Fear, hope: Virus torments US while Israel vaccinates 1mn
California sees record 585 single-day deaths from Covid-19; Israel inoculates one-tenth of its population
LOS ANGELES/ JERUSALEM: The race between the coronavirus disease and vaccines against it continued as California reported a record high of 585 single-day Covid-19 deaths while Israel announced that it has vaccinated a million citizens against the deadly virus.
California’s public health department said on Friday that the 585 fatalities apart, the state also recorded more than 47,000 new coronavirus infections as America’s combined tally of cases went past the dreaded 20 million mark.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said that California would begin collaborating with the US Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate and upgrade outdated oxygen delivery systems at six Los Angeles area hospitals. California this week became the third US state to exceed 25,000 Covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
In some positive news, Israel declared that its one million vaccinations represent more than a tenth of its population as its inoculation drive against Covid-19 has turned out to be the fastest one so far. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on hand when the millionth Israeli received a vaccination in the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. Netanyahu called it a moment of “great excitement”.
Our World in Data, a collaboration between researchers at the University of Oxford and the non-profit group Global Change Data Lab, shows Israel leading the world in per capita vaccinations. Israel has reported more than 426,000 cases and at least 3,330 deaths.
Concerns over the new and fast-spreading Covid-19 mutation detected in the UK kept growing as Turkey has now become the latest country to find cases of the new strain. At least 15 infections of the new strain of the virus have been detected domestically, revealed health minister Fahrettin Koca.
“A total of 15 people, who had arrived from the United Kingdom, have been diagnosed with the UK mutation of the coronavirus. The travels from this country to Turkey are temporarily banned,” the minister said in a statement.
The Japanese capital, Tokyo, and three nearby prefectures have asked the national government to declare a state of emergency to curtail the surging spread of the pandemic.
“In the name of valuing life, we made this plea together,” said Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike after meeting for three hours on Saturday with the minister in charge of coronavirus measures, along with the governors of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.
Japan has seen a recent rise in reported cases of Covid-19, especially in urban areas. Tokyo saw a daily record of 1,337 cases on New Year’s Eve. Worries are growing about hosting the Olympics, set for July, with 11,000 Olympic athletes set to enter Japan, as well as tens of thousands of officials and media.
London schools to remain closed amid Covid surge The UK government has instructed all primary schools in London to remain closed and not return for the new term on Monday amid a surge in Covid-19 infections rates across England.
After an urgent review, the department for education decided that the “education contingency framework” will be applicable across all of the UK capital instead of just a few boroughs.
It has led to growing calls from the opposition and teachers’ unions for all schools in England to remain shut due to fears of adding to the pressure on the National Health Service (NHS) with already rising hospital admissions.
“As infection rates rise across the country, and particularly in London, we must make this move to protect our country and the NHS. We will continue to keep the list of local authorities under review, and reopen classrooms as soon as we possibly can,” said UK education secretary Gavin Williamson.