In this file photo taken on March 03, 2022 US Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, speaks during her weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. (PEDRO UGARTE / AFP)
BERLIN / FRANKFURT / WASHINGTON /JOHANNESBURG / MILAN / NICOSIA – A growing number of US lawmakers and government officials have caught COVID-19 recently.
Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had received a positive test result for the coronavirus. The California Democrat, who's fully vaccinated and boosted, is currently asymptomatic, according to the spokesperson
US Senator Raphael Warnock announced that he was positive for COVID-19 after a routine test on Thursday afternoon.
"I'm so thankful to be both vaccinated & boosted, and at the advice of the Attending Physician I plan to isolate," the Georgia Democrat tweeted.
The announcement came shortly after the US Senate voted to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court.
Warnock was not wearing a mask in photos that show him speaking with US Vice President Kamala Harris, who was presiding over the voting from the Senate floor.
US Senator Susan Collins also tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon. The Maine Republican is experiencing mild symptoms and will isolate and work remotely following the diagnosis.
Earlier in the day, a spokesperson for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had received a positive test result for the coronavirus. The California Democrat, who's fully vaccinated and boosted, is currently asymptomatic, according to the spokesperson.
Pelosi stood next to US President Joe Biden at a bill signing event at the White House on Wednesday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday that Biden tested negative on Wednesday.
"We have incredibly stringent protocols here at the White House that we keep in place to keep the president safe, to keep everybody safe," Psaki said during the daily press briefing. "Every member of the staff is on a regular testing protocol."
US Attorney General Merrick Garland and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Both the Cabinet officials and Pelosi reportedly went to the Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner over the past weekend.
US Congressmen Adam Schiff and Joaquin Castro – two other attendees of the white-tie event – made public their infections on Tuesday.
Politico reported Wednesday that several journalists who attended the Gridiron dinner also had tested positive.
Biden's younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens, also tested positive Wednesday. An adviser to the president, she was not in close contact with the president or the first lady prior to her positive test.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has exceeded 80 million, with 984,000 related deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
Anthony Fauci, a top US infectious disease expert, said on Wednesday that he expects the BA.2 subvariant to fuel an increase in COVID-19 cases across the United States.
"I would not be surprised if we see an uptick in cases," Fauci, also the longtime director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the White House medical adviser, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
In this file photo taken on Aug 25, 2021, a man looks on as he receives a jab of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine from a healthcare worker inside the Transvaco COVID-19 vaccine train stationed at the Springs Train Station outside of Johannesburg. (PHOTO / AFP)
Africa
More than two thirds of Africans have been infected by COVID-19 since the pandemic started, 97 times more than reported confirmed cases, according to a World Health Organization study published on Thursday.
Studies estimate that 45 percent of the global population had been infected by September 2021, but the WHO said comparisons were difficult as studies covered different time periods
The study found that by September 2021, 800 million Africans had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, compared with 8.2 million cases reported at that time.
The WHO said that under-counting was happening everywhere, but to a lesser degree than in Africa. It said that on average globally, true infections were 16 times higher than confirmed cases.
The agency's regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said that the continent's high exposure to the virus and currently declining infection rates did not mean that Africa could declare victory against COVID-19.
"The risks of more lethal variants emerging which overwhelm immunity gained from past infections cannot be brushed aside," she said in a statement, calling for increased testing.
The study consisted of synthesizing 151 previous studies on seroprevalence in Africa, the proportion of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in their blood serum.
It found that exposure to the virus had rocketed from 3 percent in June 2020 to 65 percent in September 2021, with sharp rises after the emergence of the Beta and Delta variants.
Studies estimate that 45 percent of the global population had been infected by September 2021, but the WHO said comparisons were difficult as studies covered different time periods.
With routine diagnostic testing in Africa focused on travelers and people who come to hospitals with symptoms, seroprevalence studies provide data on asymptomatic cases that otherwise go undetected.
Africa has a higher proportion of asymptomatic cases than other parts of the world, with 67 percent of cases having no symptoms, the WHO said.
That is partly due to a smaller proportion of people with risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension, and partly due to the continent's youthful population.
So far, Africa has fully vaccinated 209 million people, or 16 percent of the population, against COVID-19.
The WHO and other agencies are trying to ramp up vaccination rates, but are struggling with low take-up, partly due to a perception that vaccination is less useful because the now dominant Omicron variant is less virulent.
The WHO says vaccination for those with prior infection results in better protection than that offered by infection-induced immunity alone.
Medics administer the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the Cypriot capital Nicosia on Jan 2, 2022, as the country begins vaccinations for children between the ages of five and eleven, amid a sharp surge in coronavirus cases. (IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU / AFP)
Cyprus
Cyprus will lift most travel restrictions as of April 18, while a wide range of other anti-coronavirus restrictions will be eased as of April 11.
The categorization of countries according to their epidemiological situation will be scrapped, and travelers will no longer be required to obtain a CyprusFlightPass, Cyprus' Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works said in a statement.
Vaccinated people will be allowed into the country without taking a coronavirus test, while unvaccinated travelers will only be required to provide a negative 24-hour rapid test or 72-hour PCR test.
Children under the age of 12 will be exempted from all COVID-19 checks.
