UK to discuss global cooperation on Covid-19 during the virtual G7 summit
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the virtual G7 summit on Friday to call for global cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus "common foe."
Hosted by the United Kingdom, the virtual meeting will also include leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United States, the European Commission, and the European Council. It will be the first major international engagement for President Joe Biden.
At the meeting, Johnson will discuss how, according to a statement Saturday, nations can work together to provide equitable distribution of vaccines and post-pandemic reconstruction.
The declaration added that Johnson would call for more "global cooperation" to end the nationalist and divisive politics that marred the initial coronavirus response.
“Quantum leaps in science have given us the vaccines we need to end this pandemic for good. Now world governments have a responsibility to work together to put those vaccines to the best possible use. I hope 2021 will be remembered as the year humanity worked together like never before to defeat a common foe,” Johnson said
Source - https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-02-14-21/index.html
More than 600,000 Americans will have died of coronavirus by June 1, model forecasts
By June 1, according to the latest forecast from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, more than 600,000 Americans will have died from Covid-19.
A death toll of 614,503 Americans was predicted by the model — down slightly from the previous prediction released last week, which projected 631,000 deaths.
Warmer weather and wider vaccination could help drive transmission down between now and August, according to the IHME.
“We expect vaccination to reach 145 million adults by June 1 and that scale-up will prevent 114,000 deaths,” IHME said in a statement.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 50 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide. And if over the next week, 95% of Americans began wearing masks, 34,000 lives could be saved.
The UK variant: Spread of the B.1.1.7 virus variant, first identified in the UK, could complicate any potential decline. At least 981 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant have been found in 37 states, the CDC said this week.
The team said it had factored in the expected variant spread into its projections for this forecast. In the worst-case scenario, US deaths could reach 645,000 by June 1.
Other factors: Progress could also be reversed if people let their guards down, said IHM
Source - https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-02-14-21/index.html
More than 50 million vaccine doses administered in the US, according to CDC
According to data published Saturday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States has administered more than 50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The CDC reported that 50,641,884 total doses — about 72% of the 69,883,625 total doses delivered nationwide — have been administered so far.
Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.
British PM Boris Johnson says Covid-19 could become “something we simply live with”
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he agreed with Health Secretary Matt Hancock's comments on Friday that by the end of the year, vaccinations and new treatments could make Covid-19 "another disease we have to deal with, as we do with flu."
"I do think that in due time [Covid-19] will become something that we simply live with. Some people will be more vulnerable than others -- that's inevitable,” Johnson said Saturday, replying to a reporter’s question.
"Ahead of a planned announcement on February 22 of his road map for England to leave lockdown, Johnson also said he felt "optimistic," but added that "we have to be cautious.
Asked about the scheduled announcement of February 22, when it is expected that details of how the lockdown will be eased will be outlined, Johnson replied that he will "try to set out as much as I can possibly in as much detail as I can, always understanding that we need to be careful of the disease pattern."
By Monday, 15 February, the UK government hopes to meet its target of offering Covid-19 vaccinations to 15 million people in the most vulnerable groups. To date, 14 million people have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom.
Here's some context: There have been more than 4 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
The UK government said in March last year that it was hopeful that the country could limit its coronavirus deaths to 20,000. But, according to JHU statistics, more than 116,500 have died—and the country has one of the highest numbers of confirmed deaths in the world, proportionate to the population.
For the first time in 100 days, the US is averaging fewer than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases per day
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States is averaging fewer than 100,000 new Covid-19 cases per day for the first time in 100 days.
The nation, according to JHU data, has a current 7-day average of 96,609 new cases per day. Election Day, November 3, 2020, was the last time this metric was below 100,000.
On November 3, the US saw an average of 925 deaths per day. Right now, the US is seeing an average of 3,024 deaths per day, which is more than a 200% increase in daily deaths since November.
Over those 100 days -- from November 3, 2020, to February 12, 2021 -- the US tallied 18,141,364 new Covid-19 cases and 248,148 reported deaths, JHU data shows.
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