Analysis: Strong evidence new variant is driving transmission
Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent
The steep increase in the proportion of coronavirus cases linked to this new variant is strong evidence that it is driving transmission.
In London 28% of cases were as a result of this new mutation in mid-November, but that has now increased to more than 60%.
It explains why during the second lockdown cases started increase in London, while in Kent the tier three measures appear to have had little impact in recent weeks.
As chief medical adviser Prof Chris Whitty says this is a bad moment, but there is also some hope.
Ten billionaires reap $400bn boost to wealth during pandemic
Ten of the richest people in the world have boosted their already vast wealth by more than $400bn (£296bn) since the coronavirus pandemic began as their businesses were boosted by lockdowns and financial crises across the globe.
The extra wealth accumulated by the 10 men – approximately $450bn, using Forbes figures – over the past nine months is more than the £284bn the British government is estimated to have spent on tackling the pandemic and the economic damage it has wrought on its 66 million people.
In a related report, the campaign group Americans for Tax Fairness estimates the collective wealth of America’s 651 billionaires has risen by $1.1tn over the same period. Frank Clemente of Americans for Tax Fairness said:
“Their pandemic profits are so immense that America’s billionaires could pay for a major Covid relief bill and still not lose a dime of their pre-virus riches. Their wealth growth is so great that they alone could provide a $3,000 stimulus payment to every man, woman and child in the country, and still be richer than they were nine months ago.”
No return to normal life before Autumn 2021, says top French scientist
A senior French government scientific adviser has said it is unlikely the country will return to normal before Autumn next year.
Jean-François Delfraissy told BFM television there were an estimated 22 million people in France that are vulnerable and that it could take until May to vaccinate them all before shots could be rolled out to others.
"Vaccines are a major source of hope but if you look at the vaccination capabilities that we will have in France and elsewhere in Europe, we will need time," he said.
Coronavirus digest: India's COVID cases cross 10-million mark
India, the world's second-hardest hit nation, has seen a decline in the rate of cases and deaths since the pandemic's peak in mid-September. Follow DW for the latest on COVID-19.
India became the second nation in the world to surge past 10 million coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to official data. The country reported over 25,000 infections in the last 24 hours. It has also reported 9.6 million recoveries and 145,136 deaths.
India's daily infections have significantly declined since September when the country was reporting nearly 100,000 cases per day and was on the way to surpassing the United States as the worst-hit nation.
Fox News’ ‘Utterly Insane’ Lies About COVID-19 Slammed In Searing Supercut
“Its viewers can’t get enough and some even watch it from their hospital beds as they die from COVID,” radio host Chip Franklin says in the Really American PAC’s new ad.
A new online attack ad slams Fox News personalities and guests for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
Veteran radio host Chip Franklin warns in the three-minute spot for Really American, an anti-Trump PAC, that the conservative network will end up getting people killed with its falsehoods.
“That’s what a superspreader event looks like. You know it as Fox News and its viewers can’t get enough and some even watch it from their hospital beds as they die from COVID,” Franklin says in the clip, which includes footage of its hosts, including prime-time stars Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, downplaying the threat of COVID-19 and railing against lockdowns and mask mandates aimed at combatting its spread.
CAR says ex-president attempting ‘coup’ as rebels form coalition
Leaders of three main armed rebel groups occupying large areas of the Central African Republic announced a coalition ahead of next week’s elections, while the government accused former President Francois Bozize of an “attempted coup”.
The move to form a coalition, announced on Saturday, could further increase tensions already on the rise in the troubled country ahead of presidential and legislative votes on December 27, where the opposition fears massive electoral fraud.
No comments:
Post a Comment