SAO PAULO, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Deforestation last year rose to the highest level since 2015 in Brazil’s Cerrado, prompting scientists on Monday to raise alarm over the state of the world’s most species-rich savanna, a major carbon sink that helps to stave off climate change.

The Cerrado, which is spread across several states of Brazil and is one of the world’s largest savannas, is often called an “upside-down forest” because of the deep roots its plants sink into the ground to survive seasonal droughts and fires.

Destruction of these trees, grasses and other plants in the Cerrado is a major source of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions, although it is far less densely forested than the more famous Amazon rainforest that it borders.

Deforestation and other clearances of native vegetation in the Cerrado rose 8% to 8,531 square kilometers in the 12 months through July, Brazil’s official period for measuring deforestation, according to national space research agency Inpe. That is more than 10 times the size of New York City’s land area of 783.84 square km.

“It’s extremely worrying,” said Mercedes Bustamante, an ecologist at the University of Brasilia.

Bustamante also criticized the government for a lack of transparency for announcing the deforestation data on New Year’s Eve.

The added destruction is particularly concerning, scientists say, when considering that roughly half of the Cerrado has been destroyed since the 1970s, mostly for farming and ranching.

“You’re transforming thousands of square kilometers annually,” said Manuel Ferreira, a geographer at the Federal University of Goias.

“Few other places on earth have seen that rapid of a transformation.”

Ferreira said that new plant and animal species are regularly being discovered in the Cerrado and that many are probably being eradicated before they can be studied.

After falling from highs in the early 2000s, deforestation in the Cerrado has been creeping up again since right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019, calling for more farming and development in sensitive ecosystems.

Last month, a Brazilian soy lobby group said that data showed farmers were increasingly using previously cleared land in the Cerrado rather than deforesting wholly new areas to plant the cash crop. More than half of Brazil’s soy farmland is in the Cerrado.

Bustamante and other scientists blame Bolsonaro for encouraging deforestation with his pro-development rhetoric and for rolling back environmental enforcement.

Bolsonaro’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment. He has previously defended his policies as a means to lift the interior of the country out of poverty and pointed out that Brazil has preserved far more of its territory than Europe or the United States.

“Deforestation is the most naked and raw indicator of the terrible environmental policy of this government,” said Ane Alencar, the science director at the non-profit Amazon Environmental Research Institute.

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An Israeli study looking into the effects of a fourth total, or second booster, of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine showed with a “high degree of certainty” it’s safe and increased antibodies by fivefold one week post-vaccination, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced, per Reuters.

The Israeli government on Tuesday released the preliminary results of the trial, which .give insight to how an additional booster may help offset the impact of the hyper-contagious omicron variant, reports The Washington Post.

Bennett said the preliminary results showed “a very high likelihood that the fourth dose will protect vaccinated people to a great degree against infection to some degree and against severe symptoms,” according to the Post.

A fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold a week after the shot is administered, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, citing preliminary findings of an Israeli study https://t.co/UIp9p30O1s pic.twitter.com/U2oUQrbo1c

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 4, 2022

Bennett said at Sheba Medical Center, “A week into the fourth dose, we know to a higher degree of certainty that the fourth dose is safe,” adding, “The second piece of news: We know that a week after administration of a fourth dose, we see a five-fold increase in the number of antibodies in the vaccinated person. This most likely means a significant increase against infection and… hospitalization and [severe] symptoms,” reports Reuters.

Side effects reported from the vaccine were similar to those of the second and third shots. Recipients reported fever, fatigue, and headaches, notes Reuters.

A separate group is set to receive Moderna’s vaccine—after initially having gotten three Pfizer-BioNTech shots—for their fourth dose this week and data from that group will soon follow up with the question of a potential superior immune response by mixing-and-matching vaccinations, a Sheba Medical Center spokesman states, according to the Post.

The Israeli government announced on Sunday that Israel will offer a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose to health care workers and individuals 60 years old and older in an effort to bolster protection amid the omicron wave of the pandemic.

Eligible individuals can receive the fourth jab if they received their previous dose at least four months ago.

Bennett called on all eligible individuals to get the second booster before praising his country for being a leader in vaccination efforts.

“Israel will once again be pioneering the global vaccination effort. Omicron is not delta — it’s a different ballgame altogether. We must keep our eye on the ball, act swiftly and decisively if we want to continue engaging and working with an open country as much as possible throughout this pandemic,” Bennett said.

====================================

Biden eases omicron alarm, urges vaccinations

© AP-Carolyn Kaster

President Biden on Tuesday sought to tamp down worries about the omicron coronavirus variant, underscoring that COVID-19 vaccines protect against severe illness from the virus.

Speaking before a briefing with his COVID-19 advisers at the White House, Biden said that the U.S. has the tools to protect Americans from severe illness from the virus.

“If you are vaccinated and boosted you are highly protected,” Biden said, noting that those who are vaccinated can still contract COVID-19 but are unlikely to become seriously ill.

“Be concerned about omicron but don’t be alarmed. But if you’re unvaccinated, you have some reason to be alarmed,” he said.

=====================================

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Wednesday morning.

1. Call to remove travel test rules

As the prime minister hopes England can “ride out” the Omicron wave of coronavirus without introducing further restrictions, travel firms are calling for all remaining measures in their sector to be lifted. Airlines claim passenger testing’s having no real impact and those tests have held the industry back. The government says all measures remain under review and Boris Johnson will be meeting with his cabinet later. In Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to update Holyrood – a cabinet meeting before the session is expected to discuss whether to reduce the self-isolation period.

