World Coronavirus Dispatch: Bizarre Covid conspiracies trouble Pakistan
Pakistan battles a much more brutal second wave
Having contained the virus better than its neighbour India and most Western countries, prime minister Imran Khan attributed it to the limited lockdowns, and effective mask wearing. But infections rose through the winter with positivity rates going over 7 per cent in recent months. Imran Khan ruled out a second lockdown saying it will destroy the economy and result in hunger deaths. Many in Pakistan feel that the government is overstating the threat of Covid to get western aid and some don’t even believe the virus exists. Other bizarre conspiracies are being circulated widely, making it making it difficult for authorities to enforce mask-wearing and curbs on mass gatherings. Religious leaders too have openly defied the state and organised large congregations. Read more here
Let’s look at the global statistics
Global infections: 76,306,498
Change Over Yesterday: 559,310
Global deaths: 1,685,834
Nations with most cases: US (17,658,048), India (10,031,223), Brazil (7,213,155), Russia (2,792,615), France (2,516,957).
What is the new Covid variant
The UK health authorities alarmed by the increasing threat from a new virus strain, that is likely to transmit more faster than the original variant and infect more people. Scientists say it may take weeks to assess the nature new variant, whether it can cause severe disease and does it threaten the efforts of immunisation. Britain is seeing a concerning surge in infections lately and the prime minister tightened Christmas restrictions. Addressing a press conference he said, the new strain poses a much greater health risk. Read more here
World’s richest accumulated $400 billion during pandemic
The coronavirus had plundered nations’ wealth, destroyed economies, resulting in deep divisions and extreme poverty that may last decades. Many nations are still struggling to put together a decent response to offset the impact of the virus. On the contrary, few tech billionaires have amassed huge wealth during this period. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has seen his wealth rocket by $70 billion since March. Other super-rich elites who have seen huge financial benefits during the crisis include: Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla; Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire who owns most of luxury brand portfolio Louis Vuitton; Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg; and Google’s Larry Page. Read more here
Thailand to vaccinate half of its population in 2021
A country of 60 million people, Thailand is planning to achieve herd immunity through immunisation by 2022, that is to vaccinate around 70 per cent of the population. It also aims to vaccinate about half of its population by 2021. Thailand has already secured 26 million doses of Oxford vaccine and is in advanced talks with several other vaccine makers to get more shots. Among the few countries to have successfully contained the virus, Thailand has reported hundreds of cases last week, almaring the authorities. Read more here
Specials
How China censored the coronavirus
When the coronavirus was wreacking havoc in late January and early February, that even resulted in the death of a doctor who alerted the officials about the virus, the state mounted a spirited campaign to stamp out unfavourable information and shape public discourse. It involved sending diktats to social media platforms to remove trending topic pages, pushing websites not to send alert notifications among others. This New York Times investigation reveals how China employed massive resources to monitor online content, curb sensitive negative virus information. Read more here
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Business Standard can be found here ***
