable to deal with all the cases.

A month after the start of the lockdown, the number of new coronavirus cases has decreased significantly, but remains high and the government has extended most measures until the end of January.

Despite that, the mayor of Kalofer Rumen Stoyanov allowed the celebration, saying it was impossible to stop it even with a ban as it was important for the community. Stoyanov said the authorities would try to secure social distancing between people.

However, videos posted by one viewer showed dozens of men dancing and hugging in the cold waters just like in previous years.

Stoyanov decided to set an example and not join the dance this year but added he was ready to pay a fine if one was imposed by the state authorities for the breach of restrictions. Hours later, the authorities said that fines would be imposed.

Bulgarians have been debating whether this is really a centuries-old tradition, or a significantly more recent one invented between 20 and 50 years ago.

Bulgaria’s far-right nationalist Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov was among those defending the dance. He said, as quoted by Dnevnik news outlet, that the tradition saved Bulgarian identity during the Ottoman Empire and will keep Bulgarians safe now as well.

“We are surrounded by idiots,” Iva, 44 artist, responded.

There was no official reaction from the government to the event or to Karakachanov’s statement.

Epiphany celebrations also went ahead in the Romanian Black Sea city of Constanta, with thousands crowding into the port area in defence of COVID-19 regulations. The authorities allowed the open air religious service to go ahead with up to 3,000 people, but according to Reuters there were up to 4,000 in the tightly packed crowd and many were not wearing face masks.

Source: https://www.intellinews.com/bulgari...-in-cold-waters-to-celebrate-epiphany-199754/.

 

[sweep_shot]

Mexico has reported a new high for a daily increase in coronavirus cases, with 13,345 newly confirmed infections reported Wednesday for the previous 24 hours. Officials also reported a near-record of 1,165 deaths related to COVID-19.

The country has now seen about 1.48 million infections and almost 130,000 deaths so far in the pandemic. A low testing rate means that is an undercount, and official estimates suggest the real death toll is over 180,000.

The lethality of the virus in Mexico continues at 6%, which means that out of every 100 patients who test positive, 6 die from complications.

Mexico’s vaccination effort continues at a glacial rate, with about 7,500 shots administered Wednesday, a rate similar to previous days. In Mexico City, the current center of the pandemic in the country, 88% percent of hospital beds are full.

Source: https://www.vallartadaily.com/mexico-hits-new-daily-high-for-coronavirus-cases/.

 

[sweep_shot]

Jamaica recorded 38 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

It brings the total number of COVID-19 cases on record for the island to 13,368. Meanwhile, recoveries increased by 71, bringing total recoveries to 11,253.

There were no deaths linked to the respiratory illness Wednesday, which means the overall death tally from the coronavirus in Jamaica remains at 306. One death of a COVID-19 patient during the day was recorded as coincidental.

Of the newly confirmed cases, 19 are females and 18 are males, with the gender in one case awaiting confirmation. Ages range from three to 85 years. The cases were recorded in Kingston and St Andrew (16), Clarendon (five), St Catherine (four), Manchester (four), St Mary (three), St Elizabeth (three), St Ann (two) and St James (one).

There are eight moderately ill patients and eight critically ill patients among the 1,649 active cases now under observation in Jamaica.

Source: https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/38-more-covid-cases-71-recoveries.

 

[sweep_shot]

SAO PAULO — The night before New Year’s Eve in Rio de Janeiro, thousands of revelers clad in their bathing suits crowded onto the iconic Ipanema beach to have some seaside drinks. It was one of many open-air parties occurring along Brazil’s vast coastline since the summer heat set in, and as the COVID-19 death toll climbed higher.

“It was so packed, you couldn’t set foot on the beach,” said a maintenance worker at a luxury apartment building across the street. “And it wasn’t just at night; the beach was packed during the day, too. And no one wears a mask!” he added, insisting on not being quoted by name out of worry the building’s owner would punish him for speaking to a reporter.

The explosion of celebrations came just ahead of a pandemic milestone: Brazil passed 200,000 deaths Thursday, rising 1,524 in the previous 24 hours to a total of 200,498 for the pandemic, according to data released by Brazil’s health ministry. That is the second highest total in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University’s database.

Many Brazilians have been straining against quarantine for months, going to bars or small gatherings with friends, but massive blowouts had been few and far between since the pandemic began. Festivities kicked off after the Southern Hemisphere’s summer started on Dec. 21.

While many countries imposed new restrictions to limit the spread of the virus in mid-December, the administration of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro gave its blessing for holiday fun in the sun. Tourism Minister Gilson Machado told radio station Jovem Pan that gatherings of up to 300 people were perfectly acceptable. The decision to impose restrictions is the prerogative of local governments; some that did so saw their rules ignored.

A prominent YouTuber organized a party near a river beach for hundreds of people in Alagoas state, in the country’s northeast region. Days later, local media reported that 47 people, among unmasked guests and staffers contracted COVID-19. At least two were admitted to intensive-care units.

A five-day New Year’s bash drew 150 people near the property owned by soccer star Neymar outside Rio, although he denied any association with the VIP event.

Outside Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro kicked off 2021 by jumping off a boat and swimming towards a throng of unmasked, cheering supporters.

And cops in the city of Bertioga on Sao Paulo's coast used tear gas to disperse a celebration in the early hours New Year's Day.

“Right before the parties, the situation was already getting bad. But this week or next, it will get even worse,” Domingos Alves, an adjunct professor of social medicine at the University of Sao Paulo, told The Associated Press this week.

Alves, who leads a team of researchers tracking COVID-19 data, warned that several states' daily confirmed cases have already surpassed the numbers seen during Brazil's peak in July.

Intensive-care units in many cities are once again slammed with COVID-19 patients. The mayor of Amazonas state's capital Manaus — which one local study speculated may have reached herd immunity after its brutal first wave — declared a 180-day state of emergency Tuesday and suspended all permits for events. State authorities prohibited all nonessential activities for 15 days in most of the city

The city of 2.2 million has recorded 3,550 deaths since the start of the pandemic, and the number of COVID-19 burials has surged. Outside at least one graveyard, cars lined up filled with people waiting to bury their loved ones.

Vanda Ortega, a volunteer nurse in Manaus' Community of Indigenous Nations, told the AP the city had adopted a hands-off approach toward the virus, first during November local elections with large rallies and long lines of voters.

“Then we had the holiday season, with a lot of secret parties,” said Ortega, who belongs to the Witoto ethnicity. "We live in an area where rich people have cabins. They have parties every week.”

Many mayors on Sao Paulo's shore ignored holiday restrictions their governor imposed. In at least 12 cities, mayors kept stores, hotels and beaches open to tourists.

Images of traffic jams and packed beaches, with crowds largely unmasked, were so jarring that European Union commissioner Paolo Gentiloni expressed his disbelief on Twitter, saying “I saw shameful images from Brazil.”

And Bolsonaro — who has consistently downplayed risks of the virus despite catching a case himself — signalled with his New Year's swim that he will continue to ignore protective measures observed in most countries.

“I dived in with a mask on so I wouldn't catch COVID from the little fish,” he joked a few days later outside the presidential palace.

Even some Brazilians who consider themselves cautious are letting down their guards. Soccer fan Ricardo Santos, 46, says he covers his face each time he goes out, carries hand sanitizer in his bag and observes social distancing. But on Wednesday, he and a dozen of other Palmeiras fans hit a bar in downtown Sao Paulo to watch their team play.

“I spent New Year’s with only two friends who live in the same building. I take precautions. But sometimes you have to accept a little risk to preserve your mental health, too,” Santos said.

Back on Rio's Ipanema beach, Joao Batista Baria, 57, said he blamed authorities for not protecting its poorest residents.

“Everyone is talking about these beach parties, but crowding also happens on the bus, on the subway,” Baria said while cleaning the foldable chairs tourists and residents rent to soak up the summer sun. “People come to the beach because they choose to. I need to take the bus to get to work.”

Source: https://www.burnabynow.com/coronavi...the-sun-as-covid-19-deaths-top-200000-3242786.

 

[sweep_shot]

BRASILIA — Brazil reported 52,035 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 962 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Friday.