Image source, Getty Images

2. Djokovic vaccine exemption fury

There’s been an angry backlash in Australia over tennis star Novak Djokovic’s exemption from vaccination rules. The Australian Open defending champion’s vaccination status is unknown, but said last year: “Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn’t want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel.” The player hasn’t been given special treatment, organisers say, but despite that there’s been criticism directed towards officials, politicians and Djokovic himself. Here’s the full story.

Image source, Reuters

3. President Macron’s pressure on unvaccinated

“I really want to hassle them, and we will continue to do this – to the end,”- French President Emmanuel Macron says warns he plans to make life difficult for unvaccinated people in the country. His comments came as a bill, which would bar the unvaccinated from much of public life, was delayed by opposition MPs. Mr Macron’s political opponents say the language he used is not fitting for a president.

Image source, Getty Images

4. US teacher arrest

A school teacher’s been arrested for allegedly giving a Covid vaccine to a student who reportedly wanted the jab. New York biology teacher Laura Russo gave the dose at her home despite having no legal authorisation to give jabs, or consent from the boy’s parents, police say. If convicted the 54-year-old, who was arrested on New Year’s Eve, could face four years in prison.

Image source, CBS

5. Covid curfew

As India braces itself for a third wave of coronavirus and its largest cities see a surge in cases, state governments are re-imposing restrictions. In the capital Delhi a weekend curfew’s been put in place, banning all non-essential activity between Friday night and Monday morning.

================================

SWEDEN NEW RECORD

Sweden set a new daily record for Covid cases, registering 11,507 cases on 30 December, health agency data showed on Tuesday as a fourth wave of the virus spread across the country.

The daily infection figures are typically revised somewhat as any delayed records of additional cases are added to the national total for a given day. The previous record of 11,376 cases was set in late December 2020.

The fresh wave of cases, in part driven by the more contagious omicron variant, hit Sweden later than its Nordic neighbours, but has in recent weeks resulted in a sharp rise in cases and, increasingly, hospitalisations.

====================================

 

WHO sees more evidence that Omicron causes milder symptoms

More evidence is emerging that the Omicron coronavirus variant is causing milder symptoms than previous variants and resulting in a “decoupling” in some places between soaring case numbers and low death rates, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.

“We are seeing more and more studies pointing out that Omicron is infecting the upper part of the body. Unlike other ones, the lungs who would be causing severe pneumonia,” WHO Incident Manager Abdi Mahamud told Geneva-based journalists.

“It can be a good news, but we really require more studies to prove that.”

Since the heavily mutated variant was first detected in November, WHO data shows it has spread quickly and emerged in at least 128 countries, presenting dilemmas for many nations and people seeking to reboot their economies and lives after nearly two years of Covid-related disruptions.

However, while case numbers have surged to all-time records, the hospitalisation and death rates are often lower than at other phases in the pandemic. 

==================================

WORLD STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

295,640,740

view by country

Deaths:

5,474,760

Recovered:

