Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
World	107,393,626	+383,614	2,349,263
USA	27,799,946	+95,542	479,772
India	10,858,300	+10,510	155,280
Brazil	9,602,034	+51,733	233,588
Russia	3,998,216	+15,019	77,598
UK	3,972,148	+12,364	113,850
France	3,360,235	+18,870	80,147
Spain	3,005,487	+16,402	63,061
Italy	2,655,319	+10,630	92,002
Turkey	2,548,195	+8,636	26,998
Germany	2,302,051	+5,725	63,271
Colombia	2,166,904	+5,442	56,507
Argentina	1,993,295	+7,794	49,566
Mexico	1,936,013	+3,868	166,731
Poland	1,556,685	+4,029	39,360
Iran	1,481,396	+7,640	58,625
South Africa	1,479,253	+1,742	46,869
Ukraine	1,249,646	+2,656	23,771
Peru	1,196,778	+5,557	42,626
Indonesia	1,174,779	+8,700	31,976
Czechia	1,045,132	+7,663	17,497
Netherlands	1,009,725	+1,744	14,511
Canada	810,797	+2,677	20,909
Portugal	770,502	+2,583	14,557
Chile	758,189	+2,839	19,084
Romania	749,434	+2,797	19,056
Belgium	726,483	+873	21,423
Israel	703,719	+7,191	5,216
Iraq	632,257	+1,994	13,134
Pakistan	556,519	+1,008	12,066
Philippines	540,227	+1,235	11,296
Bangladesh	538,765	+387	8,229
Morocco	476,125	+536	8,424
Austria	426,093	+1,197	8,071
Serbia	411,855	+2,014	4,154
Japan	406,766	+1,776	6,476
Hungary	378,734	+1,079	13,249
Saudi Arabia	370,987	+353	6,410
Jordan	338,322	+1,483	4,395
UAE	332,603	+3,310	947
Panama	328,476	+822	5,531
Lebanon	324,866	+2,886	3,737
Nepal	272,215	+160	2,047
Slovakia	265,807	+1,724	5,382
Georgia	263,057	+829	3,306
Belarus	260,060	+561	1,801
Ecuador	259,783	+1,176	15,086
Malaysia	248,316	+2,764	909
Croatia	235,756	+283	5,224
Azerbaijan	231,362	+164	3,163
Bolivia	229,187	+1,220	10,864
Bulgaria	226,061	+1,212	9,482
Dominican Republic	224,538	+419	2,864
Tunisia	218,564	+811	7,332
Ireland	204,940	+543	3,752
Denmark	202,417	+366	2,244
Costa Rica	197,852	+417	2,698
Kazakhstan	197,033	+918	2,540
Lithuania	187,421	+387	2,972
Slovenia	174,364	+364	3,654
Kuwait	172,996	+1,002	975
Egypt	170,780	+573	9,751
Armenia	168,300	+123	3,126
Greece	166,067	+1,492	6,017
Moldova	165,663	+805	3,573
Guatemala	163,993	+746	5,955
Palestine	163,975	+762	1,897
Honduras	155,735	+1,167	3,742
Qatar	155,002	+477	253
Ethiopia	143,566	+572	2,158
Myanmar	141,448	+21	3,180
Nigeria	141,447	+1,056	1,694
Paraguay	139,819	+874	2,862
Oman	136,187	+197	1,536
Venezuela	131,096	+500	1,247
Libya	125,561	+679	1,982
Algeria	109,559	+246	2,924
Bahrain	108,807	+759	387
Kenya	102,048	+104	1,789
North Macedonia	95,347	+476	2,955
China	89,720	+14	4,636
Albania	87,528	+1,239	1,488
Kyrgyzstan	85,171	+58	1,433
S. Korea	81,487	+302	1,482
Uzbekistan	79,204	+42	621
Ghana	73,003	+675	482
Latvia	72,869	+781	1,363
Sri Lanka	71,211	+976	370
Montenegro	66,234	+577	852
Norway	65,338	+220	583
Zambia	64,610	+1,037	881
Singapore	59,732	+11	29
Luxembourg	52,022	+143	600
Estonia	48,809	+542	474
Finland	48,407	+438	703
Uruguay	46,153	+503	506
Mozambique	45,785	+873	480
Uganda	39,883	+23	327
Namibia	35,201	+131	377
Zimbabwe	34,781	+123	1,353
Cuba	34,064	+580	244
Cyprus	31,959	+95	214
Suriname	8,710	+20	163
Aruba	7,286	+48	66
Vietnam	2,064	+14	35

 

Retrieved from:  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

 

 

Analysis: China seizes on lack of WHO breakthrough in Wuhan to claim coronavirus vindication

Analysis from CNN's James Griffiths

 

World Health Organization experts attend a news conference with Chinese health officials in Wuhan on February 9, 2021. Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

Reading Chinese state media coverage, you could be forgiven for thinking the World Health Organization's investigation into the origins of Covid-19 had ruled out Wuhan as the potential source of the pandemic.

