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 Asia's COVID-19 cases surge
India and Thailand reported record daily coronavirus cases on
Thursday, as a new wave of infections, combined with a shortage of
hospital beds and vaccines, threatens to slow Asia's recovery from
the pandemic.
India breached 200,000 daily infections for the first time on
Thursday and the financial hub of Mumbai entered a lockdown, as many
hospitals reported shortages of beds and oxygen supplies.
"The situation is horrible. We are a 900-bed hospital, but there are
about 60 patients waiting and we don't have space for them," said
Avinash Gawande, an official at the Government Medical College and
Hospital in Nagpur, a commercial hub in Maharashtra.
German health minister tells states to tighten restrictions
German Health Minister Jens Spahn urged the country's 16 federal
states on Thursday to impose tougher restrictions quickly to try to
slow a third wave and not to wait until a national law on measures
is passed.
His appeal came as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped
on Thursday by 29,426 to 3.073 million, the biggest increase since
Jan. 8. The reported death toll rose by 293 to 79,381, data from the
Robert Koch Institute showed.
"We know from last autumn what happens when we don't act quickly,"
Spahn told reporters, adding that doctors expect some 6,000 patients
to be in intensive care by the end of the month.
Argentina closes schools, imposes curfew in Buenos Aires
Argentina's government will tighten pandemic restrictions in and
around the capital Buenos Aires to rein in a sharp spike in cases,
including shutting schools and imposing a curfew from 8pm to limit
social activity.
President Alberto Fernández, given his all-clear earlier in the day
after he was infected with the virus, said the South American
country needed to "gain time" in the fight against COVID-19 after
daily cases hit a record this week.
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 "The virus is attacking us and
is far from giving in," he said in a televised
address.
France's infection cases accelerate
France saw a decline in the number of COVID
patients in intensive care units on Wednesday,
and the daily death toll fell, but the number of
new infections continued to grow.
Health ministry data showed ICU numbers dropped by 50 to 5,902, the
first fall in nearly a week.
Intensive care numbers - which are the best measure of a health
system's ability to deal with the crisis - have been rising steadily
from less than 3,000 at the start of the year.
WTO chief lays out action to increase vaccine access
The head of the World Trade Organization laid out a series of
actions on Wednesday for countries and drug makers to increase
production of coronavirus vaccines and share them more widely and
fairly.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called a closed-door meeting of producers,
governments and others over inequitable access, with low-income
countries administering just 0.2% of 700 million global doses.
In her concluding remarks, Okonjo-Iweala said that concerns over
cross-border supply chains, including export curbs and shortages of
skilled personnel, had reinforced her view that the WTO must play a
central role in the response to the pandemic.
(Compiled by Linda NoakesEditing by Gareth Jones)
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