New Delhi: The coronavirus pandemic still has no end in sight with the virus continuing to wreak havoc across the globe. Since the beginning of the pandemic, over 10 crore cases have been reported and more than 23 lakh people have succumbed to the virus.
In this feature, ThePrint offers five hand-picked, interesting stories to keep you up to date with developments on the virus, worldwide.
Health experts in Victoria, Australia are demanding that hotel quarantine workers get PPE kits which are at par with with healthcare workers in hospital wards, Hong Kong plans to ease coronavirus restrictions from 18 February and Qatar has issued an emergency use of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Hong Kong to ease restrictions as cases drop
Hong Kong plans to ease coronavirus restrictions from 18 February. It will reopen sports and entertainment facilities and extend hours for dining out, reports Reuters.
Health Secretary Sophia Chan said that catering businesses will be allowed to remain open until 10 pm, as opposed to 6 pm now.
“New cases have fallen to below 30 a day from over 80 at the end of January,” said the report.
Hong Kong has reported 10,711 cases of Covid-19 and 189 deaths.
Qatar approves emergency use of Moderna vaccine
Qatar has issued an emergency use of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine. This is the second vaccine to have been approved in the country after Pfizer, reports Al Jazeera.
“The small Gulf country in January recorded an 85 per cent increase in the number of Covid-19 patients being admitted to hospital compared to the previous month,” said the report.
Qatar has recorded 1,55,453 cases of Covid-19 and 253 deaths.
Also read: Indians trust Covid vaccination the most, 80% willing to take it now, finds global survey
Health experts in Australia demand PPE upgrade as Holiday Inn cluster grows
Health experts in Victoria, Australia are demanding that hotel quarantine workers get PPE kits which are at par with with healthcare workers in hospital wards. This came as a coronavirus cluster linked to Holiday Inn increased to eight cases, reports The Age.
“With concerns growing that more infectious variants of coronavirus are fuelling frequent leaks from hotel quarantine, experts say Victorian health authorities have not learnt from earlier outbreaks that spread through hospitals and infected thousands of staff,” said the report.
Australia has recorded 28,877 cases of Covid-19 and 909 deaths.
AstraZeneca to build new vaccine facility in Germany
In a move aiming to speed up the production of Covid-19 vaccines, AstraZeneca plans to set up a new manufacturing facility in collaboration with German firm IDT Biologika, reports The Guardian.
They plan to build up to five 2,000 litre bioreactors which could produce 10 million vaccines doses in a month.
“The announcement came after the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, told MEPs that the EU was not where it wanted to be with its immunisation programme,” said the report.
Germany has recorded 23,11,297 cases of Covid-19 and 63,979 deaths.
43 people in Israel hospitalised after receiving first dose
In light of the countrywide vaccination programme in Israel, the Health Ministry is tracking any side effects that people may be experiencing.
In total, 43 people were hospitalised after their first dose and five people were hospitalised after receiving the second dose, reports The Jerusalem Post.
“Of the 43 who were admitted to the hospital, 16 cases were related to their having a history of cardiac disease. Some 11 people had issues with their central nervous system,” said the report.
Israel has recorded 7,09,729 cases of Covid-19 and 5,257 deaths.
What else we are reading:
15 new Covid-19 cases in Singapore, with 14 imported and 1 in the workers’ dorms: The Straits Times
Ten-year sentences for Covid rule-breaking ‘utterly ridiculous’: The Guardian
Also read: Coronavirus likelier in air we breathe than surfaces touched — what scientists say we got wrong