Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
World	164,884,643	+612,482	3,418,183
USA	33,774,945	+27,506	601,330
India	25,495,144	+267,174	283,276
Brazil	15,735,485	+74,379	439,379
France	5,898,347	+17,210	108,040
Turkey	5,139,485	+11,937	45,186
Russia	4,957,756	+8,183	116,575
UK	4,450,392	+2,412	127,691
Italy	4,167,025	+4,452	124,497
Spain	3,619,848	+3,988	79,502
Germany	3,615,896	+7,604	87,148
Argentina	3,371,508	+35,543	71,771
Colombia	3,144,547	+13,137	82,291
Poland	2,856,924	+1,734	71,920
Iran	2,779,415	+13,930	77,532
Mexico	2,382,745	+822	220,489
Ukraine	2,160,095	+4,095	48,469
Peru	1,897,900	+4,566	66,770
Indonesia	1,748,230	+4,185	48,477
Czechia	1,654,219	+1,126	29,933
South Africa	1,617,840	+2,355	55,340
Netherlands	1,606,319	+5,326	17,473
Canada	1,338,141	+4,033	25,018
Chile	1,295,862	+3,766	27,965
Philippines	1,154,388	+4,487	19,372
Iraq	1,146,948	+4,023	16,029
Romania	1,072,972	+681	29,662
Belgium	1,032,895	+972	24,723
Pakistan	882,928	+2,566	19,752
Portugal	842,767	+386	17,011
Israel	839,167	+8	6,392
Hungary	798,955	+382	29,277
Bangladesh	782,129	+1,272	12,211
Jordan	726,432	+1,174	9,295
Serbia	707,719	+686	6,710
Japan	687,825	+3,680	11,591
Austria	638,155	+582	10,499
UAE	548,681	+1,270	1,637
Lebanon	536,554	+600	7,641
Morocco	515,420	+397	9,105
Malaysia	479,421	+4,865	1,994
Nepal	472,354	+8,136	5,411
Saudi Arabia	435,027	+1,047	7,188
Bulgaria	415,326	+457	17,379
Ecuador	411,466	+596	19,877
Slovakia	387,892	+233	12,248
Greece	381,266	+2,781	11,534
Belarus	378,711	+1,179	2,721
Panama	371,684	+539	6,300
Kazakhstan	362,030	+1,837	4,095
Croatia	350,997	+491	7,765
Bolivia	334,824	+2,257	13,566
Georgia	332,441	+1,562	4,499
Azerbaijan	330,701	+432	4,802
Tunisia	328,528	+1,055	11,971
Paraguay	318,251	+2,704	7,802
Kuwait	293,574	+1,084	1,701
Costa Rica	290,920	+2,294	3,673
Denmark	268,255	+916	2,503
Ethiopia	267,100	+454	4,021
Lithuania	266,858	+748	4,127
Ireland	256,390	+358	4,941
Moldova	254,075	+121	6,043
Slovenia	249,921	+497	4,333
Egypt	248,078	+1,169	14,441
Uruguay	246,026	+3,120	3,578
Guatemala	242,784	+1,256	7,913
Honduras	227,516	+797	5,970
Armenia	221,139	+212	4,346
Venezuela	217,603	+1,188	2,428
Qatar	213,855	+370	536
Oman	207,109	+812	2,219
Bahrain	204,524	+1,968	765
Libya	182,012	+298	3,097
Kenya	166,006	+469	3,021
North Macedonia	154,804	+79	5,232
Sri Lanka	147,720	+2,518	1,015
Myanmar	143,131	+34	3,213
S. Korea	132,818	+528	1,904
Albania	132,071	+39	2,436
Latvia	128,688	+563	2,280
Estonia	127,500	+295	1,229
Cuba	126,755	+1,244	826
Algeria	125,693	+208	3,388
Norway	119,814	+314	774
Thailand	113,555	+2,473	649
Kyrgyzstan	100,966	+234	1,718
Montenegro	98,971	+73	1,564
Uzbekistan	97,068	+175	672
Ghana	93,390	+57	783
Zambia	92,520	+60	1,263
China	90,894	+22	4,636
Finland	90,398	+149	929
Cameroon	77,429	+2,483	1,189
Suriname	12,251	+144	238
Aruba	10,869	+12	105
Vietnam	4,512	+153	37

Retrieved from:  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

 

 

Fear over fresh Covid-19 outbreaks sees China vaccinate 100 million people in 9 days

From CNN's Ben Westcott in Hong Kong

 

Residents queue to receive Covid-19 vaccines at Hefei Olympic Sports Center on May 17 in Anhui province, China. Zhang Dagang/VCG/Getty Images

As vaccination hesitancy slows inoculation rates in some Western countries, China is going into overdrive.

