Coronavirus: Latest global developments

Paris, Sept 19 (AFP/APP):Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.

– South Africa upset to be kept on UK red list –

South Africa wants to know why it is still on Britain’s red list for travel restrictions.

“We firmly believe there is no reasonable basis for keeping South Africa on the red list and I am very disappointed,” Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor says.

And virologist Tulio de Oliveria has the details.
“We have a smaller number of infections than the UK, similar variant dominating, advanced genomic surveillance, and transparency on science and policy. So why this discrimination? @BorisJohnson,” he asked the UK prime minister on Twitter.

– Spanish students wrong-foot virus police

Twenty-five thousand students join an outdoor drinks party marking the start of term at a Madrid university without following safety precautions, police say, admitting they were caught off-guard.

It was reportedly the biggest such get-together in the country since the start of the pandemic when large public gatherings were halted to stop the spread of the virus.

Social media showed images of vast crowds of beaming youngsters on the Complutense campus, drinking, dancing and hanging out with hardly a mask in sight.

– Melbourne virus lockdown to end in October –

Australia’s second-largest city will exit its coronavirus lockdown in late October if vaccine targets are met under an official roadmap.
About five million people in Melbourne have been under stay-at-home orders since August 5, the sixth lockdown they have endured so far.

– Italians book more jabs –

Bookings for coronavirus vaccines in Italy spiked this week after the government said all employees must show proof of a jab, negative test or recent recovery from Covid-19.

According to Coronavirus commissioner Francesco Figliuolo reservations for the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday were up 35 percent on the same time a week earlier.

Almost 41 million people in Italy have so far been fully vaccinated — nearly 76 percent of the population over the age of 12.

– Iran museums reopen –

Iran reopens museums in Tehran and other cities after a more than year-long closure because of Covid-19.

“Museums in Tehran and other large cities that are no longer red-coded, meaning the risk of contracting the virus was very high, reopened on Sunday,” Iran’s museums director Mohammad-Reza Kargar, tells AFP.
“Tourists and visitors are welcome to return while observing (sanitary) measures.”

– Nearly 4.7 million dead –

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 4,683,586 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 673,474 deaths from 42,050,907 cases.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 590,508 deaths from 21,230,325 cases, India with 444,838 deaths from 33,448,163 cases, and Mexico with 271,303 deaths from 3,564,694 cases.