Timeline COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, MERS, SARS, Coronavirus
A: 2002-2020
B: 2021-Present
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COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is the name given to the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
https://ncov2019.live/
2021 Jan 1, California to date had 2,297,064 cases of coronavirus and 25,987 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 264,986 cases and 2,587 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 20,037,736 with the death toll at 346,687.
(sfist.com, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the British government has decided to close all primary schools in London for the next two weeks to counter the rapid spread of a more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, Chad locked down its capital N'djamena for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and has declared a dusk to dawn curfew due to a rise in infections.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, French officials said ravers at an underground, curfew-busting New Year’s Eve party that drew at least 2,500 people in Lieuron, Brittany, attacked the police sent to shut them down, torching one of their vehicles and injuring officers with volleys of bottles and stones.
(AP, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, Experts at India's drugs regulator recommended for emergency use two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other backed by a state-run institute.
(AP, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 1, Ireland said it had under-reported coronavirus cases in recent days by thousands more than previously known as its system came under strain, suggesting the EU's fastest growing outbreak is worsening even more rapidly than figures showed.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, In Mexico a female doctor (32) was hospitalized in Nuevo Leone after she experienced seizures, difficulty breathing and a skin rash upon receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 1, The Thai capital of Bangkok said it will close all schools for two weeks after the New Year holiday as it tightens measures to control a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 2, It was reported that researchers are scrambling to learn why some coronavirus patients lose their sense of smell and taste. Some experts fear huge numbers of people may lose them permanently.
(NY Times, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, California to date had 2,326,383 cases of coronavirus and 26,366 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 270,122 cases and 2,634 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 20,396,243 with the death toll at 349,933.
(sfist.com, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, Mainland China reported 24 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 2, up from 22 cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, French police detained five people in an investigation into an underground New Year's Eve rave party that drew at least 2,500 people at Lieuron despite a coronavirus curfew and other restrictions. France has reported more than 64,000 virus-related deaths.
(AP, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, France recorded 3,466 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, below the 19,348 reported a day earlier. This brought the cumulative total to 2,643,239. The COVID-19 death toll was up by 157 to 64,921.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 2, Italy reported 364 coronavirus-related deaths against 462 the day before,, while the daily tally of new infections plunged to 11,831 from 22,211, with far less testing than normal carried out on New Year's day. Italy has registered 74,985 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21.
(Reuters, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, South Korea said it will expand a ban on private gatherings larger than four people to include the whole country, and extend unprecedented social distancing rules in Seoul and neighboring areas until Jan. 17.
(Reuters, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 3, California to date had 2,356,544 cases of coronavirus and 26,547 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 273,843 cases and 2,635 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 20,439,674 with the death toll at 350,267.
(sfist.com, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, Australia's New South Wales state recorded eight new local cases. There are 161 active cases in the state, most of them in the northern beaches of Sydney, and 13 emanating from liquor store that are not connected to the beaches cluster. More Australian states and territories are reimposing travel restrictions to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus from new outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria states.
(AP, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, British PM Boris Johnson warned that more onerous lockdown restrictions in England are likely in the coming weeks as the country reels from a new coronavirus variant that has pushed infection rates to their highest recorded levels.
(AP, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, Mainland China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases, up from 24 cases a day earlier. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 87,150, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, India's drugs regulator granted emergency authorization for the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, but on the condition that Serum Institute doesn't export the shots to ensure that vulnerable populations in India are protected. Serum Institute of India has been contracted to make 1 billion doses of the vaccine for developing nations.
(AP, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, Indonesia approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for immediate emergency use.
(Econ., 1/23/21, p.27)
2021 Jan 3, Italy reported 347 coronavirus-related deaths against 364 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,245 from 11,831.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, A South Korean health official said that a third wave of the novel coronavirus is being contained, as it reported the lowest number of new infections in nearly four weeks with the help of tougher restrictions during the New Year holiday season.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, It was reported that Swiss regulators have allowed contract manufacturer Lonza Group to start producing Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine at a plant in Switzerland.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, Zimbabwe imposed curbs to slow the spread of the coronavirus as Information Minister Nick Mangwana warned that the country was being overwhelmed.
{Zimbabwe, COVID-19}
(SFC, 1/4/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 4, California to date had 2,378,980 cases of coronavirus and 26,637 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 277,146 cases and 2,637 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 20,805,262 with the death toll at 353,371.
(sfist.com, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, BioNTech and partner Pfizer warned that they had no evidence that their jointly developed vaccine will continue to protect against COVID-19 if the booster shot is given later than tested in trials.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) sate reported zero local coronavirus cases for the first time in nearly three weeks, as Sydney battled multiple outbreaks and authorities urged tens of thousands of people to get tested.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Britain ramped up its vaccination program by becoming the first nation to start using the shot developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca.
(AP, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, UK scientists expressed concern that COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out in Britain may not be able to protect against a new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in South Africa and has spread internationally.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Mainland China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases, with 14 of the 17 local cases recorded in Hebei and 16 cases imported from overseas.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 4, Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou Co Ltd said it will manufacture and sell Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc's COVID-19 vaccine candidate in China. Inovio's vaccine candidate, INO-4800, is being tested in two trials, a mid-stage study in China in partnership with Advaccine and a mid-to-late stage trial in the United States.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Officials in eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland, said they aim to vaccinate all 1.3 million residents against COVID-19 and will set aside at least 200 million emalangeni ($14 million) to do so.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Greece started vaccinating elderly care home residents against COVID-19 in the next phase of its inoculation campaign begun nine days ago.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, It was reported that millions of mask-wearing pupils in Kenya have returned to school nine months after they were closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Kenya has reported almost 97,000 cases of Covid-19 and more than 1,600 deaths since the start of the outbreak in March last year.
(BBC, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Mexico approved the Oxford-Astra-Zeneca vaccine for emergency use.
(SFC, 1/6/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 4, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte directed the head of his military detail to ignore a legislative summons, foiling the Senate's attempt to probe his guards for inoculating themselves with an unauthorized COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a new lockdown in response to a highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus. Sturgeon said the new COVID-19 variant accounts for nearly half of new cases in Scotland, and is 70% more transmissible.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Singapore said its police will be able to use data obtained by its coronavirus contact-tracing technology for criminal investigations, a decision likely to increase privacy concerns around the system.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Spain's region of Catalonia announced a tightening of restrictions to tackle an uptick in COVID-19 infections, banning people from leaving their municipality, closing gyms and shopping malls, and allowing only essential shops such as pharmacies to open at the weekend. The new restrictions in Catalonia, which has Spain's second-highest number of infections and deaths after Madrid, will start on Jan. 7 and last until Jan. 17.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Thailand registered 745 new coronavirus cases, with a new death reported in Bangkok, where a semi-lockdown went into effect. The new infections bring the total number since last January to 8,439, while the death toll has climbed to 65.
(AP, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 5, California to date had 2,453,115 cases of coronavirus and 27,016 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 283,057 cases and 2,703 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 21,042,929 with the death toll at 357,132.
(sfist.com, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, Britain began its third COVID-19 lockdown with citizens under orders to stay at home and the government calling for one last major national effort to stem the virus before mass vaccinations turn the tide. The UK recorded more than 60,000 COVID-19 cases in daily figures for the first time as the government struggles to deal with a more infectious variant of the virus.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, China's official media said the fight to contain the coronavirus in northern Hebei province has entered "wartime mode." Hebei reported 19 local infections and 40 asymptomatic cases between Jan. 2 and Jan. 4.
(AP, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, It was reported that a COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Chinese firm Stemirna Therapeutics has obtained approval to conduct human testing from China's medical products regulator. Tibet Rhodiola Pharma is jointly developing the candidate with Stemirna.
(AP, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, President Ivan Duque said Colombia's food and drug regulator authorized emergency use of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, Denmark imposed new lockdown measures aimed at curbing the rapid spread of a new coronavirus variant that is believed to be more transmissible. Authorities said they expected the new virus variant, first detected in Britain, to be the dominant one in Denmark by mid-February.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, Germany's disease control center reported 944 more COVID-19 deaths. Chancellor Angela Merkel said she has agreed with state governors to extend the country's current lockdown by three weeks until Jan. 31.
(AP, 1/5/21)(SFC, 1/6/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 5, A senior official said Italy will invest in local biotech company ReiThera to support the development of its COVID-19 vaccine, after the government called results of a Phase 1 trial encouraging. ReiThera is developing the vaccine with Germany's Leukocare and Belgium's Univercells.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, In South Korea the number of deaths linked to the coronavirus passed 1,000, while an increasing number of gym owners said they would reopen in protest against strict social distancing rules.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, Thailand confirmed 527 new coronavirus cases, most of them migrant workers who already were isolated, and the government said it was tightening movements of people around the country.
(AP, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 6, California to date had 2,496,990 cases of coronavirus and 27,519 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 287,346 cases and 2,772 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 21,279,163 with the death toll at 360,741.
(sfist.com, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro accused syringe makers of pushing up their prices after the government failed to buy hundreds of millions of syringes via auction for its COVID-19 vaccination drive, leading it to requisition surplus supplies.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, British PM Boris Johnson warned parliament that ending England's latest lockdown would require a "gradual unwrapping" over time, pledging that schools would be the "very first things to reopen." The UK recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 daily deaths for the first time since April as the government struggles to deal with a new, more infectious variant of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Thirteen of the EU's foreign ministers said in a joint letter to the bloc's executive saying the EU should send coronavirus vaccines to its Balkan neighbors and do more to combat the virus in Ukraine.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Irish official data showed number of patients in hospitals with COVID-19 has exceeded the peak set during the first wave of infections, ahead of a government meeting to consider new public health restrictions.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Italy reported 548 coronavirus-related deaths against 649 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 20,331 from 15,378.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, The Netherlands began its COVID-19 vaccination program, with nursing home staff and front-line workers in hospitals first in line for the shot.
(AP, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, It was reported that Peru passed one million confirmed cases of the coronavirus a few days ago.
(SFC, 1/6/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 6, Portugal approved an extension of a state of emergency as the daily number of COVID-19 cases in the nation of around 10 million people reached a record high of 10,027, putting increasing pressure on the health system.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Top Serbian politicians urged greater international acceptance of Russia's coronavirus vaccine as they joined the front of their country's queue for shots.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, South Korea rolled out mass testing for 52 prisons in the country after a massive prison outbreak and decided to extend flight suspensions from Britain for two weeks as part of efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Some Ukrainian media outlets reported that a clinic in Kyiv had begun inoculating people, probably with the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, at a charge of up to 3,000 euros ($3,683) per dose. Ukraine has yet to approve any of the newly developed vaccines.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 7, Arizona reported nearly 300 coronavirus deaths, a pandemic high, and nearly 10,000 new infections.
(SFC, 1/7/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 7, California to date had 2,534,673 cases of coronavirus and 28,079 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 291,865 cases and 2,831 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 21,543,310 with the death toll at 364,734.
(sfist.com, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Study results showed that treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with Roche's Actemra or Sanofi's Kevzara arthritis drugs significantly improves survival rates and reduces the amount of time patients need intensive care.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Argentina said it would restrict the movement of people in the country during night hours, in an attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic during the Southern Hemisphere summer vacation season.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan reported its first COVID-19 death some 10 months after initially detecting the virus and managing to keep the disease under control by largely sealing off the tourism-dependent country.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 7, It was reported that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech was 78% effective in a late-stage Brazilian trial and entirely prevented severe cases, boosting Chinese efforts to catch up with Western vaccine makers.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, It was reported that Cuba is partnering with Iran to produce a COVID-19 vaccine developed by scientists on the island, the latest example of how the two US-sanctioned nations are building closer ties.
(Miami Herald, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, The Czech Republic has registered 794,740 confirmed cases and 12,621 deaths. November was the deadliest month with 4,937 deceased. All three cremation chambers were working round the clock, while storage capacity for caskets has been repeatedly boosted.
(AP, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 7, German company CureVac, that is in the advanced stages of producing a vaccine against COVID-19, said it is linking up with pharmaceutical giant Bayer to help develop and distribute the product. CureVac said last month that it expects first results by the end of March from its phase 3 clinical study of the mRNA-based vaccine candidate called CVnCoV.
(AP, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Israel's government prepared for a two-week shutdown as the country’s infection rate soared again.
(AP, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Lebanon began a 25-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus as infections hit a record high in the tiny Mediterranean nation and patients overwhelmed the health care sector.
(AP, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Malaysia reported its biggest daily rise in coronavirus cases as the government considered imposing restrictions in some areas, while businesses warned that another nationwide lockdown would further batter the economy.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, South Africa said it will vaccinate 40 million people, or two-thirds of its population, against COVID-19 in order to achieve herd immunity, as a mutant variant drove daily new cases above 21,000 for the first time.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Sweden registered 12,536 new coronavirus cases since Jan. 5. The country registered 277 new deaths, taking the total to 9,262.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 8, California to date had 2,574,314 cases of coronavirus and 28,565 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 296,976 cases and 2,916 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 21,846,815 with the death toll at 368,685.
(sfist.com, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, In southern California 8 gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park tested positive for the coronavirus in what is believed to be the first cases among such primates in captivity.
(https://tinyurl.com/yxcwcttz)(SFC, 1/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 8, The Brazilian production partner for a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech filed for emergency use authorization with health regulator Anvisa, the day after announcing results from a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Brazilian researchers said they have identified the concerning new coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa in a woman who contracted COVID-19 for the second time, and said it was the first such case reported in the world.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Britain reported 1,325 new deaths from COVID-19, its highest daily figure since the outbreak of the pandemic, with another 68,053 additional cases. The official death toll stood at 79,833, the highest in Europe. Britain's medical regulator approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use. The health ministry said that it had agreed to purchase an additional 10 million doses as it eyed a spring rollout of the shot.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)(SFC, 1/9/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 8, China's National Health Commission reported 33 new COVID-19 cases for the mainland, down from 53 reported a day earlier. The authority said 14 of the 17 locally transmitted infections were in Hebei province.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 8, The European Union's drug agency approved doctors drawing one more dose from each vial of the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech, in a move that — combined with the purchase of 300 million extra shots of the serum — could speed up the pace of vaccinations in the 27-nation bloc.
(AP, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said EU countries are not allowed to negotiate separate vaccine deals with pharmaceutical companies in parallel to the efforts of the European Union as a whole.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Germany reported a record 1,188 daily COVID-19 deaths. Trial organizers at university hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) said coronavirus vaccine developed by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and vaccine maker IDT Biologika did not prompt the hoped-for immune reaction in early-stage testing on humans.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned Iran from importing of American Pfizer-BioNTech and Britain’s Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccines, a reflection of mistrust toward the West.
(AP, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Italy reported 620 coronavirus-related deaths up from 414 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 17,533 from 18,020.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Portugal reported record increases in the number of COVID-19 infections and the death toll, a day after the prime minister warned the country may need to go into a new lockdown next week if contagion continues to surge.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, It was reported that South African scientists are testing whether vaccines will be less effective against a COVID-19 variant, known as 501Y.V2, first detected locally and hope for initial results within two weeks.
(AP, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, The United Nations said it fears “massive community transmission" of COVID-19 in Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region, fueled by displacement and the collapse of health services, as humanitarian workers finally begin to access the region two months after fighting began. A UN report said fighting is still going on in several parts of the northern Tigray region and almost 2.3 million people, or nearly half of the population, need aid.
(AP, 1/8/21)(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 9, California to date had 2,661,646 cases of coronavirus and 29,241 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 301,773 cases and 2,991 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 22,129,231 with the death toll at 372,384.
(sfist.com, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Australia's health officials said they are on high alert after cases of highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus, discovered in Britain and South Africa, have made it into the country.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Chinese authorities halted public transport in a provincial capital near Beijing in an effort to stamp out a new cluster of coronavirus infections. Government authorities said China will provide COVID-19 vaccines free of charge once they become available to the general public.
(AP, 1/9/21)(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Cuba's top epidemiologist said irresponsible partying over year-end, often with relatives from abroad, fueled a surge in coronavirus infections and he warned of a crackdown to prevent the spread of the disease.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Italy reported 483 coronavirus-related deaths, down from 620 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 19,978 from 17,533. Italy has registered 78,394 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Osaka and its surrounding prefectures asked Japan to expand a state of emergency to the western cities in an effort to contain the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Tokyo's new daily infections kept above 2,000 cases.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Lebanon reported a record 5,400 coronavirus infections.
(SFC, 1/15/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 9, The Philippine government signed a deal to secure the supply of 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Covovax from Serum Institute of India (SII).
(Reuters, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, California to date had 2,684,516 cases of coronavirus and 29,927 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 305,334 cases and 3,030 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 22,385,975 with the death toll at 374,072.
(sfist.com, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state recorded three new coronavirus cases as a three-week lockdown for about quarter million of people in Sydney's northern beaches suburbs eased.
(Reuters, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, In Canada a curfew took effect across Quebec province in an effort to curb a surge in coronavirus infections.
(SFC, 1/11/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 10, Israel's coronavirus vaccination campaign, the world's fastest per capita, shifted to booster shots in a bid to protect the most vulnerable citizens by next month and ease curbs on the economy.
(Reuters, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, Italy reported 361 coronavirus-related deaths, down from 483 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 18,627 from 19,978.
(AP, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, Zimbabwe recorded 21,477 cases and 507 deaths, up from the slightly more than 10,000 cases and 277 deaths at the beginning of December.
(AP, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, Arizona has reported more than 11,000 new coronavirus cases in each of the last several days. The state's death toll reached 10,147 with a total of 627, 541 infections.
(SFC, 1/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 11, California to date had 2,692,542 cases of coronavirus and 30,019 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 311,012 cases and 3,061 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 22,591,369 with the death toll at 375,903.
(sfist.com, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said state prisons, which have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, will be given priority in the next phase of vaccinations.
(SFC, 1/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 11, It was reported that Novavax Chief Executive Stanley Erck and three of his top lieutenants have sold roughly $46 million of company stock since the start of last year, capitalizing on a near 3,000% rally in Novavax shares fueled by investors betting on the success of the shot under development. Novavax has yet to bring a vaccine to market.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, REMAP-CAP investigators said that an international trial testing convalescent blood plasma on COVID-19 patients with moderate and severe illness has halted enrolment of severely ill COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care after it found no benefit.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, Indonesia gave Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine its first emergency use approval outside China as the world's fourth most populous country launches nationwide inoculations to stem surging infections and deaths.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, It was reported that Philippine mobile wallet GCash has raised more than $175 million in capital from New York-based private equity fund Bow Wave Capital Management.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, President Wavel Ramkalawan said Seychelles has started vaccinating its population against COVID-19 with doses from China's Sinopharm vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, South Korea reported fewer than 500 new coronavirus infections for the first time since record high daily case numbers over the Christmas holiday period. Pres. Moon Jae-in said the country will offer free COVID-19 vaccinations to all its people in phases.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)(SFC, 1/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 11, Zimbabwe banned families from transporting their dead relatives between cities, as part of new measures stop traditional funeral rites that are believed to be increasing the spread of the coronavirus.
(AP, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 12, The Trump administration ordered states to use Covid-19 vaccines set aside for second doses to get the shots to more people more quickly.
(NY Times, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, Within a span of about 24 hours, three House Democrats have announced they tested positive for COVID-19, prompting concern that last week’s insurrection at the Capitol has also turned into a super-spreader event threatening the health of lawmakers and their staffs.
(AP, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, California to date had 2,799,189 cases of coronavirus and 31,156 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 315,614 cases and 3,148 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 22,846,796 with the death toll at 380,796.
(sfist.com, 1/12/21)
2021 Jan 12, General Motors Co shares jumped to their highest level since the company's post-bankruptcy IPO in 2010, as the automaker announced its entry into the growing electric delivery vehicle business.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, Johnson & Johnson said tis new one-shot COVID-19 vaccine generated a long-lasting immune response in an early safety study.
(SFC, 1/14/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 12, Local partners in Brazil said CoronaVac, a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac, showed "general efficacy" of 50.4% in a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, PM Justin Trudeau said Canada has ordered an additional 20 million doses of Pfizer Inc's coronavirus vaccine after provinces complained about inadequate supplies.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, India's Bharat Biotech said it has signed an agreement with a medicine distributor to supply its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to Brazil, even as the shot's emergency use approval in its home country has faced criticism.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, Italy reported 616 coronavirus-related deaths, up from 448 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,242 from 12,532.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, Malaysia's king approved a coronavirus emergency that will suspend parliament and hold off calls for elections in a political reprieve for embattled PM Muhyiddin Yassin.
(SFC, 1/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 12, Micronesia reported its firstcase of the coronavirus after a crew member on an arriving ship tested positive.
(SFC, 1/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 12, Switzerland approved Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the second shot after Pfizer and BioNTech's to be approved in the country and clearing the way to get up to 1.5 million doses from the firms through February.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 13, California to date had 2,815,944 cases of coronavirus and 31,255 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 319,465 cases and 3,193 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,047,409 with the death toll at 384,277.
(sfist.com, 1/13/21)
2021 Jan 13, Britain reported 1,564 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test for COVID-19, a record daily toll.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, Italy reported 507 coronavirus-related deaths, against 616 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 15,774 from 14,242.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, Jordan began a coronavirus vaccination program intended to inoculate one in four of its ten million population over coming months.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to expand the vaccination effort.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, It was reported that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Brazilian pharmaceutical company Uniao Quimica have agreed on supplies of 10 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to Brazil in the first quarter of 2021.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, The Spanish regions of Galicia, La Rioja and Cantabria became the latest to tighten coronavirus restrictions amid a spiraling national infection rate that officials have blamed on lax adherence to the rules over Christmas. Spain reported 38,869 new coronavirus infections and 195 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)(SFC, 1/14/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 13, Switzerland announced stricter measures including store closures in a bid to reduce contacts amid fears that the British and other variants could rapidly spread and overwhelm hospital and healthcare infrastructure.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 13, Turkish authorities gave the go-ahead for the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., paving the way for the rollout for Turkey’s vaccination program starting with health care workers and other high-risk groups.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, The Vatican began its COVID-19 vaccination program, but it was not clear when Pope Francis would get his shot.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 14, California to date had 2,839,166 cases of coronavirus and 31,676 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 324,710 cases and 3,237 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,121,192 with the death toll at 385,855.
(sfist.com, 1/13/21)
2021 Jan 14, Bulgaria began anti-COVID-19 inoculations with its first batch of Moderna's vaccine, amid concern over the slow pace of the rollout.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, It was reported that more than 22 million people in China have been ordered to remain inside their homes due to coronavirus flareups in cities near Beijing and a county in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
(SFC, 1/14/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 14, A team from the World Health Organization arrived in Wuhan to investigate the source of the virus. Chinese authorities barred two scientists because of positive antibody tests.
(NY Times, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Gambia said it has recorded its first two cases of the highly infectious coronavirus variant first found in Britain, in what appears to be the first confirmation of the variant's presence in Africa.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, In Germany figures published today showed the highest number of daily deaths since the start of the pandemic. The Robert Koch Institute said 1,244 deaths from COVID-19 were confirmed in one day up to today, taking the total number to 43,881. There were also 25,164 newly confirmed cases, putting Germany’s total known infections close to 2 million.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Hungary's government said it has reached a deal with China's Sinopharm to buy its coronavirus vaccine. Under European Union rules it would have to give an ultra-fast emergency use approval.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Italy reported 522 coronavirus-related deaths, against 507 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 17,246 from 15,774.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Lebanese authorities began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round-the-clock curfew, hoping to blunt the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Sweden reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths for a single day, taking the total toll above 10,000, although new infections appear to be easing. Some 10,185 people have now died in Sweden from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, A Swiss regional government said three-quarters of a nursing home's residents and half its workers have been infected with the coronavirus variant first found in Britain.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Turkey began administering COVID-19 shots developed by China's Sinovac to health workers, as it vaccinated more than 260,000 people as part of a nationwide program against the virus.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, The Vatican said both Pope Francis (84) and ex Pope Benedict (93) have received the first dose of a vaccine against coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 15, California to date had 2,919,040 cases of coronavirus and 32,990 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 329,778 cases and 3,287 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,503,736 with the death toll at 391,631.
(sfist.com, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, US pharmaceutical company Pfizer confirmed it will temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe of its COVID-19 vaccine while it upgrades production capacity to 2 billion doses per year.
(AP, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Brazil's Air Force delivered emergency supplies of oxygen to the jungle state of Amazonas, where hospitals overwhelmed by resurging coronavirus cases were airlifting patients to other states to save them from dying of suffocation.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, British transport minister Grant Shapps said a Brazilian variant of the coronavirus is significant enough to justify stopping flights from South America as a precaution.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Britain recorded 55,761 new cases of COVID-19, an increase on the 48,682 cases recorded the previous day, as the number of infections rises despite hopes that lockdowns across the country could start to help push rates down.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, China's state media reported that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a Sinopharm subsidiary, is safe in those aged between three and 17, based on clinical data obtained by the company.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, The European Union's drug regulator said that COVID-19 vaccine documents stolen from its servers in a cyberattack have been not only leaked to the web, but “manipulated" by hackers.
(AP, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Italy reported 477 coronavirus-related deaths, against 522 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections declined to 16,146 from 17,246.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Nepal granted approval for AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD vaccine against the coronavirus, the government said, following a meeting with neighboring India, a major manufacturer of the shot.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Pakistan reported a total of 514,338 coronavirus infections and 10,863 confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 1/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 15, The Philippines extended by two weeks a ban on travelers from more than 30 territories and countries where a more transmissible COVID-19 variant has been detected, with the restriction also now covering Filipinos who want to come home.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund said Paraguay has become the latest Latin American country to approve emergency use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Tunisia said it recorded 4,170 new confirmed coronavirus cases, a record since the start of the pandemic. Infections have now reached 175,065 cases and 5,528 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 16, California congressman Rep. Lou Correa said he has contracted the coronavirus before he could get a second dose of vaccine that would have improved his immunity. He received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 19.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, California to date had 2,930,881 cases of coronavirus and 33,113 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 331,971 cases and 3,320 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,669,315 with the death toll at 394,413.
(sfist.com, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said recent COVID-19 outbreaks in the northeast have come from travelers entering the country or contaminated frozen food imports.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Denmark found its first case of a more contagious coronavirus variant from South Africa, and saw a rise in the number of infections with the highly transmissible B117 variant first identified in Britain.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Germany recorded 18,678 confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours and another 980 deaths. Germany has carried out more than a million vaccinations as new infections and deaths remain high.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, India began what is likely the world's largest coronavirus vaccination rollout when the country's first dose was administered to a sanitation worker at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Italy reported 475 coronavirus-related deaths, against 477 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 16,310 from 16,146.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Malaysia reported 4,029 new coronavirus cases, the biggest daily increase recorded in the country since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total number of infections to 155,095. Eight new deaths took the total number of fatalities to 594. Malaysia's Top Glove Corp, the world's largest medical grade glove maker, said some employees at four factories had tested positive for COVID-19 recently.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Mexico registered its worst week yet of the pandemic, with a record number of infections from the new coronavirus and more than 7,000 COVID-19 deaths.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Pakistan said AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use, making it the first coronavirus vaccine to get the green light for use in the South Asian country.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, A plane carrying one million doses of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine arrived on in Serbia, making it the first European country to receive the Chinese vaccine for mass inoculation programs.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 17, California to date had 2,951,771 cases of coronavirus and 33,418 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 336,222 cases and 3,350 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,819,290 with the death toll at 396,549.
(sfist.com, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the coronavirus lockdown will be extended until Feb. 7 and that social distancing rules will be toughened.
(SFC, 1/18/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 17, Authorities in China reported 109 new COVID-19 cases, most of them in Hebei province surrounding Beijing. China has in the past week seen the number of daily cases jump to an over 10-month high.
(Reuters, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, German pharmaceutical giant Bayer said it is examining whether it can help CureVac to produce its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, Lebanon finalized a deal with Pfizer for 2.1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine amid surge in infections that has overwhelmed the country's health care system.
(AP, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, In the Netherlands several thousand people held an unauthorized protest in Amsterdam against a national lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, before being dispersed by riot police.
(Reuters, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that a convoy of trucks carrying emergency oxygen supplies for Brazil's northern Amazonas state, where a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has hit hard, has departed and is set to arrive at the border by tomorrow morning.
(AP, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, The United States called on China to allow an expert team from the World Health Organization (WHO) to interview "care givers, former patients and lab workers" in the central city of Wuhan, and ensure its access to medical data and samples.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, California to date had 2,975,078 cases of coronavirus and 33,613 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 340,174 cases and 3,378 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,062,465 with the death toll at 398,879.
(sfist.com, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, China's Sinovac Biotech said that a clinical trial in Brazil showed its COVID-19 vaccine was almost 20 percentage points more effective in a small sub-group of patients who received their two doses longer apart.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, Hong Kong reported 107 new coronavirus cases, the highest toll in nearly a month as authorities tested thousands of residents after an outbreak in an old residential building located in a busy commercial and residential area last week.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, PM Erna Solberg said Norway will ease some coronavirus restrictions as extra measures in place for two weeks seem to have had the desired effect, although she added that infection rates remained too high for comfort.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, In the Philippines coronavirus infections rose to 502,736, the 2nd highest in Southeast Asia.
(SFC, 1/19/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 18, Portugal's daily death toll from the new coronavirus reached a record high of 167, bringing the total to 9,028 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, Slovakia said it is seeking to test almost all citizens for the coronavirus by Jan. 27.
(SFC, 1/19/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 19, California to date had 3,037,066 cases of coronavirus and 34,278 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 345,688 cases and 3,436 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,230,850 with the death toll at 401,361.
(sfist.com, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Oklahoma reported an increase of 43 deaths due to COVID-19 raising the number of total fatalities to 3,037.
(SFC, 1/21/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 19, Britain reported a record number of deaths from COVID-19 with 1,610 people dying within 28 days of positive coronavirus test, exceeding the previous peak set last week. Britain said it would give COVID-19 shots to up to 2,000 people working in vaccine supply chains, after AstraZeneca requested protection for its workers trying to deliver an ambitious vaccine rollout program.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, China reported 118 more coronavirus cases with 43 in Jilin province, 35 in Hebei province reported 35 and 27 in Heilongjiang province.
(SFC, 1/20/21, p.A9)
2021 Jan 19, Unions at French drug maker Sanofi held a one-day strike at the lab where it is developing a COVID-19 vaccine and some other sites, to protest job cuts the company plans despite a boost in investment amid the pandemic.
(AP, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state premiers agreed to extend a lockdown for most shops and schools until Feb. 14 as part of a package of steps to try to rein in the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Italy reported 603 coronavirus-related deaths, against 377 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 10,497 from 8,824.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Japan's health minister watched a demonstration of a prototype automated COVID-19 testing machine that uses a robotic arm to take a sample from a person's nose and can deliver the results in about 80 minutes.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Kuwait said it has registered its first cases of a more contagious coronavirus variant in two Kuwaiti women who had been in Britain. The Gulf Arab state has recorded a total of 158,244 COVID-19 infections and 948 deaths since the coronavirus outbreak.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Malaysia said it would extend lockdown restrictions across most of the country as it grappled with a rise in coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Portugal recorded 218 new COVID-19 fatalities, up from 167 a day earlier, pushing the total death toll since the start of the pandemic to 9,246. Doctors warned of a healthcare system nearing collapse as the daily death toll from COVID-19 reached a new record high.
(AP, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Russian consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said a candidate COVID-19 vaccine known as EpiVacCorona, Russia's second to be registered, has proved "100% effective" in early-stage trials.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Rwanda re-introduced tough lockdown measures in its capital Kigali after a surge in coronavirus cases. Rwanda has recorded 11,259 cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus and 146 deaths.
(AP, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Serbia became first European country to use Chinese COVID vaccine for mass rollout. Serbia last week received one million doses of Chinese Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Spain said it will sell 30,000 doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to microstate Andorra, as part of its plan to redistribute excess vaccines. Andorra less than 80,000 inhabitants has reported 9,145 infections and 92 deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Sweden said has seen a decline in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks, but its Health Agency warned it was too early to say if it represented a lasting slowdown.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Thailand’s government defended its coronavirus vaccine strategy against opposition criticism that it is too reliant on Siam Bioscience, a company owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 20, California to date had 3,073,223 cases of coronavirus and 35,059 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 348,340 cases and 3,503 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,421,994 with the death toll at 405,630.
(sfist.com, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Amazon offered to help the Biden administration meet its goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in President Biden's first 100 days in office.
(NBC News, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Lab tests released today showed that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is likely to protect against a more infectious variant of the virus discovered in Britain which has spread around the world.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Britain reported a record number of deaths from COVID-19, with 1,820 people dying within 28 days of positive coronavirus test, surpassing the previous peak set a day earlier.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, China said three drugmakers had submitted applications to supply their COVID-19 vaccines to global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX in the country's first formal move to provide locally developed shots to the initiative. Sinovac Biotech, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and CanSino Biologics have applied to join the scheme.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, India began supplying coronavirus vaccines to its neighboring countries.
(SFC, 1/21/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 20, Italy reported 524 coronavirus-related deaths, against 603 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,571 from 10,497.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Portugal's number of daily coronavirus cases rose from 10,455 to 14,647, a 40% jump as hospitals struggle to cope with a surge in infections and deaths.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Russia filed for registration of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the EU bloc.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 20, United Nations agencies warned that more than 350 million people in the Asia-Pacific region are going hungry as the coronavirus pandemic destroys jobs and pushes food prices higher.
(AP, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, The World Health Organization said that three COVID-19 vaccines were in the late stages of review for possible emergency use listing, in addition to the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech already approved. The WHO said shots from Moderna, AstraZeneca and China's Sinopharm and Sinovac could win emergency go-ahead in coming weeks or months.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, The Vatican began offering free vaccinations against COVID-19 to Rome's homeless.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo (b.1960) died after succumbing to Covid-19.
(BBC, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 21, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top adviser on the pandemic, said the United States will resume funding for the World Health Organization and join its consortium aimed at sharing coronavirus vaccines fairly around the globe.
(AP, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Alabama's Gov. kay Ivey announced an extension of a statewide ordnance requiring facemasks in public through March 5 to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 1/22/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 21, Arizona, the state with worst diagnosis rate in the US, reported nearly 9,400 confirmed coronavirus cases and 244 deaths, increasing totals to 699,942 cases and 11,772 deaths.
(SFC, 1/22/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 21, California to date had 3,090,663 cases of coronavirus and 35,551 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 351,303 cases and 3,616 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,614,129 with the death toll at 409,794.
(sfist.com, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, The drug maker Eli Lilly said that a treatment usually used to fight Covid-19 symptoms also prevented healthy people in nursing homes from contracting the virus. The drug, bamlanivimab, already has an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration that allows Eli Lilly to provide it to symptomatic patients early in the course of their infection.
(NY Times, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, The head of Africa's disease control body said the continent's coronavirus case fatality rate has risen alarmingly to 2.5%, higher than the global level of 2.2%.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, The death toll from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom hit 94,580 after the country recorded another 1,290 fatalities, while official data showed medics had delivered a new high of 363,508 vaccines in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Britain's health minister Matt Hancock said data supports the country's decision to move to a 12-week dosing schedule for Pfizer's COVID vaccine, adding details on efficacy gathered during the rollout would be published as soon as possible.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, China reported its first cluster of COVID-19 cases among workers in a meat processing plant in the northeastern city of Harbin, raising fears among local consumers who have until now mainly worried about the safety of imported foods.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Dubai's tourism department announced an immediate halt to all live entertainment at hotels and restaurants as COVID-19 cases increased.
(SFC, 1/22/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 21, EU government officials said Pfizer has slashed in half the volume of COVID-19 vaccines it will deliver to some EU countries this week, as frustration over the US drugmaker's unexpected cut in supplies grows.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Europe's disease surveillance agency said that the three mutant variants of the coronavirus that emerged in Britain, South Africa and Brazil pose a high risk in Europe as they have led to increased transmissibility.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Government sources said India will give millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine to South Asian countries in the next few weeks, drawing praise from its neighbors and pushing back against China's dominating presence in the region.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Indonesia reported 346 deaths from COVID-19, hitting a new record for the second time this week, as hospitals in the Southeast Asian nation come under increasing strain from the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Italy reported 521 coronavirus-related deaths, against 524 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,078 from 13,571.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Authorities in Lebanon extended a nationwide lockdown by a week, to Feb. 8, amid a steep rise in coronavirus deaths and infections that has overwhelmed the health care system.
(AP, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Northern Ireland extended its COVID-19 lockdown for an additional four weeks to March 5 and its deputy first minister said the measures might have to be extended again.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Portugal’s government ordered the closure of schools for two weeks amid a surge in COVID-19 infections that PM António Costa blamed on the rise of a more contagious variant.
(AP, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Russia said it could supply Hungary with its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine from next month, after Budapest gave initial approval to the shot.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, In Switzerland local officials said mass COVID-19 testing of thousands of people in the resort of St Moritz, where luxury hotels were placed under quarantine, found 53 coronavirus infections, including 31 cases of a fast-spreading variant.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, It was reported that Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use approval for the COVID-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca Plc.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, The United Arab Emirates registered Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for domestic use. New daily cases in the Gulf state of about 9 million people tripled in the past month to about 354 per million this week.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 22, A US official said between 150 and 200 National Guard deployed to Washington, DC, to provide security for President Joe Biden's inauguration have tested positive for the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Researchers said new variant of the coronavirus appears to account for the recent surge of cases in southern California. The variant, called CAL.20C, accounted for fewer than one in every 1,000 COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles county in July. It was not detected again until October, but by December accounted for 36% of cases.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, California to date had 3,108,076 cases of coronavirus and 35,925 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 353,546 cases and 3,701 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,806,034 with the death toll at 413,818.
(sfist.com, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, PM Alexander De Croo said Belgium is banning all leisure travel abroad for its citizens as of next week and until March, in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its virulent variants.
(AP, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, A survey showed that Britain's relapse into a third national COVID-19 lockdown has sparked the sharpest drop in business activity since May, with services companies hit hardest.
(AP, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, China premiered a patriotic documentary film to mark the one-year anniversary of Wuhan's coronavirus lockdown, part of a broader effort by authorities to cast the government's early response to COVID-19 in a positive light.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Beijing ordered more coronavirus tests for about 2 million people in its downtown area after new cases were reported in the Chinese capital. China's National Health Commission announced 103 new cases had been detected over the past 24 hours.
(AP, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Denmark said it has halted all flights arriving from the United Arab Emirates for five days due to potentially unreliable coronavirus tests in Dubai.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, The Finnish government said it would put in place stricter regulations from Jan. 27 for entering the country, due to new variants of the coronavirus spreading within its borders.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, France registered a further 23,292 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 649 more deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours as President Emmanuel Macron's government fought against the possibility of a third national lockdown.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, In Germany 859 coronavirus deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, taking the total so far to 50,642.
(AP, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Hungary said it has signed a deal to buy Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the first European Union country to do so.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, PM Narendra Modi said India was completely self-reliant on coronavirus vaccine supplies as the world's second-most populous country inoculated more than one million people within a week of starting a massive campaign.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda said the country would receive enough COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate 70% of its population by early July, and that this would achieve herd immunity.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Morocco received 2 million doses of Astrazeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first African country to get a large enough shipment to roll out a nationwide immunization program.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Myanmar received 1.5 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine supplied by India to inoculate 750,000 people, the first vaccine batch delivered to the Southeast Asian country as it fights one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the region.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Paraguay said it has signed agreements with two pharmaceutical companies to buy 3 million doses of coronavirus vaccines and plans to start vaccinations in the second half of February. Paraguay has registered 125,518 cases of coronavirus and 2,570 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 23, California to date had 3,140,710 cases of coronavirus and 36,785 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 354,499 cases and 3,738 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,985,689 with the death toll at 417,339.
(sfist.com, 1/23/21)
2021 Jan 23, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved a second emergency use request of China's CoronaVac vaccine, which will allow for the distribution of 4.8 million new doses that were partly manufactured in Brazil.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 23, China reported 80 new COVID-19 cases, mostly in the northeast where some residents complained they were short of food amid an ongoing local lockdowns, down from 107 a day earlier. The financial hub of Shanghai imposed new restrictions, as the country marked the anniversary of the world's first coronavirus lockdown in Wuhan city, where the disease emerged in late 2019. 107 new COVID-19 cases had been identified in the mainland, up from 103 cases the day before.
(Reuters, 1/23/21)(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 23, Hong Kong's government locked down an area of Kowloon peninsula after an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, saying 10,000 residents must stay home until they have been tested and the results largely determined.
(Reuters, 1/23/21)
2021 Jan 23, Norway's capital Oslo and nine neighboring municipalities imposed some of their toughest lockdown measures yet after an outbreak of a more contagious coronavirus variant, first identified in Britain.
(Reuters, 1/23/21)
2021 Jan 23, Spain's top General Miguel Angel Villaroya resigned after allegations he had received the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of priority groups, one of a number of public officials who have sparked public anger because of reports they have jumped the vaccination queue.
(Reuters, 1/23/21)
2021 Jan 23, Zimbabwe recorded a total of 31,007 cases, including 974 deaths, up from the slightly more than 10,000 cases and 277 deaths at the beginning of December. Four Cabinet ministers have died of COVID-19, three within the past two weeks.
(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, A White House official said Pres. Joe Biden will ban travel by noncitizens into the US from South Africa as of Jan. 30 because of concern about a coronavirus variant spreading in that country.
(NY Times, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, California to date had 3,144,592 cases of coronavirus and 36,844 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 357,949 cases and 3,818 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,109,148 with the death toll at 418,982.
(sfist.com, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Australia recorded no new local coronavirus cases, maintaining a recent run of success in keeping the virus at bay, but nevertheless is keen to press on with its vaccination campaign from next month.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Britain said it is expanding a coronavirus vaccination program that has seen almost 6 million people get the first of two doses, even as the country’s death toll in the pandemic approached 100,000.
(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Egypt launched a vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, with the first shots of Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm’s vaccine given to healthcare workers in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia.
(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Italy reported 299 coronavirus-related deaths, down from 488 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 11,629 from 13,331.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said the first case of a new variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Serbia in a woman who arrived from London, but that no new lockdown is planned.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Taiwan said it will more than double the number of people who have to quarantine at home to more than 5,000 as it seeks to contain a rare domestic cluster of COVID-19 connected to a hospital. Taiwan only has 95 active cases being treated in hospital.
(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 25, California lifted regional stay-at-home orders across the state in response to improving coronavirus conditions, returning the state to a system of county-by-county restrictions.
(AP, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, The peer review journal Science published a paper that confirms the drug Plitidepsin (aka Aplidin), manufactured by the Spanish pharmaceutical company PharmaMar, has a "potent preclinical efficacy" against COVID-19. The drug, already authorized in some markets to treat tumors, blocks a protein associated with the COVID-19 virus. A UCSF-led team identified the anti-cancer drug.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)(SFC, 1/26/21, p.A1)
2021 Jan 25, California to date had 3,176,457 cases of coronavirus and 37,369 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 360,731 cases and 3,857 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,258,210 with the death toll at 420,830.
(sfist.com, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Minnesota confirmed that a new Brazilian variant of the coronavirus (Brazil P.1) was recently identified in a person who returned home to the Twin Cities area and became ill the first week of January.
(https://tinyurl.com/yyb3durf)(SFC, 1/27/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 25, CVS Health Corp said it has completed the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations at about 8,000 US skilled nursing facilities that were part of a federal program.
(AP, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Drugmaker Merck & Co said it would stop development of its two COVID-19 vaccines and focus pandemic research on treatments, with initial data on an experimental oral antiviral expected by the end of March. Merck said it would focus COVID-19 research and manufacturing efforts on two investigational medicines: MK-7110 and MK-4482, which it now calls molnupiravir.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Moderna said it believes its COVID-19 vaccine protects against new variants found in Britain and South Africa, although it will test a new booster shot aimed at the South Africa variant after concluding that the antibody response could be diminished.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Australia's medical regulator approved use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
(SFC, 1/26/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 25, Bulgaria said it will make everyone coming into the country take COVID-19 tests to stop the spread of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus.
(AP, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, The EU said it will require pharmaceutical companies producing COVID-19 vaccines inside the bloc to register in advance any exports of doses to third countries.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Hong Kong said it has formally approved use of the Fosun Pharma-BioNTech vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be accepted in the Asian financial hub.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Mexico's coronavirus death toll passed 150,000 following a surge in infections in recent weeks.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, New Zealand confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in the community in months in a woman (56), but said close contacts of the recently returned traveler had so far tested negative.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, A group of UN experts criticized Sri Lanka's requirement that those who die of COVID-19 be cremated, even it goes against a family's religious beliefs.
(AP, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, California to date had 3,202,938 cases of coronavirus and 37,699 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 363,237 cases and 3,911 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,433,812 with the death toll at 425,036.
(sfist.com, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Eli Lilly and Co said it combination antibody drug helped reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients by 70%, citing early data from a late-stage study.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, A study released today based on laboratory tests said COVID-19 antibody drugs developed by Eli Lilly and Co and Regeneron may be weaker against a new coronavirus variant found in South Africa.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 26, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said its antibody cocktail was found effective in preventing COVID-19 in people exposed to those infected with the new coronavirus in an ongoing late stage trial.
(AP, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents gave their backing to a vaccination program to which the World Health Organization’s COVAX program has pledged $112 million.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, The Global Times reported that China's COVID-19 vaccines based on the inactivated virus can be upgraded to cope with new variants in about two months, citing an expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, It was reported that China is constructing a quarantine center in response to a coronavirus outbreak in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.
(SFC, 1/26/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 26, Indonesia surpassed a million confirmed coronavirus cases. The country has recorded 1,012,350 cases and deaths from the respiratory disease now totaled 28,468.
(AP, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Iran said it has approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and plans to both import it and produce it, giving the Middle East's worst-hit country a tool to fight the spread of COVID-19.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Israel said it has not registered a single serious COVID-19 case among the 6% of citizens already given a full set of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccinations, even as infections surge in the wider population.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Japanese drugmaker Shionogi & Co SAID IT has sold the development and marketing rights for a COVID-19 treatment to California-based biotech BioAge Labs Inc. The drug, known as BGE-175, was developed to treat allergic rhinitis.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Lebanon hit a new daily record for COVID-19 fatalities, registering 73 deaths as protesters took to the streets for a second day to denounce strict lockdown measures put in place to curb an exhausting surge in infections.
(AP, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Malaysia said it had signed deals with two domestic companies to purchase 18.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines produced by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute and China's Sinovac.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, In Portugal COVID-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours reached a record of 291, bringing the country's total to 653,878 cases and 11,012 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, The Swiss-based World Health Organization (WHO) issued fresh clinical advice for treating COVID-19 patients, including those displaying persistent symptoms after recovery, and also said it advised using low-dose anti-coagulants to prevent blood clots. The WHO also issued recommendations on the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and said it was working with the company to accelerate its approval of the shot for WHO emergency use listing.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 27, California to date had 3,220,247 cases of coronavirus and 38,440 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 365,697 cases and 3,996 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,583,630 with the death toll at 428,791.
(sfist.com, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Bahrain said it will suspend dine-in services at restaurants and cafes and move public and private schools to remote learning for three weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Bahrain registered 459 new cases, adding to a total of nearly 100,000 since the start of the pandemic, with 370 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Chile's health regulator approved the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use among its population by a unanimous vote of its advisory board.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Cyprus announced a staggered easing of lockdown measures following a fall in the number of COVID-19 infections, including the reopening of primary schools and shopping malls on Feb. 8.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, French drugmaker Sanofi said it will help bottle and package 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by its rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, while its own vaccine candidate faces delays.
(AP, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Indian drugmaker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories said it had terminated its clinical study of Fujifilm Holdings' COVID-19 treatment Avigan in patients with moderate to severe symptoms in Kuwait. Data showed that the difference in time taken by Avigan and placebo to resolve a sustained absence of oxygen in the tissues was not significant enough to continue the trial.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, It was reported that the COVAXIN vaccine, developed by India's Bharat Biotech and a government research institute, is likely to be effective against the UK strain of the coronavirus.
(AP, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Morocco received half a million doses of China’s Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine as it prepares to be the first African country to roll out a national immunization campaign.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Dutch police said that the fourth night of the Netherlands' coronavirus curfew passed more peacefully than the previous three nights marred by rioting. Even so, officers arrested 131 people, mainly for public order offenses and incitement.
(AP, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, South Africa said it has given fast-track approval to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use and is reviewing applications by rival manufacturers Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Switzerland said it will require negative coronavirus tests from people entering the country from high-risk areas as of February 8. The government extended unemployment benefits by three months and said the federal government would finance around 6 billion francs in extra spending to compensate workers on shortened working hours.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Tanzania's President John Magufuli said that no lockdown was planned because God would protect people from COVID-19 while homespun precautions such as steam inhalation were better than vaccines. WHO data showed that Tanzania has officially reported a total number of 509 COVID-19 infections and 21 deaths, but the figures have not been updated for more than six months.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 28, California to date had 3,233,942 cases of coronavirus and 38,991 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 368,285 cases and 4,068 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,736,789 with the death toll at 432,603.
(sfist.com, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Novavax, a little-known company supported by the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed, said that its coronavirus vaccine was almost 90 percent effective. But it’s only about 50 percent effective against the variant that was first found in South Africa.
(AP, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, The European Union's drugs regulator approved the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine after the pharma giant published its contract with the EU, amid a row over whether it broke its vaccine commitments.
(The Telegraph, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Germany's vaccine committee recommended that AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should only be given to people aged between 18 and 64.
(Reuters, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, India's health minister declared its COVID-19 epidemic contained as, with most of the country's active patients concentrated in two states, a fifth of districts completed a week with no new cases.
(Reuters, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Mexico’s death toll became the world’s third highest. Cases have surged in the country since December, and its hospitals are struggling.
(NY Times, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Russia dispatched 240,000 doses of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, with most heading to Argentina and the rest bound for Bolivia.
(Reuters, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Vietnam reported 82 new coronavirus cases, hours after confirming the first two infections in nearly two months. Vietnam has so far reported 1,553 cases.
(AP, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 29, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a sweeping order late today requiring the use of face masks on nearly all forms of public transportation as of Feb. 2 as the country continues to report thousands of daily COVID-19 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, US Scientists, who normally focus on fixing defective genes, said that up to $2.1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help them move their COVID-19 vaccine candidate toward 2021 human trials. Harvard Univ. scientist Luk Vandenberghe and Univ. of Pennsylvania gene therapy head James Wilson said primate safety and efficacy tests have proven promising for their single-dose candidate, targeted for room-temperature storage.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, California to date had 3,273,718 cases of coronavirus and 40,231 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 370,521 cases and 4,166 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,932,791 with the death toll at 436,799.
(sfist.com, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Johnson & Johnson said that its single-dose vaccine was 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a large global trial against multiple variants, giving health officials another weapon to tackle the pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Mainland China reported 52 new coronavirus cases, unchanged from a day earlier.
(AP, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, The European Union introduced tighter rules on exports of COVID-19 vaccines that could hit shipments to nations like the United Kingdom, deepening a dispute with London over scarce supplies of potentially lifesaving shots.
(AP, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Hungary’s medicine and food safety regulator approved China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the first country in the EU to do so.
(AP, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Spain's death toll from COVID-19 rose by 513 to 58,319, in one of the highest one-day increases since the first wave of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Sri Lanka began inoculating front-line health workers, military troops and police officers against COVID-19 amid warnings about infections among medical workers.
(AP, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Vietnam's health minister said a new COVID-19 outbreak was "basically under control" in the most exposed areas affected by the latest infections.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Zimbabwe's VP Constantino Chiwenga said it was likely that more transmissible variants of COVID-19 were now circulating in Zimbabwe and the government was investigating. More than half of Zimbabwe's 32,646 confirmed COVID-19 cases and two-thirds of its 1,160 deaths were recorded this month.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 30, California to date had 3,283,850 cases of coronavirus and 40,603 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 372,007 cases and 4,198 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,052,135 with the death toll at 439,347.
(sfist.com, 1/30/21)
2021 Jan 30, Algeria launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign in Blida, where the country's first COVID-19 case was confirmed in March.
(AP, 1/30/21)
2021 Jan 30, Cuba's government announced that most travelers entering Cuba as of Feb. 6 will be quarantined for up to a week, and that flights from the US and some other countries would be reduced to no more than one per week per airline. COVID-19 cases have surged in the country since airports began reopening in November.
(Reuters, 1/30/21)
2021 Jan 31, Denmark extended restrictions that closed schools and stores, except for grocery stores and pharmacies, and banned public gatherings of more than five people until the end of February to help slow the spread of the coronavirus..
{Denmark, COVID-19}
(SSFC, 1/31/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 31, France closed all large shopping centers and closed its borders to people arriving from outside the EU to try to stop the spread of new variants of the coronavirus.
{France, COVID-19}
(SFC, 2/1/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 31, Israel said it has agreed to transfer 5,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the Palestinians to immunize front-line health workers.
{Iraq, COVID-19}
(SFC, 2/1/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 30, Vietnam's health ministry approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for domestic inoculation, the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the country. Vietnam has kept its tally to a low 1,739 infections and 35 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/30/21)
2021 Jan 31, California to date had 3,297,726 cases of coronavirus and 40,869 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 373,706 cases and 4,239 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,185,357 with the death toll at 441,319.
(sfist.com, 1/31/21)
2021 Jan 31, It was reported that Russia has begun supplying its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to the rebel-controlled region of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine despite a ban by Kyiv.
(Reuters, 1/31/21)
2021 Jan 31, Saudi Arabia's health minister said that complacency around coronavirus restrictions had led to a notable increase in daily cases. The kingdom has recorded more than 367,800 cases and 6,370 deaths so far, the highest tally in the region.
(AP, 1/31/21)
2021 Feb 1, California to date had 3,323,013 cases of coronavirus and 41,336 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 376,297 cases and 4,244 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,317,525 with the death toll at 443,361.
(sfist.com, 2/1/21)
2021 Feb 2, California to date had 3,323,013 cases of coronavirus and 41,342 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 378,021 cases and 4,296 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,432,150 with the death toll at 446,807.
(sfist.com, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, A British study said the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may be less able to protect against infection with a South African variant of the virus that has a worrying mutation.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, It was reported that the UK variant, E484K, of the coronavirus has developed a new, concerning mutation in a small number of cases, which scientists said makes it similar to the South African and Brazilian variants and could reduce the efficacy of vaccines.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Britain's Captain Tom Moore, the World War Two veteran who lifted a nation's spirits by raising millions of pounds for health service workers battling the coronavirus, died aged 100 after he contracted COVID-19.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Canada's PM Justin Trudeau said the Novavax Inc vaccine, still awaiting approval from Canadian regulators, would be produced in a new government facility in Montreal that is due to be finished later this year. Canada has a deal to buy 52 million doses of the Novavax vaccine.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Mexico's Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said the Latin American nation had signed a contract for Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and would likely issue an emergency use authorization for it within hours.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, The Netherlands said new coronavirus infections fell 20% over the last week but more transmissible variants now account for two-thirds of Dutch infections.
(AP, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, The Palestinian Authority administered its first known coronavirus vaccinations after receiving thousands of doses from Israel, which launched its own vaccination campaign in December and has already inoculated more than a third of its population.
(AP, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, In Portugal daily infections and deaths from COVID-19 retreated further from last week's records and fewer patients were in intensive care, easing pressure on overstretched hospitals. Deaths rose by 260 to 13,017.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Russian scientists said the country's Sputnik V vaccine appears safe and effective against COVID-19, according to early results of an advanced study published today in a British medical journal. Researchers said that based on a fall trial involving about 20,000 people in Russia, the vaccine is about 91% effective and appears to prevent inoculated individuals from becoming severely ill with COVID-19.
(AP, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, It was reported that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has eased some restrictions imposed due to coronavirus, including lifting an unpopular ban on alcohol sales.
(AP, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Sweden said it has seen an increased spread of the British COVID-19 variant, with 11% of randomly screened positive tests last week showing the mutation, thought to be a more contagious form of the virus.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 3, It was reported that the US government has awarded a $231 million contract to scale up production of a COVID-19 test from Australian manufacturer Ellume that allows users to swab themselves at home and check their status in about 20 minutes.
(SFC, 2/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 3, California to date had 3,336,176 cases of coronavirus and 41,903 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 378,536 cases and 4,355 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,545,905 with the death toll at 450,273.
(sfist.com, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, It was reported that Chinese police have arrested more than 80 suspected members of a criminal group that was manufacturing and selling fake COVID-19 vaccines.
(SFC, 2/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 3, In Croatia thousands of small business owners rallied against government lockdown measures. Croatia has registered more than 230,000 confirmed cases and 5,088 deaths.
(AP, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, The Czech Republic health authorities said the country has reached 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases. The country has registered 16,683 deaths.
(AP, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, Denmark's government said it is joining forces with business to develop a digital passport that would show whether people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, allowing them to travel and help ease restrictions on public life.
(SFC, 2/4/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 3, It was reported that about one in four of India's 1.35 billion people may have been infected with the coronavirus, said a source with direct knowledge of a government serological survey, suggesting the country's real caseload was many times higher than reported.
(Reuters, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, Israel said it will expand COVID-19 vaccinations to include anyone over the age of 16, after turnout for shots ebbed.
(Reuters, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, Qatar announced new coronavirus restrictions on daily life, though not as severe as other Arab countries.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 3, The Kremlin said Russia would supply the rebel-controlled regions of eastern Ukraine with its Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 despite Kyiv's ban on using the Russian shots.
(Reuters, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, Switzerland said it has withheld approval for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, demanding more efficacy and quality data before greenlighting a shot that won European Union approval last week. The country separately announced it had ordered millions more COVID-19 vaccine doses from other manufacturers.
(Reuters, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, COVAX, a UN-backed program to deploy COVID-19 vaccines to the neediest people worldwide, especially in poor countries, announced plans for an initial distribution of 100 million doses by the end of March and 200 million more by July.
(AP, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 4, California to date had 3,355,649 cases of coronavirus and 42,764 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 380,957 cases and 4,355 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,671,333 with the death toll at 455,555.
(sfist.com, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Johnson & Johnson asked US regulators to clear the world’s first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, an easier-to-use option that could boost scarce supplies.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Burundi became at least the second African country to say it doesn’t need COVID-19 vaccines. Health minister Thaddee Ndikumana told reporters that prevention is more important. Burundi now has well over 1,600 confirmed coronavirus cases.
(AP, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 4, In India a government serological survey released today said more than a quarter of Indian children aged between 10 and 17 may have already contracted COVID-19, higher than the 21.5% of the overall population found to have been infected.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Iran received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines, 500,000 doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East. Iran has ordered 5 million doses from Russia
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu said vaccination of Israelis over the age of 60 has reduced the rate of that age group getting COVID-19 by almost half and the number of serious cases in that cohort by more than a quarter in the last two weeks.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Italy reported 421 coronavirus-related deaths against 476 the day before, taking the official toll since the epidemic emerged a year ago to 90,241.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, It was reported that the number of people infected by the novel coronavirus in Tokyo may have increased nine-fold since last summer, antibody tests showed, as Japan tries to rein in the country's third and most lethal wave of the pandemic ahead of the Olympics in July.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, It was reported that Malawi is facing a resurgence of COVID-19. The country has more than 23,000 confirmed cases and 702 deaths.
(SFC, 2/4/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 4, Malaysia's government said it expects to complete its COVID-19 immunization program by February next year, covering 80% of its population of about 32 million people.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Malaysia's Solution Group Bhd said it has signed a term sheet agreement with the government to supply 3.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by China's CanSino Biologics Inc and Beijing Institute of Biotechnology under the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Portugal's chief health officer sought to reassure people angry about vaccine delays and queue-jumping that they will get vaccinated, while the number of daily new coronavirus cases and deaths edged down.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Saudi Arabia closed down all shopping malls, gyms and other locations for 10 days, as well as indoor dining. Authorities warned the new measures could be extended. Gulf Arab states launched new restrictions over fears of the coronavirus resurging across their countries.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Sweden registered 89 new COVID-19 related deaths, taking its total to 12,028. The Health Agency said it had registered 3,758 new cases over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Taiwan said it will get a share of 1.3 million COVID-19 vaccine shots produced by AstraZeneca Plc from the COVAX global vaccine program.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Thailand said it will import the first doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine from Asia after Europe enforced export controls.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 5, California to date had 3,362,768 cases of coronavirus and 43,118 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 382,609 cases and 4,522 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,796,013 with the death toll at 459,030.
(sfist.com, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, It was reported that federal executions in the last months of the Trump administration likely served as a COVID superspreader. Employees at the Indiana prison complex where the 13 executions were carried out over six months had contact with inmates and other people infected with the coronavirus.
(AP, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 5, Supermarket chain Kroger Co said it would give $100 to workers who get a COVID-19 vaccination, joining a growing list of US retailers incentivizing employees to get inoculated against the novel coronavirus as soon as possible.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, Britain said it had agreed on a deal with German biotech firm CureVac to work to develop vaccines against coronavirus variants, placing an initial order for 50 million doses in case they are needed.
(AP, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, Oxford university said AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine has similar efficacy against the British coronavirus variant as it does to the previously circulating variants.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, China gave broader approval for the domestic-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, expanding those who can receive it beyond the high-risk and priority groups already allowed under an emergency clearance. Sinovac Biotech said late-stage trial data of its COVID-19 vaccine from Brazil and Turkey showed it prevented hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients, but had a much lower efficacy rate in blocking infections.
(AP, 2/6/21)(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, Mainland China reported 12 new COVID-19 cases, down from 20 cases a day earlier and the lowest daily increase since Dec. 17.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, Madrid health authorities confirmed the first case of the Brazilian variant of COVID-19 in the region, three days after Spain restricted air travel with Brazil and South Africa to curb the spread of virulent new strains.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 6, The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said state coronavirus guidelines will be revised for indoor worship services after the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled a full ban was unconstitutional.
(AP, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 6, California to date had 3,379,596 cases of coronavirus and 43,683 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 384,257 cases and 4,548 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,908,962 with the death toll at 461,910.
(sfist.com, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, It was reported that corpses in Bolivia have begun to pile up as a fierce second wave of the coronavirus has overwhelmed funeral homes and cemeteries. Bolivia has reported 225,910 infections and 10,687 deaths from COVID-19 since the outbreak began.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said Pfizer Inc has applied for full regulatory approval in Brazil of its COVID-19 vaccine developed with BioNTech Se.
(AP, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, Sinovac Biotech said that its unit's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for use by the general public by China's medical products regulator. A vaccine developed by a Beijing institute affiliated with state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved in December.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, France reported a fall in new COVID-19 infections and in the number of patients being treated in hospital, slightly easing pressure on the health system as the country rolled out shots with a third approved vaccine.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, India's government urged states and union territories to accelerate COVID-19 vaccinations after a review found "substantial" room for speeding up the program.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, South Korea eased curfews on more than half a million restaurants and other businesses outside the capital Seoul, letting them stay open an hour later, amid a public backlash over tight curbs to contain COVID-19.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 7, US Representative Ron Wright (67) died after testing positive for COVID-19 last month, making him the first member of the US Congress to die from the pandemic disease that has claimed nearly 464,000 American lives. The Texas Republican had also been battling cancer.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 7, California to date had 3,395,017 cases of coronavirus and 44,153 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 385,713 cases and 4,565 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,006,413 with the death toll at 463,470.
(sfist.com, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, A new study reported that the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus first found in Britain is spreading rapidly in the US, doubling roughly every 10 days.
(SFC, 2/8/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 7, Bangladesh launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive with the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine, aiming to inoculate 3.5 million people in the first month.
(Reuters, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, Britain's vaccine deployment minister said a COVID-19 booster in the autumn and then annual vaccinations are very probable. A lead researcher for the Oxford team said developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified jab to cope with the South Africa coronavirus variant by autumn.
(Reuters, 2/7/21)(AP, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, It was reported that the French Labor Ministry says it will allow employees to eat lunch at their desks in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, a practice previously forbidden under Article R.4428-19 of the 3,324-page French labor code, or Code du Travail.
(NY Times, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, India sent 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Afghanistan, the first to arrive in the war-ravaged country, which is still waiting for emergency approval from the World Health Organization to administer them.
(Reuters, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, South Africa halted its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a study showed "disappointing" results against its new Covid variant. Scientists say the variant accounts for 90% of new Covid cases in South Africa.
(NY Times, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 8, It was reported that Cal-OSHA regulators have fined the California prison system $421,880 for health violations, many of them related to the coronavirus, at San Quentin State Prison. The prison has reported 28 coronavirus deaths among prisoners and one death of a staff member.
(SFC, 2/8/21, p.B1)
2021 Feb 8, California to date had 3,400,070 cases of coronavirus and 44,232 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 387,919 cases and 4,575 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,083,278 with the death toll at 464,831.
(sfist.com, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Argentina said it has detected the first cases of two Brazilian variants of the coronavirus in travelers from the neighboring nation.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Austria issued a warning against travel to its Tyrol province amid concerns over cases of a coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa, even as the country eased its third lockdown by reopening schools, shops, hairdressing salons, museums and zoos.
(AP, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, The British government said migrants living in Britain will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines regardless of whether they have the legal right to live and work in the country, adding that getting the shot would not trigger immigration checks.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, The Czech Health Ministry said it will recommend the use of COVID-19 therapies that contain casirivimab/imdevimab and bamlavinimab antibodies ahead of standard approval.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that he continued to support the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, arguing it provided sufficient protection against "nearly all the variants" of the virus.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Indonesia started vaccinating its elderly medical workers against the coronavirus for the first time.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Iran unveiled its second homegrown coronavirus vaccine project, the day before the launch of a vaccination campaign to combat the Middle East's deadliest Covid-19 outbreak.
(AFP, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Laos received 300,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Pakistan's health minister said CanSino Biologics Inc's (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine showed 65.7% efficacy in preventing symptomatic cases and a 90.98% success rate in stopping severe disease in an interim analysis of global trials.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Portugal's health ministry said the AstraZeneca vaccine should preferably be used on under-65s, the latest European country to express reservations about its efficacy on older people.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Russia issued updated statistics on coronavirus-linked deaths showing that 162,429 people died last year with COVID-19.
