Country,	Total	New	Total
Other	Cases	Cases	Deaths
World	218,512,549	607,945	4,532,623
USA	40,114,099	156,002	657,910
India	32,810,892	43,072	439,054
Brazil	20,777,867	25,586	580,525
Russia	6,918,965	17,813	183,224
UK	6,789,581	32,181	132,535
France	6,765,708	19,425	114,444
Turkey	6,388,331	21,893	56,710
Argentina	5,185,620	6,731	111,812
Iran	4,992,063	31,319	107,794
Colombia	4,909,086	1,822	124,945
Spain	4,855,065	7,767	84,340
Italy	4,539,991	5,498	129,221
Indonesia	4,089,801	10,534	133,023
Germany	3,955,418	8,402	92,730
Mexico	3,341,264	5,564	258,491
Poland	2,888,670	285	75,345
South Africa	2,777,659	7,084	82,261
Ukraine	2,286,296	1,356	53,789
Peru	2,150,006	415	198,295
Philippines	1,989,739	13,709	33,447
Netherlands	1,941,055	2,312	18,010
Iraq	1,888,150	6,937	20,830
Malaysia	1,746,254	20,897	16,664
Czechia	1,679,189	241	30,404
Chile	1,638,675	345	36,937
Bangladesh	1,500,618	3,357	26,195
Canada	1,499,163	2,906	26,932
Japan	1,468,440	12,751	15,994
Thailand	1,204,729	14,666	11,589
Belgium	1,182,810	1,858	25,374
Pakistan	1,160,119	3,838	25,788
Sweden	1,126,813		14,651
Romania	1,098,765	1,313	34,570
Israel	1,066,352	1,687	7,043
Portugal	1,037,927	1,908	17,743
Morocco	860,948	4,899	12,649
Hungary	812,337	110	30,058
Jordan	797,126	867	10,411
Kazakhstan	789,471	4,322	9,304
Switzerland	779,661	2,702	10,989
Serbia	762,933	2,981	7,292
Nepal	762,647	1,523	10,750
UAE	718,370	996	2,041
Austria	688,305	1,229	10,772
Tunisia	664,034	1,282	23,451
Cuba	652,855	6,342	5,303
Lebanon	602,266	1,040	8,053
Greece	587,964	3,628	13,622
Georgia	549,811	4,778	7,408
Saudi Arabia	544,449	224	8,545
Ecuador	501,201		32,244
Bolivia	490,467	411	18,429
Belarus	481,532	1,168	3,780
Guatemala	470,277	4,478	11,926
Costa Rica	463,726	2,581	5,506
Vietnam	462,096	12,607	11,064
Paraguay	458,528	73	15,767
Panama	457,487	450	7,061
Bulgaria	455,742	2,053	18,896
Sri Lanka	440,302	4,221	9,185
Azerbaijan	424,891	3,788	5,636
Kuwait	409,860	124	2,419
Myanmar	399,282	3,399	15,389
Slovakia	394,923	132	12,548
Uruguay	384,934	156	6,032
Croatia	373,998	668	8,334
Ireland	352,447	1,382	5,092
Dominican Republic	350,173	156	4,008
Denmark	345,693	843	2,584
Palestine	342,282	2,466	3,680
Honduras	338,757	1,180	8,902
Venezuela	335,233	890	4,026
Libya	308,972	1,501	4,247
Ethiopia	308,134	1,324	4,675
Oman	302,300	61	4,064
Lithuania	298,837	658	4,563
Egypt	288,441	279	16,736
Bahrain	272,540	87	1,388
Moldova	267,526	322	6,401
Slovenia	267,198	538	4,450
S. Korea	251,421	1,370	2,285
Armenia	242,135	524	4,844
Kenya	235,863	565	4,726
Qatar	232,744	173	602
Bosnia and Herzegovina	213,853	474	9,803
Mongolia	213,820	2,740	937
Zambia	206,327	182	3,602
Algeria	196,080	506	5,269
Nigeria	192,431	626	2,469
North Macedonia	176,494	870	5,938
Kyrgyzstan	175,734	145	2,528
Norway	160,174	1,785	814
Botswana	156,927		2,261
Uzbekistan	156,394	755	1,082
Afghanistan	153,260	40	7,123
Albania	146,387	1,054	2,498
Mozambique	146,316	263	1,864
Latvia	142,637	237	2,578
Estonia	141,955	357	1,292
Finland	127,182	617	1,018
Suriname	29,293	326	721
Aruba	14,576	68	146

