Two nurses move a patient who lies in bed at ward number 20 of the Tembisa Hospital in Tembisa, South Africa, on March 2, 2021. (GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)
NAIROBI / BRUSSELS / ADDIS ABABA / SARAJEVO / RIO DE JANEIRO / OTTAWA / SANTIAGO / PRAGUE / PARIS / BERLIN / ATHENS / MEXICO CITY / RABAT / WARSAW / LISBON / BUCHAREST / KIGALI / BELGRADE / STOCKHOLM / LONDON / NEW YORK – The government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi has approved strict new curbs for most of Italy, with the country’s most populous regions facing a lockdown as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.
Draghi’s cabinet approved a decree automatically designating regions as high-risk “red zones” if they have more than 250 weekly cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to a statement from his office.
The rules will go into effect Monday and combined with measures already triggered by the spread of the virus, they could effectively send a number of regions, including those surrounding Milan and Rome, into lockdown. That would affect as many as two-thirds of Italians.
The measures bring Italy almost full-circle just over a year after it became the first Western country to go into a lockdown. Infections have reached a three-month high since the more contagious U.K. strain appeared in the country amid a sluggish vaccine roll-out.
Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, is seeking to speed up the vaccination campaign to both counter the pandemic and restart an economy that shrank 8.9 percent last year. The country registered 25,673 new cases Thursday, compared to 22,409 the previous day.
Africa
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 4,005,204 as of Friday morning, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union (AU), said the death toll related to the pandemic stood at 107,001, while 3,589,067 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease.
The most affected countries in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases are South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, the agency noted.
South Africa has lost 51,110 lives to the disease, the most among African countries, followed by Egypt, at 11,169 and Morocco, at 8,712, according to the Africa CDC.
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca cut its supply forecast of COVID-19 vaccines to the European Union in the first quarter to about 30 million doses, a third of its contractual obligations and a 25 percent drop from pledges made last month, a document seen by Reuters shows.
The shortfall will represent a further blow to the EU’s vaccination plans, which have been hampered by repeated delays in vaccine supplies and by a slow rollout in some nations.
The document, shared with EU officials and dated March 10, shows that the company now expects to deliver 30.1 million doses by the end of March, and another 20 million in April.
On Feb 25, AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot told the European Parliament that the company would try to deliver 40 million doses by the end of March.
The document shows that on Feb 24, the Anglo-Swedish company already estimated a supply of only 34 million doses to the EU for the January to March period, well below its contracted target of 90 million doses.
The shortfall will represent a further blow to the EU’s vaccination plans, which have been hampered by repeated delays in vaccine supplies and by a slow rollout in some nations.
The document, shared with EU officials and dated March 10, shows that the company now expects to deliver 30.1 million doses by the end of March, and another 20 million in April.
On Feb 25, AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot told the European Parliament that the company would try to deliver 40 million doses by the end of March.
The document shows that on Feb 24, the Anglo-Swedish company already estimated a supply of only 34 million doses to the EU for the January to March period, well below its contracted target of 90 million doses.
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Sanofi and Translate Bio
Sanofi and Translate Bio said on Friday they had started a human trial of their mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the French drugmaker’s second vaccine project, which follows a protein-based shot hit by a delay last year.
It is the latest vaccine candidate based on a new technology known as messenger RNA. Shots by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were launched after clinical trials showed high efficacy rates.
Real-world data from the rollout of the Pfizer shot in Israel and Britain have also been encouraging.
Sanofi and Translate Bio expect interim results of the phase I/II study, which will enroll 415 healthy adults across 13 sites, during the third quarter.
Participants will receive either a single dose of the vaccine or two doses 21 days apart while three dose levels will be examined, the companies said.
Sanofi did not give further indication on the timeline of the project.
In December 2020, Sanofi had said it was eyeing “earliest potential approval” of its mRNA vaccine in the second half of 2021, following positive preclinical data, but Sanofi’s Chief Executive Paul Hudson told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper last month the vaccine “will not be ready this year.”
Novavax vaccine
Novavax Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine was 96 percent effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus in a late-stage trial conducted in the United Kingdom, the company said on Thursday, moving it a step closer to regulatory approval.
There were no cases of severe illness or deaths among those who got the vaccine, the company said, in a sign that it could stop the worse effects of new variants that have cropped up.
The vaccine was 86 percent effective in protecting against the more contagious virus variant first discovered and now prevalent in the United Kingdom, for a combined 90 percent effectiveness rate overall based on data from infections of both versions of the coronavirus.
A man receives a dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Jabra Hospital for Emergency and Injuries in Sudan's capital Khartoum on March 9, 2021. (EBRAHIM HAMID / AFP)
WHO
The deployment of COVID-19 vaccine in Africa has accelerated as the continent's caseload hit nearly 4 million, a World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Thursday.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa said that arrival of additional vaccine doses will boost efforts to contain the pandemic in the continent.
