ATHENS, Greece – Greece tightened its block for next week, closing retail stores, hairdressers and bookstores.
The restrictions come as the government plans to open all schools, from kindergarten to universities, on January 11.
The churches will remain closed and will not celebrate the annual Epiphany holiday on January 6, nor will the priests perform the traditional water blessing. In addition, the night curfew will begin at 9pm. The new rules go into effect on Sunday and run until 11 January.
Greece announced 40 deaths and 262 new coronavirus infections on Saturday.
There have been 139,709 confirmed infections and 4,921 deaths since the pandemic began.
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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
India, which plans to vaccinate 300 million people in its first phase, has tested its coronavirus vaccine delivery system with a national study storage and delivery. Meanwhile, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is asking the national government to declare a “state of emergency” to stem the increase in coronavirus “in the name of valuing life”. Tokyo reported a daily record of 1,337 cases on New Year’s Eve and concerns are growing before hosting the Olympics in July. In Italy, the elderly are challenging stereotypes that they need care and protection in the midst of the pandemic and many are key workers.
California began the new year reporting a record 585 deaths from coronavirus in a single day as infections are increasing and hospitals reach capacity. Texas reported a record for hospitalizations for the fifth consecutive day. There were 12,481 patients with COVID-19 on New Year’s Day, an increase of more than 1,750 over the previous week.
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Follow AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE WHAT’S MORE HAPPENING:
RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia state senator Ben Chafin died after contracting the coronavirus.
Lawmakers across the state mourned Chafin’s death on Friday. The 60-year-old Republican state senator represented southwestern Virginia and was from Russell County.
He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2013 and then transferred to the state Senate in 2014. Governor Ralph Northam says that Chafin “loved the outdoors and loved serving people even more.”
Chafin is the first Virginia lawmaker to die from the virus.
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VATICAN CITY – The Vatican says it hopes to start administering the COVID-19 vaccination in mid-January.
A statement on Saturday says that the vaccines are “sufficient to cover the needs of the Holy See and the Vatican City State”.
The brief statement did not say whether Pope Francis, 84, would receive the vaccine. But he specified that the priority would go to Vatican health and safety workers, the elderly and “staff in most frequent contact with the public”. About 450 people, including the Swiss Guard, reside in Vatican City, while many others work in their offices, museums and other facilities.
Vatican City has recorded at least 27 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Some cases last fall included Swiss guards, who usually attend events with the Pope.
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NEW DELHI – India has tested its COVID-19 vaccine delivery system in a national study as it prepares to launch an inoculation program to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Saturday’s exercise included data entry on an online platform to monitor vaccine delivery, along with cold storage tests and transport arrangements for the vaccine.
The massive exercise came a day after a panel of government-appointed experts held a meeting to review potential candidate vaccine applications, including leader Covishield, developed by Oxford University and UK-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
The government plans to inoculate 300 million people in the first phase of the vaccination program, which will include health and frontline workers, police and military personnel and people with underlying health problems over 50 years old.
India confirmed more than 10.3 million cases of coronavirus, the second in the world after the USA. More than 149,000 people died in India, the third behind the USA (347,000) and Brazil (195,000).
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TOKYO – Officials in Tokyo and three nearby city halls have asked the national government to declare a state of emergency to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“In the name of valuing life, we made this appeal together,” said Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, after a meeting on Saturday with the minister in charge of measures against the coronavirus, together with the governors of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.
Japan has seen a recent increase in reported cases of coronavirus, especially in urban areas. Tokyo had a daily record of 1,337 cases on New Year’s Eve.
There is concern about hosting the Olympics in July, with 11,000 Olympic athletes scheduled to enter Japan, as well as tens of thousands of officials and the media.
“Corona doesn’t know a calendar,” says Koike. “Hospitals are getting crowded, affecting medical care for everyone.”
Japan has never had a blockade, trying to reconcile the need to keep the economy running with health risks. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has been criticized for what some see as his mismanagement of the pandemic. Japan has more than 3,500 confirmed deaths related to the coronavirus.
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BERLIN – The CEO of Germany-based travel operator TUI is predicting a “largely normal summer” in 2021, as more and more people are vaccinated against the coronavirus.
