NEW DELHI (AP) – India reported another record daily increase in coronavirus infections on Monday to pass Brazil as the country with the second most reported infection since the beginning of the pandemic.
The 168,912 cases added in the last 24 hours have pushed India’s total since the pandemic began to 13.5 million, while Brazil has 13.4 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
India also reported 904 deaths in the last 24 hours, reaching 170,179, which is the fourth largest number, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico.
India is facing the worst increase in the pandemic, with a continuous seven-day average of over 130,000 cases per day. Hospitals across the country are becoming overwhelmed with patients, and experts worry that the worst is yet to come.
The latest increase also coincides with the lack of vaccines in some Indian states, including western Maharashtra, where the financial capital Mumbai is located, which is the hardest hit state and has seen nearly half of the country’s new infections in the past two weeks.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
– The heavily affected Philippine capital and four nearby provinces were placed under a more severe coronavirus blockade on Monday to avoid further damage to an already affected economy, despite the continuing rise in infections and deaths. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Metropolitan of Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, a region of more than 25 million people, will remain under lighter quarantine restrictions until the end of April, after a hard block for two weeks. “Our emerging strategy is to increase our bed capacity instead of shutting down the economy,” said Roque, who spoke at a televised news briefing at a Manila hospital after contracting COVID-19 as many members of The Cabinet. The Philippines has long been a coronavirus hotspot in Southeast Asia, with about 865,000 confirmed infections and nearly 15,000 deaths.
– Thailand reported 985 new cases of coronavirus, the largest daily increase since the beginning of the pandemic. Health officials say they are worried that the number of new infections could be much higher after this week’s traditional Thai New Year holiday. Health experts said on Monday that the country’s third major increase proved to be more difficult to control, as it is largely a variant of the virus first found in the UK and has mostly affected younger people, because it broke out in nightclubs and bars. Millions of Thais are traveling around the country for this week’s annual Songkran festival. The government did not prevent people from traveling, as it did when it canceled the festival last year.
– New Zealand demands that all border workers be vaccinated against coronavirus by the end of the month. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that starting immediately, employers should consider alternative options for any of their employees who have not been vaccinated. This could mean that those workers are redistributed to positions away from the border or fired. Ardern had previously set April as the deadline for vaccinating front-line workers, but on Monday he spoke about it in stronger terms after three workers at a quarantine facility caught the virus. New Zealand has eliminated the spread of the virus in the community, so returning travelers who may have caught COVID-19 abroad are considered the most vulnerable.
– Tokyo has taken tougher measures against coronavirus, as it strives to prevent the rapid spread of a more contagious variant before the Olympics in a country where less than 1% of people have been vaccinated. Japan has expanded its vaccination Drive to older residents on Monday, with the first photos being taken in about 120 selected locations across the country. The stricter rules of COVID-19 allow the governor of Tokyo to impose smaller opening hours for bars and restaurants, punish violators and compensate those who comply. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike urged residents to be cautious while vaccinations are at an early stage.
– The COVID-19 vaccination unit in Bhutan has been fast from the start. As other countries launch their vaccination campaigns over the months, Bhutan is almost ready just 16 days after it started. The small Himalayan kingdom vaccinated almost 93% of its adults. Its small population has helped Bhutan move quickly, but dedicated volunteers and the use of the deposit in the cold chain from previous vaccination actions are also credited. Bhutan shared the photos to coincide with favorable data from Buddhist astrology, and the recipient and supplier of the first shot were women born in the Year of the Monkey.
– The new mayor of the capital of South Korea has called for the rapid approval of the coronavirus self-test kit, saying his city urgently needs more tools to fight the pandemic and keep businesses in trouble. Oh Se-hoon spoke on Monday, while Seoul and nearby metropolitan cities are closing hostess bars, nightclubs and other high-risk entertainment venues to slow down broadcasts. Similar businesses were closed in the port city south of Busan. The Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 350 of the country’s 587 new cases come from the greater Seoul area. The director of South Korea’s National Institutes of Health said earlier this month that authorities are examining whether to approve rapid home tests. But the review continued slowly, with some experts saying that such tests would do more harm than good because they are less accurate than standard laboratory tests. Meanwhile, health officials said Novavax, based in Maryland, has agreed to a licensing agreement that will allow a South Korean biotechnology company to produce its coronavirus vaccines later this year. SK Bioscience plans to produce 20 million Novavax photos by September, all of which will be used locally.