(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Hong Kong reports first possible COVID-linked death in five months
An elderly man who returned a positive test for COVID-19 in Hong Kong died on Tuesday, the city’s Hospital Authority said, the city’s first death potentially linked with the virus in five months as it struggles to cope with a worsening outbreak.
The global financial hub is due to report a record of at least 1,160 new infections on Wednesday, broadcaster TVB reported.
Key U.S.-Canada border crossing blocked by truckers fighting Trudeau’s COVID curbs
The busiest land crossing from the United States to Canada remained shut on Tuesday after Canadian truckers blocked lanes to protest against their government’s pandemic control measures.
Drivers demanding an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border traffic began blocking the streets of Canada’s capital, Ottawa, on Jan. 28. Since Sunday night, police have started slowly taking back control.
New York state to drop indoor mask mandate this week -NYT
New York Governor Kathy Hochul plans to end her state’s mask mandate for most indoor public places on Wednesday, the New York Times reported, joining several states lifting face-covering rules in the weeks ahead as the latest COVID-19 surge loosens its grip.
The Democratic governor intends to let the mask mandate, which has been challenged in court, expire as scheduled rather than seeking to renew it, the newspaper reported.
Global COVID response program ‘running on fumes’
The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global initiative to get COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines to poorer countries, has only received 5% of the donations sought to deliver on its aims this year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other aid groups.
On Wednesday, a number of world leaders are set to support the push for more funding, calling for investment to end the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic this year.
U.S. CDC stands by K-12 school masking guidance
With COVID-19 cases still high across the United States, “now is not the moment” to drop mask mandates in schools and other public places, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr Rochelle Walensky told Reuters.
Hospital capacity is “one of the most important barometers” for whether COVID-19 should be considered a pandemic-level public health crisis, Walensky said. Right now, U.S. hospitals remain “overwhelmed” by COVID-19 cases, she said.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh)
