JERUSALEM Israel’s Health Ministry says it has detected the country’s first known cases of the new variant of the coronavirus. The ministry announced Wednesday that it found the variant in three people who are in government-run quarantine hotels after returning from the U.K. The source of a fourth case is still under investigation. Israel this week tightened its restrictions on entering the country, barring nearly all foreigners and requiring all returning Israelis to isolate in state-run hotels for 10 to 14 days. Flights from the U.K., Denmark and South Africa have been banned altogether.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Around 15,000 residents previously ineligible for pandemic stimulus checks have started receiving payments from the state. The group includes immigrants in the country without work authorization.
Officials with the New Mexico Human Services Department said the $465 relief payments began arriving this week via direct deposit or checks.
The Legislature allocated $5 million to the fund for those who hadn’t received federal payments in April. Agency officials say they were able to identify an additional $2 million on top of that.
COVID-19 cases have been declining in New Mexico, but the economic fallout from the pandemic continues.
THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
Britain locks down South Africans as mutant Covid-19 SA strain enters UK
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced strict quarantine measures for individuals with any recent links to South Africa as it emerges that at least two cases of a South African variant of Covid-19 have been identified in the UK. Travel to and from SA is being halted. However, Hancock thanked the South African government for its co-operation and highlighted the expertise of South African scientists for their work on the genomic sequencing of Covid-19. More on the mutant strain in this week’s Inside Covid-19 podcast, which features an in-depth interview one of the scientists who works for Krisp, the University of KwaZulu-Natal centre praised by Hancock. Scroll down for the link. – Jackie Cameron
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DOVER, England Gridlock at an English port kept thousands of truckers and travelers stranded Wednesday despite a deal with France to lift a two-day blockade imposed because of a new variant of the coronavirus that had isolated Britain and raised fears of food shortages.
While some goods and passengers began arriving on French shores in the morning, many still struggled to get through. With officials warning that the backlog would take days to clear, frustrated truckers scuffled with police at the port of Dover. Some have suggested the chaos was a precursor to what Britain may face if it doesn’t come to a trade agreement with the European Union before it leaves the bloc’s economic embrace on Dec. 31.