Coronavirus Live Updates: Hospitalizations, Newly Reported Cases Decline - wsj.com

has shown signs of easing in recent days, there is growing concern over the spread of new variants of the coronavirus.

Moderna said its Covid-19 vaccine appeared to be protective against emerging variants, but that as a precaution it will start testing whether a booster shot improves immune responses.

As Covid-19 cases increase sharply in much of the world, a scarcity of oxygen is forcing hospitals to ration it for patients.

due to Covid-19 fell to the lowest level since mid-December, while newly reported cases continued to decline.

has reported more than 25.1 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.

Anthony Fauci, who is serving as President Biden’s chief medical adviser for the Covid-19 pandemic, on Sunday reiterated warnings that the new coronavirus variant first identified in Britain could be more deadly.

citizens from traveling into the country if they have recently been in South Africa, where a new variant of the coronavirus is driving a second wave of infections.

As Covid-19 cases increase sharply in much of the world, a scarcity of oxygen is forcing hospitals to ration it for patients and is driving up the coronavirus pandemic’s death toll.

In Mexico, Lebanon and South Africa, people are stockpiling oxygen canisters to try to avoid overflowing Covid-19 wards, sending prices higher and making it harder for poorer families to rent tanks.

that have a ready supply of oxygen, health authorities said.

Oxygen is a crucial treatment for Covid-19, a disease that attacks the lungs and starves the body of oxygen.

Several studies have shown lower mortality rates and severity of the disease when oxygen treatment is started earlier, before levels in the blood get too low.

Across Africa, a scarcity of oxygen is making a second coronavirus wave considerably more deadly.

Moderna said its Covid-19 vaccine appeared to be protective against emerging variants of the coronavirus in laboratory tests, but that as a precaution it will start testing whether a booster shot improves immune responses.