Covid-19 Pandemic: Updates and live news for January 31, 2021

Photographer: Sarah Silbiger / Bloomberg

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The Western Australian city of Perth will be blocked after a worker at a quarantine hotel in the city tested positive, while reports in Hong Kong say the government could impose other small blockages. South Korea has extended social distance measures for another two weeks.

Starting Tuesday, US travelers will be is required to wear masks, including on planes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis and partitions, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. US coronavirus infections continued a downward trend, with 162,390 new cases added on Friday.

Key developments:

• Global Tracker: Cases exceed 102.5 million; deaths exceed 2.2 million
• Vaccine Tracker: over 94.4 million photos worldwide
• Faced with a vaccination emergency, the EU made a enemy of all
• Covid mutations reduces optimism even as more vaccines approach
• Shy computer the elderly are set aside in the vaccination race
• How vaccine nationalism ignites on rare supply: QuickTake

Subscribe to a daily update of the virus from the Bloomberg’s Prognosis team Here. Click CVID on the terminal for global case and death data.

South Korea expands social distance (15:28 pm HK)

South Korea will extends the restrictions on social distancing imposed during the worst outbreak of coronavirus for another two weeks, after new infections reappeared last week and reversed a downward trend. Another 355 confirmed Covid-19 cases were registered in the country on Saturday, with six new deaths.

Australian Perth enters a week-long blockade (12:54 pm HK)

The Western Australian city of Perth will enter a “complete blockade” tonight for five days after a quarantined worker at the hotel gave positive results for what authorities believe could be the highly transmissible version of the UK Covid-19 .

The blockade imposes a residence order, closes schools, pubs and churches, bans household visitors and makes masks mandatory when leaving home for essential reasons. There has been no case of community transmission in the state around Perth for almost 10 months.

State Prime Minister Mark McGowan announced the blockade and details of the positive case at a news conference on Sunday, explaining that the hotel guard worked last week at a hotel with four positive Covid-19 cases. McGowan said he had spoken to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other Australian leaders and urged them to stop traveling to the distant state.

More possible blockages for Hong Kong (12.13 pm HK)

There may be more blockages in Hong Kong soon, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said, according to a report released Sunday by local RTHK media. Cheung said the government’s goal is to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases to zero and may launch various operations to impose mandatory tests in the future.

Hong Kong has imposed stricter measures to stop the spread of the virus. Recently imposed short-term blockages in small sections of the city and performed mandatory tests for all residents.

Australia resumes flights from New Zealand’s green zone (10:15 AM HK)

The Australian Minister of Health said flights from the Green Zone in New Zealand would resume this afternoon. The program of quarantine arrivals from New Zealand was suspended last week following a case of the South African version of the Covid-19 in Auckland.

The governments of both nations are working to get a two-way travel bubble off the ground sometime this year, even though New Zealand intends to keep the border closed for much of the world until most of 2021.

Protesters disrupt LA vaccination site (9:40 am HK)

Los Angeles ’Dodger Stadium, which has been transformed into one of the largest vaccination sites this month, has been closed nearly 1:50 a.m. local time on Saturday due to an anti-vaccination protest, a city official said.

The protest was peaceful, according to police.

The demonstration took place while the Greater Los Angeles area reported the highest daily death toll in about three weeks. LA County reported 316 new deaths, reaching 16,647. Cases increased by 6,918 to 1.1 million. LA and the rest of California lighten the borders and will allow the resumption of outdoor dining and some companies.

California breaches 40,000 mark for Covid-19 deaths, adding 638 deaths and 18,427 new cases on Saturday, according to the health department website. The state recorded more than 14,000 deaths in January alone.

Growing number of UK companies facing bankruptcy (8:08 am HK)

The number of companies listed in the UK at risk of insolvency is it has doubled as restrictions on stopping the spread of coronavirus continue to destroy the economy.

The UK will have to remain closed until the end of May, in an optimal scenario in which vaccines are 85% effective in stopping the transmission of the virus, the Daily Telegraph reported, citing a paper from the University of Warwick.

The newspaper was commissioned by the government’s Sage committee and was seen by the prime minister’s office. He also suggests that if Boris Johnson relaxes the blocking measures in mid-February – when the government is due to review the vaccine launch – a third increase in infections and deaths will follow in April.

The UK reported 23,275 new cases on Saturday, less than 3,500 less than the average for the past seven days and 30% lower than a week ago. Another 1,200 people died within 28 days of a positive test, according to the weekly average. More than 8.37 million people received their first vaccination.

Brazilian outbreak slows down (17:19 NY)

According to the Ministry of Health, the outbreak of Brazil’s second wave has diminished with new cases and slowing deaths in the last week date.

The nation reported 58,462 cases on Saturday, capping the second week with a decline in new infections. However, the number of cases is almost as high as the peak of the first wave last summer. The total number of infections is close to 8 million. Deaths fell from the previous week, with 1,279 new deaths reported on Saturday. Brazil has the most deaths after the United States, with a total of 223,945.

Brazil will receive 10 million to 14 million doses of AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccines from the Covax international consortium starting in mid-February, the nation’s health ministry said on Saturday.

Cases in France increase slightly (14:38 NY)

France reported 24,392 new cases, a slight increase from the previous day and another 242 deaths due to virus-related diseases. The total number of deaths is 75,862. This comes a day after the French government said it was giving its “chance” to avoid a third blockade by sealing the borders of travel outside the European Union and closing large shopping malls.

On Saturday, Emmanuel Macron insisted on a common responsibility to move away from tougher measures. “I trust us,” the French president said in a tweet. “Let’s do everything we can to stop the epidemic together.”

Portugal continues to add intensive care patients (9:35 am NY)