World Coronavirus Dispatch: Covid yet to reach these places and might never

Tracking evolutionary process of new variants, 1 in 50 people in England infected last week, Grammys a victim of an unprecedented surge in Los Angeles, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Scientists look to stretch vaccine supply by halving doses

Rushing to tame an "out of control" pandemic through vaccinations, scientists in the United States are looking at the possibility of increasing the supply by actually halving the dosage of vaccines. The worst-affected nation in the world is struggling to contain the outbreak with more than 355,000 Covid-19 fatalities, and nearly 21 million cases. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and the nation is facing a grave urgency to inoculate people. America has missed the vaccination goals by some margin, officials have admitted recently. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 86,468,659

Change Over Yesterday: 559,310

Global deaths: 1,869,808

Nations with most cases: US (21,050,707), India (10,374,932), Brazil (7,810,400), Russia (3,274,615), France (2,782,709).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

SARS-CoV-2 is following the evolutionary rule book

The highly contagious variant of coronavirus, that was first found in Britain, has been detected in more than 20 countries for now. The other South African variant too is alarming the country's scientists. As part of the natural evolving process, these variants pose a significant challenge to the human responses in containing the outbreak. This story takes a deep dive into the intriguing evolutionary processes of the coronaviruses, why these particular variants have been so successful, under what circumstances they arose in and whether they will resist any of the new vaccines that have been already cleared for rollout. Read here

1 in 50 people had Covid recently in England

For every 50 people in England, one person has been infected with the coronavirus last week, data released by the country's statistics office showed. In London, the estimates are that one in 30 people in private households had Covid-19 in the week ending January 2. England is crumbling under the pandemic, which is battering the country in wave after wave. Boris Johnson had earlier announced a third lockdown to control the virus spread. A new coronavirus variant, which has become the dominant strain in just a matter of weeks is responsible for most of the cases in the current wave. England on Tuesday reported a new high of over 60,000 cases for the first time. Read here

Coronavirus has still not reached some places on the earth

For all its reputation and nature of spreading wildly in most countries, a handful of places -- mostly islands -- on the earth are still Covid free and they might remain so in the future. One such region is the Cook Islands although they haven't escaped its brutal impact. Shutting down tourism had cost them dearly. The struggling business community is now waiting for a planned quarantine-free travel bubble with New Zealand. Some islands across the Pacific, such as Tonga, Kiribati, Niue, Nauru and Tuvalu managed to keep the virus at bay by enforcing border shutdowns. Read here

Grammys the latest to hit by pandemic

Grammy Awards 2021 have been deferred till March, thanks to the "unprecedented and dangerous surge of the virus in Los Angeles. If the music geeks are disappointed by the news, consider this: Local ambulances were ordered not to transport patients with little chance of survival and to conserve oxygen because emergency rooms were being overwhelmed. The Grammys, drawing thousands every year, offers artists what might be the most impactful performance opportunity in pop music. Beyonce is leading with with as many as nine Grammys nominations, followed by Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch, each of whom received six. Read here