The new variant, in one chart

In today’s issue of The Morning newsletter, my colleague David Leonhardt explained the new variant in one simple, frightening chart. He compared the spread of the virus in Britain and South Africa, the countries that first detected the new variant, with the spread in a group of nearby countries.
By The New York Times | Sources: Local and national governments and health organizations, World Bank

More than 30 other countries, including the U.S., have diagnosed cases with the variant, which appears to be between 10 percent and 60 percent more transmissible than the original version. It could soon become the dominant form of the virus.

The new variant may end up “exacerbating an unrelenting rise in deaths and overwhelming the already strained health care system,” my colleague Apoorva Mandavilli wrote last week.
Resurgences

An outbreak at a convent near Albany, N.Y., has infected nearly half of its roughly 100 residents. Nine sisters, all older than 80, died of Covid-19 in December.
California’s prison system, which has been exceptionally hard-hit by the coronavirus, has started vaccinating some inmates — but none so far at the 25 prisons that have been most overwhelmed by infections.
Thailand, which has been one of the most successful countries in containing the coronavirus, imposed wide-ranging new measures on Monday as infections hit a new daily high of 745.
Japanese officials considered declaring a state of emergency in Tokyo for the first time since April. Authorities on Monday requested that restaurants and bars close by 8 p.m. to prevent further spread of the virus.
South Korea will extend restrictions in and around Seoul until Jan. 17.
Zimbabwe will shutter nonessential businesses for a month and extend a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, its information secretary said on Saturday.
The New York Times