(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Hong Kong finds COVID in packaging samples of meat imports
Hong Kong authorities said they found COVID-19 in samples taken from the packaging of imports of frozen beef from Brazil and frozen pork skin from Poland, vowing to step up inspections of imported food.
Authorities said COVID-19 is predominantly transmitted through droplets and cannot multiply in food or food packaging, and that it is unlikely that it can be transmitted to humans via food consumption. Nevertheless, they recommend people handle raw food separately, observe hygiene rules and cook food thoroughly.
Top English medic warns new COVID variants could be more resistant
England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty warned on Monday there will be new COVID-19 variants and said some of them could be more resistant to vaccines.
“We all expect … there to be new variants. And some of those new variants will just disappear,” Whitty told a press conference. “But some of them will cause significant problems.”
Johnson scraps COVID restrictions in England
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday said he would end all coronavirus restrictions in England including mandatory self-isolation for people with COVID-19 and free testing, drawing scepticism from some scientists and political opponents.
Johnson’s “living with COVID” plan has sparked alarm that it is premature and will leave the country vulnerable to new viral variants, but the government says it has provided more testing than most other countries, and must now curb the cost.
Biological E. COVID shot gets India emergency approval
Indian vaccine maker Biological E. Ltd said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine received an emergency use approval in the country for use in children aged 12 to 18.
The company’s shot, called Corbevax, is the third vaccine approved for use in children aged 12 and above in India, joining Zydus Cadila’s DNA shot ZyCoV-D and homegrown player Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
China reports 138 new COVID cases for Feb 21
China reported 138 new COVID-19 cases in the mainland for Monday, down from 144 cases a day earlier, the health authority said. Of the new infections, 59 were locally transmitted, according to a statement on Tuesday by the National Health Commission (NHC), down from 71 a day earlier. The other new cases were imported.
The new locally transmitted cases were in Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei and Guangdong, the NHC said. The health authority also reported four cases from the Beijing Winter Olympics ‘closed-loop’ that separates athletes, team staff, media and others from the general public.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
