A technician works at the Vaccine Aseptic and Packaging Processing Plant of the Finlay Vaccine Institute in Havana, Cuba, on Jan 20, 2021. (YAMIL LAGE / AFP)
LONDON / PARIS / BERLIN / NAIROBI / SAO PAULO / LISBON / MEXICO CITY / MADRID / ROME / BOGOTA / BUENOS AIRES / KAMPALA / UNITED NATIONS / TUNIS / HAVANA / QUITO / SANTIAGO / OTTAWA / MOSCOW - An increase in reports of variants of the coronavirus in 2021 will have the potential to have a devastating impact on health facilities under stress, warns World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe in a press release on Friday.
"Variants are a common phenomenon and are not in themselves dangerous, but they can be if they change the behavior of the virus; therefore, we need to monitor these developments closely," said Richard Pebody, who leads the epidemiology and surveillance response on COVID-19 in WHO/Europe, in the press release
The warning came as the highly transmissible variant SARS-CoV-2 VOC 202012/01 originally found in the United Kingdom, gathers pace and spreads to 30 countries in the European Region, with 22,503 cases reported as of Jan. 22.
According to the press release, many of the 30 countries project that the VOC 202012/01 might become dominant in the coming weeks, outnumbering non-variant cases of the coronavirus.
"Higher transmissibility does not mean a variant transmits in a different way, rather the variant just spreads better... If this causes our health-care systems to become overwhelmed and less able to cope, more people could be at risk of dying from the virus," said Catherine Smallwood, who leads the COVID-19 response team at WHO Europe Office, in the press release.
WHO has called upon countries in the region to redouble their efforts and increase research in national laboratories in response to the inherent dangers current and newly discovered variants will present in the future.
BioNTech
Merck KGaA agreed to speed up the supply of lipids to BioNTech SE, easing a bottleneck preventing faster production of Covid-19 vaccines.
The German pharma company is already looking to expand production of custom lipids and expects to increase deliveries to BioNTech toward the end of 2021, it said in a statement Friday. Merck is one of the world’s main suppliers of the custom lipid nanoparticles that are crucial to producing shots using messenger-RNA technology.
Cuba
Cuba could deliver the first million doses of its Soberana 02 COVID-19 vaccine candidate by late April, the country's biopharmaceutical authorities said Thursday.
"Cuban vaccines are going well," said Eduardo Martinez, president of BioCubaFarma, a state company gathering 21 research centers and 32 companies. "Cuba will be one of the first nations to immunize its entire population."
The island nation, home to 11 million inhabitants, is working on the development of four experimental coronavirus vaccines, namely Soberana 01, Soberana 02, Mambisa and Abdala. The country expects to produce 100 million doses of its Soberana 02 this year.
Soberana 01 and Soberana 02 have shown a high immune response against the virus during clinical studies, said Vicente Verez, director general of Havana's Finlay Institute of Vaccines, which is developing the two vaccines.
Cuba registered on Thursday 816 new COVID-19 infections and five deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the tally to 30,345 and the death toll to 225, according to the Ministry of Public Health.
A health worker takes oxygen cylinders to COVID-19 wards at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, Jan 30, 2021. (THOKO CHIKONDI / AP)
Africa
Nearly 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses negotiated through the COVAX facility will be shipped to Africa starting from February, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said Thursday.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional director for Africa, said the arrival of the vaccines would mark a critical milestone in the continent's quest to contain the pandemic.
According to WHO, COVAX notified African countries on Jan 30 about the planned shipment of the first batch of vaccines to pave the way for the largest ever mass inoculation drive in the continent.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional director for Africa, said the first deliveries will enable African countries to immunize 3 percent of their population who are at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus in the first half of this year
Moeti said the rollout of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine will be subject to its listing for emergency use by WHO and national regulatory bodies, after passing the efficacy and safety threshold.
