i_need_contribute
|
Country, |
Total |
New |
Total |
|
World |
242,779,676 |
+454,235 |
4,937,041 |
|
46,092,362 |
+80,425 |
751,811 |
|
|
34,126,682 |
+18,359 |
452,844 |
|
|
21,680,489 |
+15,610 |
604,303 |
|
|
8,589,737 |
+49,139 |
139,031 |
|
|
8,094,825 |
+34,073 |
226,353 |
|
|
7,744,139 |
+29,760 |
68,274 |
|
|
7,102,079 |
+6,036 |
117,376 |
|
|
5,821,737 |
+11,770 |
124,585 |
|
|
5,275,984 |
+1,218 |
115,770 |
|
|
4,993,295 |
+2,528 |
87,082 |
|
|
4,984,751 |
+1,224 |
126,931 |
|
|
4,725,887 |
+3,702 |
131,688 |
|
|
4,429,019 |
+18,687 |
95,668 |
|
|
4,237,201 |
+914 |
143,077 |
|
|
3,762,689 |
+4,220 |
284,923 |
|
|
2,950,616 |
+5,559 |
76,254 |
|
|
2,917,846 |
+591 |
88,754 |
|
|
2,735,305 |
+3,592 |
40,977 |
|
|
2,679,185 |
+18,912 |
61,843 |
|
|
2,407,382 |
+5,516 |
28,138 |
|
|
2,192,205 |
+1,034 |
199,945 |
|
|
2,059,534 |
+4,574 |
18,273 |
|
|
2,040,235 |
+1,388 |
22,836 |
|
|
1,811,852 |
+8,918 |
18,486 |
|
|
1,715,515 |
+3,246 |
30,574 |
|
|
1,715,346 |
+354 |
18,146 |
|
|
1,690,258 |
+2,650 |
28,644 |
|
|
1,674,226 |
+1,228 |
37,628 |
|
|
1,566,664 |
+368 |
27,791 |
|
|
1,503,422 |
+17,158 |
43,039 |
|
|
1,319,902 |
+675 |
8,029 |
|
|
1,292,887 |
+3,854 |
25,797 |
|
|
1,266,204 |
+554 |
28,312 |
|
|
1,081,856 |
+927 |
18,109 |
|
|
1,070,705 |
+7,745 |
9,272 |
|
|
942,967 |
+188 |
14,580 |
|
|
940,127 |
+1,550 |
8,114 |
|
|
921,216 |
+1,683 |
11,815 |
|
|
873,901 |
+3,646 |
21,416 |
|
|
846,033 |
+1,232 |
10,903 |
|
|
838,916 |
+1,668 |
30,448 |
|
|
807,052 |
+535 |
11,318 |
|
|
783,996 |
+3,727 |
11,209 |
|
|
738,924 |
+112 |
2,124 |
|
|
711,164 |
+157 |
25,121 |
|
|
704,211 |
+3,252 |
15,485 |
|
|
675,771 |
+5,219 |
9,588 |
|
|
635,447 |
+778 |
8,438 |
|
|
591,460 |
+1,474 |
14,515 |
|
|
577,932 |
+2,076 |
4,449 |
|
|
555,077 |
+4,522 |
22,719 |
|
|
554,604 |
+943 |
6,895 |
|
|
548,065 |
+47 |
8,770 |
|
|
533,305 |
+645 |
13,543 |
|
|
507,857 |
+2,303 |
6,809 |
|
|
507,683 |
+549 |
18,883 |
|
|
490,901 |
+893 |
18,444 |
|
|
470,855 |
+257 |
7,300 |
|
|
460,615 |
+33 |
16,228 |
|
|
443,214 |
+3,480 |
12,872 |
|
|
433,136 |
+3,162 |
8,951 |
|
|
421,234 |
+2,147 |
5,369 |
|
|
419,624 |
+275 |
4,336 |
|
|
412,424 |
+21 |
2,458 |
|
|
396,477 |
+1,254 |
4,763 |
|
|
391,522 |
+164 |
6,069 |
|
|
376,380 |
+3,622 |
5,516 |
|
|
373,206 |
+286 |
10,148 |
|
|
373,040 |
+963 |
4,093 |
|
|
371,286 |
+1,127 |
2,694 |
|
|
360,503 |
+622 |
6,287 |
|
|
351,756 |
+532 |
4,945 |
|
|
346,088 |
+1,570 |
2,698 |
|
|
342,992 |
+2,153 |
1,591 |
|
|
321,682 |
+2,068 |
7,346 |
|
|
321,084 |
+877 |
18,105 |
|
|
312,316 |
+2,145 |
4,654 |
|
|
304,101 |
+13 |
4,107 |
|
|
286,303 |
+2,066 |
5,870 |
|
|
276,336 |
+74 |
1,392 |
|
|
252,308 |
+117 |
5,238 |
|
|
238,165 |
+86 |
608 |
|
|
209,713 |
+167 |
2,840 |
|
|
209,571 |
+22 |
3,658 |
|
|
205,529 |
+76 |
5,878 |
|
|
198,161 |
+657 |
893 |
|
|
198,156 |
+487 |
6,998 |
|
|
191,321 |
+2,599 |
2,944 |
|
|
182,060 |
+406 |
1,295 |
|
|
180,109 |
+103 |
2,641 |
|
|
179,463 |
+659 |
2,849 |
|
|
175,781 |
+1,346 |
1,438 |
|
|
158,587 |
+3,862 |
264 |
|
|
121,130 |
+143 |
567 |
|
|
47,477 |
+193 |
1,044 |
|
|
15,765 |
+19 |
170 |
Retrieved from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
