New Coronavirus News from 26 Dec 2020b

Why Japan has one of the world's lowest vaccine confidence rates [Sydney Morning Herald, 26 Dec 2020]

By Lisa Du and Grace Huang

With agreements to secure more coronavirus vaccines than it needs and legislation to distribute it for free, Japan may seem to have its inoculation plans in place. Yet a tense public history with vaccines and a cautious approval process suggest it could take a while for the country can return to normal.

Japan has one of the lowest rates of vaccine confidence in the world, according to a Lancet study, which found that fewer than 30 per cent of people strongly agreed that vaccines were safe, important and effective, compared with at least 50 per cent of Americans. A recent poll by Japanese public broadcaster NHK found 36 per cent said they didn’t want to take a Covid-19 vaccine.

The government now faces a tricky balancing act: trying to move quickly to approve the jabs in order to restore the economy to full health, while avoiding creating the impression of a rush-job - which might help turn an already-sceptical public off getting inoculated.

“Japan is very cautious about vaccines, because historically there have been issues about potential side effects,” said Haruka Sakamoto, a public health researcher at the University of Tokyo. “The government has been involved in several lawsuits related to the issue, which adds to their deep caution.”

Cautious Timeline

The sceptical attitude pre-dates the more recent Western “anti-vax” sentiment that has thrived on social media, with its roots instead in past vaccine-linked events and legal rulings that encouraged the government to take a passive stance on vaccination.

And ironically, Japan’s relative success in handling the pandemic - until the recent winters surge tipped daily case numbers into the thousands - means an urgent rollout of the shot is less of a priority. The country has avoided a second state of emergency, even as cases have increased to record levels.

As a result, Japan’s rollout is set to be slower than some other nations, which has led to frustration among those counting on vaccines to eradicate the virus. Only Pfizer has so far applied for local approval of its coronavirus shot, even as the UK and the US have both administered more than half a million doses, mostly to the elderly and health-care workers.

Local media have reported that vaccines will be rolled out in Japan from late February, when the government aims to inoculate about 10,000 frontline health-care workers. The ministry is then preparing to vaccinate general medical staff, after which it will be gradually administered to the wider population. Japan hasn’t stated when it aims to complete its vaccination program.

While figures such as US Vice President Mike Pence and President-elect Joe Biden have received the dose, and leaders such as Indonesian President Joko Widodo are volunteering to be the first to receive it in their countries, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has said he will wait his turn.

Japan’s Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said Friday that he has asked relevant bodies to prioritise the review of Pfizer’s application, but didn’t give a timeline for approval. A health ministry spokesman also declined to comment on the reported timeline.

MMR Issues

Japan’s modern vaccine unease has its roots in a measles, mumps and rubella inoculation that studies in the 1990s suggested led to higher rates of aseptic meningitis in the early 1990s.

Though no link was ever established, the shots were discontinued, and to this day Japan doesn’t recommend a combined MMR shot.

Another catalyst was a 1992 court ruling that made the government responsible for any adverse reactions related to vaccines, said Tetsuo Nakayama, a professor at the Kitasato Institute for Life Sciences. Two years later, the government revised a vaccination law, scrapping mandatory vaccinations.

These events helped send a message that inoculations should be taken at one’s own risk, and diluted the awareness of vaccination as a greater public benefit, said Mikihito Tanaka, a professor at Waseda University.

“Japan has a strong health insurance scheme and an accessible medical system,” he said. “Compared to places like the US, that makes the incentive to gamble one’s health with a new vaccine very low.”

The handling of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine also looms large in public memory. After media coverage on claims the vaccine’s side effects included severe headaches and seizures, the health ministry in 2013 withdrew its recommendation for the shot, which has proven safe and effective in preventing cervical cancer. While it remained available on request, the vaccination rate plummeted from 70 per cent to less than 1 per cent currently. That may have led to an additional 5,700 deaths, according to one study.

Emergency Approval

Japan’s drug approvals require clinical trials involving Japanese people, but an emergency authorisation based on data from other countries is allowed. Vaccines for the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic were given emergency approval after about three months review.

Still, the government will have to carefully manage how the public perceives a speedy approval process. The economic impact of the pandemic and the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics could prompt a faster approval, but also arouse suspicion over whether the shots have been thoroughly vetted.

Which countries have reported new variants of COVID-19? [Al Jazeera English, 26 Dec 2020]

Three new variants of the coronavirus have been detected in recent weeks, spreading to at least 13 countries worldwide.

Three new variants of COVID-19 have been detected in recent weeks, leading to increased vigilance across the world as officials say a variant found in the United Kingdom could be up to 70 percent more transmissible.

However, none of the variants so far has been found to be more fatal, or more likely to be able to evade vaccines or treatments.

A new variant was first reported in the United Kingdom on December 14. Named VUI-202012/01 (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020), it is thought to have first appeared in mid-September.

Referred to by some experts as the B117 lineage, this has rapidly become the dominant strain in cases of COVID-19 in many parts of the UK.

Last week, South Africa reported another new strain which appears to have mutated further than the UK variant.

Known as 501.V2, this variant is dominant among new confirmed infections in South Africa.
On December 24, the head of Africa’s disease control body said another COVID-19 strain, known as the P681H was identified in Nigeria.

It is of a separate lineage from the other mutations but does not seem to be spreading as fast as the other two new variants.

Below is a list of countries which have so far reported cases of the new strains of coronavirus.

Australia

On December 21 Australian health officials said two people travelling from the UK arrived in the country with the new strain.

Denmark

The World Health Organization reported that nine cases of a new variant were detected in Denmark.

Canada

Health officials in the Canadian province of Ontario on December 26 reported the country’s first two cases of the COVID-19 variant first discovered in the UK.

The cases are a couple in Durham, a region east of Toronto, with no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts, the province said. They are in self-isolation.

France

On December 25 France detected its first case of a new variant in a French national who returned from the British capital on December 19.

He had no symptoms and was quarantined in his home in the central city of Tours.

Italy

On December 23, Italy registered the second case of a new strain of the novel coronavirus near the central town of Ancona, but the patient had no direct contact with the UK, where the variant first emerged.

Laboratory director Stefano Menzo told Italian news agency ANSA that it was not the strain first detected in the UK.

The country had already detected that new COVID-19 strain on December 20 in a person who recently arrived from the UK. The patient landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport and is now in quarantine.

Japan

On December 25 Japan reported its first five cases of the fast-spreading variant in passengers arriving from the UK.

Lebanon

In Lebanon, the country’s caretaker health minister said on December 25 that a case of the new variant was detected on a flight arriving from London.

The Middle East Airlines flight 202 arrived on December 21, Hamad Hassan said, urging all passengers on the flight and their families to take precautionary measures.

The Netherlands

On December 22, Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said the new variant identified in the UK was found in two cases in the Amsterdam area.