256,193,200

#	Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths	New Deaths	Total Recovered	New Recovered	Active Cases	Serious, Critical	Tot Cases/ 1M pop	Deaths/ 1M pop	Total Tests	Tests/ 1M pop	Population
	World	295,640,740	+158,957	5,474,760	+794	256,193,200	+94,365	33,972,780	91,664	37,928	702.4
1	USA	58,040,720		851,439		41,901,183		15,288,098	20,340	173,811	2,550	822,506,773	2,463,115	333,929,490
2	India	35,018,358		482,551		34,321,803		214,004	8,944	25,005	345	683,817,242	488,281	1,400,457,794
3	Brazil	22,323,837		619,426		21,567,845		136,566	8,318	103,910	2,883	63,776,166	296,858	214,837,643
4	UK	13,641,520		148,941		10,510,621		2,981,958	883	199,368	2,177	412,195,022	6,024,150	68,423,761
5	France	10,589,505		124,563		8,275,283		2,189,659	3,333	161,693	1,902	188,795,159	2,882,750	65,491,348
6	Russia	10,570,212		312,187		9,575,147		682,878	2,300	72,384	2,138	241,700,000	1,655,152	146,028,845
7	Turkey	9,652,394		82,932		9,162,851		406,611	1,128	112,621	968	120,177,307	1,402,186	85,707,084
8	Germany	7,279,025		113,471		6,581,800	+49,900	583,754	4,636	86,462	1,348	89,622,218	1,064,549	84,187,972
9	Spain	6,785,286		89,689		5,113,385		1,582,212	1,983	145,040	1,917	66,213,858	1,415,368	46,782,093
10	Italy	6,566,947		138,045		5,163,605		1,265,297	1,392	108,855	2,288	143,220,927	2,374,048	60,327,719
11	Iran	6,200,296		131,736		6,044,247		24,313	2,471	72,422	1,539	42,281,617	493,868	85,613,251
12	Argentina	5,820,536		117,294		5,370,436		332,806	1,218	127,028	2,560	28,476,002	621,462	45,821,011
13	Colombia	5,203,374		130,100		4,990,966		82,308	342	100,645	2,516	29,889,802	578,135	51,700,428
14	Indonesia	4,263,732		144,105		4,114,969		4,658		15,344	519	64,158,227	230,882	277,883,608
15	Poland	4,145,518		98,034		3,673,234		374,250	1,833	109,716	2,595	27,487,093	727,478	37,784,086
16	Mexico	4,008,648	+15,184	299,711	+130	3,318,643	+2,944	390,294	4,798	30,606	2,288	12,465,799	95,177	130,974,759
17	Ukraine	3,682,659	+4,571	96,709	+273	3,491,793	+8,439	94,157	177	84,976	2,232	16,865,938	389,178	43,337,385
18	South Africa	3,483,590		91,451		3,238,246		153,893	546	57,641	1,513	21,344,293	353,174	60,435,712
19	Netherlands	3,198,835		20,990		2,730,964		446,881	462	186,065	1,221	21,107,399	1,227,742	17,192,053
20	Philippines	2,871,745	+10,775	51,662	+58	2,780,109	+605	39,974	899	25,691	462	25,372,205	226,985	111,779,171
21	Malaysia	2,769,886		31,591		2,698,613		39,682	252	83,959	958	41,531,205	1,258,865	32,990,995
22	Czechia	2,503,374	+10,169	36,397	+24	2,367,582	+274	99,395	506	233,112	3,389	47,222,418	4,397,305	10,738,945
23	Canada	2,352,524		30,452		1,975,375		346,697	455	61,518	796	52,788,460	1,380,413	38,241,053
24	Peru	2,309,856		202,867		N/A	N/A	N/A	899	68,615	6,026	21,929,599	651,425	33,664,028
25	Thailand	2,239,475	+3,899	21,769	+19	2,182,829	+2,508	34,877	588	31,963	311	17,270,775	246,500	70,064,130
26	Belgium	2,151,914	+18,630	28,407	+22	1,814,376	+15,240	309,131	520	184,465	2,435	27,524,787	2,359,466	11,665,687
27	Iraq	2,094,667		24,182		2,066,049		4,436	64	50,375	582	16,865,438	405,598	41,581,611
28	Romania	1,816,956		58,866		1,745,012		13,078	390	95,408	3,091	17,222,335	904,340	19,044,085
29	Chile	1,812,348		39,174		1,733,373		39,801	518	93,596	2,023	27,537,076	1,422,106	19,363,594
30	Vietnam	1,800,704		33,245		1,413,384		354,075	6,651	18,252	337	75,256,465	762,794	98,658,959
31	Japan	1,736,847	+1,256	18,397	+1	1,712,954	+218	5,496	60	13,796	146	29,494,976	234,287	125,892,404
32	Bangladesh	1,587,915		28,087		1,549,956		9,872	1,349	9,499	168	11,565,650	69,188	167,162,826
33	Portugal	1,460,406		19,015		1,227,642		213,749	147	143,856	1,873	27,237,600	2,683,016	10,151,860
34	Israel	1,411,805		8,247		1,355,641		47,917	116	151,384	884	39,492,099	4,234,624	9,326,000
35	Switzerland	1,385,365		12,359		1,051,308		321,698	307	158,326	1,412	14,490,481	1,656,045	8,750,052
36	Sweden	1,357,753		15,286		1,201,973		140,494	114	133,188	1,499	15,268,363	1,497,747	10,194,221
37	Greece	1,344,923		21,053		1,035,593		288,277	619	129,991	2,035	48,625,727	4,699,841	10,346,249
38	Serbia	1,310,845		12,806		1,267,857		30,182	79	150,945	1,475	7,297,175	840,274	8,684,280
39	Pakistan	1,298,763	+898	28,950	+5	1,257,600	+245	12,213	652	5,713	127	23,608,645	103,841	227,352,812
40	Austria	1,294,325		13,784		1,242,779		37,762	316	142,486	1,517	124,636,283	13,720,588	9,083,888
41	Hungary	1,269,979	+5,270	39,599	+82	1,128,923	+3,978	101,457	316	131,969	4,115	9,229,190	959,041	9,623,349
42	Jordan	1,069,549		12,765		1,030,501		26,283	784	103,280	1,233	13,677,976	1,320,800	10,355,830
43	Kazakhstan	989,556		13,033		961,806		14,717	528	51,768	682	11,575,012	605,539	19,115,232
44	Morocco	971,961		14,867		943,070		14,024	103	25,871	396	10,908,444	290,350	37,569,986
45	Cuba	968,171		8,324		957,415		2,432	24	85,556	736	11,731,194	1,036,674	11,316,188
