World Coronavirus Dispatch: Work from home has actually been long work

Johnson & Johnson seeks US FDA nod for vaccine, Gilead's Covid drug delivers $2bn boost to Q4 revenue, Beijing Winter Olympics face Covid hurdle and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Home workers putting in more hours since Covid: Research

People in many countries working from home have been putting in extra hours of work than normal since the coronavirus pandemic struck, research from a business support company has revealed. The company analysed data from the servers to find how private networks were being used by employees. The average working time for those logging in from home went up by at least two hours a day in the UK, Austria, Canada and the US since the coronavirus crisis, according to data. Another research suggested that as many as 44 per cent of employees in the UK were expected to work more than the last year. Another interesting revelation is that people have been taking shorter breaks and working even when sick with lines getting blurred between personal and professional life. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 104,869,210

Global deaths: 2,284,686

Nations with most cases: US (26,679,539), India (10,802,591), Brazil (9,396,293), United Kingdom (3,903,706), Russia (3,874,830).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Johnson & Johnson seeks US nod for use

Johnson & Johnson has applied for emergency-use authorisation of its vaccine with the US drug regulator after interim trial data showed the shot triggers more than the required immune response against coronavirus. The vaccine has an efficacy rate of 66 per cent in preventing moderate to severe disease, lower than Pfizer's or Moderna's candidates, but meets the US FDA bar of 50 per cent efficacy. The trial data also showed the vaccine is 100 per cent effective in preventing deaths, but not so much the hospitalisations. The vaccine appeared less effective against the highly contagious new variants including the one from South Africa. If approved, the company had pledged 100 million doses to the US government during the first half of the current year, in a boost to the inoculation drive in the virus-ravaged country. Read here

Gilead’s Covid drug delivers $2bn boost to revenue in Q4

Gilead has made almost $2 billion in revenues from its Covid drug remdesivir in the fourth quarter, even as the World Health Organization has advised against its use, saying the drug doesn't improve the survival rates of the patients. However, Gilead's chief executive said remdesivir had been widely adopted in the US and continues to play a central role in the pandemic. "The drug is now being used for treating one in two hospitalised patients in the US,” he said. The California-based company reported total revenue of $7.4 billion for the quarter under review. However, net income fell fell 42 per cent to $1.6 billion. Read here

Beijing winter Olympics face Covid and boycott hurdles

With an official budget of $1.6 billion, Beijing and the neighboring city of Zhangjiakou will be hosting the winter Olympics exactly a year from now. There will 109 events starting Feb 4, 2022, but the success of the games depends on a number of factors, such as smooth and speedy vaccination. President Xi Jinping is now ramping up vaccination and testing for the coronavirus toward the success of the games. Of Beijing's roughly 21 million residents, about 1.9 million -- mostly high-risk individuals like medical professionals and police officers -- have received their first dose and are expected to receive the second soon. There is also the international pressure on China's human rights record that is clouding the outlook for the event. Read here