New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world — the latest count being over 4.4 crore cases and more than 11 lakh deaths.
In the middle of peaceful protests against police brutality in Nigeria, some looters have taken to stealing Covid-19 aid from government warehouses. A study using satellite imagery of graveyards in Yemen has found that the scale of Covid-19 outbreak is greater than reported. And President Bolsanaro’s politics clouds Brazil’s plans to receive Covid-19 vaccine.
ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.
Looters in Nigeria targeting Covid-19 aid
Amid ongoing unrest against police brutality in Nigeria, looters have been stealing Covid relief material such as rice, noodles and sugar from government warehouses, reports the BBC.
“State governors have said the items were kept for vulnerable members of society and in preparation for a possible second wave of coronavirus infections. But the explanation has not been accepted by many of those who did not receive any aid from the authorities in the months when the lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus stopped millions of people from earning their living. That some of the Covid-19 aid has been found in the homes of some politicians has not helped the authorities,” notes the report.
Almost one-third of the 36 states in Nigeria have been looted, and some people have even died because they were crushed by crowds in government warehouses or under the weight of large quantities of food.
Nigeria has recorded 62,224 cases of Covid-19 and 1,135 deaths.
Satellite images from Yemen showcase scale of Covid-19 outbreak
A study using high-resolution satellite imagery has analysed graveyards in Aden, which is the epicentre of Yemen’s coronavirus outbreak, to find that deaths have doubled, reports The Guardian.
The study found that from April to September 2020, there were 2,100 excess deaths in the area, as the expected baseline stood at 1,300.
“The discovery has given a sense of the true scale of the havoc the pandemic has wreaked on the vulnerable country,” says the report, adding, “Yemen, which the UN says has experienced the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since the conflict between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition fighting to restore Yemen’s government broke out five years ago, has been particularly susceptible to the coronavirus pandemic.”
Yemen has recorded 2,060 cases of Covid-19 and 599 deaths.
Tired junior doctors in Australia’s Queensland fear making mistakes
More than half of the junior doctors in Queensland, Australia are fearful of making a fatigue-related mistake while treating patients, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
A report from the Australian Medical Association surveyed junior doctors and their experience treating patients during the pandemic.
“Forty-eight per cent of the 730 interns, house officers and other junior doctors who responded to the survey said they were concerned about making mistakes while fatigued and working long hours, and a quarter had not been fully paid their overtime,” says the report.
Australia has recorded 27,552 cases of Covid-19 and 907 deaths.
Politics cloud vaccine plans for Brazil’s population
Brazil has been a testing ground for several vaccines against Covid-19. However, plans to vaccinate the country’s population have been in disarray owing to President Jair Bolsanaro’s politics, reports Asia Times.
“One promising test vaccine, developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, has triggered the ire of the far-right president, who last week cancelled his health minister’s plan to buy 46 million doses,” says the report. It adds, “The vaccine’s most visible proponent in Brazil is the governor of the large and wealthy state of Sao Paulo, Joao Doria, who also happens to be one of Bolsonaro’s top opponents.”
Brazil has recorded 54,40,903 cases of Covid-19 and 1,57,981 deaths.
Also read: AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is still the global front-runner despite delays
Hospitals in US struggling with 46 per cent increase in Covid patients
Hospitals in the US are reeling from a massive outbreak of Covid-19 that is now targeting parts of the country that had previously not been affected by the virus, reports The New York Times.
The number of people hospitalised for the treatment of Covid-19 has increased to 46 per cent in comparison to last month.
“The exploding case numbers point to a volatile new phase in the pandemic, coming after earlier waves hit large cities such as New York, then Sun Belt states like Florida and Arizona,” says the report.
The US has reported 90,38,030 cases of Covid-19 and 2,32,084 deaths.
Surveys confirm people are having sex less often in pandemic
Individual studies conducted in China, Britain, Turkey and the US are confirming the notion that people across the globe aren’t having sex frequently, reports the South China Morning Post.
“A survey of Americans this month by dating website Match.com found that more than 70 per cent of single Americans did not have sex at all from March to October, while a US study by the Kinsey Institute in June found Americans in general were having less sex – one reason being tension between couples isolated together at home,” notes the report, adding that studies of the other surveyed countries seemed to confirm this trend.
What else we are reading
Dashboard designed to chart England’s Covid-19 response finds major gaps in data: The Guardian
Some Covid survivors have antibodies that attack the body, not virus: The New York Times
Also read: This country is the real winner of the WFH economy