46	Georgia	945,609	+3,436	14,041	+32	906,708	+1,805	24,860		237,733	3,530	13,053,769	3,281,806	3,977,617
47	Ireland	867,199		5,912		588,338		272,949	90	172,717	1,177	9,975,030	1,986,691	5,020,927
48	Slovakia	849,516		16,788		794,234		38,494	453	155,486	3,073	5,130,450	939,018	5,463,631
49	Denmark	846,398		3,307		637,106		205,985	77	145,355	568	108,234,124	18,587,466	5,822,963
50	Nepal	829,632		11,601		812,937		5,094	114	27,723	388	4,887,818	163,329	29,926,269
51	UAE	772,189		2,170		748,511		21,508		76,678	215	113,013,841	11,222,250	10,070,515
52	Bulgaria	757,710		31,237		615,006		111,467	468	110,300	4,547	7,530,867	1,096,271	6,869,533
53	Lebanon	740,814		9,193		659,448		72,173	186	109,275	1,356	4,795,578	707,382	6,779,336
54	Tunisia	731,077		25,606		697,222		8,249	84	60,898	2,133	3,419,491	284,838	12,005,039
55	Croatia	727,899		12,699		686,311		28,889	233	178,974	3,122	3,793,631	932,767	4,067,074
56	Belarus	702,374		5,638		695,651		1,085		74,368	597	11,086,729	1,173,865	9,444,635
57	S. Korea	649,669	+4,443	5,838	+57	541,994	+4,951	101,837	953	12,655	114	15,804,065	307,857	51,335,735
58	Bolivia	631,554	+9,242	19,810	+47	535,719	+1,342	76,025	220	53,014	1,663	2,633,963	221,100	11,912,987
59	Guatemala	629,811		16,111		608,922		4,778	5	34,201	875	3,290,902	178,710	18,414,791
60	Azerbaijan	618,365		8,398		602,319		7,648		60,170	817	5,889,656	573,093	10,276,955
61	Australia	612,388	+64,735	2,290	+19	291,150		318,948	195	23,603	88	56,050,698	2,160,296	25,945,846
62	Sri Lanka	588,929		15,055		561,271		12,603		27,330	699	5,726,599	265,752	21,548,647
63	Costa Rica	575,871		7,366		561,409		7,096	49	111,511	1,426	3,015,552	583,929	5,164,247
64	Saudi Arabia	562,437		8,883		543,129		10,425	96	15,785	249	33,623,374	943,660	35,630,816
65	Ecuador	553,201		33,686		443,880		75,635	759	30,654	1,867	2,171,252	120,313	18,046,749
66	Myanmar	531,299		19,278		509,182		2,839		9,667	351	6,076,447	110,562	54,959,788
67	Lithuania	529,540	+2,963	7,475	+8	492,946	+1,398	29,119	109	198,703	2,805	6,652,931	2,496,431	2,664,977
68	Panama	503,407		7,445		477,289		18,673	35	113,968	1,685	4,560,761	1,032,521	4,417,110
69	Slovenia	470,960		5,623		445,097		20,240	163	226,492	2,704	2,093,238	1,006,670	2,079,369
70	Paraguay	470,460		16,645		448,500		5,315	41	64,761	2,291	2,054,677	282,835	7,264,591
71	Venezuela	445,369		5,337		435,281		4,751	681	15,729	188	3,359,014	118,633	28,314,402
72	Palestine	440,606		4,685		432,524		3,397	58	83,449	887	2,866,266	542,856	5,279,970
73	Ethiopia	432,807		6,981		357,841		67,985	366	3,629	59	4,150,734	34,807	119,250,593
74	Dominican Republic	428,509		4,252		409,673		14,584	162	38,913	386	2,599,246	236,040	11,011,900
75	Kuwait	420,796		2,468		412,274		6,054	9	96,386	565	6,047,491	1,385,215	4,365,743
76	Uruguay	420,108		6,180		400,879		13,049	24	120,310	1,770	4,465,421	1,278,799	3,491,886
77	Norway	412,472		1,307		88,952		322,213	95	75,198	238	9,341,906	1,703,125	5,485,155
78	Mongolia	391,087	+585	2,065	+3	313,256		75,766	192	116,470	615	4,030,048	1,200,193	3,357,834
79	Libya	390,935		5,740		378,046		7,149	140	55,751	819	2,047,489	291,993	7,012,107
80	Egypt	388,651		21,836		323,001		43,814	122	3,693	207	3,693,367	35,094	105,241,789
81	Honduras	380,207	+144	10,442		125,712	+450	244,053	83	37,489	1,030	1,141,474	112,550	10,141,963
82	Moldova	377,496		10,319		363,125		4,052	123	93,909	2,567	2,425,628	603,417	4,019,820
83	Armenia	345,255	+129	7,989	+3	332,304	+103	4,962		116,185	2,688	2,586,737	870,487	2,971,596
84	Oman	306,240		4,117		300,559		1,564	5	57,758	776	25,000,000	4,715,084	5,302,133
85	Kenya	302,134		5,401		258,533		38,200	50	5,438	97	3,056,954	55,026	55,554,879
86	Bosnia and Herzegovina	293,684		13,517		192,218		87,949		90,363	4,159	1,493,868	459,647	3,250,033
87	Bahrain	285,448		1,395		278,144		5,909	1	159,421	779	8,116,832	4,533,198	1,790,531
88	Finland	282,831		1,599		46,000		235,232	53	50,927	288	8,745,480	1,574,712	5,553,702
89	Singapore	281,596		832		276,914		3,850	13	47,569	141	21,098,774	3,564,155	5,919,713
90	Latvia	279,320		4,600		263,011		11,709	76	150,598	2,480	5,630,139	3,035,549	1,854,735
91	Zambia	265,479		3,762		230,494		31,223	345	13,857	196	2,996,026	156,379	19,158,801
92	Qatar	255,231		618		246,274		8,339	32	90,901	220	3,197,708	1,138,864	2,807,805
93	Estonia	244,733		1,940		225,589		17,204	18	184,303	1,461	2,548,253	1,919,037	1,327,881
94	Nigeria	244,548		3,053		216,814		24,681	11	1,144	14	3,823,309	17,880	213,831,197
95	North Macedonia	227,168		7,996		213,505		5,667		109,045	3,838	1,619,276	777,285	2,083,245
96	Botswana	222,053		2,452		205,004		14,597	1	91,638	1,012	2,026,898	836,475	2,423,141
97	Algeria	219,953		6,303		151,095		62,555	34	4,883	140	230,861	5,125	45,043,897
98	Zimbabwe	217,678		5,078		187,980		24,620	12	14,331	334	1,864,313	122,741	15,188,967
