International Affairs Archives

January 2021

1/28/2021

  • Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
  • Germany's health minister, Jens Spahn, said the country is facing a 10-week vaccine shortage.
  • A businessman from Taiwan has been fined more than $35,000 after he was caught on camera repeatedly breaking rules requiring him to quarantine at home. The man, who returned to Taiwan last week from mainland China, left his home seven times when he was supposed to be in isolation.
  • Israel has secured COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer by agreeing to share medical data on Israelis. The country has now vaccinated a quarter of its population – making it the most vaccinated country in the world. However, some privacy experts are concerned as the deal would allow Pfizer to access 30 years' worth of medical records from the entire population.
  • In South Africa, a delivery of 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to arrive imminently at Johannesburg’s international airport. Doctors and nurses are expected to start receiving vaccinations next week.
  • The U.K. is starting a hotel quarantine system for arrivals from high-risk countries starting Wednesday. The measures will apply to people coming from 22 countries including amid concern over new variants of the virus. In addition, travelers from the U.A.E., Burundi, and Rwanda will be denied entry to the U.K.
  • The Gambian health ministry said it will “name and shame” people refusing to self-isolate, after 40 refused to do so last week or escaped treatment clinics.
  • Iceland has issued its first vaccine passports to ease international travel for people who have been fully vaccinated.
  • The French Government has imposed a 6 PM curfew to contain the surge of new cases. .
  • Germany is considering sending medical aid to Portuguese hospitals that are running out of oxygen supplies to support critically ill COVID-19 patients.
  • Thailand is targeting the immunization of 19 million people against the coronavirus in a first phase of inoculations starting on Feb. 14, amid criticism the government has been slow in rolling out vaccines.
  • Switzerland will require negative coronavirus tests from people entering the country from high-risk areas as of Feb. 8.
  • Madrid health authorities have suspended COVID-19 vaccinations this week and next because they have started running out of doses.
  • Bahrain will suspend dine-in services in restaurants and cafes and will move public and private schools to remote learning for three weeks to contain the spread of COVID-19.
  • Beijing will require people arriving from low-risk areas in China between Jan. 28 and Mar. 15 to show negative COVID-19 test results in an effort to mitigate transmission ahead of peak travel season around the lunar new year and the annual parliament meeting on Mar. 5.
  • A Chinese donation of 500,000 doses of its domestically manufactured Sinopharm vaccine will arrive in Pakistan on Saturday. The Pakistani government plans to begin rolling out its COVID-19 vaccination drive next week.
  • Norway will close its borders to all but essential visitors starting at midnight local time on Friday.
  • The Czech health ministry has recommended halting first doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the next two weeks to prioritize giving second doses.
  • Vietnam has reported its first cases of community transmission in months, after two infections were detected in the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Quang Ninh, just weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday.
  • Iran has approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and plans to both import it and produce it.
  • Vietnam, which has been widely praised for its success in controlling COVID-19, is preparing for tens of thousands of new infections after local transmission was detected in northern provinces for the first time in almost two months.
  • Chile has received a first shipment of almost two million doses of the Chinese Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine and plans to roll it out across the country beginning next week.
  • The French public health agency for the Paris region has told regional hospitals they must suspend injections of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from Feb. 2 because of limited supplies.
  • Portugal’s government has announced it will reintroduce controls along its 750-mile border with Spain as authorities respond to a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths.
  • Global Cases: 100,455,529    Total Deaths: 2,166,440

