Month: August 2021

 

A new study suggests Earth’s supply of oxygen developed thanks to the planet’s gradually slowing rotation creating longer days that allowed a certain form of algae to admit more oxygen as a byproduct of its metabolic process.

The study, published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience, suggests that about 2.4 billion years ago there was so little oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, it could barely be measured, so no animal or plant life as we know it could exist.

Much of the life on Earth consisted of tiny microbes, among them, a blue-green form of algae called cyanobacteria, which breathed in carbon dioxide and exhaled oxygen in the earliest form of photosynthesis.

The researchers say about 400 million years ago, the Earth took a relatively enormous leap in the amount of oxygen in its atmosphere, growing from nearly imperceptible levels to one-tenth the amount of oxygen it has now.

The researchers suggest the Earth’s rotation, which has been gradually slowing over time, lengthened days from about six hours to about the current 24 hours. The longer days provided more sunlight for the cyanobacteria to produce enough oxygen to give the planet breathable air.

The scientists reached their conclusion by studying microbes found growing in a sinkhole under 80 feet of water in Lake Huron, off the coast of the U.S. state of Michigan. The bacteria exist in an oxygen-poor environment similar to the single-celled cyanobacteria that formed matlike colonies billions of years ago, which carpeted both land and seafloor surfaces.

 

The researchers dredged up the bacteria from the sinkhole and tinkered with how much light it got in lab experiments. The more continuous light the microbes got, the more oxygen they produced.

That finding, in turn, points to a previously unconsidered link between Earth’s oxygenation history and its rotation rate.

The scientists say their models show that this proposed mechanism might help explain the pattern of Earth’s oxygenation, as well as the persistence of low-oxygen periods through most of the planet’s history.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Britain has opened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers from the United States and much of Europe, as the government continues to ease coronavirus travel restrictions.

Monday was the first day that travelers arriving in Britain from the United States and most parts of the European Union could do so without going into quarantine.

New arrivals must still be tested for the coronavirus before boarding a flight to Britain and within two days of arrival.

Britain is maintaining quarantine requirements for French travelers, saying the country has a concerning number of cases of the beta variant in some areas. The beta variant was first detected in South Africa.

Britain has one of the highest vaccination rates for its population with nearly 90% of adults having at least one shot.

 

The country will begin offering a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 32 million Britons starting in early September, The Telegraph reported Sunday. The shots will be available in as many as 2,000 pharmacies with the goal of getting them into arms by early December.

The government has been preparing since at least June, when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) called for a plan to offer the third shot to people 70 years old or older, home care residents and those who are vulnerable for health reasons.

US rules

In the U.S., more jurisdictions are requiring employees to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing as the country grapples with a rise of infections blamed on the delta variant.

Denver, Colorado, Mayor Michael Hancock announced Monday the city will mandate all city employees and private sector workers in high-risk settings to be vaccinated against the virus by the end of September.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said state health care workers, along with workers in corrections facilities or assisted living centers, must be vaccinated or face testing twice a week.

 

In New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo urged businesses to turn away unvaccinated customers. He said it is in businesses’ best interests because many customers want to know that the customer next to them is vaccinated.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that 70% of U.S. adults have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine. President Joe Biden had originally aimed to pass that milestone by July 4.

In Myanmar 

A group of 16 humanitarian aid organizations has issued a joint statement warning about the “spiraling humanitarian catastrophe in Myanmar triggered by skyrocketing COVID-19 cases and widespread violence.”

“Over 60 percent of reported deaths from COVID-19 in Myanmar have occurred in the past month alone, with the number of confirmed cases doubling in the last two months,” according to the statement issued Monday.

“Health care facilities from Kachin to Mandalay to Yangon remain shuttered as health care workers face violence and threats,” the statement said. “More than 400 doctors and 180 nurses have been given arrest warrants since the military takeover in February 2021.”

“The communities we work with are desperate and dying. … The population needs safe and fair access to humanitarian aid and health care now,” Laura Marshall, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Myanmar, said in the statement.