99	Albania	212,021		3,224		201,748		7,049	23	73,796	1,122	1,495,002	520,352	2,873,057
100	Uzbekistan	199,361	+90	1,485		196,605	+66	1,271	23	5,829	43	1,377,915	40,290	34,200,157
101	Mozambique	196,346		2,042		159,567		34,737	13	6,028	63	1,115,978	34,261	32,573,292
102	Kyrgyzstan	185,031	+152	2,809	+2	180,050	+53	2,172	131	27,673	420	1,907,195	285,236	6,686,370
103	Cyprus	183,178		646		124,370		58,162	60	150,071	529	9,477,138	7,764,257	1,220,611
104	Montenegro	177,455		2,422		160,321		14,712	60	282,488	3,856	1,000,184	1,592,178	628,186
105	Afghanistan	158,245	+28	7,367	+1	145,744	+25	5,134	1,124	3,932	183	826,053	20,524	40,248,477
106	Namibia	150,145		3,656		133,194		13,295	35	57,522	1,401	877,016	335,993	2,610,224
107	Ghana	147,203		1,309		132,869		13,025	5	4,593	41	2,138,224	66,716	32,049,770
108	Uganda	146,776		3,312		98,521		44,943	84	3,063	69	2,171,946	45,330	47,914,256
109	El Salvador	122,063		3,826		113,511		4,726	80	18,677	585	1,530,272	234,146	6,535,558
110	Cambodia	120,535	+9	3,015		116,971	+8	549		7,062	177	2,769,862	162,287	17,067,663
111	Rwanda	116,057		1,357		45,522		69,178	6	8,638	101	4,070,876	302,992	13,435,570
112	Laos	114,787	+836	409	+6	7,339		107,039		15,439	55	923,360	124,197	7,434,655
113	Cameroon	109,367		1,851		106,050		1,466	13	3,971	67	1,751,774	63,607	27,540,631
114	Luxembourg	106,235		918		96,108		9,209	20	165,650	1,431	3,828,513	5,969,720	641,322
115	China	102,932	+91	4,636		95,005	+56	3,291	31	72	3	160,000,000	111,163	1,439,323,776
116	Maldives	96,522		263		93,544		2,715	23	173,949	474	1,892,436	3,410,495	554,886
117	Jamaica	96,331		2,479		66,064		27,788	4	32,319	832	713,531	239,387	2,980,658
118	Trinidad and Tobago	93,634		2,951		74,878		15,805	22	66,581	2,098	512,730	364,589	1,406,323
119	Réunion	85,960		419		72,447		13,094	34	94,989	463	1,424,291	1,573,896	904,946
120	Angola	84,666		1,778		65,285		17,603	7	2,461	52	1,292,664	37,573	34,404,437
121	DRC	79,274		1,225		50,930		27,119		846	13	846,704	9,040	93,658,248
122	Malawi	76,801		2,386		60,907		13,508	67	3,864	120	492,602	24,786	19,874,053
123	Senegal	76,233		1,891		73,030		1,312	7	4,379	109	927,703	53,291	17,408,086
124	Ivory Coast	73,786		723		63,365		9,698		2,697	26	1,247,438	45,591	27,361,635
125	Eswatini	66,674		1,318		62,171		3,185	11	56,586	1,119	433,699	368,081	1,178,272
126	Malta	56,209		479		41,196		14,534	7	126,792	1,080	1,211,456	2,732,714	443,316
127	Guadeloupe	56,035		750		2,250		53,035	23	140,008	1,874	607,573	1,518,071	400,227
128	Fiji	55,009		702		51,267		3,040		60,700	775	476,158	525,422	906,239
129	Suriname	54,460	+820	1,192	+2	49,096	+7	4,172	2	91,598	2,005	174,941	294,238	594,556
130	French Guiana	50,731		341		11,254		39,136	5	163,472	1,099	498,495	1,606,313	310,335
131	Syria	50,390		2,912		33,001		14,477		2,778	161	146,269	8,063	18,140,702
132	Madagascar	50,279		1,027		44,708		4,544	22	1,748	36	320,884	11,156	28,762,613
133	Martinique	48,473		779		104		47,590	1	129,321	2,078	488,892	1,304,317	374,826
134	Sudan	47,272		3,340		38,714		5,218		1,041	74	562,941	12,402	45,390,766
135	French Polynesia	46,474		636		N/A	N/A	N/A	7	164,012	2,245			283,357
136	Cabo Verde	44,592		354		38,643		5,595	23	78,911	626	394,669	698,418	565,090
137	Mauritania	43,497		874		39,381		3,242	21	8,999	181	574,891	118,936	4,833,622
138	Gabon	42,640		290		37,932		4,418	15	18,500	126	1,493,255	647,888	2,304,806
139	Guyana	40,639		1,058		37,796		1,785	8	51,294	1,335	432,785	546,255	792,276
140	Papua New Guinea	36,193		590		35,534		69	7	3,933	64	249,149	27,075	9,202,315
141	Belize	34,087		605		30,730		2,752	4	83,444	1,481	389,239	952,845	408,502
142	Guinea	33,045		391		30,567		2,087	49	2,418	29	572,612	41,891	13,668,944
143	Iceland	32,540		38		23,861		8,641	7	94,433	110	1,401,240	4,066,492	344,582
144	Togo	31,691		251		26,219		5,221		3,698	29	621,097	72,466	8,570,864
145	Channel Islands	30,024		114		24,159		5,751		170,321	647	1,142,821	6,483,024	176,279
146	Lesotho	29,999		673		16,313		13,013		13,838	310	346,608	159,885	2,167,853
147	Barbados	29,698		263		27,743		1,692		103,152	913	476,116	1,653,720	287,906
148	Tanzania	29,306		737		N/A	N/A	N/A	7	470	12			62,294,708
149	Burundi	27,366		38		773		26,555		2,203	3	345,742	27,829	12,423,665
150	Haiti	26,056		766		23,353		1,937		2,244	66	132,422	11,404	11,612,038
151	Bahamas	26,011		717		21,901		3,393	2	65,205	1,797	186,887	468,495	398,909
152	Seychelles	25,610		134		24,270		1,206		257,996	1,350			99,265
153	Benin	25,522		161		24,705		656	5	2,025	13	604,310	47,957	12,601,171
154	Andorra	24,802		141		21,349		3,312	31	320,228	1,821	249,838	3,225,756	77,451
155	Mayotte	24,671		186		2,964		21,521		87,261	658	176,919	625,764	282,725
156	Mauritius	23,704		762		22,050		892		18,592	598	358,675	281,325	1,274,951
157	Curaçao	23,692		189		18,746		4,757	3	143,497	1,145	393,824	2,385,294	165,105
