India is experiencing a shortage of beds, medicines and even oxygen. Despite millions infected, India is not rushing to impose a new lockdown, the European Union plans to ease restrictions on tourists. This and other news about the pandemic situation around the world – in our roundup.
According to the latest data, the coronavirus pandemic has already claimed more than 3.2 million lives worldwide. The hardest hit (according to official data) is the United States, where the number of deaths is approaching 578,000. Brazil follows with over 408,000 deaths, then Mexico with over 217,000, and in fourth place is the United Kingdom with over 127,000 deaths. However, according to experts, this statistic may soon change if we consider the situation in India.
“Funeral pyres in the streets do not fit well with official statistics.” In India, where the number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 20 million, the opposition is demanding that the government impose a nationwide lockdown. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi is resisting, fearing that further restrictions will hurt the economy. His argument is that the number of new cases fell to 355,000 on Tuesday (down from 400,000 on April 30). Last year, Modi was sharply criticized for announcing a nationwide shutdown less than four hours before it was to be implemented, causing a devastating social crisis: hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were forced to walk hundreds of kilometers to their home villages. Decisions to impose restrictions will be made by state authorities on an individual basis, but Modi has indicated that such restrictions should only be imposed in the most extreme cases. However, many states have already implemented measures ranging from complete lockdowns to night-time curfews. Restrictions have also been imposed in Delhi and Mumbai. The second wave of the pandemic in India, exacerbated by security lapses, national holidays, and elections, overwhelmed many hospitals. Problems with testing, diagnosis and treatment, as well as shortages of beds, medicines and even oxygen, have led to a sharp rise in mortality. In the country, officially registered deaths from the coronavirus have already exceeded 222,000, but experts believe that these numbers are significantly underestimated and do not correspond to what people see with their own eyes.
As an example of how quickly things can change for the worse, experts point to Nepal. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. The number of episodes should remain the same. The end of the story: Podcast Advertising The authorities in Nepal have appealed to the international community to provide at least 1.6 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which is needed for the second dose, following a sharp rise in coronavirus infections in the small mountainous country. “People who have already received the first vaccine may face serious problems if they do not receive the second vaccine on time,” said a representative of the Nepalese Ministry of Health. According to Adam Kucharski of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, “Unfortunately, we see how the Indian scenario can be repeated in other places, because a number of countries have similar parameters – relatively low vaccination rates, circulation of dangerous strains, and increasing numbers of infected people – and all of this together can lead to a similar situation. Kucharsky points to Nepal, where the number of infected people has skyrocketed, as well as countries such as Cambodia, Fiji and Mongolia, where the coronavirus was successfully contained throughout the year, but now outbreaks are occurring and lockdowns are being imposed.
In North Korea, they recently celebrated another birthday of Kim Il-sung with pomp and circumstance, though without social distancing, but with masks. North Korean media warned Tuesday that the battle against the coronavirus promises to be prolonged, as vaccines developed by global manufacturers “are not a universal panacea.” The country’s communist newspapers claim that despite the vaccines developed, the pandemic is worsening worldwide. Pyongyang has not yet confirmed any cases, but South Korea has not ruled out the possibility of an outbreak among its neighbors, as North Korea had relatively close ties with China before it closed its borders last year.
President Joe Biden announced that by Independence Day, July 4, 70% of the U.S. population will have received at least the first dose of the vaccine and 160 million Americans will be fully immunized. He also stated that the U.S. is ready to begin vaccinating adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 as soon as health officials approve the use of Pfizer’s vaccine for this purpose (expected in the next few days). The president set this new goal in the face of growing, though expected, opposition from a certain segment of the population that still distrusts vaccines and sees the pandemic as a global conspiracy. Officials now say 105 million Americans are fully vaccinated, and 56% of the adult population (about 147 million people) have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Meanwhile, calls for more equitable distribution of vaccines are growing around the world, including in the United States. According to a World Bank analysis, 82% of high-income countries have already started immunization programs, compared to only 3% of low-income countries, and the poorest 84 countries are unlikely to complete the full immunization program by 2024, so there is no need to talk about achieving herd immunity there. According to the founder of one of the largest charitable foundations in the world, Melinda Gates, developed countries should vaccinate their populations, but not forget those who may be more in need of vaccines.
The United States is already helping India, not with vaccines, but with oxygen and masks. “It is not at all necessary to vaccinate absolutely everyone, including, for example, teenagers, before you start sending vaccines abroad,” said Melinda Gates in an interview with the Financial Times. But while Joe Biden promises to make the country a “vaccine arsenal” for the world, his advisers are in no hurry to explain how and when they will begin sharing these vaccines with other countries. Instead, the president insists that he will worry about others only after all Americans have access to vaccines. This position has brought a lot of criticism to the president. However, against the backdrop of the crisis in India, the White House announced that it would share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca as soon as it received federal approval. The United States Agency for International Development has already begun airlifting express tests, masks and oxygen cylinders to India.
On Tuesday, the European Commission began discussions on plans to ease restrictions on tourists who want to go on vacation to EU countries. (Until now, such trips were allowed only in cases of extreme necessity.) “It is time to revive Europe’s tourism industry and safely resume international friendship,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. The new plans will allow tourists to enter European Union countries if they have received at least one of the EU-approved vaccines at least two weeks in advance. To date, the EU has approved four vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. It is also expected that the WHO will approve the Chinese vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac, which are currently being evaluated for compliance with European standards, in the coming weeks or even days. Children who have not been vaccinated may travel with their parents if their test results are negative. Subject to quarantine compliance and a negative coronavirus test, it will also be possible to travel to the EU from countries where the number of infections does not exceed 100 per 100,000 people (previously 25 per 100,000 people). At the same time, the rules for citizens and permanent residents of the European Union and their family members remain unchanged. The recommendations discussed apply to all EU Member States except Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Italy misses tourists. Speaking Tuesday at the G20 summit of tourism ministers in Rome, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced that tourists will be able to visit the country without restrictions by the end of the month. “It’s time to book a holiday in Italy!” – Draghi announced, promising to publish a set of “simple and clear rules” to ensure the safety of tourists. “The whole world has missed us, the pandemic has forced us to close temporarily, but now Italy is once again waiting for the whole world to visit us,” announced the Prime Minister. Italy has been hit hard by the pandemic, both in terms of human casualties – over 120,000, the highest in the EU – and economically. If, before the pandemic, Italy was in fifth place in the world in terms of the number of visitors, in 2019-2020 the number of tourists fell by more than 60% due to the restrictions. Mr. Draghi expressed hope that the introduction of the European Union’s so-called green card in mid-June would facilitate tourists’ access to Italy. This card will be issued to those who have been vaccinated, tested negative or have immunity to the coronavirus. Italy itself intends to introduce such a card in mid-May, but it is unclear whether it will automatically facilitate entry for foreign tourists. Until May 15, the rules that require tourists arriving from European countries to isolate themselves for five days will remain in force.