Surge In Covid Cases: Fresh lockdowns in Europe, Asia

France, Poland, Ukraine and parts of India introduced new lockdown measures yesterday to fight a surge in coronavirus infections, as the European Union threatened to block exports of AstraZeneca jabs in an escalating row over vaccines. 

In Poland most shops will be shut for the next three weeks along with hotels and cinemas, with similar measures introduced in Ukraine's capital Kiev.

A third of France's population also woke up to new restrictions, with non-essential shops shut in Paris for at least a month, although schools are staying open.

Parisians packed trains leaving the capital and crammed into shops ahead of the new partial lockdown.

The pandemic is still speeding up worldwide, with the number of new Covid-19 infections rising globally by 14 percent over the past week, according to AFP data.

In Brazil, Rio de Janeiro's famed beaches have been closed as the city's mayor warned of a "very critical" situation, with 95 percent of intensive care units occupied at public hospitals.

Meanwhile, India reported 40,953 new coronavirus cases yesterday, the biggest daily jump in nearly four months, with its richest state and economic backbone Maharashtra accounting for more than half the infections.

Maharashtra reported a record 25,681 cases, including 3,000 in the financial capital of Mumbai, over the past 24 hours.

The state of 112 million people has imposed a lockdown in some districts and put curbs on cinemas, hotels and restaurants until the end of the month. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that a wider lockdown is an option, according to local media.

The rise in India's COVID-19 cases peaked at nearly 100,000 a day in September, and had been falling steadily until late last month.

In addition to Maharashtra, the Indian states of Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh all reported a surge in new cases.

The capital, New Delhi, has reported a steady rise in infections over the last two weeks, prompting city authorities to scale up an immunisation drive to 125,000 doses per day, from about 40,000.

The row over AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine meanwhile shows no signs of abating, with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen threatening to halt exports of the jab if the bloc does not receive its deliveries first.

Von der Leyen said Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca had delivered only 30 percent of the 90 million vaccine doses it had promised for the first quarter of the year.

The company has blamed production delays at its EU plants, but European officials are furious that AstraZeneca has been able to deliver its UK contract in full while falling short on the continent.

The AstraZeneca shortfall has complicated an already stuttering vaccine rollout in Europe, but the drug-maker has also had to contend with safety concerns.

Worries that the AstraZeneca jab may cause blood clots had seen more than a dozen countries pause its use recently. Several European countries including Germany and Italy resumed AstraZeneca vaccinations Friday after following an all-clear from EU regulators and the WHO.

Seeking to reassure their populations, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his French counterpart Jean Castex both received a dose of AstraZeneca on Friday.

"I literally did not feel a thing. It was very good, very quick," said Johnson who became seriously ill from Covid-19 last year.

The British government yesterday hailed its coronavirus vaccination programme as "a huge success" after announcing half of the adult population had now received a jab.

In Pakistan meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan tested positive for Covid-19 two days after receiving China's Sinopharm vaccine.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi committed to get the AstraZeneca vaccine soon.

With more than 400 million vaccine doses already injected globally as inoculation campaigns gain pace, organisers of the Tokyo Olympics have been hoping this summer's pandemic-delayed Games could provide "proof of humanity's triumph over the virus".

But organisers yesterday said they will bar overseas fans from the Games, meaning there will be little of the international party atmosphere that usually characterises the Olympics.