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 India's COVID tally passes 25 million
India total COVID-19 caseload surged past 25 million on Tuesday as a
powerful cyclone complicated the health crisis in one of the states
where the disease is spreading most quickly.
COVID-19 tests were administered to 200,000 people evacuated from
coastal districts of the western state of Gujarat before the cyclone
struck late on Monday and efforts were being made to try to limit
any spread of infections.
"Masks have been arranged for people shifted to shelter homes," said
Sandip Sagale, a top official in Ahmedabad, the main city in
Gujarat. Efforts are also made to maintain social distancing."
Tokyo doctors call for cancellation of Olympics
A top medical organisation has thrown its weight behind calls to
cancel the Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed
as the country battles a spike in infections less than three months
from the start of the Games.
The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000
primary care doctors said hospitals in the host city "have their
hands full and have almost no spare capacity".
"We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC that
holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel
the Games," the association said in a May 14 open letter to Prime
Minister Yoshihide Suga which was posted on its website on Monday.
Taiwan's rise in COVID-19 cases slows
Taiwan said on Tuesday that all schools would close until the end of
next week, shifting classes online while the island tackles a spike
in COVID-19 cases, even as the rate of increase slowed slightly.
Taiwan has reported almost 1,000 new domestic infections during the
past week, leading to new curbs in the capital, Taipei, and shocking
a population that had become accustomed to life carrying on almost
normally.
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 The country has reported a
total of 2,260 infections since the start of the
pandemic.
Italy shortens curfew
Italy's government on Monday approved a decree
pushing back with immediate effect a nightly
coronavirus curfew to 11 p.m. (2100 GMT) from 10
p.m. and easing other curbs in the regions where
infections are low. Prime
Minister Mario Draghi's government agreed the curfew would begin at
midnight from June 7 and be abolished altogether from June 21 in
those areas, in line with a plan to gradually relax restrictions
across the country.
Italy, which has the second-highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe
after Britain, has seen daily deaths and cases decline in recent
weeks, and more people are being vaccinated.
Biden to send 20 million doses of vaccines abroad
U.S. President Joe Biden will send at least 20 million more COVID-19
vaccine doses abroad by the end of June, marking the first time the
United States is sharing vaccines authorised for domestic use.
The move marks a notable pivot from the White House as the
administration seeks to use the country's vaccine supply as a
diplomatic tool with the pandemic outlook brightening at home.
Biden announced on Monday that his administration would send doses
of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, on
top of 60 million AstraZeneca doses he had already planned to give
to other countries.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes; Editing by David Clarke)
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