India’s surge hits southern states, prompts more lockdowns
BENGALURU, India (AP) — Two southern states in India became the latest to declare lockdowns, as coronavirus cases surge at breakneck speed across the country and pressure mounts on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to implement a nationwide shutdown. At over 300,000, Karnataka’s capital of Bengaluru has the highest active caseload of any Indian city. But experts warn the worst is still ahead as India’s third largest city buckles under oxygen shortages, overrun hospitals and crowded crematoriums. Infections have swelled in India since February in a disastrous turn blamed on more contagious variants as well as government decisions to allow massive crowds to gather for religious festivals and political rallies.
Unsure vaccine waiver will help, some leaders urge exports
GENEVA (AP) — European leaders voiced increasing skepticism Friday that a U.S. proposal to lift patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines would solve the problem of getting shots into the arms of people in poorer countries, with some instead calling for more exports of the doses already being produced. While activists and humanitarian groups have cheered the Biden administration’s decision and urged others to follow suit, European Union leaders are hammering home the message that any benefit from a temporary waiver of intellectual property protections would be long in coming. Instead, they’ve taken the U.S., in particular, to task for not sharing more vaccines with the rest of the world.
After lull, cases spread in Vietnam’s cities, provinces
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — After over a month with no local infections, Vietnam has recorded 176 confirmed coronavirus cases from several outbreaks that have spread to 19 provinces during the past 10 days, the Health Ministry said. The National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, which has been at the front line treating COVID-19 patients, has been sealed off after a doctor, two nurses and more than 20 patients tested positive earlier the week. Meanwhile, the city’s K hospital, which is designated to treat cancer patients, also closed Friday after 11 cases of COVID-19 were found. “The situation is alarming because we are having multiple outbreaks scattered across the country with unclear sources of transmission and multiple variants of the virus,” Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said during a government meeting broadcast on national television VTV on Friday evening.
WHO panel OKs emergency use of China’s Sinopharm vaccine
GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization gave emergency use authorization Friday to a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China’s Sinopharm, potentially paving the way for millions of the doses to reach needy countries through a U.N.-backed program rolling out coronavirus vaccines. The decision by a WHO technical advisory group — a first for a Chinese vaccine — opens the possibility that Sinopharm’s offering could be included in the U.N.-backed COVAX program in coming weeks or months and distributed through UNICEF and the WHO’s Americas regional office. Aside from efficacy numbers, the Chinese manufacturer has released very little public data about its two vaccines — one developed by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the other by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.
US allows diplomats, embassy families to leave Nepal
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department said Friday it is allowing non-essential diplomats and the families of all American staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu to leave Nepal at government expense due a surge in coronavirus cases. The department also advised private Americans to reconsider any plans they may have to visit the Himalayan country and asked those already there who wish to leave to submit information to the embassy. That step suggests the embassy may organize charter flights out of the country in the absence of regularly scheduled commercial flights. “On May 7, the Department of State authorized the voluntary departure of family members of U.S.
Doctors in Nepal warn of major crisis as virus cases surge
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Across the border from a devastating surge in India, doctors in Nepal warned Friday of a major crisis as daily coronavirus cases hit a record and hospitals were running out of beds and oxygen. Nepal reported 9,070 new confirmed cases on Thursday, compared to 298 a month ago. The number of fatalities also reached its highest with 58 on Wednesday and 54 on Thursday, for a total of 3,529. “Right now there are no beds available today in any hospital that is treating COVID patients,” said Dr. Jyotindra Sharma, chief of Hospital for Advanced Medicine & Surgery in Kathmandu.
Maldives police say blast that hurt Nasheed act of terrorism
MALE, Maldives (AP) — Police in the Maldives said Friday an explosion that wounded former President Mohamed Nasheed and four others including a British national was an act of terrorism and they are attempting to identify four possible suspects. Australian police said they are ready to assist the investigation. Nasheed, 53, was wounded in the blast outside his home Thursday night as he was about to get into his car, police said. He was in critical condition in an intensive care unit after life-saving surgeries to his head, chest, abdomen and limbs, ADK Hospital said in a statement Friday evening.
Thailand wants to buy more vaccines as surge worsens
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s prime minister said he wants to secure more vaccines for his country and give as many first doses as possible, as it battles a surge of the pandemic with Bangkok reporting a record number of cases. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced Friday night it will extend restrictions that were due to end this weekend until May 17. They include limiting restaurants to takeaway meals, closing 35 types of venues including bars, gyms, stadiums and boxing rings, and limiting the operating hours of other businesses. Bangkok has recorded more than 500 new cases every day since the beginning of this month, with no sign of decline, said Taweesilp Visanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
Man accused of killing Thai wife prosecuted for abuse in US
BANGKOK (AP) — A U.S. citizen charged with killing his pregnant Thai wife in Thailand was accused of attempting to kill what appears to be the same woman while living in Colorado in 2019. Jason Matthew Balzer, 32, was arrested Thursday in the northern city of Chiang Mai and confessed to killing Pitchaporn Kidchob, 32, Maj. Gen. Weerachon Boontawee, chief of Provincial Police Region 5′s Detective Department, said Friday. It is not clear whether he had a lawyer representing him. The name of the woman Balzer was accused of attempting to kill while living in Longmont, Colorado, was redacted from court records.
Packed trains, drinking: Japanese impatient over virus steps
TOKYO (AP) — Trains packed with commuters returning to work after a weeklong national holiday. Frustrated young people drinking in the streets because bars are closed. Protests planned over a possible visit by the Olympics chief. As the coronavirus spreads in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympics starting in 11 weeks, one of the world’s least vaccinated nations is showing signs of strain, both societal and political. The government — desperate to show a worried public it is in control of virus efforts even as it pushes a massive sporting event that a growing number of Japanese oppose hosting in a pandemic — on Friday announced a decision to expand and extend a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas through May 31.
∎