COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 23 March

1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now passed 123.7 million globally, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 2.72 million. More than 458.13 million vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday praised the “great spirit” shown by Britain in tackling COVID-19, marking a year since the first lockdown by saying everyone’s efforts had allowed the country to start “on the cautious road” to easing restrictions.

It comes as Johnson warned that the third wave of COVID-19 infections sweeping across Europe could be heading towards Britain.

Germany and Finland are extending their lockdowns until April 18 to combat the recent increase of COVID-19 cases. Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, urged citizens to stay at home for five days over the Easter holidays to try to break a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chile will extend a coronavirus rescue package to help poor and middle-class families and small businesses stay afloat until June as the Latin American nation struggles to slow a second wave of cases despite a rapid vaccine rollout.

France’s COVID-19 figures are going up at a “vertiginous rate” and if the situation does not improve, further lockdown measures may be needed, Frederic Valletoux, president of the French hospital federation, said on Tuesday. On Monday, France reported 15,792 new coronavirus cases, more than double the 6,471 reported last Monday and the highest number on a Monday since the peak of the second wave in early November.

2. WHO Director-General urges vaccine developers to license technology to overcome 'grotesque' inequity

At a media briefing yesterday afternoon, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the 'catastrophic moral failure' in regards to equitable distribution of vaccines.

“The gap between number of vaccines administered in rich countries and the number administered through COVAX is growing and becoming more grotesque every day,” Tedros told the news conference.

“The inequitable distribution of vaccines is not just a moral outrage. It’s also economically and epidemiologically self-defeating.”

He emphasized the need for every country to be vaccinated in order to reduce transmission and therefore, the discovery of new variants that could evade vaccines.

"Some countries are racing to vaccinate their entire populations while other countries have nothing. This may buy short-term security, but it’s a false sense of security," he said, urging richer countries if they won't share vaccines for the right reasons, they should do it out of self-interest.

He went on to highlight AstraZeneca as the vaccine developer who has committed to not profiting from the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic and licensing its technology to several other companies, which are producing 90% of the vaccines that have been distributed through COVAX.

"We need more vaccine producers to follow this example and license their technology to other companies."

3. Men outnumber women three to one on COVID-19 task forces

In a study by the UN and the University of Pittsburgh’s Gender Inequality Research Lab, women made up just 24% of representatives on task forces set up to manage the recovery in 137 countries examined. Of the 225 task forces, 26 had no women at all.

Multiple studies have found that the pandemic disproportionately affects women, who have taken on a larger burden of childcare with schools closed and been more likely to suffer job losses, while domestic violence has also risen.

A lack of women in decision-making positions will only exacerbate that inequality, said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

“It is inconceivable that we can address the most discriminatory crisis we have ever experienced without full engagement of women,” she said in a statement.

“At the moment, men have given themselves the impossible task of making the right decisions about women without the benefit of women’s insights.”