The South American country has now registered 8,013,708 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 201,460, according to ministry data, in the world’s third worst outbreak outside the United States and India. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/brazil-total-coronavirus-cases-top-8-million-health-ministry.

 

[sweep_shot]

LIMA — Peru has confirmed the first case of a highly transmissable variant of the coronavirus first found in Britain, the Ministry of Health said on Friday, as cases tick upwards and hospitals in some parts of the country warn of saturation.

The ministry said the person affected by the variant of the virus was a Peruvian citizen who lived and worked in the capital Lima and had not traveled abroad.

The authorities said the woman had attended family gatherings before Christmas and they would be tracing those she had contact with.

Peru has confirmed 1,026,090 coronavirus cases, with more than 38,000 deaths, according to data from the Ministry of Health published on Thursday. Peru is reporting 1,650 new infections on average each day, 19% of the cases reported during its mid-August peak, according to Reuters data.

Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti said the current increase in infections was “slow, but progressive.”

“We have seen in the last 10 days an increase in cases and mortality,” she added.

On Wednesday, Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti said the government had negotiated an agreement with China’s Sinopharm to ensure the delivery of one million doses of its coronavirus vaccine by January. nL1N2JH1XH (Reporting by Maria Cervantes, writing by Aislinn Laing Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/peru-confirms-case-of-british-variant-of-coronavirus.

 

[sweep_shot]

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany reported a record 1,188 daily COVID-19 deaths on Friday, only days after further tightening a national lockdown amid fears that a more transmissible variant of the coronavirus may put additional strain on struggling hospitals.

Europe’s largest and most populous economy hopes to be able to limit the spread of the virus until enough of its population has been vaccinated against COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity.

On Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel and state premiers agreed to restrict non-essential travel for residents of hard-hit areas all over Germany for the first time, after a lockdown decreed in December failed to significantly reduce infection numbers.

The death toll reported by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases on Friday surpassed a previous record of 1,129 registered on Dec. 30, taking the total in connection with the pandemic to 38,795.

RKI also confirmed another 31,849 new infections, one of the highest daily tallies so far.

“Every two minutes, someone dies of the coronavirus in Germany,” Bavarian premier Markus Soeder told the regional parliament, urging critics to take the threat seriously.

The premier of the eastern state of Thuringia, one of the hardest-hit areas in Germany, called on the government in Berlin to extend the shutdown to the whole economy, as in the first wave of the pandemic, to curb the surge in infections.

“I don’t see any other option,” Bodo Ramelow told broadcaster MDR, shortly after the neighbouring state of Saxony reported the first discovery of the more transmissible variant of the virus in a traveller returning from Great Britain.

In Berlin, one of the worst affected of Germany’s states, authorities postponed the reopening of schools after the Christmas break until Jan. 25. They had been due to restart on Monday.

Germany is also considering suspending flights from additional countries, including Ireland, over concerns about the new variant of the virus, broadcaster n-tv reported, citing government sources.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...concerns-about-new-variant-grow-idINKBN29D1DD.

 

[sweep_shot]

PARIS (Reuters) - France reported on Friday 19,814 new daily confirmed coronavirus cases, down from 21,703 on Thursday but the number remains far from the government’s target of fewer than 5,000 new daily infections.

The French health ministry also reported 281 deaths in hospitals from COVID-19, up from 277 on Thursday.

France’s cumulative total of cases in the 10-month long pandemic stands at 2,747,135 with the death toll at 67,431.

The French government said on Thursday that restaurants, theatres, cinemas and ski resorts will remain closed as the virus was still spreading too fast and hospitals were under pressure.

Prime Minister Jean Castex also said that additional nationwide restrictions could not be ruled out and that a nightly curfew would be extended until at least Jan.20.

The government this week stepped up its vaccination campaign by simplifying a cumbersome process to deliver shots more quickly after a slow start to France’s rollout compared with its European neighbours had been criticised by doctors, scientists and politicians.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ew-covid-19-cases-over-24-hours-idUSKBN29D2N9.

 

[sweep_shot]

Five Italian regions will become 'orange zones' from the weekend, with tougher restrictions ordered in response to rising coronavirus infections.

Calabria, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Sicily and Veneto will become orange zones from Sunday, January 10th, Health Minister Roberto Speranza announced on Friday after reviewing Italy's coronavirus transmission rates.

The latest report from Italy's Higher Health Institute (ISS), released earlier the same day, showed that Italy's Rt number had risen above 1 for the first time in six weeks.

The key indicator, which shows the average number of people that each infected patient will pass the virus on to, stood at 1.03 across Italy between December 15-28th after rising for four weeks in a row, the ISS said.

While Lombardy recorded the highest Rt number at a peak of 1.27, almost every region of Italy should be classed as either high or medium risk, according to the ISS.

By its criteria, which include 20 other indicators in addition to the Rt number, Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Piedmont, Puglia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria and Veneto are all at high risk, while Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily and Valle d'Aosta are at moderate risk. Only Tuscany was classed as low risk.

As well as the rising reproduction number, the ISS pointed to the increasing pressure on intensive care units, which are now more than 30 percent occupied nationwide. There has also been a jump in the number of Covid-19 cases not traceable to a known chain of transmission, another alarm bell.

The pandemic is "a delicate phase that seems to herald a new, rapid increase in the number of cases in the coming weeks, unless more stringent mitigation measures are rigorously set and implemented", the ISS report said.

Source: https://www.thelocal.it/20210108/italy-puts-five-regions-under-higher-covid-19-restrictions.

 

[sweep_shot]

Amid rising case numbers, Austria is set to close its borders with the Czech Republic and Slovakia at midnight on Friday.

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) made the announcement on Friday afternoon.

Smaller border crossings will be closed completely, while fixed controls will be put in place at larger border crossings.

Previously, Austria had put in place a series of mobile controls which would check people at random.

As reported on Tuesday by The Local Austria, Austria has carried out more than 770,000 checks since the mandatory quarantine regulation came into effect on December 19th.

Of those, around 10,000 people - mainly third-country nationals - have been refused entry to Austria. Around 55,000 of those checked have been ordered into home quarantine.

‘Extremely tense’

Nehammer described the situation in Slovakia and the Czech Republic as “extremely tense”.

“The Czech Republic in particular has massive numbers of new infections with a seven-day incidence of 680 (per 100,000 people) at the moment,” Nehammer said.

“To protect the people in our country, we are closing the borders at this point and checking every vehicle when entering Austria”.

Everyone entering Austria will need to sign document indicating they are committing to quarantine. If this document is not signed, entry will be refused.

Cross-border commuters will be allowed to enter and to avoid the quarantine requirement, however all cross-border workers will need to show evidence that they have an employer in Austria.

Source: https://www.thelocal.at/20210108/au...-with-czech-republic-and-slovakia-at-midnight.

 

[sweep_shot]

SAO PAULO, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Brazil recorded 62,290 additional confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 1,171 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

Brazil has registered more than 8 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began 10 months ago, while the official death toll has surpassed 200,000, according to ministry data. (Reporting by Carolina Mandl; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...onavirus-cases-1171-more-deaths-idUSS0N2IU002.

 

[sweep_shot]

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Argentina issued a decree on Friday, January 8th, empowering provinces to restrict nighttime activitiesm in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, with authorities concerned about a new wave of cases being caused by Southern Hemisphere summer vacationers.

TV images have been filled with packed beaches and outdoor parties, with many people not wearing masks or observing social distancing guidelines.

As of Thursday, 1,690,006 cases of coronavirus had been recorded in the country, with 44,122 deaths.

Source: https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-n...rict-nighttime-activities-as-covid-19-surges/.

 

[sweep_shot]

The death toll linked to COVID-19 in Japan reached 4,035 on Saturday, after 59 new fatalities were confirmed amid a resurgence of the deadly virus in the country.

Of the newly confirmed deaths, 10 were in Osaka Prefecture, eight in Tokyo, and five in Chiba Prefecture. In Hokkaido, four people were confirmed dead, with cumulative coronavirus fatalities in the northernmost japan prefecture reaching 500.

