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April
Restrictions imposed in and around Mumbai as COVID cases in Indian state surge
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. India’s richest state, Maharashtra, announced stringent COVID-19 restrictions from Monday, after a rapid rise in infections now accounting for more than half the country’s daily new cases.
An industrialist who attended a meeting with the chief minister before the curbs were announced quoted him as saying that “the situation is grim and there could be shortage of hospital beds, doctors and oxygen cylinders”.
He declined to be named, but the comments echo those of government and health officials to Indian media about the situation in the state, which includes the crowded financial capital Mumbai.
The state will shut shopping malls, cinemas, bars, restaurants and places of worship from Monday evening.
Authorities will also impose a complete lockdown at weekends, Nawab Malik, a minister in the state government, told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
Malik said the government would impose a night curfew across the state from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Monday, allowing only essential services to operate during those hours.
Millions of migrant workers travel from across India to secure jobs in the western state that accounts for about 16% of India’s economic output.
Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray met the industrialists before announcing the restrictions, according to a statement from his office.
Malik said industrial operations such as manufacturing and construction activity would be allowed to continue as usual.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Sunday to review the COVID-19 situation and vaccination programme.
The country reported 93,249 new cases in the 24 hours to Sunday morning, according to data from the federal Health Ministry. Maharashtra, which accounts for less than a 10th of the population, accounted for a record 49,447 new cases.
The state, according to health ministry data, has contributed 57% of total cases and 47% of deaths in the country in the past 14 days.
Ten matches in the Indian Premier League cricket tournament scheduled to be played in Mumbai between April 10-25 will continue as planned despite the new curbs, an official at the local cricket body told Reuters.
The tournament, set to start without spectators from Friday in six venues across the country, has already been hit, with two cricketers testing positive despite coronavirus protocols set up for participants.
India is behind the United States and Brazil in the highest number of infections in the world, with more than 12 million cases and nearly 165,000 deaths recorded since the start of the outbreak. (Reuters)
April
Australia to continue AstraZeneca vaccination despite blood clotting case
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Australia will continue its inoculation programme with AstraZeneca PLC, health officials said on Saturday, after a blood clotting case raised concern about the safety of the vaccine.
A 44-year-old man was admitted to a Melbourne hospital with clotting, days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, suffering serious thrombosis, a condition that prevents normal blood flow though the circulatory system.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulator and a panel, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), met late Friday and early Saturday to discuss further advice on the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We have not been advised at this time by ATAGI or the TGA to pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia,” Australia’s deputy chief medical officer, Michael Kidd, told a televised briefing Saturday afternoon.
Kidd said, however, that the blood clotting case is “likely” related to the vaccine.
“The risks of serious side effects remain very low, but safety is paramount and that is why TAGI and the TGA are continuing to do due diligence on this case,” Kidd said, adding that further announcements would come next week.
On Thursday, Britain identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events following use of the vaccine. Several nations, including Canada, France, Germany and Spain, limited its use after similar reports.
Possible complications with the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine could further slow the already delayed inoculation drive in Australia.
Australia launched mass vaccinations for its 25 million people in February, with most expected to receive the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as 50 million doses are being produced domestically by CSL Ltd.
The country has had troubles, however, rolling out the programme, missing a March target by about 3.3 million doses as states and the federal government bickered over the blame.
The troubles follow a year of significant success curbing the virus, with snap lockdowns, border closures and swift tracking limiting coronavirus infections to just under 29,300 infections, with 909 COVID-19 deaths.
On Saturday, Queensland state, the epicentre of the most recent small outbreak of the coronavirus, recorded one new infection, health officials said, but risks to the public were minimal as the victim had been in isolation for days. (Reuters)
April
Young Pakistanis rush to purchase Russian vaccine as private sales open
Written by Nur Yasmin
Jakarta. Thousands of Pakistanis rushed to get inoculated in the first round of commercial sales of COVID-19 vaccines that began over the weekend, with vaccination sites in the southern city of Karachi saying on Sunday they had already sold out.