Nigeria

On December 24, the head of Africa’s disease control body said a new variant of the new coronavirus emerged in Nigeria.

The variant was found in two patient samples collected on August 3 and on October 9 in Nigeria’s Osun state, according to a working research paper seen by The Associated Press news agency.

Singapore

Singapore confirmed on December 24 its first case of the new coronavirus variant found in the UK.

Among the 31 COVID-19 patients who arrived between November 17 and December 17, one was confirmed as carrying the B117 strain, while 11 others were found infected preliminarily, and their confirmatory results are pending, Singapore’s health ministry said.

Spain

Spain reported its first four cases of the new variant on December 26. All four infections were related to travel to the UK, the regional deputy health chief, Antonio Zapatero, said.

There are three other suspected cases of the coronavirus variant but the results of tests will only be available on Tuesday or Wednesday, Zapatero said.

South Africa

South Africa last week reported a new COVID-19 strain which appears to have mutated further than the UK variant. It has made its way to several countries including the UK.

Known as 501.V2, this variant is dominant among new confirmed infections in South Africa, and appears to be more infectious than the original virus, according to health officials and scientists leading the country’s virus strategy.

Sweden

The new variant of the coronavirus circulating in the UK was detected in Sweden after a traveller from the UK fell ill on arrival and tested positive for it, the Swedish Health Agency said on December 26.

Health Agency official Sara Byfors told a news conference the traveller, who was not identified, had kept isolated after arrival in Sweden and that no further positive cases had so far been detected.

United Kingdom

On December 14, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said more than 1,000 cases of a new variant of the coronavirus have been found, predominantly in the south of England.

On December 23, Hancock said the country found two cases of yet another new coronavirus variant linked to South Africa.

“Both are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks,” Hancock told a media briefing.

Southern Grit food truck finding success despite opening during pandemic [KENS5.com, 26 Dec 2020]

By Jordan Foster

'Pushing through the obstacles that are put in place in my life regardless of what my circumstances are. Still being able to push through, that’s grit.'

SAN ANTONIO — Chef Andrea Prevo is no stranger to setbacks. In fact, dealing with setbacks is what helped inspire the name of her new business ‘Southern Grit’.

“Pushing through the obstacles that are put in place in my life regardless of what my circumstances are. Still being able to push through that’s grit,” Chef Drea said. “I love breakfast food, I’m real big on French toast and different specialties. Just bringing belly blessing goodness.”

She’s opened a soul food truck in Converse about a month ago. Chef Drea serves up southern dishes like shrimp and grits, French toast, and even chicken fried deviled eggs.

The chef and her business partner made the decision to open up shop during a time many businesses are closing due to the current pandemic caused by the Coronavirus.

“COVID brought a lot of setbacks, things that are out of everybody’s control. We’re just totally blessed, honored, and grateful to still be able to do what we’re doing in the midst of a pandemic,” Chef Drea said.

So far, for Chef Drea and her team, it’s been working.

“The response the city has shown has been crazy and overwhelming. I can only imagine when the world does open up that it’s going to be bananas,” Chef Drea said.

The chef of 13 years has made all of the adjustments she’s needed to, and with the success she’s had so far, she says the future of Southern Grit looks bright.

“Trust in the man above, stay focus, and no matter what have Grit. Let’s go, keep going no matter what. As long as you have breath in your lungs, you can go,” Chef Drea said.

LA's Covid 'tsunami': inside the new center of America's raging pandemic [The Guardian, 26 Dec 2020]

By Sam Levin

An exponential surge is crushing Los Angeles hospitals, with desperate nurses warning ‘there’s no place to take care of you’

Los Angeles is becoming the center of America’s out-of-control coronavirus pandemic in these final days before the new year, with officials warning that a meteoric rise in infections is crushing the healthcare system in one of the country’s largest metropolitan regions.

LA county has faced an onslaught of terrifying Covid developments in recent days, including a surge in deaths, dire shortages of hospital resources, and fears that doctors will have to make agonizing choices to ration care.

“Do we need to start filming people dying?” said Marcia Santini, a nurse at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), medical center, who is recovering from a brutal Covid-19 infection that forced her to be hospitalized at her own workplace. “People need to understand, there is no place to take care of you. You can’t have this mindset that this isn’t going to happen to you. It doesn’t work like that any more. The virus is rampant.”

An uncontrolled ‘viral tsunami’

Heading into the darkest holiday season some have ever endured, there were grim reminders across the LA region that the virus is spreading uncontrolled. The city’s mayor briefed the public while in quarantine after his daughter became infected. Hospitals were setting up triage tents. Residents waited in line for hours for Covid tests at Dodger stadium. The region recently ordered more body bags.

Outbreaks were afflicting grocery stores, restaurants, stores, shopping malls, Amazon warehouses, manufacturing plants, government buildings, police and fire departments, jails and prisons and film sets.

Officials in LA county estimated that one in 95 residents were currently infectious, and that two residents were dying of Covid every hour. More than 6,000 Covid patients are in the hospital, and intensive care units (ICU) are filled to capacity.

And yet the region is continueing to obliterate records. LA is now reporting an average of more than 14,700 cases each day, a 78% increase from two weeks ago, according to LA Times data. Seven hundred people are hospitalized daily; in October there were fewer than 150 daily hospitalizations. By January, officials say it could be 1,400 admissions each day. More than 9,000 people have died.
“We’ve moved from having waves to now having a viral tsunami occurring here in Los Angeles,” said Dr Robert Kim-Farley, a medical epidemiologist at UCLA, who said for the first time his family would not gather for the holidays.

The horror inside hospitals: ‘So many dying alone’

LA’s crisis is close to resembling the catastrophe that New York endured in the spring. The situation inside some hospitals this week became untenable, and workers were bracing for it to get worse.

“We’re not only seeing the numbers of Covid patients increasing, we’re also seeing longer wait times for people,” said Yolanda Tominac, a critical care nurse at West Hills hospital, where workers recently threatened to strike over staffing concerns. “It’s physically draining, it’s mentally draining. Morale is so low.”

With shortages of beds and staff growing, hospitals are starting to have previously unthinkable discussions about how they may ration care if there are too many patients. It could mean a decline in the quality of care for all people facing emergencies, and an increase in deaths.

“We hope not to have to make those kinds of decisions,” said Dr Jorge Reyno, vice-president of population health at Martin Luther King Jr community hospital (MLKCH), which has one of the highest rates of Covid patients in the county. “Every institution that is hit hard has to have those conversations.”

MLKCH, a 131-bed hospital in a predominantly Black and Latino area in South LA, is caring for 200 patients, requiring doctors to use tents and waiting rooms for patient care, and forcing some staff to do frontline work outside of their normal positions, Reyno said on Wednesday.

The hospital went from one Covid unit to three and is now seeking more ventilators: “We are just seeing an unrelenting and crushing volume of very sick patients,” he said.

