A passenger is seen at El Dorado international airport after the Government suspended flights from Brazil due to the Brazilian variant of Sars-Cov-2 in Bogota, on Jan 28, 2021. (RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP)
NEW YORK / ADDIS ABABA / SAO PAULO / BOGOTA / HAVANA / QUITO / PARIS / RABAT / LONDON – Brazil’s second-wave of COVID-19 outbreak eased as new cases and deaths slowed over the last week, according to Health Ministry data.
The nation reported 58,462 cases Saturday, capping the second week with a decline in new infections. Still, the caseload is almost as high as the peak of the first wave last summer. Total infections are approaching 8 million. Deaths declined compared with the previous week, with 1,279 new fatalities reported Saturday. Brazil has the most fatalities after the US, with a total of 223,945.
Brazil will receive from 10 million to as many as 14 million doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines from the international consortium Covax starting mid-February, the nation’s Health Ministry said Saturday.
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Africa
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent reached 3,534,360 as of Saturday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
According to the continental disease control and prevention agency's COVID-19 dashboard, the death toll related to the pandemic in Africa stood at 89,839 as of Saturday.
A total of 3,014,896 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far, the African Union (AU) Commission's healthcare agency disclosed.
Brazil
Brazil reported on Saturday 1,279 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking its death toll to 223,945, the Health Ministry said.
Meanwhile, 58,462 new cases of COVID-19 were detected, bringing its nationwide tally to 9,176,975.
The state of Sao Paulo, the most populated in the country, is the hardest hit, with 1,773,024 cases and 52,954 deaths.
Colombia
The Colombian Ministry of Health confirmed on Saturday that a new variant of the novel coronavirus discovered in Brazil is already circulating in the country.
"We confirmed the presence of the P1 strain of COVID-19 from Brazil in a patient from Tabatinga," the ministry said on Twitter.
The ministry explained that the infected person is a 24-year-old woman with dual nationality "who kept herself in home isolation and is already recovered."
Cuba
Cuba on Saturday set a new COVID-19 daily case record of 910 infections as the government announced quarantine measures for international passengers starting on Feb. 6.
Under the new regulations, Cubans with residency on the island will be quarantined for free in isolation centers set up by the local authorities across the country.
Meanwhile, international travelers will be required to pay for their accommodation and logistics at hotels during the quarantine period.
Among the new rules, the country will also reduce flights from the United States, Mexico, Panama, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Colombia.
In a similar vein, the suspension of flights from Trinidad and Tobago, Nicaragua, Guyana and Suriname continues in effect while arrivals from Haiti will be canceled.
Ecuador
Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health (MSP) reported 3,092 cases of COVID-19 on Saturday for a total of 249,779, as the country faces exponential daily growth of infections.
The MSP also registered another 46 deaths from the disease for a total of 10,169. This is in addition to another 4,682 "probable" deaths from COVID-19.
The province of Pichincha continues to be the epicenter of the virus in the country, with a total of 87,563 cases, most of which are concentrated in the capital city of Quito.
People walk past The Galeries Lafayette shopping centre in Paris, on Jan 30, 2021. (GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)
France
President Emmanuel Macron defended his decision to hold off on a third lockdown on Saturday, telling the public he had faith in their ability to rein in COVID-19 with less severe curbs even as a third wave spreads and the vaccine rollout falters.
From Sunday, France will close it borders to all but essential travel to and from countries outside the European Union, while people arriving from within the bloc will have to show a negative test. Large shopping malls will be shut and police patrols increased to enforce a 6 pm curfew.
The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in France increased by 24,392, while another 242 people have died in the past 24 hours, according to figures released by health authorities on Saturday.
The daily tally of new cases, up from 22,858 on Friday, has brought the national tally to 3,177,879, the second highest number in Europe after Britain.
Since France reported its first COVID-19 cases in late January 2020, a total of 75,862 people have succumbed to the respiratory disease.
Mexico
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador continues to be only mildly affected by COVID-19, an official said on Saturday, a day after the Mexican leader broadcast a video informing the public that his health was improving.
Ricardo Cortes, a senior health ministry official, told a regular evening news conference that Lopez Obrador still had a “mild case” of COVID-19 and noted the president had almost reached the half-way mark of his isolation phase.
Lopez Obrador announced he had COVID-19 late on Sunday, since when he has withdrawn from his regular public schedule.
Morocco
Morocco registered 701 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the tally of infections in the North African country to 470,691, the health ministry said in a statement.
The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco hit 448,628 after 762 new ones were added.
The death toll rose to 8,259 with 13 new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while 738 people are in intensive care units.
The COVID-19 fatality rate in Morocco stands at 1.8 percent while the recovery rate is 95.3 percent.
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UK
The UK’s supply of vaccines is secure and the country will be sticking to its rollout timetable, according to International Trade Secretary Liz Truss.
Her comments came after the European Union’s executive arm backtracked on a plan to require vaccine makers to obtain authorization before sending shots manufactured in the bloc to other countries. The spat had raised concerns over the provision of supplies of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE shot, manufactured in Belgium, to the UK.
“We are absolutely confident we can continue to deliver our program,” Truss said in a Sky News interview. “We have received assurances from the EU that those contracts won’t be disrupted. And now I think we need to move forward, working together.”
Britain has vaccinated more than 8 million people so far, Truss said.
Another 23,275 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,796,088, according to official figures released Saturday.
Meanwhile, Britain also reported another 1,200 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the country now stands at 105,571, the data showed. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
A waitress helps some customers at the outdoor seating area of The Abbey Food & Bar, on Jan 29, 2021 in West Hollywood, California. (VALERIE MACON / AFP)
US
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States topped 26 million on Saturday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
US COVID-19 case count rose to 26,012,880, with a total of 438,239 deaths, as of 2:22 pm local time (1922 GMT), according to the CSSE tally.
California reported the largest number of cases among the states, standing at 3,293,762. Texas confirmed 2,356,172 cases, followed by Florida with 1,713,589 cases, New York with 1,408,698 cases, and Illinois with more than 1.1 million cases.
Other states with over 600,000 cases include Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee, New Jersey, Indiana and Michigan, the CSSE data showed.
The United States remains the nation worst hit by the pandemic, with the world's most cases and deaths, making up more than 25 percent of the global caseload and nearly 20 percent of the global deaths.
