Science & Health
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New COVID-19 Lockdowns in Britain; New Variant Found in New York

Britain’s prime minister announced a fresh round of lockdowns Monday, closing schools and nonessential shops, as the country begins vaccinating health care workers and the elderly.Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people must stay at home until at least mid-February, noting that British hospitals are under more strain now than they have been at any point during the pandemic.“If the rollout of the vaccine program continues to be successful. If deaths start to fall as the vaccine takes effect. And critically, if everyone plays their part by following the rules, then I hope we can steadily move out of lockdown,” Johnson said in a televised address Monday.Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Chase Farm Hospital in north London, Jan. 4, 2021, part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.The announcement comes days after British health officials confirmed a variant of the coronavirus that doctors say is far more contagious than the original.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday that a case of the same variant had been confirmed in an older New York state resident who had not traveled recently.NEW: The Wadsworth Lab has confirmed New York State’s first case of the U.K. variant (B.1.1.7) of the virus that causes COVID.An individual from Saratoga County, New York, tested positive for the strain. The individual had no known travel history.— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) Brian Pinker, 82, receives the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Sam Foster at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, England, Jan. 4, 2021.British officials say half a million doses of the vaccine are ready for use.The AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and more easily transported than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine because it does not need to be kept at extremely cold temperatures. The Pfizer shot has already been administered to many health care professionals in Britain and the United States.France, which is administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, pledged Monday to increase the speed at which it is inoculating its health care workers after facing criticism from the public.FILE – A man applies finishing touches to graffiti representing a vaccine, amidst the spread of coronavirus disease, in Kolkata, India, Jan. 2, 2021.In Russia, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that more than 800,000 people had received the domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and that 1.5 million doses had been distributed throughout the country of 147 million.The Kremlin is pinning its hopes on mass vaccinations, not nationwide restrictions, to stop the spread of the virus and save its struggling economy from the hit of another lockdown.The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since emerging in China in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins.Experts fear the worst is yet to come, predicting a sharp rise in cases and deaths after weeks of holiday gatherings.VOA’s Fern Robinson contributed to this report.
 
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Science & Health
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Moderna Plans to Ramp Up COVID-19 Vaccine Production by 20%

Drug maker Moderna says it plans to ramp up production of its COVID-19 vaccine by 100 million more doses than what it originally forecast.The Massachusetts-based company said Monday it would produce 600 million doses in 2021.So far, the company says it has supplied 18 million doses of a promised 200 million to the U.S. government.U.S. states have been administering both the Moderna vaccine and a vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech since late last month.Both vaccines are reportedly highly effective in preventing coronavirus infection.According to MarketWatch, Moderna’s stock is up 453.0% over the past year.  
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Arts & Entertainment/Economy & business
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Tanya Roberts, Bond Girl And ‘That ’70s Show’ Star, Dies

Tanya Roberts, who captivated James Bond in “A View to a Kill,” appeared in the final season of “Charlie’s Angels” and later played Midge Pinciotti in the sitcom “That ’70s Show,” has died in Los Angeles. She was 65.
Roberts’ death Sunday was announced by her publicist, Mike Pingel. She collapsed in her home and was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. No cause of death was given, but Pingel said it was not due to COVID-19.  
One of her highest profile roles was playing geologist Stacey Sutton opposite Roger Moore in 1985’s “A View to a Kill,” where she held a gun on Bond after tricking him into thinking she was in a shower. The character later joined him to stop bad guys on an airship over San Francisco.
 
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of Tanya. She was a very lovely person,” Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli wrote in tribute. Britt Ekland, who starred opposite Moore in 1974’s “The Man with the Golden Gun,” tweeted: “Once a Bond Girl always a Bond Girl!”
“One of my favorite memories with Tanya was driving in the car and Duran Duran’s ‘A View to a Kill’ theme song came on the radio — we both sang along. Priceless,” Pingel said.  
Roberts also appeared in such fantasy adventure films as “The Beastmaster” and “Hearts and Armour.” She replaced Shelly Hack in “Charlie’s Angels,” joining Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd as third Angel Julie. She also played comic book heroine Sheena — a female version of the Tarzan story — in a 1984 film.
A new generation of fans saw her on “That ’70s Show,” playing Midge, mother to Laura Prepon’s character Donna. On Twitter, Topher Grace, one of the the show’s stars, called Roberts “truly a delightful person to work with.” He added: “I had never acted before and, to be honest, a little nervous around her. But she couldn’t have been kinder. We’ll miss you Midge.”
Roberts, a huge animal rights activist, is survived by her husband, Lance O’Brien. “Tanya and I have never been apart. This is too much to handle. Her animals are lost without her and so am I,” he said in a statement.
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Economy & business/Silicon Valley & Technology
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Google Employees Form Workers’ Union in United States

