COVID-19 situation
Covid-19: Elections of 163 union parishads, 9 municipalities postponed
Taking stock of the Covid-19 situation in the country, the Election Commission (EC) has postponed elections to 163 union parishads in Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Noakhali, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar.
Elections to 68 union parishads in Bagerhat, 34 in Khulna, 21 in Satkhira, 13 in Noakhali, 12 in Chattogram, and 15 in Cox's Bazar have been withheld, which were scheduled for June 21.
The commission has also decided to postpone elections to nine municipalities, out of 11, slated for the same date.
Also read: Covid positivity rate in Bangladesh hits 13.25 %, highest in 46 days
However, 204 other union parishads will go to the polls as per schedule on June 21; by-polls to Lakshmipur-2 will also be held as per schedule on the same date.
The decisions came at an urgent meeting of the commission Thursday amid an upward march of Covid-19 infections in the electoral areas.
Also read: By-elections: 94 aspirants collect nomination papers from the Awami League
The meeting also decided to reschedule by-polls to Dhaka-14, Cumilla-5 and Sylhet-3 to July 28 from July 14.
The commission postponed the polls after considering recommendations of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, local administration, and regional election officials, EC Secretary Humayun Kabir Khandakar said.
Dhaka world's 4th worst liveable city
Bangladesh capital Dhaka has ranked the fourth least liveable city in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) annual global survey.
The worldwide league table ranks 140 cities on a range of factors, including political and social stability, crime, education and access to healthcare.
Dhaka has been ranked 137th among 140 cities with 33.5 points. It scored 55 in stability, 16.7 in healthcare, 30.8 in culture and environment , 33.3 in education and 26.8 in infrastructure.
The Bangladesh capital ranked the third worst liveable city in the Global Liveability Index 2019 and the 2nd worst in 2018 Index.
Read: Dhaka’s air quality improved in lockdown, a blessing in disguise!
As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, the metropolitan city of Auckland in New Zealand has been named the most liveable city globally by EIU.
That’s largely due to the country’s successful handling of Covid-19 which allowed schools, theatres, restaurants and other cultural attractions to remain open during the survey period from Februray 22 to March 21, 2021, according to the EIU.
New Zealand implemented a strict nationwide lockdown for several weeks last year to slow the spread of the virus. It also shut its international borders to most travellers.
Asia-Pacific cities dominated the top 10 rankings this year, even as the pandemic caused overall livability around the world to decline.
The top 10 most livable cities in the world, and their scores according to The Global Livability Index 2021, are: Auckland, New Zealand (96.0), Osaka, Japan (94.2), Adelaide, Australia (94.0), Wellington, New Zealand (93.7), Tokyo, Japan (93.7), Perth, Australia (93.3), Zurich,Switzerland (92.8), Geneva, Switzerland (92.5), Melbourne, Australia (92.5),Brisbane, Australia (92.4).
The livability index ranks cities based on more than 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Due to the pandemic, the EIU added new indicators such as stress on health-care resources as well as restrictions around local sporting events, theatres, music concerts, restaurants and schools.
Read:Dhaka is world's most polluted city
‘Big shake-up’ in rankings
The impact of Covid-19 has been fairly obvious in the rankings, according to Simon Baptist, global chief economist at the EIU.
“There’s been quite a big shake-up in terms of, certainly the top 10, but also right throughout the ranking, based upon the Covid-19 situation,” he told CNBC.
Cities that were in lockdown or were experiencing a surge in cases during the survey period saw their scores reduced on several criteria, which led to many European cities falling down the ranks, Baptist explained.
That includes the Austrian city of Vienna, which consistently ranked near the top over the last several years. This year, however, it failed to break into the top 10 and came in 12th position.
On the other hand, cities in Australia, New Zealand and Japan remained relatively open, with good availability of services, while their health-care systems were resilient due to a comparatively low number of cases, he added.
The Hawaiian capital of Honolulu was the biggest gainer on the index, moving up 46 places to finish 14th due to its efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus and rapid vaccine rollout. Among other cities, Taipei finished 33rd while Singapore came in 34th.