The suffering inside MLKCH was a painful reminder of the inequality of the crisis, Reyno said, noting the average age of his Covid patients was in the 40s. “We had an epidemic of chronic disease before the pandemic,” he said.

Santini, the UCLA nurse, has been an outspoken advocate since the spring for more personal protective equipment. Then the virus came for her. She was hospitalized last week when her oxygen levels dropped. She posted video of herself struggling to breathe on Facebook, begging people to stay home.

In an interview from home, where she is slowly recovering, she said she had posted the footage because she didn’t think she would survive: “I had to tell people to wake up.”

Santini, 58, left the hospital after a day and a half: “I knew how many people were waiting in the ER. The guilt of taking up that room was far worse than how I felt.” She said it was emotional to be treated by her colleagues and the experience gave her new perspective on patients suffering without family nearby: “I think about all the people dying alone, and I can’t stand it.”
‘Who is going to take care of people?’

Jury Skomorovsky, an ICU nurse at Hollywood Presbyterian medical center, who lost a colleague to Covid in April, said it was painful to witness many in LA being lax about the latest surge: “In the beginning, we were very steadfast about closures and very serious about social distancing, and somewhere down the line we dropped the ball.

“How many of us need to die for people to take this seriously?” he added. “If we just keep dropping, who is going to take care of people?”

Even though he and some colleagues were recently vaccinated, it was hard to feel optimistic while witnessing so much death, Skomorovsky said: “We’ve had people break down … but you have to wipe those tears away after three seconds and get back in there.”

In March, LA and California issued some of the earliest shutdowns in the nation, which helped slow the spread and saved hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. But with the US government failing to provide a second round of stimulus amid mass unemployment, officials rushed to reopen in early summer – a move that had devastating consequences in LA.

Large sectors of the economy reopened, but the economic crisis – and many restrictions – persisted, leading to severe fatigue among residents at the same time that Covid surged due to holiday travel and gatherings.

The response from local officials has been a confusing partial lockdown. Officials have issued emotional pleas for people to stay home but have allowed LA’s malls to remain open, leading to packed stores and infections among employees. The county shut down all dining but has allowed Hollywood to continue film shoots.

The data suggests the public health messaging is not working – and that LA’s essential workers are paying the price.

“It’s just been really hard to reinforce what kind of dire situation we are in now,” said Dr Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a UC San Francisco epidemiologist. “Ten months into the pandemic, individuals and businesses are hurting financially, and that is a drive for people to continue to be out.”

LA’s affordable housing crisis, which forces many to live in crowded conditions, also makes the region vulnerable to spread, said Bibbins-Domingo. Her research found that early lockdowns did not protect Latinos or people without high school degrees, probably because they were forced to work.

Barbara Hughes, a 61-year-old cashier at a Food 4 Less grocery store, said customers often did not wear masks properly and failed to keep their distance, especially during busy holiday hours, causing her anxiety. At least 21 of her co-workers, including multiple managers, have recently contracted Covid.

“I don’t want to take the virus home to my family,” said Hughes, who participated in a protest calling for hazard pay. She wears two pairs of gloves and two masks but fears she won’t be able to protect herself much longer.

Some businesses thrived, many lagged during pandemic in 2020 [LimaOhio.com, 26 Dec 2020]

By March 23, Apple had lost $435 billion in market value in about five weeks and many of its retail outlets were shut as the virus pandemic walloped the global economy and stock markets. Meanwhile, a report issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 2% of small businesses surveyed had shut down permanently in March.

On Dec. 21, Apple’s stock market value totaled over $2.18 trillion, up 121% since March 23.
On the same day, Congress approved nearly $300 billion in additional relief for small businesses, money that many hard-hit owners only hope can help them survive until the pandemic finally eases

The success of Apple and other big technology companies and the struggles of the smallest of businesses is just one example of how the pandemic created winners and losers in the business world in 2020. Wall Street recovered after March; Main Street is still struggling.

In 2020, it hasn’t been uncommon to work remotely in sweatpants — while meeting on video conferencing platforms like Zoom — hop onto an expensive high-tech exercise bike afterwards and have your favorite restaurant dish delivered to your home (by a driver trying to earn an extra buck and hoping not to catch the coronavirus).

Of course, the flip side of that scenario has been deserted office buildings, empty restaurants and sparsely-populated gyms. And as few people traveled, the airline industry needed billions of dollars in aid from the government and is still threatening to lay off workers.

What follows is a look at those businesses that benefitted from the pandemic and those that faltered.

First, the winners:

BIG TECH

Big Tech was the big winner by far of the pandemic. Lockdown orders accelerated the big shift in life online that had already been underway. With work- and shop-from-home suddenly the norm, profits proved resilient for Big Tech even as the pandemic crushed movie theaters, malls and other industries. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google’s parent company now account for roughly 22% of the S&P 500 by themselves. Never before have five companies been so dominant on Wall Street. At the start of the year, those five accounted for less than 17% of the index. As 2020 closes, though, pressure is rising. Regulators across the country and the world are putting Big Tech under more scrutiny, which may jeopardize their leadership.

STREAMING SERVICES

As movie theaters closed and lockdowns descended across the country, people turned to the ever-growing number of video streaming services for entertainment. Americans increasing their time streaming by 75% in the second quarter from a year ago, according to Nielsen, as the pandemic accelerated the trend of people shifting to watching TV online rather than via traditional cable. Among the new services launched were NBCUniversal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max. Netflix was a big winner, adding 28 million subscribers through the first nine months of the year. And Disney+ gained 86.8 million subscribers in just one year, a bright spot for Walt Disney Co., whose other businesses, including movie studios and theme parks, were upended by the pandemic.

DELIVERY SERVICES

As people hunkered down at home because of the coronavirus, restaurant delivery companies that were merely convenient in 2019 became essential businesses in 2020. Grubhub’s revenue jumped 36% through September as more restaurants started using app-based delivery services to survive full or partial shutdowns of their dining rooms. At Uber, its Uber Eats delivery service brought in more money during the third quarter than the signature ridesharing business. And the trend is global. DoorDash, for instance, now offers delivery from 390,000 merchants in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The company’s shares jumped 86% in their stock market debut on Dec. 9.

HOME WORKOUTS

Fitness regimens shifted from the gym to the home in a big way during 2020. Interactive fitness bike maker Peloton was one of the biggest winners of the workout-from-home trend.

Revenue during the first nine months of the year more than more than doubled to $1.9 billion as its high-tech bikes and treadmills found more homes. Subscriptions rose dramatically during the year, reaching just over 1.3 million by September compared with 563,000 a year earlier.

Meanwhile, gyms did not fare so well as people avoided crowded places. Planet Fitness saw revenue plunge 45% through September as memberships fell and the company furloughed workers. Others such as 24 Hour Fitness sought bankruptcy protection.