More than 200 Google employees in the United States have formed a workers’ union, the elected leaders of the union wrote in a New York Times opinion piece on Monday.
 
The “Alphabet Workers Union” aims to ensure that employees work at a fair wage, without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination, the union heads wrote.
 
Google has been under fire from the U.S. labor regulator, which has accused the company of unlawfully questioning several workers who were then terminated for protesting against company policies and trying to organize a union. Google has said it was confident it acted legally.
 
“We’re building on years of organizing efforts at Google to create a formal structure for workers,” the union leaders wrote, adding that so far 226 employees had signed union cards with the Communications Workers of America.
 
“Our employees have protected labor rights that we support. But as we’ve always done, we’ll continue engaging directly with all our employees,” Kara Silverstein, director of people operations at Google, said on Monday.
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Science & Health
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British Health Secretary Doesn’t Rule Out New Restrictions as Coronavirus Continues to Spread

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday the government is not ruling out new restrictions as the coronavirus continues to spread even in areas with the strictest constraints.In television interviews, Hancock said a new variant spreads more easily than the original strains of the virus and Britain’s three-tiered system of restrictions is proving less effective at controlling it.Hancock said that while new restrictions might be necessary, ultimately it is up to people’s behavior. He said people should act as if they already have the virus and take greater care around others.“Yes, it’s about the government rules, and absolutely we’re prepared to bring in, unfortunately, tougher rules if they are needed on the public health advice. But it’s on all of us,” Hancock said.The health secretary praised the National Health Service (NHS) for its vaccination program, saying it has successfully inoculated more than a million people at 700 sites around the country and that there would be more than a thousand sites by the end of the week.Hancock also praised the latest vaccine, produced in a joint effort between the University of Oxford and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca, saying British science is leading the world.Britain reported 55,157 new cases on Sunday, and 455 new deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The nation set a daily record for new cases Saturday with 57,853. 
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Arts & Entertainment/Economy & business
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‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’: Liverpool Salute Marsden After Singer Dies Aged 78

Gerry Marsden, frontman of 1960s group Gerry and the Pacemakers, has died aged 78, the singer’s friend Pete Price announced Sunday. Liverpool-born Marsden, who died after a short illness, had a 1960s hit with his cover of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, which originally featured in their musical Carousel. Liverpool FC fans adopted the Gerry and the Pacemakers’ version of the song, which became one of the most famous football anthems in the world. It is still sung regularly by Liverpool supporters before and during matches. Marsden re-recorded the track in April 2020 in tribute to Britain’s National Health Service during the coronavirus pandemic. He also wrote the 1960s hit “Ferry Cross the Mersey” at a time when The Beatles had made Liverpool pop music’s most important city. It was Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein who signed up Gerry and the Pacemakers. As part of the “Merseybeat” groups, Gerry and the Pacemakers also broke into the American market.Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney tweeted that “Gerry was a mate from our early days in Liverpool. He and his group were our biggest rivals on the local scene.””His unforgettable performances of You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry Cross the Mersey remain in many people’s hearts as reminders of a joyful time in British music,” he added.Liverpool football club, on their Twitter account, said, “It is with such great sadness that we hear of Gerry Marsden’s passing.”Gerry’s words will live on forever with us. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”The famous song was also adopted by fans of other European football teams including Celtic in Scotland, Borussia Dortmund and Feyenoord.Marsden’s friend and broadcaster Price announced the death when he wrote on Instagram: “It’s with a very heavy heart after speaking to the family that I have to tell you the legendary Gerry Marsden MBE, after a short illness which was an infection in his heart, has sadly passed away.”I’m sending all the love in the world to Pauline and his family. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”Marsden received his MBE at Buckingham Palace in 2003 for services to charities in Liverpool and beyond. 
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