Covid-19 Pandemia: live updates and news from April 3, 2021

Photographer: Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty Images

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Global coronavirus cases have exceeded 130 million. Weekly infections in the United States have peaked since the end of February, even with vaccinations at record levels. India reported the highest number of new cases since the peak of its outbreak in September.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will present a plan to open travel on Monday and vaccinated Britons can avoid some quarantine measures, the Telegraph reported. UK young adults may receive a new Johnson & Johnson single injection vaccine in July, the newspaper said.

The Philippines extended the blockade in Manila and neighboring provinces for at least a week, as cases of active coronavirus reached the highest number in Southeast Asia. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez tested positive after doing a preliminary antigen test for your fever.

Main developments:

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USA Adds Nearly 68,000 New Cases (08:00 NY)

The United States added nearly 68,000 new cases on Friday, with weekly infections reaching their peak since the end of February, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The upward trend continues even as the US vaccinates at record levels, with 4 million vaccines applied on Friday, Bloomberg data Show Vaccine Tracker.

Another 949 deaths were reported Friday, after two days above 1,000. Weekly fatalities are at their lowest point since the end of October, before the national increase in deaths, infections and hospitalizations around the holiday.

Philippines Extends Manila Blockade (7:52 am, NY)

The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, approved a proposal to extend the blockade in the capital Manila and neighboring provinces for at least a week, as cases of coronavirus active in the country reached the highest number in Southeast Asia.

The national capital region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal will remain under the community’s enhanced quarantine from April 5 to 11, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Saturday. The country’s most stringent movement restriction was originally planned to be in effect for just one week until April 4.

Young adults in the UK can receive a single dose J&J vaccine (7:17 am, NY)

Young adults in the UK can receive a new, unique Covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson in a “jab and go” offered in July, the Telegraph reported, citing government officials. The Janssen jab will likely be an attractive offering for young Generation Y’s just in time for their summer vacation. The UK has ordered about 30 million doses of the Janssen vaccine, which is made using the same method as the AstraZeneca vaccine, the newspaper said.

Visitors from Kenya are prohibited from entering the UK (6am NY)

The United Kingdom has announced that as of 4 am on 9 April, visitors who have been or have traveled to Kenya in the past 10 days will not be able to enter the country. British and Irish citizens, and third-country nationals with UK residence rights arriving in England from Kenya will be required to be quarantined in a hotel, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in a statement. statement on your website. Different rules will apply for arrivals to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the agency said.

Vaccinated Britons should face fewer holiday restrictions: Telegraph (17:27 HK)

Vaccinated Britons will face fewer Covid tests and may avoid some quarantine measures under UK government plans to ease restrictions abroad summer vacation, according to the Daily Telegraph.

On Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will present a plan for opening travel and is expected to reveal a traffic light system in which countries are classified in red, yellow or green according to their risk based on vaccination levels, Covid rates and prevalence of variants, the newspaper said. All travelers returning to the UK will need Covid tests before departure, regardless of their vaccination status.

New cases from Poland fall a week earlier (16:56 HK)

Poland reported 28,073 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Ministry of Health. This compares to 31,757 new cases in the previous week and a record 35,251 on April 1. The death toll rose to 571 from 448 a week ago and a record 674 on 25 November.

A AstraZeneca Vaccine Bickering Must Stop, UK Official Informa FT (4:47 pm HK)

“Fights” and disputes over the supply of vaccines and possible side effects of the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine “need to stop” because “it just creates uncertainty in people’s minds,” said Kate Bingham, who led and launched the Kingdom Vaccine Task Force United, in a Financial Times interview.

Bingham said that AstraZeneca, whose vaccine safety has been questioned in several countries, are “heroes” for choosing an experimental vaccine invented at the University of Oxford and figuring out how to test, manufacture and distribute it at low cost around the world. The company signed more deals to supply low-income countries than any other pharmaceutical rival and was “caught up in geopolitics,” Bingham told FT.

