The British strain of the virus is not only spreading faster, but may be causing more patient deaths. Tokyo is determined to hold the Summer Olympics at all costs, while the premiere of the new James Bond movie is postponed again. The latest news on the coronavirus pandemic in our daily roundup.
The variant of the coronavirus detected in Britain earlier this year is not only faster to transmit, but may also be more dangerous, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during a briefing on Friday. “Today we were informed that in addition to its faster spread, there appears to be evidence that the new variant – the one found in London and the southeast of the country – may be associated with higher mortality,” Johnson said. He clarified that the vaccines developed are effective against both variants of the coronavirus. Earlier this week, the WHO announced that the British strain of the coronavirus had been detected in 60 countries around the world.
During the pandemic, police in Northern Ireland issued more than 2,000 fines to violators of quarantine measures. While the infection rate in England appears to be declining, Northern Ireland has reported a new surge in cases, largely due to the new strain. In Scotland and Wales, the number of people infected with the new strain of coronavirus continues to rise, while in England the majority of infections are still with the old strain of the virus. In Northern Ireland, where the new strain has spread most, the highest weekly Covid-19 mortality was recorded. From January 9 to 15, 156 people died there, and a total of 2186 people have fallen victim to the disease during the pandemic. Earlier, the authorities announced that the lockdown there would be extended until March 5. However, as Northern Ireland’s Health Minister noted, it would be unrealistic to expect all restrictions to be lifted by that date.
The British scientist believes that the spread of the coronavirus cannot be stopped by vaccination alone. “We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next.” The number of episodes should remain the same. End of story. Podcast Advertising. Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, believes the coronavirus will continue to spread for decades. This conclusion was reached after he and colleagues modeled the effectiveness of the UK’s vaccination program using a new and more virulent strain of coronavirus. “We have found that it is not possible to achieve herd immunity – neither through vaccination nor through natural infection, because there is always the risk of reinfection,” the professor said in an interview with the BBC. Herd immunity occurs when a significant portion of the population acquires immunity, providing indirect protection to those who do not yet have immunity and thus limiting the spread of infection. Professor Hunter has no doubt that the vaccination program will play a huge role in helping to return lives to normal, but warns that the risk remains for those who have not been vaccinated. “We know that vaccines prevent serious illness and even death, but we do not know for sure how effective they are at stopping the spread of infection,” he explains. When police officers arrived at the Jewish girls’ religious school in the Stamford Hill area of north London after 9pm on Thursday, they found the windows tightly covered.
“Stamford Hill school where police broke up ‘plague wedding'” When the police decided to check what was happening, the guests who had gathered for the wedding began to run out of the school building, about 400 people in all. As a result, five guests were fined 200 pounds sterling (about 220 euros), and the event organizers face a much more serious fine of 10,000 pounds sterling for breaking the lockdown rules. “This is a totally unacceptable breach of the law,” said Marcus Barnett, Senior Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police. “While people up and down the country are sacrificing their plans and postponing or even cancelling weddings and other events, such behaviour cannot be justified.” It should be noted that the epidemiological situation in the Stamford Hill area is far from ideal: if the average level of coronavirus infection in England is about 471 people per 100,000, it is significantly higher there – 625 per 100,000.
The last time James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, saved the world was in 2015’s Spectre. The release of a new James Bond movie, which was supposed to be Daniel Craig’s swan song, has been delayed for the third time because of the pandemic. “No Time to Die, the 25th film in the Bond franchise, was originally scheduled for release in April 2020. Then it was pushed back to October, and now a new date has been announced – October 8, 2021. The number of offers should remain the same. The Bond postponement set off a chain reaction, with several film producers immediately announcing that they too would be postponing their premieres, which promises to be another blow to movie theaters that have been idle for several months due to lockdowns. The British Film Institute noted that the decision to postpone the premiere of the film “No Time to Die” once again was “frankly disappointing, but at the same time not surprising, given the situation with the coronavirus in the UK, the US and other countries with developed film industries”. The association called on the government to provide “direct subsidies” to movie distributors, who account for 80% of all ticket sales.
Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics hope that mass vaccination will allow the postponed 2020 Summer Games to go ahead in July this year. They refuted the words of an unnamed Japanese government official who had previously stated in an interview with the Times newspaper that it would be “too difficult” to hold the Olympics in Tokyo. “There is no doubt that mass vaccination in the United States and Europe, while not a solution to all problems, will have its positive effects,” said Toshiro Muto, executive director of the Tokyo Olympic Games Organizing Committee. And the International Olympic Committee noted that the Times’ suggestion that the games could be canceled “does not reflect reality. “All parties involved are working together to ensure the successful delivery of the Games this summer,” said the official IOC statement. “Taking into account the strict measures adopted and the plans we have developed, these Games can take place and will be successful,” said the International Paralympic Committee. The Paralympic Summer Games are scheduled to begin on August 24. In recent weeks, there has been an increasing number of pessimistic statements regarding the Summer Olympics. IOC member Dick Pound recently noted that there are no guarantees that the Games will be held this summer, and London 2012 organizing committee chief executive Sir Keith Mills believes the Olympics have little chance. Moreover, as a recent poll in Japan shows, 80% of the population supports either postponing or canceling these games. Nevertheless, Muto is optimistic: “I expect the public’s mood to change as the vaccination campaign gains momentum. It is natural that people are very concerned, but we hope that the situation will improve. And in that case, the overall mood will also change for the better. In addition, the Japanese Olympic official adds, unlike the Australian Open tennis tournament, athletes will not be sent to quarantine upon arrival in Japan.
Paula Badosa complained that she was forced to train in a hotel room. Now she apologizes Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa Gibert, one of several participants at the Australian Open, actively complained about being placed at a disadvantage compared to other athletes due to precautionary measures and being forced to train in their rooms. She apologized after testing positive for COVID-19 herself. She was the fourth athlete to fall ill at the tournament, but the first to announce it publicly. “Please don’t get me wrong, health comes first and I’m grateful to be accepted in Australia,” the athlete, ranked 67th in the world, wrote on Twitter. “I will try to recover as soon as possible and follow the doctors’ advice,” she added, before heading to the hotel for self-isolation, which is specially designed for tournament players and members of their teams who have been infected with the coronavirus.