An health care worker administers a jab containing Pfizer vaccine on a caregiver of the SAVF Evanna Tehuis old age home near Klerksdorp, on May 19, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)
JOHANNESBURG / LONDON / NICOSIA / ADDIS ABABA / LJUBLJANA / HELSINKI / CAIRO / TUNIS / QUITO / SANTIAGO / HAVANA / LILONGWE / WASHINGTON / BOGOTA / BUENOS AIRES / HARARE / BRUSSELS / BERLIN / MOSCOW – The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday expressed grave concern about the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Africa, and urged greater cooperation in winning a better future for the continent.
The pandemic "has caused severe socioeconomic, political, humanitarian and security repercussions, and further exacerbated existing conflict drivers in Africa," said a presidential statement of the UNSC.
Combating the pandemic and sustainably recovering from it requires greater cooperation and solidarity, and a coordinated, inclusive and comprehensive international response with the United Nations playing a key coordinating role, the statement said.
The statement stressed the need for greater support to African countries, especially those conflict-affected countries, and regional and sub-regional organizations, in order to recover from the pandemic and build back better in a more just, equal, equitable and inclusive manner.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 4,709,921 as of Wednesday evening, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stands at 127,001 while 4,261,603 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease.
Meanwhile, a handful of vaccine holdouts in the world’s least-inoculated continent could pose another big challenge for global efforts to end the pandemic.
Burundi, Tanzania and Eritrea have so far rejected the World Health Organization’s advice to register for Covax, an initiative to distribute vaccines to poorer countries, with some officials downplaying the impact of COVID-19 and effectiveness of jabs that have allowed several countries to begin opening up.
G-7
The Group of Seven nations will next month discuss ways to recognize COVID-19 vaccination certifications internationally, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The group of major economies aims to support the creation of a global framework for mutual recognition of documents showing proof of inoculation, said the person, who asked not to be identified. Such an endorsement, if it leads to the creation of concrete measures, would ease the revival of global travel as more people get the coronavirus jab. It would be especially welcomed by the airline and tourism industries, among the hardest hit by the pandemic.
The European Union announced this week that it will soon allow quarantine-free travel to the bloc for vaccinated visitors. The move hasn’t been matched by other G-7 members, with the US yet to loosen rules for European visitors. The U.K. requires travelers from the vast majority of the EU to quarantine and is advising against travel to several nations. The EU is also in the final stages of approving a framework for member states and their vaccination certificates.
As part of a declaration that G-7 health ministers will adopt when they meet in Oxford in early June, the group is expected to set out the need for multilateral collaboration on an inter-operable, standards-based solution that can be used internationally to verify vaccinations.
G-7 health ministers could recommend working within World Health Organization processes “to develop international standards and recommended practices for the creation, use, and mutual recognition” of certificates for “safe, effective, and rigorously reviewed vaccines,” a draft of the declaration says. Any framework should allow for both for digital and paper-based formats.
Hungary
Hungary will end its coronavirus-related emergency rule earlier than planned, Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas said.
His statement comes just two days after lawmakers extended the legal framework through the end of summer. Before asking parliament to rescind it, the government will review what special powers it will need to maintain due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gulyas told a briefing on Thursday.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban will announce the further easing of virus curbs on Friday, which — according to Gulyas — will include phasing out a curfew.
The government forecasts that 5 million of Hungary’s 9.7 million population will have received at least one COVD-19 vaccine by Sunday, the minister said, marking one of the European Union’s fastest inoculation campaigns.
EU
The European Commission said on Thursday that it signed a third contract with pharmaceutical
companies BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc for an additional 1.8 billion doses
of the coronavirus vaccine.
The
contract reserves the doses on behalf of all European Union member
states, between end 2021 to 2023, the statement added. The contract
requires that the vaccine production is based in the EU and that
essential components are sourced from the EU.
Meanwhile, the European COVID-19 vaccination campaign is gaining
speed and catching up with that of the United States, EU Commission
chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.
Critics
of the EU vaccination campaign should keep in mind that the EU has
exported 220 million jabs, almost as many as it has used for its own
citizens, von Leyen said in a snipe at the US and Britain.
On Wednesday, the European Union put forward a plan it
believes will help boost the production and availability of COVID-19
vaccines more effectively than a proposed waiver of patent rights now
backed by the United States.
Under
pressure from developing countries demanding a waiver of intellectual
property (IP) rights for vaccines and treatments, the EU presented an
alternative focused on export restrictions, pledges from vaccine
developers and the flexibility of existing World Trade Organization
rules.
