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Canada bans passenger flights from India, Pakistan for 30 days
Canada suspended all passenger flights from India and Pakistan on Thursday for 30 days, Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra announced, citing increased Covid-19 cases detected in travelers arriving from these countries, AFP reports.
“Given the higher number of cases of Covid-19 detected in air passengers arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan... I am suspending all commercial and private passenger flights arriving in Canada from Indian and Pakistan for 30 days,” Alghabra told a news conference.
The measure will go into effect at 11:30 pm Eastern Time Thursday (0330 GMT Friday).
It will not apply to cargo flights, Alghabra said, particularly to ensure the continued shipment of vaccines, personal protective equipment and other essential goods.
India, which is undergoing an alarming surge being blamed on a “double mutant” variant and super-spreader events, reported a single-day high of more than 300,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that overall only 1.8 percent of travelers to Canada have tested positive for coronavirus.
While India accounts for 20 percent of recent air travel to Canada, more than half of all positive tests at the border were from flights arriving from the country, she said, adding that “a similarly high level of cases... have also been linked to Pakistan.”
Canada in December briefly suspended flights from Britain over concerns about outbreaks of a Covid variant.
Earlier on Thursday Parliament voted unanimously to urge the government to ban non-essential flights from Covid hotspots where variants have surged, including India and Brazil.
Alghabra said there are currently no scheduled flights between Canada and Brazil, but added that “we will not hesitate to ban travel to other countries if the science bears that out.”
This report is from Reuters.
Ontario’s premier Doug Ford, facing backlash over his government’s handling of the pandemic, resisted calls to resign on Thursday as Canada’s most populous province grappled with a third wave of Covid-19 infections that critics said could have been prevented.
With pressure building on hospitals, Ottawa is sending federal healthcare workers to help. Ontario had 3,682 new infections on Thursday and 40 deaths, the highest of any province.
#Dougfordmustresign has trended on Twitter this week, while newspaper editorials and provincial opposition leaders also called on Ford, 56, to step down.
Some 46% of Ontario residents have a negative view of Ford, up nine percentage points from a week earlier, according to an Abacus Data poll on Wednesday. Ford’s Progressive Conservatives(PC) trailed the opposition provincial Liberals by one point in the same poll, ahead of a June 2022 provincial election.
“Mr Ford’s real mistake has been repeatedly ignoring the deep bench of scientists who are there to advise him, impulsively imposing himself as the province’s Fearless Decider,” an editorial in the national Globe and Mail newspaper said this week.
The premier ruled out resigning on Thursday, almost a week after issuing unpopular orders to close playgrounds and allow police to randomly stop people, both of which were abandoned within 48 hours.
Multiple police departments refused to enforce his orders while Toronto-area health units unilaterally ordered businesses that experience outbreaks to close.
“I’m not one to walk away from anything,” an emotional Ford told reporters on Thursday. “I know we got it wrong and we made a mistake, and for that I’m sorry.”
Ford said he was apologising for acting “too quick”. Critics said the problem was that he opened the economy up too fast after the second wave, and then moved too slowly when it was obvious that cases were surging.
Had Ontario kept stay-at-home measures in place longer in February, the case-count “would not have been nearly as bad as what we’re seeing now,” said Dr Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at Toronto General Hospital.
“We saw case numbers rising for a month ... and they were never really acted on,” said Bogoch, who is a member of the Ontario government’s vaccination task force.
Ford extended stay-at-home measures until mid-May last week and on Thursday said his government would provide paid sick leave to workers who need to isolate, a measure many say would have helped prevent the third wave.
On Thursday, Ford said 40% of the province would have at least one vaccine shot by the end of the month. But the political damage could be lasting.
Ford has been in power since 2018, sweeping to an unlikely victory after the PC’s former leader was forced to resign in the midst of the election campaign.
During the 2019 federal election campaign, the prime minister Justin Trudeau capitalised on Ford’s unpopular cost cuts, attacking him repeatedly while touring Ontario, a crucial battleground province that is home to almost 40% of Canada’s population.
“This does remind me of 2019 where absolutely the best asset in Ontario for the federal Liberal Party was Doug Ford,” a well-placed Liberal source said.
Millions of people in England could be provided with so-called Covid passports by 17 May to let them take holidays abroad this summer and potentially avoid quarantine when they reach their destination, the Guardian has learned.
The documents – likely to be different from domestic Covid certificates, which the government is working on separately – are still under development but should be made available before restrictions on international travel lift next month, sources said.
With many hoping for a summer getaway, or to see family and friends in other countries whom they have been unable to visit since the pandemic began, pressure is rising on ministers to help ensure that those who have had coronavirus vaccines can prove their immunity to avoid other countries’ entry requirements on isolation and testing.
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has said the passports “will of course be a part of international travel” and voiced hopes they would not be viewed as “controversial” – but stressed the need for a cautious reopening given the threat of virus variants.
The full story is here:
The Covid-19 variant contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been detected in Belgium in a group of Indian students who arrived from Paris, Belgian authorities said on Thursday.
Twenty nursing students, who arrived in Belgium in mid-April after travelling from the French capital’s Charles de Gaulle airport, have tested positive for the variant, the office of government commissioner Pedro Facon told AFP, confirming media reports.
The students have been placed in quarantine in Aalst and Leuven in northern Belgium where they had been due to begin a training course.
Several experts have suggested they may have been victims of a “super-spreader” - either a member of their group, or another passenger on the bus that brought them to Belgium from Paris.
“These students have been respecting strict isolation since their arrival. Twenty of the 43 students are as of today infected by the ‘Indian’ variant,” tweeted microbiologist Emmanuel Andre of the Catholic University of Leuven.
Virologist Marc Van Ranst, another expert who has been prominent in Belgian coverage of the crisis, told a Flemish radio station that the group had landed in Paris on 12 April. Several of the students began having virus symptoms five days later, he said.
The B.1.617 variant has already appeared elsewhere, including in the US, Australia, Israel and Singapore. Concern about it has led some countries, including the UK, to slap travel restrictions on India.
Israel and Bahrain have agreed to recognise each other’s Covid-19 vaccination programmes and let people who have had shots travel without restriction between the countries, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The arrangement, said the ministry said, would help boost tourism, trade and economic ties between the states, which normalised ties last year in a US-sponsored deal.
Israel has opened up much of its economy thanks to a rapid vaccine roll out, though it maintains tight restrictions on incoming travellers.
The ministry did not give details on when the Bahrain arrangement would start, but said it would reach similar agreements with other countries soon. The scheme would be managed digitally, it said.
Updated
This report is from Reuters.
Delhi resident Nitish Kumar was forced to keep his dead mother’s body at home for nearly two days while he searched for space in the city’s crematoriums - a sign of the deluge of death in India’s capital where coronavirus cases are surging.
On Thursday Kumar cremated his mother, who died of Covid-19, in a makeshift, mass cremation facility in a parking lot adjoining a crematorium in Seemapuri in northeast Delhi.
“I ran pillar to post but every crematorium had some reason ... one said it had run out of wood,” said Kumar, wearing a mask and squinting his eyes, which were stinging from the smoke blowing from the burning pyres.
India recorded the world’s highest daily tally of 314,835 coronavirus infections on Thursday, with the second wave of the pandemic crushing its weak health infrastructure. In Delhi alone, where hospitals are running out of medical oxygen supplies, the daily rise is more than 26,000.
