Sat 26 December 2020:
COVID ‘shutdown’ coming into effect in Canada’s largest province
Canada’s most populous province is imposing tighter COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday in an effort to curb rising infections, deaths and hospitalisations linked to the novel coronavirus.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the “provincewide shutdown” earlier this week, saying daily COVID-19 case numbers are putting the healthcare network and long-term care homes at risk.
“We need to stop the spread of this deadly virus. That’s why … we are taking the difficult but necessary decision to shutdown the province and ask people to stay home. Nothing is more important right now than the health and safety of all Ontarians,” Ford said in a statement.
The restrictions, which come into effect at 00:01am local time (05:01 GMT) on Saturday, include a ban on indoor gatherings between people from different households and a 10-person limit outdoors, as well as limits on non-essential businesses.
Big box stores that sell groceries can stay open, however, with capacity limited to 25 percent, while pharmacies and grocery stores can also operate at 50 percent capacity.
New Covid-19 patients range from 2-100 years in Kenya
Confirmed new coronavirus infections in Kenya span patients aged between 2 and 100, Kenya’s Health Ministry announced on Friday.
In a tweet, the ministry said: “282 people [240 Kenyans and 42 foreigners] have tested positive for the virus, from a sample size of 4,095 tested in the last 24 hours, bringing to 95,713 the number of confirmed positive cases in the country.”
While one person was killed from the infection, new Covid-19 cases include 164 males and 118 females.
“The youngest is a two-year old child, while the oldest is 100,” it said.
While Kenya has been hit by a second wave from the pandemic, fatalities stand at 1,653, while 76,811 patients have recovered.
CoronaVac efficacy at 50-90% in Brazilian trial – Sao Paulo official
The CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd showed efficacy between 50% and 90% in Brazilian trials, Sao Paulo’s state health secretary said, and its Brazilian producer said full trial results will be released by January 7.
Results of trials in Brazil are known exclusively by Sao Paulo state’s Butantan Institute biomedical research centre, which has an agreement with Sinovac to produce the vaccine, said health secretary Jean Gorinchteyn.
First trials showed efficacy above 50%, the minimum required by Brazilian health regulator Anvisa, and below 90%, Gorinchteyn said in an interview with CBN radio aired late on Thursday.
At Sinovac’s request, Sao Paulo’s health department has not received the Chinese drugmaker’s full trial results, he said, adding that the company will review the data before announcing final results.
Butantan will disclose the data trial results in up to 15 days, or by January 7, the institute said in a note on Friday.
Texas hospitals fill to near pandemic peak
Coronavirus hospitalisations in Texas on Friday approached a peak equaling the summer’s surge even as health officials warned that holiday gatherings and travel are likely to further spread the virus and pressure health care services.
The state health department reported 10,868 patients hospitalised with confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the state on Christmas, less than 30 behind the record high set in July. Intensive care units in several parts of Texas were full or nearly full, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Texas on Friday reported 200 more death from Covid-19.
There were 3,123 newly confirmed cases of the virus and another 973 probable cases, according to the health department.
China reports 20 new cases vs 14 a day earlier
Mainland China recorded 20 new Covid-19 cases on December 25, up from 14 cases the previous day, the country’s health authority said on Saturday.
The National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that 12 of the new cases were imported. Of the eight locally transmitted cases, six came from the northeastern province of Liaoning and two from the capital Beijing.
Additionally, 19 asymptomatic cases were reported on December 25, up from 17 the previous day. China does not include asymptomatic patients in its total confirmed case list.
Mainland China has now reported a total of 86,933 coronavirus cases, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
France, Lebanon confirm first cases of new coronavirus variant
Health authorities in France and Lebanon have confirmed their first cases of the coronavirus variant that prompted global travel restrictions and strict lockdown measures in the United Kingdom.
The French health ministry said a French man who arrived in France from the British capital, London, on December 19 had tested positive for the new variant on Friday.
He had no symptoms and was isolating in his home in the central city of Tours.
In Lebanon, the country’s caretaker health minister said on Friday 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.
Italian authorities have detected the new strain in a patient in Rome, while Japan reported five cases in passengers arriving from the UK. Singapore confirmed one case of the new variant, while the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that nine cases have been detected in Denmark and one each in the Netherlands and Australia.
