Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
World	188,580,962	+510,140	4,065,340
USA	34,807,813	+28,923	623,435
India	30,944,949	+40,215	411,439
Brazil	19,152,065	+45,094	535,924
Russia	5,833,175	+24,702	144,492
France	5,820,849	+6,950	111,407
Turkey	5,493,244	+6,285	50,324
UK	5,191,459	+36,660	128,481
Argentina	4,682,960	+20,023	99,640
Colombia	4,548,142	+17,532	113,839
Italy	4,273,693	+1,534	127,808
Spain	4,015,084	+43,960	81,033
Germany	3,745,287	+1,020	91,799
Iran	3,417,029	+22,750	86,207
Poland	2,880,959	+96	75,173
Indonesia	2,615,529	+47,899	68,219
Mexico	2,593,574	+3,074	235,058
Ukraine	2,241,698	+481	52,640
South Africa	2,219,316	+12,535	65,142
Peru	2,083,567	+2,010	194,606
Netherlands	1,744,700	+7,821	17,769
Czechia	1,669,745	+239	30,333
Chile	1,590,887	+1,264	34,016
Philippines	1,481,660	+3,604	26,092
Iraq	1,447,557	+9,046	17,630
Canada	1,421,447	+339	26,450
Belgium	1,097,029	+895	25,205
Romania	1,081,326	+51	34,233
Bangladesh	1,047,155	+12,198	16,842
Pakistan	976,867	+1,775	22,618
Portugal	912,406	+2,650	17,173
Malaysia	855,949	+11,079	6,385
Israel	847,525	+1,198	6,439
Japan	822,280	+1,505	14,959
Hungary	808,556	+17	30,010
Jordan	758,291	+601	9,855
Serbia	717,812	+145	7,076
Nepal	658,778	+1,639	9,412
UAE	653,284	+1,522	1,876
Austria	652,022	+218	10,724
Lebanon	548,455	+494	7,879
Morocco	545,016	+1,897	9,395
Tunisia	510,396	+8,473	16,651
Saudi Arabia	503,734	+1,295	8,006
Ecuador	470,882	+2,468	21,832
Bolivia	455,436	+1,195	17,250
Greece	444,783	+3,109	12,782
Paraguay	439,897	+1,133	14,016
Belarus	429,181	+586	3,276
Bulgaria	422,619	+74	18,154
Panama	417,087	+855	6,654
Slovakia	391,953	+28	12,522
Costa Rica	385,069	+1,569	4,829
Georgia	379,673	+1,862	5,479
Kuwait	379,076	+1,712	2,147
Uruguay	377,297	+421	5,849
Croatia	360,924	+83	8,231
Thailand	353,712	+8,685	2,847
Azerbaijan	337,456	+133	4,988
Guatemala	322,120	+2,963	9,756
Denmark	301,126	+1,055	2,539
Oman	287,054	+982	3,472
Venezuela	286,990	+1,080	3,315
Egypt	283,320	+108	16,412
Lithuania	279,302	+86	4,401
Ireland	279,053	+589	5,006
Sri Lanka	277,519	+1,413	3,574
Ethiopia	277,212	+75	4,347
Honduras	274,977	+499	7,288
Bahrain	267,400	+76	1,378
Slovenia	257,959	+84	4,425
Moldova	257,588	+59	6,214
Cuba	250,527	+5,613	1,608
Armenia	226,597	+138	4,549
Qatar	223,646	+142	599
Libya	209,409	+2,640	3,245
Myanmar	201,274	+4,047	4,036
Kenya	189,703	+761	3,732
Zambia	178,748	+2,006	2,904
S. Korea	170,296	+1,150	2,046
Nigeria	168,867	+154	2,125
North Macedonia	155,823	+21	5,487
Algeria	147,883	+941	3,867
Kyrgyzstan	142,270	+1,292	2,123
Mongolia	140,530	+1,246	699
Latvia	137,970	+53	2,538
Norway	133,549	+182	796
Albania	132,608	+11	2,456
Estonia	131,562	+54	1,270
Uzbekistan	116,918	+497	778
Namibia	108,055	+1,176	2,090
Montenegro	100,519	+31	1,621
Finland	98,505	+290	976
Ghana	97,728	+143	802
China	92,095	+29	4,636
Cyprus	86,185	+1,081	382
Vietnam	34,500	+2,301	132
Suriname	23,594	+131	594
Aruba	11,180	+11	108