Ahead of their four-week visit to the central Chinese city, which wrapped up this week, the WHO team had warned their research might not turn up anything particularly groundbreaking. They cited the length of time since infections first started spreading in Wuhan, and the degree to which the city has been disinfected and sterilized since, as residents endured a lengthy lockdown and subsequently returned to relative normality.

And so therefore -- while somewhat disappointing -- it was no shock that the team did not reveal any major surprises in presenting their findings Tuesday. The most definitive the investigators could be was in dismissing suggestions that the virus escaped from a Chinese lab dedicated to studying such infections. On most other issues, the WHO experts prevaricated or admitted there was no clear evidence.

"Did we change dramatically the picture we had beforehand? I don't think so," said Peter Ben Embarek, one of the WHO investigators, at a news conference. "Did we add details? Absolutely."

State media's take: Chinese state media used comments from the fiercely apolitical scientists to vindicate various propaganda priorities, chief of which is the suggestion that the virus could have come from outside China.

China Daily, a state-run newspaper targeting international readers, ran the headline "WHO team: Probe of virus' origin should not be 'geographically bound'," while Global Times, a nationalist tabloid, took it a step further, saying WHO was ready to "scrutinize Southeast Asia" as a potential origin of the virus.

 

 

 

Covid-19 cases declined 17% worldwide last week, WHO says

From CNN's Health's Andrea Diaz

 

A health worker takes a coronavirus antigen rapid test swab at the new coronavirus test center in the Orangery of the Schoenbrunn Palace on February 4 in Vienna, Austria. Alex Halada/AFP/Getty Images

For the fourth week in a row, the number of new cases of Covid-19 reported across the globe have declined, according to data from the World Health Organization.

In its weekly epidemiological update, WHO says more than 3.1 million new cases of Covid-19 were reported last week, which is a 17% decline from the previous week.

This is the lowest number of cases worldwide since the last week of October, about 15 weeks ago.

The United States accounted for the highest number of new Covid-19 cases, with 871,365. However, this figure is a 19% decline in cases from the previous week. Brazil, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom were also among the nations reporting the highest number of new cases worldwide, WHO noted. 

Out of all the regions, Africa saw the greatest decline in cases (22%), compared to WHO's previous week update, while the Eastern Mediterranean saw the smallest (2%).

The number of new deaths reported globally went down for the second week in a row, with 88,000 new fatalities reported last week, a 10% drop compared to the previous week. 

Overall, new cases in the Americas accounted for more than half of all new cases worldwide, with more than 1.5 million new cases and over 45,000 new deaths.

Globally, there have been at least 105.4 million Covid-19 cases and 2.3 million deaths since the start of the pandemic.

 

 

 

With new Covid-19 variants, easing restrictions now would be "incredibly risky"

From CNN's Holly Yan and Christina Maxouris

 

Covid-19 numbers are getting better. But letting your guard down could be an open invitation for highly contagious variants to trample the US -- erasing the progress made.

"We're ... seeing what happens in other countries when these variants take over," emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen said. "There is (an) explosive surge, even when the countries are basically in shutdown."

The warning comes as more Americans believe there's no big risk in returning to pre-Covid life, according to a new poll.

An Axios-Ipsos poll published Tuesday showed 66% of those surveyed said they thought the risk of returning to pre-Covid life was moderate or large. That's the lowest percentage since October.

The groups least likely to see Covid-19 as a risk were people ages 18 to 29 (58%) and Republicans (49%).

But a majority of those vaccinated -- 76% -- still see coronavirus as a high risk.

Americans shouldn't assume the vaccine rollout means it's OK to get lax with safety measures. In fact, ditching precautions now would be "incredibly risky," said Dr. Richard Besser, former acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It is absolutely essential that we continue to do steps beyond vaccination to keep this under control," Besser said.
"The reason for that is that the more this virus is allowed to spread in our communities, the more we're going to see these variants spreading," he said.
"And if the vaccines aren't as effective against some of these variants, then we could see the gains that we're so excited about right now, we could see those reversed in a very short amount of time."

 

 

 

Johnson & Johnson CEO says he thinks people will need an annual Covid-19 vaccine for many years to come

From CNN Health’s Jen Christensen

 

The Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that people may need an annual Covid-19 shot for many years to come in order to be protected against variants of the virus.

“Unfortunately, as (the virus) spreads it can also mutate,” Alex Gorsky told CNBC’s Meg Tirrell Tuesday during the network’s Healthy Returns Spotlight event. “Every time it mutates, it’s almost like another click of the dial so to speak where we can see another variant, another mutation that can have an impact on its ability to fend of antibodies or to have a different kind of response not only to a therapeutic but also to a vaccine.”

Johnson & Johnson asked the US Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization for its vaccine on Thursday. 

Experts say the J&J Covid-19 vaccine has advantages over others since it is a single shot and can be stored at regular refrigerated temperatures. Pfizer’s and Modernas authorized vaccines both require two doses. The Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept in at deep freeze temperatures. 

Clinical trials showed J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine was 66% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease. It was 85% effective overall at preventing hospitalization and 100% at preventing death in all regions where it was tested. The vaccine has also been tested against some of the variants. In South Africa it was 57% effective and in Latin America it was 66% effective.

The FDA could authorize the J&J vaccine as early as the end of this month. 

