Wieler said B.1.17, the variant first discovered in the United Kingdom, has been detected in 40% of new infections in Germany. Wieler also warned that Germany is "still seeing too many deaths” and that the country’s virus incidence rate is rising again. Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images France said Friday it may follow Italy in blocking Covid-19 vaccine shipments after Rome invoked European Union (EU) powers to block the export of 250,000 Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Australia. Tokyo reported 279 new cases on Thursday, bringing its total to 112,624, according to the city's Metropolitan Government. Brazil variant: 13 total cases of the P.1 variant first linked to Brazil have been discovered in 7 states.

Source: The Nation March 05, 2021 14:00 UTC