Brazil registered 318 new deaths attributable to Covid-19 and 11,716 confirmed circumstances of the virus, in keeping with information launched on Saturday by the nation’s well being ministry.
Brazil has now reported 605,457 Covid-19 deaths, the second highest on the earth after the US.

Mexico’s well being ministry on Saturday reported 306 extra deaths attributable to Covid-19 within the nation, bringing the overall for the reason that pandemic started to 286,259.

It has beforehand mentioned the numbers are seemingly considerably greater than these reported, Reuters studies.

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New proof has emerged that the federal government is paving the way in which to implement “plan B” measures in England to fight the unfold of Covid-19, amid warnings from well being chiefs {that a} “vortex of pressures” is encircling the NHS.

In the clearest signal to this point that Whitehall is actively contemplating extra measures, the Observer has learnt that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) contacted native authorities on Friday to canvass their stage of assist for the “rapid rollout of the winter plan – plan B”.

The disclosure comes as senior medical doctors warn that operations are already being cancelled attributable to NHS staffing shortages and scientists warn of “a triple whammy” of respiratory diseases this winter, with Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes cold-like signs however will be critical for kids and older adults.

People ought to get booster Covid jabs when they’re provided throughout what shall be a “powerful winter”, NHS nationwide medical director in England Professor Stephen Powis has warned.

He wrote within the Sunday Telegraph: “To maximise the impression of the vaccination programme we should all proceed to behave responsibly. The extra of us that come ahead for our booster jab, and the extra we preserve our resolve in serving to to restrict the unfold of an infection, then the larger probability all of us have of staying nicely.”

Prof Powis mentioned this time final yr there have been greater than 6,800 folks in hospital with Covid, and this weekend the determine is 6,405, however in 2020 the nation was nonetheless six weeks away from the world’s first vaccination.

“So, when your time comes, take up the provide, ebook your booster and defend the liberty and Christmas that we now have all earned and should take pleasure in,” he mentioned.

After Namibia suspended its rollout of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, the Gamaleya Research Institute, which developed Sputnik V, has claimed the choice was not based mostly on any scientific proof or analysis.

Sputnik V stays one of many most secure and most effective vaccines in opposition to Covid-19 in use globally, the Gamaleya institute instructed Reuters.

It mentioned greater than 250 scientific trials and 75 worldwide publications confirmed the protection of vaccines and medicines based mostly on human adenovirus vectors.

“While adenoviruses, together with ad-5, are one of the frequent causes of sunshine frequent flu …, there is no such thing as a proof of elevated danger of HIV an infection amongst human inhabitants after (the) frequent chilly,” the institute added.

“These inaccurate speculations which have since been refuted relate to unsuccessful scientific trials of one other HIV vaccine by one other producer that merely didn’t appear efficient sufficient.”

The US administered 412,856,169 doses of Covid-19 vaccines within the nation as of Saturday morning and distributed 503,521,625 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned.

Those figures are up from the 411,963,025 vaccine doses the CDC mentioned had gone into arms by Friday out of 501,613,665 doses delivered.

The company mentioned 220,145,796 folks had acquired at the very least one dose, whereas 190,402,262 individuals are totally vaccinated as of 6am ET on Saturday, Reuters studies.

More than 300 faculties throughout New South Wales and Victoria in Australia have closed down within the final three weeks attributable to Covid outbreaks, with the vast majority of college students nonetheless attributable to return to lecture rooms.

Between the beginning of time period 4 on 4 October and 22 October, there have been 234 closures at authorities faculties in Victoria, figures from the Department of Education present.

At least 20 non-public faculties in Victoria have been pressured to close in the identical interval, however the precise quantity is unknown as a result of a listing will not be saved by both the division or Independent Schools Victoria.

In the identical interval 67 faculties in NSW have been pressured to close. Of these, 48 have been public faculties and 19 have been nongovernment faculties, the NSW schooling division mentioned.