 

Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-02-10-21/index.html

 

 

 

In Alabama, eight new vaccination sites draw throngs

 

A nurse preparing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the East Alabama Medical Center Education Center in Montgomery.Credit...Jake Crandall/The Montgomery Advertiser, via Associated Press

 

An expansion of Alabama’s lagging Covid-19 vaccination program drew large crowds of people on Monday as the state opened the last of eight new sites for inoculations.

The centers are a huge expansion of a vaccination program that has struggled to gain traction. Only 7.7 percent of eligible Alabamians have gotten at least one vaccine dose, according to a New York Times database, placing the state last among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Long lines of cars formed outside a downtown stadium in Selma, a hospital parking deck in Dothan and the site of a former shopping mall in Montgomery, where teams of workers delivered vaccinations through car windows. Shots were available to anyone over 65 and to select groups that included educators, farm workers, grocery employees and state legislators.

Before the centers opened, only about 700,000 medical workers, emergency medical workers, nursing home residents and people 75 and over were eligible to be vaccinated. The opening of the eight centers coincided with an expansion of eligibility for vaccination that raised that total to about 1.5 million.

Each of the eight centers is equipped to give 5,000 vaccinations by week’s end. By comparison, workers at Southeast Health medical center in Dothan had vaccinated fewer than 4,700 people since vaccines first became available in late December, the hospital spokesman, Mark Stewart, said in an interview.

Mr. Stewart said thousands of applicants had already sought appointments in the Dothan area. About 900 vaccinations were to be given out by day’s end, he said.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/09/world/covid-19-coronavirus/in-alabama-eight-new-vaccination-sites-draw-throngs

 

 

 

With hospitals overrun, Mexicans fighting the virus at home face a deadly hurdle: a lack of oxygen tanks

 

People waiting in line before sunset to fill oxygen tanks last week at a government certified private provider in Mexico City.Credit...Luis Antonio Rojas for The New York Times

MEXICO CITY — When a second wave of the coronavirus slammed into Mexico this winter, demand for oxygen exploded, spawning a national shortage of devices that deliver the lifesaving resource.

Prices spiked. A black market metastasized. Organized criminal groups began hijacking trucks filled with oxygen tanks, or stealing them at gunpoint from hospitals, according to media reports. And for a growing number of Mexicans, the odds of survival were suddenly in the hands of amateur oxygen sellers like Juan Carlos Hernández.

“We are in the death market,” Mr. Hernández said. “If you don’t have money, you could lose your family member.”

The resurgence of the pandemic in Mexico left more people infected than ever — among them the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In January alone, Mexico recorded more than 30,000 deaths, its highest monthly toll to date.

“Oxygen right now is like water,” said Alejandro Castillo, a doctor who works at a public hospital in Mexico City. “It’s vital.”

To survive at home, the sickest patients need to get purified oxygen pumped into their lungs 24 hours a day, sending friends and family members scrambling, often in vain, to find tanks and refill them multiple times a day.

David Menéndez Martínez had no idea how oxygen therapy worked until his mother became ill with Covid-19 in December. Now he knows that the smallest tank in Mexico can cost more than $800, up to 10 times more than in countries like the United States. The oxygen to fill it up costs about $10 — and can last as little as six hours.

Mr. Menéndez had a few tanks on loan from friends, but still spent hours waiting to refill them in lines that stretch across city blocks and have become a fixture in certain Mexico City neighborhoods.

“You see people arrive with their tanks and they want to get in front of the line and they end up crying,” he said. “They’re desperate.”

For people stuck navigating the chaotic market, finding someone with oxygen is a relief. In the time he spent scouring the city for oxygen, the only happiness Mr. Menéndez remembers was when he got to the front of the line and left with a full tank.

When he found a seller who would rent him a concentrator for $100 a week, he felt a spark of hope. “It was a blessing,” Mr. Menéndez said.

The machine kept his mother alive — for a while, until her lungs gave out. She was intubated on Christmas Eve, and died before the New Year.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/09/world/covid-19-coronavirus/with-hospitals-overrun-mexicans-fighting-the-virus-at-home-face-a-deadly-hurdle-a-lack-of-oxygen-tanks

 

 

 

Summary

 

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

· Venezuela will receive the first 100,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine next week, President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday.

· People may need to get vaccinated against Covid-19 annually for the next several years, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky told CNBC on Tuesday, due to mutations to the virus.

· Brazil has reported 51,486 new coronavirus cases, as well as 1,350 deaths, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

· In London, Lambeth council is asking some residents to take a coronavirus test after the variant first identified in South Africa was detected in the local area.

· The Athens region will enter a stricter coronavirus lockdown from Thursday, Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said, with schools and non-essential shops closed.

· Spain has now recorded more than 3 million Covid cases, while also registering 766 deaths over the past 24 hours - the highest daily death toll of the current third wave.

· Ghana’s parliament has suspended most of its activities for three weeks after at least 17 MPs and 151 staff members were infected with the coronavirus, the speaker Alban Bagbin has told the country’s parliament.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/feb/09/coronavirus-live-news-who-says-it-is-too-early-to-dismiss-astrazeneca-vaccine