New curbs as nations fight resurgent virus
Countries across the world tightened restrictions on their populations yesterday to fight a resurgence in the coronavirus, as the European Union offered to help drug companies expand vaccine production to improve distribution "bottlenecks".
From local curfews to alcohol bans and complete lockdowns, governments are trying to tackle a surge in cases.
The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since emerging in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
But experts fear the worst is yet to come, predicting a sharp rise in infections and deaths after weeks of holiday gatherings.
French police booked hundreds of New Year revellers for flouting anti-Covid measures at an illegal rave.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday he was "reconciled" to the prospect of tougher restrictions to combat spiralling coronavirus cases, as a row flared over whether schools should reopen.
"It may be that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country," Johnson told the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show.
"I'm fully, fully reconciled to that."
Britain recorded 57,725 new cases on Saturday, its highest total of the entire pandemic.
Health officials are concerned that the surging numbers could overwhelm hospitals during their busiest time of the year.
In Bangkok, the city's nightlife shut down following a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom's rising virus toll.
Public schools in the Thai capital are to close for two weeks.
An outbreak last month at a seafood market has led to a resurgence of the virus in Thailand, with infections detected in 53 of the kingdom's 77 provinces.
In Tokyo, the city's governor asked Japan's government to declare a new state of emergency as the country battles a third wave, with record numbers of new cases.
And a South Korean health official said yesterday that a third wave of the coronavirus is being contained, as it reported the lowest number of new infections in nearly four weeks with the help of tougher restrictions during the New Year holiday season.
VACCINE RACE
The soaring number of infections around the world means the race to vaccinate is set to dominate the coming year.
Delays in getting the vaccines in Europe were not the fault of the European Union, said the bloc's health commissioner Stella Kyriakides.
"The bottleneck at the moment is not the volume of orders but the worldwide shortage of production capacity," she said.
The bloc would help drug companies in their efforts to expand production, she added.
"The situation will improve step by step."
Hungary is unlikely to use Russia's coronavirus vaccine due to its limited production capacity, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said yesterday while criticising the EU's vaccine acquisition approach.
Often at loggerheads with Brussels over democratic standards, Orban has sent experts to monitor vaccine development in Russia and China, and received samples of Moscow's controversial Sputnik V jab.
The United States on Saturday saw its highest number yet of cases recorded in one day, with more than 277,000 infections.
The hardest-hit country in the world by the pandemic, the United States has marked 20.4 million cases overall and just under 350,000 deaths.
In Russia, health minister Mikhail Murashko said more than 800,000 people had received the domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and that 1.5 million doses had been distributed throughout the country of around 147 million.
The Kremlin has held back on imposing nationwide virus restrictions, instead placing its hopes on the mass vaccination drive to end the pandemic and save its struggling economy.
The French government, facing the threat of a new wave of Covid-19 infections, lengthened an overnight curfew by two hours in parts of the country to help combat the virus.
Comments