3: As cases of the new COVID variant surge in the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that England would enter its third national lockdown. Stating that England's hospitals were under "more pressure from COVID than at any time since the start of the pandemic," the PM said that the lockdown order — which will keep 57 million people at home except for approved reasons — will be revised on February 15.
16: A boat headed for Panama carrying 16 migrants capsized along the Gulf of Aruba on Monday, prompting a rescue mission by the Colombian navy, which recovered 9 migrants and two bodies. Migrants, mainly from countries like Cuba and Haiti, often travel through the Caribbean Sea in rickety boats trying to reach the United States.
53: President Faustin-Archange Touadera has won reelection in the coup-prone Central African Republic with more than 53 percent of the vote. But violence prevented voting in several towns last week, prompting international partners to send peacekeeping troops in the lead-up to the election.
4,258: California is grappling with one of its worst COVID surges since the pandemic began, dwarfing its summer peak. In the two weeks leading up to Monday, 4,258 died from COVID-19 in the US state, 1,200 more than the previous 14-day period. In a sign of the dire state of affairs, Los Angeles County's emergency medical services issued guidelines on rationing oxygen support for needy COVID patients.