Over 400 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have now been administered in China, according to the National Health Commission -- more than in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany combined.

Of course, 400 million doses doesn't even cover half of China's population of 1.4 billion people, but the vaccination rate is speeding up. Chinese authorities announced the first 100 million people had been vaccinated on March 27. After that, it took another 26 days to reach 200 million, and then 17 days to hit 300 million.

The latest 100 million doses were given in just nine days.

While there has been a concerted push for vaccines by the central government and local authorities, that campaign has been helped recently by another factor -- fear.

What happened? Anhui and Liaoning provinces have both seen a large spike in vaccinations over the past two weeks, following small local outbreaks of Covid-19 -- 17 and 25 cases, respectively.

But that was all it took for Anhui to inoculate more than 1.1 million people in a day on May 16. The province's average daily vaccination rate was more than 840,000 in the past week.

In Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, there have been more than 100,000 vaccinations a day since May 12, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

The impact of the new outbreaks has also been felt nationwide: on Friday alone, 14 million people were vaccinated across China, days after the news broke of cases in Anhui and Liaoning.

And in Beijing, almost 80% of those age 18 and over have now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, the state-run Global Times said this week, bringing the capital close to the coveted goal of achieving herd immunity.

 

 

India records more than 4,500 Covid-19 deaths in a single day for the first time

From CNN's Swati Gupta in New Delhi

 

People mourn the death of family members who died of Covid-19 in New Delhi, India on May 18. Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images

India reported 4,529 new Covid-19 related fatalities Wednesday morning, the highest daily death toll the country has seen since the start of the pandemic.

It's the first time India has reported more than 4,500 deaths in a single day, and brings the country's total Covid-19 death toll to 283,248. 

India has reported more than 3,000 new Covid deaths every day since April 28.

The South Asian country reported 267,334 new cases of Covid-19 Wednesday, the third consecutive day it has seen fewer than 300,000 cases amid a devastating second wave of infections.

Wednesday's tally brings the country's total number of confirmed cases to 25,496,330, according to the Indian health ministry.

To date, 185.7 million vaccine doses have been administered in India, with 1,279,896 shots recorded on Tuesday, according to the health ministry.

 

 

Thailand reports highest number of daily Covid deaths as virus tears through prisons

From CNN's Helen Regan and Kocha Olarn

 

Thailand reported its highest number of Covid-19 deaths in a single day Tuesday as officials struggle to contain a third coronavirus wave ripping through overcrowded prisons.

The Southeast Asian country's justice minister said authorities are hoping to prioritize vaccinating more than 300,000 inmates and jail staff by diverting doses from the health ministry.

On Monday, Thailand reported 9,635 new coronavirus cases -- the highest number of new infections since the pandemic began, according to its Covid-19 task force (CCSA). Of those cases, 6,853 -- more than 70% -- were found in eight prisons and detention facilities across the country.

By Tuesday morning local time, 2,473 new Covid-19 cases had been confirmed, of which 680 were from prisons. Thailand also reported 35 related deaths nationwide on Tuesday, its highest number of daily fatalities, according to CCSA.

The new figures bring the country's total number of confirmed cases to 127,184, with 649 related deaths -- relatively small numbers compared to those in other parts of the world. Thailand has managed to keep overall cases low until the most recent outbreak emerged in early April from a Bangkok entertainment district before spreading to a slum area.

Thailand's prison clusters came to light when several pro-democracy protest leaders, accused of insulting the monarchy and held in pre-trial detention following popular demonstrations last year, announced they had tested positive for Covid-19 after being released on bail. Following the news, Thai authorities began mass testing the country's prison population.

