CDC working to confirm disinfectants are effective against new Covid-19 variants
From CNN Health’s Lauren Mascarenhas
A man sprays disinfectant on seats inside a waiting room at Mo Chit Bus Terminal in Bangkok on January 6. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working to confirm certain disinfectants are effective against new Covid-19 variants, according to a statement on the CDC website.
In a collaboration with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the CDC is looking into whether the disinfectants designated by the EPA for use against Covid-19 still work against new variants of the virus, like those first identified in the UK and South Africa.
The CDC says it will provide updates as new information becomes available.
1:42 p.m. ET, January 9, 2021
When will international travel return? Here's what we know right now
From CNN's Marnie Hunter
A digital screen displays flight arrival times at Brisbane Airport on January 7, in Brisbane, Australia. Jono Searle/Getty Images
There's hope: Summer vacations abroad may happen in a big way this year.
The number of people busting out of their countries will start creeping up in late spring and rise higher by mid-year, travel industry experts predict, as vaccines and risk-based safety measures are rolled out more widely and spiking coronavirus cases around the world begin to fall once again.
"I'm actually quite confident that first of May onwards ... we'll all be in a much better world," said Paul Charles, founder and CEO of London-based travel consultancy The PC Agency.
Vaccines and testing are the way forward, Charles and other industry experts say, but what's needed perhaps as desperately is greater consistency and coordination across borders.
Read the full story for the hurdles that travelers and the industry will need to overcome as travel picks up.
1:15 p.m. ET, January 9, 2021
New York: 3 new cases of UK Covid-19 strain confirmed
Healthcare workers transport a patient from an ambulance to Maimonides Medical Center, a hospital in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park, on January 4, 20 in New York City. Angela Weiss/AFP/
Two of the new cases are related to the first Covid-19 UK variant case identified last week in Saratoga County, he said.
The other new case is from Nassau County and “appears to be unrelated to the Saratoga case,” Cuomo said, adding the individual from Nassau County is a 64-year-old male from Massapequa, New York.
“The sample was received from a private lab sent to the State Department of Health, which has been doing sampling. That brings the number of UK cases in this country to just about 55,” he said, reiterating he believes the UK strain of the virus is “more widespread than that number would suggest.”
UK variant in the US: At least 63 cases of the variant, first identified in the UK, have been identified in eight US states, according to data posted Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This includes at least 32 cases in California, 22 cases in Florida, three cases in Colorado, two cases in Connecticut, and one case each in Georgia, New York, Texas and Pennsylvania.
While the variant appears to spread more easily, there's no evidence that it's any more deadly or causes more severe disease, according to CDC.
12:51 p.m. ET, January 9, 2021
UK coronavirus cases top 3 million, deaths surpass 80,000
From CNN’s Martin Goillandeau in London
Paramedics unload a patient from an ambulance outside the Royal London Hospital in east London on January 8,. Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images
The UK has become the first country in western Europe to report more than 3 million coronavirus cases, according to government data published on Saturday.
Another 59,937 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic to 3,017,409 in the UK.
The country also reported more than 80,000 coronavirus-related deaths, with 1,035 new deaths added to the total in the past 24 hours. The total number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test now stands at 80,868. Deaths can occur days or even weeks before they are announced and added to the dataset.
Deaths are up 51.3% from the week before, the seven-day average published on Saturday shows, while the number of people testing positive is up 22.1%.
12:28 p.m. ET, January 9, 2021
Pope Francis says he is in line to take Covid-19 vaccine
From CNN’s Nicola Ruotolo in Rome and John Allen
Pope Francis holds a thurible as he leads a Christmas Eve mass to mark the nativity of Jesus Christ on December 24, 2020, at St Peter's basilica in the Vatican. Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images
Pope Francis has said the Vatican will begin Covid-19 vaccinations next week and that he is in line to receive the jab.
Pope Francis made the comments during an interview with Italy's Canale 5 channel, set to air on Sunday night.
“It is an ethical duty to take the vaccine, here in the Vatican we will start next week, I am also in line to take it,” he said, according to a news anchor for the channel in a preview of the interview, which was released Saturday.
The full interview, which took place in the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican, will air on Sunday at 2.40 p.m. ET (8.40 p.m. local time), according to a press release.