EU
Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told the European Parliament that
universal and fair access was the global community’s number one
priority.
In
a debate on global vaccine access, Dombrovskis told lawmakers the
European Union was ready to engage in examining the extent to which
temporarily waiving the WTO’s TRIPS agreement contributed to making
vaccines more available.
Ethiopia
The World Health Organization (WHO)
on Wednesday announced partnership with the Ethiopian government to
reactivate a toll-free COVID-19 call center in the country's
conflict-affected Tigray region.
The center, which was
relaunched recently with an aim to expand the scope for COVID-19-related
information, is expected to provide health information on a wide range
of health issues ranging from COVID-19 to diseases such as malaria,
measles, cholera and meningitis, the WHO announced in a statement.
The COVID-19 call center discontinued its operations in
November 2020 after a conflict broke out in the region. Before the
conflict, the call center had been receiving an average of about 20,000
calls per week from individuals seeking COVID-19 related information, it
was noted.
The hotline service is also expected to provide
confidential counseling and referral service to victims of sexual and
gender-based violence, it was noted.
According to the WHO, the toll-free call center will play a role in
strengthening event-based surveillance through alerts received from
callers.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia registered 497 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours,
taking the nationwide tally to 267,597 as of Wednesday evening,
according to the country's health ministry.
A total of 17 new deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 4,038, the ministry said.
Ukraine
Ukraine's
parliament named a new health minister on Thursday, who promised to
speed up vaccinations against COVID-19, including by trying to make
vaccines domestically.
Viktor
Lyashko, previously a deputy health minister, was promoted to replace
Maksym Stepanov, who was fired this week after Prime Minister Denys
Shmygal accused him of failing to supply vaccines quickly enough.
"Overcoming
coronavirus disease is my number one priority. We will do everything so
that Ukrainians can be vaccinated, work and travel," Lyashko told the
parliament. Setting up domestic manufacturing of vaccines would be a
priority, he said.
Ukraine
is among the European countries most affected by the pandemic and has
lagged in its vaccination efforts, with only 964,745 Ukrainians having
received their first vaccine dose as of May 20, out of a population of
around 41 million.
Shmygal said this week only 2.3 million doses of vaccine had been
delivered to Ukraine so far. Ukraine has registered around 2.2 million
infections and 48,899 deaths since the start of the pandemic last year.
Global tally
Coronavirus
cases worldwide surpassed 164.61 million while the global death toll
topped 3.41 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins
University.
United States
The Biden administration has
been weighing changes to sweeping travel restrictions that bar much of
the world’s population from coming to the United States, but has reached
no decisions, government and industry officials told Reuters.
Biden
administration agencies have been holding meetings for more than a
month and reaching out to industry officials about when and how they
could begin to unwind the travel restrictions first imposed in early
2020 in response to COVID-19 that bar much of the world’s population
from entering the United States.
Asked
whether the United States would allow vaccinated Europeans to enter, a
White House spokesman said there were no changes in travel restrictions
planned at the moment
The
US Travel Association said it hoped the “European Union’s risk-based,
science-driven plan to reopen international travel will hopefully spur
the US to heed the many calls for a plan and timetable to safely
reopen our borders.”
US
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a news conference on
Wednesday that any decision to lift restrictions “ultimately is a public
health decision and there is an interagency process and obviously the
CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)” is taking a
leading role.
France
The
number of people with COVID-19 in intensive care units in France
dropped below 4,000 on Wednesday as the country reopened outdoor cafe
terraces, museums and shops selling non-essential goods.
The ICU tally fell by 153 to 3,862, the first time it has been below 4,000 since March 11, health ministry data showed.
The
health ministry also reported 19,050 new coronavirus cases, an increase
of 1.64 percent compared to last week. The rate of increase set a new 11-month
low after rising slightly in the past three days. The seven-day moving
average of new cases fell to 13,676.
France also reported 141 new deaths. The 7-day average of daily deaths
fell to a new 2021 low of 141, down from 450 in early February.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
has detected the first cases of the new coronavirus variant that
emerged in India, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga said on Wednesday,
adding that all travellers from the Asian nation would be required to
undergo mandatory quarantine.
Chiwenga,
who also doubles as Zimbabwe's health minister, said in a statement the
cases had been detected among a group of people in the central town of
Kwekwe after a student returned from India on April 29.
Travellers from India would be subjected to a COVID-19 test on arrival even if they have been tested in their country of origin.
Zimbabwe has recorded 38,595 COVID-19 cases and 1,583 deaths since last
year. A total of 600,579 people have received COVID-19 vaccines from
China and India.
