Mon 25 January 2021:
COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Last updated: January 25, 2021, 08:12 GMT
Coronavirus Cases:
99,804,787
Deaths:
2,139,791
Recovered:
71,797,201
Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Israel ‘closes skies’ to air travel to prevent virus spread
Israel on Sunday announced a week-long ban on most incoming and outgoing flights in a bid to slow the spread of new coronavirus variants.
The measure will begin at midnight from Monday into Tuesday and remain in effect until Sunday, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
The decision came with the country in its third national coronavirus lockdown, initiated late December and extended on Tuesday until the end of the month due to a surge in deaths.
Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced his government’s intention to close the airport, as variants of the coronavirus have been detected in rising numbers.
“We’re closing the skies hermetically, except for rare exceptions, to prevent the entry of virus mutations, and to ensure that we make swift progress with our vaccination campaign,” he said ahead of a cabinet meeting.
ANC, alliance partners to tackle fake news around Covid-19 vaccines | Click Here
The African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners have agreed to work towards building broad acceptance of the vaccine in the country.
On Sunday, party president Cyril Ramaphosa said that the ANC lekgotla, which took place over the weekend, agreed to tackle the misinformation and misunderstanding surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine.
This as many across different sectors, including some leaders in the ANC, have been issuing warnings against the vaccine.
The first doses of the vaccine are set to hit South Africa’s shores this week.
Second batch of vaccines arrives in Turkey
A plane carrying the second batch of vaccines ordered from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. arrived in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 plane, which departed from Beijing, landed at Istanbul Airport at 0315 GMT.
Containers containing the vaccine were taken from the aircraft after customs procedures and moved to warehouses.
A total of 6.5 million doses of the inactive Covid-19 vaccine were brought in the first part of the second shipment of 10 million doses.
Dutch police clash with anti-lockdown protesters
Police in Amsterdam used water cannon to disperse protesters demonstrating against Covid-19 restrictions while in the southern city of Eindhoven cars were burnt and shops smashed in riots against the country’s lock-down measures.
Riot police on horseback attempted to clear the demonstrators in both cities where hundreds of people were arrested. A nighttime curfew went into effect on Saturday in a bid to rein in the coronavirus.
Parliament voted narrowly last week to approve the curfew, swayed by assertions that an English variant is about to cause a new surge in cases
Biden to impose South Africa travel ban
President Joe Biden will impose a ban on most non-US citizens entering the country who have recently been in South Africa starting Saturday in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of Covid-19, a senior US public health official told Reuters.
Biden on Monday is also reimposing an entry ban on nearly all non-US travelers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe that allow travel across open borders.
“We are adding South Africa to the restricted list because of the concerning variant present that has already spread beyond South Africa,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s principal deputy director, in an interview Sunday.
Global cases nears grim milestone of 100M
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has passed 99 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, as the total moves rapidly towards a shocking 100 million people infected with Covid-19 in just over a year.
The current total is 99,105,389 infections. At least 2,127,206 people have died. On average, around 650,000 coronavirus cases have been reported daily in the last week.
Travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand suspended for 72 hours
Amid concern the single case of community transmission in New Zealand is of the South African variant, Australia’s federal health minister, Greg Hunt, has announced the Australian government will suspend the travel bubble with New Zealand for 72 hours.
US cases top 25 millions
The number of cases in the United States crossed 25 million, as states accelerate their vaccine distribution and more infectious strains are found globally.
States including North Dakota and West Virginia have injected more than 83% of their allocated doses into residents’ arms, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Sunday.
Virginia administered the fewest doses, with 42% of the vaccines received.
Tata in talks to launch Moderna vaccine in India
Tata Medical & Diagnostics is said to have started initial discussions with Moderna Inc for a partnership to launch its vaccine in India, the Economic Times reported.
Tata could team up with the India’s Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) to carry out clinical trials of Moderna’s vaccine candidate in India, the report added, citing officials familiar with the matter.
The Indian government this month gave emergency-use approval to a vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd and state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, and another licensed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC that is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
Global life insurers worried about long-term pandemic risks
Global life insurers are taking steps to curb payouts stemming from the pandemic, including long-term health consequences that are not fully understood, industry sources told Reuters.
Life insurers, including Prudential Financial Inc, and Aviva PLC, are now imposing waiting periods before Covid-19 patients, including those who have recovered, can apply for coverage, executives and spokespeople said. Some are also limiting coverage for certain age groups.
These changes come as some reinsurers demand new safeguards from life insurers they backstop, and as the industry struggles to ascertain the extent of problems caused by the novel coronavirus.
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