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

 

 

 

Pennsylvania governor issues mask mandate for schools, child care facilities

By Brendan O'brien

 

Students wear masks as they walk through the halls of York Suburban High School in York, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 18, 2020. REUTERS/Rachel Wisniewski

 

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Tuesday issued a mask mandate for all K-12 school and child care facilities to protect against the spread of COVID-19, three weeks after the Democrat said he would leave the decision to individual districts.

The order, which goes into effect Sept. 7, comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly-contagious Delta variant of the virus.

Since July, Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 case load has increased from less than 300 a day to more than 3,000 a day, according to the state's health department.

“With case counts increasing, the situation has reached the point that we need to take this action to protect our children, teachers and staff. The science is clear," the state's acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said in a statement.

The decision comes as millions of public education students head back to schools across the United States. School districts, state education agencies and governors across the nation are grappling with masking and vaccination requirements.

In South Carolina, for example, the state's supreme court heard arguments on Tuesday in two cases involving mask mandates in city of Columbia schools.

The order in Pennsylvania requires students, teachers and staff to wear masks in all public and private K-12 schools. The order also applies to child care providers and early learning programs. The order does not apply to school sports or outdoor activities.

In early August, Wolf said he intended to leave the decision to require masks in schools up to individual districts.

"Unfortunately, an aggressive nationwide campaign is spreading misinformation about mask-wearing and pressuring and intimidating school districts to reject mask policies that will keep kids safe and in school," he said.

 

Retrieved from：https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pennsylvania-governor-issues-mask-mandate-schools-child-care-facilities-2021-08-31/

 

 

 

Ireland to drop almost all COVID-19 restrictions in October

By Conor Humphries

 

People enjoy outdoor drinking and dining after the easing of coronavirus restrictions, in Galway, Ireland, June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

•  

•  Ireland, which had one of Europe's longest COVID-19 lockdowns, will drop almost all pandemic restrictions in October after one of the continent's most successful vaccine rollouts, Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Tuesday.

  From Oct. 22, the requirement for vaccine certificates in bars and restaurants will be dropped, as will all restrictions on the numbers attending indoor and outdoor events.

  As part of a phased easing of restrictions, the government is recommending the reopening of theatres and cinemas at 60% capacity next week and a return of non-essential workers to offices from Sept. 20.

  "Because of the effort of our vaccination team and because you have stepped up to the mark and taken the vaccine when it was offered, we are now entering a whole new phase of the pandemic," Martin said in a televised address.

  Almost 90% of adults in Ireland are fully vaccinated as are 80% of over those over 12 years old.

  Indoor dining in cafes, bars and restaurants was banned in Ireland for much of the 16 months to July, when the government opened the sector to people with vaccine certificates.

  The Irish government in recent weeks has been heavily criticised by the live-events sector as large concerts took place in the United Kingdom, which dropped most restrictions on July 19 but has a lower level of vaccinations.

  Martin struck a note of caution, however, warning of an increase in case numbers in the coming weeks before an expected decline.

  "We are very unlikely to ever be able to be rid of the virus completely," he said.

 

Retrieved from：https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ireland-drop-almost-all-covid-19-restrictions-october-2021-08-31/

 

 

 

Japan finds another Moderna vial suspected to contain foreign substance

 

Japan's Kanagawa prefecture said it has found another vial of Moderna Inc's (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine suspected of containing a foreign substance and has put the rest of the lot on hold.

In a statement on Tuesday, prefectural authorities said a pharmacist found several black particles in one vial upon checking for foreign substances before the vaccine's use.

