The Australian Trade Minister announced today, Sunday, that the outbreak of the Coronavirus in Sydney indicates the postponement of plans for the “travel bubble” between Australia and Singapore until at least the end of the year.
While opening the travel corridor between the two countries remains a priority, the scale of the virus outbreak, which has forced the country’s largest city to shut down again, means plans are on hold, Dan Tehan told the Sydney Morning Herald.
He added, “It has been rethought because of the third wave of the virus. We hope that at the end of the year we will be able to look again at the issue of the travel bubble with Singapore.”
It is reported that after initial discussions, the two countries have not yet committed to a specific date for opening a travel corridor between them.
While Australia represented an early success story in combating Corona, the slow introduction of the anti-virus vaccine suggests that even with the rest of the world opening its borders, it is expected that Australia’s borders will remain closed until mid-2022.
Only 26 percent of the Australian population got the first dose of the vaccine, compared to about 68.5% in Britain, according to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker.
Even when Australia’s borders open, the Australian trade minister expects vaccine passports to be a requirement for travel for years to come. “It might be like the little yellow pamphlet of yellow fever.”
The number of coronavirus cases in the UK has risen by 74% since this time last week with another 7,540 infections recorded.
Today’s increase was the highest daily jump since the end of February, when 8,523 cases were reported on February 26.
Another six deaths were recorded today, the latest government data shows, a decrease from last Wednesday June 2 when 12 more deaths were reported nationwide.
The UK’s daily case numbers then rose by 4,330 – rising by more than one-third compared to the same day the previous week, when 3,180 cases were reported.
Today’s figures come as Boris Johnson said it was too early to say if England’s lockdown can end on June 21 as data on whether the vaccine rollout offers enough protection from the rapid spread of the Delta coronavirus variant is still being assessed.
The PM warned the vaccine rollout may not be enough to go ahead with unlocking on June 21.
And Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London, whose modelling was instrumental to the UK locking down in March 2020, said that new modelling data submitted to the Government suggests a risk of “a substantial third wave” of coronavirus infections in the UK.
The Chinese authorities closed a residential neighborhood in the southern city of Guangzhou, on Saturday, in an attempt to curb the high number of Coronavirus infections in the region, after the city recorded 20 new cases of the virus last week.
The Guangzhou Municipal Health Bureau said in the Saturday memo that 5 streets in Liwan District, in the city center, have been identified as “high risk areas”, and residents have been informed of the need to stay home until the completion of the checks.
And local health officials stated that they believe that the limited outbreak of the virus in Guangzhou may be related to a 75-year-old woman who has tested positive for the mutated virus, which was first identified in India.
Markets, schools and entertainment venues were closed in the region, and the city government rushed to conduct extensive checks, in the framework of which checks were made for about 700,000 people by Wednesday, in the city, which is an industrial center, and has about 15 million people.
According to the latest figures issued by the National Health Commission, the number of confirmed cases in China has reached 91,61 so far, including 4,636 deaths.
The battle of Corona pandemic can only be won by Vaccination. Getting the right vaccine at the right time is necessary. But due to a large population in India and shortage of vaccines, it became difficult to get the vaccine early.
Don’t worry!
Many startups are helping Indian citizens and one of them is Car-pooling startup Sugatix. They have launched ‘Vaccine Tracker Cowin’ to help you in finding Covid-19 Vaccination slots in your locality.
Founder of Sugatix Gaurav K. Verma said ” It gets difficult for vaccination registration as only one platform is available for the whole country then we realized the need to build this platform. Thus people can get notification when the slots are available, they can select the slot and it redirects them to the Cowin website to book the Vaccination slot”.
Vaccine Tracker Cowin built with Cowin APIs to track the slots. Users will get the notification by mail after registering. This platform currently has 1349 users from more than 200 districts across the country. NRIs from the UK, Germany, USA, Poland, UAE, and Japan can book the slots for their family staying in India as well.
Challenges at Vaccination sites like Cowin & How Sugatix helps you to overcome these challenges?
People are jumping the vaccine line to get the early shot. Vaccination sites are getting up their speed to schedule the people and verifying if they are eligible for vaccination or not.
Vaccination site like Cowin has a lack scheduling system to get the verification done.
A large number of people are waiting for their slot and keep checking every day.
People don’t have a clear idea of how to get the shot at the right time at the right place.
To overcome these challenges, Sugatix a Car-pooling application came up with a ‘Vaccine Tracker’ Cowin in which you can get your Vaccination slot when it’s available.
How to get Covid-19 Vaccination early with Sugatix?
Sugatix’s online platform Vaccine Tracker Cowin helps to schedule the location and get the notification via email when a slot is available. With this app, you can get the appointment soon and Vaccination in place.
About Vaccine Tracker Cowin:
This platform is trusted by hundreds of Indians and verified by the Ministry of health and family welfare. Sugatix introduced this with the collaboration of the Ministry of health and family welfare and Uthaan to get the people of Indian Vaccination shot fast.