As of April 11, people will no longer be required to wear a mask outdoors, said Health Minister Michalis Hadipantelas. The SafePass will only be required for health workers and people entering health care units, medical centers, and care homes for the elderly.
No SafePass will be required to enter shops or shopping malls, public service premises, museums on archaeological sites and open air markets and festivals. However, it will be required to enter restaurants, including those within malls.
Theaters and cinemas can operate at full capacity, while the permitted attendance level at stadiums will remain at 75 percent.
In this file photo taken on March 10, 2022 President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde looks on during a press conference following the meeting of the governing council of the ECB in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (DANIEL ROLAND / POOL / AFP)
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday tested positive for COVID-19.
"I will work from home in Frankfurt until I am fully recovered. There is no impact on the ECB's operations," Lagarde tweeted, saying that she tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday morning and the symptoms are reasonably mild.
The ECB is scheduled to have its regular governing council meeting on April 14.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gestures as he addresses a press conference following a meeting with the state leaders on Ukraine in Berlin, on April 7, 2022. (JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP)
Germany
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was disappointed the lower house of parliament on Thursday voted against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for people over 60, but would not launch a second attempt to push for a mandate.
Germany's vaccination campaign is faltering, with around 76.6 percent of Germany's population having received at least one dose – less than the more than 80 percent in other western European countries such as France, Italy and Spain.
Germany's vaccination campaign is faltering, with around 76.6 percent of Germany's population having received at least one dose – less than the more than 80 percent in other western European countries such as France, Italy and Spain
A cross-party proposal had envisaged a bill requiring citizens aged 60 and over to be vaccinated against COVID-19 from Oct 15, in an attempt to avoid another wave of the virus in the autumn.
Daily infections are at a high level in Germany but have dipped in the last week or so, with 201,729 new cases reported on Thursday.
Of the 683 parliamentarians who voted, 378 voted against the bill and 296 in favour, triggering cheers from far-right AfD lawmakers. It was a free vote, meaning that lawmakers were not told to follow party lines.
"I find the Bundestag's decision very clear," Scholz said, adding that the government would seek other ways to increase the country's vaccination rate rather than having a second go at pushing through compulsory vaccinations.
"We will do everything we can to convince more citizens of this country to get vaccinated," Scholz said late on Thursday.
The defeat is a setback for Scholz who had even summoned his foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, to leave a NATO meeting in Brussels to return for the vote.
Scholz had last week been forced to drop plans for mandatory vaccinations for anyone over 18 as he could not muster a parliamentary majority.
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Dirk Wiese, a lawmaker involved in initiating the bill, blamed opposition conservatives, saying they blocked the bill to hurt the government.
"The CDU/CSU (conservatives) have unscrupulously answered a question of conscience," Wiese said in a statement.
The bill's failure reflects the challenging policy-making dynamics of the ruling coalition, comprising Scholz's Social Democrats, the Greens and liberal Free Democrats who disagree on many issues.
Three additional motions either calling for only advising people to get vaccinated or rejecting the mandate altogether were also voted down after a lively four-hour debate.
Imposing vaccinations on citizens violates the second article of the constitution, which guarantees citizens' control over their own bodies, the AfD motion argued.
Austria last month suspended its vaccine mandate, six days before fines for breaches were due to start being imposed, on concerns about infringing rights.
Meanwhile, Germany's health minister said on Friday that the failure of a German draft bill mandating that the elderly be vaccinated against COVID-19 means there will probably be a new wave of infections in autumn and no leeway for further easing of restrictions.
"In any case, a wave is to be expected," Karl Lauterbach told journalists, a day after the lower house of parliament voted against a law compelling people over 60 to get vaccinated. read more
Lauterbach said he would continue to fight for mandatory vaccinations but that he was very sceptical that it would happen.
In this file photo taken on Oct 13, 2021,
Italian Professor Roberto Mezzanotte and a nurse nurse view the lung x-rays of a COVID-19 patient at the Casalpalocco hospital, south of Rome. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP)
Italy
Italy reported 69,596 COVID-19 related cases on Thursday, against 69,278 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell to 149 from 150.
Italy has registered 160,402 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February 2020, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth highest in the world. The country has reported 15.11 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 10,078 on Thursday, down from 10,164 a day earlier.
There were 65 new admissions to intensive care units, up from 51 on Wednesday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 471 from a previous 466.
Some 469,803 tests for COVID-19 were carried out in the past day, compared with a previous 461,448, the health ministry said.
UK
Disease caused by the Omicron variant is on average around two days shorter than the Delta variant, a large study of vaccinated Britons who kept a smartphone log of their COVID-19 symptoms after breakthrough infections has shown.
"The shorter presentation of symptoms suggests – pending confirmation from viral load studies – that the period of infectiousness might be shorter, which would in turn impact workplace health policies and public health guidance,” the study authors wrote.
Based on the Zoe COVID-19 app, which collects data on self-reported symptoms, the study also found that a symptomatic Omicron infection was 25 percent less likely to result in hospital admission than in a case of Delta.
While Omicron's lesser severity has been known, the study is unique in its detailed analysis and in that it corrected for any distortions caused by differences in vaccination status by looking at vaccinated volunteers only.
