After its return to the World Health Organization, the United States intends to join the "Kovacs" initiative that provides anti-Coronavirus vaccines to the poorest around the world, and while European leaders discuss ways to address mutated strains of the virus, a fire broke out in the vicinity of the largest vaccine production institute in India and the world.

While Lebanon extended the complete closure for an additional two weeks due to the Corona outbreak.

Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to US President Joe Biden, said today, Thursday, during a meeting of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization, that Biden will issue a directive today that the United States intends to join the COVAX initiative, stressing that Washington is ready to support the global response to the epidemic. .

Fauci - who is the director of the American Institute of Infectious Diseases and Allergy - also announced that his country will support the initiative to accelerate the availability of anti-corona tools (ACT Accelerator).

He stressed that his country will fulfill its financial obligations to the World Health Organization, from which the administration of former President Donald Trump was withdrawing.

In the context, the Kovacs initiative announced today that it intends to provide 1.8 billion doses of anti-corona vaccines to the poorest countries this year.

The World Health Organization defines "Kovacs" as a global initiative that aims to work with vaccine manufacturers to enable countries around the world to obtain safe and effective vaccines in an equitable manner, once they are licensed and approved.

These developments come as the countries of the world race to time to provide the largest possible quantities of vaccines available to vaccinate the population to stop the outbreak of the Corona virus, amid criticism of rich countries for monopolizing the bulk of the quantities that have been produced so far.

A hospital near Paris treats people infected with Corona virus (Reuters)

Modified strains


It is scheduled that the leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union will discuss this evening via video means of confronting the spread of mutated strains of the Coronavirus, which have been monitored during the past few weeks.

European leaders will discuss measures to stop the spread of the chains that spread from Britain and South Africa in particular, and scientists say that they spread much faster compared to the original virus that appeared last year in China, to sweep the world after that.

The European summit will also discuss speeding up vaccination campaigns and developing a unified certificate to prove receipt of the vaccine.

The organization said yesterday that the British mutated version has been detected so far in at least 60 countries, 10 more than the situation a week ago, while the second mutated version that appeared for the first time in South Africa is believed to be more contagious than the British version. To date, it has been observed in 23 countries and territories.

She added that she is monitoring the spread of two other species that appeared in Brazil, one of which was detected in the state of Amazonas, and it was also discovered in Japan by 4 people coming from Brazil.

The European summit is being held while European countries, including France, Germany and Spain, are recording high numbers of injuries and deaths, and this also applies to countries outside the European Union, such as Britain and Russia.

Big fire


in the meantime, a big fire broke out today in the largest vaccine production institute in India and the world Serum Institute of India.

And in footage broadcast by local channels, a huge cloud of gray smoke appeared over the institute's site in Pune (West), where millions of doses of the "Coffeeshield" vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are currently being produced to combat Coronavirus.

But the channels indicated that the fire broke out at a site under construction far from vaccine production facilities.

A source in the "Serum Institute of India" told the French press that "the vaccine production facility was not affected and this will not affect production," explaining that the fire "broke out in a new factory under construction."

Restrictions on entertainment in Dubai include various activities (Reuters)

The suspension of entertainment


In the UAE, the authorities of the Emirate of Dubai announced today that it will temporarily suspend the issuance of entertainment permits in the face of the high number of infections with the Coronavirus.

The Dubai Government Media Office said in a tweet on Twitter that during the past three weeks, Dubai Tourism issued more than two hundred violations for non-compliance with the precautionary measures, and closed about twenty facilities.

A number of hotels in the emirate confirmed to the French press that they would continue to serve customers, but indicated that it was no longer permitted to carry out entertainment activities such as performances or DJs.

In the context, the Dubai Health Authority announced today that all hospitals have been instructed to suspend all elective surgeries until February 19.

The UAE has witnessed a significant increase in HIV infections since the beginning of the new year, with more than 3 thousand cases recorded daily, and this Gulf country has so far counted more than 263 thousand cases of Corona virus, and 762 deaths.

In the UAE, too, the authorities announced today that they have approved the emergency use of the Russian vaccine, "Sputnik V", which is the third approved vaccine.

In the Arab world, too, the Lebanese authorities have extended the complete closure imposed due to the Corona epidemic for an additional two weeks, until the eighth of February.

The government said in a statement that the tight restrictions on movement across the country, which were due to continue until Monday, will remain in effect until February 8.

The statement added that the decision was taken in light of the continuous increase in Corona virus infections and the continuous increase in the number of patients who need intensive care.

Life in Wuhan


and China, after its streets were completely empty and its hospitals crowded with patients, normal life returned to Wuhan after a year of isolation.

Crowds fill shopping malls, while the streets of Wuhan are crowded with cars, as there is little to say that the city in central China marks the first anniversary of its isolation on January 23, 2020, Saturday.

In this city of 11 million people, normal conditions have returned to it, as in other cities in China, where the epidemic has been practically controlled since last spring, and citizens have forgotten the atmosphere of deserted cities and the chaos in hospitals.

But other regions of China, including the capital, Beijing, these days are experiencing a state of anxiety, with more than 100 daily infections recorded, especially with the detection of one of the mutating strains of the Corona virus.