DAILY DOSE: February 15, 2021
Posted on 02/15/2021
1. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says can’t guarantee Easter holidays this year. U.K.’s economy slumped by 9.9% in 2020, the biggest annual crash in output in more than 300 years. U.K. government is looking into procuring all rooms in hotels within 90 minutes of airports. Could they be looking for more rooms in the event that they want to make more space on the list of hotel quarantine countries?
2. The U.S. has purchased enough COVID-19 vaccine for all adults to be vaccinated by July 2021.
3. A Human Rights Watch report found that dozens of countries used the coronavirus as a pretense to restrict free speech.
4. A clinical trial in the U.K. discovered that an arthritis drug, tocilizumab, found that the drug reduces the risk of deaths in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
5. Zimbabwe has purchased 600,000 COVID-19 vaccines from China’s Sinopharm, in addition to 200,000 China has donated. Two million doses of Chinese company CanSino Biologics’ vaccine arrived in Mexico. Montenegro and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against the new coronavirus for use.
6. Polyus is Russia’s biggest gold producer. Polyus will power its two biggest mines using hydropower from RusHydro.
7. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faces heat and possible legal liabilities over New York state nursing home deaths in a COVID-coverup scandal.
8. Russia’s Putin orders review of Russian COVID vaccines in effectiveness against coronavirus variant strains.
9. Ford Motor Company sold its stake in lidar maker Velodyne.
10. Namibia liquidated its national airline (Air Namibia Limited), citing longstanding debt and COVID-19 restrictions. Air Namibia’s 644 employees have lost their jobs and will receive a severance package of a year’s salary, according to a Cabinet announcement.
11. Australia’s second-most populous state of Victoria will be placed under a five-day lockdown, after a group linked to a quarantine hotel in Melbourne emerged.
12. The Slovenian center-right government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa survived a no-confidence vote on Monday.
13. India put the United Arab Emirates on par with Mauritius and Singapore by classifying foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from the country as eligible for taking up Category-I licence.
