January 9 coronavirus news

The United States reported 283,204 new Covid-19 cases and 3,456 related deaths on Friday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

That brings the country's total to at least 21,862,773 cases and 368,773 related deaths.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

It comes as health care workers and communities work to roll out vaccines nationwide. So far, at least 22,137,350 vaccine doses have been distributed and at least 6,688,231 shots administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All public transport will be suspended in the Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, in Hebei province, which is experiencing a spike in Covid-19 cases not seen in the country for months.

China locked down the city of 11 million on Friday after detecting 117 cases, including 67 asymptomatic cases. As of Friday, Hebei province had identified a total of 334 locally transmitted cases since January 2, when the outbreak began.

Shijiazhuang Transportation Administration, Shijiazhuang Subway and Shijiazhuang Bus Company have all posted on their websites that taxi, subway and bus services will be suspended from midnight Saturday until further notice. 

Residents have been barred from leaving the city, as major highways were blocked, train and bus stations closed, and flights canceled. All residents have also been ordered to self-quarantine at home for seven days after taking a mandatory Covid-19 test.

China has administered 9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to key groups of its population so far, according to the country's National Health Commission.

Since December 15, 7.5 million people around the country have received a dose, the NHC said at a press conference on Saturday. Prior to that, 1.6 million doses had been administered to high-risk populations.

The vaccines: The approved vaccine is developed and manufactured by state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm. The company said its vaccine is 79.34% effective, citing interim analysis of Phase 3 clinical trials.

The vaccine requires two doses per person. 

Aside from the approved Sinopharm vaccine, China has four vaccine candidates which have reached Phase 3 trials.

Japan reported a record single-day number of new Covid-19 cases for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, just as Tokyo and surrounding prefectures went into a state of emergency.

The country reported 7,851 new infections on Friday, according to the health ministry. Thursday had been the first time cases surpassed the 7,000 mark since the beginning of the pandemic. 

An additional 75 related deaths were also reported on Friday.

Japan's total now stands at 273,866 coronavirus cases and 3,945 deaths.

Tokyo spikes: Japan's capital is one of the country's major hotspots. The city reported 2,392 new cases on Friday, exceeding the 2,000 mark for the second consecutive day.

Maj. Dwight Christensen remembers the sense of shock he felt first walking through the doors of St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, California.

"I was seeing patients, just lining up in the hallway, in the emergency room ... ICU patients just throughout the hospital," he told CNN.

Christensen is part of a National Guard team of medics sent by California to help out hospitals struggling to deal with the pandemic. And while his help is needed and welcomed, Christensen is blunt about how much he's really able to do.

The hospital lobby has been converted to a ward for coronavirus patients. Makeshift walls have been put up around the hospital to create care units in any available space. Behind curtains, patients moan and try to take a breath. Then there is the sound of uncontrolled coughing, then a moment of silence.

Russia's Gamaleya Institute, which developed the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, has applied for emergency use authorization in the Philippines.

The Moscow-based company filed its application on Thursday, according to the Philippines News Agency.

A day before that, Gamaleya withdrew its application to hold clinical trials in the country, according to CNN affiliate CNN Philippines.

Gamaleya is the third vaccine maker -- alongside Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca -- to apply for emergency use authorization in the Philippines. 

It usually takes the Philippines' Food and Drug Administration 21 days to decide if a drug or vaccine will be allowed for use in the country, according to CNN Philippines.

Last November, Russia said the Sputnik V vaccine was at least 91.4% effective and could be more than 95% effective, according to data from its Phase 3 trials.