A medical worker administers a dose of the "Comirnaty" Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a patient in a vaccination center in Nantes, France, October 6, 2021. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
France's lower house of parliament voted to approve extending the country's COVID-19 health pass measures until at least July 31, 2022, as governments around Europe look to ensure they can curb the virus as the winter season approaches.
The pass proves the holder has been fully vaccinated against COVID, or has recently tested negative for COVID, thereby allowing the holder to enter places such as bars and restaurants and sports venues where the health pass is compulsory.
Nationwide demonstrations broke out in France in August by those opposed to the COVID health pass, although the numbers of protesters have gradually fallen in recent weeks.
Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-parliament-approves-extension-covid-health-pass-measures-2021-10-21/
By Octav Ganea and Alexander Marrow
Specialists wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) spray disinfectant while sanitizing the Leningradsky railway station amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Moscow, Russia October 19, 2021. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
Russia will shut workplaces for a week, Latvia went back into lockdown for a month and Romanian funeral homes are running out of coffins, as vaccine-sceptic countries across ex-communist Eastern Europe face record-setting disease and deaths.
Russia, which boasted of developing one of the earliest COVID-19 vaccines, has been unable to persuade large swathes of the population to take it, and is now facing its highest daily death rates of the pandemic.
President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that the period from Oct. 30-Nov. 7 would be "non-working days", although salaries would still be paid. Individual regions could extend the shutdown for longer in response to local conditions.
Public hostility to vaccination has hit other Eastern European countries that were within Moscow's orbit during the Cold War. The EU states with the lowest vaccination rates are all part of the former communist eastern bloc, including Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Poland, Latvia and Estonia.
Romania, where one person is dying of COVID-19 every five minutes, had the world's highest death rate per capita this week, with Bulgaria close behind. Only 36% of Romanian adults are vaccinated, compared with 74% across the EU as a whole.
"There were families who buried up to four people in two weeks, and that is not easy," funeral home owner Sebastian Cocos told Reuters in the eastern city of Ploiesti, who said he was struggling to obtain enough coffins to keep pace with demand.
"I recommend to everyone that they get vaccinated, otherwise they will end up in our hands."
Andi Nodit, manager at Bucharest's Bagdasar-Arseni clinical emergency hospital, said: "The size and gravity of the situation in the emergency room and the hospital is beyond any words that I can express."
Compared with earlier COVID-19 waves, the fourth wave that has now hit the country was like an iceberg compared to a snowman, he said.
