Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Sunday he was recovering from the Covid-19 illness, in his first televised appearance since he was hospitalised in Germany almost two months ago.&nbsp;

"Thanks to God... I have started on the road to recovery," the 75-year-old said a day after the first anniversary of his election.&nbsp;

"It may take two or three weeks but, God willing, I will recover all my bodily strength."

The video was broadcast on state television and published on Tebboune's Twitter feed.

He did not indicate his location, but his Twitter feed indicated that he was outside Algeria.

Tebboune, a heavy smoker, was hospitalised in Germany on October 28, and Algerian authorities later announced that he had the Covid-19 illness.&nbsp;

His absence had sparked concerns of an institutional crisis, weeks after voters approved a revised constitution on record low turnout in a referendum widely seen as a manoeuvre to neutralise the long-running Hirak protest movement.

Tebboune has been unable to sign the revised constitution into law because he must be on Algerian soil to do so.

He also has until December 31 to sign off on a 2021 budget.

But he said Sunday he was following developments in Algeria "day by day, if not hour by hour", and noted progress in cutting the country's daily toll of coronavirus infections.

Visibly thinner than before and wearing a casual jacket, he sat at a desk next to an Algerian flag.&nbsp;

Economic woes

Tebboune won last year's widely boycotted December 12 presidential election, following months of mass protests that had swept his predecessor Abdelaziz Bouteflika from office.

Tebboune's prolonged disappearance had reminded many Algerians of Bouteflika's frequent hospitalisations abroad.

Last month's constitutional referendum, timed to coincide with Algeria's 1962 independence from France, had been seen as a bid to boost Tebboune's legitimacy.

But with the president overseas and the Hirak urging a boycott, the vote saw even lower turnout than the election that brought Tebboune to power.

His absence came as Algeria faces a sharp recession due to the coronavirus pandemic and a gaping budget deficit due to low crude prices that have slashed the country's vital oil revenues.

Tebboune has promised to fight for a "strong and diversified" economy and work to wean the country off oil.

He vowed Sunday that "no citizen on a low income will be hit by new taxes."

Tebboune has also reached out to the "blessed" Hirak, which staged over a year of mass protests until it was forced to suspend them amid coronavirus restrictions earlier this year.

But his administration has overseen a crackdown on dissent.&nbsp;

Prisoners' rights group the CNLD says around 90 activists, social media users and journalists are currently in custody, mostly for social media posts.

"Tebboune could have created legitimacy, launching large projects of political, economic and institutional renewal," Charef said.&nbsp;

"But he has not been able to, or has not known how."

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Sunday he was recovering from the Covid-19 illness, in his first televised appearance since he was hospitalised in Germany almost two months ago.

Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Sunday he was recovering from the Covid-19 illness, in his first televised appearance since he was hospitalised in Germany almost two months ago. "Thanks to God... I have started on the road to recovery," the 75-year-old said a day after the first anniversary of his election. "It may take two or three weeks but, God willing, I will recover all my bodily strength." The video was broadcast on state television and published on Tebboune's Twitter feed. He did not indicate his location, but his Twitter feed indicated that he was outside Algeria. Tebboune, a heavy smoker, was hospitalised in Germany on October 28, and Algerian authorities later announced that he had the Covid-19 illness. His absence had sparked concerns of an institutional crisis, weeks after voters approved a revised constitution on record low turnout in a referendum widely seen as a manoeuvre to neutralise the long-running Hirak protest movement. Tebboune has been unable to sign the revised constitution into law because he must be on Algerian soil to do so. He also has until December 31 to sign off on a 2021 budget. But he said Sunday he was following developments in Algeria "day by day, if not hour by hour", and noted progress in cutting the country's daily toll of coronavirus infections. Visibly thinner than before and wearing a casual jacket, he sat at a desk next to an Algerian flag. Economic woes Tebboune won last year's widely boycotted December 12 presidential election, following months of mass protests that had swept his predecessor Abdelaziz Bouteflika from office. Tebboune's prolonged disappearance had reminded many Algerians of Bouteflika's frequent hospitalisations abroad. Last month's constitutional referendum, timed to coincide with Algeria's 1962 independence from France, had been seen as a bid to boost Tebboune's legitimacy. But with the president overseas and the Hirak urging a boycott, the vote saw even lower turnout than the election that brought Tebboune to power. His absence came as Algeria faces a sharp recession due to the coronavirus pandemic and a gaping budget deficit due to low crude prices that have slashed the country's vital oil revenues. Tebboune has promised to fight for a "strong and diversified" economy and work to wean the country off oil. He vowed Sunday that "no citizen on a low income will be hit by new taxes." Tebboune has also reached out to the "blessed" Hirak, which staged over a year of mass protests until it was forced to suspend them amid coronavirus restrictions earlier this year. But his administration has overseen a crackdown on dissent. Prisoners' rights group the CNLD says around 90 activists, social media users and journalists are currently in custody, mostly for social media posts. "Tebboune could have created legitimacy, launching large projects of political, economic and institutional renewal," Charef said. "But he has not been able to, or has not known how."

Algeria president in first TV appearance in almost two months

The US state of New York conducted 242,927 COVID-19 tests in one day - marking a record high in the state. In addition to the number of tests, the number of hospitalisations also increased in the state to 5,369.

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An official statement claimed that out of the 242,927 tests undertaken in the state - 11,129 were positive. This implies that 4.58 per cent of the total patients who tested for the virus tested positive, which is slightly down from 4.98 per cent a day earlier. 
 
Governor Cuomo claimed that the cases continue to rise as holiday season in the US continues in full swing.

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"Covid cases are continuing to climb nationwide and with the holiday season in full swing. It could get worse before it gets better," Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

He also called on the federal government to ensure that resources are provided to local governments. 
 
"The federal government must do its job and provide resources to state and local governments to equitably administer the vaccine and provide badly needed support for businesses and the unemployed," he said.

Additionally, the governor said that the state is hell-bent on ensuring that the increased number of cases do not overwhelm hospitals in the state. To counter this, hospitals in New York are putting redundancies in place, as reported by Xinhua.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/business-economy/ups-and-fedex-say-vaccine-shipment-plans-are-underway-349372" hreflang="en">UPS and FedEx say vaccine shipment plans are underway</a>

Cuomo also stressed the importance of following precautions in place to fight the virus, which has killed 295,000 people in the US so far. 
 
"Ultimately, it`s up to each of us to slow the spread of this virus until there is widespread access to a vaccine: wear a mask, socially distance, wash your hands and stay vigilant," he added.

The state governor on Saturday tweeted that hospitalisations in the state on Friday were 5,359, up from 5,321 on Thursday.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/how-the-vaccine-rollout-will-compare-in-britain-canada-and-the-us-349368" hreflang="en">How the vaccine rollout will compare in Britain, Canada and the US</a> 
 
He warned that the number of hospitalisations in the state could touch 6,000 in the coming weeks as the number of cases rise, showing a upward trend. 
 
New York state still continues to remain the hardest hit in the US. On Saturday evening, Johns Hopkins University's "Center for Systems Science and Engineering" reported 35,441 deaths in the state.

The US state of New York conducted 242,927 COVID-19 tests in one day - marking a record high in the state. In addition to the number of tests, the number of hospitalisations also increased in the state to 5,369.

The US state of New York conducted 242,927 COVID-19 tests in one day - marking a record high in the state. In addition to the number of tests, the number of hospitalisations also increased in the state to 5,369. An official statement claimed that out of the 242,927 tests undertaken in the state - 11,129 were positive. This implies that 4.58 per cent of the total patients who tested for the virus tested positive, which is slightly down from 4.98 per cent a day earlier. Governor Cuomo claimed that the cases continue to rise as holiday season in the US continues in full swing. Also read: First COVID-19 shots in US to be administered as early as Monday "Covid cases are continuing to climb nationwide and with the holiday season in full swing. It could get worse before it gets better," Governor Andrew Cuomo said. He also called on the federal government to ensure that resources are provided to local governments. "The federal government must do its job and provide resources to state and local governments to equitably administer the vaccine and provide badly needed support for businesses and the unemployed," he said. Additionally, the governor said that the state is hell-bent on ensuring that the increased number of cases do not overwhelm hospitals in the state. To counter this, hospitals in New York are putting redundancies in place, as reported by Xinhua. Also read: UPS and FedEx say vaccine shipment plans are underway Cuomo also stressed the importance of following precautions in place to fight the virus, which has killed 295,000 people in the US so far. "Ultimately, it`s up to each of us to slow the spread of this virus until there is widespread access to a vaccine: wear a mask, socially distance, wash your hands and stay vigilant," he added. The state governor on Saturday tweeted that hospitalisations in the state on Friday were 5,359, up from 5,321 on Thursday. Also read: How the vaccine rollout will compare in Britain, Canada and the US He warned that the number of hospitalisations in the state could touch 6,000 in the coming weeks as the number of cases rise, showing a upward trend. New York state still continues to remain the hardest hit in the US. On Saturday evening, Johns Hopkins University's "Center for Systems Science and Engineering" reported 35,441 deaths in the state.

New York conducts over 200,000 coronavirus tests in one day - highest ever

China reported 24 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for Dec. 12, up from 13 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Sunday. 
 
There were five local cases and 19 imported infections, according to a statement by the National Health Commission. 
 
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, fell to 14 from 17 a day earlier. 
 
As of Saturday, mainland China had 86,725 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 4,634.

China reported 24 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for Dec. 12, up from 13 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Sunday. There were five local cases and 19 imported infections, according to a statement by the National Health Commission.

China reported 24 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for Dec. 12, up from 13 cases a day earlier, the health commission said on Sunday. There were five local cases and 19 imported infections, according to a statement by the National Health Commission. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, fell to 14 from 17 a day earlier. As of Saturday, mainland China had 86,725 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 4,634.

China reports 24 new COVID-19 cases vs 13 a day earlier

The pilot rollout of COVID-19 vaccine in the United States will begin as early as Monday, an Army general behind the rollout said on Sunday. 
 
Pfizer and its partners are now preparing to get the vaccine out in the world’s hardest hit country.

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The first wave includes 2.9 million shots to be given to healthcare workers and the elderly, who remain at the highest risk of contracting the virus which has killed the most number of people in the US.

Healthcare workers will receive jabs on Monday, and nursing home residents by the end of the week, US Army General Gustave Perna said in a press call.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/business-economy/ups-and-fedex-say-vaccine-shipment-plans-are-underway-349372" hreflang="en">UPS and FedEx say vaccine shipment plans are underway</a> 
 
He also added how inoculating 330 million people of the USA could become a challenge, especially logistically, for the Pfizer shot needs to be stored at -70 degree Celsius. 
 
"We have a lot of work to do. We are not taking a victory lap. We know road ahead of us will be tough," Perna said.

On Friday, the US authorised emergency use of Pfizer’s shot while the country continues to record a surge in the number of cases and deaths.

So far, 295,000 Americans have lost their lives to the virus.

Perna also added that along with its partner BioNTech, Pfizer will deliver the vaccine to 145 locations in the country on Monday.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/how-the-vaccine-rollout-will-compare-in-britain-canada-and-the-us-349368" hreflang="en">How the vaccine rollout will compare in Britain, Canada and the US</a> 
 
Following this pilot roll out, 636 additional locations across the country will receive doses on Tuesday and Wednesday. 
 
Owing to the demand, Pfizer intends to continue make more doses as the existing ones are dispatched.

As part of the Operation Warp Speed, the vaccine should be available across all healthcare facilities in the US within three weeks.

US officials are working with logistics companies like United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx to ensure a safe and timely delivery of the vaccine. Besides the delivery of doses, the companies will look after getting out other paraphernalia used to store and administer vaccines - like syringes, dry ice, and protective equipment.

The pilot rollout of COVID-19 vaccine in the United States will begin as early as Monday, an Army general behind the rollout said on Sunday. Pfizer and its partners are now preparing to get the vaccine out in the world’s hardest hit country.

The pilot rollout of COVID-19 vaccine in the United States will begin as early as Monday, an Army general behind the rollout said on Sunday. Pfizer and its partners are now preparing to get the vaccine out in the world’s hardest hit country. The first wave includes 2.9 million shots to be given to healthcare workers and the elderly, who remain at the highest risk of contracting the virus which has killed the most number of people in the US. Healthcare workers will receive jabs on Monday, and nursing home residents by the end of the week, US Army General Gustave Perna said in a press call. Also read: UPS and FedEx say vaccine shipment plans are underway He also added how inoculating 330 million people of the USA could become a challenge, especially logistically, for the Pfizer shot needs to be stored at -70 degree Celsius. "We have a lot of work to do. We are not taking a victory lap. We know road ahead of us will be tough," Perna said. On Friday, the US authorised emergency use of Pfizer’s shot while the country continues to record a surge in the number of cases and deaths. So far, 295,000 Americans have lost their lives to the virus. Perna also added that along with its partner BioNTech, Pfizer will deliver the vaccine to 145 locations in the country on Monday. Also read: How the vaccine rollout will compare in Britain, Canada and the US Following this pilot roll out, 636 additional locations across the country will receive doses on Tuesday and Wednesday. Owing to the demand, Pfizer intends to continue make more doses as the existing ones are dispatched. As part of the Operation Warp Speed, the vaccine should be available across all healthcare facilities in the US within three weeks. US officials are working with logistics companies like United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx to ensure a safe and timely delivery of the vaccine. Besides the delivery of doses, the companies will look after getting out other paraphernalia used to store and administer vaccines - like syringes, dry ice, and protective equipment.

First COVID-19 shots in US to be administered as early as Monday

The festive season is right around the corner. But in the biblical town of Bethlehem, the COVID-19 pandemic is now dampening Christmas cheer. On this week's The West Asia Post, Ghadi Francis tells you how the town is gearing up for a dismal season.

The West Asia Post | COVID-19 robs Bethlehem of Christmas cheer

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US authorises Pfizer jab; first vaccine to be administered 'in less than 24 hours' The US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has granted the Pfizer-BioNTech Covi

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Morning news brief: US approves Pfizer vaccine, India readies itself for distribution and more

The United States approved the emergency authorisation of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine earlier today.&nbsp;BioNTech SE’s chief executive shed light on the company’s plans in terms of production, distribution, etc.

The vaccine, partnered by Pfizer and BioNTech is set to ramp up manufacturing to meet the growing demand. And with the approval, the trend is set to be replicated in other countries.

"We need to solve the manufacturing challenge," Ugur Sahin told Reuters.&nbsp;"It is very clear that more doses are needed. And we are dealing with that question - how to produce more doses”, Sahin added. Next year, both the companies are expected to produce 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine. Earlier in the week, UK had become the first country to authorise use of Pfizer’s vaccine.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/explainer-us-has-authorised-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-when-will-you-get-it-349206" hreflang="en">Explainer: US has authorised the first COVID-19 vaccine - when will you get it?</a>

Sahin told Reuters that the vaccine is expected to receive approval for the European Medicines Agency by the end of December, after which it can carve out a plan for inoculation in the bloc.

