Bhinneka News Online: Friday Morning Briefing: Singapore scientists find coronavirus variant with milder infections

What you need to know about the coronavirus today

New, milder, virus variant found
Researchers in Singapore have discovered a new variant of the coronavirus that causes milder infections, a study published in The Lancet medical journal found.

The study showed that COVID-19 patients infected with the variant of SARS-CoV-2 had better clinical outcomes, with a lower proportion developing low blood oxygen or requiring intensive care. The study also showed the variant elicited a more robust immune response.

The variant, which likely came from Wuhan, China, was detected in a cluster of infections from January to March 2020. An expert told Reuters this week that mutations in viruses may be “a good thing”.

Track the spread of the virus globally.

Myanmar locks down Rakhine state capital
Myanmar has locked down the state capital of conflict-torn Rakhine state after an outbreak of a coronavirus strain that officials said was more infectious than that previously seen in the country. Nineteen people have tested positive for the virus in the western region since Monday, health officials said on Friday, the first local transmission in Myanmar in months, bringing the total number of cases to 409.

Record daily cases in Poland
Poland reported 903 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the Health Ministry’s Twitter account said, the highest daily increase since the pandemic began. The record comes days after the health minister resigned and as Poland braces for the school year starting on Sept.1. The health ministry data showed the biggest increase in the south of Poland, including the mining region Silesia, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis as many miners caught the disease and mining operations were closed.

Masks off again in Beijing
Health authorities in Beijing have removed a requirement for people to wear masks outdoors, further relaxing rules aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus after the city reported 13 consecutive days without new cases. It is the second time Beijing’s health authorities have relaxed guidelines on mask-wearing in the Chinese capital, which has largely returned to normal operations after two rounds of lockdowns brought the city to a standstill.

Doctors strike in Nairobi
Doctors in most public hospitals in Kenya’s capital went on strike to protest against delayed salaries and a lack of protective equipment when handling patients who may have COVID-19. The strike began on Friday, said Thuranira Kaugiria, secretary general for the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union. He said 320 doctors employed by the Nairobi County government were taking part in the strike because they had inadequate health insurance, poor quality protective gear and not enough isolation wards to treat COVID-19 patients.

From Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Europe’s recovery, Indian selloffs
The latest economic reports from Britain, France and Germany are painting a patchy picture. Plus: Why the virus will hinder New Delhi’s asset-sale programme. Catch up with the latest financial insights.

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U.S.

Joe Biden accepted the Democratic Party nomination for the White House, vowing to heal a United States battered by a deadly pandemic and divided by four years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Joe Biden finally got his moment. After a 2020 presidential campaign dominated by Trump’s words and actions, Biden on Thursday rose to the level of a true adversary as he accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for the November election.

Trump and Biden stepped up campaign spending in July, according to disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission. Biden spent nearly $60 million while the president’s re-election campaign disbursed nearly $65 million. The disclosures show how close the money race has become between Trump and the former U.S. vice president.

Next week’s Republican National Convention will be a four-day celebration of President Trump, featuring a younger generation who may be hoping for a shot at the White House in 2024.

Lawmakers will aggressively question Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in his first appearance before Congress about recent cost-cutting measures that Democrats say appeared to be an attempt to boost President Trump’s re-election chances.

Tens of thousands of displaced Californians huddled under mass evacuation orders in the midst of a heat wave and a pandemic as lightning-sparked firestorms raged across tinder-dry landscapes in and around the greater San Francisco Bay area.

World

Allies of stricken Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny accused Russian authorities of thwarting his medical evacuation to Germany on Friday, saying the decision placed his life in mortal danger because the Siberian hospital treating him was under-equipped.

Stranded and injured, Lebanese family reels from blast. Beirut's catastrophic port explosion has demolished Rita Faraj Oghlo's house, left her family stranded and may cost her husband Adel his leg. Like many Lebanese, they have endured multi-layered suffering since the Aug. 4 blast.

Chinese students in Australia head home as coronavirus upends study. With Australia already sliding into its worst recession in almost a century, education leaders expect the disappearance of international students to cost billions of dollars. Data on how many international students have left the country this year is not yet available, but anecdotal evidence on departures and data on new enrolments paints a worrying picture. New enrolments of international students grew by an average of 10% over the past two years. But growth in the first six months of this year was negligible as Australia closed its borders in March to all foreigners because of the pandemic.

COVID Science

Exclusive: A top U.S. health regulator who will help decide the fate of a coronavirus vaccine has vowed to resign if the Trump administration approves a vaccine before it is shown to be safe and effective, Reuters has learned.

A U.S. government program that compensates people who say they have been harmed by an emergency vaccine has paid out on fewer than 10% of claims, raising questions whether the process should be used to address any potential side effects from a coronavirus shot, according to some lawyers who have filed such claims.

Russia’s plan to roll-out its “Sputnik-V” COVID-19 vaccine even before full trials show how well it works is prompting concern among virus experts, who warn a partially effective shot may encourage the novel coronavirus to mutate.