At the moment, the countries with the highest number of infections are the US (9.2 million), India (8.1 million), and Brazil (5.5 million). The growing numbers of infected across Europe have prompted lockdowns in Germany, France, and the UK, as the countries are trying to curb the pandemic.
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The social distancing measures enforced across the world to combat the coronavirus disease may help countries in the northern hemisphere limit the spread of influenza, although it is still unclear how the upcoming flu season will unfold, Maria van Kerkhove, the COVID-19 technical lead at the World Health Organization (WHO), said on Monday.
"We need to make sure that in countries in the northern hemisphere; we are still testing for influenza as well as testing for COVID-19. The restrictions that are in place for COVID-19 will be beneficial for influenza, but we don't know yet how the influenza season will unfold," van Kerkhove told a WHO virtual briefing.
The WHO official also said that the organization is urging those who are part of at-risk groups to get vaccinated against influenza this fall.
"The good news for influenza is that we can be prepared for this, and we are preparing for this. There is a vaccine that is rolling out for influenza and we strongly urge those in the at-risk groups to make sure that they get vaccinated this year," van Kerkhove remarked.
Health officials across the world have warned of a so-called twindemic, which could see cases of both COVID-19 and influenza stretching hospitals to the limit.
Many countries, including South Korea and the United Kingdom, have stepped up their influenza vaccination programs this fall, and the latter has moved to restrict the export of vaccine doses in order to ensure domestic supplies.
As the influenza season gets underway, many countries in Europe have reintroduced lockdown measures as the continent battles its second wave of COVID-19.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has registered no cases of coronavirus transmissions on the premises, the technical lead on COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said on Monday after the director-general had gone into self-quarantine.
"We are tracking all of the cases that are happening amongst staff doing contact tracing forward, doing contact tracing backwards to make sure we understand how people were infected and making sure that transmissions not taking place. We haven't had any transmission take place on the premises. We have no clusters on the premises," Van Kerkhove told a briefing.
Earlier in the day, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that he would self-quarantine following a contact with a person who had tested positive for COVID-19. According to the official, he is "well and without symptoms."
LONDON (Sputnik) – The director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Carolyn Fairbairn, said on Monday that the new COVID-19 national lockdown, which will be effective in England starting Thursday, would have a “devastating” impact on UK businesses.
“It is truly devastating for business, for retailers, for manufacturers, for companies who have invested millions in making their factories and their workplaces COVID safe,” Fairbairn said during the opening day on the CBI annual conference, which is being held virtually because of the pandemic.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday evening that England would enter a four-week lockdown from Thursday, after admitting that his regional approach that was based on a three-tiered system and included tougher restrictions only in the most affected areas, had failed to contain the current spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths.
According to Johnson, the new measures will be less “prohibitive” and “restrictive” than the ones imposed in March and April, and will include the closure of pubs, restaurants, gyms, non-essential shops and places of worship, while schools, colleges and universities will remain open.
The head of the CBI said, however, that the government should keep as much of the economy as open as possible, provide financial support for companies, and set out an exit strategy.
She also recommended the country’s authorities to implement rapid mass testing for frontline employees so they can keep working and called for better communications between the government and the business sector.
“We've got to get better at communications. Businesses can't act on the basis of speculation and leaks and surmise. This has to get a lot better,” Fairbairn said.
Speaking on behalf of the government, Business Minister Alok Sharma defended the government’s decision to impose a second lockdown, and stressed that schools will remain open so people can go to work and that sectors such as construction and manufacturing will remain open.
Sharma also said that further support for the business sector will include an extension of the furlough scheme and grants of up to 3,000 pounds ($3,900) for companies that are forced to close, plus 1.1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) for local governments to help local businesses.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer also addressed the virtual event, and launched a damning attack on the government, accusing it of mishandling the pandemic and losing control of the virus.
“I don’t blame the Government for coronavirus. But I do blame it for the way it’s been handled. And I can’t forgive the catalogue of mistakes that have cost lives, and livelihoods,” Starmer said.
Johnson is expected the address the CIB annual conference before it wraps up on Wednesday.
ATHENS (Sputnik) - Greece is introducing a two-week lockdown in Thessaloniki and the northern city of Serres to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said at a briefing on Monday.
Everything except for schools will remain closed. To leave houses people will have to seek permission via text message.
"The Prime Minister, having contacted the Minister of Health, decided to introduce local isolation in the Thessaloniki and Serres regions from 6:00 a.m on November 3, 2020, for 14 days. This local lockdown is significantly different from the general lockdown that was in force in the spring. Schools at all levels will remain open, with all protection measures which are in effect from the beginning of the school year," Petsas said.
Flights to and from Thessaloniki airport without a significant reason will also be suspended under the measure, which comes into force early Tuesday.
Although Greece is among the countries with the best epidemiological situation, the incidence in the country is rapidly growing. To date, Greece has confirmed around 40,900 COVID-19 cases, with a death toll of 635.
TBILISI (Sputnik) - Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has tested positive for the coronavirus, the government press office said on Monday.
Last week, Gakharia said that he self-isolated due to contact with a coronavirus-positive person. Soon afterward, the government confirmed that several security guards of the prime minister have contracted COVID-19.
"As a result of testing, it is confirmed that the prime minister is infected with the coronavirus. Giorgi Gakharia feels good and continues treatment at home," the press office said in a statement.
Moreover, Natia Mezrishvili, the head of the Government Administration, wrote on her Facebook page that she also tested positive for COVID-19.
In addition, Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava went into self-isolation after contact with a coronavirus-positive employee, the Economy Ministry said earlier on Monday.