"But doses will remain limited and it is critical that frontline health workers and other priority groups are at the front of the queue," Moeti said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
According to WHO, more than 14.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to 22 African countries since February 24 under the COVAX facility.
Ten countries in the continent have started inoculating vulnerable groups using COVAX-funded vaccines while another ten began immunizing their citizens with vaccines procured through bilateral arrangement and donations.
Statistics from WHO indicate that more than 518,000 doses of COVAX supplied vaccines have been administered mainly to healthcare workers in Africa.
The United Nations on Thursday launched a new global campaign, Only Together, to support its call for fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
The campaign stresses the need for coordinated global action to ensure vaccines are accessible in all countries, starting with health-care workers and the most vulnerable.
"Only together can we protect healthcare workers and the world's most vulnerable people," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his video remarks on the virtual launch of the campaign.
Austria
Austria has decided to continue using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine even after blood clot reports prompted some European countries to slam the brakes.
The national vaccination committee, the Federal Office for Health Safety, the European Medicines Agency and the ministry itself, as well as the federal states, would "clearly advocate the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine," the Health Ministry said in a statement after a video conference with experts and state health councilors late Thursday.
"The decision is made by experts. At the end of the review, you have to respect the result," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said at a press conference here on Friday, insisting that he would be vaccinated with AstraZeneca.
"There was no causal relationship, so I trust the experts," said the chancellor.
Belarus
Belarus reported 1,186 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking its total to 300,146, according to the country's health ministry.
Meanwhile, 1,243 new recoveries were logged, bringing the total recoveries to 290,865, the ministry added.
So far, 2,078 people have died of the disease in the country, including eight over the past 24 hours, it said.
BiH
All schools and universities in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), have been ordered to immediately switch to online classes due to the increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases, the government of Sarajevo Canton said on Thursday.
Edin Forto, the canton's prime minister, said that only kindergartens and schools for children with special needs are allowed to stay open.
Citizens above the age of 65 and those with chronic illnesses are encouraged to limit movement and contacts, and use public transport.
BiH recorded 1,338 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, a single-day record in the past three months, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Sarajevo Canton alone reported 566 new cases and seven deaths.
Brazil
Brazil recorded 2,233 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the second highest daily increase, taking the national death toll to 272,889, the Health Ministry said Thursday.
The daily increase was only next to Wednesday's figure, which stood at 2,286.
In addition, 75,412 new COVID-19 infections were registered, the third highest number since the beginning of the pandemic,, bringing the country's accumulated caseload to 11,277,717.
Brazil has the second highest number of COVID-19 deaths, behind the United States, and the third highest number of confirmed cases, after the United States and India.
Canada
Canada on Thursday said the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe after Denmark and Norway temporarily suspended its use amid reports that blood clots had formed in some who had received the shot.
“Health Canada is aware of reports of adverse events in Europe following immunization with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, and would like to reassure Canadians that the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh its risks,” the health department said in a statement.
“At this time, there is no indication that the vaccine caused these events,” it said.
Canada received 500,000 AstraZeneca doses made at the Serum Institute of India last week, and expects to get 1.5 million more in by May.
Chile
Chile's health authorities on Thursday announced a lockdown in Santiago Metropolitan Region during the weekends due to surging COVID-19 cases and higher intensive care unit occupancy.
A total of 14 municipalities will be in a total quarantine from Saturday, the Chilean Health Ministry said.
The authorities also banned public events and the operation of gyms and casinos, and announced the closure of restaurants and retail businesses during the nights, as well as a nighttime curfew.
As there were more COVID-19 cases in the country in recent weeks, we have decided to toughen the measures during this transition stage, Chile's Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza said.
Chile reported 5,566 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the national count to 873,512 with 21,362 deaths, according to the ministry's daily report.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic's hospitals treated a record 1,916 COVID-19 patients in serious condition on Wednesday, the country's Health Ministry said on Thursday.
According to the ministry, the number of daily cases and hospitalizations, meanwhile, was trending downward in the country.
On Wednesday, the country registered 14,353 new COVID-19 cases, about 900 fewer than a week ago.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia registered 1,332 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 171,210 as of Thursday evening, the country's Ministry of Health said.
The ministry said 17 new deaths were reported across the country, bringing the national death toll to 2,483.
This picture shows a vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Paris on March 11, 2021. (JOEL SAGET / AFP)
France
French Health Minister Olivier Veran on Thursday said AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will not be suspended in France after some European countries decided to temporarily stop using the vaccine following reports of cases of blood clots.
