Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
World	171,456,116	+359,695	3,564,767
USA	34,113,146	+5,235	609,767
India	28,173,655	+126,698	331,909
Brazil	16,547,674	+32,554	462,966
France	5,667,324	+1,211	109,528
Turkey	5,249,404	+6,493	47,527
Russia	5,071,917	+8,475	121,501
UK	4,487,339	+3,383	127,782
Italy	4,217,821	+1,820	126,128
Argentina	3,781,784	+28,175	78,093
Germany	3,689,918	+2,203	89,148
Spain	3,678,390	+3,186	79,953
Colombia	3,406,456	+23,177	88,774
Iran	2,913,136	+11,042	80,156
Poland	2,872,283	+333	73,745
Mexico	2,412,810	+1,307	223,507
Ukraine	2,202,494	+1,022	50,536
Indonesia	1,821,703	+5,662	50,578
South Africa	1,665,617	+2,792	56,506
Czechia	1,661,266	+113	30,116
Netherlands	1,649,460	+2,042	17,623
Chile	1,384,346	+6,839	29,300
Canada	1,381,582	+2,611	25,547
Philippines	1,230,301	+6,684	20,966
Iraq	1,201,352	+4,270	16,375
Romania	1,077,737	+153	30,312
Belgium	1,061,200	+1,437	24,940
Pakistan	921,053	+2,117	20,779
Portugal	849,093	+435	17,025
Israel	839,475	+17	6,412
Hungary	804,538	+156	29,733
Bangladesh	800,540	+1,710	12,619
Japan	744,487	+2,878	12,967
Jordan	736,534	+723	9,462
Serbia	712,472	+248	6,865
Austria	644,815	+229	10,603
Malaysia	572,357	+6,824	2,796
UAE	570,836	+1,763	1,680
Nepal	561,302	+4,178	7,386
Lebanon	540,388	+111	7,729
Morocco	519,216	+108	9,147
Saudi Arabia	450,436	+1,245	7,362
Ecuador	426,037	+196	20,572
Bulgaria	418,577	+303	17,700
Greece	402,306	+1,005	12,095
Belarus	394,439	+632	2,851
Slovakia	389,721	+31	12,343
Kazakhstan	386,549	+1,405	3,955
Panama	378,097	+321	6,371
Bolivia	368,474	+1,760	14,471
Croatia	356,181	+40	8,026
Paraguay	355,384	+2,696	9,186
Tunisia	345,474	+786	12,654
Georgia	343,963	+360	4,773
Azerbaijan	333,956	+92	4,913
Costa Rica	318,986	+1,141	4,041
Kuwait	309,222	+1,410	1,772
Palestine	308,350	+302	3,497
Uruguay	294,503	+3,015	4,276
Dominican Republic	292,786	+876	3,628
Denmark	281,227	+844	2,516
Lithuania	274,383	+181	4,266
Ethiopia	271,541	+196	4,165
Egypt	262,650	+984	15,096
Ireland	261,982	+378	4,941
Moldova	255,186	+41	6,107
Guatemala	254,417	+192	8,165
Slovenia	253,722	+91	4,375
Bahrain	240,531	+2,375	980
Honduras	237,581	+629	6,316
Venezuela	234,165	+1,365	2,646
Armenia	222,670	+34	4,438
Qatar	217,458	+228	556
Oman	217,224	+1,041	2,345
Sri Lanka	186,364	+2,912	1,484
Libya	185,776	+595	3,126
Kenya	170,735	+88	3,172
Nigeria	166,518	+203	2,099
Thailand	159,792	+5,485	1,031
North Macedonia	155,272	+3	5,413
Myanmar	143,629	+58	3,217
Cuba	142,266	+1,100	958
S. Korea	140,340	+430	1,959
Latvia	133,199	+101	2,376
Albania	132,315	+6	2,451
Estonia	129,544	+59	1,252
Algeria	128,913	+188	3,472
Norway	125,116	+292	783
Kyrgyzstan	104,729	+174	1,808
Uzbekistan	100,335	+211	690
Montenegro	99,623	+18	1,584
Zambia	95,263	+213	1,281
Finland	92,488	+56	956
China	91,099	+27	4,636
El Salvador	73,702	+151	2,249
Afghanistan	72,981	+1,143	2,974
Cyprus	72,457	+50	360
Mozambique	70,795	+15	836
Luxembourg	69,932	+43	815
Maldives	64,396	+710	160
Singapore	62,051	+23	33
Mongolia	58,439	+927	276
Namibia	55,549	+408	830
Suriname	14,954	+190	302

 

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

 

 

 

Netherlands will ease coronavirus lockdown measures starting June 5

From CNN's Lauren Kent and Mick Krever

 

A cafe employee prepares for the establishment re-opening in The Hague on May 28, 2021. Marco de Swart/ANP/AFP/Getty Images

The Netherlands government will further ease coronavirus lockdown measures from June 5, allowing indoor dining in restaurants, bars, and cafes, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Friday.

"On June 5, we will take the third step of the opening plan and almost everything will open, including restaurants and cafes, cinemas and museums," Rutte tweeted. "Conditions continue to apply. By continuing to follow the basic rules, more and more is possible."