Pakistan is currently offering free vaccines to frontline healthcare workers and people over the age of 50, but the drive has thus far been slow, and last month the country allowed commercial imports by the private sector for the general public.
The first round saw the commercial sale of the two-shot Russian Sputnik V to the general public for about 12,000 Pakistani rupees ($80) for a pack of two doses.
Despite the cost, a number of centres offering the shot reported long queues, with some in Karachi waiting in line for close to three hours. Most in the queue were young Pakistanis still not eligible for government’s free vaccination.
“I am very happy to get it, since now it is required for travelling,” Saad Ahmed, 34, told Reuters on Sunday after he got his shot at an upscale private sector hospital in Karachi.
While the private sale of vaccines has begun, the government and importers are still locked in a pricing dispute.
Pakistan initially agreed to exempt imported vaccines from price caps, but later rescinded the exemption and said it would set maximum prices.
One pharmaceutical company, which had already imported 50,000 doses of Sputnik V, took the government to court, where it won an interim order allowing it to sell it until pricing is decided.
As soon as vaccination was opened for walk-in customers, there were long lines of people, Dr Nashwa Ahmed, who runs vaccination at Karachi’s South City Hospital, told Reuters.
Pictures of queues outside the hospital late into the night were shared on social media.
The hospital procured 5,000 doses of Sputnik V and in just over two days all its stock had been administered or pre-booked, said a hospital official who asked not to be identified.
Companies, including one of Pakistan’s largest banks, have also purchased large quantities to have staff inoculated, the official said.
The private sales start as the country deals with a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections and healthcare facilities are fast filling to capacity.
The number of patients now in critical care has reached 3,568, the highest since the pandemic started, a cabinet minister, Asad Umar, said on Twitter. Pakistan has thus far reported 687,908 infections and 14,778 deaths. (Reuters)
April
French Open postponement a possibility - sports minister
Written by nuke
French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu
French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said it was possible the French Open could be postoned for the second year amid the COVID-19 crisis.
France entered a third nationwide lockdown on Saturday to contain the coronavirus spread, although professional sports have largely been spared. An exception is cycling’s Paris-Roubaix one-day race, which has been postponed from its original April 11 slot.
The French Open, which last year was postponed by four months and took place in front of limited crowds, is due to start this year on May 23.
“We are in discussion with them (the French Tennis Federation, which organises the event) to see if we should change the date to coincide with a possible resumption of all sports and major events,” Maracineanu told France Info radio late on Saturday.
“Today, although high-level sport has been preserved, we try to limit the risks of clusters, of spreading the virus within professional sports.”
President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that he was expecting to re-open the country in mid-May.
The director-general of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moreton, said earlier this week that he could not imagine the Grand Slam tournament being cancelled//Reuters
April
Ethiopia says Eritrean troops have started withdrawing from Tigray
Written by nuke
Ethiopia says Eritrean troops have started withdrawing from Tigray
Eritrean forces have started withdrawing from Ethiopia’s Tigray region in the north, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said.
The United States, Germany, France and other G7 countries called on Friday for a swift, unconditional and verifiable withdrawal of the Eritrean soldiers, followed by a political process that is acceptable to all Ethiopians.
In a rejoinder issued late on Saturday through the Foreign Ministry, Ethiopia said that the G7 foreign ministers’ statement had not acknowledged key steps being taken to address the needs of the region.
“The Eritrean troops who had crossed the border when provoked by the TPLF have now started to evacuate and the Ethiopian National Defense Force has taken over guarding the national border,” it said in a statement.
Fighting erupted in Tigray in early November after forces loyal to the then-governing party there - the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) - attacked army bases across the region. In late November, federal troops ousted the TPLF from the capital Mekelle and the Ethiopian government declared victory.
