What you need to know about coronavirus on Friday, January 8th

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In the United States, the daily death toll has hit a new record three days in a row. Yesterday, that figure raised 4,000 for the first time ever.

Germany, South Africa and Sweden also reported their deadliest days yesterday, with the United Kingdom seeing the worst day since April. Switzerland, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Panama, Slovakia and Lithuania are among the countries that recorded the highest daily deaths earlier in the week.

The newer, more infectious strains of the virus appear to be dependent on some of the spikes in cases. South Africa, where one of the variables was first identified, has seen more than 200,000 new cases in the last two weeks. At the same time, a humanitarian crisis is emerging at the country ‘s border with Zimbabwe, where hundreds of workers have been blocked by a national closure banning cross – border travel.

Public health officials around the world strongly urge citizens to adhere to the well-known safety measures. Avoiding large gatherings, limiting contact with those outside your home and wearing a mask is extremely important.

This is true even if you are not sick. A study published yesterday found that more than half of Covid-19 cases may have been diagnosed by people who showed no symptoms.

WE WILL NOT. We ANSWER

Q: Does the Covid-19 vaccine work against the new mutations?

A: A study provides early evidence that the Pfizer vaccine may be effective against two new strains of coronavirus that were first identified in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Both viruses share a mutation called N501Y that scientists feared would allow the virus to block the immunity that comes from vaccination. The researchers made a version of the virus that carries that bovine, then tested against blood taken from 20 people who had received two doses of Pfizer image as part of a clinical trial. In a study published yesterday, they said they found “no reduction in neutralization activity” against the mutated virus.

The study – conducted by researchers at Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch – does not test the full range of these mutations. It was also not peer-reviewed.

Post your questions here. Are you a healthcare worker fighting Covid-19? Send us a message on WhatsApp about the challenges you face: +1 347-322-0415.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT

Two arthritis drugs can help the sickest Covid-19 patients

Early research has shown that taking infusions of either tocilizumab or sarilumab, two drugs commonly used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, to severely ill patients was associated with Covid-19. to an 8.5% improvement in survival of the disease and discharge from a hospital intensive care unit about a week to 10 days faster.

“That’s a big change in survival,” said Anthony Gordon, REMAP-CAP chief examiner and professor at Imperial College London. “We also saw the patients recover faster. They were getting better and able to be discharged from the ICU faster – and that was on average and all patients are slightly different. different. “

A year after Wuhan, China locks in another city

China has locked up a city of 11 million people in the northern province of Hebei, in a bid to maintain the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak in months. Residents of Shijiazhuang, a regional capital near Beijing, were barred from leaving, with major roads blocked, railway and bus stations closed and flights canceled.

The lockdown comes as 117 Covid-19 infections – including 67 asymptomatic cases – were detected in Shijiazhuang on Wednesday. The city identified 66 more positive cases yesterday, according to the Hebei regional health commission. The uprising in that city comes just weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday, the most important annual festival in China, which is typically seen by millions of people. travel home to reunite with family.

LA County sees one death toll every eight minutes

The number of people dying with Covid-19 in Los Angeles County in one day is equal to the number of homicide deaths the city has witnessed in an entire year, Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a conference news yesterday.
The county is the center of history in California, with one person dying of the virus every eight minutes. “People who used to lead a healthy, fertile life are now passing away as a result of exposure to the Covid-19 virus,” health officials said earlier in the week. “This will only end when we all make the right decisions to protect each other.”
A patient waits on a trolley for a room at Cedars Providence-Sinai Tarzana Providence Medical Center in Tarzana, California on January 3, 2021.

AIR ON RADAR

  • Australia and the UK require international entrants to display Covid-19 negative test results.
  • Coronavac, the vaccine candidate developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, has been shown to have a 78% efficacy during Phase 3 trials in Brazil.
  • The Philadelphia 76ers player is making a positive test, forcing the team to stay in New York overnight.
  • Greater Brisbane in Australia will enter a lockout to halt the spread of the UK’s Covid-19 strain.
  • Iran’s CEO calls for a ban on Western Covid-19 vaccines entering the country.
  • Taking social distance to a whole new level, the Swedish Göteborg Film Festival invites a film fan to spend a week on a remote lighthouse island, in which only films and the North Sea are for company.
  • The World Health Organization is urging European countries to intensify pandemic measures as the region faces a new crisis.

TOP TIP

This year will be marked as a year of constant uncertainty, anxiety and – if you are like many people – a lot of weight-related eating.

There doesn’t have to be a lot of stress about eating weight, though. Since most of us are waiting for new vaccines to arrive and a healthier lifestyle, here are some tips on how you can better fuel your body in 2021.

TODAY PODCAST

“Within half an hour of landing, I got my luggage, took it on a bus, and was taken to the hotel where I would be thrown off the mast. “ – Emily Liu, Associate Producer of CNN

Imagine a country that is not locked up or a strict scraper to find hospital beds to care for Covid’s patients; where people regularly eat and drink indoors. This country is there – it’s Singapore. One of our bond representatives, Emily Liu is there now, and today she takes us to a place where life feels almost normal again. Listen now.

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