World Coronavirus Dispatch: Vietnam gets a once-in-a-generation break

Independent panel critical of sluggish WHO response, Hong Kong plans 14-day quarantine for air crew, the troubling pattern of mutating coronavirus, and other-pandemic related news across the globe

Hong Kong plans 14-day quarantine for air crew

Hong Kong plans to quarantine airline pilots and cabin crew for 14 days in a hotel if they stay in the city for two hours, threatening the nascent aviation recovery. The proposal, aimed at curbing the fourth wave of infections, is set to kill the airline industry, that was already reeling under severe stress from shutdowns and border closures. Cathay Pacific Airways is said to be pushing back hard against the proposal, but it is unclear what success it would have. Air crew are at greater risk of carrying the virus, despite wearing protective equipment, given they interact with passengers and fly abroad. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 96,906,712

Change Over Yesterday: 690,398

Global deaths: 2,075,902

Nations with most cases: US (24,438,720), India (10,610,883), Brazil (8,638,249), Russia (3,616,680), United Kingdom (3,515,796).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.

Independent Covid panel critical of sluggish WHO response

An independent panel, reviewing the global handling of the pandemic, criticised the World Health Organization (WHO) for its response to the coronavirus pandemic, that has killed over 2 million across the world. The panel questioned why the WHO's emergency committee did not meet until the third week of January and did not declare an international emergency until its second meeting on January 30. The panel, led by former New Zealand prime minister  and former Liberian President, also came down heavily on the China's initial response, saying the Chinese should have put up a more concerted effort in stopping the outbreak from going out of control. Read here

The Long Read: Vietnam seized on a once-in-a-generation opportunity

Vietnam started the outbreak with as much anxiety as the rest of the world. Cut to 2021, the country's streets are bustling and busy as ever, bars and night clubs are lit with classic rock, the economy is one of the fastest growing at 2.9 per cent, much to the envy of the neighbours and the West. Vietnam has been given its biggest economic opportunity in decades and the country took it with both hands. The minimal lockdown and early containment of the pandemic paved way for domestic companies to bounce back sooner and were ready to serve the world, where lockdowns left factories idle. As work-from-home shopping boomed in the US and Europe, for example, Vietnam's electronics and furniture exporters rode the demand wave. In 2020, Vietnam introduced three trade deals, lured billboard investors like Apple suppliers and launched another airline. Foreign investors have lined up inthe communist country for investment, thanks to the recovered economy and the absence of a real coronavirus resurgence. Read here

New Zealand’s delayed vaccine rollout threatens early Covid success

Having kept the coronavirus under check, New Zealand is in no hurry to launch its vaccination programme. The country has adopted a wait and watch strategy of learning from the experiences of other countries to get to know more about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines and avoid emergency authorisation use. However, some health experts warn that, in light of the fast-spreading new variants, the country needs to speed up its vaccine plans. They say the slow rollout of vaccines is putting people at unnecessary risk and threatens to delay its economic recovery. Wellington plans to start vaccinating frontline workers in April and the general public from July. The opposition has called for a review of the immunisation strategy, warning the new fast-spreading strains posed an “unacceptable risk” at the border. Read here

The troubling pattern of mutating coronavirus

As part of the natural evolving process, the coronavirus was mutating all along the way, but to little effect. But that has changed in recent times. Three new variants of the virus, from Britain, Brazil and South Africa, seem to have independently converged on some of the same mutations, indicating that they've acquired a selective advantage over time. From the evidence available in public domain, all three are highly contagious. Even more striking is the fact that all three of them have a particular mutation in the spike protein called N501Y. The spike protein is how the coronavirus enters cells, and N501Y is in an especially important region called the receptor-binding domain, that helps the virus stick and enter the cell more efficiently. Now scientists are scrambling to figure out if and how these mutations might give the viruses an edge. Read here