Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
World	193,374,901	+568,336	4,150,987
USA	35,213,594	+61,651	626,172
India	31,291,704	+34,865	419,502
Brazil	19,524,092	+49,603	547,134
Russia	6,054,711	+24,471	151,501
France	5,933,510	+21,909	111,565
UK	5,602,321	+39,906	128,980
Turkey	5,563,903	+9,586	50,761
Argentina	4,812,351	+13,500	103,074
Colombia	4,692,570	+12,576	117,836
Italy	4,302,393	+5,057	127,920
Spain	4,249,258	+29,535	81,194
Germany	3,758,406	+1,998	91,990
Iran	3,623,840	+20,313	88,063
Indonesia	3,033,339	+49,509	79,032
Poland	2,881,840	+126	75,231
Mexico	2,693,495	+15,198	237,207
South Africa	2,342,330	+14,858	68,625
Ukraine	2,246,656	+726	52,790
Peru	2,099,522	+1,711	195,547
Netherlands	1,827,273	+6,233	17,789
Czechia	1,671,943	+235	30,347
Chile	1,604,713	+1,859	34,792
Philippines	1,530,266	+5,828	26,891
Iraq	1,526,943	+8,106	18,101
Canada	1,425,097	+382	26,526
Bangladesh	1,140,200	+3,697	18,685
Belgium	1,110,410	+1,735	25,215
Romania	1,081,953	+78	34,264
Pakistan	998,609	+2,158	22,928
Malaysia	964,918	+13,034	7,574
Portugal	943,244	+3,622	17,248
Israel	856,986	+1,434	6,457
Japan	852,517	+4,943	15,097
Hungary	809,016	+71	30,020
Jordan	763,106	+400	9,929
Serbia	719,462	+228	7,095
Nepal	674,726	+1,855	9,661
UAE	667,080	+1,547	1,910
Austria	655,197	+452	10,730
Morocco	567,758	+1,402	9,517
Tunisia	558,306	+2,309	18,052
Lebanon	552,871	+543	7,889
Saudi Arabia	514,446	+1,162	8,130
Kazakhstan	509,998	+5,708	5,180
Ecuador	479,784	+1,169	30,777
Greece	469,042	+2,601	12,851
Bolivia	465,351	+1,174	17,546
Thailand	453,132	+13,655	3,697
Paraguay	447,864	+718	14,501
Belarus	437,664	+1,069	3,365
Panama	426,849	+1,250	6,730
Bulgaria	423,440	+121	18,189
Costa Rica	397,469	+1,802	4,933
Georgia	395,621	+2,261	5,636
Slovakia	392,219	+34	12,534
Kuwait	389,868	+987	2,264
Uruguay	379,911	+298	5,913
Croatia	362,129	+179	8,245
Guatemala	344,221	+3,364	10,029
Azerbaijan	339,274	+212	4,999
Denmark	309,420	+805	2,542
Cuba	308,599	+7,745	2,137
Venezuela	296,863	+1,117	3,443
Sri Lanka	291,298	+1,721	3,959
Ireland	289,139	+1,188	5,026
Honduras	284,187	+1,501	7,535
Egypt	283,906	+44	16,470
Lithuania	280,308	+205	4,409
Ethiopia	278,105	+146	4,363
Bahrain	268,225	+133	1,381
Slovenia	258,468	+69	4,426
Moldova	258,365	+128	6,236
Myanmar	253,364	+6,701	6,133
Armenia	228,161	+225	4,575
Libya	227,433	+732	3,322
Qatar	224,834	+196	600
Kenya	195,111	+801	3,826
Zambia	189,731	+1,158	3,196
S. Korea	184,103	+1,838	2,063
Nigeria	170,306	+184	2,130
Algeria	158,213	+1,208	4,008
Kyrgyzstan	153,878	+1,169	2,217
Mongolia	152,539	+1,309	755
Afghanistan	143,439	+255	6,357
Latvia	138,344	+44	2,550
Norway	135,235	+266	799
Albania	132,797	+34	2,456
Estonia	132,179	+121	1,271
Uzbekistan	122,048	+719	814
Namibia	114,400	+495	2,665
Mozambique	105,866	+2,153	1,221
Finland	101,630	+404	978
Montenegro	100,865	+63	1,624
Botswana	97,657	+5,755	1,375
Cyprus	95,307	+1,046	398
China	92,414	+50	4,636
Vietnam	74,371	+6,194	370

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

 

 

 

U.S. CDC advisers mull COVID-19 boosters for immune-compromised people

By Julie Steenhuysen

 

Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday will consider evidence suggesting that a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines could increase protection among people with compromised immune systems.

