Paris, Feb 18 (AFP/APP): These are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
– US variant study –
US President Joe Biden’s administration is investing nearly $200 million to increase sequencing of virus variants by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from about 7,000 samples per week to approximately 25,000.
– Half of S. Africa infected? –
Around half of South Africa’s population is thought to have contracted Covid-19, studies and statisticians say, suggesting the virus has claimed tens of thousands more lives than officially recorded.
– Static Lunar New Year –
Tens of millions of people in China stayed put during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday — the world’s largest annual migration — as passenger traffic more than halved.
– Town-wide trial –
The Brazilian town of Serrana begins vaccinating its entire adult population of some 30,000 in an unprecedented campaign meant to allow authorities to analyse the impact of immunisation on the pandemic.
– Sinovac green light –
Hong Kong approves the Chinese Sinovac jab for emergency use after a panel of experts fast-tracks its recommendation despite its relatively low efficacy rate of 62.3 percent.
– Asylum claims fall –
Requests for asylum in the EU dropped 31 percent in 2020 to their lowest level in eight years, as would-be refugees ran up against travel restrictions.
– AirFrance-KLM loss –
Air France-KLM books a net loss of 7.1 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in 2020, compared with a bottom-line profit of 290 million euros a year earlier.
– Airbus too –
Meanwhile the European aircraft giant Airbus says it was able to limit its losses last year to 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion).
– Soldiering on –
Pentagon officials report about one-third of the US military is declining to get vaccinated despite significant infection levels in the forces.
– Venezuela campaign –
Venezuela begins immunising health care workers and public sector employees with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
– Italy mask racket –
Italian police investigate a group of people suspected of skimming millions off government contracts for Chinese face masks worth 1.25 billion euros ($1.5 billion).
– Latvia’s real ice blondes –
Hairdressers in Latvia, where salons have been closed since December 21, are offering their services in snowy forests or on frozen lakes as they protest against restrictions.
-2.43 million deaths –
The virus has caused at least 2,430,693 deaths since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Thursday. The United States is the worst-affected country with 490,550 deaths, followed by Brazil with 242,090, Mexico with 177,061, India with 156,014 and Britain with 118,933.
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