Up to six cases of the variant of the CCP virus first identified in the Brazilian city of Manaus have been detected in Britain for the first time, English health officials said on Sunday.
Three cases were found in England and another three in Scotland. The risk to the wider community was considered low but as a precaution officials investigating the English cases were moving quickly to deploy testing and increasing the sequencing of positive coronavirus samples from the area, Public Health England said.
Utah Cancels Vaccine Dates for Thousands
Utah is canceling about 7,200 CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine appointments after an error in the state health department’s registration website allowed people without qualifying conditions to register for the shots.The state has so far administered more than 680,000 vaccine doses and estimates that 10 percent of its 3.2 million population has been fully vaccinated.
Iran Hits 60,000 Deaths; Bans 32 Nations
Iran has surpassed 60,000 known CCP virus-related deaths—the latest grim milestone for the hardest-hit country in the Middle East.The Health Ministry reported 93 new deaths from COVID-19—the disease caused by the CCP virus—on Sunday and more than 8,000 new infections, pushing the total infection count over 1.63 million.
Travelers from a list of 32 countries were banned by the regime on Sunday, including Britain and other states in Africa and Latin America, due to fears of new virus variants.
New Zealand’s Auckland Starts Second Lockdown
Exactly a year after New Zealand recorded its first COVID-19 cases in the country’s biggest city, Auckland woke on Sunday to a second lockdown this month, as authorities try to rein in a cluster of the more contagious UK variant.The seven-day lockdown of a population of nearly 2 million, announced late on Saturday by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, was prompted by the case of a person who had been infectious for a week but not in isolation.
Police Arrest 8 in Anti-Lockdown Protest in Denmark
Police in Denmark said eight people were arrested following an anti-lockdown demonstration with 1,200 participants in the center of Copenhagen, the Danish capital.The demonstration proceeded largely peacefully Saturday but those detained are suspected of behaving violently against police or violating fireworks regulations, police said. Participants gathered in a square in front of Copenhagen’s town hall.
Muguruza’s Coach Tests Positive Ahead of Qatar Tennis Open
Conchita Martinez, the coach of former world number one Garbine Muguruza, tested positive for the CCP virus after arriving in Doha ahead of the Qatar Open which begins on Monday.The 48-year-old former Wimbledon champion said she felt mild symptoms and is currently quarantining in hospital. Martinez became the first Spanish player to win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon when she beat Martina Navratilova in the 1994 final. She also won five Fed Cups with Spain.
All English Households With School Children Offered Twice Weekly Tests
All households in England with school- or college-aged children will be offered two rapid COVID-19 tests per person per week to support the government’s priority to get young people back in the classroom, the health ministry said on Sunday.The health ministry said rapid test kits would be made available to collect from Monday at more than 500 locations, or through workplace testing and local community testing services.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
