Coronavirus Updates
Greece will allow travelers from the European Union and five other countries who are vaccinated or have a negative test for the coronavirus to enter the country without quarantining beginning from Monday. In addition to visitors from the EU, visitors from Britain, the United States, Israel, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates will not be required to quarantine for a week.
Quarantine-free travel has been opened between Australia and New Zealand. The so-called travel bubble between the two countries began on Monday, with the arrival of an Air New Zealand flight from Australia at the Wellington Airport. The flight was greeted with balloons and banners and songs by indigenous Maori performers. Australia has been allowing visits without quarantine from New Zealanders since late last year, as New Zealand continued to enforce a quarantine.
Indian’s capital New Delhi announced a complete lockdown beginning on Monday night as shortage of hospital beds and oxygen supplies affect the entire country. The lockdown is scheduled to last one week. The city also announced that millions of pilgrims who attended the Hindu festival, the Kumbh Mela, quarantine for two weeks upon return to the city. India has recorded over 15 million cases of the coronavirus, the second largest number globally, behind the United States.
Israel on Sunday lifted its requirement for wearing masks outside as the number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the country has fallen to fewer than a hundred a day. Masks must still be worn in indoor public places and are recommended for large outdoor gatherings. Also on Sunday, all schools from daycare to 12th grade were fully reopened, marking the end of the capsule system and online learning.
More than three million people worldwide have died as a result of the coronavirus, the Johns Hopkins University reported on Saturday. The highest number of deaths has been reported in the United States with more than 566,000. The true number of global deaths is believed to be higher because some governments may be hiding their true numbers, as well as the many cases that may not have been identified at the beginning of the pandemic.
People likely will need a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine against the coronavirus in the next year, as well as an annual vaccination, the CEO of the Pfizer company said. Albert Bourla said in an interview on CNBC that a third vaccine dose likely will be needed between six months and a year after the second dose was administered and annual revaccination, though much will depend on the variants that arise in the future.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration recommended a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against the coronavirus after six cases in the US of a rare blood clot. Also on Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson in a statement said that it would “proactively” delay the vaccine rollout in Europe. Some 6.8 million doses of the vaccine have already been administered in the US.
The Qatar Red Crescent has launched an initiative to vaccinate refugees, displaced persons and migrants against the coronavirus. The three-year-campaign will operate in 20 countries in Africa Asia and the Middle East. The initiative is being undertaken in cooperation with the World Health Organization, Al Jazeera reported.
The small country of Bhuttan vaccinated 93% of its adult population, or 62% of its entire population of 800,000 in six weeks.The Himalayan kingdom relied on citizen volunteers known as “desuups,” to achieve the result, The Associated Press reported.
Iran ordered a 10-day lockdown in 23 of the country’s 31 provinces beginning on Saturday as a fourth wave of the coronavirus has engulfed the country. Iran has logged more than 2 million cases of the coronavirus, with more than 64,000 deaths. The upsurge in cases is in part a result of travel and celebrations during the recent Nowruz Persian New Year celebrations. Gatherings will be forbidden during the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan.