Covid-19 Pandemic: Updates and live news for March 21, 2021

Photographer: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

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As more people receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Australia and around the world, authorities could consider reducing its quarantine requirements and allowing travelers to isolate themselves at home.

Even so, coronavirus infections remain difficult to control in other parts of the world, such as Brazil, where deaths have risen for four weeks in a row. In the US, New York announced its first case of a variant of the virus that caused the outbreak.

A report by scientists, due to be released this week, will say that trade in wildflowers in China is the most likely source of the coronavirus that changed the world last year.

Key developments:

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Australia may review quarantine measures (8:58 am HK)

Brendan Murphy, secretary of the Department of Health, said that while a reduction in quarantine requirements was being taken into account, the first step is to reduce internal restrictions, while ensuring that state borders are not closed.

“We could think, for example, of reducing the length of quarantine, to much more quarantine at home, especially for vaccinated people,” Murphy said on Sunday’s Sky News program. “Our risk tolerance will change in the second half of this year.”

Even so, the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine in Australia was prevented by torrential rains and floods that saw residents along the New South Wales coast – including parts of Sydney – evacuated. The government has already faced criticism for poor organization and a slower start than expected at the launch of the vaccine.

Duke University eases blockade (8:14 am HK)

Duke University will on Sunday, he eased a residence order he imposed on all students on March 14, following a serious outbreak of events at the fraternities.

In a letter to students on Saturday, the school in Durham, North Carolina, said the number of new cases had dropped, although it did not provide details. In the week before the shutdown, the university reported a total of 231 cases, almost as many as last semester. With relief, students on campus can return to classes and leave their homes, but were asked not to leave campus.

Cancellation against NCAA (8:06 am HK)

Covid-19 tests at Virginia Commonwealth University are forcing the 10th-graders from the Western Region out of the NCAA basketball tournament, the New York Times reported.

Although organizers continued with the tournament, even as the number of infections increased, the adoption of protocols, the abandonment of a team was the worst case scenario for the sports body, which will earn $ 850 million in television revenue from the tournament, the newspaper said. .

Cases in Brazil increase for fifth week (7:30 AM HK)

Brazil has surpassed half a million cases a week for the second time in a row, capping a week marked by record daily deaths and infections.

The largest country in Latin America added about 79,000 cases, bringing the total for the seven days to Saturday to 510,901 – the fifth consecutive week, with an increase. During the previous increase, the weekly cases reached a maximum of 379,000 at the beginning of January, according to the data of the Ministry of Health.

Weekly deaths rose by nearly 3,000 to a record 15,650, the most since the beginning of the pandemic. With almost 12 million cases and about 292,000 deaths, Brazil lags behind the United States alone in both cases.

Covid Origin Report May Indicate Wildlife (7:10 am HK)

Scientists following the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic believe they have identified a possible source of transmission: China’s prosperous wildlife trade.

The highly anticipated findings from experts convened by the World Health Organization and the Chinese government are expected to show parallels with the 2002 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, a bat-transmitted coronavirus spread by civets that killed 800 people. The path taken by SARS-CoV-2 – as the new coronavirus is known – before it appeared in central China in December 2019 remains a mystery, although researchers say it can be solved.

Miami Beach breaks down in spring break (17:05 NY)

Miami Beach has imposed a 20-hour restriction and other restrictions to reduce what officials have said is the overwhelming crowding during the US spring break. The weather will last at least 72 hours and will be applied on the main roads with bars, restaurants and clubs. The city had previously settled for half a night.

Mayor Dan Gelber told a news conference that the crowds seemed larger than in previous years because there were fewer places open for spring break because of Covid-19 and cheap fares.

“There are just too many times when we hope something horrible doesn’t happen,” he said. “We can’t stand this as a community.”

NY reports first case of Brazil variant (16:40 NY)

The first case of the most transmissible coronavirus variant found for the first time in Brazil was reported in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. The patient is from Brooklyn, is over 90 years old, with no travel history, he said.

The variant helps to feed a renewed outbreak in Brazil. In the US, there are 48 known cases of P.1 in 15 jurisdictions, with 21 cases in Florida alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

France wants full Astra offer (3:20 pm NY)

France supports the EU’s threat to use any available tools to get planned deliveries of AstraZeneca vaccine, Junior European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune told BFM TV, although he warned that any legal proceedings could take months.

While the EU exports vaccines to the UK, European officials suspect that some UK-made vaccines originally intended to be delivered to the EU remain in the UK

He also said that the approval of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in Europe could take place in April or May. In France, about 9% of the population received at least one vaccine, and 3.6% received both injections.

Florida exceeds 2 million cases (2:56 pm NY)

Florida passed 2 million cases on Saturday, the third state to do so after California and Texas. The new cases have decreased recently, after a sharp decline following a wave of holidays. On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would open vaccine eligibility to anyone over the age of 50 starting Monday.

Anti-blockade protests hit Europe (14:20 NY)

Anti-lockout protests took place on Saturday in Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Finland, Romania and Switzerland, the Associated Press reported. Demonstrations were also reported in the three largest cities in Sweden.

More than 20,000 people have defied the court’s ban on protesting in the center of the German city of Kassel, the German news agency DPA reported. Some protesters attacked officers and several journalists, the DPA said.

At least 33 people have been arrested in central London, mainly for violating Covid restrictions, metropolitan police said on Twitter. The protests around Piccadilly Circus were bigger than police expected, the BBC said.

Brazil says it discusses vaccines with US (1:55 pm NY)

Brazil is negotiating “the import of vaccines from the surplus available in United StatesThe Biden administration said earlier this week that it plans to send about 4 million doses of AstraZeneca Plc Covid-19 vaccine to Mexico and Canada.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at the time that the U.S. government had about 7 million available doses of the vaccine, which had not yet been approved for use in the U.S. “With the importance of helping to stop the spread of other countries, we are evaluating how we can borrow doses, ”she said. She added that any loans had not been “fully completed”.

Brazil’s outbreak has worsened dramatically, setting records for most cases and deaths earlier this week.

Mumbai passes mandatory tests (10:31 AM NY)