(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
China to vaccinate 50 million people for Lunar New Year
China is planning to vaccinate 50 million people against the coronavirus before the start of the peak Lunar New Year travel season early next year, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday.
Beijing is planning to distribute 100 million doses of the two-dose inactivated vaccines made by Chinese firms Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech Ltd, the report said.
Australia imposes border curbs as Sydney virus cluster grows
Australian states and territories on Friday began imposing border restrictions after 28 COVID-19 cases were detected from a cluster on Sydney’s northern beaches, with fears the number of infections will rise.
New South Wales (NSW) has urged about a quarter of a million residents in the affected suburbs in Sydney to stay home for three days. “My anxiety is we have not found the direct transmission route and we cannot be sure we have blocked the transmission line,” NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said.
The new border restrictions threw Christmas travel plans for thousands of people into chaos.
Many people flocked to Sydney airport to try and fly out of the state, fearing hard border closures. Some travellers who left NSW were placed in immediate hotel quarantine for 14 days when they landed in another state.
Singapore study sheds light on pregnant women with COVID-19
Pregnant women with COVID-19 do not get more sick than the wider population, according to a Singapore study published on Friday, which also found that babies born to infected mothers have antibodies against the novel coronavirus.
The small study of 16 women also found no evidence of virus transmission between mother and baby, offering insights into an area of COVID-19 infection still not well understood globally.
The World Health Organization says pregnant women can be badly affected by some respiratory infections, and that it is not known whether mothers with COVID-19 can pass the virus to their babies during pregnancy or delivery.
Brazil Supreme Court opens door to mandatory vaccines
Brazil recorded over a 1,000 new COVID-19 deaths for the first time in more than three months on Thursday, as its Supreme Court ruled that vaccinations could be required in the South American country.
Appetite for a widespread lockdown appears limited in Brazil, which has pockets of severe poverty. But a Brazilian Supreme Court justice issued an order requiring bars and restaurants in Sao Paulo, the nation’s most populous state, to stop serving alcohol after 8 p.m.
The court also ruled that Brazilians could be “required, but not forced” by civil authorities to be vaccinated.
The specific enforcement mechanisms allowed by the order were not immediately clear, but Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski wrote in the majority ruling that individuals refusing to take vaccines could face sanctions, such as the inability to partake in certain activities or to frequent certain locations.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