1/25/2021

  • Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
  • The European Commission, the executive arm of the E.U., recommended restricting nonessential travel in a bid to curb the spread of new more contagious variants of the coronavirus.
  • On Monday, Australia approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use among people over the age of 16. Vaccinations are expected to start late February.
  • Turkey has received 6.5 million doses of a Chinese-produced COVID-19 vaccine. Turkey previously expected to receive 30 million doses by the end of January, but the number of doses remains low due to delayed batches.
  • Officials in New Zealand confirmed a case of the South African variant of COVID-19 from a returned traveler. Despite testing negative twice, the traveler tested positive after leaving quarantine. It is the first case New Zealand has recorded since November. As a result, Australia suspended all travel with New Zealand for 72 hours.
  • Mexico’s President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tested positive for COVID-19. He is undergoing medical treatment for mild symptoms.
  • Ukraine has reopened schools and restaurants after a week of strict lockdown. The minister of healthcare, Maksym Stepanov, cited a rapid decline in new cases and hospitalizations as the reason for lifting the lockdown.
  • The Netherlands experienced anti-lockdown riots over the weekend which resulted in an imposed curfew of 9 PM and hundreds of arrests. A COVID-19 test facility was burned down in the riots.
  • A Berlin hospital was forced to lock down and put its entire staff in quarantine after 20 people tested positive for the new British COVID-19 variant. The lockdown impacted 1,700 nurses, doctors, and support staff.
  • U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that schools are not expected to start reopening until at least March.
  • The U.K. will announce an enforced quarantine for travelers arriving in the country from abroad after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said new coronavirus variants were prompting a review of border policy.
  • People in Iceland will soon receive vaccination certificates that could allow them to circumvent quarantine requirements. The certificate aims to facilitate the movement of people across borders. Iceland have reported zero new COVID-19 infections since Jan. 22.
  • The E.U. has urged AstraZeneca to speed up its vaccine distribution after the company announced a large cut in supplies.
  • Russia and China have approached Zimbabwe about supplying vaccines to tackle the escalating COIVD-19 outbreak. Zimbabwe authorities are struggling to contain the spread of the virus, and hospitals are at full capacity across the county. Zimbabwe’s government have ordered a near shutdown of public service operations to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
  • Thailand said it will start its vaccination program next month using the AstraZeneca vaccine. The country initially requested 1 million doses, but due to shortages they only received 150,000.
  • Germany is the first country in the E.U. to treat COVID-19 patients with the antibody cocktail used to treat former U.S. President Donald Trump. The monoclonal antibody treatment is used as a passive vaccination but is difficult to produce and expensive. Germany has bought 200,000 doses for $485 million.
  • The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has replaced the head of the emirate’s health authority without explanation. Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in the U.A.E., Rashid al-Maktoum appointed Awad Saghir al-Ketbi as the new director general of the Dubai Health Authority.
  • The Serum Institute of India will supply Saudi Arabia with 3 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses in about a week on behalf of the British drug maker.
  • Individuals in Lebanon took to the streets to protest a month-long lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19. Security forces responded with tear gas to break up the protest.
  • The Italian government on Monday sent a letter of formal notice to Pfizer calling on the drug company to respect its contractual commitments over its COVID-19 vaccine deliveries.
  • The number of people hospitalized in France has risen by over 1,000 in the last two days. The death toll in France is now 73,494 – the world’s seventh highest.
  • Russia will supply Mexico with 24 million doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine over the next two months.
  • In Hong Kong, authorities said Saturday that they had locked down part of a densely packed neighborhood and started to test everyone there, one of the most drastic measures that the Chinese territory has taken since the coronavirus surfaced there last winter.
  • In Madrid, restaurants and bars will need to close early beginning today, as part of a series of new lockdown restrictions announced by the authorities in Spain’s capital region.
  • Global Cases: 98,794,942   Total Deaths: 2,124,193