 

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

 

 

 

Australia extends Sydney lockdown as COVID-19 outbreak nears 900 infections

By Jonathan Barrett

 

Chairs are stacked on tables inside a city centre restaurant serving takeaway but closed for dine-in during a lockdown to curb the spread of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Sydney, Australia, July 12, 2021. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Australian authorities extended a lockdown in Sydney on Wednesday by at least 14 days, after three weeks of initial restrictions failed to stamp out the biggest outbreak of COVID-19 this year in the country's largest city.

New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said restrictions would need to remain in place until at least July 30 after she reported 97 new locally transmitted cases, a slight increase from a day earlier.

"It always hurts to say this, but we need to extend the lockdown at least a further two weeks," Berejiklian said in Sydney on Wednesday.

"We want to get out of this lockdown as soon as we can and that is why we have the settings in place that we have."

The shutdown has now been extended on two occasions and total infections since the first was initially detected in the city's eastern suburbs in mid-June now stand at just under 900. Two deaths have been reported, the first for the country this year.

Berejiklian has repeatedly said that the lockdown, in place since June 26, will only be lifted when the number of newly reported cases that were circulating in the community while infectious were close to zero.

Of the 97 new cases, 24 people were infectious in the community, meaning authorities expect more cases of highly contagious Delta variant to come to light in the coming days.

The harbour city of 5 million residents was plunged into an initial two-week lockdown in late June.

Many non-essential businesses are closed, and most school students are staying home, with residents only allowed outside their homes for essential activities and some exercise.

Neighbouring Victoria state, which spent nearly a third of 2020 under lockdown as the centre of Australia's first wave of COVID-19 cases, meanwhile reported its biggest daily case increase in weeks, all linked to a team of removalists who carried the virus interstate from Sydney.

Among the seven new cases in the state, one person attended a football match at Melbourne Cricket Ground while contagious, making the country's biggest sports stadium a designated exposure site, the authorities said.

Hundreds of people in the state had been ordered into isolation and an apartment block visited by the removalists was locked down. Investigators were checking for clues of possible contacts, but there was no indication of plans for wider movement restrictions.

"Collectively, as the Victorian community, I'm confident we can get on top of it but if we have to bring additional weapons ... we'll do that," said the state's COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar. "The next two or three days are going to be absolutely critical."

HOSPITALISATIONS GROW

In New South Wales, there are now 71 COVID-19 patients in hospital as a result of the Sydney outbreak, with 20 people in intensive care units (ICU), including one person aged in their 20s and two in their 30s.

The virus appears to have spread to parts of Sydney previously unaffected, and to regional areas, with a case detected in Goulburn, about 200 km (125 miles) south-west of Sydney.

The outbreak has started to pressure health services, with queues for COVID-19 tests in Fairfield, in Sydney's south-west, stretching for kilometres overnight due to new health orders requiring people who leave the suburb for work to be tested regularly.

Snap lockdowns, speedy contact tracing and tough social distancing rules have otherwise helped Australia keep COVID-19 numbers lower than many other developed countries, with just over 31,300 cases and 912 deaths.

A sluggish vaccination programme has meant that less than 10% of the population has received two vaccine doses.

In New South Wales, health workers have administered just over 2.7 million vaccine doses, authorities said on Wednesday.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sydney-braces-extended-lockdown-covid-19-spreads-2021-07-14/

 

 

 

Olympics Tokyo governor vows city's medical system is ready for Games

By Antoni SlodkowskiAmi Miyazaki

 

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Tuesday that a sufficient number of hospitals combined with a speed-up in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout among the elderly meant the city will be able to hold "safe and secure" Olympics in 10 days.

But Koike, speaking to Reuters in an interview at the Tokyo government headquarters that has for the last few weeks doubled as a vaccination site, also warned the coronavirus pandemic was far from over and the spreading Delta variant remained a risk.

"Very many people will be vaccinated in the coming 10 days and during the Olympics. The biggest change as a result of that will be a substantive fall in the ratio of deaths and severe cases among the elderly," Koike said.