Britain
Britain's Prince William, who contracted COVID-19 last year, revealed on Thursday
he had received his first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
William,
38, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth and second-in-line to the British
throne, revealed on Twitter he had received the shot earlier this week,
alongside a picture of the moment he had the injectionat London's
Science Museum.
Other
members of the royal family have also disclosed that they have received
their vaccine doses, including the 95-year-old monarch and Charles.
The
queen said having the shot was very quick and did not hurt, and she
encouraged the public to follow suit, saying those who were wary should
think of others.
Meanwhile, the country's
coronavirus vaccine rollout could reach those in their early-20s in the
first weeks of next month, with hopes that all those over age 18 could
be offered jabs in June, the Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
The
programme will move to those aged 30 and over next week in the UK,
while extra supplies are being sent to areas worst hit by the Indian
variant, the report added.
More than 70 percent of the UK adults have received at least one dose of COVID-19
vaccine, the Department of Health and Social Care said, and about 40 percent of
people are fully vaccinated.
The country’s health services have
administered 57.8 million vaccines as of May 18, an effort that began in
December, according to a statement.
The UK remains on track to offer a
first dose to all adults by the end of July, the agency said.
South Africa
All contact sports have been suspended in South African schools with immediate effect to curb the spread of COVID-19, said the Department of Basic Education (DBE) on Wednesday.
The DBE said there were some increase in COVID-19 cases in the first term and second term of 2021 in Gauteng province.
"Following the school sports activities related COVID-19 outbreaks in Gauteng and general rise of cases in communities across the country, the outbreak response team (ORT) said that the risk was high when engaged in close-contact sports, especially with people who did not live together," said DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.
Mhlanga said non-contact sports training in schools can continue subject to maintain social distancing, hygiene and safety measures and no physical contact.
Cyprus
The first COVID-19 cases of the more aggressive variants firstly discovered in India and South Africa were detected in Cyprus, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, causing concern among health officials.
It said that the mutation of the virus discovered in India was detected in four samples and the variant detected in South Africa was found in two samples taken from people who arrived from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Nepal, all Grey category countries.
All six people were taken to special hotels where they were quarantined for 14 days.
Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said health officials aim at having 65 percent of the population vaccinated by the end of June and urged people in the age groups of 40 to 60 to get the jab as they are the most likely to need hospital treatment in case of infection.
Close to 50 percent of the population have already received at least the first dose of a vaccine.
ALSO READ: Virus: S. Africa to start vaccine rollout after J&J shots arrive
Slovenia
Slovenia on Wednesday reported 532 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 250,453.
The National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ) estimates there are 6,658 active coronavirus infections in the country. Meanwhile, five new deaths took the death toll to 4,663, the government data showed.
As of Wednesday, 575,978 people in the country have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 304,507 have been fully vaccinated, representing 27.4 percent and 14.5 percent of the population, respectively, according to the NIJZ.
Finland
Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a rapid test technology that can detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, within 10 minutes, according to a press release issued by the university on Wednesday.
The antigen-based test technology can also be used to quickly diagnose other types of respiratory infections, the university noted.
Comparing with PCR tests, Hepojoki said the newly developed technology is as accurate as PCR tests, which are known for their sensitivity.
Another advantage of the new test technology is that it is safer for testers. As the virus becomes inactivated soon after being mixed in the test solution, testers will not be infected by the virus during their operations.
Egypt
The Egyptian government decided on Wednesday to extend the partial evening closure of shops, malls, restaurants and entertainment places until the end of May, while reopening public parks and beaches provided that anti-COVID-19 measures are strictly implemented there, said the cabinet in a statement.
According to the decision, stores and entertainment places will continue closing at 9 pm local time until May 31, as an extension of a decision made on May 5.
The extension decision excludes public beaches, parks and gardens "which are decided to be reopened to citizens provided that they strictly stick to the precautionary measures to face coronavirus."
Leading the country's coronavirus crisis management committee, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also extended the decision to reduce the attendance of administrative government employees.
ALSO READ: Nation to support virus fight in Egypt, Kyrgyzstan
Tunisia
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the income of more than 750,000 families in Tunisia, local authorities said Wednesday.
Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts Habib Ammar made the remarks during his visit to Takrouna, a Berber village in the governorate of Sousse, according to Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP).
The minister stressed that "all efforts are currently being made to revive the tourism sector in Tunisia while respecting the health protocol," noting that "more than 3,500 foreign tourists are currently staying in Tunisian hotels."