The nationwide pace of deaths linked to the coronavirus is accelerating, taking less than 20 days for the number to top 4,000 after exceeding 3,000 on Dec. 22. The toll rose above 1,000 on July 20 and surpassed 2,000 about four months later, on Nov. 22, and topped 3,000 a month later.

The news came as the nationwide number of new infections totaled 7,787 on Saturday, rising above 7,000 for the third consecutive day. As of the same day, the number of coronavirus patients in severe condition came to a record 827, up by one from Friday, according to the health ministry.

On Saturday, Tokyo reported 2,268 COVID-19 cases, a record for a Saturday and the third-straight day over 2,000. Neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture, meanwhile, saw its daily case count rise by a record 999.

The Tokyo figure came two days after a record high 2,447 infections were reported in the capital.

The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients in the city based on the metropolitan government’s standards remained static, at a record 129, as hospitals continue to face the prospect of being overwhelmed amid the surge in cases.

Of the people newly found with the virus in Tokyo, 654 are in their 20s, 437 in their 30s, 337 in their 40s and 302 in their 50s. Those aged 65 or over, who are at a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms, accounted for 266.

The cumulative number of infections in the capital stood at 73,450, according to the metropolitan government.

The spike in new cases comes after 13,683 coronavirus tests were administered on Wednesday. It usually takes around three days for tests to produce results.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said Friday the metropolitan government aims to lower the daily number of new coronavirus cases in the capital to around 500 by Feb. 7, the final day of the state of emergency covering the greater Tokyo area over the epidemic. The capital previously saw its daily number hover around 500 in mid-December.

Infections are spreading rapidly beyond the capital region as well.

Three Kansai prefectures, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo, on Saturday formally asked the central government to expand the state of emergency to cover them as well. New cases in Hyogo hit a record 324, while Osaka posted 647 new cases, its second highest total.

Gifu Prefecture issued its own state of emergency on Saturday, urging its residents to refrain from unnecessary outings after 8 p.m.. It asked restaurants that serve alcohol to close by 8 p.m.

Aichi Prefecture, which is also considering requesting that it be included in the state of emergency, posted 362 new cases.

Elsewhere, Hokkaido reported 215 new cases while Nagasaki Prefecture reported a daily high of 60.

On Friday, Japan confirmed 7,884 new COVID-19 cases, marking a record high for the fourth straight day.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/09/national/japan-jan9-coronavirus/.

 

[sweep_shot]

South Korea reported 665 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, staying below one-thousand for the sixth consecutive day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Sunday that the new cases raised the country's accumulated caseload to 68-thousand-664.

The daily figure remained in the 600 range for the third straight day as the third wave of the epidemic appears to be slowing down amid the country's tough social distancing rules.

Of the new cases detected throughout Saturday, 631 were local transmissions and 34 were imported cases.

By region, 400 cases come from the greater metro area with 179 in Seoul, 189 in Gyeonggi Province and 32 in Incheon. In other parts of the nation, Busan recorded 32 new cases, Daegu 34 and Gwangju 18.

Twenty-five more coronavirus deaths were reported, raising the country's death toll to one-thousand-125. The fatality rate stands at one-point-64 percent.

The number of critically ill patients dropped by eight to 401.

Source: http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&Seq_Code=158803.

 

[sweep_shot]

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy reported 483 coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, down from 620 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 19,978 from 17,533.

Some 172,119 swab tests were carried out in the past day, the ministry said, against a previous 140,267.

Italy has registered 78,394 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21, the second highest toll in Europe and the sixth highest in the world. The country has also reported 2.258 million cases to date, the health ministry said.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 23,260 on Saturday, down 53 from the day before.

The number of intensive care patients stood a 2,593 versus 2,587 on Friday, reflecting those who died or were discharged. There were 6 admissions to intensive care units, compared with 187 on Friday.

When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic was accelerating fast in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ths-on-saturday-19978-new-cases-idUSKBN29E0L6.

 

[sweep_shot]

France is to extend its Covid-19 curfew to a further eight departments, Prime Minister Jean Castex said Saturday, citing a "tough and necessary" response as some opposed the restrictions in several cities.
France has been ramping up its anti-virus restrictions in the face of rising cases and imposed a post-New Year curfew from 6pm on 15 of its 101 departments, the remainder subject to an 8 pm confinement.

Those 15 are deemed to be where the virus is spreading the most in a country which has seen some 67,000 deaths to date from some 2.7 million cases and with a reproduction rate escalating.

The new departments likely to be be subject to an earlier curfew are primarily in the east of the country, including Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin and Cote d'Or, as well as the central one of Cher.


Castex highlighted the southern port of Marseille, France's second largest city, where local politicians of all stripes have voiced opposition to extending the partial lockdown, questioning its effectiveness.

"In reality we are applying the same criteria to Marseille as we apply elsewhere," said Castex, confirming the earlier lockdown would be extended to eight departments including the Bouches-du-Rhone, which includes Marseille.

"Everybody is conscious of the epidemic not weakening or that on the contrary it is growing stronger in some areas," Castex said.

Castex also defended the government's vaccine rollout strategy, criticised in some quarters for its slow start.

"The objective is to go quickly, (but) do it in absolutely irreproachable security conditions."

Opinion polls show around half the French population are sceptical about having the jab -- their opposition notably higher than in neighbouring countries.

Castex underlined what he termed the "credibility" of the vaccine strategy, adding "it must succeed as that is what will allow us to find out way out of this serious and worsening health crisis."

Health Minister Olivier Veran stressed that France would be stepping up the rate of vaccinations from the coming week.

Source: https://www.thelocal.fr/20210109/france-extends-covid-19-curfew-to-8-new-departments.

 

[sweep_shot]

SAO PAULO, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Brazil recorded 29,792 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 469 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Brazil has registered more than 8.1 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 203,100, according to ministry data. (Reporting by Carolina Mandl; editing by Diane Craft)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...onal-469-deaths-health-ministry-idUSS0N2IU004.

 

[sweep_shot]

MILAN — Italy reported 361 coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday, down from 483 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 18,627 from 19,978.

Some 139,758 swab tests were carried out in the past day, the ministry said, against a previous 172,119.

Italy has registered 78,755 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21, the second-highest toll in Europe and the sixth-highest in the world. The country has reported 2.276 million cases to date, the health ministry said.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 23,427 on Sunday, up 167 from a day earlier.

There were 181 admissions to intensive care units, versus with 183 on Saturday.

The current number of intensive care patients rose by 22 to 2,615.

When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic accelerated quickly in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day. (Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health...-coronavirus-deaths-on-sunday-18627-new-cases.

 

[sweep_shot]

PARIS, Jan 10 (Reuters) - France recorded 15,944 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 151 more deaths from the coronavirus in hospitals in the last 24 hours, data from the country’s health ministry showed. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Nicolas Delame; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...ses-151-deaths-in-last-24-hours-idUSP6N2IJ011.

 

[sweep_shot]

ROME — Italy reported 448 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday, up from 361 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 12,532 from 18,627.

However, the number of swab tests also fell, as often happens over the weekend, amounting to just 91,656 against a previous 139,758.

Italy has registered 79,203 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21, the second-highest toll in Europe and the sixth-highest in the world. The country has also reported 2.289 million cases to date, the health ministry said.

Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 23,603 on Monday, up 176 from a day earlier.

There were 168 new admissions to intensive care units, against 181 the day before.

The total number of intensive care patients rose by 27 to 2,642.

When Italy’s second wave of the epidemic was accelerated quickly in the first half of November, hospital admissions were rising by about 1,000 per day, while intensive care occupancy was increasing by about 100 per day. (Reporting by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-p...-coronavirus-deaths-on-monday-12532-new-cases.

 

[sweep_shot]

BRASILIA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Brazil reported 25,822 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 480 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Monday.

The South American country has now registered 8,131,612 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 203,580, according to ministry data, in the world’s third worst outbreak outside the United States and India. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle Editing by Chris Reese)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...navirus-and-480-deaths-ministry-idUSS0N2IV01A.

 

[sweep_shot]

With 1,219 new infections, COVID-19 cases in Japan's capital Tokyo crossed 76,000 on Monday as the country detected a coronavirus variant different from that in Britain and South Africa.

