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US President-elect Joe Biden removes his face mask to deliver remarks for a televised speech on the current economic and health crises at The Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Reuters
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Nurses talk in front of the 28 de Agosto Hospital in Manaus, Amazon State, Brazil. AFP
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A healthcare worker uses a pipette to process Covid-19 test samples at the SpiceHealth Genome Sequencing Laboratory set up at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. Bloomberg
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A health worker prepares an injection with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Hospital Infantil in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Reuters
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An undertaker sprays disinfectant liquid around the grave of a person that passed away due to Covid-19 at Glen Forest cemetery in Harare. AFP
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A healthcare worker sits inside a monitoring room after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the Posta Central hospital in Santiago, Chile. Reuters
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A shopper uses a mirror as she tries on a hat in a shopping street in Tokyo. AP Photo
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Restaurant tables block a street during a protest of the sector against the measures taken by the national government to prevent the Covid-19, in Cali, Colombia. AFP
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A woman scans a health QR code on her smartphone to register her visit to a market before crossing the entry checkpoint in Beijing, China. Reuters
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A woman walks after a curfew in Strasbourg, eastern France. AP Photo
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A woman checks her smartphone while passing by a graffiti made on a museum wall, depicting a man wearing a kind of a protective mask painted on his face, in downtown Bucharest, Romania. EPA
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Street vendors sell vegetables on a pavement in Thokoza, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. AP Photo
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A government worker sprays disinfectant at the Klong Toey fresh market after it was temporarily shut down in Bangkok, Thailand. Reuters
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US President-elect Joe Biden removes his face mask to deliver remarks for a televised speech on the current economic and health crises at The Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Reuters
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Nurses talk in front of the 28 de Agosto Hospital in Manaus, Amazon State, Brazil. AFP
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A healthcare worker uses a pipette to process Covid-19 test samples at the SpiceHealth Genome Sequencing Laboratory set up at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. Bloomberg
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/KL5YAJLRNN4D74Y622EBJVTERE.jpg?smart=true&auth=2917a47c7c996c92f0e33cb741ccd5bde94962314cfba90a895a28c96588cadb&width=400&height=225)
A health worker prepares an injection with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Hospital Infantil in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Reuters
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An undertaker sprays disinfectant liquid around the grave of a person that passed away due to Covid-19 at Glen Forest cemetery in Harare. AFP
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A healthcare worker sits inside a monitoring room after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the Posta Central hospital in Santiago, Chile. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/77TPBHNBAXIU4CMGDXQP4MDGZY.jpg?smart=true&auth=a92142a5f9b1950c2b540a114a77238fbd4f37c4d789462d6335e18a8b85ec74&width=400&height=225)
A shopper uses a mirror as she tries on a hat in a shopping street in Tokyo. AP Photo
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Restaurant tables block a street during a protest of the sector against the measures taken by the national government to prevent the Covid-19, in Cali, Colombia. AFP
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/HL3JU6S33KY2KKLJNUQQGJMLWY.jpg?smart=true&auth=c67ca3b6f3b0ea4d26b13df79000ac459f1d78a4df2376db9b9acacdeab8a273&width=400&height=225)
A woman scans a health QR code on her smartphone to register her visit to a market before crossing the entry checkpoint in Beijing, China. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/M3OGLJFEBWW6XUAHQCRCRTOMSQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=a1f1e362291fd32c3c7623dae234e515a87c9ec75da25d1b91eee7af3b87ac02&width=400&height=225)
A woman walks after a curfew in Strasbourg, eastern France. AP Photo
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A woman checks her smartphone while passing by a graffiti made on a museum wall, depicting a man wearing a kind of a protective mask painted on his face, in downtown Bucharest, Romania. EPA
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Street vendors sell vegetables on a pavement in Thokoza, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. AP Photo
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A government worker sprays disinfectant at the Klong Toey fresh market after it was temporarily shut down in Bangkok, Thailand. Reuters
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/BMHAEOUUASYKUMM5KI42JCGFVQ.jpg?smart=true&auth=7a073fc1b3f15989808e9c3dae7abe238a8928ababf27ff0b9566935fe69efaf&width=400&height=225)
US President-elect Joe Biden removes his face mask to deliver remarks for a televised speech on the current economic and health crises at The Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Reuters
Coronavirus: What are the three mutant strains and why are they wreaking havoc?
New variations of the virus are plunging already reeling countries into fresh lockdowns
![Daniel Bardsley](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Farc-authors%2Fthenational%2F4dcffed7-67d1-4c6f-b468-84a82d1ddd22.png?smart=true&auth=e4d7a6e3c76d7ec922e25339bc18538c62bc925936c2316006dc89b8a7becdc6&width=70&height=70)
Daniel Bardsley
18 January, 2021
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