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April
India’s coronavirus infections cross 18 million; record number of daily deaths
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. India's total COVID-19 cases passed 18 million on Thursday after another world record daily infection as gravediggers worked around the clock burying victims and rows of funeral pyres were built in parks and parking lots.
India reported 379,257 new COVID-19 cases and 3,645 new deaths on Thursday, according to health ministry data. It was the country's highest number of deaths reported in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
The world's second-most populous nation is in deep crisis with its hospitals and morgues overwhelmed and healthcare professionals struggling to cope with the pandemic.
Mumbai gravedigger Sayyed Munir Kamruddin said he and his colleagues were working non-stop to bury COVID-19 victims.
"I'm not scared of COVID, I've worked with courage. It's all about courage, not about fear," said the 52-year-old. "This is our only job. Getting the body, removing it from the ambulance, and then burying it." read more
Each day, thousands of Indians frantically search for hospital beds and life saving oxygen for sick relatives, using social media apps and personal contacts. When hospital beds become available, especially in intensive care units, they are snapped up within minutes.
"The ferocity of the second wave did take everyone by surprise," K. VijayRaghavan, principal scientific adviser to the Indian government, was quoted as saying in the Indian Express newspaper.
"While we were all aware of second waves in other countries, we had vaccines at hand, and no indications from modeling exercises suggested the scale of the surge."
India's military has begun transporting key medical supplies, such as oxygen cannisters, across the country and will open its healthcare facilities to civilians. Hotels and railway coaches have been converted into critical care facilities to make up for the shortage of hospital beds.
India's best hope to curb its second deadly wave of COVID-19 was to vaccinate its vast population, said experts, and on Wednesday the country opened registrations for everyone above the age of 18 to be given jabs from Saturday.
But although it is the world's biggest producer of vaccines, India does not have the stocks for the estimated 800 million people now eligible for inoculation.
Many people who tried to sign up for the vaccinations said they failed, complaining on social media that they could not get a slot or they simply could not get online to register as the website repeatedly crashed.
"Statistics indicate that far from crashing or performing slowly, the system is performing without any glitches," the government said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The government said more than 8 million people had registered for the vaccinations, but it was not immediately clear how many had got slots.
DEATHS LIKELY UNDER-REPORTED
Only about 9% of India's 1.4 billion population have received one dose since the vaccination campaign began in January with health workers and then the elderly.
While India's second wave of infections has overwhelmed the country's health system, its official death rate is below that of Brazil and the United States.
India has reported 147.2 deaths per million population, according to the Reuters global COVID-19 tracker, a much lower figure than Brazil and the United States, which reported 1,800 and 1,700 deaths per million population respectively.
However, medical experts believe India's true COVID-19 numbers may be 5 to 10 times greater than the official tally.
"India’s COVID outbreak is a humanitarian crisis," U.S. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Twitter.
"I’m leading a letter to @moderna_tx, @pfizer, and @jnjnews to find out what steps they’re taking to expand global access to their vaccines to save lives and prevent variants from spreading around the world."
The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory on Wednesday against travel to India because of the pandemic and advised its citizens to leave the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised for allowing massive political rallies and religious festivals which have been super spreader events in recent weeks.
More than 8.4 million eligible voters are set to vote on Thursday in the last phase of an eight-part election in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, even as the state witnesses a record rise in coronavirus cases.
"The people of this country are entitled to a full and honest account of what led more than a billion people into a catastrophe," Vikram Patel, The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in The Hindu newspaper.
AID STARTS ARRIVING
India expects close to 550 oxygen generating plants to come in from all over the world as aid starts pouring in, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday. read more
Two planes from Russia, carrying 20 oxygen concentrators, 75 ventilators, 150 bedside monitors, and medicines totalling 22 metric tonnes, have arrived in the capital.
The United States is sending supplies worth more than $100 million to India, including 1,000 oxygen cylinders, 15 million N95 masks and 1 million rapid diagnostic tests, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday. read more It said the supplies will begin arriving on Thursday.
The United States also has redirected its own order of AstraZeneca (AZN.L) manufacturing supplies to India, which will allow it to make over 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the White House.
India will receive a first batch of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 on May 1. Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, which is marketing Sputnik V globally, has already signed agreements with five leading Indian manufacturers for over 850 million doses of the vaccine a year. read more
Bangladesh on Thursday said it will send about 10,000 vials of injectable anti-viral, oral anti-viral, 30,000 PPE kits, and several thousand zinc, calcium, vitamin C and other necessary tablets to India.
Germany will send 120 ventilators to India on Saturday, followed by a mobile oxygen production facility next week, its defence ministry said. (Reuters)
April
Japan business leaders suggest ways for govt to speed up vaccination rate
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Japanese business leaders and a Nobel-prizewinning biologist called upon the government to reform its vaccination programme, including allowing drive-through inoculations, as the nation struggles to contain a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Japan has secured the largest quantity of COVID-19 vaccines in Asia, as it gears up for the summer Olympics. But it has inoculated only 1.6% of its population so far, the slowest among wealthy countries.