Data presented ahead of the meeting noted that such people have a reduced antibody response following the recommended primary vaccination series compared with healthy individuals.

"Emerging data suggest that an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose in immunocompromised people enhances antibody response and increases the proportion who respond," slides released ahead of the meeting showed.

The committee is not scheduled to vote on a recommendation for whether to administer additional doses. That could be decided at a later meeting.

In small studies, short-term side effects from a third dose of mRNA vaccines - such as those made by BioNTech/Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) or Moderna Inc (MRNA.O)- were about the same as those experienced with the first two doses, the CDC said in its presentation.

An estimated 2.7% of U.S. adults live with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC presentation, based on data from 2013. The group includes people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and people with organ transplants or autoimmune diseases who take drugs to dampen their immune response.

Those individuals are at increased risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19.

Some experts believe the CDC is nearing a similar recommendation in the United States.

The CDC has urged people with weakened immune systems to take precautions even if fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The virus not only poses an extra health risk to these people but because it takes longer for them to clear the virus, scientists believe infections could result in new variants as the pathogen continues to replicate unchecked, which some studies have shown.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cdc-advisers-consider-boosters-immune-compromised-americans-2021-07-22/

 

 

 

Thousands descend on UK music festival amid rise in COVID cases

By Natalie Thomas

 

Festivalgoers enjoy the weather and stalls at Latitude Festival at Henham Park, Britain, July 22, 2021. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra

 

Thousands of people poured into the grounds of the Latitude music festival in eastern England on Thursday, one of the biggest gatherings since most coronavirus restrictions were lifted earlier this week.

The four-day festival, expected to attract around 40,000 people, comes as COVID-19 cases across the country broadly rise. Music lovers arriving on a balmy summer's day had to show they had been vaccinated twice or tested negative for the disease.

"I guess I'd kind of say, 'If not now, when are we going to start back up again?'" said Katy McKenna, 21.

"A lot of us have had at least our first dose of the vaccine, so we're ready to get back to life, and all the musical performers have had a year off and they deserve a festival (so) they can get back out there and perform."

Sheep painted pink grazed on the grass, crowds milled around giant marquees and people erected their tents before heading to the main stages to hear their favourite acts.

The government test event will carry on without social distancing measures or the need to wear masks, and organisers have designed marquees without sides and installed air purifiers in some areas to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading.

"All the plans were in place, all the bands were in place, people were just, you know desperate to come, desperate to play, desperate to work, and really be out in a field enjoying themselves again, and that's what we're doing," said festival founder Melvin Benn.

Among the acts headlining the festival are Damon Albarn, Wolf Alice, Rudimental and The Chemical Brothers.

 

Retrieved from : https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/thousands-descend-uk-music-festival-amid-rise-covid-cases-2021-07-22/

 

 

 

 

Indonesia reported the highest new Covid cases in the world last week, says WHO

By Abigail Ng

 

A healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment attends to a Covid-19 patient with an oxygen mask in a wheelchair outside Bekasi Public Hospital.

Wisnu Agung Prasetyo | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

Indonesia reported the highest number of new Covid infections in the world last week, according to the World Health Organization.

While the numbers appear to be coming down in recent days, one public health expert said deaths will continue to rise.

The world’s fourth most populous country has overtaken India to be the new epicenter of the coronavirus in Asia, surpassing India in June in terms of the highest daily new cases per million people, data compiled by Our World in Data showed.

The WHO’s latest weekly epidemiological update said more than 3.4 million new cases were reported globally between July 12 to 18, as many countries across the world continue to experience surges.

Indonesia topped the list with the most new infections during that period at 350,273 cases — a 44% increase from the week before. It was followed by the U.K., Brazil, India and the U.S.

Indonesia still trails the U.S., India and 11 other countries in terms of total infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. has reported more than 34.22 million cases while India has had more than 31.25 million cases — though health experts believe the numbers are grossly underreported there. In comparison, Indonesia has reported 2.98 million infections, Hopkins data showed.

