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Covid-19 pandemic: UK expects drop in vaccine supply, sniffer dogs detect virus in sweat

As the Covid-19 pandemic shows no signs of letting up, ThePrint highlights the most important stories on the crisis from across the globe.

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New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world — the latest count being over 12 crore cases and more than 2.6 lakh deaths.

UK is expecting a reduction in the supply of Covid-19 vaccines. Sniffer dogs in Thailand can detect Covid-19 in sweat with 95 per cent accuracy. And the Australian government had rushed the launch of the Covid-19 website used for booking appointments.

ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.


Also read: India beat Covid ‘doomsday’ prophecies, made ‘monumental strides’ in handling pandemic: ICMR 


UK expects significant reduction in vaccine supply in April

Health officials in the UK have said that the number of people getting the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will be “significantly constrained” from April, reports Associated Press.

The report quotes a letter by the regional health leaders which said that they should expect a “significant reduction in weekly supply available from manufacturers” beginning from the week of 29 March.

During a press briefing, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, however, didn’t clarify whether the supply reductions were a result of the EU chief’s warnings to the UK that it would “take action”, including possible export restrictions.

The UK has reported 42,74,579 cases and 1,25,831 deaths.

Thai sniffer dogs can detect COVID-19 in sweat, project shows

Thai sniffer dogs, trained to detect Covid-19 in human sweat, have proven to be 95 per cent accurate, reports Reuters.

“Six Labrador Retrievers participated in a six-month project that included unleashing them to test an infected patient’s sweat on a spinning wheel of six canned vessels,” the report states.

The dogs are able to detect a volatile organic compound that is secreted in the sweat of the Covid-19 patients.

The report also quotes the remarks of Professor Kaywalee Chatdarong, the leader of the project at the veterinary faculty of Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, who said that the dogs take about one or two seconds to detect the virus.

Thailand has reported 27,494 cases and 89 deaths.

Australia rushed launch of Covid vaccine booking website

The Australian government had rushed the launch the Covid-19 website that is being used to coordinate the vaccination appointments, reports The Guardian.

“Critics say the poor planning has wreaked havoc on GP clinic phone lines and forced doctors to refuse appointments to Australians who were told they were eligible,” the report states.

It quotes an industry source as saying, “We were shocked to see it had gone up because we had been told to prepare for it going live on Monday…What the hell happened?”

Australia has reported 29,164 cases and 909 deaths.

Malaysian govt backtracks on Covid-19 fines after public outrage

The Malaysian government has backtracked on penalties for non-compliance of Covid-19 safety protocols following criticism, reports The Straits Times.

According to the newspaper, the fines were hiked from RM 1,000 (Rs 17,713) to RM 10,000 (Rs 1.7 lakh) for individuals and RM 50,000 for businesses from March 11.

Offences like not wearing a face mask would carry a penalty of RM 1,500 (Rs 26,570). Industries Unite, a trade group representing 3.3 million businesses, had criticised the high fines, saying that they would hit companies already struggling because of the pandemic.

“The fine is excessive and the process is flawed,” said Industries Unite co-founder and group legal adviser David Gurupatham

Malaysia has reported 3,27,253 cases and 1,220 deaths.

Brazil records more than 90,000 new cases in a single day

Brazil has witnessed a record single-day increase in the number of cases as it registered over 90,000 cases, reports Al Jazeera.

According to the report, 2,648 new deaths were also recorded on Wednesday.

It also quotes the remarks of Dr Marcelo Queiroga, the incoming health minister who replaced Eduardo Pazuello. “We plan to reduce the number of deaths with two main points: social-distancing policies to reduce the spread of the virus, and expanding our hospitals’ capacity,” Queiroga said during a news conference”’.

Brazil has reported 1,17,00,431 cases and 2,85,136 deaths.

What else we are reading:

Europe’s Plan to Save Summer: A Travel Certificate: The New York Times

Covid-19 origin search abandons lab leak theory, says China’s leader in joint WHO mission: South China Morning Post


Also read: 2 countries that got the coronavirus fight right, and 2 that got it wrong


 

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