According to public broadcaster NHK, the Health Ministry said the new strain was found in four people who arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport earlier this month.

The infected are in their teens to their 40s, and all of them had stayed in the state of Amazonas in Brazil.

The daily tally in the metropolitan has exceeded 1,000 for seven days in a row, and the total number of infections now stands at 76,163.

Greater Tokyo is already under a state of emergency since Jan. 7, as according to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, "the situation has become increasingly troubling."

Bars and restaurants have been ordered to shorten working hours, while people have been asked to refrain from making unnecessary trips outdoors.

The measures will be kept in place until Feb. 7, and besides the capital, they cover Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures.

Earlier, five people returning from the UK tested positive for a new COVID-19 variant that is spreading in Britain. The new strain is said to be more contagious, however, there is yet no evidence if it is more deadly.

Japan has so far reported 290,985 virus cases, and 3,870 related deaths, according to figures by Johns Hopkins University. The government has temporarily banned the entry of non-resident foreign nationals to contain the spread of the infection.

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/japan-covid-19-cases-in-tokyo-rise-as-new-strain-found/2105676.

 

[sweep_shot]

KATHMANDU: Nepal on Monday reported 488 new cases of coronavirus infection from across the country. With this, the nationwide infection count has advanced to 265,268.

Of the total cases,192 are females while 296 are males.

In the last 24 hours, 314 cases surfaced in Kathmandu valley. The capital hosts the highest number of active cases.

Likewise, 527 people who were earlier infected with the virus are reported to have recovered in the past 24 hours as per the latest data provided by health ministry. As of today, 258,968 individuals have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. The recovery rate, as such, is 97.6 per cent.

Nepal’s active Covid-19 case count currently stands at 4,373.

Meanwhile, ten more fatalities from the disease have taken the total death-toll to 1,927.

According to the health ministry, 5,309 PCR tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. With this, a total of 1,987,555 PCR tests have been carried out in Nepal till date.

Currently, there are 237 individuals in various quarantine facilities across Nepal.

On Sunday, Nepal’s coronavirus case count reached 264,780 with 259 newly confirmed cases.

Source: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...tered-on-monday-nationwide-tally-hits-265268/.

 

[sweep_shot]

PARIS (Reuters) - France’s new COVID-19 infections are on average increasing by more than 18,000 a day, a seven-week high, and the number of people hospitalised is rising again as the country grapples with the more infectious variant of the virus first found in Britain.

These latest trends, published on Monday, will be discussed in the coming days by the government which is pondering whether to impose a third national lockdown and extend a 6 pm curfew, now enforced in some areas, to all of France.

The French health ministry reported 3,582 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, a figure lower than Sunday’s 15,944 and than last Monday’s 4,022.

France’s cumulative total of cases stands at 2,786,838, the sixth-highest in the world. The seven-day moving average of new infections, which smoothes out reporting irregularities, stands at 18,155, staying above de 18,000 threshold for the second day running, a sequence not seen since Nov. 23.

France has 24,846 patients being treated for the virus, a six-day high. After peaking at 33,497 on Nov. 14, that figure fell for a month due to the country’s second lockdown that ended on Dec. 15. Since then, the tally has essentially been stuck between 24,000 and 25,000.

The number of people treated in intensive care units (ICUs) for the disease was up for the third time in four days, at 2,676, staying inside the 2,500-3,000 range the government had targeted to relax the lockdown last month.

The COVID-19 death toll was up by 310, at 68,060, the seventh-highest in the world.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-covid-cases-at-seven-week-high-idUSKBN29G2I3.

 

[sweep_shot]

Spain saw a huge jump in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations over the weekend, with the Health Ministry reporting 61,422 new cases on Monday.

The surge in cases includes data from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It more than doubles the number of cases reported last Monday, when the update included four days’ worth of data due to a long weekend.

“The next weeks will be complicated,” Fernando Simon, Spain’s chief epidemiologist, told a press conference Monday but insisted the current situation is far from what was experienced during the first wave of the pandemic.

Simon said that around 70 cases of the UK variant of the virus have been found in Spain so far, but denied that is what is driving the rise in infections.

“This has nothing to do with the new variant, it has to do with having more fun over the holidays than we should have,” he explained.

Spain was one of the few European countries to relax social and travel measures over the holiday season, which in Spain lasts from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6.

Hospitalizations also surged over the weekend, bringing the total number of active COVID-19 patients to 16,792. The situation in intensive care units is becoming critical, with 26% of all available ICU beds across the country being used by COVID-19 patients.

In Valencia and the Balearic Islands, around 40% of ICUs are now dedicated to treating COVID-19.

The Balearic Islands on Monday announced new measures to control the virus. From Wednesday, meetings between people not living together in Mallorca and Ibiza will be forbidden, and bars, restaurants, and shopping centers will have to limit their hours and capacity.

Likewise, Valencia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Andalusia, Murcia and Castile, and Leon all announced stricter measures on Monday.

Meanwhile, despite parts of the country recovering from a record snowfall this weekend, a new shipment of around 350,000 vaccines was received across the country.

Simon said that just over 381,000 people have received the injection in Spain so far.

On Monday, the Health Ministry confirmed another 401 deaths, bringing Spain’s official death toll to 52,275.

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/spain-new-covid-19-infections-double-from-last-week/2106426.

 

[sweep_shot]

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil reported 64,025 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 1,110 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Tuesday, as the country battles a resurgence in the pandemic.

Brazil has now registered 8,195,637 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 204,690, according to ministry data, in the world’s third worst outbreak outside the United States and India.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...-of-coronavirus-health-ministry-idUSS0N2IV01E.

 

[sweep_shot]

PARIS (Reuters) - The French health ministry reported 19,753 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Tuesday, up from Monday’s 3,582, while the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units continued to rise.

These latest figures will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday by the government which is pondering whether to impose a third national lockdown or extend a 6 p.m. curfew, now enforced in some areas, to all of France.

Jean-François Defraissy, head of the scientific council advising the government on the epidemic, told TF1 Television that France will likely have to consider more restrictions on people’s movements soon to limit the spread of the UK and South African variants of the coronavirus.

The number of people treated in intensive care units (ICUs) for the disease was up by 12 over 24 hours at 2,688. The total number of people treated for the disease in hospitals stood at 24,737.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...us-cases-up-19753-over-24-hours-idUSKBN29H2OF.

 

[sweep_shot]

Tokyo confirmed 970 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, the metropolitan government said, as the number of new and serious cases continue to rise throughout the country.

The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients in the capital based on the metropolitan government’s standards rose by 13 to 144 as hospitals continue to face the prospect of being overwhelmed amid the surge in cases.

The figure in the capital came in the wake of a run of three straight days over 2,000 cases last week, including a record high 2,447 on Thursday. It also comes after Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures were put under a new state of emergency on Friday amid the surging daily COVID-19 tallies.

Of the people newly found with the virus in Tokyo, 249 are in their 20s, 184 in their 30s and 138 in their 50s. Those aged 65 or over, who are at a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms, accounted for 149.

The cumulative number of infections in the capital stood at 77,133, according to the metropolitan government.

The metropolitan government did not release how many coronavirus tests were administered on Saturday. It usually takes around three days for tests to produce results.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said Friday the metropolitan government aims to lower the daily number of new coronavirus cases in the capital to around 500 by Feb. 7, the final day of the state of emergency covering the greater Tokyo area over the epidemic. The capital previously saw its daily number hover around 500 in mid-December.

Tuesday’s figure came a day after the nationwide daily total of new COVID-19 cases came to 4,875, slipping below 5,000 for the first time in six days. Still, the figure was the highest for any Monday, exceeding the 3,322 marked on Jan. 4. The number of severely ill patients also increased 12 from the previous day to hit a record high of 864 and 48 deaths linked to the virus were reported nationwide, including seven in Osaka Prefecture and five in Hokkaido.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday the government will expand a state of emergency declared over the coronavirus pandemic to Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures. The declaration will be made as early as Wednesday, government sources said, adding that Gifu and Aichi prefectures may also come under the expansion at the same time.

The governors of the three western prefectures had asked the central government to extend the state of emergency, which took effect Friday for Tokyo and some neighboring areas, to their prefectures in response to a resurgence of the virus.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/12/national/tokyo-jan-12-cases/.

