This is our daily update on the latest news from COVID-19 on Sunday, December 27, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found hereand updated statistics are here.
New York is in Reopening phase 4 now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, museumsand gyms. Citing rising hospitalization rates, Governor Andrew Cuomo suspended indoor dining in New York from Monday, December 14th. After beingturn off for several weeks, public schools in NYC partially reopened on December 7 for students in grades 3 to 5, with students with special needs returning on December 10th. Certain parts of Staten Island remain under a zoned shutdown.
Get answers to your questions can have with our series “Ask an epidemiologist”, or learn more about NYC COVID-19 test options with our explainer. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.
Here are the latest:
12:24 pm: Canada is now among the growing list of countries that have detected the new highly transmissible variant of COVID-19.
Two cases of the coronavirus variant that were first found in the UK have now been discovered in Ontario, province health officials announced on Saturday.
The variant infected a couple who had no history of travel, exposure or high-risk contacts, according to Ontario health officials.
“With incoming international travel, it is not unexpected to have identified the new variant in Ontario,” says a statement from the province of Ontario. Ontario halted the operation on Saturday to slow transmission of the virus, and Canada has banned all passenger flights from the UK until 6 January.
The UK variant was found in Denmark, Belgium, Australia and the Netherlands, as well as in France, Lebanon, Spain and Japan.
In Japan, all foreigners will no longer be able to enter the country, from Monday to the end of January due to the cases of the variant found in the country.
The United States has not prevented flights from the UK to enter the country, but instead will require travelers to have a PCR or negative antigen test no later than 72 hours before departure. That term begins Monday.
Experts say the requirement for a negative test three days before flying only reduces the risk of spread from 14% to 9%, CNN reported. Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, told the news channel that the CDC’s test order “is like placing a wire fence to keep out a mosquito.”
Initial research on the virus variant in the UK found that it is 70% more transmissible. Currently, there is no evidence that the variant is more deadly or leads to more severe symptoms. And experts say the variant is unlikely to affect the effectiveness of the two vaccines currently authorized by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna.