Countries continue to try and slow the spread of COVID-19

Published 10:54 am Wednesday, January 13, 2021

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Covid-19 cases continued to increase in Alabama on Wednesday with a total number of 410,995 cases, 327,128 of which were confirmed cases.

The confirmed cases in Pike County remained the same as Tuesday at a total of 1,380. No new deaths have been added to the total count of 15.

There have been no new cases at Troy University since Tuesday when nine cases were reported.

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Around the world other countries are also working to mitigate the spread of this virus and working towards distributing the vaccine. The African Union has secured close to 300 million Covid-19 vaccine doses in the largest such agreement yet for Africa.

In the Netherlands, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has extended his country’s tough five-week lockdown by a further three weeks amid concerns that infection rates are not falling quickly enough and fears about the new more transmissible variant first detected in the United Kingdom.

In Mexico, concern is spreading that the critical winter holiday tourism success could be fleeting due to Covid-19 infections, as the main source of tourists come from the United States where infection is increasing.

The U.S. finds itself in a lethal phase of the coronavirus outbreak, but governors and local officials are showing little willingness to impose any new restrictions on businesses to stop the spread. Both Democratic and Republican leaders have expressed fear of the economic damage that more restrictions and shutdowns could bring.