158	Somalia	23,532		1,333		12,948		9,251		1,421	80	391,308	23,629	16,560,544
159	Aruba	23,048		181		19,540		3,327	5	214,500	1,685	177,885	1,655,514	107,450
160	Mali	22,383		670		19,279		2,434		1,059	32	543,614	25,729	21,128,590
161	Congo	21,277		369		18,825		2,083		3,718	64	316,273	55,268	5,722,563
162	Timor-Leste	19,842		122		19,711		9		14,630	90	226,374	166,909	1,356,270
163	Burkina Faso	18,637		333		17,150		1,154		856	15	239,193	10,989	21,765,950
164	Nicaragua	17,526		213		4,225		13,088		2,599	32			6,743,351
165	Taiwan	17,155	+26	850		15,921	+12	384		718	36	9,342,349	391,191	23,881,790
166	Tajikistan	17,095		124		16,966		5		1,734	13			9,860,219
167	South Sudan	15,745		136		12,934		2,675	1	1,382	12	297,596	26,124	11,391,536
168	Brunei	15,506		98		15,317		91	1	34,940	221	688,046	1,550,372	443,794
169	New Zealand	14,405	+40	51		13,252	+81	1,102	17	2,880	10	5,627,559	1,125,039	5,002,100
170	Saint Lucia	13,881		301		13,213		367	5	75,076	1,628	109,927	594,544	184,893
171	Isle of Man	13,803		67		13,385		351	1	161,039	782	133,676	1,559,595	85,712
172	Djibouti	13,769		189		13,426		154		13,637	187	260,113	257,627	1,009,651
173	Equatorial Guinea	13,710		175		13,410		125	1	9,312	119	263,190	178,759	1,472,321
174	New Caledonia	12,948	+51	281		12,249		418	4	44,704	970	98,964	341,684	289,636
175	Hong Kong	12,761		213		12,214		334		1,682	28	30,074,074	3,963,016	7,588,683
176	CAR	12,163		101		6,859		5,203	2	2,454	20	74,519	15,035	4,956,276
177	Gambia	10,376		343		9,700		333	4	4,119	136	132,861	52,747	2,518,845
178	Yemen	10,143		1,984		7,041		1,118	23	329	64	265,253	8,608	30,815,152
179	Cayman Islands	9,509		12		5,237		4,260	11	142,169	179	215,963	3,228,870	66,885
180	Gibraltar	9,059		100		7,983		976	4	269,005	2,969	453,215	13,458,101	33,676
181	San Marino	8,487		102		7,263		1,122	5	249,332	2,997	107,206	3,149,505	34,039
182	Eritrea	8,128		77		7,819		232		2,245	21	23,693	6,544	3,620,390
183	Niger	7,590		277		7,003		310	2	297	11	205,130	8,037	25,524,337
184	Comoros	7,283	+215	158		5,154	+82	1,971		8,115	176			897,497
185	Sierra Leone	7,268		123		N/A	N/A	N/A		884	15	259,958	31,620	8,221,301
186	Dominica	7,073		47		6,544		482		97,888	650	127,949	1,770,773	72,256
187	Bermuda	6,936		110		5,914		912		111,996	1,776	708,560	11,441,120	61,931
188	Grenada	6,787	+256	200		5,714	+7	873		59,898	1,765	98,051	865,342	113,309
189	Faeroe Islands	6,646		15		5,426		1,205	5	135,238	305	655,000	13,328,450	49,143
190	Guinea-Bissau	6,514		149		6,302		63		3,196	73	111,394	54,658	2,038,033
191	Liberia	6,404		287		5,535		582	2	1,223	55	139,824	26,701	5,236,662
192	Liechtenstein	6,283		71		5,911		301	9	164,077	1,854	80,413	2,099,940	38,293
193	Chad	6,183		184		4,874		1,125		361	11	188,872	11,022	17,135,167
194	St. Vincent Grenadines	5,991		83		5,326		582	7	53,745	745	94,386	846,731	111,471
195	Sint Maarten	5,708		75		4,807		826	4	130,887	1,720	62,056	1,422,976	43,610
196	Monaco	5,397		39		4,858		500	4	136,078	983	54,960	1,385,744	39,661
197	Antigua and Barbuda	4,486		119		4,076		291	1	45,244	1,200	18,559	187,179	99,151
198	Saint Martin	4,250		58		1,399		2,793	7	107,164	1,462	78,366	1,975,995	39,659
199	Sao Tome and Principe	4,010		58		3,684		268		17,799	257	29,036	128,883	225,290
200	British Virgin Islands	3,760		40		N/A	N/A	N/A	8	123,141	1,310	93,379	3,058,197	30,534
201	Caribbean Netherlands	3,664		23		3,291		350		137,796	865	30,126	1,132,982	26,590
202	Turks and Caicos	3,562		26		3,224		312		90,164	658	94,789	2,399,357	39,506
203	Saint Kitts and Nevis	3,333		28		2,798		507	1	61,991	521	60,756	1,130,008	53,766
204	Greenland	3,134		1		2,415		718	2	55,061	18	142,487	2,503,329	56,919
205	Bhutan	2,666		3		2,650		13		3,399	4	1,311,048	1,671,370	784,415
206	St. Barth	1,895		6		N/A	N/A	N/A		190,990	605	56,491	5,693,509	9,922
207	Anguilla	1,777		6		1,702		69		116,869	395	51,382	3,379,283	15,205
208	Diamond Princess	712		13		699		0
209	Wallis and Futuna	454		7		438		9		41,492	640	20,508	1,874,246	10,942
210	Saint Pierre Miquelon	113	+13			97	+2	16		19,649		14,402	2,504,260	5,751
211	Falkland Islands	83				N/A	N/A	N/A		22,852		8,316	2,289,648	3,632
212	Macao	79				77		2		119		5,075	7,658	662,675
213	Montserrat	66		1		44		21		13,208	200	3,412	682,810	4,997
214	Vatican City	27				27		0		33,582				804
215	Solomon Islands	24				20		4		34		4,500	6,318	712,243
216	Palau	16	+1			9		7		878		18,452	1,012,511	18,224
217	Western Sahara	10		1		8		1		16	2			619,449
218	MS Zaandam	9		2		7		0
219	Vanuatu	7		1		6		0		22	3	23,000	72,338	317,951
220	Marshall Islands	4				4		0		67				59,792
221	Samoa	3				3		0		15				200,402
222	Saint Helena	2				2		0		328				6,104
223	Micronesia	1				1		0		9				116,841
224	Tonga	1				1		0		9				107,501
	Total:	295,640,740	+158,957	5,474,760	+794	256,193,200	+94,365	33,972,780	91,664	37,928.0	702.4