Moeti said the first deliveries will enable African countries to immunize 3 percent of their population who are at higher risk of contracting the coronavirus, including health workers, the elderly and terminally ill, in the first half of this year.
According to Moeti, there are plans to vaccinate at least 20 percent of African population by ensuring up to 600 million doses are available by the end of 2021.
ALSO READ: Africa's rollout gathers pace as more doses arrive
Moeti said that nearly 320,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been allocated to four African countries including Cabo Verde, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia.
The African Union (AU) in a bid to complement COVAX efforts has secured 670 million vaccine doses to be distributed in the continent in 2021 and 2022.
Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) John Nkengasong said 16 countries have asked for a total of a total 114 million doses under the AU’s Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), adding that allocations could be announced in the next three weeks.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded in the African continent reached 3,609,519 as of Thursday, the Africa CDC said. The death toll stood at 93,071.
Global tally
Coronavirus cases worldwide exceed 104.8 million while the global death toll topped 2.28 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
ALSO READ: World faces 4,000 variants as UK explores mixed vaccine shots
UK
The United Kingdom will require travelers from coronavirus hot spots to quarantine starting Feb 15, the government said, adding flesh to a policy first announced last month.
Arrivals from countries on the UK’s travel ban list will be required to isolate for 10 days after arrival in government-approved accommodation, the Department for Health and Social Care said Thursday in a statement.
“In the face of new variants, it is important that the government continues to take the necessary steps to protect people and save lives,” the government said in the statement.
The Times late Thursday reported that ministers are also considering a certification system for Britons, to allow them to travel to countries that may require proof of inoculation upon entry.
The British government on Thursday reported 20,634 new cases and another 915 deaths, bringing the tally to 3,892,459 and the death toll to 110,250, according to official figures.
READ MORE: Vaccine passports: Path back to normality or problem in the making?
Poland
Poland will reopen hotels, cinemas, theaters and operas at up to 50 percent capacity for a two-week trial period starting Feb. 12, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference. While the reopening will also include outdoor sport facilities such as ski slopes and tennis courts, restaurants and fitness clubs remain closed.
Georgia
Georgia on Friday reported 538 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total to 261,018, according to the country's National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC).
Data from the center showed that 498 more patients recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 252,246.
Meanwhile, 18 people died in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 3,258.
Germany
German authorities called for trust and wide use of all three COVID -19 vaccines approved in Europe, with rollout of the AstraZeneca Plc shot planned to start this weekend.
Germany will use the Astra shot for people aged 64 and younger, while older people continue to get vaccinations from partners Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc. “This will enable us to double our vaccinations in February,” Health Minister Jens Spahn said at a press conference in Berlin, though he warned that shortages of shots will continue until the second quarter.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday it’s still too soon to ease the lockdown in Europe’s largest economy even as the pandemic shows signs of easing.
“We must stand on solid ground so we can open without having to close again soon,” the 66-year-old leader said in an interview with RTL Media Group, her second television appearance this week. “We need to be very careful in this last stretch so that not so many people die.”
Merkel and regional leaders are set to meet next week to discuss whether to continue the current lockdown, which includes shuttered bars, restaurants and most retailers, beyond Feb 14.
Earlier on Thursday, Merkel said that if the current COVID-19 restrictions are eased, the reopening of schools and daycare facilities for children will be an absolute priority.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 12,908 to 2,264,909, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday. The reported death toll rose by 855 to 60,597, the tally showed.
Ireland
Ireland’s total coronavirus cases passed 200,000, even as the virus’ spread continues to slow.
Ireland reported 1,318 new cases on Thursday, with 75 deaths.
While case numbers may increase in the days ahead as authorities widen testing of close contacts, the so-called reproduction number is between 0.5 and 0.8, the nation’s health ministry said.
France
French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday that the coronavirus situation in France remained fragile but that for the moment there was no need for a new national lockdown.
Castex noted that the rate of infection had not significantly increased over the past two weeks, even if the pressure on French hospitals remained strong.