 

 

 

Covid-19 cases fall from record highs with 4.8 million infections globally this week, WHO says

From CNN Health's Ryan Prior

 

Reported Covid-19 cases worldwide declined for the third week in a row, although the numbers confirmed are still at some of the highest levels over the course of the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Another 4.8 million new Covid-19 cases were reported around the world this week, along with nearly 86,000 new deaths, according to WHO's Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, which compiled data from national health authorities through May 16.

Declining cases: Cases fell 12% overall on the previous week. Europe reported the sharpest decline, with 26% fewer cases on the week before.

"All regions reported a decline in new cases this week apart from the Western Pacific Region, where the incidence of new cases was similar to the previous week," the report said.

Record highs: The global drop in recent weeks comes after Covid-19 cases reached an all-time peak in April. Covid-19 is continuing to spread at high rates in many countries.

The highest number of new cases was in India, with 2.3 million more people falling ill this week -- a 13% decrease from the last week. In Brazil, there were 437,000 new cases, up 3% from the previous week.

While India is in crisis, there are also worrying spikes in cases and hospitalizations in many nations including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Egypt, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing Friday.

"Covid-19 has already cost more than 3.3 million lives and we’re on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first," he said.

 

Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-05-19-21/index.html

 

 

 

Across Europe, there are hopeful reopenings and an early warning

By Elian Peltier, Constant Méheut, Christopher F. Schuetze and Emma Bubola

 

Castle Square in Warsaw on Saturday, during the first weekend after Poland eased pandemic restrictions.Credit...Leszek Szymanski/EPA, via Shutterstock

In Poland, bars and restaurants reopened on Saturday after being shut for months; in Britain, indoor dining resumed on Monday and 20,000 fans attended a soccer game over the weekend; in France, cafe terraces are reopening on Wednesday, along with cinemas and theaters, while Italy will move a nighttime curfew from 10 to 11 p.m.

A partial sense of normalcy is returning across Europe this week as governments lift some restrictions in response to a drop in coronavirus cases, and as vaccine campaigns are picking up speed.

Italy’s health minister, Roberto Speranza, said on Monday that the latest figures were “a reason for relief” and that the country could “continue the gradual path of reopenings.”

France’s prime minister, Jean Castex, said the easing of restrictions would “take place in a gradual, careful and guided way.”

“But the trend is clear, we are reaching the goal and that’s good news,” Mr. Castex said.

The easing of restrictions varies across the continent: In France, museums, cinemas and retail stores will be allowed to reopen, although at limited capacity.

In the Czech Republic, which suffered one of the world’s highest Covid death rates earlier this year, dining in outdoor areas resumed on Monday, while theater plays and concerts are now allowed outside.

Spain lifted some restrictions last week, and Belgium resumed outdoor dining earlier this month. The Netherlands will ease some lockdown measures on Wednesday. Amusement parks, zoos and other outdoor venues are allowed to reopen with social distance, but indoor activities will stay shut for now. Outdoor dining will be allowed until 8 p.m.

Governments now have their eyes on June, when they plan to reopen even larger parts of their economies, and on the summer, as residents are trying to plan their holidays despite travel restrictions and quarantine orders still in place.

Such hopes come as countries have accelerated their vaccination campaigns: Roughly 30 percent of people in Italy, France, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic have received at least one dose of vaccine, while that figure rises to 37 percent in Germany, and 55 percent in Britain.

Yet Britain’s example could also serve as a warning for Europe. The latest easing of restrictions on Monday came amid growing fears that the B.1.617 variant of the virus, first detected in India, could delay a full return to normality, as the authorities reported 2,323 confirmed cases of the variant. Case numbers in Britain over all remain flat so far.

“We must be humble in the face of this virus,” the country’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, told Parliament on Monday, echoing comments from other officials that local lockdowns could be reimposed in areas that have faced a surge in cases, even as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeated that the reopening would be “cautious but irreversible.”

The extent to which B.1.617 has spread globally is unclear: Britain has a particularly strong genomic surveillance program, which allows it to spot potentially problematic variants relatively early in their rise.

