World Coronavirus Dispatch: Study says new strain infects young the most

Plane crash deaths rise despite Covid restrictions, the top 100 prospering companies in a tumultuous year, and other-pandemic related news across the globe

Denmark leader sees April as turning point in Covid fight

Easter Sunday on April 4 will be a turning point in Denmark's fight against the Coronavirus pandemic, the country's prime minister said in the New Year's address. "It will not be the end, but it will certainly be a turning point after due to vaccinations and imporving weather conditions," she said. Led by the Queen of Denmark, the country rolled out its immunisation drive last week, even as weekly cases and deaths continue to rise, overwhelming hospitals and health care workers. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 83,963,941

Change Over Yesterday: 489,184

Global deaths: 1,827,544

Nations with most cases: US (20,128,694), India (10,286,709), Brazil (7,700,578), Russia (3,153,960), France (2,697,014).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.

Highly contagious new strain infects young the most

The new Coronavirus strain, first detected in Britain, is likely to infect young people the most, a new study in London has found. The selective advantage the mutated virus got in its spike protein, makes it easy to spread more efficiently and the transmisibility number was pegged at 56 per cent earlier. The study also noted that the measures that were tested and worked against earlier strains of the virus were insufficient to control the spread of the new variant. Alarmed by the mutation, many countries have already suspended travel links to and from Britian. Read here

How Israel became a world leader in Covid vaccinations

Led by aggressive buying, strongly digitised community-based health system and muscular central government, Israel's national vaccination programme turned out be miraculous. The country has already administered the first dose of vaccines to 10 per cent of its 9 million people by the end of 2020. In contrast, the US and European nations have missed the inoculation mark by a mile. Israel is on track to administer the second dose to a majority of its high risk population by late January, according to the country's officials. Read here

Prospering in the pandemic: 2020’s top 100 companies

2020 has been a tumultuous year for businesses across the world, with many cutting output, laying off employees and some of them even shutting shop. Such was the devastating effect of the Coronavirus pandemic that swept through nations in wave after wave, forcing authorities to impose harsh lockdowns and restrictions. Having said that, the pandemic has also opened up opportunities for many other companies, that were willing to adapt and revamp their business models. Some of them seized on Covid demand to revel in a difficult year. From Tesla, Zoom Video Communications, Pinterest, Xiaomi Corporation, and Spotify to Slack Technologies, this Financial Times piece lists 100 winners in 2020. Read here

Plane crash deaths rose in 2020 despite the pandemic

Number of people dying in plane crashes increased last year, despite sweeping restrictions that led to ariline shutdowns and a ban on international commercial flights, according to a report. In 2020, a total of 299 people died in as many as 40 air crashes of large commercial passenger planes as compared to the 257 fatalities in 86 accidents in 2019. 2017 was the saftest year for the aviation industry with just 13 deaths. Read here