Health & Science

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:39 UTC

  Covid-19 positive cases in some vessels expected in Falklands for the Loligo season

  

  The Falkland Islands government and local industry have given reassurances following cases of Covid-19 identified on Loligo fishing ships due to the Falklands from Galicia. Penguin News investigated reports of positive cases on vessels bound for the Islands and asked for comment from FIG, who responded in writing:

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:34 UTC

  Biden signs executive orders increasing production of special syringes and joining the COVAX initiative

  

  United States president Joe Biden spent his first full day in office on Thursday signing a number of executive orders addressing the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected more people in the United States than anyplace else in the world. The U.S. has 24.6 million of the world’s more than 97 million infections.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:31 UTC

  Fitch forecasts Latin American economies will rebound but with downside risks

  

  Fitch Ratings forecasts Latin American economies will rebound this year from the 2020 recession but risks remain in particular because of the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:30 UTC

  WHO chief thanks Biden and Fauci for keeping the US a member of the organization

  

  At the meeting of the 148th session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros welcomed the pledge that the United States will remain a member of WHO.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:30 UTC

  Covid-19: Peruvians doctors on hunger strike to protest government non action

  

  A group of Peruvian doctors launched a hunger strike this week to protest the government’s lack of preparation for a second wave of COVID-19 cases.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:29 UTC

  Biden pledges to vaccinate 100 million Americans in the next 100 days

  

  Total deaths from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States “will likely top 500,000 next month,” President Joe Biden warned on Thursday, as he explained his government's plan to curb the toll the disease has been taking on Americans.  

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:08 UTC

  Brazilian meatpacker announces China has lifted bans on two processing plants

  

  Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA announced that China has lifted bans on two meat plants imposed in 2020 over coronavirus concerns.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 08:32 UTC

  Brazil keeps Selic rate at 2%, but uncertainty about economic growth remains

  

  The Brazil Central bank rate setting committee, Copom, unanimously decided on Wednesday to maintain the Selic rate at 2.00% for the fourth time running, but anticipating that inflation expectations for the next two years have risen and uncertainty surrounds the Brazilian economy in the short term.

• Thursday, January 21st 2021 - 00:48 UTC

  Lufthansa to fly nontop to Falklands carrying German scientists

  

  German carrier Lufthansa Wednesday issued a press release confirming plans are underway for a nonstop charter flight between Hamburg and Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands for scientific purposes. The airline highlighted the trip will be one of its longest nonstop stretches ever.

• Tuesday, January 19th 2021 - 09:25 UTC

  Independent panel blasts WHO and China on their tepid response to the initial Covid-19 outbreak

  

  An independent panel said on Monday that Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January to curb the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and criticized the World Health Organization (WHO) for not declaring an international emergency until Jan. 30.