BioNTech recently bought a plant from Novartis in Germany, which it intends to use to produce millions of doses. The plan is capable of manufacturing 750 million doses in a year.

The company is expected to begin making the vaccine there in the first half 2021. Sahin added that they are looking to expedite the timeline. "The baseline plan is 1.3 billion doses," he said.&nbsp;

An extended plan is in the world. "And we are working on an extended plan. I can't tell you at the moment what is possible and how much we can expand the scale but we will try to do it significantly”, he told Reuters.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/us-authorises-pfizer-jab-first-vaccine-to-be-administered-in-less-than-24-hours-349188" hreflang="en">US authorises Pfizer jab; first vaccine to be administered 'in less than 24 hours'</a>

In the beginning, the supply of the vaccine will be limited to the US, where 330 million people reside.

So far, the US government has ordered 100 million doses of the two-dose vaccine by Pfizer, with more negotiations expected to take place. A Pfizer board member - Scott Gottlieb, during an interview on CNBC said that they had offered to produce doses of the vaccine, but the offer had been turned down by the government.

The Pfizer&nbsp;shot - based on clinical data begins showing efficacy as early as 12 days. In fact, data suggests that many people had received protection from just the first jab.

The United States approved the emergency authorisation of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine earlier today. BioNTech SE’s chief executive shed light on the company’s plans in terms of production, distribution, etc.

The United States approved the emergency authorisation of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine earlier today. BioNTech SE’s chief executive shed light on the company’s plans in terms of production, distribution, etc. The vaccine, partnered by Pfizer and BioNTech is set to ramp up manufacturing to meet the growing demand. And with the approval, the trend is set to be replicated in other countries. "We need to solve the manufacturing challenge," Ugur Sahin told Reuters. "It is very clear that more doses are needed. And we are dealing with that question - how to produce more doses”, Sahin added. Next year, both the companies are expected to produce 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine. Earlier in the week, UK had become the first country to authorise use of Pfizer’s vaccine. Also read: Explainer: US has authorised the first COVID-19 vaccine - when will you get it? Sahin told Reuters that the vaccine is expected to receive approval for the European Medicines Agency by the end of December, after which it can carve out a plan for inoculation in the bloc. BioNTech recently bought a plant from Novartis in Germany, which it intends to use to produce millions of doses. The plan is capable of manufacturing 750 million doses in a year. The company is expected to begin making the vaccine there in the first half 2021. Sahin added that they are looking to expedite the timeline. "The baseline plan is 1.3 billion doses," he said. An extended plan is in the world. "And we are working on an extended plan. I can't tell you at the moment what is possible and how much we can expand the scale but we will try to do it significantly”, he told Reuters. Also read: US authorises Pfizer jab; first vaccine to be administered 'in less than 24 hours' In the beginning, the supply of the vaccine will be limited to the US, where 330 million people reside. So far, the US government has ordered 100 million doses of the two-dose vaccine by Pfizer, with more negotiations expected to take place. A Pfizer board member - Scott Gottlieb, during an interview on CNBC said that they had offered to produce doses of the vaccine, but the offer had been turned down by the government. The Pfizer shot - based on clinical data begins showing efficacy as early as 12 days. In fact, data suggests that many people had received protection from just the first jab.

After US authorisation of vaccine, BioNTech to tremendously intensify production

India produced over 60 million personal protective equipment (PPE) and 150 million N95 masks in just seven months, said Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani while addressing a programme on Aatmanirbhar Bharat via videoconferencing on Friday.

"India produced over 60 million PPE and 150 million N95 masks from March to October. We have exported over 20 million PPE suits and 40 million masks so far," she said.

Irani added till March, India didn`t have any company producing the PPE suits, and today we have more than 11,000 companies making the protective gears. "Similarly, from the two companies making the N95 masks in March, today we have over 200."&nbsp;

India produced over 60 million personal protective equipment (PPE) and 150 million N95 masks in just seven months, said Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani while addressing a programme on Aatmanirbhar Bharat via videoconferencing on Friday.

India produced over 60 million personal protective equipment (PPE) and 150 million N95 masks in just seven months, said Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani while addressing a programme on Aatmanirbhar Bharat via videoconferencing on Friday. "India produced over 60 million PPE and 150 million N95 masks from March to October. We have exported over 20 million PPE suits and 40 million masks so far," she said. Irani added till March, India didn`t have any company producing the PPE suits, and today we have more than 11,000 companies making the protective gears. "Similarly, from the two companies making the N95 masks in March, today we have over 200."

India produced over 60 million PPE, 150 million N95 masks in 7 months: Smriti Irani

The US&nbsp;Food and Drug Administration authorised the first COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, making it available for emergency use to patients aged 16 and older. 
 
In clinical trials, the vaccine was 95% effective at preventing illness and showed no short-term safety issues. 
 
The following is an outline of vaccine distribution plans. 
 
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? 
 
The federal government plans to release the nation’s first 2.9 million doses within days of the authorization to 64 states, US&nbsp;territories and major cities, as well as five federal agencies. Although the federal government is coordinating distribution efforts, states have the final decision over who gets the first shots. The federal government is sending the first shipments to more than 600 locations. 
 
WHO IS FIRST IN LINE FOR A SHOT? 
 
States are prioritizing healthcare workers and elderly long-term care residents for the first vaccinations. There are about 21 million healthcare workers in the United States and 3 million nursing home residents. Most states anticipate they will be able to vaccinate only between 13% and 18% of their healthcare workers with the first distribution, a Reuters analysis found. The federal government has said it will continue to send out millions of doses each week but has not released exact figures. 
 
 
 
WHO IS NEXT IN LINE? 
 
States have broad discretion over who will get the vaccine next. So far, a panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has only issued the guidance that healthcare workers and nursing home residents should be first. 
 
The CDC has laid out a possible framework of three distribution phases, suggesting essential workers and people aged 65 and older as the next priority. 
 
Some states have indicated they plan to give essential workers priority after healthcare workers and nursing home residents receive the vaccine. 
 
At least 20 large industries are lobbying states to get their workers classified as essential, a Reuters analysis found, including Uber Technologies Inc, DoorDash Inc, and others. [nL1N2IO27C] 
 
WILL THERE BE ENOUGH VACCINES TO GO AROUND? 
 
Pfizer has said it would make 50 million doses this year - enough to inoculate 25 million people - about half of which would go to the United States. Pfizer has an agreement with the U.S. government to supply a total of 100 million doses, enough for 50 million people to be vaccinated. The United States has an option to buy an additional 500 million doses. 
 
An panel of expert advisers to the FDA will review a second COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc next week. If that vaccine is authorized, federal officials have said they will be able to vaccinate 20 million Americans in December, 30 million in January, and 50 million in February. 
 
Johnson &amp; Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc also have vaccines in late-stage trials. If those vaccines receive authorization early next year, officials said there would be enough doses to vaccinate about 75 million Americans a month by about March or April. 
 
Officials said by the middle of next year, the United States will have distributed enough vaccines for most Americans who want the vaccine to be inoculated. 
 
 
WHAT HAPPENS ONCE I GET THE VACCINE? 
 
The vaccine is given in two shots, three weeks apart. Pfizer has said side effects in trial volunteers were mostly mild to moderate, and cleared up quickly. The most severe side effects occurred after the second dose, including flu-like symptoms, fatigue and headache. 
 
Although the vaccine was shown to be highly effective at preventing illness, there is no data yet that suggests it also prevents infection or the ability to spread the virus to others. Mask-wearing and social distancing will likely remain in place until more people are vaccinated or proof emerges that the vaccine also prevents virus transmission.

The US Food and Drug Administration authorised the first COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, making it available for emergency use to patients aged 16 and older.

The US Food and Drug Administration authorised the first COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, making it available for emergency use to patients aged 16 and older. In clinical trials, the vaccine was 95% effective at preventing illness and showed no short-term safety issues. The following is an outline of vaccine distribution plans. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? The federal government plans to release the nation’s first 2.9 million doses within days of the authorization to 64 states, US territories and major cities, as well as five federal agencies. Although the federal government is coordinating distribution efforts, states have the final decision over who gets the first shots. The federal government is sending the first shipments to more than 600 locations. WHO IS FIRST IN LINE FOR A SHOT? States are prioritizing healthcare workers and elderly long-term care residents for the first vaccinations. There are about 21 million healthcare workers in the United States and 3 million nursing home residents. Most states anticipate they will be able to vaccinate only between 13% and 18% of their healthcare workers with the first distribution, a Reuters analysis found. The federal government has said it will continue to send out millions of doses each week but has not released exact figures. WHO IS NEXT IN LINE? States have broad discretion over who will get the vaccine next. So far, a panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has only issued the guidance that healthcare workers and nursing home residents should be first. The CDC has laid out a possible framework of three distribution phases, suggesting essential workers and people aged 65 and older as the next priority. Some states have indicated they plan to give essential workers priority after healthcare workers and nursing home residents receive the vaccine. At least 20 large industries are lobbying states to get their workers classified as essential, a Reuters analysis found, including Uber Technologies Inc, DoorDash Inc, and others. [nL1N2IO27C] WILL THERE BE ENOUGH VACCINES TO GO AROUND? Pfizer has said it would make 50 million doses this year - enough to inoculate 25 million people - about half of which would go to the United States. Pfizer has an agreement with the U.S. government to supply a total of 100 million doses, enough for 50 million people to be vaccinated. The United States has an option to buy an additional 500 million doses. An panel of expert advisers to the FDA will review a second COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc next week. If that vaccine is authorized, federal officials have said they will be able to vaccinate 20 million Americans in December, 30 million in January, and 50 million in February. Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc also have vaccines in late-stage trials. If those vaccines receive authorization early next year, officials said there would be enough doses to vaccinate about 75 million Americans a month by about March or April. Officials said by the middle of next year, the United States will have distributed enough vaccines for most Americans who want the vaccine to be inoculated. WHAT HAPPENS ONCE I GET THE VACCINE? The vaccine is given in two shots, three weeks apart. Pfizer has said side effects in trial volunteers were mostly mild to moderate, and cleared up quickly. The most severe side effects occurred after the second dose, including flu-like symptoms, fatigue and headache. Although the vaccine was shown to be highly effective at preventing illness, there is no data yet that suggests it also prevents infection or the ability to spread the virus to others. Mask-wearing and social distancing will likely remain in place until more people are vaccinated or proof emerges that the vaccine also prevents virus transmission.

Explainer: US has authorised the first COVID-19 vaccine - when will you get it?

Over the next six to eight months, India will attempt to deliver 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines using its expansive election machinery.&nbsp;

As part of this move, the most vulnerable groups will be given the vaccine, which will be stored in cold chain systems.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/serum-institute-bharat-biotech-vaccines-applied-for-emergency-use-in-india-349185/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

VK Paul, the head of experts on vaccines told Reuters that cold storage facilities between 2-8 degree Celsius can be maintained.

Paul added how four candidates are at the forefront in India. "The four that I can see, including Serum, Bharat, Zydus, and Sputnik need normal cold chain. I see no problem for these vaccines," he said to Reuters.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/dirty-methods-being-used-to-discredit-sputnik-v-vaccine-kremlin-349147" hreflang="en">'Dirty methods' being used to discredit Sputnik V vaccine: Kremlin</a>

The world’s largest vaccine maker - Serum Institute of India, is currently mass producing Covidshield by AstraZeneca.

In addition, Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila are in the process of developing their own vaccines. In November, Indian pharma company Hetero made a deal with Russia for the procurement of 100 million doses of Sputnik V per year.

Paul also claimed that the pilot approvals for vaccine use are expected to happen “very soon”. "I am hoping at the earliest because we are ready." However, no price has been decided yet, but Paul expects a “fair and reasonable price”.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/no-christmas-parties-covid-19-related-hospitalizations-in-us-at-critical-stage-amid-fdas-vaccine-authorisation-349130" hreflang="en">'No Christmas parties': COVID-19-related hospitalizations in US at critical stage amid FDA's vaccine authorisation</a>

Indian regulators are currently considering three vaccine makers for emergency use - Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Bharat Biotech.

Pfizer’s high demand and limited stockpile will slow down its vaccine rollout in India. IN addition, it requires to be stored in -70 degree Celsius or below, which would make its usage in India difficult, for the infrastructure is scarce.

"In a theoretical scenario, where there is no vaccine with conventional cold chain requirement, minus 70 degrees Celsius capacities will have to be created, and we will do so," Paul said.

India is also in talks with Moderna - another major player in the vaccine race. Paul did add that the vaccines are not expected before later in 2021.

Over the next six to eight months, India will attempt to deliver 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines using its expansive election machinery. As part of this move, the most vulnerable groups will be given the vaccine, which will be stored in cold chain systems.

Over the next six to eight months, India will attempt to deliver 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines using its expansive election machinery. As part of this move, the most vulnerable groups will be given the vaccine, which will be stored in cold chain systems. VK Paul, the head of experts on vaccines told Reuters that cold storage facilities between 2-8 degree Celsius can be maintained. Paul added how four candidates are at the forefront in India. "The four that I can see, including Serum, Bharat, Zydus, and Sputnik need normal cold chain. I see no problem for these vaccines," he said to Reuters. Also read: 'Dirty methods' being used to discredit Sputnik V vaccine: Kremlin The world’s largest vaccine maker - Serum Institute of India, is currently mass producing Covidshield by AstraZeneca. In addition, Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila are in the process of developing their own vaccines. In November, Indian pharma company Hetero made a deal with Russia for the procurement of 100 million doses of Sputnik V per year. Paul also claimed that the pilot approvals for vaccine use are expected to happen “very soon”. "I am hoping at the earliest because we are ready." However, no price has been decided yet, but Paul expects a “fair and reasonable price”. Also read: 'No Christmas parties': COVID-19-related hospitalizations in US at critical stage amid FDA's vaccine authorisation Indian regulators are currently considering three vaccine makers for emergency use - Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Bharat Biotech. Pfizer’s high demand and limited stockpile will slow down its vaccine rollout in India. IN addition, it requires to be stored in -70 degree Celsius or below, which would make its usage in India difficult, for the infrastructure is scarce. "In a theoretical scenario, where there is no vaccine with conventional cold chain requirement, minus 70 degrees Celsius capacities will have to be created, and we will do so," Paul said. India is also in talks with Moderna - another major player in the vaccine race. Paul did add that the vaccines are not expected before later in 2021.

