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February
Indonesia adds 9,869 COVID-19 cases
Medical workers register before receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine jabs in Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on February 4, 2021. (ANTARA FOTO/M Risyal Hidayat/aww)
Indonesia reported 9,869 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the tally to 1,201,859, according to data from the Health Ministry. With the addition of 11 thousand recoveries, the number of people recovering from the infection increased to 1,004,117. Meanwhile, the number of deaths rose by 275 to reach 32,656.
Jakarta still reported the highest number of new cases at 3,810, followed by East Java (776) and West Java (683). The capital city also led in the number of new recoveries at 5,636, followed by West Java (1,582) and East Java (1,085).East Java recorded the highest number of deaths at 120, followed by Jakarta at 50 and Central Java at 21.
Meanwhile, Aceh and Maluku reported less than 10 new cases//ANT
February
People are seen in West London, Britain on Feb 2, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Henry Nicholls)
Britain plans to tax retailers and tech companies whose profits have soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sunday Times reported, citing leaked emails.
The government has summoned companies to discuss how an online sales tax would work, while plans are also being drawn up for a one-off "excessive profits tax".
Finance minister Rishi Sunak is unlikely to announce these taxes at the budget announcement scheduled for Mar 3, which will focus on an extension of the COVID-19 furlough programme and support for businessesSunak faces pressure from some in his Conservative Party to show spending is under control when he presents a new budget, after what is on track to be the heaviest annual borrowing since World War II.
He has promised to put public finances on a sustainable footing once the economy begins to recover. Data last month showed public borrowing since the start of the financial year in April reached a record £271 billion (US$370 billion)//CNA
February
Australian Open ready to launch after pandemic palpitations
After a three-week delay, a massive logistical mission and a handful of health scares, a very different Australian Open gets underway on Monday with pandemic protocols providing a backdrop of caution to the action on court.
Serena Williams begins her latest campaign to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title on Day One while Novak Djokovic is also in action, the Serb seeking a record-extending ninth Australian Open crown.
Tennis Australia (TA) have made a Herculean effort to try to stage it safely and spent a fortune on biosecurity measures in a country where community transmission of the novel coronavirus has become rare.
It will be the third Grand Slam of the pandemic, with the U.S. and French Opens passing safely enough.
Yet many in Melbourne regard it a pointless risk to the freedoms they earned after spending nearly four months in a brutal lockdown to crush an outbreak last year.
Warmup tournaments that packed out stadiums across the country a year ago have drawn tiny crowds to Melbourne Park over the past week, even with the game's biggest stars in action.
A smattering of COVID-19 cases among the 1,200 Australian Open players, coaches and other personnel that landed in the country last month did little to build momentum.
News that a worker at one of the tournament's quarantine hotels caught the virus triggered tighter social restrictions in Melbourne last week and saw 160 players isolate until cleared of infection//CNA
February
1 community case among 24 new COVID-19 infections in Singapore - CNA
One community case was among the 24 new COVID-19 infections reported in Singapore as of noon on Sunday (Feb 7), said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its preliminary daily update.
The remaining 23 cases were imported and had been placed on stay-home notice upon arrival.
Details of the new cases will be released on Sunday night, said MOH.
MOH said on Saturday that a resident staying at a migrant worker dormitory has become Singapore’s first likely case of COVID-19 re-infection.
The case is a 28-year-old Bangladeshi work permit holder who stays in a dormitory at 43 Tech Park Crescent.
He was confirmed to have the coronavirus on Apr 12 last year. He tested positive again on Jan 25 this year.
"He was identified from rostered monitoring testing conducted as part of MOH’s surveillance of recovered workers to monitor their postinfection immunity," said the ministry.
As of Sunday, Singapore has reported a total of 59,699 COVID-19 cases, with 29 fatalities//CNA