"Because of that, and because the medical system is ready, I think we can press ahead with a safe Olympics," said Koike, who has returned to work after a brief break due to fatigue during which she was admitted to hospital.

Japan's vaccination rollout got off to a slow start and has faced supply glitches after speeding up. Only about 28% of the population has received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Japanese capital entered its fourth state of emergency on Monday causing bars and restaurants to close early, amid a rebound in COVID-19 cases that also pushed the Games organisers last week to ban spectators from nearly all venues.

Spectators from abroad were already banned months ago, and officials are now asking residents to watch the Games on TV to keep the movement of people to a minimum.

U.S. First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Tokyo for the opening ceremony on July 23, the White House said in an announcement on Tuesday that did not include her husband, President Joe Biden. read more

"It's very sad that the Games are being held without spectators," said Koike. "It's clear we'll be able to lower the risks, but the spectators are also very important for the athletes and give them a big boost. It's a big shame that we have to hold the Olympics without them."

STRAIGHT-TALKING APPROACH

Koike, 68, often floated as a potential prime minister, was re-elected governor in a landslide last year, winning public support for her straight-talking approach to the pandemic in contrast with a sluggish nationwide vaccination rollout.

The Citizens First party, linked to Koike, performed strongly in this month's local assembly elections, leading to speculation - so far rejected by Koike - that she may make a comeback to national politics.

On Tuesday, she did not directly address questions on the matter.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, who is in Japan ahead of the Games, will meet Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday, news agency Jiji reported.

Bach also plans to visit the city of Hiroshima on Friday, Hiroshima prefecture said in a statement. Hiroshima, in western Japan, was the first city to suffer an atomic bombing at the end of World War Two.

Tokyo 2020 organisers also contacted Nagasaki prefecture earlier on Tuesday to inform them that senior IOC official John Coates would be visiting Nagasaki on Friday, a prefecture official said.

Nagasaki, on the island of Kyushu, was the second and last city to suffer an atomic bombing.

Bach would also visit the cities of Fukushima and Sapporo, Japan's Kyodo News agency said.

The Games, postponed from last year because of the pandemic, run from July 23 to Aug. 8, while the state of emergency - the capital's fourth - lasts until Aug. 22, shortly before the Paralympics begin.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympics-tokyo-governor-vows-citys-medical-system-is-ready-games-2021-07-13/

 

 

 

A surge in appointments follows the issuing of new vaccination rules in France

By Constant Méheut and Anna Schaverien

 

A vaccination site in Lyon, France, last week. The Delta variant of the coronavirus now accounts for half of new infections in the country.Credit...Laurent Cipriani/Associated Press

More than 1.3 million people in France were reported to have booked appointments for coronavirus shots within hours of President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of new vaccination requirements as the authorities scrambled to fend off a rise in infections driven by the Delta variant.

The surge in registrations, reflected in data provided by Doctolib, a widely-used private online booking platform, represents nearly 2 percent of France’s population. It comes after Mr. Macron said on Monday that inoculation would be made mandatory for health care workers and that proof of immunization or a recent negative test would soon be required to enter restaurants and cultural venues.

With the fast-spreading Delta variant taking hold, however, it was uncertain whether the measures would be enough to avoid a fourth wave of the virus in France. Delta already accounts for about half of new infections in the country.

Mr. Macron’s announcement came just three days after nightclubs reopened for the first time in 16 months, which many believed had symbolically signaled the completion of France’s protracted efforts to emerge from the pandemic. But the new measures dashed hopes of a return to a prepandemic normal and of a smooth summer vacation season.

In his televised address, Mr. Macron spoke of “a strong resurgence of the epidemic” that would require France to redouble use of “a key asset”: vaccines.

He announced that he wanted to pass a law that would require all health workers to get vaccinated by Sept. 15 and that the goal was now to “put restrictions on the unvaccinated rather than on everyone.”

The law is likely to pass this summer as most political parties are in favor of mandatory vaccinations for health care workers.

The government aims to get two-thirds of people fully protected by the end of August, but public demand has dwindled in recent weeks because of vaccine hesitancy and a growing sense among many people that the virus is no longer a threat.