People losing loved ones in the Indian capital, where 306 people have died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, are turning to makeshift facilities that are undertaking mass burials and cremations as crematoriums come under pressure.
Jitender Singh Shunty who runs a non-profit medical service, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal, said as of Thursday afternoon 60 bodies had been cremated at the makeshift facility in the parking lot and 15 others were still waiting.
“No one in Delhi would have ever witnessed such a scene. Children who were 5 years old, 15 years old, 25 years old are being cremated. Newlyweds are being cremated. It’s difficult to watch,” said a teary-eyed Shunty.
Shunty, dressed in protective gear and a bright yellow turban, said that last year during the peak of the first wave, the maximum number of bodies he had helped cremate in a single day was 18, while the average was eight to 10 a day.
On Tuesday, 78 bodies were cremated in that one place alone, he said.
Kumar said when his mother, a government healthcare worker, tested positive 10 days ago, the authorities could not find a hospital bed for her.
“The government is not doing anything. Only you can save your family. You are on your own,” he said.
Updated
With India joining Pakistan and Bangladesh on the UK’s red list, travel from all three south Asian countries with diaspora populations in the UK is mostly banned, dashing hopes for thousands of families of reuniting over the summer.
And many who travelled in recent weeks are stuck in limbo, unable to return home to the UK because of the cost of hotel quarantine and rocketing flight prices. This means a sea of financial and mental struggles as families are separated, jobs and livelihoods are placed in jeopardy, and schooling and exams are missed.
Here is our full report:
Canada’s government, under pressure to suspend flights from India and Brazil over fears about the spread of the coronavirus, could make an announcement on the matter shortly, a senior medical official said on Thursday.
The prime minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this week that officials were studying the example of the UK, which is obliging travellers who have been in India in the past 10 days to spend 10 days in quarantine.
Reuters reports that Dr Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, said officials were looking at developments in hot spots such as India and Brazil, where Covid-19 cases are surging.
“I think perhaps we will have an announcement about the border soon,” he told a briefing when asked about a clamp-down on travel from India and Brazil, but did not give details.
Prominent right-leaning politicians complain Trudeau’s center-left Liberal government has not done nearly enough to combat the threat as a third wave of infections rips through Canada, overwhelming healthcare systems.
“The Liberals’ slow and incompetent pandemic response has allowed dangerous Covid variants into Canada. We must temporarily suspend flights from hot spot countries to secure the borders,” said Erin O’Toole, leader of the official opposition Conservative Party.
Trudeau, speaking to Global television on Wednesday night, said community spread rather than international travel continued to be the main concern.
Quebec premier Francois Legault said this week: “We worry about flights coming from countries like India and Brazil.”
The two countries have become the latest epicenter of the pandemic. France is imposing a 10-day quarantine for travellers from Brazil, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and India, while the UAE has suspended all flights from India.
Early evening summary
Here is a quick recap of all the main Covid updates from around the world:
- Britain found 55 more cases of the B.1.617 Covid variant first detected in India in latest weekly figures, Public Health England said.
- French prime minister Jean Castex confirmed that domestic travel restrictions will be lifted on 3 May and that secondary schools will reopen that same day. France is due to impose a 10-day quarantine starting from Saturday for travellers from Brazil, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and India.
- The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said there had been 168 cases up to 14 April of blood clots with low platelet counts in the UK in people who had had the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
- EU capitals have been asked by the European commission to back legal action against AstraZeneca by the end of the week over an alleged breach of its contractual obligations to supply member states with its Covid vaccine. Earlier today, a commission spokesperson confirmed legal action had not been launched against the company, following comments by Ireland’s health minister Stephen Donnelly.
- New coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rose by more than 9,000 in 24 hours, the highest level since early January, figures show.
Britain finds 55 more cases of Covid variant first detected in India
Britain found 55 more cases of the B.1.617 Covid variant first detected in India in latest weekly figures, Public Health England has said.
A total of 132 confirmed and probable cases of the B.1.617 variant have now been found in Britain, Reuters reports.
On Monday, the UK health secretary, Matt Hannock, said India would be added to the red-list, meaning arrivals will have to quarantine in hotels.
The unprecedented spread of the virus in India, blamed on a more contagious strain as well as lax safety measures, has pushed hospitals to the brink.
There were 70 more cases of the variant first found in South Africa, known as B.1.351, in the week running to 21 April , PHE added.
Last Friday, the Guardian revealed that the first of the 77 cases of the India variant of coronavirus found in the UK were detected in specimens dating back to February.
Despite earlier unveiling the country’s first steps towards exiting lockdown, French prime minister Jean Castex has said the 1900 nation-wide curfew will stay in place for now.
Updated
French PM confirms travel curbs will be lifted 3 May
Reuters reports:
French prime minister Jean Castex confirmed on Thursday that domestic travel restrictions will be lifted on 3 May and that secondary schools will reopen that same day, the first steps toward the country exiting its new Covid-19 lockdown.
He also said some businesses, including bars, restaurants and cultural venues might reopen around mid-May as the Covid-19 situation is improving, three weeks after France entered the one-month lockdown, its third to stop the spread of the virus.
“The third wave of the disease is behind us,” Castex told a news conference, adding that France’s vaccination campaign was going well and that 20 million people will have had a first shot by mid-May.
New infections rose by 34,318 on Thursday, a 4.25% increase versus the same day last week, the lowest rise since 13 March.
Updated
This has been shared by Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary:
I'm delighted that the percentage of over-50s vaccinated has hit 95% in England.
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 22, 2021
We're on track to offer a vaccine to all adults by the end of July.
The vaccine is safe & effective, so when it's your turn, come forward & get the jab.
France to impose quarantine for travellers coming from five countries
French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Thursday a 10-day quarantine would be imposed starting from Saturday for travellers from Brazil, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and India.
During a press conference, Darmanin added there would be strong controls on people from these countries, where the pandemic is still raging, during their quarantine, Reuters reports.
Updated
EU capitals have been asked by the European commission to back legal action against AstraZeneca by the end of the week over an alleged breach of its contractual obligations to supply member states with its Covid vaccine (see earlier post for more).
At a meeting with commission officials on Wednesday, diplomats from some member states raised concerns about the wisdom of the move, warning against rushing into a decision that might further undermine confidence in the vaccine.
Daniel Boffey, the Guardian’s Brussels bureau chief, has the full story:
University students are appealing to the UK’s competition watchdog to help them win compensation for the teaching, campus facilities and accommodation many say they have been denied during the Covid pandemic.
A group of 20 student unions, including the National Union of Students and those representing students at the UK’s two largest universities, University College London and the University of Manchester, have written to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), calling on it to streamline the cumbersome appeals process that students must use to argue for refunds, and to issue clear guidelines on the grounds for appeal.
My colleague Rachel Hall has the full story here:
UK regulator says AstraZeneca Covid shot clots rise to 168
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said there had been 168 cases up to 14 April of blood clots with low platelet counts in the UK in people who had had the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
This was up from the 100 cases reported last week.
The cases, reported through the Yellow Card scheme, occurred in 93 women and 75 men aged from 18 to 93 years old, according to PA Media.
The regulator, which gave the figures in its weekly summary of Yellow Card reporting, said the overall case fatality rate was 19% with 32 deaths. One case was reported after a second dose.
