Funeral workers wearing protection suits carry a body of a COVID-19 victim outside a nursing home in Casal de Cambra, in the outskirts of Lisbon, on Jan 29, 2021. (PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)
RUSSELS / TBILISI / NEW YORK / ADDIS ABABA / SAO PAULO / BOGOTA / HAVANA / QUITO / PARIS / RABAT / LONDON / LUSAKA / NICOSIA – Portugal reported close to half of all its COVID-19 deaths in January, highlighting the severe worsening of the pandemic in a country that had largely been spared by the first waves of the coronavirus.
Hospitals across the nation of just over 10 million appear on the verge of collapse, with ambulances queuing sometimes for hours for lack of beds and some health units struggling to find enough refrigerated space to preserve bodies.
Officials have blamed the huge increase in the infection and death rates on the more contagious British variant of the disease, and also acknowledged that a relaxation of restrictions on social contact over the Christmas holidays played a role.
In January, a total of 5,576 people died from the coronavirus, representing 44.7 percent of all 12,482 fatalities since the virus started to spread in the Iberian country in March last year, data from health authority DGS showed.
The association representing funeral homes warned that public hospitals were running out of refrigerated space to preserve bodies of COVI-19 victims, and some, including Portugal’s largest hospital Santa Maria, have installed extra cold containers to ease pressure on their morgues.
Portugal on Sunday reported 9,498 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 720,516, said the country's Directorate-General for Health.
Meanwhile, 303 more COVID-19 deaths were recorded, taking the country's death toll to 12,482, while the country's total recoveries rose to 526,411.
EU
Bayer AG agreed to produce CureVac NV’s experimental coronavirus vaccine to boost the rollout of a promising shot as European Union governments scramble for additional supplies to spur a plodding campaign.
The move won’t have an immediate effect, though it’s at least some good news for Europe after a week of chaos surrounding its program. The controversy escalated after the European Commission threatened curbs on vaccine exports – sparking global anger – in response to news that AstraZeneca Plc would miss delivery targets.
Bayer’s production effort extends its current pact with CureVac on regulatory clearance and global distribution, and will start to deliver at the end of the year. It follows commitments from fellow European pharma giants Sanofi and Novartis AG to put their manufacturing capacities behind scaling up Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 injection.
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Global tally
The global infections of confirmed COVID-19 cases approached 103 million while the toll surpassed 2.2 million, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University. In the meantime, more than 94.4 million shots have been given worldwide.
Georgia
Georgia reported 240 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing its total to 258,351.
Among the new cases, 86 were confirmed in the capital city of Tbilisi, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health said.
As of Monday, the country recorded 249,709 recoveries and 3,194 deaths.
US
US President Joe Biden has invited Maine Senator Susan Collins along with other Republican senators to the White House to discuss a COVID-19 relief plan, the White House said on Sunday.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden spoke with Collins, who was one of 10 Republican senators who sent a letter to the president requesting a meeting. “The President spoke to Senator Collins, and invited her and other signers of the letter to come to the White House early this week for a full exchange of views,” Psaki said.
Southern Florida and southern California are the US areas most at risk from the UK strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, former Food and Drug Administration head Scott Gottlieb said.
The new variant is likely to cause “regionalized epidemics” at least through the summer, Gottlieb said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
New York City broke down its COVID-19 vaccination data by ethnicity for the first time, with the mayor underscoring a “profound problem” with racial inequality.
The US added about 144,000 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, fewer than the average of almost 158,000 over the preceding seven days. The data, compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg, are further evidence the pandemic is slowing in the US, though the numbers don’t break down cases by virus variant.
A lab technician uses a pipette dropper during the antigen quantification process of the coronavirus vaccine research at the Valneva SA laboratories in Vienna, Austria, on Aug. 6, 2020. (AKOS STILLER / BLOOMBERG)
Russia
Russia confirmed 17,648 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total caseload to 3,868,087, the country's COVID-19 monitoring and response center said Monday.
Many of Russia's new infections were reported in Moscow, with 2,037 in the past day, taking the cumulative count for the capital to 932,109.
Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 73,619 people in Russia have died from the novel coronavirus, with 437 deaths registered over the past day.
Germany
Minister-President of Germany's southern state of Bavaria Markus Soeder on Sunday called on European authorities to consider using Chinese and Russian vaccines to ease the current delivery shortage.
"The European supervision authorities should also test the Russian and Chinese vaccines as soon as possible," said Soeder in an interview with Die Welt.
Soeder said that "the entire legitimation of the corona strategy will depend on how quickly we can get the vaccination problems under control."
Ireland
Ireland on Sunday reported 1,247 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 196,547, the country's National Public Health Emergency Team said in a statement.
Fifteen COVID-19 deaths were recorded, taking the country's death toll to 3,307, said the statement.
As of Sunday afternoon, hospitalizations stood at 1,516 with 211 patients in intensive care units.
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Italy
Italy reported 11,252 new cases and 237 deaths Sunday, as it gets ready to ease restrictions for most of the country starting Monday. The positivity rate remained even at around 5.2 percent. Italy’s cases have remained stable in recent weeks, and the country has so far avoided the sharp increases suffered by some neighboring countries.
Both the Milan and Rome regions will fall in the so-called “yellow zone” starting Monday, the lower tier of restrictions which allows bars and restaurants to remain open during the day.
Canada
Canada's COVID-19 deaths surpassed 20,000 on Sunday morning, hitting 20,016, according to CTV.
As of Sunday morning, Canada reported a cumulative total of 778,119 COVID-19 cases.
Both Ontario and Quebec, the two most populous provinces in Canada, continue to tally the highest increases in cases and deaths across the country, though new numbers in the provinces and across Canada have seen a general decline for days.
The two provinces have recorded the most deaths amid the COVID-19 pandemic with nearly 16,000 deaths reported. More than 6,180 people died in Ontario while more than 9,700 died in Quebec.
Cyprus
The government of Cyprus has decided to gradually ease the COVID-19 restrictions imposed on Jan. 10, with Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou saying on Monday that he expected this to be the beginning of the end of the coronavirus crisis.
Ioannou said the relaxation was made possible by the recent drop in new infections and hospitalizations.
The Health Ministry said that on Sunday only 106 new COVID-19 cases were reported, down from an all-time daily high of nearly 800 infections at the start of the restrictions. The national sample positivity rate has dropped to 0.37 percent.
Barbershops, hairdressers and beauty salons reopened on Monday and the percentage of people who could report for work in private businesses was increased from 25 to 50.
Greece
Greek authorities announced on Sunday that the first case of the mutated coronavirus strain detected in South Africa was diagnosed in Thessaloniki city in northern Greece.
The patient who tested positive for this strain is an official with the Greek Orthodox Christian Church, said Nikos Hardalias, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Crisis Management.
"We are conducting sweeping screening tests, with molecular tests and rapid tests, in the wider area… There is no reason to panic," he told Greek national broadcaster ERT.
Panagiotis Arkoumaneas, president of the National Public Health Organization (EODY), called on citizens to take all precautions and comply with instructions given by experts.
The Netherlands
Primary schools in the Netherlands will be fully reopened from Feb. 8, the outgoing government decided on Sunday.
According to the Outbreak Management Team, the advisory body of the government, it is justified if primary schools as well as daycare and special primary education open their doors again amid declining COVID-19 infection figures.
The demissionary government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte took that advice. Out-of-school childcare and secondary schools will remain closed.
As part of the current strict lockdown, Dutch primary schools closed on Dec. 16. On Jan. 12, the lockdown was extended till Feb. 9.
Brazil
Brazil has registered 27,756 cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), for a total of 9,204,731, as well as another 559 deaths, bringing the death toll to 224,504, the Ministry of Health reported on Sunday.
Brazil is second in the world in number of deaths from the disease, following the United States.
The state of Sao Paulo has been the most affected by the virus and is on high alert, but this weekend, crowds of people gathered on the state's main beaches, despite an official order forbidding such activity.
This month, 310,727 cases have been registered in Sao Paulo, for a total of 1,777,368, as well as 6,237 deaths, for a total of 53,034.
Chile
The Chilean government received a second shipment of nearly 2 million vaccines developed by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech on Sunday, which will be used to begin the mass vaccination in Chile, scheduled to start on Wednesday.
The Chilean Ministry of Health (Minsal) reported 4,209 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Sunday, the fourth consecutive day the country has registered over 4,000 cases.
The ministry also stated that 8,200 people have been isolated in Sanitary Residences, a figure that represents the strengthening of the country's testing, traceability, and isolation strategy.
Chile has reported a total of 727,109 cases of COVID-19, with 26,290 people currently in the active stage.
According to the Department of Statistics and Health Information (DEIS), Chile recorded another 113 deaths from the disease, bringing the death toll to 18,452.
Cuba
Cuba on Sunday registered one COVID-19 related death and 1,012 new cases, the highest daily increase since the pandemic hit the country, according to its Ministry of Health.
"The deceased is a 90-year-old woman, a resident of Havana," said Francisco Duran, director of hygiene and epidemiology at the Ministry of Public Health, in his daily briefing.
Duran reported that 978 of the 1,012 new cases are community transmissions and 34 are imported.
Duran said that 5,558 patients are currently hospitalized, including 22 reported to be in critical condition.
The country, according to official data, has registered 214 deaths and 26,686 cases of the virus so far.
Ecuador
Ecuador's COVID-19 cases surpassed 250,000 on Sunday after registering 1,049 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number to 250,828.