1/21/2021

  • Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
  • Hungary is the first country in the E.U. to approve the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V.
  • The U.A.E. also approved the Russian coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, making it the third vaccine approved for use in the country.
  • At 94,580 deaths, the U.K. now has the highest number of deaths in Europe and fifth highest in the world.
  • The Czech parliament has extended the country’s state of emergency until Feb. 14. The extension will allow the government to temporarily shut businesses and enforce strict social distancing rules.
  • Three people in Shanghai have tested positive for COVID-19, the first confirmed cases in the city in two months. The capital, Beijing, and Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shanxi, and Shandong provinces have all recently reported new infections. Beijing has restricted the number of passengers allowed on public transportation and extended the quarantine period for travelers returning from overseas.
  • A fire broke out at the Serum Institute of India, one of the world’s largest vaccine makers. It is currently producing millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The fire did not disrupt production of the vaccine but did kill five people.
  • Australia is unlikely to open its borders in 2021, even if most of the population is vaccinated, according to Australia’s Health Secretary. Citizens and permanent residents are still allowed to enter but must complete a 14-day hotel quarantine at their own expense.
  • Northern Ireland will extend its lockdown until Mar. 5 due to a spike in cases. All non-essential businesses and schools will be closed.
  • India has started the world’s biggest coronavirus vaccine drive. The program aims to vaccinate 1.3 billion people with two approved vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin. Since Wednesday, the Indian Government has also sent 3.2 million free vaccine doses to Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives.
  • South African government minister Jackson Mthembu has died from COVID-19. Mthembu was one of the government's key leaders in its response to the pandemic and served as the public face during many COVID-19 press briefings.
  • The COVID-19 fatality rate across the African continent stands at 2.5 percent, higher than the global level of 2.2 percent, a trend that is alarming experts.
  • Pfizer has slashed in half the volume of COVID-19 vaccines it will deliver to some E.U. countries this week.
  • E.U. leaders agreed on Thursday to selectively restrict nonessential travel within the 27-member bloc and from nonmember countries, in a bid to slow the spread of two highly contagious variants of the coronavirus that are already present in multiple countries in the region. All non-essential travel is highly discouraged, and the bloc will adopt a common framework for the use and requirement of rapid antigen tests prior to departure.
  • Portuguese prime minister António Costa said all flights to and from Britain will be suspended beginning Saturday.
  • Portugal’s government on Thursday ordered the closure of schools for two weeks amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. The country has been in lockdown since last week, but cases continue to climb sharply, setting almost daily records and threatening to overwhelm hospitals.
  • Lebanon has extended its strict general lockdown, which includes a 24-hour curfew, until Feb. 8. Hospitals in Lebanon are currently reporting 91 percent occupancy of ICU beds.
  • The World Bank said it approved a re-allocation of $34 million in funds to support Lebanon’s vaccination efforts, the first transfer of its kind.
  • France will require people to wear higher quality face masks in public, a measure likely to render many home-made cloth masks obsolete. Officials say most washable masks sold in French stores already meet the required standard. Germany mandated the use of surgical grade masks on public transportation, in office spaces, and in shops earlier this week, and Austria will implement similar requirements next week.
  • French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday promised he would allow university students to attend in-person classes one day per week, subsidize mental health counseling, and ramp up access to inexpensive cafeteria meals.
  • Chile’s health regulator approved emergency roll-out of the CoronaVac vaccine manufactured by China’s Sinovac.
  • India’s government has cleared commercial exports of COVID-19 vaccines, with the first orders to be shipped to Brazil and Morocco on Friday.
  • China will gift Pakistan 500,000 doses of its Sinopharm vaccine, according to Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
  • Australia recorded a fourth day of zero coronavirus cases on Thursday.
  • Global Cases: 95,612,831               Total Deaths: 2,066,176

1/19/2021

  • Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
  • WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that the world is nearing a “catastrophic moral failure” as wealthy countries control vaccine supplies that could leave poorer nations to struggle more with curtailing the spread of COVID-19.
  • The European Commission said that the bloc’s 27 member states should aim to have at least 80 percent of health care workers and citizens over the age of 80 vaccinated by March and at least 70 percent of the whole population vaccinated by this summer.
  • An estimated one in eight people in England have already been infected with COVID-19, according to antibody data from the U.K. Office for National Statistics.
  • Before the end of the month, London will open pilot COVID-19 vaccination sites that will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • The Americas reported more than 2.5 million new COVID-19 cases last week, more than half of all global infections. I.C.U. capacity remains strained in parts of Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador, with some hospitals reaching 90 percent capacity.
  • People aged 75 and over and those with high-risk conditions are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in France starting Monday. Previously, only residents of nursing homes and medical staff aged 50 and over were able to be vaccinated.
  • Denmark has announced it will include people experiencing homelessness among those given priority for COVID-19 vaccines.
  • On Tuesday, Serbia launched a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign and became the first European country to use the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine.
  • Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha warned that his government would prosecute anyone who shares false information about coronavirus vaccines on social or mass media.
  • Israel will extend its third national lockdown until at least Jan. 31. Most schools and nonessential businesses were closed earlier this month for two weeks, with outdoor gatherings restricted to 10 people.
  • Germany is extending its national lockdown until Feb. 14, with new rules mandating the use of medical masks, rather than fabric masks, in shops and on public transportation.
  • Some German states are planning guarded mandatory quarantine centers in places such as hospitals, refugee centers, and youth detention centers for the very few who repeatedly disobey quarantine rules.
  • Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday that the country’s lockdown will be extended to mid-February, keeping schools closed and continuing to require people to stay at home for all but essential purposes.
  • Rwanda announced new restrictions in the capital, Kigali, on Monday. Places of worship must close, public transportation is shut down, travel between the capital and other parts of the country is banned, and all workers other than those providing essential services must work from home. Businesses selling food, medicine, fuel, or cleaning products may operate but must close by 6 PM.
  • Officials in Hong Kong said on Tuesday that current social distancing measures, which include a ban on dine-in service after 6 PM, the suspension of in-person classes, and a ban on public gatherings of more than two people, would be extended for at least another week.
  • Tanzania’s president John Magufuli urged farmers in the country to increase food production as he predicted global shortages later this year due to pandemic lockdowns, especially in some of the largest food-producing states.
  • Starting Jan. 26, everyone flying to New Zealand will have to show proof before departure that they have tested negative for COVID-19, unless they are coming from Australia, Antarctica, or most Pacific islands. Two weeks of quarantine continues to be mandatory for all travelers to the country, which last recorded a locally transmitted case in November.
  • Global Cases: 94,124,612               Total Deaths: 2,034,527