Asia vs. Europe
On a regional average, Asia ranked well below North America and Western Europe, according to the EIU. Damascus in Syria remained the world’s least livable city — Syria marked 10 years of civil war this year.
Read: Govt plans population density survey to make Dhaka livable
“Asia has some of the world’s most livable cities, it also has some of the least livable,” Baptist said. While cities in Australia, New Zealand and Japan dominated the top 10 positions, places like Dhaka, Bangladesh, Karachi, Pakistan and Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, languished near the bottom and have been doing so for a while,” he added.
Since the first survey period ended this year, some of the top cities in Asia-Pacific saw a spike in Covid-19 cases, including Melbourne and Tokyo. On the other hand, European and North American cities have aggressively rolled out their vaccination programs and are in the process of opening up.
Australia and New Zealand have not yet re-opened their borders to most travelers — a factor that Baptist said may affect the future rankings of their cities.
“It’ll be interesting to see there, if things in Europe and the U.S. have opened up more, especially in terms of international travel. But (if) things in Australia and New Zealand still have not, then we might find the ranking of Australian and New Zealand cities suffering a bit,” Baptist said, adding that he expects the European cities to potentially show a big improvement by the next survey period.
Bangladesh extends lockdown until June 16
The government has extended the ongoing lockdown until June 16 as there has been no substantial improvement in the Covid-19 situation.
The Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard on Sunday.
Keeping all the earlier directives and restrictions effective, the government has added some new restrictions, the circular says.
Also read: Local admins can enforce lockdown, says Cabinet Secretary
According to the circular, all the tourist spots, resorts, community centres and recreation centres will remain closed during the lockdown.
It says people must refrain from holding social (post-wedding ceremonies, birthday party and picnics) , political and religious programmes that may cause public gathering.
Besides, hotels and restaurants will be allowed to keep open from 6am to 10pm with half of their capacities.
Public transport services, including inter-district buses, are allowed to run, also at half of their capacities.
All concerned, including passengers, will have to maintain health protocols like wearing masks, the circular adds.
The Deputy Commissioners of the districts which are at high risk are allowed to take necessary steps to contain the virus spread in their areas in consultation with the technical committees, the circular mentions.
The authorities concerned have been asked to take necessary steps in this regard.
Dismissing all concerns, Razzaque takes mantle of speaking for health sector
Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Friday said the health sector won’t face any fund crisis to tackling the Covid-19 situation.
“Fund will be given to the health sector whenever the money is required,” he said at a virtual post-budget press conference.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal also addressed the press conference, arranged a day after he placed the proposed budget for 2021-22 fiscal in Parliament.
Dr Razzaque said the Finance Ministry also repeatedly assured that "money won’t be a problem," or "allocation won’t matter to face the corona."
He said the Prime Minister repeatedly advocated a balance between lives and livelihoods - the cardinal choice for policymakers in the pandemic era. Some on the left however, point to at least the possibility that this is a false dichotomy. Not Dr Razzaque though.
Also read: New budget unveiled with focus on protecting lives and livelihoods
"If the livelihood is not taken care of, many people will be severely affected or even die (without catching Covid)," he added.
The Agriculture Minister said the country’s economy is now vibrant and on a strong footing amid the growing reserves of foreign currency.
“The way the whole world is facing it (Covid-19), I think this government will also face it in that way. Money will not be a problem for it,” he said.
About the budgetary allocation for the health sector, Senior Secretary of Finance Division Abdur Rouf Talukder also said some Tk 14,200 crore has been kept in the proposed budget for procuring Covid vaccines during the upcoming fiscal year.
“We’ll provide the fund, if the health sector needs more money,” he said.
Also read: New budget: Tracking prices going up and down
The Finance Secretary said the budgetary allocation for the Health Services Division has increased by 13.2 percent for the upcoming fiscal year, compared to the outgoing fiscal year. But the overall budget size has risen by 6.3 percent. “So, the growth in the allocation for the health sector is more than double,” he said.
Replying to a question over the inability to spend more money on the health sector, Abdur Rouf said the government identified two problems – lack of capacity among the officials engaged in procurement, and mismatch between demand and supply during procurement.
He said the government will address the two problems in the upcoming fiscal year as it is going to take measures to provide training for the officials.
