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Health

ICYMI: Feel-good stories from around the world

Kai Dambach
June 4, 2021

A mass vaccination program in Brazil protects a town from COVID-19, Stephen Hawking's works will be preserved, and a Greek island goes all green on cars. DW shares some feel-good stories from this week.

https://p.dw.com/p/3uSHL
Imunization in Sao Paulo, Brazil
The Coronavac vaccine cut COVID-19-related deaths by 95% in a Brazilian cityImage: Leco Viana/Zuma/picture alliance

'Project S' halts COVID-19 in Brazilian city

Serrana, a city in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, has seen a 95% drop in COVID-19 deaths after nearly all adults were vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The city of 45,000 residents was selected for the "Project S" study to determine the effects of the Coronavac vaccine. Infections were spreading fast throughout the city when vaccinations began, but were contained once 75% of the city was vaccinated.

Symptomatic cases dropped by 80% and hospitalizations fell 86% in four months. Another similar study recently began in Botucatu, a city with 148,000 inhabitants, but with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Stephen Hawking's works preserved

Stephen Hawking in New York City in 2016
The renowned physicist's collection will live on at the university where he taughtImage: Getty Images/Breakthrough Prize Foundation/B. Bedder

About 10,000 pages of famed physicist Stephen Hawking's works finally have a permanent home. His work will remain in a special archive by the Cambridge University Library, where he worked.

The collection includes his personal papers, such as an early draft of his popular book: A Brief History of Time.

The collection will be digitalized as well, and be made free to view online. Hawking died in 2018.

First European woman to command International Space Station

Samantha Cristoforetti on the International Space Station
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has been on the International Space Station beforeImage: ESA/NASA

The European Space Agency (ESA) said Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will become the first European woman to take control of the International Space Station (ISS).

The ESA said in a Tweet that she will take over after launching up to the space station in 2022 on a SpaceX flight.

Cristoforetti was the first Italian woman in outer space and the third woman to have spent time on the ISS. She was above the earth for 199 days and 16 hours, the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut.

Electric car on Greek island Astypalea
The Greek island of Astypalea is getting greener with electric carsImage: Alexandros Vlachos/REUTERS

Greek island goes green

Greece's Astypalea island received a shipment of eight electric Volkswagen cars in an effort to make the island's transportation more environmentally friendly.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in attendance for the delivery, and made environmentally-friendly energy a major component of the country's post-pandemic recovery.

"Astypalea will be a test bed for the green transition: energy autonomous, and entirely powered by nature," said Mitsotakis.

The cars will be used by the local police, coast guard, and airport. The island, which is powered almost entirely by diesel generators, is expected to introduce a solar plant by 2023.

Germany's Hossein Ensan wins the World Series of Poker 2019
Gamblers can press their luck in Las Vegas againImage: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Locher

Las Vegas re-opens

Las Vegas, Nevada fully re-opened its downtown area this week, with no masks or social distancing required.

Businesses, including casinos, were allowed to let everyone in at one minute after midnight local time Tuesday without any restrictions. The moment was capped off by a concert.

Nevada reported 46.5 people per 100,000 becoming infected in the past week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).