RationalWiki:What is going on with the coronavirus?/April 2021

April 2021
[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56912668 Turkey was seen as one of the pandemic's success stories. Not anymore. It's just gone into its first full lockdown.] Jair Bolsonaro faces an inquiry into his handling of the pandemic, including whether or not allowing a variant to spread uncontrolled among indigenous communities amounted to genocide, that could lead to his impeachment. The CDC announces that fully vaccinated Americans will no longer need to wear face masks outside in small and medium-sized gatherings. Face masks will still be required indoors and in crowded settings. Private school in Florida bans vaccinated teachers from contact with pupils. As if 580,000 dead Americans aren't enough, Fox News' Tucker Carlson goes on a bizarre rant, saying that people should call the police and CPS if they see children wearing masks in public. Boris Johnson [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-56890714 is facing severe criticism for allegedly saying last autumn that he would rather see "bodies piled high" than have a third lockdown. He strongly denies having said that.] Ireland takes the first small steps out of the "longest lockdown in the world". Pubs, cafés and restaurants reopen in Scotland and Wales. Covid anti-vaxxers are wearing yellow stars As India's Covid crisis spirals out of control, Twitter blocks tweets critical of the Modi regime's handling of the crisis. Alaska Airlines has banned Republican State Senator Laura Reinbord for her repeated breaking of federal mask policy. Problem for Reinbord is that Alaska is the only airline that flies between the state capital Juneau and her constituency of Eagle River. The situation in India is a "devastating reminder" of what the coronavirus can do. Just three months before the start of the Olympics, a state of emergency is declared in Tokyo. Covid-19 has reached Mount Everest with a Norwegian climber testing positive. The UK establishes an 'Antiviral Taskforce', with the aim of finding and developing at-home treatments for people who contract Covid. Boris Johnson says pills to treat Covid could be available by the autumn. With over half its citizens fully vaccinated, Israel re-opens schools and relaxes rules on wearing masks outdoors. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56796679 A travel bubble allows residents of Australia and New Zealand to travel freely between the two countries. Both countries have managed to contain their Covid-19 outbreaks partly due to closing their borders in March 2020.] The global death toll surpasses 3 million. Restrictions on travel and meeting people outdoors are loosened in Scotland 10 days earlier than originally planned. Pfizer's CEO says it's likely that a third vaccine dose will be required within 12 months, and possibly annually thereafter. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56744474 After finding that 1 in 40,000 people who got it suffered from rare blood clots afterwards, Denmark becomes the first European country to stop giving out the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine altogether. The Danish Health Authority does, however, say that using the vaccine again in the future can't be completely ruled out.] The UK is expanding its vaccine 'mix and match' trials. Participants will be adults (over the age of 50) who have already received a first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer, and they will be offered a different vaccine for their second dose. The trial hopes to find out if combining vaccines offers longer lasting protection and greater protection against mutations. FDA and CDC call for a pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, after cases of blood clots occur. (It should be noted that it's 6 cases out of nearly 7 million doses.) [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-56692504 Lockdown restrictions ease again in Wales. Non-essential shops re-open. Hairdressers re-open. Students return to school. Travel into and out of Wales is allowed once more. And driving lessons start again.] Lockdown restrictions are eased again in England. The new changes include the re-opening of hairdressers and gyms, and allowing pubs and restaurants to serve customers seated in the gardens. Effectiveness of Chinese vaccines ‘not high’ and needs improvement, top health official says In a Sunday afternoon post to Facebook, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announces that there is no formal target for Australians to receive their first COVID vaccine shot, backing down from the previous target of October, instead saying "we would like to see these doses completed before the end of the year". This is a significant change in rhetoric from the government, where previously Australia was "at the front of the queue" for vaccines, all Australians were to be fully vaccinated by the end of October, and a goal of four million shots by the end of March was set that was missed by over three million doses. Trump officials celebrated efforts to change CDC reports on coronavirus, emails show Supporters tout anti-parasite drug as covid-19 treatment, but skeptics call it the ‘new hydroxychloroquine’ (paywall) [https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55302595 People in the UK aged under 30 will be offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine because its benefits don't really outweigh its risks for younger people with no underlying health conditions. Of the 20,000,000 people given the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK, 79 developed rare blood clots and 19 of them have died.] Covid-19 linked to depression and dementia, study suggests Brazilian health professors write in the British Medical Journal, "The catastrophic Brazilian response to covid-19 may amount to a crime against humanity" Texas Rangers hold their home opener at full capacity, nearly 40,000 people sitting side-by-side without masks To keep its athletes safe from Covid-19, North Korea won't be sending any of them to the Tokyo Olympics. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-56633337 Barbers, hairdressers and some non-essential shops reopen in Scotland. 12- to 17-year-olds can play contact sports outdoors again.] Everyone aged over 45 in India is now eligible for the vaccine as the country records 100,000 cases in a day. The British Medical Journal conducted a public survey from March 2020 - January 2021. It found that very few people (less than 1 in 5) request a Covid test if they have symptoms, and only half of those surveyed even knew what the main symptoms of Covid are. *facepalm*