A team from the World Health Organization investigating the origin of the coronavirus pandemic has been set up on to arrive in China, after the country delayed its entry last week.
The King of Malaysia has declared a state of emergency, in a move that allows fighting Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to prevent an election before the pandemic is over. South Korean cases remained below 1,000 for an eighth consecutive day, while India reported the lowest number of infections since June.
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have increased their vaccine production target to 2 billion shots this year, up from 1.3 billion previously. U.S. daily vaccinations, which were slow due to uneven implementation, rose by a record 1.25 million.
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Australia must rely on doctors, drug stores (12:43 HK)
Australia will rely on general practitioners and drugstores to administer Covid-19 vaccines because the country wants to vaccinate its population this year. Common practices and pharmacies will start delivering doses of the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine in the second part of the first phase of Australia’s program, Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters. Hospitals will vaccinate Pfizer Inc. used because he has to keep it at 70 degrees Celsius, he said.
India sees lowest daily cases since June (12:33 HK)
India added 12,584 cases in a day, the lowest number since June 16th. Although the country has the second highest number of cases in the world, with more than 10 million, daily infections are gradually being eased from a peak of almost 100,000 in September.
Singapore to open vaccination centers: ST (11:21 am HK)
Singapore is drafting special centers to administer Covid-19 vaccinations daily to large groups of people, in addition to allowing the jabs to be taken at clinics and other established health care facilities. The centers will be ready soon, Tan Chorh Chuan, the state’s chief health scientist, told The Straits Times in an interview.
Malaysia declares state of emergency (09:39 am HK)
Malaysia’s king declares a state of emergency in the Southeast Asian nation, in a move that could enable the protested government to postpone elections as it tackles the worse coronavirus pandemic.
The move comes amid infighting within Malaysia’s largest ruling party, the United Malays National Organization, over whether there will be a quick election by March. UMNO is expected to make a final decision on this at its general meeting on 31 January.
New Zealand further strengthens border measures (09:36 HK)
New Zealand will continue tightening border measures to combat the worldwide spread of more transmissible variants of the Covid-19 virus.
As of January 18, almost all people entering New Zealand will have to be tested for the virus within the first 24 hours of arrival, Reaction Minister Chris Hipkins said in an email statement in Wellington on Tuesday. Health officials are also imposing requirements for almost all travelers to New Zealand to take a negative Covid-19 test that is 72 hours from their departure.
South Korea’s new business remains below 1,000 (09:10 HK)
South Korea has reported 537 new cases over the past 24 hours, according to data from the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s website. Although the number was higher than 451 the previous day, it is the eighth consecutive day that infections remain below 1,000, indicating that South Korea is making progress with the tame of its latest outbreak.
The efficiency of Sinovac Shot between 50-60%, says UOL (08:03 HK)
The overall effectiveness of the a vaccine developed by China Sinovac Biotech Ltd. developed against coronavirus was between 50% and 60% in Brazil, the website UOL reported with anonymous people.
The Brazilian Butantan Institute, which is working with the Chinese firm to make the survey, said all information on the matter not offered by the institute is merely a speculation. “At a press conference last week, officials said the vaccine was 78% effective in preventing mild cases of Covid-19 and 100% effective against serious and moderate infections. It was not clear how the Brazilian researchers calculated the effectiveness rate.
Texas business eases from record level (07:45 HK)
Texas on Monday saw lower levels of new coronavirus cases after rising to a record high over the past two weeks. The state reported 13,308 new cases, up from a record 27,000 on December 29 and again on January 5.
Hospitalizations were still high, with all 22 trauma service areas except one in the states having more than 15%.
The state uses large hubs to distribute most of its coronavirus vaccines, including one in Houston’s Minute Maid Park, the baseball stadium where the Astros play. The 28 center providers will receive 158,825 doses of vaccine this week, the health department said in an email. An additional 38,300 doses will be distributed by other providers. Residents in all 254 Texas counties received the vaccine.
Japan declares emergency for Osaka (06:50 HK)
The Japanese government will declare a state of emergency for Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures as soon as Wednesday in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus, the public broadcaster NHK reported, without attribution.
Governments of Aichi and Gifu will also ask the central government as soon as possible today to announce emergencies in the prefectures, according to the report.