India set to deliver 600 million COVID-19 vaccine shots over 6-8 months: Report

Amid a series of opposition rallies in Pakistan, the Islamabad administration on Friday extended a ban on all kinds of gatherings of five or more people, processions, and demonstrations at any public place in Islamabad, including the Red Zone, where important government buildings are located, for a period of two months.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat on Friday issued separate notifications in this regard, Dawn reported.

ALso read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/ppp-to-consult-executive-committee-before-resignation-from-assemblies-bilawal-bhutto-349320" hreflang="en">PPP to consult executive committee before resignation from assemblies: Bilawal Bhutto</a>

According to a notification, the ban over the gatherings was extended after knowing that certain segments of society are planning to organise unlawful assemblies, including majlis and processions which can disrupt public peace and tranquillity and keeping in view the current law and order and security environment.

The sale, purchase and use of firecrackers and fireworks, distribution of handbills, pamphlets, carrying out wall calking, writing slogans and affixing posters on the walls were also prohibited for a period of two months.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-lion-of-punjab-maharaja-ranjit-singhs-statue-vandalised-again-349222" hreflang="en">Pakistan: 'Lion of Punjab' Maharaja Ranjit Singh's statue vandalised - again</a>

According to another notification, the ban on carrying, displaying and exhibiting firearms was also extended.

A two-month ban was also placed on the publication of housing schemes or sale of plots. The notification regarding the ban claimed that speculative transactions also emerge out of the situation which jeopardizes the interest of the people and deprive them of their hard-earned money, thus creating panic and anxiety in the society.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/video-shows-jaish-e-mohammad-has-resumed-terror-camps-in-balakot-349226" hreflang="en">Video shows Jaish-e-Mohammad has resumed terror camps in Balakot</a>

Likewise, the ban also extended over the use of cassette players sound, system, CD/DVD and other mediums for making objectionable/sectarian-related speeches, Dawn reported.

This comes as Pakistan opposition`s 11-party alliance - Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is set to hold its sixth power show in Lahore on Sunday, despite efforts by Prime Minister Imran Khan`s to block the rally proceedings.

The Pakistan government also flooded the Minar-e-Pakistan lawns in a "failed effort" to stop PDM from holding their rally on December 13.

The PDM has held five similar rallies in Peshawar, Gujranwala, Karachi, Quetta and Multan since October 16.

Amid a series of opposition rallies in Pakistan, the Islamabad administration on Friday extended a ban on all kinds of gatherings of five or more people, processions, and demonstrations at any public place in Islamabad, including the Red Zone, where important government buildings are located, for a period of two months.

Amid a series of opposition rallies in Pakistan, the Islamabad administration on Friday extended a ban on all kinds of gatherings of five or more people, processions, and demonstrations at any public place in Islamabad, including the Red Zone, where important government buildings are located, for a period of two months. Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat on Friday issued separate notifications in this regard, Dawn reported. ALso read| PPP to consult executive committee before resignation from assemblies: Bilawal Bhutto According to a notification, the ban over the gatherings was extended after knowing that certain segments of society are planning to organise unlawful assemblies, including majlis and processions which can disrupt public peace and tranquillity and keeping in view the current law and order and security environment. The sale, purchase and use of firecrackers and fireworks, distribution of handbills, pamphlets, carrying out wall calking, writing slogans and affixing posters on the walls were also prohibited for a period of two months. Also read| Pakistan: 'Lion of Punjab' Maharaja Ranjit Singh's statue vandalised - again According to another notification, the ban on carrying, displaying and exhibiting firearms was also extended. A two-month ban was also placed on the publication of housing schemes or sale of plots. The notification regarding the ban claimed that speculative transactions also emerge out of the situation which jeopardizes the interest of the people and deprive them of their hard-earned money, thus creating panic and anxiety in the society. Also read| Video shows Jaish-e-Mohammad has resumed terror camps in Balakot Likewise, the ban also extended over the use of cassette players sound, system, CD/DVD and other mediums for making objectionable/sectarian-related speeches, Dawn reported. This comes as Pakistan opposition`s 11-party alliance - Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is set to hold its sixth power show in Lahore on Sunday, despite efforts by Prime Minister Imran Khan`s to block the rally proceedings. The Pakistan government also flooded the Minar-e-Pakistan lawns in a "failed effort" to stop PDM from holding their rally on December 13. The PDM has held five similar rallies in Peshawar, Gujranwala, Karachi, Quetta and Multan since October 16.

Amid opposition rallies in Pakistan, Islamabad extends two-month ban on gatherings, demonstrations

China has put one northern city in lockdown and launched citywide coronavirus testing in another, after two local infections involving workers at a port and trade zone respectively, authorities have said.

There was one new case each in Dongning and Suifenhe, which both sit on the country's border with Russia.

In Dongning, a 40-year-old maintenance worker at a port tested positive on Thursday, triggering the latest measures.

Officials there said Saturday it would enter "wartime mode" -- temporarily suspending public bus services and road transport&nbsp;while requiring anyone leaving the city to produce a negative COVID-19 test from the preceding 24 hours.

Schools will suspend classes and dine-in will be banned at restaurants, while in higher-risk areas only one member of each household will be allowed to leave the home once every two days to buy daily necessities -&nbsp;for no longer than two hours each time.

In the Suifenhe case, a 39-year-old man who works as a loading and unloading worker at a trade zone tested positive.

Both cities on Friday announced the launch of citywide testing, expected to be completed in three days.

China -- where the virus first surfaced late last year -- has largely brought domestic transmission under control but recently reported local outbreaks in several cities.

State media blamed the recent clusters on imports of frozen food and other shipments.

After a recent outbreak in Chengdu, officials said the virus was found on food stored in an elderly couple's fridge.

There is currently no evidence that people can catch Covid-19 from food or food packaging, according to the World Health Organization.

China has put one northern city in lockdown and launched citywide coronavirus testing in another, after two local infections involving workers at a port and trade zone respectively, authorities have said.

China has put one northern city in lockdown and launched citywide coronavirus testing in another, after two local infections involving workers at a port and trade zone respectively, authorities have said. There was one new case each in Dongning and Suifenhe, which both sit on the country's border with Russia. In Dongning, a 40-year-old maintenance worker at a port tested positive on Thursday, triggering the latest measures. Officials there said Saturday it would enter "wartime mode" -- temporarily suspending public bus services and road transport while requiring anyone leaving the city to produce a negative COVID-19 test from the preceding 24 hours. Schools will suspend classes and dine-in will be banned at restaurants, while in higher-risk areas only one member of each household will be allowed to leave the home once every two days to buy daily necessities - for no longer than two hours each time. In the Suifenhe case, a 39-year-old man who works as a loading and unloading worker at a trade zone tested positive. Both cities on Friday announced the launch of citywide testing, expected to be completed in three days. China -- where the virus first surfaced late last year -- has largely brought domestic transmission under control but recently reported local outbreaks in several cities. State media blamed the recent clusters on imports of frozen food and other shipments. After a recent outbreak in Chengdu, officials said the virus was found on food stored in an elderly couple's fridge. There is currently no evidence that people can catch Covid-19 from food or food packaging, according to the World Health Organization.

China puts northern city in lockdown after two local infections

Chelsea's Kai Havertz said that he was hit hard by COVID-19 and understands how difficult the global pandemic has been for others. The German player had tested positive for COVID-19 in November.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/hes-got-the-hunger-and-appetite-to-play-ole-on-pogbas-transfer-rumours-349246" hreflang="en">'He's got the hunger and appetite to play': Ole on Pogba's transfer rumours</a>

He recalled the experience and said that he spent seven to 10 days "just in my bed and everything was hurting". Havertz&nbsp;missed out on first three games after joining the Blues after contracting the virus.&nbsp;

According to Havertz, it took him two or three weeks but he is now "very fit again". He has now played Chelsea's past three games in all competitions.

Havertz joined the London club from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen for £71 million. He scored three times in 16 appearances. While speaking to BBC's Focus Football, he recalled his battle with COVID-19.&nbsp;

He said: "It was like a very bad flu for me so I think now I know it is very bad for people. Before I sometimes thought, 'OK it is not so bad' but now I get it and I know for older people and people who had illnesses before it can be very bad.

"We all have to look out for each other. To be honest, it was personally very hard."

He added: "When you do nothing for two and a half weeks and then you start training again, you feel like you have never played football before. For me it took two or three weeks to get back to 100 per cent.

"Now I have started three games and I'm feeling good. It takes a lot of time and it took around one and a half months for me to get back but now I think I am very fit again and can start to attack again."

Chelsea's Kai Havertz said that he was hit hard by COVID-19 and understands how difficult the global pandemic has been for others. The German player had tested positive for COVID-19 in November.

Chelsea's Kai Havertz said that he was hit hard by COVID-19 and understands how difficult the global pandemic has been for others. The German player had tested positive for COVID-19 in November. Also read: 'He's got the hunger and appetite to play': Ole on Pogba's transfer rumours He recalled the experience and said that he spent seven to 10 days "just in my bed and everything was hurting". Havertz missed out on first three games after joining the Blues after contracting the virus. According to Havertz, it took him two or three weeks but he is now "very fit again". He has now played Chelsea's past three games in all competitions. Havertz joined the London club from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen for £71 million. He scored three times in 16 appearances. While speaking to BBC's Focus Football, he recalled his battle with COVID-19. He said: "It was like a very bad flu for me so I think now I know it is very bad for people. Before I sometimes thought, 'OK it is not so bad' but now I get it and I know for older people and people who had illnesses before it can be very bad. "We all have to look out for each other. To be honest, it was personally very hard." He added: "When you do nothing for two and a half weeks and then you start training again, you feel like you have never played football before. For me it took two or three weeks to get back to 100 per cent. "Now I have started three games and I'm feeling good. It takes a lot of time and it took around one and a half months for me to get back but now I think I am very fit again and can start to attack again."

Kai Havertz recalls his 'very hard' experience after contracting COVID-19

When it was disclosed last spring that the coronavirus had stealthily infected 99 people after the Cambridge, Massachusetts, pharmaceutical company Biogen held a two-day conference in February, it helped add the term “superspreader” to the pandemic lexicon.

Little did anyone know how super the spread would actually become.

A new analysis of the Biogen event at a Boston hotel has concluded that the coronavirus strains loosed at the meeting have since migrated worldwide, infecting about 245,000 Americans — and potentially as many as 300,000 — by the end of October.

The virus strains spread to at least 29 states. They were found in Australia, Sweden and Slovakia. They wended their way from a room packed with biotechnology executives to Boston homeless shelters, where they also spread widely among occupants.

Those are just the infections. How many people were killed by the virus strains cannot be reliably estimated. Nor do the figures include infections among the 6 million Americans who have tested positive for the coronavirus since October, as infections have spiked.

“It’s a cautionary tale,” said Bronwyn MacInnis, a genomic epidemiologist at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. “When we hear these stories of clusters where 20 or 50 or 100 were affected, that does not account for what happens after.”

A spokesman for Biogen did not respond to requests for comment on the report.

The analysis, by more than 50 health care experts and researchers based primarily in the Boston area, was published Thursday in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is based on genetic analyses of the coronavirus taken from 28 people who attended the Biogen annual leadership conference, at a Marriott hotel on the Boston waterfront, on Feb. 26-27.

At the time, only 30 coronavirus infections had been confirmed in the United States, according to data compiled by The New York Times. More than a month earlier, Chinese authorities had quarantined the 11 million residents of Wuhan, where COVID-19 was first detected. But the epidemics that would ravage Europe were still on the horizon; Italy had recorded its first death only days earlier.

Some other companies had canceled international meetings out of caution, but Biogen forged ahead, bringing in 175 executives, including officials from Italy, Switzerland and Germany, for its leadership meeting. Within days, some were falling ill.

The analysis of 28 cases determined that each person had been infected with a strain of the coronavirus, named C2416T, that had not previously been seen in the United States. The only known instances of the strain that preceded the Biogen conference involved two French patients, ages 87 and 88.

“We think the mutation arose in early or mid-February,” Dr. Jacob E. Lemieux, an infectious-disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a researcher at the Broad Institute, said in an interview. “We think there was a single importation into Boston, and that single importation was tightly linked to the spread that occurred at the conference.”

That finding and a second marker — a mutation of C2416T that appears linked solely to some infections at the conference — enabled researchers to track the Cambridge strain across the nation and even the world, and make broad estimates that excluded cases unconnected to the meeting.

By May, it was estimated that between 44,000 and 56,000 known coronavirus cases were directly tied to the Biogen conference. About 40% were in Boston, but the C2416T strain was carried across the country, to Indiana, Florida, North Carolina and perhaps elsewhere by people who had been at the meeting.

Fresh data included in the current analysis raised the estimate to about 245,000 cases — as low as 205,000 and as high as 300,000 — in 29 states. The researchers estimated that the Cambridge strain of the virus was responsible for 1.9% of all known coronavirus cases in the United States through October.

Massachusetts was no longer a center of the outbreaks, although the virus strain remained widespread there. Instead, the researchers estimated that about 29% of all cases related to the Boston meeting occurred in Florida. Lemieux said scientists have no explanation for why the Cambridge strain of the virus grew so robustly there.

One of the study’s more arresting findings was that within a month of the Biogen conference, the virus strain introduced there had made its way to Boston-area homeless shelters. Tests at the shelters, affiliated with the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, found 14 strains of the coronavirus, four of which appeared to have become superspreaders. The researchers found that two clusters of cases that resembled superspreader events were associated with the virus from the conference.

Lemieux said that offered a lesson for those who take a casual attitude toward the coronavirus. “That’s just the interconnectivity of society,” he said. “Our intuition about how disconnected we can be is not reliable. We are so connected that we don’t appreciate the linkages and interactions we have.”

He said it was impossible to say how the coronavirus was brought into the leadership meeting.

“We don’t know whether it entered with somebody who was there for the conference, or it entered before the conference and was amplified by it,” Lemieux said. “All we know is that we’re not able to detect any spread with cases before the conference.”

But in the months since the Biogen outbreak, the company has come under fire for staging an international conference at a time when the likelihood of a pandemic was becoming clearer.

The company said previously that it decided to hold the conference using the best information it had at the time. But the study released this week only underscored concerns about that judgment, said John Carroll, the editor of Endpoints News, which covers the biotech industry.

“The irony, of course, is that a large drug company was responsible for triggering the mother of all superspreader events that played a major role in making the virus endemic in the U.S., killing more than 3,000 Americans a day,” he said. “Top Biogen execs accidentally triggered a massive health care train wreck, and watched it play out from the sidelines.”

When it was disclosed last spring that the coronavirus had stealthily infected 99 people after the Cambridge, Massachusetts, pharmaceutical company Biogen held a two-day conference in February, it helped add the term “superspreader” to the pandemic lexicon.