On Monday, Mr. Macron stopped short of making vaccinations obligatory but added that such an option may be considered, “depending on the evolution of the situation.”

In other news from around the world:

Sydney’s strict lockdown will be extended by at least two weeks, to the end of the month, as officials reported another 97 cases Wednesday. The restrictions had been scheduled to end on Friday, but the festering outbreak — driven by the Delta variant—- has yet to subside, leading to an extension of stay-at-home orders and remote schooling for the city and nearby regional areas. Gladys Berejiklian, the top government official for the state of New South Wales, said that at least 24 of the 97 cases were infectious and still circulating in the community. Until that number gets close to zero, she said, the restrictions will have to remain in place.

Doctors in Britain have warned that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to lift almost all of England’s coronavirus-related restrictions starting July 19 could have “potentially devastating consequences” as the Delta variant spreads. Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, a senior figure in the British Medical Association, said that the government’s decision was “irresponsible” and would lead to increased infection rates and hospitalizations. And a special envoy on Covid-19 for the World Health Organization, Dr. David Nabarro, told the BBC on Tuesday that the pandemic was “advancing ferociously around the world” and that it was “too early to be talking about massive relaxation or freedom.”

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/07/13/world/covid-variant-vaccine-updates/a-surge-in-appointments-follows-the-issuing-of-new-vaccination-rules-in-france?smid=url-share-live

 

 

 

As virus cases speed up, Seoul tells gym users to slow down

By  Daniel Victor and Yu Young Jin

 

Under new coronavirus regulations in Seoul, the music played at gyms must be no faster than 120 beats per minute.Credit...Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

As South Korea endures its worst wave of the coronavirus yet, government officials rolled out a plan for Seoul on Monday that would limit social gatherings and close nightclubs, some of the routine steps that health officials around the world have taken to limit the spread of the virus.

It also included some not-so-routine restrictions.

Under the regulations, which are in effect through July 25, gyms can remain open, but the treadmills must run no higher than 3.7 miles per hour. And the music played at the gyms must be no faster than 120 beats per minute, roughly the speed of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen.

Health officials said the measures were to prevent people from breathing too hard or sweating on other people. But gym-goers, epidemiologists and other observers were confused by the specific guidelines.

Dr. Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital in Seoul, said the gym policies were “absurd” and “ineffective.”

“I wish people would listen to the experts,” Dr. Kim said.

Other songs around 120 beats per minute include “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen, “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga, “Respect” by Aretha Franklin and, appropriately, “The New Workout Plan” by Kanye West. (In K-pop terms, “Boombayah” by Blackpink comes in just over the line at 123 beats per minute, while the BTS hit “Boy With Luv” is barely permissible at 120.)

A standard walking pace is a bit more than three miles per hour, putting 3.7 at roughly the speed one might move if someone else were holding a door open ahead.

The restrictions are meant to battle a wave of virus cases that has alarmed many in South Korea, which had succeeded at maintaining low levels of infections throughout the pandemic but is now contending with the Delta variant and a flagging vaccination drive. Just 11 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, with 30 percent having had one dose, and appointments have been halted because of a lack of vaccine supply.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/world/asia/south-korea-gyms-covid.html

 

 

 

The death toll rises to 92 in a fire that gutted a hospital coronavirus ward in Iraq

By Jane Arraf

 

At least 64 people were killed when the new coronavirus isolation ward at al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in Nasiriya, Iraq, caught fire. It was not immediately clear what had caused the fire.CreditCredit...Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press

BAGHDAD — The death toll at a southern Iraqi hospital treating Covid patients rose to at least 92 people on Tuesday, as witnesses described chaotic scenes of volunteers desperately trying to pry open a padlocked front door, malfunctioning fire extinguishers, and fire trucks running out of water as the ward burned.

The fast-spreading blaze tore through the new isolation ward at the Imam Hussein Teaching Hospital in the city of Nasiriya late Monday night into early Tuesday. It was the second such tragedy in the country in less than three months, after a similar fire broke out in April in a Baghdad coronavirus hospital and killed at least 82 people.

“Most of the patients were breathing through ventilators and unable to move,” said Dr. Aws Adel, a health official for the province of Dhi Qar which includes Nasiriya. “Most of the hospital staff were able to escape.”