Planning Minister MA Mannan, PM’s Economic Affair Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman, Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, and National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, among others, spoke at the conference.
Passengers' movement through Indo-Bangla land ports to remain shut till May 31
The government has extended restrictions on the movement of passengers through land ports with India, up to May 31, as India's surge in coronavirus cases continues.
Although borders with India will remain closed to people, goods will continue to cross.
Also read: Bangladesh detects first case of Indian Coronavirus strain
However, Bangladeshi citizens, stranded in India, could enter through Benapole, Akhaura, Burimari Darshana, Hili, and Sonamasjid.
The general movement of people between Bangladesh and India, through all the other land ports, will remain suspended.
Also read: Bangladesh loses 26 more lives to Covid, toll reaches 12,310
Railroads will be encouraged for the export and import of goods between the two countries during this period.
Bangladesh citizens now stranded in India, who qualifies and are willing to return to the country, will have to submit a Covid-19 negative certificate with QR code (RT-PCR) to obtain a no-objection certificate from Bangladesh missions in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Agartala, the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Tripura's Agartala India said Friday.
Also read: Shutting border with India: Experts praise it as prudent decision
Earlier, the government closed the border with India for 14 days with effect from April 26 but cargoes carrying goods were allowed to operate as usual.
Later on May 8, the border suspension was extended for 14 more days.
Covid-19 claims 32 more lives in Bangladesh, new cases 698
Covid-19 claimed 32 more lives in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours until Monday morning, raising the number of fatalities to 12,181.
Besides, health authorities found 698 more people positive over the same period after testing 10,347 samples.
With the latest figure, the total number of positive cases in the country climbed to 780,857, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) .
The mortality rate now stands 1.56 % while the rate of positivity is 6.75 %, it said.
The country has been seeing bellow 50 daily deaths from May 9 and the number stayed mostly below 60 from the beginning of May.
The country experienced a surge in Covid-19 cases in April, recording its highest single-day cases of 7,626 on April 7. It witnessed over 100 deaths during April 16-19 and on April 25.
The total number of recoveries rose to 7, 23,094 with 1058 patients got cured of the disease in the 24 hours taking the rate of recoveries to 92.60 %.
The country has so far tested 5,718,063 samples since reporting the first Covid-19 cases on March 8 last year and the first death from the virus on the 18th of the month.
Dhaka worst hit region with 7,041 deaths
Dhaka remained the worst hit region by the coronavirus logging 7,041 fatalities until now, which is 57.80% of the total deaths.
Twenty-one of the 32 deaths recorded today are from Dhaka division and 2 are from Chattogram.
Chattogram is the second worst hit region of the country recording 2,277 deaths.
Second dose of vaccine to run out soon
The 2nd dose of Covid-19 vaccine will run out within seven to ten days, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday.
Five lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine, donated by the Chinese government to Bangladesh, arrived in Dhaka on last Wednesday.
The vaccine will be given to those on priority basis who need it most, said the Minister today.
Administering of Chinese Covid-19 vaccine will begin on May 25/26, said the Health Minister.
“We have taken some initiatives. We talked to the US, China Russia and the UK and some progress has been made. Hopefully you will get good news soon. As per contacts, we have got only 70 lakhs of doses out of 3 crores. We are also worried about the 2nd dose of vaccine like you,” he added.
The United States has said it is actively considering the request made by the Bangladesh government over the supply of Covid-19 vaccine doses to meet Bangladesh’s immediate needs.
Bangladesh will get a reply of the letter, sent to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken by Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, within the next couple of days, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam today after his meeting with US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller.
Also read:Administering of Chinese Covid-19 vaccine to begin on May 25/26: Health Minister
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
In the last 24 hours, 10 people have received the first dose of the vaccine while 56,940 have received the second dose, said the health directorate.
Increase allocation, operate cash transfer to disadvantaged communities: Experts
Experts have urged to increase allocation and operate cash transfer to disadvantaged communities noting that the Covid-19 situation has adversely affected members of these groups.
They also underscored the need for specific policies for vulnerable groups and the right direction to implement them.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Convenor of Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh and Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), on Sunday made the keynote presentation at a webinar on what should be there for the ‘disadvantaged people’.
