A worrying new variant of Covid-19 was detected for the first time Tuesday in the United States and Latin America as President-elect Joe Biden vowed he will significantly ramp up a fledging vaccination drive. Biden, after receiving a briefing from experts on the pandemic, warned that the dire Covid situation may not ease up until "well into March." Covid hospitalizations are back at an all-time high in the United States at more than 121,000 as of Monday. "We're planning a whole-of-government effort and we're going to work to set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to hard-to-reach communities," Biden said. - Record cases in Britain -Britain's government came under pressure to tighten restrictions as it announced a record 24-hour high of 53,135 new infections.

Source: Mint December 30, 2020 00:07 UTC