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

January 2021
Capt. Sir Tom Moore, famous for raising millions of pounds for the NHS, hospitalised with coronavirus. The city of Perth goes into a 5-day lockdown after seeing its first locally acquired coronavirus case in 10 months. The island of Guernsey, not subject to any Covid restrictions since 11 June last year, goes into lockdown after a sudden surge in cases. All people who attended a dance festival between 19 and 22 January are told to self-isolate. According to Duke University estimates, if the federal government had stopped evictions and utility shut-offs it would have prevented about 1.2 million infections and 164,000 deaths France is to close its borders for all but essential travel from outside the European Union. For breaking Covid restrictions by organizing a snowball fight in which hundreds of people took part, two young men are fined ₤10,000 each, Police said they took, "absolutely no pleasure in handing out such heavy fines." To prevent a virus surge, migrant workers in Chinese cities are encouraged not to travel home to their rural areas for Lunar New Year. Boris Johnson says that the reopening of schools to all students, the first step in the easing of the current lockdown, won't happen until 8th March at the earliest. Oklahoma state officials are trying to return the $2 million worth of hydroxychloroquine the state bought after Trump touted it as a miracle cure for Covid. Steven Brandenburg, the conspiracy theory-believing Wisconsin pharmacist accused of tampering with vials of Covid-19 vaccine so as to ruin them, pleads guilty to the charges in order to make a plea bargain. British celebrities of South Asian descent come together to urge members of their ethnic group, that has suffered disproportionately from the virus, to get the vaccine and to debunk myths about it. There are riots in the Netherlands in protest against new anti-coronavirus restrictions, including a 9:00 pm to 4:30 am curfew. The Trump administration apparently had NO PLANS FOR VACCINE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION. NONE. The jury's still out as to whether this negligence is due to spite, incompetence, or both. One bit of good news to emerge from the pandemic: it convinced at least one celebrity anti-vaxxer, The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik, to change her stance on vaccines. Documents suggest that only people with an NHS number will receive the vaccine in the UK, meaning that foreign NHS workers, treating Covid patients, could be denied access to the vaccine. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55760467 A leaked document said everyone who had to self-isolate in England could get paid £500. The government is now downplaying that idea.] Portuguese government decrees the closure of all schools for two weeks Northern Irish Health Minister Robin Swann says that around hundred British Army medics are going to assist health staff in Northern Ireland’s hospitals. However, worries of dissent republicans [https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2021/01/21/news/british-military-assisting-with-covid-surge-will-only-be-based-at-certain-hospitals-due-to-risk-from-dissident-republicans-2193354/had let to three hospitals in Enniskillen, Derry and Belfast refusing the support. ]   US Covid deaths surpasses total total US troop losses in WW2. [https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55746293 The Glastonbury music festival is cancelled for the second year in a row. If you bought tickets in 2019, you'll be able to use them in 2022.] Both the USA (4,131) and the UK (1,800) suffer their deadliest days on January 20th. President Joe Biden mandates mask wearing on federal property and will have the US rejoin the WHO The Trump administration was reported to have given $850,000 of pandemic relief funding to 5 anti-vaccination groups, including Mercola Concerns over a Brazilian variant of the virus lead to a ban on travel from South America, Portugal and Cape Verde to the UK. Boris Johnson accused of breaking his own lockdown rules, as he takes a seven mile bike ride, from Downing Street to the Olympic Park, presumably to test his eyesight. With the coronavirus still rampaging across the world, a poll finds that 80% favor cancelling or postponing the Tokyo Olympics Portugal will go into lockdown effective at midnight Thursday for the period of a month In the aftermath of last week's Capitol riots, 3 Representatives have tested positive for Covid-19. During the riots, lawmakers were locked down in crowded, confined locations. The most recent to test positive, Rep. Brad Schneider, has slammed Republican lawmakers for refusing to wear masks during the lockdown. People in rural South Africa are digging up the bodies of Covid victims, and removing the plastic they were buried in, because the deceased are appearing in their dreams, telling their relatives they cannot breathe. The USA suffers its worst daily death toll yet, breaking the 4,000 barrier. The city of Brisbane will have a snap 3 day lockdown following a single positive case of coronavirus. The case found has been identified as the 'UK variant', which scientists estimate could be up to 70% more transmissible than other strains. Just weeks after saying it would welcome them, China blocks entry for the WHO team, sent to investigate the origins of Covid-19. [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/05/wisconsin-pharmacist-confessed-trying-destroy-vaccines-da-says/4140364001/ Pharmacist Steven R. Brandenburg reportedly gives full confession, admits to being a conspiracy theorist. Also, vaccines in question will be tested to see if they were actually destroyed] Scotland will go into full lockdown from midnight on 5 January with tougher restrictions for the rest of the UK expected in the near future.Update England will also go back into lockdown Zimbabwe enters another 30-day lockdown, to counter a spike in festive season infections. Likewise, South Africa returns to medium level restrictions, including a ban on the sale of alcohol, until Jan 15th. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55513167 Over 2,500 idiots defy Covid restrictions to attend an illegal rave in Brittany. It would have lasted from December 31 until January 5 if it hadn't been broken up on January 2.] Pharmacist Steven R. Brandenburg at Advocate Aurora Health hospital arrested for deliberately destroying up to 550 doses of the Moderna vaccine, by removing them from the refrigerator they needed to be stored in.