The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) reported eight more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 10,177. In addition, there are 4,682 deaths that were likely caused by the disease.
The province of Pichincha, where the capital of Quito is located, continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic in the country, with 87,656 cases, most of them concentrated in the capital city.
The main problem the country continues to face in the fight against the virus is citizens ignoring preventive health protocols by forming crowds and holding clandestine gatherings.
Algeria
Algeria on Sunday reported 217 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the North African country to 107,339.
The death toll from the virus in Algeria rose to 2,891 after three new fatalities were added, said the Algerian Ministry of Health in a statement.
Meanwhile, 192 more patients recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 73,404, the statement added.
The official APS news agency quoted Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad as saying that his country will import enough COVID-19 vaccine for Algerian people, when he was receiving an injection of a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Algiers on Sunday.
Tunisia
Tunisian Health Ministry on Sunday reported 1,417 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 208,885.
The death toll from the virus in Tunisia rose by 74 to 6,754, the ministry said in a statement.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the country reached 2,118, including 422 in intensive care units, while the total number of recoveries reached 157,446, it added.
Morocco
Morocco on Sunday reported 466 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the country to 471,157, while its total number of recoveries from COVID-19 climbed to 449,160 after 532 new ones were added.
The coronavirus death toll in Morocco rose to 8,275 with 16 new fatalities added during the last 24 hours, while 732 patients were in intensive care units.
Egypt
Egypt received on Sunday the first batch of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, one day after the most populous Arab country approved the British vaccine for emergency use.
The batch, which consists of 50,000 doses, is part of an agreement that includes 20 million doses of the British vaccine. This is the second COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in Egypt following the authorization of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine earlier this month.
Ethiopia
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health on Sunday reported 629 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, taking the national count to 137,650.
The ministry also said the COVID-19 death toll stood at 2,093, including two new fatalities recorded over the past 24 hours.
With 274 more recoveries registered, the total recovery tally rose to 122,862, said the ministry.
Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, is one of the countries the hardest hit by the pandemic in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.
Ghana
Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the re-imposition of a raft of restrictions late Sunday to help curb the rising COVID-19 infections in the country.
Akufo-Addo has said the country is on course to get at least 17.6 million citizens vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of June.
In his televised speech, Akufo-Addo said that funerals, weddings, concerts, theatrical performances, and parties are banned, but "private burials with no more than 25 persons in attendance can be held. Beaches, night clubs, cinemas, and pubs would also remain shut."
"Our hospitals have become full, and we have had to reactivate our isolation centers. Our average daily rate of infection now stands at 700, compared with 200 two weeks ago," the president said.
"Our current situation could get dire if efforts are not made, both on the part of the government and by the citizenry, to help contain the virus," he added.
South Africa
South Africa on Sunday reported 4,525 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 1,453,761, the country's health department reported.
Another 213 COVID-19 deaths were recorded, taking the country's death toll from the disease to 44,164, it said.
The department also reported a total of 1,299,620 recoveries to date, representing a recovery rate of 89 percent.
Zambia
Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Monday called for strict adherence to COVID-19 measures as schools reopen in the southern African nation.
"As schools reopen today, I wish to urge all pupils and teachers to adhere to all COVID-19 regulations," he said in a statement posted on social media. "I am calling on parents and guardians to play their role in ensuring there is maximum compliance."
Lungu expressed optimism that the ministries responsible for education and health have done everything possible to ensure that schools are ready for safe reopening.
Zambia is experiencing a second wave of the pandemic, with concerns raised on the safety of reopening schools.
An empty hallway inside Collins Elementary School in Pinole, California, Dec 30, 2020. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)
UK
The British government has ordered 40 million further doses of Valneva’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate for 2022, bringing its total orders to 100 million, the French drugmaker said on Monday.
Britain could still order a further 90 million doses between 2023 and 2025, the company said.
The UK is set to confirm that residents at every eligible care home in England have been offered a COVID-19 vaccine, even as a dispute over exports from Europe raises concern over supplies.
Jabs have been offered to eligible residents of more than 10,000 homes where possible, official figures are set to show later Monday. The announcement comes after reassurances yesterday by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss that the nation’s supply of vaccines is secure and the country will stick to its rollout timetable.
The UK gave almost 600,000 people the first dose of a vaccine in a day, the highest number so far. Some 598,389 shots were administered on Saturday, bringing the total to 8.98 million. New cases continue to drop, with 21,088 reported Sunday, and another 587 people died. Figures are often lower on weekends due to reporting delays.
Britain will prioritize offering excess COVID-19 vaccines to Ireland once it has achieved enough supply for the UK, the Telegraph reports. No doses would be sent out of the UK before the target to inoculate people over 50 years of age is achieved by mid-spring.
Britain aims to deliver a first dose to 15 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February and to offer all adults their first dose by autumn.