 

[sweep_shot]

KATHMANDU: Nepal on Tuesday reported 430 new cases of coronavirus infection from across the country. With this, the nationwide infection count has advanced to 265,698.

Of the total cases,177 are females while 253 are males.

In the last 24 hours, 259 cases surfaced in Kathmandu valley. The capital hosts the highest number of active cases.

Likewise, 390 people who were earlier infected with the virus are reported to have recovered in the past 24 hours as per the latest data provided by health ministry. As of today, 259,358 individuals have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. The recovery rate, as such, is 97.6 per cent.

Nepal’s active Covid-19 case count currently stands at 4,408.

Meanwhile, five more fatalities from the disease have taken the total death-toll to 1,932.

According to the health ministry, 5,300 PCR tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. With this, a total of 1,992,855 PCR tests have been carried out in Nepal till date.

Currently, there are 237 individuals in various quarantine facilities across Nepal.

Globally, 1.95 million people have lost their lives to Covid-19 while more than 90.9 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus.

On Monday, Nepal’s coronavirus case count reached 265,268 with 488 newly confirmed cases.

Source: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...ered-on-tuesday-nationwide-tally-hits-265698/.

 

[sweep_shot]

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil has had 60,899 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 1,274 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The South American country has now registered 8,256,536 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 205,964, according to ministry data, in the world’s third worst outbreak outside the United States and India.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...-cases-1274-new-covid-19-deaths-idUSS0N2IV01I.

 

[sweep_shot]

Japan confirmed 5,869 new infections with the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing its cumulative number of cases, including cruise ship passengers and crew members, to 304,764.

The total is rising at an accelerating pace, topping 300,000 only some three weeks after surpassing 200,000 on Dec. 21. Saturday will mark a year since Japan’s first novel coronavirus case was confirmed.

The national death toll linked to COVID-19 grew by a daily record of 97 to 4,289. The number of severely ill patients also hit a record of 900, up 19 from the previous day.

Tokyo reported 1,433 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as Japan’s cumulative total of coronavirus cases topped 300,000.

Among the daily total in Tokyo, 187 cases involved people age 65 or older while the number of severely ill patients, based on the city’s standards, came to 141, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Among the new cases, people in their 20s made up the largest group at 394, followed by 275 for people in their 30s and 202 among people in their 40s.

The cumulative number of infections in the capital stood at 78,566.

Last week, the government issued a fresh COVID-19 state of emergency for Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa. Kanagawa saw 906 infection cases Tuesday, its second-highest daily count.

Tokushima and Saga prefectures also logged record numbers the same day, at 35 and 32.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/13/national/tokyo-reports-1433-cases/.

 

[sweep_shot]

A further 3,569 Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the Republic of Ireland by the Department of Health today.

There was also a further 63 Covid-19 fatalities recorded.

Source: https://www.independent.ie/irish-ne...9-more-covid-19-cases-confirmed-39965820.html.

 

[sweep_shot]

BERLIN, Jan 13 (Reuters) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 19,600 to 1,953,426, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday.

The reported death toll rose by 1,060 to 42,637, the tally showed.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...navirus-cases-rise-by-19600-rki-idUSL8N2JO0DS.

 

[sweep_shot]

KATHMANDU: Nepal on Wednesday reported 445 new cases of coronavirus infection from across the country. With this, the nationwide infection count has advanced to 266,143.

Of the total cases,184 are females while 261 are males.

In the last 24 hours, 246 cases surfaced in Kathmandu valley. The capital hosts the highest number of active cases.

Likewise, 414 people who were earlier infected with the virus are reported to have recovered in the past 24 hours as per the latest data provided by health ministry. As of today, 259,772 individuals have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. The recovery rate, as such, is 97.6 per cent.

Nepal’s active Covid-19 case count currently stands at 4,434.

Meanwhile, five more fatalities from the disease have taken the total death-toll to 1,937.

According to the health ministry, 4,154 PCR tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. With this, a total of 1,997,009 PCR tests have been carried out in Nepal till date.

Currently, there are 237 individuals in various quarantine facilities across Nepal.

Globally, more than 91 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus while over 1.95 million people have lost their lives to Covid-19. Likewise, over 65 million people have recovered from the disease and nearly 24 million cases are still active.

On Tuesday, Nepal’s coronavirus case count reached 265,698 with 430 newly confirmed cases.

Source: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...ed-on-wednesday-nationwide-tally-hits-266143/.

 

[sweep_shot]

PARIS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- France on Wednesday confirmed 23,852 infections with COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, the biggest one-day tally since Jan. 6, as more infectious variants circulate, posing growing risk of the epidemic rebound, health authorities data showed.

France's cumulative number of infections has grown to 2,830,442, with the coronavirus-related deaths surpassing 69,000 after 229 patients died in one day.

Some 24,769 patients were hospitalized, of whom 2,711 are in intensive care units, up by 32 and 23 respectively.

Early Wednesday, Jean-Francois Delfraissy, the government's top scientific adviser, warned that "the coming three months will be difficult," notably due to the circulation of the highly infectious virus variant first detected in the United Kingdom.

"I am very concerned about this variant... If we do nothing, if a certain number of measures are not taken... very quickly, we will have a spread of the variant," he told France info radio, adding "The question is not to block it, but to slow it down."

Delfraissy expected "the situation will slightly improve during the spring but should really get better at the end of the summer."

About 47 cases of the variant were confirmed in France where the new strain accounted for an estimated 1 percent of the COVID-19 infections, said Health Minister Olivier Veran on Tuesday during a hearing at the parliament.

"One percent today is 50 percent in six weeks, so we must try to slow down this progression as much as possible because once there are 50 percent of the variant among all the cases we see on the territory, the epidemic will unfortunately have become much more difficult to control," said epidemiologist Pascal Crepey on Wednesday on BFM TV.

As of Wednesday, more than 247,000 people in France have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data released by the Health Ministry.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 236 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by WHO on Tuesday.

Source: http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2021-01/14/content_77113377.htm.

 

[sweep_shot]

MANAUS, Brazil (Reuters) - The Brazilian state of Amazonas is running out of oxygen during a renewed surge in COVID-19 deaths, its government said on Thursday, with media reporting that people on respirators were dying of suffocation in hospitals.

The state has made a dramatic appeal to the United States to send a military transport plane to the capital city Manaus with oxygen cylinders, Amazonas Congressman Marcelo Ramos said.

“They took my father off the oxygen,” Raissa Floriano said outside the 28 de Agosto hospital in Manaus, where people protested that relatives suffering serious cases of COVID-19 were being unhooked from ventilators for lack of oxygen.

Sobbing, Floriano said she was looking for an oxygen cylinder to save her 73-year-old father Alfonso.

Brazil is home to the world’s second-deadliest coronavirus outbreak after the United States, and Manaus was one of the first Brazilian cities struck by a spiraling death count and case load from the first wave of the pandemic last year.

With emergency services pushed to breaking point, Governor Nelson Lima announced a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. statewide curfew to stop the spread of coronavirus in a devastating second wave.

Health authorities said oxygen supplies had run out at some hospitals and intensive care wards were so full that scores of patients were being airlifted to other states.

People in Manaus are again dying at home from COVID-19.

To make matters worse, a new variant of the virus was detected in Japan on Sunday in four people who had come from Amazonas.

Researchers have not established how infectious or lethal the variant is, but biomedical center Fiocruz said it had detected the virus in a 29-year-old woman who had already tested positive nine months earlier.

The neighboring state of Pará announced on Thursday it was banning travel boats coming down the river from Amazonas, citing a rise in cases and the identification of the new variant.

Amazonas health secretary Marcellus Campelo said the state needs almost three times more oxygen that it can produce locally and appealed for supplies from other states.

Public health experts gave dramatic accounts of people dying of COVID-9 in ICUs with no oxygen.

“The oxygen ran out and the hospitals have turned into suffocation chambers,” Fiocruz-Amazonia researcher Jesem Orellana told the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper. “Patients who manage to survive could suffer permanent brain damage,” he said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ut-of-oxygen-as-covid-19-surges-idUSKBN29J2SJ.