Theaters, cinemas, and concert halls can also reopen next week, with a maximum capacity of 50 visitors per space, according to a government statement. Group rehearsals and lessons related to arts and culture can also resume starting June 5, with a maximum of 50 participants per indoor space. 

 

 

 

Brazilian health agency extends storage conditions for Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

From CNN's Rodrigo Pedroso

 

A health worker holds a tray with vials of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 at a community medical center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 6. Andre Penner/AP

Brazilian health agency Anvisa authorized new storage conditions for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 on Friday. 

The vaccine can now be kept at a controlled temperature between 2 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and 8 degrees Celsius (46.4 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to 31 days. The previous storage period was five days.

Regulatory agencies in the United States and Europe have also extended the duration of storing the immunizer to one month in those conditions.

The Brazilian Health Ministry signed two contracts with Pfizer/BioNTech to receive 200 million doses of the immunizer by the end of the year. To date, Brazil has received 3.4 million doses. 

 

 

 

EU approves Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for adolescents ages 12 to 15

From CNN's Chris Liakos in Paris and Lauren Kent

 

A nurse at the Christalain nursing home in Brussels prepares an injection of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on January 14. Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images

The EU drug regulator has approved the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in adolescents ages 12 to 15, a European Medicines Agency (EMA) official said in a news conference on Friday.

"The vaccine, as you know, was already authorized in people from 16 and above, and now we have data that will show that the vaccine is also safe in the age of 12 to 15 years," said Dr. Marco Cavaleri, Head of Biological Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy for the EMA. 

The approval from the EMA scientific committee will now be sent to the European Commission, which will issue the final approval to use the vaccine for patients ages 12 to 15. Then, each European member state can decide whether or not to use the vaccine in younger patients, according to the EMA. 

"The most common side effects in children aged 12 to 15 are similar to those in people aged 16 and above. They include pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle and joint pain, chills and fever. These effects are usually mild or moderate and improve within a few days from the vaccination," said the EMA in a statement, adding that the benefits of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine outweigh the risks for this age group.

 

 

 

Projection model predicts US cases and deaths will fall over the next 4 weeks

From CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas

 

A free bed is viewed in the Emergency Department at Providence St. Mary Medical Center on March 30, in Apple Valley, California.  Mario Tama/Getty Images

Ensemble forecasts published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention project the number of newly reported Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths will likely fall over the next four weeks. 

The forecast predicts a total of 596,000 to 606,000 Covid-19 deaths in the United States by June 19. 

The previous ensemble forecast, published May 19, projected up to 604,000 US Covid-19 deaths by June 12.

The US reported 27,248 new Covid-19 cases and 1,332 virus-related deaths in the past day, according to Johns Hopkins University.

 

Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-06-01-21/index.html

 

 

 

Forecasters in India offer dismal economic estimates

By Karan Deep Singh

 

A deserted street in a closed market area during the lockdown in Srinagar, India, this month.Credit...Tauseef Mustafa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

 

India’s coronavirus crisis is likely to hobble the country’s economy for months to come, forecasters said, with most states still locked down to contain a wave of new infections and vaccine supply struggling to meet the needs of a vast inoculation campaign.

On Monday, India’s Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation estimated that the country’s gross domestic product shrank by at least 7.3 percent over the financial year that ended in March, reflecting the impact of a nationwide lockdown that lasted for much of 2020.

The ministry also reported that India’s economy grew by 1.6 percent during the first three months of this year, beating forecasters’ predictions. But economists say that those numbers, which reflected activity before the full impact of a ferocious second wave of the coronavirus, are likely unsustainable in the near future.

Experts point to two main reasons for their gloomy estimates: India’s prolonged lockdowns and its vaccination rate, which has fallen from about four million doses a day last month to just over a million now as its large vaccine industry, which had been expected to supply much of the world, has struggled to keep up supply.

India recorded 152,734 new infections and 3,128 deaths on Monday, the country’s health ministry reported.

Although the lockdowns have helped India slow the surge of infections, economists say international experience suggests restrictions might need to remain in place at least until about 30 percent of the country’s 1.4 billion people have received one vaccine shot.

“We estimate that India will reach the vaccine threshold by mid- to late August, and accordingly expect restrictions will be extended into the third quarter,” Priyanka Kishore, the head of India and Southeast Asia at Oxford Economics, said last week. “Consequently, we have lowered our 2021 growth forecast.”

India Ratings & Research, a credit ratings agency, estimated that the country’s G.D.P. growth rate came in at minus 7.5 percent for the previous financial year that ended in March.

Millions of people in India are already in danger of sliding out of the middle class and into poverty. The country’s economy was fraying well before the pandemic because of deep structural problems and the sometimes impetuous policy decisions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/05/31/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-mask/forecasters-in-india-offer-dismal-economic-estimates

 

 

 

Peru says its true Covid death toll is almost triple the official count

By Andrés R. Martínez

 

A Peruvian family buried a loved one who died of Covid-19 in a cemetery in the district of Comas in Lima, Peru, last month.Credit...Marco Garro for The New York Times

 

Peru said that its Covid-19 death toll is almost three times as high as it had officially counted , making it one of the hardest-hit nations during the pandemic relative to its population.