Adam Finn, prof of Paediatrics at Bristol University, said the jump in reported cases was expected.
He said:
Cases are being reported reliably and quickly but there are also cases that occurred previously now being recognised and reported as well. I would expect the true number of cases per million doses of vaccine to become clear fairly soon as these reports stabilise but it is already clear that it is going to remain a very rare event.
There have been 21.2m first doses of AstraZeneca’s shot given in Britain’s rollout, with all except one of the side effect case reports coming after a first dose. A total was not given for second doses administered, as Reuters reports.
Updated
The Covid situation is improving in France, three weeks after the country entered its third lockdown to rein in the disease, Prime Minister Jean Castex is reported by Reuters to have said during a press conference.
Turkey logged 54,791 new Covid cases in the last day, data from the health ministry showed on Thursday, down from a record of more than 63,000 cases reported last week.
The data, as Reuters reports, also showed 354 people died due to Covid-19 in the same period, down from a record-high 362 a day earlier, bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to 37,329.
Developing countries have used most of their Covid-19 recovery funds to bail out big business, neglecting millions of people who have been pushed into poverty including cash-in-hand workers, women and the disabled, a study showed on Thursday.
In eight countries, an average of 63% of pandemic-related state aid went to big businesses, while 26% went to social protection schemes, 10% to small and medium-sized enterprises, and only 1% to informal sector workers.
The findings by the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) civil society group were based on spending in Kenya, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Nepal, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Frustrated lingerie retailers in France are protesting their closure during lockdown by sending underwear to the prime minister, Jean Castex, along with requests they be classed as essential businesses.
Since the beginning of the week, lacy panties and thongs have been posted to Castex from around France with a note requesting that lingerie shops be able to reopen their doors.
Like other retailers judged to be “non-essential”, underwear shops were forced to close at the beginning of the month as France entered its third national lockdown to contain rising Covid-19 cases.
The protest campaign is called “Action Culottee” – a play on words that translates as “cheeky action” – and has been coordinated by shop owners on Facebook, reports the AFP news agency.
“We wanted to raise the alarm about the very serious situation faced by hundreds of underwear shops around the whole of France,” said a statement from the group.
“We all have a very strong feeling of injustice,” it added.
Updated
EU considers legal action against AstraZeneca but states remain divided
A European commission spokesman has said legal action has not been launched against AstraZeneca, following comments earlier today by Ireland’s health minister Stephen Donnelly.
EU diplomats had discussed the possibility of taking legal action on Wednesday but the member states are divided on the issue.
It is believed Donnelly was referring in his comments to the Irish parliament to a letter sent by the commission on 19 March as part of a dispute resolution process.
The minister had told parliament: “With regard to AstraZeneca, a legal case has been initiated by the commission and earlier this week I have joined Ireland as one of the parties to that legal case, specifically around AstraZeneca’s complete failure to meet its delivery and contractual agreements for April, May and June.”
Updated
The United Arab Emirates has suspended all incoming flights from India due to a surge in coronavirus infections there, the UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) has said.
Flights transiting through the UAE on the way to India will continue, NCEMA said on Twitter.
UK manufacturers have recorded the sharpest rise in optimism since 1973 amid growing demand as Covid lockdown measures are relaxed, the latest snapshot of activity from a business umbrella group shows.
In a poll of 288 leading industrial companies, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) found business sentiment increased in the three months to April at the fastest pace since April 1973, as progress with the Covid vaccine raised hopes for a rapid return to relative normality later this year.
Manufacturers also plan to hire staff at the fastest rate since 1974 in the next three months, according to the survey, as firms take on more workers to prepare for looser Covid restrictions.
The Czech Republic would reopen shops, markets and some services from 3 May if the current “favourable trend” in the pandemic persists, industry minister Karel Havlicek said. He also announced that schools would continue to gradually reopen.
Updated
EU member states are starting to administer Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine after Europe’s drug regulator this week backed the single-dose shot, with several expected to impose age restrictions, as with the AstraZeneca jab.
Spain’s regional health authorities began using the shot on Thursday for people aged between 70 and 79, two days after the European Medicines Agency announced a possible link to a rare clotting disorder but stressed the shot’s benefits outweighed the risks.
Jon Henley, the Guardian’s Europe correspondent, has the latest here:
Updated
PA Media reports:
The vaccination rate for staff at older adult care homes is below the level recommended by scientists advising the government in more than half of England’s local authorities, the NHS England figures show.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies says 80% of care home staff and 90% of residents need to be vaccinated to provide a minimum level of protection against Covid-19 outbreaks.
Figures published show that 76 out of 149 local authorities have not reached this threshold for employees.
Of these, there were 17 areas where less than 70% of staff have had a first jab. Lambeth in south London had the lowest uptake at 52.4%.
There are nearly 1 million people classified as clinically extremely vulnerable waiting to receive a second Covid vaccine dose, according to data from NHS England.
The figures show that around 2.1 million people in this group had received a first jab by 18 April, with nearly 1.1 million of them having had a second.
This leaves an estimated 985,679 waiting for their final dose, according to analysis by PA media.
Updated
An update on an earlier post about the Swedish prime minister saying the country was not ready to ease some restrictions yet:
According to Reuters, Stefan Löfven pleaded with people to hold out for a while longer. He said, though, that the vaccination programme meant there was light at the end of the tunnel.
“We are, perhaps, seeing the beginning of the end,” Löfven said.
More than 2 million, or roughly a quarter, of all adults in Sweden have now received at least one shot of vaccine.
Updated
This is from Tom Riordan, the chief executive of Leeds city council in England:
Leeds case rate down to 44.1 per 100k people (from 45.6), positivity down to 2.2% over-60s rate down to 15.5 and hospitalisations & deaths lower & stable. Enjoy the sun outdoors within the rule of 6/2 households, plse keep your distance & take the vaccine when called by @nhsleeds
— Tom Riordan (@tomriordan) April 22, 2021
Updated
PA Media reports:
A total of 72.3% of social care staff in England working in independent Care Quality Commission-registered younger adult care homes and domiciliary care providers have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, NHS England said.
For social care staff working in other settings in England, including non-registered providers, the figure is 69.4%.
Daily rise in Covid cases in Netherlands highest since January
New Covid cases in the Netherlands rose by more than 9,000 in 24 hours, the highest level since early January, figures show.
The National Institute for Health recorded 9,648 cases, indicating a rising trend just days before plans to ease stringent lockdown rules.
Updated
Case rates in England are continuing to fall among all age groups, Public Health England said.
The highest rate is among 10- to 19-year-olds, with 42.3 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 18 April, down week-on-week from 45.6.
Updated
The European commission is considering legal action against AstraZeneca over its “complete failure” to meet delivery and contractual agreements for its vaccine, Ireland’s health minister Stephen Donnelly has said. See earlier post for more details.
He told parliament:
With regard to AstraZeneca, a legal case has been initiated by the commission and earlier this week I have joined Ireland as one of the parties to that legal case, specifically around AstraZeneca’s complete failure to meet its delivery and contractual agreements for April, May and June.
Updated
Reuters reports:
Greece, which will open its tourist season on 15 May, is prioritising the Covid-19 vaccination of residents of its islands, authorities said on Thursday.