The platform has proposed a number of fiscal budgetary framework, strategic priorities and state of Covid stimulus packages, keeping in the purview of the upcoming 2021-22 budget.
“Employment is being restored with low skills and low-income jobs, extensive under-employment, growing indebtedness and deepening inequality are increasing during the second wave. Budgetary targets are not realised on both resource and expenditure sides,” Dr Debapriya added.
Apparent stability of the macroeconomic situation is also needed in terms of low inflation, stable exchange rate, moderate fiscal deficit and current account surplus.
The socio-economic impact and the disproportionate impact on traditionally marginalised communities (‘left behind’) as well as on low income and low middle-income people (‘pushed behind’) will be more protracted than the immediate health emergencies.
He said current circumstances demand special attention to consumption protection of the poor/low-income people and employment promotion at MSME level. “To initiate the midterm approach of FY 2021-22, we need to press all four triggers – consumption, investment, government spending and net exports,” the economist said.
A minimum two-three year time frame to have a robust recovery strategy with core budget, integrating recovery efforts with structural transformation needs, targeted discretionary support to the “left behind” and “push behind” communities/citizens and use SDG as a framework for poverty frame and align with 8FYP (2021-25) is critically important.
Until March of FY 2021, revenue collection was 50 percent of the target with 7.3(+) percent growth and ADP expenditure was 42 percent of total allocation with 4.3(-) percent growth.
Financing budget deficit were seen due to low use of foreign concessional finance, high borrowing from the banking sector and costly borrowing through NSC needs to be retrained. Use of concessional foreign finance to be prioritised to improve ADP implementation as well as to keep budget deficit from increasing.
The disadvantaged population of the country bears the disproportionate adverse impact of such shortfall in public development programme. In 2020, we were concerned about resource availability (lack of fiscal space) to confront the pandemic. In 2021, we can say it is the inability to implement the public expenditure programmes which has become the binding constraint, he said.
“We also need to create an integrated database of potential recipients of government supports including social safety nets and to improve the quality of the public expenditures, involvement of stakeholders at different levels are required,” he added.
According to the keynote, in FY 2020, before July 2020, total Tk 77,278 crore (2.76% of GDP) stimulus was announced. In FY 2021, till May 2021, the amount was roughly Tk 47,715.50 crore (1.71% of GDP).
To have greater fiscal multiplier effect, Bangladesh needs to push resources to those having a high marginal propensity to consume (e.g., poorer households) and a high marginal propensity to invest (e.g., small entrepreneurs).
Substantive cash transfer to disadvantaged communities/citizens, liquidity flow to MSME, domestic market-oriented manufacturing diversification, post-harvest mechanisation of agriculture, IT-platform based high value service provision etc are some strategic priorities for the FY2021-22 budget.
In Covid related government support intervention, there were 14 fiscal support (including two food support) and this was less than 20.5% of total allocation. Eleven hybrid support (subsidy to interest rate) amounting a little above 79.5% of total allocation where 18 are new interventions and 7 were extension of the existing programme.
Hybrid support in FY 2020-21 includes additional Tk 10,000 crore in working capital loans to affected large industries and service sector. Some packages were announced in one fiscal year, but intended to disburse from following fiscal year fully or partly. The estimated net fiscal support (net fiscal support excludes fiscal support for agriculture sector and construction of home) is as low as 1.63 percent and 15.54 percent of total allocations in FY20 and FY21 respectively.
In terms of share of GDP, they are 0.04 percent and 0.19 percent respectively. Fiscal support was not only low in allocation but also slower in delivery. This overwhelming constraint cannot be addressed exclusively through strengthened administrative monitoring. This will need wide-ranging structural and institutional reforms.
Anisatul Fatema Yousuf, Coordinator of Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh; Advocate Sultana Kamal, Former Executive Director of Ain o Salish Kendra; Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow of CPD; ShaheenAnam, Executive Director of Manusher Jonno Foundation; Rasheda K Choudhury, Executive Director of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE); Dr Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury, Vice Chairperson of BRAC; Asif Ibrahim, Chairman of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) & Syed Nasim Manzur, Chairman of Landmark Footwear Ltd and Founding Director of Apex Footwear Ltd, were also present at the event.
