N.Y. Passes 1 Million Cases; U.K. Reaches Record: Virus Update

New York became the fourth state to pass 1 million total Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. Florida reported more than 31,000 cases over New Year’s, and North Carolina’s new infections rose to two days of highs during the holiday. The U.S. is nearing 350,000 fatalities.

Hospitals in the U.K. struggled as the nation reported record new infections. Greece extended its national lockdown and Germany reached more than 21,000 new infections in 48 hours. Ireland also hit record infections.

India granted emergency approval for the virus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford.

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Talk show host Larry King is in the hospital with Covid-19, ABC News reported, citing a source close to the family. King, 87, who hosted “Larry King Live” on CNN for 25 years, has been treated for lung cancer and survived a major heart attack. ABC said he was being treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Arkansas reported 4,304 new cases, a record that Governor Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet was a “surge after Christmas travel and gatherings.

“As we enter this new year, our first resolution should be to follow guidelines. We all must do our part,” he said. The state reported another 35 fatalities.

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon will allow bars and restaurants to resume normal service starting Jan. 9, citing a drop in hospitalizations. Gyms will also be allowed to increase numbers in fitness classes. “Thank you to the people of Wyoming who recognized the strain on their hospitals and health care workers and acted accordingly,” Gordon said in a statement.

He said the state is “not out of the woods yet,” noting that, with 223 fatalities, December was the deadliest month of the pandemic.

Florida reported 31,518 new cases over New Year’s, by far the most infections in a two-day holiday period since the start of the pandemic. The state reports two-day totals after holidays, and the previous high came after Thanksgiving, at 17,344. The state broke its single-day record earlier this week, at 17,192 infections.

Another 217 Florida residents died over the two-day holiday, the state reported. That compares with 140 over Christmas and 109 after Thanksgiving.

The National Health Service is set to cancel urgent surgery across London in a move that could result in cancer patients waiting months for potentially lifesaving operations, the Guardian reported.

Hospitals across the capital, which has one of the highest infection rates in the country, are working at or near full capacity because of patients with Covid-19.

North Carolina reported the most cases yet, with a two-day total of 18,892 for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, state data show. That includes a record 9,527 infections reported on New Year’s Day. The state has emerged as a hot spot in the recent surge, now hitting the South hardest, data from the Covid Tracking Project show. The state also reached a record for total hospitalizations, at 3,479.

“We begin 2021 in our most dangerous position in this pandemic,” Mandy Cohen, the state’s secretary of Health and Human Services, said in a statement. “We must do all that we can to protect one another.”

Some of South Africa’s leading health leaders and academics called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire officials responsible for the delay in procuring Covid-19 vaccines, which they said will cause thousands of deaths and economic damage. The country, the worst hit by the virus in Africa, is due to receive its first vaccines in the second quarter from the Covax initiative. Even then, the agreement will only cover 10% of the population.

California added 53,341 new cases, the most since a record more than two weeks ago, prompting an urgent appeal by the health department for blood donations with the surge. The increase brings the total for the state to almost 2.35 million — with only six countries globally having more infections.

The Golden State added 386 new deaths, retreating from a record on Friday, with the total fatalities at 26,357. The test positive rate of 12.6% is among the highest since the peak in April.

New York state passed 1 million Covid-19 cases, after a somber year in which more than 30,000 of its residents died from the virus.

Cases increased by 15,074, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a tweet Saturday. That is below a record set two days ago for the entire pandemic of 16,802 daily cases. Total hospitalizations fell slightly to 7,814, as did the rate of positive tests, now 7.45% statewide. Another 128 people died.

Ireland reported 3,394 new cases, almost doubling the previous record, as the virus continues to sweep the country. Four more people died. While the jump in cases is due in part to a lag in confirming cases over the holidays, the incidence rate is now at least high as it was in March, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan said in a statement, and hospitalisations are nearing record levels. “Everyone needs to stay at home other than for essential work or care,” Holohan said.

The Zimbabwean government plans to start 30 days of lockdown regulations following an increase of coronavirus infections during the festive season, vice president Constatino Chiwenga said late Saturday.

“Gatherings are reduced to not more than 30 people at all funerals,” Chiwenga told reporters in the capital, Harare. “All other gatherings at weddings, churches, bars, bottle stores, gymnasium, restaurants are banned for 30 days.” Essential services such as hospitals, pharmacies, and supermarkets, with only essential staff are allowed to open.

The U.K. government has drawn up plans to allow people to receive two different Covid-19 vaccines as part of the two-dose treatment to protect against the coronavirus, the Financial Times reported, citing official recommendations on vaccines.

The document says that “every effort” should be made to administer the same vaccine in both shots, but that it is “reasonable” to offer a different vaccine if the original one is not available. The guidelines say exceptions should only be made for high-risk individuals or those unlikely to attend another appointment, the paper reported.

Italy postponed the reopening of its ski resorts to Jan. 18, as measures to curb infections have been slow to show results. The government had shut the nation’s ski lifts through Jan. 6 as part of winter holiday restrictions implemented in December to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

On Saturday, health authorities reported 364 Covid-19 deaths, down from 462 a day earlier, and 11,831 new cases versus 22,211 the previous day when there were more than twice as many tests.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn is seeking to extend the country’s coronavirus restrictions beyond Jan. 10 because infection rates remain too high, he told German broadcaster RTL in an interview on Saturday. Schools and daycare facilities should stay closed even after next week so Europe’s biggest economy doesn’t fall further behind in the fight against the pandemic, Spahn said. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government and state governors are scheduled to discuss a possible extension of the curbs on Tuesday.

Spahn, who has come under fire for what critics say is Germany’s slow inoculation strategy, added he’s confident that authorities will complete vaccinations of nursing-home residents by the end of this month.

The U.K. reported 57,725 new cases, the highest since the pandemic started. Testing wasn’t widely available during the first phase of the outbreak in March and April.

Saturday marks the fifth straight day over 50,000 new infections a day, even as all countries in the U.K. aren’t reporting data during the holiday weekend. Another 445 people died, compared with a daily average over the previous week of 554.

Sweden has 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus variant that emerged in the U.K. three months ago, and one case of the South African variant, state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said at a press conference.

The country is working to track down any further cases, and urges anyone traveling from the U.K. or South Africa to get tested, according to Tegnell.

More than 800,000 Russians have received the Covid-19 vaccination, Tass newswire reported, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko. Earlier Saturday, Russia reported 26,301 daily cases, bringing the total to 3.21 million. A further 447 people died, pushing the toll above 58,000, government data showed.

The U.S. added 160,606 new cases on Friday, a day when many states did not release virus data because of the New Year holiday. The daily average number of cases over the previous week was 188,274, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.

Reported fatalities were also down. A further 2,051 people died, the data showed, compared…