Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Moscow has reported the highest death toll of any Russian city, while the Delta variant is forcing tighter restrictions in the Asia-Pacific region
Moscow has recorded the highest Covid-19 daily death toll of any Russian city so far, as the highly contagious Delta variant forced tougher restrictions on countries across the Asia-Pacific region and fuelled mounting concern over holiday travel in Europe.
Vaccinations have brought infection numbers down in many wealthy countries, and curbs on daily life continue to ease in much of the EU and US, but experts warn the fast-spreading strain means the pandemic – while slowing globally – is far from over.
Authorities in South Africa appeared set to impose new restrictions on Sunday in a belated attempt to stem a rise in Covid-19 that is ravaging the country’s economic heartland.
The wave of infections has been driven by the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant, weak countermeasures and public fatigue with existing restrictions.
The transmission advantage of the Delta variant that is spreading at pace globally is a sign that the race between vaccination and the virus could tip in favour of the latter unless countries ramp up their immunisation campaigns and practise caution, scientists say.
The variant, first detected in India, has been identified in at least 92 countries and is considered the “fittest” variant yet of the virus that causes Covid-19, with its enhanced ability to prey on the vulnerable – particularly in places with low vaccination rates.
Sydney’s Bondi cluster grows to 110, Virgin Australia flight attendant tests positive, Darwin locks down, WA imposes restrictions and Queensland reports outbreak of Alpha variant
New South Wales reported 30 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday as a string of new outbreaks across Australia forced states and territories to introduce sweeping new restrictions, and prompted urgent calls for vaccine eligibility to be widened.
On the first full day of lockdown for the entire greater Sydney region since May 2020, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian warned the city to prepare for a further increase in cases over the coming days as the Bondi cluster which sparked the new outbreak grew to 110.
Less than 50% of adults in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine
In the United States, to bring about a long-awaited end to the Covid-19 pandemic, federal and state health officials have been urging all Americans to get vaccinated. But, amid stagnating national vaccine rates, some states in the south have been lagging behind when it comes to vaccinating their populations, raising fears of deepening regional disparities.
That raises the prospect that for a complex web of reasons much of the southern US will continue to experience the pandemic in a different way than the rest of America. That is especially worrisome as the south contains more communities that are more vulnerable to the virus.
Just 11% of Russia’s 146 million population is fully vaccinated – whether due to vaccine skepticism, doubts about Sputnik or other Russian-made vaccines, or “nihilism”, as a Kremlin spokesperson has suggested.
But with more than 20,000 new cases reported across Russia in the last two days, as well as tough new restrictions on those who have not received their jabs, lines at public vaccination centres are now stretching out the door.
Bangladesh has announced it will impose a tough new lockdown starting on Monday, after a “dangerous and alarming” surge in Delta variant cases of coronavirus.
AFP reports:
All government and private offices will be shut for a week and only medical-related transport will be allowed, the government said late Friday.
“No one can step out of their homes except in emergency cases,” a statement added.
Amid bemusement from scientists at the deluge of often undeserved criticism, the Guardian pieces together the story behind the vaccine’s successes and failures
In January 2020, when most of the world slept soundly in ignorance of the pandemic coming its way, a group of scientists at Oxford University got to work on a vaccine to save the planet. They wanted it to be highly effective, cheap, and easy to use in even the poorest countries.
Prof Sarah Gilbert, Prof Andrew Pollard and others pulled it off. With speed crucial, they designed it and launched into trials before bringing in a business partner. The giant Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca would manufacture it, license it around the world – and not make a profit until the pandemic was over.
With infections at highest since January, country is introducing curbs for non-vaccinated
Russia has finally admitted it has a vaccination problem – but with an “explosion” of new cases driving the country’s daily toll to its highest since January, the question is whether that public realisation has come too late.
Just 11% of Russia’s 146 million population is fully vaccinated – whether due to vaccine skepticism, doubts about Sputnik or other Russian-made vaccines, or “nihilism”, as a Kremlin spokesperson has suggested.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Friday received the first dose of a domestically produced coronavirus vaccine, as many other elderly Iranians queued at 5am in the hope of receiving any jab.
Khamenei, wearing a surgical mask and a black turban and sitting under a picture of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, received a dose of a domestically produced vaccine licensed on 14 June. He was given a single dose of the COVIran Barekat jab, developed by the state-owned foundation Setad. Khamenei said he had been determined to wait for a homegrown vaccine.
Mashonaland West, Masvingo and Bulawayo provinces have been put into strict localised lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus. The government had already declared hotspots in three other regions, the first in May and two others in early June.
Republican and Democratic senators have reached deal – president
Speaker: ‘It is imperative that we seek the truth as to what happened’
Giuliani’s New York law license suspended ‘effectively immediately’
Biden urges unvaccinated to get shots as ‘deadlier’ Delta strain spreads
Here’s some more on Rudy Giuliani losing (potentially temporarily) his law licence in New York today, from my colleague Sarah Betancourt:
Giuliani, 77, helped lead Trump’s legal challenge of his election loss as his personal attorney. He argued without evidence that voter fraud was rampant in Georgia, and that voting machines in the state and others were rigged. He urged Georgia’s Republican electors to vote for Trump, despite the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, and secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, countering there was no evidence of fraud.