Direction to use this platform:
Visit Vaccine tracker Cowin website. You will see the email address area. Put the email address and get started.
Schedule the alert with a particular date and what type of vaccine you want- first and second dose. Also, choose 18+, or 45+ as well.
You will see real-time availability of vaccine slots. Also, put a watch list on 3 locations according to your choice.
They will keep your request and will look for available slots. Then they will send you a notification for available slots.
Health authorities in the United States announced Thursday that Americans who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 no longer need to wear masks in closed places, and they announced that their recommendations have been updated.
“Anyone who has been fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, young or old, without wearing a muzzle or respecting physical distancing,” said Director of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, Rochelle Walinsky.
In a previous review, the Centers for Disease Control announced that people who have been fully vaccinated against the Corona virus, can exercise and attend small outdoor gatherings without wearing a muzzle, but they have required them to wear it in all closed places.
A legal representative of the European Union has filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca over delayed supplies and has demanded the company for at least 120 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of next June.
The case in a Belgian court is the second brought by the European Commission against the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company.
The case details
The company’s attorney complained in court that the European Union’s executive authority had opened a second case to set specific doses for the company to deliver in its first official request so far.
The lawyer told the court that the European Union “hopes” to deliver the remaining 300 million contracted doses by next September.
AstraZeneca’s lawyer confirmed to the judge that the company “hopes” to deliver 100 million doses by the end of next June.
The company’s attorney declined to comment when asked whether the company could accept the European Union’s request to deliver 120 million doses on time.
It was agreed in the Brussels court, Tuesday, that the first hearing in the new case will be on September 24.
ODESA, UKRAINE – APRIL 28, 2021 – A vial of the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine is stored in the refrigerator in the vaccination room at Family Medicine Centre N2, Odesa, southern Ukraine. (Photo credit should read Yulii Zozulia/ Ukrinform/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Causes of conflict
In March, European Commission President von der Leyen announced that AstraZeneca will not be able to export any of its COVID-19 vaccine doses manufactured on European soil outside the Union before the latter receives the full delayed quantities of this vaccine.
Tensions between the company and the conglomerate escalated after the difficulties that Pfizer / Biotech faced in delivering their doses, while the vaccination campaign in the European Union is slowly proceeding.
The European Union has granted AstraZeneca 336 million euros ($ 408.77 million) to develop its vaccine and increase its production capacity.
AstraZeneca has so far delivered only 31 million doses out of the 120 million that clustering has promised. It warns that it will also provide only 70 million of the additional 180 million doses that were supposed to be delivered during the remainder of the year.
AstraZeneca aims to deliver only 100 million doses in June, while the agreement was to deliver 300 million doses.
European Union leaders have been frustrated by a massive shortage of deliveries of AstraZeneca vaccine shipments, as infections soar in the third wave of the pandemic across Europe.
Fears are increasing that the Commission will ban the company’s exports of the vaccine until the European Union receives the shipments it promised, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Vaccination in European Union countries
AstraZeneca announced that the effectiveness of its vaccine against Covid-19 reached 76%, confirming, according to the new results, that the vaccine is developed with the University of Oxford is 100% effective in facing acute or critical forms of the disease. The effectiveness of the vaccine is up to 85% among adults over the age of 65 years.
In the first quarter of this year, the European Union received 107 million doses of all licensed vaccines on its territory, for a population of 446 million. At a time when the European Commission aims to “vaccinate 70% of European adults by the summer.”
The Egyptian Medicines Authority said, on Monday, that it had granted an emergency license to use the “Coronavac” vaccine, which is produced by the Chinese company “Sinovac” to prevent the Coronavirus.
Egypt has so far received shipments of “Sinopharma” and “AstraZeneca” vaccines and announced that it is preparing to produce up to 80 million doses of “Sinovac” vaccine locally. It was also granted approval to use the Russian “Sputnik” vaccine.
On Sunday, the Egyptian Ministry of Health announced that 567 people had recovered from infection with the Coronavirus, bringing the recovery cases to 167,24 cases, while the country recorded 953 new infections, bringing the number of infections since the virus appeared more than a year ago to 222,523 cases.
While the ministry counted 51 new deaths due to infection with the virus, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 13,49 deaths.
Egypt is seeking to increase reliance on local production of anti-Corona vaccines, and the local pharmaceutical company, Minapharm, announced last Thursday that it had entered into an agreement with the Russian Investment Fund to produce about 40 million doses of the Russian vaccine, “Sputnik-V,” annually.
A joint statement between the Egyptian company and the Russian Fund stated, “The two parties intend to start transferring technology immediately.”
The statement, which was published by the Egyptian company on its website, stated that “the vaccine is expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2021”, to provide more than 40 million doses annually. Production will take place at the company’s facility in Cairo, and then will be distributed internationally.