PET SUPPLIES

More homebound Americans got pets during the pandemic, and investors have taken note.

Sixty-seven percent of U.S. households now own a pet, according to the 2019-2020 National Pet Owners Survey by the American Pet Products Association. That’s up from around 56% 30 years ago. Looking to cash in on the trend, San Diego-based Petco this month filed for an IPO. The details remain under wraps, but last year’s IPO by online pet supplies seller Chewy provides a drool-worthy comparison. Chewy’s stock has quadrupled since its 2019 IPO. The stock of another pet supplies company, Freshpet, has more than doubled this year.

And, the industries that lost ground in 2020:

TRAVEL

Travel for work and leisure evaporated in 2020. Planes were empty and airports were ghost towns. On April 14, the Transportation Security Administration screened just 87,534 passengers at U.S. airports, down a stunning 96% from the same day in 2019. Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said last month that business travel, a big source of airline revenue, was down 90%. Far fewer people needed hotel rooms as well. Market data company STR said that the end of October, U.S. hotel occupancy for the year to date averaged 45%, down from 66% for all of 2019, And forget about escaping on a cruise: Most major cruise companies have voluntarily halted sailings from U.S. ports through the end of February 2021.

SMALL BUSINESS

The coronavirus and the drastic measures put in place by government officials to try to control its spread had a severe toll on many small businesses in the U.S. Restaurants, hair salons, event planners and other businesses that rely on people being in close proximity were particularly hard-hit, as were those tied to tourism. In April, payroll provider ADP reported nearly 20 million jobs were lost at U.S. companies, more than half at businesses employing under 500 people. A government relief program helped by giving out more than 5.2 million loans to small businesses and non-profits between April and August. Congress approved another round of funding this week but many companies could still fold.

BUSINESS ATTIRE

Untuck it? More like don’t even wear it. A sizable chunk of the millions of people forced to work from home by the coronavirus pandemic have been less inclined to wear business attire.

According to retail industry analyst NPD Group, sales of men’s suits fell 62% from March to October compared with the same period in 2019. People are choosing comfort over style, a trend that was already in motion but accelerated by COVID-19. Consumers are “using active apparel for everyday purposes, which does not always include exercise,” said NPD analyst Maria Rugolo. That’s good news for makers of sweatpants, tee-shirts and even pajamas.

REAL ESTATE

Commercial real estate has been among the industries hardest hit by the pandemic, and there are doubts about how quickly it will recover. Vacancy rates for retail, office and other property types are up sharply from a year ago. Apartments are bucking the trend, benefiting from increased demand for housing. Real estate sector stocks are one of the few sectors to be down for the year. The pandemic forced millions of people to work from home and turn to e-commerce more than ever to buy groceries and other goods. These trends, already gaining momentum before the pandemic, have accelerated. The question is how much will they affect demand once the pandemic is over.

FOSSIL FUELS

The oil industry was pummeled after travel was halted in efforts to contain the coronavirus, sending demand for jet fuel and gasoline plummeting. Producers were already struggling before the pandemic struck, due to a weak global economy and a market flooded with cheap oil. As the coronavirus spread and Saudi Arabia and Russia mounted a price war, oil prices plunged. Prices recovered but languished around $40 a barrel for months, well below what most producers need to break even. The oil, gas and chemical industries laid off 107,000 workers over the spring and summer, according to a Deloitte Insights study. Oil giants Exxon Mobil, Chevron and others curtailed spending and slashed their workforces.

WHO: Learn from COVID Pandemic, It Won’t be the Last [Voice of America, 26 Dec 2020]

The pandemic caused by the coronavirus “will not be the last pandemic, and epidemics are a fact of life,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a video message Sunday.

The world must learn from COVID-19 and address “the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and the planet,” Tedros said in his remarks for the first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.

“For too long the world has operated on a cycle of panic and neglect,” he said. “We throw money at one epidemic and when it's over, we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one.”

Tedros said every country needs to invest in what he called the supply of care: the ability to avoid, detect and mitigate all kinds of emergencies.

The WHO chief’s warning came as the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus arrived in European Union countries, with the first shots going into arms Saturday.
In Germany, 101-year-old Edith Kwoizalla, who lives in a retirement home, received the first of her two shots. In Hungary, it was a doctor, Arienne Kertesz from South Pest. In Slovakia, an infectious disease specialist was the first in line.

The first shipments were limited to 10,000 doses in most EU countries. Each decides its own vaccination program, but all are vaccinating the most vulnerable first.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it “a touching moment of unity” in a video celebrating the beginning of the rollout of the vaccine to nearly 450 million people.

“Today, we start turning the page on a difficult year. The COVID-19 vaccine has been delivered to all EU countries. Vaccination will begin tomorrow across the EU," she said.

Other countries, including Russia, which said on Saturday that it had passed 3 million cases, the United Kingdom, the United States and Mexico started vaccinating people in early December. Russia approved its main coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, for use in people older than 60, Russian media quoted the health ministry as saying.

As those vaccinations were ramping up, several countries Saturday confirmed cases of the British variant of the coronavirus. Canada reported a couple from southern Ontario with no travel history, exposure or high-risk contact had tested positive for the variant. Italy, Sweden, Spain and Japan joined France, Germany, Lebanon and Denmark in reporting cases of the new strain of the coronavirus.

The new strain is 50% to 74% more contagious than its predecessors, according to a study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, raising fears of more hospitalizations and deaths in 2021 than in 2020.

Effective Monday, U.S. authorities said, passengers arriving from Britain must test negative for COVID-19 before departure.

Mutated coronavirus strain discovered in Dorset [Bournemouth Echo, 26 Dec 2020]

By Michael Taylor

A STRAIN of coronavirus has already reached Dorset according to new data – and could have been in the county in early December.

A variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, is thought to be driving increased transmission of the disease in parts of the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the public last week that this strain of Covid-19 is spreading rapidly, forcing London and South East to enter Tier 4 restrictions, while Matt Hancock feared that it could be why coronavirus is spreading faster in the country.

Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, stated clearly that there was no evidence to date that this variant alters disease severity, either in terms of mortality or the seriousness of the cases of COVID-19 for those infected, however this is being confirmed.

The Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium sampled cases around the UK and found the variant is also in the South West, Midlands and North of England – areas that are under Tier 2 and 3 restrictions.

Their data, complied on an interactive map on Microreact, shows there is a single confirmed case of the coronavirus variant in Dorset. The approximate location given on the map is near Puddletown, between Dorchester and Bere Regis.

According to the map’s data, the case was recorded on Friday, December 4 – weeks before the strain was formally identified by medical figures and Government.

Elsewhere in the South West, cases of the coronavirus strain have been reported near Exeter, near Bridgwater, Bristol and Gloucester.