Biden has pumped the brakes just a little on the infrastructure bill, saying it must be paired with a larger spending bill, which will likely only be supported by Democrats, if he is to sign it.
“If they don’t [both] come, I’m not signing it. Real simple,” Biden said.
Biden says bipartisan infrastructure deal has to be paired with D-only reconciliation bill.
"If this is the only thing that comes to me I'm not signing. It's in tandem."
Asked about Pelosi plan to hold first bill in House until second bill arrives, says he supports it.
Rory Boland, travel editor for consumer group Which?, said travellers still needed to be “extremely cautious” about booking trips abroad. He said: “Countries can be downgraded quickly and with little warning, as we saw with Portugal, while several European countries have introduced quarantine requirements for UK residents. “Restrictions around international travel are changing regularly and when they do, the cost to holidaymakers is significant. “Most providers will not pay refunds if a country is moved from green to amber, and ‘free’ amendments are often anything but, with many companies requiring significant notice of any changes and bookings for new dates usually costing hundreds of pounds. Travel insurance is also unlikely to pay out in these circumstances. “It is only advisable to book if you are able to do 14 days’ quarantine, can be flexible about destination and dates, and book with a provider that guarantees refunds in the event of traffic light changes or quarantine requirements.”
Eluned Morgan MS, minister for health and social services in Wales, said: “International travel is resuming but the pandemic is not over and protecting people’s health remains our main priority.
“Our strong advice continues to be not to travel overseas unless it is essential because of the risk of contracting coronavirus, especially new and emerging variants of concern.
The World Health Organization has made a new appeal for vaccines for Africa, saying a “fast-surging” third wave of Covid-19 is outpacing efforts to protect populations, “leaving more and more dangerously exposed”.
“The third wave is picking up speed, spreading faster, hitting harder. This is incredibly worrying. With rapidly rising case numbers and increasing reports of serious illness, the latest surge threatens to be Africa’s worst yet,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa, said on Thursday.
Questions raised over failure of Covax scheme to provide promised doses to the continent
African Union special envoy Strive Masiyiwa has accused the world’s richest nations of deliberately failing to provide enough Covid-19 vaccines to the continent.
Masiyiwa, the union’s special envoy to the African vaccine acquisition task team, said the Covax scheme had failed to keep its promise to secure production of 700 million doses of vaccines in time for delivery by December 2021.
The World Health Organization has said it has concerns about the methods used at one plant producing the Sputnik V vaccine, as Slovakia announced it would sell or donate 160,000 of the 200,000 doses it has ordered of the Russian shot.
The WHO, which along with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing Sputnik V for eventual approval, said in a report on Wednesday it had issues with the integrity of quality control data and test results at one of the four production sites it had seen.
The US will ship three million doses of the Johnson & Johnson one-jab Covid-19 vaccine to Brazil on Thursday, the country with the second highest coronavirus death toll in the world, a White House official said.
The shipment - part of Washington’s pledge to donate 80 million vaccines - will depart Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on an Azul Airlines flight, bound for Campinas, a city in southeastern Brazil about 100 km (62.14 miles) from Sao Paulo, Reuters reports.
Since the first Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 was injected into the arm of a British woman in December 2020, hundreds of millions of vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.
Dozens of countries now have advanced vaccination campaigns as they rush to protect their people and get their economies back up and running. Many are in a position where the most vulnerable people are fully vaccinated, raising hopes that the pandemic’s worst effects may be over.
A fresh electronic lottery is to decide the fate of prospective attendees of Tokyo 2020 as organisers must refund some 910,000 tickets due to new caps, of up to 50% of a venue’s capacity or a maximum of 10,000 residents of Japan, announced today.
The number of spectators, all of whom must be resident of Japan, is to be capped at 2.72 million, according to Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto, meaning some 910,000 ticket holders will lose their chance to see the Games.
A Thai temple building a 69-metre-tall Buddha statue that will be visible across Bangkok has said construction is nearly complete but the opening may be pushed back to 2022 due to delays caused by the pandemic.
The Royal Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen temple on the outskirts of Bangkok dates back to 1610 and is located on a island created by canals flowing from the Chao Phraya river. Work on the statue, which is as tall as a 20-storey building, started in 2017 and should be completed this year, but due to the pandemic the official opening may be pushed back to 2022, said temple spokesman Pisan Sangkapinij.
States and territories say more GPs will be needed to dispense Pfizer when supplies increase later in the year
Shortages of the Pfizer Covid vaccine are expected to slow Australia’s rollout through June and July, as states and territories call on the commonwealth to sign up more GPs to dispense doses when supplies increase in August.
The national cabinet met on Monday to discuss Australia’s coronavirus vaccine rollout in the wake of updated health advice that AstraZeneca is not the preferred vaccine for those aged 50 to 59 due to the risk of rare blood clots.