When it was disclosed last spring that the coronavirus had stealthily infected 99 people after the Cambridge, Massachusetts, pharmaceutical company Biogen held a two-day conference in February, it helped add the term “superspreader” to the pandemic lexicon. Little did anyone know how super the spread would actually become. A new analysis of the Biogen event at a Boston hotel has concluded that the coronavirus strains loosed at the meeting have since migrated worldwide, infecting about 245,000 Americans — and potentially as many as 300,000 — by the end of October. The virus strains spread to at least 29 states. They were found in Australia, Sweden and Slovakia. They wended their way from a room packed with biotechnology executives to Boston homeless shelters, where they also spread widely among occupants. Those are just the infections. How many people were killed by the virus strains cannot be reliably estimated. Nor do the figures include infections among the 6 million Americans who have tested positive for the coronavirus since October, as infections have spiked. “It’s a cautionary tale,” said Bronwyn MacInnis, a genomic epidemiologist at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. “When we hear these stories of clusters where 20 or 50 or 100 were affected, that does not account for what happens after.” A spokesman for Biogen did not respond to requests for comment on the report. The analysis, by more than 50 health care experts and researchers based primarily in the Boston area, was published Thursday in Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It is based on genetic analyses of the coronavirus taken from 28 people who attended the Biogen annual leadership conference, at a Marriott hotel on the Boston waterfront, on Feb. 26-27. At the time, only 30 coronavirus infections had been confirmed in the United States, according to data compiled by The New York Times. More than a month earlier, Chinese authorities had quarantined the 11 million residents of Wuhan, where COVID-19 was first detected. But the epidemics that would ravage Europe were still on the horizon; Italy had recorded its first death only days earlier. Some other companies had canceled international meetings out of caution, but Biogen forged ahead, bringing in 175 executives, including officials from Italy, Switzerland and Germany, for its leadership meeting. Within days, some were falling ill. The analysis of 28 cases determined that each person had been infected with a strain of the coronavirus, named C2416T, that had not previously been seen in the United States. The only known instances of the strain that preceded the Biogen conference involved two French patients, ages 87 and 88. “We think the mutation arose in early or mid-February,” Dr. Jacob E. Lemieux, an infectious-disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a researcher at the Broad Institute, said in an interview. “We think there was a single importation into Boston, and that single importation was tightly linked to the spread that occurred at the conference.” That finding and a second marker — a mutation of C2416T that appears linked solely to some infections at the conference — enabled researchers to track the Cambridge strain across the nation and even the world, and make broad estimates that excluded cases unconnected to the meeting. By May, it was estimated that between 44,000 and 56,000 known coronavirus cases were directly tied to the Biogen conference. About 40% were in Boston, but the C2416T strain was carried across the country, to Indiana, Florida, North Carolina and perhaps elsewhere by people who had been at the meeting. Fresh data included in the current analysis raised the estimate to about 245,000 cases — as low as 205,000 and as high as 300,000 — in 29 states. The researchers estimated that the Cambridge strain of the virus was responsible for 1.9% of all known coronavirus cases in the United States through October. Massachusetts was no longer a center of the outbreaks, although the virus strain remained widespread there. Instead, the researchers estimated that about 29% of all cases related to the Boston meeting occurred in Florida. Lemieux said scientists have no explanation for why the Cambridge strain of the virus grew so robustly there. One of the study’s more arresting findings was that within a month of the Biogen conference, the virus strain introduced there had made its way to Boston-area homeless shelters. Tests at the shelters, affiliated with the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, found 14 strains of the coronavirus, four of which appeared to have become superspreaders. The researchers found that two clusters of cases that resembled superspreader events were associated with the virus from the conference. Lemieux said that offered a lesson for those who take a casual attitude toward the coronavirus. “That’s just the interconnectivity of society,” he said. “Our intuition about how disconnected we can be is not reliable. We are so connected that we don’t appreciate the linkages and interactions we have.” He said it was impossible to say how the coronavirus was brought into the leadership meeting. “We don’t know whether it entered with somebody who was there for the conference, or it entered before the conference and was amplified by it,” Lemieux said. “All we know is that we’re not able to detect any spread with cases before the conference.” But in the months since the Biogen outbreak, the company has come under fire for staging an international conference at a time when the likelihood of a pandemic was becoming clearer. The company said previously that it decided to hold the conference using the best information it had at the time. But the study released this week only underscored concerns about that judgment, said John Carroll, the editor of Endpoints News, which covers the biotech industry. “The irony, of course, is that a large drug company was responsible for triggering the mother of all superspreader events that played a major role in making the virus endemic in the U.S., killing more than 3,000 Americans a day,” he said. “Top Biogen execs accidentally triggered a massive health care train wreck, and watched it play out from the sidelines.”

What happens when a superspreader event keeps spreading

The Australian government has invested 4 million Australian dollars for a joint study, along with Indian researchers, into the long-term health effects of COVID-19 and its early detection, the Australian Industry, Science and Technology minister announced on Thursday.

The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) is financing six new projects, ranging from farming technology to coronavirus detection.

The agriculture projects focus on developing risk management systems to protect farmers from disasters associated with climate change and demonstrate how food-drying technology using renewable energy can reduce pollution in the food-processing sector.

Apart from new technologies for early detection of COVID-19, the researchers are focusing on the longer-term effects of the virus on the heart and lungs of patients who have recovered.

Australian Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said she was pleased that work in these important areas would be able to continue after the COVID-19 pandemic had caused significant delays this year.

"This latest funding will enable Australian and Indian researchers to contribute to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including in crucial screening and diagnostic testing," Andrews said.

"As a result of our shared commitment to finding answers through science and technology, India and Australia have tackled a number of shared challenges since the AISRF was established in 2006, with important progress made in areas including agriculture, energy and health. The Australian government remains committed to our strong, strategic relationship with India, which provides numerous economic benefits for both countries," the minister was quoted as saying by an official press statement.

The Australian recipients of the grants are the University of South Australia, the University of Southern Queensland, the University of Technology Sydney, the Metro North Hospital and Health Service in Brisbane, the University of Adelaide, and the University of Western Australia.

In June 2020, the Australian government had announced that it would commit a further USD 15 million to extend the AISRF for another four years to 2024, bringing Australia's total contribution to the AISRF fund to nearly AUSD 100 million over 18 years.

The AISRF is Australia's largest fund dedicated to bilateral science collaboration.

Till date, the coronavirus has killed 1,41,772 people with 97,67,371 confirmed cases in India, according to the Ministry of Health.

In Australia, COVID-19 has claimed 908 lives along with 28,000 confirmed infections, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

The Australian government has invested 4 million Australian dollars for a joint study, along with Indian researchers, into the long-term health effects of COVID-19 and its early detection, the Australian Industry, Science and Technology minister announced on Thursday.

The Australian government has invested 4 million Australian dollars for a joint study, along with Indian researchers, into the long-term health effects of COVID-19 and its early detection, the Australian Industry, Science and Technology minister announced on Thursday. The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) is financing six new projects, ranging from farming technology to coronavirus detection. The agriculture projects focus on developing risk management systems to protect farmers from disasters associated with climate change and demonstrate how food-drying technology using renewable energy can reduce pollution in the food-processing sector. Apart from new technologies for early detection of COVID-19, the researchers are focusing on the longer-term effects of the virus on the heart and lungs of patients who have recovered. Australian Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said she was pleased that work in these important areas would be able to continue after the COVID-19 pandemic had caused significant delays this year. "This latest funding will enable Australian and Indian researchers to contribute to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including in crucial screening and diagnostic testing," Andrews said. "As a result of our shared commitment to finding answers through science and technology, India and Australia have tackled a number of shared challenges since the AISRF was established in 2006, with important progress made in areas including agriculture, energy and health. The Australian government remains committed to our strong, strategic relationship with India, which provides numerous economic benefits for both countries," the minister was quoted as saying by an official press statement. The Australian recipients of the grants are the University of South Australia, the University of Southern Queensland, the University of Technology Sydney, the Metro North Hospital and Health Service in Brisbane, the University of Adelaide, and the University of Western Australia. In June 2020, the Australian government had announced that it would commit a further USD 15 million to extend the AISRF for another four years to 2024, bringing Australia's total contribution to the AISRF fund to nearly AUSD 100 million over 18 years. The AISRF is Australia's largest fund dedicated to bilateral science collaboration. Till date, the coronavirus has killed 1,41,772 people with 97,67,371 confirmed cases in India, according to the Ministry of Health. In Australia, COVID-19 has claimed 908 lives along with 28,000 confirmed infections, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

Australia pledges AUSD 4 million for joint research with India on COVID-19, farming technology

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 69.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.58 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The worldwide number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has surpassed 69.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.58 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 69,496,859 and 1,580,727, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 15,599,122 and 292,001, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India comes in second place in terms of cases at 9,767,371, while the country's death toll soared to 141,772.

The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (6,781,799), Russia (2,546,113), France (2,391,643), the UK (1,792,611), Italy (1,787,147), Spain (1,720,056), Argentina (1,482,216), Colombia (1,399,911), Germany (1,270,757), Mexico (1,217,126), Poland (1,102,096) and Iran (1,083,023), the CSSE figures showed.

Brazil currently accounts for the second-highest number of fatalities at 179,765.

The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (112,326), the UK (63,179), Italy (62,626), France (57,044), Iran (51,496), Spain (47,344), Russia (44,769), Argentina (40,431), Colombia (38,484), Peru (36,401), South Africa (22,747), Poland (21,630) and Germany (20,737).

(With inputs from agencies)

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 69.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.58 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 69.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.58 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The worldwide number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has surpassed 69.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.58 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Friday, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 69,496,859 and 1,580,727, respectively. The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 15,599,122 and 292,001, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases at 9,767,371, while the country's death toll soared to 141,772. The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (6,781,799), Russia (2,546,113), France (2,391,643), the UK (1,792,611), Italy (1,787,147), Spain (1,720,056), Argentina (1,482,216), Colombia (1,399,911), Germany (1,270,757), Mexico (1,217,126), Poland (1,102,096) and Iran (1,083,023), the CSSE figures showed. Brazil currently accounts for the second-highest number of fatalities at 179,765. The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (112,326), the UK (63,179), Italy (62,626), France (57,044), Iran (51,496), Spain (47,344), Russia (44,769), Argentina (40,431), Colombia (38,484), Peru (36,401), South Africa (22,747), Poland (21,630) and Germany (20,737). (With inputs from agencies)

Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 69.6 million-mark

Alice McGraw, 2 years old, was walking with her parents in Lake Tahoe this summer when another family appeared, heading in their direction. The little girl stopped.

“Uh-oh,” she said and pointed: “People.”

She has learned, her mother said, to keep the proper social distance to avoid risk of infection from the coronavirus. In this and other ways, she’s part of a generation living in a particular new type of bubble — one without other children. They are the toddlers of COVID-19.

Gone for her and many peers are the play dates, music classes, birthday parties, the serendipity of the sandbox or the side-by-side flyby on adjacent swingsets. Many families skipped day care enrollment in the fall, and others have withdrawn amid the new surge in coronavirus cases.

With months of winter isolation looming, parents are growing increasingly worried about the developmental effects of the ongoing social deprivation on their very young children.

“People are trying to weight pros and cons of what’s worse: putting your child at risk for COVID or at risk for severe social hindrance,” said Suzanne Gendelman, whose daughter, Mila, is 13 months old and before the pandemic had been a regular play-date buddy, Alice McGraw.

“My daughter has seen more giraffes at the zoo more than she’s seen other kids,” Gendelman said.

It is too early for published research about the effects of the pandemic lockdowns on very young children, but childhood development specialists say that most children will likely be OK because their most important relationships at this age are with parents.

Still, a growing number of studies highlight the value of social interaction to brain development. Research shows that neural networks influencing language development and broader cognitive ability get built through verbal and physical give-and-take — from the sharing of a ball to exchanges of sounds and simple phrases.

These interactions build “structure and connectivity in the brain,” said Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “They seem to be brain feed.”

In infants and toddlers, these essential interactions are known as “serve-and-return,” and rely on seamless exchanges of guttural sounds or simple words.

Hirsh-Pasek and others say that technology presents both opportunity and risk during the pandemic. On one hand, it allows children to engage in virtual play by Zoom or FaceTime with grandparents, family friends or other children. But it can also distract parents who are constantly checking their phones to the point that the device interrupts the immediacy and effectiveness of conversational duet — a concept known as “technoference.”

John Hagen, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Michigan, said he would be more concerned about the effect of lockdowns on young children, “if this were to go on years and not months.”

“I just think we’re not dealing with any kinds of things causing permanent or long-term difficulties,” he said.

Hirsh-Pasek characterized the current environment as a kind of “social hurricane” with two major risks: Infants and toddlers don’t get to interact with one another and, at the same time, they pick up signals from their parents that other people might be a danger.

“We’re not meant to be stopped from seeing the other kids who are walking down the street,” she said.

Just that kind of thing happened to Casher O’Connor, 14 months, whose family recently moved to Portland, Oregon, from San Francisco. Several months before the move, the toddler was on a walk with his mother when he saw a little boy nearby.

“Casher walked up to the 2-year-old, and the mom stiff-armed Cash not to get any closer,” said Elliott O’Connor, Casher’s mother.

“I understand,” she added, “but it was still heartbreaking.”

Portland has proved a little less prohibitive place for childhood interaction in part because there is more space than in the dense neighborhoods of San Francisco, and so children can be in the same vicinity without the parents feeling they are at risk of infecting one another.

“It’s amazing to have him stare at another kid,” O’Connor said.

“Seeing your kid playing on a playground with themselves is just sad,” she added. “What is this going to be doing to our kids?”

The rise of small neighborhood pods or of two or three families joining together in shared bubbles has helped to offset some parents’ worries. But new tough rules in some states, like California, have disrupted those efforts because playgrounds have been closed in the latest COVID-19 surge and households have been warned against socializing outside their own families.

Plus, the pods only worked when everyone agreed to obey the same rules, and so some families simply chose to go it alone.

That’s the case of Erinn and Craig Sheppard, parents of a 15-month-old, Rhys, who live in Santa Monica, California. They are particularly careful because they live near the little boy’s grandmother, who is in her 80s. Sheppard said Rhys has played with “zero” children since the pandemic started.

“We get to the park, we Clorox the swing and he gets in and he has a great time and loves being outside and he points at other kids and other parents like a toddler would,” she said. But they don’t engage.

One night, Rhys was being carried to bed when he started waving. Sheppard realized that he was looking at the wall calendar, which has babies on it. It happens regularly now. “He waves to the babies on the wall calendar,” Sheppard said.

