Tunisia launches vaccine 'open day' – latest updates

Sunday, August 8:

Tunisia sees high turnout for vaccination against Covid-19

Tunisians turned out to vaccination centers in droves to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The strong turnout comes in the wake of a move by Tunisian President Kais Saied to declare August 8 as a national day for vaccination in a nationwide campaign that aims to vaccinate 1 million Tunisians.

Tunisia has confirmed 610,660 virus infections, including 20,931 deaths, according to official figures.

The Health Ministry said 3.2 million vaccine doses have been administered, of which 1.24 million people have received the two shots of the vaccine.

Turkey administers over 76M doses

Turkey has administered over 76.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in January, according to official figures.

According to the Health Ministry, over 41.7 million people have gotten their first doses, while some 28.8 million are fully vaccinated.

Turkey is also administering third Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, and over 5.54 million such doses have been given.

The ministry also confirmed 22,699 new infections and 108 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 5,835 more patients recovered.

Over 4.43B coronavirus vaccines jabs given worldwide

The number of Covid-19 vaccine shots administered worldwide crossed 4.43 billion, according to Our World in Data, a tracking website affiliated with Oxford University.

China, where the virus was first detected in late 2019, leads the count with more than 1.77 billion jabs, followed by India and the US with 506.81 million and 350.63 million, respectively.

Brazil has administered nearly 151.7 million vaccine shots, while the figure stands at 99.65 million in Japan.

Next on the list are Germany and the UK with 94.68 million and 86.21 million doses, respectively.

Turkey has administered over 76 million jabs and ranks ninth worldwide.

Malaysia to ease Covid curbs for fully vaccinated

Malaysia will relax some Covid-19 restrictions for fully vaccinated people in eight states that have met criteria such as reduced case numbers and higher vaccination rates, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.

The measures, which will allow dining in at restaurants, outdoor individual sports and interstate tourism, will take effect on Tuesday, Muhyiddin said in a televised address.

"I understand, many are tired of the pandemic or are dealing with pandemic fatigue," he said.

Malaysia has been under lockdown since June 1, and while daily infections continue to hit record highs, several states last month began showing progress against the pandemic and started partially lifting curbs.

Vietnam reports record 9,690 cases

Vietnam's health ministry has reported 9,690 coronavirus infections, a record daily increase and up from 7,334 cases on Saturday.

Most of the new infections were detected in the epicentre Ho Chi Minh City and the neighbouring provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai, the ministry said.

The country has recorded 210,405 Covid-19 infections since the pandemic began, with at least 3,397 deaths, according to the ministry's data.

Britain reports 27,429 new cases, 39 deaths

Britain has reported 27,429 new cases of Covid-19 and 39 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

That compares to 28,612 cases on Saturday and 103 reported deaths.

Italy reports 11 deaths, 5,735 new cases

Italy has reported 11 coronavirus-related deaths compared with 22 the day before, the health ministry said.

The daily tally of new infections fell to 5,735 from 6,902.

Italy has registered 128,220 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its first outbreak emerged in February last year, the second highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth in the world. The country has reported 4.4 million cases to date.

Iran records over 500 Covid deaths, new high: ministry

Iran has reported more than 500 daily Covid deaths for the first time on Sunday, its health ministry announced, as new infections also hit a record high.

During the past 24 hours, Iran registered a record of 39,619 positive cases and 542 deaths, bringing the total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 4,158,729 and fatalities to 94,015, the ministry said.

Philippines reports biggest jump in death toll in four months

The Philippines' health ministry has recorded  9,671 new coronavirus cases and 287 additional deaths, the biggest single-day spike in the country's death toll since April 9.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed infections in the Southeast Asian country had risen to 1.66 million, while the death toll had climbed to 29,122.

Epidemic eases in parts of DRC

Congolese authorities said Sunday the coronavirus epidemic had eased in many parts of the country but remained worrying in the economic capital of Lubumbashi where not wearing a mask will now be punishable by up to seven days in jail.

Health Minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani said there had been "a marked drop in Covid-19 cases across the country," according to a statement released by the prime minister's office.

In Kinshasa, the situation was particularly hopeful.

People would have to wear a mask to access the city centre, and "checkpoints" would be put in place from Monday to make sure the measure was followed.

Anyone not wearing a mask "will be sentenced to seven days' imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 Congolese francs," or about 6 euros, the decree states.

Coronavirus has infected 51,254 people in the DRC, with 1,045 fatalities, according to an AFP tally of official sources.

Russia reports 22,866 new cases, 787 deaths

Russia has reported 22,866 new Covid-19 cases Sunday, including 2,761 in Moscow, taking the national tally to 6,447,750 since the pandemic began.

The government coronavirus task force also said 787 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes during the past 24 hours. It has confirmed a death toll of 164,881 people.

Russia registered around 463,000 excess deaths from April 2020 to June this year during the pandemic, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the state statistics service on Friday.

Saudi Arabia opens Umrah pilgrimage to vaccinated worshipers from abroad - SPA

Saudi Arabia will gradually begin receiving Umrah pilgrimage requests from abroad for vaccinated pilgrims starting August 9 after about a year and a half of not receiving overseas worshippers due to the pandemic, the state news agency (SPA) has reported.

With a capacity that would rise to 2 million pilgrims from 60,000 pilgrims per month, Mecca and Medina will start welcoming visitors from abroad to their mosques while maintaining precautionary measures.

An official in the Hajj and Umrah Ministry said domestic and overseas pilgrims will have to include authorised vaccination certificates along with their Umrah request.