1/14/2021

  • Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
  • More than a year after a new coronavirus first emerged in China, a team of experts from the WHO arrived on Thursday in the central city of Wuhan to begin hunting for the source of the outbreak. In a sign of Beijing’s continuing efforts to control the investigation, the team of scientists and WHO employees almost immediately ran into obstacles. Two scientists were unable to enter China at the last minute and remained in Singapore because they had tested positive for coronavirus antibodies.
  • COVID-19 deaths in the U.K. have increased by 51 percent over the past week. Patients are being transferred from overstretched hospitals in the capital of London to ICUs more than 100 miles away in order to accommodate all who need care.
  • China has reported its first COVID-19 related death in 242 days as daily new infections reached the highest levels since July.
  • A leading Chinese COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech was just 50.38 percent effective in late-stage trials in Brazil, significantly lower than earlier results showed.
  • Regulators in the Philippines granted EUA to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, making Pfizer the first foreign company to receive permission to distribute its COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
  • Jordan has started giving COVID-19 vaccines to refugees free of charge, making it one of the world’s first countries to start providing vaccinations to U.N. registered refugees.
  • The African Union has purchased an additional 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers to be distributed to its 55 member states. At least 50 million doses of vaccines supplied by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson will be available in April.
  • Italy’s vaccination program is moving faster than expected, with those over age 80 receiving their first injection this week instead of early February.
  • Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico issued a joint declaration earlier this week imposing coordinated health measures to deter migration, including requirements to produce negative coronavirus tests at border checkpoints.
  • Switzerland will enter new COVID-19 restrictions on Monday. All shops selling non-essential goods will have to close, a limit on private gatherings has been cut to five people from 10, and the closure of bars, restaurants, cultural centers, and sports facilities is extended until the end of February.
  • Denmark has extended COVID-19 restrictions that were set to expire Jan. 17 for three weeks. Non-essential businesses and schools will remain closed, social gatherings are limited to no more than five people, and face masks must be worn in indoor public areas.
  • Moscow will extend for one week its current COVID-19 mitigation measures, including the closure of bars and restaurants, limits on the number of workers in offices, and a mask mandate in shops and on public transportation.
  • On Thursday, the leader of Spain’s most populous region — Andalusia — asked residents to stay home voluntarily. The national health ministry reported more new coronavirus cases on Wednesday than on any previous day since the pandemic began, and hospitalizations across Spain are rising sharply.
  • Cuba will close schools, public transport, and cultural activities amid its worst outbreak of the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
  • Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in seven additional areas of the country on Wednesday. Under the state of emergency, which takes immediate effect and is expected to end Feb. 7 for all 11 regions currently affected, Suga said governors will ask residents to refrain from dining out and to stay home after 8 PM unless for essential reasons. They will also ask companies to decrease the number of employees commuting to work by 70 percent.
  • France strengthened border controls and extended a curfew to the entire country on Thursday. Starting next Monday, all travelers coming to France from countries outside of the E.U. will have to present proof of a negative virus test that is no older than 72 hours, and pledge to isolate for seven days before getting tested again. Starting on Saturday, shops will have to close by 6 PM and people will have to be home by 6 PM for at least fifteen days. Schools will remain open with stricter mitigation protocols.
  • France also said on Thursday that it planned to test up to a million school children and teachers every month for COVID-19 amid growing concern over the spread in classrooms of the coronavirus variant that was first detected in Britain.
  • More than 20,000 citizens from 12 villages in the Gaocheng District of the Chinese city of Shijiangzhuang have been relocated to quarantine sites as a preventative measure against COVID-19, according to Chinese state media.
  • New Zealand, which has kept its borders tightly controlled while largely vanquishing the coronavirus, will let 1,000 international students back into the country starting in April.
  • Starting Friday at 4 AM local time, arrivals to the U.K. will be banned from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
  • Turkish President Recep Tayyip on Thursday received a first dose of CoronaVac, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac. Turkey approved CoronaVac for emergency use on Wednesday and began its vaccination rollout across all 81 provinces on Thursday, starting with frontline workers.
  • Global Cases: 91,061,072               Total Deaths: 1,970,741

