A boy flies a kite in the Mandela favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 3, 2021.
(CARL DE SOUZA / AFP)
TORONTO / PARIS / SANTIAGO / BRASILIA / WASHINGTON / BUCHAREST / HAVANA / QUITO / STOCKHOLM / BRUSSELS / MOSCOW – Deaths from COVID-19 in Brazil surpassed 330,000 on Saturday after 1,987 new fatalities registered, bringing the country's death toll to 330,193, the Ministry of Health reported.
Besides, 43,515 new cases were registered, bringing the national count to 12,953,597.
Brazil is currently the global epicenter of COVID-19, ranking second in terms of deaths and cases worldwide, after the United States.
Sao Paulo, the most populated state in Brazil, has also been hardest hit by the virus with 2,520,204 cases and 76,750 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 657,139 cases and 37,629 deaths.
Canada
Canada's COVID-19 cases have amounted to 1,001,645, reported CTV.
Canada became the 23rd country in the world to surpass 1 million confirmed cases, according to a worldwide tally of global infections by Johns Hopkins University.
Canada hit the grim milestone 14 months after the country confirmed its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 25, 2020.
After months of shutdowns, travel restrictions and declining cases, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared in September last year that Canada was hit by the second wave of COVID-19.
At present, Canada is fighting the third wave of the pandemic as confirmed cases have been rising when variants of the illness cause mounting concerns, especially in the populous provinces including Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia and Alberta.
According to the Canadian federal modelling released in late March, the COVID-19 pandemic could get worse even if public health measures are kept where they are, with daily cases potentially to surpass 12,000.
Russia
Russia has confirmed 8,817 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 4,580,894, the official monitoring and response center said Sunday.
The COVID-19 death toll rose by 357 to 100,374 in the past day, while recoveries grew by 8,212 to 4,204,081.
Moscow, Russia's worst-hit region, reported 1,901 new cases, taking its total to 1,034,567.
More than 121.6 million tests have been conducted across the country.
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson and the Biden administration are taking over a Baltimore vaccine production facility that was the site of a major manufacturing error last month — and moving production of material for a second company’s shot to minimize risk of another mistake.
J&J announced Saturday that it was “assuming full responsibility regarding the manufacturing of drug substance” at the Emergent BioSolutions Inc. plant. To facilitate that, the Department of Health and Human Services worked with AstraZeneca Plc. to move its production out of that plant so it can focus only on J&J, according to an HHS official familiar with the measure, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The move came after an error was revealed this week at the plant that spoiled 15 million doses worth of drug substance for the J&J vaccine. President Joe Biden’s administration has acknowledged the delay but said it won’t alter its timeline for when the country will have enough doses for all adults. However, Biden’s team has declined to say how many more doses it would have received this month had the error not occurred.
READ MORE: WHO: European virus vaccine campaign 'unacceptably slow'
US
The US Health and Human Services Department on Saturday stopped a Baltimore manufacturer from making AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, days after the facility ruined 15 million doses of shots developed by Johnson & Johnson, the New York Times reported, citing two senior federal health officials who weren’t identified.
The move came after the Maryland-based biotech firm, Emergent BioSolutions Inc., accidentally mixed up the ingredients from the two vaccines, which forced regulators to delay approval of the plant’s output, the newspaper said.
The United States is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, including cases from new and emerging COVID-19 variants, as experts are concerned about another surge amid the spring break.
COVID-19 cases in the country were steadily decreasing for approximately 10 weeks. However, trends are changing, and cases have increased during the past 12 days, according to data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The United States may not need AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, even if it wins US regulatory approval, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday.
The vaccine, once hailed as another milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, has been dogged by questions since late last year, even as it has been authorized for use by dozens of countries, not including United States.
The US added almost 68,000 new cases Friday, as weekly infections hit their highest point since late February, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.
The upward trend continues even as the US is vaccinating at record levels, with 4 million shots given on Friday, data from the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker show.
ALSO READ: COVID-19: France sees biggest jump in ICU patients in months
UK
The UK government will announce plans Monday for a new app that will confirm whether the holder has had a vaccine, a recent negative test or COVID -19 in the past six months, enabling the person to attend mass gatherings such as festivals, theaters or sports events, the Sun newspaper reported.
Bars and restaurants will be excluded from requiring the certification, effectively a victory for dozens of lawmakers in Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party who had railed against what they called a “divisive and discriminatory” measure.
Britain reported 10 deaths from COVID-19 within 28 days of a positive test on Saturday, the lowest daily figure since early September, as its vaccine rollout reached another milestone.
Official data also showed 31,301,267 people had received their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, with five million now having had both doses in what is the fastest rollout in Europe.
Portugal
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Saturday that respecting restrictions during Easter and throughout April will be "crucial" so that "there is not a fourth wave of COVID-19 in the country."
Visiting a nursing home in Lisbon, the president appealed to the Portuguese to "do everything in their power" on Easter Sunday to stop the transmission of the pandemic and reduce the "number of inpatients in intensive care."
"We all hope that there will be no setbacks … if the reopening is done with attention to care, at a time when vaccination will see a decisive leap in April to maintain control of the pandemic before summer," he said, adding "the sooner the pandemic disappears, the less the economic and social crisis will be."
Portugal recorded seven deaths and 280 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the toll and caseload in the country to 16,875 and 823,142 respectively since the beginning of the pandemic.
Seniors sit in the hallway following being administered their second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by healthcare workers from Humber River Hospital, inside Caboto Terrace, an independent seniors residence, on April 1, 2021 in Toronto, Canada. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)
Spain
A boy born last week on the Spanish island of Ibiza has become the first newborn in Spain with COVID-19 antibodies, after his mother received the vaccine in the third trimester of her pregnancy, according to local media reports.