Vaccinated pilgrims from countries that Saudi Arabia includes on its entry-ban list will have to be institutionally quarantined upon arrival, the report added.

Umrah, a pilgrimage to Islam's two holiest sites that is undertaken at any time of the year, was reopened in October for domestic worshippers after it was totally upon the outbreak of the pandemic.

Germany's cases rise by 3,127 – RKI

The number of confirmed virus cases in Germany has increased by 3,127 to 3,790,766, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed. 

The reported death toll rose by 4 to 91,782, the tally showed.

India reports 39,070 cases 

India has reported 39,070 new cases of the virus in the last 24 hours, the federal health ministry said, taking its tally to 31.93 million cases.

Deaths rose by 491, taking total fatalities to 427,862. 

Canadian border will open to vaccinated Americans

A strike that would have caused major disruptions at the Canadian border that will be opened to Americans on Monday for the first time in 17 months was averted when border guards reached a tentative agreement with the government.

About 9,000 union members of the Canada Border Services Agency (CSBA) reached a proposed deal late Friday, after working-to-rule, or doing the bare minimum, during the day and warning that major delays would be encountered.

But the agreement means that fully-vaccinated Americans and permanent residents will be allowed into Canada for non-essential travel for the first time since the border was closed in March 2020 because of the pandemic. 

By mutual agreement between the two countries, the border was only opened for shipment of essential goods such as pharmaceuticals and food. Most of those goods are transported by semi-trailer trucks.

China reports 96 cases

China has reported 96 new cases of the virus on the mainland for August 7, down from 107 cases a day earlier, the country's health authority said.

The latest clusters were mainly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, officials said.

Among the new confirmed infections, 81 were locally transmitted, up from 75 a day earlier, while 15 cases were imported from abroad, the National Health Commission (NHC) said.

Organisers report 26 new Games-related cases

Organisers of the Tokyo Olympics reported 26 new Games-related virus cases, bringing the total since July 1 to 430 cases.

Australia's east coast continues to struggle with Delta outbreaks

Australia's three most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland have reported a total of 282 Covid-19 new locally acquired infections, with authorities struggling to quell outbreaks of the Delta variant.

NSW reported 262 fresh cases, down from the pandemic high of 319 seen on Saturday, with more than five million people in Sydney regions along the coastline under a lockdown for six weeks already.

"I urge everybody to please stick to the rules, the health advice, and only leave home if you absolutely have to," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

One woman in her 80s has died overnight bringing the total number of deaths in the current outbreak to 28.

There are 362 people in hospital in NSW, with 58 in intensive care. Of the people in intensive care, 54 were unvaccinated.

Neighbouring Victoria reported 11 new locally acquired virus cases, as the state remains under a seven-day strict lockdown imposed earlier this week.

US averaging 100,000 new infections a day

The outbreak in the United States has crossed 100,000 new confirmed daily infections, a milestone last exceeded during the winter surge and driven by the highly transmissible delta variant and low vaccination rates in the South.

Health officials fear that cases, hospitalisations and deaths will continue to soar if more Americans don’t embrace the vaccine. Nationwide, 50% of residents are fully vaccinated and more than 70% of adults have received at least one dose.

“Our models show that if we don’t (vaccinate people), we could be up to several hundred thousand cases a day, similar to our surge in early January,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said on CNN this week.

It took the US about nine months to cross 100,000 average daily cases in November before peaking at about 250,000 in early January. Cases bottomed out in June, averaging about 11,000 per day, but six weeks later the number is 107,143.

Hospitalisations and deaths are also increasing, though all are still below peaks seen early this year before vaccines became widely available. More than 44,000 Americans are currently hospitalised, according to the CDC, up 30% in a week and nearly four times the number in June.

Mexico adds more than 20,000 new infections

Mexico has registered 20,018 new confirmed cases and 515 additional fatalities, bringing the country's totals to 2,964,244 infections and 244,248 deaths, according to health ministry data released.

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

Brazil reports 43,033 cases, 990 deaths 

Brazil had 43,033 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 990 deaths, the Health Ministry has said.

The South American country has now registered 20,151,779, cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 562,752, according to ministry data, in the world's third worst outbreak outside the United States and India and its second-deadliest after the United States.

Malawi receives 302,400 vaccine doses

Malawi has received 302,400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson's Janssen coronavirus vaccine donated by the US through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility.

Health Minister Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said the vaccines will be distributed at vaccination centres across the country on Monday.

“The vaccines will help in our efforts to reduce the number of people affected and fight the disease ,” Chiponda told journalists after receiving the consignment at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe.

The vaccines were received barely one week after Malawi ran out of doses of Oxford’s AstraZeneca jab.

“The single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines will complement USAID’s efforts in partnership with Malawi’s Ministry of Health to end the global Covid-19 pandemic,” United States Embassy Charge’ d’Affaires Jeremy Neitzke said via Twitter.

Bangladesh starts special drive to vaccinate 3.2M people in 6 days

Amid alleged violations of social distancing and other health instructions, Bangladesh has started a special drive to vaccinate 3.2 million people across the country within six days without pre-registration.

This new campaign will be operated along with an ongoing regular inoculation as the nationwide lockdown continues.

Every day from 9 am to 3 pm the new vaccination campaign will be run simultaneously at 4,600 unions, 1,054 wards under municipalities, and 12 city corporations including the capital Dhaka, according to the Health Ministry.

A total of 32,706 vaccinators accompanied by 48,459 volunteers are taking part in the drive.