On Sunday, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced that 82 people were killed and 110 others were injured, due to the outbreak of a fire caused by the explosion of an oxygen tank, in a hospital designated for Korna patients, southeast of Baghdad, at a time when the Prime Minister issued decisions to punish officials.
Announcing the high death toll, Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Al-Muhanna said, “There is an urgent need to review safety measures in all hospitals to prevent such a painful incident in the future.”
The fire broke out, on Saturday, in Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital in the Diyala Bridge region. Relatives of patients rushed to the hospital during the fire to save their loved ones.
A man visiting his brother spoke of people jumping out of the windows to escape.
Ahmed Zaki added, “I carried my brother to the street near the checkpoint. Then I went up to the last floor, which was not burned. I found a girl who was suffocating, she was about 19 years old, who was suffocating and about to die.”
“I put it on my shoulder and ran. People were jumping … and doctors fell on the carriages. Everyone was jumping. I kept going up and fetching people and coming down again,” Reuters quoted Zaki as saying.
Medical sources said that the patients were transferred to other hospitals. However, many of the victims’ family members stayed in front of the hospital hours after the fire was extinguished because they had not found their relatives in other hospitals.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi ordered an investigation into the accident before announcing the Minister of Health’s suspension from work and referring him to an investigation.
Al-Kazemi also ordered the arrest of the governor of Baghdad and the director-general of the Rusafa Health Department, and that they also are referred for investigation.
Al-Kazemi said in a statement, “Such an incident is evidence of default. Therefore, I have directed an immediate investigation and reservation to the director of the hospital, the director of security and maintenance, and all concerned until the negligence is found and held accountable.”
The Coronavirus crisis has burdened the Iraqi health system, which has been devastated by sanctions, war, and neglect for decades. And the Iraqi Ministry of Health said earlier Saturday that the total number of people infected with the virus has reached one million and 25,288, including 15,217 deaths.
For his part, Iraqi President Barham Salih said that the tragedy of Ibn Al-Khatib Hospital is a wound to the whole nation, and as a result of the accumulation of destruction of state institutions as a result of corruption and mismanagement.
He added in a tweet on Twitter: “Showing pain and sympathy with our martyr and injured sons is not enough without strenuous accountability for those who are negligent, and without conducting a comprehensive and serious review of the performance of institutions to ensure that such disasters do not recur.”
131 countries have become on the list that the United States advises its citizens not to “travel to”, after the US State Department added 100 countries, including Britain, Canada, France, Mexico, and Germany, as they fall within the “fourth level” in terms of the spread of the Covid-19 virus, which is a high level. Extremely.
On Monday, the State Department said that it “will increase the number of countries that fall under the highest degree of warning it has, to include about 80% of the countries of the world,” relying more on current assessments from US health officials.
As of April 20, that list contained 34 countries out of about 200. But it now includes 131 countries.
The White House announced, on Wednesday, that the United States will achieve this week the goal set by Joe Biden to give 200 million doses of vaccines against the Covid-19 virus in the first 100 days of his presidency.
The United States is the country’s worst affected, after the death toll from Covid-19 exceeded 568 thousand, with 31.8 million infections.
The virus has killed more than three million people around the world since the WHO office in China reported the outbreak of the disease at the end of December 2019, and the number of infections exceeded 143 million.
A large vaccination center opens its doors on Saturday in the Disneyland theme park near Paris, 30 km east of the French capital, which has been temporarily closed due to the pandemic since October 30.
The total number of injuries in France has reached more than 5.4 million, including more than 100,000 deaths.
In India, the number of young people and children who have claimed their lives a new wave of the Coronavirus is sweeping the country, according to what was reported by the French Press Agency, “Agence France Presse,” Sunday.
Some doctors suggest that the reason why people under the age of 45 are more vulnerable is that they go out to work and eat meals outside the home more than those who are older, but there is no conclusive evidence for this.
Young adults may be more susceptible to a new mutated version known as a “double mutation” found in 60% of samples in Maharashtra, which is the hardest hit.
India swept through a new epidemic wave, resulting in a million confirmed infections, within a week, and shook the authorities.
And officials in India at the beginning of the year believed that the country had defeated the epidemic, amid the launch of a massive vaccination campaign.
Residents neglected the wearing of masks and social distancing, with huge crowds taking part in religious festivals and election rallies.
But in hospitals, doctors sounded the alarm against the background of the high number of cases, amid a new phenomenon represented by the admission of more young people to hospitals, due to their infection with the disease, which has always been considered more dangerous for the older groups.
Children in hospitals
And in a country where 65% of the population is under 35 years old, there is growing concern about the impact of the epidemic on young people.
New Delhi Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal reported that 65% of new patients are under the age of 45.
While the Indian Medical Research Agency does not have a demographic classification of cases, doctors in major cities confirm that more young patients are being transferred to hospitals.
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