 

[sweep_shot]

Japan reported 6,607 new coronavirus infection cases Thursday, marking a daily count above 6,000 for the first time in four days.

The number of severely ill COVID-19 patients rose by 20 from the previous day to a record 920, according to the health ministry.

Miyagi and Chiba prefectures reported 87 and 488 new infection cases, both record highs. The number of new cases stood at 985 in Kanagawa Prefecture, its second-highest daily count, and 341 in Fukuoka Prefecture, its first figure above 300 in five days.

Osaka Prefecture saw 592 cases. The number of deaths linked to the virus grew by 11 to 714 in Osaka, exceeding Tokyo’s 707. The nationwide death toll increased by 66.

The 11 prefectures under the government-declared state of emergency reported 5,266 cases, representing about 80% of the nationwide total.

Tokyo reported 1,502 new cases Thursday, with the number of seriously ill patients remaining at a high level, straining the capital’s medical system.

The number of severe cases came to 135, down six from the previous day, while cases among people age 65 or older, who are likely to develop more serious symptoms, stood at 202.

Thursday’s figures came after 3,849 tests were conducted on Monday, a low test number due to Coming of Age Day. The latest tally brought the cumulative total in the capital to 80,068.

During a coronavirus meeting held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government the same day, members of an expert panel said the recent rise in cases in which infection routes cannot be traced is indicating an “explosive expansion” of infections.

New cases are found each day at an unprecedented speed, the panel warned, urging the metropolitan government to take effective measures immediately.

“It is most important to reduce the number of new cases and seriously ill patients in order to avoid the collapse” of the medical system, they said.

The nationwide cumulative total of confirmed cases topped 300,000 on Wednesday, the day the country expanded a state of emergency originally declared for the Tokyo metropolitan area last week to several more prefectures.

According to a Kyodo News tally, the nationwide cumulative total surpassed 100,000 on Oct. 29 and reached 200,000 nearly two months later on Dec. 21. It only took about three weeks for the cumulative total to hit the 300,000 mark.

In addition to Tokyo, which confirmed a record 2,447 new infections on Jan. 7, other prefectures that have huge urban populations, including Osaka and Aichi, have similarly been struggling amid a sudden rise in numbers since the start of the year.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday declared seven additional prefectures to be under a state of emergency.

Coronavirus deaths across the country surpassed 4,000 as of Jan. 9, with as many as 70 deaths seen per day recently. Those suffering from serious symptoms hit a record 900, up 19 from the previous day.

The surge has been increasing the strain on the country’s medical system, with some hospitals already being forced to turn patients away.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/14/national/japan-jan-14-coronavirus/.

 

[sweep_shot]

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil had 69,198 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 1,151 deaths from COVID-19, the fourth consecutive day with more than 1,000 fatalities, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry updated the data with 3,151 new cases and 113 deaths in the last 24 hours in the city of Manaus, which is running out of oxygen as a second wave surge in COVID-19 infections overwhelms its hospitals.

The South American country has now registered 8,390,341 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 208,133, according to ministry data. It is the world’s third worst outbreak outside the United States and India.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...aths-for-fourth-consecutive-day-idUSKBN29K2N7.

 

[sweep_shot]

KATHMANDU: Nepal on Friday reported 270 new cases of coronavirus infection from across the country. With this, the nationwide infection count has advanced to 266,816.

Of the total cases, 90 are females while 180 are males.

In the past 24 hours, 172 new cases were logged in Kathmandu valley.

Likewise, 390 people who were earlier infected with the virus are reported to have recovered in the past 24 hours as per the latest data provided by health ministry. As of today, 260,567 individuals have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. The recovery rate, as such, is 97.7 per cent.

Nepal’s active Covid-19 case count currently stands at 4,301.

Meanwhile, five more fatalities from the disease have taken the total death toll to 1,948.

According to the health ministry, 3,084 PCR tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. With this, a total of 2,005,125 PCR tests have been carried out in Nepal till date.

Currently, there are 231 individuals in various quarantine facilities across Nepal.

Globally, more than 93 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus while over 1.9 million people have lost their lives to Covid-19. Likewise, over 66 million people have recovered from the disease and over 24 million cases are still active.

On Thursday, Nepal’s coronavirus case count reached 266,546 with 403 newly confirmed cases.

Source: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...6816-with-270-new-cases-registered-on-friday/.

 

[sweep_shot]

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany surpassed 2 million coronavirus infections and the death toll from the pandemic reached almost 45,000, experts said on Friday, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded “very fast action” to curb the deadly virus.

Europe’s biggest economy and most populous country managed the pandemic better than neighbours last spring. But it has seen a sharp rise in cases and deaths recently and daily per capita mortality has often exceeded the U.S. rate since mid-December.

Alarmed by the high infection rate and bracing for the spread of more transmissible variants of the virus, Merkel told top officials from her party on Thursday that she wanted “very fast action”.

Germany’s coronavirus cases increased by 22,368 to 2,000,958, according to the latest date from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. It was the smallest rise in infections on a Friday for more than two months. A week ago, the number of new cases registered was almost 10,000 higher.

The situation in intensive care units relaxed slightly, too, according to the RKI.


But a high death toll, up 1,113 to 44,994 on Friday, and worries over more contagious variants of the coronavirus are fanning fears that existing lockdown measures are falling short.

Merkel is bringing forward to Tuesday next week a meeting with regional leaders initially planned for Jan. 25 to discuss tougher measures to further reduce social contact, participants at the gathering said.

Part of the debate is expected to focus on whether companies should be forced or incentivised to have more people work from home. There is also disagreement over whether schools should reopen in February, people close to the talks told Reuters.

Germany aims for its measures to bring the number of infections per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days down to no more than 50. That number currently stands around 150.

Limiting the spread of the virus would buy authorities time until enough people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity. So far about 1.2% of the German population, or about one million people, have been vaccinated, according to the German health ministry.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...coronavirus-cases-death-rate-up-idUSL1N2JQ0DC.

 

[sweep_shot]

PARIS (Reuters) - The cumulative death toll from the coronavirus in France rose by 636 to 69,949 on Monday as the country added a three-day batch of retirement home deaths to the tally, health ministry data showed on Friday.

France reported 280 deaths in hospitals, down from 282 on Thursday, and 356 deaths in retirement homes.

National statistics institute INSEE said France’s overall mortality rate in 2020 - inflated by the pandemic - was 9% higher than in the previous two years, with a total of 667,400 deaths from all causes, or 53,900 more than in 2019.

The health ministry also reported 21,271 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, after 21,228 on Thursday and 19,814 last Friday.

The seven-day moving average of new cases now stands at nearly 18,000, from just over 13,000 at the end of 2020.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday that the year-end festivities had not led to a spike in new infections, but the government brought a night curfew forward by two hours to 6 p.m. and tightened border controls.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 was up by 26 to 25,043 and the number in intensive care rose by 14 to 2,740, well within the government target of 2,500 to 3,000.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...eath-toll-rises-to-nearly-70000-idUSKBN29K2BL.

 

[sweep_shot]

Bulgaria’s Covid-19 death toll has risen by 47 in the past day to a total of 8396, according to the January 15 daily report by the national information system.

The report said that 535 people had been newly-diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. Of these cases, 323 were detected by PCR and 212 by rapid antigen testing.

A total of 7439 tests – 3937 PCR and 3502 antigen – were done in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours. This means of the total tests, 7.19 per cent proved positive.

Of the newly-confirmed cases, 132 are in the city of Sofia.

To date, 210 951 cases of new coronavirus have been confirmed in Bulgaria, of which 52 185 are active. The number of active cases has decreased by 6240 in the past 24 hours.

There are 3631 patients in hospital, a decrease of 51, with 343 in intensive care, a decrease of five.

Nineteen medical personnel tested positive in the past day, bringing the total to date to 9239.

The national information system said that 648 vaccinations were registered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 17 686.

Source: https://sofiaglobe.com/2021/01/15/covid-19-in-bulgaria-47-more-deaths-648-vaccinations-in-past-day/.

 

[sweep_shot]

A 42-year-old female from Manchester is the latest COVID-19 victim to die of the respiratory illness.