(SFC, 2/9/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 8, South Africa said it will roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine in a "stepped manner" to assess its efficacy in preventing severe illness.
(AP, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 9, The FDA approved a Covid-19 therapy by the drug maker Eli Lilly, giving doctors another option for patients who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill.
(NY Times, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, California to date had 3,422,171 cases of coronavirus and 45,007 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 389,334 cases and 4,646 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,190,160 with the death toll at 468,106.
(sfist.com, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that people will have to produce a negative coronavirus test to leave the country's Tyrol province as authorities try to prevent the spread of a coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, PM Justin Trudeau said Canada will ramp up its fight against COVID-19 by obliging citizens returning home from the US by land to show a negative COVID-19 test.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Ethiopia said it has secured nine million doses of COVID-19 vaccines up until April and hopes to inoculate at least a fifth of its 110 million people by the end of the year.
(Reuters, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Ghana’s parliament was suspended for at least three weeks following a surge in COVID-19 cases among parliament members and staff. Ghana’s Health Services confirmed that there have been 73,003 cases, including 482 deaths since the outbreak began last year.
(AP, 2/10/21)
2021 Feb 9, It was reported that the Indian army is training dogs to find COVID-19 in its ranks by sniffing human sweat and urine.
(Reuters, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Iran launched a coronavirus inoculation campaign among healthcare professionals with recently delivered Russian Sputnik V vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East with its death toll nearing 59,000.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Pakistan said it has approved Russia's Sputnik-V making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for emergency use after China's Sinopharm and the ones developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
(Reuters, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Health experts said Portugal’s COVID-19 infection rate has dropped sharply after a lockdown aimed at addressing a devastating January pandemic surge, but it is still recording the most daily deaths in the world by size of population.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, A World Health Organization expert said the coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and most probably jumped to humans via an intermediary species.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 10, California to date had 3,425,087 cases of coronavirus and 45,178 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 390,331 cases and 4,697 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,280,775 with the death toll at 471,195.
(sfist.com, 2/10/21)
2021 Feb 10, Authorities reported that the share of people infected with the more contagious coronavirus variant first identified in Britain is on the rise in Denmark.
(Reuters, 2/10/21)
2021 Feb 10, Equatorial Guinea received 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by China's Sinopharm, the latest in a series of donations to countries on the continent struggling to procure shots.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, California to date had 3,430,592 cases of coronavirus and 45,496 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 391,718 cases and 4,747 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,383,639 with the death toll at 475,040.
(sfist.com, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, Pfizer filed a registration application for the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in Ukraine. Authorities there have said the country expects to receive its first batch of 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February within the framework of the COVAX program.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, Trial results showed that Roche's arthritis drug tocilizumab cuts the risk of death among patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, also shortening the time to recovery and reducing the need for mechanical ventilation.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, Bolivia said it had inked an agreement with China´s Sinopharm locking in an initial supply of half a million doses of the company´s vaccine against coronavirus by the end of February. The country has reported 232,500 cases of the virus and 11,000 deaths to date.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, The EU and the World Health Organization said they would spend 40 million euros ($48.48 million) over three years to ensure better access to COVID-19 vaccines in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, It was reported that sewage samples from a new nationwide COVID-19 monitoring system show that in some French cities traces of coronavirus are spiking above levels seen during the second wave of the epidemic in the autumn.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, Japan reported its worst one-day death toll for the pandemic. 21 people died from COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours.
(SFC, 2/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 11, It was reported that Pakistan is to allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has agreed to exempt such imports from price caps, even as the nation scrambles to secure supplies.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, A scandal in Peru erupted after ousted former President Martin Vizcarra said he too had received an early vaccination of China's Sinopharm vaccine. Two top government officials soon resigned upon acknowledging they had also taken the Chinese shot months ago, well before they were widely available in the country.
(Reuters, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 11, Portugal's parliament voted to extend a state of emergency due to the pandemic through March 1.
(SFC, 2/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 11, Thailand announced plans to inoculate 1 million of its most vulnerable people against COVID-19 by May and start mass vaccinations in June, with the aim of administering 10 doses a month.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 12, California to date had 3,441,028 cases of coronavirus and 46,020 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 393,007 cases and 4,841 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,477,820 with the death toll at 480,446.
(sfist.com, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, New York state Gov. and his top aides faced new allegations that they covered up the scope of the coronavirus death toll in the state's nursing homes. Deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities have ballooned to about 15,000 confirmed and presumed deaths from 12,743 in late January.
(SFC, 2/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 12, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved a request by biomedical institute Fiocruz to import more doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford from the Serum Institute of India.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Britain registered 15,144 new coronavirus cases to surpass 4.0 million. Another 768 deaths raised the official death toll to 116,287. Britain’s scientific advisers said they are confident the coronavirus outbreak is shrinking across the country for the first time in more than six months.
(AP, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, China reported 8 new coronavirus cases in the mainland, compared to 12 cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, France’s highest health authority recommended that people who have had COVID-19 receive only one dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus. France's pace of infection with the coronavirus again slowed, with 20,701 new confirmed COVID-19 cases compared to 21,063 a day earlier.
(AP, 2/12/21)(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Iranian media reported. that 10 southwestern communities have been declared as high-risk COVID-19 "red" zones as a consignment of 100,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine arrived.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Italy's health ministry said the highly contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus first found in Britain accounts for some 17.8% of all new infections in Italy, with the infection rate ticking up in many parts of the country.
(AP, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, The government of North Macedonia said plans to receive 8,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines from neighbor Serbia this week had been held up for “technical reasons" with additional documentation needed for the transfer.
(AP, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Pakistan approved China's CanSino Biologics Inc's (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Poland said it is raising the maximum age limit for people receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to 65. The country had previously said that the vaccine would be used for people aged 18-60.
(AP, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Spain's death toll from the coronavirus rose by 530 to 64,747, while the tally of cases climbed by 14,581 to 3.06 million. The government said more than 1 million people had already received two shots.
(AP, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 13, California to date had 3,458,774 cases of coronavirus and 46,871 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 394,231 cases and 4,914 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,574,207 with the death toll at 484,200.
(sfist.com, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 13, It was reported that China refused to give raw data on early COVID-19 cases to a World Health Organization-led team probing the origins of the pandemic, potentially complicating efforts to understand how the outbreak began.
(Reuters, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 13, French drugmaker Sanofi said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Sanofi and US group Translate Bio "will not be ready this year".
(Reuters, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 14, California to date had 3,460,774 cases of coronavirus and 46,994 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 394,615 cases and 4,916 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,625,859 with the death toll at 485,029.
(sfist.com, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Montana's new Gov. Greg Gianforte lifted the state's mask mandate, citing the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines as he reversed his predecessor's order.
(SFC, 2/15/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 14, The UK government said that it reached its goal of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to the most vulnerable people in the country, increasing pressure on ministers to clarify when they will ease a lockdown imposed in early January.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Cyprus and Israel announced a tourism agreement to allow citizens who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to travel between the countries without the need to quarantine. Israel reached a similar deal with Greece last week.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, The Czech government re-declared its state of emergency for next two weeks to be able to effectively tackle the coronavirus pandemic in one of the hardest hit European countries.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Le Journal Du Dimanche reported that the French Health Ministry has asked regional health agencies and hospitals to go into "crisis organization" from Feb. 18 to prepare for a possible surge in coronavirus cases due to highly contagious variants.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Japan's Health Ministry said it has officially approved Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, the first such approval in the country as it steps up efforts to tame a third wave of infections in the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Lebanon administered its first jabs of COVID-19 vaccine, a day after receiving the first batch of the vaccine, 28,500 Pfizer-BioNTech doses from Brussels.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Mexico received a shipment of 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from India, as the country prepares to prioritize older adults in the next phase of its vaccination campaign.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, New Zealand's city of Auckland entered a 3-day lockdown after reporting three new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, the country's first since late January, when a returned traveler tested positive after leaving quarantine.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)(SFC, 2/15/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 14, Serbia donated a first batch of 8,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to North Macedonia, which is yet to deliver its first jabs.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, The Thai government defended its decision not to join the WHO-sponsored coronavirus vaccine program, saying that to do so would risk the country paying more for the shots and facing uncertainty about delivery times. Thailand reported 166 new coronavirus cases, taking its total of infections to 24,571, with a death toll of 80.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 15, US Navy officials said three sailors have tested positive for coronavirus aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 15, California to date had 3,463,286 cases of coronavirus and 47,054 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 395,878 cases and 4,926 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,682,645 with the death toll at 486,111.
(sfist.com, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) conceded that his administration failed to provide full disclosure of coronavirus-related deaths at the state's nursing homes.
(The Week, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 15, Albania received a shipment of 7,020 Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines late today and the Balkan country expects a batch of 360,000 AstraZeneca vaccines in April.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 15, Australia received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccine as more than 142,000 doses arrived at Sydney airport.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, Germany closed its borders with the Czech Republic and the Austrian region of Tyrol in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus mutations.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, It was reported that coronavirus infections in India began to plummet in September, and now the country is reporting about 11,000 new cases a day, compared to a peak of nearly 100,000, leaving experts perplexed.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 15, The Israel-based Dan David Foundation named Dr. Anthony Fauci (80) as the winner of one of three prizes for “defending science" and advocating for vaccines now being administered worldwide to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, South Africa reopened at least 20 border posts with neighboring countries after closing them last month to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, South Africa's drugs regulator SAHPRA said it has approved an implementation study of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way to start the country's first inoculations among health workers.
(Reuters, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, A plane carrying Zimbabwe's first coronavirus vaccines, 200,000 doses donated by China, arrived in the capital Harare.
(Reuters, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 16, California to date had 3,480,319 cases of coronavirus and 47,509 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 397,180 cases and 4,953 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,726,970 with the death toll at 487,109.
(sfist.com, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, The British government said health authorities in England have identified 38 cases of a new coronavirus variant which has a key mutation that is thought to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. The variant, known as B.1.525, has the E484K spike protein mutation, which is also present in the South African variant.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Denmark said it registered the more contagious coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, first detected in Britain, in close to half of all positive tests in the second week of February.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, A Hong Kong government advisory panel on COVID-19 vaccines said it would recommend China's Sinovac vaccine for emergency use, a move that brings it a step closer to being formally greenlighted in the Asian financial hub.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, The first 550,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Budapest, as Hungary prepares to become the first EU country to roll out the Chinese vaccine. Hungary has reported 389,622 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 13,837 deaths.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Iraq recorded a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections with 3,332 confirmed in the past 24 hours, after the country confirmed infections of one of the newer variants of the novel coronavirus.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, A Hong Kong government advisory panel on COVID-19 vaccines said it would recommend China's Sinovac vaccine for emergency use, a move that brings it a step closer to being formally greenlighted in the Asian financial hub.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, The first 550,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Budapest, as Hungary prepares to become the first EU country to roll out the Chinese vaccine. Hungary has reported 389,622 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 13,837 deaths.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Italy reported 336 coronavirus-related deaths against 258 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 10,386 from 7,351 the day before.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Russia extended a ban on flights to and from Britain until the end of March 16 due to a new variant of the coronavirus first detected in the UK.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, It was reported that Slovakia has become the nation with most COVID-19 deaths by size of population in the world amid a surge of cases from a highly contagious coronavirus variant.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, South Korea’s intelligence service said that North Korea has attempted to hack Pfizer and steal COVID-19 vaccine technology.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Zimbabwe said the coronavirus variant first discovered in neighboring South Africa now makes up more than 60% of cases within its borders.
(BBC, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 17, California to date had 3,480,997 cases of coronavirus and 47,647 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 398,030 cases and 4,990 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,820,237 with the death toll at 490,160.
(sfist.com, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, GlaxoSmithKline and San Francisco-based Vir Biotechnology Inc said they will expand an existing partnership developing antibody therapies for COVID-19 to other diseases.
(Reuters, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines showed reduced effectiveness against the new, more infectious strain first detected in South Africa.
(NY Times, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, Cuba said it has developed a Covid-19 vaccine and will soon begin mass production.
(NY Times, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, Estonia’s foreign intelligence agency said that Russia is counting on the COVID-19 pandemic to weaken unity in the West which would help Moscow gain a more prominent role in international affairs and lead to “declining Western influence on the global stage".
(AP, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, An Israeli healthcare provider said that Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine was 95% effective in a trial of 602,000 people, reinforcing the drugmaker's efficacy findings.
(Reuters, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, Japan launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign.
(SFC, 2/18/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 17, The Palestinian Authority sent the first shipment of vaccines to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. 2,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine were sent.
(SFC, 2/18/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 17, Senegal received 200,000 doses of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Sinopharm. Senegal has recorded more than 31,000 cases, including 760 deaths, and contaminations have increased in the past few months.
(AP, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, Slovakia said it will ask other EU member countries for medical staff to help with the surge in COVID-19 cases. Coronavirus infections were on the rise in Slovakia with nearly 2,000 new cases reported on average each day.
(AP, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, South Africa started Covid-19 vaccinations following the suspension of an earlier plan to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. South Africa is using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which is administered as a single dose.
(AP, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 18, The White House announced that the US is committing $2 billion for the global COVAX vaccine initiative within days (using funds already allocated by Congress), plus an additional $2 billion over the next two years.
(Axios, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, California to date had 3,485,284 cases of coronavirus and 47,934 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 398,739 cases and 5,029 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,881,728 with the death toll at 492,646.
(sfist.com, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Nevada health officials confirmed the first known case of in the state of a coronavirus variant that was first identfied in South Africa. The variant has now been found in 10 states.
(SFC, 2/19/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 18, A top Pfizer Inc scientist said the company is in intensive discussions with regulators to test a booster shot version of its coronavirus vaccine specifically targeted for a highly contagious variant that is spreading widely in South Africa and elsewhere.
(Reuters, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Africa's total reported death toll from COVID-19 approached 100,000, a fraction of those reported on other continents but rising fast as a second wave of infections overwhelms hospitals.
(Reuters, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, It was reported that health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after side-effects led hospital staff and other front-line workers to call in sick, putting extra strain on already-stretched services.
(Reuters, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Italy reported 347 coronavirus-related deaths against 369 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,762 from 12,074 the day before. Italy has registered 94,887 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Mohammed Dahlan, a rival to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, announced that the UAE is sending 20,000 doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine to the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Zimbabwe started giving COVID-19 vaccinations, with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga volunteering for the first jab at a hospital in the capital, Harare.
(AP, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 19, California to date had coronavirus 48,616 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 399,581 cases and 5,135 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,971,377 with the death toll at 495,470.
(sfist.com, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Johnson & Johnson said it had submitted data to the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use listing of its COVID-19 vaccine, which would allow for wider access of the one-dose shot.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Pfizer and BioNTech submitted new temperature data to the US health regulator which could allow their vaccine to be stored in pharmacy freezers rather than in ultra-cold storage facilities.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Lyft Inc and CVS Health Corp said they would team up in the United States to provide access to COVID-19 vaccinations among under-served communities by arranging rides and scheduling appointments.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Brazil's health ministry said it intends to buy 30 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine to be produced locally by the Butantan public health institute and delivered between October and December. The ministry said it has already ordered 100 million of the vaccine together with Butantan to be delivered by September.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, A peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet medical journal showed that AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine is more effective when its second dose is given three months after the first, instead of six weeks.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, The Czech government dropped plans to open all retail shops from next week due to a surge in coronavirus cases as hospitals struggle with a continued influx of patients and a dwindling number of available beds.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, It was reported that the European Union has agreed to pay about 870 million euros ($1.06 billion) for its supply of 300 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and to receive them by June. The contract was signed on Aug. 27, 2020. AstraZeneca revised down the timetable last month because of production issues, leading to a bitter fight with the EU over delayed supplies.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Germany said it will contribute an additional 1.5 billion euros to support global COVID-19 vaccination efforts and other programs to fight the pandemic, increasing its overall pledge to 2.1 billion euros.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Greece extended lockdown restrictions to more areas of the country to stem the spread of COVID-19 infections but lifted it in others where infections receded.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, The death toll in Peru continued to mount as a relentless second wave of the coronavirus left many hospitals short of oxygen for critical patients even as daily infections continued to climb.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Polish health minister Adam Niedzielski said the first case of a variant first found in South Africa had been discovered in Poland, and that some 10% of all cases now involve the variant that emerged in England.
(AP, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Portugal said it will refocus its COVID-19 inoculation campaign towards vulnerable groups and away from some key state workers such as police and firefighters owing to scarce vaccine supplies.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Two of the South African government's top advisers on COVID-19 backed Pfizer's vaccine, despite a study earlier this week showing that the dominant local coronavirus variant may reduce protective antibodies it triggers.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Turkey said it aims to procure 105 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of April. Ankara would also receive some 800,000 doses of the shots developed by Pfizer and BioNTech this month.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 20, California to date had 3,500,505 cases of coronavirus and 48,833 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 400,626 cases and 5,161 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,017,934 with the death toll at 496,144.
(sfist.com, 2/20/21)
2021 Feb 20, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice ordered the loosening of pandemic restrictions on businesses after a decline in coronavirus deaths and cases.
(SSFC, 2/21/21, p.A14)
2021 Feb 20, PM Mikhail Mishustin said Russia has approved a third coronavirus vaccine for domestic use, though large-scale clinical trials of the shot, labelled CoviVac and produced by the Chumakov Center, have yet to begin.
(Reuters, 2/20/21)
2021 Feb 20, Taiwan's government granted emergency use authorisation for AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine, with shots expected to be administered as soon as within seven days of arrival.
(Reuters, 2/20/21)
2021 Feb 21, It was reported that cases of a coronavirus-linked inflammatory syndrome in kids have risen. In the US 2,060 children have been diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) and 30 have died.
(SSFC, 2/21/21, p.H4)
2021 Feb 21, California to date had 3,505,880 cases of coronavirus and 49,117 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 401,280 cases and 5,187 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,085,723 with the death toll at 497,957.
(sfist.com, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, It was reported that a lockdown and stay-at-home order is being extended in Toronto, Canada, until at least March 8.
(SSFC, 2/21/21, p.A14)
2021 Feb 21, It was reported that Denmark has closed some border crossing points with Germany and stepped up checks at others due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and a rise in virus variants in the northern German town of Flensburg.
(SSFC, 2/21/21, p.A14)
2021 Feb 21, Israel lifted many of its coronavirus restrictions and started reopening its economy as the country's vaccination drive and third nationwide lockdown have started to bring down infections.
(AP, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, It was reported that Israel paid Russia $1.2 million to provide the Syrian government with coronavirus vaccines as part of a deal that secured the release of an Israeli woman held captive in Damascus. Israel announced on Feb. 19 it had reached a Russian-mediated deal to bring home a young woman who had crossed into Syria earlier this month.
(AP, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported that Fujifilm Holdings Corp will restart a clinical trial in Japan of its antiviral drug Avigan for the treatment of COVID-19. A health ministry panel said in December that trial data was inconclusive.
(Reuters, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, Malaysia moved up its COVID-19 inoculation drive by two days as the first batch of vaccines arrived today in the Southeast Asian nation.
(Reuters, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, 20,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V, donated by the United Arab Emirates and organized by Abbas rival Mohammed Dahlan, entered the Gaza through its border with Egypt.
(AP, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, Tanzania's President John Magufuli encouraged people to wear masks to avoid infection as the World Health Organization urged Tanzania to start reporting coronavirus cases and share its data.
(BBC, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 22, San Francisco scientists reported that a California-bred variant of the coronavirus is now dominant in many parts of the state, and that it is more infectious than other versions of the virus.
(SFC, 2/23/21, p.A1)
2021 Feb 22, California to date had 3,512,298 cases of coronavirus and 49,477 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 401,706 cases and 5,192 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,174,133 with the death toll at 500,071.
(sfist.com, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, Drug developer Novavax Inc said it has completed enrolling 30,000 volunteers in a late-stage study of its COVID-19 vaccine in the United States and Mexico.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi said they had started a new clinical trial of their protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, reviving their efforts against the pandemic after a setback in December delayed the shot's launch.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, Estonian tech company Respiray launched a wearable air purifier it says can kill more than 99% of viruses and bacteria in the air inhaled by the wearer using ultraviolet light. The device consists of a plastic box, worn around the neck, with an optional clear face screen extending upwards and allowing the face to remain fully visible. It is powered by a battery, with a charge lasting around 8 hours.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, French authorities said the Riviera between Menton and Theoule-sur-Mer will locked down over the next two weekends in an attempt to fight a sharp spike in coronavirus infections, The French Riviera has the country's highest infection rate.
(SFC, 2/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 22, India confirmed over 14,000 cases of the coronavirus with nearly 7,000 coming from Maharashtra state over the last 24 hours. Lockdowns were reimposed in some parts of the state along with other virus restrictions.
(SFC, 2/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 22, Italy reported 274 coronavirus-related deaths against 232 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 9,630 from 13,452 the day before.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, The Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip began its coronavirus vaccination drive following the arrival of the first vaccines to the blockaded coastal area.
(AP, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 23, California to date had 3,515,320 cases of coronavirus and 49,538 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 402,697 cases and 5,220 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,257,466 with the death toll at 502,517.
(sfist.com, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, An EU official said AstraZeneca expects to deliver less than half the COVID-19 vaccines it was contracted to supply the European Union in the second quarter.
(Reuters, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, Italy reported 356 coronavirus-related deaths against 274 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,314 from 9,630 the day before.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, The World Bank threatened to suspend financing for coronavirus vaccines in Lebanon over what it said were violations by members of parliament who were inoculated without registering in advance. Lebanon has so far received nearly 60,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, The Netherlands's public health institute announced that confirmed coronavirus infections in the country rose by nearly 19% over the past week as more people got tested following a week of icy conditions.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, A Covid-19 antibodies survey in Nigeria suggested that four million people in Lagos state alone have had the virus, more than has been officially recorded for the whole of Africa. The official figure for Nigeria is 153,000 cases with 1,862 deaths.
(BBC, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, San Marino received its first 7,500 Sputnik V vaccine doses. The city-state, surrounded by Italy, with a population of some 33,800 has confirmed 3,538 COVID-19 cases and 73 deaths.
(SFC, 2/24/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 23, Senegal launched its COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Dakar, where the Health Minister received the first jab of the Sinopharm vaccine.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, Ukraine received its first shipment of coronavirus vaccine, a consignment of 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, raising hopes that authorities can start beating back the virus' spread in a country where cases have strained the fragile health care system.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 24, California to date had 3,522,869 cases of coronavirus and 49,941 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 403,521 cases and 5,246 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,330,141 with the death toll at 505,796.
(sfist.com, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, A new analyses released by Johnson & Johnson and the Food and Drug Administration said the coronavirus vaccine made by J&J provides strong protection against severe disease and death from Covid-19, and may reduce the spread of the virus by vaccinated people.
(NY Times, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, Ghana became the first country to receive coronavirus vaccines through the Covax vaccine-sharing initiative as a delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Accra.
(BBC, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, It was reported that Israel is to donate nearly 100,000 surplus doses of Covid-19 vaccine to nearly 20 countries, apparently as a reward for diplomatic support in its ongoing bid to have Jerusalem recognized as its capital by the international community.
(AP, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, Portugal said it will send 5% of its COVID-19 vaccine shots to a group of Portuguese-speaking African countries and to the tiny nation of East Timor in the second half of the year. Portugal's former African colonies include Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe.
(Reuters, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, South Africa said it plans to spend $712 million to vaccinate some 67% of its 60 million people to control the country's COVID-19 battle and get the economy to rebound from its decline of 7.2% last year.
(AP, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, Yemen's supreme national emergency committee for the internationally recognized government reported 34 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily number since July. Yemen's government has reported 2,187 coronavirus infections, including 620 deaths. Houthi authorities, who control most large urban centers, have not provided figures since May when they said there were four cases and one death.
(Reuters, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, Zimbabwe said it will buy an additional 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China at a preferential price, after Beijing agreed to give more free doses to the southern African country.
(Reuters, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 25, California to date had 3,547,591 cases of coronavirus and 50,992 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 404,415 cases and 5,296 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,409,391 with the death toll at 508,084.
(sfist.com, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Bahrain said it has approved Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the first country to do so.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll surpassed 250,000. It is the world’s second-highest for the same reason the second wave has yet to fade: Prevention was never made a priority.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, It was reported that China has approved two more COVID-19 vaccines for wider use, adding to its growing arsenal of shots. A vaccine from CanSino Biologics and one from state-owned Sinopharm were already being used among select groups of people under an emergency use authorization.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Czech PM Andrej Babis said the Czech Republic will get 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from France by mid-March.
(Reuters, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Italy’s northern Lombardy region, where Europe's coronavirus outbreak erupted last year, asked the national government for more vaccines to help stem a surge of new cases that are taxing the health system in the province of Brescia.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, South Africa said it aims to vaccinate around 1.1 million people against COVID-19 by the end of March as it ramps up its immunization program.
(Reuters, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Syria's health minister said his government procured coronavirus vaccines from a friendly country which he declined to name, adding that frontline health workers would be the first to be inoculated starting next week.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 26, The United States praised Tanzania for finally acknowledging the resurgence of COVID-19 after claiming for months it had defeated the pandemic through prayer. But the US urged the country to share infection data and accept vaccines.
(AP, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Experts advising the US FDA endorsed Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 26, California to date had 3,535,175 cases of coronavirus and 51,473 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 405,380 cases and 5,336 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,481,239 with the death toll at 510,134.
(sfist.com, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Oregon's Gov, kate Brown extended the state's declaration of emergency until May 2 as confirmed COVID-19 cases dropped but hundreds of new cases continued to be reported daily.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 26, An Argentine laboratory has struck a deal to help produce Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, according to a company statement shared by the country's government, helping boost the local firm's share price.
(Reuters, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Belgium put on hold an expected relaxation of coronavirus restrictions after hospital admissions of people infected with COVID-19 spiked.
(Reuters, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Canadian regulators authorized AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine for people 18 and over.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 26, Hong Kong began administering its first COVID-19 vaccines to the public, kicking off its program offering free vaccinations to all 7.5 million residents.
(AP, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Moldova's medical agency said it had approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, despite President Maia Sandu saying it could not be registered until the World Health Organization had done so.
(Reuters, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, South Korea administered its first available shots of coronavirus vaccines to people at long-term care facilities, launching a mass immunization campaign that health authorities hope will restore some level of normalcy by the end of the year.
(AP, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Spain said it will give a single vaccine dose to under 55-year-olds who have already been infected with COVID-19 in the latest update of its national inoculation strategy.
(Reuters, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 27, The US Food and Drug Administration authorized Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine for emergency use, making a third vaccine available in the US.
(NY Times, 2/27/21)
2021 Feb 27, California to date had 3,542,567 cases of coronavirus and 51,909 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 406,331 cases and 5,362 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,544,890 with the death toll at 511,776.
(sfist.com, 2/27/21)
2021 Feb 27, New Zealand's PM Jacinda Ardern announced that Auckland is returning to lockdown for seven days after a new unexplained coronavirus infection emerged.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A12)
2021 Feb 27, Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh announced a 12-day lockdown in the Israeli-occupied West Bank following a surge in coronavirus cases.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A12)
2021 Feb 27, Romania shipped its first donation of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to neighboring Moldova to allow Moldova to start vaccinating frontline medical workers next week.
(Reuters, 2/27/21)
2021 Feb 27, Russian researchers said a trial testing the effectiveness of revaccination with the Sputnik V shot to protect against new mutations of the coronavirus is producing strong results.
(Reuters, 2/27/21)
2021 Feb 28, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, said he would take the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, as he encouraged Americans to accept any of the three approved shots.
(Reuters, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb 28, California to date had 3,544,034 cases of coronavirus and 51,983 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 406,983 cases and 5,365 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,597,609 with the death toll at 513,065.
(sfist.com, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb 28, Germany announced that travelers from France’s northeastern Moselle region will face additional restrictions because of the high rate of variant coronavirus cases there.
(AP, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb 28, A Hong Kong man (63) died two days after receiving China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine shot. It was uncertain if there was a direct ink between his death and the shot for coronavirus.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Feb 28, Iran reported 93 new coronavirus deaths and more than 8,000 new infections. The country has now surpassed 60,000 coronavirus-related deaths.
(SFC, 3/1/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 28, Italy reported 192 coronavirus-related deaths, while the daily tally of new infections declined to 17,455. Italy has registered 97,699 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Feb 28, Israel announced plans to vaccinate tens of thousands of Palestinians who work inside Israel and its West Bank settlements, at a time of vast disparities in access to vaccines between the Israeli and Palestinian populations.
(AP, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb 28, The Philippines received its initial batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac in a shipment donated by China, a day before its inoculation drive is due to begin. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, who turns 77 next month, told a news briefing that, though he wants to be vaccinated, his doctor wants a different Chinese brand of vaccine for him.
(Reuters, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb, The coronavirus extinguished a centuries-old tribe in Brazil's Amazon region. The last member of the Juma people died from Covid this month.
(NY Times, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 1, California to date had 3,546,837 cases of coronavirus and 52,212 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 407,627 cases and 5,371 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,657,233 with the death toll at 514,302.
(sfist.com, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Tyson Foods Inc, the largest US meat processor, said it would offer COVID-19 vaccinations to thousands of its frontline workers at its Iowa meat processing plants this week.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, US drug distributor McKesson Corp said it had begun distribution of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that Austria would work with Israel and Denmark on second generation coronavirus vaccines and “no longer rely on the EU in the future".
(The Telegraph, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 1, In Canada Montreal's cavernous Olympic Stadium, which once hosted young athletes during the 1976 summer games, began welcoming residents aged 85 and over for vaccinations.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, China said it plans to inoculate 40% of its population by June. China has been slow to vaccinate its people relative to other countries.
(AP, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Colombia became the first country in the Americas to receive a shipment of coronavirus vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative.
(AP, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Police and military forces in the Czech Republic set up 500 checkpoints across the country as one of the European Union's hardest-hit nations marked the first anniversary of its coronavirus outbreak by significantly limiting free movement.
(AP, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, The Finnish government declared a state of emergency due to rising COVID-19 infections, a step that would allow the Nordic country to shutter restaurants and to impose other measures to blunt the pandemic.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is looking to buy 36 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines, three times the number it has already bought, in case booster shots are needed later in the year.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Israel's Supreme Court banned the government from sweeping use of mobile phone tracking of coronavirus carriers, calling the measure a grave infraction of civil liberties.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Ivory Coast, one of the first to benefit from the UN-backed Covax distribution initiative, began vaccine injections.
(BBC, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Jamaica, which won praise for containing its coronavirus outbreak last year, now has patients overflowing into corridors on chairs and stretchers in some hospitals, prompting the Caribbean nation to open three emergency field hospitals. Deaths have risen 1.4 times since the end of the year and now stand at 422.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, The Philippines kicked off its vaccination program, with health workers the first to be inoculated. The country has reported 576,352 COVID-19 cases overall, including some with the more infectious British coronavirus variant. It has recorded 12,318 deaths.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, It was reported that Ukrainian medical facilities have thrown away some unused COVID-19 vaccines after doctors failed to show up for their own appointments to be vaccinated.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of new coronavirus infections globally rose last week for the first time in seven weeks.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Zimbabwe eased a coronavirus lockdown and overnight curfew imposed in January by allowing businesses to fully re-open after the rate of new infections slowed in the last two weeks.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 2, A White House official said Merck & Co Inc will help make rival Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Scientists said a highly transmissible COVID-19 variant that emerged in Brazil and has now been found in at least 20 countries can re-infect people who previously recovered from the disease. Scientists estimated that the P.1 variant was 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than the initial form of the virus.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, President Biden said the US would have enough vaccine doses by the end of May to cover every American adult, two months earlier than he previously estimated.
(NY Times, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, California to date had 3,551,757 cases of coronavirus and 52,490 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 408,195 cases and 5,396 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,717,134 with the death toll at 516,456.
(sfist.com, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 2, The COVAX vaccine-sharing program said it will deliver 237 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot to 142 countries by the end of May as it steps up the global roll-out of its vaccine supplies.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Bosnia received 10,000 vaccines from neighboring Serbia amid a dispute with the international COVAX mechanism over a delay in planned shipments.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Iraq launched its coronavirus inoculation program just hours after 50,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, gifted by China, arrived.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Malaysia granted conditional approval for the use of vaccines made by UK firm AstraZeneca and China's Sinovac, just days after launching its nationwide COVID-19 inoculation program.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Nearly 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the third and largest delivery so far to an African country by the global COVAX initiative.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Serbian health experts urged the government to introduce a state of emergency and a strict lockdown to halt a surge in coronavirus infections that they say threaten the Balkan nation's health care system. New infections reached over 4,000. Serbia has recorded nearly 4,500 virus-related deaths.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 3, President Biden harshly criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves for lifting coronavirus restrictions.
(The Week, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 3, California to date had 3,559,682 cases of coronavirus and 52,846 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 408,642 cases and 5,414 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,780,950 with the death toll at 516,064.
(sfist.com, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, It was reported that scientists now believe that SARS-CoV-2 will not only remain with us as an endemic virus, continuing to circulate in communities, but will likely cause a significant burden of illness and death for years to come.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, Vir Biotechnology and Britain's GSK said they would pause enrollment into a study testing their experimental COVID-19 antibody therapy, which is a part of a large US trial.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, Austrian officials said that they plan to offer vaccinations to most residents in a district that has seen significant numbers of infections with the South African coronavirus variant.
(AP, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, It was reported that China's vaccine diplomacy has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to more than 45 countries. Four of China's vaccine makers claimed they are able to produce at least 2.6 billion doses this year.
(SFC, 3/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 3, Interpol said police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of doses of counterfeit Covid-19 vaccine and made dozens of arrests. The discovery in South Africa was reported by the country's Sunday Times newspaper at the end of December.
(AP, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 3, Greece extended a lockdown and tightened restrictions in Athens and other affected regions to stem a surge in new COVID-19 infections. Authorities reported 2,702 daily infections, up from 2,353 the previous day.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
(CBS News, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 3, The Indian drug company Bharat Biotech said that initial results from clinical trials showed its coronavirus vaccine to be safe and effective.
(NY Times, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 3, Poland's north-eastern lake district, region of 1.4 million, saw 1,132 new daily coronavirus cases.Last week, Poland's government increased restrictions on the region, closing shopping centres, hotels, cinemas and museums and sending children in the first three years of primary school back to remote learning after having lifted restrictions only two weeks earlier.
(AP, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, The president of the Seychelles said he hopes enough residents will soon be vaccinated to stop the spread of the coronavirus by herd immunity. By the end of February about 44% of its 100,000 inhabitants had gotten a 2nd shot. Seychelles has had 2,592 confirmed cases including 11 deaths.
(SFC, 3/4/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 3, It was reported that research by South African scientists suggests that antibodies triggered by exposure to the country's dominant coronavirus variant, 501Y.V2, can prevent infection by other variants.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, Turkey recorded 11,520 new COVID-19 cases, amid an easing of coronavirus restrictions across the country. Sixty-five people died because of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 28,771.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 4, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey extended her state's mask order for another month.
(SFC, 3/5/21, p.A7)
2021 Mar 4, California to date had 3,560,426 cases of coronavirus and 53,082 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 409,056 cases and 5,480 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,820,172 with the death toll at 520,080.
(sfist.com, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said he has turned down 6,200 doses of the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, favoring shots from Pfizer and Moderna for now. His comments conflicted with guidance from top state and federal health officials.
(AP, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 4, It was reported that a shipment of a quarter million AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia has been blocked from leaving the EU in the first use of an export control system instituted by the bloc to make sure big pharma companies would respect their contracts.
(AP, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Austria, Denmark and Israel said they would set up a joint research and development fund and possibly production facilities for COVID-19 vaccines to ensure they had long-term supplies for booster shots or to contend with virus mutations.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, It was reported that Cuba has begun late stage trials of its most advanced experimental COVID-19 vaccine, edging closer to a potential home-grown inoculation that could help the Caribbean island nation contain infections and ease its economic crisis.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Germany made the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine available to over-65s, in a reversal of its previous policy.
(The Telegraph, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, President Joko Widodo said Indonesia plans to inject one million people per day with the coronavirus vaccine and 40 million people by June as part of a mass vaccination drive targeting 181.5 million people.
(AP, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Iraq said it has signed an agreement with Russia to import 1 million doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Malta ordered restaurants and all other catering establishments to close again, in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases. The island saw a record 362 new COVID-19 cases, with authorities blaming the so-called UK variant of the virus for the surge.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, The Philippines received its first delivery of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots, secured through the vaccine-sharing COVAX facility.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Slovak PM Igor Matovic said Slovakia will get 15,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from France as a donation. Slovakia has reported the world's highest number of COVID-related deaths per capita over the past week. The country of 5.5 million has reported 7,560 coronavirus deaths.
(AP, 3/4/21)(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 5, California to date had 3,567,188 cases of coronavirus and 53,670 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 410,043 cases and 5,500 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,886,283 with the death toll at 522,610.
(sfist.com, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Abbott Laboratories said the US health regulator has granted emergency use authorization for its molecular test to detect and distinguish the coronavirus and two types of flu viruses with a single test.
(AP, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, It was reported that preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1, or Brazilian, variant.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Britain said it would require people travelling abroad from March 8 to carry a new form setting out why their trip was permitted under strict lockdown restrictions.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Canada's drug regulator said it has approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, the fourth such shot to be given the green light, amid frustration over the slow pace of inoculations.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, The Czech Republic said it has asked Germany, Switzerland and Poland to take in dozens of COVID-19 patients as the situation in its own hospitals has reached a critical point.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Japan's PM Yoshihide Suga announced an extension of the state of emergency in the Tokyo region for another two weeks because medical systems there are still strained by COVID-19 patients.
(SFC, 3/6/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 5, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda started inoculating frontline healthcare workers and vulnerable citizens against COVID-19 as Africa, the world's poorest continent and home to 1.3 billion people, stepped up its vaccination campaigns.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Italy reported 297 coronavirus-related deaths against 339 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 24,036 from 22,865 the day before.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Poland's Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said a variant of COVID-19 first identified in Britain now accounts for 25% of the reported cases in Poland.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 6, California to date had 3,571,430 cases of coronavirus and 53,971 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 410,430 cases and 5,519 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,938,762 with the death toll at 524,066.
(sfist.com, 3/6/21)
2021 Mar 6, US drugmaker Merck & Co Inc said the experimental antiviral drug molnupiravir it is developing with Ridgeback Bio showed a quicker reduction in infectious virus in its phase 2a study among participants with early COVID-19.
(Reuters, 3/6/21)
2021 Mar 6, India's federal government asked local authorities to prioritize COVID-19 vaccinations in several districts of eight states including New Delhi that have seen a spike in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.
(Reuters, 3/6/21)
2021 Mar 6, Dance music lovers in Amsterdam were offered a short relief from COVID-19 lockdown, treated to their first live show in over a year while serving as guinea pigs in a research project. All guests needed to test negative for coronavirus 48 hours in advance and were urged to take another test five days after the event.
(Reuters, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 6, President Muhammadu Buhari had his first COVID-19 vaccine shot, part of a bid to boost public confidence as Nigeria attempts to inoculate 80 million people this year.
(Reuters, 3/6/21)
2021 Mar 7, California to date had 3,574,949 cases of coronavirus and 54,131 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 411,036 cases and 5,523 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,956,440 with the death toll at 524,463.
(sfist.com, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 7, It was reported that COVID-19 insurance policies are increasingly joining passports and sunscreen as vacation staples, creating opportunities for insurers as more countries require mandatory coverage in case visitors fall ill from the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 7, Austrian authorities said they have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots.
(Reuters, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 7, Israel reopened most of its economy as part of its final phase of lifting coronavirus lockdown restrictions, some of them in place since September. Nearly 40% of its population has been immunized in just over two months.
(AP, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 8, California to date had 3,578,646 cases of coronavirus and 54,314 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 411,753 cases and 5,533 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,041,230 with the death toll at 525,728.
(sfist.com, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that Pfizer Inc will deliver an additional 5 million COVID-19 vaccination doses, which would increase the number of shots expected from the drugmaker by the end of June to 14 million.
(Reuters, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, The government of East Timor said it will put its capital city on a lockdown for the first time, amid fears it could be facing its first local coronavirus outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, Israel started vaccinating Palestinians who work inside the country and its West Bank settlements, more than two months after launching an immunization blitz of its own population.
(AP, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, In Italy a surge in the UK coronavirus variant has filled 90% of hospital beds in Brescia province, bordering both Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions, as Italy crossed the grim threshold of 100,000 pandemic dead.
(AP, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 8, Italy recommended the use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for those aged over 65, overcoming previous doubts that the drug might not be very effective on the elderly.
(Reuters, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, It was reported that Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad (55) and his wife (45) have tested positive for the coronavirus, with both having only mild symptoms of the illness. Syria has recorded nearly 16,000 virus cases in government-held parts of the country, including 1,063 deaths.
(AP, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 9, Alaska became the first US state to make COVID-19 vaccines available to anyone age 16 or older, eliminating eligibility requirements for people who work or live in the state.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 9, Arizona reported 563 coronavirus cases. No deaths were reported for the 2nd straight day. Total COVID-19 related deaths stood at 16,326.
(SFC, 3/10/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 9, California to date had 3,581,587 cases of coronavirus and 54,376 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 412,196 cases and 5,552 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,092,305 with the death toll at 527,612.
(sfist.com, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Bosnia reported a record number of daily deaths from COVID-19 with the capital Sarajevo going into lockdown next weekend for the first time since last May to combat a spike in coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Hungary said COVID-19 admissions are putting its hospital system under increasing strain and infections are expected to rise further in coming days as the variant first identified in Britain spreads.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, A peer-reviewed study showed that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by India's Bharat Biotech is safe and has shown high levels of antibody response in a mid-stage trial, but follow-on studies are needed to evaluate the shot for children and older people.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce announced that Russia has signed a deal to produce its Sputnik V vaccine in Italy.
(SFC, 3/10/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 9, Mexico said it aims to acquire an additional 22 million doses of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines during the coming months.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Sudan launched a coronavirus vaccination roll-out, giving priority to medical workers. The first phase of the roll-out will be expanded from March 15 to May 15 to include people aged 45 or older with chronic conditions.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Switzerland reported a total of 1,378 new infections, well below the 10,000-plus record from Nov. 2. Another 13 deaths were reported. Switzerland expects to vaccinate all of its 8.6 million residents who want a COVID-19 shot by summer.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Ukraine said it has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac. Ukraine started COVID-19 vaccinations in late February but only 19,118 first shots had been given by March 9. Ukraine has reported more than 1.4 million coronavirus cases with 27,204 deaths.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 10, Pres. Joe Biden directed his administration to order another 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.
(SFC, 3/11/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 10, California to date had 3,585,766 cases of coronavirus and 54,621 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 412,576 cases and 5,581 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,149,380 with the death toll at 529,067.
(sfist.com, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, Bridgestone tire company said it will offer its 33,000 US employees $100 payments to get vaccinated against COVID-19, joining a group of large companies offering incentives for the shots.
(AP, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, Preliminary data from a study in Brazil indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd is effective against the P1 variant of the virus first discovered in Brazil.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned that new COVID-19 cases infections are still rising in Latin America, particularly in Brazil where a resurgence has caused record daily deaths.
(AP, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, Italy reported 332 coronavirus-related deaths against 376 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 22,409 from 19,749 the day before.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, It was reported that John Magufuli, Tanzania's COVID-19-denying president, has not been seen since Feb. 27. Kenya’s leading newspaper, The Nation, reported that an African leader had been admitted to a hospital in Nairobi.
(AP, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 11, Pres. Joe Biden directed states to make all adult Americans eligible to receive a Covid vaccine by May 1. He announced several new actions to speed up vaccinations, including the use of dentists, veterinarians, medical students and others to give the shots.
(AP, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 11, Arizona reported 60 additional deaths from COVID-19 and 1,835 new cases after three straight days of fewer than 1,000 cases. Total state cases stood at 830,465 with 16,464 deaths.
(SFC, 3/12/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 11, California to date had 3,589,208 cases of coronavirus and 54,887 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 412,768 cases and 5,600 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,240,643 with the death toll at 529,377.
(sfist.com, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, The UK's medicine regulator said that Britons should keep on getting their COVID-19 vaccines, including the shot developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, after Denmark and some other countries restricted their use of it.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, Public Health England (PHE) said a new coronavirus variant had been identified in the UK in two people who had recently been in Antigua, adding that it shared some traits of others but would not be categorized as concerning for now.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, Cambodia confirmed its first death from COVID-19. The country has confirmed only 1,163 coronavirus cases. A new local outbreak has infected several hundred people.
(SFC, 3/12/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 11, Europe approved Johnson & Johnson's single dose COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for the first shots to be delivered in a month as the bloc seeks to speed up a stuttering inoculation campaign and boost its supplies.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, It was reported that Italian health authorities have ordered the withdrawal of a batch of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine following the deaths of two men in Sicily who had recently been inoculated.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, Italy reported 373 coronavirus-related deaths against 332 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 25,673 from 22,409 the day before.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, Palestinians received 40,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, a donation by the UAE that could boost a long-time rival of President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of an election. Mohammad Dahlan took credit for securing the shipment to Gaza from the UAE, where he lives in exile.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 12, California to date had 3,592,727 cases of coronavirus and 55,155 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 413,727 cases and 5,636 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,340,202 with the death toll at 532,326.
(sfist.com, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said it has given final approval for AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University, which will be manufactured domestically by the Fiocruz biomedical institute. The government said it has reached a deal to purchase 10 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)(SFC, 3/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 12, Bulgaria temporarily halted COVID-19 inoculations using the AstraZeneca vaccine after a woman died hours after receiving a shot, and said it wanted the European Medicine Agency (EMA) to dispel all doubts about the vaccine's safety.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, Colombia confirmed its first death from the P1, or Brazilian, variant of coronavirus. The victim who died in January was older and had various comorbidities.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 12, India registered its worst single-day increase in coronavirus cases since last December. India has so far reported more than 11.3 million cases.
(SFC, 3/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 12, Italy reported 380 coronavirus-related deaths against 373 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 26,824 from 25,673 the day before.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, In Malaysia emergency ordinance took effect that makes it an offence to publish or reproduce any "wholly or partly false" content related to the pandemic or the emergency declaration, prescribing hefty fines and jail terms of up to six years. Critics warned it could be used to silence dissent and curtail free speech.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, Thailand joined a handful of European countries in suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, following scattered reports of blood clots in people who had received it.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, The WHO granted an emergency use listing for the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson.
(SFC, 3/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 13, California to date had 3,596,881 cases of coronavirus and 55,453 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 414,100 cases and 5,634 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,357,116 with the death toll at 532,671.
(sfist.com, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 13, In France the number of new coronavirus cases neared 30,000 while the number of people to receive their first vaccine injection topped 5 million.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Georgia received its first batch of coronavirus vaccines. First shots will be given to medical workers as it becomes the last European country to start a COVID-19 vaccination program.
(SSFC, 3/14/21, p.A13)
2021 Mar 13, In Hong Kong some law firms and banks faced compulsory testing for coronavirus as most of the 47 news cases recorded today were linked to a gym used by the financial and expatriate community.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Hungary reported a record-breaking 9,444 new coronavirus cases. The country's COVID-19 related deaths reached 16, 790 since the start of the pandemic.
(SSFC, 3/14/21, p.A13)
2021 Mar 13, Jordan’s health minister stepped down after at least seven patients in a hospital COVID-19 ward died due to a shortage of oxygen supplies. PM Bisher al-Khasawneh ordered an investigation into the deaths.
(AP, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Mexico's foreign ministry said a shipment has been received of a million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Norwegian health authorities said three health workers in Norway who recently received the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 are being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Pakistan's Punjab province announced the closure of 15 famous shrines amid a third wave of the coronavirus.
(SSFC, 3/14/21, p.A13)
2021 Mar 14, California to date had 3,598,593 cases of coronavirus and 55,637 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 414,512 cases and 5,641 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,407,413 with the death toll at 534,395.
(sfist.com, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 14, Ireland temporarily suspended AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine "out of an abundance of caution," citing reports from the Norwegian Medicines Agency regarding a cluster of serious blood clotting in some recipients there.
(Reuters, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 14, Italy's northern region of Piedmont said it would temporarily suspend AstraZeneca coronavirus shots after a teacher from the town of Biella died following his vaccination a day earlier.
(Reuters, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 14, Dutch police used a water cannon and officers on horseback across a park in The Hague to break up a protest against the government and its tough coronavirus lockdown.
(SFC, 3/15/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 14, The Philippines' Department of Health reported 4,899 new coronavirus cases, a day after recording the largest single-day increase in more than six months with 5,000 additional infections. The government said it is on track with its COVID-19 inoculation drive.
(Reuters, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 15, California to date had 3,600,364 cases of coronavirus and 55,815 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 414,922 cases and 5,656 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,492,614 with the death toll at 535,597.
(sfist.com, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook is adding informational labels to posts about vaccines as it expands efforts to counter COVID-19-related misinformation flourishing on its platforms.
(AP, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Moderna Inc said it had dosed the first patients in an early-stage study of a new COVID-19 vaccine candidate for evaluation as a next-generation shot. The new candidate, mRNA-1283, could potentially be stored in refrigerators instead of freezers.
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, It was reported that 25% of Chile's population has received at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine.
(SFC, 3/15/21, p.A6)
2021 Mar 15, China said it will simplify visa applications for foreign nationals who have been inoculated with Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines, its latest small step towards normalizing international travel.
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, China reported a new COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The vaccine, jointly developed by Anhui Jifei longcom Biopharmaceutical Co. and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the fifth coronavirus vaccine developed and approved in China and the 4th to be given emergency use approval.
(SFC, 3/17/21, p.A3)
2021 Mar 15, Germany, France, Italy and Spain said they would stop administering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after several countries reported possible serious side-effects.
(AP, 3/15/21)(SFC, 3/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 15, Germany's IDT Biologica said it would make Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine using capacity previously reserved by Japan's Takeda, helping to ease concerns about the US drugmaker's ability to meet its production goals.
(AP, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Hong Kong authorities said that the city's vaccine scheme would be widened to include those aged between 30-60 years old and domestic helpers, as they aim to increase take up amongst residents in the Asian financial hub.
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, In Hungary demonstrators in Budapest broke a ban on public gatherings to demand an end to the country's lockdown restrictions, even as a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations sweeps the country.
(AP, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Indonesia said it will delay the administering of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine due to reports of blood clots among some recipients in Europe and would await a review from the World Health Organization (WHO).
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Most of Italy entered a new lockdown today. Cases have risen over the past three weeks, driven by the spread of the variant first found in Britain and a slow vaccination campaign.
(NY Times, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund said Russia has vaccinated 3.5 million people with both shots of its Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, which puts it ahead of all countries in Europe in terms of the absolute number of people fully vaccinated.
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 16, California to date had 3,603,528 cases of coronavirus and 55,942 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 415,395 cases and 5,658 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,545,555 with the death toll at 536,826.
(sfist.com, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Public health experts in several states warned that coronavirus cases were rising in several new hot spots after weeks of declining coronavirus infections, deaths, and hospitalizations. Numbers have risen in Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, and New Jersey. New coronavirus cases have stopped falling in New York City and neighboring counties despite ramped up vaccination efforts.
(The Week, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 16, Moderna announced it has started conducting a study of its COVID-19 vaccine in children between the ages of 6 months and 11 years.
(The Week, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 16, An expert at the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said coronavirus infections are again rising exponentially in Germany.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, India reported 24,492 new cases, the sixth straight day of more than 20,000 infections, as curbs to try to stop the spread were expanded in parts of the country that have recorded a surge.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Iranian health authorities announced that the country's third homegrown vaccine has reached the phase of clinical trials.
(AP, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Latvia and Sweden suspended the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine pending the outcome of an investigation by the EU's medicines regulator into isolated cases of bleeding, blood clots and low platelet counts.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, It was reported that Morocco is further ahead with its COVID-19 vaccination program than any other African country, but undocumented migrants are not a part of its plans, potentially undermining efforts to come to grips with the disease.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Dutch health authorities said the number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands increased by 24% over the last week, the biggest weekly jump since mid-December.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Somalia launched COVID-19 vaccinations with the inoculation of the health minister, who received the jab publicly to reassure the nation about its safety.
(AP, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 17, The US government said it is investing $12.25 billion on ramping up COVID-19 testing in the country to help schools reopen safely and promote testing equity among high-risk and underserved populations. The funds will be taken from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that was signed into law last week.
(Reuters, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 17, California to date had 3,605,719 cases of coronavirus and 56,097 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 415,829 cases and 5,701 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,602,809 with the death toll at 537,945.
(sfist.com, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 17, Australia said it will send COVID-19 vaccines from its own supply to Papua New Guinea and will ask AstraZeneca to send 8,000 doses to contain a concerning wave of infections.
(SFC, 3/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 17, Researchers in a large study from Denmark reported that the vast majority of people who recover from Covid-19 remain shielded from the virus for at least six months.
(NY Times, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 17, Indian health officials said about 6.5% of coronavirus vaccine doses in India are going to waste, urging states to manage their immunization drives better to optimize use of what one called "this elixir-like precious commodity".
(Reuters, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 17, Syria has registered 16,656 cases of coronavirus, including 1,110 deaths in government-held areas. The numbers are believed to be much higher because of limited testing being done. President Bashar Assad’s office said the first couple are on their way to recovery nine days after testing positive for the coronavirus.
(AP, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 17, A World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine safety panel said that it considers that the benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue.
(Reuters, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 18, The Biden administration said it is in the process of finalizing efforts to distribute 2.5 million doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada as a "loan".
(SFC, 3/19/21, p.A6)
2021 Mar 18, California to date had 3,610,073 cases of coronavirus and 56,479 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 416,325 cases and 5,732 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,663,132 with the death toll at 539,320.
(sfist.com, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky said Johnson & Johnson is developing several next generation COVID-19 vaccines against the emerging variants of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, Britain's medicines regulator said there had been five cases of a rare type of blood clot in the brain among 11 million given AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine but said that it found the benefits of the shot far outweighed any possible risks.
(Reuters, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, Denmark's Medicines Agency said it had registered ten reports of blood clots in people who received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, including one that led to death.
(Reuters, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, In central Mexico gunmen from a drug gang ambushed a police convoy killing 8 state police officers and 5 prosecution investigators southwest of Mexico City.
(SFC, 3/20/21, p.A3)
2021 Mar 18, The Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is responsible for exports of the COVID-19 vaccine, said Mexican authorities have seized a batch of fake doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, Syria's health ministry said intensive care units in public hospitals in Damascus have reached full capacity due to a sharp rise of coronavirus infections, leading doctors to transfer patients to hospitals in other provinces.
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 18, Ukraine registered 15,053 new coronavirus cases surpassing 1.5 million in total. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital will go into a lockdown on March 20 until April 9 because of the surge in cases.
(SFC, 3/19/21, p.A6)
2021 Mar 19, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice.
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, California to date had 3,613,880 cases of coronavirus and 56,734 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 416,787 cases and 5,749 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,723,741 with the death toll at 540,950.
(sfist.com, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, The Idaho Legislature voted to shut down for several weeks due to an outbreak of COVID-19.
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, Denmark, Sweden and Norway said they needed more time to decide whether to use AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine while Finland joined them in putting the shots on hold, even though the EU drug watchdog said the benefits outweighed any risks.
(Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, Several French regions, including the Paris area, went under new coronavirus restrictions for at least a month to stop a rise in COVID-19 infections.
(SFC, 3/20/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 19, Georgia's health ministry said that coronavirus vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot would continue only in full-fledged medical centers following the death of a nurse (27).
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, Indonesian authorities approved the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine after reviewing reports that it had caused blood clots among some recipients in Europe. Indonesia’s highest Muslim clerical council, the Indonesia Ulema Council, said on its website that the AstraZeneca vaccine is "haram" because the manufacturing process uses "trypsin from the pork pancreas." On March 21 AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine contains no pork-derived ingredients.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 19, Premier Mario Draghi said Italy aimed to administer 500,000 shots a day by next month, from a current daily level of about 165,000. Italy has recorded more than 104,000 confirmed deaths, the sixth-highest tally in the world.
(AP, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 19, Nepal emergency authorisation to India's COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN, becoming only the third country to approve the shot, developed by Bharat Biotech and a state research institute.
(Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, In the Netherlands coronavirus cases jumped by around 7,400 in the past 24 hours, marking the biggest increase since early January.
(Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, The Philippines reported its highest daily jump in coronavirus cases at more than 7,100. Total infections passed 648,000 with 12,900 confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 3/20/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 19, Switzerland's government postponed plans to relax its COVID-19 restrictions, citing increasing coronavirus cases and insufficient progress on vaccinations.
(Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 20, California to date had 3,615,597 cases of coronavirus and 56,833 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 417,426 cases and 5,753 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,742,662 with the death toll at 541,259.
(sfist.com, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Denmark said that one person had died and another fell seriously ill with blood clots and cerebral hemorrhage after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Egypt received a second shipment of 300,000 coronavirus vaccine doses donated by China, as the Arab country tries to speed up its vaccination campaign. Egypt had previously received 350,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine as well as a shipment of 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Egypt has reported more than 194,127 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 11,512 deaths, but the actual number is thought to be far higher.
(AP, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, France and Poland became the latest European countries to enter some form of pandemic lockdown amid a rise in coronavirus infections that officials worry could turn into a third wave.
(The Week, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, In Germany some 20,000 people clashed with police in Kassel over coronavirus measures. Marchers gathered despite a court ordered ban.
(SSFC, 3/21/21, p.A9)
2021 Mar 20, India reported 40,953 new coronavirus cases, the biggest daily jump in nearly four months, with its richest state and economic backbone Maharashtra accounting for more than half the infections. Deaths rose by 188 to 159,404.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, The International Olympic Committee and local organizers announced that foreign spectators will not be allowed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to begin July 23, because of coronavirus restrictions.
(AP, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Hundreds of health workers from Kosovo travelled to Albania to be inoculated against COVID-19 after the neighboring country offered to donate some of its supplies.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Pakistani PM Imran Khan (68) tested positive for COVID-19, two days after receiving his first vaccine dose. Government officials urged people not to be deterred from getting vaccinated.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Papua New Guinea reported rising coronavirus infections, continuing a surge that highlights the need for tougher social distancing restrictions taking effect on March 22. Confirmed cases reached 3,085 with 36 deaths. Health experts believed the true numbers are much higher.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 21, The Palestinian Health Ministry began administering the first doses of coronavirus vaccines it received from the global COVAX initiative to health care workers and older residents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
(AP, 3/21/21)
2021 Mar 21, The Philippines said it will expand tighter COVID-19 rules to include four provinces surrounding the capital Manila, and restrict travel to and from these areas for two weeks beginning March 22, as the country battles a renewed surge in infections.
(Reuters, 3/21/21)
2021 Mar 21, Romania recorded its highest number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units since the pandemic began. Over the past week some days saw more than 6,000 new cases.
(SFC, 3/22/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 21, South Africa's health ministry said it has concluded the sale of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines it had acquired but did not use to other African Union (AU) member states.
(AP, 3/21/21)
2021 Mar 22, It was reported that new cases of COVID-19 in the United States rose 5% to more than 394,000 last week, the first increase after declining for nine straight weeks.
(AP, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 22, Tests results announced that the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford provided strong protection against Covid-19 in a large clinical trial in the United States, completely preventing the worst outcomes from the disease while causing no serious side effects.
(NY Times, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 22, California to date had 3,620,124 cases of coronavirus and 57,114 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 418,275 cases and 5,780 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,861,965 with the death toll at 542,872.
(sfist.com, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 22, Minnesota health officials reported no new deaths due to COVID-19 for the first time in nearly a year.
(SFC, 3/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 22 West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced that the state will immediately open coronavirus vaccine eligibility to all residents 16 and older.
(SFC, 3/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 22, France added 344 confirmed deaths, increasing the total to 92,650 deaths.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 22, Yemen's emergency coronavirus committee reported 98 confirmed and 168 suspected infections.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, American federal health officials said results from a US trial of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine may have included “outdated information" and that could mean the company provided an incomplete view of efficacy data.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, California to date had 3,622,711 cases of coronavirus and 57,224 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 418,599 cases and 5,787 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,924,024 with the death toll at 543,798.
(sfist.com, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Texas health officials COVID-19 vaccine eligibility will be expanded to all adults as of March 29.
(SFC, 3/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 23, Pfizer Inc said it has started an early-stage US trial of an oral COVID-19 antiviral therapy that could be prescribed to patients at the first sign of infection.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Carissa Etienne, the WHO's regional director for the Americas, warned that the coronavirus is surging "dangerously" across Brazil, urging all Brazilians to adopt preventive measures to stop the spread.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, A subsidiary of Livzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc said China's medical products regulator has approved clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate it has developed.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a lowering of the age group for those eligible for COVID-19 shots from 75 to 70 years starting this weekend.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would extend its lockdown until April 18 and called on citizens to stay home and reduce contacts as much as possible for five days from April 1. lobby groups said the decision could drive more businesses to bankruptcy and be counterproductive by encouraging people to flock to the shops beforehand.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Lithuania's parliament approved regular mandatory COVID-19 testing for some workers and anyone refusing to be tested must work remotely or be suspended without pay.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Russian developers of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 said they have applied for domestic approval of a single-dose "light" version, and that trials of it in Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Ghana have already begun. The slimmed-down shot is not expected to be as effective as the original vaccine.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, The World Health Organization said it will oversee a coronavirus vaccination campaign in war-torn Syria that is expected to start in April with the aim of inoculating 20% of the population by the end of 2021.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling on the office of the UN human rights chief to urge Israel's government to ensure that Palestinian areas have “non-discriminatory" access to COVID-19 vaccines.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Yemen's internationally recognized government declared a health emergency in areas under its control, as infections in a second wave of a coronavirus epidemic surge.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 24, California to date had 3,625,208 cases of coronavirus and 57,423 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 419,031 cases and 5,802 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,009,386 with the death toll at 545,237.
(sfist.com, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, A federal indictment said that Christopher D. Casamento (42), the University of Pittsburgh’s former director of emergency management, stole more than 13,600 face masks meant for school employees and students and sold them online in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, GlaxoSmithKline said it is firing Moncef Slaoui from his position as board chair at Galvani Bioelectronics, effective immediately, after its investigation substantiated a complaint about his conduct toward an employee “several years ago" when Slaoui worked for the drugmaker.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, President Luis Arce said Bolivia aims to have vaccinated its adult population against COVID-19 by October.
(Reuters, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Brazil topped 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, becoming the second country, after the US, to do so amid a spike in infections that has seen the South American country report record death tolls in recent days. The health ministry reported 2,009 daily COVID-19 deaths, bringing its pandemic total to 300,685.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 24, German Chancellor Angela Merkel dropped plans for a five-day shutdown over Easter, which had prompted confusion and criticism. She called the idea a mistake and apologized to Germans.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Hong Kong suspended use of the Pfizer vaccine after its Chinese distributor informed the city that one batch had defective bottle lids.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Hungary's surgeon general said the country's hospitals are under "extraordinary" pressure from rising coronavirus infections, as the country became a hotspot in the third wave of a pandemic that has hit Central Europe especially hard.
(Reuters, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Health officials said a new and potentially troublesome variant of the coronavirus has been detected in India. The new variant found has two mutations in the spiky protein that the virus uses to fasten itself to cells.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Italy reported 460 coronavirus-related deaths against 551 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 21,267 from 18,765 the day before.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Marko Cadez, the head of Serbia's Chamber of Commerce, said his organization had 10,000 shots for business people across the region. "We are all one region and only together we can beat this scourge," he told reporters.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 24, Thousands of Spaniards lined up to get shots of AstraZeneca as the European country became the latest to restart the vaccine whose credibility has suffered a series of setbacks recently.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Zimbabwe’s Pres. Emmerson Mnangagwa received his first shot of the Chinese Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, a move the government hopes will encourage more people to seek the Chinese vaccines, which are the only ones currently available in the country.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 25, The United States said it is giving $15 million to vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a sharp reversal from the Trump administration which cut off almost all aid to the Palestinians.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, The US White House announced that it is dedicating $10 billion to try to drive up vaccination rates in low-income, minority and rural enclaves throughout the country.
(SFC, 3/26/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 25, Arizona's Republican Gov. Doug Ducey lifted COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and events and prohibited government mask mandates and allowed bars and nightclubs to open their doors without restrictions.
(https://tinyurl.com/3p9pds94)(SFC, 3/27/21, p.A7)
2021 Mar 25, California to date had 3,628,724 cases of coronavirus and 57,792 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 419,402 cases and 5,831 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,072,022 with the death toll at 546,352.
(sfist.com, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, It was reported that relatives of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others with connections to him received special access to coronavirus tests a year ago when testing was scarce.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Novavax said it is delaying signing a contract to supply its COVID-19 vaccine to the European Union, as the US biotech company warned it was struggling to source some raw materials.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, British lawmakers agreed to prolong coronavirus emergency measures for six months. Britain has recorded more than 126,000 coronavirus deaths.
(SFC, 3/26/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 25, In Germany the number of new confirmed coronavirus cases jumped by 22,657 to 2.713 million, the biggest increase since Jan. 9. The reported death toll rose by 228 to 75,440.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Gibraltar said masks will also no longer be mandatory in all outdoor areas starting at midnight March 27. Its hospital was free of COVID-19 patients and only one new coronavirus infection was reported in a full week. The southern Spanish region of Andalucia, which provides most of Gibraltar's workforce, recorded more than 1,000 new daily infections for the second day in a row.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, In Iceland gym classes, happy hours and the near-normal life enjoyed so far by the people ended abruptly, when the government ordered new restrictions after detecting six coronavirus cases believed to be the variant first found in Britain. Iceland has had just 5,384 cases and 29 deaths from COVID-19, according to official figures.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, India said it has not imposed a ban on coronavirus vaccine exports and New Delhi will continue to supply vaccines in a phased manner.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Mexico surpassed 200,000 test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador framed ramped-up vaccination efforts as a race against time.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Officials said Russia has started producing CoviVac, its third vaccine against COVID-19, and will soon make it available for use in its regions, though phase three trials are still under way.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Sweden registered 7,706 new COVID-19 cases, its highest number of new cases since the end of last year, amid what authorities said was flagging compliance with the mainly voluntary recommendations to curb the spread of the virus. 16 new deaths took the total to 13,373. Sweden said it would resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 65.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 26, California to date had 3,630,385 cases of coronavirus and 57,935 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 419,474 cases and 5,862 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,137,807 with the death toll at 547,812.