Government data on Wednesday showed that Japan has only used about a fifth of the coronavirus vaccine doses it has imported so far, underscoring logistical hurdles such as a shortage of medical staff. read more
Twenty-four business leaders, including e-commerce group Rakuten's (4755.T) CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, and Nobel-winning stem cell biologist Shinya Yamanaka said a bolder and coordinated effort was needed to speed up vaccinations.
"The government and local administrations must not be constrained by outdated thinking and must make effective use of private sector expertise," they said in a statement on Wednesday.
They urged the government to simplify vaccine application procedures, quicken administration of vaccines by allowing them to be done using a drive-through system and large-scale facilities, and seek the cooperation of medical experts.
The proposals also called for the government to manage vaccination records to encourage residents and visitors from outside Japan who have been inoculated to resume economic activities.
Japanese government officials were not immediately available for comment on Thursday, a national holiday in Japan.
Rakuten's Mikitani, who is also the representative director of the Japan Association of New Economy, has said it was "too risky" to hold the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer, as Japan struggles with a nascent fourth wave of the pandemic. read more
Supporters of the proposals included the Japan Medical Association President Yoshitake Yokokura, furniture chain Nitori Holdings Co's (9843.T) CEO Akio Nitori and Takeshi Niinami, head of Japanese beverage group Suntory Holdings. (Reuters)
April
Moderna boosting COVID-19 vaccine capacity, targets up to 3 billion shots in 2022
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) said on Thursday it is boosting manufacturing capacity for its COVID-19 vaccine and expects to make up to 3 billion doses in 2022, more than twice its previous forecast.
It also said it is increasing its expectations for 2021 vaccine production to between 800 million and 1 billion shots, raising the bottom of its range from 700 million.
The final number of inoculations will depend on how many are lower-dose formulations for boosters and immunizations for children. Moderna shots currently deploy 100 micrograms of vaccine substance but some future shots may use only 50 micrograms.
"As we look forward to next year, we just see so much need for primary vaccine, we are hearing it all over the world, and also boosters," Moderna President Stephen Hoge said in an interview.
"So depending upon... how much the ordering that happens is third doses or pediatric doses at 50 micrograms, we could see up to 3 billion doses," he added. Moderna had previously said it expected to make 1.4 billion shots in 2022.
Moderna also said new data suggests its shots can be stored safely for up to three months at refrigerator temperatures, making it easier to get them to hard to reach areas that may not have access to freezers.
"That might be a breakthrough that really matters in 2022 in Africa and across lower and middle income countries," Hoge said.
Wealthy governments have been trying to stock up on COVID-19 shots from Moderna and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N)/BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) after safety concerns and production problems temporarily sidelined vaccines from AstraZeneca Plc (AZN.L) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N). read more
But even as rich countries speed up their vaccine rollouts, other parts of the world are facing sharp upticks in cases and struggling to acquire needed shots.
India has recorded more than 300,000 cases each day and more than 2,000 deaths in the past week. Fewer than 10% of its more than 1.3 billion citizens have received one dose and only around 20 million are fully inoculated against the virus.
Moderna expects to double output at a drug substance plant in Switzerland run by Lonza Group AG (LONN.S) and boost production in a Spain-based facility owned by Laboratorios Farmaceuticos ROVI SA (ROVI.MC) more than two-fold. U.S. plants will also raise output by more than 50%.
Moderna's two-dose vaccine uses messenger-RNA technology that programs cells to build immunity to the novel coronavirus.
The U.S. drugmaker said it would begin making investments this year and that production boosts would start in late 2021 and carry into early 2022.
Moderna said it is in advanced talks for additional deals with other manufacturers to help make its shots. Moderna earlier this month announced shot production deals with Sanofi SA (SASY.PA) and Catalent Inc (CTLT.N). read more
The company would need regulatory sign-off to start shipping vaccine at the higher, refrigerator-level temperatures.
So far, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have been the only major global drugmakers with authorized COVID-19 shots that can be stored without a freezer.
Both companies have faced production problems and reports of severe side effects that have slowed uptake of their vaccines.
Moderna Inc said on Wednesday the U.S. government had agreed to increase the contract for the company’s COVID-19 vaccine by $236 million to roughly $1.25 billion, to include additional costs related to the shot’s studies. (Reuters)
April
OIC secretary general extends condolences over submarine incident
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General, Dr. Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, sent a letter of condolence and sympathy to Indonesian President Joko Widodo following the sinking of the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine.
Dr Al-Othaimeen expressed sincere condolences to the president and people of Indonesia as well as to the bereaved families of the 53 crew members of the submarine and prayed to Allah Almighty for His vast and endless mercy to be granted to the souls of the deceased, according to a statement received in Jakarta, Wednesday.