The death of the woman was the lone COVID-19 related fatality on record for Thursday, and brings the overall coronavirus death toll in Jamaica to 323. There were, however, two deaths involving COVID-19 patients that are under investigation, and two fatalities classified as coincidental.

In the meantime, the country recorded 77 new COVID-19 cases and 38 recoveries on the day.

The 77 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases bring the total number of cases on record for the island to 13,992, while the 38 recoveries mean that 11,630 persons have now recovered from the virus in Jamaica.

Of the newly confirmed cases, 46 are females and 31 are males, with ages ranging from 19 days to 92 years. The cases were recorded in Kingston and St Andrew (44), St Thomas (seven), St Elizabeth (seven), St Catherine (six), St Mary (four), Clarendon (three), Manchester (three), St Ann (one) and Trelawny (one).

There are 18 moderately ill patients and eight critically ill patients among the 1,876 active cases now under observation in Jamaica.

Source: https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/one-covid-death-77-new-cases.

 

[sweep_shot]

Bulgaria’s Covid-19 death toll rose by 61 in the past 24 hours to a total of 8457, the national information system daily report on January 16 said.

A total of 552 people in Bulgaria tested positive for Covid-19 in the past day. Of these cases, 336 were confirmed by PCR and 216 by antigen tests.

A total of 8850 tests were performed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours, of which 5735 were PCR and 3115 were antigen tests. This means that 6.2 per cent of tests proved positive.

To date, 211 503 cases of new coronavirus have been confirmed in Bulgaria, of which 47 016 are active. This is a decrease of 5169 compared with the number of active cases the previous day.

The report said that 5660 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 156 030.

There are 3500 Covid-19 patients in hospital, a decrease of 131 in the past day, with 343 in intensive care, unchanged from the figure in the previous report.

Seventeen medical personnel tested positive in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to date – counting in those who have died, those who have recovered from the virus and the active cases – to 9256.

The national information system said that 452 people in Bulgaria had been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 18 126.

The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.

Source: https://sofiaglobe.com/2021/01/16/covid-19-in-bulgaria-61-more-deaths-active-cases-drop-by-5169/.

 

[sweep_shot]

Tokyo confirmed 1,809 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, a day after confirming 2,001 new infections.

The number of severely ill patients counted under Tokyo’s criteria rose by three to 136, the metropolitan government said. Among the total number of new cases, people in their 20s made up the largest group at 379, followed by 302 for people in their 30s and 294 among people in their 40s. The number of cases among people 65 and older was 318. The cumulative total in the capital is now 83,878.

Tokyo’s daily figure comes after 14,106 tests, a record high, were conducted on Wednesday. It usually takes around three days for tests to produce results.

The rising numbers of new coronavirus cases and those with unclear infection routes in Tokyo may be indicating a possible explosive spread of infections in the capital, an expert said at a metropolitan government meeting on Thursday. The daily number of new coronavirus infections averaged 1,698.9 in the week through Wednesday, up from 1,029.3 in the preceding week.

Japan is still in the throes of a third wave, with the daily number of new coronavirus cases hitting a record 7,883 on Jan. 8.

Elsewhere, Saitama and Fukuoka prefectures, both under the government's state of emergency, posted record new cases Saturday with 582 and 411 cases, respectively. Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan posted a record 37 new cases.

Kanagawa, Osaka, Aichi, Hyogo and Hokkaido prefectures logged 830, 629, 323, 265 and 192 new cases, respectively, on Saturday.

On Friday, Japan reported 7,133 new cases, marking a daily count above 7,000 for the first time in six days. The number of severely ill patients, meanwhile, rose by 14 from the previous day to a record 934, according to the health ministry.

Also Friday, the number of new cases hit record highs in the prefectures of Ibaraki, with 159, Chiba (504), Fukui (25), Kagawa (37) and Saga Prefecture (35). Nationwide Friday, 78 death linked to the virus were confirmed, including 12 in Osaka Prefecture, 11 in Aichi Prefecture and 10 each in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture.

Meanwhile, seven people tested positive for new variants of the virus Friday, sending the country's cumulative number of such infections to 41, according to the health ministry. The seven had visited Britain, South Africa and other places, and two of them have developed symptoms such as a fever, the ministry said.

U.S. Forces Japan started vaccinations against COVID-19 at six military facilities in the country in late December, officials have said.

According to the headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan and Japan's Defense Ministry, a vaccine developed by U.S. biopharmaceutical firm Moderna Inc. has been administered to personnel at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture, Yokosuka Naval Base and Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Kadena Air Base and Camp Foster in Okinawa Prefecture.

In the first shipment, U.S. Forces Japan received 7,500 to 8,000 doses of the vaccine.

The number of U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan and their family members stands at about 110,000.

Some 20,000 Japanese people work at U.S. military installations in Japan. But since the Japanese government has not yet approved any COVID-19 vaccine, the ministry has asked the United States not to vaccinate the Japanese workers.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/16/national/tokyo-covid-jan-16/.

 

[sweep_shot]

MANAUS/BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian jungle state of Amazonas received more emergency supplies of oxygen and respirators on Saturday, as the military and neighboring Venezuela scrambled to alleviate an unfolding humanitarian crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Air Force also said it had evacuated 12 patients from hospitals in the state capital Manaus to the northern city of Sao Luis overnight, with hospitals at breaking point with no oxygen supplies and overflowing intensive care wards.

Mass graves were dug in Manaus during the first wave of the pandemic last year. Harrowing scenes are again emerging in the second wave, of doctors and relatives running out of supplies and equipment while trying desperately to keep patients alive.

Brazil’s Air Force said on Saturday a second flight had landed in Manaus with eight tanks of liquid oxygen, following an earlier emergency delivery of five tanks, and the Navy said in a statement that it is sending 40 respirators.

Venezuela, meanwhile, said it has sent the first batch of oxygen supplies on the 1,500-km (930-mile) road trip to Amazonas, which should arrive in Manaus on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said the Venezuelan government “will supply oxygen for the duration of the emergency situation in the state of Amazonas”.

As well as the snowballing second wave of the virus, Brazil is now also dealing with a new, potentially more contagious, coronavirus variant that originated in Amazonas and prompted Britain on Thursday to bar entry to Brazilians.

The government of President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain and COVID skeptic, has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the crisis and its failure so far to roll out a vaccination program.

Brazil on Saturday reported over 1,000 virus-related deaths for the fifth day in a row.

Bolsonaro and his government have called for “early treatment” of COVID-19 symptoms as part of a campaign to promote the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, despite studies discrediting such a treatment.

Social media platform Twitter on Saturday warned the health ministry that a tweet last week advising people worried about symptoms to start “early treatment” violated its rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful misinformation about the virus.

“However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible,” the warning said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...m-brazil-military-and-venezuela-idUSKBN29L0KD.

 

[sweep_shot]

BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Argentinean government confirmed on Saturday the first case in the country of a new coronavirus variant that was first identified in Britain and appears to be more contagious.

The new variant was detected in a traveler who arrived asymptomatic in Argentina from Germany at the end of December 2020, Argentina's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Roberto Salvarezza wrote on Twitter.

Salvarezza said that the Inter-institutional Genomics Project of SARS-CoV-2 under his ministry first detected the traveler's entry into the country and that studies carried out at Ezeiza International Airport determined the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antigens, with a laboratory later confirming the presence of the variant.

Argentina had registered 1,783,047 COVID-19 cases and 45,227 deaths as of Friday.

With an exponential growth in confirmed cases in recent weeks, the Argentine government has extended preventive and mandatory social distancing measures to Jan. 31.

Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/17/c_139674026.htm.

 

[sweep_shot]

A total of 377 people in Bulgaria who had tested positive for Covid-19 died in the past seven days, bringing the country’s death toll linked to the disease to 8474, according to the January 17 daily report by the national information system.

This is the lowest death toll from Covid-19 in Bulgaria in a seven-day period in the weeks since the country introduced, as of November 27, heightened measures against the spread of the disease.

The number of confirmed cases of new coronavirus in Bulgaria has risen by 3330 in the past week to 211 736, a figure that includes those who have died, the active cases and those who have recovered from the virus.