Castex said the first doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine should arrive in France by the end of the week, helping the government reach its target of four million inoculations by the end of the month.
The government aims to offer the vaccine to all adults in France by the end of the summer.
He also announced a three-week lockdown for the French island of Mayotte, located off the coast of Mozambique, which has been hit by the South African variant of the virus.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Olivier Veran reported that France has detected four cases of the Brazil COVID-19 variant.
The country reported 23,448 new cases and another 360 deaths on Thursday, bringing the tally to 3.27 million with 77,952 fatalities.
The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 stood at 27,766, down 187 over 24 hours, while there were 3,240 patients in intensive care units, initial data from the health ministry’s Geodes site showed.
J&J
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) asked US drug regulators to clear its experimental COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, setting up what is likely to be a fast-moving review process that could lead to millions more doses becoming available to step up a stumbling immunization drive.
The drugmaker said in a statement Thursday that it had filed an application for an emergency-use authorization with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If cleared, the shot would give the US a third vaccine to try to halt a pandemic that has killed more than 450,000 Americans. The process is likely to take weeks.
Paul Stoffels, J&J’s chief scientific officer, said that the company would be ready to begin shipping vaccines upon receiving an authorization.
J&J’s vaccine was found to be 72 percent effective in the US in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 after a single shot, and 66 percent effective overall in a global trial. It was 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalization and death.
Novavax
Regulators in the US have begun to review certain data required for clearance of Novavax Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine while final-phase clinical trials are still underway, the company said in a statement.
The process, called a rolling submission, has also begun in the UK and Canada, Novavax said. On Wednesday, the company said European regulators were doing a similar review.
Novavax said last week an interim analysis of a trial in the UK showed its vaccine to be 89.3 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and remained effective against the B.1.1.7 strain more common there that has been found in the US.
Valneva
Valneva SE is looking at running a head-to-head trial with an approved COVID-19 vaccine for advanced tests of its own shot in the UK, where the rapid rollout of immunizations could make it hard to conduct a conventional study.
The French pharmaceutical company is in discussions with regulators about whether volunteers in the control arm of the trial, planned to start in April, could be given a coronavirus shot that has already been authorized, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Lingelbach said in an interview.
If the health authorities agree, the company would be the first to run such a trial prior to approval of its vaccine.
The company is planning to enroll about 4,000 people in its late-stage trials in the UK and aims for approval in the last quarter of 2021. Given the government’s target to vaccinate everyone over 70 by mid-February, the company may have to do a smaller, separate trial for older adults in another geography later if it can’t recruit enough participants in Britain, according to Lingelbach.
People wait in line to receive COVID-19 vaccination at Methodist Hospital in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, the United States, on Feb 4, 2021. (LM OTERO / AP)
US
President Joe Biden’s drive to enact a US$1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill gained momentum on Friday as the US Senate narrowly approved a budget blueprint allowing Democrats to push the legislation through Congress in coming weeks with or without Republican support.
At the end of about 15 hours of debate and votes on dozens of amendments, the Senate found itself in a 50-50 partisan deadlock over passage of the budget plan. That deadlock was broken by Vice President Kamala Harris, whose “yes” vote provided the win for Democrats.
The US FDA revised its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma, limiting its use to hospitalized patients early in the disease. The convalescent plasma used must contain high levels of antibodies.
The EUA was updated based on data from more recent clinical trials since the original order was issued in August, the agency said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the FDA said it was working with industry to ensure that updated vaccines for COVID-19 variants are deployed as quickly as possible, Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock said. The option of “streamlined” clinical trials for altered vaccines is under discussion, she said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had administered 35,203,710 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Thursday morning and distributed 57,489,675 doses.
So far, the US has reported over 26.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 455,000 deaths caused by COVID-19, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Until vaccines are widely available, weekly COVID-19 testing plus a two-week isolation period for positive cases may be the most cost-effective strategy to tackle the spread of the virus in the US when transmission is high, a study by The Lancet found.
