Canada's Covid-19 deaths exceed 25,000 – latest updates

Tuesday, May 18: 

Canada's death total surpasses 25,000

Canada has marked a grim milestone of the Covid-19 death toll reaching 25,000.

The Government of Canada website reported 24,983 deaths of as May 17, but Tuesday, the health officials with the province of Ontario announced a further 17 deaths, pushing the total to 25,000.

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at a live news conference Tuesday morning, the virus victim figure climbed to 25,008.

Trudeau ignored the total, dwelling instead on more positive news such as the arrival of millions of more doses of vaccine over the summer months.

As of Tuesday, Canada’s number of cases stood at 1,336,275, with 66,265 active cases, 1,244,848 recovered and 25,008 deaths.

US seeing fewest Covid deaths since start of pandemic

The United States is seeing its fewest number of deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, official data showed.

The seven-day moving average of deaths was 545 on May 16, and "the last time our seven-day-average was this low was in March 2020, essentially since the pandemic began," Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said at a briefing.

New daily cases are headed down in all US states, with the current average of 30,211 the lowest since last June – when there were severe testing shortages.

About 60 percent of the US adult population has now received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, and the country is moving to loosen restrictions.

UK records 2,412 new cases, 7 deaths

Britain has recorded 2,412 new Covid-19 cases, a rise of more than 400 from the day before, with another seven deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the coronavirus.

The data also showed 36.81 million people had received the first dose of a vaccine, while 20.55 million have now had bothshots. 

GAVI hopeful vaccine exports from India can resume in Q3

The GAVI Vaccine Alliance hopes deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines from India can be resumed in the third quarter of this year, it said on Tuesday, after the pandemic-battered country halted exports to focus on its own surge in infections.

"We remain in regular and close contact with both the government and SII (Serum Institute of India), and remain hopeful that deliveries could resume, in reduced quantity, in the third quarter," GAVI told Reuters.

Turkey registers 11,397 cases 

Turkey's Health Ministry has confirmed a total of 11,937 cases, including 916 symptomatic patients, across the country in the past 24 hours.

 Turkey's overall case tally is now over 5.13 million, while the nationwide death toll reached 45,186, with 203 more fatalities over the past day.

Mexico aims to give population at least one vaccine dose by October

Mexico aims to ensure its population has had at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot by October before the onset of colder weather, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday.

Mexico has so far distributed nearly 24 million vaccine doses to its population of 126 million, and Lopez Obrador said he was sure it would receive more shots from the United States.

By July, health authorities will begin providing vaccinations to people as young as 40, he told a regular news conference.

Over the next month and a half, the pace of vaccinations in the world's largest Spanish-speaking country should accelerate as tens of millions of new doses arrive, the government says.

Germany to open up vaccinations to everyone starting on June 7

Germany’s health minister says the country will open up coronavirus vaccinations to everyone starting on June 7. Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters on Monday that the current system of prioritisation in which the most vulnerable groups are to be vaccinated first will no longer be valid then.

The minister said, “this does not mean that everyone will get an appointment within days, but ... everyone who wants to get vaccinated will get an offer.”

The number of confirmed cases increased by 4,209 to 3,603,055, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday.

The reported death toll rose by 221 to 86,381, the tally showed.

Egypt says prioritising vaccination of tourism workers

Egypt is prioritising the vaccination of tourism workers to support the sector's recovery and is on track to announce full inoculation of two resort areas this month, its tourism minister said.

While Egypt's tourism industry is still reeling from the pandemic, the sector has picked up in recent months, with more visitors heading to resorts along the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts.

Czech Republic to ease restrictions

The Czech government has announced it will be easing restrictions amid falling numbers of infected people.

Starting May 24, all hotels are allowed to return to business. The guests will need to present a negative test or be vaccinated or recover from the virus.

If they want to stay longer than seven days, an additional test will be required.

Japan's Fujifilm says it can make new virus variant detection kits in weeks

A unit of Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp said it can develop detection kits for new variants of the coronavirus in about a month, responding to concerns over the spread of more infectious strains of the virus.

Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemical Corp developed a kit that can identify the L452R variant, first identified in India and California and recently discovered in Tokyo. 

That adds to kits that can detect two other strains of the virus used by public health authorities as early warning systems for infection trends.

Taiwan to close schools, but rise in cases slows

Taiwan said that all schools would close until the end of next week, shifting classes online while the island tackles a spike in virus 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, with the pandemic well under control.

Education Minister Pan Wen-chung told reporters that starting Wednesday, all schools across the island would be closed until May 28, with classes held online.

Taiwan has reported a total of 2,260 infections since the start of the pandemic.

India unlikely to resume sizable vaccine exports until October 

India is unlikely to resume major exports of vaccines until at least October as it diverts shots for domestic use, three government sources said, a longer-than-expected delay set to worsen supply shortages from the global COVAX initiative.

Battling the world's biggest jump in infections, India halted vaccine exports a month ago after donating or selling more than 66 million doses. The move has left countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and many in Africa scrambling for alternate supplies.

UK unemployment dips, aided by virus furlough scheme

British unemployment dipped to 4.8 percent in the first quarter, official data showed, helped by the UK government's jobs furlough scheme keeping millions in work during the pandemic.

That compared with 4.9 percent in the three months to the end of February, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

India's tally surges past 25M mark

India's total cases surged past the 25 million mark, boosted by 263,533 new infections over the last 24 hours, while deaths from the virus rose by a record 4,329.

India becomes the world's second nation, after the United States, to pass the grim milestone. 

The country's total case load is now at 25.23 million, while the death toll is at 278,719, according to health ministry data.

California will stay masked for another month

 California won’t lift its mask requirement until June 15 to give the public and businesses time to prepare and ensure virus cases stay low, the state health director said Monday, a decision that runs counter to many other states including Oregon and Washington that quickly aligned with last week's new federal guidelines.

“This four-week period will give Californians time to prepare for this change, while we continue the relentless focus on delivering vaccines particularly to underserved communities and those that were hard hit throughout this pandemic,” Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said.

Japan Q1 GDP shrinks 1.3 percent, hit by virus restrictions

Japan's economy contracted 1.3 percent in the three months to March after the government reimposed virus restrictions in major cities as infections surged, data showed.

The quarter-on-quarter fall came after the world's third-largest economy grew for two quarters to December, but the expansion was stopped in its tracks by a winter increase in coronavirus cases.

The government imposed new virus states of emergency in January in response, urging people to stay at home and calling for restaurants to close earlier.

Australian PM stands firm on border closure, as industries plea for reopening

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was still not safe to allow residents fully-vaccinated for the virus to travel overseas, as industries hit hard by the pandemic press for a faster reopening of international borders.

"I understand that everyone is keen to get back to a time that we once knew. But the reality is we are living this year in a pandemic that is worse than last year," Morrison told reporters.

Morrison said any plans to relax border rules for vaccinated travellers could be implemented "only when it is safe to do so".

Taiwan hopes to provide domestic shots by July

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said that the government hopes to begin providing domestically-made vaccines before the end of July, and that more imported vaccines are on the way.

Taiwan has reported more than 700 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 with the pandemic well under control.

Tokyo doctors call for cancellation of Olympic Games 

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 Games host city "have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity" amid a surge in infections.

S.Korea's Genexine signs vaccine candidate manufacturing deal with Hanmi

Genexine Inc has signed a manufacturing deal for its vaccine candidate with Hanmi Pharm Co Ltd as it prepares to seek emergency use approval of the shot in South Korea and Indonesia, Genexine said.

Hanmi will begin producing 10 million doses of Genexine's experimental vaccine in its biotech plant in Pyeongtaek, with an aim to gradually ramp up production capacity to millions of doses by 2022, Genexine said in a statement.

Hanmi said in a separate statement that the contract was worth $22 million (24.5 billion won) and will be followed by additional supply deals.

Virus threatens River Plate Libertadores game

Argentine club River Plate reported six more virus cases among players and staff on Monday, leaving the club struggling to raise a side for this week's Copa Libertadores group clash with Colombia's Sante Fe.

The new cases came after 15 players tested positive for the virus ahead of Sunday's Argentinian League Cup game with arch-rivals Boca Juniors, won by Boca on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

China reports 22 new mainland cases

China reported 22 new mainland virus cases on May 17, down from 25 a day earlier, the country's national health authority said.

The National Health Commission, in a statement, said four of the new cases were local infections reported in northeastern Liaoning province. The rest were imported infections that originated from overseas.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 20 from 17 cases a day earlier.

Israeli strike destroys Gaza Covid-19 lab

The Palestinian enclave of Gaza's only Covid-19 laboratory has no longer been able to carry out testing due to an Israeli air strike on the clinic housing it, local authorities said.

Al Rimal clinic, in the town of the same name in besieged Gaza, was partly destroyed, while the territory's Health Ministry and the office of Qatar's Red Crescent were also hit, officials said.

Medical personnel at the ministry were wounded, some critically, the enclave's deputy health minister Yousef Abu al-Rish told reporters.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf Qidra said the Israeli strikes "threaten to undermine the efforts of the Health Ministry in the face of the Covid pandemic."

Mexico posts over 800 new cases

Mexico's Health Ministry has reported 822 new confirmed cases in the country and 56 more fatalities, bringing its total to 2,382,745 infections and 220,493 deaths.

The government has said the real number of cases is likely significantly higher, and separate data published recently suggested the actual death toll is at least 60 percent above the confirmed figure.

Brazil reports over 29,900 new cases

Brazil has recorded 29,916 additional confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, along with 786 deaths, Health Ministry figures showed.

Brazil has now registered 15.66 million cases since the pandemic began, and the official death toll stands at 436,537, according to ministry data. 

Could take 10 years to vaccinate Venezuela at current rate

Venezuela's slow rate of vaccination means it could take up to 10 years for the country to be fully vaccinated, the president of the nation's Academy of Medicine has said.

Venezuela, with about 30 million inhabitants, has received 1.4 million vaccines from China and Russia, according to its health ministry. Authorities hope to receive enough doses for about 5 million people from the World Health Organization's COVAX system.

The government has not announced how many people have received the vaccine.

WHO welcomes US donation of more vaccine doses

The head of the World Health Organization has hailed news that US President Joe Biden will send at least 20 million more vaccine doses abroad by the end of June, marking the first time the United States is sharing vaccines authorised for domestic use.

"I welcome @POTUS & 's commitment to donate 80M #COVID19 vaccine doses to countries in need. Your commitment to global health is deeply appreciated! #COVAX partners stand ready to support equitable distribution. Solidarity is the only way to save lives & liveli hoods everywhere," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter, referring to the WHO-backed COVAX vaccine distribution platform.