The KRI Nanggala-402 submarine went off the radar on Wednesday (April 22) during live torpedo training exercises off the Indonesian holiday island of Bali.
The 40-year-old submarine was found disintegrated into three pieces on the sea bed after five days of search efforts. All 53 crew members of the vessel are confirmed dead.
Indonesia's Navy officials spoke of having received signals from the submarine more than 800 meters deep early on Sunday.
An underwater rescue vehicle, loaned by Singapore, was sent down to obtain visual confirmation of the wreckage.
Built in Germany in 1977, KRI Nanggala was refitted in South Korea in 2012..
Neighboring Singapore and Malaysia as well as the United States and Australia were among the nations that extended assistance to look for the submarine, with nearly two dozen warships deployed to scour a search zone spanning some 10 square nautical miles. (Antaranews)
April
Washington helping Kabul replace departing U.S. contractors -envoy
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. The United States is helping to find replacements for American contractors who provide vital services to the Kabul government but must leave Afghanistan under a 2020 agreement, U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on Tuesday.
"The Afghans ... with our help are looking for others to be able to provide that service to them," Khalilzad told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We're obviously very sympathetic to them to find alternatives."
The February 2020 deal reached by the Trump administration with the Taliban required the departures by May 1 of all U.S. troops and non-diplomatic civilian personnel, including U.S. contractors.
U.S. President Joe Biden delayed the pullout while his administration reviewed the agreement and Afghanistan policy.
He decided earlier this month to begin the withdrawal and complete it by Sept. 11, the anniversary of al Qaeda's 2001 attacks on the United States that triggered the U.S.-led invasion that year.
The departure of thousands of American contractors, especially those serving the Afghan security forces, has raised concerns among some U.S. officials about the ability of the Afghan government and military to sustain critical functions.
U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko told Congress in March that the departure of U.S. defense contractors may be "more devastating" to Afghan forces than the troop withdrawal.
Some of the deepest concerns involve the Afghan air force, for whose U.S.-made Blackhawk helicopters and C-130 cargo planes Pentagon contractors provide 100% of the maintenance. (Reuters)
April
China, Japan trade acrimonious barbs over Fukushima tweet
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. China and Japan accused each other of inappropriate behaviour after a Chinese government official posted a tweet of an iconic Japanese woodblock print manipulated to show nuclear waste being poured into the sea, launching a new diplomatic spat.
Earlier this month, Japan said it would release into the sea contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, angering its neighbours. China said the plan was "extremely irresponsible". read more
On Monday, Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, tweeted an image of "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa" made in the 19th century by artist Hokusai, altered to show green nuclear waste being poured into the sea by two people in orange Hazmat suits from a boat.
In the image, created by a Chinese illustrator, Mount Fuji in the background was replaced by a nuclear plant cooling tower.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, when asked about the tweet at a news conference on Tuesday, said he would not comment on every tweet "by someone at the press secretary level".
But he said Japan was lodging a "forceful protest" and seeking the tweet's removal through diplomatic channels.
"You asked if I will delete the tweet and apologise. You may have noticed, I have pinned the tweet at the top," Zhao said at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
"The illustration shows the righteous call of the people. It is the Japanese government which needs to revoke its wrong decision and apologise," Zhao said.
On Wednesday, when asked again about the tweet by an opposition lawmaker in Japan's parliament, Motegi said that "such heartless tweets should not be allowed", according to Kyodo News.
"Japan did a bad thing, yet can't let others talk about it?" Zhao said.
"The whole world has been protesting for a while now, some Japanese officials play dumb and pretended not to hear, yet they get so worked up over an illustration."
The bitter exchanges came on the heels of Chinese anger at a recent statement by U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who jointly agreed to face down China over a range of issues from Taiwan to Muslim Uighurs in the farwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang. (Reuters)
April
Jakarta. Kazakhstan on Tuesday launched its own, domestically-developed vaccine for mass inoculations against COVID-19, starting with popular locations such as shopping malls.
Almost a million people in the former Soviet republic of 19 million have already received the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine that Kazakhstan both imports and produces domestically.
The Central Asian republic's sovereign wealth fund has also ordered a million doses of Chinese-developed Sinopharm vaccine.
But this week, the oil-exporting country made its own vaccine available to the general public, with Healthcare Minister Alexei Tsoi receiving a jab in front of the media.
Like Sputnik V, the QazVac vaccine is delivered in two shots with a three-week interval.
QazVac is currently in a stage 3 trial to be completed by July. All 222 people who participated in the first two stages have developed immunity to COVID-19, with no major side-effects reported, according to its Kazakh developer, the Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems.
In Mega Park, one of the main shopping venues in Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, QazVac was the only available option on Tuesday. Most of the people queuing up for the shot said the brand of vaccine did not matter to them.