Border with India to remain shut for another 14 days
The government has decided to extend the closure of border with India for another 14 days keeping movement of cargoes carrying goods uninterrupted as the Covid-19 situation keeps worsening in India.
“It has been extended for another 14 days. The previous conditions will remain unchanged," Secretary (East) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mashfee Binte Shams told UNB over phone.
The latest decision of the extension was taken at a virtual meeting held on Saturday with Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen in the chair.
Earlier, the government closed the border with India for 14 days with effect from April 26 but cargoes carrying goods were allowed to operate as usual.
Also read: Bangladesh detects first case of Indian Coronavirus strain
As per the previous decision, general movements of humans between Bangladesh and India will temporarily stay suspended through land ports.
The Bangladeshi citizens currently travelling to India for treatment and having visas with validity for less than 15 days could enter Bangladesh through only Benapole, Akhaura and Burimari after taking permission from Bangladesh Missions in New Delhi, Kolkata, and Agartala and with a mandatory Covid-negative certificates done through PCR test within 72 hours of entry.
People entering Bangladesh through this process would have to stay officially quarantined for two weeks.
Except for the aforementioned three land ports, all kinds of human movements through all other land ports between the two countries would completely stay suspended for two weeks.
Also read: Indian Covid Strain: Two more cases identified in Jessore
The vehicles carrying imported goods from India would have to be properly sterilised before entering Bangladesh borders.
The drivers and helpers concerned would have to observe the Covid-19 safety protocol strictly.
Railroads will be encouraged for the export and import of goods between the two countries during this period.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 45 more deaths with 1285 new cases
Bangladesh Missions in New Delhi, Kolkata and Agartala will convey the relevant information in this regard to the authorities concerned in India in the light of the friendly relations between the two countries.
India’s crematoriums and burial grounds are being overwhelmed by the devastating new surge of infections tearing through the populous country withb a terrifying speed, depleting the supply of life-saving oxygen to critical levels and leaving patients to die while waiting in line to see doctors, reports AP from New Delhi.
India recorded over 4 lakh new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Saturday, taking the country’s total caseload to over 2.18 crore. Out of these, over 37 lakh cases are currently active while over 1.79 crore people have recovered.
Also read: India's surge hits southern states, prompts more lockdowns
With 4,187 new deaths, the toll now stands at over 2.38 lakh. At least 14 states are reporting cases in five figures.
Maharashtra reported about 54,000 cases, Karnataka had nearly 49,000, while Kerala had over 38,000.
Indian variant coronavirus found in Bangladesh
A confirmed case of Indian Coronavirus strain has been detected in Bangladesh, says theInstitute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research(IEDCR) on Saturday.
Also read: Shutting border with India: Experts praise it as prudent decision
"The Indian variant of Coronavirus was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. It has been published on Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data(GSID)," said chief scientific officer of IEDCR ASM Alamgir.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) DG Dr ABM Khurshid Alam also told the media that the Indian variant of Coronavirus has been found in Bangladesh.
DU to take exams online from July 1 if Covid situation remains unchanged
Dhaka University’s Academic Council on Thursday (May 6, 2021) decided to hold the final examinations online from July 1 if the coronavirus situation does not improve in the meantime.
Confirming the matter, Pro Vice-Chancellor (academic) Prof Dr ASM Maksud Kamal said the council decided to hold final examinations of all batches online from July 1 if the current Covid-19 situation does not improve by June.
Also read: DU to hold virtual final exams if Covid situation remains unchanged
“All the deans have been asked to formulate a strategic plan within two weeks on how the online tests will be conducted,” Maksud added.
The examinations can be taken through different ways including MCQ , assignments, open book exam, short written exam. Total marks and exam time will be reduced but credit will remain changed, said a press release signed by the university public relations officer.
Moreover, computer based practical exams will also be held online. Lab exams will be held maintaining social distance and hygiene rules, it added.
Read DU admission tests rescheduled amid pandemic
The decision came from a virtual meeting of the DU Academic Council with VC Prof M Akhtaruzzaman in the chair on Thursday evening.