(sfist.com, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the prevalence of COVID-19 infections in England is no longer falling and has levelled off at an estimated 1 in 340 people.
(Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, A Sinopharm affiliate said two COVID-19 vaccines developed by subsidiaries of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) have hit a combined 100 million doses of supply around the world.
(Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, The European Union’s medicines regulator said it has approved new manufacturing sites for coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, in a move that could significantly boost Europe’s supply of the shots and speed vaccination efforts across the continent.
(AP, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, Europe's drug regulator said regdanvimab, the South Korean drugmaker Celltrion's COVID-19 treatment, can be considered for patients at high risk of severe illness, but added that the monoclonal antibody's benefits were not entirely clear so far.
(Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, Germany reported 21,573 new coronavirus cases, compared with 17,482 a week earlier.
(SFC, 3/27/21, p.A7)
2021 Mar 26, In Lebanon the first batch of 50,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines arrived, making it one of few nations where the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is being boosted by private sector initiatives. Lebanon is currently in the grips of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history. The local currency has lost 90% of its value against the dollar
(AP, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, Serbia became the first European country to vaccinate people living in its refugee camps and asylum centers.
(AP, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, A survey by Spain's Observatory for Drugs and Addiction found that Spaniards cut back on alcohol and almost halved their binge-drinking during the pandemic as the lockdown shuttered bars and nightclubs.
(Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 27, California to date had 3,633,771 cases of coronavirus and 58,178 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 420,413 cases and 5,871 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,162,813 with the death toll at 548,336.
(sfist.com, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, Facebook said it has frozen Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's page for violating policies against spreading misinformation about COVID-19 by promoting a remedy he claims, without evidence, can cure the disease.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, Thousands of Bhutanese travelled to schools and public buildings for vaccination as the Himalayan kingdom launched its biggest inoculation drive against COVID-19 with the AstraZeneca shots provided by neighboring India.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, India gave 1.2 million free doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh. PM Narendra Modi made the offering at the end of a two-day tour of Bangladesh.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, Mexico's government acknowledged that the country's true deatrh toll from the coronavirus pandemic now likely stands above 321,000.
(AP, 3/28/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 27, Panama's government said it would from next week temporarily suspend the entry of people to the country who have been in South America in the previous 15 days after local health authorities detected a case of the Brazilian strain of COVID-19.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, Philippine officials said Manila and nearby provinces will return to stricter quarantine measures on March 29, as the country battles to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases that has strained hospitals.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, In Poland a new set of pandemic related restrictions took effect to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which has taken more than 51,700 lives in the country.
(SSFC, 3/28/21, p.A13)
2021 Mar 28, California to date had 3,635,640 cases of coronavirus and 58,348 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 420,547 cases and 5,873 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,255,303 with the death toll at 549,288.
(sfist.com, 3/28/21)
2021 Mar 28, A year after becoming a global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, New York and New Jersey were back atop the list of US states with the highest rates of infection. New Jersey has been reporting about 647 new cases for every 100,000 residents over the past 14 days. New York has averaged 548.
(AP, 3/28/21)
2021 Mar 28, Albania started a mass inoculation campaign ahead of the summer tourism season after acquiring 192,000 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccine Sinovac earlier this week.
(AP, 3/28/21)
2021 Mar 28, In France critical care doctors said surging coronavirus infections could soon overwhelm their ability to care for the sick in Paris hospitals.
(SFC, 3/29/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 29, President Biden said that 90 percent of US adults aged 16 and up will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine within the next three weeks. Administration officials pleaded with Americans to continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid an increase in cases across the country.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)(The Week, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 29, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the two vaccines available since December — Pfizer and Moderna — were 90% effective after two doses. In testing, the vaccines were about 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, California to date had 3,636,923 cases of coronavirus and 58,437 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 421,553 cases and 5,886 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,331,029 with the death toll at 550,003.
(sfist.com, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Results from a mid-stage trial showed that antibody treatments from Eli Lilly and Vir Biotech reduced viral load in low-risk COVID-19 patients.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, GlaxoSmithKline said it has agreed in principle to handle the final part of the manufacturing process for up to 60 million doses of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine for use in Britain, widening the company's role in the fight against the pandemic.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Humanigen Inc said its experimental COVID-19 drug met the main goal of improved survival without the need for mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients in a late-stage trial, sending its shares soaring 60% before the opening bell.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Johnson & Johnson said it’s agreed to provide up to 400 million doses of its one-dose COVID-19 vaccine to African countries, starting this summer.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Australia's professional sports leagues scrambled to put contingency plans in place after Queensland authorities announced a snap three-day lockdown in state capital Brisbane to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, England's stay-at-home lockdown order ended with people allowed to meet up outside in groups of six for the first time in nearly three months, though PM Boris Johnson urged caution due to rising cases in Europe.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Canada suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people under age 55 following concerns it might be linked to rare blood clots. New data from Europe suggested the risk of blood clots is now potentially as high as one in 100,000, much higher than the one in one million risk believed before.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, India reported the highest daily increase in coronavirus cases in five months, with the second wave of the disease driven by surging infections in the country's richest state Maharashtra. 68,020 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Daily deaths rose by 291 and the virus has so far killed 161,843 people in India.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Palestinians received 100,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China to help broaden an initial campaign to vaccinate medical staff, the elderly and the chronically ill.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, A joint WHO-China study concluded that it is "extremely unlikely" that the coronavirus pandemic started with a leak from a Chinese lab and that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 30, Arizona's confirmed death toll from the coronavirus rose to 16,941 as it reported 23 more deaths and 586 new cases. Total cases numbered 841,078.
(SFC, 3/31/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 30, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state will drop its mask mandate immediately and open up coronavirus vaccinations to anyone 16 and older.
(SFC, 3/31/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 30, California to date had 3,643,279 cases of coronavirus and 58,676 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 421,893 cases and 5,891 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,391,227 with the death toll at 550,951.
(sfist.com, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Germany's vaccine regulator said it has recorded 31 cases of a rare blood clot in the brain, nine of which resulted in deaths, after people received a COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, It was reported that India's drug regulator has allowed the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to be used for up to nine months from its manufacture date, as opposed to the prescribed six months.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Iran said a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic had taken hold in western and central areas of the country, triggered by widespread travel and celebrations during the current Iranian New Year holidays.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Israel's Health Ministry said on new coronavirus strain has been identified in Israel, and the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, used primarily in a swift nationwide inoculation drive, appeared to be effective against it.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Netherlands's health authorities said new coronavirus cases in the country increased for a seventh consecutive week, despite lockdown and social distancing rules aimed at curbing the virus' spread.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Pakistan said it will import Chinese Cansino Biologics COVID-19 vaccines in bulk to package 3 million doses locally. Coronavirus cases have soared with PM Imran Khan, Pres. Arif Alvi and Defense Minister Pervez Khattak all testing positive. The country has recorded 14,356 deaths and 663,200 infections since the start of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)(SFC, 3/31/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 30, Papua New Guinea PM James Marape received the first COVID-19 shot in the Pacific Island country under a small vaccination program aimed at curbing soaring infections. Australia sent Papua New Guinea 8,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine last week after warning of a worsening humanitarian crisis.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, A Russian health official said a third wave of coronavirus infections was emerging in the country, which has recorded more than 4.5 million cases since the start of the pandemic. Russia reported 8,277 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, including 1,291 in Moscow. The country also reported 409 deaths, raising the official toll to 98,442.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Health officials said number of Swedes needing intensive care as a result of COVID infection increased 9% compared to last week as the country grapples with a third wave of the virus.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, In Syria the president's office said Bashar Assad and his wife have recovered from COVID-19 and returned to their regular duties, three weeks after they had tested positive for the coronavirus.
(AP, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, The WHO and more than 20 heads of government and global agencies called for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations.
(AP, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 31, The FDA said Abbott’s BinaxNow and Quidel’s QuickVue COVID-19 tests can now be sold without a prescription.
(AP, 4/1/21)(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A9)
2021 Mar 31, California to date had 3,644,616 cases of coronavirus and 58,769 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 422,237 cases and 5,916 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,452,058 with the death toll at 551,863.
(sfist.com, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers' statewide mask mandate ruling 4-3 that he had exceeded his authority.
(SFC, 4/11/21, p.A8)
2021 Mar 31, Johnson & Johnson said a batch of its COVID-19 vaccine failed quality standards and can’t be used. An ingredient made by Emergent BioSolutions, one of about 10 companies that Johnson & Johnson is using to speed up manufacturing of its recently approved vaccine, did not meet quality standards. Emergent had to jettison between 13 million and 15 million doses of the J&J vaccine.
(AP, 3/31/21)(SFC, 4/8/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 31, Pfizer said a clinical trial had showed that its Covid vaccine was extremely effective in 12- to 15-year-olds, with no symptomatic infections among children who received it.
(NY Times, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, The European Medicines Agency says there is “no evidence" that would support restricting use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in any population despite reports of rare blood clots associated with the shot. The Europe's drug regulator said it is investigating 62 cases worldwide of a rare blood clotting condition which has prompted some countries to limit the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.
(AP, 3/31/21)(Reuters, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, President Emmanuel Macron of France announced the start of a third national lockdown in a desperate move to halt a new deadly wave.
(NY Times, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, Qatar's cabinet ordered a halt to non-urgent medical services at private health facilities as of April 2 as coronavirus cases rise in the Gulf Arab state.
(Reuters, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended against using generic anti-parasite drug ivermectin in patients with COVID-19 except for clinical trials, because of a lack of data demonstrating its benefits.
(Reuters, 3/31/21)
2021 Apr 1, California to date had 3,645,574 cases of coronavirus and 58,821 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 422,717 cases and 5,926 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,535,374 with the death toll at 553,084.
(sfist.com, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Kansas' statewide mask mandate came to an end under a new law that makes it more difficult for health officials to keep COVID-19 precautions in place.
(SFC, 4/2/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 1, It was reported that infections and hospitalizations in Michigan have risen sharply in recent weeks, giving it more recent cases per capita than any other state. Officials blamed a more contagious variant and a premature return to prepandemic behaviors. Officials confirmed the state's first case of a variant identified in Brazil.
(NY Times, 4/1/21)(SFC, 4/2/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 1, Chile said it will close its borders for the month of April to slow the spread of the coronavirus and stop the influx of its variants, as cases continue to soar despite one of the world's fastest vaccination rates.
(Reuters, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno declared a 30-day state of exception in eight of the country's 24 provinces, which includes a curfew, due to a spike in coronavirus infections and associated deaths. Ecuador has more than 330,000 infections and 16,877 deaths confirmed and probable by COVID-19.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 1, It was reported that the European Union has asked India to allow it to buy 10 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from Serum Institute of India.
(Reuters, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, France's PM Jean Castex defended new nationwide measures to combat a resurgent coronavirus in France that include closing schools for at least three weeks and putting in place a month-long domestic travel ban.
(AP, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Germany’s disease control agency reported 24,300 newly confirmed cases in the past day, and 201 deaths. Chancellor Angela Merkel called on citizens to help ease the strain on nurses and doctors caring for the rising number of COVID-19 patients by respecting pandemic rules over Easter.
(AP, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Italy reported 501 coronavirus-related deaths against 467 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections decreased to 23,649 from 23,904.
(Reuters, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Japan designated Osaka and two other areas for new virus control steps as infections there rise less than four months before the Tokyo Olympics.
(SFC, 4/2/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 1, Russia’s embassy in North Korea said the country is suffering severe shortages of medicines and necessary goods amid the coronavirus pandemic. It said fewer than 290 foreigners remain in Pyongyang.
(AP, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, It was reported that South Africa's health regulator has approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for large-scale deliveries of the shot the government has put at the heart of its immunization plans.
(Reuters, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Spain’s Madrid region halted COVID-19 vaccinations at health centers for four days so medical staff can rest over the Easter holiday, despite pleas from the national government not to halt the fight against surging infections.
(AP, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Vietnam appealed to diplomats from the United States, European Union and Japan to help it secure supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, as part of efforts to acquire the 150 million doses needed to cover its adult population.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 the green light to travel within the US without getting tested or self-quarantining.
(The Week, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 2, California to date had 3,652,111 cases of coronavirus and 59,210 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 423,294 cases and 5,948 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,602,678 with the death toll at 553,979.
(sfist.com, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced an executive order prohibiting government entities in the state from issuing COVID-19 vaccine "passports" or "other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying an individual's COVID-19 status to a third party." DeSantis argued that vaccinations are private information.
(NBC News, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, Britain's Department for Transport said the number of countries on its “red list" will reach 39 when the latest restrictions take effect in England beginning April 9. International arrivals will be banned from four more countries — Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines — amid concerns over new virus variants.
(AP, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, Mainland China reported 26 new COVID-19 cases, up from nine a day earlier. Officials in the country's southwest linked a local outbreak to Myanmar. The border city of Ruili began a 5-day drive to vaccinate its entire population of 300,000 people. 16 cases have been confirmed there since March 30.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)(SFC, 4/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 2, Italy reported 481 coronavirus-related deaths against 501 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections decreased to 21,932 from 23,649. Italy has registered 110,328 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, In Japan 446 new infections were reported in Tokyo. In Osaka, a record 666 cases were reported.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 2, Kenya ordered an immediate suspension on private importations of vaccines citing fears that it may lead to counterfeit inoculations getting into the country. Kenya's government said the country's positivity rate jumped from 2.6% at the end of January to 19.1% on April 2.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 2, The Netherlands temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people under 60 following the death of a woman who had received a shot.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, Turkey began administering Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 shots, introducing a second vaccine in its campaign that began in mid-January, as new cases reached record highs.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 3, As of March 13, the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which walloped Britain and is wreaking havoc on Europe, accounted for about 27 percent of new cases in the US, up from just 1 percent in early February.
(NY Times, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, California to date had 3,652,911 cases of coronavirus and 59,210 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 423,630 cases and 5,950 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,668,826 with the death toll at 554,779.
(sfist.com, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Argentina's Pres. Alberto Fernandez tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms. He had received doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine on Jan. 21 and Feb. 11.
(SFC, 4/5/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 3, Australia said it will continue its inoculation program with AstraZeneca PLC, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Canada's Ontario province entered a 4-week shutdown because of a 3rd surge of coronavirus infections fueled by more contagious virus variants.
(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A9)
2021 Apr 3, Mainland China reported 21 new COVID-19 cases, down from 26 cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, France reported that 5,273 people were in intensive care units (ICU) for COVID-19, a rise of 19 from the previous day, as the country entered its third national lockdown to help combat the pandemic. French hospitals have brought in extra staff for the Easter holiday weekend to cope with growing numbers of virus patients, while travelers converged on train stations and highways to flee big cities before new nationwide restrictions take hold.
(AP, 4/3/21)(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, The Philippines reported 12,576 new coronavirus infections, putting further strain on the healthcare system. President Rodrigo Duterte extended a strict lockdown in the capital region and adjacent provinces by at least one week to try to contain a renewed surge in infections.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, In Somalia simultaneous large explosions were heard in and around two army bases, with the military confirming at least nine of its people killed but asserting “heavy losses" among the attackers. The al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility. In Mogadishu a suicide bomber detonated an explosive at a tea shop killing at least six people.
(AP, 4/3/21)(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 3, Syria's government said primary schools around Syria will close down indefinitely next week amid a severe increase of coronavirus cases in the war-torn country, while universities will suspend classes for only two weeks and high schools will remain open.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Ukraine said it has approved China's Sinovac vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic, after the country recorded a record rise in new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 4, California to date had 3,654,128 cases of coronavirus and 59,243 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 424,091 cases and 5,951 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,681,592 with the death toll at 554,813.
(sfist.com, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, The French city of Sarcelles, north of Paris, was among those whose vaccination center stayed open Easter Sunday, amid mushrooming infections and demand.
(AP, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, Germany announced plans to allow people vaccinated against Covid-19 certain privileges over their unvaccinated peers, in a significant step towards introducing so-called "vaccine passports".
(The Telegraph, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, India reported 93,249 new cases in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra state, which accounts for less than a tenth of India's population, accounted for a record 49,447 new cases. PM Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 situation and vaccination program.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said around 70% of coronavirus patients tested at a Tokyo hospital last month carried a mutation known for reducing vaccine protection. The E484K mutation, nicknamed "Eek" by some scientists, was found in 10 of 14 people who tested positive for the virus at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Medical Hospital in March.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, More than 100,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Tripoli's Mitiga airport, the first shipment to reach Libya.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, Spaniards lined up for shots on Easter Sunday in Barcelona and other points around the country, but Madrid halted vaccinations at local health centers to give staff a break.
(AP, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message to quicken distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to the world's poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic "scandalous".
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 5, A White House official said the US government's removal of AstraZeneca PLC's COVID-19 shot production from Emergent BioSolutions Inc's Baltimore manufacturing facility does not suggest it has any concerns about the vaccine's safety or effectiveness and will not impact its output of doses. The US Department of Health and Human Services ordered Johnson & Johnson to take charge of production at Emergent and for Emergent to stop making AstraZeneca's shots after the contract manufacturer made an error that ruined 15 million J&J COVID-19 vaccine doses.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, California to date had 3,656,939 cases of coronavirus and 59,293 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 424,657 cases and 5,975 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,775,094 with the death toll at 555,381.
(sfist.com, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, It was reported that Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has tested positive for COVID-19 a few days after receiving his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 5, Bangladesh began a one-week lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/5/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 5, East Timor received its first batch of coronavirus vaccine, arranged by the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX. The former Portuguese colony has detected 714 cases of the coronavirus, most of which it said were imported, and no casualty so far.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, Retail stores across most of Greece were allowed to reopen despite an ongoing surge in COVID-19 infections, as the country battles to emerge from deep recession.
(AP, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, India reported a record rise in COVID-19 infections, becoming the second country after the United States to post more than 100,000 new cases in a day, as politicians stage massive election rallies raising fears of further spreading the virus.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, India's Cadila Healthcare Ltd said it has sought approval from local regulators to use Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b, a Hepatitis C drug, as a treatment for COVID-19 following promising interim results from a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, Spain reported 2,247 new cases and 85 deaths. In total, there’s been 3.3 million cases and more than 75,000 confirmed deaths.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 5, Venezuela's main academies of medicine and science urged renewed efforts to vaccinate the South American nation's population against the coronavirus amid a spike in infections that has led the government to extend lockdown measures. Venezuela reported 15 deaths and 1,786 new infections, the highest since the start of the pandemic. It has reported 166,123 cases and 1,662 associated deaths.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 6, New research suggested the protection the Moderna vaccine gives against COVID-19 lasts for at least six months.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that his state aimed to fully reopen its economy on June 15, saying it was time to start "planning for our lives post-pandemic".
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, California to date had 3,660,561 cases of coronavirus and 59,424 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 425,109 cases and 5,989 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,843,737 with the death toll at 556,486.
(sfist.com, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania together reported 44% of the nation's new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, More than 1,000 Bosnians marched in the capital Sarajevo demanding government resignation over poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Bosnia has had among the highest death rates in Europe, with nearly 7,000 dead in the country of 3.3 million.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, PM Justin Trudeau said Canada's hospitalizations are surging, intensive care beds are filling up and COVID-19 variants are spreading as a third wave of the pandemic sweeps across much of the country.
(Reuters, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, In Italy restaurant owners and others angry at having their businesses shut for weeks due to pandemic lockdown measures clashed with police during a protest outside Parliament in Rome.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, Pakistan reported 103 deaths from COVID-19, one of the highest single-day fatalities since January.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, The Sri Lankan government lifted the one-year restrictions imposed on Sri Lankans, allowing entry into the country without prior approval but requiring quarantine. Sri Lanka has registered 93,595 total cases and 586 confirmed deaths.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, Tanzania's new Pres. Samia Suluhu Hassan said she will form a technical committee to advise her about the scope of COVID-19 infections in the country and how to respond to the pandemic.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, It was reported that Trinidad and Tobago PM Keith Rowley has tested positive for the coronavirus. The country has reported more than 8,000 coronavirus cases and 145 confirmed deaths.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 7, The Biden administration said that 25 million more stimulus payments worth a total of $36 billion had been sent out to Americans from the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief legislation.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, The US National Institutes of Health said it had begun a mid-stage study to determine the risk of allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines made by Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, California to date had 3,661,898 cases of coronavirus and 59,483 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 425,465 cases and 5,994 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,920,837 with the death toll at 559,086.
(sfist.com, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said there would be “no national lockdown," ignoring growing calls from health experts a day after the nation saw its highest number of COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours since the pandemic began.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) said Britain should not give Oxford/AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to under 30s where possible, due to a very rare side effect of blood clots in the brain.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Cambodia said it is shutting its most popular tourist destination, the centuries-old Angkor temple complex, to visitors for two weeks to help curb the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 7, It was reported that 21 players on the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks — nearly the whole team — have tested positive for COVID-19. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a plan to have mobile vaccine clinics target COVID-19 "hotspots" and high-risk worksites.
(NY Times, 4/7/21)(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 7, European and British medicine regulators said they had found possible links between AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine and reports of very rare cases of brain blood clots, in a setback for inoculation campaigns. An official said that the European drug regulator has received reports of 169 cases of a rare brain blood clot in people who received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, as the agency continued to stress that the benefits of the vaccination outweigh the risks.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Kits for self-administered coronavirus tests began arriving in Greek pharmacies, with residents entitled to one a week free of charge as part of efforts to tackle a surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, In Hungary shops and services were allowed to reopen after 2.5 million people received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, a benchmark the government set for when a gradual reopening could take place. Doctors questioned the government's decision to lift some lockdown restriction.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 7, Iran shattered its daily record for new infections for the second consecutive day as cases soared to 20,954, a worrisome trend after more than a year of the country battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Iraq recorded 8,331 new virus cases within a 24-hour period, the highest figure since the ministry began keeping records at the onset of the pandemic last year.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 7, Italy reported 627 coronavirus-related deaths against 421 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,708 from 7,767 the day before.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Doctors in Japan performed the world's first successful transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a patient with severe lung damage from COVID-19.
(SFC, 4/9/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 7, Moroccan authorities decided to enforce a night-time curfew during the holy month of Ramadan because of a recent rise in COVID-19 cases, as scientists announced the discovery of a new, local variant of the virus.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Philippine health authorities allowed the use of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine for some senior citizens after initially limiting coverage to people aged 18-59 years, as the country battles one of Asia's worst coronavirus outbreaks.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Authorities in several Spanish regions ratcheted up COVID-19 restrictions to rein in a rising infection rate and prevent it from evolving into a fourth wave of contagion.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, The Swedish Medical Products Agency said the benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweighed the risks after the EU drug regulator said it had found a possible link between the shot and rare blood clots.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Tunisia said it is extending its nighttime curfew by three hours and tightening other restrictions ahead of Ramadan following an uptick of COVID-19 infections. The measure will apply from 7pm until 5am, from April 9 until at least April 30.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, California to date had 3,666,689 cases of coronavirus and 59,733 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 425,940 cases and 6,008 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,002,247 with the death toll at 560,116.
(sfist.com, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, Australia and the Philippines limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, while the Africa Union dropped plans to buy the shot, dealing further blows to the company's hopes to deliver a vaccine for the world.
(Reuters, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, It was reported that the UK's COVID-19 vaccination program is beginning to break the link between infection and serious illness or death. Britain's death toll from the pandemic is the highest in Europe at over 127,000.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted the Czech Republic's position on mandatory vaccinations for children rebuffing parents' complaints that the government violated their rights.
(Reuters, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, India’s PM Narendra Modi received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the country hit another peak with 126,789 new cases reported in the past 24 hours.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, Iran hit a new coronavirus infection record for the third straight day, reporting 22,586 new cases as the country grapples with a severe spike following the Persian New Year holiday.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, Russia called on Slovakia to return hundreds of thousands of doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, citing contract violations, in an escalating row between the two countries after a Slovak watchdog raised doubts about the shot. Slovakia imported 200,000 doses of Sputnik V last month, despite a lack of EU regulatory approval.
(Reuters, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, Syria received a planeload from the United Arab Emirates with food items and medical aid to help the war-torn country in its fight against the spread of the coronavirus.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 9, The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that California can’t enforce coronavirus-related restrictions that have limited home-based religious worship including Bible studies and prayer meetings.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, California to date had 3,666,689 cases of coronavirus and 59,733 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 426,498 cases and 6,042 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,023,288 with the death toll at 560,315.
(sfist.com, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, The Navajo Nation issued a stay-at-home order for the weekend after reporting 26 more confirmed COVID-19 cases. The current death toll stood at 1,260.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, In NYC the famed amusement parks of Coney Island reopened under reduced capacity after being shuttered last year due to the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/10/21, p.A7)
2021 Apr 9, It was reported that Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc are spending millions of dollars to provide drivers with access to COVID-19 vaccines and offering tens of millions of free or discounted rides to vaccination sites for people in communities that lack access to transportation and healthcare services.
(Reuters, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, The World Bank Group said it will have committed $2 billion in financing by the end of April for vaccine purchases, development and manufacturing and is working with more than 40 countries on this effort.
(Reuters, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, Australia said that it has finalized a deal to buy an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine as it rapidly pivots away from its earlier plan to rely mainly on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, Britain said it had given 545,511 COVID vaccine doses on April 8, the highest daily total since April 1, while a further 60 people had died within 28 days of a positive test for the disease, raising this death toll to 127,040.
(Reuters, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, French health officials said that people under 55 who received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should get other vaccines for their second shot because of an extremely rare risk of a blood clotting disorder.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, Puerto Rico said it would close all private and public schools for two weeks amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
(SFC, 4/10/21, p.A7)
2021 Apr 9, Thailand reported 559 new coronavirus infections, following increases of 405 and 334 new cases the previous two days.
(SFC, 4/10/21, p.A7)
2021 Apr 10, California to date had 3,670,264 cases of coronavirus and 59,910 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 427,341 cases and 6,052 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,085,251 with the death toll at 561,074.
(sfist.com, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, Gao Fu, the director of the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said China's COVID-19 vaccines do not have very high protection rates.
(AP, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 10, Iran began a 10-day lockdown amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, a worrisome trend after more than a year of the country battling the Middle East's worst outbreak.
(AP, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, Italy reported 344 coronavirus-related deaths against 718 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 17,567 from 18,938 the day before. Italy has registered 113,923 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, Libya's new unity government launched a long-delayed COVID-19 vaccination program after receiving some 160,000 vaccine doses over the past week, with PM Abdulhamid Dbeibeh receiving his jab on live television.
(Reuters, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, In Romania marchers took to the streets of Bucharest to protest restrictive measures to fight the spread of COVID-19 even as new daily infections passed the milestone of 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. Romania has so far recorded 25,006 coronavirus deaths.
(AP, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, A New York Times analysis of mortality data shows deaths in Russia during the pandemic last year were 28 percent higher than normal — an increase in mortality greater than in the United States and most countries in Europe.
(NY Times, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, Thailand said it plans to install 10,000 field-hospital beds in Bangkok, as the country strains to cope with a third wave of COVID-19 infections.
(Reuters, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 11, California to date had 3,673,398 cases of coronavirus and 60,015 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 427,667 cases and 6,052 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,156,128 with the death toll at 561,811.
(sfist.com, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan urged the Biden administration to ship extra vaccine doses to the state, where coronavirus cases are surging.
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 11, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov said the EU was negotiating a new contract with Pfizer-BioNTech at a price of 19.5 euros ($23.22) per dose. The new contract would cover variants, meaning that the companies would offer enhanced shots if mutations of the coronavirus became prevalent.
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 11, Chinese health authorities reported 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 asymptomatic cases, bringing the country's total to 90,410, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636. The National Health Commission said China has administered 164.47 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, India banned the export of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients as demand rocketed due to a record surge in COVID-19 infections, leading to a crippling shortages in many parts.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, Iran reported its highest single-day death toll from COVID-19 this year, bringing the country’s total deaths in the pandemic to nearly 64,500. Iran recorded 258 new deaths in the last 24 hours.
(AP, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, Italy reported 331 coronavirus-related deaths against 344 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 15,746 from 17,567 the day before.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, South Korean authorities said they will move ahead with a coronavirus vaccination drive this week, after deciding to continue using AstraZeneca PLC's vaccine for all eligible people 30 years old or over.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, Thailand reported 967 new COVID-19 cases, its biggest daily jump, but no new deaths as the country deals with a third wave of infections and a highly contagious variant.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 12, The White House said it was prepared to send additional therapeutic treatments to the state of Michigan, which is experiencing a troubling number of COVID-19 cases, but did not promise more vaccine as the state has sought.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, California to date had 3,675,956 cases of coronavirus and 60,076 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 428,533 cases and 6,068 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,202,818 with the death toll at 562,096.
(sfist.com, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, San Francisco-based Salesforce.com said it would start allowing vaccinated employees to return to some of its offices, making it one of the first major US corporations to give vaccinated workers preferential treatment over those who have not taken the shot.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, Uber Technologies Inc, PayPal Holdings Inc and Walgreens Inc said they have launched an $11 million fund to provide free ride-hail trips to US COVID-19 vaccination sites for people who lack access to transportation.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, UK trial results showed that treating COVID-19 patients at home with a commonly-used inhaled asthma drug called budesonide can speed up their recovery.
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, The Czech Republic, one of the European Union’s hardest-hit countries took its first steps toward easing of its tight lockdown. Health experts, however, warned that the relaxation was going too far as infection and death rates still remained at dangerously high levels.
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, India reported 168,912 new infections, inching past Brazil, with a total of 13.53 million cases. India is now the second-most affected country after the United States that is grappling with 31.2 million cases. The western state of Maharashtra, home to India's financial capital Mumbai, has been the worst hit in the pandemic, accounting for about a quarter of the country's 13.5 million case load.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, Spain said it will initially prioritize people aged between 70 and 79 for vaccination with coronavirus shots produced by Johnson & Johnson's Janssen unit, which are due to start arriving this week.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez said in a report that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in gender-based violence last year and combatants continued to use sexual violence “as a cruel tactic of war" and political repression. The report focused on 18 countries and listed 52 parties “credibly suspected" of responsibility “for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence".
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 13, The US recommended a “pause" in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. Six US women between 18 and 48 developed blood clots within two weeks of receiving vaccine shots. One of the six died, and another was in critical condition.. Johnson & Johnson said it is delaying the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe amid the US probe.
(AP, 4/13/21)(NY Times, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended its eviction moratorium through the end of June to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 13, California to date had 3,680,559 cases of coronavirus and 60,076 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 428,604 cases and 6,068 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,273,951 with the death toll at 562,655.
(sfist.com, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte issued an executive order banning the development or use of vaccine passports.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 13, Belgium said will continue COVID-19 vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson jab for the moment.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, Britain began offering coronavirus vaccinations to anyone over 45 after hitting its target of giving at last one dose to everyone over 50 by the middle of April.
(AP, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, PM Justin Trudeau said the progress Canada has made against COVID-19 is being threatened by the spread of more contagious and dangerous virus variants.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, France suspended all flights from Brazil amid mounting fears over the P.1 variant of the coronavirus that has been sweeping across Brazil.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 13, Italy reported 476 coronavirus-related deaths against 358 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,447 from 9,789.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, The rate of new COVID-19 infections in Sweden jumped to the second-highest in Europe after land-locked San Marino. The Scandinavian country, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, faced a third wave of cases.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, In northeast Syria a 10-day curfew in areas controlled by US-backed Kurdish fighters went into effect in an attempt to try limit the spread of coronavirus.
(AP, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, Thailand recorded a 3rd day in a row with more than 900 coronavirus cases. Total infections reached 34,575 with 97 deaths.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 13, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced several new restrictions and a "partial closure" for the first two weeks of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to curb surging coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 14, California to date had 3,683,199 cases of coronavirus and 60,200 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 429,463 cases and 6,110 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,419,303 with the death toll at 564,301.
(sfist.com, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 14, Brazil's city of Sao Paulo warned its ability to care for seriously ill COVID-19 patients was on the verge of collapse as it ran perilously low on key drugs.
(AP, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, Finland said people aged under 65 who got a first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot may get a different vaccine for their second dose, as authorities warned about delays to the country's roll-out.
(Reuters, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, France said it will use Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine as planned despite its suspension in the United States. France had received a first shipment of 200,000 doses.
(Reuters, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, Italy reported 469 coronavirus-related deaths against 476 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 16,168 from 13,447. Healthcare management in the Lombardy region said there was a growing reluctance amongst residents to accept AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine because of safety fears.
(Reuters, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, Sweden's Health Agency said it would pause plans to start vaccinations using Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine following reports of rare blood clots similar to those reported for the AstraZeneca shot.
(Reuters, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, Thailand confirmed 1,335 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the total to 35,910, with 97 deaths.
(AP, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 15, California to date had 3,686,484 cases of coronavirus and 60,412 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 429,948 cases and 6,122 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,491,453 with the death toll at 565,254.
(sfist.com, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said people will "likely" need to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose within 12 months after they've been fully vaccinated.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 15, An emergency shipment of sedatives needed to intubate severely ill COVID-19 patients arrived in Brazil late today from China. Brazil has recorded a total of 365,444 coronavirus deaths, second only to the US, and 13,746,681 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
(Reuters, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 15, Britain reported 2,672 new COVID cases, up slightly from 2,491 a day earlier but taking the fall over the last seven days to almost 7% compared with a week earlier.
(Reuters, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, In Cambodia a 2-week lockdown began in Phnom Penh under orders from PM Hun Sen. Cambodia has so far confirmed 4,874 coronavirus cases and 35 deaths.
(SFC, 4/16/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 15, France reported 300 new deaths due to the coronavirus bringing its total to 100,077. France became the 3rd EU country, after Britain and Italy, to pass the 100,000 mark.
(SFC, 4/16/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 15, India's two largest cities, New Delhi and Mumbai, imposed stringent restrictions on movement as new infections in the country shot past 200,000 amid a devastating surge that is straining a fragile health system.
(AP, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, Iran said it has finalized a deal with Russia to purchase 60 million doses of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
(AP, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, Venezuela said it has received a batch of 50,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Venezuela has reported 178,094 cases of coronavirus and 1,834 deaths, according to official figures.
(AP, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, The UN humanitarian chief warned that the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in Yemen is getting even worse with the COVID-19 pandemic “roaring back" in recent weeks as the Arab world’s poorest country faces a large-scale famine.
(AP, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 16, The Biden administration said it will invest $1.7 billion to help states and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fight COVID-19 variants that are rapidly spreading across the United States.
(Reuters, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, California to date had 3,689,359 cases of coronavirus and 60,527 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 430,378 cases and 6,140 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,565,262 with the death toll at 566,088.
(sfist.com, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced that the state was lifting its mask mandate. He credited success in vaccinations for keeping deaths low.
(SFC, 4/17/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 16, It was reported that nearly 38% of New Mexico's adults are now fully vaccinated and that more than 57% of adults have now received at least one vaccine dose.
(SFC, 4/16/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 16, Australia reported its first fatality from blood clots in a recipient of AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) Covid-19 shot. It was the third case of the rare blood clots appearing in people who have been administered the vaccine in the country.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 16, Bangladesh recorded 4,417 new coronavirus cases raising that total to 711,779. 101 new deaths raised that total to 10,182.
(SFC, 4/17/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 16, Britain gave out 119,306 first vaccine doses and 485,421 second doses. A further 35 people died from the virus within 28 days of a positive test, and 2,206 people tested positive.
(Reuters, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 16, Guatemala said it will restrict entry to visitors who have recently been to Brazil, the United Kingdom and South Africa in an effort to control a jump in coronavirus cases. Confirmed cases reached 210,667.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 16, The CEO of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, asked President Biden to lift a US export embargo on raw materials for vaccines, saying it is hampering vaccine production in other parts of the world.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, In Iraq Khodeir Majid (64), a video producer and cameraman for The Associated Press for over 17 years, died of complications due to the coronavirus.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, Mexican health authorities said that 14 of the country's roughly 2,600 townships have refused to allow vaccination teams to administer anti-coronavirus doses there. A convoy transporting vaccines came under an armed attack in Michoacan state.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 16, Portugal officially reported 553 new COVID-19 cases and 4 deaths nationwide. A day earlier there were no COVID-19 deaths in Lisbon for the first time since August.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, South Africa took the first step in its mass vaccination campaign by starting online registrations for the elderly to receive shots beginning next month.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 17, The global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 3 million.
(AP, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, California to date had 3,690,969 cases of coronavirus and 60,580 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 430,411 cases and 6,140 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,573,791 with the death toll at 566,359.
(sfist.com, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, Public Health England reported that 73 cases of the B.1.617 variant, which was first discovered in India, had been found, while a further four cases were identified in Scotland.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, Canada reported a second case of rare blood clots with low platelets after immunization with AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in a week, while it said it still recommended the use of the shot.
(Reuters, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, France said it will order a strict 10-day quarantine for all travelers coming from Brazil starting April 24 in a bid to prevent the spread of a coronavirus variant.
(Reuters, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, India reported 234,692 new coronavirus cases. New Delhi went into a weekend lockdown. Capital Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said New Delhi has registered at least 24,000 fresh coronavirus cases in 24 hours and faces a "grim" battle against a new pandemic wave with shortages of oxygen and drugs.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, Italy reported 310 coronavirus-related deaths against 429 the day before. The daily tally of new infections edged down to 15,370 from 15,943.
(Reuters, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, In Kenya thousands of motorists and passengers were stuck in traffic for hours after police blocked major roads in Nairobi, to enforce a Covid curfew to battle infections. Kenya has confirmed more than 151,000 cases of the virus and just over 2,400 deaths.
(BBC, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 17, Thailand reported 1,547 new coronavirus cases and two additional deaths, amid a third wave of infections in the Southeast Asian country. New restrictions were announced for the next two weeks.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)(SFC, 4/17/21, p.A9)
2021 Apr 17, Tunisia announced the closure of all schools until April 30, as well as restrictions on movement, to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, It was reported that Zimbabwe has begun releasing about 3,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty aimed at easing congestion to reduce the threat of COVID-19 in the country’s overcrowded jails. Zimbabwe’s prisons have a capacity of 17,000 prisoners but held about 22,000 before the amnesty declared by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
(AP, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 18, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, said that he does not believe the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson will be taken out of circulation altogether.
(NBC News, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 18, California to date had 3,692,733 cases of coronavirus and 60,644 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 431,161 cases and 6,142 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,640,808 with the death toll at 567,032.
(sfist.com, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 18, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said that she would not implement new COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in response to spiking infections because Republicans sued her last year, calling such moves unconstitutional.
(The Week, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, A travel bubble opened between Australia and New Zealand. Flights between the two countries jumped from 2-3 per day to 30.
(SFC, 4/20/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 18, France said it is imposing entry restrictions on travelers from four countries — Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil — in hopes of keeping out especially contagious coronavirus variants.
(AP, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 18, Iran's daily coronavirus death toll climbed over 400 for the first time in months, as the country battles a post-holiday infection surge. Health authorities recorded 405 fatalities from the virus, pushing the total death toll to 66,732.
(AP, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 18, Israel lifted its outdoor mask mandate, while schools fully reopened for the first time since September.
(NY Times, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 19, California to date had 3,695,410 cases of coronavirus and 60,675 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 431,821 cases and 6,147 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,733,410 with the death toll at 567,666.
(sfist.com, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, In Michigan rocker Ted Nugent revealed he was in agony after testing positive for coronavirus — months after he said the virus was “not a real pandemic." Nugent, a supporter of ex-President Donald Trump, previously called the pandemic a scam and has railed against public health restrictions.
(AP, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, CVS Health Corp said it would offer three over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at its drugstores as well as online, expanding access to home testing in the United States.
(Reuters, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, Britain imposed a travel ban on most visitors from India as PM Boris Johnson called off a trip to New Delhi. The UK has recorded 103 cases of a new virus variant, B.1.617, first identified in India.
(AP, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, In Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel was formally named chief of the Communist party, giving him civilian control of the nation.
(SFC, 4/20/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 19, The French government said it is introducing one of Europe’s first Covid-19 vaccine passport initiatives.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 19, Greece lifted quarantine restrictions for travelers from most European countries, as well as Israel and the United States as it prepares to reopen tourism services next month despite an ongoing emergency in pandemic-related hospital care.
(AP, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, India reported 273,810 new infections, its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic. It has now reported more than 15 million infections, second only to the US. India's Health Ministry also reported 1,619 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing the toll over 178,769. New Delhi imposed a weekend lockdown to prevent the collapse of the capital's health system amid an explosive surge in coronavirus cases.
(AP, 4/19/21)(SFC, 4/20/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 19, Indonesia approved private research of COVID-19 vaccine candidate Nusantara that is backed by a former health minister, after recently saying a mid-stage trial for it could not proceed amid safety and data integrity issues.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 19, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has signed a deal to buy millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccinations from Pfizer through 2022.
(AP, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, Spain said it will study the effects of mixing different coronavirus vaccines, responding to shifting guidelines on the safety of the AstraZeneca's shot.
(Reuters, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, In Turkey deaths from COVID-19 hit a record 341 despite more than 20 million vaccines having been administered. A recent surge has brought active infections to a peak equivalent to nearly 1% of working age people.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 20, The US Southern Command said all but eight of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 20, California to date had 3,698,507 cases of coronavirus and 60,761 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 432,296 cases and 6,159 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,786,856 with the death toll at 568,416.
(sfist.com, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 20, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (67) received the AstraZeneca shot against COVID-19, urging trust in vaccines after several countries limited the use of AstraZeneca due to suspected links to rare blood clots.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 20, The Swedish Health Agency said citizens under 65 who have had one shot of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine will be given a different vaccine for their second dose.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 20, Yemen's COVID-19 vaccination campaign began in government-held areas three weeks after the first shipment from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme arrived in the war-torn country.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 21, US regulators said that the Emergent Biosciences Baltimore factory, contracted to make Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, was dirty, didn’t follow proper manufacturing procedures and had poorly trained staff, resulting in contamination of material that was going to be put in the shots.
(AP, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, It was reported that the US State Department has added about 100 countries this week to its "Level Four: Do Not Travel" advisory list, putting the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Mexico, Germany and others on the list, citing a "very high level of COVID-19".
(Reuters, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, California to date had 3,699,503 cases of coronavirus and 60,768 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 432,364 cases and 6,160 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,802,046 with the death toll at 568,572.
(sfist.com, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, Johnson & Johnson said that it would resume the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe after the EU’s drug regulator said that a warning should be added to the product indicating a possible link to rare blood clots, but that the shot’s benefits outweigh the risks.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, Pfizer confirmed that fake doses of the vaccine Pfizer developed with BioNTech have been found in Mexico and Poland.
(WSJ, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, It was reported that researchers in China are testing the safety and efficacy of mixing two different Covid-19 shots amid questions over the effectiveness of Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, German's lower house of parliament approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly.
(AP, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, India’s Health Ministry reported 295,041 new cases with 2,023 deaths, taking total fatalities to 182,553. 22 COVID-19 patients on ventilators died in a hospital in Nashik, Maharashtra state, when their oxygen supply was interrupted by a leak in a supply line.
(AP, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced new social support measures for families with children and hinted at more tax changes, saying the corporate sector was on course for record profits this year. Putin also said he wanted Russia to reach collective COVID-19 immunity by the autumn and called on Russians to get vaccinated against the new coronavirus.
(AP, 4/21/21)(Reuters, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, Syria's last rebel-held enclave received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines with a refrigerated truck offloading over 50,000 UN-secured jabs in the overcrowded province.
(AP, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, It was reported that the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu has paused outbound travel from its main island after a body that washed ashore tested positive for the coronavirus. The body, identified as a Filipino man, was found last week after a tanker ship leaving the capital, Port Vila, reported one of its crew members missing.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 22, Arizona reported 647 confirmed coronavirus cases and 22 more deaths. The state has vaccinated 28% of its population. Total coronavirus cases in the state reached 856,451, and 17,221 confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 4/23/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 22, California to date had 3,701,695 cases of coronavirus and 60,881 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 433,006 cases and 6,172 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,928,507 with the death toll at 570,321.
(sfist.com, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced during a press conference that Washington state has entered its fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Axios, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 22, India confirmed a record 314,835 new COVID-19 cases nationwide over the previous 24 hours, the highest one-day case count any country has seen during the coronavirus pandemic.
(BBC, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Iran is now reporting its highest-ever new coronavirus case numbers — more than 25,000 a day. Its daily death toll has surged to around 400, still below the grim record of 486 it reached in November.
(AP, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Italy reported 360 coronavirus-related deaths against 364 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 16,232 from 13,844.
(Reuters, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Laos locked down its capital Vientiane and closed international borders to most traffic after identifying a COVID-19 cluster connected its neighbor Thailand. 28 new cases were confirmed a day earlier bringing the country's total to 88.
(SFC, 4/23/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 22, Norway said it will lend all of its 216,000 doses of AstraZeneca to neighboring Sweden and Iceland as long as its own government regulator has paused the use of the vaccine.
(AP, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Sweden said it will postpone a tentative plan to ease some COVID-19 restrictions, due to the ongoing high levels of new infections. Sweden registered 7,736 new COVID-19 cases today and 19 new deaths, taking the total deaths to 13,882.
(Reuters, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, The Syrian government received a batch of 203,000 COVID-19 vaccines, part of a push to speed up a sluggish inoculation process in the war-torn country.
(AP, 4/22/21)
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2021 Apr 23, California to date had 3,710,854 cases of coronavirus and 61,005 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 433,500 cases and 6,203 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,972,888 with the death toll at 571,001.
(sfist.com, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, It was reported that Brazil’s COVID-19 vaccination program is being put at risk by people failing to show up for their second shot, with 1.5 million people missing appointments for the follow-up dose needed to maximize protection. A recent real-world study from Chile found that the Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine, which has accounted for some 80% of Brazil's program, is just 16% effective after one shot.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, Britain recorded 2,678 new cases of COVID-19, a drop on 2,729 recorded the previous day, while a further 40 people had died within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, The European Medicines Agency said that people who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should get the second one too, despite the rare risk of blood clots that have been linked to the shot.
(AP, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, France became the first rich country to donate COVID-19 vaccines to a developing nation through the UN's jab rollout program for low- and middle-income countries, shipping more than 100,000 doses to Mauritania. President Emmanuel Macron said France will step up vaccine donations to the international COVAX vaccine program in the coming months with a donation of 500,000 shots, including from suppliers other than AstraZeneca.
(AP, 4/23/21)(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, India set a global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. India has recorded 2,263 deaths in the past 24 hours for a total of 186,920. Thirteen people died when an oxygen-fed fire ripped through a coronavirus ward on the outskirts of Mumbai. India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients.
(AP, 4/23/21)(SFC, 4/24/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 23, India's Cadila Healthcare said it has started producing its potential COVID-19 vaccine for which it will seek emergency use authorisation in May or June, its managing director told Reuters, with an aim to make up to 240 million doses a year.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, Italy reported 342 coronavirus-related deaths against 360 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 14,761 from 16,232.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, Norway said it will offer those who have received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 to take an injection from an mRNA vaccine as their second dose.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, Pakistan reported 144 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours. Total cases reached 784,108 and 16,842 deaths. PM Imran Khan summoned troops to help police implement social distancing rules.
(SFC, 4/24/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 24, Several US states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine following a green light from federal health officials.
(AP, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, Alaska Airlines banned Alaska state Senator Lora Reinbold for refusing to follow mask requirements. Reinbold has been a vocal opponent to COVID-19 mitigation measures.
(AP, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 24, California to date had 3,705,952 cases of coronavirus and 61,054 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 433,563 cases and 6,203 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,022,974 with the death toll at 571,547.
(sfist.com, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, China reported 13 new COVID-19 cases, up from nine cases a day earlier. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 14 from 12 a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 24, Costa Rica registered 1,830 new COVID-19 infections, its highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic.
(AP, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 24, Overwhelmed hospitals in India begged for oxygen supplies as the country's coronavirus infections soared again overnight in a "tsunami" of disease, setting a new world record for cases for the third consecutive day. The number of cases across the country rose overnight by 346,786, for a total of 16.6 million cases, including 189,544 deaths. COVID-19 deaths rose by 2,624 over the past 24 hours, the highest daily rate for the country so far.
(Reuters, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, Iran banned all flights to and from India and Pakistan to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
(Axios, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, Pakistan reported 157 coronavirus deaths, its highest toll in a single day. Overall fatalities rose to 16,999 and total cases to 790,016.
(SSFC, 4/25/21, p.A11)
2021 Apr 24, Papua New Guinea (PNG) officials reported three new COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the country's total deaths to 102. The official number of coronavirus infections in the nation of 8.8 million people rose to 10,602, with 52 new cases.
(Reuters, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, South Korea said it has signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to purchase an additional 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine amid fears of spiking infections at home.
(Reuters, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, The Syrian government received the first batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, a gift of 150,000 jabs to Damascus. The Syrian government has registered nearly 22,000 infection cases, including over 1,500 deaths in areas under its control.
(AP, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, Thailand's capital Bangkok ordered the closure of public venues and sports premises after the country reported a record daily rise in coronavirus cases and deaths amid a third wave of infections. The closures, effective from April 26 until May 9, apply to venues including public parks, gyms, swimming pools, meeting halls, internet shops, daycares centers, sports fields, museums and libraries.
(Reuters, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 25, California to date had 3,706,272 cases of coronavirus and 61,096 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 433,858 cases and 6,209 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,063,938 with the death toll at 572,109.
(sfist.com, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 25, India set a 4th global daily record of new coronavirus infections, spurred by an insidious new variant that emerged here. The 349,691 confirmed infections over the past day brought India’s total to more than 16.9 million cases.
(AP, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 25, Italy joined other countries by imposing restrictions on travel from India to avert the spread of the B.1.617 coronavirus variant.
(AP, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 25, Nepal, which shares a long porous border with India, reported 3,032 new coronavirus infections, the highest daily surge recorded this year.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 25, Switzerland said it has confirmed the first case of an Indian variant of COVID-19 in a person who entered Switzerland via a European country in late march.
(Reuters, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 25, Thai authorities stepped up travel restrictions and other measures to combat a rapidly spreading third wave of COVID-19 infections as the country logged 11 deaths, a daily record. A new outbreak driven by the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant has resulted in over 24,000 cases and 46 deaths in just 25 days.
(Reuters, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 26, US officials said Pres. Joe Biden intends to make up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine available to other countries, so long as federal regulators deem the doses safe.
(NY Times, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, California to date had 3,708,127 cases of coronavirus and 61,107 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 434,229 cases and 6,209 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,106,885 with the death toll at 572,549.
(sfist.com, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Brazil’s health authority rejected Russia’s Covid vaccine even though scientific research suggests it is safe and effective.
(NY Times, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Cyprus returned to lockdown mode for two weeks as infections increased despite a ramped-up vaccination program.
(SFC, 4/26/21, p.A7)
2021 Apr 26, India reported another 2,812 deaths, with roughly 117 Indians succumbing to the disease every hour, setting another record for new coronavirus infections for a fifth day in a row at more than 350,000. Officials said the city of Bengaluru, home to the technology operations of hundreds of global companies, will enter a two-week lockdown for 14 days.
(AP, 4/26/21)(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Iran registered its highest single-day death toll from COVID-19, bringing the total number of fatalities to over 70,000 in the country hardest hit by the coronavirus in the region. 496 new deaths were tallied over the last 24 hours as well as 21,026 more confirmed cases.
(AP, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, In Japan private sector advisers to PM Yoshihide Suga warned that Japan's birth rate is declining at a faster pace amid the coronavirus crisis, saying that society should have a "sense of crisis" about it.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Norwegian PM Erna Solberg (60) received her first dose of a vaccine against COVID-19. Four other cabinet ministers were also vaccinated.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, The Philippines' Dept. of Health reported 8,929 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country's total to 1,006,428 including 16,853 deaths.
(SFC, 4/27/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 26, Portugal reported no coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours for the first time in nearly nine months as the country emerges from a two-month lockdown.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Russian pharmaceutical firm Pharmasyntez said it was ready to ship up to 1 million packs of the remdesivir antiviral drug to India by end-May to help fight a surge in COVID-19 cases there, once it has received the approval of Russia's government.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Sri Lanka reported 793 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours. Police arrested 177 people over the last 24 hours for violating mask and social distancing regulations in public places.
(SFC, 4/27/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 26, Thailand's government slapped restrictions on travel from India and closed more venues in Bangkok, even as it came under fire for not doing enough to contain a spike in infections.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Turkey reported 37,312 new coronavirus cases and 353 deaths. The total death toll now stood at 38,711. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a national lockdown for three weeks as of April 29, closing nonessential businesses and sending all students home.
(NY Times, 4/27/21)(SFC, 4/28/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 27, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that vaccinated people can be maskless outside, except in crowds.
(NY Times, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 27, California to date had 3,710,117 cases of coronavirus and 61,130 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 434,739 cases and 6,226 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,168,304 with the death toll at 573,316. California's Dept. of Public Health said it has recorded 1,379 cases of coronavirus infections in people who were fully vaccinated.
(sfist.com, 4/27/21)(SFC, 4/28/21, p.A9)
2021 Apr 27, Missouri reported 524 newly confirmed coronavirus cases bringing the state toal to 500,071. New deaths numbered 37 bringing that total to 8,732.
(SFC, 4/28/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 27, Merck & Co Inc said it had partnered with five Indian generic drugmakers, including Cipla Ltd and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, to expand production and access to its experimental COVID-19 drug.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, Chile, which has designated pregnant women a COVID-19 vaccination priority, began issuing Pfizer doses to pregnant women with underlying health issues in their second or third trimesters.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 27, India reported 2,771 new coronavirus deaths. 323,144 new infections raised that total of more than 17.6 million.
(SFC, 4/28/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 27, Iran reported coronavirus 462 deaths. Some 70,532 people have died out of 2.4 million cases. Iran said it has found three suspected cases of the coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, Italy reported 373 coronavirus-related deaths against 301 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 10,404 from 8,444.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, Kazakhstan launched its own, domestically-developed vaccine for mass inoculations against COVID-19, starting with popular locations such as shopping malls. The QazVac vaccine is delivered in two shots with a three-week interval. Kazakhstan has reported over 360,000 COVID-19 cases with 4,381 deaths since the global pandemic began.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, It was reported that some Russians who have taken COVID-19 antibody tests and found their antibodies have fallen are having third and fourth shots of the Sputnik V vaccine, but researchers in the country suggest they are unnecessary.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, Sweden's Health Agency said the number of new COVID-19 cases in Sweden has decreased in the past week, but infections are still at a high level and it is too early to say whether the trend will continue. Sweden registered 45 new deaths, taking the total to 13,968.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 28, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO Foundation and corporate, religious, and world leaders launched a new mass fundraising campaign, Go Give One, aiming to inspire 50 million people around the world to make small donations to Covax. The campaign will contribute to the $3 billion in Covax funding.
(AP, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, California to date had 3,712,762 cases of coronavirus and 61,197 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 434,951 cases and 6,229 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,225,012 with the death toll at 574,280.
(sfist.com, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, Uber Technologies Inc said it was launching new features in its app to allow US customers to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments and reserve rental cars.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, The Netherlands began relaxing its lockdown even as infection rates reimained stubbornly high.
(SFC, 4/29/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 28, Slovakia's health ministry said doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine sent to Slovakia in March will have to be kept in storage for at least another month, after Moscow asked for some doses to be sent back for testing.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, South Africa resumed giving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to health care workers after a more than two-week pause in the use of the only COVID-19 inoculation in the country.
(AP, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, Turkey said it has signed a deal for 50 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine which will start arriving next month.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, Vietnam warned against mass gatherings ahead of long public holidays this weekend and said it would speed up its vaccine rollout amid a worsening coronavirus situation among its neighbors. Vietnam has tallied 2,865 cases, with only 35 deaths reported since the pandemic began, one of the best records in Asia.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 29, California to date had 3,713,791 cases of coronavirus and 61,240 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 435,320 cases and 6,248 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,282,063 with the death toll at 575,052.
(sfist.com, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Brazil became the 2nd country to top 400,000 COVID-19 deaths. Brazil announced another 3,001, bringing that total to 401,186.
(SFC, 4/30/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 29, The Czech drugs regulator said it lacked the documentation needed to fully assess Russia's COVID-19 vaccine for possible use, drawing a rebuke from Moscow amid a separate, heated dispute over spying allegations.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, India's health ministry reported 379,257 new coronavirus infections, the latest in a series of global single-day records set during the country's devastating second wave of COVID-19. India also confirmed another 3,645 COVID-19 deaths, the most it has seen in a single day since the pandemic started.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Italy hit its target of administering 500,000 COVID-19 vaccinations in a single day.
(Reuters, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 29, Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria announced they will extend a partial lockdown for another week amid a surge in coronavirus cases. An international aid group warned of oxygen shortages in the neglected region of the war-ravaged country.
(AP, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Pakistan said it has purchased 13 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from three Chinese companies. Total deaths crossed 17,680 with over 150 deaths today and 5,480 coronavirus cases adding to a total of 815,711.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Russian developers of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 said that they were suing Brazilian regulator Anvisa for defamation, accusing it of having knowingly spread false information without testing their product.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Vietnam said it had detected its first locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus in 35 days, as authorities ordered tighter surveillance to prevent a new outbreak.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 30, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ended the state's disaster declaration for COVID-19, saying the decree is no longer necessary.
(SFC, 5/3/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 30, Disneyland reopened and New York’s mayor predicted the big city will be up and running again at full strength by July 1, as the number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 closed in on 100 million.
(AP, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, California to date had 3,715,436 cases of coronavirus and 61,317 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 435,608 cases and 6,263 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,341,678 with the death toll at 575,876.
(sfist.com, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Oregon and Washington states reported a surge COVID-19 cases triggering a fresh wave of shutdowns.
(SFC, 5/1/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 30, The World Health Organization (WHO) listed Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use.
(Axios, 5/1/21)
2021 Apr 30, Chinese leader Xi Jinping offered additional assistance to India in battling the coronavirus outbreak ravaging the country, putting aside a simmering rivalry and tensions along their disputed border.
(AP, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Costa Rica announced new restrictions following a surge in coronavirus infections. Costa Rica has confirmed more than 248,000 infections and 3,200 deaths.
(SFC, 5/1/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 30, India reported 3,498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. With 386,452 new cases, India now has reported more than 18.7 million since the pandemic began.
(AP, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Italy reported 263 coronavirus-related deaths against 288 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 13,446 from 14,320.
(Reuters, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, North Macedonia received a shipment of 200,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine following major delays in the country’s start-and-stop coronavirus immunization program.
(AP, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Norway said it will extend the time between first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 12 from six weeks for most adults under the age of 65 in order to reach its first vaccination target sooner than planned.
(Reuters, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Spain said it is extending the gap between the first and second doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to 16 weeks for people aged under 60.
(Reuters, 4/30/21)
2021 May 1, It was reported that the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has extended a requirement that passengers on planes, trains and buses wear face masks. The rule was set to expire May 11 but will run through Sept. 13.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, California to date had 3,717,403 cases of coronavirus and 61,417 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 435,734 cases and 6,263 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,359,517 with the death toll at 576,402.
(sfist.com, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, Police in Belgium detained 132 people who took part in an illegal party in a Brussels park to protest COVID-19 restrictions.
(AP, 5/2/21)
2021 May 1, Hungary loosened several COVID-19 restrictions for people with government-issued immunity cards, the latest in a series of reopening measures that have followed an ambitious vaccination campaign.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, India set yet another daily global record with 401,993 new cases, taking its tally to more than 19.1 million. Another 3,523 people died in the past 24 hours, raising the overall deaths to 211,853. In western India a fire in a COVID-19 hospital ward killed 18 patients early today. India opened vaccinations to all adults.
(AP, 5/1/21)(SSFC, 5/2/21, p.A7)
2021 May 1, Jordan recorded 704 cases of COVID-19 with 35 deaths, bringing the total cases detected in the kingdom to 712,077 with 8,871 deaths. Jordan's health ministry said three cases of the Indian COVID-19 variant have been detected in people who had not travelled.
(Reuters, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta loosened infection-control measures after the number of coronavirus cases in the country dropped from an early spring surge.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, The Netherlands postponed a further easing of lockdown measures until at least May 18 as COVID-19 infections remain high and hospitals are struggling with large numbers of coronavirus patients.
(Reuters, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, Pakistan reported 146 more daily coronavirus deaths. The number reported brings the country's overall death toll in the pandemic to 17,957.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, The Philippines received its first batch of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. With nearly 1.05 million infections and 17,354 deaths, the Philippines is battling one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Asia.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, A COVID-19 vaccine campaign kicked off in Syria’s last rebel-held enclave, with a 45-year-old front-line nurse becoming the first to receive a UN-secured jab.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, Ukraine said it has signed a contract with Pfizer for an additional 10 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, brining the total number of doses to 20 million.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 2, California to date had 3,718,778 cases of coronavirus and 61,513 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 436,080 cases and 6,276 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,399,512 with the death toll at 576,797.
(sfist.com, 5/2/21)
2021 May 2, A New Delhi court said it would start punishing public officials for failing to deliver a steady supply of oxygen and other materials needed to save lives during India's devastating coronavirus outbreak.
(AP, 5/2/21)
2021 May 2, Malaysia said it has detected its first case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, days after imposing a ban on flights from India.
(Reuters, 5/2/21)
2021 May 2, Thailand's Health Ministry reported 1,940 new coronavirus cases, while deaths hit 21 for a second day, the highest daily number of fatalities since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 5/2/21)
2021 May 3, California to date had 3,722,178 cases of coronavirus and 61,593 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 436,797 cases and 6,288 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,469,628 with the death toll at 577,491.
(sfist.com, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to suspend all remaining COVID-19 restrictions imposed by communities across his state, signing into law freshly passed legislation giving him sweeping powers to invalidate local emergency measures put in place during the pandemic.
(AP, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, It was reported that Denmark has removed the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot from its vaccination program to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. Denmark has already taken the AstraZeneca shot out of its vaccination program for the same reason. Both the J&J and AstraZeneca shots are made with similar technology.
(AP, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, Cafes and restaurants reopened in Greece for sit-down service for the first time in nearly six months, as the country began easing coronavirus-related restrictions with a view to opening the vital tourism industry in the summer.
(AP, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, In India at least 10 people died over the last 24 hours after a hospital ran out of oxygen in Karnataka state.
(NY Times, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte (76) received his first dose of Sinopharm's vaccine against COVID-19 to encourage reluctant Filipinos to get inoculated and help stop the spread of the virus.
(Reuters, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, Thailand reported a new daily record of 31 coronavirus deaths, the health ministry said, as the Southeast Asian country grapples with a third wave of infections.
(Reuters, 5/3/21)
2021 May 4, California to date had 3,723,265 cases of coronavirus and 61,619 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 438,243 cases and 6,310 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,507,113 with the death toll at 578,319.
(sfist.com, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, It was reported that France has reopened secondary and high schools and lifted a ban on domestic travel as part of the government's plan to gradually reopen the country as virus infections have started decreasing.
(SFC, 5/4/21, p.A4)
2021 May 4, India's official count of coronavirus cases surpassed 20 million, nearly doubling in the past three months, while deaths officially have passed 220,000.
(AP, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, India's government said 8 Asiatic lions at a zoo in Hyderabad have contracted the coronavirus, adding that there was no evidence that animals could transmit the disease to humans. The Nehru Zoological Park has now been closed.
(AP, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, Italy reported 305 coronavirus-related deaths against 256 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 9,116 from 5,948.
(AP, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, Nepal halted domestic flights due to spiking cases of the coronavirus. Int'l. flights would cease on May 6.
(SFC, 5/4/21, p.A4)
2021 May 4, The Seychelles, which has fully vaccinated over 60% of its population against Covid-19, said it is bringing back restrictions amid a rise in cases.
(BBC, 5/5/21)
2021 May 4, Sicily said it will start offering COVID-19 vaccines to people over 50 to speed up its inoculation program which is being hampered by a reluctant older population who fear potentially severe side effects. Five people in Sicily have died after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
(AP, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, Thailand launched a campaign to vaccinate 50,000 people living in a crowded river-side district of the capital Bangkok, as the country tries to contain a third wave of coronavirus infections. Thailand reported 1,763 new coronavirus cases and 27 deaths, bringing the total to 72,788 cases and 303 fatalities since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 5/4/21)
2021 May 5, The Biden administration came out in support of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines, siding with international efforts to bolster production amid concerns about vaccine access in developing nations. Pharmaceutical companies reacted angrily, saying it would hamper future vaccine development and do little to increase short-term supply.
(NY Times, 5/6/21)
2021 May 5, California to date had 3,725,371 cases of coronavirus and 61,678 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 438,523 cases and 6,319 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,555,496 with the death toll at 579,249.
(sfist.com, 5/6/21)
2021 May 5, Canada said it is authorizing the use of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine for use in children from 12 to 15, the first dose to be allowed for people that young.
(AP, 5/5/21)
2021 May 5, Germany and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the creation of a new global hub in Berlin for gathering data on pandemics.
(Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021 May 5, Germany's constitutional court dismissed emergency appeals against the government's decision to impose night curfews in areas with high COVID-19 infections as some regions are eyeing a loosening of lockdown restrictions.
(Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021 May 5, India gave emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 antibody drug cocktail developed by Roche and Regeneron, expanding its arsenal of drugs to battle a massive second wave of infections.
(Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021 May 5, Malaysia imposed movement restrictions in the capital Kuala Lumpur due to a rising number of COVID-19 infections, adding to lockdowns that have been implemented across the country. Malaysia reported 3,744 new infections and has now seen a total of 424,376 cases.
(Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021 May 6, California to date had 3,726,939 cases of coronavirus and 61,744 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 438,875 cases and 6,333 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,601,576 with the death toll at 580,025.
(sfist.com, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Britain recorded a further 2,613 cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, and 13 deaths.
(Reuters, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Cyprus unveiled a phased rollback of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions over the next month, including a shortened curfew and a reopening of all schools next week.
(AP, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Germany rejected a US proposal to waive patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines, saying the greatest constraints on production were not intellectual property but increasing capacity and ensuring quality.
(Reuters, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, India's government agreed to provide more medical oxygen to hospitals in New Delhi under order by the Supreme Court.
(SFC, 5/7/21, p.A5)
2021 May 6, Italy reported 258 coronavirus-related deaths against 267 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 11,807 from 10,585.
(Reuters, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Nepal reported 9,070 new confirmed cases, compared to 298 a month ago.
(AP, 5/7/21)
2021 May 6, It was reported that Dutch researchers have trained bees, which have an unusually keen sense of smell, to identify samples infected with COVID-19, a finding they said could cut waiting times for test results to just seconds. The technique of "insect sniffing" was effectively tested by the US Dept. of Defence to detect explosives and toxins in the 1990s.
(AP, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Russian authorities gave regulatory approval to a single-dose version of the country's Sputnik V vaccine, arguing that the move could accelerate the process of achieving herd immunity against the coronavirus. Russia started human trials of Sputnik Light, identical to the first dose of the two-dose Sputnik V, in January. The studies remained ongoing.
(AP, 5/6/21)
2021 May 7, California to date had 3,729,459 cases of coronavirus and 61,838 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 439,300 cases and 6,339 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,640,373 with the death toll at 580,776.
(sfist.com, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Novavax Inc said the distribution of its COVID-19 vaccine in Japan is expected to begin in late 2021 or early 2022 and continue for the near-term, predicting the need for protection against variants in the future. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, Japan's biggest drugmaker, is helping bring the vaccine to the domestic market.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SA said they have filed for a full US approval for their COVID-19 vaccine, which is now authorized only for emergency use.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, It was reported that the military and police in Fiji have surrounded and locked down a major hospital amid concerns of a growing coronavirus outbreak.
(SFC, 5/7/21, p.A5)
2021 May 7, Pressure on the French hospital system from the COVID-19 epidemic eased for the fourth day in row and the number of virus deaths in hospitals was down again compared to a week ago. France reported 226 new coronavirus deaths in hospitals, from 219 a day earlier.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, India reported another record daily rise in coronavirus cases, bringing total new cases for the week to 1.57 million, as its vaccination rate fell dramatically due to a lack of supplies and transport problems.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Italy reported 207 coronavirus-related deaths against 258 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 10,554 from 11,807.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Doctors in Nepal warned of a major crisis as daily coronavirus cases hit a record and hospitals were running out of beds and oxygen.
(AP, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Vietnam's health ministry reported its first death in a patient who received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine shot, as the country battled a new outbreak. A female health worker (35) died from allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. The health ministry reported 47 new infections, raising the total number of cases in the country to 3,137, with 35 deaths.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, The World Health Organization gave emergency use authorization to a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China's Sinopharm, potentially paving the way for millions of the doses to reach needy countries through a UN-backed program rolling out coronavirus vaccines.
(AP, 5/7/21)
2021 May 8, California to date had 3,731,562 cases of coronavirus and 61,882 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 439,347 cases and 6,339 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,653,055 with the death toll at 580,905.
(sfist.com, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, Bangladesh said it has detected its first case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, weeks after it sealed its borders with its neighbor.
(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, Egypt said it will require all visitors arriving from "countries where variants of the virus have appeared" to take a rapid COVID-19 test upon arrival.
(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, India reported its highest ever single-day COVID-19 death toll, as cases continued to rise and states imposed stricter lockdowns. The health ministry reported 4,187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll close to 240,000.
(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, Italy reported 224 coronavirus-related deaths against 207 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 10,176 from 10,554.
(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, Pakistan received its first supply of COVID-19 vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX initiative, over 1.2 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Researchers said a coronavirus variant first discovered in the UK now accounts for up to 70% of COVID-19 infections across Pakistan.
(AP, 5/8/21)(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 9, California to date had 3,732,672 cases of coronavirus and 61,937 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 439,689 cases and 6,344 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,696,162 with the death toll at 581,651.
(sfist.com, 5/9/21)
2021 May 9, A total of 1,770 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the United Kingdom, with the seven-day total of 14,659 cases down by 4.3% compared with the previous seven days.
(Reuters, 5/9/21)
2021 May 9, India reported 403,738 confirmed cases, including 4,092 deaths. Overall, India has over 22 million confirmed infections and 240,000 deaths. Experts say both figures are undercounts. India said it will recruit hundreds of former army medics to support its overwhelmed healthcare system.
(AP, 5/9/21)(Reuters, 5/9/21)
2021 May 9, A Slovakia health ministry spokeswoman said a Hungarian lab has confirmed that the first batch of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines sent to Slovakia were satisfactory and the government would discuss the next steps with Russia.
(Reuters, 5/9/21)
2021 May 9, Exhilarated Spaniards chanting "freedom" danced in streets and partied on beaches as a COVID-19 curfew ended in most of the country, but others feared it was too soon to let go. Spain has suffered 78,792 coronavirus deaths and 3.6 million cases. But infection rates have fallen and vaccinations are progressing fast, enabling most of the 17 regions to scrap the curfew. The Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Navarra and Valencia continued curfews.
(Reuters, 5/9/21)
2021 May 10, The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 10, California to date had 3,734,550 cases of coronavirus and 61,968 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,024 cases and 6,346 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,741,875 with the death toll at 582,133.
(sfist.com, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Eli Lilly and Co said it had signed licensing agreements with three Indian generic drugmakers to expand the availability of its arthritis drug baricitinib in the country for treating COVID-19 patients.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate was safe, well-tolerated and produced immune response against the new coronavirus in a mid-stage clinical trial.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, The United Kingdom's chief medical officers agreed to lower the COVID alert level to 3, which means the epidemic is in general circulation, from 4, which means transmission is high or rising exponentially.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Public Health England said data from the rollout of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine shows one dose of the shot results in 80% less risk of death from the disease.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, The Czech Republic massively relaxed its coronavirus restrictions as the hard-hit nation paid its respects to the country's nearly 30,000 dead.
(AP, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Egypt's Eva Pharma signed an agreement to provide India with 300,000 doses of remdesivir, used in the treatment of COVID-19. Eva Pharma, a generic drugmaker established in 1997, said in June 2020 it had received a license from Gilead Sciences Inc to make remdesivir in Egypt and distribute it in 127 countries.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Greece reopened junior and high schools for in-person classes as the country continues to ease coronavirus related restrictions.
(SFC, 5/11/21, p.A4)
2021 May 10, Italy reported 198 coronavirus-related deaths against 139 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 5,080 from 8,292.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Malaysia imposed a new nationwide lockdown, as the country grapples with a surge in coronavirus cases and highly infectious variants that the government said are testing its health system.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, It was reported that Sudan is struggling to provide hospital beds, drugs and medical oxygen to COVID-19 patients hit by a third wave of infections that is straining the country's patchy healthcare system beyond what it can cope with. Sudan has recorded 33,000 cases and over 2,600 deaths since the start of the pandemic, but officials say the real numbers are likely to be much higher given low rates of testing.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Thailand started deploying a canine virus-detecting squad in hopes of quickly identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters at construction sites, crowded slum communities and large markets.
(AP, 5/21/21)
2021 May 11, California to date had 3,735,737 cases of coronavirus and 61,975 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,395 cases and 6,353 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,773,387 with the death toll at 582,791.
(sfist.com, 5/11/21)
2021 May 11, Brazilian states halted vaccination of pregnant women after a death in Rio de Janeiro led health regulator Anvisa to warn against the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for expecting mothers.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 11, India confirmed nearly 390,000 new coronavirus cases including 3,876 deaths. Bodies have been retrieved floating in the Ganges River in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states..
(SFC, 5/12/21, p.A7)
2021 May 11, Nepal reported 9,483 new coronavirus and 225 deaths. Authorities extended a lockdown in Kathmandu and surrounding districts until May 27. Total cases now numbered 413,111 with 4,084 deaths.
(SFC, 5/12/21, p.A7)
2021 May 11, The World Health Organization said it was reviewing coronavirus data from Seychelles after the health ministry said more than a third of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week had been fully vaccinated. The total number of confirmed cases in Seychelles since the pandemic began is less than 8,200.
(Reuters, 5/11/21)
2021 May 12, COVID-19 deaths in the US have tumbled to an average of around 600 per day, the lowest level in 10 months, with the number of lives lost dropping to single digits in well over half the states and hitting zero on some days.
(AP, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had identified 28 cases of serious, potentially life-threatening cases of blood clotting, among the more than 8.7 million people who had received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, California to date had 3,737,289 cases of coronavirus and 62,100 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,728 cases and 6,420 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,813,656 with the death toll at 583,646.
(sfist.com, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio announced that the state would give five people $1 million each in return for having been vaccinated as part of a weekly lottery program.
(NY Times, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, Australia tapped Moderna Inc for 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, as it tries to speed up vaccination in people under 50 after deciding against AstraZeneca, whose jab has been linked to rare blood clots.
(Reuters, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, The German government agreed to let travelers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recovered from infection avoid testing and quarantine when entering the country, unless they come from areas where variants of concern are prevalent.
(AP, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, RIA news cited Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova saying Russia has vaccinated over 14 million people against COVID-19 so far with at least one dose.
(AP, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, It was reported that Russia has experienced production problems with its Sputnik V vaccine. Sputnik is unusual in that its two required doses are different and not interchangeable.
(SFC, 5/12/21, p.A7)
2021 May 12, Slovakia's health minister says he plans to keep AstraZeneca in the country's vaccine arsenal, speaking a day after the country suspended use of the shots after a recipient died.
(AP, 5/12/21)
2021 May 13, The Biden administration said it is releasing $7.4 billion to bolster the nation's healthcare workforce amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for future epidemics and health challenges.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people could stop wearing masks in most settings, including crowded indoor gatherings.
(NY Times, 5/14/21)
2021 May 13, California to date had 3,738,730 cases of coronavirus and 62,145 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 441,014 cases and 6,474 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,819,878 with the death toll at 583,779.
(sfist.com, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Amazon.com Inc said it will give $100 more to new hires with proof of COVID-19 vaccination, the world's largest e-commerce retailer, as part of its plan to employ 75,000 workers for fulfillment and logistics operations.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Delta Air Lines said it will require all new hires in the United States to be vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the first major companies to issue such a mandate.
(Reuters, 5/14/21)
2021 May 13, CureVac and GlaxoSmithKline said their second-generation COVID-19 vaccine, designed to protect against coronavirus variants, produced a high level of immune response in a trial in rats.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Britain reported 11 new deaths from COVID-19 within 28 days of a positive test and a further 2,657 cases of the disease, up from 2,284 new cases the day before and the biggest daily increase since April 27.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, India recorded more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths for a second day in a row, while infections stayed below 400,000 for a fourth day, though the virus has become rampant in rural areas where cases can go unreported due to a lack of testing.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Singapore's health ministry reported 24 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the highest daily number since mid-September, with 17 of the new cases linked to a cluster at Chang Airport.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Thailand announced a daily record in new cases after nearly 3,000 inmates in two jails were infected, among them a leader of anti-government protests held while awaiting trial for insulting the king.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 14, California to date had 3,740,458 cases of coronavirus and 62,239 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,765 cases and 6,487 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,889,955 with the death toll at 585,195.
(sfist.com, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, Trader Joe's, and Publix were among the first major retailers to announce that shoppers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 would no longer have to wear masks in their stores, unless required by state or local law.
(USA Today, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Britain's health ministry said the estimated reproduction "R" rate in England edged up to between 0.8 and 1.1, and it is less clear that the epidemic is still shrinking compared to last week.
(AP, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Mainland China reported 14 new COVID-19 cases, up from seven cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Indian drugmaker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd said it expects to get 36 million doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in the next couple of months under its contract with Russia's sovereign wealth fund.
(AP, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, It was reported that Italy's hopes of producing its own COVID-19 vaccine have been thrown into doubt after the state audit court rejected a plan to pump public funds into local biotech company ReiThera.
(Reuters, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Italy's Health Minister signed an ordnance allowing quarantine-free visits with proof of a negative virus test starting on May 16.
(SFC, 5/15/21, p.A5)
2021 May 14, Japan further expanded a coronavirus state of emergency from six areas, including Tokyo, to nine, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga repeated his determination to hold the Olympics in just over two months.
(AP, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, In the Philippines Pres. Rodrigo Duterte eased the coronavirus lockdown for Manila and four adjacent provinces, allowing essential businesses and tourist destinations to expand operations.
(SFC, 5/15/21, p.A5)
2021 May 14, In Poland the foreign ministers of Europe's four Visegrad countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) discussed cooperation to boost national economies and tourism after the pandemic and announced free travel between the Czech Republic and Hungary for those vaccinated against COVID-19.
(AP, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Singapore further tightened social distancing restrictions. New coronavirus cases have risen to 71 in the last week from 48 a week earlier. Singapore has reported 61,4505 cases and 31 deaths since the pandemic started.
(SFC, 5/15/21, p.A5)
2021 May 15, California to date had 3,741,960 cases of coronavirus and 62,293 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,923 cases and 6,487 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,913,784 with the death toll at 585,571.
(sfist.com, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, Britain deployed public health officials, supported by the army, to distribute coronavirus tests door-to-door in two northern England towns in an effort to contain a fast-spreading variant that threatens plans to lift all lockdown restrictions next month.
(AP, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, Greece extended a lockdown on the island of Kalymnos for a week as COVID-19 infections there remained high.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, India reported its smallest daily increase in coronavirus infections in nearly three weeks, with deaths still near the 4,000-mark. Federal health officials said cases and fatalities are rapidly stabilizing in this wave of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, New Italian research said COVID-19 infections in adults of all ages fell by 80% five weeks after a first dose of Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccine.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said Venezuela has approved for use Russia's single-shot Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, Taiwan raised its coronavirus alert level in the capital, Taipei, and the surrounding city, bringing curbs for a period of two weeks that will shut many venues and restrict gatherings in the wake of 180 new domestic infections.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, Turkey reported 11,472 new coronavirus cases. The overall confirmeddeath toll was 44,537.
(SFC, 5/17/21, p.A7)
2021 May 16, California to date had 3,743,084 cases of coronavirus and 62,318 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,979 cases and 6,487 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,927,943 with the death toll at 585,768.
(sfist.com, 5/16/21)
2021 May 16, It was reported that Covid-19 is ravaging Brazil and that experts are working to understand why it appears to be killing babies and small children at an unusually high rate.
(NY Times, 5/16/21)
2021 May 16, India's Health Ministry reported 311,170 confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, down from 326,098 a day earlier. Some Indian states said they would extend COVID-19 lockdowns. The pandemic has killed more than 270,000 people in the country.
(AP, 5/16/21)(Reuters, 5/16/21)
2021 May 16, Indonesia said it has suspended distribution of a batch of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine to run tests for sterility and toxicity following the death of a 22-year-old man a day after immunization.
(Reuters, 5/16/21)
2021 May 16, Mongolian authorities reported 541 new coronavirus cases and 2 deaths in the last 24 hours. Restrictions continued to ease following a 4-week lockdown that ended on May 8.
(SFC, 5/17/21, p.A7)
2021 May 17, California to date had 3,744,061 cases of coronavirus and 62,334 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 441,328 cases and 6,497 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,993,038 with the death toll at 586,330.
(sfist.com, 5/17/21)
2021 May 17, It was reported that Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline’s potential COVID-19 vaccine triggered strong immune responses in all adult age groups in preliminary trials, boosting optimism the shot may join the fight against the pandemic this year.
(AP, 5/17/21)
2021 May 17, Thousands of UK pubs and restaurants opened for indoor service for the first time since early January. PM Boris Johnson sounded a cautious tone, warning about a more contagious COVID-19 variant that threatens reopening plans.
(AP, 5/17/21)
2021 May 17, British vacationers began arriving in large numbers in southern Portugal for the first time in more than a year, after governments in the two countries eased their COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions.
(AP, 5/17/21)
2021 May 18, California to date had 3,746,039 cases of coronavirus and 62,392 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 441,460 cases and 6,508 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,996,503 with the death toll at 587,196.
(sfist.com, 5/18/21)
2021 May 18, Argentina reported 745 coronavirus deaths and 35,543 new infections. The country has recorded more than 71,000 total confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 5/20/21, p.A5)
2021 May 18, In France more than 20 heads of state and government from Africa held talks in Paris with the heads of international organizations on how to revive the continent's economy, which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted deeply.
(AP, 5/18/21)
2021 May 18, The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, announced that it expects to resume exporting coronavirus vaccines by the end of 2021.
(AP, 5/18/21)
2021 May 19, The US global coordinator on COVID said the United States will donate a significant number of COVID-19 vaccines through the World Health Organization's COVAX scheme for distributing doses to poorer countries.
(AP, 5/19/21)
2021 May 19, California to date had 3,746,224 cases of coronavirus and 62,400 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 441,727 cases and 6,512 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,016,539 with the death toll at 587,640.
(sfist.com, 5/19/21)
2021 May 19, The EU took a step toward relaxing travel rules for tourists from outside the 27-nation bloc when EU ambassadors agreed on measures to allow in fully vaccinated visitors.
(AP, 5/19/21)
2021 May 19, India reported more coronavirus deaths in a single day than any other country at any time during the pandemic. The Health Ministry reported a record 4,529 deaths in the past 24 hours, driving India's confirmed fatalities to 283,248. It also reported 267,334 new infections.
(AP, 5/19/21)
2021 May 19, It was reported that health authorities in Malawi have incinerated 19,610 expired doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, saying it will reassure the public that any vaccines they do get are safe.
(BBC, 5/19/21)
2021 May 20, California to date had 3,749,023 cases of coronavirus and 62,490 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,113 cases and 6,538 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,055,614 with the death toll at 588,528.
(sfist.com, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, Brazilian pharmaceutical company União Quimica said it has completed production of its first batch of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine with active ingredients and technology supplied by Russia.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, Officials said India has ordered tighter surveillance of a rare fungal disease hitting COVID-19 patients, piling pressure on hospitals struggling with the world's highest number of daily infections of the novel coronavirus. Mucormycosis, or "black fungus" usually infects people whose immune system has been compromised.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, It was reported that Kazakhstan is rolling out an app which it hopes will limit the spread of COVID-19 by restricting people's access to places such as bars, cinemas and airports based on their vaccination and infection risk status.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, Malaysia reported a new daily record in coronavirus infections and deaths. It recorded COVID-19 fatalities, a record toll for the third day this week, while its 6,806 new cases was the second straight day of record infections.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, South Korea said it will conduct a clinical trial that mixes COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by AstraZeneca Plc with those from Pfizer Inc and others.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, It was reported that a district of northern Thailand has launched a raffle campaign for inoculated residents to win a live cow per week for the rest of the year, in a bid to boost the local COVID-19 vaccination drive.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, The World Health Organization's regional director said COVID-19 vaccines currently being deployed in the fight against the pandemic in Europe appear able to protect against all variants that are circulating and causing concern.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 21, American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German company BioNTech pledged to deliver 2 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to middle- and low-income countries over the next 18 months, amid international calls for more vaccine solidarity.
(AP, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, California to date had 3,749,921 cases of coronavirus and 62,529 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,350 cases and 6,540 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,082,423 with the death toll at 589,204.
(sfist.com, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, A medical center in Louisiana said it has identified the state's first two cases of a COVID-19 variant first identified in India. Variants from Brazil and the UK have already sjhown up in the state.
(SSFC, 5/23/21, p.A7)
2021 May 21, It was reported that Brussels has persuaded Washington to ease restrictions on exports of materials needed by German biotech firm CureVac to make its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) unveiled a $50 billion proposal to end the COVID-19 pandemic by vaccinating at least 40% of the population in all countries by the end of 2021 and at least 60% by the first half of 2022.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, China's President Xi Jinping pledged an additional $3 billion in aid over the next three years to help developing countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and proposed setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, China-based biotech firm Beigene Ltd, said its cancer therapy, tislelizumab, in combination with chemotherapy met the main goal of helping patients live longer by preventing the disease from progressing in a late-stage study.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, Europe's medicines regulator said the second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford must not be given to anyone who has had blood clots with low blood platelets after receiving the first.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, The European Union's drug regulator said a COVID-19 antibody treatment developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology can be used to treat patients who are at risk of severe disease and do not need supplemental oxygen.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, India-based Mylab Discovery Solutions said it has the capacity to ramp up production of its at-home COVID-19 test kits to 100 million units per week over the next few months based on demand.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, Italy's government revived hopes of producing the country's own COVID-19 vaccine when it said it was ready to finance the ReiThera project despite a court ruling rejecting a plan to pump public funds into the local biotech company.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, The WHO said official tolls showing the number of deaths directly or indirectly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to be a "significant undercount." 6-8 million people may have died so far.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 22, A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory group said some teenagers and young adults who received COVID-19 vaccines experienced heart inflammation, recommending further study of the rare condition.
(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021 May 22, Argentina imposed its first strict coronavirus lockdown of the year due to surging levels of infections and a soaring death toll.
(SFC, 5/22/21, p.A4)
2021 May 22, In India COVID-19 deaths rose by 4,194 and infections were spreading in rural areas where public health services are scarce and already overstretched. Government data showed 257,299 new cases.
(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021 May 22, In Nepal climbing guide Lukas Furtenbach said a coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support staff.
(AP, 5/22/21)
2021 May 22, Officials in the Philippines said they investigating reports that some people have been illegally selling COVID-19 shots or their vaccine slots for financial gain, as they reminded the public the vaccines are free.
(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021 May 23, California to date had 3,750,825 cases of coronavirus and 62,571 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,534 cases and 6,544 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,106,232 with the death toll at 589,740.
(sfist.com, 5/23/21)
2021 May 23, It was reported that Rhode Island has become the eighth US state where 70 percent of the adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Vermont also have reached the milestone.
(NY Times, 5/24/21)
2021 May 23, Mexico's health ministry registered 50 new confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the lowest daily increase reported from the pandemic in over a year. The ministry also reported 1,274 new COVID-19 infections, lifting the total to 2,396,604. Separate government data has suggested the death toll could be at least 60% above the confirmed figure.
(Reuters, 5/23/21)
2021 May 24, Alabama's Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation banning vaccine passports in the state. No penalties were specified for violations.
(SFC, 5/25/21, p.A4)
2021 May 24, California to date had 3,752,039 cases of coronavirus and 62,600 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,835 cases and 6,544 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,140,137 with the death toll at 590,184.
(sfist.com, 5/24/21)
2021 May 24, Uber Technologies Inc and rival Lyft Inc launched COVID-19 vaccine ride programs in partnership with the White House, offering Americans free rides or discounts for their trips to and from a vaccination site.
(Reuters, 5/24/21)
2021 May 24, The Chinese government offered to urgently send COVID-19 vaccines and medical experts to Taiwan to help it battle a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, but drew a swift and angry response from Taipei. Taiwan is dealing with a spike in COVID-19 cases and is rapidly running out of vaccines.
(Reuters, 5/24/21)
2021 May 24, Indian government leaders appealed to farmers to call off a mass protest this week for fear it could prove a viral "super-spreader" event as the country's overall death toll from COVID-19 crossed 300,000. The Health Ministry reported 4,454 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing total fatalities to 303,720.
(Reuters, 5/24/21)(SFC, 5/25/21, p.A4)
2021 May 24, Japan mobilized military doctors and nurses to give elderly people vaccine shots in Tokyo and Osaka, two months before hosting the Olympics.
(SFC, 5/25/21, p.A4)
2021 May 24, Malta said it has vaccinated 70% of its adult population with at least one COVID-19 shot, becoming the first EU country to achieve so-called herd immunity.
(Reuters, 5/24/21)
2021 May 24, A new cross-border, pilot program began to vaccinate maquiladora workers employed in Baja California by US subsidiary companies.
(SFC, 5/28/21, p.A5)
2021 May 24, Sweden said it will donate 3 million doses vaccine to the COVAX facility in 2021, up from a previous pledge of 1 million doses.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, California to date had 3,753,215 cases of coronavirus and 62,614 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,972 cases and 6,545 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,145,906 with the death toll at 590,758.
(sfist.com, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective in adolescents aged 12-17 and showed no new or major safety problems in a clinical trial.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Australia's city of Melbourne increased pandemic restrictions after identifying a cluster from someone infected in quarantine. Restrictions will apply until June 4.
(SFC, 5/26/21, p.A5)
2021 May 25, EU leaders agreed to donate at least 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations by the end of the year as supplies steadily rise across Europe.
(AP, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Malaysia reported a record 7,289 new coronavirus infections. Confirmed deaths have spiked to more than 2,300.
(SFC, 5/26/21, p.A5)
2021 May 25, Russia shipped a generic version of the remdesivir antiviral drug called Remdeform to India as part of its humanitarian aid contributions to the South Asian country which is fighting a surge in COVID-19 cases.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Russia's consumer health watchdog in the Yakutia region said that all employers must organize COVID-19 vaccines for their employees in a bid to speed up inoculation there.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Vietnam widened lockdown measures in its industrialized north to combat its biggest COVID-19 outbreak so far, as authorities reported a daily record in new cases that was more than double the previous high.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 26, President Joe Biden ordered US intelligence officials to “redouble" their efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any possibility the trail might lead to a Chinese laboratory.
(AP, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, California to date had 3,754,579 cases of coronavirus and 62,660 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 443,330 cases and 6,549 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,189,877 with the death toll at 591,941.
(sfist.com, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, Belgium suspended the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for people under age 41 following the death of a person who had received the shot.
(AP, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, China's ambassador to Nepal said China will provide 1 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal, as authorities in the Himalayan country scrambled to secure shots amid a surge in infections that has overwhelmed its rickety health system.
(Reuters, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, France declared a mandatory quarantine period for people coming from Britain due to the increasing prevalence there of a highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in India.
(Reuters, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, Pakistan opened up its coronavirus vaccination campaign to everyone aged 19 or older as it scrambles to protect more of its 220 million people.
(Reuters, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, Slovakia became the 2nd EU country to authorized use of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, which has not yet been approved by the EU's drug regulator.
(SFC, 5/27/21, p.A5)
2021 May 27, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom announced financial incentives totaling $116.5 million to boost the number of people getting coronavirus vaccinations.
(SFC, 5/28/21, p.A1)
2021 May 27, California to date had 3,756,303 cases of coronavirus and 62,702 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 443,561 cases and 6,573 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,213,320 with the death toll at 593,156.
(sfist.com, 5/28/21)
2021 May 27, Idaho's Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates in schools and public buildings while GOP Gov. Brad Little was out of state. Gov. Little repealed her order the next day.
(SFC, 5/29/21, p.A4)
2021 May 27, GlaxoSmithKline of Britain and Sanofi of France launched a large trial for another potential COVID-19 vaccine.
(SFC, 5/28/21, p.A5)
2021 May 27, Russia said it has signed an agreement to supply the UN children's fund UNICEF with enough doses of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for 110 million people.
(Reuters, 5/27/21)
2021 May 28, The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said US companies can mandate that employees in a workplace must be vaccinated against COVID-19.
(Reuters, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, California to date had 3,761,672 cases of coronavirus and 62,872 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 443,747 cases and 6,590 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,237,543 with the death toll at 593,881.
(sfist.com, 5/29/21)
2021 May 28, The UK authorized for use the single-dose vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson amid growing concerns about a rise in new infections as the variant of the virus first identified in India spreads around the country.
(AP, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, The Danish government presented its digital coronavirus passport enabling people to travel abroad or, in Denmark, go to the hairdresser, a tattoo parlor, dine inside a restaurant or wherever else it is needed.
(AP, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, The European Medicines Agency recommended that the use of the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech be expanded to children ages 12 to 15, a decision that offers younger and less at-risk populations across the continent access to a COVID-19 shot for the first time.
(AP, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, Hungary said it has identified two cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in India. An especially lethal third wave has been easing after an aggressive vaccination campaign.
(Reuters, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, Malaysia's PM Muhyiddin Yassin announced a near-total lockdown in the country for two weeks to contain a worsening coronavirus outbreak.
(SFC, 5/29/21, p.A4)
2021 May 28, Industry sources said a rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak has left factories operating below capacity in Vietnam's industrial northern provinces, where suppliers for Apple, Samsung and other global tech firms are located.
(Reuters, 5/28/21)
2021 May 29, California to date had 3,762,295 cases of coronavirus and 62,900 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 443,801 cases and 6,593 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,242,777 with the death toll at 594,019.
(sfist.com, 5/30/21)
2021 May 29, It was reported that a group of 117 healthcare workers at a Texas hospital filed a lawsuit in state court against their employer's mandate requiring all staff to get COVID-19 vaccinations. On June 12 US District Judge Lynn Hughes of Houston deemed lead plaintiff Jennifer Bridges’ contention that the vaccines are “experimental and dangerous" to be false and otherwise irrelevant.
(AP, 5/30/21)(AP, 6/13/21)
2021 May 29, In Belgium thousands of protesters angry at pandemic-related restrictions marched to European Union headquarters in Brussels and had minor tussles with police over their unauthorized gathering.
(AP, 5/29/21)
2021 May 29, China's southern city of Guangzhou shut down a neighborhood and ordered its residents to stay home for door-to-door coronavirus testing following a surge in infections. The city has reported 20 new cases in the last week.
(SFC, 5/31/21, p.A5)
2021 May 29, Lebanon’s health authorities launched a COVID-19 vaccination “marathon" to speed up inoculations around the country, including areas where turnout has so far been low.
(AP, 5/29/21)
2021 May 29, Vietnam's health minister said they discovered a new coronavirus variant that’s a hybrid of strains first found in India and the UK. In the last few weeks, Vietnam has confirmed more than 3,500 new cases and 12 deaths, increasing the country’s total death toll to 47.
(AP, 5/29/21)
2021 May 30, California to date had 3,763,398 cases of coronavirus and 62,922 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,084 cases and 6,602 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,253,008 with the death toll at 594,324.
(sfist.com, 5/31/21)
2021 May 30, Afghanistan shutdown all of its public and private universities and schools for at least two weeks following a surge in coronavirus cases.
(SSFC, 5/30/21, p.A7)
2021 May 30, Australia's Victoria state reported five new local COVID-19 cases, including in a worker at a Melbourne aged care facility where not all of the residents have been vaccinated.
(Reuters, 5/30/21)
2021 May 30, India reported its lowest daily rise in new coronavirus infections in 46 days at 165,553 cases during the previous 24 hours, while deaths rose by 3,460.
(Reuters, 5/30/21)
2021 May 30, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that his country will return to stricter lockdown measures in the face of a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases that indicate the virus is “surging again" in Africa's worst-affected nation.
(AP, 5/30/21)
2021 May 30, Vietnam said business hub Ho Chi Minh City will begin social distancing measures for 15 days starting from May 31 in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
(AP, 5/30/21)
2021 May 31, California to date had 3,763,415 cases of coronavirus and 62,926 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,097 cases and 6,602 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,260,464 with the death toll at 594,461.
(sfist.com, 6/1/21)
2021 May 31, It was reported that Eli Lilly and Co's antibody drug combination has received an emergency use approval in India for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19, bolstering the country's arsenal of medicines to tackle a devastating second wave of the pandemic.
(AP, 5/31/21)
2021 Jun 1, California to date had 3,764,162 cases of coronavirus and 62,935 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,352 cases and 6,608 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,284,140 with the death toll at 595,181.
(sfist.com, 6/2/21)
2021 Jun 1, Moderna Inc filed for full US approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, which is currently only authorized for emergency use in the country, becoming the second drugmaker to seek a broader regulatory nod.
(Reuters, 6/1/21)
2021 Jun 1, The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has approved a COVID-19 vaccine made by drugmaker Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, paving the way for a second Chinese shot to be used in poor countries.
(Reuters, 6/1/21)
2021 Jun 1, Germany's public health agency lowered the coronavirus risk level to "high" from "very high" for the first time in 2021, reflecting a fall in the number of new infections.
(Reuters, 6/1/21)
2021 Jun 2, President Biden announced programs to pick up the US vaccination rate, including free child care and sports tickets.
(NY Times, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 2, California to date had 3,765,995 cases of coronavirus and 63,002 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,492 cases and 6,609 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,306,775 with the death toll at 595,818.
(sfist.com, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 2, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) said it has the capacity to provide more than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world beyond China in the second half of this year.
(Reuters, 6/2/21)
2021 Jun 2, Japan's PM Yoshihide Suga announced an additional $800 million contribution to the UN-backed initiative to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries, a four-fold increase of Japanese funding for the COVAX program.
(AP, 6/2/21)
2021 Jun 2, It was reported that coronavirus cases have surged in Uruguay. The country has reported more than 280,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths since the pandemic began.
(SFC, 6/2/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 3, The White House announced that President Joe Biden plans to allocate 75% of unused COVID-19 vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program.
(AP, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, California to date had 3,766,071 cases of coronavirus and 63,002 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,761 cases and 6,609 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,326,054 with the death toll at 596,401.
(sfist.com, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 3, It was reported that Bahrain has begun offering a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for some people, six months after they received two shots of China's Sinopharm vaccine.
(AP, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, Britain said that it is removing Portugal from its list of COVID-safe travel destinations, meaning thousands of UK residents currently on vacation there face the prospect of 10 days' quarantine on return.
(AP, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, Public Health England said the Delta variant of concern first identified in India is now dominant in Britain and might have an increased risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant. There were 5,472 new cases of the Delta variant reported in latest weekly figures.
(Reuters, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, Asylum-seekers in Greece lined up to get their coronavirus shots as authorities began rolling out vaccinations in migrant camps.
(Reuters, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, It was reported that Mexican officials have raised the country's confirmed COVID-19 death toll by 4,272 to a total of 227,840. A government analysis of excess deaths related to COVID-19 now stands at over 348,750.
(SFC, 6/3/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 3, The World Health Organization said COVID-19 vaccine shipments have ground to “a near halt" in Africa while virus cases have spiked 20% over the last two weeks.
(AP, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 4, A US State Department spokesman said the US is shipping one million doses of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine to South Korea.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, It was reported that the US health regulator has authorized a lower dose of Regeneron Pharmaceutical's COVID-19 antibody cocktail that can be given by injection, a move that could ease logistical challenges stemming from administering a higher dose intravenously.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, California to date had 3,767,159 cases of coronavirus and 63,055 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,962 cases and 6,621 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,340,762 with the death toll at 596,969.
(sfist.com, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 4, Britain's health ministry said the estimated reproduction "R" number in England remains at over 1 and the epidemic could be growing by as much as 3% each day. Britain's medicines regulator said it had approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for use on 12- to 15-year-olds.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, The European Union submitted a plan to the World Trade Organization that it believes will more effectively broaden supply of COVID-19 vaccines than the intellectual property (IP) rights waiver backed by the United States.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, India reported another 1342,364 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours in a declining trend. The nation's total cases neared 28.6 million.
(SFC, 6/5/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 4, Italy reported 73 coronavirus-related deaths against 59 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 2,557 from 1,968. Italy has registered 126,415 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, Mexican officials said they will use 1 million US doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine to inoculate people along the border.
(SFC, 6/5/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 4, Pakistan has started producing the single dose Chinese CanSinoBio COVID-19 vaccine to be able to deliver 3 million doses a month. An initial batch of 118,000 doses of the vaccine was ready to be delivered to the government.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, Venezuela said it has reached a deal to purchase doses of Russia's EpiVacCorona vaccine, as well as manufacture the inoculation locally.
(Reuters, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 5, California to date had 3,768,442 cases of coronavirus and 63,101 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,994 cases and 6,621 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,347,989 with the death toll at 597,030.
(sfist.com, 6/6/21)
2021 Jun 5, In China authorities in the southern industrial hub of Guangzhou imposed more restrictions on business and social activity, seeking to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases. China reported 24 new coronavirus cases on the mainland for June 4, unchanged from a day earlier.
(Reuters, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 5, Some of India's states began easing lockdown restrictions as coronavirus infections subside, with the world's second most-populous nation logging its lowest daily case count in nearly two months.
(Reuters, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 5, Italy reported 57 coronavirus-related deaths against 73 the day before. The daily tally of new infections decreased to 2,436 from 2,557.
(Reuters, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 6, California to date had 3,769,510 cases of coronavirus. The SF Bay Area had 445,315 cases and 6,621 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,359,073 with the death toll at 597,523.
(sfist.com, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 6, Britain’s health secretary says the delta variant, which is fast becoming the dominant coronavirus variant in the UK, is 40% more transmissible compared to the country’s existing strains.
(AP, 6/6/21)
2021 Jun 6, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that France has multiple clusters of the variant, first identified in India, notably in the southwest Landes region.
(AP, 6/6/21)
2021 Jun 6, India reported 114,460 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in two months, while the death toll increased by 2,677, as parts of the country prepared to ease movement restrictions.
(Reuters, 6/6/21)
2021 Jun 6, Sri Lanka received one million doses of China's Sinopharm vaccines amid the island's recent surge in coronavirus infections and vaccine shortage.
(SFC, 6/7/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 7, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,378,279 with the death toll at 597,949.
(sfist.com, 6/8/21)
2021 Jun 7, Egypt received 500,000 doses of China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, as the health ministry said local production of the Chinese vaccine will start in mid-June.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, PM Narendra Modi said India will provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all adults, in an effort to rein in a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands and led to the world's second-highest tally of infections.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, Italy reported 65 coronavirus-related deaths against 51 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 1,273 from 2,275.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, Venetians breathed a sigh of relief as the lagoon city finally moved into a low-risk COVID-19 "white zone", meaning most pandemic restrictions were lifted and a nightly curfew scrapped.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, In Japan the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa began closing schools to contain coronavirus infections. Gov. Denny Tamaki said primary and secondary schools will be closed until June 20.
(SFC, 6/8/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 7, Norway said it will shorten the interval between COVID-19 vaccine doses to nine weeks from the current 12 weeks, thus speeding up the inoculation process.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, Slovakia became the European Union's second country to start inoculating people with the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, after months of rows over the shot that has yet to be approved by European regulators.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, Spain jumpstarted its summer tourism season by welcoming vaccinated visitors from most countries as well as European tourists who can prove they are not infected with coronavirus. It also reopened its ports to cruise ship stops.
(AP, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 8, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,394,843 with the death toll at 598,402.
(sfist.com, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 8, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc expanded its partnership with Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals to conduct a late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, expected to start in the summer.
(Reuters, 6/8/21)
2021 Jun 8, Malaysia went mobile with its mass immunization drive, with the rollout of the first of 40 vaccine trucks set to hit the highways in the coming months.
(Reuters, 6/8/21)
2021 Jun 8, Nepal resumed is stalled coronavirus campaign with 1 million doses given by China.
(SFC, 6/9/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 8, Ukraine registered 535 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily number of infections over the previous 24 hours for nearly a year and the ministry said infection rates declined for eight consecutive weeks.
(Reuters, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 9, It was reported that the White House plans to send 500 million Pfizer shots to about 100 countries over the next year.
(NY Times, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 9, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,394,843 with the death toll at 598,402.
(sfist.com, 6/10/21)
2021 Jun 9, Merck & Co Inc said the US government has agreed to pay about $1.2 billion for 1.7 million courses of its experimental COVID-19 treatment, if it is proven to work in an ongoing large trial and authorized by US regulators. The treatment course being tested in the trial is an oral dose given every 12 hours for five days.
(AP, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 9, In Bahrain hundreds of people held a rare protest over the death of a prisoner from the coronavirus despite being vaccinated months earlier by the island kingdom. Barakat had received the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm.
(AP, 6/10/21)
2021 Jun 9, A prominent UK epidemiologist said the Delta coronavirus variant of concern, first identified in India, is believed to be 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant which was previously dominant in Britain.
(AP, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 9, EU lawmakers endorsed a new travel certificate that will allow people to move between European countries without having to Quarantine or undergo coronavirus tests.
(SFC, 6/10/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 9, Russia reported 10,407 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. Authorities in Moscow said they would step up enforcement of rules requiring people to wear medical masks and gloves in indoor public spaces due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases.
(AP, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 10, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,415,911 with the death toll at 598,342.
(sfist.com, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 10, Johnson & Johnson said the US Food and Drug Administration has extended the shelf life of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine from three months to four-and-a-half months, as millions of unused doses nationwide near expiration.
(Reuters, 6/10/21)
2021 Jun 10, Chile announced a full lockdown of Santiago and surrounding municipalities as COVID-19 cases remain high and available hospital beds hit low levels.
(SFC, 6/11/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 10, Germany started rolling out a digital vaccination pass that can be used across Europe as the continent is gets ready for the key summer travel season.
(AP, 6/10/21)
2021 Jun 11, It was reported that the US Food & Drug Administration has asked Johnson & Johnson to discard 60 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine manufactured at the problem-plagued Baltimore factory of Emergent BioSolutions Inc.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,429,301 with the death toll at 599,182.
(sfist.com, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 11, Illinois lifted all capacity limits on bars, restaurants and other venues. More than 68% of state residents, 18 or older, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
(SFC, 6/12/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 11, Canada said it will share up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with countries in need, though a portion of this has already been announced.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, China reported 35 new coronavirus cases in the mainland, up from 22 a day earlier. China totaled 91,394 confirmed infections. Its death toll stood unchanged at 4,636.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, CongoDRC reported 254 new Covid-19 infections, mostly in the capital, Kinshasa, along with three deaths. Since the outbreak began, about 35,000 infections and 834 have officially been recorded in DR Congo.
(BBC, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 11, The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved a new manufacturing site in France for the production of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, India added 91,702 new coronavirus cases pushing its total to nearly 29.3 million. 3,403 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours. Bihar state increased its death toll to more than 9,429 from 5,424 after the discovery of thousands of unreported cases.
(SFC, 6/12/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 11, Malaysia's government extended a two-week national lockdown, dued to end on June 14, for another two weeks as daily coronavirus infections remained above 6,000.
(SFC, 6/12/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 11, Russia reported 12,505 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, its highest number of daily infections since late February, taking the national tally to 5,180,454 since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, Swedish health officials warned of worrying local outbreaks of the COVID delta variant and urged people to get vaccinated to avoid a fourth wave of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 12, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,438,322 with the death toll at 599,182.
(sfist.com, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 12, Australia's Victoria state, which emerged from a strict lockdown earlier this week, recorded one new community case of COVID-19. The outbreak, which triggered the two-week snap lockdown late last month, has now seen 91 cases since May 24.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro led thousands of motorcyclist supporters through the streets of Sao Paulo — and got hit with a fine for failure to wear a mask in violation of local pandemic restrictions.
(AP, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Mainland China reported 34 new COVID-19 cases, down from 35 cases a day earlier. The Delta variant was spreading in southeastern China, and doctors said that the infected are getting sicker, and faster.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)(NY Times, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said about two-thirds of people eligible for inoculation against COVID-19 have now received two doses of the vaccine in Dubai, the tourist and business hub of the United Arab Emirates.
(Reuters, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 12, Moscow's mayor effectively declared a public holiday for all of next week to combat a surge in COVID-19 cases. Sergei Sobyanin said it would not affect organizations that maintain the Russian capital's infrastructure, the military, and other strategically important enterprises.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Alexander Gintsbur, the scientist who led the development of the Sputnik V vaccine, said Russia has tested a nasal spray form of its COVID-19 vaccine that is suitable for children aged 8-12, and plans to launch the new product in September.
(AP, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Vietnam said it has approved the COVID-19 vaccine jointly made by Pfizer and BioNTech for domestic emergency use. Vietnam, with a population of around 98 million, has recorded a total of 10,241 coronavirus cases, with 58 deaths, since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 13, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,459,210 with the death toll at 599,736.
(sfist.com, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 13, Authorities in India reported 80,834 new COVID-19 infections over the previous 24 hours, the lowest daily tally in more than two months.
(AP, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 13, Russian authorities confirmed 14,723 cases nationwide, the largest one-day total since Feb. 13. Moscow reported 7,704 new infections, the most in a single day since Dec. 24. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that anyone over 18 who receives the first of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine from June 14 until July 11 would now be automatically entered into a draw to win a car.
(Reuters, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 14, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,464,566 with the death toll at 599,813.
(sfist.com, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 14, Vermont lifted its remaining pandemic restrictions after becoming the first US state to have given a shot to 80 percent of eligible residents.
(NY Times, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, Novavax Inc said its COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, including against a variety of concerning variants of the coronavirus in a large, late-stage US-based clinical trial.
(Reuters, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, England delayed its full reopening by a month, to late July, because of a surge in coronavirus cases.
(NY Times, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, It was reported that China has deployed a fleet of drones in the city of Guangzhou to keep people indoors and remind those going out to wear masks. The city has seen a flare-up of the more infectious delta variant of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 6/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 14, Iran’s state TV reported that the country has approved an emergency use of its first domestically developed coronavirus vaccine that could bring the hardest-hit country in the Middle East closer to inoculating its citizens against COVID-19.
(AP, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, Oman officials said coronavirus infections are surging. Health officials warned that hospitals now face an acute shortage of beds amid a lagging vaccine rollout, the spread of highly transmissible variants and relaxed movement restrictions.
(AP, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte extended partial coronavirus curbs in the capital and nearby provinces until end-June, but placed more areas under tighter quarantine measures because of rising infections and high hospital occupancy. With more than 1.3 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 23,000 deaths, the Philippines has the second highest number of infections and casualties in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia.
(Reuters, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, Romania reported its lowest number of daily coronavirus infections in more than a year with just 50 new cases.
(SFC, 6/15/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 14, South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout was hit by further delays as it will have to discard at least 2 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines produced in the country. The vaccines were found by the US Food and Drug Administration to be unsuitable for use due to possible contamination of their ingredients at a Baltimore plant.
(AP, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, It was reported that Zambia, with a population of about 18 million people, has a cumulative total of nearly 108,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,348 deaths.
(AP, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 15, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,476,053. The US death toll topped 600,000.
(sfist.com, 6/16/21)(SFC, 6/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 15, California officially reopend with most pandemic restrictions lifted. Nearly 47% of all state residents were now vaccinated.
(SFC, 6/15/21, p.A1)
2021 Jun 15, France began giving COVID jab to 12-year-olds. The government has made people from 12 years upwards eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination, provided they have parental consent.
(Reuters, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 15, Italy reported 63 coronavirus-related deaths against 36 the day before. The daily tally of new infections rose to 1,255 from 907.
(Reuters, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 15, Mexico received 1.3 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine donated by the US. Officials planned to vaccinate anyone over 18 in four cities along the border to boost vaccination rates there.
(SFC, 6/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 15, Myanmar's army soldiers entered Kinma village in the Magway region searching for members of a village defense force set up to protect against the junta's troops and police. Troops found nothing and burned down most of the village of some 1,000 residents.
(SFC, 6/17/21, p.A2)
2021 Jun 15, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned about possible food shortages and urged the country to brace for extended COVID-19 restrictions as he opened a major political conference to discuss national efforts to salvage a broken economy.
(AP, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 15, Oman announced that its doctors have detected mucormycosis, a potentially fatal fungal infection afflicting some coronavirus patients, the first such known cases on the Arabian Peninsula as the sultanate faces a surge in COVID-19 infections that has swamped its hospitals.
(AP, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 15, Pakistan reported that roughly 3 million pople have been vaccinated, less than 2% of the population. New measures to encourage vaccination included blocking people's cell phone services in two provinces and suspending the salaries of some government employees who have not been vaccinated.
(SFC, 6/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 16, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,487,415 with the death toll at 600,313.
(sfist.com, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 16, Moderna said the US government has bought another 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, including an option to buy experimental shots that may be in development.
(Reuters, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, Royal Caribbean Group said it would delay the inaugural sailing of its Odyssey of the Seas cruise liner by nearly a month after 8 crew members tested positive for COVID-19.
(Reuters, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, Britain's government said it will require COVID-19 vaccinations for nursing home workers in England, arguing that the need to protect vulnerable residents outweighed employees' right to choose whether to get the jab.
(AP, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, As of today Ethiopia has seen 274,346 confirmed Covid cases and 4,250 deaths.
(BBC, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 16, France eased several COVID-19 restrictions, with authorities saying it's no longer always mandatory to wear masks outdoors and halting an 8-month nightly coronavirus curfew this weekend.
(AP, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, The German company CureVac delivered disappointing preliminary results from a clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine, dimming hopes that it could help fill the world’s great need.
(NY Times, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, India's Health Ministry reported 62,224 new infections over the past 24 hours as well as 2,542 more deaths, raising total fatalities to 379, 573.
(SFC, 6/17/21, p.A3)
2021 Jun 16, Moscow made coronavirus vaccines mandatory for people working in retail, education and other service sectors, part of an effort to boost the country's low immunization rates as COVID-19 cases continue to soar. The surrounding Moscow region, the Siberian region of Kemerovo and the Far East region of Sakhalin promptly followed.
(AP, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 16, Vietnam reported 423 new coronavirus cases, the highest number of new infections reported since the start of its latest outbreak late in April. Vietnam has recorded 11,635 infections overall and 61 fatalities.
(Reuters, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 17, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,500,304 with the death toll at 600,676.
(sfist.com, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 17, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that the state will offer $7 million in cash prizes and $3 million in scholarships through a new lottery open to all residents who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.
(SFC, 6/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 17, The US Embassy in Kabul went into lockdown citing a surge in coronavirus cases.
(SFC, 6/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 17, Britain's medicine regulator extended the emergency use approval (EUA) for Innova's lateral flow COVID-19 tests, saying it was satisfied with a review of the tests after its US counterpart issued a warning about them.
(Reuters, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 17, Britain reported its biggest daily rise in new cases of COVID-19 since Feb. 19. Government figures showed 11,007 new infections, up from 9,055 the day before.
(Reuters, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 17, Nepal reported 2,607 new coronavirus cases along with 39 deaths. The health minister said Nepal has significantly reduced coronavirus infections after its worst outbreak, which overwhelmed the country’s medical system, but is in desperate need of vaccines.
(AP, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 17, Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the COVID-19 situation was unexpectedly and rapidly deteriorating, and that the city was probably facing new coronavirus variants that were more aggressive and infectious.
(AP, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 17, A doctor in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland told the BBC that between five and 10 of his Covid patients were dying because of a lack of oxygen almost every day. In Somalia up to 25 people were dying each day in one hospital because of a lack of oxygen.
(BBC, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 18, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,510,835 with the death toll at 600,970.
(sfist.com, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 18, Argentine laboratory Richmond said that it had produced almost half a million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, the first made in the country.
(Reuters, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 18, China reported 30 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland for today, up from 23 infections a day earlier. Total confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China stood at 91,564 at the end of today, with the death toll unchanged at 4,636.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 18, Moscow recorded more than 9,000 new coronavirus cases, over half the national total. The city has had to reintroduce curbs that had been scrapped, including ordering bars and restaurants to shut by 11 p.m.
(Reuters, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 18, Turkey's inoculations passed the 40 million mark and 40% of adults had had at least one dose.
(Reuters, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 18, The World Health Organization's chief scientist said the Delta variant of COVID-19, first identified in India, is becoming the globally dominant variant of the disease.
(Reuters, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 19, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,520,411 with the death toll at 600,970.
(sfist.com, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 19, Afghanistan received 900 oxygen cylinders from Iran, part of 3,800 that Iran has promised to deliver to Kabul, as a 3rd wave of COVID-19 worsens in the country.
(SSFC, 6/20/21, p.A14)
2021 Jun 19, Australia's largest state New South Wales (NSW) recorded two locally acquired coronavirus cases, as concerns grow over the further spread of infections amid an increase in exposure sites.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, Brazil's death toll from COVID-19 soared past 500,000. Experts warned that the outbreak may worsen due to delayed vaccinations and the government's refusal to back social distancing measures. Thousands gathered in Rio de Janeiro, waving flags reading “Get out Bolsonaro." Other marchers hoisted posters reading: “500 thousand deaths. It’s his fault".
(Reuters, 6/19/21)(AP, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 19, Cambodia reported 20 deaths from COVID-19, a record for a single day, as the country detected its first Delta variant cases and authorities urged people to be vigilant. The outbreak has caused infections to climb to 42,052 cases with 414 deaths.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, The airport in China's southern city of Shenzhen said that anyone entering the premises must show a negative virus test taken within 48 hours before entry.
(AP, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, India reported 60,753 new COVID-19 cases and 1,647 deaths over the past 24 hours. The central government urged states to be careful in reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns to prevent a resurgence of infections in the hard-hit country.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, It was reported that the Philippine government has signed a supply agreement for 40 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE in its biggest coronavirus vaccine deal to date.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, A member of Uganda's Olympic squad became the first to test positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Japan for the competition due to start on 23 July. The unnamed Ugandan was part of a nine-member squad that had been fully vaccinated.
(BBC, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 20, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,539,482 with the death toll at 601,796.
(sfist.com, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 20, China's National Health Commission announced that more than one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the country.
(SFC, 6/21/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 20, Tokyo reported 376 cases of Covid and one death, 72 more than a week ago.
(BBC, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 20, In Portugal preliminary data showed that over half the new COVID-19 cases being reported in the Lisbon region are of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant, as authorities scrambled to curb a worrying spike in infections. Portugal posted over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for the fourth straight day.
(Reuters, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 20, Taiwan welcomed 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from the US as help from a true friend. The new doses will more than double the number of vaccines that have come to the island, including 1.24 million AstraZeneca Plc shots donated by Japan this month.
(Reuters, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 20, It was reported that Uganda is strengthening its lockdown measures to try to stem a surge in coronavirus infections. The new measures, including closed shops in downtown Kampala, will last 42 days.
(SSFC, 6/20/21, p.A14)
2021 Jun 20, Vietnam said it has received a shipment of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses donated by China, as the country ramped up inoculations to battle against a more widespread outbreak.
(Reuters, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 21, The White House laid out a plan to share 55 million US COVID-19 vaccine doses globally, with roughly 75 percent of the doses allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa through the COVAX international vaccine-sharing program.
(AP, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,553,434 with the death toll at 602,069.
(sfist.com, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 21, Gilead Sciences Inc said an analysis showed its antiviral remdesivir reduced mortality rates in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and increased the likelihood of being discharged by day 28 after a five-day course of the treatment.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Vir Biotechnology said final results from a late-stage study of their monoclonal antibody confirmed it significantly reduced hospitalization and death among high-risk COVID-19 patients when given early in the disease.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Dozens of people ignored advice not to travel to Stonehenge for the annual summer solstice celebrations, which were cancelled today due to coronavirus concerns.
(AP, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, China's manufacturing hub of Dongguan in Guangdong province launched mass coronavirus testing and cordoned off communities, after the city detected its first infections of a flare-up in the province.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Cuba said its three-shot Abdala vaccine against the coronavirus had proved 92.28% effective in last-stage clinical trials.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, India registered 53,256 new coronavirus infections and 1,422 deaths in the last 24 hours, its lowest numbers in nearly three months.
(SFC, 6/22/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 21, Indonesia's health authorities announced the country's largest one-day jump in new coronavirus infections. 14,536 were reported with 294 deaths.
(SFC, 6/22/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 21, Italy reported 21 coronavirus-related deaths against 17 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 495 from 881. Italy has registered 127,291 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eight-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.25 million cases to date.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Myanmar's junta-controlled health ministry reported 595 cases of COVID-19 as daily infections hit the highest since the army seized power in a coup that prompted many medical workers to abandon the health service and anti-coronavirus program.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Russia's President Vladimir Putin warned that the coronavirus situation in some regions was getting worse as authorities began promoting the idea of regular revaccinations to try to halt a surge in new cases.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Sweden's Social Democratic PM Stefan Lofven lost a vote of confidence in parliament making him the first Swedish leader ever to lose such a motion. Lofven now has one week call a new election or ask the parliament speaker to form a new government.
(SFC, 6/22/21, p.A3)
2021 Jun 21, Thailand's health minister said Japan's government would donate some AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to shore-up supplies after some early delays in its vaccinations.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it is setting up a technology transfer hub for producing mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in South Africa, which could start manufacturing doses in 9 to 12 months.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 22, US Senate Republicans blocked the "For The People Act," an attempt by Democrats to rewrite an election and voting law. Republicans said it would infringe on states' authority
(SFC, 6/.23/21, p.A6)
2021 Jun 22, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,553,434 with the death toll at 602,069.
(sfist.com, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 22, In Texas more than 150 staff members at a Houston-area hospital were fired or resigned for not following a policy that requires employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
(AP, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, The Abu Dhabi health authority's phone application showed updated criteria for vaccine access, saying visitors to the capital could now get the COVID-19 shot by presenting their passports.
(AP, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, Italy reported 31 coronavirus-related deaths against 21 the day before. The daily tally of new infections rose to 835 from 495.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, Lithuania's government said it will donate 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca Plc COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan, after angering China in March by saying it would open a trade representative office on the island this year. Taiwan had given Lithuania 100,000 medical-grade face masks last year when the coronavirus pandemic was spreading around the world.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, The Kremlin said people who were not vaccinated or did not have immunity would be unable to work in all workplaces in Russia, which reported the most confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in a single day since February.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, Switzerland said children between 12 and 15 years old could be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the shot from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, Turkey kicked off Phase III trials for its COVID-19 vaccine, named "Turkovac" by President Tayyip Erdogan who said the shot should be available for use by the end of the year.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 23, A group of doctors advising the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said rare cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults is likely linked to vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 shots.
(Reuters, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, The White House said that the United States would send three million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine to Brazil, where virus cases and fatalities are surging again, with a death toll above 500,000.
(NY Times, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,567,044 with the death toll at 602,504.
(sfist.com, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 23, It was reported that San Francisco city workers will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus when a vaccine receives full federal approval.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 23, It was reported that Missouri is seeing an alarming rise in cases because of a combination of the fast-spreading delta variant and stubborn resistance among many people to getting vaccinated.
(AP, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, Tokyo reported 619 new coronavirus cases, up from the last seven-day average of 405. Japan has hit the remarkable benchmark of 1 million vaccines a day. But with the Olympics set to start in less than a month only a small portion of the country has been vaccinated.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 23, In Portugal coronavirus cases rose by 1,497, the biggest jump since February 20. Most of the cases were in Lisbon where more than 60% of cases are of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant.
(Reuters, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, In Russia deaths related to COVID-19 spiked in major cities amid a surge in new cases that authorities have blamed on the new Delta variant, and restrictions seeking to curb the virus' spread were strengthened. Russia's coronavirus task force reported 548 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the most confirmed in a single day since February, with 88 in Moscow and 93 in St Petersburg respectively, a record in both cities.
(Reuters, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, Ukraine said it has registered its first two cases of the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus. Ukraine has been among the European countries most affected by the pandemic, with around 2.23 million COVID-19 cases and 52,123 deaths.
(Reuters, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 24, The delta variant of the coronavirus in the US now represented 20% of infections, and health officials said it could become the country’s dominant type as well.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 24, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,580,588 with the death toll at 602,900.
(sfist.com, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 24, Top health officials said Africa is facing a devastating resurgence of COVID-19 infections whose peak will surpass that of earlier waves as the continent's countries struggle to vaccinate even a small percentage of the population. Africa has more than 5.2 million confirmed virus cases including more than 139,000 deaths.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 24, In Australia a cluster of highly contagious delta variant coronavirus cases in Sydney grew to 36. The cluster spread from a Sydney airport limousine driver who tested positive last week. He was not vaccinated, reportedly did not wear a mask and is suspected to have been infected while transporting a foreign air crew.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 24, Researchers at Oxford University said they have developed a method to predict the efficacy of new COVID-19 vaccines based on a blood test, potentially offering a short-cut around massive clinical trials that are increasingly difficult to conduct.
(Reuters, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 25, The US Supreme Court ruled that federal COVID-19 relief funds can go to specially created corporations for Native Alaskans even though they are not officially recognized as tribal governments.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Health authorities in Denmark said that COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson would remain excluded from the country's vaccine roll-out following a review of new safety data.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Europe's medicines regulator said it had approved the production of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine at an additional site in Italy, as it looks to speed up the supply of the shot in the European Union.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Iranian officials said the death toll from Covid-19 rose by 115 over the last 24 hours, putting the country’s total at 83,588 since the pandemic broke out last year. State TV reported that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has received the first coronavirus vaccine developed by the Islamic Republic.
(AP, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Italian PM Mario Draghi, speaking at the end of an EU summit, said China's anti-COVID vaccine did not fully work and questioned whether Russia's Sputnik jab would ever get approval from European regulators.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Italy's national health institute ISS said the Delta coronavirus variant and its sibling Kappa have surged in Italy in the past month, accounting for nearly 17% of total COVID-19 cases.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, It was reported that a rapid resurgence of COVID-19 is slamming South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg, and threatens to overwhelm its hospitals.
(AP, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan urged the public not to ignore a third wave of COVID-19, after her predecessor, the late John Magufuli, alarmed the world with his skeptical approach to the pandemic.
(AP, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Ukraine obliged visitors from countries affected by the COVID-19 Delta variant take a mandatory antigen test in a bid to prevent the spread of the new infections.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Uzbekistan said it will limit entry into the capital city of Tashkent and curtail the activity of hospitality venues after a surge in COVID-19 cases. As of June 24 the number of new cases had reached 476 a day. Uzbekistan has registered a total of 108,184 COVID-19 cases and 725 deaths since pandemic began.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
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Subject = COVID-19
End of file
A: 2002-2020
B: 2021-Present
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COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is the name given to the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
https://ncov2019.live/
2021 Jan 1, California to date had 2,297,064 cases of coronavirus and 25,987 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 264,986 cases and 2,587 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 20,037,736 with the death toll at 346,687.
(sfist.com, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the British government has decided to close all primary schools in London for the next two weeks to counter the rapid spread of a more infectious variant of the COVID-19 virus.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, Chad locked down its capital N'djamena for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and has declared a dusk to dawn curfew due to a rise in infections.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, French officials said ravers at an underground, curfew-busting New Year’s Eve party that drew at least 2,500 people in Lieuron, Brittany, attacked the police sent to shut them down, torching one of their vehicles and injuring officers with volleys of bottles and stones.
(AP, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, Experts at India's drugs regulator recommended for emergency use two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other backed by a state-run institute.
(AP, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 1, Ireland said it had under-reported coronavirus cases in recent days by thousands more than previously known as its system came under strain, suggesting the EU's fastest growing outbreak is worsening even more rapidly than figures showed.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 1, In Mexico a female doctor (32) was hospitalized in Nuevo Leone after she experienced seizures, difficulty breathing and a skin rash upon receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 1, The Thai capital of Bangkok said it will close all schools for two weeks after the New Year holiday as it tightens measures to control a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/1/21)
2021 Jan 2, It was reported that researchers are scrambling to learn why some coronavirus patients lose their sense of smell and taste. Some experts fear huge numbers of people may lose them permanently.
(NY Times, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, California to date had 2,326,383 cases of coronavirus and 26,366 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 270,122 cases and 2,634 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 20,396,243 with the death toll at 349,933.
(sfist.com, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, Mainland China reported 24 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 2, up from 22 cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, French police detained five people in an investigation into an underground New Year's Eve rave party that drew at least 2,500 people at Lieuron despite a coronavirus curfew and other restrictions. France has reported more than 64,000 virus-related deaths.
(AP, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, France recorded 3,466 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, below the 19,348 reported a day earlier. This brought the cumulative total to 2,643,239. The COVID-19 death toll was up by 157 to 64,921.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 2, Italy reported 364 coronavirus-related deaths against 462 the day before,, while the daily tally of new infections plunged to 11,831 from 22,211, with far less testing than normal carried out on New Year's day. Italy has registered 74,985 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21.
(Reuters, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 2, South Korea said it will expand a ban on private gatherings larger than four people to include the whole country, and extend unprecedented social distancing rules in Seoul and neighboring areas until Jan. 17.
(Reuters, 1/2/21)
2021 Jan 3, California to date had 2,356,544 cases of coronavirus and 26,547 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 273,843 cases and 2,635 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 20,439,674 with the death toll at 350,267.
(sfist.com, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, Australia's New South Wales state recorded eight new local cases. There are 161 active cases in the state, most of them in the northern beaches of Sydney, and 13 emanating from liquor store that are not connected to the beaches cluster. More Australian states and territories are reimposing travel restrictions to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus from new outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria states.
(AP, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, British PM Boris Johnson warned that more onerous lockdown restrictions in England are likely in the coming weeks as the country reels from a new coronavirus variant that has pushed infection rates to their highest recorded levels.
(AP, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, Mainland China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases, up from 24 cases a day earlier. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 87,150, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, India's drugs regulator granted emergency authorization for the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, but on the condition that Serum Institute doesn't export the shots to ensure that vulnerable populations in India are protected. Serum Institute of India has been contracted to make 1 billion doses of the vaccine for developing nations.
(AP, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, Indonesia approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for immediate emergency use.
(Econ., 1/23/21, p.27)
2021 Jan 3, Italy reported 347 coronavirus-related deaths against 364 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,245 from 11,831.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, A South Korean health official said that a third wave of the novel coronavirus is being contained, as it reported the lowest number of new infections in nearly four weeks with the help of tougher restrictions during the New Year holiday season.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, It was reported that Swiss regulators have allowed contract manufacturer Lonza Group to start producing Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine at a plant in Switzerland.
(Reuters, 1/3/21)
2021 Jan 3, Zimbabwe imposed curbs to slow the spread of the coronavirus as Information Minister Nick Mangwana warned that the country was being overwhelmed.
{Zimbabwe, COVID-19}
(SFC, 1/4/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 4, California to date had 2,378,980 cases of coronavirus and 26,637 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 277,146 cases and 2,637 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 20,805,262 with the death toll at 353,371.
(sfist.com, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, BioNTech and partner Pfizer warned that they had no evidence that their jointly developed vaccine will continue to protect against COVID-19 if the booster shot is given later than tested in trials.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) sate reported zero local coronavirus cases for the first time in nearly three weeks, as Sydney battled multiple outbreaks and authorities urged tens of thousands of people to get tested.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Britain ramped up its vaccination program by becoming the first nation to start using the shot developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca.