Japan suspended the use of 1.63 million doses of Moderna shots last week after being notified of contamination in some of the supply. Moderna and Spanish pharma company Rovi (ROVI.MC), which bottles Moderna vaccines, have said the cause could be a manufacturing issue, and European safety regulators have launched an investigation.

Moderna has said no safety or efficacy issues had been identified from the issue.

Kanagawa prefecture said the vaccine's domestic distributor, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (4502.T), had collected the vial with the suspected contaminant, and that about 3,790 people had already received shots from the same lot.

More Moderna shots were temporarily halted in two regions of Japan this week for what appears to be a separate issue of bits of the vials' rubber stopper breaking off when needles are incorrectly inserted.

 

Retrieved from：https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-finds-another-moderna-vial-suspected-contain-foreign-substance-2021-09-01/

 

 

 

A New Jersey woman is charged with selling hundreds of fake vaccine cards.

By Jonah E. Bromwich

 

Credit...Rachel Woolf for The New York Times

A New Jersey woman who used the Instagram handle @AntiVaxMomma was charged in a conspiracy to sell hundreds of fake coronavirus vaccination cards over the social media platform, Manhattan prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The allegations against the woman, Jasmine Clifford, 31, were unveiled in Manhattan criminal court. Prosecutors said that Ms. Clifford sold about 250 forged cards over Instagram.

She also worked with another woman, Nadayza Barkley, 27, who is employed at a medical clinic in Patchogue, N.Y., to fraudulently enter at least 10 people into New York’s immunization database, prosecutors said.

There was a warrant out for Ms. Clifford’s arrest, but she did not appear in the courtroom on Tuesday. She is expected to be charged with two felonies related to the scheme, in addition to the conspiracy charge, which is a misdemeanor.

Ms. Barkley, who did appear in court, was charged with a felony, as were 13 people who purchased the cards, some of whom worked in hospitals and nursing homes. Lawyers for Ms. Clifford and Ms. Barkley could not immediately be reached for comment.

With only about 52 percent of the country fully vaccinated and a significant minority of Americans skeptical of the vaccines, forged cards are offered up on messaging services like Telegram and WhatsApp, as well as social media platforms like Instagram. Counterfeits have been spotted for sale on Amazon and Etsy.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said this month that its officers in Memphis had seized more than 3,000 forged cards in 2021 so far. Earlier this year, the National Association of Attorneys General sent a letter to the heads of Twitter, Shopify and eBay asking that they take immediate action to halt the sale of the fake cards on their websites.

Beginning in May, prosecutors said, Ms. Clifford, who described herself online as an entrepreneur and the operator of multiple businesses, began advertising forged vaccination cards through her Instagram account.

She charged $200 for the falsified cards, prosecutors said. For $250 more, Ms. Barkley would enter a customer’s name into New York’s official immunization database, enabling him or her to obtain the state’s Excelsior Pass, a digital certificate of vaccination.

Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, released a statement that called on Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, to crack down on fraud.

“We will continue to safeguard public health in New York with proactive investigations like these, but the stakes are too high to tackle fake vaccination cards with whack-a-mole prosecutions,” Mr. Vance said. “Making, selling, and purchasing forged vaccination cards are serious crimes with serious public safety consequences.”

A spokesman for Facebook said the platform prohibited anyone from buying or selling vaccine cards, that it had removed Ms. Clifford’s account at the beginning of August, and that it would review any other accounts that might be doing the same thing, removing any it turned up.

A popular TikTok user whose handle is @Tizzyent highlighted Ms. Clifford’s scheme in a viral video this month. A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said that the video had not led to the charges against Ms. Clifford and the others, and court documents indicated that Ms. Clifford had been under investigation since June.

The charges against Ms. Clifford and her collaborators underscore a black-market industry for counterfeit vaccination cards that has come roaring into existence this year.

Concerns about forged cards have risen as states, cities and corporations have shown more willingness to mandate vaccinations for certain activities and groups.

Earlier this month, New York City announced that it would begin to require that workers and customers at indoor restaurants, gyms and performances have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine.

 

 

 

70 percent of adults in the European Union have been fully vaccinated.