Highlighted in green

= all cases have recovered from the infection

Highlighted in grey

= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)

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The post 4th Booster Protection, Biden Urges Vaccination, Anger Over Tennis Champ Exemption, World Stats, More appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

St. Kitts-Nevis has assumed the chairmanship of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) until March 31.

The twin-island Federation’s Permanent Representative, Warren Everson Alarick Hull, assumed the chair on Monday at a handing-over ceremony at OAS headquarters, noting that he assumed the responsibility in a challenging context for the region.

“The OAS and its member states are at a crossroads: the ongoing pandemic has presented an additional challenge to the region’s resilience,” he said.

“As a family of nations under one umbrella, it serves no useful purpose to hide our frailties. I believe it is of paramount importance that we confront our challenges together.”

Outgoing chair and Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic, Josué Fiallo, thanked all the OAS member-states for their “constant support” and for “the collective effort demonstrated to jointly build a work plan for the quarter that has just concluded.

“This year begins with great challenges,” he said, offering the support and willingness of his country to “work decisively in the direction that the organization determines under your leadership.”

The Permanent Representative of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Lou-Anne Gaylene Gilchrist, will serve as vice chair of the Council during the first quarter of 2022.

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More than a million COVID-19 cases were recorded in the U.S. on Monday, setting a new global daily record, mainly due to the highly mutated and contagious Omicron variant.

The highest daily case count outside the U.S. came during a surge in Delta cases in India, which saw more than 414,000 diagnosed on May 7 last year (though data collection and reporting varies around the world).

Monday’s milestone figure is almost double the previous U.S. record of about 590,000 cases, set on December 30, 2021.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said that this amounts to an almost “vertical increase” of new cases, and hospitalizations are also up. “We are definitely in the middle of a very severe surge and uptick in cases,” he told ABC’s This Week.

“The acceleration of cases that we’ve seen is really unprecedented, gone well beyond anything we’ve seen before.” Fauci is concerned that Omicron is overwhelming the health care system and causing “major disruption” for other essential services.

What happens now? Fauci noted there is “accumulating evidence” that Omicron might lead to less severe illness but cautioned that the data is still early. “I’m still very concerned about the tens of millions of people who are not vaccinated at all because even though many of them are going to get asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic, a fair number of them are going to get severe disease,” he said.

