World Coronavirus Dispatch: Fearing virus, man lived in airport for 3 mnths

Los Angeles confronts other variants, Brazil okays AstraZeneca and Chinese vaccines, China is only major economy to report growth in 2020 and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Crushed by Covid, can Los Angeles take other variants?

Los Angeles hit the 400,000-case mark in about 10 months. The county has added another 400,000 cases in just more than a month, according to the New York Times data. That shows the extent of coronavirus devastation on Los Angeles, one of the hardest hit counties in the United States. The city has run out of intensive care units and the last week has been particulary daunting as it recorded its worst ever week in terms of fatalities. One in three residents in the county is suspected to have been infected with the virus since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Los Angeles health body. After all of this, the county is bracing for highly contagious new variants, and the worst is yet to come, say experts. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 95,051,894

Change Over Yesterday: 550,002

Global deaths: 2,031,052

Nations with most cases: US (23,936,775), India (10,571,773), Brazil (8,488,099), Russia (3,530,379), United Kingdom (3,405,740).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.

Brazil clears AstraZeneca and Chinese vaccines

Brazil's health regulator has approved the use of the Astranzenca vaccine and Chinese-made Sinovac against the coronavirus. However, it cautioned that the victory over the virus cannot be achieved only with the jab, but should be accompanied by changes in social behaviour. The approval process has been mired in controversy over lack of data and efficacy of the shot, with the initial trials showing an efficacy rate of 78 per cent, but scientists from biomedical institute pegged the number for “generalised efficacy rate,” which includes cases with very light symptoms, at just 50 per cent. Read here

Chinese and Russian vaccines in high demand

China and Russia have seized upon the shortages in coronavirus vaccines around the world and have promised millions of doses to much of the developing and poorer nations. It's not that both these countries are forcing others to buy, the developing world in itself is lining up for the shots made in Russia and China. Russia has agreed to sell its Sputnik V to countries such as Algeria, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, while the two leading Chinese manufacturers have signed deals with more than a dozen countries like Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Philippines, Indonesia and Hungary. Even as both nation try to stamp their authority on the global vaccine scenario, neither Russian nor the Chinese manufacturers, Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech, have published full sets of trial data, leaving most scientists to question the effectiveness of the shots. Read here

China is the only major economy to report growth for 2020

Even as the world is still struggling to contain the coronavirus, China scripted a remarkable economic turnaround from where it was a year ago. The nation closed the crisis year 2020 on a high with gross domestic product rising 6.5 per cent in the fourth quarter, which pegs the full year expansion at 2.3 per cent. The expansion further cements China's place as the dominant economy in Asia. Unlike the West, that fought the pandemic by throwing in billions of dollars into the economy with low interest rates, Beijing focused on restarting factories while keeping rates relatively higher. Read here

Fearing Covid, a man lived in Chicago airport for three months

A 36-year-old man, reportedly petrified of flying and scared to go to his home in Los Angeles due to the coronavirus pandemic, was living in Chicago airport until he was caught and arrested for trespassing into a restricted area of the airport. When two United Airlines officials on Saturday questioned him and sought his indentification, he showed them an airport ID badge that actually belongs to an airport official. Aditya Singh was produced in the court and according to the state attorney, he does not have a criminal record. He had been feeding himself with food from other passengers. Singh has been barred from entering the airport and his bail was set at $1,000. Read here