The country has hundreds of inhabited islands and is eager to draw visitors back after its worst year in decades in 2020. The industry accounts for a fifth of the economy and one in five jobs.
It is vaccinating island residents at a quicker pace than mainland Greece also because of operational reasons, such as transporting and storing the vaccines. Most will have been vaccinated by the end of May, officials said.
Informa, the world’s biggest exhibitions group, has reported a loss of £1.1bn for 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic prevented gatherings around the world.
The company’s revenues plummeted by 42% to £1.7bn during the year, compared with £2.9bn in 2019, which was unaffected by the pandemic.
Jasper Jolly, a financial reporter for the Guardian, has the full story here:
Sweden, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, registered 7,736 new Covid cases on Thursday, health agency statistics indicated.
It registered 19 new deaths, taking the total to 13,882.
Updated
This is from the BBC’s foreign correspondent Anna Holligan:
Meanwhile, Rotterdam area and nearby regions recording highest rate of residents testing positive.
— anna holligan 🎙 (@annaholligan) April 22, 2021
Rotterdam’s Erasmus Medical Centre has stopped organ transplants due to shortage of intensive care beds.#COVID19
Tunisian intensive care units run out of beds as variant spreads
Intensive care units in Tunisian public and private hospitals are at risk of being overwhelmed as Covid cases surge, an official in an independent scientific committee that advises the government has told Reuters.
The news agency reports that Amenallah Messadi added that a surge in cases driven by a more infectious variant first detected in Britain had pushed the health system to the brink of collapse.
“The situation is very critical, medical staff are exhausted, ICUs have reached their maximum capacity and deaths are on the rise,” he said.
Tunisia has recorded 291,000 Covid cases and about 10,000 deaths. The daily death rate which has hovered around 80 for the past two weeks reached 95 on Tuesday.
Updated
Update on earlier post about Russia accepting a request to provide Thailand with its Sputnik V vaccine.
Thailand’s government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri said:
President Vladimir Putin has expressed his support for the Thai government on this matter. Our health ministry will now urgently talk to the company importing the Sputnik V vaccine on the timeframe for delivery, the amount and price.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has promised to find 35m more doses of Covid vaccines from different companies, while the country battles its fastest-spreading outbreak yet, Reuters reports.
Today, 22 Apr 2021 situation report on #COVID19 from #WHOThailand is now available.
— WHO Thailand (@WHOThailand) April 22, 2021
Situation reports are available at https://t.co/a5kfyyrYfd pic.twitter.com/XpvwNhpmj7
Updated
Sweden not ready to lift Covid curbs yet - PM says
Sweden will postpone a plan to ease some restrictions due to the ongoing high levels of new infections, the government said on Thursday.
Sweden is experiencing a severe third wave of the virus, with the number of patients being treated in intensive care at the highest level since the spring of 2020, Reuters reports.
Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told a news conference:
When the strain on healthcare eases and the spread of infection drops, only then will the government be ready to start lifting restrictions. But we are not there yet.
At present, there are curbs on public gatherings and restaurant opening hours. The country has also effectively closed some venues, such as public pools and sports stadiums, for adults.
China has said it is willing to help India in its fight against Covid.
“China is willing to provide the necessary support and help,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, without giving further details.
India has reported 314,835 new coronavirus cases over the previous 24 hours, the highest number of infections recorded in a single day in any country since the start of the pandemic.
Updated
EU declines option to buy 100m extra Covid vaccines from AstraZeneca
The European Commission has said it would not take up an option to buy 100m additional doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine – which is included in the current supply contract the EU has with the company.
A spokesman told a news conference that the deadline to exercise the option had already expired and the EU did not plan to take it up, according to Reuters.
The Commission has ordered 300m doses from AstraZeneca as part of a contract that included 400m doses, of which 100m was optional.
Updated
Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance minister, has said a consensus was emerging to maintain state-backed loans to help companies deal with impact of Covid until the end of 2021.
This has been shared by Public Health England:
In late November last year, epidemiologists began noticing some unusual patterns in the spread of COVID-19 in the South East of England.
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) April 22, 2021
Read our expert interview about finding the UK’s dominant COVID-19 variant and the race to understand its impact:https://t.co/tDUduMg2f4 pic.twitter.com/W9W1JREwcZ
A total of 90.3% of people who were tested for Covid-19 in England in the week ending 14 April at a regional site, local site or mobile testing unit received their result within 24 hours, PA Media reports. This is up slightly from 88.8% in the previous week.
Of the 15,306 people transferred to the Test and Trace system in the week to 14 April, 89.8% were reached and asked to provide details of recent close contacts. This is up slightly from 88.1% in the previous week.
Updated
Update on earlier post. Reuters reports:
Germany and France have asked for more time to think whether to take AstraZeneca to court for its cuts in supplies of Covid-19 vaccine, two diplomats said on Thursday, noting that most EU states supported the legal action.
The diplomats, who asked not to be named, said the discussion on the possible legal action was held at a meeting with the EU Commission on Wednesday.
Just under 4.8m lateral flow device tests (LFD) for Covid-19, or rapid tests, were conducted in England in the week to 14 April, the latest Test and Trace figures show. This figure is up from 4m in the previous week.
The number of LFD tests, which give results in 30 minutes or less without the need for processing in a laboratory, peaked at just in excess of 7.6m in the week to 17 March.
Updated
Europe took delivery of, and administered, nearly 17m doses of Covid vaccines last week, according to a regular monitoring report that showed that a total of 116m shots had been given.
A total of 134m doses have been sent to countries in the EU and European Economic Area, working out at 35.9 doses per 100 people, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
The figures, as reported by Reuters, were contained in the ECDC’s weekly report , which was published on Thursday and covered the week ending last Sunday.
This letter from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs has been shared by Asian News International. The country is in the grip of a vicious second wave and an acute oxygen shortage is raising more fears about its overwhelmed health care system (see earlier post).
No restriction shall be imposed on the movement of Medical Oxygen between the State and transport authorities shall be instructed to accordingly allow free inter-state movement of oxygen-carrying vehicles: MHA #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/EvOkeuT7By
— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2021
Norway is to lend 216,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine it has in stock to Sweden and Iceland, the country’s health ministry has said.
On 11 March, Norway suspended the rollout of the vaccine after a small number of younger inoculated people were hospitalised for a combination of blood clots, bleeding and a low count of platelets, some of whom later died.
Sweden and Iceland will be able to receive the doses from Norway for as long as the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout is suspended, Reuters reports.
“We will get the doses we lend back as soon as we ask for it,” the health minister Bent Hoeie said in a statement.
Updated
Hello everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the blog until the evening (UK time). As always, feel free to get in touch on Twitter if you have any story tips.
Today so far…
- India’s desperate Covid situation has worsened. The country has set a new world record for daily recorded infections at 314,835 cases.
- Some hospitals in New Delhi have run out of oxygen, with officials complaining that neighbouring states are refusing to send supplies.
- Australia will reduce the number of its citizens able to return from India and other red-zone countries to contain the risk of more virulent strains of Covid-19 spreading, the government has said.
- Pfizer has said it is in discussions with India, and has committed to make its Covid-19 vaccine available for deployment in the country on a not-for-profit basis.
