India’s Health Ministry Monday announced a record 273,810 new COVID cases in the previous 24-hour period.
About 1 in 3 people tested for COVID-19 in the Indian capital of New Delhi recently returned a positive result, according to the city’s chief minister Sunday.
“The bigger worry is that in last 24 hours positivity rate has increased to around 30% from 24%,” chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told a news briefing Sunday.
“The cases are rising very rapidly. The beds are filling fast,” he said.
People in Delhi have turned to social media to complain about the lack of oxygen cannisters and the shortages of hospital beds and drugs.
With more than 15 million people with the infection, India is second to the U.S. which has 31.6 million infections.
Just more than 1% of India’s population has been vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Cases surge in Iran
On Sunday, Iran reported its highest daily death toll from the coronavirus in months, as hospitals in the capital and elsewhere were filling to capacity.
Iran’s Health Ministry reported 405 deaths from the virus and confirmed more than 21,000 infections Sunday. The country’s highest single-day death toll was 480 last November.
People walk next to closed shops of Tehran Bazaar following the tightening of restrictions to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases, Tehran, Apr. 10, 2021. (Majid Asgaripour/(West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
Iran has battled one of the worst outbreaks in the region but has said it cannot sustain long lockdowns to quell the virus for fear of too much economic damage.
Iran’s vaccination campaign has been slow, dependent on a range of domestically made vaccines. About one-tenth of 1% of its population has been fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins.
Meanwhile Sunday, Israel lifted the requirement that masks be worn outdoors. Nearly 56% of its population is fully vaccinated against the virus, according to Johns Hopkins.
The mask mandate remains in place, however, for enclosed spaces.
Half US adult population vaccinated
The United States reported Sunday that just over half of its adult population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
FILE - A woman receives the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a FEMA vaccination center at Miami Dade College, April 5, 2021.
The United States halted use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while it investigates rare incidents of blood clots, but Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said he expects use of the shot to resume within a week.
“I doubt very seriously if they just cancel it. I don't think that's going to happen. I do think that there will likely be some sort of warning or restriction or risk assessment,” Fauci said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Fauci, former President Barack Obama and several American celebrities appeared Sunday night on “Roll Up Your Sleeves,” a nationally televised special aimed at decreasing vaccine hesitancy in the United States.
France to impose quarantines
Beginning April 24, France will require all travelers from Brazil, as well as Argentina, Chile and South Africa, to quarantine for 10 days over concerns of coronavirus variants coming in from those regions, the government announced Saturday. Police is tasked at monitoring arrivals to ensure compliance.
Cemetery workers wearing protective gear lower the coffin of a person who died from complications related to COVID-19 into a gravesite at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, April 7, 2021.
Brazil had 13.9 million COVID cases as of early Monday, according to Johns Hopkins. Only the U.S. and India have more cases. Flights from Brazil into France will remain suspended until the new rules take effect.
More than 373,000 people have died in Brazil from COVID, according to data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
The U.S. is the only country that has more COVID deaths, at more than 567,000.
There have been more than 3 million global deaths from the coronavirus.