1/11/2021

  • Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
  • A group of experts from the WHO are set to arrive in China on Thursday for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
  • The WHO aims to launch COVID-19 vaccines in poor and lower middle-income countries in February through its Covax program.
  • Israel is leading the world in vaccinating its people, with almost 20 percent of the population having received at least one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
  • Japanese health officials alerted the WHO of a new COVID-19 variant, which is different than COVID-19 variants first identified in the U.K. and in South Africa.
  • Indonesian regulators have granted emergency approval to the Chinese-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, becoming the first country outside China to do so.
  • Russian vaccine scientists on Monday began a study to determine whether they can speed up the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign by providing only a single dose of its normally two-dose vaccine.
  • Seychelles, an island nation of just under 100,000 people, became the first African country to begin immunizing its population against COVID-19 with a vaccine developed by China’s state-owned Sinopharm.
  • India will begin a mass vaccination program on Saturday, aiming to administer doses to 300 million frontline workers and elderly and vulnerable people by August.
  • British authorities announced their decision to delay the administration of the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines to help more people receive an initial dose, a policy shift that has not yet been backed by scientists. The U.K. opened seven mass vaccination centers across the country to bolster its vaccine rollout on Monday.
  • Hospital mortuaries in Britain are running out of room for bodies as the country grapples with a surge in infections.
  • Hospitals in Peru’s north, south, and central regions have no beds left in their ICUs. In the capital of Lima, only six ICU beds are left.
  • Germany implemented new COVID-19 mitigation measures Monday that will remain in place until at least Jan. 31. Residents may only have one home visitor at a time; those living in hotspot regions are confined to a nine-mile radius around their houses; only grocery stores and drugstores can remain open; and travelers entering Germany from high-risk areas must register upon arrival, quarantine for 10 days, and be tested for the virus.
  • More than half a million people were placed under lockdown in Beijing on Monday as the Chinese government imposed strict measures to stamp out a handful of COVID-19 cases. All rural villages in Shunyi district on the outskirts of Beijing are locked down until a fresh round of mass testing has been completed. Officials also said locals would be under “closed management,” suggesting they will be barred from leaving their residences.
  • Malaysia will impose a two-week partial lockdown in the worst-hit areas of the country on Wednesday, forcing all non-essential businesses to close.
  • Zimbabwe has banned families from transporting their dead relatives between cities as part of new measures to stop traditional funeral rites that are believed to be increasing the spread of COVID-19.
  • One week after enforcing a three-week lockdown, Lebanon introduced stricter COVID-19 mitigation measures under which there will be a 24-hour curfew, land and maritime borders will be closed to all travelers except those with transit visas, and supermarkets will be open for delivery service only. Medical workers, employees of oil and wheat sectors, journalists, and people who work in fields such as telecommunication, water, and electricity are exempt.
  • Teachers in Malta have returned to their classrooms and ended a two-day strike after the government agreed to give them priority in the island country’s vaccination campaign.
  • Primary schools and kindergartens in Greece reopened on Monday after a two-month closure. The country’s secondary schools and universities will remain closed, with classes being conducted remotely.
  • The city of Brisbane, Australia, will lift a strict three-day lockdown enforced last week after a case of the new variant of the coronavirus was recorded. The lockdown will end Monday evening, though masks will remain mandatory in crowded spaces in the city for another 10 days.
  • Thailand’s tourism minister hopes to boost the country’s economy by allowing overseas visitors to quarantine at golf resorts. Under a proposed plan, tourists would no longer be stuck in their rooms for the two-week quarantine period; instead, they would be able to golf and explore the resorts, presumably while keeping a safe distance from others.
  • Portugal’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Global Cases: 89,048,345 Total Deaths: 1,930,265