Experts in child development said it would be useful to start researching this generation of children to learn more about the effects of relative isolation. There is a distant precedent: Research was published in 1974 that tracked children who lived through a different world-shaking moment, the Great Depression. The study offers reason for hope.

“To an unexpected degree, the study of the children of the Great Depression followed a trajectory of resilience into the middle years of life,” wrote Glen Elder, author of that research.

Brenda Volling, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan and an expert in social and emotional development, said one takeaway is that Depression-era children who fared best came from families who overcame the economic fallout more readily and who, as a result, were less hostile, angry and depressed.

To that end, what infants, toddlers and other children growing up in the COVID era need most now is stable, nurturing and loving interaction with their parents, Volling said.

“These children are not lacking in social interaction,” she said, noting that they are getting “the most important” interaction from their parents.

A complication may involve how the isolation felt by parents causes them to be less connected to their children.

“They are trying to manage work and family in the same environment,” Volling said. The problems cascade, she added, when parents grow “hostile or depressed and can’t respond to their kids, and get irritable and snap.”

“That’s always worse than missing a play date.”

Alice McGraw, 2 years old, was walking with her parents in Lake Tahoe this summer when another family appeared, heading in their direction. The little girl stopped.

Alice McGraw, 2 years old, was walking with her parents in Lake Tahoe this summer when another family appeared, heading in their direction. The little girl stopped. “Uh-oh,” she said and pointed: “People.” She has learned, her mother said, to keep the proper social distance to avoid risk of infection from the coronavirus. In this and other ways, she’s part of a generation living in a particular new type of bubble — one without other children. They are the toddlers of COVID-19. Gone for her and many peers are the play dates, music classes, birthday parties, the serendipity of the sandbox or the side-by-side flyby on adjacent swingsets. Many families skipped day care enrollment in the fall, and others have withdrawn amid the new surge in coronavirus cases. With months of winter isolation looming, parents are growing increasingly worried about the developmental effects of the ongoing social deprivation on their very young children. “People are trying to weight pros and cons of what’s worse: putting your child at risk for COVID or at risk for severe social hindrance,” said Suzanne Gendelman, whose daughter, Mila, is 13 months old and before the pandemic had been a regular play-date buddy, Alice McGraw. “My daughter has seen more giraffes at the zoo more than she’s seen other kids,” Gendelman said. It is too early for published research about the effects of the pandemic lockdowns on very young children, but childhood development specialists say that most children will likely be OK because their most important relationships at this age are with parents. Still, a growing number of studies highlight the value of social interaction to brain development. Research shows that neural networks influencing language development and broader cognitive ability get built through verbal and physical give-and-take — from the sharing of a ball to exchanges of sounds and simple phrases. These interactions build “structure and connectivity in the brain,” said Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “They seem to be brain feed.” In infants and toddlers, these essential interactions are known as “serve-and-return,” and rely on seamless exchanges of guttural sounds or simple words. Hirsh-Pasek and others say that technology presents both opportunity and risk during the pandemic. On one hand, it allows children to engage in virtual play by Zoom or FaceTime with grandparents, family friends or other children. But it can also distract parents who are constantly checking their phones to the point that the device interrupts the immediacy and effectiveness of conversational duet — a concept known as “technoference.” John Hagen, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Michigan, said he would be more concerned about the effect of lockdowns on young children, “if this were to go on years and not months.” “I just think we’re not dealing with any kinds of things causing permanent or long-term difficulties,” he said. Hirsh-Pasek characterized the current environment as a kind of “social hurricane” with two major risks: Infants and toddlers don’t get to interact with one another and, at the same time, they pick up signals from their parents that other people might be a danger. “We’re not meant to be stopped from seeing the other kids who are walking down the street,” she said. Just that kind of thing happened to Casher O’Connor, 14 months, whose family recently moved to Portland, Oregon, from San Francisco. Several months before the move, the toddler was on a walk with his mother when he saw a little boy nearby. “Casher walked up to the 2-year-old, and the mom stiff-armed Cash not to get any closer,” said Elliott O’Connor, Casher’s mother. “I understand,” she added, “but it was still heartbreaking.” Portland has proved a little less prohibitive place for childhood interaction in part because there is more space than in the dense neighborhoods of San Francisco, and so children can be in the same vicinity without the parents feeling they are at risk of infecting one another. “It’s amazing to have him stare at another kid,” O’Connor said. “Seeing your kid playing on a playground with themselves is just sad,” she added. “What is this going to be doing to our kids?” The rise of small neighborhood pods or of two or three families joining together in shared bubbles has helped to offset some parents’ worries. But new tough rules in some states, like California, have disrupted those efforts because playgrounds have been closed in the latest COVID-19 surge and households have been warned against socializing outside their own families. Plus, the pods only worked when everyone agreed to obey the same rules, and so some families simply chose to go it alone. That’s the case of Erinn and Craig Sheppard, parents of a 15-month-old, Rhys, who live in Santa Monica, California. They are particularly careful because they live near the little boy’s grandmother, who is in her 80s. Sheppard said Rhys has played with “zero” children since the pandemic started. “We get to the park, we Clorox the swing and he gets in and he has a great time and loves being outside and he points at other kids and other parents like a toddler would,” she said. But they don’t engage. One night, Rhys was being carried to bed when he started waving. Sheppard realized that he was looking at the wall calendar, which has babies on it. It happens regularly now. “He waves to the babies on the wall calendar,” Sheppard said. Experts in child development said it would be useful to start researching this generation of children to learn more about the effects of relative isolation. There is a distant precedent: Research was published in 1974 that tracked children who lived through a different world-shaking moment, the Great Depression. The study offers reason for hope. “To an unexpected degree, the study of the children of the Great Depression followed a trajectory of resilience into the middle years of life,” wrote Glen Elder, author of that research. Brenda Volling, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan and an expert in social and emotional development, said one takeaway is that Depression-era children who fared best came from families who overcame the economic fallout more readily and who, as a result, were less hostile, angry and depressed. To that end, what infants, toddlers and other children growing up in the COVID era need most now is stable, nurturing and loving interaction with their parents, Volling said. “These children are not lacking in social interaction,” she said, noting that they are getting “the most important” interaction from their parents. A complication may involve how the isolation felt by parents causes them to be less connected to their children. “They are trying to manage work and family in the same environment,” Volling said. The problems cascade, she added, when parents grow “hostile or depressed and can’t respond to their kids, and get irritable and snap.” “That’s always worse than missing a play date.”

Childhood without other children: A generation is raised in quarantine

Nine long, deadly months into the pandemic, Americans report severe psychic distress. It’s dark, we’re stuck inside, and we’re isolated from friends and family. Politics is fevered, the economy continues to struggle, and the coronavirus rages on. Many of us may be at a breaking point. According to a new Gallup survey, Americans’ assessment of our mental health is “worse than it has been at any point in the last two decades.”

But now comes winter and the holidays, a time of special dread. Even in ordinary years, this season turns up the needle on stress. The pandemic winter promises a new layer to our mental anguish. In addition to so much death, the next three months could bring a level of collective grief, anxiety, depression and overall stress that may eclipse all that we’ve experienced so far this terrible year.

“This year is very unlikely to be a good year for you if have had a history” of mental health issues, Ken Duckworth, the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told me. “You’re going to have fewer connections, more isolation and more uncertainty.”

Yet we might be as ill prepared for the mental toll of the pandemic as we were for its physical toll. I spent the past few days talking to experts about Americans’ mental health needs during the next few months. The picture is bleak. Even before the pandemic, the United States had too few mental health professionals to meet the nation’s needs. The shortage is most dire in rural areas and in urban communities that are home to marginalized groups. Demand for treatment has skyrocketed, but supply has not.

“It takes eight months to explode demand,” Duckworth told me, but several years to make a social worker.

Worse, at the national level, there has not been a real focus on the pandemic’s toll on our mental health — not from the Trump administration and not, so far, from the incoming Biden administration. Last month the president-elect announced a COVID-19 task force that was widely praised for its deep expertise. None of its members, though, is an expert on mental health.

That’s a big mistake, according to Luana Marques, a clinical psychologist who directs Community Psychiatry PRIDE, a program at the Massachusetts General Hospital that offers care to underserved populations. She predicted that mental health issues could create a kind of “fourth wave” of the pandemic.

“Once we get the pandemic under control, people are going to come up for air, and they will not be OK,” Marques told me. “I think we need a national force to help us guide this and have a coordinated effort toward mental health.”

The coronavirus winter will bring special challenges for our already battered psyches. Many of the ways that people have been counseled to keep up their spirits during the pandemic — maintaining connections, getting lots of exercise, going outdoors — are more challenging in the winter. There is also winter’s singular misery, darkness. Millions of Americans suffer from seasonal affective disorder, a kind of depression thought to be exacerbated, in part, by reduced exposure to sunlight.

Then there are the holidays themselves, which create their own well-known difficulties.

“There’s often a disconnect between the idealized portraits of what we might expect from the holiday season and what actually happens,” said Joshua Gordon, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

In American pop culture, this season is often depicted as a time of effortless cheer, a wonderland of snowmen and cozy fireplaces and skating in the park. Many people often feel terrible about the holidays because they rarely go as well as they do on TV, and this year, more than ever, the disconnect will be unavoidable — and triggering.

The mental health system is already struggling to keep up. In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 40% of U.S. adults reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition, including experiencing symptoms of mental illness or substance abuse related to the pandemic. The CDC also reported that like COVID-19, mental health conditions were disproportionately affecting marginalized communities.

There is a bit of encouraging news: When the pandemic hit, many therapists and their patients managed to move their sessions to the internet, allowing people to get help even as the virus kept them at home. Experts were also encouraged by the public discussion about mental health in the past few months — mental health organizations and the news media have highlighted the importance of maintaining social connectedness despite the need for physical distancing.

Because the mental health system will not be able to take care of many people who are in need, the experts I spoke to offered a variety of well-meaning strategies for people to maintain their mental well-being this season. None of it will be new to people who have dealt with serious mental health problems: Eat well, sleep well, maintain social connections, spend time outside in the sun and get a lot of exercise, which has been shown to provide significant improvements for a range of mental health problems.

Advice like this may be helpful to some, but it is also woefully insufficient. Like telling people to car pool and turn down the thermostat to defeat climate change, it shifts responsibility for addressing a crisis from the systemic level to the individual and will almost certainly not be adequate for the people most in need.

The mental health effects of the pandemic will be dire. For people who’ve lost loved ones, become sick, lost jobs, endured long periods of isolation or have witnessed untold suffering while serving on the front lines, trauma will endure long after the vaccine has rid us of the virus. Winter is coming: We need a real plan to address Americans’ unraveling mental health, and we need it fast.

Nine long, deadly months into the pandemic, Americans report severe psychic distress. It’s dark, we’re stuck inside, and we’re isolated from friends and family. Politics is fevered, the economy continues to struggle, and the coronavirus rages on.

Nine long, deadly months into the pandemic, Americans report severe psychic distress. It’s dark, we’re stuck inside, and we’re isolated from friends and family. Politics is fevered, the economy continues to struggle, and the coronavirus rages on. Many of us may be at a breaking point. According to a new Gallup survey, Americans’ assessment of our mental health is “worse than it has been at any point in the last two decades.” But now comes winter and the holidays, a time of special dread. Even in ordinary years, this season turns up the needle on stress. The pandemic winter promises a new layer to our mental anguish. In addition to so much death, the next three months could bring a level of collective grief, anxiety, depression and overall stress that may eclipse all that we’ve experienced so far this terrible year. “This year is very unlikely to be a good year for you if have had a history” of mental health issues, Ken Duckworth, the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told me. “You’re going to have fewer connections, more isolation and more uncertainty.” Yet we might be as ill prepared for the mental toll of the pandemic as we were for its physical toll. I spent the past few days talking to experts about Americans’ mental health needs during the next few months. The picture is bleak. Even before the pandemic, the United States had too few mental health professionals to meet the nation’s needs. The shortage is most dire in rural areas and in urban communities that are home to marginalized groups. Demand for treatment has skyrocketed, but supply has not. “It takes eight months to explode demand,” Duckworth told me, but several years to make a social worker. Worse, at the national level, there has not been a real focus on the pandemic’s toll on our mental health — not from the Trump administration and not, so far, from the incoming Biden administration. Last month the president-elect announced a COVID-19 task force that was widely praised for its deep expertise. None of its members, though, is an expert on mental health. That’s a big mistake, according to Luana Marques, a clinical psychologist who directs Community Psychiatry PRIDE, a program at the Massachusetts General Hospital that offers care to underserved populations. She predicted that mental health issues could create a kind of “fourth wave” of the pandemic. “Once we get the pandemic under control, people are going to come up for air, and they will not be OK,” Marques told me. “I think we need a national force to help us guide this and have a coordinated effort toward mental health.” The coronavirus winter will bring special challenges for our already battered psyches. Many of the ways that people have been counseled to keep up their spirits during the pandemic — maintaining connections, getting lots of exercise, going outdoors — are more challenging in the winter. There is also winter’s singular misery, darkness. Millions of Americans suffer from seasonal affective disorder, a kind of depression thought to be exacerbated, in part, by reduced exposure to sunlight. Then there are the holidays themselves, which create their own well-known difficulties. “There’s often a disconnect between the idealized portraits of what we might expect from the holiday season and what actually happens,” said Joshua Gordon, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health. In American pop culture, this season is often depicted as a time of effortless cheer, a wonderland of snowmen and cozy fireplaces and skating in the park. Many people often feel terrible about the holidays because they rarely go as well as they do on TV, and this year, more than ever, the disconnect will be unavoidable — and triggering. The mental health system is already struggling to keep up. In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 40% of U.S. adults reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition, including experiencing symptoms of mental illness or substance abuse related to the pandemic. The CDC also reported that like COVID-19, mental health conditions were disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. There is a bit of encouraging news: When the pandemic hit, many therapists and their patients managed to move their sessions to the internet, allowing people to get help even as the virus kept them at home. Experts were also encouraged by the public discussion about mental health in the past few months — mental health organizations and the news media have highlighted the importance of maintaining social connectedness despite the need for physical distancing. Because the mental health system will not be able to take care of many people who are in need, the experts I spoke to offered a variety of well-meaning strategies for people to maintain their mental well-being this season. None of it will be new to people who have dealt with serious mental health problems: Eat well, sleep well, maintain social connections, spend time outside in the sun and get a lot of exercise, which has been shown to provide significant improvements for a range of mental health problems. Advice like this may be helpful to some, but it is also woefully insufficient. Like telling people to car pool and turn down the thermostat to defeat climate change, it shifts responsibility for addressing a crisis from the systemic level to the individual and will almost certainly not be adequate for the people most in need. The mental health effects of the pandemic will be dire. For people who’ve lost loved ones, become sick, lost jobs, endured long periods of isolation or have witnessed untold suffering while serving on the front lines, trauma will endure long after the vaccine has rid us of the virus. Winter is coming: We need a real plan to address Americans’ unraveling mental health, and we need it fast.