(AP, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, UK scientists expressed concern that COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out in Britain may not be able to protect against a new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in South Africa and has spread internationally.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Mainland China reported 33 new COVID-19 cases, with 14 of the 17 local cases recorded in Hebei and 16 cases imported from overseas.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 4, Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou Co Ltd said it will manufacture and sell Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc's COVID-19 vaccine candidate in China. Inovio's vaccine candidate, INO-4800, is being tested in two trials, a mid-stage study in China in partnership with Advaccine and a mid-to-late stage trial in the United States.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Officials in eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland, said they aim to vaccinate all 1.3 million residents against COVID-19 and will set aside at least 200 million emalangeni ($14 million) to do so.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Greece started vaccinating elderly care home residents against COVID-19 in the next phase of its inoculation campaign begun nine days ago.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, It was reported that millions of mask-wearing pupils in Kenya have returned to school nine months after they were closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Kenya has reported almost 97,000 cases of Covid-19 and more than 1,600 deaths since the start of the outbreak in March last year.
(BBC, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Mexico approved the Oxford-Astra-Zeneca vaccine for emergency use.
(SFC, 1/6/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 4, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte directed the head of his military detail to ignore a legislative summons, foiling the Senate's attempt to probe his guards for inoculating themselves with an unauthorized COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a new lockdown in response to a highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus. Sturgeon said the new COVID-19 variant accounts for nearly half of new cases in Scotland, and is 70% more transmissible.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Singapore said its police will be able to use data obtained by its coronavirus contact-tracing technology for criminal investigations, a decision likely to increase privacy concerns around the system.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Spain's region of Catalonia announced a tightening of restrictions to tackle an uptick in COVID-19 infections, banning people from leaving their municipality, closing gyms and shopping malls, and allowing only essential shops such as pharmacies to open at the weekend. The new restrictions in Catalonia, which has Spain's second-highest number of infections and deaths after Madrid, will start on Jan. 7 and last until Jan. 17.
(Reuters, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 4, Thailand registered 745 new coronavirus cases, with a new death reported in Bangkok, where a semi-lockdown went into effect. The new infections bring the total number since last January to 8,439, while the death toll has climbed to 65.
(AP, 1/4/21)
2021 Jan 5, California to date had 2,453,115 cases of coronavirus and 27,016 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 283,057 cases and 2,703 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 21,042,929 with the death toll at 357,132.
(sfist.com, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, Britain began its third COVID-19 lockdown with citizens under orders to stay at home and the government calling for one last major national effort to stem the virus before mass vaccinations turn the tide. The UK recorded more than 60,000 COVID-19 cases in daily figures for the first time as the government struggles to deal with a more infectious variant of the virus.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, China's official media said the fight to contain the coronavirus in northern Hebei province has entered "wartime mode." Hebei reported 19 local infections and 40 asymptomatic cases between Jan. 2 and Jan. 4.
(AP, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, It was reported that a COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Chinese firm Stemirna Therapeutics has obtained approval to conduct human testing from China's medical products regulator. Tibet Rhodiola Pharma is jointly developing the candidate with Stemirna.
(AP, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, President Ivan Duque said Colombia's food and drug regulator authorized emergency use of Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE's COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, Denmark imposed new lockdown measures aimed at curbing the rapid spread of a new coronavirus variant that is believed to be more transmissible. Authorities said they expected the new virus variant, first detected in Britain, to be the dominant one in Denmark by mid-February.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, Germany's disease control center reported 944 more COVID-19 deaths. Chancellor Angela Merkel said she has agreed with state governors to extend the country's current lockdown by three weeks until Jan. 31.
(AP, 1/5/21)(SFC, 1/6/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 5, A senior official said Italy will invest in local biotech company ReiThera to support the development of its COVID-19 vaccine, after the government called results of a Phase 1 trial encouraging. ReiThera is developing the vaccine with Germany's Leukocare and Belgium's Univercells.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, In South Korea the number of deaths linked to the coronavirus passed 1,000, while an increasing number of gym owners said they would reopen in protest against strict social distancing rules.
(Reuters, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 5, Thailand confirmed 527 new coronavirus cases, most of them migrant workers who already were isolated, and the government said it was tightening movements of people around the country.
(AP, 1/5/21)
2021 Jan 6, California to date had 2,496,990 cases of coronavirus and 27,519 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 287,346 cases and 2,772 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 21,279,163 with the death toll at 360,741.
(sfist.com, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro accused syringe makers of pushing up their prices after the government failed to buy hundreds of millions of syringes via auction for its COVID-19 vaccination drive, leading it to requisition surplus supplies.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, British PM Boris Johnson warned parliament that ending England's latest lockdown would require a "gradual unwrapping" over time, pledging that schools would be the "very first things to reopen." The UK recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 daily deaths for the first time since April as the government struggles to deal with a new, more infectious variant of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Thirteen of the EU's foreign ministers said in a joint letter to the bloc's executive saying the EU should send coronavirus vaccines to its Balkan neighbors and do more to combat the virus in Ukraine.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Irish official data showed number of patients in hospitals with COVID-19 has exceeded the peak set during the first wave of infections, ahead of a government meeting to consider new public health restrictions.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Italy reported 548 coronavirus-related deaths against 649 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 20,331 from 15,378.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, The Netherlands began its COVID-19 vaccination program, with nursing home staff and front-line workers in hospitals first in line for the shot.
(AP, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, It was reported that Peru passed one million confirmed cases of the coronavirus a few days ago.
(SFC, 1/6/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 6, Portugal approved an extension of a state of emergency as the daily number of COVID-19 cases in the nation of around 10 million people reached a record high of 10,027, putting increasing pressure on the health system.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Top Serbian politicians urged greater international acceptance of Russia's coronavirus vaccine as they joined the front of their country's queue for shots.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, South Korea rolled out mass testing for 52 prisons in the country after a massive prison outbreak and decided to extend flight suspensions from Britain for two weeks as part of efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 6, Some Ukrainian media outlets reported that a clinic in Kyiv had begun inoculating people, probably with the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, at a charge of up to 3,000 euros ($3,683) per dose. Ukraine has yet to approve any of the newly developed vaccines.
(Reuters, 1/6/21)
2021 Jan 7, Arizona reported nearly 300 coronavirus deaths, a pandemic high, and nearly 10,000 new infections.
(SFC, 1/7/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 7, California to date had 2,534,673 cases of coronavirus and 28,079 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 291,865 cases and 2,831 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 21,543,310 with the death toll at 364,734.
(sfist.com, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Study results showed that treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with Roche's Actemra or Sanofi's Kevzara arthritis drugs significantly improves survival rates and reduces the amount of time patients need intensive care.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Argentina said it would restrict the movement of people in the country during night hours, in an attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic during the Southern Hemisphere summer vacation season.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan reported its first COVID-19 death some 10 months after initially detecting the virus and managing to keep the disease under control by largely sealing off the tourism-dependent country.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 7, It was reported that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech was 78% effective in a late-stage Brazilian trial and entirely prevented severe cases, boosting Chinese efforts to catch up with Western vaccine makers.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, It was reported that Cuba is partnering with Iran to produce a COVID-19 vaccine developed by scientists on the island, the latest example of how the two US-sanctioned nations are building closer ties.
(Miami Herald, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, The Czech Republic has registered 794,740 confirmed cases and 12,621 deaths. November was the deadliest month with 4,937 deceased. All three cremation chambers were working round the clock, while storage capacity for caskets has been repeatedly boosted.
(AP, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 7, German company CureVac, that is in the advanced stages of producing a vaccine against COVID-19, said it is linking up with pharmaceutical giant Bayer to help develop and distribute the product. CureVac said last month that it expects first results by the end of March from its phase 3 clinical study of the mRNA-based vaccine candidate called CVnCoV.
(AP, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Israel's government prepared for a two-week shutdown as the country’s infection rate soared again.
(AP, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Lebanon began a 25-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus as infections hit a record high in the tiny Mediterranean nation and patients overwhelmed the health care sector.
(AP, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Malaysia reported its biggest daily rise in coronavirus cases as the government considered imposing restrictions in some areas, while businesses warned that another nationwide lockdown would further batter the economy.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, South Africa said it will vaccinate 40 million people, or two-thirds of its population, against COVID-19 in order to achieve herd immunity, as a mutant variant drove daily new cases above 21,000 for the first time.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 7, Sweden registered 12,536 new coronavirus cases since Jan. 5. The country registered 277 new deaths, taking the total to 9,262.
(Reuters, 1/7/21)
2021 Jan 8, California to date had 2,574,314 cases of coronavirus and 28,565 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 296,976 cases and 2,916 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 21,846,815 with the death toll at 368,685.
(sfist.com, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, In southern California 8 gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park tested positive for the coronavirus in what is believed to be the first cases among such primates in captivity.
(https://tinyurl.com/yxcwcttz)(SFC, 1/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 8, The Brazilian production partner for a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech filed for emergency use authorization with health regulator Anvisa, the day after announcing results from a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Brazilian researchers said they have identified the concerning new coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa in a woman who contracted COVID-19 for the second time, and said it was the first such case reported in the world.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Britain reported 1,325 new deaths from COVID-19, its highest daily figure since the outbreak of the pandemic, with another 68,053 additional cases. The official death toll stood at 79,833, the highest in Europe. Britain's medical regulator approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use. The health ministry said that it had agreed to purchase an additional 10 million doses as it eyed a spring rollout of the shot.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)(SFC, 1/9/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 8, China's National Health Commission reported 33 new COVID-19 cases for the mainland, down from 53 reported a day earlier. The authority said 14 of the 17 locally transmitted infections were in Hebei province.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 8, The European Union's drug agency approved doctors drawing one more dose from each vial of the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech, in a move that — combined with the purchase of 300 million extra shots of the serum — could speed up the pace of vaccinations in the 27-nation bloc.
(AP, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said EU countries are not allowed to negotiate separate vaccine deals with pharmaceutical companies in parallel to the efforts of the European Union as a whole.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Germany reported a record 1,188 daily COVID-19 deaths. Trial organizers at university hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) said coronavirus vaccine developed by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and vaccine maker IDT Biologika did not prompt the hoped-for immune reaction in early-stage testing on humans.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned Iran from importing of American Pfizer-BioNTech and Britain’s Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccines, a reflection of mistrust toward the West.
(AP, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Italy reported 620 coronavirus-related deaths up from 414 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 17,533 from 18,020.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, Portugal reported record increases in the number of COVID-19 infections and the death toll, a day after the prime minister warned the country may need to go into a new lockdown next week if contagion continues to surge.
(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, It was reported that South African scientists are testing whether vaccines will be less effective against a COVID-19 variant, known as 501Y.V2, first detected locally and hope for initial results within two weeks.
(AP, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 8, The United Nations said it fears “massive community transmission" of COVID-19 in Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region, fueled by displacement and the collapse of health services, as humanitarian workers finally begin to access the region two months after fighting began. A UN report said fighting is still going on in several parts of the northern Tigray region and almost 2.3 million people, or nearly half of the population, need aid.
(AP, 1/8/21)(Reuters, 1/8/21)
2021 Jan 9, California to date had 2,661,646 cases of coronavirus and 29,241 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 301,773 cases and 2,991 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 22,129,231 with the death toll at 372,384.
(sfist.com, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Australia's health officials said they are on high alert after cases of highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus, discovered in Britain and South Africa, have made it into the country.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Chinese authorities halted public transport in a provincial capital near Beijing in an effort to stamp out a new cluster of coronavirus infections. Government authorities said China will provide COVID-19 vaccines free of charge once they become available to the general public.
(AP, 1/9/21)(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Cuba's top epidemiologist said irresponsible partying over year-end, often with relatives from abroad, fueled a surge in coronavirus infections and he warned of a crackdown to prevent the spread of the disease.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Italy reported 483 coronavirus-related deaths, down from 620 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 19,978 from 17,533. Italy has registered 78,394 COVID-19 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Osaka and its surrounding prefectures asked Japan to expand a state of emergency to the western cities in an effort to contain the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Tokyo's new daily infections kept above 2,000 cases.
(Reuters, 1/9/21)
2021 Jan 9, Lebanon reported a record 5,400 coronavirus infections.
(SFC, 1/15/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 9, The Philippine government signed a deal to secure the supply of 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Covovax from Serum Institute of India (SII).
(Reuters, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, California to date had 2,684,516 cases of coronavirus and 29,927 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 305,334 cases and 3,030 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 22,385,975 with the death toll at 374,072.
(sfist.com, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state recorded three new coronavirus cases as a three-week lockdown for about quarter million of people in Sydney's northern beaches suburbs eased.
(Reuters, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, In Canada a curfew took effect across Quebec province in an effort to curb a surge in coronavirus infections.
(SFC, 1/11/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 10, Israel's coronavirus vaccination campaign, the world's fastest per capita, shifted to booster shots in a bid to protect the most vulnerable citizens by next month and ease curbs on the economy.
(Reuters, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, Italy reported 361 coronavirus-related deaths, down from 483 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 18,627 from 19,978.
(AP, 1/10/21)
2021 Jan 10, Zimbabwe recorded 21,477 cases and 507 deaths, up from the slightly more than 10,000 cases and 277 deaths at the beginning of December.
(AP, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, Arizona has reported more than 11,000 new coronavirus cases in each of the last several days. The state's death toll reached 10,147 with a total of 627, 541 infections.
(SFC, 1/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 11, California to date had 2,692,542 cases of coronavirus and 30,019 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 311,012 cases and 3,061 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 22,591,369 with the death toll at 375,903.
(sfist.com, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said state prisons, which have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, will be given priority in the next phase of vaccinations.
(SFC, 1/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 11, It was reported that Novavax Chief Executive Stanley Erck and three of his top lieutenants have sold roughly $46 million of company stock since the start of last year, capitalizing on a near 3,000% rally in Novavax shares fueled by investors betting on the success of the shot under development. Novavax has yet to bring a vaccine to market.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, REMAP-CAP investigators said that an international trial testing convalescent blood plasma on COVID-19 patients with moderate and severe illness has halted enrolment of severely ill COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care after it found no benefit.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, Indonesia gave Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine its first emergency use approval outside China as the world's fourth most populous country launches nationwide inoculations to stem surging infections and deaths.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, It was reported that Philippine mobile wallet GCash has raised more than $175 million in capital from New York-based private equity fund Bow Wave Capital Management.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, President Wavel Ramkalawan said Seychelles has started vaccinating its population against COVID-19 with doses from China's Sinopharm vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 11, South Korea reported fewer than 500 new coronavirus infections for the first time since record high daily case numbers over the Christmas holiday period. Pres. Moon Jae-in said the country will offer free COVID-19 vaccinations to all its people in phases.
(Reuters, 1/11/21)(SFC, 1/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 11, Zimbabwe banned families from transporting their dead relatives between cities, as part of new measures stop traditional funeral rites that are believed to be increasing the spread of the coronavirus.
(AP, 1/11/21)
2021 Jan 12, The Trump administration ordered states to use Covid-19 vaccines set aside for second doses to get the shots to more people more quickly.
(NY Times, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, Within a span of about 24 hours, three House Democrats have announced they tested positive for COVID-19, prompting concern that last week’s insurrection at the Capitol has also turned into a super-spreader event threatening the health of lawmakers and their staffs.
(AP, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, California to date had 2,799,189 cases of coronavirus and 31,156 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 315,614 cases and 3,148 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 22,846,796 with the death toll at 380,796.
(sfist.com, 1/12/21)
2021 Jan 12, General Motors Co shares jumped to their highest level since the company's post-bankruptcy IPO in 2010, as the automaker announced its entry into the growing electric delivery vehicle business.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, Johnson & Johnson said tis new one-shot COVID-19 vaccine generated a long-lasting immune response in an early safety study.
(SFC, 1/14/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 12, Local partners in Brazil said CoronaVac, a coronavirus vaccine developed by China's Sinovac, showed "general efficacy" of 50.4% in a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, PM Justin Trudeau said Canada has ordered an additional 20 million doses of Pfizer Inc's coronavirus vaccine after provinces complained about inadequate supplies.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, India's Bharat Biotech said it has signed an agreement with a medicine distributor to supply its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to Brazil, even as the shot's emergency use approval in its home country has faced criticism.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, Italy reported 616 coronavirus-related deaths, up from 448 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,242 from 12,532.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 12, Malaysia's king approved a coronavirus emergency that will suspend parliament and hold off calls for elections in a political reprieve for embattled PM Muhyiddin Yassin.
(SFC, 1/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 12, Micronesia reported its firstcase of the coronavirus after a crew member on an arriving ship tested positive.
(SFC, 1/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 12, Switzerland approved Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the second shot after Pfizer and BioNTech's to be approved in the country and clearing the way to get up to 1.5 million doses from the firms through February.
(Reuters, 1/12/20)
2021 Jan 13, California to date had 2,815,944 cases of coronavirus and 31,255 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 319,465 cases and 3,193 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,047,409 with the death toll at 384,277.
(sfist.com, 1/13/21)
2021 Jan 13, Britain reported 1,564 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test for COVID-19, a record daily toll.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, Italy reported 507 coronavirus-related deaths, against 616 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 15,774 from 14,242.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, Jordan began a coronavirus vaccination program intended to inoculate one in four of its ten million population over coming months.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has ordered his government to expand the vaccination effort.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, It was reported that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Brazilian pharmaceutical company Uniao Quimica have agreed on supplies of 10 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to Brazil in the first quarter of 2021.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, The Spanish regions of Galicia, La Rioja and Cantabria became the latest to tighten coronavirus restrictions amid a spiraling national infection rate that officials have blamed on lax adherence to the rules over Christmas. Spain reported 38,869 new coronavirus infections and 195 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)(SFC, 1/14/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 13, Switzerland announced stricter measures including store closures in a bid to reduce contacts amid fears that the British and other variants could rapidly spread and overwhelm hospital and healthcare infrastructure.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 13, Turkish authorities gave the go-ahead for the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., paving the way for the rollout for Turkey’s vaccination program starting with health care workers and other high-risk groups.
(AP, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 13, The Vatican began its COVID-19 vaccination program, but it was not clear when Pope Francis would get his shot.
(Reuters, 1/13/20)
2021 Jan 14, California to date had 2,839,166 cases of coronavirus and 31,676 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 324,710 cases and 3,237 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,121,192 with the death toll at 385,855.
(sfist.com, 1/13/21)
2021 Jan 14, Bulgaria began anti-COVID-19 inoculations with its first batch of Moderna's vaccine, amid concern over the slow pace of the rollout.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, It was reported that more than 22 million people in China have been ordered to remain inside their homes due to coronavirus flareups in cities near Beijing and a county in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
(SFC, 1/14/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 14, A team from the World Health Organization arrived in Wuhan to investigate the source of the virus. Chinese authorities barred two scientists because of positive antibody tests.
(NY Times, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Gambia said it has recorded its first two cases of the highly infectious coronavirus variant first found in Britain, in what appears to be the first confirmation of the variant's presence in Africa.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, In Germany figures published today showed the highest number of daily deaths since the start of the pandemic. The Robert Koch Institute said 1,244 deaths from COVID-19 were confirmed in one day up to today, taking the total number to 43,881. There were also 25,164 newly confirmed cases, putting Germany’s total known infections close to 2 million.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Hungary's government said it has reached a deal with China's Sinopharm to buy its coronavirus vaccine. Under European Union rules it would have to give an ultra-fast emergency use approval.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Italy reported 522 coronavirus-related deaths, against 507 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 17,246 from 15,774.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Lebanese authorities began enforcing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and round-the-clock curfew, hoping to blunt the spread of coronavirus infections spinning out of control after the holiday period.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Sweden reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths for a single day, taking the total toll above 10,000, although new infections appear to be easing. Some 10,185 people have now died in Sweden from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, A Swiss regional government said three-quarters of a nursing home's residents and half its workers have been infected with the coronavirus variant first found in Britain.
(AP, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, Turkey began administering COVID-19 shots developed by China's Sinovac to health workers, as it vaccinated more than 260,000 people as part of a nationwide program against the virus.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 14, The Vatican said both Pope Francis (84) and ex Pope Benedict (93) have received the first dose of a vaccine against coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/14/20)
2021 Jan 15, California to date had 2,919,040 cases of coronavirus and 32,990 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 329,778 cases and 3,287 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,503,736 with the death toll at 391,631.
(sfist.com, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, US pharmaceutical company Pfizer confirmed it will temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe of its COVID-19 vaccine while it upgrades production capacity to 2 billion doses per year.
(AP, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Brazil's Air Force delivered emergency supplies of oxygen to the jungle state of Amazonas, where hospitals overwhelmed by resurging coronavirus cases were airlifting patients to other states to save them from dying of suffocation.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, British transport minister Grant Shapps said a Brazilian variant of the coronavirus is significant enough to justify stopping flights from South America as a precaution.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Britain recorded 55,761 new cases of COVID-19, an increase on the 48,682 cases recorded the previous day, as the number of infections rises despite hopes that lockdowns across the country could start to help push rates down.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, China's state media reported that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a Sinopharm subsidiary, is safe in those aged between three and 17, based on clinical data obtained by the company.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, The European Union's drug regulator said that COVID-19 vaccine documents stolen from its servers in a cyberattack have been not only leaked to the web, but “manipulated" by hackers.
(AP, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Italy reported 477 coronavirus-related deaths, against 522 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections declined to 16,146 from 17,246.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Nepal granted approval for AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD vaccine against the coronavirus, the government said, following a meeting with neighboring India, a major manufacturer of the shot.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Pakistan reported a total of 514,338 coronavirus infections and 10,863 confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 1/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 15, The Philippines extended by two weeks a ban on travelers from more than 30 territories and countries where a more transmissible COVID-19 variant has been detected, with the restriction also now covering Filipinos who want to come home.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund said Paraguay has become the latest Latin American country to approve emergency use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 15, Tunisia said it recorded 4,170 new confirmed coronavirus cases, a record since the start of the pandemic. Infections have now reached 175,065 cases and 5,528 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/15/21)
2021 Jan 16, California congressman Rep. Lou Correa said he has contracted the coronavirus before he could get a second dose of vaccine that would have improved his immunity. He received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 19.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, California to date had 2,930,881 cases of coronavirus and 33,113 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 331,971 cases and 3,320 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,669,315 with the death toll at 394,413.
(sfist.com, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said recent COVID-19 outbreaks in the northeast have come from travelers entering the country or contaminated frozen food imports.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Denmark found its first case of a more contagious coronavirus variant from South Africa, and saw a rise in the number of infections with the highly transmissible B117 variant first identified in Britain.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Germany recorded 18,678 confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours and another 980 deaths. Germany has carried out more than a million vaccinations as new infections and deaths remain high.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, India began what is likely the world's largest coronavirus vaccination rollout when the country's first dose was administered to a sanitation worker at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Italy reported 475 coronavirus-related deaths, against 477 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 16,310 from 16,146.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Malaysia reported 4,029 new coronavirus cases, the biggest daily increase recorded in the country since the start of the pandemic, bringing the total number of infections to 155,095. Eight new deaths took the total number of fatalities to 594. Malaysia's Top Glove Corp, the world's largest medical grade glove maker, said some employees at four factories had tested positive for COVID-19 recently.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Mexico registered its worst week yet of the pandemic, with a record number of infections from the new coronavirus and more than 7,000 COVID-19 deaths.
(AP, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, Pakistan said AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use, making it the first coronavirus vaccine to get the green light for use in the South Asian country.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 16, A plane carrying one million doses of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine arrived on in Serbia, making it the first European country to receive the Chinese vaccine for mass inoculation programs.
(Reuters, 1/16/21)
2021 Jan 17, California to date had 2,951,771 cases of coronavirus and 33,418 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 336,222 cases and 3,350 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 23,819,290 with the death toll at 396,549.
(sfist.com, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the coronavirus lockdown will be extended until Feb. 7 and that social distancing rules will be toughened.
(SFC, 1/18/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 17, Authorities in China reported 109 new COVID-19 cases, most of them in Hebei province surrounding Beijing. China has in the past week seen the number of daily cases jump to an over 10-month high.
(Reuters, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, German pharmaceutical giant Bayer said it is examining whether it can help CureVac to produce its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, Lebanon finalized a deal with Pfizer for 2.1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine amid surge in infections that has overwhelmed the country's health care system.
(AP, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, In the Netherlands several thousand people held an unauthorized protest in Amsterdam against a national lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, before being dispersed by riot police.
(Reuters, 1/17/21)
2021 Jan 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that a convoy of trucks carrying emergency oxygen supplies for Brazil's northern Amazonas state, where a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has hit hard, has departed and is set to arrive at the border by tomorrow morning.
(AP, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, The United States called on China to allow an expert team from the World Health Organization (WHO) to interview "care givers, former patients and lab workers" in the central city of Wuhan, and ensure its access to medical data and samples.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, California to date had 2,975,078 cases of coronavirus and 33,613 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 340,174 cases and 3,378 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,062,465 with the death toll at 398,879.
(sfist.com, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, China's Sinovac Biotech said that a clinical trial in Brazil showed its COVID-19 vaccine was almost 20 percentage points more effective in a small sub-group of patients who received their two doses longer apart.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, Hong Kong reported 107 new coronavirus cases, the highest toll in nearly a month as authorities tested thousands of residents after an outbreak in an old residential building located in a busy commercial and residential area last week.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, PM Erna Solberg said Norway will ease some coronavirus restrictions as extra measures in place for two weeks seem to have had the desired effect, although she added that infection rates remained too high for comfort.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, In the Philippines coronavirus infections rose to 502,736, the 2nd highest in Southeast Asia.
(SFC, 1/19/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 18, Portugal's daily death toll from the new coronavirus reached a record high of 167, bringing the total to 9,028 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/18/21)
2021 Jan 18, Slovakia said it is seeking to test almost all citizens for the coronavirus by Jan. 27.
(SFC, 1/19/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 19, California to date had 3,037,066 cases of coronavirus and 34,278 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 345,688 cases and 3,436 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,230,850 with the death toll at 401,361.
(sfist.com, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Oklahoma reported an increase of 43 deaths due to COVID-19 raising the number of total fatalities to 3,037.
(SFC, 1/21/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 19, Britain reported a record number of deaths from COVID-19 with 1,610 people dying within 28 days of positive coronavirus test, exceeding the previous peak set last week. Britain said it would give COVID-19 shots to up to 2,000 people working in vaccine supply chains, after AstraZeneca requested protection for its workers trying to deliver an ambitious vaccine rollout program.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, China reported 118 more coronavirus cases with 43 in Jilin province, 35 in Hebei province reported 35 and 27 in Heilongjiang province.
(SFC, 1/20/21, p.A9)
2021 Jan 19, Unions at French drug maker Sanofi held a one-day strike at the lab where it is developing a COVID-19 vaccine and some other sites, to protest job cuts the company plans despite a boost in investment amid the pandemic.
(AP, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state premiers agreed to extend a lockdown for most shops and schools until Feb. 14 as part of a package of steps to try to rein in the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Italy reported 603 coronavirus-related deaths, against 377 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 10,497 from 8,824.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Japan's health minister watched a demonstration of a prototype automated COVID-19 testing machine that uses a robotic arm to take a sample from a person's nose and can deliver the results in about 80 minutes.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Kuwait said it has registered its first cases of a more contagious coronavirus variant in two Kuwaiti women who had been in Britain. The Gulf Arab state has recorded a total of 158,244 COVID-19 infections and 948 deaths since the coronavirus outbreak.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Malaysia said it would extend lockdown restrictions across most of the country as it grappled with a rise in coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Portugal recorded 218 new COVID-19 fatalities, up from 167 a day earlier, pushing the total death toll since the start of the pandemic to 9,246. Doctors warned of a healthcare system nearing collapse as the daily death toll from COVID-19 reached a new record high.
(AP, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Russian consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said a candidate COVID-19 vaccine known as EpiVacCorona, Russia's second to be registered, has proved "100% effective" in early-stage trials.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Rwanda re-introduced tough lockdown measures in its capital Kigali after a surge in coronavirus cases. Rwanda has recorded 11,259 cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus and 146 deaths.
(AP, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Serbia became first European country to use Chinese COVID vaccine for mass rollout. Serbia last week received one million doses of Chinese Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Spain said it will sell 30,000 doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to microstate Andorra, as part of its plan to redistribute excess vaccines. Andorra less than 80,000 inhabitants has reported 9,145 infections and 92 deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Sweden said has seen a decline in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks, but its Health Agency warned it was too early to say if it represented a lasting slowdown.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 19, Thailand’s government defended its coronavirus vaccine strategy against opposition criticism that it is too reliant on Siam Bioscience, a company owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
(Reuters, 1/19/21)
2021 Jan 20, California to date had 3,073,223 cases of coronavirus and 35,059 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 348,340 cases and 3,503 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,421,994 with the death toll at 405,630.
(sfist.com, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Amazon offered to help the Biden administration meet its goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in President Biden's first 100 days in office.
(NBC News, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Lab tests released today showed that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is likely to protect against a more infectious variant of the virus discovered in Britain which has spread around the world.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Britain reported a record number of deaths from COVID-19, with 1,820 people dying within 28 days of positive coronavirus test, surpassing the previous peak set a day earlier.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, China said three drugmakers had submitted applications to supply their COVID-19 vaccines to global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX in the country's first formal move to provide locally developed shots to the initiative. Sinovac Biotech, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and CanSino Biologics have applied to join the scheme.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, India began supplying coronavirus vaccines to its neighboring countries.
(SFC, 1/21/21, p.A4)
2021 Jan 20, Italy reported 524 coronavirus-related deaths, against 603 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,571 from 10,497.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Portugal's number of daily coronavirus cases rose from 10,455 to 14,647, a 40% jump as hospitals struggle to cope with a surge in infections and deaths.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Russia filed for registration of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in the EU bloc.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 20, United Nations agencies warned that more than 350 million people in the Asia-Pacific region are going hungry as the coronavirus pandemic destroys jobs and pushes food prices higher.
(AP, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, The World Health Organization said that three COVID-19 vaccines were in the late stages of review for possible emergency use listing, in addition to the one made by Pfizer and BioNTech already approved. The WHO said shots from Moderna, AstraZeneca and China's Sinopharm and Sinovac could win emergency go-ahead in coming weeks or months.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, The Vatican began offering free vaccinations against COVID-19 to Rome's homeless.
(Reuters, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 20, Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo (b.1960) died after succumbing to Covid-19.
(BBC, 1/20/21)
2021 Jan 21, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top adviser on the pandemic, said the United States will resume funding for the World Health Organization and join its consortium aimed at sharing coronavirus vaccines fairly around the globe.
(AP, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Alabama's Gov. kay Ivey announced an extension of a statewide ordnance requiring facemasks in public through March 5 to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 1/22/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 21, Arizona, the state with worst diagnosis rate in the US, reported nearly 9,400 confirmed coronavirus cases and 244 deaths, increasing totals to 699,942 cases and 11,772 deaths.
(SFC, 1/22/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 21, California to date had 3,090,663 cases of coronavirus and 35,551 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 351,303 cases and 3,616 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,614,129 with the death toll at 409,794.
(sfist.com, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, The drug maker Eli Lilly said that a treatment usually used to fight Covid-19 symptoms also prevented healthy people in nursing homes from contracting the virus. The drug, bamlanivimab, already has an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration that allows Eli Lilly to provide it to symptomatic patients early in the course of their infection.
(NY Times, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, The head of Africa's disease control body said the continent's coronavirus case fatality rate has risen alarmingly to 2.5%, higher than the global level of 2.2%.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, The death toll from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom hit 94,580 after the country recorded another 1,290 fatalities, while official data showed medics had delivered a new high of 363,508 vaccines in the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Britain's health minister Matt Hancock said data supports the country's decision to move to a 12-week dosing schedule for Pfizer's COVID vaccine, adding details on efficacy gathered during the rollout would be published as soon as possible.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, China reported its first cluster of COVID-19 cases among workers in a meat processing plant in the northeastern city of Harbin, raising fears among local consumers who have until now mainly worried about the safety of imported foods.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Dubai's tourism department announced an immediate halt to all live entertainment at hotels and restaurants as COVID-19 cases increased.
(SFC, 1/22/21, p.A5)
2021 Jan 21, EU government officials said Pfizer has slashed in half the volume of COVID-19 vaccines it will deliver to some EU countries this week, as frustration over the US drugmaker's unexpected cut in supplies grows.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Europe's disease surveillance agency said that the three mutant variants of the coronavirus that emerged in Britain, South Africa and Brazil pose a high risk in Europe as they have led to increased transmissibility.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Government sources said India will give millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine to South Asian countries in the next few weeks, drawing praise from its neighbors and pushing back against China's dominating presence in the region.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Indonesia reported 346 deaths from COVID-19, hitting a new record for the second time this week, as hospitals in the Southeast Asian nation come under increasing strain from the coronavirus pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Italy reported 521 coronavirus-related deaths, against 524 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,078 from 13,571.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Authorities in Lebanon extended a nationwide lockdown by a week, to Feb. 8, amid a steep rise in coronavirus deaths and infections that has overwhelmed the health care system.
(AP, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Northern Ireland extended its COVID-19 lockdown for an additional four weeks to March 5 and its deputy first minister said the measures might have to be extended again.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Portugal’s government ordered the closure of schools for two weeks amid a surge in COVID-19 infections that PM António Costa blamed on the rise of a more contagious variant.
(AP, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, Russia said it could supply Hungary with its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine from next month, after Budapest gave initial approval to the shot.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, In Switzerland local officials said mass COVID-19 testing of thousands of people in the resort of St Moritz, where luxury hotels were placed under quarantine, found 53 coronavirus infections, including 31 cases of a fast-spreading variant.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, It was reported that Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use approval for the COVID-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca Plc.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 21, The United Arab Emirates registered Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for domestic use. New daily cases in the Gulf state of about 9 million people tripled in the past month to about 354 per million this week.
(Reuters, 1/21/21)
2021 Jan 22, A US official said between 150 and 200 National Guard deployed to Washington, DC, to provide security for President Joe Biden's inauguration have tested positive for the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Researchers said new variant of the coronavirus appears to account for the recent surge of cases in southern California. The variant, called CAL.20C, accounted for fewer than one in every 1,000 COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles county in July. It was not detected again until October, but by December accounted for 36% of cases.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, California to date had 3,108,076 cases of coronavirus and 35,925 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 353,546 cases and 3,701 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,806,034 with the death toll at 413,818.
(sfist.com, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, PM Alexander De Croo said Belgium is banning all leisure travel abroad for its citizens as of next week and until March, in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its virulent variants.
(AP, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, A survey showed that Britain's relapse into a third national COVID-19 lockdown has sparked the sharpest drop in business activity since May, with services companies hit hardest.
(AP, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, China premiered a patriotic documentary film to mark the one-year anniversary of Wuhan's coronavirus lockdown, part of a broader effort by authorities to cast the government's early response to COVID-19 in a positive light.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Beijing ordered more coronavirus tests for about 2 million people in its downtown area after new cases were reported in the Chinese capital. China's National Health Commission announced 103 new cases had been detected over the past 24 hours.
(AP, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Denmark said it has halted all flights arriving from the United Arab Emirates for five days due to potentially unreliable coronavirus tests in Dubai.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, The Finnish government said it would put in place stricter regulations from Jan. 27 for entering the country, due to new variants of the coronavirus spreading within its borders.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, France registered a further 23,292 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 649 more deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours as President Emmanuel Macron's government fought against the possibility of a third national lockdown.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, In Germany 859 coronavirus deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, taking the total so far to 50,642.
(AP, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Hungary said it has signed a deal to buy Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the first European Union country to do so.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, PM Narendra Modi said India was completely self-reliant on coronavirus vaccine supplies as the world's second-most populous country inoculated more than one million people within a week of starting a massive campaign.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda said the country would receive enough COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate 70% of its population by early July, and that this would achieve herd immunity.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Morocco received 2 million doses of Astrazeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first African country to get a large enough shipment to roll out a nationwide immunization program.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Myanmar received 1.5 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine supplied by India to inoculate 750,000 people, the first vaccine batch delivered to the Southeast Asian country as it fights one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the region.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 22, Paraguay said it has signed agreements with two pharmaceutical companies to buy 3 million doses of coronavirus vaccines and plans to start vaccinations in the second half of February. Paraguay has registered 125,518 cases of coronavirus and 2,570 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 23, California to date had 3,140,710 cases of coronavirus and 36,785 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 354,499 cases and 3,738 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 24,985,689 with the death toll at 417,339.
(sfist.com, 1/23/21)
2021 Jan 23, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved a second emergency use request of China's CoronaVac vaccine, which will allow for the distribution of 4.8 million new doses that were partly manufactured in Brazil.
(Reuters, 1/22/21)
2021 Jan 23, China reported 80 new COVID-19 cases, mostly in the northeast where some residents complained they were short of food amid an ongoing local lockdowns, down from 107 a day earlier. The financial hub of Shanghai imposed new restrictions, as the country marked the anniversary of the world's first coronavirus lockdown in Wuhan city, where the disease emerged in late 2019. 107 new COVID-19 cases had been identified in the mainland, up from 103 cases the day before.
(Reuters, 1/23/21)(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 23, Hong Kong's government locked down an area of Kowloon peninsula after an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, saying 10,000 residents must stay home until they have been tested and the results largely determined.
(Reuters, 1/23/21)
2021 Jan 23, Norway's capital Oslo and nine neighboring municipalities imposed some of their toughest lockdown measures yet after an outbreak of a more contagious coronavirus variant, first identified in Britain.
(Reuters, 1/23/21)
2021 Jan 23, Spain's top General Miguel Angel Villaroya resigned after allegations he had received the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of priority groups, one of a number of public officials who have sparked public anger because of reports they have jumped the vaccination queue.
(Reuters, 1/23/21)
2021 Jan 23, Zimbabwe recorded a total of 31,007 cases, including 974 deaths, up from the slightly more than 10,000 cases and 277 deaths at the beginning of December. Four Cabinet ministers have died of COVID-19, three within the past two weeks.
(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, A White House official said Pres. Joe Biden will ban travel by noncitizens into the US from South Africa as of Jan. 30 because of concern about a coronavirus variant spreading in that country.
(NY Times, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, California to date had 3,144,592 cases of coronavirus and 36,844 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 357,949 cases and 3,818 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,109,148 with the death toll at 418,982.
(sfist.com, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Australia recorded no new local coronavirus cases, maintaining a recent run of success in keeping the virus at bay, but nevertheless is keen to press on with its vaccination campaign from next month.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Britain said it is expanding a coronavirus vaccination program that has seen almost 6 million people get the first of two doses, even as the country’s death toll in the pandemic approached 100,000.
(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Egypt launched a vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, with the first shots of Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm’s vaccine given to healthcare workers in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia.
(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Italy reported 299 coronavirus-related deaths, down from 488 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 11,629 from 13,331.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said the first case of a new variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Serbia in a woman who arrived from London, but that no new lockdown is planned.
(Reuters, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 24, Taiwan said it will more than double the number of people who have to quarantine at home to more than 5,000 as it seeks to contain a rare domestic cluster of COVID-19 connected to a hospital. Taiwan only has 95 active cases being treated in hospital.
(AP, 1/24/21)
2021 Jan 25, California lifted regional stay-at-home orders across the state in response to improving coronavirus conditions, returning the state to a system of county-by-county restrictions.
(AP, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, The peer review journal Science published a paper that confirms the drug Plitidepsin (aka Aplidin), manufactured by the Spanish pharmaceutical company PharmaMar, has a "potent preclinical efficacy" against COVID-19. The drug, already authorized in some markets to treat tumors, blocks a protein associated with the COVID-19 virus. A UCSF-led team identified the anti-cancer drug.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)(SFC, 1/26/21, p.A1)
2021 Jan 25, California to date had 3,176,457 cases of coronavirus and 37,369 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 360,731 cases and 3,857 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,258,210 with the death toll at 420,830.
(sfist.com, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Minnesota confirmed that a new Brazilian variant of the coronavirus (Brazil P.1) was recently identified in a person who returned home to the Twin Cities area and became ill the first week of January.
(https://tinyurl.com/yyb3durf)(SFC, 1/27/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 25, CVS Health Corp said it has completed the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations at about 8,000 US skilled nursing facilities that were part of a federal program.
(AP, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Drugmaker Merck & Co said it would stop development of its two COVID-19 vaccines and focus pandemic research on treatments, with initial data on an experimental oral antiviral expected by the end of March. Merck said it would focus COVID-19 research and manufacturing efforts on two investigational medicines: MK-7110 and MK-4482, which it now calls molnupiravir.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Moderna said it believes its COVID-19 vaccine protects against new variants found in Britain and South Africa, although it will test a new booster shot aimed at the South Africa variant after concluding that the antibody response could be diminished.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Australia's medical regulator approved use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
(SFC, 1/26/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 25, Bulgaria said it will make everyone coming into the country take COVID-19 tests to stop the spread of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus.
(AP, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, The EU said it will require pharmaceutical companies producing COVID-19 vaccines inside the bloc to register in advance any exports of doses to third countries.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Hong Kong said it has formally approved use of the Fosun Pharma-BioNTech vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be accepted in the Asian financial hub.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, Mexico's coronavirus death toll passed 150,000 following a surge in infections in recent weeks.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, New Zealand confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in the community in months in a woman (56), but said close contacts of the recently returned traveler had so far tested negative.
(Reuters, 1/25/21)
2021 Jan 25, A group of UN experts criticized Sri Lanka's requirement that those who die of COVID-19 be cremated, even it goes against a family's religious beliefs.
(AP, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, California to date had 3,202,938 cases of coronavirus and 37,699 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 363,237 cases and 3,911 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,433,812 with the death toll at 425,036.
(sfist.com, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Eli Lilly and Co said it combination antibody drug helped reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients by 70%, citing early data from a late-stage study.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, A study released today based on laboratory tests said COVID-19 antibody drugs developed by Eli Lilly and Co and Regeneron may be weaker against a new coronavirus variant found in South Africa.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 26, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said its antibody cocktail was found effective in preventing COVID-19 in people exposed to those infected with the new coronavirus in an ongoing late stage trial.
(AP, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents gave their backing to a vaccination program to which the World Health Organization’s COVAX program has pledged $112 million.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, The Global Times reported that China's COVID-19 vaccines based on the inactivated virus can be upgraded to cope with new variants in about two months, citing an expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, It was reported that China is constructing a quarantine center in response to a coronavirus outbreak in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.
(SFC, 1/26/21, p.A7)
2021 Jan 26, Indonesia surpassed a million confirmed coronavirus cases. The country has recorded 1,012,350 cases and deaths from the respiratory disease now totaled 28,468.
(AP, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Iran said it has approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and plans to both import it and produce it, giving the Middle East's worst-hit country a tool to fight the spread of COVID-19.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Israel said it has not registered a single serious COVID-19 case among the 6% of citizens already given a full set of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccinations, even as infections surge in the wider population.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Japanese drugmaker Shionogi & Co SAID IT has sold the development and marketing rights for a COVID-19 treatment to California-based biotech BioAge Labs Inc. The drug, known as BGE-175, was developed to treat allergic rhinitis.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Lebanon hit a new daily record for COVID-19 fatalities, registering 73 deaths as protesters took to the streets for a second day to denounce strict lockdown measures put in place to curb an exhausting surge in infections.
(AP, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, Malaysia said it had signed deals with two domestic companies to purchase 18.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines produced by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute and China's Sinovac.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, In Portugal COVID-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours reached a record of 291, bringing the country's total to 653,878 cases and 11,012 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 26, The Swiss-based World Health Organization (WHO) issued fresh clinical advice for treating COVID-19 patients, including those displaying persistent symptoms after recovery, and also said it advised using low-dose anti-coagulants to prevent blood clots. The WHO also issued recommendations on the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and said it was working with the company to accelerate its approval of the shot for WHO emergency use listing.
(Reuters, 1/26/21)
2021 Jan 27, California to date had 3,220,247 cases of coronavirus and 38,440 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 365,697 cases and 3,996 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,583,630 with the death toll at 428,791.
(sfist.com, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Bahrain said it will suspend dine-in services at restaurants and cafes and move public and private schools to remote learning for three weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Bahrain registered 459 new cases, adding to a total of nearly 100,000 since the start of the pandemic, with 370 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Chile's health regulator approved the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use among its population by a unanimous vote of its advisory board.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Cyprus announced a staggered easing of lockdown measures following a fall in the number of COVID-19 infections, including the reopening of primary schools and shopping malls on Feb. 8.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, French drugmaker Sanofi said it will help bottle and package 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by its rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, while its own vaccine candidate faces delays.
(AP, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Indian drugmaker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories said it had terminated its clinical study of Fujifilm Holdings' COVID-19 treatment Avigan in patients with moderate to severe symptoms in Kuwait. Data showed that the difference in time taken by Avigan and placebo to resolve a sustained absence of oxygen in the tissues was not significant enough to continue the trial.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, It was reported that the COVAXIN vaccine, developed by India's Bharat Biotech and a government research institute, is likely to be effective against the UK strain of the coronavirus.
(AP, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Morocco received half a million doses of China’s Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine as it prepares to be the first African country to roll out a national immunization campaign.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Dutch police said that the fourth night of the Netherlands' coronavirus curfew passed more peacefully than the previous three nights marred by rioting. Even so, officers arrested 131 people, mainly for public order offenses and incitement.
(AP, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, South Africa said it has given fast-track approval to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use and is reviewing applications by rival manufacturers Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Switzerland said it will require negative coronavirus tests from people entering the country from high-risk areas as of February 8. The government extended unemployment benefits by three months and said the federal government would finance around 6 billion francs in extra spending to compensate workers on shortened working hours.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 27, Tanzania's President John Magufuli said that no lockdown was planned because God would protect people from COVID-19 while homespun precautions such as steam inhalation were better than vaccines. WHO data showed that Tanzania has officially reported a total number of 509 COVID-19 infections and 21 deaths, but the figures have not been updated for more than six months.
(Reuters, 1/27/21)
2021 Jan 28, California to date had 3,233,942 cases of coronavirus and 38,991 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 368,285 cases and 4,068 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,736,789 with the death toll at 432,603.
(sfist.com, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Novavax, a little-known company supported by the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed, said that its coronavirus vaccine was almost 90 percent effective. But it’s only about 50 percent effective against the variant that was first found in South Africa.
(AP, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, The European Union's drugs regulator approved the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine after the pharma giant published its contract with the EU, amid a row over whether it broke its vaccine commitments.
(The Telegraph, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Germany's vaccine committee recommended that AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should only be given to people aged between 18 and 64.
(Reuters, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, India's health minister declared its COVID-19 epidemic contained as, with most of the country's active patients concentrated in two states, a fifth of districts completed a week with no new cases.
(Reuters, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Mexico’s death toll became the world’s third highest. Cases have surged in the country since December, and its hospitals are struggling.
(NY Times, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Russia dispatched 240,000 doses of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, with most heading to Argentina and the rest bound for Bolivia.
(Reuters, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 28, Vietnam reported 82 new coronavirus cases, hours after confirming the first two infections in nearly two months. Vietnam has so far reported 1,553 cases.
(AP, 1/28/21)
2021 Jan 29, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a sweeping order late today requiring the use of face masks on nearly all forms of public transportation as of Feb. 2 as the country continues to report thousands of daily COVID-19 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, US Scientists, who normally focus on fixing defective genes, said that up to $2.1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help them move their COVID-19 vaccine candidate toward 2021 human trials. Harvard Univ. scientist Luk Vandenberghe and Univ. of Pennsylvania gene therapy head James Wilson said primate safety and efficacy tests have proven promising for their single-dose candidate, targeted for room-temperature storage.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, California to date had 3,273,718 cases of coronavirus and 40,231 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 370,521 cases and 4,166 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 25,932,791 with the death toll at 436,799.
(sfist.com, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Johnson & Johnson said that its single-dose vaccine was 66% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a large global trial against multiple variants, giving health officials another weapon to tackle the pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Mainland China reported 52 new coronavirus cases, unchanged from a day earlier.
(AP, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, The European Union introduced tighter rules on exports of COVID-19 vaccines that could hit shipments to nations like the United Kingdom, deepening a dispute with London over scarce supplies of potentially lifesaving shots.
(AP, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Hungary’s medicine and food safety regulator approved China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the first country in the EU to do so.
(AP, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Spain's death toll from COVID-19 rose by 513 to 58,319, in one of the highest one-day increases since the first wave of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Sri Lanka began inoculating front-line health workers, military troops and police officers against COVID-19 amid warnings about infections among medical workers.
(AP, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Vietnam's health minister said a new COVID-19 outbreak was "basically under control" in the most exposed areas affected by the latest infections.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 29, Zimbabwe's VP Constantino Chiwenga said it was likely that more transmissible variants of COVID-19 were now circulating in Zimbabwe and the government was investigating. More than half of Zimbabwe's 32,646 confirmed COVID-19 cases and two-thirds of its 1,160 deaths were recorded this month.
(Reuters, 1/29/21)
2021 Jan 30, California to date had 3,283,850 cases of coronavirus and 40,603 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 372,007 cases and 4,198 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,052,135 with the death toll at 439,347.
(sfist.com, 1/30/21)
2021 Jan 30, Algeria launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign in Blida, where the country's first COVID-19 case was confirmed in March.
(AP, 1/30/21)
2021 Jan 30, Cuba's government announced that most travelers entering Cuba as of Feb. 6 will be quarantined for up to a week, and that flights from the US and some other countries would be reduced to no more than one per week per airline. COVID-19 cases have surged in the country since airports began reopening in November.
(Reuters, 1/30/21)
2021 Jan 31, Denmark extended restrictions that closed schools and stores, except for grocery stores and pharmacies, and banned public gatherings of more than five people until the end of February to help slow the spread of the coronavirus..
{Denmark, COVID-19}
(SSFC, 1/31/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 31, France closed all large shopping centers and closed its borders to people arriving from outside the EU to try to stop the spread of new variants of the coronavirus.
{France, COVID-19}
(SFC, 2/1/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 31, Israel said it has agreed to transfer 5,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the Palestinians to immunize front-line health workers.
{Iraq, COVID-19}
(SFC, 2/1/21, p.A6)
2021 Jan 30, Vietnam's health ministry approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for domestic inoculation, the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the country. Vietnam has kept its tally to a low 1,739 infections and 35 deaths.
(Reuters, 1/30/21)
2021 Jan 31, California to date had 3,297,726 cases of coronavirus and 40,869 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 373,706 cases and 4,239 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,185,357 with the death toll at 441,319.
(sfist.com, 1/31/21)
2021 Jan 31, It was reported that Russia has begun supplying its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to the rebel-controlled region of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine despite a ban by Kyiv.
(Reuters, 1/31/21)
2021 Jan 31, Saudi Arabia's health minister said that complacency around coronavirus restrictions had led to a notable increase in daily cases. The kingdom has recorded more than 367,800 cases and 6,370 deaths so far, the highest tally in the region.
(AP, 1/31/21)
2021 Feb 1, California to date had 3,323,013 cases of coronavirus and 41,336 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 376,297 cases and 4,244 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,317,525 with the death toll at 443,361.
(sfist.com, 2/1/21)
2021 Feb 2, California to date had 3,323,013 cases of coronavirus and 41,342 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 378,021 cases and 4,296 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,432,150 with the death toll at 446,807.
(sfist.com, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, A British study said the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may be less able to protect against infection with a South African variant of the virus that has a worrying mutation.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, It was reported that the UK variant, E484K, of the coronavirus has developed a new, concerning mutation in a small number of cases, which scientists said makes it similar to the South African and Brazilian variants and could reduce the efficacy of vaccines.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Britain's Captain Tom Moore, the World War Two veteran who lifted a nation's spirits by raising millions of pounds for health service workers battling the coronavirus, died aged 100 after he contracted COVID-19.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Canada's PM Justin Trudeau said the Novavax Inc vaccine, still awaiting approval from Canadian regulators, would be produced in a new government facility in Montreal that is due to be finished later this year. Canada has a deal to buy 52 million doses of the Novavax vaccine.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Mexico's Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said the Latin American nation had signed a contract for Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and would likely issue an emergency use authorization for it within hours.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, The Netherlands said new coronavirus infections fell 20% over the last week but more transmissible variants now account for two-thirds of Dutch infections.
(AP, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, The Palestinian Authority administered its first known coronavirus vaccinations after receiving thousands of doses from Israel, which launched its own vaccination campaign in December and has already inoculated more than a third of its population.
(AP, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, In Portugal daily infections and deaths from COVID-19 retreated further from last week's records and fewer patients were in intensive care, easing pressure on overstretched hospitals. Deaths rose by 260 to 13,017.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Russian scientists said the country's Sputnik V vaccine appears safe and effective against COVID-19, according to early results of an advanced study published today in a British medical journal. Researchers said that based on a fall trial involving about 20,000 people in Russia, the vaccine is about 91% effective and appears to prevent inoculated individuals from becoming severely ill with COVID-19.
(AP, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, It was reported that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has eased some restrictions imposed due to coronavirus, including lifting an unpopular ban on alcohol sales.
(AP, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 2, Sweden said it has seen an increased spread of the British COVID-19 variant, with 11% of randomly screened positive tests last week showing the mutation, thought to be a more contagious form of the virus.
(Reuters, 2/2/21)
2021 Feb 3, It was reported that the US government has awarded a $231 million contract to scale up production of a COVID-19 test from Australian manufacturer Ellume that allows users to swab themselves at home and check their status in about 20 minutes.
(SFC, 2/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 3, California to date had 3,336,176 cases of coronavirus and 41,903 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 378,536 cases and 4,355 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,545,905 with the death toll at 450,273.
(sfist.com, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, It was reported that Chinese police have arrested more than 80 suspected members of a criminal group that was manufacturing and selling fake COVID-19 vaccines.
(SFC, 2/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 3, In Croatia thousands of small business owners rallied against government lockdown measures. Croatia has registered more than 230,000 confirmed cases and 5,088 deaths.
(AP, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, The Czech Republic health authorities said the country has reached 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases. The country has registered 16,683 deaths.
(AP, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, Denmark's government said it is joining forces with business to develop a digital passport that would show whether people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, allowing them to travel and help ease restrictions on public life.
(SFC, 2/4/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 3, It was reported that about one in four of India's 1.35 billion people may have been infected with the coronavirus, said a source with direct knowledge of a government serological survey, suggesting the country's real caseload was many times higher than reported.
(Reuters, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, Israel said it will expand COVID-19 vaccinations to include anyone over the age of 16, after turnout for shots ebbed.
(Reuters, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, Qatar announced new coronavirus restrictions on daily life, though not as severe as other Arab countries.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 3, The Kremlin said Russia would supply the rebel-controlled regions of eastern Ukraine with its Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 despite Kyiv's ban on using the Russian shots.
(Reuters, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, Switzerland said it has withheld approval for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, demanding more efficacy and quality data before greenlighting a shot that won European Union approval last week. The country separately announced it had ordered millions more COVID-19 vaccine doses from other manufacturers.
(Reuters, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 3, COVAX, a UN-backed program to deploy COVID-19 vaccines to the neediest people worldwide, especially in poor countries, announced plans for an initial distribution of 100 million doses by the end of March and 200 million more by July.
(AP, 2/3/21)
2021 Feb 4, California to date had 3,355,649 cases of coronavirus and 42,764 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 380,957 cases and 4,355 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,671,333 with the death toll at 455,555.
(sfist.com, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Johnson & Johnson asked US regulators to clear the world’s first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, an easier-to-use option that could boost scarce supplies.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Burundi became at least the second African country to say it doesn’t need COVID-19 vaccines. Health minister Thaddee Ndikumana told reporters that prevention is more important. Burundi now has well over 1,600 confirmed coronavirus cases.
(AP, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 4, In India a government serological survey released today said more than a quarter of Indian children aged between 10 and 17 may have already contracted COVID-19, higher than the 21.5% of the overall population found to have been infected.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Iran received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines, 500,000 doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East. Iran has ordered 5 million doses from Russia
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu said vaccination of Israelis over the age of 60 has reduced the rate of that age group getting COVID-19 by almost half and the number of serious cases in that cohort by more than a quarter in the last two weeks.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Italy reported 421 coronavirus-related deaths against 476 the day before, taking the official toll since the epidemic emerged a year ago to 90,241.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, It was reported that the number of people infected by the novel coronavirus in Tokyo may have increased nine-fold since last summer, antibody tests showed, as Japan tries to rein in the country's third and most lethal wave of the pandemic ahead of the Olympics in July.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, It was reported that Malawi is facing a resurgence of COVID-19. The country has more than 23,000 confirmed cases and 702 deaths.
(SFC, 2/4/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 4, Malaysia's government said it expects to complete its COVID-19 immunization program by February next year, covering 80% of its population of about 32 million people.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Malaysia's Solution Group Bhd said it has signed a term sheet agreement with the government to supply 3.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by China's CanSino Biologics Inc and Beijing Institute of Biotechnology under the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Portugal's chief health officer sought to reassure people angry about vaccine delays and queue-jumping that they will get vaccinated, while the number of daily new coronavirus cases and deaths edged down.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Saudi Arabia closed down all shopping malls, gyms and other locations for 10 days, as well as indoor dining. Authorities warned the new measures could be extended. Gulf Arab states launched new restrictions over fears of the coronavirus resurging across their countries.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Sweden registered 89 new COVID-19 related deaths, taking its total to 12,028. The Health Agency said it had registered 3,758 new cases over the last 24 hours.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Taiwan said it will get a share of 1.3 million COVID-19 vaccine shots produced by AstraZeneca Plc from the COVAX global vaccine program.
(Reuters, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 4, Thailand said it will import the first doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine from Asia after Europe enforced export controls.
(AP, 2/4/21)
2021 Feb 5, California to date had 3,362,768 cases of coronavirus and 43,118 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 382,609 cases and 4,522 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,796,013 with the death toll at 459,030.
(sfist.com, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, It was reported that federal executions in the last months of the Trump administration likely served as a COVID superspreader. Employees at the Indiana prison complex where the 13 executions were carried out over six months had contact with inmates and other people infected with the coronavirus.
(AP, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 5, Supermarket chain Kroger Co said it would give $100 to workers who get a COVID-19 vaccination, joining a growing list of US retailers incentivizing employees to get inoculated against the novel coronavirus as soon as possible.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, Britain said it had agreed on a deal with German biotech firm CureVac to work to develop vaccines against coronavirus variants, placing an initial order for 50 million doses in case they are needed.
(AP, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, Oxford university said AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine has similar efficacy against the British coronavirus variant as it does to the previously circulating variants.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, China gave broader approval for the domestic-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, expanding those who can receive it beyond the high-risk and priority groups already allowed under an emergency clearance. Sinovac Biotech said late-stage trial data of its COVID-19 vaccine from Brazil and Turkey showed it prevented hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients, but had a much lower efficacy rate in blocking infections.
(AP, 2/6/21)(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, Mainland China reported 12 new COVID-19 cases, down from 20 cases a day earlier and the lowest daily increase since Dec. 17.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 5, Madrid health authorities confirmed the first case of the Brazilian variant of COVID-19 in the region, three days after Spain restricted air travel with Brazil and South Africa to curb the spread of virulent new strains.
(Reuters, 2/5/21)
2021 Feb 6, The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said state coronavirus guidelines will be revised for indoor worship services after the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled a full ban was unconstitutional.
(AP, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 6, California to date had 3,379,596 cases of coronavirus and 43,683 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 384,257 cases and 4,548 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 26,908,962 with the death toll at 461,910.
(sfist.com, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, It was reported that corpses in Bolivia have begun to pile up as a fierce second wave of the coronavirus has overwhelmed funeral homes and cemeteries. Bolivia has reported 225,910 infections and 10,687 deaths from COVID-19 since the outbreak began.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, Brazilian health regulator Anvisa said Pfizer Inc has applied for full regulatory approval in Brazil of its COVID-19 vaccine developed with BioNTech Se.
(AP, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, Sinovac Biotech said that its unit's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for use by the general public by China's medical products regulator. A vaccine developed by a Beijing institute affiliated with state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved in December.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, France reported a fall in new COVID-19 infections and in the number of patients being treated in hospital, slightly easing pressure on the health system as the country rolled out shots with a third approved vaccine.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, India's government urged states and union territories to accelerate COVID-19 vaccinations after a review found "substantial" room for speeding up the program.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 6, South Korea eased curfews on more than half a million restaurants and other businesses outside the capital Seoul, letting them stay open an hour later, amid a public backlash over tight curbs to contain COVID-19.
(Reuters, 2/6/21)
2021 Feb 7, US Representative Ron Wright (67) died after testing positive for COVID-19 last month, making him the first member of the US Congress to die from the pandemic disease that has claimed nearly 464,000 American lives. The Texas Republican had also been battling cancer.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 7, California to date had 3,395,017 cases of coronavirus and 44,153 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 385,713 cases and 4,565 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,006,413 with the death toll at 463,470.
(sfist.com, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, A new study reported that the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus first found in Britain is spreading rapidly in the US, doubling roughly every 10 days.
(SFC, 2/8/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 7, Bangladesh launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive with the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine, aiming to inoculate 3.5 million people in the first month.
(Reuters, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, Britain's vaccine deployment minister said a COVID-19 booster in the autumn and then annual vaccinations are very probable. A lead researcher for the Oxford team said developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified jab to cope with the South Africa coronavirus variant by autumn.
(Reuters, 2/7/21)(AP, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, It was reported that the French Labor Ministry says it will allow employees to eat lunch at their desks in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, a practice previously forbidden under Article R.4428-19 of the 3,324-page French labor code, or Code du Travail.
(NY Times, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, India sent 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Afghanistan, the first to arrive in the war-ravaged country, which is still waiting for emergency approval from the World Health Organization to administer them.
(Reuters, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 7, South Africa halted its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a study showed "disappointing" results against its new Covid variant. Scientists say the variant accounts for 90% of new Covid cases in South Africa.
(NY Times, 2/7/21)
2021 Feb 8, It was reported that Cal-OSHA regulators have fined the California prison system $421,880 for health violations, many of them related to the coronavirus, at San Quentin State Prison. The prison has reported 28 coronavirus deaths among prisoners and one death of a staff member.
(SFC, 2/8/21, p.B1)
2021 Feb 8, California to date had 3,400,070 cases of coronavirus and 44,232 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 387,919 cases and 4,575 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,083,278 with the death toll at 464,831.
(sfist.com, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Argentina said it has detected the first cases of two Brazilian variants of the coronavirus in travelers from the neighboring nation.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Austria issued a warning against travel to its Tyrol province amid concerns over cases of a coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa, even as the country eased its third lockdown by reopening schools, shops, hairdressing salons, museums and zoos.
(AP, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, The British government said migrants living in Britain will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines regardless of whether they have the legal right to live and work in the country, adding that getting the shot would not trigger immigration checks.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, The Czech Health Ministry said it will recommend the use of COVID-19 therapies that contain casirivimab/imdevimab and bamlavinimab antibodies ahead of standard approval.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that he continued to support the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, arguing it provided sufficient protection against "nearly all the variants" of the virus.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Indonesia started vaccinating its elderly medical workers against the coronavirus for the first time.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Iran unveiled its second homegrown coronavirus vaccine project, the day before the launch of a vaccination campaign to combat the Middle East's deadliest Covid-19 outbreak.
(AFP, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Laos received 300,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Pakistan's health minister said CanSino Biologics Inc's (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine showed 65.7% efficacy in preventing symptomatic cases and a 90.98% success rate in stopping severe disease in an interim analysis of global trials.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Portugal's health ministry said the AstraZeneca vaccine should preferably be used on under-65s, the latest European country to express reservations about its efficacy on older people.
(Reuters, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 8, Russia issued updated statistics on coronavirus-linked deaths showing that 162,429 people died last year with COVID-19.
(SFC, 2/9/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 8, South Africa said it will roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine in a "stepped manner" to assess its efficacy in preventing severe illness.
(AP, 2/8/21)
2021 Feb 9, The FDA approved a Covid-19 therapy by the drug maker Eli Lilly, giving doctors another option for patients who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill.
(NY Times, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, California to date had 3,422,171 cases of coronavirus and 45,007 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 389,334 cases and 4,646 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,190,160 with the death toll at 468,106.
(sfist.com, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that people will have to produce a negative coronavirus test to leave the country's Tyrol province as authorities try to prevent the spread of a coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, PM Justin Trudeau said Canada will ramp up its fight against COVID-19 by obliging citizens returning home from the US by land to show a negative COVID-19 test.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Ethiopia said it has secured nine million doses of COVID-19 vaccines up until April and hopes to inoculate at least a fifth of its 110 million people by the end of the year.
(Reuters, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Ghana’s parliament was suspended for at least three weeks following a surge in COVID-19 cases among parliament members and staff. Ghana’s Health Services confirmed that there have been 73,003 cases, including 482 deaths since the outbreak began last year.
(AP, 2/10/21)
2021 Feb 9, It was reported that the Indian army is training dogs to find COVID-19 in its ranks by sniffing human sweat and urine.
(Reuters, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Iran launched a coronavirus inoculation campaign among healthcare professionals with recently delivered Russian Sputnik V vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East with its death toll nearing 59,000.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Pakistan said it has approved Russia's Sputnik-V making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for emergency use after China's Sinopharm and the ones developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
(Reuters, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, Health experts said Portugal’s COVID-19 infection rate has dropped sharply after a lockdown aimed at addressing a devastating January pandemic surge, but it is still recording the most daily deaths in the world by size of population.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 9, A World Health Organization expert said the coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and most probably jumped to humans via an intermediary species.
(AP, 2/9/21)
2021 Feb 10, California to date had 3,425,087 cases of coronavirus and 45,178 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 390,331 cases and 4,697 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,280,775 with the death toll at 471,195.
(sfist.com, 2/10/21)
2021 Feb 10, Authorities reported that the share of people infected with the more contagious coronavirus variant first identified in Britain is on the rise in Denmark.
