Putin Plans To Take Russian Vaccine; Brazil Cancels Carnival Parade

Newsweek: Putin Says He Will Receive Russia's Sputnik Coronavirus Vaccine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he plans to receive the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, though has not specified when. Russia approved the Sputnik vaccine in August, claiming to be the first country to find a way to stop the pandemic that has claimed more than one million lives worldwide. Putin has not yet committed publicly to receiving the vaccine—the development of which has been financed by the state Russian Direct Investment Fund—but told South Korean President Moon Jae-in by phone Monday that he would have the shot before a planned visit to Seoul. (Brennan, 9/28)

The New York Times: The Carnival Parade Is Canceled, And Rio Is Reeling
For more than a century, Rio de Janeiro’s carnival has been an irrepressible force, unstoppable by wars, disease, labor strikes or political repression. Raucous celebrations took over city streets despite the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, during both World Wars and through Brazil’s military dictatorship. Glitter flew, hips swayed and drummers pounded in 2008, despite a dengue outbreak that sickened more than 200,000 in the state. ... But now, amid the pandemic, the official carnival parade has been suspended, indefinitely. Rio is reeling. (Andreoni and Londono, 9/30)

BBC: Spain Orders Lockdown Amid Rise In Cases
Under the new restrictions, residents will not be allowed to leave the area unless they have to make an essential journey. However, Madrid's regional government says the lockdown is not legally valid. Greater Madrid accounts for more than a third of the 133,604 cases diagnosed in Spain over the past two weeks. On Wednesday, a majority of Spain's regional governments, who are in charge of healthcare, voted in favour of imposing restrictions in areas with more than 100,000 residents if they met three benchmarks - 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, 35% Covid patient occupancy in intensive care units and positive results in 10% of tests. (10/1)

The New York Times: Huge Study Of Coronavirus Cases In India Offers Some Surprises To Scientists
With 1.3 billion people jostling for space, India has always been a hospitable environment for infectious diseases of every kind. And the coronavirus has proved to be no exception: The country now has more than six million cases, second only to the United States. An ambitious study of nearly 85,000 of those cases and nearly 600,000 of their contacts, published Wednesday in the journal Science, offers important insights not just for India, but for other low- and middle-income countries. Among the surprises: The trend in increasing deaths with age seemed to drop off after age 65 — perhaps because Indians who live past that age tend to be relatively wealthy and have access to good health care. (Mandavilli, 9/30)

CNN: China Mid-Autumn Festival: After Covid-19, Hundreds Of Millions Of People Are About To Go On Vacation At The Same Time
China is on the move again. As October 1 arrives, hundreds of millions of people are expected to pack highways, trains and planes for the National Day holiday, one of the busiest times for travel in the world's most populous country. The eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival break is China's first major holiday since it emerged from the coronavirus outbreak. While life has largely returned to normal in recent months, the upcoming "Golden Week" holiday will be an ambitious test of China's success in taming the virus -- and a much-awaited boost to its economic recovery. (Gan, 10/1)