1/7/2021

  • Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
  • The WHO is reviewing vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Chinese developers for possible EUA.
  • The European Medicines Agency on Wednesday approved the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for use within the E.U., weeks after the shot began to be administered in the U.S., Britain, and elsewhere.
  • Health officials in Brazil said a COVID-19 vaccine made by the Beijing-based Sinovac is 78 percent effective after a prominent medical research institute carried out a large study of the candidate.
  • The U.A.E. will soon start manufacturing China’s Sinopharm vaccine in the country according to a new agreement. The Chinese state-owned drug maker announced last month that the shot was 79.3 percent effective against COVID-19.
  • The U.A.E. has also started Phase III clinical trials of Russia’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V.
  • The Netherlands is the last country in the E.U. to begin distributing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was cleared by regulators in late December and has already been administered to hundreds of thousands of people in Germany. While most E.U. nations began immunizing vulnerable groups on Dec. 27, thousands of vaccine doses that were delivered to the Netherlands were placed in cold storage while the government finalized a distribution plan.
  • The WHO has called on European countries to intensify coronavirus mitigation measures as the region deals with a new variant that was first detected in the U.K.
  • Ireland has ordered the closure of most schools and construction sites for at least three weeks in an effort to curb a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections, tightening a lockdown that has already closed most hospitality and retail outlets.
  • French prime minister Jean Castex on Thursday extended several restrictions already in place across that country that were set to expire on Jan. 20. Movie theaters, museums, and music halls will remain closed until at least the end of January, and bars and restaurants will remain shut until mid-February at the earliest. An 8 PM to 6 AM curfew will also remain in place for the time being.
  • Portugal has extended a state of emergency due to the pandemic through Jan. 15.
  • Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighboring regions on Thursday. Under the declaration, which takes immediate effect and will last for one month, governors ask that residents refrain from dining out or leaving home after 8 PM unless for essential reasons; companies will be asked to decrease the number of employees commuting to work by 70 percent; and bars and restaurants will be asked to stop serving alcohol by 7 PM and to close by 8 PM. Schools, museums, movie theaters, gyms, and shops will stay open.
  • Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is unlikely to win approval in Japan until May due to requirements for local clinical trials, which are set to begin this month.
  • Israel will impose a full national lockdown, shuttering most schools and all nonessential workplaces for at least two weeks, beginning on Thursday. Gatherings will be restricted to five persons indoors and 10 outdoors, and movement and travel abroad restricted.
  • Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said vaccine supply agreements with Pfizer meant that all Israelis over the age of 16 would be able to be vaccinated by the end of March.
  • China is imposing a strict lockdown on Shijiazhuang, a city of 11 million in the northern province of Hebei, after a small flare-up of COVID-19 cases prompted city officials to begin a mass testing drive that uncovered nearly 130 new cases in two days. Officials said all residents in the city will be tested. Flights, trains, and cars have been barred from leaving or entering the city.
  • Senegalese President Macky Sall declared a new state of emergency and imposed a nighttime curfew from 9 PM to 5 AM on Wednesday as coronavirus cases reach aggressive new highs in parts of the West African nation. Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and Namibia have also announced new COVID-19 restrictions.
  • The critical care wards of major hospitals in Peru and Bolivia stand at or near collapse after end-of-year holidays, reflecting wider regional public health capacity concerns as much of Latin America struggles to secure adequate COVID-19 vaccine supplies.
  • South Korea plans to test 70,000 inmates and staff at the nation’s prisons in the coming days, an effort aimed identify COVID-19 clusters at 52 correctional facilities, which have been a major hotspot of infection.
  • South Korea also said it will extend its ban on incoming flights from Britain until Jan. 21. All foreigners entering South Korea will be required to submit negative COVID-19 test results starting Friday.
  • The U.K. said it will extend a ban on travelers entering England from southern African countries, including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Angola, in a measure to prevent the spread of a new COVID-19 variant identified in South Africa.
  • France’s borders with the U.K. will remain closed for the foreseeable future and any French residents returning must have a negative COVID-19 test.
  • Global Cases: 85,929,428 Total Deaths: 1,876,100

