Covid-19 Pandemic: Live Updates and News for January 1, 2021

Photographer: Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The US surpassed 20 million Covid-19 cases, a year after a mysterious pathogen first revealed itself in Wuhan, China. This is almost twice as much as in India, the country that was hit the second worst. Infections in the state of New York remained high, just below the record set on Wednesday, as the rate of positive tests in New York rose in the direction of 10%. California deaths have reached a record high.

The pandemic erupted in 2021 without slowing it down. Global daily deaths reached record highs this week. Countries from Germany to Japan to South Africa ended 2020 with daily records. Turkey, China and Brazil have become the latest countries to report infections in the country new, highly transmissible virus strain.

Vaccines remained the best hope for 2021. The World Health Organization has issued an emergency designation for the acquisition of Pfizer Inc., a move that would allow more countries to import and distribute the vaccine.

Important developments:

Sign in to a daily update of the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis Team here. Click CVID on the Global Coronavirus Cases and Deaths Terminal for global data.

US Covid Hospitals on High (16:55 NY)

US hospitalizations climbed to a new high with 125,379 people acknowledgeaccording to the data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project. This can be compared to the two previous waves of the virus – in April and in July – which peaked at around 60,000.

The data show the Middle East as the only area where hospitalizations are declining, with most in the South, at just under 50,000. Northeast, which was hit hardest by the first wave of the pandemic, recorded the fewest hospitalizations in the recent boom.

Oxford-AstraZeneca Expects More Vaccine Production, Times Reports (16:47 NY)

A member of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine team expects about two million doses to be ready in about two months a week, reports the Times of London.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this week that only 530,000 doses of the vaccine would be ready by Monday. The Oxford team is frustrated because the country’s poor production capacity has affected the pace of production, the newspaper said.

Virginia, Maryland Outbreaks Near Highs (15:31 NY)

Virginia reported its second consecutive day of more than 5,000 cases, a day after infections rose to a new high. The total hospital admissions, which have almost tripled since the beginning of November, have risen to a record 2,744, according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project.

The adjoining Maryland reported 3,557 cases, the second highest on record, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. Hospitalizations are also almost a record high, 1 773.

California Deaths Rise to Record (14:41 NY)

California added a record 585 new deaths, bringing the total to 25,971. The state reported 47,189 new cases, with the total score reaching nearly 2.3 million.

The Golden State is the hub for the latest outbreak, as hospitals, especially in Southern California, no longer have beds for intensive care units. The positivity rate of 12.2% is at the highest level since the onset of the pandemic.

Ireland sees a boom after Christmas (14:24 NY)

Ireland expects to take on more than 9,000 cases in the coming days as it is a Christmas backlog in reporting and testing. More than 1,700 cases were reported Friday, almost a record high. Medical authorities have warned of an increase in hospitalizations, with as many as 70 patients a day acknowledgeted, which contributes to the 500-plus already treated in hospital.

Ireland has entered into a third national exclusion as it awaits widespread vaccination.

Reports on guardians of all primary schools in London remain closed (14:15 NY)

The primary schools in London will close for the start of the new term after pressure from local authorities, reports the Guardian.

The British government had earlier omitted several London territories from a list of primary schools that would be closed. An emergency meeting of the Cabinet Office on New Year’s Day led to the addition of the remaining London education authorities to the government’s emergency areas.

Turkey finds 15 cases of new variant among visitors from the UK (13:03 NY)

Turkey has suspended all arrivals from the UK after detecting the new variant of the Covid-19 virus among 15 people traveling out of the country, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

All 15 patients have been quarantined since the investigation and no other cases of the more contagious mutant virus have been detected in the country so far, Koca said in a statement.

Turkey on Friday announced 12,203 new infections, the lowest level since at least November 25, when the Ministry of Health began announcing the number of people testing positive for the virus and abandoning a controversial policy to rule out asymptomatic cases.

NY business stays near record high (12:54 PM NY)

The state of New York reported 16,497 new cases, just below the record set for the entire pandemic on Wednesday. The total hospitalization dropped slightly to 7,886, as did the overall rate for positive tests at 7.52%, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. Another 166 people died, most in two weeks of deaths above 100.

Danish Prime Minister sets April as turning point in virus fight (12:13 NY)

Denmark is likely to reach a turning point in the fight against the pandemic in in early April, said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

“I think the worst year is behind us, but we should expect the most difficult months to come,” the Social Democrat prime minister said in her New Year’s speech on Friday. She said Easter Sunday, April 4, would “not be the end, but a turning point”, aided by vaccinations and better weather conditions.

NYC rate of positive tests rises by 10% (11:54 am NY)

New York’s positive test rate continues to rise rapidly, reaching 9.41%, based on a seven-day average, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a tweet on Friday. That number was below 2% in November. Hospitalizations also continued to rise, with another 219 admissions, he said.

‘2021 is here and it will be a better year for our city – but we must continue the fight against it # COVID-19, “he said.

Cases in Italy Slowly (11:17 NY)

Italy registered 22,211 virus cases from 23,477 the previous day. Daily deaths also declined, with 462 deaths reported, compared to 555 on Thursday.
The Italian government imposed a “stop-and-go” closure across the country from December 24 to January 6, with strict restrictions on and around Christmas, New Year and the Epiphany holiday on January 6.

British New Business Remains High (11:09 NY)

The UK reported 53,285 new cases and 613 deaths on Friday. The latest R-number is estimated at 1.1 to 1.3, meaning the virus is still spreading exponentially.

Portugal reports less daily business (11:06 NY)

Portugal reported 6,951 newly confirmed cases, below the record of 7,627 announced the previous day, which took the total to 420,629. The number of hospital cases dropped by 34 to 2,806.

Portugal launched its Covid-19 vaccination program on 27 December.

Philippines bans foreigners traveling from US (10:57 am NY)

The Philippines will ban foreign travelers from the US in mid-January after a third state, Florida, reported that a strain of the coronavirus was more contagious, Reuters reported.

The ban, which begins on Sunday, does not apply to Filipinos traveling from the US, although they will have to quarantine 14 days in a government facility, the news agency reported.

Norway to lift British flight ban (6:33 am NY)

According to Norway, the flights from 2 hours CET on 2 January from the UK will stop. Special rules on quarantine and testing for people coming from the UK will continue.

Germany’s Merz calls for schools to reopen (16:42 HK)