Fri 08 January 2021:
COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Last updated: January 08, 2021, 08:28 GMT
Coronavirus Cases:
88,560,192
Deaths:
1,907,702
Recovered:
63,656,375
Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Pfizer Says Its Vaccine Appears Effective Against New Coronavirus Variant
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appeared to work against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in the UK and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the U.S. drugmaker, Reuters Reported.
The study was conducted on blood taken from people who had been given the vaccine. Its findings are limited because it does not look at the full set of mutations found in either of the new variants of the rapidly spreading virus.
Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer’s top viral vaccine scientists said, it was encouraging that the vaccine appears effective against the mutation, as well as 15 other mutations the company has previously tested against.
Wuhan Covid Infections 3 Times Higher Than Official Figure: China Study
The paper, published by the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases journal on Thursday, analysed blood samples from more than 60,000 healthy individuals taken from locations across China from March to May 2020.
It found that 1.68% of those from Wuhan contained antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, compared to 0.59% in the surrounding Hubei province and 0.38% in the rest of China.
With the city’s total population at more than 10 million, the researchers estimated that as many as 168,000 Wuhan residents were infected with the virus, compared to the official number of 50,340 hospitalised cases.
Australian city enters lockdown after UK strain detected
Australia’s Queensland state enforced a three-day lockdown in Brisbane, the state capital, from Friday evening after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive for the more contagious variant of Covid-19 that emerged in Britain last month.
Travellers to Australia will have to show a negative COVID-19 test before they can get on their plane, the Prime Minister said on Friday, as the city of Brisbane went into lockdown after the discovery of a case of a virulent new coronavirus variant.
Australia has found several cases of the variant but this was the first one to appear outside the quarantine system. Australia has also found a variant that emerged in South Africa in hotel quarantine.
It was not known if the hotel worker, a cleaner, was infected by someone who arrived from Britain but everyone would now need to show a negative test to travel to Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced.
“A negative test is not foolproof, but a positive test – they’re not coming,” Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly told reporters in the capital, Canberra.
Brazil’s Covid-19 death toll surpassing 200,000
On Thursday, health minister Eduardo Pazuello said the country is already in a second wave, with death toll surpassing 200,000
Rafael Deucher, a doctor in Paraná state, where 80% of public intensive care beds are occupied, said: “It’s a shame what happened in the summer. What we expect is that after 15 January, we will unfortunately face a critical state again in hospitals.”
“People are tired and are no longer adhering to preventive measures due to psychological strain, but also due to the lack of a unified political discourse,” said Alexandre Naime, head of the department of infectious diseases at Universidade Estadual Paulista’s faculty of medicine.
WHO calls for intensified measures over “alarming” virus variant
The World Health Organization’s European branch said more needs to be done to deal with the alarming situation brought on by a recently discovered variant of the coronavirus. WHO’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, also urged safe flexibility on the time between the first and second doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
UK to extend ban on travellers entering from southern African countries
The UK said it will extend a ban on travellers entering England to southern African countries in a measure to prevent the spread of a new Covid-19 variant identified in South Africa.
The restriction will go into effect on Saturday and remain in place for two weeks, the government said.
Entry will be barred for those who have travelled from or through any southern African country in the last 10 days, including Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as Seychelles and Mauritius.
Turkey finalizes deal for 50M doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Turkey’s health minister announced late Thursday that an agreement for 50 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine was finalized at the first meeting this year of the Science Committee.
“As of today [Thursday], we have finalized an agreement for 50 million doses of an inactive vaccine and received the first dispatch of 3 million doses,” Fahrettin Koca said in a press statement.
He noted that the committee revised the new supply plan in negotiations Thursday and signed an agreement for up to 30 million additional doses, with 4.5 million doses being certain.
Air India Introduces Robotic Technology To Disinfect Aircraft Interiors
The Air India Express has become the first airline in India to use robotic technology to clean and disinfect the interiors of aircrafts using an ultraviolet Robotic device.
“A UV (ultraviolet) robotic device fitted with UV disinfection lamping system was engaged by the airline today at Delhi airport to disinfect its Boeing 737-800 aircraft,” Air India Express said in a release on Thursday.
Air India Express said there are plans to extend this technology for its aircraft operating from other airports in its network in the country.
The robotic device has been specifically designed to disinfect aircraft seats, under-seat areas, inside overhead baggage compartment, aisle ceiling, window panels, cockpit instrumentation area, overhead switch panel and interiors from viruses and bacteria.
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