University pro vice chancellor (administration) Dr Md Samad, Pro-vc (education) Prof Dr. ASM Maksud Kamal, deans of different faculties, chairmmen of different departments and academic council members were present at the council meeting.
VC Akhtaruzzaman said, “The council has decided to take final exams online since the midterm exams have already been held this way,"
Read TSC Renovation: How will the new look be?
The teachers will be provided with necessary training about taking online examinations in the meantime, he added.
The regular academic activities at Dhaka University have been at a standstill since March 18 last year due to the outbreak of coronavirus. This has been a reason of immense frustration among the university’s students, especially those studying in final year.
Meanwhile, during the last one year, students participated online classes and appeared tests and midterms for their respective courses virtually.
Read KOICA unveils multi-component cooperation aimed at youth entrepreneurship
The Latest: Sri Lanka receives 1st batch of Sputnik V shots
Sri Lanka has received its first batch of the Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
The 15,000 doses were flown in early hours of Tuesday to the Indian ocean island nation which is struggling to obtain COVID-19 vaccines because of the delay in getting them from the neighboring India.
Sri Lanka has ordered 13 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine from the Russia’s Gamaleya Institute.
State Minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation Channa Jayasuma, and officials from the Russian embassy were present at the country’s main airport to receive the vaccines.
Jayasumana said he was hopeful that Sri Lanka would receive the total of 13 million doses of the Sputnik V from Russia in the future.
Sri Lanka is facing a shortage of 600,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in order to complete the 2nd round of the vaccine program.
Under the first round, 925,242 persons were vaccinated and at present, Sri Lankan health ministry has about 350,000 doses and as a result, there is a shortage of 600,000 doses as the island nation so far did not get it’s vaccines ordered from India.
The number of COVID patients is rapidly rising across the country over the last week. Sri Lanka’s total number of positive cases have reached 111,753 with 696 fatalities.
Read Also: ‘Horrible’ weeks ahead as India’s virus catastrophe worsens
THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— Russia lags behind others in its COVID-19 vaccination drive
— Russia is turning to multiple Chinese firms to manufacture Sputnik vaccine as demand soars
— Residents in Madrid vote Tuesday for a new regional assembly in an election that tests people’s resistance to lockdown measures
— Nurses wearied by pandemic duty incensed by request to help at Tokyo Olympics
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
SEOUL, South Korea -- Isolated North Korea is warning its people to brace for a prolonged struggle against the coronavirus, claiming that broadening outbreaks and muddled immunization programs in other countries show vaccines aren’t the ultimate solution.
The column published on Pyongyang’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper came amid questions on when and how vaccines would arrive in North Korea.
The U.N.-backed program to ship COVID-19 vaccines worldwide said in February that North Korea could receive 1.9 million vaccine doses in the first half of this year. However, COVAX has since warned of global shortages because the Serum Institute of India, which is licensed to produce the AstraZeneca vaccine, is putting its supplies into domestic demand while India’s virus caseload is surging.
The North has claimed a perfect record in keeping out COVID-19, but outside experts have doubted the claim, given its poor health infrastructure and a porous border it shares with China, its economic lifeline.
Rodong took an apparent shot at India’s anti-virus campaign without naming the country. It said a certain nation that had “exported vaccines it produced while publicly insisting that it considers the evil virus as defeated,” was now experiencing an explosive growth in infections driven by more contagious virus variants after it had eased social distancing.
“The cases of other countries provide further proof that vaccines aren’t an all-around solution,” the newspaper wrote.
CANBERRA, Australia — The Australian prime minister said on Tuesday he is confident that flights from India will resume after May 15 following a temporary ban on air traffic due to the COVID-19 risk.
Australians who have been in India within 14 days face a potential five-year prison sentence and 66,000 Australian dollar ($51,000) fine under the Biosecurity Act if they return home during the travel pause that was announced a week ago.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Nine Network television: “I’m confident we’ll be in a position to start resuming those repatriation flights and getting people home safely” by May 15.
Former Australian cricketer and commentator Michael Slater told Morrison through social media that the prime minister had “blood on your hands” because of the pause in travel from India.
Morrison dismissed Slater’s post as “obviously absurd.” The pause was to reduce pressure on Australia’s system of hotel quarantine for returned travelers, Morrison said.
