China is seeing a new surge in CCP virus cases in its frozen northeast.
Officials said Thursday that Heilongjiang province in the region traditionally known as Manchuria recorded 43 new virus cases, most of them centered on the city of Suihua. The northern province of Hebei just outside Beijing has seen China’s most serious recent outbreak and reported 81 more cases.
It’s been widely reported that China has underreported cases of the virus in a bid to safeguard its image both nationally and internationally.
Chinese Vaccine Shows 50.4 Percent Efficacy
A leading Chinese COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been found to be 50.4 percent effective, according to the results of a late-stage trial in Brazil, a potential setback to the Chinese regime as it seeks to leverage the vaccine to boost its global image.“This 50 percent is good, is it? All the [criticism] I got for my comments, and now they are seeing the truth. Four months of being lambasted because of the vaccine,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told supporters outside his residence.
Putin Orders Mass Vaccinations in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered officials on Wednesday to begin mass CCP virus inoculations next week and to open up the vaccination program to all Russians.Earlier on Wednesday, Russia reported 22,850 new cases in the previous 24 hours, pushing the national tally to almost 3.5 million since the pandemic began.
Russia has also been suspected of underreporting its case numbers.
Japan Widens Emergency to 7 More Areas
Japan expanded a virus state of emergency to seven more prefectures Wednesday, affecting more than half the population amid a surge in infections across the country.Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also said Japan will suspend fast-track entry exceptions for business visitors or others with residency permits, fully banning foreign visitors while the state of emergency is in place.
Montana Governor Lifting Pandemic Restrictions
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte is removing pandemic mandates issued by his predecessor. He said Wednesday that the restrictions are harmful to the state’s businesses.Under the new rules that take effect Friday, restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries, and casinos will no longer be required to close at 10 p.m. They will also no longer be required to limit capacity to 50 percent.
New Outbreak in China Spreads Quickly
An outbreak of the CCP virus in Heilongjiang Province is quickly spreading, despite authorities’ attempts to contain it.The virus’s resurgence, occurring throughout parts of northern China, has resulted in millions being locked down at home, while tens of thousands of suspected patients were moved to quarantine centers.
US Reports New High in Deaths
The United States reported another new one-day high with over 4,300 people who have died after contracting the CCP virus, despite millions of people being vaccinated in recent weeks.The nation’s overall death toll from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus has eclipsed 380,000, according to Johns Hopkins University, and is closing in fast on the number of Americans killed in World War II, or about 407,000. Confirmed infections have topped 22.8 million.
UK Pledges 24/7 Vaccine Program
Britain’s CCP virus vaccine program will operate around the clock seven days a week “as soon as we can,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged Wednesday as the UK accelerates efforts to inoculate millions of its most vulnerable people against the virus.Johnson said “at the moment, the limit is on supply” of the vaccines rather than on the ability of the country’s health service to deliver jabs quickly. The push to inoculate millions quickly comes as a more contagious variant of the virus is sweeping across the UK and driving hospitals to breaking point.
China Places Millions More in Lockdown
China posted its biggest daily jump in CCP virus cases in more than five months on Wednesday, stepping up containment measures that have seen four cities put under lockdown, as the Asian country scrambles to head off a new wave of infections.Most of the new cases were reported near the capital Beijing, but a province in far northeast China also saw a rise in infections, official data showed, amid a resurgence that has seen more than 28 million people placed under home quarantine.
Herd Immunity Not Attainable in 2021: WHO
Despite vaccines rolling out in different countries, no one should expect herd immunity to the CCP virus this year, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan.Swaminathan stressed the need for the world to continue to implement measures to protect against the CCP virus, as the emergency roll-out of vaccines would not stop the need for “physical distancing, hand washing, and mask-wearing,” Al Jazeera reported.
Lorenz Duchamps, Eva Fu, Victoria Kelly-Clark, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
