GENEVA (Reuters) - The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic may be tougher than the first given how the new coronavirus is spreading, especially in the northern hemisphere as more infectious variants circulate, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. We are going into a second year of this, it could even be tougher given the transmission dynamics and some of the issues that we are seeing, Mike Ryan, the WHO s top emergencies official, said during an event on social media. The worldwide death toll is approaching 2 million people since the pandemic began, with 91.5 million people infected. The WHO, in its latest epidemiological update issued overnight, said after two weeks of fewer cases being reported, some five million new cases were reported last week, the likely result of a letdown of defences during the holiday season in which people - and the virus - came together. Certainly in the northern hemisphere, particularly in Europe and North America we have seen that sort o
By Francesco Guarascio BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson could deliver the first doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to Europe in April, an EU official told Reuters on Wednesday after a top lawmaker said the U.S. healthcare company was likely to seek EU regulatory approval in February. Clinical data on the vaccine has been assessed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) since Dec. 1 under a rolling review to speed up possible approval. A senior EU official, who is involved in negotiations with vaccine makers and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the J&J shot could be available from April 1 in Europe [B5N2B301Q]. Earlier on Wednesday, an EU lawmaker said J&J could seek EU approval for its one-shot vaccine in February. EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides announced during our (EU lawmakers) group meeting this morning that the vaccine manufacturer Johnson & Johnson is likely to submit an application for approval to the EU for their vaccine in February, said Peter Liese, who speaks
SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Authorities in China introduced new COVID-19 curbs in areas surrounding Beijing on Tuesday, putting 4.9 million residents under lockdown as new infections raised worries about a second wave in a nation that has mostly contained the disease. The number of new cases in mainland China reported on Tuesday almost halved from a day earlier and remain a small fraction of what it saw at the height of the outbreak in early 2020. However, local authorities are implementing strict curbs whenever new cases emerge to prevent the kind of economic paralysis seen a year ago. The National Health Commission reported 55 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, down from 103 a day earlier. Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, accounted for 40 of the 42 locally transmitted infections, with the capital and northeastern Heilongjiang province reporting one local case each. The city of Langfang in Hebei on Tuesday said its 4.9 million residents will be put under home quarantine for seven
By Eimi Yamamitsu and Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told a meeting of ruling party executives on Tuesday he would declare a state of emergency for the three western prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo to stem the spread of COVID-19, Kyodo news reported. Responding to pressure from Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures in eastern Japan, Suga last week declared a one-month state of emergency for that region until Feb. 7. But the number of coronavirus cases has also climbed in the west, prompting Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo to seek a state of emergency too. The government is finalising plans to do so on Wednesday, and could also consider adding the central prefectures of Aichi - home to Toyota Motor Corp - and Gifu, Kyodo reported, citing government sources. Adding those five prefectures would mean a state of emergency for about half of Japan s population of 126 million people. Japan s top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu