i_need_contribute
|
Country, |
Total |
New |
Total |
|
World |
181,854,021 |
+311,268 |
3,939,036 |
|
34,494,677 |
+4,740 |
619,424 |
|
|
30,278,963 |
+46,643 |
396,761 |
|
|
18,420,598 |
+33,704 |
513,544 |
|
|
5,770,021 |
+1,578 |
110,968 |
|
|
5,451,291 |
+20,538 |
133,282 |
|
|
5,409,027 |
+4,883 |
49,576 |
|
|
4,732,434 |
+14,876 |
128,100 |
|
|
4,405,247 |
+12,105 |
92,568 |
|
|
4,258,069 |
+782 |
127,472 |
|
|
4,158,716 |
+32,376 |
104,678 |
|
|
3,782,463 |
+4924 |
80,779 |
|
|
3,734,472 |
+336 |
91,313 |
|
|
3,167,741 |
+9,758 |
83,845 |
|
|
2,879,638 |
+71 |
74,979 |
|
|
2,503,408 |
+5,051 |
232,521 |
|
|
2,233,996 |
+450 |
52,286 |
|
|
2,115,304 |
+21,342 |
57,138 |
|
|
2,048,115 |
+2,058 |
191,899 |
|
|
1,928,897 |
+15,036 |
59,900 |
|
|
1,683,271 |
+498 |
17,741 |
|
|
1,666,890 |
+68 |
30,298 |
|
|
1,547,103 |
+4,461 |
32,298 |
|
|
1,413,203 |
+435 |
26,227 |
|
|
1,397,992 |
+6,096 |
24,372 |
|
|
1,325,700 |
+4,468 |
17,091 |
|
|
1,080,630 |
+46 |
33,253 |
|
|
954,743 |
+901 |
22,211 |
|
|
888,406 |
+5,268 |
14,172 |
|
|
874,547 |
+1,496 |
17,084 |
|
|
840,888 |
+65 |
6,429 |
|
|
794,457 |
+1,625 |
14,657 |
|
|
749,784 |
+465 |
9,727 |
|
|
734,048 |
+5,586 |
4,944 |
|
|
716,301 |
+63 |
7,031 |
|
|
650,261 |
+70 |
10,700 |
|
|
633,679 |
+1,353 |
9,009 |
|
|
626,936 |
+2,122 |
1,796 |
|
|
544,454 |
+163 |
7,843 |
|
|
529,676 |
+452 |
9,277 |
|
|
483,221 |
+1,218 |
7,775 |
|
|
454,336 |
+971 |
21,523 |
|
|
433,013 |
+1,653 |
16,551 |
|
|
421,531 |
+16 |
18,027 |
|
|
420,905 |
+235 |
12,655 |
|
|
418,330 |
+1,487 |
12,517 |
|
|
418,172 |
+1,730 |
4,306 |
|
|
415,339 |
+609 |
3,113 |
|
|
407,017 |
+3,524 |
14,654 |
|
|
400,666 |
+789 |
6,524 |
|
|
391,551 |
+20 |
12,505 |
|
|
365,866 |
+1,007 |
5,494 |
|
|
363,522 |
+585 |
5,266 |
|
|
359,652 |
+45 |
8,200 |
|
|
351,481 |
+1,558 |
1,933 |
|
|
335,836 |
+40 |
4,968 |
|
|
313,721 |
+82 |
3,559 |
|
|
292,943 |
+174 |
2,532 |
|
|
291,595 |
+743 |
9,050 |
|
|
280,394 |
+389 |
16,092 |
|
|
278,674 |
+17 |
4,381 |
|
|
275,935 |
+54 |
4,314 |
|
|
271,260 |
+340 |
4,989 |
|
|
269,635 |
+1,286 |
3,068 |
|
|
265,247 |
+252 |
1,345 |
|
|
262,059 |
+1,553 |
2,967 |
|
|
259,628 |
+1,279 |
6,916 |
|
|
257,240 |
+19 |
4,419 |
|
|
256,559 |
+32 |
6,184 |
|
|
253,618 |
+1,867 |
2,944 |
|
|
244,447 |
+3,995 |
1,912 |
|
|
224,797 |
+69 |
4,508 |
|
|
221,692 |
+102 |
588 |
|
|
192,470 |
+241 |
3,187 |
|
|
182,597 |
+204 |
3,595 |
|
|
182,354 |
+2,698 |
1,241 |
|
|
167,467 |
+2 |
2,119 |
|
|
155,071 |
+614 |
2,013 |
|
|
153,160 |
+804 |
3,297 |
|
|
148,568 |
+2,537 |
2,022 |
|
|
138,465 |
+352 |
3,693 |
|
|
137,210 |
+41 |
2,503 |
|
|
132,512 |
+3 |
2,456 |
|
|
130,968 |
+27 |
1,269 |
|
|
130,619 |
+76 |
792 |
|
|
120,865 |
+992 |
1,977 |
|
|
74,785 |
+216 |
374 |
|
|
21,249 |
+189 |
507 |
|
|
15,643 |
+368 |
76 |
Retrieved from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
By Bhadra Sharma and Emily Schmall
Climbers at the summit of Mount Everest in May. At least 59 people had or contracted the coronavirus while on the mountain this season, according to interviews.Credit...Lakpa Sherpa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Jangbu Sherpa most likely became the first person with Covid-19 to stand on the world’s highest peak when he led a Bahraini prince and 15 others to Mount Everest’s pinnacle at dawn on May 11.
