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Nepal COVID-19 cases cross 200,000 amid fears of health catastrophe

“The government is not prepared to handle the catastrophic situation. There are no community based isolation centres and ICU beds are limited,” said Aayas Luintel, a doctor who has been treating coronavirus patients in Patan Hospital near Kathmandu.

Santa Kumar Das, of the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, in Kathmandu, said medics were seeing more severe cases of community transmission after relatively mild cases from outside previously.

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Why Pfizer’s ultra-cold COVID-19 vaccine will not be at the local pharmacy any time soon

The main issue is that the vaccine, which is based on a novel technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below.

“The cold chain is going to be one of the most challenging aspects of delivery of this vaccination,” said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

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Much at stake as Supreme Court weighs future of ‘Obamacare’

What’s at stake has real-world consequences for just about every American, as well as the health care industry, a major source of jobs and tax revenues. Whether the Affordable Care Act stays, goes, or is significantly changed, will affect the way life is lived in the US
The argument against the law from the Trump administration and conservative states is that the 10-year-old statute was rendered unconstitutional in its entirety when Congress dialled down to zero a penalty on those remaining uninsured.
President-elect Joe Biden would build on the ACA by improving it and adding a new public health insurance option. But party liberals want a government-run system for all Americans, including the 160 million covered through employer plans.

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India records 45,903 new COVID-19 cases, 490 more deaths

The total number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 79,17,373, pushing the national recovery rate to 92.56 per cent while the case fatality rate stands at 1.48 per cent.

The number of active cases of COVID-19 remained below 6 lakh for the 11th consecutive day. There are 5,09,673 active cases of the coronavirus infection in the country as on date which comprises 5.96 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

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Global Markets: Risk assets cheer Biden win, dollar nurses losses

“The best opportunities now lie within segments of emerging markets, in particular China and North Asia. I believe earnings momentum and valuation put China in a very attractive risk/reward position.”

Chinese shares started higher with the blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 up 2.2% on hopes of better Sino-U.S. trade relations under Biden.

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U.S. crosses 10 million COVID-19 cases as third wave of infections surges

More than 237,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 since the illness caused by the coronavirus first emerged in China late last year.

The daily average of reported new deaths in the United States account for one in every 11 deaths reported worldwide each day, according to a Reuters analysis.

The number of reported deaths nationwide climbed by more than 1,000 for a fifth consecutive day on Saturday, a trend last seen in mid-August, according to a Reuters tally.

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Investors bet vaccine sparks revival in beaten down stocks

As the market hype around the U.S. election ebbs, investors are now preparing for good vaccine news, which they believe is a matter of when, not if.

“It’s going to be absolutely massive,” said Stuart Oakley, head of cash currency trading at Nomura in London. “If we get a vaccine, we’re going to see all that pent up demand coming out.”

Of the roughly 45 vaccines undergoing human trials, those from Pfizer and Moderna are seen as possibly winning regulatory approval this year, with AstraZeneca not far behind.

Investors are looking beyond an expected “excitement rally” and at longer-term beneficiaries and short-selling opportunities.

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Pfizer’s Covid vaccine prevents 90% of infections in large study

“Today is a great day for science and humanity,” Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive, said.

“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen,”he said.

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