India experiences document deaths as new instances dip – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

NEW DELHI – India has set another record for daily COVID-19 deaths, although infections continued to decline.

The Ministry of Health reported 4,529 deaths in the past 24 hours on Wednesday, bringing the total number of victims to 283,248. India also confirmed 267,334 new infections as daily cases fell below 300,000 for the third straight day. Both numbers are almost certainly undercounted.

Although India’s total cases showed signs of a slight decline, deaths have continued to rise and hospitals are still overcrowded with patients. Over the past month, COVID-19 deaths in India have increased six-fold.

India’s vaccination campaign is stalling at the moment when it is needed most. The number of daily vaccine doses has decreased by about half in the past six weeks, from 4 million a day on April 2 to about 2 million a day or less this week.

India has the second highest number of cases after the US with more than 25 million confirmed infections.

___

THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

– Restrictions that will be reintroduced with the recurrence of the virus in much of Asia

– ‘City in Transition’: New York wants to turn the pandemic on its head

– United Arab Emirates offers a booster shot to recipients of Sinopharm vaccines

– Many US workers who emerged from the pandemic no longer want to return to their previous jobs.

– Mexico is taking one final step to vaccinate all 3 million school teachers in the country so it can potentially reopen schools by June.

___

For more information on the AP pandemic, please visit https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

___

HERE HAPPENS WHAT OTHER HAPPENS:

LAS VEGAS – The Las Vegas Strip and its surrounding area will be fully reopened to vaccinated guests, dancers, shoppers and club-goers starting June 1st.

Clark County’s legislature on Tuesday followed CDC guidelines, ditching plans to tie store occupancy to coronavirus vaccination rates.

The unanimous vote came after speakers expressed their anger and frustration over pandemic restrictions – particularly their impact on school children.

Steve Sisolak, governor of Nevada, on Friday brought state requirements in line with CDC recommendations published the day before. According to the CDC, fully vaccinated people can stop social distancing and wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor spaces.

Most Las Vegas casinos are already 100% busy and have no social distancing under the supervision of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

___

Kiev, Ukraine – Ukrainian lawmakers have voted to dismiss the Minister of Health, who has been criticized for the slow pace of nationwide coronavirus vaccination efforts.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal blamed Health Minister Maksym Stepanov for failing to get more vaccines quickly. Shmyhal said the nation has received only 2.3 million cans of 41 million people to date, and only 948,3300 Ukrainians had received at least one shot by Tuesday.

Stepanov argued in his defense that the ex-Soviet nation faced stiff competition as nations tried to source vaccines amid the pandemic. The supply of the India-made AstraZeneca vaccine was discontinued after infections rose sharply in India.

Ukraine has registered more than 2.1 million infections and 48,469 deaths from COVID-19.

___

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas governor says public schools must end mask requirements in June and orders Texas cities and counties to drop almost all face-covering mandates by the end of the week.

Governor Greg Abbott’s announcement on Tuesday has no impact on private companies that continue to require customers or employees to wear masks. However, the change marks the biggest setback to Texas pandemic protection efforts since Abbott ended a statewide mask mandate in March.

Public hospitals, prisons, and government-sponsored residential centers may still require masks.

The move comes as Texas coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths continue to decline, and vaccines are made available to children 12 and older.

Some Texas schools have already completed mask mandates. The Texas State Teachers Association criticized Abbott’s decision as premature.

___

MEXICO CITY – Mexico is taking one final step to vaccinate all 3 million school teachers in the country, so schools may reopen by the second half of June.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Tuesday that getting children back into the classroom was an urgent need, both for their social development and for everything else. He says, “School is like a home from home and we need all students of all levels to return to face-to-face lessons.”

Officials estimate 2.1 million teachers in private and public schools have already been vaccinated and hope to inject nearly 520,000 this week and a similar number in the last week of May.

Schools in four of Mexico’s least affected states have resumed one-to-one classes, but to a very limited extent. The other 28 states have been offering online courses since early last year.

___

PORTLAND, Oregon – Oregon health officials say businesses and churches may choose to stop charging masks and social distancing for people who are fully vaccinated. However, in these locations, individuals are required to provide and review evidence of vaccination.

Under the new rules, announced Tuesday, people must continue to wear masks while on public transport, as well as in schools, hospitals and clinics, homeless shelters, correctional facilities and long-term care facilities.

Since last summer, Oregoners have been required to wear masks in public places such as grocery stores, shops, gyms, and restaurants, as well as outdoors when people cannot stay three feet apart.

___

CONCORD, NH – New Hampshire will end all pandemic-related federal unemployment compensation programs on June 19, but will offer a total of $ 10 million in “signature grants” to encourage people to find work.

The state was one of the first to expand unemployment benefits when the pandemic first broke out. Between March and April 2020, the unemployment rate rose from 2.7% to over 16%, but fell back to 2.8% from this month onwards.

Governor Chris Sununu said Tuesday that unemployed workers who find a full-time job will get $ 1,000 after eight weeks of work, and part-time workers will get $ 800 until the $ 10 million bonus fund is depleted.

Connecticut offers a similar incentive, but keeps the additional $ 300 payments for those who remain unemployed.

___

LOS ANGELES – Five more California counties will transition to less restrictive pandemic rules as COVID-19 conditions improve.

The state Department of Public Health announced Tuesday that Orange, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and Amador counties are moving from the orange or moderate tier to the yellow or minimal tier. Tehama County is improving from the red, substantial grade to the orange.

The trains put 13 counties in yellow, 35 in orange and 10 in red. No counties are in the purple or essential level.

___

WASHINGTON – A senior White House adviser on coronavirus encourages young people to get vaccinated and shares his son’s struggles after acquiring the virus.

Andy Slavitt announced during a briefing at the White House Tuesday that one of his sons was diagnosed with the virus late last year and that he is still suffering from persistent side effects.

He appeals to younger Americans to roll up their sleeves even if they feel they are at lower risk than older Americans due to serious medical consequences.

Slavitt says his teenage son was “young and fit and in the prime of his life. But six months later, he still suffers from tachycardia, shortness of breath, and persistent and frequent flu-like symptoms. His hands feel cold. “

Slavitt adds, “A lot of young people are in this situation and many, many have it worse. More than 3 million children under the age of 17 have contracted COVID-19, according to the CDC. “