The lack of precautions at the hospital, the speed at which the fire spread, and the feeble ability to fight it reflected a country in deep crisis after years of corruption and government mismanagement have left basic government services barely functioning.

The fire was sparked by an electrical short in a ventilator that resulted in oxygen canisters exploding, said Brig. Gen. Fouad Kareem Abdullah, a provincial police spokesman.

The Iraqi civil defense chief, Maj. Gen. Kathem Bohan, said the building that housed the three-month-old coronavirus isolation ward next to the main hospital had been constructed from flammable materials. The roof appeared to have melted along with sandwich board panels with foam cores that made up much of the construction. Other officials have said oxygen is stored haphazardly at almost all Iraqi hospitals.

Provincial health officials said that around 70 patients and at least as many of their relatives were in the ward when the fire broke out. While normal coronavirus precautions ban visitors from isolation wards, a lack of nursing and other hospital staff in Iraq mean that patients rely on family members to take care of them.

Iraq is in the midst of a third wave of coronavirus infections. Last week, the country reached a high of 9,000 new cases a day with more than 17,000 dead since the pandemic began, according to the Health Ministry. The infection and death rates are believed to be significantly undercounted because many people believe it is safer to be treated at home.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/world/middleeast/iraq-hospital-fire.html

 

 

 

As the C.D.C. relaxes guidelines for schools, New York City and California are sticking with their mask rules

By Alexandra E. Petri

 

California will require students to wear masks for the upcoming school year, while leaving enforcement up to individual schools.Credit...Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new school guidance on Friday, calling for a full return to classrooms in the fall and recommending that masks be optional for fully vaccinated students and staff.

But the guidance left a lot of details up to state and local governments, advising districts to use local coronavirus data to guide decisions about when to tighten or relax prevention measures like masking and physical distancing. It also recommended that unvaccinated students and staff members keep wearing masks.

In New York City, the nation’s largest public school district, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday that masks will still be required for everyone in the upcoming school year, though he added that officials would continue to evaluate the decision.

“For now, assume we’re wearing masks, but that could change as we get closer,” Mr. de Blasio said at a news conference. “But we’ll be driven by, you know, the data we see and, and the science as always.”

California also announced that it will continue requiring masks in public schools, a policy that has been in place since February and was reiterated in newly issued guidance released on Monday for K-12 public schools.

But on Monday, California officials briefly went a step further when it was announced that “schools must exclude students from campus if they are not exempt from wearing a face covering under California Dept. of Public Health guidelines and refuse to wear one provided by the school.”

The announcement created confusion about whether it marked a change in how mask rules would be enforced in schools and what the state’s role might be in that enforcement, the state’s health and human services secretary, Mark Ghaly, said in an interview.

Within hours, that language was removed, and updated guidelines were released again, omitting the reference that schools “must exclude” students who refuse to wear masks.

Mr. Ghaly said masks will continue to be required in school settings, but how that mandate will be enforced will be up to schools’ own discretion, a continuation of a policy from the previous academic year.

“I think the most important thing to say is that California is starting the school year with all of our students masked,” Mr. Ghaly said.

Health officials will continue to monitor data and revisit whether to ease or maintain its mask mandate in schools no later than Nov. 1, he said.

The topic of school closures and reopenings has been particularly contentious since the onset of the pandemic, and advising districts has been a pervasive challenge for the C.D.C.

On Friday, the C.D.C. issued guidance urging schools to fully reopen in the fall and called on local districts to use local coronavirus data as guidance for public health measures.

The agency continues to recommend three feet of social distancing in classrooms, but in a departure from previous guidance, it says that schools can also combine other strategies, like indoor masking, testing and enhanced ventilation, if such spacing would prevent schools from fully reopening.

In another shift, masks are not mandatory for those who are fully vaccinated, according to the new guidelines. The C.D.C. continues to recommend masks for those who are not vaccinated, mirroring guidance for the general public.