Thousands of people died in the conflict, hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes and there are shortages of food, water and medicine in the region. The government says most fighting has ceased but there are still isolated incidents of shooting.
Full access to the region has now been granted to humanitarian organisations, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that a joint investigation with external experts into alleged human rights violations will start soon.
“Whilst the government... honesty appreciates the concerns being expressed, it has already been too apparent that the supply of food and medicinal aid must be the crux of expressions of concerns,” the ministry said//Reuters
April
U.S. puts J&J in charge of plant that botched COVID vaccine, removes AstraZeneca
Written by nuke
U.S. puts J&J in charge of plant that botched COVID vaccine, removes AstraZeneca
The United States has put Johnson and Johnson in charge of a plant that ruined 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine and has stopped British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc from using the facility, a senior health official said on Saturday.
J&J said it was “assuming full responsibility” of the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore, reiterating that it will deliver 100 million doses to the government by the end of May.
The Department of Health & Human Services facilitated the move, the health official said in an email, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
AstraZeneca, whose vaccine has not been approved in the United States, said it will work with President Joe Biden’s administration to find an alternative site to produce its vaccine.
White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The development, first reported by the New York Times, further hampers AstraZeneca’s efforts in the United States. The government has criticized the drugmaker for using outdated data in the results of its vaccine trial. It later revised its study.
Workers at the Emergent BioSolutions plant several weeks ago conflated ingredients for the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, the Times said earlier in the week. J&J said at the time the ruined batch had not advanced to the fill-and-finish stage.
The government’s move to have the facility make only the J&J single-dose vaccine is meant to avoid future mix-ups, the Times said, citing two senior federal health officials.
The top U.S. infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday the country may not need AstraZeneca’s vaccine even if it wins approval.
The United States has loan deals to send Mexico and Canada roughly 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, made at its U.S. facility//Reuters
April
In Myanmar, Easter eggs become symbol of defiance for anti-coup protesters
Written by nuke
Messages painted on eggs by Myanmar coup opponents were posted on social media on Easter Sunday, Apr 4, 2021
Opponents of military rule in Myanmar inscribed messages of protest on Easter eggs on Sunday (Apr 4), while others were back on the streets, facing off with security forces after a night of candle-lit vigils for hundreds killed since a Feb 1 coup.
Hundreds of people protested in the country's second city of Mandalay, some on foot, others on motorbikes, according to images on social media, before police and soldiers moved in to disperse them.
Protesters also gathered in several other towns.
There were no immediate reports of violence.
Police and a spokesman for the junta did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said 2,658 people were in detention, including four women and a man who spoke to a visiting CNN news crew in interviews on the streets of the main city of Yangon last week.
Authorities have also issued arrest warrants for nearly 40 celebrities known for opposing military rule, including social media influencers, singers and models, under a law against inciting dissent in the armed forces.
The charge, announced on the main evening news bulletins broadcast by state media on Friday and Saturday, can carry a prison term of three years.The coup has also triggered clashes with autonomy-seeking ethnic minority forces that have announced support for the pro-democracy movement.Aung San Suu Kyi's party has vowed to set up a federal democracy, the main demand for the minority groups//CNA
April
Troubling 'Eek' variant found in most Tokyo hospital COVID-19 cases: Report
Written by nuke
Tokyo - Japan : Troubling 'Eek' variant found in most Tokyo hospital COVID-19 cases
Around 70 per cent of coronavirus patients tested at a Tokyo hospital last month carried a mutation known for reducing vaccine protection, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday (Apr 4).
The E484K mutation, nicknamed "Eek" by some scientists, was found in 10 of 14 people who tested positive for the virus at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Medical Hospital in March, the report said.
For the two months through March, 12 of 36 COVID-19 patients carried the mutation, with none of them having recently travelled abroad or reporting contact with people who had, it said.
Hospital officials were not immediately available for comment.
