New Delhi: The Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world. The latest count stands at more than 12 crore cases and 26 lakh deaths.
We highlight some of the important stories from around the world.
Iran has started human trials of Fakhravac, its third locally developed coronavirus vaccine, and the health minister in Philippines said that a lockdown in the country couldn’t be ruled out since the number of new infections has been on the rise.
Covid pushes Japanese firms to revamp supply chains
After China went into lockdown a year ago owing to the pandemic, automobile makers in Japan who procured materials from China saw that their production was ‘thrown into chaos’, reports The Japan Times.
“For companies, reducing supply chain dependence on China had been on their minds over the past few years as trade conflict between Washington and Beijing intensified,” said the report. The global pandemic accelerated this process.
Japan has recorded 4,48,688 cases of Covid-19 and 8,622 deaths.
Iran starts human trials of its third local Covid vaccine
Iran has started human trials of Fakhravac, which is its third locally developed coronavirus vaccine, reports Al Jazeera.
The vaccine was named after nuclear scientist Mohsin Fakhrizadeh who was assassinated in November 2020 in an attack near Tehran.
The first dose was given to Fakhrizadeh’s son.
The health minister said, “I must say today with pride that in the next spring, the Islamic Republic of Iran will become one of the most important and best vaccine producers in the world.”
Iran has recorded 17,63,313 cases of Covid-19 and 61,427 deaths.
Also read: Putin’s once-scorned Sputnik V is turning into a global favourite in pandemic fight
Philippines bars foreigners from entry as cases increase
The health minister of Philippines has said that a lockdown in the country couldn’t be ruled out since the number of coronavirus infections have been on the rise, reports The Straits Times.
“The government is facing renewed criticism over its handling of the epidemic after a jump in coronavirus,” said the report. Nearly 20,000 cases have been recorded in the last four days.
Officials blame this spike on relaxed restrictions in the country.
Philippines has recorded 6,31,320 cases of Covid-19 and 12,848 deaths.
Covid death rate in UK prisons three times higher than outside
According to public health experts, people in prisons are at an increased risk of contracting Covid-19. The death rate is more than three times higher than the general public, reports The Guardian.
There were 118 Covid-19 related deaths in prisons in England and Wales between March 2020 and February 2021. This represented “a risk of dying more than three times higher than that of people of the same age and sex outside secure environments, the research team at University College London (UCL) found.”
UK has recorded 42,68,821 cases of Covid-19 and 1,25,690 deaths.
What else we are reading:
Moderna begins testing its vaccine in children: The New York Times
Nepal’s drug regulator to investigate vaccine gift from Bahrain: The Guardian
Also read: Over 85% staff of Delhi Prisons, including Tihar, has received Covid vaccine shots