In Italy, 52 cases of the variant have been detected; health authorities in France reported at least 24 cases, and in Belgium, 77.

In Germany, public health authorities said last week that B.1.617 accounted for around 2 percent of new infections reported at the beginning of the month. On Sunday, officials in the Mettmann district, in western Germany, put nearly 200 residents of an apartment complex under quarantine because one of them had tested positive for the variant.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/05/18/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-mask/across-europe-there-are-hopeful-reopenings-and-an-early-warning

 

 

 

Italy’s island playgrounds got first dibs on vaccines

By Jason Horowitz

 

Workers walking by a “Capri Covid Free” billboard from the ferry they took from Naples last week in Capri, Italy.Credit...Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

Feeling the heat from Greece and Spain, which had prioritized vaccination campaigns on their islands to lure tourists away from Italy, Vincenzo De Luca, the president of he Campania region, which includes Capri, diverged from the government’s vaccination strategy of prioritizing categories of more vulnerable Italians.

Instead, he treated Capri — famous for its Jackie O. and J. Lo sightings, exorbitantly priced Caprese salads, and reputation as a billionaire’s playground — and other holiday islands as special cases.

He fast-forwarded vaccinations on Capri by flooding the island with doses. Seniors were inoculated first, then the middle-aged, then 20-somethings and even some teenagers while the rest of the region was still struggling to get shots to all its 70- and 60-year-olds.

Then Mr. De Luca vaccinated anyone who worked on the island.

Massimiliano Fedriga, president of the northern region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, warned that “social tensions could flare” if Capri, which had avoided outbreaks, and other islands received special treatment. The national government in Rome insisted that younger residents — even on the islands — should be vaccinated only after all the entire region’s elderly and vulnerable were inoculated.

But Mr. De Luca persisted and the government, eager to reignite the economy, eventually came around. This month it approved vaccinating all residents of smaller Italian islands, from Elba to the Aeolians off Sicily.

“My friends say, ‘Oh lucky you, we’re still waiting,’” said Simone Aversa, the owner of Hangout, a popular pub in town, who is 30 and vaccinated. He said his family in Florence complained that they too live in a town supported by tourism; why was Capri getting such special treatment?

“Capri is the answer to the question of why you and not us,” Mr. Aversa said with a shrug. “Because it’s Capri.”

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/05/18/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-mask/italys-island-playgrounds-got-first-dibs-on-vaccines

 

 

 

Summary

 

Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:

· Ukrainian lawmakers have voted to dismiss the health minister who has faced criticism for the slow pace of the nation’s coronavirus vaccination effort, AP reports.

· Argentina reported a record one-day coronavirus death toll of 745 on Tuesday as the country is hit by a second wave of infections that has brought the number of positive tests recorded in a 24-hour period to 35,543.

· Bahrain will vaccinate adolescents aged 12-17 with two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, state news agency BNA said, citing the country’s national medical taskforce for combatting the coronavirus on Tuesday.

· Algeria has backed off a decision to reopen land borders closed because of the coronavirus pandemic but will go ahead with a plan to partially resume international flights from next month, the presidency said on Tuesday.

· Mexico aims to ensure its population has had at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot by October, before the onset of colder weather, the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Tuesday.

· Kuwait’s cabinet said on Tuesday that direct commercial flights for India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are limited to departing flights only, while cargo flights will continue, until further notice, the cabinet wrote on Twitter.

· Sudan will restrict all travellers who have visited India within the prior two weeks, the country’s health emergency committee said in a statement. India’s Covid-19 caseload topped 25 million on Tuesday, and there are concerns about the spread of a new, highly infectious variant, B.1.617, first found there.

· An extended halt to exports of Covid-19 vaccines from India risks undermining vaccination efforts already under way in Africa, according to one of the continent’s top health officials.

· Residents of two tower blocks in Germany have been put under quarantine after a woman was diagnosed with the infectious Covid Indian variant, an official said.

· Malaysia reported 47 new coronavirus deaths, a new record in fatalities for a second successive day.

· Singapore has authorised the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds in order to extend protection to more groups.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/may/19/coronavirus-live-news-india-reports-record-new-deaths-60-of-all-vaccine-doses-given-in-just-three-countries