(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
A third of COVID survivors suffer neurological or mental disorders – study
One in three COVID-19 survivors in a study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients were diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months, suggesting the pandemic could lead to a wave of mental and neurological problems, scientists said on Tuesday.
Researchers who conducted the analysis said it was not clear how the virus was linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.
Record cases in India
India’s second wave of coronavirus infections continued to swell as it reported a record 115,736 new cases on Wednesday, a 13-fold increase in just over two months, raising pressure on the government to expand its vaccination campaign.
The federal government has asked states to decide on local curbs to control the spread of the virus, but has so far refused to impose any national lockdown after the last one in 2020 devastated its economy and left millions of people penniless.
Release vaccine doses, Australia tells EU
Australia said on Wednesday it will ask the European Union (EU) to release more than 3 million doses of AstraZeneca PLC’s COVID-19 vaccine, testing Brussels’ claim it is not blocking shipments, as the country struggles to vaccinate its population.
The EU on Tuesday denied blocking vaccine shipments to Australia, saying it was not responsible for AstraZeneca’s failure to uphold commitments to other countries. AstraZeneca did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Wednesday. Last month the EU, at Italy’s request, blocked a shipment of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia, citing vaccine shortages in Europe.
EMA official sees ‘association’ between AstraZeneca vaccine and rare brain blood clots
A senior official at Europe’s medicines regulator has said there is a clear “association” between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and very rare blood clots in the brain, though the direct cause of the clots is still unknown.
The European Medical Agency (EMA) said in a statement after the comments by Marco Cavaleri, chair of its vaccine evaluation team, that it was still conducting a review of the vaccine and expected to announce its findings on Wednesday or Thursday.
Brazil COVID-19 deaths on track to pass worst of U.S. wave
Brazil’s brutal surge in COVID-19 deaths will soon surpass the worst of a record January wave in the United States, scientists forecast, with fatalities climbing for the first time above 4,000 in a day on Tuesday as the outbreak overwhelms hospitals.
“It’s a nuclear reactor that has set off a chain reaction and is out of control. It’s a biological Fukushima,” said Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian doctor and professor at Duke University, who is closely tracking the virus.
(Reporting by Karishma Singh; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