Indonesia reported a record 1,383 deaths on Wednesday despite emergency measures aimed at curbing the spread of the disease.

That figure may continue to increase in the coming days, according to Ben Cowling, a professor at The University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health.

“Deaths will likely continue to rise for another 2-3 weeks because of the lag between case confirmation and mortality,” he told CNBC in an email.

 

Retrieved from : https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/22/who-indonesia-reported-most-new-covid-cases-in-the-world-last-week.html

 

 

 

China denounces the W.H.O.’s call for another look at the Wuhan lab as ‘shocking’ and ‘arrogant.’

By Chris Buckley

 

The United States and other governments have pressed China to share more information, especially from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, above.Credit...Ng Han Guan/Associated Press

Chinese officials said on Thursday that they were shocked and offended by a World Health Organization proposal to further investigate whether the coronavirus emerged from a lab in Wuhan, exposing a widening rift over the inquiry into the origins of the pandemic.

Senior Chinese health and science officials pushed back vigorously against the idea of opening the Wuhan Institute of Virology to renewed investigation after the W.H.O. director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, laid out plans to examine laboratories in the central city of Wuhan, where the first cases of Covid-19 appeared in late 2019.

Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the Chinese National Health Commission, said at a news conference in Beijing that he was “extremely shocked” at the W.H.O. plan to renew attention on the possibility that the virus had leaked from a Wuhan lab.

Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the Chinese National Health Commission, dismissed the theory that the coronavirus was man-made in a lab after the World Health Organization proposed to further investigate the labs in Wuhan.CreditCredit...Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

“I could feel that this plan revealed a lack of respect for common sense and an arrogant attitude toward science,” Mr. Zeng said. “We can’t possibly accept such a plan for investigating the origins.”

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said on Thursday that “we are deeply disappointed” with China’s response, calling it “irresponsible and frankly dangerous.”

“Alongside other member states around the world we continue to call for China to provide the needed access to data and samples, and this is critical so we can understand to prevent the next pandemic,” she continued. “This is about saving lives in the future, and it’s not a time to be stonewalling.”

A joint investigation by the W.H.O. and China found that said it was “extremely unlikely” that the coronavirus escaped from a Wuhan lab, according to a report released in March. Many scientists say that the virus most likely jumped from animals to people through natural spillover in a market or a similar setting.

But some scientists have said that the initial inquiry was premature in dismissing the lab leak idea. The United States and other governments have pressed China to share more information, especially from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

At the news conference on Thursday, several Chinese officials asserted that the W.H.O. inquiry got it right the first time, and that there was no evidence to justify renewed checks of the labs. The W.H.O. investigators should instead focus their search on signs of natural transmission, they said, and the possibility that the virus may have first spread outside China.

In recent days, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry and Global Times, a news outlet overseen by the Chinese Communist Party, have gone even further in pushing back against the demands on Beijing. They have reiterated claims — widely dismissed by scientists — that the coronavirus may have escaped from a U.S. military laboratory. A petition organized by Global Times calling for an inquiry into the American facility claims to have collected nearly six million signatures.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/07/21/world/covid-variant-vaccine-updates/china-wuhan-lab-who

 

 

 

The European Union promises to donate 200 million vaccine doses

By Monika Pronczuk

 

A shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines that arrived under the Covax initiative was unloaded at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in March. The E.U. has promised to donate vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.Credit...Tiksa Negeri/Reuters

The European Union pledged on Thursday to double the amount of Covid vaccines it will donate to low- and middle-income countries to 200 million by the end of the year, officials said.

“Vaccination is key,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a statement. “That’s why it is essential to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines to countries worldwide.”

To date, only 1.1 percent of people in low-income countries have received at least one shot of the vaccine, according to data from the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford.

The donations will be mainly distributed through Covax, the World Health Organization initiative for sharing vaccines with the developing world.

After initially lagging behind other developed parts of the world, Europe’s vaccination campaign gained considerable speed in recent weeks.

Over 67 percent of the population is now inoculated with at least one dose, and 53 percent are fully immunized, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

After struggling with supply issues this winter, the European Commission said earlier this month that member states will all now have enough doses to reach the goal of fully immunizing 70 percent of all adult residents by the end of July.