EU'S FIRST NEW LOCKDOWN
This week Latvia imposed a month-long lockdown, becoming the first EU country to shut down again since the bloc began reopening this year as vaccines became widely available.
Around a third of Latvia's population are Russian speakers. A study by SKDS found that only 46% of them were vaccinated, compared with 62% percent of ethnic Latvians.
Bulgaria, where only a quarter of the population has taken a first dose of vaccine, banned access to indoor public spaces this week for anyone who cannot show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recovery from a recent infection. read more
Schools in areas with high infection rates will have to shift to online teaching.
"The number of new infections and deaths is rising. That forces us to impose additional measures. All activities indoors should be carried out with a 'green certificate'," interim Health Minister Stoicho Katsarov told reporters.
Poland's health minister said on Wednesday "drastic measures" could be needed to respond to a sudden surge of infections there, although he said no new lockdown was being considered.
"Over the last two days we have seen an explosion of the pandemic," Adam Niedzielski told a news conference. "We have increases from week to week of 85% and over 100%."
Moscow's mayor announced on Tuesday that people over 60 who were not vaccinated would be required to stay home for four months.
The mayor's office was seeking to force shopping centres to connect their security cameras to a centralised facial recognition system that would allow authorities to enforce mask-wearing in public, the Kommersant daily reported.
Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/lockdowns-record-covid-19-deaths-hit-russia-eastern-europe-region-spurns-2021-10-20/
People lining up for a sold-out opening day screening of the new James Bond film "No Time To Die" last month in London.Credit...Jeremie Souteyrat for The New York Times
Despite high and rising coronavirus case numbers, the British government on Wednesday rejected calls for the immediate reintroduction of some restrictions in England, while warning that they might be needed if the rollout of vaccine booster shots failed to contain the worsening situation.
Speaking at a news conference, the health secretary, Sajid Javid, said that a contingency plan for tighter rules would not be carried out “at this point” but added that he would be “staying vigilant” and warned that new cases could surge to 100,000 a day.
“We will do what it takes to make sure that this pressure does not become unsustainable, and we won’t allow the N.H.S. to become overwhelmed,” Mr. Javid said, referring to Britain’s National Health Service, which is already under pressure. “We are concerned. Everyone is right to be concerned,” he added.
Mr. Javid warned that if the situation deteriorates, he could be forced to activate a contingency plan that would reimpose some restrictions that were scrapped in England in July. Under this plan, mask-wearing rules could return, people could be urged to work from home, and those visiting nightclubs and other venues could be required to show proof of their vaccination status or of a recent negative test. If necessary, he added, “we won’t hesitate to act.”
Still hoping to avoid that step, Mr. Javid urged people to meet outdoors where possible and to wear a face covering in confined spaces. He also appealed directly to people to get boosters adding: “If you are invited for a vaccine, please take it up.”
Earlier, Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, told the BBC in a televised interview that an increase in booster shots was what was “going to give us more protection,” adding that he did not want “to reverse back to a situation where we have lockdowns.”
The government argues that hospital admissions have remained low because of high rates of vaccination. But vaccines are waning in effectiveness at preventing infection, and Britain, which rolled out vaccines early, is now reporting one of the highest rates of new cases in the world. Vaccines still offer robust protection against hospitalizations and deaths.
There have been over 40,000 new cases for seven consecutive days — reaching 49,139 on Wednesday — and 869 patients were admitted to hospitals on Oct. 16. While the death toll is still low compared with last winter’s level, the daily death toll rose to 223 on Tuesday, the highest number since March, before falling back to 179 on Wednesday.
Analysts believe cases in Britain are rising because large numbers of children are unvaccinated and schools do not require face coverings. Among adults, mask wearing is less prevalent than in some other parts of Europe, where they are often required indoors and where cases per capita are much lower.
Health professionals have recommended the reintroduction of some of the measures — such as mandatory mask wearing in some locations — that were swept away in July, when England lifted almost all of its legal restrictions on what the tabloid media called “freedom day.”
