COVID-19: What you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic on 1 July
The Thai island resort of Phuket has reopened to fully vaccinated foreign tourists. Image: REUTERS/Jorge Silva
Listen to the article
- This daily round-up brings you a selection of the latest news and updates on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as tips and tools to help you stay informed and protected.
- Top stories: Indonesia to introduce new restrictions; End of the pandemic in Latin America and Caribbean 'remains a distant future'; New South Wales reports more cases.
1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 182.2 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 3.94 million. More than 3.04 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
COVID-19-related deaths in Mexico could exceed the confirmed death toll by around 60%, according to Health Ministry data released yesterday.
Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila has applied for emergency use approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, which has shown a 66.6% efficacy against positive cases.
It comes as India's factory activity fell for the first time in 11 months in June, as pandemic restrictions saw declines in demand and output, according to a private survey.
New South Wales, Australia, has warned that a significant number of new COVID-19 cases are being found in the community - raising fears of fresh clusters.
France has said it will delay the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the country's southwest, over concerns over the Delta variant.
CureVac has said its COVID-19 vaccine was 48% effective in the final analysis of its large-scale trial. But, that figure was 77% in the age group below 60 years old when considering only moderate to severe symptoms and excluding mild cases.
The Thai island resort of Phuket will allow foreign tourists vaccinated against COVID-19 to visit without needing to quarantine from today.
Portugal has seen its biggest jump in new daily COVID-19 cases since mid-February, official data showed yesterday.
Switzerland will donate 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca shot to the vaccine-sharing facility COVAX. The country had originally reserved 5.4 million doses of the jab, but the country's medical regulator is yet to approve the vaccine.
The World Bank has pledged to boost funding for COVID-19 vaccine purchases and deployment from $12 billion to $20 billion.
What is the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship?
2. End of the pandemic in Latin America and Caribbean 'remains a distant future'
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean remains a long way off.
Infections in the United States, Canada and Mexico are falling, elsewhere in the Americas they continue to rise and vaccination rates remain low. Just one in ten people have been fully vaccinated - a situation which PAHO director Carissa Etienne called 'unacceptable'.
"While we are seeing some reprieve from the virus in countries in the Northern Hemisphere, for most countries in our region, the end remains a distant future," she said.
The organization also discouraged summer holiday travel in the Americas. "Given the significant gaps in vaccine coverage and the still imminent risk of infection, now may not be the ideal time for travel – especially in places with active outbreaks or where hospital capacity may be limited," Etienne told a weekly briefing.
3. Indonesia to introduce emergency measures after COVID-19 spike
Indonesia is introducing emergency measures that will run until 20 July, in an effort to contain a spike in COVID-19 cases that threatens to overwhelm the country's healthcare system, President Joko Widodo has announced.
"With cooperation from all of us and the grace of God, I'm certain that we can suppress COVID-19 transmission and restore people's lives quickly," said the president.
The new measures include tighter restrictions on movement and air travel, a ban on restaurant dining and the closure of non-essential offices. They'll come into force from Saturday.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Stay up to date:
COVID-19
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Health and Healthcare SystemsSee all
Nitin Kapoor
November 22, 2024