OLYMPIA, Wash. - More people will be allowed at indoor and outdoor spectator events and indoor religious services if there are designated COVID-19 vaccination sections, under new guidance issued by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Monday.
The change — which takes effect immediately — affects capacity at sporting events, graduations and other events for counties in the second and third phases of the state’s economic reopening plan.
A vaccination card or other documentation that proves vaccination status will be needed for access to vaccination sections.
While previously there were only limited circumstances where spectator events were allowed to reach 50% capacity, under the new guidance, outdoor facilities may add vaccinated sections until their total capacity —including vaccinated and unvaccinated sections — is at 50% or 22,000 people, whichever is lower. There can be no more than 9,000 unvaccinated people at the outdoor event.
For indoor facilities, vaccinated sections can also be added until their total capacity is 50% maximum, though the maximum number must not exceed 2,000 people, and the number indoor unvaccinated spectators varies depending on the size of the room and what phase of the state’s economic opening plan a county is in.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Declaring the COVID-19 pandemic “absolutely” managed despite lagging vaccinations, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Monday she will end a state health order meant to guard against the spread of an illness that has killed nearly 11,000 people statewide.
Citing improved infection rates, fewer hospitalizations and more widespread immunizations, Ivey said the current health order recommending that people follow health recommendations and requiring some precautions for senior citizens and long-term care facilities will end on May 31.
A state of emergency declared because of the health threat will end July 6, she said in a statement.
“For over a year now, Alabamians, like people around the globe, have made sacrifices and adjusted to a temporary ‘new normal.’ We have learned much since last year, and this is absolutely now a managed pandemic. Our infection rates and hospitalizations are in better shape, and over 1.5 million Alabamians have had at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine,” Ivey said.
Deaths have declined sharply across the United States in recent weeks, and Alabama has followed the trend. Hospitalizations across the state are roughly 10% of what they were in mid-January when the situation was at its most dire.
LOS ANGELES — No coronavirus-related deaths were reported to the Los Angeles County public health department on Sunday and Monday – a hopeful but artificial marker in the pandemic that ravaged the nation’s largest county.
Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, said the figures reflect a delay in reporting over the weekend. Sundays and Mondays traditionally have the lowest number of reported deaths but officials need to look back at the exact dates of death to determine if the county actually hit zero fatalities. Ferrer said the county has been averaging four to five deaths daily. She said Monday during a briefing that she hopes the county will soon hit an actual day of zero deaths.
“I think we’re close to getting there,” she said. “I hope we’re close to getting there.”
There have been 23,914 total deaths in LA County throughout the pandemic.
Ferrer said that vaccinations dropped about 24% last week from the week before. Between April 17 and April 23, there were more than 611,000 doses administered. Last week, only 467,000 shots were given out. About 37% of the county’s eligible population has had a shot.
Ferrer said she expects the county to move into the yellow tier on Wednesday and a new health order could go into effect on Thursday, increasing capacity at events and venues county-wide. Bars would also be allowed to open indoors and provide services at a 25% capacity under the yellow tier.
Read Also: FDA expected to OK Pfizer vaccine for teens within week
PHOENIX — Jobless people in Arizona will again be required to show they’re looking for work in order to receive unemployment benefits after Gov. Doug Ducey announced Monday he will stop waiving the job-seeking requirements.
He waived the mandate in March 2020 when some businesses were ordered to close to slow the spread of COVID-19. Ducey says it’s time to reinstate the job-seeking mandate because all adults now have access to the COVID-19 vaccine and there are plenty of jobs available.
Authorities on Monday reported 652 additional COVID-19 cases in Arizona and no additional deaths from the virus.
Over 2.9 million residents have received at least one shot with almost 2.3 million people fully vaccinated.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Authorities in Sri Lanka have imposed tough restrictions including banning public gatherings, weddings, parties and limiting the number of attendees at funerals and restaurants as the latest move to contain the spreading of the COVID-19.
Health officials have warned that the next three weeks are crucial for Sri Lanka as the number of positive cases are rapidly increasing.
