PARIS, June 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Here are some of the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
. The pandemic has killed at least 3,903,064 people since the virus first emerged in December 2019, according to a compilation of official data.
The United States is the worst-affected country with 603,178 deaths, followed by Brazil with 509,141, India with 393,310 Mexico with 232,068 and Peru with 191,286.
The figures are based on reports by health authorities in each country, but do not take into account upward revisions carried out later by statistical bodies.
The WHO says up to three times more people have died directly or indirectly due to the pandemic than official figures suggest.
. AFRICA is facing a vicious third wave with cases expected to peak in three weeks and health facilities already on the brink as the continent falls far behind in the global vaccination drive.
. INDIA: Police say around 2,000 people were injected with fake Covid-19 vaccines in Mumbai, and another 500 — some of them disabled — may have suffered the same fate in a second major city.
. JAPAN: Prime Minister dismisses claims the country’s emperor is “concerned” the Tokyo Olympics could spread the virus, saying the comments are the opinions of an imperial household representative.
. IRAN: Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gets the first dose of a domestically produced vaccine as the country battles the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak.
. AUSTRALIA: Central Sydney and its popular eastern beaches around Bondi are put in lockdown as authorities try to contain an expanding outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant in Australia’s largest city.
. THAILAND: Barefoot prisoners roll up their sleeves to get jabs as the kingdom seeks to tackle a mass outbreak in its overcrowded jails.
. FIJI: Health chiefs on the Pacific island nation admit for the first time that the virus is widespread in the community, but authorities still resist calls for nationwide lockdown.
. ISRAEL: The health ministry makes masks compulsory again in enclosed public places following a surge in cases, dealing a blow to the country which has had a successful vaccine rollout.
. UK: The British government announces it will lift travel restrictions on some countries, with visitors to Malta and Spain’s Balearic Islands no longer required to quarantine on return.
. VENEZUELA’s government announces it has signed a contract to acquire 12 million doses of a Cuban vaccine that its maker says is 92 percent effective, but the jab has yet to be given the all-clear either by Cuba’s health authorities or the World Health Organization. — NNN-AGENCIES
