India reported a record 168,912 new Covid-19 cases on Monday with the total tally pushing past 13.5 million, potentially on track for the grim milestone of overtaking Brazil as the second-worst-hit nation.
India has seen more than 170,000 casualties and administered 104.5 million vaccinations so far, according to data from its health ministry.
After months of reporting ebbing daily surge in cases earlier this year, the South Asian nation is again facing an escalating health crisis amid a nastier second wave of infections which has begun to overwhelm hospitals, trigger vaccine supply shortages and forced some states to impose partial lockdowns.
Chief executive officers of companies in India are against more lockdowns and are instead working with the government to vaccinate their employees, according to a survey conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
The industry body polled 710 CEOs and senior leaders. Three of four respondents said night curfew or partial lockdown will hurt movement of their workers. Of these, about half see production or sales falling 10 percent-50 percent a month due to such curbs. What’s more, 67 percent respondents indicate they are working with the government for mass vaccination of eligible work force.
India has prohibited exports of the drug Remdesivir, used to treat Covid-19, as the country registered a record number of daily new coronavirus cases.
The government took the step amid a sudden spike in demand for the injection, the health ministry said in a statement on Sunday, adding that “there is a potential of further increase in this demand in the coming days.”
Key developments:
Thailand hits new high
Thailand reported 985 new Covid-19 infections on Monday, a record daily tally, as a new wave of outbreak linked to pubs and bars in capital Bangkok spread to more areas. Authorities have imposed travel curbs and tightened quarantine rules for people traveling between provinces seen at higher risk of Covid ahead of the annual Songkran festival.
Bangkok, which has already closed hundreds of nightlife venues for two weeks, saw 137 new cases, Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control at Thailand’s Health Ministry, told a briefing.
Japan rolls out jabs
Japan’s vaccination drive finally kicks into gear on Monday, four months after the start of inoculations in the US and the UK, a slow rollout that has generated further criticism of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s handling of the pandemic.
The doses for people 65 and over are the first vaccinations for members of the public in Japan after priority was given to inoculating front-line medical staff first.
Japan has so far weathered the coronavirus pandemic relatively well, with infection numbers and deaths just a fraction of many Western countries. But the slow vaccination plan means struggling businesses and fearful shoppers will have to hold out for longer as the recovery of the economy is delayed by as much as two years compared with global peers.
Vaccinated Singapore worker tests positive
A fully vaccinated migrant worker has tested positive for Covid-19 in Singapore, the Ministry of Health announced in an overnight statement, the only new case discovered in the city-state as of noon on Sunday.
“This case is a reminder that it is possible for vaccinated individuals to get infected,” the ministry said, adding that the man had likely been asymptomatic but with a positive serology test because he had already produced antibodies.
Singapore, which has largely managed to bring the virus under control, has experienced very few daily infections in recent months both within the foreign worker dormitories once a hot spot for infection, and in the wider community.
Australia won’t set new vaccination goal
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he won’t set a new target date for all Australians to receive their first Covid-19 vaccine dose, as health concerns about the AstraZeneca Plc. shot and European export restrictions delay the rollout.
While the government wants to see first doses administered “before the end of the year, it is not possible to set such targets given the many uncertainties involved,” Morrison said in a Facebook post on Sunday. Still, he said Australia’s rollout was ahead of some nations including Japan, France and Canada.
About 1.2 million people in the nation of 25.8 million have received a first dose. The main opposition Labor party says that falls some 3 million short of the promised timeline, and has criticized the government for not securing more deals with pharmaceutical producers.
Blinken renews call for China transparency
Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed US calls for China to provide a fuller accounting of the origins of the Covid-19 virus, saying Chinese secrecy meant the virus “got out of hand faster and with, I think, much more egregious results than it might otherwise.”
China and other countries he didn’t name must make “a real commitment to transparency, to information sharing, to access for experts” to prevent a repeat, Blinken said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“That’s why we need to get to the bottom of this,” he said.
California deaths approach 60,000
California’s deaths rose 105 to 59,218, as Covid-19 fatalities edge closer to the 60,000 mark. The state reported 4,954 new cases, bringing the total to 3.6 million.
Like hard-hit Michigan, California has been pushing for more vaccinations to combat the outbreak even as its positive test rate continued to decline, falling to 1.6 percent as of Sunday. Almost 22.8 million shots have been administered, with more than 70 percent of those 65 and older having received at least one dose.
Los Angeles is the latest city to open up vaccine appointments to those 16 and older, days ahead of California’s deadline on April 15.
UK has fewest cases since September
The UK reported 1,730 new cases on Sunday, the lowest since September 2. Infections have dropped 30 percent over the past week. Another seven people died within 28 days of a positive test. Figures are usually lower on Sundays, and fatalities are up 2.4 percent for the week.
Non-essential shops, pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating and hairdressers in England can open tomorrow for the first time since Jan. 5. With more than 32 million first vaccine doses given, and almost 7.5 million people fully inoculated, the government is hoping the gradual easing of lockdown won’t lead to an increase in cases.
Ontario hits record cases
Ontario reported a record 4,456 new cases on Sunday and 1,513 hospitalizations. Canada’s most populous province is in the midst of a four-week emergency lockdown imposed April 3 amid a spread of virus variants and a slow rollout of vaccines across Canada.
French borders to stay closed
“It’s too early to say yet when it’ll be possible to resume travel to Europe,” French Junior Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune said on RTL radio on Sunday. “Hopefully it’ll be possible this summer. We’re doing everything we can to restore travel within France before the summer to start with, then in Europe, and then more globally, but it’s impossible to give more precise a timetable.”
Iran deaths jump
Iran’s deaths from Covid-19 reached the highest in four months with 258 fatalities over the last 24 hours. The number of new cases rose by 21,063 overnight, just short of a record 22,586 infections set earlier this week. The country now has 64,490 deaths and more than 2 million cases. Bloomberg News
Image credits: AP/Rafiq Maqbool