In a report released on Monday, which combined deaths from multiple databases and reclassified fatalities, the government said that 180,764 people died from Covid-19 through May 22, almost triple the official death toll of about 68,000. The new figure would mean that more people have died per capita in Peru than in Hungary or the Czech Republic, the countries with the highest official death tolls per person, according to a New York Times database.

The report landed at a precarious moment for Peru’s government, just days before the second round of a closely watched presidential election scheduled for June 6.

Peru has struggled to contain the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and its official death toll before the revised estimate was already the ninth-highest per capita in the world. As early as last June, it was clear that far more deaths were occurring in Peru than would be expected in a normal year, and the gap — a figure known as excess deaths — was much larger than the number of deaths officially attributed to Covid-19, according to New York Times data. That was a warning sign to experts that Covid deaths were being undercounted.

William Pan, who teaches global environmental health at Duke University, said the pandemic has underscored the deep inequality and corruption in Peru. Long before reports of oxygen shortages in India and Brazil made world headlines, Covid-19 patients were seeing similar problems in Iquitos, the largest Peruvian city in the Amazon, he said.

“Thousands of people were being turned away last April and May due to lack of oxygen, lack of space, medical staff being totally overwhelmed and more,” Dr. Pan said.

Peru could be just the first of several nations forced to reckon with a re-evaluation of the pandemic’s true impact. The World Health Organization said earlier this month that deaths from Covid-19 globally were probably much higher than had been recorded.

Peru’s government will start publishing more accurate daily tallies of cases and deaths based on new guidelines laid out in the report, said Oscar Ugarte, the health minister.

“This is a new tool” to help us fight the pandemic, Mr. Ugarte said, adding that the new estimate “requires a modification” of all the current policies aimed at controlling the spread of the virus.

The pandemic has only intensified the political turmoil in Peru, which was rocked by the impeachment of President Martín Vizcarra in November. He was one of four presidents to serve in five years, three of whom spent time in jail during bribery investigations.

Mr. Vizcarra’s ouster led to protests and came just months before the first round of presidential elections in April. Pedro Castillo, a former union activist and teacher, won the most votes in April and will face Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of the jailed former president Alberto Fujimori, on June 6.

The virus is spreading faster in South America than on any other continent, according to official data, with five nations among the top 10 globally for new cases reported per person.

The continent’s worst outbreak is in Argentina, which was supposed to host the Copa América soccer tournament, before organizers announced they were moving it to Brazil.

“Latin America has been one of the hardest-hit regions in the pandemic,” said Dr. Michael H. Merson, a professor of global health at Duke University. “I suspect that other countries in the region will be revising their estimates of deaths from Covid-19.”

The spread of the virus has slowed lately in Brazil, which has been ravaged by a variant known as P.1.

Over the weekend, thousands of Brazilians critical of President Jair Bolsonaro took to the streets in the largest public mobilization against the president since the beginning of the pandemic. Their show of force in cities across the country followed a series of damning revelations in congressional hearings examining the government’s catastrophic response to the coronavirus, which has killed more than 461,000 Brazilians.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/world/peru-coronavirus-death-revised.html

 

 

 

Summary

 

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

· Peru has revised its official Covid-19 death toll to 180,764, nearly triple the previous official figure of 69,342, following a government review that shows the severity of the outbreak in the country.

· As new coronavirus variants continue to be discovered, the World Health Organization has revealed new names, after the letters of the Greek alphabet, to simplify the discussion around the variants and avoid stigma.

· Australia’s drug regulator says it may refer anti-vaccination Facebook posts to federal police after anti-vaccine campaigners targeted an MP who posted about getting the jab.

· Australia’s federal court has rejected a bid by a rightwing thinktank to overturn the country’s ban on outbound travel.

· US gun sales spiked during the pandemic and continue to rise, with first-time buyers making up more than a fifth of those who purchased guns

· Germany has pledged to crack down on fraud in coronavirus test centres, after evidence that some have been claiming for more tests than they have carried out.

· Scientists are urging the government to speed up second doses of Covid vaccines and delay a decision on easing lockdown restrictions in England on 21 June in an effort to tackle the creeping spread of new cases.

· France has opened up vaccines to all adults a week before Germany, as Europe rushed to avoid another wave of infections caused by new virus variants.

· Vietnam has announced the suspension of incoming international flights to its capital and tightened restrictions in its biggest city. The inbound flight suspension to Hanoi will apply from 1-7 June.

· Travellers from the UK will have to provide “compelling reasons” to enter France from Monday, as French authorities tighten curbs to halt the spread of the Indian Covid variant.

· The European Commission has proposed that all EU countries gradually ease travel measures over the summer.

· School closures in England during the Covid lockdown badly damaged the mental health of mothers but had no impact on fathers’ wellbeing, research has found.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/jun/01/coronavirus-live-news-peru-death-toll-more-than-doubles-after-review-who-renames-variants