"We haven't made it in time for Sputnik (but) I do not think there is any difference between Sputnik and QazVac," said a young woman who only gave her first name, Madina.
"We plan to go to Georgia and we are getting the vaccine so that we do not get sick (with COVID-19) there".
Officials have said domestic development of a vaccine has put Kazakhstan in an elite club of pharmaceutically advanced nations, but acknowledged issues with scaling up production and said they were discussing "bottling" the shot in Turkey.
Kazakhstan has reported over 360,000 COVID-19 cases with 4,381 deaths since the global pandemic began early last year. (Reuters)
April
U.S. Afghan envoy pledges to press for women's involvement in peace talks
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden's administration would press for "meaningful participation" for women and minorities in ongoing peace talks.
As Biden prepares to withdraw U.S. forces by Sept. 11, Khalilzad said in prepared remarks for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing the administration is working to preserve civil rights and impressing upon the Taliban there will be severe consequences to civil war, with the cooperation of neighboring countries and other U.S. partners. (Reuters)
April
Australia Urges ASEAN to Implement Summit Consensus on Myanmar
Written by Nur Yasmin
(AFP/Andrew Taylor)
Jakarta. Australia urged ASEAN to immediately implement the five points of consensus on Myanmar which was agreed upon at the High Level Conference (Summit) in Jakarta on Saturday (24/4).
"As ASEAN's first Dialogue Partner, we are strongly committed to constructively supporting ASEAN's efforts, and we urge the implementation of the five points of consensus as soon as possible," said Australian Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, in her official statement.
The five consensus points of the ASEAN Summit stated that, first, the violence in Myanmar must stop immediately and all parties must refrain completely.
Second, immediately start a constructive dialogue between all related parties in Myanmar to find peaceful solutions for the benefit of the people.
Third, the special envoy of the Chair of ASEAN will facilitate the mediation of the dialogue process with the assistance of the ASEAN Secretary-General.
Fourth, ASEAN will provide humanitarian assistance through the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Center).
Fifth, a special envoy and a delegation will visit Myanmar to meet all related parties.
Payne stated that her country highly appreciates ASEAN's efforts, especially under the chairmanship of Brunei Darussalam, to bring together the country's leaders in Southeast Asia and reach this consensus.
According to Payne, Australia views ASEAN as the core of an open, stable, and resilient Indo-Pacific region. Therefore, Payne considers ASEAN to have an important role in mapping a way out of the current crisis in Myanmar.
In order to support ASEAN in handling the Myanmar crisis, Australia will provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar as much as 5 million Australian dollars or Rp 56.4 billion through the ASEAN Humanitarian Aid Coordination Center (AHA Center).
"Australia will continue to work closely with our regional partners, particularly ASEAN, to de-escalate the situation in Myanmar and support regional efforts towards a resolution. Australia's policy settings on Myanmar, including options for sanctions, will continue to be revised in support of the Myanmar people," Payne said. (VOI)
April
Citing ‘stunning progress’ on coronavirus, Biden lifts outdoor mask guidelines
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Fully vaccinated people can safely engage in outdoor activities like walking and hiking without wearing masks but should continue to use face-coverings in public spaces where they are required, U.S. health regulators and President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, while urging those who have not to get the shot.
The updated health advice comes as more than half of all adults in the United States have now received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Biden said the new advice was a result of steps the country had taken to fight the coronavirus.
"We’ve made stunning progress because of all of you," Biden said, adding that COVID-19 cases are "down dramatically." Deaths among senior citizens have dropped by 80% as vaccinations have increased, he said.
"If you're vaccinated, you can do more things, more safely, both outdoors as well as indoors," Biden said, while adding that masks should still be worn in big crowds and at stadium events.
Wearing face masks has been considered by experts one of the most effective ways of controlling virus transmission. With most COVID-19 transmission occurring indoors, and vaccinations on the rise, the use of masks outdoors has been under public debate for weeks in the United States as Americans look to enjoy the benefits of being fully vaccinated.
The CDC called the new guidelines a "first step" in helping fully vaccinated Americans resume activities they had stopped because of the pandemic.
New COVID-19 cases dropped 16% in the last week as the United States surpassed 140 million people having received at least one shot of authorized vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech (PFE.N), , Moderna (MRNA.O) or Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine (JNJ.N).
Just over 29% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, the CDC reported, and 43% have had one dose of the two-shot vaccines.
Last week’s figures were the biggest percentage drop in weekly new cases since February, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county data.
The White House is trying to overcome vaccine hesitancy, and Biden offered the new mask guidelines as another reason to get the jab on Tuesday.
"So, for those who haven't gotten their vaccination, especially if you're younger or thinking you don't need it, this is another great reason to go get vaccinated," Biden said. (Reuters)