- The global vaccine-sharing initiative Covax has so far delivered about one in five of the Oxford/AstraZeneca doses it estimated would arrive in countries by May, according to a Guardian analysis, starkly illustrating the cost of exports bans, hoarding and supply shortages on a scheme that represents a key lifeline for many in the developing world.
- There are more concerns in Japan about whether it can really host the Summer Olympics. Tokyo has announced it will not host its motor show in October-November this year because of the global pandemic, and a police officer who was assisting with the Olympic Torch relay at the weekend has tested positive for coronavirus, further denting optimism about the Olympics.
- Coronavirus was no longer the leading cause of death in both England and Wales in March, new figures show. That’s the first time since October.
- Spain’s tourism minister Fernando Valdes has said the country is “desperate to welcome” UK visitors this summer.
- Russia has accepted in principle a request by Thailand to provide the Sputnik V Covid -19 vaccine to the South-east Asian country.
- Singapore’s manpower ministry said authorities were investigating the possibility of Covid-19 re-infections among residents in a migrant workers’ dormitory, after finding about a dozen positive cases in the facility.
That is it from me, Martin Belam. I’ll be back next week. Yohannes Lowe will be here shortly to take you through the rest of the day’s UK and global coronavirus news.
Updated
Covax has only delivered about 20% of doses it estimated would arrive by May
Michael Safi and Ashley Kirk report for us this morning: Revealed – big shortfall in Covax Covid vaccine-sharing scheme:
The global vaccine-sharing initiative Covax has so far delivered about one in five of the Oxford/AstraZeneca doses it estimated would arrive in countries by May, according to a Guardian analysis, starkly illustrating the cost of exports bans, hoarding and supply shortages on a scheme that represents a key lifeline for many in the developing world.
The organisations that run Covax had predicted that countries would receive fewer vaccines that expected after the Indian government restricted exports from its largest manufacturer in response to a catastrophic second wave there, but the figures reveal the shortfall to be severe, leaving many governments scrambling to secure doses elsewhere.
Large countries such as Indonesia and Brazil have so far received about one in 10 of the Oxford/AstraZeneca doses they were expecting by May, while Bangladesh, Mexico, Myanmar and Pakistan are among those that have not received any doses of the vaccine through the program so far.
A handful of countries such as Moldova, Tuvalu, Nauru and Dominica have received the full amount they were allocated, but the vast majority of those in the scheme have so far received a third or less of what they were allocated.
The shortage is leading to panic in countries such as Bangladesh, where a source in the vaccine industry said supplies of Oxford/AstraZeneca doses would run out within a fortnight, with no prospect of an imminent resupply.
“We have already given first doses to 5.7 million people and we have to give them the second dose, but we don’t have any supply,” he said, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to media. “How do we immunise those 5.7 million people?”
Read more of Michael Safi and Ashley Kirk’s report: Revealed – big shortfall in Covax Covid vaccine-sharing scheme
Some hospitals in New Delhi have run out of oxygen – minister
New Delhi’s deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia, has said that some hospitals in the city had run out of oxygen, and authorities in neighbouring states were stopping supplies being taken to the capital to save it for their own needs. Harshit Sabarwal reports for the Hindustan Times:
“We’ve been making internal arrangements for now, but it will become tough to save lives after some time,” Sisodia said at a press conference and added he has been receiving emails and messages regarding the shortage.
“Some Delhi hospitals have run out of oxygen completely. They have no options left,” he added.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader also accused the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh of blocking Delhi’s oxygen supply.
He accused “governments, officers and police” of not letting oxygen supplies from other states come to Delhi.
Sabarwal reports he questioned why neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were behaving as if they had some dispute with Delhi, and added that all have to be united against the pandemic.
Russia has accepted in principle a request by Thailand to provide the Sputnik V Covid -19 vaccine to the South-east Asian country, a Thai government spokesman, Anucha Burapachaisri, has said.
Details on the amount of vaccine, the price and the timeframe for delivery would be determined in future discussions, Reuters report.
Updated
You might find this a useful piece from Frances Ryan today on 10 ways to live well with long Covid and chronic illness:
More than 1 million people in the UK are experiencing long Covid, according to the Office for National Statistics. Much of the media coverage of this has been bleak and upsetting. That is understandable. Chronic illness is bleak and upsetting, particularly the early stages of falling sick. But there is something else that no one tells you: it can be hopeful and happy, too. I fell ill with postviral fatigue from the flu a few years ago and what I craved above anything was advice and reassurance. I will not claim I am sorted. I am writing this in bed. There may be cheese in my hair. But I will offer my top 10 tips on living well, even when knackered and sore.
Read Frances Ryan’s ten tips here: ‘An ill day can still be a good day’: 10 ways to live well with long Covid and chronic illness
Tokyo cancels annual motor show over Covid pandemic
Tokyo will not host its motor show this year because of the global pandemic, organizers said, underscoring Japan’s struggle to contain both a resurgent outbreak and the widening economic fall-out.
Reuters report the cancellation comes as the government is expected to issue a third state of emergency for Tokyo and a number of other prefectures that could last for about two weeks, according to media reports.
The halting of the auto show, a marquee event of the country’s most important industry, is also likely to raise more questions about the government’s insistence that the delayed Tokyo Olympics will go ahead this summer. The show is normally held around late October to early November.
The chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Akio Toyoda, said the group felt it was difficult to provide a safe environment amid surging coronavirus cases.
Such cancellations are bad news for an economy that, like many around the world, has been badly hit by the pandemic. Some analysts said another state of emergency could push Japan back into recession if retailers are asked to close during the Golden Week holidays, which start next week and run through early May.
Coronavirus no longer leading cause of death in England and Wales – ONS
On the domestic UK front, PA report that coronavirus was no longer the leading cause of death in both England and Wales in March for the first time since October, new figures show.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in both countries in March, accounting for 9.2% of all deaths registered in England and 6.3% in Wales. It was previously the leading cause of death each month from November to February.
The leading cause of death was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in England, accounting for 10.1% of all deaths registered in March.
The new data comes a day after the government said a further 22 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the UK total to 127,327.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have been 151,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
If it is purely UK news you are after, then my colleague Andrew Sparrow has started our UK live blog for the day over here…
We’ll be continuing here with live coverage of coronavirus developments in the UK around the world.
Updated
Another quick one from Reuters here – Hungary is expected to reopen restaurant terraces and shorten its night curfew from Saturday as the vaccination campaign allows for a further reopening of the economy,
Prime minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas told a press briefing that by Friday, 3.5 million Hungarians could be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Olympic Torch relay police officer tests positive for Covid
Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics have been looking anxiously on for any developments that might further dent confidence in Japan’s ability to host the games in the summer, and they will not be heartened by the news today that a police officer helping with the Olympic Torch relay has become the first participant in the event to be diagnosed with Covid-19.
The man in his 30s tested positive for the virus after working on the relay in Kagawa prefecture on Japan’s southern island of Shikoku, Tokyo 2020 said in a statement.
The officer was guiding traffic in the town of Naoshima on Saturday, and came down with a fever on Sunday, the Asahi Newspaper reported, citing organisers and prefectural police. The man wore a mask and had no contact with runners, the report said.
Reuters note that public support for the Games has waned amid concern the event will exacerbate Covid-19 infections, now battering the country in a fourth wave. Japan’s government is expected to declare a state of emergency, the third in the past year. The 2020 Olympics, already delayed by one year, are due to start in 92 days.
