- This daily news roundup brings you a selection of the latest news and updates on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as tips and tools to help you stay informed and protected.
- Top news stories: US eases indoor mask-wearing requirements; Hong Kong reports record new daily COVID-19 cases; German Health Minister warns pandemic is not over.
1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 435.4 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.94 million. More than 10.7 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
South Korea will temporarily lift a requirement for vaccine passes or negative COVID-19 tests at a number of businesses to ease the strain on testing centres, authorities have said.
The UAE has ended a requirement to wear face masks outdoors and obligatory quarantine for COVID-19 contact cases. Fully-vaccinated passengers arriving in the country will also no longer require PCR tests.
The advisory committee to the European Union’s drug regulator said on Friday it had recommended reducing the interval between the second and booster doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine from six months to three.
The estimated range of England’s COVID-19 reproduction “R” number is between 0.7 and 1.0, roughly steady compared to the previous week’s range of 0.8 to 1.0, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday.
New findings suggest that patients with severe COVID-19, who develop diabetes while hospitalized might only have a temporary form of the disease and their blood sugar levels may return to normal afterwards.
Germany does not have leeway to ease COVID-19 restrictions more quickly, and Germans should not think that the pandemic is over as the number of new daily infections is still very high, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Friday.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.
Image: Our World in Data
The COVID Response Alliance to Social Entrepreneurs – soon to continue its work as the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship – was launched in April 2020 in response to the devastating effects of the pandemic. Co-founded by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship together with Ashoka, Echoing Green, GHR Foundation, Skoll Foundation, and Yunus Social Business.
The Alliance provides a trusted community for the world’s leading corporations, investors, governments, intermediaries, academics, and media who share a commitment to social entrepreneurship and innovation.
Since its inception, it has since grown to become the largest multi-stakeholder coalition in the social enterprise sector: its 90+ members collectively support over 100,000 social entrepreneurs across the world. These entrepreneurs, in turn, have a direct or indirect impact on the lives of an estimated 2 billion people.
Together, they work to (i) mobilize support for social entrepreneurs and their agendas; (ii) take action on urgent global agendas using the power of social entrepreneurship, and (iii) share insights from the sector so that social entrepreneurs can flourish and lead the way in shaping an inclusive, just and sustainable world.
The Alliance works closely together with member organizations Echoing Green and GHR Foundation, as well as the Centre for the New Economy and Society on the roll out of its 2022 roadmap (soon to be announced).
2. US eases indoor mask guidelines for most of the country
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) significantly eased its COVID-19 guidelines for masks, including in schools, on Friday. The move means that 72% of the population reside in communities where indoor face coverings are no longer recommended.
The new masking guidelines shift from a focus on the rate of COVID-19 transmission to monitoring local hospitalizations, hospital capacity and infection rates.
Under the prior guidelines, 95% of U.S. counties were considered to be experiencing high transmission, leaving just 5% of U.S. counties meeting the agency’s criteria for dropping indoor mask requirements.
“We’re in a stronger place today as a nation with more tools to protect ourselves and our community from COVID-19,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a media briefing on Friday. She cited the availability of vaccines and boosters, broader access to testing, the availability of high quality masks and the accessibility to new treatments and improved ventilation.
3. Hong Kong reports record daily COVID-19 cases
Hong Kong, SAR, China, reported a record 26,026 new daily confirmed COVID-19 infections on Sunday and a further 83 deaths. The current outbreak is threatening healthcare facilities and proving hard to control.
The financial hub has introduced stringent measures in an effort to cope with the current spike in COVID-19 cases.
With many major cities seeking to live with the virus, Hong Kong is following the Chinese mainland with a ‘dynamic zero-COVID’ strategy aimed at eradicating the disease. The current outbreak has inundated the healthcare system, however.
“We are very worried,” Albert Au of Hong Kong’s department of health told a news conference. “Case numbers are still on the rise, and we expect that there will be a rising trend for the foreseeable future.”