Even monthly testing across the US, requiring 12 million tests a day, would be more cost-effective than the current approach of testing only people with symptoms and their close contacts, according to the medical journal.
In another development, top Democrats from the US House of Representatives will meet with President Joe Biden on Friday after the Senate backed a non-binding call to oppose stimulus checks for upper-income taxpayers.
EU
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she underestimated the complications that can arise in the production of coronavirus vaccines, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported, citing an interview with the European Commission president.
“We focused very much on the development of a vaccine,” she said. “In retrospect, we should have thought more about the challenges of mass production in parallel.”
On Thursday, EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton was put in charge of a new vaccine production task force, after the EU executive came under fire over delays with deliveries of coronavirus vaccines.
Breton, a former French finance minister, will head the new task force in cooperation with EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides, to identify and eliminate bottlenecks in vaccine production plants and adjust output to new variants.
Also on Thursday, Europe’s drugs regulator said it will begin reviewing data on US drugmakers Eli Lilly and Regeneron’s combination therapies of antibody-based treatments for use in COVID-19 patients.
Meanwhile, the the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it had started a program in December to share COVID-19 vaccine and treatment expertise with regulators not part of the European Union, collaborating with them to understand decisions around potential shots or medicines.
Brazil
Brazil recorded 56,873 new COVID-19 cases and 1,232 related deaths on Thursday, bringing the national caseload and death toll to 9,396,293 and 228,795, respectively.
According to the health ministry's daily report, Sao Paulo, the most populous state in the country, has accumulated 1,820,941 COVID-19 cases and 53,997 related deaths.
The state of Amazonas in northwestern Brazil, where health system recently collapsed due to a lack of hospital beds and oxygen, has the worst positivity rate at 6,673 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the report.
In the coming days, 13 states will resume their school year with in-person classes under health restrictions.
Brazil is in talks to buy an additional 20 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, the governor of Sao Paulo told Reuters in a Thursday interview. The order, which has not been previously reported, will come on top of the 100 million doses of the vaccine, known as CoronaVac, already secured by Sao Paulo’s Butantan biomedical institute, Governor Joao Doria said.
Also on Thursday, Brazil launched an online public health campaign to combat the marketing of fake COVID-19 vaccines. The campaign aims to raise public awareness of the health risks involved in using those vaccines, and currently only Brazil's Unified Health System is authorized to supply COVID-19 vaccines free-of-charge, said the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
Italy
Italy is planning to begin its vaccination campaign for people under 55 years of age on Tuesday, Ansa news agency reported. The first doses from AstraZeneca are due to arrive Saturday, virus emergency chief Domenico Arcuri said Friday.
Italy's COVID-19 death toll on Thursday surpassed 90,000, as the health ministry reported 421 additional deaths.
The death toll now stands at 90,241.
The ministry also reported 13,659 new infections over the past 24 hours, up from 13,189 the day before, bringing the total tally of cases to 2.597 million.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 19,743 on Thursday, down from 20,071 a day earlier.
There were 147 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 133 on Wednesday. The total number of intensive care patients rose to 2,151 from a previous 2,145.
Canada
Canada will succeed in inoculating its population despite “momentary disruptions” in the supply of COVID-19 vaccines and is working closely with the new US administration to fight the disease, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.
Trudeau promised that tens of millions of doses would arrive in the months to come and reiterated that every Canadian seeking inoculation would be vaccinated by September.
Separately, federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand said deliveries of AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine could begin before the end of March, if Canada’s health regulator approves its use.
In a separate briefing, federal officials confirmed Canada’s most recent shipment of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine contained 22 percent fewer doses than originally expected and said the next shipment, due in three weeks, would also be short.
Shipments of Pfizer Inc’s vaccine, meanwhile, are expected to ramp up later this month.
