January 12 coronavirus news

The European Medicines Agency has received an application for conditional marketing authorization for the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, it said in a statement Tuesday.

The EMA said it will proceed with the assessment "under an accelerated timeline" and an opinion on whether to issue an authorization could be made by January 29.

Conditional marketing authorization (CMA) is the process used to fast-track the authorization procedure and speed up approval of treatments and vaccines during public health emergencies.

A decision could be made, "provided that the data submitted on the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine are sufficiently robust and complete and that any additional information required to complete the assessment is promptly submitted," the EMA said.

Russia has extended a ban on flights to and from the UK until February 1, the country's coronavirus task force said, according to state-run news agency TASS. 

Russia suspended UK flights on December 22 after the country announced a new, more contagious coronavirus variant that was linked to a surge in cases in England had been identified. 

Ireland recorded the highest Covid-19 infection rate in the world last week, according to statistics from Our World in Data, an online scientific publication based at the University of Oxford.

In the seven days leading up to January 10, Ireland reported 1,322.92 Covid-19 cases per 1 million people, the statistics showed, placing it above any other country over the same period.

Ireland has been facing a worsening Covid-19 outbreak: Last Friday, it reported the highest daily increase in coronavirus infections since the beginning of the pandemic, with 8,248 new cases, according to a statement from the country's Health Department. 

The country has further tightened its lockdown measures since last week -- including closing non-essential construction sites, schools, and childcare services.

Ireland has reported a total of 152,539 Covid-19 cases and 2,352 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

The United States reported 204,652 new Covid-19 cases and 1,731 virus-related deaths on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The latest figures bring the nationwide total to at least 22,613,782 coronavirus cases, including 376,060 fatalities.

For the past seven consecutive days, the country has recorded more than 200,000 new Covid-19 cases every single day, according to JHU. And over the past week, the US recorded a total of more than 1.7 million Covid-19 cases and over 20,000 deaths.

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

Vaccines: At least 25,480,725 vaccine doses have been distributed, with at least 8,987,322 shots administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Track the US cases: 

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Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

US Rep. Pramila Jayapal tested positive for Covid-19 Monday night, according to a news release from her office.

It comes after the Democrat Congresswoman from Washington was among those locked down at the US Capitol when it was stormed on Wednesday.

Jayapal began quarantining immediately after the riot, according to the release.

While in isolation, Jayapal continues to work because “the deep urgency of our many crises is paramount,” she said in the release.

Jayapal is also calling for “serious fines to be immediately levied” for House Members who refuse to wear a mask while in the Capitol. She went on to say that “any Member who refuses to wear a mask should be immediately removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms.”

El Salvador has imposed a fine on Spirit Airlines for boarding a passenger with a positive Covid-19 PCR test result, the country’s director-general for the Office of Migration and Foreign Affairs, Ricardo Cucalon, said on Monday.  

The flight was from Houston to San Salvador on Thursday.

Spirit has been fined approximately $6,000, Cucalon said, speaking to local media on Monday.   

Some 58 passengers who traveled on the same flight have been notified as well as the country’s Health Ministry -- as it is up to them to determine the best way to contain the potential spread of the virus.

What happened: On Thursday, a Honduran citizen was allowed to board a flight from Houston, Texas to San Salvador, El Salvador’s capital, where migration officials discovered the passenger was allowed to travel with a positive PCR test result for Covid-19.  

Spirit Airlines told CNN on Saturday that it is investigating how the passenger was able to board the plane "despite going through the checks" and that it will take the appropriate measures. The airline affirmed that they have protocols in place to meet the requirements demanded by each country to which they travel.  

El Salvador requires all passengers traveling to the country to provide a negative PCR test conducted within 72 hours before traveling.  

The country resumed international flights in September after closing them for six months due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The types of microbes people have living in their intestines could affect how sick they get from a coronavirus infection, researchers reported Monday.

And having a less healthy balance of gut microbes could affect whether someone has a pattern of persistent symptoms commonly known as long Covid, the team at the University of Hong Kong reported.

The bacteria and other organisms living in the digestive system, called the gut microbiome, are known to affect health in a variety of ways.

The Hong Kong team checked samples from 100 patients treated in two hospitals to see how the microbiome might affect recovery from Covid-19.

Certain species of bacteria have been shown to alter immune system function, and the researchers suggest that some patients have a balance that’s better suited to controlling the out-of-control inflammation that is seen in some of the sickest patients.

Stool tests might help tell doctors which patients are likely to get severely ill, but more studies will be needed to say for sure.

It’s also not clear what, if anything, people or their doctors could do about their gut microbiomes to affect their risk of severe disease.

The King of Malaysia, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, has declared a state of emergency until August 1 to contain a rise in Covid-19 infections, according to state news agency Bernama.

The state of emergency can be lifted sooner if the number of virus cases can be controlled and reduced before then.

Malaysia’s Health Ministry announced more than 2,000 new Covid-19 infections in the country on Monday, Bernama reported.

The UK variant of the disease was also detected in Malaysia for the first time on Monday.

For the past seven consecutive days, the United States has recorded more than 200,000 new Covid-19 cases every single day, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The nation has never hit this milestone before, JHU data shows.

Over the past week, the US recorded a total of more than 1.7 million Covid-19 cases and over 20,000 deaths.

CNN is tracking US cases:

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Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US