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 Global records
India reported 78,512 new novel coronavirus infections on Monday,
slightly fewer than its record set the previous day when it posted
the biggest, single-day tally of infections of any country in the
pandemic. On Sunday, India's total of 78,761 new cases exceeded the
previous record of 77,299 in the United States on July 16, a Reuters
tally of official data showed.
Despite the surging case numbers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
been pushing for a return to normalcy to lessen the economic pain of
the pandemic, having earlier imposed strict lockdowns of the
country's 1.3 billion people.
U.S. cases of the novel coronavirus surpassed 6 million on Sunday as
many states in the Midwest reported increasing infections, according
to a Reuters tally. While the United States has the most recorded
infections in the world, it ranks tenth based on cases per capita.
More than eight months into the pandemic, the United States
continues to struggle with testing. The number of people tested has
fallen in recent weeks. Public health officials believe the United
States needs to test more frequently to find asymptomatic
coronavirus carriers to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
Mutation found in Indonesia
A more infectious mutation of the new coronavirus has been found in
Indonesia, the Jakarta-based Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology
said on Sunday, as the Southeast Asian country's caseload surges.
The "infectious but milder" D614G mutation of the virus has been
found in genome sequencing data from samples collected by the
institute, deputy director Herawati Sudoyo told Reuters, adding that
more study is required to determine whether that was behind the
recent rise in cases.
The strain, which the World Health Organization said was identified
in February and has been circulating in Europe and the Americas, has
also been found in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia.
Vaccine approval and use underway in China
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Sinovac Biotech Ltd's coronavirus vaccine candidate CoronaVac was
approved for emergency use as part of a programme in China to
vaccinate high-risk groups such as medical staff, a person familiar
with the matter said.
China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a unit of state-owned pharmaceutical giant
China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), also said it had obtained
emergency use approval for a coronavirus vaccine candidate in social media
platform WeChat last Sunday. CNBG, which has two vaccine candidates in phase 3
clinical trials, did not say which of its vaccines had been cleared for
emergency use.
China has been giving experimental coronavirus vaccines to high-risk groups
since July, though officially it has given little details on which vaccine
candidates have been given to high-risk people under the emergency use programme
and how many people have been vaccinated.
Lighter traffic in Seoul; masks on in Auckland
Private tuition centres shut for the first time and traffic was lighter in South
Korea's capital on Monday, the first working day of tighter social-distancing
rules designed to halt a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks.
The decision came after earlier restrictions on movement failed to prevent a
second wave of coronavirus infections from erupting at churches, offices,
nursing homes and medical facilities.
Meanwhile in Auckland, schools and businesses reopened on Monday after the
lifting of a lockdown in New Zealand's largest city to contain the resurgence of
the coronavirus, but face masks were made mandatory on public transport across
the country. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was confident the new
measure would be taken up across New Zealand, adding that "a bit of smiling with
the eyes behind the mask" and kindness to Aucklanders in particular, would help
get the country through the latest outbreak.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
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