(Reuters, 2/10/21)
2021 Feb 10, Equatorial Guinea received 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by China's Sinopharm, the latest in a series of donations to countries on the continent struggling to procure shots.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, California to date had 3,430,592 cases of coronavirus and 45,496 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 391,718 cases and 4,747 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,383,639 with the death toll at 475,040.
(sfist.com, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, Pfizer filed a registration application for the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in Ukraine. Authorities there have said the country expects to receive its first batch of 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February within the framework of the COVAX program.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, Trial results showed that Roche's arthritis drug tocilizumab cuts the risk of death among patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, also shortening the time to recovery and reducing the need for mechanical ventilation.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, Bolivia said it had inked an agreement with China´s Sinopharm locking in an initial supply of half a million doses of the company´s vaccine against coronavirus by the end of February. The country has reported 232,500 cases of the virus and 11,000 deaths to date.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, The EU and the World Health Organization said they would spend 40 million euros ($48.48 million) over three years to ensure better access to COVID-19 vaccines in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, It was reported that sewage samples from a new nationwide COVID-19 monitoring system show that in some French cities traces of coronavirus are spiking above levels seen during the second wave of the epidemic in the autumn.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, Japan reported its worst one-day death toll for the pandemic. 21 people died from COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours.
(SFC, 2/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 11, It was reported that Pakistan is to allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has agreed to exempt such imports from price caps, even as the nation scrambles to secure supplies.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 11, A scandal in Peru erupted after ousted former President Martin Vizcarra said he too had received an early vaccination of China's Sinopharm vaccine. Two top government officials soon resigned upon acknowledging they had also taken the Chinese shot months ago, well before they were widely available in the country.
(Reuters, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 11, Portugal's parliament voted to extend a state of emergency due to the pandemic through March 1.
(SFC, 2/12/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 11, Thailand announced plans to inoculate 1 million of its most vulnerable people against COVID-19 by May and start mass vaccinations in June, with the aim of administering 10 doses a month.
(Reuters, 2/11/21)
2021 Feb 12, California to date had 3,441,028 cases of coronavirus and 46,020 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 393,007 cases and 4,841 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,477,820 with the death toll at 480,446.
(sfist.com, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, New York state Gov. and his top aides faced new allegations that they covered up the scope of the coronavirus death toll in the state's nursing homes. Deaths in nursing homes and long-term care facilities have ballooned to about 15,000 confirmed and presumed deaths from 12,743 in late January.
(SFC, 2/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 12, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa approved a request by biomedical institute Fiocruz to import more doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford from the Serum Institute of India.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Britain registered 15,144 new coronavirus cases to surpass 4.0 million. Another 768 deaths raised the official death toll to 116,287. Britain’s scientific advisers said they are confident the coronavirus outbreak is shrinking across the country for the first time in more than six months.
(AP, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, China reported 8 new coronavirus cases in the mainland, compared to 12 cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, France’s highest health authority recommended that people who have had COVID-19 receive only one dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus. France's pace of infection with the coronavirus again slowed, with 20,701 new confirmed COVID-19 cases compared to 21,063 a day earlier.
(AP, 2/12/21)(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Iranian media reported. that 10 southwestern communities have been declared as high-risk COVID-19 "red" zones as a consignment of 100,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine arrived.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Italy's health ministry said the highly contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus first found in Britain accounts for some 17.8% of all new infections in Italy, with the infection rate ticking up in many parts of the country.
(AP, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, The government of North Macedonia said plans to receive 8,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines from neighbor Serbia this week had been held up for “technical reasons" with additional documentation needed for the transfer.
(AP, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Pakistan approved China's CanSino Biologics Inc's (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
(Reuters, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Poland said it is raising the maximum age limit for people receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to 65. The country had previously said that the vaccine would be used for people aged 18-60.
(AP, 2/12/21)
2021 Feb 12, Spain's death toll from the coronavirus rose by 530 to 64,747, while the tally of cases climbed by 14,581 to 3.06 million. The government said more than 1 million people had already received two shots.
(AP, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 13, California to date had 3,458,774 cases of coronavirus and 46,871 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 394,231 cases and 4,914 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,574,207 with the death toll at 484,200.
(sfist.com, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 13, It was reported that China refused to give raw data on early COVID-19 cases to a World Health Organization-led team probing the origins of the pandemic, potentially complicating efforts to understand how the outbreak began.
(Reuters, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 13, French drugmaker Sanofi said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Sanofi and US group Translate Bio "will not be ready this year".
(Reuters, 2/13/21)
2021 Feb 14, California to date had 3,460,774 cases of coronavirus and 46,994 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 394,615 cases and 4,916 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,625,859 with the death toll at 485,029.
(sfist.com, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Montana's new Gov. Greg Gianforte lifted the state's mask mandate, citing the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines as he reversed his predecessor's order.
(SFC, 2/15/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 14, The UK government said that it reached its goal of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to the most vulnerable people in the country, increasing pressure on ministers to clarify when they will ease a lockdown imposed in early January.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Cyprus and Israel announced a tourism agreement to allow citizens who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus to travel between the countries without the need to quarantine. Israel reached a similar deal with Greece last week.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, The Czech government re-declared its state of emergency for next two weeks to be able to effectively tackle the coronavirus pandemic in one of the hardest hit European countries.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Le Journal Du Dimanche reported that the French Health Ministry has asked regional health agencies and hospitals to go into "crisis organization" from Feb. 18 to prepare for a possible surge in coronavirus cases due to highly contagious variants.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Japan's Health Ministry said it has officially approved Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, the first such approval in the country as it steps up efforts to tame a third wave of infections in the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Lebanon administered its first jabs of COVID-19 vaccine, a day after receiving the first batch of the vaccine, 28,500 Pfizer-BioNTech doses from Brussels.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, Mexico received a shipment of 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from India, as the country prepares to prioritize older adults in the next phase of its vaccination campaign.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, New Zealand's city of Auckland entered a 3-day lockdown after reporting three new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, the country's first since late January, when a returned traveler tested positive after leaving quarantine.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)(SFC, 2/15/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 14, Serbia donated a first batch of 8,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to North Macedonia, which is yet to deliver its first jabs.
(AP, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 14, The Thai government defended its decision not to join the WHO-sponsored coronavirus vaccine program, saying that to do so would risk the country paying more for the shots and facing uncertainty about delivery times. Thailand reported 166 new coronavirus cases, taking its total of infections to 24,571, with a death toll of 80.
(Reuters, 2/14/21)
2021 Feb 15, US Navy officials said three sailors have tested positive for coronavirus aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 15, California to date had 3,463,286 cases of coronavirus and 47,054 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 395,878 cases and 4,926 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,682,645 with the death toll at 486,111.
(sfist.com, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) conceded that his administration failed to provide full disclosure of coronavirus-related deaths at the state's nursing homes.
(The Week, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 15, Albania received a shipment of 7,020 Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines late today and the Balkan country expects a batch of 360,000 AstraZeneca vaccines in April.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 15, Australia received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccine as more than 142,000 doses arrived at Sydney airport.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, Germany closed its borders with the Czech Republic and the Austrian region of Tyrol in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus mutations.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, It was reported that coronavirus infections in India began to plummet in September, and now the country is reporting about 11,000 new cases a day, compared to a peak of nearly 100,000, leaving experts perplexed.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 15, The Israel-based Dan David Foundation named Dr. Anthony Fauci (80) as the winner of one of three prizes for “defending science" and advocating for vaccines now being administered worldwide to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, South Africa reopened at least 20 border posts with neighboring countries after closing them last month to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
(AP, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, South Africa's drugs regulator SAHPRA said it has approved an implementation study of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way to start the country's first inoculations among health workers.
(Reuters, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 15, A plane carrying Zimbabwe's first coronavirus vaccines, 200,000 doses donated by China, arrived in the capital Harare.
(Reuters, 2/15/21)
2021 Feb 16, California to date had 3,480,319 cases of coronavirus and 47,509 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 397,180 cases and 4,953 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,726,970 with the death toll at 487,109.
(sfist.com, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, The British government said health authorities in England have identified 38 cases of a new coronavirus variant which has a key mutation that is thought to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. The variant, known as B.1.525, has the E484K spike protein mutation, which is also present in the South African variant.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Denmark said it registered the more contagious coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, first detected in Britain, in close to half of all positive tests in the second week of February.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, A Hong Kong government advisory panel on COVID-19 vaccines said it would recommend China's Sinovac vaccine for emergency use, a move that brings it a step closer to being formally greenlighted in the Asian financial hub.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, The first 550,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Budapest, as Hungary prepares to become the first EU country to roll out the Chinese vaccine. Hungary has reported 389,622 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 13,837 deaths.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Iraq recorded a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections with 3,332 confirmed in the past 24 hours, after the country confirmed infections of one of the newer variants of the novel coronavirus.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, A Hong Kong government advisory panel on COVID-19 vaccines said it would recommend China's Sinovac vaccine for emergency use, a move that brings it a step closer to being formally greenlighted in the Asian financial hub.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, The first 550,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Budapest, as Hungary prepares to become the first EU country to roll out the Chinese vaccine. Hungary has reported 389,622 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with 13,837 deaths.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Italy reported 336 coronavirus-related deaths against 258 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 10,386 from 7,351 the day before.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Russia extended a ban on flights to and from Britain until the end of March 16 due to a new variant of the coronavirus first detected in the UK.
(Reuters, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, It was reported that Slovakia has become the nation with most COVID-19 deaths by size of population in the world amid a surge of cases from a highly contagious coronavirus variant.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, South Korea’s intelligence service said that North Korea has attempted to hack Pfizer and steal COVID-19 vaccine technology.
(AP, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 16, Zimbabwe said the coronavirus variant first discovered in neighboring South Africa now makes up more than 60% of cases within its borders.
(BBC, 2/16/21)
2021 Feb 17, California to date had 3,480,997 cases of coronavirus and 47,647 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 398,030 cases and 4,990 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,820,237 with the death toll at 490,160.
(sfist.com, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, GlaxoSmithKline and San Francisco-based Vir Biotechnology Inc said they will expand an existing partnership developing antibody therapies for COVID-19 to other diseases.
(Reuters, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines showed reduced effectiveness against the new, more infectious strain first detected in South Africa.
(NY Times, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, Cuba said it has developed a Covid-19 vaccine and will soon begin mass production.
(NY Times, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, Estonia’s foreign intelligence agency said that Russia is counting on the COVID-19 pandemic to weaken unity in the West which would help Moscow gain a more prominent role in international affairs and lead to “declining Western influence on the global stage".
(AP, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, An Israeli healthcare provider said that Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine was 95% effective in a trial of 602,000 people, reinforcing the drugmaker's efficacy findings.
(Reuters, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, Japan launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign.
(SFC, 2/18/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 17, The Palestinian Authority sent the first shipment of vaccines to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. 2,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine were sent.
(SFC, 2/18/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 17, Senegal received 200,000 doses of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Sinopharm. Senegal has recorded more than 31,000 cases, including 760 deaths, and contaminations have increased in the past few months.
(AP, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, Slovakia said it will ask other EU member countries for medical staff to help with the surge in COVID-19 cases. Coronavirus infections were on the rise in Slovakia with nearly 2,000 new cases reported on average each day.
(AP, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 17, South Africa started Covid-19 vaccinations following the suspension of an earlier plan to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. South Africa is using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which is administered as a single dose.
(AP, 2/17/21)
2021 Feb 18, The White House announced that the US is committing $2 billion for the global COVAX vaccine initiative within days (using funds already allocated by Congress), plus an additional $2 billion over the next two years.
(Axios, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, California to date had 3,485,284 cases of coronavirus and 47,934 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 398,739 cases and 5,029 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,881,728 with the death toll at 492,646.
(sfist.com, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Nevada health officials confirmed the first known case of in the state of a coronavirus variant that was first identfied in South Africa. The variant has now been found in 10 states.
(SFC, 2/19/21, p.A6)
2021 Feb 18, A top Pfizer Inc scientist said the company is in intensive discussions with regulators to test a booster shot version of its coronavirus vaccine specifically targeted for a highly contagious variant that is spreading widely in South Africa and elsewhere.
(Reuters, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Africa's total reported death toll from COVID-19 approached 100,000, a fraction of those reported on other continents but rising fast as a second wave of infections overwhelms hospitals.
(Reuters, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, It was reported that health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after side-effects led hospital staff and other front-line workers to call in sick, putting extra strain on already-stretched services.
(Reuters, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Italy reported 347 coronavirus-related deaths against 369 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,762 from 12,074 the day before. Italy has registered 94,887 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Mohammed Dahlan, a rival to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, announced that the UAE is sending 20,000 doses of the Russian coronavirus vaccine to the Gaza Strip.
(AP, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 18, Zimbabwe started giving COVID-19 vaccinations, with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga volunteering for the first jab at a hospital in the capital, Harare.
(AP, 2/18/21)
2021 Feb 19, California to date had coronavirus 48,616 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 399,581 cases and 5,135 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 27,971,377 with the death toll at 495,470.
(sfist.com, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Johnson & Johnson said it had submitted data to the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use listing of its COVID-19 vaccine, which would allow for wider access of the one-dose shot.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Pfizer and BioNTech submitted new temperature data to the US health regulator which could allow their vaccine to be stored in pharmacy freezers rather than in ultra-cold storage facilities.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Lyft Inc and CVS Health Corp said they would team up in the United States to provide access to COVID-19 vaccinations among under-served communities by arranging rides and scheduling appointments.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Brazil's health ministry said it intends to buy 30 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine to be produced locally by the Butantan public health institute and delivered between October and December. The ministry said it has already ordered 100 million of the vaccine together with Butantan to be delivered by September.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, A peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet medical journal showed that AstraZeneca and Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine is more effective when its second dose is given three months after the first, instead of six weeks.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, The Czech government dropped plans to open all retail shops from next week due to a surge in coronavirus cases as hospitals struggle with a continued influx of patients and a dwindling number of available beds.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, It was reported that the European Union has agreed to pay about 870 million euros ($1.06 billion) for its supply of 300 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and to receive them by June. The contract was signed on Aug. 27, 2020. AstraZeneca revised down the timetable last month because of production issues, leading to a bitter fight with the EU over delayed supplies.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Germany said it will contribute an additional 1.5 billion euros to support global COVID-19 vaccination efforts and other programs to fight the pandemic, increasing its overall pledge to 2.1 billion euros.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Greece extended lockdown restrictions to more areas of the country to stem the spread of COVID-19 infections but lifted it in others where infections receded.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, The death toll in Peru continued to mount as a relentless second wave of the coronavirus left many hospitals short of oxygen for critical patients even as daily infections continued to climb.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Polish health minister Adam Niedzielski said the first case of a variant first found in South Africa had been discovered in Poland, and that some 10% of all cases now involve the variant that emerged in England.
(AP, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Portugal said it will refocus its COVID-19 inoculation campaign towards vulnerable groups and away from some key state workers such as police and firefighters owing to scarce vaccine supplies.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Two of the South African government's top advisers on COVID-19 backed Pfizer's vaccine, despite a study earlier this week showing that the dominant local coronavirus variant may reduce protective antibodies it triggers.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 19, Turkey said it aims to procure 105 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of April. Ankara would also receive some 800,000 doses of the shots developed by Pfizer and BioNTech this month.
(Reuters, 2/19/21)
2021 Feb 20, California to date had 3,500,505 cases of coronavirus and 48,833 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 400,626 cases and 5,161 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,017,934 with the death toll at 496,144.
(sfist.com, 2/20/21)
2021 Feb 20, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice ordered the loosening of pandemic restrictions on businesses after a decline in coronavirus deaths and cases.
(SSFC, 2/21/21, p.A14)
2021 Feb 20, PM Mikhail Mishustin said Russia has approved a third coronavirus vaccine for domestic use, though large-scale clinical trials of the shot, labelled CoviVac and produced by the Chumakov Center, have yet to begin.
(Reuters, 2/20/21)
2021 Feb 20, Taiwan's government granted emergency use authorisation for AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine, with shots expected to be administered as soon as within seven days of arrival.
(Reuters, 2/20/21)
2021 Feb 21, It was reported that cases of a coronavirus-linked inflammatory syndrome in kids have risen. In the US 2,060 children have been diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) and 30 have died.
(SSFC, 2/21/21, p.H4)
2021 Feb 21, California to date had 3,505,880 cases of coronavirus and 49,117 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 401,280 cases and 5,187 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,085,723 with the death toll at 497,957.
(sfist.com, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, It was reported that a lockdown and stay-at-home order is being extended in Toronto, Canada, until at least March 8.
(SSFC, 2/21/21, p.A14)
2021 Feb 21, It was reported that Denmark has closed some border crossing points with Germany and stepped up checks at others due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and a rise in virus variants in the northern German town of Flensburg.
(SSFC, 2/21/21, p.A14)
2021 Feb 21, Israel lifted many of its coronavirus restrictions and started reopening its economy as the country's vaccination drive and third nationwide lockdown have started to bring down infections.
(AP, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, It was reported that Israel paid Russia $1.2 million to provide the Syrian government with coronavirus vaccines as part of a deal that secured the release of an Israeli woman held captive in Damascus. Israel announced on Feb. 19 it had reached a Russian-mediated deal to bring home a young woman who had crossed into Syria earlier this month.
(AP, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported that Fujifilm Holdings Corp will restart a clinical trial in Japan of its antiviral drug Avigan for the treatment of COVID-19. A health ministry panel said in December that trial data was inconclusive.
(Reuters, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, Malaysia moved up its COVID-19 inoculation drive by two days as the first batch of vaccines arrived today in the Southeast Asian nation.
(Reuters, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, 20,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V, donated by the United Arab Emirates and organized by Abbas rival Mohammed Dahlan, entered the Gaza through its border with Egypt.
(AP, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 21, Tanzania's President John Magufuli encouraged people to wear masks to avoid infection as the World Health Organization urged Tanzania to start reporting coronavirus cases and share its data.
(BBC, 2/21/21)
2021 Feb 22, San Francisco scientists reported that a California-bred variant of the coronavirus is now dominant in many parts of the state, and that it is more infectious than other versions of the virus.
(SFC, 2/23/21, p.A1)
2021 Feb 22, California to date had 3,512,298 cases of coronavirus and 49,477 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 401,706 cases and 5,192 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,174,133 with the death toll at 500,071.
(sfist.com, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, Drug developer Novavax Inc said it has completed enrolling 30,000 volunteers in a late-stage study of its COVID-19 vaccine in the United States and Mexico.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi said they had started a new clinical trial of their protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, reviving their efforts against the pandemic after a setback in December delayed the shot's launch.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, Estonian tech company Respiray launched a wearable air purifier it says can kill more than 99% of viruses and bacteria in the air inhaled by the wearer using ultraviolet light. The device consists of a plastic box, worn around the neck, with an optional clear face screen extending upwards and allowing the face to remain fully visible. It is powered by a battery, with a charge lasting around 8 hours.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, French authorities said the Riviera between Menton and Theoule-sur-Mer will locked down over the next two weekends in an attempt to fight a sharp spike in coronavirus infections, The French Riviera has the country's highest infection rate.
(SFC, 2/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 22, India confirmed over 14,000 cases of the coronavirus with nearly 7,000 coming from Maharashtra state over the last 24 hours. Lockdowns were reimposed in some parts of the state along with other virus restrictions.
(SFC, 2/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Feb 22, Italy reported 274 coronavirus-related deaths against 232 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 9,630 from 13,452 the day before.
(Reuters, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 22, The Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip began its coronavirus vaccination drive following the arrival of the first vaccines to the blockaded coastal area.
(AP, 2/22/21)
2021 Feb 23, California to date had 3,515,320 cases of coronavirus and 49,538 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 402,697 cases and 5,220 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,257,466 with the death toll at 502,517.
(sfist.com, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, An EU official said AstraZeneca expects to deliver less than half the COVID-19 vaccines it was contracted to supply the European Union in the second quarter.
(Reuters, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, Italy reported 356 coronavirus-related deaths against 274 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,314 from 9,630 the day before.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, The World Bank threatened to suspend financing for coronavirus vaccines in Lebanon over what it said were violations by members of parliament who were inoculated without registering in advance. Lebanon has so far received nearly 60,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, The Netherlands's public health institute announced that confirmed coronavirus infections in the country rose by nearly 19% over the past week as more people got tested following a week of icy conditions.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, A Covid-19 antibodies survey in Nigeria suggested that four million people in Lagos state alone have had the virus, more than has been officially recorded for the whole of Africa. The official figure for Nigeria is 153,000 cases with 1,862 deaths.
(BBC, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, San Marino received its first 7,500 Sputnik V vaccine doses. The city-state, surrounded by Italy, with a population of some 33,800 has confirmed 3,538 COVID-19 cases and 73 deaths.
(SFC, 2/24/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 23, Senegal launched its COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Dakar, where the Health Minister received the first jab of the Sinopharm vaccine.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 23, Ukraine received its first shipment of coronavirus vaccine, a consignment of 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, raising hopes that authorities can start beating back the virus' spread in a country where cases have strained the fragile health care system.
(AP, 2/23/21)
2021 Feb 24, California to date had 3,522,869 cases of coronavirus and 49,941 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 403,521 cases and 5,246 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,330,141 with the death toll at 505,796.
(sfist.com, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, A new analyses released by Johnson & Johnson and the Food and Drug Administration said the coronavirus vaccine made by J&J provides strong protection against severe disease and death from Covid-19, and may reduce the spread of the virus by vaccinated people.
(NY Times, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, Ghana became the first country to receive coronavirus vaccines through the Covax vaccine-sharing initiative as a delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Accra.
(BBC, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, It was reported that Israel is to donate nearly 100,000 surplus doses of Covid-19 vaccine to nearly 20 countries, apparently as a reward for diplomatic support in its ongoing bid to have Jerusalem recognized as its capital by the international community.
(AP, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, Portugal said it will send 5% of its COVID-19 vaccine shots to a group of Portuguese-speaking African countries and to the tiny nation of East Timor in the second half of the year. Portugal's former African colonies include Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe.
(Reuters, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, South Africa said it plans to spend $712 million to vaccinate some 67% of its 60 million people to control the country's COVID-19 battle and get the economy to rebound from its decline of 7.2% last year.
(AP, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, Yemen's supreme national emergency committee for the internationally recognized government reported 34 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily number since July. Yemen's government has reported 2,187 coronavirus infections, including 620 deaths. Houthi authorities, who control most large urban centers, have not provided figures since May when they said there were four cases and one death.
(Reuters, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 24, Zimbabwe said it will buy an additional 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China at a preferential price, after Beijing agreed to give more free doses to the southern African country.
(Reuters, 2/24/21)
2021 Feb 25, California to date had 3,547,591 cases of coronavirus and 50,992 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 404,415 cases and 5,296 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,409,391 with the death toll at 508,084.
(sfist.com, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Bahrain said it has approved Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the first country to do so.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll surpassed 250,000. It is the world’s second-highest for the same reason the second wave has yet to fade: Prevention was never made a priority.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, It was reported that China has approved two more COVID-19 vaccines for wider use, adding to its growing arsenal of shots. A vaccine from CanSino Biologics and one from state-owned Sinopharm were already being used among select groups of people under an emergency use authorization.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Czech PM Andrej Babis said the Czech Republic will get 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from France by mid-March.
(Reuters, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Italy’s northern Lombardy region, where Europe's coronavirus outbreak erupted last year, asked the national government for more vaccines to help stem a surge of new cases that are taxing the health system in the province of Brescia.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, South Africa said it aims to vaccinate around 1.1 million people against COVID-19 by the end of March as it ramps up its immunization program.
(Reuters, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 25, Syria's health minister said his government procured coronavirus vaccines from a friendly country which he declined to name, adding that frontline health workers would be the first to be inoculated starting next week.
(AP, 2/25/21)
2021 Feb 26, The United States praised Tanzania for finally acknowledging the resurgence of COVID-19 after claiming for months it had defeated the pandemic through prayer. But the US urged the country to share infection data and accept vaccines.
(AP, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Experts advising the US FDA endorsed Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 26, California to date had 3,535,175 cases of coronavirus and 51,473 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 405,380 cases and 5,336 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,481,239 with the death toll at 510,134.
(sfist.com, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Oregon's Gov, kate Brown extended the state's declaration of emergency until May 2 as confirmed COVID-19 cases dropped but hundreds of new cases continued to be reported daily.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 26, An Argentine laboratory has struck a deal to help produce Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, according to a company statement shared by the country's government, helping boost the local firm's share price.
(Reuters, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Belgium put on hold an expected relaxation of coronavirus restrictions after hospital admissions of people infected with COVID-19 spiked.
(Reuters, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Canadian regulators authorized AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine for people 18 and over.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 26, Hong Kong began administering its first COVID-19 vaccines to the public, kicking off its program offering free vaccinations to all 7.5 million residents.
(AP, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Moldova's medical agency said it had approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, despite President Maia Sandu saying it could not be registered until the World Health Organization had done so.
(Reuters, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, South Korea administered its first available shots of coronavirus vaccines to people at long-term care facilities, launching a mass immunization campaign that health authorities hope will restore some level of normalcy by the end of the year.
(AP, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 26, Spain said it will give a single vaccine dose to under 55-year-olds who have already been infected with COVID-19 in the latest update of its national inoculation strategy.
(Reuters, 2/26/21)
2021 Feb 27, The US Food and Drug Administration authorized Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine for emergency use, making a third vaccine available in the US.
(NY Times, 2/27/21)
2021 Feb 27, California to date had 3,542,567 cases of coronavirus and 51,909 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 406,331 cases and 5,362 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,544,890 with the death toll at 511,776.
(sfist.com, 2/27/21)
2021 Feb 27, New Zealand's PM Jacinda Ardern announced that Auckland is returning to lockdown for seven days after a new unexplained coronavirus infection emerged.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A12)
2021 Feb 27, Palestinian PM Mohammad Shtayyeh announced a 12-day lockdown in the Israeli-occupied West Bank following a surge in coronavirus cases.
(SFC, 2/27/21, p.A12)
2021 Feb 27, Romania shipped its first donation of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to neighboring Moldova to allow Moldova to start vaccinating frontline medical workers next week.
(Reuters, 2/27/21)
2021 Feb 27, Russian researchers said a trial testing the effectiveness of revaccination with the Sputnik V shot to protect against new mutations of the coronavirus is producing strong results.
(Reuters, 2/27/21)
2021 Feb 28, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, said he would take the newly approved Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, as he encouraged Americans to accept any of the three approved shots.
(Reuters, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb 28, California to date had 3,544,034 cases of coronavirus and 51,983 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 406,983 cases and 5,365 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,597,609 with the death toll at 513,065.
(sfist.com, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb 28, Germany announced that travelers from France’s northeastern Moselle region will face additional restrictions because of the high rate of variant coronavirus cases there.
(AP, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb 28, A Hong Kong man (63) died two days after receiving China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine shot. It was uncertain if there was a direct ink between his death and the shot for coronavirus.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Feb 28, Iran reported 93 new coronavirus deaths and more than 8,000 new infections. The country has now surpassed 60,000 coronavirus-related deaths.
(SFC, 3/1/21, p.A5)
2021 Feb 28, Italy reported 192 coronavirus-related deaths, while the daily tally of new infections declined to 17,455. Italy has registered 97,699 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Feb 28, Israel announced plans to vaccinate tens of thousands of Palestinians who work inside Israel and its West Bank settlements, at a time of vast disparities in access to vaccines between the Israeli and Palestinian populations.
(AP, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb 28, The Philippines received its initial batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac in a shipment donated by China, a day before its inoculation drive is due to begin. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, who turns 77 next month, told a news briefing that, though he wants to be vaccinated, his doctor wants a different Chinese brand of vaccine for him.
(Reuters, 2/28/21)
2021 Feb, The coronavirus extinguished a centuries-old tribe in Brazil's Amazon region. The last member of the Juma people died from Covid this month.
(NY Times, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 1, California to date had 3,546,837 cases of coronavirus and 52,212 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 407,627 cases and 5,371 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,657,233 with the death toll at 514,302.
(sfist.com, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Tyson Foods Inc, the largest US meat processor, said it would offer COVID-19 vaccinations to thousands of its frontline workers at its Iowa meat processing plants this week.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, US drug distributor McKesson Corp said it had begun distribution of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that Austria would work with Israel and Denmark on second generation coronavirus vaccines and “no longer rely on the EU in the future".
(The Telegraph, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 1, In Canada Montreal's cavernous Olympic Stadium, which once hosted young athletes during the 1976 summer games, began welcoming residents aged 85 and over for vaccinations.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, China said it plans to inoculate 40% of its population by June. China has been slow to vaccinate its people relative to other countries.
(AP, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Colombia became the first country in the Americas to receive a shipment of coronavirus vaccines from the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative.
(AP, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Police and military forces in the Czech Republic set up 500 checkpoints across the country as one of the European Union's hardest-hit nations marked the first anniversary of its coronavirus outbreak by significantly limiting free movement.
(AP, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, The Finnish government declared a state of emergency due to rising COVID-19 infections, a step that would allow the Nordic country to shutter restaurants and to impose other measures to blunt the pandemic.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is looking to buy 36 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines, three times the number it has already bought, in case booster shots are needed later in the year.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Israel's Supreme Court banned the government from sweeping use of mobile phone tracking of coronavirus carriers, calling the measure a grave infraction of civil liberties.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Ivory Coast, one of the first to benefit from the UN-backed Covax distribution initiative, began vaccine injections.
(BBC, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Jamaica, which won praise for containing its coronavirus outbreak last year, now has patients overflowing into corridors on chairs and stretchers in some hospitals, prompting the Caribbean nation to open three emergency field hospitals. Deaths have risen 1.4 times since the end of the year and now stand at 422.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, The Philippines kicked off its vaccination program, with health workers the first to be inoculated. The country has reported 576,352 COVID-19 cases overall, including some with the more infectious British coronavirus variant. It has recorded 12,318 deaths.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, It was reported that Ukrainian medical facilities have thrown away some unused COVID-19 vaccines after doctors failed to show up for their own appointments to be vaccinated.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of new coronavirus infections globally rose last week for the first time in seven weeks.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 1, Zimbabwe eased a coronavirus lockdown and overnight curfew imposed in January by allowing businesses to fully re-open after the rate of new infections slowed in the last two weeks.
(Reuters, 3/1/21)
2021 Mar 2, A White House official said Merck & Co Inc will help make rival Johnson & Johnson's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Scientists said a highly transmissible COVID-19 variant that emerged in Brazil and has now been found in at least 20 countries can re-infect people who previously recovered from the disease. Scientists estimated that the P.1 variant was 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than the initial form of the virus.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, President Biden said the US would have enough vaccine doses by the end of May to cover every American adult, two months earlier than he previously estimated.
(NY Times, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, California to date had 3,551,757 cases of coronavirus and 52,490 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 408,195 cases and 5,396 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,717,134 with the death toll at 516,456.
(sfist.com, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 2, The COVAX vaccine-sharing program said it will deliver 237 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot to 142 countries by the end of May as it steps up the global roll-out of its vaccine supplies.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Bosnia received 10,000 vaccines from neighboring Serbia amid a dispute with the international COVAX mechanism over a delay in planned shipments.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Iraq launched its coronavirus inoculation program just hours after 50,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, gifted by China, arrived.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Malaysia granted conditional approval for the use of vaccines made by UK firm AstraZeneca and China's Sinovac, just days after launching its nationwide COVID-19 inoculation program.
(Reuters, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Nearly 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the third and largest delivery so far to an African country by the global COVAX initiative.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 2, Serbian health experts urged the government to introduce a state of emergency and a strict lockdown to halt a surge in coronavirus infections that they say threaten the Balkan nation's health care system. New infections reached over 4,000. Serbia has recorded nearly 4,500 virus-related deaths.
(AP, 3/2/21)
2021 Mar 3, President Biden harshly criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves for lifting coronavirus restrictions.
(The Week, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 3, California to date had 3,559,682 cases of coronavirus and 52,846 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 408,642 cases and 5,414 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,780,950 with the death toll at 516,064.
(sfist.com, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, It was reported that scientists now believe that SARS-CoV-2 will not only remain with us as an endemic virus, continuing to circulate in communities, but will likely cause a significant burden of illness and death for years to come.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, Vir Biotechnology and Britain's GSK said they would pause enrollment into a study testing their experimental COVID-19 antibody therapy, which is a part of a large US trial.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, Austrian officials said that they plan to offer vaccinations to most residents in a district that has seen significant numbers of infections with the South African coronavirus variant.
(AP, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, It was reported that China's vaccine diplomacy has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to more than 45 countries. Four of China's vaccine makers claimed they are able to produce at least 2.6 billion doses this year.
(SFC, 3/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 3, Interpol said police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of doses of counterfeit Covid-19 vaccine and made dozens of arrests. The discovery in South Africa was reported by the country's Sunday Times newspaper at the end of December.
(AP, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 3, Greece extended a lockdown and tightened restrictions in Athens and other affected regions to stem a surge in new COVID-19 infections. Authorities reported 2,702 daily infections, up from 2,353 the previous day.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
(CBS News, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 3, The Indian drug company Bharat Biotech said that initial results from clinical trials showed its coronavirus vaccine to be safe and effective.
(NY Times, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 3, Poland's north-eastern lake district, region of 1.4 million, saw 1,132 new daily coronavirus cases.Last week, Poland's government increased restrictions on the region, closing shopping centres, hotels, cinemas and museums and sending children in the first three years of primary school back to remote learning after having lifted restrictions only two weeks earlier.
(AP, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, The president of the Seychelles said he hopes enough residents will soon be vaccinated to stop the spread of the coronavirus by herd immunity. By the end of February about 44% of its 100,000 inhabitants had gotten a 2nd shot. Seychelles has had 2,592 confirmed cases including 11 deaths.
(SFC, 3/4/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 3, It was reported that research by South African scientists suggests that antibodies triggered by exposure to the country's dominant coronavirus variant, 501Y.V2, can prevent infection by other variants.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 3, Turkey recorded 11,520 new COVID-19 cases, amid an easing of coronavirus restrictions across the country. Sixty-five people died because of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the overall death toll to 28,771.
(Reuters, 3/3/21)
2021 Mar 4, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey extended her state's mask order for another month.
(SFC, 3/5/21, p.A7)
2021 Mar 4, California to date had 3,560,426 cases of coronavirus and 53,082 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 409,056 cases and 5,480 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,820,172 with the death toll at 520,080.
(sfist.com, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said he has turned down 6,200 doses of the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, favoring shots from Pfizer and Moderna for now. His comments conflicted with guidance from top state and federal health officials.
(AP, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 4, It was reported that a shipment of a quarter million AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia has been blocked from leaving the EU in the first use of an export control system instituted by the bloc to make sure big pharma companies would respect their contracts.
(AP, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Austria, Denmark and Israel said they would set up a joint research and development fund and possibly production facilities for COVID-19 vaccines to ensure they had long-term supplies for booster shots or to contend with virus mutations.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, It was reported that Cuba has begun late stage trials of its most advanced experimental COVID-19 vaccine, edging closer to a potential home-grown inoculation that could help the Caribbean island nation contain infections and ease its economic crisis.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Germany made the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine available to over-65s, in a reversal of its previous policy.
(The Telegraph, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, President Joko Widodo said Indonesia plans to inject one million people per day with the coronavirus vaccine and 40 million people by June as part of a mass vaccination drive targeting 181.5 million people.
(AP, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Iraq said it has signed an agreement with Russia to import 1 million doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Malta ordered restaurants and all other catering establishments to close again, in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases. The island saw a record 362 new COVID-19 cases, with authorities blaming the so-called UK variant of the virus for the surge.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, The Philippines received its first delivery of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots, secured through the vaccine-sharing COVAX facility.
(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 4, Slovak PM Igor Matovic said Slovakia will get 15,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from France as a donation. Slovakia has reported the world's highest number of COVID-related deaths per capita over the past week. The country of 5.5 million has reported 7,560 coronavirus deaths.
(AP, 3/4/21)(Reuters, 3/4/21)
2021 Mar 5, California to date had 3,567,188 cases of coronavirus and 53,670 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 410,043 cases and 5,500 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,886,283 with the death toll at 522,610.
(sfist.com, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Abbott Laboratories said the US health regulator has granted emergency use authorization for its molecular test to detect and distinguish the coronavirus and two types of flu viruses with a single test.
(AP, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, It was reported that preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1, or Brazilian, variant.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Britain said it would require people travelling abroad from March 8 to carry a new form setting out why their trip was permitted under strict lockdown restrictions.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Canada's drug regulator said it has approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, the fourth such shot to be given the green light, amid frustration over the slow pace of inoculations.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, The Czech Republic said it has asked Germany, Switzerland and Poland to take in dozens of COVID-19 patients as the situation in its own hospitals has reached a critical point.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Japan's PM Yoshihide Suga announced an extension of the state of emergency in the Tokyo region for another two weeks because medical systems there are still strained by COVID-19 patients.
(SFC, 3/6/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 5, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda started inoculating frontline healthcare workers and vulnerable citizens against COVID-19 as Africa, the world's poorest continent and home to 1.3 billion people, stepped up its vaccination campaigns.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Italy reported 297 coronavirus-related deaths against 339 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 24,036 from 22,865 the day before.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 5, Poland's Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said a variant of COVID-19 first identified in Britain now accounts for 25% of the reported cases in Poland.
(Reuters, 3/5/21)
2021 Mar 6, California to date had 3,571,430 cases of coronavirus and 53,971 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 410,430 cases and 5,519 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,938,762 with the death toll at 524,066.
(sfist.com, 3/6/21)
2021 Mar 6, US drugmaker Merck & Co Inc said the experimental antiviral drug molnupiravir it is developing with Ridgeback Bio showed a quicker reduction in infectious virus in its phase 2a study among participants with early COVID-19.
(Reuters, 3/6/21)
2021 Mar 6, India's federal government asked local authorities to prioritize COVID-19 vaccinations in several districts of eight states including New Delhi that have seen a spike in coronavirus cases in recent weeks.
(Reuters, 3/6/21)
2021 Mar 6, Dance music lovers in Amsterdam were offered a short relief from COVID-19 lockdown, treated to their first live show in over a year while serving as guinea pigs in a research project. All guests needed to test negative for coronavirus 48 hours in advance and were urged to take another test five days after the event.
(Reuters, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 6, President Muhammadu Buhari had his first COVID-19 vaccine shot, part of a bid to boost public confidence as Nigeria attempts to inoculate 80 million people this year.
(Reuters, 3/6/21)
2021 Mar 7, California to date had 3,574,949 cases of coronavirus and 54,131 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 411,036 cases and 5,523 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 28,956,440 with the death toll at 524,463.
(sfist.com, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 7, It was reported that COVID-19 insurance policies are increasingly joining passports and sunscreen as vacation staples, creating opportunities for insurers as more countries require mandatory coverage in case visitors fall ill from the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 7, Austrian authorities said they have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots.
(Reuters, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 7, Israel reopened most of its economy as part of its final phase of lifting coronavirus lockdown restrictions, some of them in place since September. Nearly 40% of its population has been immunized in just over two months.
(AP, 3/7/21)
2021 Mar 8, California to date had 3,578,646 cases of coronavirus and 54,314 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 411,753 cases and 5,533 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,041,230 with the death toll at 525,728.
(sfist.com, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that Pfizer Inc will deliver an additional 5 million COVID-19 vaccination doses, which would increase the number of shots expected from the drugmaker by the end of June to 14 million.
(Reuters, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, The government of East Timor said it will put its capital city on a lockdown for the first time, amid fears it could be facing its first local coronavirus outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, Israel started vaccinating Palestinians who work inside the country and its West Bank settlements, more than two months after launching an immunization blitz of its own population.
(AP, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, In Italy a surge in the UK coronavirus variant has filled 90% of hospital beds in Brescia province, bordering both Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions, as Italy crossed the grim threshold of 100,000 pandemic dead.
(AP, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 8, Italy recommended the use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for those aged over 65, overcoming previous doubts that the drug might not be very effective on the elderly.
(Reuters, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 8, It was reported that Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad (55) and his wife (45) have tested positive for the coronavirus, with both having only mild symptoms of the illness. Syria has recorded nearly 16,000 virus cases in government-held parts of the country, including 1,063 deaths.
(AP, 3/8/21)
2021 Mar 9, Alaska became the first US state to make COVID-19 vaccines available to anyone age 16 or older, eliminating eligibility requirements for people who work or live in the state.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 9, Arizona reported 563 coronavirus cases. No deaths were reported for the 2nd straight day. Total COVID-19 related deaths stood at 16,326.
(SFC, 3/10/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 9, California to date had 3,581,587 cases of coronavirus and 54,376 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 412,196 cases and 5,552 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,092,305 with the death toll at 527,612.
(sfist.com, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Bosnia reported a record number of daily deaths from COVID-19 with the capital Sarajevo going into lockdown next weekend for the first time since last May to combat a spike in coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Hungary said COVID-19 admissions are putting its hospital system under increasing strain and infections are expected to rise further in coming days as the variant first identified in Britain spreads.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, A peer-reviewed study showed that a COVID-19 vaccine developed by India's Bharat Biotech is safe and has shown high levels of antibody response in a mid-stage trial, but follow-on studies are needed to evaluate the shot for children and older people.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, The Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce announced that Russia has signed a deal to produce its Sputnik V vaccine in Italy.
(SFC, 3/10/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 9, Mexico said it aims to acquire an additional 22 million doses of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines during the coming months.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Sudan launched a coronavirus vaccination roll-out, giving priority to medical workers. The first phase of the roll-out will be expanded from March 15 to May 15 to include people aged 45 or older with chronic conditions.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Switzerland reported a total of 1,378 new infections, well below the 10,000-plus record from Nov. 2. Another 13 deaths were reported. Switzerland expects to vaccinate all of its 8.6 million residents who want a COVID-19 shot by summer.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 9, Ukraine said it has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac. Ukraine started COVID-19 vaccinations in late February but only 19,118 first shots had been given by March 9. Ukraine has reported more than 1.4 million coronavirus cases with 27,204 deaths.
(Reuters, 3/9/21)
2021 Mar 10, Pres. Joe Biden directed his administration to order another 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.
(SFC, 3/11/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 10, California to date had 3,585,766 cases of coronavirus and 54,621 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 412,576 cases and 5,581 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,149,380 with the death toll at 529,067.
(sfist.com, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, Bridgestone tire company said it will offer its 33,000 US employees $100 payments to get vaccinated against COVID-19, joining a group of large companies offering incentives for the shots.
(AP, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, Preliminary data from a study in Brazil indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd is effective against the P1 variant of the virus first discovered in Brazil.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned that new COVID-19 cases infections are still rising in Latin America, particularly in Brazil where a resurgence has caused record daily deaths.
(AP, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, Italy reported 332 coronavirus-related deaths against 376 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 22,409 from 19,749 the day before.
(Reuters, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 10, It was reported that John Magufuli, Tanzania's COVID-19-denying president, has not been seen since Feb. 27. Kenya’s leading newspaper, The Nation, reported that an African leader had been admitted to a hospital in Nairobi.
(AP, 3/10/21)
2021 Mar 11, Pres. Joe Biden directed states to make all adult Americans eligible to receive a Covid vaccine by May 1. He announced several new actions to speed up vaccinations, including the use of dentists, veterinarians, medical students and others to give the shots.
(AP, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 11, Arizona reported 60 additional deaths from COVID-19 and 1,835 new cases after three straight days of fewer than 1,000 cases. Total state cases stood at 830,465 with 16,464 deaths.
(SFC, 3/12/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 11, California to date had 3,589,208 cases of coronavirus and 54,887 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 412,768 cases and 5,600 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,240,643 with the death toll at 529,377.
(sfist.com, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, The UK's medicine regulator said that Britons should keep on getting their COVID-19 vaccines, including the shot developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, after Denmark and some other countries restricted their use of it.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, Public Health England (PHE) said a new coronavirus variant had been identified in the UK in two people who had recently been in Antigua, adding that it shared some traits of others but would not be categorized as concerning for now.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, Cambodia confirmed its first death from COVID-19. The country has confirmed only 1,163 coronavirus cases. A new local outbreak has infected several hundred people.
(SFC, 3/12/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 11, Europe approved Johnson & Johnson's single dose COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for the first shots to be delivered in a month as the bloc seeks to speed up a stuttering inoculation campaign and boost its supplies.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, It was reported that Italian health authorities have ordered the withdrawal of a batch of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine following the deaths of two men in Sicily who had recently been inoculated.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, Italy reported 373 coronavirus-related deaths against 332 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 25,673 from 22,409 the day before.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 11, Palestinians received 40,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, a donation by the UAE that could boost a long-time rival of President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of an election. Mohammad Dahlan took credit for securing the shipment to Gaza from the UAE, where he lives in exile.
(Reuters, 3/11/21)
2021 Mar 12, California to date had 3,592,727 cases of coronavirus and 55,155 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 413,727 cases and 5,636 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,340,202 with the death toll at 532,326.
(sfist.com, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa said it has given final approval for AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine developed with Oxford University, which will be manufactured domestically by the Fiocruz biomedical institute. The government said it has reached a deal to purchase 10 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)(SFC, 3/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 12, Bulgaria temporarily halted COVID-19 inoculations using the AstraZeneca vaccine after a woman died hours after receiving a shot, and said it wanted the European Medicine Agency (EMA) to dispel all doubts about the vaccine's safety.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, Colombia confirmed its first death from the P1, or Brazilian, variant of coronavirus. The victim who died in January was older and had various comorbidities.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 12, India registered its worst single-day increase in coronavirus cases since last December. India has so far reported more than 11.3 million cases.
(SFC, 3/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 12, Italy reported 380 coronavirus-related deaths against 373 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 26,824 from 25,673 the day before.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, In Malaysia emergency ordinance took effect that makes it an offence to publish or reproduce any "wholly or partly false" content related to the pandemic or the emergency declaration, prescribing hefty fines and jail terms of up to six years. Critics warned it could be used to silence dissent and curtail free speech.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, Thailand joined a handful of European countries in suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, following scattered reports of blood clots in people who had received it.
(Reuters, 3/12/21)
2021 Mar 12, The WHO granted an emergency use listing for the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson.
(SFC, 3/13/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 13, California to date had 3,596,881 cases of coronavirus and 55,453 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 414,100 cases and 5,634 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,357,116 with the death toll at 532,671.
(sfist.com, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 13, In France the number of new coronavirus cases neared 30,000 while the number of people to receive their first vaccine injection topped 5 million.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Georgia received its first batch of coronavirus vaccines. First shots will be given to medical workers as it becomes the last European country to start a COVID-19 vaccination program.
(SSFC, 3/14/21, p.A13)
2021 Mar 13, In Hong Kong some law firms and banks faced compulsory testing for coronavirus as most of the 47 news cases recorded today were linked to a gym used by the financial and expatriate community.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Hungary reported a record-breaking 9,444 new coronavirus cases. The country's COVID-19 related deaths reached 16, 790 since the start of the pandemic.
(SSFC, 3/14/21, p.A13)
2021 Mar 13, Jordan’s health minister stepped down after at least seven patients in a hospital COVID-19 ward died due to a shortage of oxygen supplies. PM Bisher al-Khasawneh ordered an investigation into the deaths.
(AP, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Mexico's foreign ministry said a shipment has been received of a million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Norwegian health authorities said three health workers in Norway who recently received the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 are being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets.
(Reuters, 3/13/21)
2021 Mar 13, Pakistan's Punjab province announced the closure of 15 famous shrines amid a third wave of the coronavirus.
(SSFC, 3/14/21, p.A13)
2021 Mar 14, California to date had 3,598,593 cases of coronavirus and 55,637 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 414,512 cases and 5,641 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,407,413 with the death toll at 534,395.
(sfist.com, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 14, Ireland temporarily suspended AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine "out of an abundance of caution," citing reports from the Norwegian Medicines Agency regarding a cluster of serious blood clotting in some recipients there.
(Reuters, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 14, Italy's northern region of Piedmont said it would temporarily suspend AstraZeneca coronavirus shots after a teacher from the town of Biella died following his vaccination a day earlier.
(Reuters, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 14, Dutch police used a water cannon and officers on horseback across a park in The Hague to break up a protest against the government and its tough coronavirus lockdown.
(SFC, 3/15/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 14, The Philippines' Department of Health reported 4,899 new coronavirus cases, a day after recording the largest single-day increase in more than six months with 5,000 additional infections. The government said it is on track with its COVID-19 inoculation drive.
(Reuters, 3/14/21)
2021 Mar 15, California to date had 3,600,364 cases of coronavirus and 55,815 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 414,922 cases and 5,656 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,492,614 with the death toll at 535,597.
(sfist.com, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook is adding informational labels to posts about vaccines as it expands efforts to counter COVID-19-related misinformation flourishing on its platforms.
(AP, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Moderna Inc said it had dosed the first patients in an early-stage study of a new COVID-19 vaccine candidate for evaluation as a next-generation shot. The new candidate, mRNA-1283, could potentially be stored in refrigerators instead of freezers.
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, It was reported that 25% of Chile's population has received at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine.
(SFC, 3/15/21, p.A6)
2021 Mar 15, China said it will simplify visa applications for foreign nationals who have been inoculated with Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines, its latest small step towards normalizing international travel.
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, China reported a new COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The vaccine, jointly developed by Anhui Jifei longcom Biopharmaceutical Co. and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the fifth coronavirus vaccine developed and approved in China and the 4th to be given emergency use approval.
(SFC, 3/17/21, p.A3)
2021 Mar 15, Germany, France, Italy and Spain said they would stop administering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after several countries reported possible serious side-effects.
(AP, 3/15/21)(SFC, 3/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 15, Germany's IDT Biologica said it would make Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine using capacity previously reserved by Japan's Takeda, helping to ease concerns about the US drugmaker's ability to meet its production goals.
(AP, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Hong Kong authorities said that the city's vaccine scheme would be widened to include those aged between 30-60 years old and domestic helpers, as they aim to increase take up amongst residents in the Asian financial hub.
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, In Hungary demonstrators in Budapest broke a ban on public gatherings to demand an end to the country's lockdown restrictions, even as a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations sweeps the country.
(AP, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Indonesia said it will delay the administering of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine due to reports of blood clots among some recipients in Europe and would await a review from the World Health Organization (WHO).
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Most of Italy entered a new lockdown today. Cases have risen over the past three weeks, driven by the spread of the variant first found in Britain and a slow vaccination campaign.
(NY Times, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 15, Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund said Russia has vaccinated 3.5 million people with both shots of its Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, which puts it ahead of all countries in Europe in terms of the absolute number of people fully vaccinated.
(Reuters, 3/15/21)
2021 Mar 16, California to date had 3,603,528 cases of coronavirus and 55,942 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 415,395 cases and 5,658 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,545,555 with the death toll at 536,826.
(sfist.com, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Public health experts in several states warned that coronavirus cases were rising in several new hot spots after weeks of declining coronavirus infections, deaths, and hospitalizations. Numbers have risen in Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, and New Jersey. New coronavirus cases have stopped falling in New York City and neighboring counties despite ramped up vaccination efforts.
(The Week, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 16, Moderna announced it has started conducting a study of its COVID-19 vaccine in children between the ages of 6 months and 11 years.
(The Week, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 16, An expert at the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases said coronavirus infections are again rising exponentially in Germany.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, India reported 24,492 new cases, the sixth straight day of more than 20,000 infections, as curbs to try to stop the spread were expanded in parts of the country that have recorded a surge.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Iranian health authorities announced that the country's third homegrown vaccine has reached the phase of clinical trials.
(AP, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Latvia and Sweden suspended the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine pending the outcome of an investigation by the EU's medicines regulator into isolated cases of bleeding, blood clots and low platelet counts.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, It was reported that Morocco is further ahead with its COVID-19 vaccination program than any other African country, but undocumented migrants are not a part of its plans, potentially undermining efforts to come to grips with the disease.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Dutch health authorities said the number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands increased by 24% over the last week, the biggest weekly jump since mid-December.
(Reuters, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 16, Somalia launched COVID-19 vaccinations with the inoculation of the health minister, who received the jab publicly to reassure the nation about its safety.
(AP, 3/16/21)
2021 Mar 17, The US government said it is investing $12.25 billion on ramping up COVID-19 testing in the country to help schools reopen safely and promote testing equity among high-risk and underserved populations. The funds will be taken from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that was signed into law last week.
(Reuters, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 17, California to date had 3,605,719 cases of coronavirus and 56,097 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 415,829 cases and 5,701 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,602,809 with the death toll at 537,945.
(sfist.com, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 17, Australia said it will send COVID-19 vaccines from its own supply to Papua New Guinea and will ask AstraZeneca to send 8,000 doses to contain a concerning wave of infections.
(SFC, 3/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 17, Researchers in a large study from Denmark reported that the vast majority of people who recover from Covid-19 remain shielded from the virus for at least six months.
(NY Times, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 17, Indian health officials said about 6.5% of coronavirus vaccine doses in India are going to waste, urging states to manage their immunization drives better to optimize use of what one called "this elixir-like precious commodity".
(Reuters, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 17, Syria has registered 16,656 cases of coronavirus, including 1,110 deaths in government-held areas. The numbers are believed to be much higher because of limited testing being done. President Bashar Assad’s office said the first couple are on their way to recovery nine days after testing positive for the coronavirus.
(AP, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 17, A World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine safety panel said that it considers that the benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue.
(Reuters, 3/17/21)
2021 Mar 18, The Biden administration said it is in the process of finalizing efforts to distribute 2.5 million doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada as a "loan".
(SFC, 3/19/21, p.A6)
2021 Mar 18, California to date had 3,610,073 cases of coronavirus and 56,479 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 416,325 cases and 5,732 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,663,132 with the death toll at 539,320.
(sfist.com, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky said Johnson & Johnson is developing several next generation COVID-19 vaccines against the emerging variants of the coronavirus.
(Reuters, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, Britain's medicines regulator said there had been five cases of a rare type of blood clot in the brain among 11 million given AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine but said that it found the benefits of the shot far outweighed any possible risks.
(Reuters, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, Denmark's Medicines Agency said it had registered ten reports of blood clots in people who received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, including one that led to death.
(Reuters, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, In central Mexico gunmen from a drug gang ambushed a police convoy killing 8 state police officers and 5 prosecution investigators southwest of Mexico City.
(SFC, 3/20/21, p.A3)
2021 Mar 18, The Russian Direct Investment Fund, which is responsible for exports of the COVID-19 vaccine, said Mexican authorities have seized a batch of fake doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
(Reuters, 3/18/21)
2021 Mar 18, Syria's health ministry said intensive care units in public hospitals in Damascus have reached full capacity due to a sharp rise of coronavirus infections, leading doctors to transfer patients to hospitals in other provinces.
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 18, Ukraine registered 15,053 new coronavirus cases surpassing 1.5 million in total. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital will go into a lockdown on March 20 until April 9 because of the surge in cases.
(SFC, 3/19/21, p.A6)
2021 Mar 19, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice.
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, California to date had 3,613,880 cases of coronavirus and 56,734 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 416,787 cases and 5,749 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,723,741 with the death toll at 540,950.
(sfist.com, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, The Idaho Legislature voted to shut down for several weeks due to an outbreak of COVID-19.
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, Denmark, Sweden and Norway said they needed more time to decide whether to use AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine while Finland joined them in putting the shots on hold, even though the EU drug watchdog said the benefits outweighed any risks.
(Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, Several French regions, including the Paris area, went under new coronavirus restrictions for at least a month to stop a rise in COVID-19 infections.
(SFC, 3/20/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 19, Georgia's health ministry said that coronavirus vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot would continue only in full-fledged medical centers following the death of a nurse (27).
(AP, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, Indonesian authorities approved the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine after reviewing reports that it had caused blood clots among some recipients in Europe. Indonesia’s highest Muslim clerical council, the Indonesia Ulema Council, said on its website that the AstraZeneca vaccine is "haram" because the manufacturing process uses "trypsin from the pork pancreas." On March 21 AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine contains no pork-derived ingredients.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 19, Premier Mario Draghi said Italy aimed to administer 500,000 shots a day by next month, from a current daily level of about 165,000. Italy has recorded more than 104,000 confirmed deaths, the sixth-highest tally in the world.
(AP, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 19, Nepal emergency authorisation to India's COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN, becoming only the third country to approve the shot, developed by Bharat Biotech and a state research institute.
(Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, In the Netherlands coronavirus cases jumped by around 7,400 in the past 24 hours, marking the biggest increase since early January.
(Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 19, The Philippines reported its highest daily jump in coronavirus cases at more than 7,100. Total infections passed 648,000 with 12,900 confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 3/20/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 19, Switzerland's government postponed plans to relax its COVID-19 restrictions, citing increasing coronavirus cases and insufficient progress on vaccinations.
(Reuters, 3/19/21)
2021 Mar 20, California to date had 3,615,597 cases of coronavirus and 56,833 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 417,426 cases and 5,753 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,742,662 with the death toll at 541,259.
(sfist.com, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Denmark said that one person had died and another fell seriously ill with blood clots and cerebral hemorrhage after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Egypt received a second shipment of 300,000 coronavirus vaccine doses donated by China, as the Arab country tries to speed up its vaccination campaign. Egypt had previously received 350,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine as well as a shipment of 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Egypt has reported more than 194,127 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 11,512 deaths, but the actual number is thought to be far higher.
(AP, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, France and Poland became the latest European countries to enter some form of pandemic lockdown amid a rise in coronavirus infections that officials worry could turn into a third wave.
(The Week, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, In Germany some 20,000 people clashed with police in Kassel over coronavirus measures. Marchers gathered despite a court ordered ban.
(SSFC, 3/21/21, p.A9)
2021 Mar 20, India reported 40,953 new coronavirus cases, the biggest daily jump in nearly four months, with its richest state and economic backbone Maharashtra accounting for more than half the infections. Deaths rose by 188 to 159,404.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, The International Olympic Committee and local organizers announced that foreign spectators will not be allowed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to begin July 23, because of coronavirus restrictions.
(AP, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Hundreds of health workers from Kosovo travelled to Albania to be inoculated against COVID-19 after the neighboring country offered to donate some of its supplies.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Pakistani PM Imran Khan (68) tested positive for COVID-19, two days after receiving his first vaccine dose. Government officials urged people not to be deterred from getting vaccinated.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 20, Papua New Guinea reported rising coronavirus infections, continuing a surge that highlights the need for tougher social distancing restrictions taking effect on March 22. Confirmed cases reached 3,085 with 36 deaths. Health experts believed the true numbers are much higher.
(Reuters, 3/20/21)
2021 Mar 21, The Palestinian Health Ministry began administering the first doses of coronavirus vaccines it received from the global COVAX initiative to health care workers and older residents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
(AP, 3/21/21)
2021 Mar 21, The Philippines said it will expand tighter COVID-19 rules to include four provinces surrounding the capital Manila, and restrict travel to and from these areas for two weeks beginning March 22, as the country battles a renewed surge in infections.
(Reuters, 3/21/21)
2021 Mar 21, Romania recorded its highest number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units since the pandemic began. Over the past week some days saw more than 6,000 new cases.
(SFC, 3/22/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 21, South Africa's health ministry said it has concluded the sale of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines it had acquired but did not use to other African Union (AU) member states.
(AP, 3/21/21)
2021 Mar 22, It was reported that new cases of COVID-19 in the United States rose 5% to more than 394,000 last week, the first increase after declining for nine straight weeks.
(AP, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 22, Tests results announced that the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford provided strong protection against Covid-19 in a large clinical trial in the United States, completely preventing the worst outcomes from the disease while causing no serious side effects.
(NY Times, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 22, California to date had 3,620,124 cases of coronavirus and 57,114 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 418,275 cases and 5,780 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,861,965 with the death toll at 542,872.
(sfist.com, 3/22/21)
2021 Mar 22, Minnesota health officials reported no new deaths due to COVID-19 for the first time in nearly a year.
(SFC, 3/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 22 West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced that the state will immediately open coronavirus vaccine eligibility to all residents 16 and older.
(SFC, 3/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 22, France added 344 confirmed deaths, increasing the total to 92,650 deaths.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 22, Yemen's emergency coronavirus committee reported 98 confirmed and 168 suspected infections.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, American federal health officials said results from a US trial of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine may have included “outdated information" and that could mean the company provided an incomplete view of efficacy data.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, California to date had 3,622,711 cases of coronavirus and 57,224 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 418,599 cases and 5,787 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 29,924,024 with the death toll at 543,798.
(sfist.com, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Texas health officials COVID-19 vaccine eligibility will be expanded to all adults as of March 29.
(SFC, 3/23/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 23, Pfizer Inc said it has started an early-stage US trial of an oral COVID-19 antiviral therapy that could be prescribed to patients at the first sign of infection.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Carissa Etienne, the WHO's regional director for the Americas, warned that the coronavirus is surging "dangerously" across Brazil, urging all Brazilians to adopt preventive measures to stop the spread.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, A subsidiary of Livzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc said China's medical products regulator has approved clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate it has developed.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a lowering of the age group for those eligible for COVID-19 shots from 75 to 70 years starting this weekend.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would extend its lockdown until April 18 and called on citizens to stay home and reduce contacts as much as possible for five days from April 1. lobby groups said the decision could drive more businesses to bankruptcy and be counterproductive by encouraging people to flock to the shops beforehand.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Lithuania's parliament approved regular mandatory COVID-19 testing for some workers and anyone refusing to be tested must work remotely or be suspended without pay.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Russian developers of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 said they have applied for domestic approval of a single-dose "light" version, and that trials of it in Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Ghana have already begun. The slimmed-down shot is not expected to be as effective as the original vaccine.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, The World Health Organization said it will oversee a coronavirus vaccination campaign in war-torn Syria that is expected to start in April with the aim of inoculating 20% of the population by the end of 2021.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling on the office of the UN human rights chief to urge Israel's government to ensure that Palestinian areas have “non-discriminatory" access to COVID-19 vaccines.
(AP, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 23, Yemen's internationally recognized government declared a health emergency in areas under its control, as infections in a second wave of a coronavirus epidemic surge.
(Reuters, 3/23/21)
2021 Mar 24, California to date had 3,625,208 cases of coronavirus and 57,423 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 419,031 cases and 5,802 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,009,386 with the death toll at 545,237.
(sfist.com, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, A federal indictment said that Christopher D. Casamento (42), the University of Pittsburgh’s former director of emergency management, stole more than 13,600 face masks meant for school employees and students and sold them online in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, GlaxoSmithKline said it is firing Moncef Slaoui from his position as board chair at Galvani Bioelectronics, effective immediately, after its investigation substantiated a complaint about his conduct toward an employee “several years ago" when Slaoui worked for the drugmaker.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, President Luis Arce said Bolivia aims to have vaccinated its adult population against COVID-19 by October.
(Reuters, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Brazil topped 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, becoming the second country, after the US, to do so amid a spike in infections that has seen the South American country report record death tolls in recent days. The health ministry reported 2,009 daily COVID-19 deaths, bringing its pandemic total to 300,685.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 24, German Chancellor Angela Merkel dropped plans for a five-day shutdown over Easter, which had prompted confusion and criticism. She called the idea a mistake and apologized to Germans.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Hong Kong suspended use of the Pfizer vaccine after its Chinese distributor informed the city that one batch had defective bottle lids.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Hungary's surgeon general said the country's hospitals are under "extraordinary" pressure from rising coronavirus infections, as the country became a hotspot in the third wave of a pandemic that has hit Central Europe especially hard.
(Reuters, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Health officials said a new and potentially troublesome variant of the coronavirus has been detected in India. The new variant found has two mutations in the spiky protein that the virus uses to fasten itself to cells.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Italy reported 460 coronavirus-related deaths against 551 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 21,267 from 18,765 the day before.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Marko Cadez, the head of Serbia's Chamber of Commerce, said his organization had 10,000 shots for business people across the region. "We are all one region and only together we can beat this scourge," he told reporters.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 24, Thousands of Spaniards lined up to get shots of AstraZeneca as the European country became the latest to restart the vaccine whose credibility has suffered a series of setbacks recently.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 24, Zimbabwe’s Pres. Emmerson Mnangagwa received his first shot of the Chinese Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, a move the government hopes will encourage more people to seek the Chinese vaccines, which are the only ones currently available in the country.
(AP, 3/24/21)
2021 Mar 25, The United States said it is giving $15 million to vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, a sharp reversal from the Trump administration which cut off almost all aid to the Palestinians.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, The US White House announced that it is dedicating $10 billion to try to drive up vaccination rates in low-income, minority and rural enclaves throughout the country.
(SFC, 3/26/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 25, Arizona's Republican Gov. Doug Ducey lifted COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and events and prohibited government mask mandates and allowed bars and nightclubs to open their doors without restrictions.
(https://tinyurl.com/3p9pds94)(SFC, 3/27/21, p.A7)
2021 Mar 25, California to date had 3,628,724 cases of coronavirus and 57,792 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 419,402 cases and 5,831 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,072,022 with the death toll at 546,352.
(sfist.com, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, It was reported that relatives of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and others with connections to him received special access to coronavirus tests a year ago when testing was scarce.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Novavax said it is delaying signing a contract to supply its COVID-19 vaccine to the European Union, as the US biotech company warned it was struggling to source some raw materials.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, British lawmakers agreed to prolong coronavirus emergency measures for six months. Britain has recorded more than 126,000 coronavirus deaths.
(SFC, 3/26/21, p.A5)
2021 Mar 25, In Germany the number of new confirmed coronavirus cases jumped by 22,657 to 2.713 million, the biggest increase since Jan. 9. The reported death toll rose by 228 to 75,440.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Gibraltar said masks will also no longer be mandatory in all outdoor areas starting at midnight March 27. Its hospital was free of COVID-19 patients and only one new coronavirus infection was reported in a full week. The southern Spanish region of Andalucia, which provides most of Gibraltar's workforce, recorded more than 1,000 new daily infections for the second day in a row.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, In Iceland gym classes, happy hours and the near-normal life enjoyed so far by the people ended abruptly, when the government ordered new restrictions after detecting six coronavirus cases believed to be the variant first found in Britain. Iceland has had just 5,384 cases and 29 deaths from COVID-19, according to official figures.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, India said it has not imposed a ban on coronavirus vaccine exports and New Delhi will continue to supply vaccines in a phased manner.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Mexico surpassed 200,000 test-confirmed deaths from COVID-19. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador framed ramped-up vaccination efforts as a race against time.