A very quick snap from Reuters here that Pfizer has said it is in discussions with India, and has committed to make its Covid-19 vaccine available for deployment in the country. The company said it had offered India a not-for-profit price for its vaccine for the government’s immunisation programme.
India last week changed its vaccine regulations to allow the use of any vaccine that is been approved by the World Health Organisations, US, British or Japanese regulators.
Australia will reduce the number of its citizens able to return from India and other red-zone countries to contain the risk of more virulent strains of Covid-19 spreading, the government has said.
The restrictions will result in a 30% reduction in direct flights from India to Sydney and chartered flights that land in the Northern Territory.
Prime minister Scott Morrison, speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Australian national cabinet, said that he would announce in the next 24 hours when the new restrictions would come into place.
Reuter report Morrison said. “We’re in the middle of a global pandemic that is raging. And Australia has been successful throughout this pandemic. There will continue to be the opportunity for those to return from places like India but in very controlled circumstances.”
Earlier this week Britain put India on its “red list” for travel. The US state department is also advising against travel to India.
Spain 'desperate to welcome' UK tourists in summer – minister
Incidentally, if you’ve been missing the media obsession with whether people from the UK will be able to holiday abroad in the summer, I have good news. Sky News have had Spain’s tourism minister Fernando Valdes on and he said the country is “desperate to welcome” UK visitors this summer.
PA note he said “I think we will be ready here in Spain. We also think that the vaccination scheme in the UK is going pretty well, so hopefully we’ll be seeing this summer the restart of holidays.”
There’s a worrying note though for those opposed to the use of vaccine passports – as he also said that certificates enabling holidaymakers to prove they have either been vaccinated or recently tested are “going to help us”.
A year after New York City became the centre of the global Covid-19 outbreak, the neighbourhood considered at the time to be the the hotspot within the hotspot of the pandemic remains in crisis – laying bare many of the economic fault lines exposed by the coronavirus.
Corona, Queens, a welcoming enclave for many of the city’s undocumented immigrants and home to many of the “essential” workers who kept New York running during the pandemic’s worst days, has had the highest number of infections and deaths in the city – and now has one of the lowest percentages of people vaccinated.
At least 37% of residents there have received one dose of the vaccine, according to city data. On the Upper East Side, home to the city’s grand museums, luxury boutiques and multimillion-dollar townhouses, more than 64% of residents have received their first dose.
It’s no coincidence that New York depended on Corona families to deliver food, clean the subways and work in cramped restaurant kitchens while many New Yorkers stayed put. Like many such neighborhoods across the developed world, its residents were on the frontline, allowing their richer neighbors to shield themselves at home.
This disparity was obvious one year ago. At the time, not-for-profits in Corona described to the Guardian how they acted as disaster relief agencies to feed families, connect people with doctors and speak with consulates to repatriate the deceased’s remains.
A year later, undocumented New Yorkers are still at high risk of contracting the virus, and are largely excluded from the federal economic stimulus benefits that have helped so many others weather the pandemic.
Read more of Amanda Holpuch’s report from New York here: ‘We don’t get help from anywhere’: Covid exposes inequality in crisis-hit New York neighborhood
The latest Covid surge has driven India’s fragile health systems to the breaking point: Understaffed hospitals are overflowing with patients. Medical oxygen is in short supply. Intensive care units are full. Nearly all ventilators are in use, and the dead are piling up at crematoriums and graveyards.
Aniruddha Ghosal and Krutika Pathi have written a backgrounder this morning for Associated Press which is a useful catch-up on how India got to where it is today.
They say that authorities were lulled into believing the worst was behind them when cases started to recede in September. Cases dipped for 30 consecutive weeks before starting to rise in mid-February. Experts say the country failed to seize the opportunity to augment healthcare infrastructure and aggressively vaccinate.
Despite warnings and advice that precautions were needed, authorities were unprepared for the magnitude of the surge, said K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India.
Critics have pointed to the government deciding to not pause Hindu religious festivals or elections, and experts say that these may have exacerbated the surge.
“Authorities across India, without exception, put public health priorities on the back burner,” Reddy said.
As the virus took hold last year, India imposed a harsh, nationwide lockdown for months to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. This brought terrible hardship to millions, but also bought time to implement measures to plug critical gaps, like hiring additional health care workers on short-term contracts, establishing field hospitals and installing hospital beds in banquet halls.
But authorities didn’t take a long-term view of the pandemic. Suggestions for permanent improvements like adding capacity to existing hospitals or hiring more epidemiologists to help track the virus were widely ignored.
A year ago, India was able to avoid the shortages of medical oxygen after it converted industrial oxygen manufacturing systems into a medical-grade network. But many facilities then went back to supplying industries. Now several Indian states face such shortages that the Health Ministry has urged hospitals to implement rationing.
The good news is that India is a major vaccine producer, there are still questions of whether manufactures can produce enough fast enough.
“Vaccination is one way to slow down the spread — but this really depends on the speed and availability of the shots,” said Reddy of the Public Health Foundation. Already several states have said they have shortages in vaccines — although the federal government denies it.
India moved last week to allow the use of all Covid-19 shots that have been greenlit by the World Health Organization or regulators in the United States, Europe, Britain or Japan.
If you haven’t yet read this piece by our science editor Ian Sample, then can I point you in its direction: ‘Extraordinary’ Covid jab data is misleading, but the numbers are still hugely positive
Is it really true that only 32 vaccinated people in the UK have been hospitalised with Covid? It would be extraordinary, were it true. Sadly, the real number of people admitted to hospital even several weeks after receiving a shot of vaccine – the time it takes for the immune system to mount a good defence – will be many times higher.
The idea that only 32 vaccinated people have been hospitalised with Covid originates from a study published in March and released by the government’s Sage committee of experts the same month. It looked at the vaccination status and onset of symptoms in a proportion of people hospitalised during the UK’s second wave.
From 8 December onwards, as the vaccine programme swung into action, the scientists had information on the date of first vaccination for nearly 1,700 cases among 43,000 or so admissions. Among those vaccinated, only 32, or nearly 2%, were admitted three weeks or more after having a first shot. The rest had picked up the infection shortly before or shortly after having the jab.
The numbers are hugely positive, but because the study includes only a fraction of hospitalisations, the total number of people in the UK admitted for treatment, even three weeks after vaccination, will be higher than 32. In the worst days of the second wave, pressure on the NHS was so intense that the scientists were only able to record information on about one in 10 new admissions at some hospitals involved in the study.
As more people are vaccinated and restrictions lift, the percentage of people hospitalised despite having the jab is expected to rise, simply because the vaccination won’t protect everyone, and elderly people are most likely to produce a weak immune response to the shot.
Read more of Ian Sample’s report here: ‘Extraordinary’ Covid jab data is misleading, but the numbers are still hugely positive
Japan’s troubled vaccination rollout has left British residents feeling “trapped” in their adopted home, preventing them visiting parents and children they haven’t seen since before the coronavirus pandemic.
Since its rollout began in mid-February, Japan has vaccinated less than 1% of its population, compared with 2.9% in South Korea and at least 40% in the US and Britain. Supply issues, red tape and poor planning have prompted warnings that it could take another year to vaccinate the country’s 110 million over-15s.