Doctor Jeffrey Barrett, lead Covid-19 statistical geneticist at COG-UK, warned there was a lag in the sequence data being sampled, so the most recent data was from the first week of December when England came out of the second national lockdown.

Dr Barrett said more up-to-date data from community testing also found one of the mutations of this variant is “present in very many different places in England”.

The news comes as Matt Hancock said cases of another new mutant coronavirus linked to South Africa had been found in the UK and placed travel restrictions on the country on Wednesday afternoon.

The case rate in both Dorset Council and BCP Council areas has meanwhile nearly doubled according to fresh data from Public Health England.

In the Dorset Council area, the seven-day rolling rate has risen from 44.4 (168 cases) up to December 11 to 79.5 (301 cases) for up to December 18.

In the BCP Council region, the rolling seven-day rate of new cases of Covid-19 for the seven days up to December 18 was 154.6 cases per 100,000 people, with 611 positive tests in this period.

Across the seven days to December 11, the rate was 79.7, with 315 cases recorded.

The Government says data for the most recent four days (December 19 to December 22) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Genetic mutation found in SARS-CoV-2 sample in Kerala: Health Min KK Shailaja [The News Minute, 26 Dec 2020]

However, the Health Minister noted that the UK variant of the novel coronavirus has not been found in the state yet.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja has announced that genetic mutations were found in the SARS-CoV-2 samples studied in Kerala. SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19. However, the Health Minister noted that the UK variant of the novel coronavirus has not been found in the state yet, and all passengers from Britain are being screened.

"The research was conducted in Kozhikode, where a slight genetic mutation was found in the virus. But the genetic variant which was found in other countries is not similar to what we found here. In Britain, the genetic mutation was more specific," the minister told the media on Saturday. The fact that the virus is mutating, however, is not a cause for concern. Dr Shahid Jameel, a virologist and the Director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University had earlier told TNM that every virus mutates but it’s the rate at which the mutation happens which should also be considered. “Thankfully, coronaviruses are the slowest mutating RNA virus known to us. They are roughly 1,000 times slower than the flu virus,” said Dr Jameel.

Shailaja has said that to confirm if the UK variant of the novel coronavirus has been found in Kerala, research has started in every district. She also added that the state was on vigil to find if anyone UK returnees were infected with the new variant. "Scientists have found that the new variant (UK) is more contagious. We are thoroughly screening everyone who came from the UK," she said.

The minister also said that eight people who have returned from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the coronavirus and their samples will be examined thoroughly to understand the genetic nature of the virus. "We have sent their samples to the Institute of Virology in Pune to find out what variant the virus belongs to. Those results haven't come yet. They will have to analyze it well. We have also decided to examine people who have returned from the United Kingdom," the minister said.

As per reports, the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has also been detected in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia. Though the new variant is believed to be infectious, there is not enough to proof to show it increases mortality, say scientists.

Kerala was expecting a surge in COVID-19 cases after the local polls as there were campaigning and victory celebrations that breached regulations. But in some relief, this surge has not been witnessed, the Health Minister confirmed. The test positivity rates in the state continues to be high and was 11.04 on Friday. Till now, 2931 people have died of COVID-19 in Kerala. More than 64,000 people are currently in treatment. 6,64,951 people have recovered from the infection so far.

Super-infectious mutant strain of coronavirus 'more likely to affect children', claims study [Daily Mail, 26 Dec 2020]

By JOE DAVIES

• Modellers found the new Covid-19 strain is 56 per cent per cent more infectious
• Researchers said schools and universities may need to be closed to reduce R
• The research was done by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The highly infectious mutant strain of coronavirus found in Kent could be more likely to affect children, scientists have warned.

Modellers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found the new virus strain is 56 per cent per cent more infectious.

Even if another national lockdown was implemented, it would be 'unlikely' to reduce the R to below one unless schools and universities were also closed, their study found.

But researchers do not believe the new strain is more deadly or causes any more severe disease in either adults or children.

Researchers said there is 'some evidence that the increase may be particularly marked in children'.

The new variant will lead to a wave of coronavirus cases and deaths that will peak in spring 2021 for London, the South East and east of England, they said.

They said that cases and deaths will peak in summer 2021 for the rest of the country.

Schools had been due to return on January 4 but Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has ordered a week of testing and most students will return on January 11.

Only GCSE and A-level students, vulnerable children and the children of critical workers will return on time.

Coronavirus is most rampant among secondary schoolchildren, according to separate figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Those in Year 7 to Year 11 are seeing the highest rates of infection among the entire population.

Scientists hope to learn much more over the next two weeks about how quickly the variant spreads among children, Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist of Imperial College London and member of No10's advisory group NERVTAG, said.

Children have throughout the coronavirus pandemic constituted far fewer cases than for other respiratory diseases, including flu.

The leading theory for this is due to how the coronavirus enters human cells, via a receptor called ACE2 which is found on many cells in the upper respiratory tract.

As a result, Professor Wendy Barclay of Imperial College London and a NERVTAG member, explained this made adults 'easy targets' compared to children.

This is because the amount of ACE2 a person expresses naturally and steadily increases over time, with young children having very little.

'I think on the topic of children we've got to be careful about what we say. We are not saying this is a virus that specifically attacks children or is any more specific in its ability to infect children,' she said.

'But we know that SARS-CoV-2 as it emerged as a virus was not as efficient at infecting children as it was adults.

'The previous virus had a harder time binding ACE2 and getting into cells and therefore adults, which have abundant ACE2 in their nose and throat, were the easy targets and children were difficult to infect.

'The newer virus has an easier time doing that and children are therefore equally susceptible, perhaps, to this virus as adults.

'Given their mixing patterns you would expect to see more children being infected.

'It's not because the virus is specifically targeting children, but that it is now less inhibited.'
Professor Ferguson added that if this hypothesis is found to be true it may explain a 'significant proportion' of the transmission increase.

Speaking a virtual media briefing hosted by the Science Media Centre, he said: 'There is a hint that it is has a higher propensity to infect children.

'That may perhaps explain some of the differences but we haven't established any sort of causality.'

The new strain of the virus, which experts fear is more contagious, prompted more than 50 countries to impose travel restrictions on the UK, where it first emerged.

But cases of the new variant have still been reported worldwide: on Friday, Japan confirmed five infections in passengers from the UK, while cases have also been reported in Denmark, Lebanon, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands.

South Africa has detected a similar mutation in some infected people, but on Friday denied British claims its strain was more infectious or dangerous than the one originating in the UK.

Covid-19: UK, South Africa strains spark a battle of mutations [Hindustan Times, 26 Dec 2020]

The unease over mutations in the virus -- first spotted in the UK before similar but distinct variants were seen in South Africa -- continued to spread to more parts of the world on Friday, with Germany, Switzerland and Japan saying they have identified their first cases.

