COVID-19 situation in the Caribbean as pandemic marks first year
Variant of COVID-19 that spread in Britain more fatal, study finds
The new variant of the novel coronavirus that was first detected in Britain has been found to be deadlier and more infectious that the earlier strains, according to a recent study.
This comes as the world marks the first year when the World Health Organisation announced the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
In a report by the VOA News, the new study published Wednesday on the British Medical Journal revaled that people infected with the B.1.1.7 variant were “between 30% to 100% more likely to die” than others infected with other versions—at an average rate about 64%.
The B.1.1.7 variant was first detected in September in southeast Britain and since then it has been found in more than 100 countries.
Meanwhile, Brazil is dealing with a dramatic surge of coronavirus cases driven by the new P.1 variant, which was discovered last November. Researchers say the P.1 variant is “1.4 to 2.4 times more transmissible than the original version” of the virus, and could also cause reinfections.
Data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center showed that Brazil has 11.2 million of the world’s 118 million total COVID-19 infections. This makes the South American country just third behind the United States and India, while its 270,656 deaths is second only to the U.S. and its 529,203 fatalities.
Haiti and the Caribbean to receive €17 million support from EU
In a bid to address the needs of the Caribbean countries that have been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission has pledged €17 million as humanitarian aid.
Haiti, which is currently facing a constitutional crisis, will receive the lion’s share from EU’s financial assistance with €14 million. The EU hopes that this will “save lives of people suffering extreme food insecurity, provide protection for migrants and victims of gang violence and increase resilience to disasters.”
Other islands in the Caribbean will receive €3 million to beef up its disaster preparedness and resilience interventions in at-risk communities.
“In Haiti as well as in the rest of the Caribbean, recurrent natural hazards further increase vulnerabilities, while also exacerbated by the coronavirus. In this challenging time, the EU is stepping up its long-standing humanitarian assistance to those most in need,” said Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, in a press release.
COVID-19 vaccinations begin in Jamaica
After receiving its share of the donated India-made vaccines earlier this week, Jamaica has began rolling out its mass vaccination program on Wednesday, with healthcare workers as priority in the more than 3,280 people to get their shots.
The vaccination program is getting underway as Prime Minister Andrew Holness warns there will be a national lockdown if the COVID-19 safety protocols do not slow down infections over the next three weeks, according to the report of Caribbean News Weekly.
Citizens who are above 60 years old have also received their first jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine, including Jamaica’s former prime ministers PJ Patterson and Bruce Golding, and former first lady, Lorna Golding, who joined her husband to get vaccinated.