Experienced guides from Nepal’s high-dwelling Sherpa community were in short supply because of the pandemic, and the expedition company that hired him stood to lose thousands of dollars if the climb had been canceled. So Mr. Sherpa, 38, whose body was still fighting the vestiges of the virus after being hospitalized for it in April, led the group anyway.
By the end of the climbing season early this month, at least 59 infected people had been on the mountain, including five others who reached the top, according to interviews with climbers and expedition companies and the personal accounts of social media users.
But according to the Nepal government, there was never any Covid on Everest. Tourism officials dismissed the accounts of climbers, calling one a pneumonia patient. Coughing, they said, is nothing new in the dry mountain air.
Nepal’s tourism department, which oversees Everest expeditions, maintained this position even as people were being airlifted off the mountain and expeditions were being canceled — a rare event because of the great expense and effort made to train, travel to Nepal and try to summit Everest.
Officials have strong incentives to play down the Covid situation on Everest. Nepal closed its peaks in 2020 because of the pandemic, after bringing in more than $2 billion from climbing and trekking in 2019. If the Covid cases were publicized, it could tarnish Nepal’s image as a tourist destination, and invite climbers whose expeditions were canceled to demand extensions of their climbing permits.
With the climbing season now over, more expedition agencies are acknowledging that Covid infections were rampant in the crowded base camp, where climbers acclimatize to the extreme altitude before aiming for the summit. The true number of cases could be far more than 59, since expedition organizers, doctors and climbers themselves said they were pressured to hide infections.
By Mark Landler
Matt Hancock, the British health minister, leaving 10 Downing Street with his aide Gina Coladangelo last month. A subject of controversy for two weeks over accusations of mishandling Britain’s pandemic response, he resigned on Saturday, after The Sun newspaper reported his affair with Ms. Coladangelo.Credit...Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
LONDON — Britain’s embattled health minister, Matt Hancock, announced on Saturday he had resigned, a day after The Sun newspaper published photos of him in a steamy embrace with a former college friend serving as one of his senior aides, in an apparent violation of Britain’s social-distancing guidelines.
The move came as the country recorded its most coronavirus infections since early February, part of a sharp spike in new cases that officials say almost universally involve the highly transmissible Delta variant. Over the past week, nearly 100,000 people in the country have tested positive, a near 50 percent increase compared with the week before, The Associated Press reported.