South Africa’s health minister strongly rejected his British counterpart’s claim that a new coronavirus variant in the country is more contagious, sparking a battle over the Sars-Cov-2 mutations even as the United States said all travellers from the UK must present a negative Covid-19 test to avoid quarantine.

The unease over mutations in the virus -- first spotted in the UK before similar but distinct variants were seen in South Africa -- continued to spread to more parts of the world on Friday, with Germany, Switzerland and Japan saying they have identified their first cases. Earlier, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia and Belgium said they found the UK-linked variant.

These developments also come at a time when scientists are racing to uncover what implication the mutations will have on the pandemic and the vaccines.

“At present, there is no evidence that the 501.V2 (variant) is more transmissible than the United Kingdom variant -- as suggested by the British health secretary,” Zwelini Mkhize said in a statement. “There is also no evidence that [it] causes more severe disease or increased mortality than the UK variant or any variant that has been sequenced around the world,” he added.

He was responding to statement by Britain’s health secretary Matt Hancock on December 23 that said the variant in the African nation was “yet more transmissible and seemed to have changed even further”. In the case of both variants, scientists are yet to determine if the disease is more serious.

Around 50 countries have so far banned travel to and from the UK over concerns of the new variant. UK, in turn, has restricted travel from South Africa.

A preliminary mathematical modelling by researchers at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that the variant – known as VOC 202012/01 -- is 56% more transmissible than other strains, and although there’s no clear evidence it results in more severe cases of the disease, higher number of cases could drive up more hospitalisations.
“We were unable to find clear evidence that VOC 202012/01 results in greater or lesser severity of disease than preexisting variants. Nevertheless, the increase in transmissibility is likely to lead to a large increase in incidence, with Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths projected to reach higher levels in 2021 than were observed in 2020, even if regional tiered restrictions implemented before 19 December are maintained,” said the researchers.

Mutations are not unusual in viruses but a particular variant, reported first by authorities in the UK on December 14, has 17 changes that scientists say are an unusually high number. These include a change known as N501Y in the Spike protein, which is believed to make the virus bind to host cells more strongly.

The same change has been seen in two variants: one spreading in South Africa and another in UK’s Wales. Both of these variants have, however, appeared to have evolved separately, according to a phylogenetic analysis by Nextstrain.

The origin of the high number of changes in the UK-linked variant, also known as B.1.1.7, is as yet a mystery. A new threat assessment report by European Centers of Disease Control (E-CDC) said that as per “molecular clock estimates”, the Sars-Cov-2 has been mutating at a rate of two changes per month.

The VOC-202012/01, as compared to the variant that originated in Wuhan, has 29 changes, which makes a random evolution in an undetected part of the world unlikely. “...Random mutations acquired during circulation of the virus would not explain the unusually high proportion of spike protein mutations, and undetected circulation for a long enough time for the high number of mutations to accumulate (around 10 months according to current molecular clock estimates) is also not very likely due to global travel patterns,” the E-CDC said.
One of the theories supported by the E-CDC as well as authorities in the UK is that it evolved in a person with a compromised immunity. “One possible explanation for the emergence of the variant is prolonged Sars-CoV-2 infection in a single patient, potentially with reduced immunocompetence, similar to what has previously been described. Such prolonged infection can lead to accumulation of immune escape mutations at an elevated rate,” the E-CDC said.

Determining the origin of the variant will be crucial in order to prevent further mutations in the virus, which could have an implication for efficacy of vaccines. All major vaccine makers have said that at present, the changes do not appear to be significant enough to make their products obsolete.

Even if they do, vaccine makers will be able to make quick adjustments, said the CEO of BioNTech – the co-developer of the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved – last week.

Mutant Strain Spreads; N.J. Records Worst Month: Virus Update [Bloomberg, 26 Dec 2020]

U.S. cases rose on Christmas Day at the slowest rate in almost two months, though the numbers were likely skewed by the holiday. Hospitalizations in New York City continued to climb, while statewide the total fell slightly, as did new infections. New Jersey has had about as many cases in December as it did from May through October. North Carolina surpassed 500,000 infections over the holiday.

Japan will ban entry to most non-Japanese nationals through the end of January. Global infections surpassed 80 million.

As some European Union nations began vaccinations, Sweden joined France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Japan on a growing list of countries that have identified their first cases of the coronavirus mutation widespread in the U.K. The Canadian province of Ontario said it also identified two cases not apparently tied to travel.

Why the U.K.’s Mutated Coronavirus Is Fanning Worries: QuickTake
Key Developments:
• Global Tracker: Cases pass 80.1 million; deaths reach 1.75 million
• Southeast Asia vaccine rollout: Who will get what, when
• World’s most loathed industry produced vaccine in record time
• Nurses celebrating Covid-19 vaccines battle social media scorn
• Poultry farms in apartment 13D show scale of pandemic-aid fraud
• The year we were hot for supercold freezers
• What you need to know about a second stimulus payment: QuickTake

Virus Variant Found in Canadian Couple With No Travel History (4:32 p.m. NY)

The Canadian province of Ontario announced that it had found two cases of the coronavirus variant now widespread in the U.K. They were identified as a couple “with no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts,” according to a statement.

“This further reinforces the need for Ontarians to stay home as much as possible and continue to follow all public health advice, including the provincewide shutdown measures beginning today,” said Barbara Yaffe, the province’s chief medical officer. The lockdown restricts gatherings, limits in-person shopping and prohibits indoor and outdoor dining.

N.Y. Investigates Possible Vaccine Fraud (4:16 p.m. NY)

New York state investigators are looking into reports that an upstate healthcare agency obtained Covid-19 vaccine doses and improperly distributed them. A press release from Howard Zucker, the state health commissioner, suggested Parcare Community Health Network in Orange County may have diverted the vaccine to people not on the state’s list to receive it first -- health care workers and residents and staff of nursing homes.

“We take this very seriously and DOH will be assisting State Police in a criminal investigation into this matter,” Zucker said in a statement.

North Carolina Passes 500,000 Cases (3:36 p.m. NY)

North Carolina surpassed 500,000 infections over the holiday, reporting more than 19,000 new cases since Dec. 23. The state’s total is now 513,930, the Department of Health and Human Services reported. The state’s weekly-average number of hospitalizations hit a high.
Total deaths, trending downward over the last several days, are now 6,526.

Mexico to Deploy Covid Vaccines on Monday (3:15 p.m. NY)

Mexico will begin to deploy doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccines on Monday Dec. 28 in different areas of Mexico City and the state of Coahuila, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The first to receive the vaccine will be health workers.

Trump Restates Opposition to Lockdowns (3:08 p.m. NY)

President Donald Trump, never a fan of closing the economy to slow the spread of the coronavirus, tweeted on Saturday that “lockdowns in Democrat run states” are ruining the lives of many people.

“Cases in California have risen despite the lockdown, yet Florida & others are open & doing well,” Trump said.

