(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
South Korea trying to stave off lockdown
South Korea’s Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun pleaded with residents on Tuesday to abide by social distancing rules to avoid even greater restrictions in the face of the country’s largest wave of coronavirus infections.
Daily infection rates are hovering at record levels with another 880 new cases reported as of midnight Monday, up from 718 a day earlier, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.
The government is reluctant to impose the toughest Level 3 restrictions because of the “irrevocable pain” it would cause, Chung said. Companies could allow only essential workers in offices and gatherings of more than 10 people would be banned under such a lockdown.
A third of Japanese want Tokyo Games cancelled: NHK poll
A third of Japanese residents want the Tokyo Olympics to be scrapped amid fears that an influx of foreign arrivals may cause a further spike in COVID-19 cases, a poll by public broadcaster NHK showed on Tuesday.
The Japanese government and International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided in March to postpone the 2020 Olympics by a year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, with the global showpiece now slated to take place from July 23-Aug. 8.
But as Japan grapples with a third wave of infections, the NHK poll, conducted from Dec. 11-13, showed 32% of respondents wanted the Summer Games to be cancelled entirely. Only 27% said they should go ahead as scheduled while 31% favoured another delay.
Singapore to open business travel bubble for all from Jan
Singapore will open a new segregated travel lane for a limited number of business, official and high economic value travellers from all countries, the government said on Tuesday, as part of efforts to revive its key travel and hospitality sectors.
The first travellers will be able to arrive from the second half of January through the new lane, which will be open to those who are coming for short stays of up to 14 days, the ministry of trade and industry said in a statement.
Travellers under the latest arrangement will have to stick to strict health and testing protocols, and will need to stay within a “bubble” at segregated facilities.
Dogs can sniff out COVID-19
Trained dogs can identify people with COVID-19, even those with no symptoms, according to researchers. In the preliminary study published on Thursday in PLoS One and conducted in March, dogs who sniffed swab samples of armpit sweat could tell which samples came from COVID-19 patients and which were from people who tested negative for the new coronavirus.
The findings have been validated in more recent trials, said study leader Dominique Grandjean of Alfort Veterinary School in France, and have found that dogs can identify infected individuals with 85% to 100% accuracy and rule out infection with 92% to 99% accuracy. “It takes one tenth of a second for a trained dog to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” he said.
Training requires 3 to 8 weeks depending on whether the dog is already trained for odour detection. COVID-19-detecting dogs have already been deployed in airports in the United Arab Emirates, Grandjean said. On Wednesday, the UAE and the International K9 Working Group Against COVID-19 will host a virtual workshop on the use of these trained dogs, with 25 countries expected to participate, according to the organisers.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Stephen Coates)