Mr. Hancock, who spearheaded Britain’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, is the latest member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to be accused of violating the strict rules imposed in the country. The minister had been a fixture at Downing Street news conferences, often exhorting the public to abide by lockdowns and other restrictions to try to curb the spread of the virus.
“I understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made — that you have made,” Mr. Hancock said in a video statement released on Saturday evening. “Those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them, and that’s why I’ve got to resign.”
Downing Street announced on Saturday that Mr. Hancock would be replaced by Sajid Javid, a former home secretary and chancellor of the Exchequer.
The ambitious, 42-year-old Mr. Hancock has been the subject of controversy since June 16, when Dominic Cummings, a former chief adviser to Mr. Johnson, publicly pinned much of the blame for Britain’s chaotic handling of the pandemic on Mr. Hancock.
Mr. Cummings, who early in the pandemic also came under fire for violating restrictions, accused Mr. Hancock of failing to set up an effective test-and-trace program and allowing the spread of the virus by moving vulnerable older people to nursing homes from hospitals.
Mr. Cummings also shared a WhatsApp message sent to him by Mr. Johnson in March of last year that ridiculed Mr. Hancock, with a profanity, as totally “hopeless.”
Britain’s new surge has raised questions over whether lockdown restrictions will be lifted next month as planned. Mr. Johnson’s government already delayed that move for England once, resetting it from this past Monday to July 19. Other parts of the United Kingdom — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are following similar plans.
Thousands of anti-lockdown protesters marched through central London on Saturday, The A.P. reported. Some threw tennis balls into Downing Street. “Shame on you,” some chanted.
Most of the new confirmed cases are among younger people who have not yet received Covid vaccines. Hundreds of walk-in vaccination sites, including at stadiums and shopping centers, opened in England over the weekend in a bid to increase vaccine numbers, particularly among those younger age groups, according to The A.P.
By Ana Ionova
A woman holding a sign that reads “Where did we go wrong?” at a memorial for Covid victims in Rio de Janeiro last week.Credit...Pilar Olivares/Reuters
Millions of people in Brazil are missing their second doses of Covid-19 vaccine, further complicating a campaign already marred by supply shortages and allegations of graft.
Some 4.1 million Brazilians had not returned for their second shot as of June 1, according to data compiled by researchers who are following the vaccine rollout. This represents nearly 16 percent of those eligible for a second dose.
The reasons for people missing their second dose are varied, but experts warn that a large number of people with only partial protection could set back Brazil’s already troubled vaccination effort. The coronavirus has killed more than 500,000 people in Brazil, the second-highest known toll in the world after the United States, and daily cases are hitting new peaks. About a third of the population has received at least one dose, and less than 12 percent are fully immunized.
“Many of these people will likely have to be vaccinated again” with the first dose, said Dr. Ligia Bahia, a public health specialist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and one of the researchers leading the study of vaccinations. “And cases will not fall in the meantime.”
One reason that so many people have missed their second shot is Brazil’s chaotic vaccination rollout, Dr. Bahia said. Many local and state authorities opened up immunizations too quickly to groups that were not at high risk for infection, when not enough doses were available, she said.
“The euphoria of the vaccination is not in line with the reality of the supply,” she said. “They wanted to speed up, to say, ‘We’re vaccinating!’ But some people were left behind.”
Brazil has manufactured much of its vaccine supply domestically, using materials shipped from China to churn out the CoronaVac vaccine developed by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech. In March, Brazil’s health ministry released supplies that it had initially planned to reserve as second doses for priority groups, such as health workers, older people and those with pre-existing illnesses.
Soon after that, delays in shipments from China badly curbed supplies, just as more people in Brazil were due to receive their second doses.
“Some people didn’t get their second dose because they searched and searched — and eventually gave up on being vaccinated,” said Dr. Alberto Chebabo, vice president of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases. “That’s a lost opportunity.”