Sean O’Neill, the vice-president of a global IT company in Tokyo, said he had hoped to return to the UK at the end of this month to combine vaccinations with a family visit, but the cost, including quarantine and Covid-19 tests, had forced him to abandon the idea.
“Why should I have to consider spending £4,000-£5,000 for a trip back to the UK to get the vaccine, plus the same again 10 to 12 weeks later to get the second dose? I would happily pay, say, £500 to get the vaccine delivered to me over here in Japan. I’m sure others would, too,” said O’Neill, who has not seen his children in Australia and the UK for more than a year.
Sheila Curley, a teacher living in Tokyo, wondered why the British embassy had not stepped in to help British citizens, noting that it had distributed iodine tablets – which can protect the thyroid from radiation – in the wake of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown.
“It feels a bit unfair that they are not looking after us now, especially in view of how Japan has been so slow to roll out the vaccine,” said Curley, who last visited the UK in September to see her terminally ill sister.
Others spoke of the “torture” of not knowing when they would be able to return to the UK to see their families, particularly if more airlines start demanding proof of vaccination.
“The vaccine rollout in Japan is affecting not only my personal mental health but also that of my friends and family here in Japan in a very negative way,” said Sally Diffor, who has lived in Tokyo for four years.
Read more of Justin McCurry’s report from Tokyo here: Britons left stranded by Japan’s slow vaccine rollout
With elections coming up, you can imagine there is a heightened political dimension to India’s Covid crisis. India’s National Congress Party is today publicising a letter from leader Sonia Gandhi to prime minister Narendra Modi, criticising the government policy on vaccination. She states:
The nation’s goal must be to ensure that everyone over 18 years is given the vaccine, regardless of their economic circumstances. I urge you to intervene immediately & reverse the new Covid19 vaccination policy.
The nation's goal must be to ensure that everyone over 18 years is given the vaccine, regardless of their economic circumstances. I urge you to intervene immediately & reverse the new Covid19 vaccination policy.
— Congress (@INCIndia) April 22, 2021
- Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi writes to PM Modi pic.twitter.com/lXFmbfULdT
In particular she is addressing the issue that there have been three different price rates set for vaccines manufactured in India. They cost 150 rupees per dose when purchased by the central government, rising to 400 rupees when purchased by a state government, and 600 rupees when purchased by a private hospital. Gandhi writes:
In these unprecedented times, how can the government of India permit such brazen profiteering from people’s misery? At a time when medical resources are scarce, hospital beds are unavailable, oxygen supply and availability of essential medicine is dwindling rapidly, why is your government allowing a policy that reeks of such insensitivity?
If, like me, you have a whole set of social media searches tuned to see what people are discussing about coronavirus, you can’t help but have noticed the dramatic increase in appeals for medical assistance from people in India.
AFP report that a network of activists and influencers has sprung into action to help those in trouble.
Climate activist Disha Ravi and YouTuber Kusha Kapila are among the dozens of young Indians who have sourced, compiled and shared information detailing the real-time availability of hospital beds, local helplines, pharmacy numbers and even food delivery services.
Srishti Dixit, 28, told AFP she received a new request for help every 30 seconds, creating a huge backlog. Unpaid, she works late into the night, editing and verifying details of where to get what and amplifying requests for help.
But the lists she shares with her 684,000 Instagram followers become obsolete almost immediately as beds fill up and pharmacies sell out. “I am not always successful, I am sure there are lapses... but hopefully it is helping people at least on an individual level”, she said.
Reuters additionally report some new comments from Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain, who has said there was a crisis over the shortage of intensive care unit beds, with the city needing about 5,000 more than it could find. Some hospitals had enough oxygen to last 10 hours, others just six. “We can’t call this a comfortable situation,” he told reporters.
Syria receives first shipment of vaccines via global COVAX initiative
Syria’s government has received its first delivery of Covid-19 vaccines through the global COVAX initiative, with almost 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca shot being sent, UN officials have said.
A joint statement by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the GAVI vaccine alliance said the delivery was “critical and timely” and would help health workers “to continue delivering life-saving services in an already exhausted health system as a result of the decade-long war.”
Reuters report that another 53,800 vaccines were delivered to the opposition-held north-west, which the statement said was an area that has seen large-scale displacement after major hostilities. The statement said more deliveries were planned in coming weeks and months.
Akjemal Magtymova, head of the WHO’s Syria mission, told Syrian health officials and UN partners at a ceremony on the arrival of the shipment in Damascus there were challenges ahead but the country had a strong track record in vaccination programmes.
Magtymova said last month a phased rollout aimed to inoculate nearly 20% of Syria’s population by the end of the year, or almost five million people in both government-held areas and the northeast and northwest.
Syria was hard hit by the pandemic last year during two spikes in infections in August and December, and health workers cite a rise in cases since February.
Syria has officially recorded 51,580 cases of Covid-19, but the actual number is likely much higher due to limited testing supplies, UN officials say.
Western NGOs say that apart from the logistics challenges of arranging vaccinations across combat frontlines, Syria faces the additional hurdle of international financial sanctions.
The US first lady, Dr Jill Biden, is traveling to the country’s largest Native American reservation, the Navajo Nation, which was hit hard by the coronavirus but is currently outpacing the US in vaccination rates while maintaining strict pandemic restrictions.
Felicia Fonseca tees up the visit for Associated Press, noting that Dr Biden is expected to meet Navajo officials in the tribal capital of Window Rock, named for an opening in a red sandstone arch and where the tribe established a veterans memorial. She’ll also visit a boarding school and a nearby hospital that has been administering vaccines, both of which the tribe runs under contract with the federal government. Yesterday the first lady was in Albuquerque, New Mexico meeting people who had been vaccinated.
US first lady Dr Jill Biden talks to people who just received a Covid-19 vaccine in Albuquerque, New Mexico yesterday. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Her trip comes as the Navajo Nation marked 10 consecutive days with no known Covid deaths and far fewer daily cases than early on in the pandemic, when the reservation had one of the country’s highest per-capita infection rates. The tribe on Wednesday reported one more death, bringing the tally to 1,263.
The tribe has approached reopening more cautiously than surrounding states, most recently because of coronavirus variants identified among infections. On Monday, it plans to reopen tribal parks to residents and increase capacity for businesses, gatherings and tribal casinos to 50%.
About half the reservation’s population is fully vaccinated, roughly twice the US rate. Still, residents on the Navajo Nation must wear masks and travel only for essential activity. Tribal roads are closed to visitors.
“We’re not celebrating yet,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said during a virtual town hall Wednesday. “The pandemic is still here.”
Dr Biden will likely will hear stories of resilience and success in the face of great adversity, of financial struggles in trying to keep businesses and the tribal government afloat, and the obstacles in ensuring schools can deliver education remotely in a region where internet service can be spotty at best.
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority has chipped away at the water, electricity and broadband needs, partly with funding from the US federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. But it estimates the price tag for providing basic utilities to residents at more than $5 billion. That won’t be met even with money from the latest federal relief package, which set aside $20 billion for tribal governments.
AFP have this despatch on the desperate measures that people are going to in order to obtain medical treatment in India, as the country sets a new world record for the highest number of new daily cases: 314,835.
They report that dire medicine and oxygen shortages mean boom times for profit gougers.
In the eastern city of Patna, Pranay Punj ran from one pharmacy to another in a frantic search for the antiviral medication remdesivir for his seriously ill mum.
