Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
'Window of hope': Europe prepares to launch COVID-19 vaccinations
Hungary and Slovakia stole a march on their fellow EU nations as they began vaccinating their people against COVID-19 on Saturday, a day ahead of rollouts in several other countries including France, Germany and Spain as the pandemic surges across the continent. Mass vaccination across the European Union, home to almost 450 million people, would be a crucial step towards ending a pandemic that has killed more than 1.7 million around the world, crippled economies and destroyed businesses and jobs.
Japan bans new entries of foreigners after virus variant arrives
Japan on Saturday said it would temporarily ban non-resident foreign nationals from entering the country as it tightens its borders following the detection of a new, highly infectious variant of the coronavirus. The ban will take effect from Dec. 28 and will run through January, the government said in an emailed statement.
France reports sharp decrease in new daily COVID cases before vaccine roll out
French health authorities reported 3,093 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Saturday, sharply down from the 20,000+ figure recorded over the two days before Christmas Day (Dec. 25) But the number of people hospitalised for the disease increased by 85, at 24,477, the first increase in six days.
Sweden confirms first case of variant coronavirus in visitor from UK
The new variant of coronavirus linked to a rapid rise in infections in Britain has been detected in Sweden after a traveller from the United Kingdom became ill and tested positive, the Swedish Health Agency said on Saturday. Health Agency official Sara Byfors told a news conference the traveller had been isolating and that no further positive cases had so far been detected.
U.S. CDC reports 329,592 total deaths from coronavirus
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 329,592 total deaths from the new coronavirus, an increase of 4,496 from its previous count, and said the number of cases had risen by 339,235 to 18,730,806. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET Friday versus its previous report published on Dec. 24. https://bit.ly/2JkpCs https://bit.ly/2JkpCs3 The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
101-year-old woman first German to be vaccinated against coronavirus -MDR
A 101-year-old woman became the first German to receive a vaccine against the coronavirus on Saturday, a day ahead of the official start of the country's vaccination campaign, local broadcaster MDR reported. The woman, from Halberstadt in the Harz hill range, lives in a care home for elderly people, where 40 residents as well as 11 staff were vaccinated, MDR reported.
Slovakia starts vaccinations against COVID-19
Slovakia on Saturday started to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus as the country joined a coordinated push by the European Union against the global pandemic. Vladimir Krcmery, a member of the government's Pandemic Commission, was the first person in the country inoculated by the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BionTech.
China reports 20 new COVID-19 mainland cases vs 14 a day earlier
Mainland China recorded 20 new COVID-19 cases on Dec. 25, compared with 14 cases the previous day, the country's health authority said on Saturday. The National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that 12 of the new cases were imported. Of the eight locally transmitted cases, six came from the northeastern province of Liaoning and two from the capital Beijing.
Russia approves Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for people over 60: media
Russia on Saturday approved its main COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, for use by people over the age of 60, Russian news agencies cited the health ministry as saying. People over 60 have thus far been excluded from Russia's national inoculation programme, as the shot was tested on this age group separately.
UK records 210 more COVID-19 deaths, cases rise to 34,693
The United Kingdom recorded 210 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, down from 570 the day before, while cases rose 1,968 to 34,693, the government said, citing partial data. The latest R number is estimated at 1.1 to 1.3, the government said.