Others in Brazil are misinformed, he added, believing they are protected after one shot. Health experts warn that a single dose is not enough, especially in Brazil. The country has mostly relied on the vaccine from Sinovac, which may not be as effective as others in preventing serious cases of Covid-19. A study in Chile showed that Sinovac was only 36 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations after one shot. Hundreds of doctors in Indonesia who received two Sinovac doses became ill with Covid-19 anyway, and at least 20 died.
Brazil’s inoculation troubles have been mounting. Cities across the country are halting vaccinations as supplies dry up. Federal prosecutors also launched an investigation last week into a government deal to buy 20 million doses of Covaxin, a vaccine produced in India, at inflated prices.
Lawmakers are investigating President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic, including his decision to ignore multiple early offers to buy vaccines from drugmakers like Pfizer, as he played down the danger posed by the virus and promoted “miracle cures” now proven to be ineffective.
Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/27/world/brazil-covid-vaccine.html
A nurse at a rapid testing site in Cape Town this month.Credit...Nardus Engelbrecht/Associated Press
“A third wave is gathering in strength and force.”
With that grim warning, Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, told his citizens Sunday that they would have to soldier through another round of tough restrictions to try to slow yet another coronavirus wave. They include a longer curfew, limits on gatherings and a ban on alcohol sales.
Mr. Ramaphosa delivered the bad news as South Africa’s Covid-19 death toll nears 60,000, The Associated Press reported. As of Sunday, daily average cases are up 116 percent over the last 14 days, according to a New York Times database.
The country’s most populous province, Gauteng — home to Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria — has been hit hardest by the surge. But health officials fear that the country’s eight other provinces may soon catch up, The A.P. reported.
Mr. Ramaphosa said all public gatherings would be banned for two weeks. Funerals are the one exception, but only 50 people may attend.
Starting Wednesday, schools will also close, but beaches and parks will remain open, Reuters reported. Restaurants can sell food only for takeaway or delivery.
The surge appears to be driven by the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, the president said.
South Africa’s vaccination program is gaining speed, if slowly. As of June 25, 4.49 percent of the country’s 60 million people had received a least one dose, according to Our World in Data. The country aims to vaccinate 67 percent of its population by February 2022.
“We have climbed many hills before, and we will climb this one, too,” Mr. Ramaphosa said.
Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/06/27/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-mask/as-cases-mount-south-africa-announces-new-restrictions
By Nayanika Guha
A woman is vaccinated with Covishield at a health centre in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Of the 29m vaccines administered in the region, nearly 60% have been given to men. Photograph: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty
Deep-rooted structural inequalities and patriarchal values are to blame for India’s worrying Covid vaccine gender gap, campaigners and academics have warned.
As of 25 June, of the 309m Covid vaccine doses delivered since January 2021, 143m were administered to women compared with nearly 167m to men, according to CoWin, India’s national statistics site – a ratio of 856 doses given to women for every 1,000 given to men. The difference is not accounted for by India’s gender imbalance of 924 women to 1,000 men.
Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with the highest number of people living in rural areas, has administered 29m vaccines. Of this figure, which includes first and second doses, 42% were given to women. West Bengal, the fourth most populous state, is also lagging behind with women receiving 44% of doses. Dadra and Nagar Haveli, a predominantly rural union territory in western India, has one of the starkest disparities: just 30% of vaccines went to women. Daman and Diu, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir are among the other regions performing badly. A handful of states, including Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, have given more doses to women than men.
Data on transgender people, non-binary people, or people of other marginalised genders has not been accurately tracked, with all groups falling under a singular category of “other”.
“Women are not seen as an important part of the family, community or society structure. [The vaccine gender gap] is reflective of the gender inequality prevalent in India, and even internationally,” said Bhagyashri Dengle, executive director of Asia Pacific and gender transformative policy and practice for Plan International.
Sofia Imad, a junior fellow at Mumbai-based thinktank IDFC Institute, has researched attitudes to vaccination among the urban poor population in Mumbai and Pune. She said there were a number of reasons why women were either unable or reluctant to get the vaccine.
