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 China steps up curbs near Beijing
Chinese authorities on Wednesday imposed travel restrictions and
banned gatherings in the capital city of Hebei province, which
surrounds Beijing, in the latest escalation of measures to stave off
another coronavirus wave.
The province, which entered a "wartime mode" on Tuesday, accounted
for 20 of the 23 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases reported in
mainland China on Jan. 5, more than the total of 19 cases in the
province in the three previous days.
The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said he was
"very disappointed" that China still had not authorised a team of
international experts tasked with examining the origins of the
coronavirus into the country.
Ambulances put on alert as Los Angeles hospitals swamped
Los Angeles health officials have told first responders to stop
bringing adult patients who cannot be resuscitated to hospitals,
citing a shortage of beds and staff as the latest COVID-19 surge
threatened to overwhelm healthcare systems in America's
second-largest city.
The order marked an escalation of measures being taken by state and
local officials nationwide in the face of alarming increases in
infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
Ambulances have been forced to wait hours to unload patients at some
Los Angeles hospitals, causing delays throughout the county's
emergency response system.
State of emergency looms in Tokyo
Japan's COVID-19 cases reached a new daily record on Wednesday, as
the government faced mounting pressure from health experts to impose
a strict state of emergency for the Tokyo greater metropolitan area.
Rising infections have driven Tokyo and surrounding areas to the
highest level of a four-stage alert, prompting regional governors to
call for a declaration of emergency that Prime Minister Yoshihide
Suga is expected to announce on Thursday.
Infectious disease experts have called for stricter and longer
countermeasures, while Suga has sought a more limited response to
avoid damaging the economy.
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 Greek Christians defy ban on
Epiphany services Greek
Christian churches held Epiphany services on Wednesday, openly
defying government restrictions that banned public gatherings
including religious ceremonies on one of the most important days of
the Orthodox calendar.
Despite a plea by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for Church
authorities to set an example during a crisis that has killed more
than 5,000 in Greece, worshippers attended morning services,
although with limits on the number allowed into churches.
"State orders are one thing and faith is another," said a
38-year-old worshipper who gave her name as Stavroula, after
attending morning service at a church in the outskirts of Athens.
Test kits by vending machine
The University of California's San Diego campus has launched the
winter academic term with a unique twist to its coronavirus safety
regimen: newly installed vending machines stocked with
do-it-yourself COVID-19 tests for students.
The 11 dispensers at UC San Diego since Jan. 2 - with nine more to
be added over the next week or two - are the first of their kind to
be introduced on a college or university campus in the United
States, according to school officials.
 Adapted from conventional vending machines, the systems aim to make
it easier and less costly to regularly screen the school's student
body.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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