In California and in New York City, average daily cases have increased in recent weeks, driven largely by the Delta variant, now the dominant strain in the country. But the overall number of cases remains low, and epidemiologists have said it was unlikely that the Delta variant would prove anywhere near as devastating as the past two waves of Covid-19.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/13/us/nyc-schools-california-masks-covid.html?smid=url-share-live

 

 

 

WHO warns against 'dangerous' vaccine mixing, Thailand defends strategy

 

Thailand has defended mixing two different Covid-19 vaccines, after the WHO’s top scientist warned it was a “dangerous trend” not backed by evidence.

Authorities said they will mix a first dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac jab with a second dose of AstraZeneca to try to achieve a “booster” effect in six weeks instead of 12.

Thailand’s chief virologist Yong Poovorawan said this would be possible by combining an inactivated virus vaccine – Sinovac – with a viral vector vaccine such as AstraZeneca.

“We can’t wait 12 weeks [for a booster effect] in this outbreak where the disease is spreading fast,” he said. “But in the future, if there are better, improved vaccines … we will find a better way to manage the situation.”

His comments come a day after the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, called the strategy a “dangerous trend”, saying: “We are in a bit of a data-free, evidence-free zone as far as ‘mix-and-match’.”

Thailand has reported more than 353,700 coronavirus cases and 2,847 deaths - the bulk of them detected since the latest wave kicked off in April from an upscale Bangkok nightlife district.

 

 

Summary

 

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

· The death toll in a fire that spread through a coronavirus hospital in southern Iraq is at least 92 with more than 100 others injured, health officials said, as an angry crowd blaming local authorities for negligence gathered near the city’s morgue as two police vehicles were torched in Nasireyah.

· Daily vaccinations hit a new high in France on Tuesday. “Today you are 792,339 to have received a first jab, a new record. This drive must amplify and continue in coming weeks,” the country’s prime minister Jean Castex wrote on Twitter.

· German chancellor Angela Merkel said she is not planning to follow France and other countries in introducing compulsory Covid-19 vaccinations for parts of the population, despite the number of jabs given yesterday at its lowest since February amid apparent hesitancy.

· Thailand defended mixing two different Covid-19 vaccines, after the WHO’s top scientist warned it was a “dangerous trend” not backed by evidence. Authorities said they will mix a first dose of the Chinese-made Sinovac jab with a second dose of AstraZeneca to try to achieve a “booster” effect in six weeks instead of 12.

· The European Medicines Agency said it is analysing data on rare cases of a nerve disorder reported among recipients of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, after the US added a warning label to the shot. In its decision to add a warning label, the FDA said 100 preliminary reports of GBS included 95 serious cases that required hospitalisation and one reported death.

· Cyprus has reported a record-high number of new Covid-19 infections, health ministry data showed, with the number of positive cases surging past 1,000. Tuesday’s figure of 1,081 cases was the highest single-day count since the eastern Mediterranean island recorded its first cases of coronavirus in March 2020, Reuters reports.

· Greece will require customers at indoor restaurants, bars and cafes to prove they have been vaccinated against Covid-19, the government announced. Under the new regulations, which will remain in force until next month, all customers at indoor bars and restaurants will have to be seated. Those dining outdoors will not require proof of vaccination or a test.

· Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company that created one of the first Covid-19 vaccines to be approved, has been making a hard sell for emergency approval of boosters – additional doses given to those already vaccinated, especially immunocompromised adults.

· Bangladesh is to lift its nationwide lockdown for the country’s second-biggest religious festival, the government has said, even as new infections rise. The removal of the curbs would “normalise economic activities” ahead of the celebrations, it added. Tens of millions of people usually head back to their villages to mark Eid al-Adha with their families.

· India’s Covid vaccination rollout has continued to falter due to supply shortages and vaccine hesitancy, casting doubt on the government’s pledge to vaccinate the entire population by December. Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, tweeted that “vaccines have run out in Delhi again. The central government gives vaccines for a day or two, then we have to keep the vaccine centres closed for several days.”

· Philippine police temporarily suspended a requirement for officers seeking promotion to meet body fat targets, after chiefs argued pandemic restrictions had made it difficult for officers to work out and lose weight following a study which showed almost 35% of personnel were overweight and nearly 10% obese.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/jul/13/coronavirus-live-news-who-appeals-for-rich-countries-to-donate-vaccines-rather-than-using-boosters?page=with:block-60edee4c8f080074230be497#block-60edee4c8f080074230be497