"At this point, neither Europe, nor France, nor Germany consider that there is a proven excess risk," said Veran. He told reporters that French drug safety agency, in line with its European Union counterpart, did not notice any reason to halt injections with the vaccine.
"The benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine are higher than the risks," he said. "We are looking systematically at each declared case of undesired serious side-effects… Each case is analysed for a link of causality with the vaccination, which so far has not been formally identified."
Earlier in the day, health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine following reports of the formation of blood clots in some recently vaccinated people.
Germany
Despite the ongoing lockdown, Germany registered 14,356 new COVID-19 infections within one day, around 2,440 more than one week ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Thursday.
The national incidence rate of reported cases within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants rose from around 65 on the previous day to 69.1 on Thursday, according to RKI, the federal government agency for disease control and prevention.
There were "very clear signs" that the third COVID-19 wave in Germany had already begun, Lothar Wieler, president of the RKI, told the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations (ACANU) in Geneva on Wednesday.
Ghana
Ghana's total confirmed COVID-19 cases is close to 87,000 almost a year after the Ghana Health Service (GHS) confirmed the country's first two cases on March 13, 2020.
The GHS explained the first two cases were imported and advised people to observe good personal hygiene, avoid shaking hands, and practice social distancing.
Following that, Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on March 15 last year announced measures taken by the government against the pandemic highlighted the country's confirmed COVID-19 cases and the interventions by the government to contain the spread.
The government subsequently suspended all public gatherings, including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, sporting events, and religious activities, such as services in churches and mosques for four weeks.
Greece
The number of cases attributed to COVID-19 variants in Greece has reached 2,144 in the past four months, the National Public Health Organization (EODY) said on Thursday.
Most of these cases, or 2,047, were attributed to the COVID-19 strain first identified in the United Kingdom, which is considered more contagious than the initial virus strain.
The country has also reported cases of the variant that first identified in South Africa.
The EODY on Thursday reported 2,570 new coronavirus infections and 51 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the tally since the start of the pandemic in Greece to 214,661 confirmed cases and 6,937 deaths.
Kenya
Kenya extended a night curfew by 60 days and banned political rallies for a month after the COVID-19 positivity rate surged to 13 percent in March from 2 percent in January, President Uhuru Kenyatta said.
The East African nation’s economy suffered a 560 billion-shilling (US$5.11 billion) hit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Kenyatta said Friday while announcing the additional measures to curb a third wave of infections. Gross domestic product expanded by an estimated 0.6 percent in 2020, instead of an initial projection of 6.2 percent, after the government introduced a lockdown in major cities, he said.
“Projections indicate that, in spite of the Covid plunge, our economy is likely to bounce back and grow 7 percent in 2021,” Kenyatta said. “If we had not made the bold decisions of 2020, as is projected, our economy would in 2021 contract by 15 percent.”
Mexico
Mexico on Thursday received a second shipment of the active substance needed to make COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese biopharmaceutical company CanSino Biologics, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.
The minister said that the flight carrying the material landed early Thursday at Mexico City's international airport.
The cargo was to be transported to a laboratory in the central state of Queretaro, where it would be packaged for future application, the minister said.
The Mexican government sought CanSino's vaccine for its immunization drive because it is a single-dose vaccine, Ebrard said as he announced the arrival of the shipment during a press conference.
Morocco
Morocco announced on Thursday 464 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total tally in the North African country to 487,750.
The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 474,257 after 519 more were added.
The death toll rose to 8,712 with seven new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while 412 are in intensive care units.
Poland
The Polish government on Thursday decided to reintroduce lockdown measures in Warsaw, the country's capital, starting Monday.
The decision came after the country registered record increases in the number of coronavirus infections.
Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said at a press conference that the government had introduced the toughest lockdown regime in Masovian province, which includes Warsaw, and Lubusz Province bordering Germany. Two other provinces of the country's 16 had already been in lockdown.
The minister said that the lockdown will be in force from March 15 to March 28. Hotels, cultural institutions and sports facilities will be shut down and the operation of shopping centers will also be restricted.
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Poland increased by a record 21,045 to 1,849,424 in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Thursday. Another 375 people have died, bringing the death toll to 46,373.
A man walks down a street in Lisbon on March 11, 2021 as Portugal announced it will start to ease restrictions due to a decrease in coronavirus cases. (CARLOS COSTA / AFP)
Portugal
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced on Thursday the country's schedule of reopening after more than two months of lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, pledging that it will be a "prudent, cautious and gradual" reopening.
Starting from March 15, educational establishments for early childhood, take-away shops, beauty studios, bookstores, car trade, and real estate mediation can open.
As of April 5, schools, small shops, restaurants and the like with open-air tables, as well as museums and art galleries, can be opened.