12:08 p.m. ET, January 9, 2021
Are you a doctor, nurse or medical professional in the UK? Share your thoughts on working through the Covid-19 pandemic.
British health officials are scrambling to cope with the new variant of the virus that was first detected in the UK as it spreads through the public.
A new surge of coronavirus cases, fueled by the more contagious variant, is threatening to overwhelm intensive care units in the capital. Hospitals across the UK are preparing for the worst.
Are you working in a health care setting in the UK? If so, you can share your experiences with us here:
Medical assistant Catharina Koerner vaccinates elderly people against Covid-19 on January 7, in Mainz, Germany. Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images
Half a million people across Germany have been vaccinated against Covid-19, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Saturday.
"We are getting there, step by step," Spahn said at a virtual meeting with members of the country's infectious disease agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Paul Ehrlich Institute (the federal institute for vaccines and biomedicines), and STIKO, Germany's expert panel on vaccine use.
“We are vaccinating more every day and the processes are getting better and better,” he added.
“Wherever people are being vaccinated, that is, where the actual vaccinations take place, the feedback we get is that things are going really well, and the procedures are being carried out very professionally."
Germany sees record high deaths: On Friday, Germany reported its highest single-day coronavirus death toll, with 1,188 deaths -- the largest 24-hour increase in Covid-19 fatalities in the country since the pandemic began, according to data from the RKI.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has increased by 24,694 to a total of 1,891,581, data from the RKI showed on Saturday. The reported death toll rose by 1,083 to 39,878, the tally showed.
10:54 a.m. ET, January 9, 2021
Queen and Duke of Edinburgh vaccinated - Buckingham Palace
From CNN's Max Foster
Queen Elizabeth II looks on during the Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph at The Cenotaph on November 8, 2020 in London, England. Chris Jackson/Getty Images
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have received their Covid-19 vaccinations, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said Saturday.
The inoculations were administered by a Household Doctor at Windsor Castle, a royal source said.
To prevent inaccuracies and further speculation, Her Majesty, who is aged 94, decided that she would let it be known she has had the vaccination, the source added. Her husband is aged 99.
The couple's son, Prince Charles, tested positive for coronavirus and went into isolation in March. The 72-year-old later said he had been lucky to only experience mild symptoms, adding he'd "got away with it quite lightly."
Meanwhile, their grandson Prince William, second-in-line to the British throne, also tested positive for coronavirus earlier this year, UK media reported, though exactly when he contracted the virus is unclear.
UK sees record high deaths: The United Kingdom reported 1,325 deaths and 68,053 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the highest daily increases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data released by the UK Health Department.
There has been a surge of more than 15,000 cases since Thursday.
The figures present a rise in cases as the new coronavirus variant, first detected in the UK, sweeps the nation.
The UK has recorded more than 2.9 million cases of Covid-19, and almost 80,000 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
10:52 a.m. ET, January 9, 2021
CDC has reports of more than 60 US cases of variant first identified in UK
From CNN's Michael Nedelman
A man sits in his car as he is administered a coronavirus vaccine at a drive-thru Covid-19 vaccination centre at Hyde Leisure Centre on January 8, 2021 in Hyde, England. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
At least 63 cases of a variant first identified in the UK have been identified in eight US states, according to data posted Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This includes at least 32 cases in California, 22 cases in Florida, three cases in Colorado, two cases in Connecticut, and one case each in Georgia, New York, Texas and Pennsylvania.
CDC says this does not represent the total number of cases circulating in the US, but rather just those that have been found by analyzing positive samples. The agency cautions that its numbers may not immediately match those of state and local health departments.
While the variant appears to spread more easily, there's no evidence that it's any more deadly or causes more severe disease, according to CDC. It has also been found in more than 40 countries worldwide.
Experts suspect there could be many more cases in the country and have criticized the US for not doing more genetic sequencing of virus samples to surveil for mutations. On Sunday, a CDC official told CNN the agency plans to more than double the number of samples it sequences over the following two weeks -- with a target of 6,500 per week.
The earliest-known US sample that carried the current version of the variant was taken on December 19 in Florida, according to the genomic database GISAID. However, collection dates are unavailable for all samples.