(AP, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Officials said Russia has started producing CoviVac, its third vaccine against COVID-19, and will soon make it available for use in its regions, though phase three trials are still under way.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 25, Sweden registered 7,706 new COVID-19 cases, its highest number of new cases since the end of last year, amid what authorities said was flagging compliance with the mainly voluntary recommendations to curb the spread of the virus. 16 new deaths took the total to 13,373. Sweden said it would resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 65.
(Reuters, 3/25/21)
2021 Mar 26, California to date had 3,630,385 cases of coronavirus and 57,935 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 419,474 cases and 5,862 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,137,807 with the death toll at 547,812.
(sfist.com, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the prevalence of COVID-19 infections in England is no longer falling and has levelled off at an estimated 1 in 340 people.
(Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, A Sinopharm affiliate said two COVID-19 vaccines developed by subsidiaries of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) have hit a combined 100 million doses of supply around the world.
(Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, The European Union’s medicines regulator said it has approved new manufacturing sites for coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, in a move that could significantly boost Europe’s supply of the shots and speed vaccination efforts across the continent.
(AP, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, Europe's drug regulator said regdanvimab, the South Korean drugmaker Celltrion's COVID-19 treatment, can be considered for patients at high risk of severe illness, but added that the monoclonal antibody's benefits were not entirely clear so far.
(Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, Germany reported 21,573 new coronavirus cases, compared with 17,482 a week earlier.
(SFC, 3/27/21, p.A7)
2021 Mar 26, In Lebanon the first batch of 50,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines arrived, making it one of few nations where the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is being boosted by private sector initiatives. Lebanon is currently in the grips of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history. The local currency has lost 90% of its value against the dollar
(AP, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, Serbia became the first European country to vaccinate people living in its refugee camps and asylum centers.
(AP, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 26, A survey by Spain's Observatory for Drugs and Addiction found that Spaniards cut back on alcohol and almost halved their binge-drinking during the pandemic as the lockdown shuttered bars and nightclubs.
(Reuters, 3/26/21)
2021 Mar 27, California to date had 3,633,771 cases of coronavirus and 58,178 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 420,413 cases and 5,871 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,162,813 with the death toll at 548,336.
(sfist.com, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, Facebook said it has frozen Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's page for violating policies against spreading misinformation about COVID-19 by promoting a remedy he claims, without evidence, can cure the disease.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, Thousands of Bhutanese travelled to schools and public buildings for vaccination as the Himalayan kingdom launched its biggest inoculation drive against COVID-19 with the AstraZeneca shots provided by neighboring India.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, India gave 1.2 million free doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh. PM Narendra Modi made the offering at the end of a two-day tour of Bangladesh.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, Mexico's government acknowledged that the country's true deatrh toll from the coronavirus pandemic now likely stands above 321,000.
(AP, 3/28/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 27, Panama's government said it would from next week temporarily suspend the entry of people to the country who have been in South America in the previous 15 days after local health authorities detected a case of the Brazilian strain of COVID-19.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, Philippine officials said Manila and nearby provinces will return to stricter quarantine measures on March 29, as the country battles to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases that has strained hospitals.
(Reuters, 3/27/21)
2021 Mar 27, In Poland a new set of pandemic related restrictions took effect to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which has taken more than 51,700 lives in the country.
(SSFC, 3/28/21, p.A13)
2021 Mar 28, California to date had 3,635,640 cases of coronavirus and 58,348 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 420,547 cases and 5,873 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,255,303 with the death toll at 549,288.
(sfist.com, 3/28/21)
2021 Mar 28, A year after becoming a global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, New York and New Jersey were back atop the list of US states with the highest rates of infection. New Jersey has been reporting about 647 new cases for every 100,000 residents over the past 14 days. New York has averaged 548.
(AP, 3/28/21)
2021 Mar 28, Albania started a mass inoculation campaign ahead of the summer tourism season after acquiring 192,000 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccine Sinovac earlier this week.
(AP, 3/28/21)
2021 Mar 28, In France critical care doctors said surging coronavirus infections could soon overwhelm their ability to care for the sick in Paris hospitals.
(SFC, 3/29/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 29, President Biden said that 90 percent of US adults aged 16 and up will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine within the next three weeks. Administration officials pleaded with Americans to continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid an increase in cases across the country.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)(The Week, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 29, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the two vaccines available since December — Pfizer and Moderna — were 90% effective after two doses. In testing, the vaccines were about 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, California to date had 3,636,923 cases of coronavirus and 58,437 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 421,553 cases and 5,886 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,331,029 with the death toll at 550,003.
(sfist.com, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Results from a mid-stage trial showed that antibody treatments from Eli Lilly and Vir Biotech reduced viral load in low-risk COVID-19 patients.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, GlaxoSmithKline said it has agreed in principle to handle the final part of the manufacturing process for up to 60 million doses of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine for use in Britain, widening the company's role in the fight against the pandemic.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Humanigen Inc said its experimental COVID-19 drug met the main goal of improved survival without the need for mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients in a late-stage trial, sending its shares soaring 60% before the opening bell.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Johnson & Johnson said it’s agreed to provide up to 400 million doses of its one-dose COVID-19 vaccine to African countries, starting this summer.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Australia's professional sports leagues scrambled to put contingency plans in place after Queensland authorities announced a snap three-day lockdown in state capital Brisbane to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, England's stay-at-home lockdown order ended with people allowed to meet up outside in groups of six for the first time in nearly three months, though PM Boris Johnson urged caution due to rising cases in Europe.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Canada suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people under age 55 following concerns it might be linked to rare blood clots. New data from Europe suggested the risk of blood clots is now potentially as high as one in 100,000, much higher than the one in one million risk believed before.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, India reported the highest daily increase in coronavirus cases in five months, with the second wave of the disease driven by surging infections in the country's richest state Maharashtra. 68,020 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Daily deaths rose by 291 and the virus has so far killed 161,843 people in India.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, Palestinians received 100,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China to help broaden an initial campaign to vaccinate medical staff, the elderly and the chronically ill.
(Reuters, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 29, A joint WHO-China study concluded that it is "extremely unlikely" that the coronavirus pandemic started with a leak from a Chinese lab and that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario.
(AP, 3/29/21)
2021 Mar 30, Arizona's confirmed death toll from the coronavirus rose to 16,941 as it reported 23 more deaths and 586 new cases. Total cases numbered 841,078.
(SFC, 3/31/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 30, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state will drop its mask mandate immediately and open up coronavirus vaccinations to anyone 16 and older.
(SFC, 3/31/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 30, California to date had 3,643,279 cases of coronavirus and 58,676 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 421,893 cases and 5,891 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,391,227 with the death toll at 550,951.
(sfist.com, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Germany's vaccine regulator said it has recorded 31 cases of a rare blood clot in the brain, nine of which resulted in deaths, after people received a COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, It was reported that India's drug regulator has allowed the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to be used for up to nine months from its manufacture date, as opposed to the prescribed six months.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Iran said a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic had taken hold in western and central areas of the country, triggered by widespread travel and celebrations during the current Iranian New Year holidays.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Israel's Health Ministry said on new coronavirus strain has been identified in Israel, and the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, used primarily in a swift nationwide inoculation drive, appeared to be effective against it.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Netherlands's health authorities said new coronavirus cases in the country increased for a seventh consecutive week, despite lockdown and social distancing rules aimed at curbing the virus' spread.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Pakistan said it will import Chinese Cansino Biologics COVID-19 vaccines in bulk to package 3 million doses locally. Coronavirus cases have soared with PM Imran Khan, Pres. Arif Alvi and Defense Minister Pervez Khattak all testing positive. The country has recorded 14,356 deaths and 663,200 infections since the start of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)(SFC, 3/31/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 30, Papua New Guinea PM James Marape received the first COVID-19 shot in the Pacific Island country under a small vaccination program aimed at curbing soaring infections. Australia sent Papua New Guinea 8,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine last week after warning of a worsening humanitarian crisis.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, A Russian health official said a third wave of coronavirus infections was emerging in the country, which has recorded more than 4.5 million cases since the start of the pandemic. Russia reported 8,277 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, including 1,291 in Moscow. The country also reported 409 deaths, raising the official toll to 98,442.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, Health officials said number of Swedes needing intensive care as a result of COVID infection increased 9% compared to last week as the country grapples with a third wave of the virus.
(Reuters, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, In Syria the president's office said Bashar Assad and his wife have recovered from COVID-19 and returned to their regular duties, three weeks after they had tested positive for the coronavirus.
(AP, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 30, The WHO and more than 20 heads of government and global agencies called for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations.
(AP, 3/30/21)
2021 Mar 31, The FDA said Abbott’s BinaxNow and Quidel’s QuickVue COVID-19 tests can now be sold without a prescription.
(AP, 4/1/21)(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A9)
2021 Mar 31, California to date had 3,644,616 cases of coronavirus and 58,769 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 422,237 cases and 5,916 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,452,058 with the death toll at 551,863.
(sfist.com, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers' statewide mask mandate ruling 4-3 that he had exceeded his authority.
(SFC, 4/11/21, p.A8)
2021 Mar 31, Johnson & Johnson said a batch of its COVID-19 vaccine failed quality standards and can’t be used. An ingredient made by Emergent BioSolutions, one of about 10 companies that Johnson & Johnson is using to speed up manufacturing of its recently approved vaccine, did not meet quality standards. Emergent had to jettison between 13 million and 15 million doses of the J&J vaccine.
(AP, 3/31/21)(SFC, 4/8/21, p.A4)
2021 Mar 31, Pfizer said a clinical trial had showed that its Covid vaccine was extremely effective in 12- to 15-year-olds, with no symptomatic infections among children who received it.
(NY Times, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, The European Medicines Agency says there is “no evidence" that would support restricting use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in any population despite reports of rare blood clots associated with the shot. The Europe's drug regulator said it is investigating 62 cases worldwide of a rare blood clotting condition which has prompted some countries to limit the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.
(AP, 3/31/21)(Reuters, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, President Emmanuel Macron of France announced the start of a third national lockdown in a desperate move to halt a new deadly wave.
(NY Times, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, Qatar's cabinet ordered a halt to non-urgent medical services at private health facilities as of April 2 as coronavirus cases rise in the Gulf Arab state.
(Reuters, 3/31/21)
2021 Mar 31, The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended against using generic anti-parasite drug ivermectin in patients with COVID-19 except for clinical trials, because of a lack of data demonstrating its benefits.
(Reuters, 3/31/21)
2021 Apr 1, California to date had 3,645,574 cases of coronavirus and 58,821 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 422,717 cases and 5,926 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,535,374 with the death toll at 553,084.
(sfist.com, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Kansas' statewide mask mandate came to an end under a new law that makes it more difficult for health officials to keep COVID-19 precautions in place.
(SFC, 4/2/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 1, It was reported that infections and hospitalizations in Michigan have risen sharply in recent weeks, giving it more recent cases per capita than any other state. Officials blamed a more contagious variant and a premature return to prepandemic behaviors. Officials confirmed the state's first case of a variant identified in Brazil.
(NY Times, 4/1/21)(SFC, 4/2/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 1, Chile said it will close its borders for the month of April to slow the spread of the coronavirus and stop the influx of its variants, as cases continue to soar despite one of the world's fastest vaccination rates.
(Reuters, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno declared a 30-day state of exception in eight of the country's 24 provinces, which includes a curfew, due to a spike in coronavirus infections and associated deaths. Ecuador has more than 330,000 infections and 16,877 deaths confirmed and probable by COVID-19.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 1, It was reported that the European Union has asked India to allow it to buy 10 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from Serum Institute of India.
(Reuters, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, France's PM Jean Castex defended new nationwide measures to combat a resurgent coronavirus in France that include closing schools for at least three weeks and putting in place a month-long domestic travel ban.
(AP, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Germany’s disease control agency reported 24,300 newly confirmed cases in the past day, and 201 deaths. Chancellor Angela Merkel called on citizens to help ease the strain on nurses and doctors caring for the rising number of COVID-19 patients by respecting pandemic rules over Easter.
(AP, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Italy reported 501 coronavirus-related deaths against 467 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections decreased to 23,649 from 23,904.
(Reuters, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Japan designated Osaka and two other areas for new virus control steps as infections there rise less than four months before the Tokyo Olympics.
(SFC, 4/2/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 1, Russia’s embassy in North Korea said the country is suffering severe shortages of medicines and necessary goods amid the coronavirus pandemic. It said fewer than 290 foreigners remain in Pyongyang.
(AP, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, It was reported that South Africa's health regulator has approved Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for large-scale deliveries of the shot the government has put at the heart of its immunization plans.
(Reuters, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Spain’s Madrid region halted COVID-19 vaccinations at health centers for four days so medical staff can rest over the Easter holiday, despite pleas from the national government not to halt the fight against surging infections.
(AP, 4/1/21)
2021 Apr 1, Vietnam appealed to diplomats from the United States, European Union and Japan to help it secure supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, as part of efforts to acquire the 150 million doses needed to cover its adult population.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 the green light to travel within the US without getting tested or self-quarantining.
(The Week, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 2, California to date had 3,652,111 cases of coronavirus and 59,210 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 423,294 cases and 5,948 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,602,678 with the death toll at 553,979.
(sfist.com, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced an executive order prohibiting government entities in the state from issuing COVID-19 vaccine "passports" or "other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying an individual's COVID-19 status to a third party." DeSantis argued that vaccinations are private information.
(NBC News, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, Britain's Department for Transport said the number of countries on its “red list" will reach 39 when the latest restrictions take effect in England beginning April 9. International arrivals will be banned from four more countries — Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines — amid concerns over new virus variants.
(AP, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, Mainland China reported 26 new COVID-19 cases, up from nine a day earlier. Officials in the country's southwest linked a local outbreak to Myanmar. The border city of Ruili began a 5-day drive to vaccinate its entire population of 300,000 people. 16 cases have been confirmed there since March 30.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)(SFC, 4/3/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 2, Italy reported 481 coronavirus-related deaths against 501 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections decreased to 21,932 from 23,649. Italy has registered 110,328 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, In Japan 446 new infections were reported in Tokyo. In Osaka, a record 666 cases were reported.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 2, Kenya ordered an immediate suspension on private importations of vaccines citing fears that it may lead to counterfeit inoculations getting into the country. Kenya's government said the country's positivity rate jumped from 2.6% at the end of January to 19.1% on April 2.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 2, The Netherlands temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people under 60 following the death of a woman who had received a shot.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 2, Turkey began administering Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 shots, introducing a second vaccine in its campaign that began in mid-January, as new cases reached record highs.
(Reuters, 4/2/21)
2021 Apr 3, As of March 13, the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which walloped Britain and is wreaking havoc on Europe, accounted for about 27 percent of new cases in the US, up from just 1 percent in early February.
(NY Times, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, California to date had 3,652,911 cases of coronavirus and 59,210 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 423,630 cases and 5,950 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,668,826 with the death toll at 554,779.
(sfist.com, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Argentina's Pres. Alberto Fernandez tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms. He had received doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine on Jan. 21 and Feb. 11.
(SFC, 4/5/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 3, Australia said it will continue its inoculation program with AstraZeneca PLC, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Canada's Ontario province entered a 4-week shutdown because of a 3rd surge of coronavirus infections fueled by more contagious virus variants.
(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A9)
2021 Apr 3, Mainland China reported 21 new COVID-19 cases, down from 26 cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, France reported that 5,273 people were in intensive care units (ICU) for COVID-19, a rise of 19 from the previous day, as the country entered its third national lockdown to help combat the pandemic. French hospitals have brought in extra staff for the Easter holiday weekend to cope with growing numbers of virus patients, while travelers converged on train stations and highways to flee big cities before new nationwide restrictions take hold.
(AP, 4/3/21)(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, The Philippines reported 12,576 new coronavirus infections, putting further strain on the healthcare system. President Rodrigo Duterte extended a strict lockdown in the capital region and adjacent provinces by at least one week to try to contain a renewed surge in infections.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, In Somalia simultaneous large explosions were heard in and around two army bases, with the military confirming at least nine of its people killed but asserting “heavy losses" among the attackers. The al-Shabab extremist group claimed responsibility. In Mogadishu a suicide bomber detonated an explosive at a tea shop killing at least six people.
(AP, 4/3/21)(SSFC, 4/4/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 3, Syria's government said primary schools around Syria will close down indefinitely next week amid a severe increase of coronavirus cases in the war-torn country, while universities will suspend classes for only two weeks and high schools will remain open.
(AP, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 3, Ukraine said it has approved China's Sinovac vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic, after the country recorded a record rise in new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row.
(Reuters, 4/3/21)
2021 Apr 4, California to date had 3,654,128 cases of coronavirus and 59,243 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 424,091 cases and 5,951 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,681,592 with the death toll at 554,813.
(sfist.com, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, The French city of Sarcelles, north of Paris, was among those whose vaccination center stayed open Easter Sunday, amid mushrooming infections and demand.
(AP, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, Germany announced plans to allow people vaccinated against Covid-19 certain privileges over their unvaccinated peers, in a significant step towards introducing so-called "vaccine passports".
(The Telegraph, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, India reported 93,249 new cases in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra state, which accounts for less than a tenth of India's population, accounted for a record 49,447 new cases. PM Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 situation and vaccination program.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said around 70% of coronavirus patients tested at a Tokyo hospital last month carried a mutation known for reducing vaccine protection. The E484K mutation, nicknamed "Eek" by some scientists, was found in 10 of 14 people who tested positive for the virus at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Medical Hospital in March.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, More than 100,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Tripoli's Mitiga airport, the first shipment to reach Libya.
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, Spaniards lined up for shots on Easter Sunday in Barcelona and other points around the country, but Madrid halted vaccinations at local health centers to give staff a break.
(AP, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 4, Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message to quicken distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to the world's poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic "scandalous".
(Reuters, 4/4/21)
2021 Apr 5, A White House official said the US government's removal of AstraZeneca PLC's COVID-19 shot production from Emergent BioSolutions Inc's Baltimore manufacturing facility does not suggest it has any concerns about the vaccine's safety or effectiveness and will not impact its output of doses. The US Department of Health and Human Services ordered Johnson & Johnson to take charge of production at Emergent and for Emergent to stop making AstraZeneca's shots after the contract manufacturer made an error that ruined 15 million J&J COVID-19 vaccine doses.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, California to date had 3,656,939 cases of coronavirus and 59,293 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 424,657 cases and 5,975 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,775,094 with the death toll at 555,381.
(sfist.com, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, It was reported that Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has tested positive for COVID-19 a few days after receiving his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 5, Bangladesh began a one-week lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/5/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 5, East Timor received its first batch of coronavirus vaccine, arranged by the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX. The former Portuguese colony has detected 714 cases of the coronavirus, most of which it said were imported, and no casualty so far.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, Retail stores across most of Greece were allowed to reopen despite an ongoing surge in COVID-19 infections, as the country battles to emerge from deep recession.
(AP, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, India reported a record rise in COVID-19 infections, becoming the second country after the United States to post more than 100,000 new cases in a day, as politicians stage massive election rallies raising fears of further spreading the virus.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, India's Cadila Healthcare Ltd said it has sought approval from local regulators to use Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b, a Hepatitis C drug, as a treatment for COVID-19 following promising interim results from a late-stage trial.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 5, Spain reported 2,247 new cases and 85 deaths. In total, there’s been 3.3 million cases and more than 75,000 confirmed deaths.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 5, Venezuela's main academies of medicine and science urged renewed efforts to vaccinate the South American nation's population against the coronavirus amid a spike in infections that has led the government to extend lockdown measures. Venezuela reported 15 deaths and 1,786 new infections, the highest since the start of the pandemic. It has reported 166,123 cases and 1,662 associated deaths.
(Reuters, 4/5/21)
2021 Apr 6, New research suggested the protection the Moderna vaccine gives against COVID-19 lasts for at least six months.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that his state aimed to fully reopen its economy on June 15, saying it was time to start "planning for our lives post-pandemic".
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, California to date had 3,660,561 cases of coronavirus and 59,424 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 425,109 cases and 5,989 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,843,737 with the death toll at 556,486.
(sfist.com, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania together reported 44% of the nation's new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, More than 1,000 Bosnians marched in the capital Sarajevo demanding government resignation over poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Bosnia has had among the highest death rates in Europe, with nearly 7,000 dead in the country of 3.3 million.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, PM Justin Trudeau said Canada's hospitalizations are surging, intensive care beds are filling up and COVID-19 variants are spreading as a third wave of the pandemic sweeps across much of the country.
(Reuters, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, In Italy restaurant owners and others angry at having their businesses shut for weeks due to pandemic lockdown measures clashed with police during a protest outside Parliament in Rome.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, Pakistan reported 103 deaths from COVID-19, one of the highest single-day fatalities since January.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, The Sri Lankan government lifted the one-year restrictions imposed on Sri Lankans, allowing entry into the country without prior approval but requiring quarantine. Sri Lanka has registered 93,595 total cases and 586 confirmed deaths.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, Tanzania's new Pres. Samia Suluhu Hassan said she will form a technical committee to advise her about the scope of COVID-19 infections in the country and how to respond to the pandemic.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 6, It was reported that Trinidad and Tobago PM Keith Rowley has tested positive for the coronavirus. The country has reported more than 8,000 coronavirus cases and 145 confirmed deaths.
(AP, 4/6/21)
2021 Apr 7, The Biden administration said that 25 million more stimulus payments worth a total of $36 billion had been sent out to Americans from the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief legislation.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, The US National Institutes of Health said it had begun a mid-stage study to determine the risk of allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines made by Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, California to date had 3,661,898 cases of coronavirus and 59,483 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 425,465 cases and 5,994 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 30,920,837 with the death toll at 559,086.
(sfist.com, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said there would be “no national lockdown," ignoring growing calls from health experts a day after the nation saw its highest number of COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours since the pandemic began.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) said Britain should not give Oxford/AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to under 30s where possible, due to a very rare side effect of blood clots in the brain.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Cambodia said it is shutting its most popular tourist destination, the centuries-old Angkor temple complex, to visitors for two weeks to help curb the country’s coronavirus outbreak.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 7, It was reported that 21 players on the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks — nearly the whole team — have tested positive for COVID-19. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a plan to have mobile vaccine clinics target COVID-19 "hotspots" and high-risk worksites.
(NY Times, 4/7/21)(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 7, European and British medicine regulators said they had found possible links between AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine and reports of very rare cases of brain blood clots, in a setback for inoculation campaigns. An official said that the European drug regulator has received reports of 169 cases of a rare brain blood clot in people who received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, as the agency continued to stress that the benefits of the vaccination outweigh the risks.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Kits for self-administered coronavirus tests began arriving in Greek pharmacies, with residents entitled to one a week free of charge as part of efforts to tackle a surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, In Hungary shops and services were allowed to reopen after 2.5 million people received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, a benchmark the government set for when a gradual reopening could take place. Doctors questioned the government's decision to lift some lockdown restriction.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 7, Iran shattered its daily record for new infections for the second consecutive day as cases soared to 20,954, a worrisome trend after more than a year of the country battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Iraq recorded 8,331 new virus cases within a 24-hour period, the highest figure since the ministry began keeping records at the onset of the pandemic last year.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 7, Italy reported 627 coronavirus-related deaths against 421 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,708 from 7,767 the day before.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Doctors in Japan performed the world's first successful transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a patient with severe lung damage from COVID-19.
(SFC, 4/9/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 7, Moroccan authorities decided to enforce a night-time curfew during the holy month of Ramadan because of a recent rise in COVID-19 cases, as scientists announced the discovery of a new, local variant of the virus.
(AP, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Philippine health authorities allowed the use of Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine for some senior citizens after initially limiting coverage to people aged 18-59 years, as the country battles one of Asia's worst coronavirus outbreaks.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Authorities in several Spanish regions ratcheted up COVID-19 restrictions to rein in a rising infection rate and prevent it from evolving into a fourth wave of contagion.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, The Swedish Medical Products Agency said the benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweighed the risks after the EU drug regulator said it had found a possible link between the shot and rare blood clots.
(Reuters, 4/7/21)
2021 Apr 7, Tunisia said it is extending its nighttime curfew by three hours and tightening other restrictions ahead of Ramadan following an uptick of COVID-19 infections. The measure will apply from 7pm until 5am, from April 9 until at least April 30.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, California to date had 3,666,689 cases of coronavirus and 59,733 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 425,940 cases and 6,008 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,002,247 with the death toll at 560,116.
(sfist.com, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, Australia and the Philippines limited use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, while the Africa Union dropped plans to buy the shot, dealing further blows to the company's hopes to deliver a vaccine for the world.
(Reuters, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, It was reported that the UK's COVID-19 vaccination program is beginning to break the link between infection and serious illness or death. Britain's death toll from the pandemic is the highest in Europe at over 127,000.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accepted the Czech Republic's position on mandatory vaccinations for children rebuffing parents' complaints that the government violated their rights.
(Reuters, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, India’s PM Narendra Modi received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the country hit another peak with 126,789 new cases reported in the past 24 hours.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, Iran hit a new coronavirus infection record for the third straight day, reporting 22,586 new cases as the country grapples with a severe spike following the Persian New Year holiday.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, Russia called on Slovakia to return hundreds of thousands of doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, citing contract violations, in an escalating row between the two countries after a Slovak watchdog raised doubts about the shot. Slovakia imported 200,000 doses of Sputnik V last month, despite a lack of EU regulatory approval.
(Reuters, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 8, Syria received a planeload from the United Arab Emirates with food items and medical aid to help the war-torn country in its fight against the spread of the coronavirus.
(AP, 4/8/21)
2021 Apr 9, The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that California can’t enforce coronavirus-related restrictions that have limited home-based religious worship including Bible studies and prayer meetings.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, California to date had 3,666,689 cases of coronavirus and 59,733 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 426,498 cases and 6,042 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,023,288 with the death toll at 560,315.
(sfist.com, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, The Navajo Nation issued a stay-at-home order for the weekend after reporting 26 more confirmed COVID-19 cases. The current death toll stood at 1,260.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, In NYC the famed amusement parks of Coney Island reopened under reduced capacity after being shuttered last year due to the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/10/21, p.A7)
2021 Apr 9, It was reported that Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc are spending millions of dollars to provide drivers with access to COVID-19 vaccines and offering tens of millions of free or discounted rides to vaccination sites for people in communities that lack access to transportation and healthcare services.
(Reuters, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, The World Bank Group said it will have committed $2 billion in financing by the end of April for vaccine purchases, development and manufacturing and is working with more than 40 countries on this effort.
(Reuters, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, Australia said that it has finalized a deal to buy an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine as it rapidly pivots away from its earlier plan to rely mainly on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, Britain said it had given 545,511 COVID vaccine doses on April 8, the highest daily total since April 1, while a further 60 people had died within 28 days of a positive test for the disease, raising this death toll to 127,040.
(Reuters, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, French health officials said that people under 55 who received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should get other vaccines for their second shot because of an extremely rare risk of a blood clotting disorder.
(AP, 4/9/21)
2021 Apr 9, Puerto Rico said it would close all private and public schools for two weeks amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
(SFC, 4/10/21, p.A7)
2021 Apr 9, Thailand reported 559 new coronavirus infections, following increases of 405 and 334 new cases the previous two days.
(SFC, 4/10/21, p.A7)
2021 Apr 10, California to date had 3,670,264 cases of coronavirus and 59,910 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 427,341 cases and 6,052 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,085,251 with the death toll at 561,074.
(sfist.com, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, Gao Fu, the director of the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said China's COVID-19 vaccines do not have very high protection rates.
(AP, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 10, Iran began a 10-day lockdown amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, a worrisome trend after more than a year of the country battling the Middle East's worst outbreak.
(AP, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, Italy reported 344 coronavirus-related deaths against 718 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 17,567 from 18,938 the day before. Italy has registered 113,923 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, Libya's new unity government launched a long-delayed COVID-19 vaccination program after receiving some 160,000 vaccine doses over the past week, with PM Abdulhamid Dbeibeh receiving his jab on live television.
(Reuters, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, In Romania marchers took to the streets of Bucharest to protest restrictive measures to fight the spread of COVID-19 even as new daily infections passed the milestone of 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. Romania has so far recorded 25,006 coronavirus deaths.
(AP, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, A New York Times analysis of mortality data shows deaths in Russia during the pandemic last year were 28 percent higher than normal — an increase in mortality greater than in the United States and most countries in Europe.
(NY Times, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 10, Thailand said it plans to install 10,000 field-hospital beds in Bangkok, as the country strains to cope with a third wave of COVID-19 infections.
(Reuters, 4/10/21)
2021 Apr 11, California to date had 3,673,398 cases of coronavirus and 60,015 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 427,667 cases and 6,052 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,156,128 with the death toll at 561,811.
(sfist.com, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan urged the Biden administration to ship extra vaccine doses to the state, where coronavirus cases are surging.
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 11, Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov said the EU was negotiating a new contract with Pfizer-BioNTech at a price of 19.5 euros ($23.22) per dose. The new contract would cover variants, meaning that the companies would offer enhanced shots if mutations of the coronavirus became prevalent.
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 11, Chinese health authorities reported 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 22 asymptomatic cases, bringing the country's total to 90,410, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636. The National Health Commission said China has administered 164.47 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, India banned the export of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients as demand rocketed due to a record surge in COVID-19 infections, leading to a crippling shortages in many parts.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, Iran reported its highest single-day death toll from COVID-19 this year, bringing the country’s total deaths in the pandemic to nearly 64,500. Iran recorded 258 new deaths in the last 24 hours.
(AP, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, Italy reported 331 coronavirus-related deaths against 344 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 15,746 from 17,567 the day before.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, South Korean authorities said they will move ahead with a coronavirus vaccination drive this week, after deciding to continue using AstraZeneca PLC's vaccine for all eligible people 30 years old or over.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 11, Thailand reported 967 new COVID-19 cases, its biggest daily jump, but no new deaths as the country deals with a third wave of infections and a highly contagious variant.
(Reuters, 4/11/21)
2021 Apr 12, The White House said it was prepared to send additional therapeutic treatments to the state of Michigan, which is experiencing a troubling number of COVID-19 cases, but did not promise more vaccine as the state has sought.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, California to date had 3,675,956 cases of coronavirus and 60,076 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 428,533 cases and 6,068 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,202,818 with the death toll at 562,096.
(sfist.com, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, San Francisco-based Salesforce.com said it would start allowing vaccinated employees to return to some of its offices, making it one of the first major US corporations to give vaccinated workers preferential treatment over those who have not taken the shot.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, Uber Technologies Inc, PayPal Holdings Inc and Walgreens Inc said they have launched an $11 million fund to provide free ride-hail trips to US COVID-19 vaccination sites for people who lack access to transportation.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, UK trial results showed that treating COVID-19 patients at home with a commonly-used inhaled asthma drug called budesonide can speed up their recovery.
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, The Czech Republic, one of the European Union’s hardest-hit countries took its first steps toward easing of its tight lockdown. Health experts, however, warned that the relaxation was going too far as infection and death rates still remained at dangerously high levels.
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, India reported 168,912 new infections, inching past Brazil, with a total of 13.53 million cases. India is now the second-most affected country after the United States that is grappling with 31.2 million cases. The western state of Maharashtra, home to India's financial capital Mumbai, has been the worst hit in the pandemic, accounting for about a quarter of the country's 13.5 million case load.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, Spain said it will initially prioritize people aged between 70 and 79 for vaccination with coronavirus shots produced by Johnson & Johnson's Janssen unit, which are due to start arriving this week.
(Reuters, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 12, UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez said in a report that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in gender-based violence last year and combatants continued to use sexual violence “as a cruel tactic of war" and political repression. The report focused on 18 countries and listed 52 parties “credibly suspected" of responsibility “for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence".
(AP, 4/12/21)
2021 Apr 13, The US recommended a “pause" in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. Six US women between 18 and 48 developed blood clots within two weeks of receiving vaccine shots. One of the six died, and another was in critical condition.. Johnson & Johnson said it is delaying the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe amid the US probe.
(AP, 4/13/21)(NY Times, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended its eviction moratorium through the end of June to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 13, California to date had 3,680,559 cases of coronavirus and 60,076 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 428,604 cases and 6,068 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,273,951 with the death toll at 562,655.
(sfist.com, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte issued an executive order banning the development or use of vaccine passports.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 13, Belgium said will continue COVID-19 vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson jab for the moment.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, Britain began offering coronavirus vaccinations to anyone over 45 after hitting its target of giving at last one dose to everyone over 50 by the middle of April.
(AP, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, PM Justin Trudeau said the progress Canada has made against COVID-19 is being threatened by the spread of more contagious and dangerous virus variants.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, France suspended all flights from Brazil amid mounting fears over the P.1 variant of the coronavirus that has been sweeping across Brazil.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 13, Italy reported 476 coronavirus-related deaths against 358 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 13,447 from 9,789.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, The rate of new COVID-19 infections in Sweden jumped to the second-highest in Europe after land-locked San Marino. The Scandinavian country, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, faced a third wave of cases.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, In northeast Syria a 10-day curfew in areas controlled by US-backed Kurdish fighters went into effect in an attempt to try limit the spread of coronavirus.
(AP, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 13, Thailand recorded a 3rd day in a row with more than 900 coronavirus cases. Total infections reached 34,575 with 97 deaths.
(SFC, 4/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 13, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced several new restrictions and a "partial closure" for the first two weeks of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to curb surging coronavirus infections.
(Reuters, 4/13/21)
2021 Apr 14, California to date had 3,683,199 cases of coronavirus and 60,200 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 429,463 cases and 6,110 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,419,303 with the death toll at 564,301.
(sfist.com, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 14, Brazil's city of Sao Paulo warned its ability to care for seriously ill COVID-19 patients was on the verge of collapse as it ran perilously low on key drugs.
(AP, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, Finland said people aged under 65 who got a first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot may get a different vaccine for their second dose, as authorities warned about delays to the country's roll-out.
(Reuters, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, France said it will use Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine as planned despite its suspension in the United States. France had received a first shipment of 200,000 doses.
(Reuters, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, Italy reported 469 coronavirus-related deaths against 476 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 16,168 from 13,447. Healthcare management in the Lombardy region said there was a growing reluctance amongst residents to accept AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine because of safety fears.
(Reuters, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, Sweden's Health Agency said it would pause plans to start vaccinations using Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine following reports of rare blood clots similar to those reported for the AstraZeneca shot.
(Reuters, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 14, Thailand confirmed 1,335 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the total to 35,910, with 97 deaths.
(AP, 4/14/21)
2021 Apr 15, California to date had 3,686,484 cases of coronavirus and 60,412 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 429,948 cases and 6,122 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,491,453 with the death toll at 565,254.
(sfist.com, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said people will "likely" need to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose within 12 months after they've been fully vaccinated.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 15, An emergency shipment of sedatives needed to intubate severely ill COVID-19 patients arrived in Brazil late today from China. Brazil has recorded a total of 365,444 coronavirus deaths, second only to the US, and 13,746,681 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
(Reuters, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 15, Britain reported 2,672 new COVID cases, up slightly from 2,491 a day earlier but taking the fall over the last seven days to almost 7% compared with a week earlier.
(Reuters, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, In Cambodia a 2-week lockdown began in Phnom Penh under orders from PM Hun Sen. Cambodia has so far confirmed 4,874 coronavirus cases and 35 deaths.
(SFC, 4/16/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 15, France reported 300 new deaths due to the coronavirus bringing its total to 100,077. France became the 3rd EU country, after Britain and Italy, to pass the 100,000 mark.
(SFC, 4/16/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 15, India's two largest cities, New Delhi and Mumbai, imposed stringent restrictions on movement as new infections in the country shot past 200,000 amid a devastating surge that is straining a fragile health system.
(AP, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, Iran said it has finalized a deal with Russia to purchase 60 million doses of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
(AP, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, Venezuela said it has received a batch of 50,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. Venezuela has reported 178,094 cases of coronavirus and 1,834 deaths, according to official figures.
(AP, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 15, The UN humanitarian chief warned that the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in Yemen is getting even worse with the COVID-19 pandemic “roaring back" in recent weeks as the Arab world’s poorest country faces a large-scale famine.
(AP, 4/15/21)
2021 Apr 16, The Biden administration said it will invest $1.7 billion to help states and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fight COVID-19 variants that are rapidly spreading across the United States.
(Reuters, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, California to date had 3,689,359 cases of coronavirus and 60,527 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 430,378 cases and 6,140 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,565,262 with the death toll at 566,088.
(sfist.com, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced that the state was lifting its mask mandate. He credited success in vaccinations for keeping deaths low.
(SFC, 4/17/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 16, It was reported that nearly 38% of New Mexico's adults are now fully vaccinated and that more than 57% of adults have now received at least one vaccine dose.
(SFC, 4/16/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 16, Australia reported its first fatality from blood clots in a recipient of AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) Covid-19 shot. It was the third case of the rare blood clots appearing in people who have been administered the vaccine in the country.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 16, Bangladesh recorded 4,417 new coronavirus cases raising that total to 711,779. 101 new deaths raised that total to 10,182.
(SFC, 4/17/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 16, Britain gave out 119,306 first vaccine doses and 485,421 second doses. A further 35 people died from the virus within 28 days of a positive test, and 2,206 people tested positive.
(Reuters, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 16, Guatemala said it will restrict entry to visitors who have recently been to Brazil, the United Kingdom and South Africa in an effort to control a jump in coronavirus cases. Confirmed cases reached 210,667.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 16, The CEO of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, asked President Biden to lift a US export embargo on raw materials for vaccines, saying it is hampering vaccine production in other parts of the world.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, In Iraq Khodeir Majid (64), a video producer and cameraman for The Associated Press for over 17 years, died of complications due to the coronavirus.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, Mexican health authorities said that 14 of the country's roughly 2,600 townships have refused to allow vaccination teams to administer anti-coronavirus doses there. A convoy transporting vaccines came under an armed attack in Michoacan state.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 16, Portugal officially reported 553 new COVID-19 cases and 4 deaths nationwide. A day earlier there were no COVID-19 deaths in Lisbon for the first time since August.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 16, South Africa took the first step in its mass vaccination campaign by starting online registrations for the elderly to receive shots beginning next month.
(AP, 4/16/21)
2021 Apr 17, The global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 3 million.
(AP, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, California to date had 3,690,969 cases of coronavirus and 60,580 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 430,411 cases and 6,140 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,573,791 with the death toll at 566,359.
(sfist.com, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, Public Health England reported that 73 cases of the B.1.617 variant, which was first discovered in India, had been found, while a further four cases were identified in Scotland.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, Canada reported a second case of rare blood clots with low platelets after immunization with AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in a week, while it said it still recommended the use of the shot.
(Reuters, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, France said it will order a strict 10-day quarantine for all travelers coming from Brazil starting April 24 in a bid to prevent the spread of a coronavirus variant.
(Reuters, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, India reported 234,692 new coronavirus cases. New Delhi went into a weekend lockdown. Capital Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said New Delhi has registered at least 24,000 fresh coronavirus cases in 24 hours and faces a "grim" battle against a new pandemic wave with shortages of oxygen and drugs.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, Italy reported 310 coronavirus-related deaths against 429 the day before. The daily tally of new infections edged down to 15,370 from 15,943.
(Reuters, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, In Kenya thousands of motorists and passengers were stuck in traffic for hours after police blocked major roads in Nairobi, to enforce a Covid curfew to battle infections. Kenya has confirmed more than 151,000 cases of the virus and just over 2,400 deaths.
(BBC, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 17, Thailand reported 1,547 new coronavirus cases and two additional deaths, amid a third wave of infections in the Southeast Asian country. New restrictions were announced for the next two weeks.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)(SFC, 4/17/21, p.A9)
2021 Apr 17, Tunisia announced the closure of all schools until April 30, as well as restrictions on movement, to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
(The Telegraph, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 17, It was reported that Zimbabwe has begun releasing about 3,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty aimed at easing congestion to reduce the threat of COVID-19 in the country’s overcrowded jails. Zimbabwe’s prisons have a capacity of 17,000 prisoners but held about 22,000 before the amnesty declared by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
(AP, 4/17/21)
2021 Apr 18, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, said that he does not believe the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson will be taken out of circulation altogether.
(NBC News, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 18, California to date had 3,692,733 cases of coronavirus and 60,644 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 431,161 cases and 6,142 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,640,808 with the death toll at 567,032.
(sfist.com, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 18, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said that she would not implement new COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in response to spiking infections because Republicans sued her last year, calling such moves unconstitutional.
(The Week, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, A travel bubble opened between Australia and New Zealand. Flights between the two countries jumped from 2-3 per day to 30.
(SFC, 4/20/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 18, France said it is imposing entry restrictions on travelers from four countries — Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Brazil — in hopes of keeping out especially contagious coronavirus variants.
(AP, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 18, Iran's daily coronavirus death toll climbed over 400 for the first time in months, as the country battles a post-holiday infection surge. Health authorities recorded 405 fatalities from the virus, pushing the total death toll to 66,732.
(AP, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 18, Israel lifted its outdoor mask mandate, while schools fully reopened for the first time since September.
(NY Times, 4/18/21)
2021 Apr 19, California to date had 3,695,410 cases of coronavirus and 60,675 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 431,821 cases and 6,147 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,733,410 with the death toll at 567,666.
(sfist.com, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, In Michigan rocker Ted Nugent revealed he was in agony after testing positive for coronavirus — months after he said the virus was “not a real pandemic." Nugent, a supporter of ex-President Donald Trump, previously called the pandemic a scam and has railed against public health restrictions.
(AP, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, CVS Health Corp said it would offer three over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at its drugstores as well as online, expanding access to home testing in the United States.
(Reuters, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, Britain imposed a travel ban on most visitors from India as PM Boris Johnson called off a trip to New Delhi. The UK has recorded 103 cases of a new virus variant, B.1.617, first identified in India.
(AP, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, In Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel was formally named chief of the Communist party, giving him civilian control of the nation.
(SFC, 4/20/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 19, The French government said it is introducing one of Europe’s first Covid-19 vaccine passport initiatives.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 19, Greece lifted quarantine restrictions for travelers from most European countries, as well as Israel and the United States as it prepares to reopen tourism services next month despite an ongoing emergency in pandemic-related hospital care.
(AP, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, India reported 273,810 new infections, its highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic. It has now reported more than 15 million infections, second only to the US. India's Health Ministry also reported 1,619 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing the toll over 178,769. New Delhi imposed a weekend lockdown to prevent the collapse of the capital's health system amid an explosive surge in coronavirus cases.
(AP, 4/19/21)(SFC, 4/20/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 19, Indonesia approved private research of COVID-19 vaccine candidate Nusantara that is backed by a former health minister, after recently saying a mid-stage trial for it could not proceed amid safety and data integrity issues.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 19, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has signed a deal to buy millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccinations from Pfizer through 2022.
(AP, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, Spain said it will study the effects of mixing different coronavirus vaccines, responding to shifting guidelines on the safety of the AstraZeneca's shot.
(Reuters, 4/19/21)
2021 Apr 19, In Turkey deaths from COVID-19 hit a record 341 despite more than 20 million vaccines having been administered. A recent surge has brought active infections to a peak equivalent to nearly 1% of working age people.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 20, The US Southern Command said all but eight of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 20, California to date had 3,698,507 cases of coronavirus and 60,761 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 432,296 cases and 6,159 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,786,856 with the death toll at 568,416.
(sfist.com, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 20, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (67) received the AstraZeneca shot against COVID-19, urging trust in vaccines after several countries limited the use of AstraZeneca due to suspected links to rare blood clots.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 20, The Swedish Health Agency said citizens under 65 who have had one shot of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine will be given a different vaccine for their second dose.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 20, Yemen's COVID-19 vaccination campaign began in government-held areas three weeks after the first shipment from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme arrived in the war-torn country.
(Reuters, 4/20/21)
2021 Apr 21, US regulators said that the Emergent Biosciences Baltimore factory, contracted to make Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, was dirty, didn’t follow proper manufacturing procedures and had poorly trained staff, resulting in contamination of material that was going to be put in the shots.
(AP, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, It was reported that the US State Department has added about 100 countries this week to its "Level Four: Do Not Travel" advisory list, putting the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Mexico, Germany and others on the list, citing a "very high level of COVID-19".
(Reuters, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, California to date had 3,699,503 cases of coronavirus and 60,768 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 432,364 cases and 6,160 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,802,046 with the death toll at 568,572.
(sfist.com, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, Johnson & Johnson said that it would resume the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe after the EU’s drug regulator said that a warning should be added to the product indicating a possible link to rare blood clots, but that the shot’s benefits outweigh the risks.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, Pfizer confirmed that fake doses of the vaccine Pfizer developed with BioNTech have been found in Mexico and Poland.
(WSJ, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, It was reported that researchers in China are testing the safety and efficacy of mixing two different Covid-19 shots amid questions over the effectiveness of Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, German's lower house of parliament approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly.
(AP, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, India’s Health Ministry reported 295,041 new cases with 2,023 deaths, taking total fatalities to 182,553. 22 COVID-19 patients on ventilators died in a hospital in Nashik, Maharashtra state, when their oxygen supply was interrupted by a leak in a supply line.
(AP, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced new social support measures for families with children and hinted at more tax changes, saying the corporate sector was on course for record profits this year. Putin also said he wanted Russia to reach collective COVID-19 immunity by the autumn and called on Russians to get vaccinated against the new coronavirus.
(AP, 4/21/21)(Reuters, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, Syria's last rebel-held enclave received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines with a refrigerated truck offloading over 50,000 UN-secured jabs in the overcrowded province.
(AP, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 21, It was reported that the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu has paused outbound travel from its main island after a body that washed ashore tested positive for the coronavirus. The body, identified as a Filipino man, was found last week after a tanker ship leaving the capital, Port Vila, reported one of its crew members missing.
(NY Times, 4/21/21)
2021 Apr 22, Arizona reported 647 confirmed coronavirus cases and 22 more deaths. The state has vaccinated 28% of its population. Total coronavirus cases in the state reached 856,451, and 17,221 confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 4/23/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 22, California to date had 3,701,695 cases of coronavirus and 60,881 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 433,006 cases and 6,172 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,928,507 with the death toll at 570,321.
(sfist.com, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced during a press conference that Washington state has entered its fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Axios, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 22, India confirmed a record 314,835 new COVID-19 cases nationwide over the previous 24 hours, the highest one-day case count any country has seen during the coronavirus pandemic.
(BBC, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Iran is now reporting its highest-ever new coronavirus case numbers — more than 25,000 a day. Its daily death toll has surged to around 400, still below the grim record of 486 it reached in November.
(AP, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Italy reported 360 coronavirus-related deaths against 364 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 16,232 from 13,844.
(Reuters, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Laos locked down its capital Vientiane and closed international borders to most traffic after identifying a COVID-19 cluster connected its neighbor Thailand. 28 new cases were confirmed a day earlier bringing the country's total to 88.
(SFC, 4/23/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 22, Norway said it will lend all of its 216,000 doses of AstraZeneca to neighboring Sweden and Iceland as long as its own government regulator has paused the use of the vaccine.
(AP, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, Sweden said it will postpone a tentative plan to ease some COVID-19 restrictions, due to the ongoing high levels of new infections. Sweden registered 7,736 new COVID-19 cases today and 19 new deaths, taking the total deaths to 13,882.
(Reuters, 4/22/21)
2021 Apr 22, The Syrian government received a batch of 203,000 COVID-19 vaccines, part of a push to speed up a sluggish inoculation process in the war-torn country.
(AP, 4/22/21)
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2021 Apr 23, California to date had 3,710,854 cases of coronavirus and 61,005 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 433,500 cases and 6,203 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 31,972,888 with the death toll at 571,001.
(sfist.com, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, It was reported that Brazil’s COVID-19 vaccination program is being put at risk by people failing to show up for their second shot, with 1.5 million people missing appointments for the follow-up dose needed to maximize protection. A recent real-world study from Chile found that the Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine, which has accounted for some 80% of Brazil's program, is just 16% effective after one shot.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, Britain recorded 2,678 new cases of COVID-19, a drop on 2,729 recorded the previous day, while a further 40 people had died within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, The European Medicines Agency said that people who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should get the second one too, despite the rare risk of blood clots that have been linked to the shot.
(AP, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, France became the first rich country to donate COVID-19 vaccines to a developing nation through the UN's jab rollout program for low- and middle-income countries, shipping more than 100,000 doses to Mauritania. President Emmanuel Macron said France will step up vaccine donations to the international COVAX vaccine program in the coming months with a donation of 500,000 shots, including from suppliers other than AstraZeneca.
(AP, 4/23/21)(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, India set a global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. India has recorded 2,263 deaths in the past 24 hours for a total of 186,920. Thirteen people died when an oxygen-fed fire ripped through a coronavirus ward on the outskirts of Mumbai. India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients.
(AP, 4/23/21)(SFC, 4/24/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 23, India's Cadila Healthcare said it has started producing its potential COVID-19 vaccine for which it will seek emergency use authorisation in May or June, its managing director told Reuters, with an aim to make up to 240 million doses a year.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, Italy reported 342 coronavirus-related deaths against 360 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 14,761 from 16,232.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, Norway said it will offer those who have received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 to take an injection from an mRNA vaccine as their second dose.
(Reuters, 4/23/21)
2021 Apr 23, Pakistan reported 144 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours. Total cases reached 784,108 and 16,842 deaths. PM Imran Khan summoned troops to help police implement social distancing rules.
(SFC, 4/24/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 24, Several US states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine following a green light from federal health officials.
(AP, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, Alaska Airlines banned Alaska state Senator Lora Reinbold for refusing to follow mask requirements. Reinbold has been a vocal opponent to COVID-19 mitigation measures.
(AP, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 24, California to date had 3,705,952 cases of coronavirus and 61,054 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 433,563 cases and 6,203 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,022,974 with the death toll at 571,547.
(sfist.com, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, China reported 13 new COVID-19 cases, up from nine cases a day earlier. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 14 from 12 a day earlier.
(Reuters, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 24, Costa Rica registered 1,830 new COVID-19 infections, its highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic.
(AP, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 24, Overwhelmed hospitals in India begged for oxygen supplies as the country's coronavirus infections soared again overnight in a "tsunami" of disease, setting a new world record for cases for the third consecutive day. The number of cases across the country rose overnight by 346,786, for a total of 16.6 million cases, including 189,544 deaths. COVID-19 deaths rose by 2,624 over the past 24 hours, the highest daily rate for the country so far.
(Reuters, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, Iran banned all flights to and from India and Pakistan to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
(Axios, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, Pakistan reported 157 coronavirus deaths, its highest toll in a single day. Overall fatalities rose to 16,999 and total cases to 790,016.
(SSFC, 4/25/21, p.A11)
2021 Apr 24, Papua New Guinea (PNG) officials reported three new COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the country's total deaths to 102. The official number of coronavirus infections in the nation of 8.8 million people rose to 10,602, with 52 new cases.
(Reuters, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, South Korea said it has signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to purchase an additional 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine amid fears of spiking infections at home.
(Reuters, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, The Syrian government received the first batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, a gift of 150,000 jabs to Damascus. The Syrian government has registered nearly 22,000 infection cases, including over 1,500 deaths in areas under its control.
(AP, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 24, Thailand's capital Bangkok ordered the closure of public venues and sports premises after the country reported a record daily rise in coronavirus cases and deaths amid a third wave of infections. The closures, effective from April 26 until May 9, apply to venues including public parks, gyms, swimming pools, meeting halls, internet shops, daycares centers, sports fields, museums and libraries.
(Reuters, 4/24/21)
2021 Apr 25, California to date had 3,706,272 cases of coronavirus and 61,096 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 433,858 cases and 6,209 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,063,938 with the death toll at 572,109.
(sfist.com, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 25, India set a 4th global daily record of new coronavirus infections, spurred by an insidious new variant that emerged here. The 349,691 confirmed infections over the past day brought India’s total to more than 16.9 million cases.
(AP, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 25, Italy joined other countries by imposing restrictions on travel from India to avert the spread of the B.1.617 coronavirus variant.
(AP, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 25, Nepal, which shares a long porous border with India, reported 3,032 new coronavirus infections, the highest daily surge recorded this year.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 25, Switzerland said it has confirmed the first case of an Indian variant of COVID-19 in a person who entered Switzerland via a European country in late march.
(Reuters, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 25, Thai authorities stepped up travel restrictions and other measures to combat a rapidly spreading third wave of COVID-19 infections as the country logged 11 deaths, a daily record. A new outbreak driven by the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant has resulted in over 24,000 cases and 46 deaths in just 25 days.
(Reuters, 4/25/21)
2021 Apr 26, US officials said Pres. Joe Biden intends to make up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine available to other countries, so long as federal regulators deem the doses safe.
(NY Times, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, California to date had 3,708,127 cases of coronavirus and 61,107 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 434,229 cases and 6,209 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,106,885 with the death toll at 572,549.
(sfist.com, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Brazil’s health authority rejected Russia’s Covid vaccine even though scientific research suggests it is safe and effective.
(NY Times, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Cyprus returned to lockdown mode for two weeks as infections increased despite a ramped-up vaccination program.
(SFC, 4/26/21, p.A7)
2021 Apr 26, India reported another 2,812 deaths, with roughly 117 Indians succumbing to the disease every hour, setting another record for new coronavirus infections for a fifth day in a row at more than 350,000. Officials said the city of Bengaluru, home to the technology operations of hundreds of global companies, will enter a two-week lockdown for 14 days.
(AP, 4/26/21)(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Iran registered its highest single-day death toll from COVID-19, bringing the total number of fatalities to over 70,000 in the country hardest hit by the coronavirus in the region. 496 new deaths were tallied over the last 24 hours as well as 21,026 more confirmed cases.
(AP, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, In Japan private sector advisers to PM Yoshihide Suga warned that Japan's birth rate is declining at a faster pace amid the coronavirus crisis, saying that society should have a "sense of crisis" about it.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Norwegian PM Erna Solberg (60) received her first dose of a vaccine against COVID-19. Four other cabinet ministers were also vaccinated.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, The Philippines' Dept. of Health reported 8,929 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country's total to 1,006,428 including 16,853 deaths.
(SFC, 4/27/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 26, Portugal reported no coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours for the first time in nearly nine months as the country emerges from a two-month lockdown.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Russian pharmaceutical firm Pharmasyntez said it was ready to ship up to 1 million packs of the remdesivir antiviral drug to India by end-May to help fight a surge in COVID-19 cases there, once it has received the approval of Russia's government.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Sri Lanka reported 793 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours. Police arrested 177 people over the last 24 hours for violating mask and social distancing regulations in public places.
(SFC, 4/27/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 26, Thailand's government slapped restrictions on travel from India and closed more venues in Bangkok, even as it came under fire for not doing enough to contain a spike in infections.
(Reuters, 4/26/21)
2021 Apr 26, Turkey reported 37,312 new coronavirus cases and 353 deaths. The total death toll now stood at 38,711. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a national lockdown for three weeks as of April 29, closing nonessential businesses and sending all students home.
(NY Times, 4/27/21)(SFC, 4/28/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 27, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that vaccinated people can be maskless outside, except in crowds.
(NY Times, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 27, California to date had 3,710,117 cases of coronavirus and 61,130 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 434,739 cases and 6,226 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,168,304 with the death toll at 573,316. California's Dept. of Public Health said it has recorded 1,379 cases of coronavirus infections in people who were fully vaccinated.
(sfist.com, 4/27/21)(SFC, 4/28/21, p.A9)
2021 Apr 27, Missouri reported 524 newly confirmed coronavirus cases bringing the state toal to 500,071. New deaths numbered 37 bringing that total to 8,732.
(SFC, 4/28/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 27, Merck & Co Inc said it had partnered with five Indian generic drugmakers, including Cipla Ltd and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, to expand production and access to its experimental COVID-19 drug.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, Chile, which has designated pregnant women a COVID-19 vaccination priority, began issuing Pfizer doses to pregnant women with underlying health issues in their second or third trimesters.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 27, India reported 2,771 new coronavirus deaths. 323,144 new infections raised that total of more than 17.6 million.
(SFC, 4/28/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 27, Iran reported coronavirus 462 deaths. Some 70,532 people have died out of 2.4 million cases. Iran said it has found three suspected cases of the coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, Italy reported 373 coronavirus-related deaths against 301 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 10,404 from 8,444.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, Kazakhstan launched its own, domestically-developed vaccine for mass inoculations against COVID-19, starting with popular locations such as shopping malls. The QazVac vaccine is delivered in two shots with a three-week interval. Kazakhstan has reported over 360,000 COVID-19 cases with 4,381 deaths since the global pandemic began.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, It was reported that some Russians who have taken COVID-19 antibody tests and found their antibodies have fallen are having third and fourth shots of the Sputnik V vaccine, but researchers in the country suggest they are unnecessary.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 27, Sweden's Health Agency said the number of new COVID-19 cases in Sweden has decreased in the past week, but infections are still at a high level and it is too early to say whether the trend will continue. Sweden registered 45 new deaths, taking the total to 13,968.
(Reuters, 4/27/21)
2021 Apr 28, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO Foundation and corporate, religious, and world leaders launched a new mass fundraising campaign, Go Give One, aiming to inspire 50 million people around the world to make small donations to Covax. The campaign will contribute to the $3 billion in Covax funding.
(AP, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, California to date had 3,712,762 cases of coronavirus and 61,197 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 434,951 cases and 6,229 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,225,012 with the death toll at 574,280.
(sfist.com, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, Uber Technologies Inc said it was launching new features in its app to allow US customers to book COVID-19 vaccine appointments and reserve rental cars.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, The Netherlands began relaxing its lockdown even as infection rates reimained stubbornly high.
(SFC, 4/29/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 28, Slovakia's health ministry said doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine sent to Slovakia in March will have to be kept in storage for at least another month, after Moscow asked for some doses to be sent back for testing.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, South Africa resumed giving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to health care workers after a more than two-week pause in the use of the only COVID-19 inoculation in the country.
(AP, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, Turkey said it has signed a deal for 50 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine which will start arriving next month.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 28, Vietnam warned against mass gatherings ahead of long public holidays this weekend and said it would speed up its vaccine rollout amid a worsening coronavirus situation among its neighbors. Vietnam has tallied 2,865 cases, with only 35 deaths reported since the pandemic began, one of the best records in Asia.
(Reuters, 4/28/21)
2021 Apr 29, California to date had 3,713,791 cases of coronavirus and 61,240 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 435,320 cases and 6,248 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,282,063 with the death toll at 575,052.
(sfist.com, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Brazil became the 2nd country to top 400,000 COVID-19 deaths. Brazil announced another 3,001, bringing that total to 401,186.
(SFC, 4/30/21, p.A6)
2021 Apr 29, The Czech drugs regulator said it lacked the documentation needed to fully assess Russia's COVID-19 vaccine for possible use, drawing a rebuke from Moscow amid a separate, heated dispute over spying allegations.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, India's health ministry reported 379,257 new coronavirus infections, the latest in a series of global single-day records set during the country's devastating second wave of COVID-19. India also confirmed another 3,645 COVID-19 deaths, the most it has seen in a single day since the pandemic started.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Italy hit its target of administering 500,000 COVID-19 vaccinations in a single day.
(Reuters, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 29, Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria announced they will extend a partial lockdown for another week amid a surge in coronavirus cases. An international aid group warned of oxygen shortages in the neglected region of the war-ravaged country.
(AP, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Pakistan said it has purchased 13 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from three Chinese companies. Total deaths crossed 17,680 with over 150 deaths today and 5,480 coronavirus cases adding to a total of 815,711.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Russian developers of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 said that they were suing Brazilian regulator Anvisa for defamation, accusing it of having knowingly spread false information without testing their product.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 29, Vietnam said it had detected its first locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus in 35 days, as authorities ordered tighter surveillance to prevent a new outbreak.
(Reuters, 4/29/21)
2021 Apr 30, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy ended the state's disaster declaration for COVID-19, saying the decree is no longer necessary.
(SFC, 5/3/21, p.A5)
2021 Apr 30, Disneyland reopened and New York’s mayor predicted the big city will be up and running again at full strength by July 1, as the number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 closed in on 100 million.
(AP, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, California to date had 3,715,436 cases of coronavirus and 61,317 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 435,608 cases and 6,263 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,341,678 with the death toll at 575,876.
(sfist.com, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Oregon and Washington states reported a surge COVID-19 cases triggering a fresh wave of shutdowns.
(SFC, 5/1/21, p.A8)
2021 Apr 30, The World Health Organization (WHO) listed Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use.
(Axios, 5/1/21)
2021 Apr 30, Chinese leader Xi Jinping offered additional assistance to India in battling the coronavirus outbreak ravaging the country, putting aside a simmering rivalry and tensions along their disputed border.
(AP, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Costa Rica announced new restrictions following a surge in coronavirus infections. Costa Rica has confirmed more than 248,000 infections and 3,200 deaths.
(SFC, 5/1/21, p.A4)
2021 Apr 30, India reported 3,498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. With 386,452 new cases, India now has reported more than 18.7 million since the pandemic began.
(AP, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Italy reported 263 coronavirus-related deaths against 288 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 13,446 from 14,320.
(Reuters, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, North Macedonia received a shipment of 200,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine following major delays in the country’s start-and-stop coronavirus immunization program.
(AP, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Norway said it will extend the time between first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 12 from six weeks for most adults under the age of 65 in order to reach its first vaccination target sooner than planned.
(Reuters, 4/30/21)
2021 Apr 30, Spain said it is extending the gap between the first and second doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to 16 weeks for people aged under 60.
(Reuters, 4/30/21)
2021 May 1, It was reported that the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has extended a requirement that passengers on planes, trains and buses wear face masks. The rule was set to expire May 11 but will run through Sept. 13.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, California to date had 3,717,403 cases of coronavirus and 61,417 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 435,734 cases and 6,263 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,359,517 with the death toll at 576,402.
(sfist.com, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, Police in Belgium detained 132 people who took part in an illegal party in a Brussels park to protest COVID-19 restrictions.
(AP, 5/2/21)
2021 May 1, Hungary loosened several COVID-19 restrictions for people with government-issued immunity cards, the latest in a series of reopening measures that have followed an ambitious vaccination campaign.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, India set yet another daily global record with 401,993 new cases, taking its tally to more than 19.1 million. Another 3,523 people died in the past 24 hours, raising the overall deaths to 211,853. In western India a fire in a COVID-19 hospital ward killed 18 patients early today. India opened vaccinations to all adults.
(AP, 5/1/21)(SSFC, 5/2/21, p.A7)
2021 May 1, Jordan recorded 704 cases of COVID-19 with 35 deaths, bringing the total cases detected in the kingdom to 712,077 with 8,871 deaths. Jordan's health ministry said three cases of the Indian COVID-19 variant have been detected in people who had not travelled.
(Reuters, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta loosened infection-control measures after the number of coronavirus cases in the country dropped from an early spring surge.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, The Netherlands postponed a further easing of lockdown measures until at least May 18 as COVID-19 infections remain high and hospitals are struggling with large numbers of coronavirus patients.
(Reuters, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, Pakistan reported 146 more daily coronavirus deaths. The number reported brings the country's overall death toll in the pandemic to 17,957.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, The Philippines received its first batch of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. With nearly 1.05 million infections and 17,354 deaths, the Philippines is battling one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Asia.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, A COVID-19 vaccine campaign kicked off in Syria’s last rebel-held enclave, with a 45-year-old front-line nurse becoming the first to receive a UN-secured jab.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 1, Ukraine said it has signed a contract with Pfizer for an additional 10 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, brining the total number of doses to 20 million.
(AP, 5/1/21)
2021 May 2, California to date had 3,718,778 cases of coronavirus and 61,513 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 436,080 cases and 6,276 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,399,512 with the death toll at 576,797.
(sfist.com, 5/2/21)
2021 May 2, A New Delhi court said it would start punishing public officials for failing to deliver a steady supply of oxygen and other materials needed to save lives during India's devastating coronavirus outbreak.
(AP, 5/2/21)
2021 May 2, Malaysia said it has detected its first case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, days after imposing a ban on flights from India.
(Reuters, 5/2/21)
2021 May 2, Thailand's Health Ministry reported 1,940 new coronavirus cases, while deaths hit 21 for a second day, the highest daily number of fatalities since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 5/2/21)
2021 May 3, California to date had 3,722,178 cases of coronavirus and 61,593 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 436,797 cases and 6,288 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,469,628 with the death toll at 577,491.
(sfist.com, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved to suspend all remaining COVID-19 restrictions imposed by communities across his state, signing into law freshly passed legislation giving him sweeping powers to invalidate local emergency measures put in place during the pandemic.
(AP, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, It was reported that Denmark has removed the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot from its vaccination program to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. Denmark has already taken the AstraZeneca shot out of its vaccination program for the same reason. Both the J&J and AstraZeneca shots are made with similar technology.
(AP, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, Cafes and restaurants reopened in Greece for sit-down service for the first time in nearly six months, as the country began easing coronavirus-related restrictions with a view to opening the vital tourism industry in the summer.
(AP, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, In India at least 10 people died over the last 24 hours after a hospital ran out of oxygen in Karnataka state.
(NY Times, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte (76) received his first dose of Sinopharm's vaccine against COVID-19 to encourage reluctant Filipinos to get inoculated and help stop the spread of the virus.
(Reuters, 5/3/21)
2021 May 3, Thailand reported a new daily record of 31 coronavirus deaths, the health ministry said, as the Southeast Asian country grapples with a third wave of infections.
(Reuters, 5/3/21)
2021 May 4, California to date had 3,723,265 cases of coronavirus and 61,619 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 438,243 cases and 6,310 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,507,113 with the death toll at 578,319.
(sfist.com, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, It was reported that France has reopened secondary and high schools and lifted a ban on domestic travel as part of the government's plan to gradually reopen the country as virus infections have started decreasing.
(SFC, 5/4/21, p.A4)
2021 May 4, India's official count of coronavirus cases surpassed 20 million, nearly doubling in the past three months, while deaths officially have passed 220,000.