The National Health Service Confederation, which represents organizations that provide health services, asked the government on Monday to immediately introduce mandatory face coverings in crowded and enclosed spaces.
“Without pre-emptive action, we risk stumbling into a winter crisis,” said Matthew Taylor, the confederation’s chief executive.
In recent months, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s strategy has been to focus on rolling out boosters to the most vulnerable people and to vaccinate children ages 12 to 15. But critics say that plan has faltered.
The government has said that it is monitoring the rise in cases and that the current rates are not yet sufficient to justify a switch in strategy to help contain the spread of the virus in England. The government’s main concern has been preventing Britain’s stretched health service from being overwhelmed, and so far, vaccinations have kept the level of hospitalizations manageable, officials have said.
In September, the government in England put on hold proposals to require those entering nightclubs and attending large events like soccer games to show proof of vaccination or of a recent negative test. Scotland and Wales, however, are requiring it.
By Daniel Politi
Covid-19 vaccination drives have gotten off to a slow start in some Caribbean nations. People waiting for shots on Monday at a subway station in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic.Credit...Erika Santelices/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images
Bucking the trend in much of the Americas, several Caribbean countries are reporting significant surges in known coronavirus infections, World Health Organization officials warned on Wednesday.
New cases reported are up 40 percent over the last week in the Dominican Republic and Barbados, said Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, the director of the Pan American Health Organization, a division of the W.H.O.
“In fact,” Dr. Etienne said at a news conference, “half of Barbados’s cumulative Covid infections since the pandemic began have been reported in the last month.”
New cases are also rising in Trinidad and Tobago and some smaller island nations and territories in the region, including St. Martin, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla and the Cayman Islands.
Many Caribbean countries have had difficulty moving quickly with vaccination efforts, both because of difficulty obtaining doses and because of widespread public hesitancy.
“It really troubles me that some of my Caribbean brothers and sisters have been slow to accept the Covid-19 vaccines that have been made available to them,” said Dr. Etienne, who is from Dominica.
Across Latin America and the Caribbean, 41 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to the P.A.H.O.
New case reports are declining across North America, and infections and deaths are declining in most of Central America. The picture is also improving in South America, with the exception of Bolivia and Venezuela, the organization said.
Dr. Etienne said it was important for countries in the region to build up testing even as reports of new cases ebb, so that any fresh outbreaks can be caught before they develop into widespread surges. “More and more, we’re seeing how local hot spots are driving national trends,” she said.
A good approach, she said, would be to integrate surveillance for Covid-19 with monitoring of other respiratory viruses. She said her organization was working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States to develop a new protocol for PCR testing that would screen the same samples for both Covid-19 and influenza.
Strong surveillance networks, she said, could also help detect emerging pathogens before they spread, and serve “as the region’s backbone for pandemic preparedness.”
Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/world/covid-caribbean-paho.html
By Nada Rashwan
Covid vaccinations underway in Cairo in September.Credit...Khaled Elfiqi/EPA, via Shutterstock
The Egyptian authorities, anticipating the delivery of tens of millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccines, have issued a sweeping vaccine mandate that encompasses a broad swath of society, including teachers, other government employees, university students and people seeking any government services.
Egypt is the Arab world’s most populous country, with more than 100 million citizens. Its decision to ramp up its vaccination campaign with a mandate follows the model set by wealthier neighbors like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are far ahead of Egypt in vaccinating their smaller populations.
A spokesman for the Egyptian cabinet, Nader Saad, said on Sunday in a television appearance that beginning on Nov. 15, civil servants will not be allowed into their workplaces unless they can show that they have received at least one vaccine dose, or can provide proof of a negative PCR test each week.
The tests are taken at the worker’s expense and cost $58 each, a daunting amount for someone earning government wages. Employees who do not comply will face disciplinary action, he said.
Mr. Saad said that beginning Nov. 1, public university students will not be allowed on campus without proof of at least one vaccine dose, and that students will not have a testing alternative.
