The United States currently tops the list of countries most affected by the pandemic, with over 32.7 million cases, while the coronavirus death toll stands at 581,500.
Next comes India, suffering from a major surge in COVID-19 numbers in the last few weeks, with 22 million cases and over 242,000 deaths. Meanwhile, Brazil has confirmed over 15 million infected and around 422,000 fatalities from the pandemic.
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US State Department said it has bumped down Israel and the United Kingdom after updating their travel advisories to match the latest global health notices and information, but added four states to the Level-4 category advising Americans not to travel there.
"This week, the following travel advisories have been assessed and reissued with updates, raised to a Level 4 - Do Not Travel: Fiji; Nepal; Timor-Leste; Trinidad and Tobago," the State Department said on Monday.
The State Department also said it placed the United Kingdom to the Level 3 category, advising Americans to reconsider traveling there. Israel has similarly been placed to the Level 2 category, which signifies a warning to Americans to exercise increased caution if they travel to the country.
The advisory updates are determined using Center for Disease Control and Prevention notices as well as secondary factors such as flight availability, restrictions on US citizen entry and difficulty obtaining coronavirus test results within the proper time frame.
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - The Argentine health ministry said on Monday that three travelers had tested positive for highly contagious coronavirus strains, including two infected with Indian subtypes and one with the South African strain.
"Since we started genomic sequencing surveillance of travelers, we have identified so-called priority variants in almost 50% of positive cases, but this is the first time that we have found variants B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.1 (originally isolated in India) and B.1.351 (originally isolated in South Africa)," chief epidemiologist Analia Rearte said.
All three travelers — two minors returning from Paris and a 58-year-old passenger returning from Spain — entered the country on April 24 and were quarantined at a Buenos Aires hotel.
DOHA (Sputnik) - Kuwait decided to lift the curfew, first introduced two months ago over COVID-19 concerns, on the first day of the Eid al-Fitr, a religious holiday to mark the end of the month-long fasting of Ramadan, the country's government spokesperson Tareq Al-Mezrim said on Monday.
"Starting 01:00 on May 13 [10 p.m. Mat 12 GMT], the curfew that has been in effect for two months (from 19:00 to 05:00) will be canceled," al-Mezrim was quoted as saying by state news agency KUNA.
The government also allowed to open cinemas and theaters, however, they can be accessed only by those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Restaurants and cafes will be able to deliver food. Up to 60% of employees can resume work from their offices.
BAKU (Sputnik) - Moscow and Baku are actively discussing the production of the Russian-developed Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in Azerbaijan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
"Our agencies are engaged in a substantive discussion on ... the production of this vaccine [Sputnik V] in Azerbaijan. I want to emphasize our sincere wish to ensure more effective cooperation in the fight against coronavirus," Lavrov said at a meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Baku.
The foreign minister added that Russia had recently sent the first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine to Azerbaijan and will deliver another shipment sometime this month.
HELSINKI (Sputnik) - Estonia's vaccination working group decided on Monday that people aged 16-49 would be allowed to get inoculated against coronavirus starting from May 17, national media reported.
As recently as last week, the working group discussed the possibility of dividing the unvaccinated people under 50 years old by age groups and suggested starting vaccinating those who are in the 40-49 age group.
According to the ERR broadcaster, however, starting from May 17, all people aged 16 to 49 would be eligible for vaccination.
Health and Labor Minister Tanel Kiik said that vaccine supplies would now be carried out on a regular basis.
"The AstraZeneca vaccine is directed to be used for people aged 50+, and most of the AstraZeneca stock is now used for the second vaccination. In May-June, enough vaccines will arrive for all residents, enough to offer everyone at least one dose of the vaccine," Kiik said, as cited by the broadcaster.
BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - In the European Union, 27.7% of the population have been injected with at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, European Commission spokesperson Dana Spinant announced on Monday.
"Today’s figures on vaccine deliveries, vaccinations and percentage of the EU population who had at least a shot: 208.6 million doses delivered, 172.5 million vaccinations, 27.7% of the EU population received at least one dose," Spinant posted on Twitter.
"On Friday, May 21, we will be turning on substantially more activity in the District [of Columbia]", Mayor Muriel Bowser said. "We anticipate, three weeks following that, on June 11, that we will be able to turn up activity in the district all the way. So, restrictions on public and commercial activity, including capacity limits, types of activities and time restrictions, will be lifted, except for bars, nightclubs and large sport and entertainment venues where we will have a capacity limit until June 11."
#NCEMA and Civil Aviation: Suspension of entry for travelers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka on national and foreign flights, also for transit passengers, with the exception of transit flights traveling to UAE and bound for these countries.https://t.co/Dhjg6dhPrp pic.twitter.com/bkPgdWexmM
— NCEMA UAE (@NCEMAUAE) May 10, 2021
BERLIN (Sputnik) - German citizens of any age will be able to get inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine at their own discretion and upon medical recommendation, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was given a similar green light in Germany last week. Some countries have imposed age limits to the vaccine over its blood clotting side effects.
"Given all recommendations of the Standing Committee on Vaccination and rare but serious side effects that may occur, we will cancel all priorities in relation to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, as to the AstraZeneca vaccine", Spahn said at a briefing, adding that the country expects to receive more than 10 million doses of the US single-dose vaccine in June-July.
All those who want to get inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be able to receive the shot "after medical consultation and at their own discretion," the minister added.
"This is the same that we do in relation to AstraZeneca", the official noted.
"Yes, I confirm that the conditions allow us to do this", Health Minister Olivier Veran told French broadcaster LCI, when asked if cafe terraces will reopen as scheduled.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Monday that the government's road map out of the COVID-19 lockdown in England will progress as planned with the implementation of Step 3 starting May 17.
"Today we are announcing the single biggest step on our road map, it will allow us to do many things we have yearned to do for a long time", Johnson said during a televised press briefing, where he announced that beginning from next Monday, indoor hospitality and indoor entertainment, as well as non-essential foreign travel will resume.
Announcing the road map in late February, Johnson said there would be four prerequisites to lifting the restrictions as scheduled. These included the success of the vaccine program, reductions in deaths and hospital admissions, low infection rates and a low risk from variants of concern.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia registered 8,465 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, up from 8,419 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,888,727, the coronavirus response centre said on Monday.
"Over the past day, 8,465 coronavirus cases were confirmed across 82 Russian regions, including 1,304 cases (15.4%) without clinical symptoms", the centre said, adding that the rate of increase was at 0,17%.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A total of 59% of Japanese citizens think that the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo should be cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a fresh poll conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper showed on Monday.
The survey was conducted from May 7-9 amid a countrywide surge in infections. The state of emergency will remain in place in the prefectures of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo until May 31 and has been additionally imposed in Aichi and Fukuoka.
On average, 64% of respondents in the six prefectures were in favour of cancelling the Games. In 41 other prefectures, the average was 57%.
Among those who want the sporting event to take place, 23% believe that the Games should be held without spectators, while 16% backed limiting their number.
