Health news summary: New Zealand reports 21 new local cases of COVID-19 as outbreak grows; Russia Reports 20,564 New COVID-19 Cases, 762+ Deaths

Here is a summary of the current health briefs.

New Zealand reports 21 new local cases of COVID-19 as outbreak grows

New Zealand recorded 21 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, as the current community outbreak of the highly transmissible variant Delta continues to grow, bringing the number of infections associated with the outbreak to 72, officials said. health. Of the 21 new cases, 20 are in Auckland, the largest city, and one in the capital Wellington. Five people were hospitalized, but no one was in the intensive care unit.

Australian Prime Minister Morrison defends lockdown strategy as daily cases hit record

Australia will stick to its coronavirus lockdown strategy until at least 70% of its population is fully vaccinated, but after that it will have to start living with the virus, the Premier said on Sunday. Minister Scott Morrison. The country set a record with 914 infections, its highest daily figure, while the southern and eastern states of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory remain under strict lockdown .

Florida Board of Education gives school districts ultimatum on face masks

The Florida Board of Education told two school districts on Friday that part of their public funding will be withheld if they fail within the next 48 hours to provide parents with a way out of the obligation for their children. to wear masks. Broward and Alachua County school boards have imposed masks on schools in defiance of an executive order issued last month by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that prohibited local authorities from imposing mask warrants.

Israel finds COVID-19 vaccine booster dramatically reduces risk of infection

A third dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine significantly improved protection against infection and serious illness in people aged 60 and over in Israel compared to those who received two injections, results released by the Ministry of Health. The data was presented at a meeting of a ministerial group of immunization experts on Thursday and uploaded to its website on Sunday, although full details of the study have not been released.

Russia reports 20,564 new COVID-19 cases and 762 deaths

Russia reported 20,564 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, including 1,661 in Moscow and 1,481 in St. Petersburg, bringing the national total to 6,747,087. The Russian Coronavirus Task Force said 762 more deaths of coronavirus patients had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 176,044.

UK to start offering COVID antibody tests to the general public for the first time – Media

The UK will start offering COVID-19 antibody tests to the general public for the first time in the coming week, UK media reported on Sunday. The government‘s new program is intended to produce data on antibody protections for people after infection with different variants of the coronavirus, according to program details released by several outlets, including Sky News and the BBC.

Shanghai quarantines hundreds after COVID-19 cases at airport

Shanghai authorities have quarantined hundreds of people in an attempt to stop a new outbreak of COVID-19 in the city after infections were detected among freight workers at its airport, the city government said on Saturday. Some 120 people considered close contacts of the five infected workers at Pudong airport have been quarantined, along with hundreds more considered secondary contacts.

South Korea to receive more Moderna COVID vaccines to boost vaccination efforts

South Korea’s health ministry said on Sunday that Moderna Inc would provide the country with 7.01 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by the first week of September, following a government request to speed up the delivery. Some 1.01 million doses are expected to arrive on Monday, the ministry said, with another 6 million to be delivered sequentially.

US administers 362.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine – CDC

The United States administered 362,657,771 doses of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide on Sunday morning and distributed 428,531,345 doses, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday. Those numbers are up from the 361,684,564 doses of vaccine that the CDC said had gone into arms on Saturday out of 428,506,065 doses delivered.

(With contributions from agencies.)