According to the government, slightly more than half of the country’s three million university students and staff members have been vaccinated so far. Of Egypt’s five million government employees and schoolteachers, Mr. Saad said, about 600,000 had yet to receive a dose of vaccine.
By Dec. 1, the proof-of-vaccination requirement will also extend to anyone seeking to enter a government building to access government services.
So far, only 6.3 percent of Egypt’s population is fully vaccinated, and another 6.7 percent have had a first dose, according to the Our World in Data project at Oxford University.
Delays in delivery of vaccination doses through the global Covax program earlier this year stalled the government’s plan to inoculate 40 percent of the population by Dec. 31. In the spring and summer, many people complained of waiting months to receive a response to their applications for vaccine appointments.
But as Egypt began receiving more vaccine doses in recent weeks, the government stepped up its efforts to encourage the public to get the shots, with television ads and bus convoys that offer T-shirts, mugs and flash drives to people who register for the vaccine on the spot. The government also held vaccination drives for civil servants and university students.
Still, some Egyptians remain reluctant, and efforts to raise awareness of the vaccines have lagged.
Egypt’s underfunded health system has been hit hard by the pandemic, which is now in a fourth wave in the country. Hundreds of doctors and medical staff members have lost their lives to Covid, and hospitals struggled at the peak of each wave to accommodate patients. The most recent wave began in late July, as the Delta variant was detected and infections and deaths began rising steadily.
Egyptian officials say they expect to have received 70 million doses by the end of the month. Figures from Our World in Data show that at least 20 million of the doses have been administered.
The government has also begun to produce a Chinese vaccine, Sinovac, domestically, aiming to achieve self-sufficiency and eventually export the vaccine to other African countries.
The country has reported more than 300,000 coronavirus cases and more than 18,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, but experts say the true figures are most likely much higher. Some analysts have raised concerns that Egypt and other authoritarian governments may be deliberately undercounting cases and deaths; Egypt’s government rejects any such assertion.
Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/world/egypt-covid-vaccine-mandate.html
· New Zealand Covid daily cases pass 100 for first time since pandemic began. The nation’s director general of health says the country is following a similar trajectory to the UK, with vast majority of hospital cases being unvaccinated.
· The British Medical Association says the “time is now” for the government to enact ‘plan B’ in England to prevent the NHSbeing overwhelmed by growing numbers of coronavirus cases. The doctors’ trade union believes not taking action over England’s growing Covid cases is “wilfully negligent”.
· Excess AstraZeneca vaccines may go to waste in Australia. None of the current 7m surplus doses has been earmarked for foreign aid, with the volume of supply available to Pacific neighbours declining to just 26,500 last week. Former AMA president, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, condemned “a very good vaccine going to waste”, as declining public take-up causes stock held by suburban GPs to pass expiration dates.
· Lithuania’s biggest news portals said they were switching off public comments on their articles about Covid-19 vaccines in an effort aimed at curbing conspiracy theories.
· Poland is facing an explosion of coronavirus cases that may need drastic action, the health minister has said after the country recorded more than 5,000 daily new infections for the first time since May.
· The UK health secretary says daily Covid cases could hit as high as 100,000. Sajid Javid said the government always knew that winter would bring problems and that Covid hospitalisations are already approaching 1,000 a day.
· New York city announces all municipal workers – including refuse workers, police officers and firefighters – must be vaccinated or be put on unpaid leave.
· Hundreds of anti-vaccine protesters took to the streets of Sofia today to demonstrate Bulgaria’s new Covid pass requirement.
US children aged five to 11 years old are expected to be offered the Covid vaccine within weeks. Laying out plans for its distribution, the White House said the age group would soon be able to get the vaccine at their doctor, pharmacy or maybe at school.
· Latvia is the first country to reimpose lockdown in Europe’s new Covid wave. The Baltic state once seen as coronavirus success story announced a month of restrictions including curfew.
· Bulgaria is to make Covid passes mandatory for entry to indoor restaurants, cinemas, gyms and shopping malls amid rising coronavirus infections.
· New Zealand faces obstacles in vaccinating Māori population.
Medicine