(AP, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, India's government said 8 Asiatic lions at a zoo in Hyderabad have contracted the coronavirus, adding that there was no evidence that animals could transmit the disease to humans. The Nehru Zoological Park has now been closed.
(AP, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, Italy reported 305 coronavirus-related deaths against 256 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 9,116 from 5,948.
(AP, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, Nepal halted domestic flights due to spiking cases of the coronavirus. Int'l. flights would cease on May 6.
(SFC, 5/4/21, p.A4)
2021 May 4, The Seychelles, which has fully vaccinated over 60% of its population against Covid-19, said it is bringing back restrictions amid a rise in cases.
(BBC, 5/5/21)
2021 May 4, Sicily said it will start offering COVID-19 vaccines to people over 50 to speed up its inoculation program which is being hampered by a reluctant older population who fear potentially severe side effects. Five people in Sicily have died after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
(AP, 5/4/21)
2021 May 4, Thailand launched a campaign to vaccinate 50,000 people living in a crowded river-side district of the capital Bangkok, as the country tries to contain a third wave of coronavirus infections. Thailand reported 1,763 new coronavirus cases and 27 deaths, bringing the total to 72,788 cases and 303 fatalities since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 5/4/21)
2021 May 5, The Biden administration came out in support of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines, siding with international efforts to bolster production amid concerns about vaccine access in developing nations. Pharmaceutical companies reacted angrily, saying it would hamper future vaccine development and do little to increase short-term supply.
(NY Times, 5/6/21)
2021 May 5, California to date had 3,725,371 cases of coronavirus and 61,678 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 438,523 cases and 6,319 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,555,496 with the death toll at 579,249.
(sfist.com, 5/6/21)
2021 May 5, Canada said it is authorizing the use of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine for use in children from 12 to 15, the first dose to be allowed for people that young.
(AP, 5/5/21)
2021 May 5, Germany and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the creation of a new global hub in Berlin for gathering data on pandemics.
(Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021 May 5, Germany's constitutional court dismissed emergency appeals against the government's decision to impose night curfews in areas with high COVID-19 infections as some regions are eyeing a loosening of lockdown restrictions.
(Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021 May 5, India gave emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 antibody drug cocktail developed by Roche and Regeneron, expanding its arsenal of drugs to battle a massive second wave of infections.
(Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021 May 5, Malaysia imposed movement restrictions in the capital Kuala Lumpur due to a rising number of COVID-19 infections, adding to lockdowns that have been implemented across the country. Malaysia reported 3,744 new infections and has now seen a total of 424,376 cases.
(Reuters, 5/5/21)
2021 May 6, California to date had 3,726,939 cases of coronavirus and 61,744 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 438,875 cases and 6,333 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,601,576 with the death toll at 580,025.
(sfist.com, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Britain recorded a further 2,613 cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, and 13 deaths.
(Reuters, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Cyprus unveiled a phased rollback of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions over the next month, including a shortened curfew and a reopening of all schools next week.
(AP, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Germany rejected a US proposal to waive patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines, saying the greatest constraints on production were not intellectual property but increasing capacity and ensuring quality.
(Reuters, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, India's government agreed to provide more medical oxygen to hospitals in New Delhi under order by the Supreme Court.
(SFC, 5/7/21, p.A5)
2021 May 6, Italy reported 258 coronavirus-related deaths against 267 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 11,807 from 10,585.
(Reuters, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Nepal reported 9,070 new confirmed cases, compared to 298 a month ago.
(AP, 5/7/21)
2021 May 6, It was reported that Dutch researchers have trained bees, which have an unusually keen sense of smell, to identify samples infected with COVID-19, a finding they said could cut waiting times for test results to just seconds. The technique of "insect sniffing" was effectively tested by the US Dept. of Defence to detect explosives and toxins in the 1990s.
(AP, 5/6/21)
2021 May 6, Russian authorities gave regulatory approval to a single-dose version of the country's Sputnik V vaccine, arguing that the move could accelerate the process of achieving herd immunity against the coronavirus. Russia started human trials of Sputnik Light, identical to the first dose of the two-dose Sputnik V, in January. The studies remained ongoing.
(AP, 5/6/21)
2021 May 7, California to date had 3,729,459 cases of coronavirus and 61,838 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 439,300 cases and 6,339 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,640,373 with the death toll at 580,776.
(sfist.com, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Novavax Inc said the distribution of its COVID-19 vaccine in Japan is expected to begin in late 2021 or early 2022 and continue for the near-term, predicting the need for protection against variants in the future. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, Japan's biggest drugmaker, is helping bring the vaccine to the domestic market.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SA said they have filed for a full US approval for their COVID-19 vaccine, which is now authorized only for emergency use.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, It was reported that the military and police in Fiji have surrounded and locked down a major hospital amid concerns of a growing coronavirus outbreak.
(SFC, 5/7/21, p.A5)
2021 May 7, Pressure on the French hospital system from the COVID-19 epidemic eased for the fourth day in row and the number of virus deaths in hospitals was down again compared to a week ago. France reported 226 new coronavirus deaths in hospitals, from 219 a day earlier.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, India reported another record daily rise in coronavirus cases, bringing total new cases for the week to 1.57 million, as its vaccination rate fell dramatically due to a lack of supplies and transport problems.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Italy reported 207 coronavirus-related deaths against 258 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 10,554 from 11,807.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Doctors in Nepal warned of a major crisis as daily coronavirus cases hit a record and hospitals were running out of beds and oxygen.
(AP, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, Vietnam's health ministry reported its first death in a patient who received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine shot, as the country battled a new outbreak. A female health worker (35) died from allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. The health ministry reported 47 new infections, raising the total number of cases in the country to 3,137, with 35 deaths.
(Reuters, 5/7/21)
2021 May 7, The World Health Organization gave emergency use authorization to a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China's Sinopharm, potentially paving the way for millions of the doses to reach needy countries through a UN-backed program rolling out coronavirus vaccines.
(AP, 5/7/21)
2021 May 8, California to date had 3,731,562 cases of coronavirus and 61,882 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 439,347 cases and 6,339 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,653,055 with the death toll at 580,905.
(sfist.com, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, Bangladesh said it has detected its first case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, weeks after it sealed its borders with its neighbor.
(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, Egypt said it will require all visitors arriving from "countries where variants of the virus have appeared" to take a rapid COVID-19 test upon arrival.
(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, India reported its highest ever single-day COVID-19 death toll, as cases continued to rise and states imposed stricter lockdowns. The health ministry reported 4,187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll close to 240,000.
(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, Italy reported 224 coronavirus-related deaths against 207 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 10,176 from 10,554.
(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 8, Pakistan received its first supply of COVID-19 vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX initiative, over 1.2 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Researchers said a coronavirus variant first discovered in the UK now accounts for up to 70% of COVID-19 infections across Pakistan.
(AP, 5/8/21)(Reuters, 5/8/21)
2021 May 9, California to date had 3,732,672 cases of coronavirus and 61,937 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 439,689 cases and 6,344 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,696,162 with the death toll at 581,651.
(sfist.com, 5/9/21)
2021 May 9, A total of 1,770 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the United Kingdom, with the seven-day total of 14,659 cases down by 4.3% compared with the previous seven days.
(Reuters, 5/9/21)
2021 May 9, India reported 403,738 confirmed cases, including 4,092 deaths. Overall, India has over 22 million confirmed infections and 240,000 deaths. Experts say both figures are undercounts. India said it will recruit hundreds of former army medics to support its overwhelmed healthcare system.
(AP, 5/9/21)(Reuters, 5/9/21)
2021 May 9, A Slovakia health ministry spokeswoman said a Hungarian lab has confirmed that the first batch of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines sent to Slovakia were satisfactory and the government would discuss the next steps with Russia.
(Reuters, 5/9/21)
2021 May 9, Exhilarated Spaniards chanting "freedom" danced in streets and partied on beaches as a COVID-19 curfew ended in most of the country, but others feared it was too soon to let go. Spain has suffered 78,792 coronavirus deaths and 3.6 million cases. But infection rates have fallen and vaccinations are progressing fast, enabling most of the 17 regions to scrap the curfew. The Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Navarra and Valencia continued curfews.
(Reuters, 5/9/21)
2021 May 10, The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 10, California to date had 3,734,550 cases of coronavirus and 61,968 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,024 cases and 6,346 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,741,875 with the death toll at 582,133.
(sfist.com, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Eli Lilly and Co said it had signed licensing agreements with three Indian generic drugmakers to expand the availability of its arthritis drug baricitinib in the country for treating COVID-19 patients.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate was safe, well-tolerated and produced immune response against the new coronavirus in a mid-stage clinical trial.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, The United Kingdom's chief medical officers agreed to lower the COVID alert level to 3, which means the epidemic is in general circulation, from 4, which means transmission is high or rising exponentially.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Public Health England said data from the rollout of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine shows one dose of the shot results in 80% less risk of death from the disease.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, The Czech Republic massively relaxed its coronavirus restrictions as the hard-hit nation paid its respects to the country's nearly 30,000 dead.
(AP, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Egypt's Eva Pharma signed an agreement to provide India with 300,000 doses of remdesivir, used in the treatment of COVID-19. Eva Pharma, a generic drugmaker established in 1997, said in June 2020 it had received a license from Gilead Sciences Inc to make remdesivir in Egypt and distribute it in 127 countries.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Greece reopened junior and high schools for in-person classes as the country continues to ease coronavirus related restrictions.
(SFC, 5/11/21, p.A4)
2021 May 10, Italy reported 198 coronavirus-related deaths against 139 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 5,080 from 8,292.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Malaysia imposed a new nationwide lockdown, as the country grapples with a surge in coronavirus cases and highly infectious variants that the government said are testing its health system.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, It was reported that Sudan is struggling to provide hospital beds, drugs and medical oxygen to COVID-19 patients hit by a third wave of infections that is straining the country's patchy healthcare system beyond what it can cope with. Sudan has recorded 33,000 cases and over 2,600 deaths since the start of the pandemic, but officials say the real numbers are likely to be much higher given low rates of testing.
(Reuters, 5/10/21)
2021 May 10, Thailand started deploying a canine virus-detecting squad in hopes of quickly identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters at construction sites, crowded slum communities and large markets.
(AP, 5/21/21)
2021 May 11, California to date had 3,735,737 cases of coronavirus and 61,975 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,395 cases and 6,353 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,773,387 with the death toll at 582,791.
(sfist.com, 5/11/21)
2021 May 11, Brazilian states halted vaccination of pregnant women after a death in Rio de Janeiro led health regulator Anvisa to warn against the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for expecting mothers.
(AP, 5/11/21)
2021 May 11, India confirmed nearly 390,000 new coronavirus cases including 3,876 deaths. Bodies have been retrieved floating in the Ganges River in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh states..
(SFC, 5/12/21, p.A7)
2021 May 11, Nepal reported 9,483 new coronavirus and 225 deaths. Authorities extended a lockdown in Kathmandu and surrounding districts until May 27. Total cases now numbered 413,111 with 4,084 deaths.
(SFC, 5/12/21, p.A7)
2021 May 11, The World Health Organization said it was reviewing coronavirus data from Seychelles after the health ministry said more than a third of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week had been fully vaccinated. The total number of confirmed cases in Seychelles since the pandemic began is less than 8,200.
(Reuters, 5/11/21)
2021 May 12, COVID-19 deaths in the US have tumbled to an average of around 600 per day, the lowest level in 10 months, with the number of lives lost dropping to single digits in well over half the states and hitting zero on some days.
(AP, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had identified 28 cases of serious, potentially life-threatening cases of blood clotting, among the more than 8.7 million people who had received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, California to date had 3,737,289 cases of coronavirus and 62,100 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,728 cases and 6,420 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,813,656 with the death toll at 583,646.
(sfist.com, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio announced that the state would give five people $1 million each in return for having been vaccinated as part of a weekly lottery program.
(NY Times, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, Australia tapped Moderna Inc for 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, as it tries to speed up vaccination in people under 50 after deciding against AstraZeneca, whose jab has been linked to rare blood clots.
(Reuters, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, The German government agreed to let travelers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or recovered from infection avoid testing and quarantine when entering the country, unless they come from areas where variants of concern are prevalent.
(AP, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, RIA news cited Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova saying Russia has vaccinated over 14 million people against COVID-19 so far with at least one dose.
(AP, 5/12/21)
2021 May 12, It was reported that Russia has experienced production problems with its Sputnik V vaccine. Sputnik is unusual in that its two required doses are different and not interchangeable.
(SFC, 5/12/21, p.A7)
2021 May 12, Slovakia's health minister says he plans to keep AstraZeneca in the country's vaccine arsenal, speaking a day after the country suspended use of the shots after a recipient died.
(AP, 5/12/21)
2021 May 13, The Biden administration said it is releasing $7.4 billion to bolster the nation's healthcare workforce amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for future epidemics and health challenges.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fully vaccinated people could stop wearing masks in most settings, including crowded indoor gatherings.
(NY Times, 5/14/21)
2021 May 13, California to date had 3,738,730 cases of coronavirus and 62,145 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 441,014 cases and 6,474 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,819,878 with the death toll at 583,779.
(sfist.com, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Amazon.com Inc said it will give $100 more to new hires with proof of COVID-19 vaccination, the world's largest e-commerce retailer, as part of its plan to employ 75,000 workers for fulfillment and logistics operations.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Delta Air Lines said it will require all new hires in the United States to be vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the first major companies to issue such a mandate.
(Reuters, 5/14/21)
2021 May 13, CureVac and GlaxoSmithKline said their second-generation COVID-19 vaccine, designed to protect against coronavirus variants, produced a high level of immune response in a trial in rats.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Britain reported 11 new deaths from COVID-19 within 28 days of a positive test and a further 2,657 cases of the disease, up from 2,284 new cases the day before and the biggest daily increase since April 27.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, India recorded more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths for a second day in a row, while infections stayed below 400,000 for a fourth day, though the virus has become rampant in rural areas where cases can go unreported due to a lack of testing.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Singapore's health ministry reported 24 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the highest daily number since mid-September, with 17 of the new cases linked to a cluster at Chang Airport.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 13, Thailand announced a daily record in new cases after nearly 3,000 inmates in two jails were infected, among them a leader of anti-government protests held while awaiting trial for insulting the king.
(Reuters, 5/13/21)
2021 May 14, California to date had 3,740,458 cases of coronavirus and 62,239 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,765 cases and 6,487 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,889,955 with the death toll at 585,195.
(sfist.com, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, Trader Joe's, and Publix were among the first major retailers to announce that shoppers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 would no longer have to wear masks in their stores, unless required by state or local law.
(USA Today, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Britain's health ministry said the estimated reproduction "R" rate in England edged up to between 0.8 and 1.1, and it is less clear that the epidemic is still shrinking compared to last week.
(AP, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Mainland China reported 14 new COVID-19 cases, up from seven cases a day earlier.
(Reuters, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Indian drugmaker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd said it expects to get 36 million doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in the next couple of months under its contract with Russia's sovereign wealth fund.
(AP, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, It was reported that Italy's hopes of producing its own COVID-19 vaccine have been thrown into doubt after the state audit court rejected a plan to pump public funds into local biotech company ReiThera.
(Reuters, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Italy's Health Minister signed an ordnance allowing quarantine-free visits with proof of a negative virus test starting on May 16.
(SFC, 5/15/21, p.A5)
2021 May 14, Japan further expanded a coronavirus state of emergency from six areas, including Tokyo, to nine, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga repeated his determination to hold the Olympics in just over two months.
(AP, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, In the Philippines Pres. Rodrigo Duterte eased the coronavirus lockdown for Manila and four adjacent provinces, allowing essential businesses and tourist destinations to expand operations.
(SFC, 5/15/21, p.A5)
2021 May 14, In Poland the foreign ministers of Europe's four Visegrad countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland) discussed cooperation to boost national economies and tourism after the pandemic and announced free travel between the Czech Republic and Hungary for those vaccinated against COVID-19.
(AP, 5/14/21)
2021 May 14, Singapore further tightened social distancing restrictions. New coronavirus cases have risen to 71 in the last week from 48 a week earlier. Singapore has reported 61,4505 cases and 31 deaths since the pandemic started.
(SFC, 5/15/21, p.A5)
2021 May 15, California to date had 3,741,960 cases of coronavirus and 62,293 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,923 cases and 6,487 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,913,784 with the death toll at 585,571.
(sfist.com, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, Britain deployed public health officials, supported by the army, to distribute coronavirus tests door-to-door in two northern England towns in an effort to contain a fast-spreading variant that threatens plans to lift all lockdown restrictions next month.
(AP, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, Greece extended a lockdown on the island of Kalymnos for a week as COVID-19 infections there remained high.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, India reported its smallest daily increase in coronavirus infections in nearly three weeks, with deaths still near the 4,000-mark. Federal health officials said cases and fatalities are rapidly stabilizing in this wave of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, New Italian research said COVID-19 infections in adults of all ages fell by 80% five weeks after a first dose of Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccine.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said Venezuela has approved for use Russia's single-shot Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, Taiwan raised its coronavirus alert level in the capital, Taipei, and the surrounding city, bringing curbs for a period of two weeks that will shut many venues and restrict gatherings in the wake of 180 new domestic infections.
(Reuters, 5/15/21)
2021 May 15, Turkey reported 11,472 new coronavirus cases. The overall confirmeddeath toll was 44,537.
(SFC, 5/17/21, p.A7)
2021 May 16, California to date had 3,743,084 cases of coronavirus and 62,318 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 440,979 cases and 6,487 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,927,943 with the death toll at 585,768.
(sfist.com, 5/16/21)
2021 May 16, It was reported that Covid-19 is ravaging Brazil and that experts are working to understand why it appears to be killing babies and small children at an unusually high rate.
(NY Times, 5/16/21)
2021 May 16, India's Health Ministry reported 311,170 confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, down from 326,098 a day earlier. Some Indian states said they would extend COVID-19 lockdowns. The pandemic has killed more than 270,000 people in the country.
(AP, 5/16/21)(Reuters, 5/16/21)
2021 May 16, Indonesia said it has suspended distribution of a batch of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine to run tests for sterility and toxicity following the death of a 22-year-old man a day after immunization.
(Reuters, 5/16/21)
2021 May 16, Mongolian authorities reported 541 new coronavirus cases and 2 deaths in the last 24 hours. Restrictions continued to ease following a 4-week lockdown that ended on May 8.
(SFC, 5/17/21, p.A7)
2021 May 17, California to date had 3,744,061 cases of coronavirus and 62,334 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 441,328 cases and 6,497 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,993,038 with the death toll at 586,330.
(sfist.com, 5/17/21)
2021 May 17, It was reported that Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline’s potential COVID-19 vaccine triggered strong immune responses in all adult age groups in preliminary trials, boosting optimism the shot may join the fight against the pandemic this year.
(AP, 5/17/21)
2021 May 17, Thousands of UK pubs and restaurants opened for indoor service for the first time since early January. PM Boris Johnson sounded a cautious tone, warning about a more contagious COVID-19 variant that threatens reopening plans.
(AP, 5/17/21)
2021 May 17, British vacationers began arriving in large numbers in southern Portugal for the first time in more than a year, after governments in the two countries eased their COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions.
(AP, 5/17/21)
2021 May 18, California to date had 3,746,039 cases of coronavirus and 62,392 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 441,460 cases and 6,508 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 32,996,503 with the death toll at 587,196.
(sfist.com, 5/18/21)
2021 May 18, Argentina reported 745 coronavirus deaths and 35,543 new infections. The country has recorded more than 71,000 total confirmed deaths.
(SFC, 5/20/21, p.A5)
2021 May 18, In France more than 20 heads of state and government from Africa held talks in Paris with the heads of international organizations on how to revive the continent's economy, which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted deeply.
(AP, 5/18/21)
2021 May 18, The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, announced that it expects to resume exporting coronavirus vaccines by the end of 2021.
(AP, 5/18/21)
2021 May 19, The US global coordinator on COVID said the United States will donate a significant number of COVID-19 vaccines through the World Health Organization's COVAX scheme for distributing doses to poorer countries.
(AP, 5/19/21)
2021 May 19, California to date had 3,746,224 cases of coronavirus and 62,400 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 441,727 cases and 6,512 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,016,539 with the death toll at 587,640.
(sfist.com, 5/19/21)
2021 May 19, The EU took a step toward relaxing travel rules for tourists from outside the 27-nation bloc when EU ambassadors agreed on measures to allow in fully vaccinated visitors.
(AP, 5/19/21)
2021 May 19, India reported more coronavirus deaths in a single day than any other country at any time during the pandemic. The Health Ministry reported a record 4,529 deaths in the past 24 hours, driving India's confirmed fatalities to 283,248. It also reported 267,334 new infections.
(AP, 5/19/21)
2021 May 19, It was reported that health authorities in Malawi have incinerated 19,610 expired doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, saying it will reassure the public that any vaccines they do get are safe.
(BBC, 5/19/21)
2021 May 20, California to date had 3,749,023 cases of coronavirus and 62,490 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,113 cases and 6,538 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,055,614 with the death toll at 588,528.
(sfist.com, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, Brazilian pharmaceutical company União Quimica said it has completed production of its first batch of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine with active ingredients and technology supplied by Russia.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, Officials said India has ordered tighter surveillance of a rare fungal disease hitting COVID-19 patients, piling pressure on hospitals struggling with the world's highest number of daily infections of the novel coronavirus. Mucormycosis, or "black fungus" usually infects people whose immune system has been compromised.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, It was reported that Kazakhstan is rolling out an app which it hopes will limit the spread of COVID-19 by restricting people's access to places such as bars, cinemas and airports based on their vaccination and infection risk status.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, Malaysia reported a new daily record in coronavirus infections and deaths. It recorded COVID-19 fatalities, a record toll for the third day this week, while its 6,806 new cases was the second straight day of record infections.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, South Korea said it will conduct a clinical trial that mixes COVID-19 vaccine doses developed by AstraZeneca Plc with those from Pfizer Inc and others.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, It was reported that a district of northern Thailand has launched a raffle campaign for inoculated residents to win a live cow per week for the rest of the year, in a bid to boost the local COVID-19 vaccination drive.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 20, The World Health Organization's regional director said COVID-19 vaccines currently being deployed in the fight against the pandemic in Europe appear able to protect against all variants that are circulating and causing concern.
(Reuters, 5/20/21)
2021 May 21, American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German company BioNTech pledged to deliver 2 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to middle- and low-income countries over the next 18 months, amid international calls for more vaccine solidarity.
(AP, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, California to date had 3,749,921 cases of coronavirus and 62,529 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,350 cases and 6,540 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,082,423 with the death toll at 589,204.
(sfist.com, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, A medical center in Louisiana said it has identified the state's first two cases of a COVID-19 variant first identified in India. Variants from Brazil and the UK have already sjhown up in the state.
(SSFC, 5/23/21, p.A7)
2021 May 21, It was reported that Brussels has persuaded Washington to ease restrictions on exports of materials needed by German biotech firm CureVac to make its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) unveiled a $50 billion proposal to end the COVID-19 pandemic by vaccinating at least 40% of the population in all countries by the end of 2021 and at least 60% by the first half of 2022.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, China's President Xi Jinping pledged an additional $3 billion in aid over the next three years to help developing countries recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and proposed setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, China-based biotech firm Beigene Ltd, said its cancer therapy, tislelizumab, in combination with chemotherapy met the main goal of helping patients live longer by preventing the disease from progressing in a late-stage study.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, Europe's medicines regulator said the second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford must not be given to anyone who has had blood clots with low blood platelets after receiving the first.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, The European Union's drug regulator said a COVID-19 antibody treatment developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology can be used to treat patients who are at risk of severe disease and do not need supplemental oxygen.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, India-based Mylab Discovery Solutions said it has the capacity to ramp up production of its at-home COVID-19 test kits to 100 million units per week over the next few months based on demand.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, Italy's government revived hopes of producing the country's own COVID-19 vaccine when it said it was ready to finance the ReiThera project despite a court ruling rejecting a plan to pump public funds into the local biotech company.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 21, The WHO said official tolls showing the number of deaths directly or indirectly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to be a "significant undercount." 6-8 million people may have died so far.
(Reuters, 5/21/21)
2021 May 22, A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory group said some teenagers and young adults who received COVID-19 vaccines experienced heart inflammation, recommending further study of the rare condition.
(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021 May 22, Argentina imposed its first strict coronavirus lockdown of the year due to surging levels of infections and a soaring death toll.
(SFC, 5/22/21, p.A4)
2021 May 22, In India COVID-19 deaths rose by 4,194 and infections were spreading in rural areas where public health services are scarce and already overstretched. Government data showed 257,299 new cases.
(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021 May 22, In Nepal climbing guide Lukas Furtenbach said a coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support staff.
(AP, 5/22/21)
2021 May 22, Officials in the Philippines said they investigating reports that some people have been illegally selling COVID-19 shots or their vaccine slots for financial gain, as they reminded the public the vaccines are free.
(Reuters, 5/22/21)
2021 May 23, California to date had 3,750,825 cases of coronavirus and 62,571 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,534 cases and 6,544 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,106,232 with the death toll at 589,740.
(sfist.com, 5/23/21)
2021 May 23, It was reported that Rhode Island has become the eighth US state where 70 percent of the adult population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Vermont also have reached the milestone.
(NY Times, 5/24/21)
2021 May 23, Mexico's health ministry registered 50 new confirmed deaths from COVID-19, the lowest daily increase reported from the pandemic in over a year. The ministry also reported 1,274 new COVID-19 infections, lifting the total to 2,396,604. Separate government data has suggested the death toll could be at least 60% above the confirmed figure.
(Reuters, 5/23/21)
2021 May 24, Alabama's Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation banning vaccine passports in the state. No penalties were specified for violations.
(SFC, 5/25/21, p.A4)
2021 May 24, California to date had 3,752,039 cases of coronavirus and 62,600 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,835 cases and 6,544 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,140,137 with the death toll at 590,184.
(sfist.com, 5/24/21)
2021 May 24, Uber Technologies Inc and rival Lyft Inc launched COVID-19 vaccine ride programs in partnership with the White House, offering Americans free rides or discounts for their trips to and from a vaccination site.
(Reuters, 5/24/21)
2021 May 24, The Chinese government offered to urgently send COVID-19 vaccines and medical experts to Taiwan to help it battle a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, but drew a swift and angry response from Taipei. Taiwan is dealing with a spike in COVID-19 cases and is rapidly running out of vaccines.
(Reuters, 5/24/21)
2021 May 24, Indian government leaders appealed to farmers to call off a mass protest this week for fear it could prove a viral "super-spreader" event as the country's overall death toll from COVID-19 crossed 300,000. The Health Ministry reported 4,454 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing total fatalities to 303,720.
(Reuters, 5/24/21)(SFC, 5/25/21, p.A4)
2021 May 24, Japan mobilized military doctors and nurses to give elderly people vaccine shots in Tokyo and Osaka, two months before hosting the Olympics.
(SFC, 5/25/21, p.A4)
2021 May 24, Malta said it has vaccinated 70% of its adult population with at least one COVID-19 shot, becoming the first EU country to achieve so-called herd immunity.
(Reuters, 5/24/21)
2021 May 24, A new cross-border, pilot program began to vaccinate maquiladora workers employed in Baja California by US subsidiary companies.
(SFC, 5/28/21, p.A5)
2021 May 24, Sweden said it will donate 3 million doses vaccine to the COVAX facility in 2021, up from a previous pledge of 1 million doses.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, California to date had 3,753,215 cases of coronavirus and 62,614 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 442,972 cases and 6,545 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,145,906 with the death toll at 590,758.
(sfist.com, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be effective in adolescents aged 12-17 and showed no new or major safety problems in a clinical trial.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Australia's city of Melbourne increased pandemic restrictions after identifying a cluster from someone infected in quarantine. Restrictions will apply until June 4.
(SFC, 5/26/21, p.A5)
2021 May 25, EU leaders agreed to donate at least 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations by the end of the year as supplies steadily rise across Europe.
(AP, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Malaysia reported a record 7,289 new coronavirus infections. Confirmed deaths have spiked to more than 2,300.
(SFC, 5/26/21, p.A5)
2021 May 25, Russia shipped a generic version of the remdesivir antiviral drug called Remdeform to India as part of its humanitarian aid contributions to the South Asian country which is fighting a surge in COVID-19 cases.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Russia's consumer health watchdog in the Yakutia region said that all employers must organize COVID-19 vaccines for their employees in a bid to speed up inoculation there.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 25, Vietnam widened lockdown measures in its industrialized north to combat its biggest COVID-19 outbreak so far, as authorities reported a daily record in new cases that was more than double the previous high.
(Reuters, 5/25/21)
2021 May 26, President Joe Biden ordered US intelligence officials to “redouble" their efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any possibility the trail might lead to a Chinese laboratory.
(AP, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, California to date had 3,754,579 cases of coronavirus and 62,660 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 443,330 cases and 6,549 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,189,877 with the death toll at 591,941.
(sfist.com, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, Belgium suspended the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for people under age 41 following the death of a person who had received the shot.
(AP, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, China's ambassador to Nepal said China will provide 1 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal, as authorities in the Himalayan country scrambled to secure shots amid a surge in infections that has overwhelmed its rickety health system.
(Reuters, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, France declared a mandatory quarantine period for people coming from Britain due to the increasing prevalence there of a highly contagious coronavirus variant first detected in India.
(Reuters, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, Pakistan opened up its coronavirus vaccination campaign to everyone aged 19 or older as it scrambles to protect more of its 220 million people.
(Reuters, 5/26/21)
2021 May 26, Slovakia became the 2nd EU country to authorized use of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, which has not yet been approved by the EU's drug regulator.
(SFC, 5/27/21, p.A5)
2021 May 27, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom announced financial incentives totaling $116.5 million to boost the number of people getting coronavirus vaccinations.
(SFC, 5/28/21, p.A1)
2021 May 27, California to date had 3,756,303 cases of coronavirus and 62,702 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 443,561 cases and 6,573 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,213,320 with the death toll at 593,156.
(sfist.com, 5/28/21)
2021 May 27, Idaho's Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order banning mask mandates in schools and public buildings while GOP Gov. Brad Little was out of state. Gov. Little repealed her order the next day.
(SFC, 5/29/21, p.A4)
2021 May 27, GlaxoSmithKline of Britain and Sanofi of France launched a large trial for another potential COVID-19 vaccine.
(SFC, 5/28/21, p.A5)
2021 May 27, Russia said it has signed an agreement to supply the UN children's fund UNICEF with enough doses of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for 110 million people.
(Reuters, 5/27/21)
2021 May 28, The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said US companies can mandate that employees in a workplace must be vaccinated against COVID-19.
(Reuters, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, California to date had 3,761,672 cases of coronavirus and 62,872 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 443,747 cases and 6,590 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,237,543 with the death toll at 593,881.
(sfist.com, 5/29/21)
2021 May 28, The UK authorized for use the single-dose vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson amid growing concerns about a rise in new infections as the variant of the virus first identified in India spreads around the country.
(AP, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, The Danish government presented its digital coronavirus passport enabling people to travel abroad or, in Denmark, go to the hairdresser, a tattoo parlor, dine inside a restaurant or wherever else it is needed.
(AP, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, The European Medicines Agency recommended that the use of the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech be expanded to children ages 12 to 15, a decision that offers younger and less at-risk populations across the continent access to a COVID-19 shot for the first time.
(AP, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, Hungary said it has identified two cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in India. An especially lethal third wave has been easing after an aggressive vaccination campaign.
(Reuters, 5/28/21)
2021 May 28, Malaysia's PM Muhyiddin Yassin announced a near-total lockdown in the country for two weeks to contain a worsening coronavirus outbreak.
(SFC, 5/29/21, p.A4)
2021 May 28, Industry sources said a rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak has left factories operating below capacity in Vietnam's industrial northern provinces, where suppliers for Apple, Samsung and other global tech firms are located.
(Reuters, 5/28/21)
2021 May 29, California to date had 3,762,295 cases of coronavirus and 62,900 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 443,801 cases and 6,593 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,242,777 with the death toll at 594,019.
(sfist.com, 5/30/21)
2021 May 29, It was reported that a group of 117 healthcare workers at a Texas hospital filed a lawsuit in state court against their employer's mandate requiring all staff to get COVID-19 vaccinations. On June 12 US District Judge Lynn Hughes of Houston deemed lead plaintiff Jennifer Bridges’ contention that the vaccines are “experimental and dangerous" to be false and otherwise irrelevant.
(AP, 5/30/21)(AP, 6/13/21)
2021 May 29, In Belgium thousands of protesters angry at pandemic-related restrictions marched to European Union headquarters in Brussels and had minor tussles with police over their unauthorized gathering.
(AP, 5/29/21)
2021 May 29, China's southern city of Guangzhou shut down a neighborhood and ordered its residents to stay home for door-to-door coronavirus testing following a surge in infections. The city has reported 20 new cases in the last week.
(SFC, 5/31/21, p.A5)
2021 May 29, Lebanon’s health authorities launched a COVID-19 vaccination “marathon" to speed up inoculations around the country, including areas where turnout has so far been low.
(AP, 5/29/21)
2021 May 29, Vietnam's health minister said they discovered a new coronavirus variant that’s a hybrid of strains first found in India and the UK. In the last few weeks, Vietnam has confirmed more than 3,500 new cases and 12 deaths, increasing the country’s total death toll to 47.
(AP, 5/29/21)
2021 May 30, California to date had 3,763,398 cases of coronavirus and 62,922 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,084 cases and 6,602 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,253,008 with the death toll at 594,324.
(sfist.com, 5/31/21)
2021 May 30, Afghanistan shutdown all of its public and private universities and schools for at least two weeks following a surge in coronavirus cases.
(SSFC, 5/30/21, p.A7)
2021 May 30, Australia's Victoria state reported five new local COVID-19 cases, including in a worker at a Melbourne aged care facility where not all of the residents have been vaccinated.
(Reuters, 5/30/21)
2021 May 30, India reported its lowest daily rise in new coronavirus infections in 46 days at 165,553 cases during the previous 24 hours, while deaths rose by 3,460.
(Reuters, 5/30/21)
2021 May 30, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that his country will return to stricter lockdown measures in the face of a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases that indicate the virus is “surging again" in Africa's worst-affected nation.
(AP, 5/30/21)
2021 May 30, Vietnam said business hub Ho Chi Minh City will begin social distancing measures for 15 days starting from May 31 in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
(AP, 5/30/21)
2021 May 31, California to date had 3,763,415 cases of coronavirus and 62,926 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,097 cases and 6,602 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,260,464 with the death toll at 594,461.
(sfist.com, 6/1/21)
2021 May 31, It was reported that Eli Lilly and Co's antibody drug combination has received an emergency use approval in India for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19, bolstering the country's arsenal of medicines to tackle a devastating second wave of the pandemic.
(AP, 5/31/21)
2021 Jun 1, California to date had 3,764,162 cases of coronavirus and 62,935 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,352 cases and 6,608 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,284,140 with the death toll at 595,181.
(sfist.com, 6/2/21)
2021 Jun 1, Moderna Inc filed for full US approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, which is currently only authorized for emergency use in the country, becoming the second drugmaker to seek a broader regulatory nod.
(Reuters, 6/1/21)
2021 Jun 1, The World Health Organization (WHO) said it has approved a COVID-19 vaccine made by drugmaker Sinovac Biotech for emergency use listing, paving the way for a second Chinese shot to be used in poor countries.
(Reuters, 6/1/21)
2021 Jun 1, Germany's public health agency lowered the coronavirus risk level to "high" from "very high" for the first time in 2021, reflecting a fall in the number of new infections.
(Reuters, 6/1/21)
2021 Jun 2, President Biden announced programs to pick up the US vaccination rate, including free child care and sports tickets.
(NY Times, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 2, California to date had 3,765,995 cases of coronavirus and 63,002 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,492 cases and 6,609 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,306,775 with the death toll at 595,818.
(sfist.com, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 2, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) said it has the capacity to provide more than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world beyond China in the second half of this year.
(Reuters, 6/2/21)
2021 Jun 2, Japan's PM Yoshihide Suga announced an additional $800 million contribution to the UN-backed initiative to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries, a four-fold increase of Japanese funding for the COVAX program.
(AP, 6/2/21)
2021 Jun 2, It was reported that coronavirus cases have surged in Uruguay. The country has reported more than 280,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths since the pandemic began.
(SFC, 6/2/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 3, The White House announced that President Joe Biden plans to allocate 75% of unused COVID-19 vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program.
(AP, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, California to date had 3,766,071 cases of coronavirus and 63,002 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,761 cases and 6,609 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,326,054 with the death toll at 596,401.
(sfist.com, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 3, It was reported that Bahrain has begun offering a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for some people, six months after they received two shots of China's Sinopharm vaccine.
(AP, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, Britain said that it is removing Portugal from its list of COVID-safe travel destinations, meaning thousands of UK residents currently on vacation there face the prospect of 10 days' quarantine on return.
(AP, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, Public Health England said the Delta variant of concern first identified in India is now dominant in Britain and might have an increased risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha variant. There were 5,472 new cases of the Delta variant reported in latest weekly figures.
(Reuters, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, Asylum-seekers in Greece lined up to get their coronavirus shots as authorities began rolling out vaccinations in migrant camps.
(Reuters, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 3, It was reported that Mexican officials have raised the country's confirmed COVID-19 death toll by 4,272 to a total of 227,840. A government analysis of excess deaths related to COVID-19 now stands at over 348,750.
(SFC, 6/3/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 3, The World Health Organization said COVID-19 vaccine shipments have ground to “a near halt" in Africa while virus cases have spiked 20% over the last two weeks.
(AP, 6/3/21)
2021 Jun 4, A US State Department spokesman said the US is shipping one million doses of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccine to South Korea.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, It was reported that the US health regulator has authorized a lower dose of Regeneron Pharmaceutical's COVID-19 antibody cocktail that can be given by injection, a move that could ease logistical challenges stemming from administering a higher dose intravenously.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, California to date had 3,767,159 cases of coronavirus and 63,055 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,962 cases and 6,621 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,340,762 with the death toll at 596,969.
(sfist.com, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 4, Britain's health ministry said the estimated reproduction "R" number in England remains at over 1 and the epidemic could be growing by as much as 3% each day. Britain's medicines regulator said it had approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for use on 12- to 15-year-olds.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, The European Union submitted a plan to the World Trade Organization that it believes will more effectively broaden supply of COVID-19 vaccines than the intellectual property (IP) rights waiver backed by the United States.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, India reported another 1342,364 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours in a declining trend. The nation's total cases neared 28.6 million.
(SFC, 6/5/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 4, Italy reported 73 coronavirus-related deaths against 59 the day before, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 2,557 from 1,968. Italy has registered 126,415 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, Mexican officials said they will use 1 million US doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine to inoculate people along the border.
(SFC, 6/5/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 4, Pakistan has started producing the single dose Chinese CanSinoBio COVID-19 vaccine to be able to deliver 3 million doses a month. An initial batch of 118,000 doses of the vaccine was ready to be delivered to the government.
(Reuters, 6/4/21)
2021 Jun 4, Venezuela said it has reached a deal to purchase doses of Russia's EpiVacCorona vaccine, as well as manufacture the inoculation locally.
(Reuters, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 5, California to date had 3,768,442 cases of coronavirus and 63,101 deaths. The SF Bay Area had 444,994 cases and 6,621 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,347,989 with the death toll at 597,030.
(sfist.com, 6/6/21)
2021 Jun 5, In China authorities in the southern industrial hub of Guangzhou imposed more restrictions on business and social activity, seeking to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases. China reported 24 new coronavirus cases on the mainland for June 4, unchanged from a day earlier.
(Reuters, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 5, Some of India's states began easing lockdown restrictions as coronavirus infections subside, with the world's second most-populous nation logging its lowest daily case count in nearly two months.
(Reuters, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 5, Italy reported 57 coronavirus-related deaths against 73 the day before. The daily tally of new infections decreased to 2,436 from 2,557.
(Reuters, 6/5/21)
2021 Jun 6, California to date had 3,769,510 cases of coronavirus. The SF Bay Area had 445,315 cases and 6,621 deaths. Total cases nationwide reached over 33,359,073 with the death toll at 597,523.
(sfist.com, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 6, Britain’s health secretary says the delta variant, which is fast becoming the dominant coronavirus variant in the UK, is 40% more transmissible compared to the country’s existing strains.
(AP, 6/6/21)
2021 Jun 6, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that France has multiple clusters of the variant, first identified in India, notably in the southwest Landes region.
(AP, 6/6/21)
2021 Jun 6, India reported 114,460 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in two months, while the death toll increased by 2,677, as parts of the country prepared to ease movement restrictions.
(Reuters, 6/6/21)
2021 Jun 6, Sri Lanka received one million doses of China's Sinopharm vaccines amid the island's recent surge in coronavirus infections and vaccine shortage.
(SFC, 6/7/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 7, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,378,279 with the death toll at 597,949.
(sfist.com, 6/8/21)
2021 Jun 7, Egypt received 500,000 doses of China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, as the health ministry said local production of the Chinese vaccine will start in mid-June.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, PM Narendra Modi said India will provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all adults, in an effort to rein in a pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands and led to the world's second-highest tally of infections.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, Italy reported 65 coronavirus-related deaths against 51 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 1,273 from 2,275.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, Venetians breathed a sigh of relief as the lagoon city finally moved into a low-risk COVID-19 "white zone", meaning most pandemic restrictions were lifted and a nightly curfew scrapped.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, In Japan the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa began closing schools to contain coronavirus infections. Gov. Denny Tamaki said primary and secondary schools will be closed until June 20.
(SFC, 6/8/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 7, Norway said it will shorten the interval between COVID-19 vaccine doses to nine weeks from the current 12 weeks, thus speeding up the inoculation process.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, Slovakia became the European Union's second country to start inoculating people with the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, after months of rows over the shot that has yet to be approved by European regulators.
(Reuters, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 7, Spain jumpstarted its summer tourism season by welcoming vaccinated visitors from most countries as well as European tourists who can prove they are not infected with coronavirus. It also reopened its ports to cruise ship stops.
(AP, 6/7/21)
2021 Jun 8, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,394,843 with the death toll at 598,402.
(sfist.com, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 8, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc expanded its partnership with Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals to conduct a late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, expected to start in the summer.
(Reuters, 6/8/21)
2021 Jun 8, Malaysia went mobile with its mass immunization drive, with the rollout of the first of 40 vaccine trucks set to hit the highways in the coming months.
(Reuters, 6/8/21)
2021 Jun 8, Nepal resumed is stalled coronavirus campaign with 1 million doses given by China.
(SFC, 6/9/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 8, Ukraine registered 535 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily number of infections over the previous 24 hours for nearly a year and the ministry said infection rates declined for eight consecutive weeks.
(Reuters, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 9, It was reported that the White House plans to send 500 million Pfizer shots to about 100 countries over the next year.
(NY Times, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 9, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,394,843 with the death toll at 598,402.
(sfist.com, 6/10/21)
2021 Jun 9, Merck & Co Inc said the US government has agreed to pay about $1.2 billion for 1.7 million courses of its experimental COVID-19 treatment, if it is proven to work in an ongoing large trial and authorized by US regulators. The treatment course being tested in the trial is an oral dose given every 12 hours for five days.
(AP, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 9, In Bahrain hundreds of people held a rare protest over the death of a prisoner from the coronavirus despite being vaccinated months earlier by the island kingdom. Barakat had received the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm.
(AP, 6/10/21)
2021 Jun 9, A prominent UK epidemiologist said the Delta coronavirus variant of concern, first identified in India, is believed to be 60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant which was previously dominant in Britain.
(AP, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 9, EU lawmakers endorsed a new travel certificate that will allow people to move between European countries without having to Quarantine or undergo coronavirus tests.
(SFC, 6/10/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 9, Russia reported 10,407 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. Authorities in Moscow said they would step up enforcement of rules requiring people to wear medical masks and gloves in indoor public spaces due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases.
(AP, 6/9/21)
2021 Jun 10, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,415,911 with the death toll at 598,342.
(sfist.com, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 10, Johnson & Johnson said the US Food and Drug Administration has extended the shelf life of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine from three months to four-and-a-half months, as millions of unused doses nationwide near expiration.
(Reuters, 6/10/21)
2021 Jun 10, Chile announced a full lockdown of Santiago and surrounding municipalities as COVID-19 cases remain high and available hospital beds hit low levels.
(SFC, 6/11/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 10, Germany started rolling out a digital vaccination pass that can be used across Europe as the continent is gets ready for the key summer travel season.
(AP, 6/10/21)
2021 Jun 11, It was reported that the US Food & Drug Administration has asked Johnson & Johnson to discard 60 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine manufactured at the problem-plagued Baltimore factory of Emergent BioSolutions Inc.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,429,301 with the death toll at 599,182.
(sfist.com, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 11, Illinois lifted all capacity limits on bars, restaurants and other venues. More than 68% of state residents, 18 or older, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
(SFC, 6/12/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 11, Canada said it will share up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with countries in need, though a portion of this has already been announced.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, China reported 35 new coronavirus cases in the mainland, up from 22 a day earlier. China totaled 91,394 confirmed infections. Its death toll stood unchanged at 4,636.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, CongoDRC reported 254 new Covid-19 infections, mostly in the capital, Kinshasa, along with three deaths. Since the outbreak began, about 35,000 infections and 834 have officially been recorded in DR Congo.
(BBC, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 11, The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved a new manufacturing site in France for the production of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, India added 91,702 new coronavirus cases pushing its total to nearly 29.3 million. 3,403 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours. Bihar state increased its death toll to more than 9,429 from 5,424 after the discovery of thousands of unreported cases.
(SFC, 6/12/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 11, Malaysia's government extended a two-week national lockdown, dued to end on June 14, for another two weeks as daily coronavirus infections remained above 6,000.
(SFC, 6/12/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 11, Russia reported 12,505 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, its highest number of daily infections since late February, taking the national tally to 5,180,454 since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 11, Swedish health officials warned of worrying local outbreaks of the COVID delta variant and urged people to get vaccinated to avoid a fourth wave of the pandemic.
(Reuters, 6/11/21)
2021 Jun 12, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,438,322 with the death toll at 599,182.
(sfist.com, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 12, Australia's Victoria state, which emerged from a strict lockdown earlier this week, recorded one new community case of COVID-19. The outbreak, which triggered the two-week snap lockdown late last month, has now seen 91 cases since May 24.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro led thousands of motorcyclist supporters through the streets of Sao Paulo — and got hit with a fine for failure to wear a mask in violation of local pandemic restrictions.
(AP, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Mainland China reported 34 new COVID-19 cases, down from 35 cases a day earlier. The Delta variant was spreading in southeastern China, and doctors said that the infected are getting sicker, and faster.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)(NY Times, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said about two-thirds of people eligible for inoculation against COVID-19 have now received two doses of the vaccine in Dubai, the tourist and business hub of the United Arab Emirates.
(Reuters, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 12, Moscow's mayor effectively declared a public holiday for all of next week to combat a surge in COVID-19 cases. Sergei Sobyanin said it would not affect organizations that maintain the Russian capital's infrastructure, the military, and other strategically important enterprises.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Alexander Gintsbur, the scientist who led the development of the Sputnik V vaccine, said Russia has tested a nasal spray form of its COVID-19 vaccine that is suitable for children aged 8-12, and plans to launch the new product in September.
(AP, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 12, Vietnam said it has approved the COVID-19 vaccine jointly made by Pfizer and BioNTech for domestic emergency use. Vietnam, with a population of around 98 million, has recorded a total of 10,241 coronavirus cases, with 58 deaths, since the pandemic began.
(Reuters, 6/12/21)
2021 Jun 13, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,459,210 with the death toll at 599,736.
(sfist.com, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 13, Authorities in India reported 80,834 new COVID-19 infections over the previous 24 hours, the lowest daily tally in more than two months.
(AP, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 13, Russian authorities confirmed 14,723 cases nationwide, the largest one-day total since Feb. 13. Moscow reported 7,704 new infections, the most in a single day since Dec. 24. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that anyone over 18 who receives the first of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine from June 14 until July 11 would now be automatically entered into a draw to win a car.
(Reuters, 6/13/21)
2021 Jun 14, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,464,566 with the death toll at 599,813.
(sfist.com, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 14, Vermont lifted its remaining pandemic restrictions after becoming the first US state to have given a shot to 80 percent of eligible residents.
(NY Times, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, Novavax Inc said its COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, including against a variety of concerning variants of the coronavirus in a large, late-stage US-based clinical trial.
(Reuters, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, England delayed its full reopening by a month, to late July, because of a surge in coronavirus cases.
(NY Times, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, It was reported that China has deployed a fleet of drones in the city of Guangzhou to keep people indoors and remind those going out to wear masks. The city has seen a flare-up of the more infectious delta variant of the coronavirus.
(SFC, 6/14/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 14, Iran’s state TV reported that the country has approved an emergency use of its first domestically developed coronavirus vaccine that could bring the hardest-hit country in the Middle East closer to inoculating its citizens against COVID-19.
(AP, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, Oman officials said coronavirus infections are surging. Health officials warned that hospitals now face an acute shortage of beds amid a lagging vaccine rollout, the spread of highly transmissible variants and relaxed movement restrictions.
(AP, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte extended partial coronavirus curbs in the capital and nearby provinces until end-June, but placed more areas under tighter quarantine measures because of rising infections and high hospital occupancy. With more than 1.3 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 23,000 deaths, the Philippines has the second highest number of infections and casualties in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia.
(Reuters, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, Romania reported its lowest number of daily coronavirus infections in more than a year with just 50 new cases.
(SFC, 6/15/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 14, South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout was hit by further delays as it will have to discard at least 2 million Johnson & Johnson vaccines produced in the country. The vaccines were found by the US Food and Drug Administration to be unsuitable for use due to possible contamination of their ingredients at a Baltimore plant.
(AP, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 14, It was reported that Zambia, with a population of about 18 million people, has a cumulative total of nearly 108,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,348 deaths.
(AP, 6/14/21)
2021 Jun 15, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,476,053. The US death toll topped 600,000.
(sfist.com, 6/16/21)(SFC, 6/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 15, California officially reopend with most pandemic restrictions lifted. Nearly 47% of all state residents were now vaccinated.
(SFC, 6/15/21, p.A1)
2021 Jun 15, France began giving COVID jab to 12-year-olds. The government has made people from 12 years upwards eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination, provided they have parental consent.
(Reuters, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 15, Italy reported 63 coronavirus-related deaths against 36 the day before. The daily tally of new infections rose to 1,255 from 907.
(Reuters, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 15, Mexico received 1.3 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine donated by the US. Officials planned to vaccinate anyone over 18 in four cities along the border to boost vaccination rates there.
(SFC, 6/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 15, Myanmar's army soldiers entered Kinma village in the Magway region searching for members of a village defense force set up to protect against the junta's troops and police. Troops found nothing and burned down most of the village of some 1,000 residents.
(SFC, 6/17/21, p.A2)
2021 Jun 15, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned about possible food shortages and urged the country to brace for extended COVID-19 restrictions as he opened a major political conference to discuss national efforts to salvage a broken economy.
(AP, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 15, Oman announced that its doctors have detected mucormycosis, a potentially fatal fungal infection afflicting some coronavirus patients, the first such known cases on the Arabian Peninsula as the sultanate faces a surge in COVID-19 infections that has swamped its hospitals.
(AP, 6/15/21)
2021 Jun 15, Pakistan reported that roughly 3 million pople have been vaccinated, less than 2% of the population. New measures to encourage vaccination included blocking people's cell phone services in two provinces and suspending the salaries of some government employees who have not been vaccinated.
(SFC, 6/16/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 16, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,487,415 with the death toll at 600,313.
(sfist.com, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 16, Moderna said the US government has bought another 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, including an option to buy experimental shots that may be in development.
(Reuters, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, Royal Caribbean Group said it would delay the inaugural sailing of its Odyssey of the Seas cruise liner by nearly a month after 8 crew members tested positive for COVID-19.
(Reuters, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, Britain's government said it will require COVID-19 vaccinations for nursing home workers in England, arguing that the need to protect vulnerable residents outweighed employees' right to choose whether to get the jab.
(AP, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, As of today Ethiopia has seen 274,346 confirmed Covid cases and 4,250 deaths.
(BBC, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 16, France eased several COVID-19 restrictions, with authorities saying it's no longer always mandatory to wear masks outdoors and halting an 8-month nightly coronavirus curfew this weekend.
(AP, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, The German company CureVac delivered disappointing preliminary results from a clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine, dimming hopes that it could help fill the world’s great need.
(NY Times, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 16, India's Health Ministry reported 62,224 new infections over the past 24 hours as well as 2,542 more deaths, raising total fatalities to 379, 573.
(SFC, 6/17/21, p.A3)
2021 Jun 16, Moscow made coronavirus vaccines mandatory for people working in retail, education and other service sectors, part of an effort to boost the country's low immunization rates as COVID-19 cases continue to soar. The surrounding Moscow region, the Siberian region of Kemerovo and the Far East region of Sakhalin promptly followed.
(AP, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 16, Vietnam reported 423 new coronavirus cases, the highest number of new infections reported since the start of its latest outbreak late in April. Vietnam has recorded 11,635 infections overall and 61 fatalities.
(Reuters, 6/16/21)
2021 Jun 17, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,500,304 with the death toll at 600,676.
(sfist.com, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 17, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that the state will offer $7 million in cash prizes and $3 million in scholarships through a new lottery open to all residents who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.
(SFC, 6/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 17, The US Embassy in Kabul went into lockdown citing a surge in coronavirus cases.
(SFC, 6/18/21, p.A5)
2021 Jun 17, Britain's medicine regulator extended the emergency use approval (EUA) for Innova's lateral flow COVID-19 tests, saying it was satisfied with a review of the tests after its US counterpart issued a warning about them.
(Reuters, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 17, Britain reported its biggest daily rise in new cases of COVID-19 since Feb. 19. Government figures showed 11,007 new infections, up from 9,055 the day before.
(Reuters, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 17, Nepal reported 2,607 new coronavirus cases along with 39 deaths. The health minister said Nepal has significantly reduced coronavirus infections after its worst outbreak, which overwhelmed the country’s medical system, but is in desperate need of vaccines.
(AP, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 17, Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the COVID-19 situation was unexpectedly and rapidly deteriorating, and that the city was probably facing new coronavirus variants that were more aggressive and infectious.
(AP, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 17, A doctor in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland told the BBC that between five and 10 of his Covid patients were dying because of a lack of oxygen almost every day. In Somalia up to 25 people were dying each day in one hospital because of a lack of oxygen.
(BBC, 6/17/21)
2021 Jun 18, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,510,835 with the death toll at 600,970.
(sfist.com, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 18, Argentine laboratory Richmond said that it had produced almost half a million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, the first made in the country.
(Reuters, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 18, China reported 30 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland for today, up from 23 infections a day earlier. Total confirmed COVID-19 cases in mainland China stood at 91,564 at the end of today, with the death toll unchanged at 4,636.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 18, Moscow recorded more than 9,000 new coronavirus cases, over half the national total. The city has had to reintroduce curbs that had been scrapped, including ordering bars and restaurants to shut by 11 p.m.
(Reuters, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 18, Turkey's inoculations passed the 40 million mark and 40% of adults had had at least one dose.
(Reuters, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 18, The World Health Organization's chief scientist said the Delta variant of COVID-19, first identified in India, is becoming the globally dominant variant of the disease.
(Reuters, 6/18/21)
2021 Jun 19, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,520,411 with the death toll at 600,970.
(sfist.com, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 19, Afghanistan received 900 oxygen cylinders from Iran, part of 3,800 that Iran has promised to deliver to Kabul, as a 3rd wave of COVID-19 worsens in the country.
(SSFC, 6/20/21, p.A14)
2021 Jun 19, Australia's largest state New South Wales (NSW) recorded two locally acquired coronavirus cases, as concerns grow over the further spread of infections amid an increase in exposure sites.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, Brazil's death toll from COVID-19 soared past 500,000. Experts warned that the outbreak may worsen due to delayed vaccinations and the government's refusal to back social distancing measures. Thousands gathered in Rio de Janeiro, waving flags reading “Get out Bolsonaro." Other marchers hoisted posters reading: “500 thousand deaths. It’s his fault".
(Reuters, 6/19/21)(AP, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 19, Cambodia reported 20 deaths from COVID-19, a record for a single day, as the country detected its first Delta variant cases and authorities urged people to be vigilant. The outbreak has caused infections to climb to 42,052 cases with 414 deaths.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, The airport in China's southern city of Shenzhen said that anyone entering the premises must show a negative virus test taken within 48 hours before entry.
(AP, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, India reported 60,753 new COVID-19 cases and 1,647 deaths over the past 24 hours. The central government urged states to be careful in reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns to prevent a resurgence of infections in the hard-hit country.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, It was reported that the Philippine government has signed a supply agreement for 40 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE in its biggest coronavirus vaccine deal to date.
(Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021 Jun 19, A member of Uganda's Olympic squad became the first to test positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Japan for the competition due to start on 23 July. The unnamed Ugandan was part of a nine-member squad that had been fully vaccinated.
(BBC, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 20, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,539,482 with the death toll at 601,796.
(sfist.com, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 20, China's National Health Commission announced that more than one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the country.
(SFC, 6/21/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 20, Tokyo reported 376 cases of Covid and one death, 72 more than a week ago.
(BBC, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 20, In Portugal preliminary data showed that over half the new COVID-19 cases being reported in the Lisbon region are of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant, as authorities scrambled to curb a worrying spike in infections. Portugal posted over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for the fourth straight day.
(Reuters, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 20, Taiwan welcomed 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from the US as help from a true friend. The new doses will more than double the number of vaccines that have come to the island, including 1.24 million AstraZeneca Plc shots donated by Japan this month.
(Reuters, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 20, It was reported that Uganda is strengthening its lockdown measures to try to stem a surge in coronavirus infections. The new measures, including closed shops in downtown Kampala, will last 42 days.
(SSFC, 6/20/21, p.A14)
2021 Jun 20, Vietnam said it has received a shipment of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses donated by China, as the country ramped up inoculations to battle against a more widespread outbreak.
(Reuters, 6/20/21)
2021 Jun 21, The White House laid out a plan to share 55 million US COVID-19 vaccine doses globally, with roughly 75 percent of the doses allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa through the COVAX international vaccine-sharing program.
(AP, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,553,434 with the death toll at 602,069.
(sfist.com, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 21, Gilead Sciences Inc said an analysis showed its antiviral remdesivir reduced mortality rates in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and increased the likelihood of being discharged by day 28 after a five-day course of the treatment.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Vir Biotechnology said final results from a late-stage study of their monoclonal antibody confirmed it significantly reduced hospitalization and death among high-risk COVID-19 patients when given early in the disease.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Dozens of people ignored advice not to travel to Stonehenge for the annual summer solstice celebrations, which were cancelled today due to coronavirus concerns.
(AP, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, China's manufacturing hub of Dongguan in Guangdong province launched mass coronavirus testing and cordoned off communities, after the city detected its first infections of a flare-up in the province.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Cuba said its three-shot Abdala vaccine against the coronavirus had proved 92.28% effective in last-stage clinical trials.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, India registered 53,256 new coronavirus infections and 1,422 deaths in the last 24 hours, its lowest numbers in nearly three months.
(SFC, 6/22/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 21, Indonesia's health authorities announced the country's largest one-day jump in new coronavirus infections. 14,536 were reported with 294 deaths.
(SFC, 6/22/21, p.A4)
2021 Jun 21, Italy reported 21 coronavirus-related deaths against 17 the day before. The daily tally of new infections fell to 495 from 881. Italy has registered 127,291 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eight-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.25 million cases to date.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Myanmar's junta-controlled health ministry reported 595 cases of COVID-19 as daily infections hit the highest since the army seized power in a coup that prompted many medical workers to abandon the health service and anti-coronavirus program.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Russia's President Vladimir Putin warned that the coronavirus situation in some regions was getting worse as authorities began promoting the idea of regular revaccinations to try to halt a surge in new cases.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, Sweden's Social Democratic PM Stefan Lofven lost a vote of confidence in parliament making him the first Swedish leader ever to lose such a motion. Lofven now has one week call a new election or ask the parliament speaker to form a new government.
(SFC, 6/22/21, p.A3)
2021 Jun 21, Thailand's health minister said Japan's government would donate some AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to shore-up supplies after some early delays in its vaccinations.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 21, The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it is setting up a technology transfer hub for producing mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in South Africa, which could start manufacturing doses in 9 to 12 months.
(Reuters, 6/21/21)
2021 Jun 22, US Senate Republicans blocked the "For The People Act," an attempt by Democrats to rewrite an election and voting law. Republicans said it would infringe on states' authority
(SFC, 6/.23/21, p.A6)
2021 Jun 22, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,553,434 with the death toll at 602,069.
(sfist.com, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 22, In Texas more than 150 staff members at a Houston-area hospital were fired or resigned for not following a policy that requires employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
(AP, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, The Abu Dhabi health authority's phone application showed updated criteria for vaccine access, saying visitors to the capital could now get the COVID-19 shot by presenting their passports.
(AP, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, Italy reported 31 coronavirus-related deaths against 21 the day before. The daily tally of new infections rose to 835 from 495.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, Lithuania's government said it will donate 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca Plc COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan, after angering China in March by saying it would open a trade representative office on the island this year. Taiwan had given Lithuania 100,000 medical-grade face masks last year when the coronavirus pandemic was spreading around the world.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, The Kremlin said people who were not vaccinated or did not have immunity would be unable to work in all workplaces in Russia, which reported the most confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in a single day since February.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, Switzerland said children between 12 and 15 years old could be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the shot from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 22, Turkey kicked off Phase III trials for its COVID-19 vaccine, named "Turkovac" by President Tayyip Erdogan who said the shot should be available for use by the end of the year.
(Reuters, 6/22/21)
2021 Jun 23, A group of doctors advising the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said rare cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults is likely linked to vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 shots.
(Reuters, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, The White House said that the United States would send three million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine to Brazil, where virus cases and fatalities are surging again, with a death toll above 500,000.
(NY Times, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,567,044 with the death toll at 602,504.
(sfist.com, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 23, It was reported that San Francisco city workers will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus when a vaccine receives full federal approval.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 23, It was reported that Missouri is seeing an alarming rise in cases because of a combination of the fast-spreading delta variant and stubborn resistance among many people to getting vaccinated.
(AP, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, Tokyo reported 619 new coronavirus cases, up from the last seven-day average of 405. Japan has hit the remarkable benchmark of 1 million vaccines a day. But with the Olympics set to start in less than a month only a small portion of the country has been vaccinated.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 23, In Portugal coronavirus cases rose by 1,497, the biggest jump since February 20. Most of the cases were in Lisbon where more than 60% of cases are of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant.
(Reuters, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, In Russia deaths related to COVID-19 spiked in major cities amid a surge in new cases that authorities have blamed on the new Delta variant, and restrictions seeking to curb the virus' spread were strengthened. Russia's coronavirus task force reported 548 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the most confirmed in a single day since February, with 88 in Moscow and 93 in St Petersburg respectively, a record in both cities.
(Reuters, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 23, Ukraine said it has registered its first two cases of the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus. Ukraine has been among the European countries most affected by the pandemic, with around 2.23 million COVID-19 cases and 52,123 deaths.
(Reuters, 6/23/21)
2021 Jun 24, The delta variant of the coronavirus in the US now represented 20% of infections, and health officials said it could become the country’s dominant type as well.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 24, Total US COVID-19 cases reached over 33,580,588 with the death toll at 602,900.
(sfist.com, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 24, Top health officials said Africa is facing a devastating resurgence of COVID-19 infections whose peak will surpass that of earlier waves as the continent's countries struggle to vaccinate even a small percentage of the population. Africa has more than 5.2 million confirmed virus cases including more than 139,000 deaths.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 24, In Australia a cluster of highly contagious delta variant coronavirus cases in Sydney grew to 36. The cluster spread from a Sydney airport limousine driver who tested positive last week. He was not vaccinated, reportedly did not wear a mask and is suspected to have been infected while transporting a foreign air crew.
(AP, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 24, Researchers at Oxford University said they have developed a method to predict the efficacy of new COVID-19 vaccines based on a blood test, potentially offering a short-cut around massive clinical trials that are increasingly difficult to conduct.
(Reuters, 6/24/21)
2021 Jun 25, The US Supreme Court ruled that federal COVID-19 relief funds can go to specially created corporations for Native Alaskans even though they are not officially recognized as tribal governments.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Health authorities in Denmark said that COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson would remain excluded from the country's vaccine roll-out following a review of new safety data.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Europe's medicines regulator said it had approved the production of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine at an additional site in Italy, as it looks to speed up the supply of the shot in the European Union.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Iranian officials said the death toll from Covid-19 rose by 115 over the last 24 hours, putting the country’s total at 83,588 since the pandemic broke out last year. State TV reported that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has received the first coronavirus vaccine developed by the Islamic Republic.
(AP, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Italian PM Mario Draghi, speaking at the end of an EU summit, said China's anti-COVID vaccine did not fully work and questioned whether Russia's Sputnik jab would ever get approval from European regulators.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Italy's national health institute ISS said the Delta coronavirus variant and its sibling Kappa have surged in Italy in the past month, accounting for nearly 17% of total COVID-19 cases.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, It was reported that a rapid resurgence of COVID-19 is slamming South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg, and threatens to overwhelm its hospitals.
(AP, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan urged the public not to ignore a third wave of COVID-19, after her predecessor, the late John Magufuli, alarmed the world with his skeptical approach to the pandemic.
(AP, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Ukraine obliged visitors from countries affected by the COVID-19 Delta variant take a mandatory antigen test in a bid to prevent the spread of the new infections.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
2021 Jun 25, Uzbekistan said it will limit entry into the capital city of Tashkent and curtail the activity of hospitality venues after a surge in COVID-19 cases. As of June 24 the number of new cases had reached 476 a day. Uzbekistan has registered a total of 108,184 COVID-19 cases and 725 deaths since pandemic began.
(Reuters, 6/25/21)
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