NEW DELHI – India has tested its COVID-19 vaccine distribution system with a nationwide trial as it prepares to roll out an inoculation program to stop the coronavirus pandemic.
Saturday’s exercise included data entry on an online platform to monitor vaccine delivery, along with cold storage testing and vaccine transportation arrangements.
The massive exercise came a day after a group of government-appointed experts held a meeting to review applications from potential vaccine candidates, including the first Covishield candidate, developed by Oxford University and the manufacturer of AstraZeneca medicines based in the United Kingdom.
The government plans to inoculate 300 million people in the first phase of the vaccination program, which will include health and front-line workers, police and military troops and those with underlying medical conditions over the age of 50.
India has confirmed more than 10.3 million cases of coronavirus, second in the world to the United States. More than 149,000 people have died in India, third behind the United States (347,000) and Brazil (195,000).
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VIRUS BROUGHT:
India, which plans to vaccinate 300 million people in its first phase, has tested its coronavirus vaccine administration system with a nationwide trial storage and delivery. Meanwhile, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike is calling on the national government to declare a “state of emergency” to reduce the growing coronavirus “in the name of valuing life.” Tokyo reported a daily record of 1,337 cases on New Year’s Eve and concerns are growing ahead of the Olympics in July. In Italy, the elderly challenge stereotypes they need care and protection in the midst of the pandemic and many are key workers.
California began the new year by reporting a record 585 coronavirus deaths in a single day as infections increase and hospitals reach their capacity. Texas reported a record for hospitalizations for the fifth day in a row. On New Year’s Day there were 12,481 patients with COVID-19, an increase of more than 1,750 from last week.
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HERE IS WHAT HAPPENS MOST:
TOKYO – Officials in Tokyo and three nearby prefectures have called on the national government to declare a state of emergency to reduce the growing spread of coronavirus.
“In the name of valuing life, we made this request together,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said after meeting on Saturday with the minister in charge of coronavirus measures, along with governors Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.
Japan has experienced a recent increase in reported cases of coronavirus, especially in urban areas. Tokyo had a daily record of 1,337 New Year’s Eve cases.
There is concern about hosting the Olympics in July, with 11,000 Olympic athletes entering Japan, as well as tens of thousands of officials and the media.
“Corona has no calendar,” Koike says. “Hospitals are filling up and affecting everyone’s health care.”
Japan has never had a blockade, trying to juggle the need to keep the economy at risk for health. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has been criticized for what some see as his mishandling of the pandemic. Japan has more than 3,500 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths.
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BERLIN – The CEO of the German travel operator TUI predicts a “largely normal summer” in 2021, as more and more people are vaccinated against coronavirus.
TUI chief Fritz Joussen told Saturday’s Rheinische Post that the company’s market research shows that “people have a great desire to be able to travel well again after the difficult crown period. “.
He said “we look forward to an almost normal summer.” However, he added that the company will only offer around 80% of the flights it made in pre-pandemic years “to achieve optimal employment”.
Coronavirus infections that have re-emerged in the autumn and winter have led to national and regional restrictions on travel and hotel stays, along with quarantine requirements, which largely shut down tourism in Europe after a revival last summer.
Vaccinations began in Europe last month, but it will take some time to have a significant impact on the situation.
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SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea is extending strict distancing rules for two more weeks as authorities try to suppress a viral resurgence, confirming its first case of a seemingly more contagious variant of the coronavirus detected in South Africa.
Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Saturday that the second highest level of distancing standards will be maintained in the Seoul region until January 17. He said the third highest level of restrictions will remain in other areas until then.
Sidewalks include bans on social gatherings of more than five people and face-to-face religious services. The government will require foreigners entering South Korea to report negative virus test results from January 8.
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LONDON – The British government is facing growing calls to keep all schools in England closed for at least two weeks as a result of an increase in coronavirus cases following another sudden reversal of policy.
The call from the National Education Union, which represents more than 450,000 members working in schools, came after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson changed his mind and said all schools for younger students of London should remain closed next week as capital battles with high levels of infections.
Mary Bousted, the union’s joint chief, said the decision was “completely necessary”, but criticized the government for initially planning to allow some schools to reopen in areas where new infections were in full swing.
The UK is in the midst of a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases that many have accused of a new virus variant that is said to be up to 70% more infectious.
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LOS ANGELES – California began the new year with a record 585 coronavirus deaths in a single day.
The state Department of Public Health said Friday that more than 47,000 new confirmed cases were reported, bringing the total to more than 2.29 million.
State hospitals ended the year “on the brink of catastrophe,” a health official said as the pandemic brought deaths and illnesses to staggering levels and some medical centers rushed to provide oxygen to patients. critics.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Friday that California would begin collaborating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate and upgrade obsolete oxygen supply systems at six hospitals in the Los Angeles area. .
The collaboration comes as older hospitals have difficulty maintaining oxygen pressure on aging infrastructure and some were struggling to locate additional oxygen tanks so that discharged patients could take them home.
This week, California became the third state to exceed 25,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas set a new record in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 for the fifth day in a row on Friday, in a steady rise in coronavirus-caused disease after meetings and vacation trips.
Texas reported 12,481 COVID-19 patients in state hospitals on New Year’s Day, an increase of more than 1,750 from last week.
State health officials on Friday reported 12,369 new confirmed cases of the virus and another 3,658 probable cases.
According to the Texas State Department of Health Services, intensive care units in various parts of Texas were full or nearly full.
The heavy toll has continued to rise as some Texans gathered to celebrate the new year, despite warnings from health officials that the congregation is likely to spread the virus even further.
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CARSON CITY, Nevada – On Friday, Nevada, 2,315 best-known cases of COVID-19 were reported along with 21 more coronavirus deaths.
State totals since the pandemic began rose to 227,046 cases and 3,146 deaths.
The seven-day rotating averages of new daily cases and daily deaths in Nevada fell in the past two weeks. This is according to data from Johns Hopkins University and the COVID Tracking Project.
The number of infections is believed to be much higher than reported because many people have not been tested and studies suggest that you can become infected with the virus without feeling sick.
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LONDON – British medical authorities warn hospitals across the country are facing dangerous weeks amid new coronavirus infections blamed on a new virus variant.
Concern is growing about the ability of the already expanded National Health Service to cope with the projected increase in the number of people seeking treatment for COVID-19.
Field hospitals that were built in the early days of the pandemic but later became ill are reactivated.
The director of England at the Royal College of Nursing says the UK is in the eye of the storm.
More than 55,280 new infections and another 613 deaths were reported on Friday, putting the UK on track to overtake Italy as the country hardest hit by Europe’s pandemic.
The rise in new cases is said to be due to a new, more contagious variant of the virus first identified in London and the south-east of England.
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