World Coronavirus Dispatch: Doctors suggest link between Covid and diabetes

Europe's drug regulator says AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, Oscars will be held in-person, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Europe’s drug regulator says AstraZeneca vaccine is safe

After several European countries suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a pause that, threatens to contain a new wave of infections in the region, and around the world, the bloc's drug regulator said that the jab is safe and that it can be continued to be used. However, the regulator did not dismiss the vaccine link to blood clot cases. It said a new warning label would be added to the vaccine so that people in the medical community could be on the lookout for a potential rare complication leading to blood clots and bleeding in the brain. Read here

A look at global statistics

Global infections: 121,816,200

Global deaths: 2,692,235

Nations with most cases: US (29,667,305), Brazil (11,780,820), India (11,514,331), Russia (4,388,268), United Kingdom (4,294,328).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

France announces monthlong lockdown in Paris, some other regions

France’s prime minister announced that several regions, including the Paris area, will go under a new lockdown on Friday for at least a month, effectively curbing social life for about a third of the French population. “The situation is worsening,” Primer Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday. The new restrictions will apply to the Paris region, the country’s northern tip and the area surrounding the southern city of Nice. Businesses considered non-essential will be closed; outdoor activities will be limited to within a six-mile radius of one’s home; and inter-regional travel will be banned. But schools will remain open. Read here

Oscars will be held in-person

As award ceremonies in recent months adpoted to the covid world replacing the usual gatherings by shifting to pre-recorded appearances or virtual events or a combination, Oscars is likely to buck the trend. The Oscars ceremony in April will be an intimate, in-person gathering, held without Zoom and limited to nominees, presenters and their guests, the producers said. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, events to hand out the highest honours in the film industry will held at both Los Angeles and the traditional home of the Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. All attendees will be tested and there will be a Covid-19 safety team on site throughout the evening on 25 April. Read here

Doctors suggest link between Covid-19 and diabetes

Scientists from across the world believe that there is a growing body of evidence that Covid-19 can cause diabetes in some patients. A professor from King’s College London, is leading the call for a full investigation into a possible link between the two diseases. Having seen a rise in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in people who have caught coronavirus, some doctors are even considering the possibility that the virus ‒ by disrupting sugar metabolism ‒ could be inducing an entirely new form of diabetes. Read here