Additionally, authorities have closed schools until further notice — and supermarkets and shopping complexes will allow only a maximum of 25% of the total number of customers that could be accommodated in the space available at a given time.
Health officials have warned that the confirmed cases could go up rapidly in the next three weeks because of the celebrations and shopping by people during the traditional new year festival that fell on April 14.
Sri Lanka’s total number of positive cases has reached 111,753 with 696 fatalities.
PRAGUE — The Czechs will be able to breathe freely as the government is further easing coronavirus restrictions amid new infections’ decline in one of the hardest-hit European countries.
Starting next Monday, people in the Czech Republic will be allowed to remove face coverings at all outdoor spaces if they stay at least two meters from other people.
At the same time, car dealerships, tanning salons, shooting ranges, travel agencies, shoe repairs, tattoo parlors and many other services will get back to business the same day.
The government previously decided to reopen all stores that date.
The nation of 10.7 million had 1.63 million confirmed cases with 29,365 deaths.
GENEVA — The World Health Organization is set to decide this week whether to approve two Chinese vaccines for emergency use against COVID-19, a top WHO official says.
Such an approval would mark the first time that a Chinese vaccine had ever been granted a so-called emergency use listing from the U.N. health agency, and would trigger a broader rollout of Chinese vaccines that are already being used in some countries other than China.
Mariangela Simao, assistant director-general for access to medicines, vaccines and pharmaceuticals, says some “final arrangements” remain to be made before the crucial word from a WHO technical advisory group comes on the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.
“We expect that we’ll have both decisions by the end of this week,” she said.
WHO has said it expects a decision on the Sinopharm vaccine to come first, and Sinovac afterward.
“We know that some countries depend on this decision to proceed with their vaccination,” Simao said.
NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York City’s subway will begin rolling all night again and capacity restrictions for most types of businesses will end statewide in mid-May as COVID-19 infection rates continues to decline.
Cuomo announced last week that the subways would close from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. so trains and stations could be disinfected. The change was also intended to make it easier to remove homeless people from trains where many had been spending the night.
The overnight closure was scaled back to 2 to 4 a.m. in February.
BOSTON — Massachusetts plans on closing four of its seven mass vaccination sites by the end of June in favor of a more targeted approach to reach the roughly 30% of the state’s eligible population that has not yet received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday.
The state will instead send more doses to 22 smaller regional sites, expand mobile vaccination efforts, and bring vaccine clinics to senior centers, YMCAs, houses of worship and other community sites, the Republican governor said.
While there has been some hesitancy among people who have not yet been vaccinated, more often that not, it’s a matter of convenience, Baker said, and he wants to make it as easy as possible to get a shot. The state can change it focus because it is on target to reach its goal of getting more than 4 million people vaccinated by the end of May.
GENEVA — Top scientists at the World Health Organization are highlighting signs that vaccination against COVID-19 is reducing transmission, and that vaccination of about half of a country’s population is followed by “significant reductions” in cases.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s chief scientist, said such evidence about coverage rates has turned up even as a colleague bemoaned how countries that have not had access to vaccines are trailing behind -- and are facing growing rates of hospitalization.
WHO has repeatedly expressed concerns about a lack of equity in access to vaccines -- with many rich countries able to obtain them, and many poorer countries getting few doses or none.
Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on COVID-19 at WHO, also pointed to some “hopeful signs that vaccination is also reducing transmission” -- even if studies into the matter are not completed.
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JOHANNESBURG — South Africa received its first batch of the Pfizer vaccine when 325,260 doses arrived at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, officials confirmed Monday.
A sample of the doses will be tested for quality control before they are distributed around the country. Several more deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive in the coming weeks as South Africa expects nearly 4.5 million doses of the vaccine by the end of June and it expects 30 million doses by the end of the year.
South Africa is also expecting delivery of 31 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for its mass vaccination campaign which aims to inoculate 40 million of South Africa’s population of 60 million people by February 2022.
So far South Africa has inoculated just over 317,000 of its 1.2 million health care workers. South Africa has by far the most cases and deaths of COVID-19 in all of Africa. South Africa has a cumulative total of more than 1.58 million confirmed cases, including more than 54,000 deaths, representing more than Africa’s 4.5 million reported cases, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention South Africa.