TUI chief Fritz Joussen said in the Saturday edition of the daily Rheinische Post that the company’s market research shows that “people have a huge desire to be able to make good trips again after the difficult corona period”.
He said that “we expect a basically normal summer”. However, he added that the company will offer only about 80% of the flights it made in the pre-pandemic years “to achieve ideal occupation”.
Resurgent coronavirus infections in the fall and winter led to national and regional restrictions on travel and hotel stays, along with quarantine requirements, largely shutting down tourism in Europe after a revival last summer.
Vaccination started in Europe last month, but it will take some time to have a significant impact on the situation.
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SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea is extending strict distancing rules for another two weeks, as authorities seek to suppress a viral resurgence, while confirming its first case of a seemingly more contagious coronavirus variant detected in South Africa.
Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said on Saturday that the second highest level of distance rules would remain in effect for the Seoul region until 17 January. He said the third highest level of restrictions will remain in other areas until then.
The restrictions include bans on social gatherings with more than five people and face-to-face religious services. The government will require foreigners entering South Korea to show negative results of the virus test from 8 January.
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LONDON – The British government is facing increasing demands to keep all schools closed in England for at least two weeks, as a result of the increase in coronavirus cases after another sudden policy reversal.
The appeal by the National Education Union, which represents more than 450,000 members working in schools, came after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson changed course and said that all schools for younger students in London should remain closed next week, while the capital struggles with high levels of infections.
Mary Bousted, the union’s joint head, said the decision was “entirely necessary” but criticized the government for originally planning to allow some schools to reopen in areas where new infections were on the rise.
The UK is experiencing a sharp increase in new cases of coronavirus, which many have attributed to a new variant of the virus that is considered to be up to 70% more infectious.
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LOS ANGELES – California began the new year with a record 585 deaths from coronavirus in a single day.
The state Department of Public Health said on Friday that there were more than 47,000 new confirmed cases reported, bringing the total to more than 2.29 million.
State hospitals ended the year “on the brink of catastrophe,” said a health official as the pandemic took deaths and illnesses to surprising levels and some medical centers were struggling to provide oxygen to critically ill patients.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office announced on Friday that California would begin collaborating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate and update outdated oxygen delivery systems at six Los Angeles area hospitals.
The collaboration comes at a time when older hospitals are having a hard time maintaining oxygen pressure in aging infrastructure and some were struggling to locate additional oxygen tanks for discharged patients to take home.
California this week became the third state to exceed 25,000 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas reached a new record for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 for the fifth consecutive day on Friday, in a continuous increase in coronavirus disease after travel and holidays.
Texas reported 12,481 patients with COVID-19 in state hospitals on New Year’s Day, an increase of more than 1,750 over the previous week.
State health officials on Friday reported 12,369 new confirmed cases of the virus and another 3,658 probable cases.
According to the Texas State Department of Health Services, intensive care units in various parts of Texas were full or nearly full.
The gloomy count continued to rise as some Texans gathered to celebrate the new year, despite warnings from health officials that the congregation was likely to spread the virus even more.
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CARSON CITY, Nev. – Nevada reported 2,315 additional known cases of COVID-19 on Friday, along with another 21 deaths from coronavirus.
The state total since the beginning of the pandemic has increased to 227,046 cases and 3,146 deaths.
Seven-day continuous averages of new daily cases and daily deaths in Nevada have dropped in the past two weeks. This is according to data from Johns Hopkins University and The COVID Tracking Project.
The number of infections is believed to be much higher than reported because many people have not been tested and studies suggest that people can be infected with the virus without feeling bad.
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LONDON – British medical authorities are warning that hospitals across the country are facing some dangerous weeks amid the emergence of new coronavirus infections attributed to a new variant of the virus.
Concerns about the capacity of the already overburdened National Health Service to cope with the expected increase in the number of people seeking treatment for COVID-19 are growing.
Field hospitals that were built in the early days of the pandemic, but were subsequently decommissioned, are being reactivated.
The director of the Royal College of Nursing’s England says the UK is in the “eye of the storm”.
More than 55,280 new infections and another 613 deaths were recorded on Friday, putting the UK on the right track to once again overtake Italy as the country most affected by the pandemic in Europe.
The increase in new cases is said to be due to a new, more contagious variant of the virus, first identified in London and southeastern England.
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