January 21 coronavirus news

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will extend an order preventing the eviction of some people from their homes until March 31, the agency’s new director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said Wednesday.

The incoming Biden administration had highlighted the eviction moratorium as one of its key targets on day one. It was set to expire at the end of the month.

What impact will it have? “This means that a landlord, owner of a residential property, or other person with a legal right to pursue an eviction or a possessory action cannot evict for nonpayment of rent any covered person from any residential property in any US state or U.S. territory where the Order applies,” the CDC says on its website.

The order only covers limited numbers of people.

Tenants and other residents must show they have exhausted best efforts to get government help to pay rent; earn $99,000 a year or less; and cannot make payment because of a loss of income or extraordinary medical costs. To qualify, the tenant also must be trying to pay at least something and must swear they will be made homeless by eviction, or forced to move to congregate living settings.

A group of Peruvian medics went on hunger strike Tuesday demanding more investment in the health sector and rejecting the country’s handling of the pandemic amid rising cases of Covid-19, according to a statement from Peru’s Social Security National Medical Union (SINAMMSOP) published Wednesday.

About a dozen medics from the national social security union have been protesting outside Peru’s Ministry of Labor, where the group began the hunger strike on Tuesday.

Fiorella Molinelli, the president of Peru’s Health Social Security, has not commented on SINAMMSOP’s demands as of Thursday. She is currently leading government efforts to adapt temporary health and isolation Covid-19 centers to combat the spread of the virus.

The hunger strike comes in addition to numerous protests in different parts of the country since last week, where medics and other health workers are demanding more medical equipment, adjusted salaries and an “increase in the budget for the health sector,” according to the Peruvian Medical Federation.

Second wave: Peru is now facing a second wave of Covid-19 cases, according to the country’s Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti.

“We are starting on a second wave (of Covid-19 cases). This wave is rising. I can tell you that we’ve made some calculations and we are more or less right were we were in mid-April, and the figures keep ascending,” Mazzetti said during an interview with local media Monday.

Peru has reported at least 1,073,214 Covid-19 cases, including 39,044 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

California health officials have given providers the all-clear to "immediately" resume administering the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from a specific lot after pausing earlier this week due to possible allergic reactions.

The state's health department previously said it was aware of fewer than 10 people who received shots from the lot and required medical attention.

Read more:

RELATED

California officials say providers can resume administering Moderna vaccine from a specific lot after pause

US President Joe Biden is expected to turn his focus straight to Covid-19 on his first full day in the Oval Office, tackling an issue that dominated much of the conversation during the campaign and planning in his transition and one he intends to hone in on right away, sources tell CNN. 

With the fireworks and the speeches over, here are some of the actions that the Biden administration has taken or will be taking to bring the US epidemic under control:

As they’re thrown full force into tackling the pandemic, Biden and his advisers say they are clear-eyed about the task ahead and acknowledge how swiftly they need to put words into action on this and so many other issues. Speaking Wednesday night, one administration official said: “We’re here to work.”

The United States reported 178,255 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, bringing the total to at least 24,434,283 since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Another 4,229 virus-related fatalities were also reported Wednesday -- the country's second highest daily total. The Covid-19 death toll in the US now stands at 406,001.

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

Vaccine numbers: At least 35,990,150 vaccine doses have been distributed and at least 16,525,281 shots administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Track US cases: 

RELATED

Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

It may take up to five months to vaccinate all California residents aged 65 and older at the current rate the state is receiving its doses of the coronavirus vaccine, state epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said Wednesday.

Speaking during a state vaccine advisory committee meeting, Pan said that while California has about 6.2 million residents aged 65 and older, the state is only receiving 400,000 to 500,000 doses a week of its current allocation of about 1 million.

In order to vaccinate 70% of the 65+ age group with two doses, she explained that about 8,680,000 doses would be required. 

Pan also issued a statement advising providers to continue the use of a specific lot of the Moderna vaccine which was temporarily paused due to possible allergic reactions.

She added that the findings "should continue to give Californians confidence that vaccines are safe and effective, and that the systems put in place to ensure vaccine safety are rigorous and science-based."

China’s National Health Commission (NHC) has announced a series of domestic travel restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 as the country prepares for mass movement of people to celebrate Lunar New Year. 

Millions of Chinese migrant workers who plan to travel back to the countryside are now required to present a negative Covid test result within seven days of departure.

They include:

People from medium- or high-risk areas are being discouraged from traveling altogether during the holiday. 

Those who do travel and have a negative test result will not have to quarantine on arrival. They will be required to monitor their health with daily temperature and symptoms checks, and undergo two other tests on the seventh and 14th day after arrival. 

The new measures will come into effect from January 28 and last until March 8. 

All residents in Beijing’s Daxing district have not been allowed to leave the area since Wednesday because of a rising number of Covid-19 cases, according to local officials. 

People wishing to leave the district need to provide a negative Covid-19 test taken within three days, a district notice announced. 

More than 24,000 residents around the infection hotspot in Daxing have also been asked to stay at home until further notice.

Daxing district has reported 11 confirmed cases since Sunday, according to the city’s health commission.

Schools and education facilities across Beijing will need to complete all in-person learning by Saturday, and kindergartens have been shut from today. Meanwhile, University and college students are being discouraged from leaving Beijing unless absolutely necessary. 

New cases: China’s National Health Commission reported 144 new Covid-19 cases across the country on Wednesday, including 18 imported infections. Among the 126 locally transmitted cases, 68 were reported in Heilongjiang, 33 in Jilin, 20 in Hebei, two in Beijing, two in Shanxi and one in Shandong. 

Additionally, 113 asymptomatic infections were reported nationwide, 16 of which were imported. China counts asymptomatic cases separately.

The White House released US President Joe Biden's letter reversing the Trump administration's decision to leave the World Health Organization after the new US leader was sworn in on Wednesday.

US re-engagement: US diplomats around the world have already been notified of changes they must make as they conduct American diplomacy after Biden signed a series of executive orders tonight.   

The first department wide memo sent by Acting Secretary of State Dan Smith instructed all US diplomats to re-engage with WHO and halt any staff drawdown at the UN health agency, according to the memo reviewed by CNN. 

The memo was sent shortly after Biden signed a series of executive orders, including one to reverse former President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from WHO. 

The US had been in the process of withdrawing staff at WHO in the final months of the Trump administration. That withdrawal will now be halted and reversed.