He finally located a pharmacist who said the drug could only be found on the black market, and offered to source it for an eye-popping 100,000 rupees (£960 / $1,340), over 30 times its usual price and three times the average monthly salary for an Indian white-collar worker.
Punj instead got the medicine from a distant relative whose wife had just died from the virus. But the nightmare was only beginning.
In the middle of the night, he got a call informing him that the hospital had now exhausted its stock of oxygen, making his mother’s condition even more precarious.
“Several hours later, we managed to procure one bed at a very high price in a private hospital and moved her in there,” he told AFP.
Similar heart-rending scenes are unfolding across the country, with desperate people taking to social media to beg for beds, oxygen or medication.
In the northern city of Lucknow, Ahmed Abbas was charged 45,000 rupees (£430 / $600) for a 46-litre oxygen cylinder, nine times its normal price. “They asked me to pay in advance and pick it up from them the next day,” the 34-year-old told AFP.
European Commission readying legal action against AstraZeneca over supplies - report
Good morning, it’s Martin Belam here in London taking over from Alison Rourke. Away from India for a moment, Politico carried a story overnight that the European Commission is getting ready to launch legal proceedings against vaccine producer AstraZeneca. The two parties have had a fractious relationship so far in 2021 over vaccine supplies.
Jillian Deutsch and Jacopo Barigazzi write for Politico that:
The Commission raised the matter at a meeting of ambassadors Wednesday, during which the majority of EU countries said they would support suing the company over complaints it massively failed to deliver pledged doses to the bloc.
One diplomat clarified that the point of the legal proceedings is to make it mandatory for AstraZeneca to provide the doses set out in its EU contract.
The company has projected it would deliver roughly 70 million doses by the end of the second quarter of the year, when it was supposed to have delivered the entire 300 million doses secured in the EU contract.
Read more here: Politico – EU preparing legal case against AstraZeneca over vaccine shortfalls
Updated
Agence France-Presse is reporting that major private and government-run hospitals in India’s capital, Delhi, have sent out urgent appeals to the central government, calling for immediate supply of oxygen for hundreds of patients on ventilator support.
On Wednesday, nearly 500 tonnes of oxygen was supplied to Delhi but this fell short of the required 700 tonnes per day.
The megacity’s government, run by a different party to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national administration, has accused neighbouring states governed by Modi’s BJP of holding up supplies.
Late on Wednesday the Delhi High Court ordered the government to ensure safe passage of oxygen supplies from factories to hospitals across India.
“We cannot let people die due to lack of oxygen ... you beg, borrow and steal but have to provide,” the judges said, asking why the government is “not waking up to the gravity of the situation”.
Highlighting the strain on health authorities, 22 patients died in a hospital in western India after an oxygen leak cut off the supply to 60 ventilators for half an hour on Wednesday.
Singapore’s manpower ministry said authorities were investigating the possibility of Covid-19 re-infections among residents in a migrant workers’ dormitory, after finding about a dozen positive cases in the facility.
Hundreds of residents from the dormitory will be sent to a government quarantine facility, local media reported.
Authorities had conducted tests on all residents at Westlite Woodlands Dormitory after a 35-year-old worker was found positive on 20 April as part of routine testing.
The worker had completed his second vaccination dose on 13 April. His room-mate also tested positive.
To date, at least 10 recovered workers were found to be Covid positive.
Singapore last reported more than 10 cases in a single day among dormitory residents in September, with barely any new infections over the last few months.
The city-state has largely brought the virus under control locally and has been rolling out vaccinations.
Updated
Thailand reports new highest daily death total from Covid
Thailand reported seven new deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday, its highest number of fatalities in a single day since the pandemic started, authorities said, as the country deals with its biggest coronavirus outbreak yet.
So far 117 people have died in Thailand due to coronavirus. It also reported 1,470 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking total infections to 48,113
Updated
Reuters reports that television images in India have shown people with empty oxygen cylinders crowding refilling facilities in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh as they scrambled to save relatives in hospital.
“We never thought a second wave would hit us so hard,” Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the executive chairman of Biocon & Biocon Biologics, an Indian healthcare firm, wrote in the Economic Times.
“Complacency led to unanticipated shortages of medicines, medical supplies and hospital beds.”
India has launched a vaccination drive but only a tiny fraction of the population has had the shots.
Authorities have announced that vaccines will be available to anyone over the age of 18 from 1 May but India won’t have enough shots for the 600 million people who will become eligible, experts say.
Health experts said India had let its guard down when the virus seemed to be under control during the winter, when new daily cases were about 10,000, and it lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has come in for criticism for holding packed political rallies for local elections and allowing a religious festival at which millions gathered.
On Thursday, despite the biggest public health emergency the country has faced in a generation, people were voting in the eastern state of West Bengal for a new state assembly in an election that Modi has been campaigning in.
“It’s a festival of democracy and everyone is participating. You can see the queues,” said Krishna Kalyan, a candidate from Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
India hospitals issue notices saying they are running low on oxygen
Hospitals across northern India, including in the capital, Delhi, have issued notices to say they have only a few hours of medical oxygen required to keep Covid-19 patients alive.
More than two-thirds of hospitals had no vacant beds, according to the Delhi government’s online data base and doctors advised patients to stay at home.
“Covid-19 has become a public health crisis in India leading to a collapse of the healthcare system,” Krutika Kuppalli, assistant professor at the Division of Infectious Diseases, Medical University of South Carolina in the United States, said on Twitter.
The previous record one-day rise in cases was held by the United States, which had 297,430 new cases on one day in January, though its tally has since fallen sharply.
India’s total cases are now at 15.93 million, while deaths rose by 2,104 to reach a total of 184,657, according to the latest health ministry data.
Updated
India’s media has reacted with understandable despair at the devastating new wave of the virus sweeping the country.
The Hindustan Times, a large English-speaking daily, said “World’s worst outbreak” on its front as the country racked up a new global record for new daily cases of almost 315,000 on Wednesday.
For the Times of India it was important that the central government led by Narendra Modi stepped up and ensured cooperation between all levels of government, and made sure it got “all hands on deck” in the national emergency.
You can read more about the reaction in this piece by my colleague Martin Farrer.
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Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with me, Alison Rourke.
India has set a world record of new cases, with 314,835 being recorded on Wednesday. It surpasses the previous record of just under 300,000 set by the US in January. It comes as fears mount over oxygen supplies and hospital beds in some areas of India, as the surge of cases puts enormous pressure on the health system.
In other developments:
- President Biden hailed the US milestone of 200m vaccines delivered before the end of April, meeting the ambitious goal he set for his first 100 days in office.
- Thailand has reported seven new deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday, its highest number of fatalities in a single day since the pandemic started, authorities said, as the country deals with its biggest coronavirus outbreak yet.
- US drugmaker Pfizer on Wednesday confirmed that suspect doses of its coronavirus vaccine that were seized in Mexico and Poland were fake, with doses going for as much as $1,000 a shot, according to US media.
- French-Austrian vaccine developer Valneva on Wednesday announced that it had launched a Phase 3 trial of its candidate vaccine against Covid-19 – the last testing stage before seeking regulatory approval.
- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 29,518 to 3,217,710, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Thursday. The reported death toll rose by 259 to 80,893, the tally showed.
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