The hidden ‘fourth wave’ of the pandemic

A passenger who tested positive for COVID-19 aboard a `cruise-to-nowhere` from Singapore, forcing the ship to return to dock and nearly 1,700 guests to isolate, has been found not to have the virus, Singapore`s health ministry said on Thursday.

Passengers on Royal Caribbean`s Quantum of the Seas vessel were held in their cabins for more than 16 hours on Wednesday after an 83-year old man, who sought medical help on the ship for diarrhoea, tested positive for COVID-19.

When the ship returned to port on Wednesday, the passenger was taken to hospital where he took two further tests which did not reveal infection. A third negative test on Thursday led authorities to declare him virus free.

"A final confirmatory test ... has confirmed that the 83 year-old male Singaporean...does not have COVID-19 infection," the health ministry said in a statement, adding it would help review testing processes aboard the ship.

All guests and crew that had come into close contact with the patient would no longer have to quarantine as previously instructed, the ministry said.

Royal Caribbean said in a statement it welcomed the news and that it would continue to work with the government to "refine" its protocols.

Royal Caribbean had cancelled a cruise leaving on Thursday, but the city-state`s tourism board said the pilot schemes, which offer round trips from Singapore and make no stops, could continue as planned.

Genting Cruise Lines is also offering the trips which are only open to Singapore residents and are part of the country`s effort to revive a tourism industry which has been battered by the pandemic.

The resumption of Royal Caribbean`s cruises in Singapore last week were the Miami-based company`s first sailings globally since it halted global operations in March due to the pandemic.

Precautions involved pre-departure testing and requirements that guests carry an electronic contact tracing device, wear masks and social distance at all times.

Authorities said the incident was a learning experience and validation of the safety protocols in place.

"Yesterday`s incident has given us valuable learnings for future sailings...It has also given assurance that our established response to any future COVID-19 case is swift and effective," said tourism board chief Keith Tan.

A passenger who tested positive for COVID-19 aboard a `cruise-to-nowhere` from Singapore, forcing the ship to return to dock and nearly 1,700 guests to isolate, has been found not to have the virus, Singapore`s health ministry said on Thursday.

A passenger who tested positive for COVID-19 aboard a `cruise-to-nowhere` from Singapore, forcing the ship to return to dock and nearly 1,700 guests to isolate, has been found not to have the virus, Singapore`s health ministry said on Thursday. Passengers on Royal Caribbean`s Quantum of the Seas vessel were held in their cabins for more than 16 hours on Wednesday after an 83-year old man, who sought medical help on the ship for diarrhoea, tested positive for COVID-19. When the ship returned to port on Wednesday, the passenger was taken to hospital where he took two further tests which did not reveal infection. A third negative test on Thursday led authorities to declare him virus free. "A final confirmatory test ... has confirmed that the 83 year-old male Singaporean...does not have COVID-19 infection," the health ministry said in a statement, adding it would help review testing processes aboard the ship. All guests and crew that had come into close contact with the patient would no longer have to quarantine as previously instructed, the ministry said. Royal Caribbean said in a statement it welcomed the news and that it would continue to work with the government to "refine" its protocols. Royal Caribbean had cancelled a cruise leaving on Thursday, but the city-state`s tourism board said the pilot schemes, which offer round trips from Singapore and make no stops, could continue as planned. Genting Cruise Lines is also offering the trips which are only open to Singapore residents and are part of the country`s effort to revive a tourism industry which has been battered by the pandemic. The resumption of Royal Caribbean`s cruises in Singapore last week were the Miami-based company`s first sailings globally since it halted global operations in March due to the pandemic. Precautions involved pre-departure testing and requirements that guests carry an electronic contact tracing device, wear masks and social distance at all times. Authorities said the incident was a learning experience and validation of the safety protocols in place. "Yesterday`s incident has given us valuable learnings for future sailings...It has also given assurance that our established response to any future COVID-19 case is swift and effective," said tourism board chief Keith Tan.

Coronavirus scare on cruise ship a false alarm, Singapore says

A passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean 'cruise-to-nowhere' from Singapore has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the Quantum of the Seas ship to return to dock.

This also led to around 2,000 guests to be quarantined in their cabins on Wednesday.

Singapore has been piloting the trips, which are open only to residents, make no stops and sail in waters just off the city-state -- in the wake of the global cruise industry taking a major hit from the coronavirus pandemic.

"A guest was feeling unwell and tested positive for COVID-19...We are asking all guests to remain in their state rooms to prevent the spread of illness," the captain of the Quantum of the Seas told passengers over the tannoy in a video shared on social media.

"We kindly ask all guests with urgent medical or health situations like diabetes, heart disease etc to contact guest services," he said, adding that the ship had returned to Singapore a day before the end of its planned four-day sailing.

Confirming the positive test, Royal Caribbean said in a statement that all guests and crew who had close contact with the infected guest have subsequently tested negative for the virus.

Passengers will be able to disembark and medical support will be provided if necessary.

The infected case's close contacts will be placed in quarantine or health surveillance, the Straits Times newspaper reported citing an advisory from the health ministry.

Others will need to monitor their health, while continuing regular activities including going to school or work, and undergo a swab test at the end of a 14-day monitoring period.

Royal Caribbean's 'cruises-to-nowhere' from Singapore began last week, marking the firm's first sailing since it halted its global operations in March due to the pandemic.

The cruises are a part of Singapore's plans to revive its tourism industry that has been battered due to the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 67.72 million people globally and killed 1,548,575.

Part of the precautions for the resumption of cruises in Singapore involves pre-departure testing and for guests to carry an electronic contact tracing device and to social distance at all times.

A passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean 'cruise-to-nowhere' from Singapore has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the Quantum of the Seas ship to return to dock.

A passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean 'cruise-to-nowhere' from Singapore has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the Quantum of the Seas ship to return to dock. This also led to around 2,000 guests to be quarantined in their cabins on Wednesday. Singapore has been piloting the trips, which are open only to residents, make no stops and sail in waters just off the city-state -- in the wake of the global cruise industry taking a major hit from the coronavirus pandemic. "A guest was feeling unwell and tested positive for COVID-19...We are asking all guests to remain in their state rooms to prevent the spread of illness," the captain of the Quantum of the Seas told passengers over the tannoy in a video shared on social media. "We kindly ask all guests with urgent medical or health situations like diabetes, heart disease etc to contact guest services," he said, adding that the ship had returned to Singapore a day before the end of its planned four-day sailing. Confirming the positive test, Royal Caribbean said in a statement that all guests and crew who had close contact with the infected guest have subsequently tested negative for the virus. Passengers will be able to disembark and medical support will be provided if necessary. The infected case's close contacts will be placed in quarantine or health surveillance, the Straits Times newspaper reported citing an advisory from the health ministry. Others will need to monitor their health, while continuing regular activities including going to school or work, and undergo a swab test at the end of a 14-day monitoring period. Royal Caribbean's 'cruises-to-nowhere' from Singapore began last week, marking the firm's first sailing since it halted its global operations in March due to the pandemic. The cruises are a part of Singapore's plans to revive its tourism industry that has been battered due to the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 67.72 million people globally and killed 1,548,575. Part of the precautions for the resumption of cruises in Singapore involves pre-departure testing and for guests to carry an electronic contact tracing device and to social distance at all times.

Singapore 'cruise-to-nowhere' turns back after coronavirus case aboard

Out of the 10 causes of deaths before COVID-19 that hit the world, seven were non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. The health body added how heart disease was killing more people than ever before.

According to the WHO’s latest Global Health Estimates, which traced statistics between 2000-2019 found that even though people now were living for longer than earlier, it did not necessarily translate into good health.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/effects-of-the-vaccine-in-providing-immune-barrier-is-still-far-off-who-348408" hreflang="en">Effects of the vaccine in providing 'immune barrier' is still far off: WHO</a>

The study took into account trends over the last two decades, including mortality and morbidity. It found that NCDs made just four out top 10 causes of death in 2000. But last year itself, the number has risen to seven.&nbsp;

COVID-19 set toe debut in the list - coming up in the top 10 after passing the 1.5 million mark on December 3.

2019 had witnessed 55.4 million deaths worldwide. The ten top causes of death were also responsible of 55 per cent fatalities, hailing from three categories - cardiovascular, respiratory, and neonatal.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/covid-19-has-shown-disturbing-signs-of-self-interest-blame-shifting-division-who-chief-tedros-347781" hreflang="en">COVID-19 has shown disturbing signs of self-interest, blame-shifting &amp; division: WHO chief Tedros</a>

The top fives cases of death in order are - heart disease, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, and neonatal conditions.

These were closely followed by trachea, bronchus and lung cases, Alzheimers’ disease, other dementias, diarrhoea, diabetes, and kidney ailments.

The WHO, in a statement claimed that the figures "clearly highlight the need for an intensified global focus on preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as tackling injuries”.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/who-chief-tedros-to-take-covid-19-vaccine-on-camera-347722" hreflang="en">WHO Chief Tedros to take COVID-19 vaccine on camera</a>

For the last 20 years, heart disease has been at the helm of killing people. "However, it is now killing more people than ever before," the WHO said. In 2019, heart disease killed nine million people, up by 2 million since 2000.

Out of the 10 causes of deaths before COVID-19 that hit the world, seven were non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

Out of the 10 causes of deaths before COVID-19 that hit the world, seven were non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. The health body added how heart disease was killing more people than ever before. According to the WHO’s latest Global Health Estimates, which traced statistics between 2000-2019 found that even though people now were living for longer than earlier, it did not necessarily translate into good health. Also read: Effects of the vaccine in providing 'immune barrier' is still far off: WHO The study took into account trends over the last two decades, including mortality and morbidity. It found that NCDs made just four out top 10 causes of death in 2000. But last year itself, the number has risen to seven. COVID-19 set toe debut in the list - coming up in the top 10 after passing the 1.5 million mark on December 3. 2019 had witnessed 55.4 million deaths worldwide. The ten top causes of death were also responsible of 55 per cent fatalities, hailing from three categories - cardiovascular, respiratory, and neonatal. Also read: COVID-19 has shown disturbing signs of self-interest, blame-shifting & division: WHO chief Tedros The top fives cases of death in order are - heart disease, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, and neonatal conditions. These were closely followed by trachea, bronchus and lung cases, Alzheimers’ disease, other dementias, diarrhoea, diabetes, and kidney ailments. The WHO, in a statement claimed that the figures "clearly highlight the need for an intensified global focus on preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as tackling injuries”. Also read: WHO Chief Tedros to take COVID-19 vaccine on camera For the last 20 years, heart disease has been at the helm of killing people. "However, it is now killing more people than ever before," the WHO said. In 2019, heart disease killed nine million people, up by 2 million since 2000.

7 out of 10 killer diseases pre-COVID were non-communicable diseases: WHO

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that prioritises Americans' access to COVID-19 vaccines before the country potentially begins helping other nations.

If necessary, Trump said, he is ready to invoke the Defence Production Act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines first get to the Americans.&nbsp;

The Defence Production Act allows a president to force private manufacturers to ramp up production and give the federal government priority on any orders it places.

American companies, he said, were the first to produce a verifiably safe and effective vaccine.

"Together, we will defeat the virus, and we will soon end the pandemic, and we will save millions and millions of lives, both in our country and all over the world. And we've already started," Trump said during signing the executive order on Tuesday at a White House event celebrating 'Operation Warp Speed', his administration's effort to produce and distribute safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19.

Trump told reporters that his administration provided a total of USD 14 billion to accelerate coronavirus vaccine development and to manufacture all of the top candidates long in advance.

As a result of this "unprecedented investment", both Pfizer and Moderna have announced that their vaccines are approximately 95 per cent effective, he said.

Pfizer has developed its vaccine outside of 'Operation Warp Speed', but is collaborating with the US government on manufacturing and distribution.

The UK on Tuesday began its vaccinations with the first set of people injected with their first of two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

The deadly virus has so far killed more than 285,000 Americans and some 1.5 million people worldwide.

As per the executive order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is directed to provide priority access to COVID-19 vaccines to Americans.

"Through this action, Trump is putting the health and safety of Americans, the viability of our economy and the security of our nation first," the White House said.

The US has led and will continue to lead the world's public health and humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

The Trump administration is prepared to ship COVID-19 vaccine doses to every corner of America within 48 hours of the issuance of an Emergency Use Authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration, the White House said.

Trump said more companies are in the pipeline of the vaccine announcement soon. 
"We have some companies like Johnson &amp; Johnson and others. They are all coming in, and they're coming in very quickly. We expect to have some news on that very shortly. We have worked very well with the companies, but if for any reason we have any problems, we will be instituting the Defence Production Act, and we will make sure that we don't have any problems for very long," he said.

Johnson &amp; Johnson is a one-dose, one-shot vaccine, he said, adding that all the vaccines are showing tremendous promise.

Trump said he is hopeful that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will authorise the Pfizer vaccine within days and Moderna vaccine almost immediately thereafter.

If these vaccines are authorised, tens of millions of vaccine doses will be available this month. "We will get it distributed very quickly. We have that all set. And hundreds of millions more will quickly follow," he said.

"Every American who wants the vaccine will be able to get the vaccine," Trump said, asserting that the plan put forward by his administration prioritises the elderly and patients with underlying conditions, as well as healthcare workers and first responders.

This will quickly and dramatically reduce deaths and hospitalisations, he noted.

"And within a short period of time, I think we want to get back to normal... Get back to where we were a little more than nine months ago. We were doing incredibly. And in many respects, we're still doing incredibly with our stock markets and everything else, which are hitting all new highs," Trump said.

The president said his administration has already finalised a partnership with Walgreens and CVS and they will deliver vaccines directly to nursing homes as soon as the states request them to do so.

Asserting that the US is more prepared than ever before to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House said the country will soon deliver vaccines that will help defeat the pandemic and help support the global return to prosperity.

In just seven months since the President coalesced the full power of the federal government, private sector and scientific community into 'Operation Warp Speed', this once-in-a-generation effort has developed vaccines five times faster than any other vaccine in history, it said.

"Without cutting corners in safety or effectiveness, our nation is now on track to receive emergency use authorisation for two lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the year," the White House said.

Notably, officials from US President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, which will oversee the bulk of the vaccination programme in the US once he takes office on January 20, were not invited to the White House event.

When asked why no member from the Biden team was invited, Trump said, "Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration, a continuation -- which has led us to the highest stock markets we've ever had, the best employment numbers we've ever had, a rebuilt military."