The number of active cases fell by 18 809 in the past week, to 46 936.

There are 3485 patients in hospital, 705 fewer than a week ago, with 340 in intensive care, 40 fewer than a week ago.

A total of 126 medical personnel tested positive in the past week, bringing the total to date to 9262.

A total of 156 326 people in Bulgaria have recovered from the disease, an increase of 21 762 in the past week, according to the national information system.

The report said that the number of vaccinations was now 18 332, an increase of 4859 in the past week.

Source: https://sofiaglobe.com/2021/01/17/c...n-the-past-week-377-deaths-4859-vaccinations/.

 

[sweep_shot]

The Argentinean government confirmed on Saturday the first case in the country of a new coronavirus variant that was first identified in Britain and appears to be more contagious.

The new variant was detected in a traveler who arrived asymptomatic in Argentina from Germany at the end of December 2020, Argentina's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Roberto Salvarezza wrote on Twitter.

Salvarezza said that the Inter-institutional Genomics Project of SARS-CoV-2 under his ministry first detected the traveler's entry into the country and that studies carried out at Ezeiza International Airport determined the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antigens, with a laboratory later confirming the presence of the variant.

Argentina had registered 1,783,047 COVID-19 cases and 45,227 deaths as of Friday.

With an exponential growth in confirmed cases in recent weeks, the Argentine government has extended preventive and mandatory social distancing measures to Jan. 31.

Source: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202101/1213017.shtml.

 

[sweep_shot]

Tokyo confirmed 1,592 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, nearly 100 more than the record for a Sunday set last week.

The number of severely ill patients counted under Tokyo’s criteria rose by two to 138, the metropolitan government said. Among the total number of new cases, people in their 20s made up the largest group at 362, followed by 315 for people in their 30s and 258 among people in their 40s. The number of cases among people 65 and older was 250. The cumulative total in the capital is now 85,470.

Tokyo’s daily figure comes after 12,461 tests were conducted on Thursday. It usually takes around three days for tests to produce results.

The rising numbers of new coronavirus cases and those with unclear infection routes in Tokyo may be indicating a possible explosive spread of infections in the capital, experts have said. Japan is still in the throes of a third wave, with the daily number of new coronavirus cases hitting a record 7,883 on Jan. 8.

On Saturday, a total of 7,013 new cases were confirmed nationwide. According to the health ministry, the number of patients with severe symptoms increased by 31 from the previous day to a record high of 965, while the cumulative death toll linked to COVID-19 rose 56 to 4,489.

Saitama and Fukuoka prefectures, both under the government’s state of emergency, posted record daily cases Saturday, with 582 and 411 cases, respectively. Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan posted a record 37 new cases. Kanagawa, Osaka, Aichi, Hyogo and Hokkaido prefectures logged 830, 629, 323, 265 and 192 new cases, respectively, on Saturday.

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/17/national/japan-coronavirus-jan17/.

 

[sweep_shot]

KATHMANDU: Nepal on Sunday reported 266 new cases of coronavirus infection from across the country. With this, the nationwide infection count has advanced to 267,322.

Of the total cases, 91 are females while 175 are males.

In the last 24 hours, 177 cases surfaced in Kathmandu valley. The capital hosts the highest number of active cases.

Likewise, 400 people who were earlier infected with the virus are reported to have recovered in the past 24 hours as per the latest data provided by health ministry. As of today, 261,444 individuals have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection. The recovery rate, as such, is 97.8 per cent.

Nepal’s active Covid-19 case count currently stands at 3,919.

Meanwhile, five more fatalities from the disease have taken the total death-toll to 1,959.

According to the health ministry, 3,508 PCR tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. With this, a total of 2,012,452 PCR tests have been carried out in Nepal till date.

Currently, there are 221 individuals in various quarantine facilities across Nepal.

Globally, more than 94.5 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus while 2.02 million people have lost their lives to Covid-19. Likewise, over 66.5 million people have recovered from the disease and over 24 million cases are still active.

On Saturday, Nepal’s coronavirus case count reached 267,056 with 240 newly confirmed cases.

Source: https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...tered-on-sunday-nationwide-tally-hits-267322/.

 

[sweep_shot]

MEXICO CITY: Mexico has registered its worst week yet of the pandemic, with a record number of infections from the new coronavirus and more than 7,000 COVID-19 deaths, government data showed on Saturday.

There were 20,523 new coronavirus cases and 1,219 more fatalities on Saturday, pushing total confirmed infections to 1,630,258 and deaths to 140,241, the Health Ministry said.

For the week ending Saturday, Mexico recorded more than 7,000 deaths for the first time, while posting over 106,200 new cases.

Mexico’s real number of infected people and deaths is likely significantly higher than the official count, the government has said, because of a lack of widespread testing.

Source: https://thehimalayantimes.com/world/mexico-records-deadliest-coronavirus-week-yet-with-7000-deaths/.

 

[sweep_shot]

SAO PAULO — Brazil on Monday reported 23,671 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the new total to 8,511,770, the country’s health ministry said.

Deaths rose by 452 to 210,299 in Brazil, which has the world’s highest death toll from the pandemic outside the United States. (Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/brazil-reports-almost-24000-new-coronavirus-cases.

 

[sweep_shot]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese doctors have detected a fast-spreading variant of the new coronavirus first discovered in Britain in three people who had not travelled there, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

The three, aged from their 20s to their 60s and living in Shizuoka prefecture, about 200 km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, first had symptoms in early January, the ministry said.

A health ministry official said that the authorities are looking into how the three became infected but that there was no proof yet that the variant first detected in Britain was spreading in Shizuoka now.

Japan has so far detected 45 cases of new variants of the virus that were first spotted in Britain, South Africa and Brazil, he said.

Japan earlier this month expanded a state of emergency declared in the Tokyo area to seven more prefectures to curb COVID-19 cases.

The country has recorded about 335,000 cases of infection so far, including 4,500 deaths, public broadcaster NHK said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-with-no-record-of-travel-to-uk-idUSKBN29N17O.

 

[sweep_shot]

Seoul/Sputnik: South Korea has confirmed its first case of the new strain of coronavirus that was originally discovered in Brazil, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Monday.

A new coronavirus strain was identified in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro in December.

It is said to be a mutated version of the B.1.1.28 strain, which is already widespread in the country.

"As of now, we have detected 18 mutated virus cases (15 cases of the UK strain, two from South Africa and one from Brazil). Starting today, we will increase monitoring for the modified virus during admission into the country, all coming from abroad will be mandated to present results of a PCR test done within 24 hours after arrival," the KCDC said in a statement, adding that the Brazilian strain has not yet been proven to have increased pathogenicity.

In December, the UK announced that a new coronavirus strain was detected in the country, adding that the new variant can be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than other SARS-CoV-2 variants.

After the news, many countries suspended travel to and from the UK. There is no evidence that the new strain is more pathogenic.

Another mutated strain was discovered in South Africa back in October and is now the most widespread variant in the country.

Just as with the UK strain, it is more transmissible, but not yet confirmed to be more pathogenic.

Source: https://www.indiablooms.com/health-...-of-brazilian-strain-of-coronavirus-kcdc.html.

 

[sweep_shot]

Bulgaria’s Covid-19 death toll has risen to 8483 after nine more deaths were reported by the national information system on January 18.

The Monday report said that 77 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours. Of these cases, 35 were established by PCR tests and 42 by antigen tests.

A total of 1194 tests were done in the past 24 hours, including 765 PCR and 429 antigen tests. This means that 6.4 per cent of tests done proved positive.

To date, 211 813 cases of new coronavirus have been proven in Bulgaria, of which 46 608 are active. The number of active cases is 328 fewer than the previous day.

The national information system said that 3485 patients are in hospital, the same figure as the previous day, with 341 in intensive care, an increase of one.

Two medical personnel tested positive in the past day, bringing the total to date to 9264.

The report said that 396 people had recovered in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 156 722.

So far 18 453 people in Bulgaria have been vaccinated against Covid-19, including 121 in the past 24 hours, the national information system said.

Source: https://sofiaglobe.com/2021/01/18/c...-more-deaths-active-cases-decrease-to-46-608/.