A sample from the baby's umbilical cord analyzed at the Hospital Son Espases in Mallorca confirmed that he had developed antibodies against COVID-19, the Spanish newspaper ABC reported.
Manuel Grandal Martin, deputy director of the Madrid Hospital Directorate, told Xinhua on Friday that the protection that the baby has is equal to that of someone who has been vaccinated.
Beaches were packed across Catalonia on Saturday as fine spring weather attracted sunseekers despite government warnings to avoid breaching COVID-19 restrictions.
In Barcelona, Tarragona and other popular cities along the coast of the northeastern Spanish region, crowds gathered on the beaches, some lacking masks or ignoring social distancing.
France
France reported on Saturday that 5,273 people were in intensive care units (ICU) for COVID-19, a rise of 19 from the previous day, as the country entered its third national lockdown to help combat the pandemic.
The government had been trying to keep the lid on new COVID cases with curfews and regional measures but from Saturday, and for the next four weeks, schools and non-essential businesses across the country will remain shut.
The rise in ICU patients on Saturday followed a much bigger jump the day before – the highest in five months, at 145. President Emmanuel Macron has pledged more hospital beds to care for critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Macron had hoped to steer France out of the pandemic without having to impose a third national lockdown that would further batter an economy still reeling from last year’s slump.
Latvia
Latvia on Saturday opened mass immunization centers in eight cities and towns in a bid to ramp up vaccinations against COVID-19, health authorities informed.
Apart from the three largest immunization centers in Riga, smaller vaccination hubs also opened in seven cities.
Several people who were interviewed by public radio as they were waiting in line for their first shot against the coronavirus said they had been looking forward to this opportunity, although some admitted being a bit apprehensive ahead of the injection.
According to the Vaccination Bureau's plan, the mass immunization campaign at the centers will be taking place from Saturday through Monday. The event is being organized during the Easter holidays in hopes of attracting more people.
Colombia
Colombia registered 9,149 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking its nationwide tally to 2,437,197, the ministry of health and social protection said on Saturday.
The country also reported 155 more deaths, raising the national death toll to 63,932, said the ministry.
According to the ministry, a total of 2,336,144 citizens have been vaccinated in the South American country, and 364,253 of them have already received the second jab.
Argentina
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez received the confirmation on Saturday afternoon that he got infected with COVID-19 after his PCR test had come back positive.
"The diagnosis of COVID-19 infection has been confirmed through a positive PCR test, making it clear that the clinical outlook is mild due in large part to the protective effect of the vaccine he received," said a statement from the president's physician Federico Saavedra.
Fernandez has received the second dose of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, according to Argentine newspaper Clarin.
The president tweeted Friday night that after experiencing a fever and a slight headache, he tested positive for COVID-19.
Argentina registered 10,384 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the national tally to 2,383,537, according to the country's ministry of health.
Chile
The Chilean Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that it will strengthen the search for new variants of COVID-19, with the genomic sequencing of 500 samples a week to investigate the cause of the new wave of infections that is affecting the country.
"So far, the Brazilian and the British variants have been detected in Chile. We were doing 176 sequences a week and, for next week, we are going to sequence 500 samples to try to search for any new or strange strains that may explain the increase in cases," said Minister of Health Enrique Paris.
The government this week decreed the closure of borders for a month to prevent the spread of the virus after a recent increase in cases.
Cuba
Cuba registered two more deaths and 1,029 cases of COVID-19, the fifth consecutive day with over 1,000 daily infections, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday.
The director of hygiene and epidemiology at the ministry, Francisco Duran, said that with these figures, the accumulated number of cases rose to 78,382 and the death toll was 431.
The ministry said that Havana, with 570 new patients, continued to be the epicenter of the virus in the country and authorities continued to enforce restrictive sanitary measures in the city and its municipalities.
Ecuador
Ecuador registered 1,137 new cases of COVID-19 and 17 deaths, bringing the total number of cases to 333,175 and the death toll to 12,050, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday.
The agency said there were another two deaths probably caused by COVID-19, bringing the total of suspected deaths to 4,879.
The province of Pichincha, where the capital city of Quito is located, continues to be the most affected area of the country, with the city reaching a total of 107,167 infections.
Morocco
Morocco announced on Saturday 575 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally in the North African country to 497,832.
The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 484,793 after 569 more were added, while the death toll rose to 8,842 with seven new fatalities during the last 24 hours.
Algeria
Algeria on Saturday reported 95 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the North African country to 117,524.
The death toll from the virus rose to 3,102 after three new fatalities were added, said the Algerian Ministry of Health in a statement.
Meanwhile, 84 more patients recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 81,813, the statement added.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia registered 1,997 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 213,311 as of Saturday evening, the country's health ministry said.
Meanwhile, 21 new deaths from the virus were reported across the country, bringing the national death toll to 2,936, said the ministry.
Kenya
"The decision by the Government of the United Kingdom to 'Red List' Kenya and to stop all travel from Kenya for those resident in Kenya and those transiting through Kenya, to the United Kingdom has been received with regret and disappointment," Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued on Saturday evening.
The ministry said that placing Nairobi on the "red list" was discriminatory, punitive and a threat to bilateral ties with the former colonial power. It said that profiling Kenya as a COVID-19 hotspot and barring its citizens from visiting Britain is likely to impair bilateral ties in diverse spheres like trade, tourism and security.
Britain on April 2 communicated its decision to add Kenya to the list of countries whose visitors will be banned from entering its shores from April 9, citing their risk of transmitting new coronavirus strains.
