New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world — the latest count being over 9.1 crore cases and more than 19 lakh deaths.
A massive rise in cases has forced South Africa to extend restrictions and close its land borders. Public opinion is turning against Tokyo Olympics in Japan, and several gorillas have tested positive for Covid-19 in a California zoo.
ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.
2020 Tokyo Olympics losing public support in Japan
The delayed summer Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, scheduled to take place in July this year, are fast losing public support, according to an opinion poll conducted by Japanese news agency Kyodo News, reports The South China Morning Post.
With Covid-19 cases on the rise in Japan, the opinion poll revealed that 35.3 per cent of the respondents wanted the games to be cancelled while 44.8 per cent said they should be postponed.
Japan’s capital Tokyo and adjacent areas were even put under a state of emergency by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga last week.
Some Chinese news media outlets have also reported that the Japanese administration could pull the plug on the games in a government meeting scheduled on 18 January, adds the report.
Japan has reported 2,86,752 cases of Covid-19 and 4,044 deaths so far.
Also read: Boris Johnson attacks ‘demented’ Chinese medicines for Covid, risks spat with Beijing
South Africa shuts land borders
Citing a massive increase in coronavirus cases due to the new and more infectious strain, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa extended restrictions and closed the country’s land borders till 15 February, reports CNN.
“The pandemic in our country is now at its most devastating,” Ramaphosa said in a live nationwide address Monday.
He said the intensity and speed with which the virus is spreading in South Africa can be attributed to the 501.v2 variant, which was discovered by genomic scientists late last year.
While the new variant is more contagious, there was no evidence that it was deadlier, the president said.
South Africa has reported 12,46,643 cases of Covid-19 and 33,579 deaths so far.
Several gorillas in San Diego Zoo test positive
A group of gorillas that live together in captivity in the San Diego Zoo, California, have tested positive for Covid-19 — the first instance of primates in captivity catching the infection, reports The Guardian.
The presence of the SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed by testing the faecal samples of the animals.
The gorillas seem to have caught the virus from their care team, who tested positive for the virus but were asymptomatic.
Inter-specie transmission has been a concern throughout the pandemic. However, reports of the virus getting transmitted to big cats such as tigers and lions have been more common in zoos.
The US has reported 2,31,43,197 cases of Covid-19 and 3,85,249 deaths.
Also read: Pfizer, BioNTech boost their Covid vaccine goal for 2021 to 2 billion doses
Russia considers altering vaccine dosage
Russian scientists are trying to determine if they can speed up their vaccination process by administering a single dose of Sputnik V instead of the required two doses, reports The New York Times.
Russia’s Sputnik V currently uses two types of genetically modified human adenoviruses, which are common cold viruses.
If the technique is altered, only one single type of common cold virus will be administered in one shot, Gamaleya Research Institute, the group that developed the vaccine, said Monday.
The institute is set to study the single-dose approach on 150 volunteers in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Russia has reported 34,25,269 cases of Covid-19 and 62,273 deaths.
Police brutality on the rise in locked-down Greece
Human rights groups and opposition parties warn that Greece’s conservative government, led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is employing excessive force to crack down on protests during lockdown, reports Politico Europe.
Greece has been under lockdown since November after a severe second wave of coronavirus engulfed the country. Protests have been banned since the lockdown was imposed.
Amnesty International in Greece recently recorded cases of mistreatment by the police on protesters, one such example being the excessive use of tear gas shells, during this period.
While Prime Minister Mitsotakis has been accused of giving police free rein ever since he came to power a year and a half ago, the strict lockdown rules have given the police greater power, according to the report.
Greece has reported 1,45,179 cases of Covid-19 and 5,302 deaths.
What else we’re reading:
Ireland had one of the lowest coronavirus rates in Europe. It’s now highest in the world, reports: The Sydney Morning Herald
Drive against polio begins as Covid cases cross 500,000 mark in Pakistan: Dawn
Also read: WHO expert team to visit China on 14 Jan to probe origins of coronavirus