(with inputs from agencies)

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that prioritises Americans' access to COVID-19 vaccines before the country potentially begins helping other nations.

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that prioritises Americans' access to COVID-19 vaccines before the country potentially begins helping other nations. If necessary, Trump said, he is ready to invoke the Defence Production Act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines first get to the Americans. The Defence Production Act allows a president to force private manufacturers to ramp up production and give the federal government priority on any orders it places. American companies, he said, were the first to produce a verifiably safe and effective vaccine. "Together, we will defeat the virus, and we will soon end the pandemic, and we will save millions and millions of lives, both in our country and all over the world. And we've already started," Trump said during signing the executive order on Tuesday at a White House event celebrating 'Operation Warp Speed', his administration's effort to produce and distribute safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19. Trump told reporters that his administration provided a total of USD 14 billion to accelerate coronavirus vaccine development and to manufacture all of the top candidates long in advance. As a result of this "unprecedented investment", both Pfizer and Moderna have announced that their vaccines are approximately 95 per cent effective, he said. Pfizer has developed its vaccine outside of 'Operation Warp Speed', but is collaborating with the US government on manufacturing and distribution. The UK on Tuesday began its vaccinations with the first set of people injected with their first of two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. The deadly virus has so far killed more than 285,000 Americans and some 1.5 million people worldwide. As per the executive order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is directed to provide priority access to COVID-19 vaccines to Americans. "Through this action, Trump is putting the health and safety of Americans, the viability of our economy and the security of our nation first," the White House said. The US has led and will continue to lead the world's public health and humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. The Trump administration is prepared to ship COVID-19 vaccine doses to every corner of America within 48 hours of the issuance of an Emergency Use Authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration, the White House said. Trump said more companies are in the pipeline of the vaccine announcement soon. "We have some companies like Johnson & Johnson and others. They are all coming in, and they're coming in very quickly. We expect to have some news on that very shortly. We have worked very well with the companies, but if for any reason we have any problems, we will be instituting the Defence Production Act, and we will make sure that we don't have any problems for very long," he said. Johnson & Johnson is a one-dose, one-shot vaccine, he said, adding that all the vaccines are showing tremendous promise. Trump said he is hopeful that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will authorise the Pfizer vaccine within days and Moderna vaccine almost immediately thereafter. If these vaccines are authorised, tens of millions of vaccine doses will be available this month. "We will get it distributed very quickly. We have that all set. And hundreds of millions more will quickly follow," he said. "Every American who wants the vaccine will be able to get the vaccine," Trump said, asserting that the plan put forward by his administration prioritises the elderly and patients with underlying conditions, as well as healthcare workers and first responders. This will quickly and dramatically reduce deaths and hospitalisations, he noted. "And within a short period of time, I think we want to get back to normal... Get back to where we were a little more than nine months ago. We were doing incredibly. And in many respects, we're still doing incredibly with our stock markets and everything else, which are hitting all new highs," Trump said. The president said his administration has already finalised a partnership with Walgreens and CVS and they will deliver vaccines directly to nursing homes as soon as the states request them to do so. Asserting that the US is more prepared than ever before to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House said the country will soon deliver vaccines that will help defeat the pandemic and help support the global return to prosperity. In just seven months since the President coalesced the full power of the federal government, private sector and scientific community into 'Operation Warp Speed', this once-in-a-generation effort has developed vaccines five times faster than any other vaccine in history, it said. "Without cutting corners in safety or effectiveness, our nation is now on track to receive emergency use authorisation for two lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the year," the White House said. Notably, officials from US President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, which will oversee the bulk of the vaccination programme in the US once he takes office on January 20, were not invited to the White House event. When asked why no member from the Biden team was invited, Trump said, "Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration, a continuation -- which has led us to the highest stock markets we've ever had, the best employment numbers we've ever had, a rebuilt military." (with inputs from agencies)

Trump signs executive order prioritising COVID-19 vaccine for Americans

After U.S, Italy & India, the Chinese regime is blaming Australia as the source of Covid19. Global times news has suggested that Australian imports could have brought the virus to China's wet markets.

Gravitas: China's latest Covid-19 conspiracy theory

Coronavirus has been wreaking havoc across the world for a year now. As good news about vaccines continues to flow in, countries are now racing to undertake mass inoculation of their citizens.

A new report sheds light on inequitable distribution of vaccines around the globe. According to estimates, nine of ten people in 70 poor countries will not be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by next year.&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/the-lancet-oxford-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-is-safe-and-effective-348490/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Why? Simply because the first batch of successful vaccines developed by Pharma giants around the world have already been bought by western countries. Just yesterday, the UK began its inoculation programme with Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine. Other western and European countries are expected to follow suit.

According to “People’s Vaccine Alliance” led by Amnesty International, Frontline AIDS, Global Justice Now, and Oxfam, the deals already cemented by developed countries could hamper the fight against COVID-19 in many developing and poor countries.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/four-trial-volunteers-who-got-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-developed-bells-palsy-348547" hreflang="en">Four trial volunteers who got Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine developed Bell's palsy</a>

For perspective - rich countries that host 14 per cent of the global populations have brought 53 per cent of the global vaccine supply.

In Canada, one can be vaccinated over five times - that’s how many vaccines they’ve bought. If this trend replicates across the Western world, many low income countries could face a delay in inoculation by years.

The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, which was approved in the UK last week, has been majorly reserved by western countries. 96 per cent of its current doses have been booked by western countries.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/uae-says-sinopharm-vaccine-has-86-efficacy-against-covid-19-348511" hreflang="en">UAE says Sinopharm vaccine has 86% efficacy against COVID-19</a>

Moderna, too, is also focused on rich western countries, with most inoculation expected to take place in those territories. Both vaccines are priced highly especially based on affordability in low-income countries, where low temperatures required to store such vaccines could pose another challenge.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine which claims a much lower 70 per cent efficacy is much cheaper to allow global access, and also remains stable at normal fridge temperatures.

Coronavirus has been wreaking havoc across the world for a year now. As good news about vaccines continues to flow in, countries are now racing to undertake mass inoculation of their citizens.

Coronavirus has been wreaking havoc across the world for a year now. As good news about vaccines continues to flow in, countries are now racing to undertake mass inoculation of their citizens. A new report sheds light on inequitable distribution of vaccines around the globe. According to estimates, nine of ten people in 70 poor countries will not be able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by next year. Why? Simply because the first batch of successful vaccines developed by Pharma giants around the world have already been bought by western countries. Just yesterday, the UK began its inoculation programme with Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine. Other western and European countries are expected to follow suit. According to “People’s Vaccine Alliance” led by Amnesty International, Frontline AIDS, Global Justice Now, and Oxfam, the deals already cemented by developed countries could hamper the fight against COVID-19 in many developing and poor countries. Also read: Four trial volunteers who got Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine developed Bell's palsy For perspective - rich countries that host 14 per cent of the global populations have brought 53 per cent of the global vaccine supply. In Canada, one can be vaccinated over five times - that’s how many vaccines they’ve bought. If this trend replicates across the Western world, many low income countries could face a delay in inoculation by years. The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, which was approved in the UK last week, has been majorly reserved by western countries. 96 per cent of its current doses have been booked by western countries. Also read: UAE says Sinopharm vaccine has 86% efficacy against COVID-19 Moderna, too, is also focused on rich western countries, with most inoculation expected to take place in those territories. Both vaccines are priced highly especially based on affordability in low-income countries, where low temperatures required to store such vaccines could pose another challenge. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine which claims a much lower 70 per cent efficacy is much cheaper to allow global access, and also remains stable at normal fridge temperatures.

As western countries hoard vaccines, 9 out of 10 in low-income countries to miss out

Experts have said a major disease outbreak in North Korea could cause a humanitarian disaster because of its fragile health care system.

North Korea: Kim Yo Jong slams Seoul over questioning zero-virus claim

The largest football stadium in the Netherlands’ is being used to understand how COVID-19 spreads. As sport venues try to keep up with the ongoing pandemic, scientists attempted to understand how a group of cheering crowd might contribute to the spread of COVID-19.

By modelling fine droplets on aerosols that spread COVID-19, scientists focused on how these droplets spread in an open environment.

<h6><img alt="A researcher checks aerosols at Johan Cruijff Arena, the stadium of Ajax Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, Netherlands December 7, 2020. Picture taken December 7, 2020" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2445b269-2906-4bd9-8082-c2895854a804" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/3_24.jpg" />A researcher checks aerosols at Johan Cruijff Arena, the&nbsp;stadium&nbsp;of Ajax Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, Netherlands December 7, 2020. Picture taken December 7, 2020 | Reuters</h6>

The fine droplets that resembled saliva were sprayed over the empty stands. By understanding how aerosols and airborne particles spread COVID-19, the scientists intend to remove such particles from the air in a bid to bring people back to stadiums and halls.

"There is almost no information in scientific literature about the behaviour of aerosols in this kind of environment", lead researcher Bert Blocken said in conversation with Reuters.

Currently, tests are underway at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, which is home to Ajax Amsterdam.

"We want to get a fundamental insight in the behaviour of aerosols in a stadium filled with football supporters. By air cleaning technologies you can drastically reduce concentrations and make stadiums safe in terms of aerosol transmission of the virus," he added in conversation with Reuters.

<h6><img alt="An aerosol generator is seen as Dutch scientists investigate whether football fans can safely return to matches in the experiment which uses hundreds of sensors and aerosols at Johan Cruijff Arena, the stadium of Ajax Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, Netherlands December 7, 2020" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cdda1b90-7a5b-478c-842d-ca79a93738d1" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/2_27.jpg" />An aerosol generator is seen as Dutch scientists investigate whether football fans can safely return to matches in the experiment which uses hundreds of sensors and aerosols at Johan Cruijff Arena, the&nbsp;stadium&nbsp;of Ajax Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, Netherlands December 7, 2020 | Reuters</h6>

Majority of the scientists believe that transmission of COVID-19 through aerosol particles is the primary contributor to the spread of the virus. But it is still unclear to what extent this holds true.

Blocken further said that the researcher will help them understand how to minimise aerosol particles in the air, and how to limit the risk of spreading the virus in open environments packed with people.

Based on the data gathered during weeks of testing, a computer model will look at the effects of COVID-19 on a crowd of 55,000. Soon, researchers hope to receive permission for experimenting with a real crowd of 730 football fans who would be seated close to each other.

The goal, Blocken says, is to bring back people to stadiums - which have largely remained deserted over the last year. In addition, they intend to use mass testing, face masks, and ventilation for the same.

The largest football stadium in the Netherlands’ is being used to understand how COVID-19 spreads. As sport venues try to keep up with the ongoing pandemic, scientists attempted to understand how a group of cheering crowd might contribute to the spread of COVID-19.

The largest football stadium in the Netherlands’ is being used to understand how COVID-19 spreads. As sport venues try to keep up with the ongoing pandemic, scientists attempted to understand how a group of cheering crowd might contribute to the spread of COVID-19. By modelling fine droplets on aerosols that spread COVID-19, scientists focused on how these droplets spread in an open environment. A researcher checks aerosols at Johan Cruijff Arena, the stadium of Ajax Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, Netherlands December 7, 2020. Picture taken December 7, 2020 | Reuters The fine droplets that resembled saliva were sprayed over the empty stands. By understanding how aerosols and airborne particles spread COVID-19, the scientists intend to remove such particles from the air in a bid to bring people back to stadiums and halls. "There is almost no information in scientific literature about the behaviour of aerosols in this kind of environment", lead researcher Bert Blocken said in conversation with Reuters. Currently, tests are underway at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, which is home to Ajax Amsterdam. "We want to get a fundamental insight in the behaviour of aerosols in a stadium filled with football supporters. By air cleaning technologies you can drastically reduce concentrations and make stadiums safe in terms of aerosol transmission of the virus," he added in conversation with Reuters. An aerosol generator is seen as Dutch scientists investigate whether football fans can safely return to matches in the experiment which uses hundreds of sensors and aerosols at Johan Cruijff Arena, the stadium of Ajax Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, Netherlands December 7, 2020 | Reuters Majority of the scientists believe that transmission of COVID-19 through aerosol particles is the primary contributor to the spread of the virus. But it is still unclear to what extent this holds true. Blocken further said that the researcher will help them understand how to minimise aerosol particles in the air, and how to limit the risk of spreading the virus in open environments packed with people. Based on the data gathered during weeks of testing, a computer model will look at the effects of COVID-19 on a crowd of 55,000. Soon, researchers hope to receive permission for experimenting with a real crowd of 730 football fans who would be seated close to each other. The goal, Blocken says, is to bring back people to stadiums - which have largely remained deserted over the last year. In addition, they intend to use mass testing, face masks, and ventilation for the same.

'Spray' experiment in Netherlands' biggest football stadium could bring back crowds

An average of more than 10 lakh tests conducted daily for detection of COVID-19 has ensured that the cumulative positivity rate is sustained at low levels and is following a downward trajectory, as India's cumulative tests near 15 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The cumulative COVID-19 national positivity rate stands at 6.50 per cent as on date.

The daily positivity rate is just 3.14 per cent. Higher volumes of testing eventually lead to low positivity rate, the ministry said.

Nineteen states and UTs have a weekly positivity rate more than the national average. &nbsp; The ongoing trend of contraction of India's total active cases continues.

The active caseload of the country stands at 3,78,909 which comprises 3.89 per cent of the total infections reported so far. The daily recoveries exceeding the daily new cases have ensured a total net reduction of the active caseload.

A net decline of 4,957 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

A total of 32,080 persons were found positive in a span of 24 hours while India has registered 36,635 new recoveries during the same period.

&nbsp; Keeping in line with its commitment to conduct more than one million tests every day, 10,22,712 samples were tested on Tuesday taking the total tests done so far for detection of COVID-19 to 14,98,36,767.

The testing capacity of the country has grown to 15 lakh tests per day, the ministry said.

India's testing infrastructure has seen a significant boost with 2,220 labs across the country.

"An average of more than 10 lakh tests conducted daily has ensured that the cumulative positivity rate is sustained at low levels and is presently following a downward trajectory," the ministry underlined.

The cumulative national positivity rate stands at 6.50 per cent as on date. &nbsp;The daily positivity rate is just 3.14 per cent. Higher volumes of testing eventually lead to low positivity rate.

Uttar Pradesh has the highest cumulative testing with more than 2 crore tests.

Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are among the states with highest cumulative testing with more than 1 crore tests. The recovery rate has also increased to 94.66 per cent. Total recoveries have surpassed 92 lakh on Wednesday.

Of the new recovered cases, 76.37 per cent are observed to be concentrated in 10 states and UTs.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 6,365 newly recovered cases.

A total of 4,735 people recovered in Kerala in a span of 24 hours followed by 3,307 in Delhi. &nbsp;Of the new cases, 75.11 per cent are from 10 states and UTs, the ministry said.

