Covid-19 updates: Resurgence in Asia and other developments from the week

Many countries in Asia are witnessing a Covid-19 resurgence as the highly contagious delta variant is driving a return of the virus.

The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases recorded daily in India have been hovering around 40,000. The government as well as health experts have asked people to exercise caution and are watching the developments carefully in view of an expected third wave of the infection.

The US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has estimated that the world will witness 5.3 million reported deaths due to Covid-19 (PTI File Photo)

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government said on Friday that the national capital will initiate a lockdown if the positivity goes above 5%; it has remained below 1% in Delhi so far. Many countries in Asia are witnessing a Covid-19 resurgence as the highly contagious delta variant is driving a return of the virus. After successfully containing Covid-19 last year through carefully imposed lockdowns, these countries have been left blunted by the sudden resurgence.

Here are the most important Covid-related updates during this week

1. Covaxin submits a request to Canadian health authorities for emergency use authorisation (EUA). Drug maker Bharat Biotech has joined hands with Canada affiliated firm Vaccigen, which applied for EUA on June 30 and started submission of data and documentation on July 15, completing the process on July 20. Health Canada, the government department responsible for the nation’s health policy, and Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed on July 30 via Twitter that a “review is underway”.
2. Schools for classes 9 to 12, colleges, and coaching institutes are reopening in Bihar from today. Chief minister Nitish Kumar had tweeted on August 4 that educational institutions will be resuming operations with 50 per cent capacity. Meanwhile, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) announced on August 6 that an expert committee will be set up to work out a reopening strategy for educational institutions in the national capital.
3. India has administered more than 500 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine till Friday, the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) announced to mark a significant milestone. “India’s cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage is at 500,348,866 as per the 7pm provisional report today,” the ministry tweeted yesterday. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya took to Twitter to mark the occasion.
4. The Delhi government told the high court on Thursday that it has taken a “sympathetic view” of individuals and organizations who distributed oxygen to needy patients during the peak of the second wave and decided not to initiate any action against them. On July 29, the Delhi high court had cautioned the drug control department against prosecuting the people who acted as good Samaritans during the peak of the second wave and distributed oxygen cylinders to the needy.
5. The Union government has announced a health insurance of ₹5 lakh for children who have lost both parents, any surviving parent, adopted parents, or legal guardians to Covid-19, Union minister Anurag Thakur said on August 4. The premium for the insurance will be paid by the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES) fund.
6. China reported 95 new local cases of Covid-19 on Friday. Authorities responded by initiating mass testing measures and bringing back restrictions on travelling, shutdowns of indoor facilities and suspension of large-scale gatherings.
7. Online retailer Amazon is offering cash prizes of as much as $500,000 as well as cars and vacation packages to its workers if they can prove they are vaccinated against Covid-19. The corporate lottery called Max Your Vax is expected to encourage vaccination as the company has not announced a vaccine mandate so far, reported Bloomberg. A total of 18 prizes which Amazon has valued at almost $2 million can be won by employees who work as frontline workers.
8. The US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has estimated that the world will witness 5.3 million reported deaths due to Covid-19 and 12 million excess fatalities by December as the highly contagious delta virus surges, reported Bloomberg. It also expects fatalities to reach its peak by September and begin a slow decline after that.