1/4/2021

  • Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
  • Britain became the first country in the world to begin distributing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday morning, with an 82-year-old Oxford native receiving the first shot just steps from where it was developed. The vaccine, approved in the U.K. on Dec. 30, was shown to be up to 90 percent effective after two doses.
  • Denmark on Monday approved a lag of up to six weeks between the first and second shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, although the vaccine is meant to be given in two doses three weeks apart. Germany and Ireland are considering similar policies.
  • Indian health regulators on Sunday approved two COVID-19 vaccines – a homegrown coronavirus vaccine called Covaxin and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Phase 3 clinical trials for Covaxin were not completed before the vaccine was given the green light, prompting concern from some medical experts.
  • Though India intends to help supply coronavirus vaccines to the developing world, the head of its largest manufacturer said on Sunday that the country will not allow the export of the doses overseas for several months, because vulnerable people living in India will receive priority.
  • Israel, which has inoculated a higher proportion of its population against the coronavirus than any other country, is delivering shots so quickly it is outstripping its supply of vaccine. While the U.S. vaccination rate is around 1 percent, Israel has reached 12 percent of its residents with the initial dose.
  • China has begun a nationwide drive to vaccinate some 50 million front-line workers against the coronavirus before the country’s Lunar New Year travel rush next month.
  • Spanish doctors and health experts have expressed frustration at the slow start to the country’s campaign to inoculate people, with only a few tens of thousands vaccinated since the E.U. approved a vaccine two weeks ago.
  • Several countries in West Africa are facing surges in COVID-19 infections as prospects for robust vaccination programs dim. Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin, and Togo have all recorded significantly higher numbers of COVID-19 cases over the last month, close to or at record levels. The African Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said countries across the continent will not receive nearly enough vaccines through the global Covax agreement to vaccinate 60 percent of the continental population.
  • Ireland’s hospitals cannot manage the current trajectory of its COVID-19 outbreak and will cancel most non-urgent procedures this week to create as much spare ICU space as possible.
  • England will enter its toughest nationwide lockdown since March, with schools and non-essential shops closed and people allowed to leave home just once a day for exercise until at least Feb. 15. Currently, people must only leave home for work, if it is impossible to work from home, and for essential food and medicine.
  • Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a new lockdown on Monday that will last until at least the end of January. People must stay home beginning at midnight except for essential reasons. Most students will move to remote learning until at least February. Beginning Friday, houses of worship will close, with exceptions for weddings, civil partnership ceremonies, and funerals.
  • Beginning Thursday, Catalonia will ban people from leaving their municipalities, close gyms and shopping centers, and allow only essential shops such as pharmacies to open. The restrictions will remain in place until Jan. 17.
  • Austria has scrapped plans to allow anyone with a negative COVID-19 test to exit the country’s lockdown a week early, effectively extending strict measures and keeping restaurants and non-essential shops closed until Jan. 24.
  • Lebanon has announced a full lockdown for three weeks, including a night curfew from 6 PM to 5 AM, to stem a rise in COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals while the country faces financial meltdown. Medical supplies have dwindled as dollars have grown scarce.
  • Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha urged people to stay home amidst a surge in COVID-19 infections. In the capital of Bangkok, schools, bars, entertainment venues, and gyms must close. Restaurants are allowed to serve food until 9 PM.
  • Authorities in Tokyo, Japan on Monday requested that restaurants and bars close by 8 PM. The Japanese capital recorded a record high of 1,337 cases in one day last week. Companies have been encouraged to allow employees to work from home, and universities have been asked to move classes online.
  • Strict measures have been imposed in several regions in the north of China, where officials are conducting mass tests, sealing off villages where there have been confirmed infections, and limiting entry into certain districts. Health authorities reported 33 new COVID-19 cases and 40 asymptomatic cases, which the country does not designate as confirmed cases, in mainland China on Monday. Beijing has begun vaccinating adults under 60, using the state backed Sinopharm vaccine.
  • Hong Kong has suspended all in-person classes until Feb. 15.
  • South Korea on Saturday expanded a ban on private gatherings larger than four people to the whole country and extended restrictions on in-person classes, karaoke rooms, bars, and other high-risk facilities until Jan. 17.
  • Schools fully reopened across Kenya on Monday for the first time in nearly 10 months.
  • Cambodia will begin to lift strict lockdown rules that have been in place since a small cluster of COVID-19 infections was detected in November.
  • Australia has initiated mass testing drives in its two most populous states, South Wales and Victoria, where small COVID-19 outbreaks have emerged.
  • People traveling to New Zealand from the U.S. and U.K. will now be required to show a negative COVID-19 test before departure and take a test upon arrival and on days three and 12 of their mandatory quarantine. The country’s border remains mostly closed to non-citizens.
  • Global Cases: 83,910,386 Total Deaths: 1,839,660
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020