Kerala continues to report the highest daily new cases at 5,032. It is followed by Maharashtra with 4,026 new cases.

A total of 402 case fatalities have been reported in a span of 24 hours. Ten states and UTs account for 76.37 per cent of new deaths.

Delhi saw the maximum casualties (57). Maharashtra and West Bengal follow with 53 and 49 daily deaths, respectively.

&nbsp;The total coronavirus cases mounted to &nbsp;97,35,850 with 32,080 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll rose to 1,41,360 with 402 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

An average of more than 10 lakh tests conducted daily for detection of COVID-19 has ensured that the cumulative positivity rate is sustained at low levels and is following a downward trajectory, as India's cumulative tests near 15 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

An average of more than 10 lakh tests conducted daily for detection of COVID-19 has ensured that the cumulative positivity rate is sustained at low levels and is following a downward trajectory, as India's cumulative tests near 15 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The cumulative COVID-19 national positivity rate stands at 6.50 per cent as on date. The daily positivity rate is just 3.14 per cent. Higher volumes of testing eventually lead to low positivity rate, the ministry said. Nineteen states and UTs have a weekly positivity rate more than the national average. The ongoing trend of contraction of India's total active cases continues. The active caseload of the country stands at 3,78,909 which comprises 3.89 per cent of the total infections reported so far. The daily recoveries exceeding the daily new cases have ensured a total net reduction of the active caseload. A net decline of 4,957 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours. A total of 32,080 persons were found positive in a span of 24 hours while India has registered 36,635 new recoveries during the same period. Keeping in line with its commitment to conduct more than one million tests every day, 10,22,712 samples were tested on Tuesday taking the total tests done so far for detection of COVID-19 to 14,98,36,767. The testing capacity of the country has grown to 15 lakh tests per day, the ministry said. India's testing infrastructure has seen a significant boost with 2,220 labs across the country. "An average of more than 10 lakh tests conducted daily has ensured that the cumulative positivity rate is sustained at low levels and is presently following a downward trajectory," the ministry underlined. The cumulative national positivity rate stands at 6.50 per cent as on date. The daily positivity rate is just 3.14 per cent. Higher volumes of testing eventually lead to low positivity rate. Uttar Pradesh has the highest cumulative testing with more than 2 crore tests. Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are among the states with highest cumulative testing with more than 1 crore tests. The recovery rate has also increased to 94.66 per cent. Total recoveries have surpassed 92 lakh on Wednesday. Of the new recovered cases, 76.37 per cent are observed to be concentrated in 10 states and UTs. Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 6,365 newly recovered cases. A total of 4,735 people recovered in Kerala in a span of 24 hours followed by 3,307 in Delhi. Of the new cases, 75.11 per cent are from 10 states and UTs, the ministry said. Kerala continues to report the highest daily new cases at 5,032. It is followed by Maharashtra with 4,026 new cases. A total of 402 case fatalities have been reported in a span of 24 hours. Ten states and UTs account for 76.37 per cent of new deaths. Delhi saw the maximum casualties (57). Maharashtra and West Bengal follow with 53 and 49 daily deaths, respectively. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 97,35,850 with 32,080 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll rose to 1,41,360 with 402 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Covid-19: India's cumulative tests inch closer to 15 cr, active cases decline

An experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by China`s Sinopharm has 86% efficacy against the virus, the United Arab Emirates health ministry said on Wednesday, citing an interim analysis of a human trial underway there.

The Gulf Arab state in July started Phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine, developed by Beijing Institute of Biological Product, a unit of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG). In September, the UAE approved its emergency use for certain groups.

The analysis also shows "99% seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibody and 100% effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease", the ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

"The analysis shows no serious safety concerns," it said.

It also said it had officially registered the vaccine, without elaborating, and that 31,000 volunteers across 125 nationalities participated in the UAE trial.

It did not say what side effects or illnesses participants experienced or how many volunteers were given the vaccine and how many received a placebo.

CNBG could not be immediately reached for comment.

The vaccine, which uses an inactivated virus unable to replicate human cells to trigger immune responses, requires two doses, past trial data has showed.

The UAE trial is a partnership between Sinopharm`s CNBG, Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company Group 42 (G42) and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health.

Sinopharm and G42 have also expanded the trial to Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain.

Abu Dhabi, the UAE`s capital, this week said it was seeking volunteers to take part in clinical trials of Russia`s COVID-19 vaccine, known as Sputnik V.

The UAE, with a population of around 9 million, has recorded 178,837 infections and 596 deaths from the disease.

An experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by China`s Sinopharm has 86% efficacy against the virus, the United Arab Emirates health ministry said on Wednesday, citing an interim analysis of a human trial underway there.

An experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by China`s Sinopharm has 86% efficacy against the virus, the United Arab Emirates health ministry said on Wednesday, citing an interim analysis of a human trial underway there. The Gulf Arab state in July started Phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine, developed by Beijing Institute of Biological Product, a unit of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG). In September, the UAE approved its emergency use for certain groups. The analysis also shows "99% seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibody and 100% effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease", the ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency. "The analysis shows no serious safety concerns," it said. It also said it had officially registered the vaccine, without elaborating, and that 31,000 volunteers across 125 nationalities participated in the UAE trial. It did not say what side effects or illnesses participants experienced or how many volunteers were given the vaccine and how many received a placebo. CNBG could not be immediately reached for comment. The vaccine, which uses an inactivated virus unable to replicate human cells to trigger immune responses, requires two doses, past trial data has showed. The UAE trial is a partnership between Sinopharm`s CNBG, Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company Group 42 (G42) and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health. Sinopharm and G42 have also expanded the trial to Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain. Abu Dhabi, the UAE`s capital, this week said it was seeking volunteers to take part in clinical trials of Russia`s COVID-19 vaccine, known as Sputnik V. The UAE, with a population of around 9 million, has recorded 178,837 infections and 596 deaths from the disease.

UAE says Sinopharm vaccine has 86% efficacy against COVID-19

China has attempted to shift the blame for the global spread of coronavirus on different occasions. Recently, a group of researchers claimed that the virus originated not in China, but in India.&nbsp;

Now, they believe that the virus spread from Australia. Over the last few months, the country has undertaken rigorous testing of frozen meat products - continuously pointing fingers at countries like New Zealand and Australia for sending meat laced with COVID-19. However, like its claims about the virus originating from India, the country has been unable to verify related claims.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/risk-of-covid-19-infection-from-frozen-food-packages-china-new-zealand-researchers-320462/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

A new “investigative report” by Global Times - a Chinese mouthpiece claims that the idea of COVID-19 being imported from Australia into the wet markets in Huanan could not be “ruled out”. This is in conjunction with the country’s recent claims about frozen food from other countries spreading the virus.

The report did add that “more evidence is needed” to ascertain these claims. Like all things China, this claim holds no scientific basis and no supplementary empirical data to prove the same. The truth remains that the pandemic began in Wuhan’s wet markets, where exotic animals are sold openly. The consumption of exotic animals like bats, snakes, and pangolins keeps humans at risk of catching zoonotic diseases.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/90-year-old-grandma-becomes-first-in-the-world-to-receive-coronavirus-jab-outside-trial-348296" hreflang="en">90-year-old grandma becomes first in the world to receive coronavirus jab outside trial</a>

According to the Global Times report, the Huanan Seafood Market sells “imported cold-chain seafood” from many countries, including Brazil and Germany.

Besides Australia - Canada, Brazil, Germany, Spain, were identified as countries that trade with the Hubei province in China, where the pandemic wreaked havoc last year before infecting the whole world.

China has still not made clear the origins of COVID-19, but instead has continuously attempted to absolve itself of the responsibility. Many scientists and critics have posited that had China identified and isolated the virus earlier, the world could have been spared the horror of a pandemic which continues to dictate how we live our life.

Also read:&nbsp;<a data-ved="2ahUKEwiTmrOxs77tAhV-6XMBHdmJBc8QFjAAegQIBBAC" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-scientists-now-claim-coronavirus-originated-in-india-in-summer-2019-346039" ping="/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;url=https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-scientists-now-claim-coronavirus-originated-in-india-in-summer-2019-346039&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiTmrOxs77tAhV-6XMBHdmJBc8QFjAAegQIBBAC">Chinese scientists now claim coronavirus originated in India</a>

Earlier in November, Chinese researchers pinned the blame on India. Earlier, they claimed that United States Army was behind the pandemic. In fact, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian tweeted that “it might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan”. Naturally, this came without evidence.

In December 2019, the first case of COVID-19 was spotted in Wuhan. Soon after, it was ascertained that the virus spread from an infected animal who may have been consumed by humans at the wet market, after which it rapidly spread among humans.

China has attempted to shift the blame for the global spread of coronavirus on different occasions. Recently, a group of researchers claimed that the virus originated not in China, but in India.

China has attempted to shift the blame for the global spread of coronavirus on different occasions. Recently, a group of researchers claimed that the virus originated not in China, but in India. Now, they believe that the virus spread from Australia. Over the last few months, the country has undertaken rigorous testing of frozen meat products - continuously pointing fingers at countries like New Zealand and Australia for sending meat laced with COVID-19. However, like its claims about the virus originating from India, the country has been unable to verify related claims. A new “investigative report” by Global Times - a Chinese mouthpiece claims that the idea of COVID-19 being imported from Australia into the wet markets in Huanan could not be “ruled out”. This is in conjunction with the country’s recent claims about frozen food from other countries spreading the virus. The report did add that “more evidence is needed” to ascertain these claims. Like all things China, this claim holds no scientific basis and no supplementary empirical data to prove the same. The truth remains that the pandemic began in Wuhan’s wet markets, where exotic animals are sold openly. The consumption of exotic animals like bats, snakes, and pangolins keeps humans at risk of catching zoonotic diseases. Also read: 90-year-old grandma becomes first in the world to receive coronavirus jab outside trial According to the Global Times report, the Huanan Seafood Market sells “imported cold-chain seafood” from many countries, including Brazil and Germany. Besides Australia - Canada, Brazil, Germany, Spain, were identified as countries that trade with the Hubei province in China, where the pandemic wreaked havoc last year before infecting the whole world. China has still not made clear the origins of COVID-19, but instead has continuously attempted to absolve itself of the responsibility. Many scientists and critics have posited that had China identified and isolated the virus earlier, the world could have been spared the horror of a pandemic which continues to dictate how we live our life. Also read: Chinese scientists now claim coronavirus originated in India Earlier in November, Chinese researchers pinned the blame on India. Earlier, they claimed that United States Army was behind the pandemic. In fact, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian tweeted that “it might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan”. Naturally, this came without evidence. In December 2019, the first case of COVID-19 was spotted in Wuhan. Soon after, it was ascertained that the virus spread from an infected animal who may have been consumed by humans at the wet market, after which it rapidly spread among humans.

After blaming US and India, China claims COVID-19 originated in Australia

'The Christmas holiday season could pose greater risks than Thanksgiving when it comes to spreading the coronavirus', says Anthony Fauci.

Anthony Fauci predicts COVID-19 pandemic to likely improve by Christmas

The doctor who saved the life of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson when the leader had contracted the virus back in March, has now been infected with COVID-19.

Professor Nick Hart from the Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital London is self isolating after testing positive for COVID-19.&nbsp;Johnson was put under his care in the same hospital when he required critical care earlier in April.

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Johnson continues to be thankful to the doctor. In fact, his fiancee Carrie Symonds in May revealed that the couple had named their first child - Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas in honour of the professor who saved Johnson’s life. Symonds had explained that the name referred to two doctors who played a critical role in Johnson’s treatment - Professor Hart and Dr Nick Price.

At the time, Hart had claimed be “honoured and humbled” by the touching tribute. In April, Johnson was hospitalised after falling seriously ill with COVID-19.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/for-boris-johnson-a-week-to-exorcise-the-demons-of-2020-347712" hreflang="en">For Boris Johnson, a week to exorcise the demons of 2020</a>

Reports claimed that Johnson was pumped with “litres and litres” of oxygen. It’s important to note that during this time, scientists were still trying to decipher what fights the virus.

After leaving the hospital, Boris Johnson had said - “I want to pay my own thanks to the utterly brilliant doctors, leaders in their fields, men and women but several of them for some reason called Nick, who took some crucial decisions a few days ago, for which I will be grateful for the rest of my life”.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/not-how-we-do-things-british-pm-boris-johnson-on-rumours-of-compulsory-vaccination-346954" hreflang="en">'Not how we do things': British PM Boris Johnson on rumours of compulsory vaccination</a>

The hospital’s trust confirmed to The Sun that Professor Hart had actually contracted the virus and that he is currently self isolating. After recovering from the virus, Johnson had revealed how serious his condition had become after contracting COVID-19, with many doctors reportedly prepared to announce his death.

Soon after being discharged, Johnson had thanked the “utterly brilliant” doctors, praising the nurses for providing care.

The doctor who saved the life of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson when the leader had contracted the virus back in March, has now been infected with COVID-19. Professor Nick Hart from the Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital London is self isolating after testing positive for COVID-19.

The doctor who saved the life of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson when the leader had contracted the virus back in March, has now been infected with COVID-19. Professor Nick Hart from the Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital London is self isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. Johnson was put under his care in the same hospital when he required critical care earlier in April. Johnson continues to be thankful to the doctor. In fact, his fiancee Carrie Symonds in May revealed that the couple had named their first child - Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas in honour of the professor who saved Johnson’s life. Symonds had explained that the name referred to two doctors who played a critical role in Johnson’s treatment - Professor Hart and Dr Nick Price. At the time, Hart had claimed be “honoured and humbled” by the touching tribute. In April, Johnson was hospitalised after falling seriously ill with COVID-19. Also read: For Boris Johnson, a week to exorcise the demons of 2020 Reports claimed that Johnson was pumped with “litres and litres” of oxygen. It’s important to note that during this time, scientists were still trying to decipher what fights the virus. After leaving the hospital, Boris Johnson had said - “I want to pay my own thanks to the utterly brilliant doctors, leaders in their fields, men and women but several of them for some reason called Nick, who took some crucial decisions a few days ago, for which I will be grateful for the rest of my life”. Also read: 'Not how we do things': British PM Boris Johnson on rumours of compulsory vaccination The hospital’s trust confirmed to The Sun that Professor Hart had actually contracted the virus and that he is currently self isolating. After recovering from the virus, Johnson had revealed how serious his condition had become after contracting COVID-19, with many doctors reportedly prepared to announce his death. Soon after being discharged, Johnson had thanked the “utterly brilliant” doctors, praising the nurses for providing care.

Doctor who saved UK PM Boris Johnson's life in April contracts coronavirus

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