Covid-19 Pandemic: Updates and live news from January 1, 2021

Photographer: Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The United States surpassed 20 million cases of Covid-19, a year after a mysterious pathogen was first revealed in Wuhan, China. This number is almost double that in India, the second most affected country. New York State infections remained high, just below the record set Wednesday, as the positive test rate in New York City rose to 10%. The death toll in California hit a record.

The pandemic entered 2021 with no signs of slowing down. World daily deaths hit record highs this week. Countries of Germany a Japan in South Africa ended 2020 with record daily cases. Turkey, China and Brazil became the last countries to report infections new highly transmissible strain of virus.

Vaccines continued to be the best hope for 2021. The World Health Organization issued an emergency use designation for the firing of Pfizer Inc., a measure that could allow more countries to import and distribute the vaccine.

Main developments:

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US Covid Hospitalizations at High (16:55 pm NY)

American hospitalizations reached a new high, with 125,379 people admitaccording to data collected by the Covid Tracking Project. This compares with the previous two waves of the virus, in April and July, which reached a maximum of about 60,000.

The data show the Midwest as the only region where hospitalizations are declining, with more in the south, with just under 50,000. The Northeast, the hardest hit by the first wave of the pandemic, has seen the lowest number of hospitalizations during the recent wave.

Oxford-AstraZeneca expects more vaccine production, according to Times reports (16:47 pm NY)

A member of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination team expects two million doses to be ready each week by mid-January, the London Times reported.

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

Buds of Virginia, Maryland near highs (3:31 pm NY)

Virginia reported its second consecutive day of more than 5,000 cases, a day after infections reached a new high. Total hospitalizations, which have nearly tripled since early November, reached a record 2,744, according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project.

Neighboring Maryland reported 3,557 cases, the second highest recorded, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. Hospitalizations are also close to a record, with 1,773.

California death rises on record (2:41 pm NY)

California added a record 585 new deaths, bringing the total to 25,971. The state reported 47,189 new cases, for a total of about 2.3 million.

The Golden State has been emerging as the epicenter of the latest outbreak, as hospitals, especially in Southern California, run out of intensive care beds. The test positivity rate of 12.2% is at one of the highest levels since the start of the pandemic.

Ireland sees post-Christmas rise (14:24 pm NY)

Ireland expects to register more than 9,000 cases in the coming days as Christmas is delayed in reporting and testing. More than 1,700 cases were reported on Friday, almost to the maximum. Medical authorities warned of an increase in hospitalizations, with up to 70 patients a day admitted, joining the more than 500 who are already being treated at the hospital.

Ireland has entered a third national closure pending widespread vaccination.

All London primary schools will remain closed, according to Guardian Reports (2:15 pm in New York)

All London primary schools will close for the start of the new quarter following pressure from local authorities, The Guardian reported.

Earlier, the UK government had omitted several areas of London from a list of primary schools that would be closed. An emergency cabinet office meeting on New Year’s Day resulted in the incorporation of the remaining London education authorities into government contingency areas.

Turkey finds 15 new variant cases among UK visitors (13:03 pm in New York)

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

The 15 patients had been in quarantine since they were examined and so far no other cases of the most infectious mutant virus in the country have been detected, Koca said in an online statement.

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

New York cases remain near high (12:54 pm NY)

New York State reported 16,497 new cases, just below the record set Wednesday for the entire pandemic. Total hospitalizations fell slightly to 7,886, as did the overall positive test rate, at 7.52%, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. Another 166 people died, most in two weeks of more than 100 fatalities.

Danish Prime Minister sets April as turning point in the fight against viruses (12:13 pm NY)

Denmark will probably 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 must hope that the most difficult months are still ahead of us,” the Social Democrat prime minister said in her New Year’s speech released on Friday. He said Easter Sunday, April 4, “will not be the end, but a turning point,” aided by vaccinations and the best weather conditions.

New York positive test rate rises to 10% (11:54 am NY)

New York City’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 Friday. This figure 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 to fight against it # COVID-19[FEMININE,” Ell va dir.

Itàlia Cases Slow (11:17 am NY)

Itàlia va registrar divendres 22.211 casos de virus, des dels 23.477 del dia anterior. També van disminuir les morts diàries, amb 462 víctimes mortals, en comparació amb les 555 de dijous.
El govern italià ha imposat un tancament “stop-and-go” a tot el país del 24 de desembre al 6 de gener, amb estrictes restriccions durant les festes de Nadal, Cap d’Any i l’Epifania el 6 de gener.

Els casos nous del Regne Unit continuen sent elevats (11:09 am NY)

El Regne Unit va informar divendres 53.285 casos nous i 613 morts. El darrer nombre R es va estimar entre 1,1 i 1,3, cosa que significa que el virus continua propagant-se exponencialment.

Portugal informa de menys casos diaris (11:06 am NY)

Portugal va informar de 6.951 nous casos confirmats, per sota del rècord de 7.627 anunciat el dia anterior, que va portar el total a 420.629. El nombre de casos hospitalitzats va caure en 34, fins a 2.806.

Portugal va iniciar el seu programa de vacunació contra el Covid-19 el 27 de desembre.

Filipines prohibirà els estrangers que viatgin des dels Estats Units (10:57 am NY)

Filipines prohibirà els viatgers estrangers dels Estats Units fins a mitjan gener després que un tercer estat, Florida, informés que una cepa del coronavirus es creia que era més infecciosa, va informar Reuters.

La prohibició, que comença diumenge, no s’aplica als filipins que viatgen des dels Estats Units, tot i que hauran de fer quarantena durant 14 dies en una instal·lació governamental, va informar l’agència de notícies.

Noruega aixecarà la prohibició del vol del Regne Unit (6:33 am NY)

Noruega eliminarà la parada dels vols del Regne Unit a partir de les 5 de la tarda (CET) del 2 de gener, segons el Ministeri de Serveis de Salut i Atenció del país. Continuaran les normes especials sobre quarantena i proves per a persones que vénen del Regne Unit.

Merz, alemanya, demana la reobertura de les escoles (16:42 HK)