The administration of vaccines remains dependent on each national government, and there are considerable divergences between vaccination levels in the E.U. member nations, ranging from 65.5 percent of residents who are fully inoculated in Ireland, to 16.5 percent in Bulgaria.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/07/22/world/covid-variant-vaccine-updates/eu-donate-200-million-vaccine-doses

 

 

 

‘It’s time to mandate masks indoors,’ says Los Angeles County’s public health director

By Jill Cowan

 

Last week, exactly a month after Californians exalted in the state’s grand reopening, Los Angeles County officials announced that masks would be required, once again, in indoor public settings.

The move, which came in response to the explosive spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, was an emotional setback for Angelenos, who lived with stringent pandemic restrictions for more than a year.

I spoke with Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, about what’s ahead and why her office decided to return to mandatory indoor masking. Here’s our conversation, lightly edited and condensed.

First, Dr. Ferrer, can you explain why it was necessary to put in place the mandate rather than continuing with mask guidance?

We were hopeful that more people would mask indoors with the recommendation. With the Delta variant, the situation has changed. I don’t think we’d see a surge in cases without the Delta variant.

All along, this department has been very clear we’re recommending masking indoors because of what we’ve been seeing in other countries with this variant.

Now that we know more, it’s time to mandate masks indoors.

How much is the indoor masking mandate meant to prevent the virus from spreading among unvaccinated Angelenos versus preventing those who’ve been vaccinated from getting sick?

I think it’s both. You don’t want a lot of community transmission because it leads to more mutations. As we’ve seen with the Delta variant, while vaccines are super powerful, they’re reduced. But the loss of life and the most severe health consequences are experienced by far by unvaccinated people.

Are you concerned at all about undermining trust in the vaccine or trust in public health officials?

This is a new virus. Every time we have a new explosion attributed to the new variant, we’re kind of starting over in the sense that we have to assess how it’s interacting with human beings.

A lot of folks hang onto the optics: Take off your mask, to show we’re really safe again. That was never true. Absolutely, people who are fully vaccinated have much more protection, but we’re going to continue to have variants. That is our reality.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/07/22/world/covid-variant-vaccine-updates/its-time-to-mandate-masks-indoors-says-los-angeles-countys-public-health-director

 

 

 

Summary

 

Here are the key developments from the last few hours:

· Workers from 16 key services including health, transport and energy will not have to isolate after being pinged by the NHS Covid app, as it was revealed that more than 600,000 people in England and Wales were sent self-isolation alerts last week.

· Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will consider evidence suggesting that a booster dose of Covid vaccines could increase protection among people with compromised immune systems. Last week, Israel began administering third doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to immunocompromised people. Some experts believe the CDC is nearing a similar recommendation in the US.

· Chile announced that its citizens and foreign residents would be allowed to travel outside the country if they were fully inoculated against coronavirus, a fresh perk for Chileans participating in one of the world’s fastest vaccination campaigns.

· The White House said China’s decision to reject a World Health Organization plan for a second phase of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus which would have a greater focus on a possible lab leak was “irresponsible and dangerous”.

· The EU has said that 200 million Europeans had been fully vaccinated, more than half of the adult population but still short of a 70% target set for the summer.

· Tax raids were carried out on the offices of one of India’s most popular newspapers, after months of critical coverage of the government’s handling of the pandemic.

· Johnson & Johnson’s Covid jab is much less effective in mitigating the symptoms of those with the Delta or Lambda variants than against the original virus strain, a new study suggested.

· Peruvian police dismantled an alleged criminal ring that had charged as much as $21,000 per bed for seriously ill Covid-19 patients in a state-run hospital. Authorities arrested nine people in an early morning raid on Wednesday, including the administrators of Lima’s Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen public hospital, according to reports.

· German pharmacies stopped issuing digital Covid-19 vaccination certificates after hackers created passes from fake outlets, the industry association said. The German Pharmacists’ Association said hackers had managed to produce two vaccination certificates by accessing the portal and making up pharmacy owner identities.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/jul/23/coronavirus-live-news-taiwan-to-ease-restrictions-vaccinations-rising-in-us-states-with-high-cases?page=with:block-60fa40a58f08bb57f5f7d1c7#block-60fa40a58f08bb57f5f7d1c7