Ecuador
Ecuador recorded 1,441 new COVID-19 infections and 88 more deaths in the last 24 hours, for a total of 412,907 cases and 14,597 deaths, the Ministry of Public Health said on Wednesday.
The province of Pichincha led in new infections in the last day with 601 cases, including 534 in the capital Quito, the epicenter of the pandemic in the South American country.
Since April 23, 16 provinces in Ecuador that were registering a growing number of infections have been under a state of emergency decreed by the government to curb the rise in cases and avoid the collapse of the health system.
Chile
Chile has reported more than 1.3 million cases of COVID-19, Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris said on Wednesday.
In the last 24 hours, 4,778 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, for a cumulative total of 1,300,629 cases, the official said in a statement.
Another 32 deaths from the virus were reported, bringing the death toll to 27,997.
Cuba
Cuba on Wednesday reported 1,339 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours, the second highest daily figure since the onset of the pandemic on the island in March of last year, the Ministry of Public Health said.
In the same 24-hour period, eight more people died due to COVID-19, raising the pandemic death toll to 834.
"Today's indicators are not favorable either," said Francisco Duran, the ministry's director of hygiene and epidemiology, who delivers the daily pandemic updates.
Of the new daily cases, the vast majority (1,255) were due to community transmission, said Duran.
Malawi
Malawi on Wednesday destroyed 19,610 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines that expired 18 days after arriving, despite assurances from the African Union (AU) and World Health Organisation (WHO) that the vaccines were safe until mid-July.
A batch of 102,000 vaccines arrived on March 26, under an initiative by the AU and WHO, and they expired on April 13, leaving less than three weeks for them to be used. Malawi managed to deploy about 80 percent of them by that time.
John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), part of the AU, told in a news conference late last month that the shots could be used until July 13, based on a further analysis conducted by manufacturers the Serum Institute of India (SII).
He and the WHO also urged African countries not to waste vaccines donated to them.
However, the Malawian government said it would not give expired vaccines to its citizens.
Colombia
Colombia reported 452 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the nationwide death toll to 82,743, the country's ministry of health and social protection said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, 16,579 new infections were reported, bringing the nationwide tally to 3,161,126, the ministry said.
A total of 7,718,287 doses of vaccines have been administered in the South American country, with 2,958,890 people fully inoculated.
Argentina
Argentina on Wednesday reported a record daily count of 39,652 COVID-19 cases, taking the national tally to 3,411,160, said the health ministry.
The ministry said 494 more deaths were logged, raising the death toll to 72,265.
"In much of the country there is significant pressure (on hospitals) and if cases continue to rise, we face the real risk of not being able to provide care," Health Minister Carla Vizzotti said.
Vizzotti urged people to stay home "to reduce the transmission of the virus," and "as a result, see fewer hospitalizations and fewer deaths."
Germany
Against
its stereotype of order, Germany's vaccine rollout has descended into a
frenzy as people turn to tip-offs, online message boards and cold calls
to doctors in a scramble to get a COVID-19 shot.
Hampered
by a shortage of supply, Germany started by vaccinating its oldest and
most vulnerable citizens and has been gradually expanding shots to
priority professions such as teachers and those working in critical
infrastructure.
As stocks increased, it brought family doctors on board in April and some states lifted age limits for AstraZeneca's vaccine, prompting many younger people to call practices in the hope of getting doses.
This
week, some German states dispensed with priority systems at surgeries
altogether, a move criticised by doctors' associations which say it
risks provoking chaos as ever more people compete for a still scarce
commodity.
People
are already showing up at doctors' practices and trying to get vaccines
even when it is not their turn and the mood has become increasingly
aggressive, doctors have said.
Brazil
Brazil's health minister said on Wednesday he had spoken with Moderna about buying its COVID-19 vaccine, as the country scrambles for shots from producers passed over last year.
Separately,
the health regulator Anvisa said it had received an emergency use
request late on Tuesday from Belcher Farmaceutica, the Brazilian
representative of China's CanSino Biologics, and it would take up to seven days to make a decision, if the papers are in order.
Brazil
is still suffering a long, deadly second wave of coronavirus infections
and has struggled to implement an effective nationwide vaccination
program. Less than 10 percent of the population has been fully immunized
against the virus.
Russia
Russia reported 9,232 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours on Thursday, including 3,312 in the capital Moscow, taking the national tally to 4,974,908.
The country also reported another 396 deaths, raising the official toll to 117,361.
The federal statistics agency has kept a separate count and has said Russia recorded around 250,000 deaths related to COVID-19 from April 2020 to March 2021
