Covid-19 has infected more than 342M people and killed over 5.5M worldwide. Here are some of the latest coronavirus-related developments:
Friday, January 21, 2022
Pakistan records most daily cases since pandemic began
Pakistan has reported over 7,000 Covid-19 cases in a single day, its highest daily number of infections since the pandemic began, as the south Asian nation imposes new restrictions to curb the spread of Omicron.
At least 7,678 cases in the past 24 hours pushed the positivity ratio to 12.93 percent according to data from the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) overseeing the pandemic response.
The new nationwide positivity ratio is the highest ever in the last two years. 23 deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours.
Karachi, the country’s largest city, recorded its highest ever positivity ratio of 46.58 percent in the last 24 hours.
“Amid rising trend of disease across the country a ban on indoor dinning in cities/districts with positivity above 10 percent has been imposed with effect from January 21,” said a notification issued by (NCOC).
The government authorised booster shots for citizens over the age of 30. Vaccination of children over 12 has been made mandatory to attend schools and children under 12 will attend schools with 50% attendance.
Beijing Olympic torch relay closed to public
The already scaled back Beijing Winter Olympics torch relay will be cordoned off from the general public because of Covid measures.
The relay involving 1,200 torchbearers will take place across the Games’ three sites and also travel to tourist attractions such as the Great Wall from February 2 to 4, when the Olympics open.
“Safety will always be prioritised for this torch relay,” said Yang Haibin, a Games organising committee official responsible for the torch relay.
“Given epidemic control considerations… the torch relay and ceremonial activities will be arranged in safe and controllable closed venues.”
In a break with tradition, there was no torch relay on Greek soil because of Covid before the flame arrived in China.
Covid-19 cases cross 10M mark in Africa
Covid-19 infections in Africa have reached 10.4 million while the death toll stands at 235,507, according to the latest update by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The update stated that to date 9.3 million people have recovered from the infection on the continent of an estimated 1.37 billion people.
The total tests conducted stand at 93 million.
On the continent, 15.45 percent of the population are partially vaccinated, while 10.41 percent are fully vaccinated, the center said.
Israel’s defence chief isolates at home after positive test
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has been isolating after testing positive for Covid-19 and is in good health.
“I feel good because I am vaccinated. In the coming days I will manage security affairs from my home,” Gantz wrote on Twitter.
Israel has shortened its mandatory isolation period for confirmed carriers to five days.
Other senior Israeli cabinet members, including the foreign and finance ministers, have recently tested positive to Covid-19 as well.
Get back to the office, Britain’s business minister says
People should get back to the office to benefit from in-person collaboration as the world must learn to live with Covid-19 after a pandemic, Britain’s business minister said.
“We should get back to work,” British Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told LBC radio. “We’ve got to get back to some degree of normality.”
“People working in the office do get benefits from working with colleagues, … and I want to get back to a sense that, you know, that the pandemic is turning from a pandemic into an endemic,” he said.
Kwarteng said he was trying to increase the number of people working back in government departments. He said around 50% of his department was back to work in person, though he cautioned he didn’t have exact data.
Poland sees new daily record of cases
Poland will see a record of 36,665 new daily Covid-19 infections, Deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska said ahead of the release of official figures.
He added that cases will continue to be very high in the coming days, climbing over 50,000 next week.
Russia reports record daily cases
Russia reported a new record number of Covid-19 infections confirmed in the past 24 hours as the Omicron variant of the virus spread across the country, the government coronavirus task force said.
Daily new cases jumped to 49,513, from 38,850 a day earlier. The task force also reported 692 deaths.
Staffers contract Covid in Argentina’s Antarctica base
For the first time since the start of the pandemic the coronavirus has reached an Argentine research base in Antarctica, causing the evacuation of nine unvaccinated staff who tested positive for Covid-19, an official said.
Twenty-four of the 43 scientists and military personnel resident at Argentina’s La Esperanza base have been infected, Patricia Ortuzar of the government’s National Directorate of the Antarctic told AFP news agency.
Nine of the 24, who have no symptoms, were evacuated to capital Buenos Aires by helicopter as a precaution.
France to lift face-masks requirement
France will lift its requirement for wearing masks outdoors and enforce the use of vaccine passes for accessing public places to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Jean Castex has announced in a televised address.
The vaccine pass is likely to come into effect on Monday if cleared by the Constitutional Council, Castex said.
The bill, approved by parliament, is currently being examined by the judicial council for final validation.
Western Australia state to stay shut
The state of Western Australia has cancelled plans to reopen its borders on February 5 citing health risks from a surge in Omicron cases elsewhere in the country, as the tally of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began topped 2 million.
WA Premier Mark McGowan made the shock announcement saying it would be “reckless and irresponsible” to open up now given the rapid spread of the variant.
Instead, re-opening would be delayed indefinitely or at least until the percentage of triple dose vaccinations reached 80 percent, which is currently around 26 percent.
Mexico reports more Covid deaths
Mexico has reported 278 more deaths from Covid-19, bringing the official death toll since the coronavirus pandemic began to 302,390.
The country also reported 50,373 new confirmed cases, bringing the total number to 4,545,683, the Health Ministry said.
Brazil reports more Covid cases and deaths
Brazil has had 168,495 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 350 deaths from Covid-19, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The South American country has now registered 23,585,243 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 622,205, according to ministry data.
Brazil’s Covid-19 toll is the world’s third deadliest after the United States and Russia, according to a Reuters news agency tally.
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Pakistan logs most daily Covid cases since pandemic began – latest updates
Source: Pinay Pop Showbiz
