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Germany prepares entry bans for travellers from the UK, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa to limit spread of variants.
- Germany is preparing entry bans for travellers from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa to limit the spread of the more contagious variants of the coronavirus.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) said one-third of the African continent will be vaccinated by the end of 2021.
- The US economy shrunk by 3.5 percent last year, the sharpest it has fallen since 1946, according to official data.
- Nearly 101 million people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 2.17 million have died, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University. More than 55.7 million patients have recovered.
This is Usaid Siddiqui in Toronto. Here are the latest updates for Thursday, January 28:
Germany to ban certain travellers amid fears of virus variants
Germany is preparing entry bans for travellers from the UK, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa to limit the spread of the more contagious variants of the coronavirus raging in these countries, interior minister Horst Seehofer said on Thursday.
“To protect our population, there should be no entry from regions where these variants of the virus are rampant,” he said on the fringes of a virtual meeting with his EU counterparts.
One-third of Africa will be vaccinated this year: WHO
Africa can expect to see at least 30 percent of its population immunised against COVID-19 by the end of 2021, the WHO said on Thursday, as vaccines begin trickling into the continent.
It is estimated Africa will need 1.5 billion vaccine doses to immunise 60 percent of its 1.3 billion inhabitants, the threshold for herd immunity against COVID-19.
US economy in 2020 has worst year since 1946
The US economy has shrunk by 3.5 percent as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down large sectors of business and daily life, according to government data released.
It was the biggest contraction of the world’s largest economy since 1946, the Commerce Department said.
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