Here we follow all developments on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 on an international scale.
9:42 am – UK calls for cooperation from China with WHO
The British government said on Wednesday that China should cooperate with the World Health Organization’s review of the origin of Sars-CoV-2 so that the world can understand how the first outbreak arose.
Last week, the United States and the United Kingdom expressed concern about the limited access granted to a WHO mission in China.
“We want to see full cooperation,” British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab told BBC radio.
Raab said the world needs to know details about the source of the outbreak “so that the issue of responsibility can be addressed, but also, frankly, so that we can learn the lessons in the future.”
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9:23 am – South Africa starts administering Johnson & Johnson vaccine today
South Africa will administer Johnson & Johnson’s first Covid-19 vaccine this Wednesday at Khayelitsha District Hospital in Cape Town.
9:10 am – First batch of 1,000 vaccines to be sent to the Gaza Strip
The first batch of 1,000 vaccines against the new coronavirus will be sent to the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials said today who had blocked supplies to Palestinian territory.
“This morning, Wednesday, 1,000 Sputnik-V vaccines offered by Russia (…) were transferred by the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip,” Cogat, the Israeli body responsible for civilian operations in the Palestinian territories, said today.
“Vaccines are about to cross the Erez border,” which separates Israeli territory from the Palestinian enclave, the same department said.
Israel blocked, on Monday, the entry of a first shipment of vaccines that the Palestinian authorities were trying to send from the West Bank.
Israeli MPs called for the delivery of vaccines to be conditional on the return of two civilians to the territory and the bodies of two soldiers stranded in the Gaza Strip, with non-governmental organizations accusing Israel of imposing “collective punishment” and of failing to comply with “legal obligations” and moral “.
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8:54 am – United Kingdom plans gradual deflation until July
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering a gradual de-escalation, with the reopening of pubs and restaurants in May, and the hospitality and public holidays sectors in July, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
8:39 am – PSP arrested 12 infected people strolling on the street at the weekend
PSP makes a positive assessment of inspection operations in the carnival season. Since Saturday and until today, the Public Security Police has registered some gatherings on the street and even illegal parties. That’s what Antena 1, Superintendent Luís Elias, said this morning. 23 people were detained, 12 of whom were infected with covid-19 and were walking on the street.
The PSP also spent more than two thousand fines, most of these fines were related to the use of a mask and the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the public highway.
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8:31 am – South Korea fears easing of restrictions after further increase in cases
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun warned on Wednesday of the risk of easing restrictions and social detachment after the number of new cases of daily infection has reached a new high.
The government relaxed the restraint measures starting this week, after overcoming a third wave of Covid-19 outbreaks that peaked at around 1,200 daily cases in late December. But the numbers rose again in just three days, reaching 600 for the first time in 39 days on Tuesday, after the ban on nightlife venues was lifted and the curfew extended.
“We have narrowed the gap to help small business owners maintain their livelihoods, not to control the virus,” he said at a press conference. “The third wave is not over, now is not the time to relax”.
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8h09 – New cases of infection in the USA fell by about 70 percent
The United States population is expected to begin mass vaccination starting in April.
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New cases of infection in the country fell by almost 70 percent between January and February.
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7h54 – Japan starts vaccination
Japan’s health authorities began this Wednesday to give the vaccine against Covid-19, expecting to immunize the entire population within a year. The process begins less than six months from the start of the Olympic Games.
The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine – the only one approved in Japan so far – were administered at the Tokyo Medical Center, in the Meguro district.
The first person to receive the vaccine was the director of the medical center, Kazuhiro Araki, who volunteered to set an example and encourage others, he explained to the media.
7:39 am – PCP wants 658 euros per month for cultural workers
The PCP submits a bill to the House of Representatives tomorrow for a bill to strengthen support for cultural workers affected by the shock waves of the pandemic – with an extraordinary support of 658.21 euros per month.
“It is essential that culture has an answer for yesterday,” said Communist deputy Ana Mesquita, heard by the Lusa agency.
The deputy emphasizes that “it is really necessary that this support can be made available to the culture sector”, given that “the destruction of the artistic fabric is underway”.
“We are losing people, losing structures, losing responsiveness,” he added.
7:33 am – Bahia with curfew
Bahia, the fourth most populous state in Brazil, with 15 million inhabitants, decreed a curfew to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
As of next Friday, that regime is applied between 10 pm (1 am in Lisbon) and 5 am (8 am in Lisbon).
The state authorities announced that the movement of people will be restricted and determined the closure of non-essential services for seven days at night, with the exception of the regions of Irecé and Jacobina, the only ones that have seen reduced numbers of occupations of intensive care facilities.
7:00 am – Confinement in Auckland ends
The New Zealand Government has decided to end the confinement in Auckland City as of midnight on Wednesday, after authorities concluded that a local Covid-19 outbreak is under control.
Confinement in the country’s largest city, with almost two million inhabitants, was enacted on Sunday, after three cases in the same family were diagnosed: mother, father and 13-year-old daughter.
Tests showed that the family was infected with the UK variant.
6h48 – State of play
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Parents who support their children at home at the same time, due to the closure of schools, will be able to receive wages to 100 percent, Public.
The Government this Wednesday brings to the social partners the proposal that extends social support to parents who are affected by the closure of schools.
Parents of single parents can stay at home to accompany their children without any income being cut.
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The newspaper also says that the Government is also preparing to expand the support given to parents in teleworking and that until now they were not covered.
This support will be subject to parliamentary appreciation as early as Thursday.
Assessment of the vaccination program
In Portugal, around 200 thousand people have already completed vaccination against Covid-19. They correspond to about two percent of the population.
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More than 332,000 received at least one dose, which is equivalent to about three percent of the population.
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The highest percentage of people vaccinated, by region, is in Alentejo. Next are the Centro Region, the North, Lisbon and the Tagus Valley and the Algarve.
Most vaccinees are in the age group above 80 years old and in the group between 24 and 49 years old.
More vaccines in the second quarter
Portugal should receive the first vaccines from Johnson & Johnson in the second quarter of this year. The group has already formalized the European certification request.
This single-shot vaccine is 66 percent effective. Throughout the year the country will receive 4.5 million doses.
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The president of Infarmed, Rui Santos Ivo, says that, if everything goes as planned, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be approved next month.
The official also states that, of all pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca is the only one that will not comply with the distribution plan.
The picture in Portugal
111 people died within 24 hours, according to the latest epidemiological bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health, released early Tuesday afternoon.
Yesterday there were more than 1502 confirmed cases of infection registered.
In the country’s hospitals there were 350 fewer patients, for a total of 4482.
In intensive care there were 32 fewer people, for a total of 752.
There are already less than 100 counties at extreme risk of contagion.
The international framework
The Covid-19 pandemic caused at least 2,408,243 deaths resulting from more than 109 million cases of infection, according to the balance sheet which is constantly being updated by the agency France Presse.
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A new mutation in SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in the UK. It is a variant that can threaten vaccines.
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38 cases have been identified with a mutation that is also present in the South African variant.
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