ALSO READ: Canada extends cruise ban to 2022, stops Alaska trips
Russia
Fresh off global validation of their COVID-19 vaccine’s extraordinary effectiveness, Russian developers are in talks with China’s CanSino Biologics Inc. to test a combined regimen of their shots to better protect against new virus strains, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Russia reported 16,688 new COVID-19 cases across the country on Friday, including 2,032 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 3,934,606 since the pandemic began.
Authorities confirmed 527 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 75,732.
Portugal
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Thursday that the country's immunization plan against COVID-19 has so far been a "highly successful operation," despite reports of undue vaccination.
His remarks came following the resignation of the coordinator of the "task force" of vaccination against COVID-19, Francisco Ramos, though Costa said "it had nothing to do with the general work of the vaccination plan".
Costa said that the majority of the population will be vaccinated by the end of June 2021.
Portugal has so far vaccinated more than 400,000 people, according to Costa.
This photo shows Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa (center) during an inspection of the COVID-19 vaccination of prison workers at the Sao Joao de Deus prison hospital in Oeiras, outside Lisbon, Feb 4, 2021. (MARIO CRUZ / POOL VIA AP)
Mexico
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has had a negative COVID-19 test, the government said on Thursday, less than two weeks after the 67-year-old announced he had contracted the virus.
“I’m in good health already, I’m recovering,” Lopez Obrador said in a video message from the National Palace, adding that an antigen test he took in the morning was negative.
The rermarks came as Mexico’s health ministry reported 13,575 new cases of COVID-19 and 1,682 more deaths, bringing the overall totals in the country to 1,899,820 cases and 162,922 deaths.
Spain
Catalonia will remove some lockdown restrictions from next week, the government said on Thursday, allowing gyms to reopen and people to move outside their municipalities after infections edged lower in the region and across Spain.
“We believe we are leaving behind the maximum peak of the third wave,” Catalan health secretary general Marc Ramentol told a news conference.
At a national level the 14-day incidence of the virus retreated to 783 cases per 100,000 people, dropping below 800 cases for the first time in two weeks.
Madrid has already announced some easing of lockdown restrictions, starting from Friday.
A total of 29,960 new cases were recorded by the country on Thursday bringing the total above 2.9 million, while the death toll climbed by 432 to 60,802.
Colombia
Colombia registered 254 more deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 55,131, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection said Thursday.
The ministry said that 9,790 new cases were recorded, bringing the national count to 2,135,412.
Uganda
Ugandan schools and higher education institutions will reopen on March 1 with strict adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures, President Yoweri Museveni said Thursday.
Schools will reopen for 1.7 million semi-candidate class learners and all tertiary and university students in a phased manner, Museveni said in a televised address. The reopening of schools will be in sync with the vaccination of teachers, health workers, security personnel and the elderly, Museveni added.
"We are preparing to start vaccination in March. We are going to receive 3.5 million vaccines from COVAX facility. We are also arranging to bring vaccines from India, about 18 million doses to vaccinate 9 million people," he said.
Scientists in the country have advised the government to choose vaccines developed by China's Sinovac and Britain's AstraZeneca, Museveni said.
Argentina
Argentina registered 8,891 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the tally to 1,961,635, the health ministry said.
The ministry also reported 162 more deaths from the disease, bringing the death toll to 48,700.
UN
The president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, said his spokesman.
Bozkir was given a Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at the Javits Center in New York, said spokesman Brenden Varma.
Separately, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who received his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine a week ago, said on the same day that the UN chief has not had any side effects.
The secretary-general is feeling very good, and he is looking forward to a second jab through appointment, said Stephane Dujarric.
Tunisia
The Tunisian Health Ministry on Thursday reported 1,270 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 213,949.
The death toll rose by 68 to 7,048, the ministry said in a statement.
On the same day, the ministry received a batch of medical aid from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), including prevention equipment against COVID-19.
