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 India's daily virus cases breach 100,000
India reported a record rise in COVID-19 infections on Monday,
becoming the second country after the United States to post more
than 100,000 new cases in a day, as politicians stage massive
election rallies raising fears of further spreading the virus.
Hospitals in the worst affected state, Maharashtra, are being
overrun by patients. India's richest state, home to its commercial
capital Mumbai and numerous industries, reported a record 57,074 new
cases overnight.
The country's daily infections have risen about 12-fold since
hitting a multi-month low in early February, when authorities eased
most restrictions and people largely stopped wearing masks and
following social distancing.
China reports biggest daily case jump in over 2 months
China reported its biggest daily jump in new COVID-19 cases in more
than two months, as a city on the border with Myanmar in
southwestern Yunnan province accounted for all new local cases.
Ruili's local government put residents in its urban area under home
quarantine, launched a massive testing drive and began restricting
people from leaving and entering the city from last week after
reporting COVID-19 patients.
The city accounted for all of the 15 new local cases reported on
April 4. The total number of new infections, including imported
infections originating from overseas, stood at 32, the highest total
since Jan. 31.
Japan fears variants are behind possible fourth wave
Japanese health authorities are concerned that variants of the
coronavirus are driving a nascent fourth wave in the pandemic with
just 109 days remaining until the Tokyo Olympics.
The variants appear to be more infectious and may be resistant to
vaccines, which are still not widely available in Japan. The
situation is worst in Osaka, where infections hit fresh records last
week, prompting the regional government to start targeted lockdown
measures for one month from Monday.
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 A mutant COVID-19 variant first
discovered in Britain has taken hold in the
Osaka region, spreading faster and filling up
hospital beds with more serious cases than the
original virus.
UK's Johnson launches mass testing programme
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on
Monday everyone in England will be able to take
a COVID-19 test twice a week in a new drive to
track the pandemic as society reopens and the
vaccine roll-out continues at its rapid rate.
Johnson, who is expected to confirm plans to
relaunch international travel and open sections
of the economy later on Monday, said the new
mass testing programme would break the chain of
transmissions and spot cases without symptoms.
As much of Europe enters new lockdowns to tackle
surging cases, Johnson has set out a staggered
plan to ease restrictions in the coming months.
Tourism first! Phuket in vaccination drive
In Thailand, it's the all-important tourism
sector that has jumped to the head of the
vaccination line, with the country's most
popular resort island embarking on a mass
inoculation programme two months ahead of the
rest of the country.
The island of Phuket aims to deliver shots to at
least 460,000 people - most of its population -
as it gears up for July 1, when vaccinated
overseas visitors will no longer be required to
quarantine.
 (Compiled by Linda Noakes; Editing by Giles
Elgood)
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