As of April 19, institutions of secondary and higher education will be allowed to operate, as well as auditoriums, cinemas, theaters, and restaurants and similar establishments with tables in the indoor facilities.
After May 3, restaurants will be authorized to expand their service to more public, with the release of major religious events and ceremonies.
Romania
The Romanian health authorities decided late Thursday to temporarily quarantine over 4,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, coming from the same batch suspended in Italy, but to continue the vaccination with the serum from the other batches.
The batch involved is ABV 2856, announced the National Coordinating Committee for COVID-19 Vaccination Activities (CNCAV) in a statement, adding that Romania received 81,600 doses of the batch on Feb 7, and more than 77,000 doses have been used so far.
Russia
Russia is ramping up overseas output of its COVID-19 vaccine, pledging to supply shots to almost one in ten people on the planet this year even as it’s produced only a tiny fraction of that so far.
“We have capacity to provide the vaccine to 700 million people outside Russia this year,” Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of state-run Russian Direct Investment Fund, which backed Sputnik V’s development and is in charge of its foreign roll-out, said in an interview Wednesday. “The biggest producers will be India, China and South Korea.”
Russia’s success in persuading so far around 50 countries to approve the shot has bolstered its global ambitions, with several million doses already delivered to Latin America led by Argentina and Mexico.
But the production roll-out has gone slower than RDIF initially forecast and in Russia, take-up of the inoculation has lagged. Dmitriev wouldn’t comment on current output levels at the top foreign producers other than to say they’re “substantial.”
Rwanda
More than 230,000 Rwandans have been inoculated against COVID-19 in the ongoing nationwide vaccination rollout, starting from last week, the presidential office said Thursday.
The recipients included Rwandan President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame, who received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday at King Faisal Hospital in the capital city Kigali.
Rwanda plans to vaccinate 30 percent of its population by the end of 2021 and 60 percent by the end of 2022 to achieve herd immunity against the virus.
In this March 09, 2021 photo, a medical worker holds a vial of the British-Swedish AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo Da Vinci in Milan. (MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)
Serbia
Serbia's coronavirus cases have surpassed half a million, the Ministry of Health confirmed on Wednesday.
According to the latest data, 4,595 people have tested positive in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's caseload to 503,291.
At present, 4,359 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, while the death toll reached 4,644.
Sweden
Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and her spouse Prince Daniel have tested positive for COVID-19, Swedish Television (SVT) reported on Thursday.
The royal couple isolated themselves on Wednesday following cold symptoms, the Royal court's information manager Margareta Thorgren told SVT.
"They both show milder flu-like symptoms but feel good under the circumstances."
The royal couple's children Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar were also quarantined at home.
UK
Public Health England (PHE) said on Thursday that it has designated a new COVID-19 variant identified in Britain as a Variant Under Investigation (VUI).
Two cases of the variant, called VUI-202103/01, have so far been found in the South East of England in individuals who had recently travelled to Antigua, according to the PHE.
The variant contains the spike mutations E484K and N501Y, both of which are usually associated with some previously identified variants that have been designated as Variants of Concern (VOC), the PHE said.
Another 6,753 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,241,677, according to official figures released Thursday.
The country also reported another 181 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 125,168. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
US
President Joe Biden told US states on Thursday to make all adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by May 1 and urged Americans to stay vigilant or face more restrictions, hours after he signed a US$1.9 trillion stimulus bill into law.
In a forceful but somber speech from the White House on the first anniversary of the pandemic lockdown, Biden said if Americans pulled together there could be a greater sense of normalcy – and some backyard barbecue parties with small groups – on the US Independence Day holiday on July 4.
That date is a new goal for the president and a projection of hope amid a pandemic that has killed more than 530,000 people in the United States, the most of any country.
More US states are on track to drop their mask mandates and fully reopen their economies despite warnings from officials and health experts to tread carefully until more people are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Maryland became the latest US state to largely restart its economy as Governor Larry Hogan announced Tuesday that restaurants, retailers and other businesses would be allowed to reopen without capacity restrictions beginning Friday.
States including Texas, Mississippi, Connecticut, Arizona and Wyoming have unveiled similar plans in recent days, as the country is ramping up COVID-19 vaccination, and new cases and deaths are dropping.
Some states are easing restrictions gradually.
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COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York state went down to 4,735 on Wednesday, compared with 4,798 one day earlier, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the single-day COVID-19 test positivity rate dropped to 2.77 percent on Wednesday from 3.16 percent on Tuesday, he said, adding that there were 80 COVID-19 deaths in the state on Wednesday, compared with 58 one day earlier.
Also on Thursday, the governor announced that domestic travelers will no longer be required to quarantine after entering New York from another US state or US territory starting April 1.
As of Thursday noon, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reported 48,573 deaths in New York state, the second worst in the country following the state of California with a death toll of 54,890.