Portugal’s president tests positive (06:45 HK)
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa tested positive for Covid-19 late Monday, but has no symptoms of the virus.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon / Bloomberg
Rebelo de Sousa, 72, will remain in isolation and has canceled his agenda for the coming days, according to a statement posted on the presidency’s website. Portugal on Monday reported the largest increase in coronavirus deaths since the outbreak began.
California says hospital admissions weaken (6 hours HK)
California hospital admissions are increasing at a slower pace, providing a very cautious sign of optimism for the state’s deep-seated health care system, Gov. Newsom said Monday. The 6% increase in hospitalizations over 14 days is “one of the smallest increases we’ve seen in a two-week period at a time,” he said during a briefing.
The slowdown may be due to stay-at-home orders or an early sign that holiday gatherings were not as bad as feared, Health Secretary Mark Ghaly said. Still, he warned that matters of Christmas and New Year are still being reported.
South Africa is sharpened to buy more shots (3:55 am HK)
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended a ban on alcohol sales, restricted border travel and announced plans to buy millions of additional vaccines, as hospitals are struggling to cope with an increase in coronavirus cases.
Healthcare workers tend to take a patient to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria on 11 January.
Photographer: Phill Magakoe / AFP / Getty Images
The country remains at virus alert level 3, and the alcohol ban imposed on December 28, which would end on January 15, will remain in effect, Ramaphosa said in a national television address. All land posts will be closed to most travelers until Feb. 15, except for funerals, public gatherings will not be allowed, and a nationwide curfew will be applied from 9 p.m. to 5 p.m.
US lawmaker gets Covid, blames colleagues (3 hours HK)
U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat and survivor of lung cancer, tested positive for Covid-19. Ewing’s Watson Coleman, 75, believes she was exposed after hiding with some maskless colleagues during a storm on the U.S. Capitol last week, according to a statement from her office.
She said she received a positive quick test on Monday and is waiting for the results of PCR tests. She had previously received the first dose of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine when it was made available to all members of Congress.
WHO says origin studies should start in Wuhan (2:16 am HK)
A World Health Organization team of scientists is embarking on a long-delayed trip to China to investigate scientific research with Chinese counterparts on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. China said the team will arrive this week.
Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus complained about China’s delay in granting visas to the team. Mike Ryan, head of the WTO’s emergency program, said in the briefing that the investigations in China could lead to the need to conduct further investigations in other countries, and stressed that it was not about finding someone to blame. not, but to find the scientific answers about it. animal-human interface.
Separately, a WTO team in China is working with producers of the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines to determine whether international quality production practices are being used before a possible list of emergencies. WHO officials also said they were confident that implementation in lower-income countries could begin in February, though it is highly dependent on the country’s readiness and companies delivering doses.
WATCH: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Vice Dean Joshua Sharfstein discusses issues with the spread of Covid-19 vaccines, the risk of further virus variants, and the achievement of herd immunity via vaccinations.
J&J submits South African trial data (12:30 am HK)
Johnson & Johnson’s preliminary data from the South African arm of a phase 3 Covid-19 vaccine trial will be ready to be submitted to US regulators by January 21, according to the head of the country’s medical research council.
The timing is in line with the US drug giant’s statement that interim data from the late trial it is conducting in a number of countries is expected by the end of this month. If the data shows that the single-dose vaccine is safe and effective, J&J will approach US regulators in February for emergency approvals, and according to the company, another health regulation application will be done around the world.
NYC Eyes 1 Million Doses Per Month End (00:06 HK)
Members of the NYPD are queuing up to receive a Covid-19 vaccine in New York on January 11.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon / Bloomberg
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has confirmed his goal of handing out 1 million doses of Covid-19 by January 1st. He said New York last week reached its goal of vaccinating 100,000 people and plans to administer 175,000 doses by the end of the week. He said 55,000 appointments have already been scheduled.
A number of city officials have criticized the confusing nature of them vaccine appointments, especially for elderly patients struggling to use online scheduling systems. De Blasio said the city is opening a phone line for people to make appointments on Monday. He said New York currently has 160 sites and will expand the sites and availability. If people show up without an appointment, he said people will be ready to help them make a later appointment.
– Assisted by Jeff Sutherland