Coronavirus Updates

Over 100 million people have been infected by the coronavirus during the pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. Leading the march with the most infections is the US with over 25.4 million, followed by India at 10.6 million, Brazil with over 8.8 million infections, and Russia, France, and the UK with over 3 million each. Countries with more than 2 million infected residents include Colombia, Spain, Germany, Turkey, and Italy.

The UAE Health Ministry stated that people may need to be vaccinated annually against the coronavirus, as is the case with flu shots. Dr. Farida Al-Hosani, spokeswoman for the UAE health sector said coronavirus mutations increase the likelihood of an annual shot, the WAM news agency reported. She noted that each year, a vaccine could be adapted to the prevalent strain, and that some 40-50% of all infected people are asymptomatic.

Health authorities in Taiwan have quarantined 5,000 people to determine who among the group is carrying the coronavirus that has caused a cluster of cases originating at a local hospital in Taoyuan. Taiwan, which has tallied only seven deaths related to the virus and fewer than 900 infections, is investigating how two members of a family were infected during a hospital stay earlier this month. The number of infections which started with the hospital has reached 15 people.

Spanish biopharma company PharmaMar reported that its Plitidepsin drug has a “potent preclinical efficacy” against COVID-19. Referencing a peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Science, the company reported that the drug led to a 99% reduction in viral loads in the lungs of animals treated with Plitidepsin. The study’s authors wrote: “We believe that our data and initial positive results from PharmaMar’s clinical trial suggests that Plitidepsin should be strongly considered for expanded clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19.” 

At least 150 people were arrested Monday night in Holland following a third night of rioting in reaction to the country’s coronavirus lockdown and evening curfew. The unrest hit large cities including Rotterdam and Haarlem, as well as smaller cities, according to police. Water cannons and tear gas were used against the rioters who fought against the police with fireworks and rocks as they looted stores, broke windows and lit fires. Police officials are describing the riots as the worst in 40 years.

A new study predicts that Japan will not reach herd immunity against the coronavirus prior to the summer Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Tokyo. Though Japan has ordered hundreds of millions of vaccines, researchers at Airfinity, a science information and analytics company, told Reuters that it is unlikely that enough of the vaccines will reach the country in time for a majority of the general population to be inoculated prior to the games, slated to begin in late July 2021. The games already were postponed from the summer of 2020 because of the pandemic.

It likely will take more than a decade for the world’s poor to recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus, according to a new Oxfam International report. Economic inequality that deepens economic, racial and gender divides around the globe is increasing, meaning that it will take those living in poverty 14 times longer to reach pre-pandemic economic levels compared to the world’s richest 1,000 people, who are mostly white, male billionaires, the NGO reported. Some 87% of respondents to the group’s survey, primarily economists from 79 countries, expect to see an increase or a major increase in income inequality in their countries due to the pandemic.

Turkey received a second shipment of 6.5 million doses of China’s Sinovac Biotech coronavirus vaccine. CNN Turk reported that the shipment arrived on Monday. The country currently has vaccinated close to 1.3 million people from its first shipment of 3 million doses. Turkey has reported over 25,000 coronavirus-related deaths and more than 2.4 million infections since the pandemic began in early 2020.

Turkey has signed an agreement to locally produce Sputnik V, the Russian-created vaccine against the coronavirus, according to the Russia Direct Investment Fund, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. Production technology transfers to Turkish manufacturers have already begun, the Interfax news agency reported. Turkey is not the only country to sign an agreement to produce Sputnik V; others include Belarus, Brazil, China, India, Kazakhstan and South Korea, according to media reports.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi announced that Egypt was beginning its national vaccine operation today. The country’s doctors and frontline health care workers will be the first to receive the vaccination. Egypt received its first vaccine shipment in December from China’s Sinopharm. Last week the country officially recorded over 5,800 new infections and 380 coronavirus-related deaths, though health officials believe the number is higher due to low coronavirus testing and the exclusion of private test results.