Around the globe

In Australia, officials extended a lockdown in Brisbane, the country’s third-largest city until Sunday because of a growing COVID-19 outbreak. Sydney, the biggest city in the country, is beginning its sixth week of lockdown.

Olympics organizers in Tokyo reported 17 new coronavirus cases tied to the Games, including one athlete. That brings the total number since the beginning of July to 276.

 

Germany said Monday that beginning in September, it will start to offer a booster shot against COVID-19 to vulnerable individuals, including the elderly and those with weak immune systems.

In Berlin, thousands marched Sunday to protest pandemic restrictions, and about 600 protesters were detained after clashes with police, The Associated Press reported.

While Germany eased many of its restrictions in May, large gatherings remain banned.

More than 200,000 people turned out Saturday in France to protest vaccination requirements.

There are 198.7 million cases of COVID-19 as of Monday and 4.2 million deaths globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

 

Britain will begin offering a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 32 million Britons starting in early September, The Telegraph reported Sunday. The shots will be available in as many as 2,000 pharmacies with the goal of getting them into arms by early December.

The government has been preparing since at least June, when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) called for a plan to offer the third shot to people 70 years old or older, care home residents and those who are vulnerable for health reasons.

At least 90% of British adults have received at least one shot, but that rate falls to 60% for those 18-30 years old, government figures show.

To encourage younger adults to get vaccinated before colder weather prompts people to spend more time indoors, the Department of Health and Social Care said that restaurants, food delivery services and ride-hailing apps are offering discounts to persuade people to be vaccinated.

“The lifesaving vaccines not only protect you, your loved ones and your community, but they are helping to bring us back together by allowing you to get back to doing the things you’ve missed,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid said, according to the Associated Press.

British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, who tested positive for COVID-19 in December, said he may be suffering its effects after appearing unwell Sunday after finishing second at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“I’ve been fighting all year really with staying healthy after what happened at the end of last year and it’s still, it’s a battle,” the 36-year-old said after seeing a doctor after the race. “I haven’t spoken to anyone about it but I think (the effects of COVID are) lingering. I remember the effects of when I had it and training has been different since then.”

In Berlin, thousands marched Sunday to protest pandemic restrictions and about 600 protesters were detained after clashes with police, the AP reported.

While Germany eased many of its restrictions in May, large gatherings remain banned. The number of new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, remain low but are rising. Germany, with a population of 83 million, reported 2,100 new cases Sunday, more than 500 above last Sunday’s number.

Since the pandemic began, it has reported 3.8 million cases and 92,000 deaths.

More than 200 employees at two major hospitals in San Francisco, in the western U.S. state of California, have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a report Saturday in The New York Times.

Most of the staff members at Zuckerberg San Francisco General and the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center Hospital were fully vaccinated and most of them tested positive for the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus, according to the newspaper.

Only two cases required hospitalization. The hospitalization rate would have been higher without vaccinations, said Dr. Lukejohn Day, Zuckerberg’s chief medical officer.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said Sunday evening there are 198 million cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and 4.2 million deaths globally. The U.S. leads the world in the number of COVID-19 cases, with 35 million, and 613,174 deaths, according to the university.

 

Source: Voice of America

More than 200 employees at two major hospitals in San Francisco, in the western U.S. state of California, have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a report Saturday in The New York Times.

Most of the staff members at Zuckerberg San Francisco General and the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center Hospital were fully vaccinated and most of them tested positive for the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus, according to the newspaper.

Only two cases required hospitalization. The hospitalization rate would have been higher without vaccinations, said Dr. Lukejohn Day, Zuckerberg’s chief medical officer said.

A COVID-related government ban on residential evictions expired Saturday, exposing millions of Americans to the risk of having their belongings thrown into the streets.

Reuters reports that more than 6.5 million households, totaling some 15 million people, are behind on their rental payments.

Tokyo Olympic officials said Sunday they found 18 new COVID cases among people connected with the Olympics.  Only one unidentified athlete was included in the count.

