Hospitals in India have launched desperate appeals for oxygen as the Covid crisis spiralled, while Japan issued a state of emergency in some areas just three months before the Olympics are due to open.
India on Saturday reported 346,786 new infections in the past day, setting a world record for a third consecutive day, while deaths rose by 2,624 – the highest daily rate for India so far.
With governments rushing to accelerate vaccine campaigns, good news emerged on Friday when US regulators approved the restart of Johnson & Johnson vaccinations halted over blood clotting concerns; and the EU said it would have enough jabs by the end of July to inoculate 70% of adults.
The announcement from Brussels came as Europe’s medicines regulator said the benefits of the controversy-plagued AstraZeneca vaccine increased with age – and reiterated that it should be used despite links to rare blood clots.
In India healthcare facilities sounded the alarm on oxygen supplies for patients on ventilator support.
“SOS – less than an hour’s oxygen supplies at Max Smart Hospital & Max Hospital Saket,” one of the biggest private hospital chains in Delhi said online.
“Over 700 patients admitted, need immediate assistance.”
Compounding the misery, 13 Covid patients died in Mumbai when a fire broke out in their hospital on Friday – the latest in a string of blazes at Indian healthcare facilities.
Many parts of the country have tightened restrictions, with the capital in lockdown and all non-essential services banned in Maharashtra. The northern state of Uttar Pradesh, home to 240 million people, goes into a shutdown this weekend.
Other countries have closed their doors to India, fearing a new variant spreading quickly in the country. The United Arab Emirates on Thursday became the latest nation to impose restrictions, while Canada halted flights from both India and Pakistan.
New Zealand has paused travel with Western Australia after a Covid-19 case was confirmed in Perth.
Australia and New Zealand, two largely coronavirus-free neighbours, opened their quarantine-free travel bubble on Sunday, almost 400 days after closing their borders. The move has been hailed as a major milestone in restarting a global travel industry that has been crippled by the pandemic.
Japan on Friday declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other regions, just three months before the country is supposed to host the Olympics.
“Today we decided to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo prefectures,” the prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, announced, citing the rise of infections involving new virus variants.
The country’s minister for virus response, Yasutoshi Nishimura, earlier warned of a “strong sense of crisis”, saying current restrictions were not sufficient.
The measure will run from 25 April to 11 May, coinciding with the annual Golden Week holiday, Japan’s busiest travel period.
Authorities want bars and restaurants to stop selling alcohol or close, and to shutter major commercial facilities like malls.
Spectators will be barred from sports events, which can continue behind closed doors, and remote working will be encouraged.
Governments were grappling with new surges elsewhere.
Russia announced on Friday it would impose a 10-day non-working period at the beginning of May to stem the virus spread, a departure from the government’s hands-off approach in recent months.
Russia has been hard-hit by Covid-19, with the Rosstat state statistics agency recording more than 224,000 virus-related deaths – more than double the 107,501 that health officials reported as of Friday.
If correct, the Rosstat toll would mean Russia has the third-highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world, after the United States and Brazil.
US health regulators agreed with a recommendation to resume vaccinations using the Johnson & Johnson jab because its potential risks for clotting were outweighed by its protection against the virus.
According to data presented on Friday, of 3.9 million women in the United States who got the Johnson & Johnson shot, 15 developed serious blood clots and three died. Most of the patients were younger than 50. There were no reported cases among men.
Meanwhile the EU said it would have enough vaccines for most of its adult population by the summer.
“I’m confident we will have enough doses to vaccinate 70% of all EU adults already in July,” said the European commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU chief had previously set a goal of late September for the target, but announced the new date during a visit to a Belgian vaccine plant that is ramping up production of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Europe has been plagued by problems with vaccines, first failing to secure much-needed supplies, and then relating to safety concerns, mainly around AstraZeneca’s jab after links to blood clots emerged.
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