Thread by @fredwalton216

1) Coronavirus live news: Ukraine sees record levels of hospitalisations; explosion at Dutch testing centre theguardian.com/world/live/202…

2) Germany has told the EU it is keeping border curbs with neighboring countries, despite its warnings this would curtail freedom of movement within the bloc;

3) The Lloyd’s of London Insurer Hiscox has swung to a loss after paying out $475m (£340m) for cancelled events, business interruption policies and other claims related to the coronavirus pandemic;

4) Slovakia imposed an overnight curfew from Wednesday, w/ a government decree banning residents from leaving home between 8pm - 5am. During the day, Slovaks are being asked to stay home, except for reasons such as medical visits, work & outdoor exercise or walking pets;

5) Japan’s gov’t plans to extend a state of emergency over covid for Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures by two weeks, until March 21;

6) Dutch police said a covid testing location north of Amsterdam appeared to have been intentionally targeted after there was an explosion at the location before the site opened, Reuters reports;

7) Russia reported 10,535 new cases Wednesday, a slight drop on prior day. The new reported cases include 1,284 in Moscow, taking national tally to 4,278,750, Authorities said 452 people had died in last 24 hours, taking the official death toll to 87,348;

8) South Korean authorities are investigating the deaths of two people, both with pre-existing conditions, who died within days of receiving AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, Reuters reports;

9) Health Minister Stepanov said 3,486 people were hospitalized in past day (highest number since pandemic began). Stepanov said 7,235 new cases were reported in the past day, w/185 deaths. Ukraine has reported 1,364,705 coronavirus cases and 26,397 deaths so far;

10) 168M children globally have have seen their schools completely shut for almost a year, according to UNICEF, due to coronavirus lockdowns;

11) Brazil registered a national record daily death Tuesday, w/1,641 fatalities. 🇧🇷 faces a new peak in cases & hospital system could collapse. Brazil variant evades immunity & can re-infect people who previously recovered from the disease, scientists said on Tuesday;

12) President Biden said the US is ‘on track’ to have enough vaccines for all adults by May. Merck will aid Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine 💉. TX Gov lifts mask mandate & declares: ‘It’s time to open 100%.” Less than 7% of TXs fully 💉 & a/o covid surge may occur;

14) Some Chinese delegates to propose vaccine passports at the annual meetings of the Chinese parliament, that they say will restore some normality, boost international tourism and economic exchanges;

15) There were no new Covid cases in Auckland for second day. New Zealand’s government has said it is still too early to make a decision on extending Auckland’s lockdown, despite the city recording no new community cases of coronavirus for a second consecutive day;

16) Dolly Parton has been inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine that she helped to fund. Parton was credited with helping fund the Moderna vaccine after donating $1M to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee;

17) Sweden reports 6,179 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, & 82 COVID related deaths;
18) Denmark detects first case of Brazil COVID-19 variant;
19) Germany reports 9,019 cases over past 24 hours, & 418 covid-related deaths;

20) France is preparing for a potential easing of covid restrictions from mid-April, a gov’t spokesman said on Wednesday, as the gov’t looks to its accelerating vaccination campaign as a way out of lockdown;

21) Gov’t plan to force all NHS & care staff in England to get 💉 against Covid-19 has been criticized as “sinister”. Health unions & hospital bosses urge focus on efforts to persuade its 1.4M 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 workforce to get💉rather than resorting to compulsion and “bullying”;