World Coronavirus Dispatch: Germany introduces a strict, 5-day lockdown

UK faces 'Covid decade' due to damage done by pandemic, US health body questions robustness of AstraZeneca's data and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Morocco 'told of delay in Covid jabs from India'

India's Serum Institute of India (SII) has told Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Morocco that further supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be delayed because of surging demand at home and work on capacity expansion, according to a report in the Guardian. India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, is being criticised domestically for donating or selling more doses than it administers at home, despite reporting the most number of coronavirus infections after the US and Brazil. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 123,691,979

Global deaths: 2,723,353

Nations with most cases: US (29,869,518), Brazil (12,047,526), India (11,686,796), Russia (4,416,226), United Kingdom (4,358,910).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

UK faces 'Covid decade' due to damage done by pandemic

Britain faces a “Covid decade” of social and cultural upheaval marked by growing inequality and deepening economic deprivation, according to a British Academy report. Major changes to the way society is run in the wake of the pandemic are needed to mitigate the impact of the “long shadow” cast by the virus, including declining public trust and an explosion in mental illness. The British Academy warned that failure to understand the scale of the challenge ahead and deliver changes would result in a rapid slide towards poorer societal health, more extreme patterns of inequality and fragmenting national unity. Read here

US health body questions robustness of AstraZeneca's data

AstraZeneca may have provided an incomplete view of efficacy data on its Covid-19 vaccine from a large-scale US trial, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says, in a fresh setback for the shot. The drugmaker said a day earlier that its vaccine developed with Oxford University was 79 per cent effective in preventing symptomatic illness in a large trial. "There are concerns that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data," the US agency said. Read here

Germany introduces a strict, five-day lockdown over Easter

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, announced a five-day lockdown over Easter and the extension of existing restrictions until mid-April in an effort to break a spike in coronavirus cases. She warned that the country is facing a significantly more deadly wave of the coronavirus. Starting April 1, Germany will effectively shut down for an extended Easter break, with private meetings limited to only two groups of up to five adults and all stores ordered shuttered, with only supermarkets allowed to open on the Saturday. Churches are asked to hold services online, and people are being asked to stay home and not travel. Read here