To date, Georgia has so far confirmed over 42,500 COVID-19 cases, including 26,800 recoveries and 342 deaths.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - First volunteers participating in post-registration trials of Russia's second registered vaccine EpiVacCorona will be inoculated in November, Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor told Sputnik.
"First volunteers will be vaccinated in November 2020," it said.
The recruitment of volunteers has not yet begun, Rospotrebnadzor said.
"The trial will be held in several regions of Russia. Negotiations are underway with organizations on the basis of which the volunteers will be vaccinated," it noted.
"The mass vaccination campaign is planned to begin in 2021", Rinat Maksyutov, the head of the Russian State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology Vector, which developed the vaccine, said.
He noted that the vaccine would be free for Russians, and vaccinations would be conducted on a voluntary basis.
"According to a new development, completely based on Israeli innovations, the time for testing samples in laboratories will be reduced from eight to four hours", the Israeli Health Ministry said in a press release.
A significant part of the laboratory work will be mechanized, the ministry added, noting that the duration of almost every phase of the test output will be lowered, with the stage of the specimens' relocation being shortened from an hour to five minutes.
The virus inactivation will be carried out by 20 minutes faster, meanwhile, the length of the nucleic acid production needed for the test will be reduced from three hours to an hour and 15 minutes. The test itself will be carried out within an hour instead of two, and data analysis will take only 10 seconds instead of 30.
The new technology was presented by Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, who stated that it would be implemented in Israeli hospitals in several weeks.
"The minister is healthy, her coronavirus test is negative. She made the decision to go into quarantine after it was revealed that one person in her private circle had contracted coronavirus eight days ago. The minister learned about this, among other things, through a special online application tracking the spread of COVID-19 [Corona-App]", a spokesman for the German Defence Ministry said.
He added that Kramp-Karrenbauer plans to work from home for another six days, and thus a 14-day quarantine will be observed. No further tests for coronavirus are planned.
"For the whole national territory where a high level of risks will be present, we intend to intervene only with some specific measures that would contribute to strengthening the containment of the virus and slowing down contagions. We will close shopping malls on festive days and pre-festive days with exclusion to pharmacies, food stores, tobacco stands and newsstands inside the malls", Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said.
He added that gaming machines everywhere, as well as museums and exhibitions, would be closed.
"We also envisage limiting public transportation capacity to 50 percent and finally we are going to introduce limits on movements to and from the regions that represent high-risk coefficient, except for work, health and other essential reasons", Conte said.
Moreover, the government is considering the possibility of putting secondary schools fully on distance learning, the prime minister noted.
Greece introduces full lockdown in the second most populous city of the country, Thessaloniki, amid difficult situation with the coronavirus, spokesman for the government Stelios Petsas said Monday.
"The situation in Thessaloniki and some neighbouring prefectures is very serious for the public healthcare", Petsas said.
The lockdown will begin on 3 November.
People will be allowed to go out only after sending out a text message to the officials.
Schools will remain open, but all movement between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. will be banned except for work or health reasons.
LONDON (Sputnik) – UK epidemiologist Andrew Hayward said on Monday that if the government had followed scientists’ recommendations to impose a two-week national lockdown during the school half term at the end of October, "thousands of lives" would have been saved from COVID-19.
“We can't turn back the clock, but I think if we had chosen a two-week circuit-break at that time, we’d have definitely saved thousands of lives and we would clearly inflict substantially less damage on our economy than the proposed four-week lockdown", Hayward, a professor at University College London's Infectious Disease Department, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has stated that more stringent measures, including restricting travel been the worst-hit regions and imposing a nighttime curfew, were now needed given the recent resurgence of the virus.
The Italian Council of Ministers is considering to impose a nationwide 9 p.m. (20:00 GMT) curfew following an agreement reached by the government and local authorities, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported.
According to the report, the curfew is expected to be introduced by decree on 3 November and remain in effect until 4 December.
As of Monday, Italy has registered more than 700,000 coronavirus cases, including 38,826 deaths and over 292,000 recoveries.
"Aspen is pleased to announce that one of its wholly-owned South African subsidiaries, Pharmacare Limited (which trades as 'Aspen Pharmacare'), has entered into a preliminary agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, two of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, for the technical transfer and proposed commercial manufacture of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Ad26.COV2-S", the South African company said in a press release.
As part of the deal, Aspen will ensure production capacity at its sterile facility based in the South African city of Port Elizabeth, the company said, adding that it has invested more than $184 million in the facility for the manufacture and packaging of drugs and vaccines.
"We have invested globally in our sterile capability and are determined to play a role in the manufacture of vaccines to add to our proud track record of making contributions to humanity in times of global pandemics", Stephen Saad, Aspen Group's chief executive, said in the press release.
"If we don't take any action, we will see an increase in rise of deaths, with a peak of 2,000 to 4,000 a day – higher than we saw in April ... We really need to bring the cases lower down in order to protect the NHS over the December/January period", NHS Test and Trace chief medical adviser Susan Hopkins told the Sky News channel, adding that she cannot say what will happen afterward.
The United Kingdom has confirmed a total of 1,034,914 coronavirus cases, including 46,717 fatalities.
"Our expectation and firm hope is, on the basis of everything we know today, is the measures we put in place for the time that they are going to be in place for, will be sufficient to do the job we need, and we will seek to exit these restrictions back into a tiered approach at the end of the four-week period," Sunak told BBC radio.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has registered 18,257 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative total to 1,655,038, the response centre said Monday.
India has used its manufacturing capability to pre-order 600 million doses of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine and is negotiating for another billion doses, enough to vaccinate at least half the population, according to a new global analysis of advance market commitments (AMCs) for experimental vaccines.
The figures are second only to the US, which has pre-ordered 810 million confirmed doses and has another 1.6 billion under negotiation.
