Anadolu Agency's Morning Briefing – Feb. 13, 2021

ANKARA (AA) - Anadolu Agency is here with a rundown of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic and other news in Turkey and around the world.

- Coronavirus and other developments in Turkey

Turkey reported 7,763 additional coronavirus cases, including 667 symptomatic patients, according to the Health Ministry.

The country's case tally is more than 2.5 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 27,284, with 97 additional fatalities.

As many as 8,108 more patients won the battle against the virus, bringing the number of recoveries to more than 2.4 million.

Also, the number of people who have been vaccinated crossed the 3.5 million mark, according to Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

Vaccination for people older than 65 has started, Koca said on Twitter.

Turkey began its mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign Jan. 14, starting with health care workers along with top officials to encourage public confidence in vaccines.

Meanwhile, all 15 remaining crew members of the Liberian-flagged ship, Mozart, were rescued after the cargo vessel fell victim to a pirate attack off Nigeria, two involved maritime companies announced.

Borealis Maritime and Boden Maritime said the crew was now safe in contact with their families and they would return to Turkey as soon as possible.
“We thank the Turkish and Nigerian governments for their support during these challenging three weeks, all government agencies and officials, the entire Borealis community working on the land and at sea, and everyone who helped us solve this problem," said the statement.

In a Jan. 23 pirate attack, 15 of Mozart's 19 crew members were abducted, while an Azerbaijani national crew was killed.
The vessel was managed by Borealis Maritime, a firm based in London and Hamburg, Germany

In space news, Turkey is preparing to select three candidates, one of whom will don the astronaut suit, as part of efforts to put Turkish nationals in space by its centennial in 2023.

Once recruited under Turkey's National Space Program, the candidates will undergo two years of rigorous training. The candidate assessed to be "most successful" will make the upward journey.

- COVID-19 updates worldwide

French health authorities recommended administering a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to those who have recovered from the virus.

The recommendation is based on an analysis of recent data of the immunological response to the infection. The public health department underlined that those who have already been infected should be considered protected for up to six months.

They should be vaccinated at least three months after testing positive, it added.

The outbreak in the UK could now be on the decline, a key indicator on disease transmissions appeared to suggest.

The R-value of the virus has fallen below 1 for the first time since July, according to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

With another 530 people reported dead from the virus, Spain concluded its deadliest week since April.

Though infections and hospitalizations have been steadily dropping since Monday, the number of lives lost has increased.

During the last week, the Health Ministry reported 3,361 COVID-19 deaths -- around 3.7 times more than during the week leading to Christmas.

Argentina surpassed 50,000 deaths with more than 2 million cases, according to the Ministry of Health.

The death toll there now stands at 50,029.

Morocco began vaccinating people older than 65 for the coronavirus, according to an official statement.

The move came one day after the North African country received a second batch of 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

According to the Health Ministry's latest data, Morocco has vaccinated more than 800,000 people since the start of its vaccination campaign.

Lebanon will start a mass vaccination campaign later this week.

Top priority groups will be vaccinated first, the Health Ministry said in a statement, including medical staff, people older than 75 and those with chronic diseases.

The first shipment of 249,000 vaccines will arrive Saturday.

Meanwhile, an independent expert team sent by the World Health Organization (WHO) to study the origins of the novel coronavirus was questioned about its investigation in the Chinese city of Wuhan as it was conducted a full year after the outbreak erupted.

"I think we have been successful. In many ways, we have a lot of new knowledge about the start of the events," said Dr. Peter Ben Embarek, leader of the international team that conducted the investigation in Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated.

"We have a much, much better understanding of what happened in December 2019," Embarek said at a twice-weekly WHO webinar on COVID-19.

- Other developments

Kosovars will head to the polls Sunday to choose new members of its 120-seat parliament.

The election is the sixth parliamentary poll for Europe's youngest country since 2008, when it declared independence from Serbia.

It comes after the Constitutional Court ruled the parliamentary vote that saw Avdulah Hoti installed as prime minister was invalid because a lawmaker who made the new government's majority possible, Etem Arifi, was convicted of fraud.

Former central banker Mario Draghi formally accepted the challenging task to forge Italy’s next government, unveiling a mixed Cabinet of technocrats and politicians from a broad coalition of support.

President Sergio Mattarella called in Draghi last week to be the new prime minister, asking him to solve a risky political crisis that plunged the country into chaos, just as it battles a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and one of its worst economic crises.

After a week of tricky consultations with parties, almost all main political forces gave support to Draghi’s “national unity” government, promising a full backing in parliament.
Draghi’s team confirmed some of the outgoing-ministers in their roles.