The aid is intended for Tunisian medical and paramedical staff to support the efforts of the ministry in its fight against the pandemic, according to a ministry statement.
Ecuador
Ecuador's COVID-19 tally rose to 253,339 after 949 cases were registered in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Public Health said Thursday.
In its daily report, the ministry also confirmed 19 deaths in the same period, taking the toll to 10,276. There were another 4,692 deaths suspected of being related to COVID-19, it said.
The ministry said that 60.7 percent of infections throughout the country involved people between the ages of 20 and 49, and mostly men.
Meanwhile, Quito's Mayor Jorge Yunda announced that talks have been initiated with the ministry and the production sector for a possible purchase of COVID-19 vaccines for the capital.
A sign reminding people to maintain social distancing and to wear masks is seen on a street in Madrid, Spain, Feb 4, 2021. (MENG DINGBO / XINHUA)
Hungary
Hungary could gradually start its return to normality as soon as this spring with inoculation of the most exposed groups taking place by March 15, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday.
Hungary may start inoculating people with Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine next week after it granted emergency use approval to the shot last month, the first in the European Union, Orban told state radio.
Under a deal signed last month, Russia will ship 2 million doses of the vaccine to Hungary in the coming three months, enough to inoculate 1 million people. Hungary received the first 40,000 doses of Sputnik last week, enough to vaccinate 20,000 people.
Algeria
Algeria on Thursday reported 265 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the North African country to 108,381.
The death toll rose to 2,904 after four more fatalities were added, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Another 196 patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries to 74,196, the ministry added.
Morocco
Morocco on Thursday registered 620 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 473,667.
The number of recoveries increased to 452,522 after 742 more were added, while the death toll went up by 28 to 8,351, the health ministry said in a statement.
A total of 622 patients were in intensive care units.
Chile
The Chilean Ministry of Health reported on Thursday that 3,589 new COVID-19 cases and 155 more deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total caseload to 740,237 with 18,731 fatalities.
Minister of Health Enrique Paris said that the number of cases in 10 regions has decreased in the last few days, including the Metropolitan Region of Santiago.
However, Paris expressed concern over the "upward curve" in the northern region of Coquimbo, one of the areas most visited by tourists during the summer season.
Lithuania
Lithuania will start coronavirus genome sequencing process to monitor the diversity, prevalence and genome change of COVID-19 strains in Lithuania, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The ministry confirmed on Monday the country's first case of the coronavirus variant that was first detected in Britain. The new strain was detected in a woman from the capital city of Vilnius.
So far, Lithuania has registered 184,948 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,885 related deaths, according to the Department of Statistics.
Sweden
Sweden, which has attracted global attention for its soft-touch pandemic response, registered 89 additional COVID-19 related deaths on Thursday, taking the total above 12,000, Health Agency statistics showed.
With 12,028 deaths registered since the start of the pandemic, Sweden’s death rate per capita is many times higher than its Nordic neighbors, but lower than several European countries that opted for lockdowns.
New infections in Sweden have decreased in recent weeks and the Health Agency said it had registered 3,758 new cases over the last 24 hours.
However, the number of people with the mutation first identified in Britain has picked up and health officials said it was too soon to ease the rules.
The government on Thursday extended its ban on alcohol sales after 8 pm and told public sector employees to work from home until May 31.
Anglo American
Anglo American said on Thursday it would provide up to US$30 million to support the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines across its global operations, with US$10 million allocated to assist South Africa in its vaccination efforts.
South Africa, which has recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections and deaths on the African continent at more than 1.4 million cases and over 45,000 deaths, received its first doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.
The company said contributions to other countries where it has operations, including Australia, Brazil, Peru, and India, would differ depending on each country’s needs and vaccine deployment model.
In South Africa, the funds will be used to assist the government in the purchase of vaccines via the Solidarity Fund, which is a public and private relief fund set up to help fight COVID-19, to support transportation and storage, train community health workers and through the use of its health facilities.