Tokyo’s metropolitan government said new coronavirus infections surged to a record high Saturday as the city hosts the Olympic Games.

The government reported 4,058 new cases, topping 4,000 for the first time.

 

The new record was set one day after Japan, with a population of more than 126 million, extended a state of emergency for Tokyo through the end of August to contain the spread. The extension also applies to three prefectures near Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka.

A new record for infections also was set nationwide Saturday. Public broadcaster NHK reported 12,341 new cases, 15% higher than the day before.

Since the start of the pandemic, Japan has reported 914,718 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and 15,197 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Protests related to the coronavirus pandemic occurred Saturday in countries including France, Italy and Israel.

In France, more than 200,000 people protested in cities and towns around the country to voice opposition to President Emmanuel Macron’s recent COVID-19 measures, media reported.

While most protests were peaceful, in Paris, where more than 14,000 people gathered, three police officers were injured in clashes with demonstrators, according to Reuters.

 

The French government has instituted a mandatory coronavirus health pass in an effort to control the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The variant, first reported in India, has pushed the number of COVID-19 cases in France from a few thousand each day in early July to 24,000 new cases on Friday, health officials said.

The health pass will be needed for people to be able to enter most public spaces, such as restaurants, museums and movie theaters. The pass, which takes effect August 9, requires a vaccination or a quick negative test or proof of a recent recovery from COVID-19 and mandates vaccine shots for all health care workers by mid-September, the Associated Press reported.

France, a country of 67 million, was hit hard in the early stages of the pandemic and has recorded 6.1 million confirmed cases of the disease and 112,011 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

For a second week, thousands of protesters in Italy, also opposed to the use of a vaccine pass, demonstrated in cities including Rome, Milan and Naples.

In Tel Aviv, several hundred Israelis protested new coronavirus restrictions and vaccines as the country sees a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases because of the delta variant.

On Saturday, the health ministry recorded 2,435 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number since March.

To battle the outbreak, Israel rolled out a booster shot for older citizens, reimposed mask requirements indoors and restored “green pass” restrictions requiring vaccine certificates for entering enclosed spaces such as gyms, restaurants and hotels, according to Agence France-Presse.

Nearly 60% of Israel’s 9.3 million people have gotten two shots, mostly with the Pfizer vaccine, according to AFP, but about one million Israelis still refuse to be vaccinated.

Israel has had 871,343 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 6,469 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

Vietnam said Saturday it would extend travel restrictions in Ho Chi Minh City and 18 other southern cities and provinces for another two weeks to contain its worst outbreak to date, according to Reuters.

 

The extension begins Monday in a country that contained the virus for much of the pandemic but reports a total of 141,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins, 85% of which were reported in the last month.

The White House announced on Friday that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris would travel in August to Singapore and Vietnam.

Symone Sanders, a White House senior adviser and chief spokesperson, said in a statement released Friday that Harris would engage with the leaders of both countries on issues of mutual interest, including the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The White House did not give specific dates for the trip.

A weekend lockdown has been imposed in India’s southern state of Kerala as it grapples with about 20,000 new cases daily, Reuters reported. Federal authorities sent experts to the area to monitor developments in the state that accounts for more than 37% of the nearly 32 million cases reported by India’s health ministry.

Australia’s third-largest city, Brisbane, began a COVID-19 lockdown on Saturday, amid rising case numbers. Neighboring areas will also be subject to the stay-at-home orders.

 

In London, a four-day “vaccine music festival” got underway Saturday. The event was to encourage people to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Already, more than 72% of people older than 18 in the United Kingdom have received two doses of vaccine, according to government figures reported by the AP.

England, which recently lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions, said starting Monday, fully vaccinated visitors from the European Union or the United States would no longer need to quarantine upon arrival.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Sunday there are 197.9 million cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and 4.2 million deaths globally.  The U.S. leads the world in number of COVID-19 cases, with nearly 35 million, and 613,157 deaths, according to the university.

 

 

Source: Voice of America