One Minute Overview

Israel Reports Record New Covid Cases as Booster Drive Expands - Israel, an early leader in Covid-19 inoculations, reported a record number of daily infections, giving fresh impetus to the vaccine booster drive the country began in early August. The country recorded 10,947 new cases on Monday, surpassing the previous high of 10,118 daily infections reached in January, according to health ministry figures. Testing for the virus has been especially high in the past week as students prepared to return to school. The portion of positive tests reached about 7.7%, high for the current wave but only around half the rate at the end of last September. Serious cases have risen, but remain well below January levels.

South African Scientists Say New Variant May Have 'Increased Transmissibility' - South African scientists said they identified a new coronavirus variant that has a concerning number of mutations. The so-called C.1.2. variant was first identified in May in the South African provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, where Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, are situated, the scientists said in a research paper. By August 13, it had been found in six of South Africa’s nine provinces as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius, Portugal, New Zealand and Switzerland. The mutations on the virus “are associated with increased transmissibility” and an increased ability to evade antibodies, the scientists said. “It is important to highlight this lineage given its concerning constellation of mutations.”

Covid-19 Infection Rates in Colorado Are Highest Among Children - Children account for the fastest rate of new Covid-19 infections in Colorado, Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist, told an online news briefing Tuesday. The trend started in July before schools opened, she said, and officials are encouraging schools to require face masks though there is no mandate. Colorado has “significant” hospital capacity for children and adults, said Scott Bookman, the state’s Covid-19 incident commander, who called vaccines “the ticket out of this pandemic.”

Mauritius Reaches 60% Vaccination Goal a Month Ahead of Schedule - Mauritius vaccinated 60% of its population a month ahead of target and now plans to halve the number of days tourists will need to isolate on the island nation after arrival. The “milestone comes ahead of two major steps to reduce restrictions on inbound international travel,” the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority said in an emailed statement Tuesday. Inoculated tourists will have to spend seven days in a a so-called resort bubble hotel from Wednesday, down from 14 days now, before they can travel freely. From Oct. 1, they will be free to explore the Indian Ocean Island nation without restrictions. That’s provided they submit a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before arrival, the agency said.

Stop being selfish’: Africans decry ‘vaccine apartheid’ - A prominent Kenyan pathologist has warned of “vaccine apartheid” in Africa amid the slow rollout of COVID-19 jabs, echoing condemnation from senior World Health Organization (WHO) officials. Less than 2 percent of Africa’s population of 1.3 billion has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

This how to prevent another 100,000 Covid deaths by December, Fauci says - With nearly 100,000 Americans hospitalized with Covid-19 and infections surging among the unvaccinated population, it's possible another 100,000 people could die from the virus by December, according to a recent University of Washington model. 'What is going on now is both entirely predictable, but entirely preventable,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN's Jake Tapper Sunday, saying the outcome of the model is possible. 'We know we have the wherewithal with vaccines to turn this around.'

Fury as Covid crisis hits Australia's Aboriginal communities - Dr Kada lists some reasons why a significant outbreak in remote Aboriginal-majority communities is a 'recipe for disaster': Basic health facilities are not suited to a proper Covid response. There are staffing problems: People have disproportionately high chronic disease rates and a low vaccine uptake There is often a social make-up that doesn't allow for proper isolation. Currently, most of the hundreds of people infected in the western NSW outbreak are Aboriginal. Its first death - an Aboriginal man - was confirmed on Monday.

Australia’s Canberra extends COVID-19 lockdown - Australia’s Canberra has extended its hard lockdown by a further two weeks as the capital city struggles to contain a surge in the highly infectious Delta variant. Much of Australia’s east coast has been under strict movement restrictions for weeks, hitting the local economy. With cases still rising, Canberra said on Tuesday that it will remain in lockdown until at least September 17.

Moderna Inc.’s Covid vaccine generated more than double the antibodies of a similar shot made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE in research that compared immune responses evoked by the two inoculations. The study is one of the first to compare levels of antibodies produced by the two vaccines, which are thought to be one of the important components of the immune response. It didn’t examine whether the antibody differences led to a difference in efficacy over time between the two shots, which both were more than 90% effective in final-stage clinical trials.

Thailand's elderly lag behind in COVID vaccination drive, data show - Just two weeks before her long-awaited vaccine appointment in Bangkok, Anyamanee Puttaraksa's 62-year-old mother became feverish. Three days later, her mother tested positive for COVID-19. Four hours afterward, she died. Alongside Anyamanee's grief is anger at a vaccine rollout that has left the elderly among Thailand's least-vaccinated groups - a contrast to much of the rest of the world, where vulnerable older people have been a priority.

Effectiveness of the Covid vaccines against hospitalizations has waned over time, CDC says - Effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines in keeping recipients out of the hospital drops as low as 75% over time, the CDC reports. Panel met this week to advise the CDC on its decision whether to approve COVID-19 vaccine booster in the U.S.White House officials announced earlier this month that they plan to roll out boosters starting September 20. Israel has already begun the rollout of booster shots, and has found that the shots are effective