Bangladesh to impose seven-day blockade (16:01 HK)

The Bangladeshi government has decided to impose a seven-day blockade starting on Monday, as coronavirus cases and deaths are increasing across the country, Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader said at a news conference in Dhaka on Saturday.

IMF approves $ 2.3 billion package for Kenya (14h45 HK)

The International Monetary Fund approved a $ 2.34 billion financing package for Kenya to support the country’s Covid-19 response and address an urgent need to reduce debt vulnerabilities. “Kenya was hit hard in the beginning by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the IMF.

Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Kenya are at 136,893, with 2,186 deaths on April 2, according to the ministry of health.

Separately, Kenya ordered an immediate suspension of private vaccine imports, citing fears that this could lead to the entry of fake vaccines, the AP reported.

Australia working with the EU and the United Kingdom in the case of a clot (14h38, HK)

Australian authorities they say they are working with the European Union and the United Kingdom to investigate the first local case of an unusual clotting in a patient after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, as the global concern about the safety of the injection continues to grow. The case, first reported on April 2, is being investigated by the country’s Therapeutic Products Administration.

“We have no definitive evidence of causality,” acting medical director Michael Kidd told reporters at a news conference on Saturday. “But given the consistency of the clinical characteristics in this case, with some similar cases that have been seen abroad, it is likely that this reported case is related to the vaccine.”

Amid growing reports of rare blood clots possibly linked to the AstraZeneca injection, the UK’s health regulator said the benefits of the injection continue to outweigh the risks. On Friday, the Netherlands joined Germany to suspend the use of the vaccine in people under the age of 60.

Argentine leader with positive test (12:55 pm HK)

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said he tested positive for Covid-19 after doing a preliminary antigen test for his fever.

Fernandez said in a tweet that he is currently isolated pending the results of a polymerase chain reaction test, which is more definitive. The Argentine leader took the first dose of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine at a public hospital in the province of Buenos Aires in January.

India’s cases have increased the most since September (12:46 pm HK)

India reported 89,129 new cases, the highest daily count in more than six months, while the country sees a resurgence that threatens to be more severe than when infections peaked in September.

The cases more than quadrupled in the past month, after India appeared to contain its outbreak earlier this year. The country has the third highest number of cases in the world, although daily infections are now at a level similar to that of Brazil, the second worst country.

The state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial center, Mumbai, may be heading for another blockade, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Friday. With more than 50% of the state’s hospital beds occupied, the systems can be overloaded in 15 to 20 days, he said. Some restrictions will be announced in the next few days, said Thackeray.

Brazil reports 70,238 cases, 2,922 deaths (10:11 am HK)

Brazil, one of the worst foci of Covid-19 in the world, recorded 70,238 cases in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Ministry of Health. The death toll in the country increased by 2,922. President Jair Bolsonaro promised in a tweet that the government would make almost 3,000 more doctors available to fight the outbreak.

China Cluster Grows; Korea cases above 500 (09:49 HK)

China’s largest cluster since mid-February has continued to expand into a border town in southwestern Yunnan province. The province reported seven new infections and five new asymptomatic cases on Friday, accounting for all local cases in China on the day, according to the National Health Commission.

All cases of Yunnan were found in the city of Ruili, which is close to the Myanmar border, after tests across the city, the provincial government said in its Weibo account on Saturday. Earlier this week, Ruili said he would test the entire local population. As of Friday, Yunnan had 26 cases.

South Korea, for its part, registered 543 cases on Saturday. It is the fourth consecutive day that infections exceed 500 – the longest sequence of its kind since mid-January.

– With the help of Heather Burke, Emma Dong, Jeff Sutherland, Dorota Bartyzel, Arun Devnath, Deirdre Hipwell, Eric Ombok, Deana Kjuka, Ditas B Lopez, Andreo Calonzo and Ian Fisher