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The Reuters Daily Briefing Tuesday, January 4, 2022 by Linda Noakes

Today’s biggest stories

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a military exhibition in Moscow, December 21, 2021 WORLD China, Russia, Britain, the United States and France have agreed that a further spread of nuclear arms and a nuclear war should be avoided, according to a joint statement by the five nuclear powers published by the Kremlin. Australian COVID-19 cases soared to a pandemic record as the Omicron variant ripped through most of the country, driving up hospitalization rates as the once-formidable testing regime buckled under lengthy wait times and stock shortages. A Hong Kong court sentenced a 36-year-old barrister to 15 months in prison for inciting an unauthorized assembly to commemorate those who died in China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. A former North Korean defector who made a risky and rare cross-border return home last week had struggled in South Korea, officials and media reports said, sparking fresh debate over how such defectors are treated in their new lives. Authorities said they had finally contained a suspected arson fire at South Africa’s parliament building after a second-day flare-up that completely destroyed the lower house National Assembly chamber. MARKETS World shares extended their positive start to 2022 with markets from Europe to Asia shrugging off worries the Omicron coronavirus variant could choke the global economic recovery, while the dollar rose after U.S. bond yields jumped. Global manufacturing activity remained strong in December as factories took rising cases of the new Omicron coronavirus variant in their stride, although persistent supply constraints and rising costs clouded the outlook for some economies. China Evergrande Group’s shares soared briefly in resumed trade after the developer said a government order to demolish 39 buildings on the resort island of Hainan would not affect the rest of its massive project there. Investors in financial products issued by Evergrande protested outside the cash-strapped company’s offices in Guangzhou, with many worried that their returns would be sacrificed to keep real estate projects afloat. Japanese automaker Toyota is poised to outsell General Motors in the United States in 2021, which would mark the first time the Detroit automaker has not led U.S. auto sales since 1931. Tesla’s announcement that it has opened a showroom in Xinjiang has attracted criticism from U.S. rights and trade groups, making it the latest foreign firm caught up in tensions related to the far-western Chinese region.

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Video of the day Winter storm pounds D.C. as it moves up East Coast The winter’s first blizzard hit the U.S. capital – shutting federal buildings and even delaying Air Force One – and knocked out power from the Carolinas to New Jersey.

And finally… Djokovic will defend Australian Open title after exemption from vaccination

The world number one will defend his title at Melbourne Park later this month after receiving a medical exemption from getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

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CMC- Leaders of the two main political parties in Barbados on Monday remained confident of victory in the January 19 general elections as candidates were nominated to contest the snap election that Prime Minister Mia Mottley called 18 months ahead of the constitutional deadline.

Mottley, speaking to reporters after completing the nomination process as the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate for the St Michael North East constituency, said that in the coming months, tough decisions will have to be made to secure the future of the island.

“We have to make some decisions that will position this country to face some of the most difficult circumstances in the next 10 to 15 years,” she told reporters.

“If we don’t do it now we will be unprepared,” she said, adding “we have already seen how difficult it is to grow through the (COVID-19) pandemic, how difficult it is to deal with as a consequence of the climate crisis with the freak storm and the hurricane”.

She said it was the first hurricane to hit the island in 66 years and that the global community is also dealing with a number of other perils.

“Domestically we also have to prepare the platform where Barbadians can literally can be the best that they can be and that’s going to mean transformation in a number of areas so that our kids can have the best chances that they can have,” she added.

But attorney, Verla De Peiza, who is leading the opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) into a general election for the first time, told reporters after being nominated to contest the St Lucy, that the party is confident of reversing the 2018 results when it was swept out of office by a 30-nil drubbing at the hands of the BLP.

“It is clear that the dissatisfaction with present administration did not take long to set in and let’s face it, it’s a series of own goals that brought them to that point and our people are very pleased to have the opportunity to signal their discontent earlier than they expected.

“Ours was always a ground game so that suits us and also we have a young team of candidates, so social media suits us and that really is the focus we have to have going forward because the safety of our people is the immediate  consideration whatever we do in our campaigning”>

De Peiza, who is also the DLP president, said that the party’s mobilisation efforts will continue and “fortunately we have been a bit ahead of the game in that we had certain logistics organised, we are re-jigging a few things.

“Nationally, we were also about 90 per cent ready…and the re-jigging will be to have a care for the climate in which we are in right now,” she said in reference to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It is a tough time to call an election, it is not even a necessary time to call an election with 18 months or so to go, it is what it is and we will do our part to make sure that our people are kept safe. There is no intention to endanger the lives of our citizens whilst they exercise their democratic rights”

She said that the DLP is also focusing on winning over “the middle group that takes their speed from the temperature of the country”.

Political observers expect the fight to be a straight battle between the BLP and the DLP, with both parties nominating 30 candidates each for the election.

The Electoral Department has not yet released the total number of candidates that will contest the elections but said that eligible voters, whose names do not appear on the Preliminary List of Electors, are reminded that they must be registered by Tuesday,  the last day for registration for the January 19 poll.

It said inspection of the Preliminary List of Electors and registration to be an elector may be done at any of the Revising/Registration Centres in each constituency and that voters can access the chatbox on the website to confirm their electoral registration status and registration details by entering a query such as, “Am I registered”, followed by entering their National Registration Number.

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