“There is hesitancy because of rumours about side-effects, and how the vaccine affects fertility and menstruation,” said Imad. “But there are other factors such as women not being able to access the technology needed to register for it, not having information on where the centres are or not being able to go to the centres alone.
“Women often also need permission from their husbands to get vaccinated. Even if they get that, if their husbands are unavailable to accompany them … they miss out.”
Ram Kumari, 26, from Gurugram, Haryana, said: “I didn’t even know we had to register on the phone. I don’t have a smartphone. My husband has one, but I don’t know how to use it.”
She added: “I want to get the vaccine, and I thought of going to the government hospital, but it is too far to walk. I have no way of getting there, especially alone.”
The fifth National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2019–20, showed a clear digital gender divide. Of those surveyed, 58% of women had never used the internet, compared with 38% of men.
Julie Thekkudan, a women’s rights and gender justice expert with more than 18 years of experience, said: “Most men do not consider it important to register their wives on the CoWin app. Their health is not considered a priority and if they do not work outside the home then they are not considered at risk.”
She added: “Mobility also becomes an issue. If public transport is not easily available, and [the vaccination centre] is not walkable, what can working-class women do?”
Anecdotally, women report that men are given preference for getting the vaccination in many mixed-gender households. Neerja Sharma, 46, from Jaipur, Rajasthan, said: “My husband thought that it was right for him to get vaccinated first. Due to the possible side-effects of Covishield, he needed me to take care of him while he was sick. And if I got ill along with him, who will cook and look after the house and our son?”
Another concern for many women is that information on side-effects and how to deal with them is not readily available in an accessible language or format. There are also unfounded fears the vaccine could cause infertility, or interrupt menstrual cycles, particularly among rural communities.
Imad said: “A lot of the information that women get is through WhatsApp, which may not be reliable. Women have two kinds of concerns – one is that you cannot get the vaccine while menstruating, and the other that vaccination will affect your future cycles.
“Accredited social health activists haven’t been trained on the Covid-19 vaccines and haven’t been given any communications materials. They need access to community health worker materials so that they can alleviate concerns at the grassroots level.”
As companies prepare to go back to in-person working, getting vaccinated has become a priority for workers. A Covid-19 vaccination trends survey, conducted in India in April this year, found more than 50% of companies plan to facilitate vaccination for their employees and their dependents.
However, a study published in March by Krea University in Andhra Pradesh found that 93% of rural women and 77% of urban women are in informal employment, where most employers do not see it as their responsibility to ensure workers are vaccinated.
Earlier this month, the ministry of health and family welfare said anyone could walk in to a vaccination centre without preregistration on the app, making it more accessible for women.
But Thekkudan said more needed to be done to close the vaccination gender gap. “We need to encourage walk-ins and facilitate door-to-door vaccinations. We also need to create public health awareness materials, translated into regional languages and depicted pictorially. It is essential to put this vaccination drive into ‘mission mode’.”
Dengle of Plan International said it was not just an issue of access. “[We have to] address the social norms and root causes that create this gap. And it needs to start young: are we teaching our children stereotypes such as women belong in the kitchen? An inclusive curriculum is just one of the ways in which we can start addressing gender inequality which leads to such gaps in the larger scheme of things.”
Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jun/28/india-covid-gender-gap-women-left-behind-in-vaccination-drive
Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:
· South African president Cyril Ramaphosa announced new lockdown restrictions – including a ban on all gatherings and alcohol, school closures and a curfew – in a bid to contain the spread of the Delta variant. He also said that South Africa has received 1.4m doses of the Pfizer vaccine through Covax and that over 50s would begin being vaccinated soon.
· UK opposition leader Keir Starmer said there are “huge questions still to answer” following the resignation of health minister Matt Hancock after footage emerged of him kissing an aide.
· Luxembourg prime minister Xavier Bettel has tested positive for coronavirus and will spend 10 days in isolation while continuing to work from home remotely.
Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/jun/27/coronavirus-live-news-covid-vaccine-latest-updates
Medicine