Ahead of the summer Olympics scheduled to begin in July, Japan is grappling with a new wave of infections. Health experts are particularly concerned about the spread of mutant strains, even as large-scale vaccinations of the general population have not yet begun.
On Friday, 446 new infections were reported in Tokyo, although that is still well below the peak of more than 2,500 in January.
In Osaka, a record 666 cases were reported. Health experts have expressed concern about the spread around that western metropolis of a mutant strain known to have emerged in Britain.
NHK said none of the patients at the Tokyo hospital carried the British strain//CNA
April
Suez Canal shipping backlog to end on Saturday - canal authority
Written by nuke
Suez Canal shipping backlog to end on Saturday - canal authority
The last ships stranded by the grounding of a giant container vessel in the Suez Canal should pass through the waterway on Saturday, according to the canal authority, which said an investigation into the incident would report its findings soon.
Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), said 85 ships were expected to pass the canal from both sides on Saturday. They will include the last 61 ships out of the 422 that were queuing when the Ever Given container vessel was dislodged on Monday, thus ending the backlog of shipping that built up during the crisis, he added.
International supply chains were thrown into disarray when the 400-metre-long (430-yard) Ever Given ran aground in the vital trade artery on March 23, with specialist rescue teams taking almost a week to free her after extensive dredging and repeated tugging operations.
An SCA investigation began on Wednesday into what caused the vessel to run aground in the Suez Canal and block the waterway for six days, Rabie told the MBC Masr private TV late on Friday.
“The investigation is going well and will take two more days, then we will announce the results,” he added//Reuters
April
Taiwan releases train crash suspect on bond, prosecutors to appeal
Written by nuke
Rescuers work at the site a day after a deadly train derailment at a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan on Apr 3, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Ann Wang)
A Taiwan court on Saturday (Apr 3) released on bond the manager of a construction site whose truck authorities believe to have caused a train accident that killed at least 50 people, but prosecutors vowed to appeal.
Friday's crash was Taiwan's worst rail accident in seven decades, when an express train hit the truck that had slid down a bank beside the track from the building site, whose manager is suspected of having failed to properly engage the brake.The train, with almost 500 people aboard, was travelling from Taipei, the capital, to Taitung on the east coast when it derailed in a tunnel just north of the city of Hualien. Forty people are in hospital, from among the 178 reported injured.
Prosecutors had applied to a court to detain the manager on charges of causing death by negligence and forged documents, a justice ministry official told reporters on Saturday.
But a court in Hualien released the manager, Lee Yi-hsiang, on a bond of T$500,000 (US$17,525), although it restricted him from leaving Taiwan and said he had to stay in Hualien.
Yu Hsiu-duan, head of the Hualien prosecutors' office, said it would appeal against the decision.
"The court said there was no reason to keep him in custody," she told reporters. "The court changed it to a surety of $T500,000."
Lee's court-appointed lawyer declined to comment to reporters as he left the court.
Workers on Saturday began moving the train's rear portion, which was relatively unscathed as it had stopped outside the tunnel away from the accident spot.
However, other mangled sections remained in the tunnel, where fire department official Wu Liang-yun said more bodies were likely to be found.
"We're still carrying out rescue work," he said.
President Tsai Ing-wen visited hospitals in Hualien to speak to family members and survivors, thanking ordinary people and non-government groups for efforts to help.
"This shows the good side of Taiwanese society," she said.
The government has ordered flags flown at half mast for three days in mourning, while the de facto French embassy in Taipei confirmed that one of its citizens had died in the crash.
Taiwan's foreign ministry said one US citizen was among the dead and another was missing.
The accident happened at the start of a long holiday weekend. The train was packed with tourists and residents going home for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day to clean the graves of ancestors.
Taiwan has no domestic travel curbs as the COVID-19 pandemic is well under control, with only a handful of active cases in hospital.
Before the Hualien accident, Taiwan's worst train crash was in 1948, when 64 people are estimated to have died when a train caught fire//CNA