Democrat-led California has seen record Covid-19 cases and a spike in deaths this month, and health systems have become overwhelmed in some areas. An average of over 18,500 people have been hospitalized in California with Covid in the past seven days. But some Midwest states, both Democratic and Republican, have had recent success bringing cases down with restrictive measures of various kinds.

Florida, where few restrictions are in place, is now recording infections just below the level of the deadly surge last summer. Average daily fatalities, which trailed off in the fall, have more than doubled since the beginning of November.

California Hospitalizations Reach Record (2:33 p.m. NY)

California’s hospitalizations rose to a new high even as most of the state remained under a stay-home order through the holidays.

The state added 26 new patients to 19,797, though the number of available intensive-care unit beds -- hovering near a record low -- increased slightly.

The number of infections statewide surpassed 2 million this week, and it added 30,375 Saturday, bringing the total to 2.07 million. It added just 36 new deaths, reflecting a pause in testing at some sites for the holidays. Fatalities totaled 23,983.

France Cases Slow Over Holiday (1:39 p.m. NY)

France reported the lowest number of new cases in almost two weeks, with 3,093 additional confirmed cases, according to French health authorities. The number of deaths rose by 146 to 62,573.

N.J. December Cases Equal May-October Tally (1:31 p.m. NY)

New Jersey has had about as many cases in December as it did from May through October. This month’s tally is already a record.

The state reported 4,000 cases on Dec. 25, bringing its total so far this month to roughly 117,000. From May 1 to Oct. 31, it reported nearly 119,000.

Of 458,901 total cases since the outbreak first hit New Jersey in March, just under half were reported in November and December, data show.

Hospitalizations from Covid-19 have tripled in that same two-month time period.

New York State Cases Slow, Deaths Again Above 100 (1:26 p.m. NY)

New York state’s new cases slowed and total hospitalizations fell slightly, as did the statewide positive test rate, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a tweet. But several areas -- including Long Island and the regions around Albany and Erie -- are getting hit harder than state averages.
After two straight days of new infections above 12,000 -- among the highest numbers of the pandemic -- 10,806 cases were recorded Saturday. Another 122 people died, the 10th consecutive day with fatalities above 100.

German Vaccinations Begin Earlier Than Planned (12:47 p.m. NY)

Germany’s vaccination program started a day earlier than planned when a 101-year-old woman and around 40 others in a care home for the elderly were inoculated on Saturday, DPA reported.

“Every day we wait is a day too many,” the news agency quoted the head of the home, Tobias Krueger, as saying. Ten workers at the facility in the eastern German city of Halberstadt were also vaccinated, DPA said.

Inoculations will start across Germany on Sunday, beginning with people aged over 80, care workers and health personnel deemed to be at particular risk. Health Minister Jens Spahn said Saturday it will likely take until the middle of next year to provide every citizen who wants one with a shot.

France Begins Vaccinations (12:04 p.m. NY)

France will kick off its vaccination campaign on Sunday morning with about 10 elderly residents and one staff member at a care home in Sevran, outside Paris. In the afternoon, several residents at a care home in Dijon will receive shots, French health authorities said in a briefing with reporters.

Next week, vaccinations will be rolled out to 23 establishments in the Paris, Lyon and Tours areas, as well as the northern tip of France. This will also involve elderly care home residents and older staff at risk.

The French Health Ministry expects that the current available vaccines will be effective against the new Covid-19 variants circulating mainly in the U.K. and South Africa. The first two stages of vaccination, covering 15 million people considered a priority, are expected to take six months, before vaccines are rolled out more widely.

NYC Hospitalizations Continue to Climb (11:58 a.m. NY)

New York City’s hospitalizations continued rising, with another 180 people admitted with Covid-19, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a tweet. The number of virus patients in the city’s hospitals has roughly doubled since the beginning of the month. The positive test rate, based on a seven-day average, ticked up slightly to 6.78%. The number was less than 2% in November.

Italy Cases Slow (11:54 p.m. NY)

Italy reported 10,407 new cases, a decrease from 19,037 the day before, and the number of newly-recorded deaths fell to 261. The country on Thursday began what will be the first of two strict lockdown periods as the government tries to curb contact between citizens during the holiday period. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a Facebook post on Saturday that the first doses of the vaccine arrived in Rome.

A new Covid-19 strain was found in the region of Campania, which includes Naples, in six passengers traveling from the U.K., where it is widespread, and in other areas of the country including Veneto, La Repubblica reported on its website.

Ireland Cases Accelerate (11:24 a.m. NY)

Ireland recorded almost 1,300 new virus cases on Saturday, breaking 1,000 for the second day in a row and taking numbers back to the peak of the so-called second wave of the disease. The government has already brought forward new curbs, closing all bars and restaurants on Christmas Eve and restricting travel for at least three weeks. It hasn’t ruled out a return of tougher measures.

U.K. Cases Stay Above 30,000 (11:11 a.m. NY)

The U.K. reported more than 30,000 cases for the seventh consecutive day. Saturday’s tally of 34,693 cases is in line with the average over the previous seven days. Deaths were significantly lower at 210, compared to a daily average of 522 for the past week. However, not all countries in the U.K. are reporting complete data over the holidays.

Massachusetts Imposes New Restrictions (11:04 a.m. NY)

New restrictions went into place Saturday in Massachusetts, limiting capacity to 25% in office spaces, restaurants, fitness centers and other venues. Most elective surgeries will be postponed. A resurgence of cases in November appears to be receding, though hospitalizations and fatalities, which lag infections, remain high in the state, according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project.

Portugal Reports Fewest Cases Since October (10:05 a.m. NY)

Portugal on Saturday reported the smallest daily increase in confirmed virus cases since October. There were 1,214 new cases in a day, less than a fifth of the daily record of 6,994 reported on Nov. 19. The number of patients in intensive-care units rose by nine to 513.

Portugal is scheduled to start providing Covid-19 vaccines on Sunday, and will begin by giving the shots to healthcare workers.

Japan Bans New Entry by All Non-Nationals (9 a.m. NY)

The Japanese government will ban all new entries by non-Japanese nationals starting Dec. 28 and lasting through the end of January, the government said in a statement. The move comes amid mounting concerns over a new variant of the virus at a time when new cases in Tokyo have reached a record.

Sweden Finds First Case of New Strain (8:26 p.m. NY)

Sweden has identified its first case of the new coronavirus mutation after a person from the U.K. visited the Nordic nation to celebrate Christmas in the Sormland region. There’s a risk more people in Sweden have been infected by the variant, according to Signar Makitalo, the infection prevention doctor for the region.

The country’s health agency is now recommending that everyone in Sweden who has traveled from the U.K. after Dec. 12 be tested for the virus.

The agency confirmed that 9,750 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine have arrived in Sweden, with enough doses to cover 4,900 people. The first inoculations will be administered on Sunday.