By Elian Peltier

 

Around 70 percent of adults in the European Union have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, E.U. officials said on Tuesday, a milestone that puts the bloc among the world’s leaders in vaccinations despite a sluggish start earlier this year and worrying discrepancies among member states.

After a fumbling start, the European Union overtook the United States in vaccinations last month, as campaigns taken together across the bloc’s 27 countries grew at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world. Tuesday’s announcement marked the meeting of a self-set deadline that once seemed far out of reach.

While the vaccination rate has slowed this month, it has yet to reach a ceiling that some experts and officials feared it would hit over the summer. Taking children and teenagers into account, more than 55 percent of the overall E.U. population has been fully vaccinated, compared with 52 percent in the United States, 61 percent in Israel, and 64 percent in Britain.

Those figures, however, mask wide differences between E.U. countries — ones that the authorities in Brussels may struggle to address, because each member country runs its own vaccination campaign.

While more than 80 percent of adults have been fully inoculated in Belgium, Denmark and Portugal, and more than 75 percent in countries like Spain and the Netherlands, the figure falls to 45 percent in Latvia, 31 percent in Romania and 20 percent in Bulgaria.

“The pandemic is not over,” said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, as she celebrated the milestone on Tuesday. “We need more. I call on everyone who can to get vaccinated.”

Some countries, like France and Italy, have implemented strong incentives for people to get vaccinated by requiring Covid passes to dine in restaurants or access cultural venues. (The pass can also be obtained with a proof of a negative test.) Significant parts of the population got vaccinated after the passes came into force, and opposition has remained limited.

But it is another story in Eastern European countries that could threaten the bloc’s handling of the pandemic in the fall and winter. In Bulgaria, disinformation about the virus, poor trust in institutions and a lack of a communication strategy to counter vaccine hesitancy have plagued vaccination efforts, including among older people. Romania, despite low vaccination rates, has sold doses to another E.U. country, Ireland, to avoid wasting them, and donated others to neighboring countries.

On Tuesday, Ms. von der Leyen said the European Union needed to “help the rest of the world vaccinate,” but vaccine diplomacy efforts have so far proved limited because of a lack of a coordinated approach from the bloc’s 27 countries to sell or donate doses.

Many countries in the European Union’s immediate neighborhood, such as Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Tunisia, are in need of doses and have among the world’s highest death tolls by size of population.

In a sign of renewed concern about the pandemic, the European Union on Tuesday recommended its member states reintroduce travel restrictions for visitors from the United States, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

 

Retrieved from：https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/31/world/covid-delta-variant-vaccine

 

 

 

Summary

 

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

A new coronavirus variant named Mu has been designated a variant of interest by the World Health Organization. Mu, or B.1.621, was first identified in Colombia and cases have been recorded in South America and Europe.

The WHO’s weekly bulletin on the pandemic said the variant has mutations suggesting it could be more resistant to vaccines, as was the case with Beta, but that more studies would be needed to examine this further.

Here are the other key recent developments:

· The UK government will press ahead with plans to introduce vaccine passports for nightclubs and other crowded indoor venues in England from the end of next month, the Guardian reports. Officials also restated their intention to roll out a Covid-19 booster programme from September.

· About 14 million people in the US received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in August, about 4 million more than in July, officials said on Tuesday as the government pushes inoculation as infections rise.

· The US state department has raised its travel advisory alert for Canada to a “level 3: reconsider travel” status amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it said.

· The Irish government has announced plans to remove all Covid-19 restrictions by 31 October.

· Seven in 10 (70%) of the European Union’s adult population has been fully vaccinated against Covid, hitting a target it had set at the beginning of the year. The figure masks the contrast among EU countries, with some nations being well above the 70% goal while others in the poorer eastern region of the bloc are far behind.

· Italy reported 75 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, up from 53 the previous day, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 5,498 from 4,257, the health ministry said.

· Israel has recorded its highest daily coronavirus case tally of nearly 11,000 new infections, amid a surge caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant as schools prepare to reopen.

 

Retrieved from：https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/sep/01/coronavirus-live-news-who-monitoring-new-mu-variant-stark-covid-divides-could-shape-europe-for-generations-study