Turkey Signs Vaccine Accord With BioNTech (5:27 p.m. HK)

Turkey signed an agreement with Pfizer Inc. partner BioNTech SE for 4.5 million doses of their coronavirus vaccine, with an option to raise it to 30 million. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Friday that an initial 550,000 doses will arrive by the year-end or in early January, state news agency Anadolu reported.

Turkey made its first Covid-19 vaccine deal with Sinovac Biotech Ltd. for 50 million doses, saying it found the Chinese vaccine to be the safest as it’s manufactured using conventional methods. But the CoronaVac needs to be administered in two shots, which means the amount Turkey signed for will be enough only for 25 million of its citizens out of a population of more than 83 million people.

20 Nigerian Doctors Die From Covid in One Week: Report (3:46 p.m. HK)

At least 20 Nigerian doctors have died from Covid-19 in a week amid a second wave of infections, the Premium Times reported, citing the Nigeria Medical Association.

The outbreak has been caused by intense community transmission in nearly two dozen states.

Nigerian health workers had complained of exposure to coronavirus infections due to a lack of adequate personal protective equipment, which has led to more than 1,000 infections among health workers.

Russia Allows Sputnik V Vaccine for Elderly Use (3:38 p.m. HK)

Russia reported 29,258 more infections in the past day, with cases reaching 3,021,964. Deaths rose by 567 to 54,226.

The country’s health ministry allowed the use of the Sputnik V vaccine for mass vaccination of those older than 60, ministry head Mikhail Murashko said on Russia-24 TV.

Russia started a mass vaccination program domestically for people 18-60 years old earlier this month. Authorities have put the effectiveness of the locally developed shot at 91.4%.

South Africa Sees Another Daily Record (3:03 p.m. HK)

South Africa reported record daily infections for a third straight day, with 14,796 new cases, the health ministry said late Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 983,359.
The government rejected allegations that a new variant in the country had spurred a second wave in the U.K., and criticized its decision to impose travel restrictions. Several other countries have also halted flights from South Africa.

U.S. Cases See Christmas Lull (1:34 p.m. HK)

The U.S. recorded 106,188 new Covid-19 cases on Dec. 25, an increase of just 0.6% from the day before and the smallest daily gain since Nov. 4, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Johns Hopkins University. However, the numbers were likely skewed by the Christmas holiday: The last time the daily rise was below 1% was on Thanksgiving, and was preceded and followed by significantly larger jumps.

Beijing bans travel outside city for Lunar New Year after new cases [The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 Dec 2020]

Beijing: Beijing has urged residents not to leave the city during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays, implementing fresh restrictions after several coronavirus infections last week.

Two domestic cases were reported on Friday, a convenience store worker and a Hewlett Packard Enterprise employee. Another two asymptomatic cases were discovered in Beijing earlier in the week.

Beijing is conducting testing on a limited scale in the neighbourhoods and workplaces where the cases were found.

To contain any new outbreaks, the Beijing government cancelled big gatherings such as sports events and fairs. It says applications will be strictly reviewed for any major events. Venues such as cinemas, libraries and museums have to operate at 75 per cent capacity, the government said.

It also called on companies not to arrange business trips outside the city and abroad.

Lunar New Year is February 12, 2021.

Lunar New Year celebrations in Wuhan this year were linked to the rapid spread of the then newly identified nouvel coronavirus through the city and across the world, as people took the virus abroad after visiting family in China.

Separately, officials in the northeastern port city of Dalian said Friday that they had tested over 4.75 million people for the coronavirus after 24 confirmed infections this month.

Authorities have shut schools and all public spaces in five neighbourhood divisions in Dalian and only essential workers can leave their compounds to go to work.

New coronavirus mutation in France

France recorded its first case of the new variant of coronavirus, as the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 mounted in the country, increasing concerns of a new wave of the virus hitting the euro zone's second-biggest economy.

The French health ministry said a Frenchman who recently arrived back in France from London had tested positive for the new variant of the coronavirus.

The ministry said the case - the first in France - had been found in the city of Tours. The man in question arrived from London on December 19. He was currently self-isolating and felt alright, the ministry added.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock had said on December 14 that a spike in COVID cases in the United Kingdom might have been linked to the new variant of the virus in the country.
More than 1,000 cases of the new variant had been identified in the UK, mainly in southeastern England.

Countries around the world have in recent days closed their borders to both Britain and South Africa following the identification of cases of the new, fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus in those countries.

France registered 20,262 new, confirmed COVID-19 cases and 159 more related deaths in hospitals in the last 24 hours.

France's number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 2,547,771 while its COVID-19 death toll stands at 62,427 - the seventh-highest in the world.

Thailand's outbreak worsens

Thailand on Saturday confirmed 110 new coronavirus infections, of which 64 were local infections, connected to an outbreak in the south-west province of Samut Sakhon, the country's coronavirus worst outbreak yet.

Of the new infections, 30 were among migrant workers and 16 were imported cases, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the country's COVID-19 task force, told a briefing.

On Christmas Eve, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ruled out a national lockdown, insisting they could use localised controls as the outbreak among migrant seafood workers continued to spread.

“I can assure that the government will do its best,” Prayuth said in a live televised address after a meeting of the government’s COVID-19 coordinating centre. “The Public Health Ministry confirms to me that it is controllable if everyone gives cooperation.”

Thailand has been seen as successful in combating the coronavirus due partly to its well-regarded public health infrastructure and people's adherence to mask-wearing and other protocols.

But cases have jumped significantly since an outbreak was detected last week among migrants from Myanmar working at a seafood market in Samut Sakorn, a province near the capital Bangkok. Millions of low-wage jobs in Thailand are filled by workers from less affluent neighbouring countries, especially Myanmar.

Thailand has a total of 6,020 confirmed cases and 60 deaths.

South Korea's Christmas caseload

South Korea has reported another 1,132 coronavirus cases as the resurgence worsened over the Christmas week, putting pressure on the government to enforce stricter social distancing controls.

The figures on Saturday brought the country’s caseload to 55,902 with 793 deaths. Around 780 of the new cases were from the greater capital area, home to 26 million people, where health workers discovered a large cluster in a huge Seoul prison with more than 500 inmates and workers.

Transmissions in recent weeks have also been tied to hospitals, nursing homes, churches, restaurants and army units.

After months of complacency, government officials restored some distancing restrictions in recent weeks after easing them to the lowest tier in October and are now clamping down on private gatherings, shutting down ski resorts, restricting hotel occupancy and setting fines for restaurants if they accept large groups.

The government will hold a meeting on Sunday to determine whether to elevate distancing controls to the highest “Tier 3,” which could possibly shutter hundreds of thousands of non-essential businesses. Officials have resisted such action for weeks, saying it could unleash further shock on an already weak economy.