asia
2 trains collide in southern Pakistan, killing 30
Two express trains collided in southern Pakistan early Monday, killing at least 30 passengers, authorities said, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull injured people and more bodies from the wreckage.
Between 15 to 20 passengers are still trapped in the wreckage of the Millat Express train and authorities were trying to arrange heavy machinery to rescue those people who are crying for help, said Umar Tufail, a police chief in Ghotki district in Sindh province, where the collision occurred before dawn.
Read:Egypt says 11 killed in train crash north of Cairo
The Millat Express derailed and the Sir Syed Express train hit it soon afterward, said Usman Abdullah, a deputy commissioner in Ghotki. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the derailment and the subsequent collision.
“Right now the challenge for us is to quickly rescue those passengers who are still trapped in the wreckage,” he said.
Abdullah said so far 30 people had died. According to railway officials, about 1,100 passengers were on board the two trains, and arrangements were being made to help the surviving passengers.
According to local media, some of the passengers were traveling by the Millat Express train to attend a wedding party but it was unclear whether they were among the dead or injured.
TV footage showed ambulances transporting injured passengers to hospitals. According to Pakistani TV stations, heavy machinery had not reached the scene about four hours after the crash.
Read: Taiwanese man involved in deadly train derailment released on bail
Officials at Pakistan railways said they had ordered an investigation and rescue work was still in progress.
Some of the injured passengers were listed in critical condition at a hospital.
Authorities said troops had also arrived at the scene of the accident to participate in the rescue work.
Malik Aslam, a local villager, told Pakistan’s Geo News TV that about 100 people were injured and he counted at least 30 bodies of passengers during the rescue and recovery work.
Read:Train crashes in eastern Taiwan, killing 48, injuring dozens
Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where successive governments have paid little attention to improving the poorly maintained signal system and aging tracks.
In 1990, a packed passenger plowed into a standing freight train in southern Pakistan, killing 210 people in the worst rail disaster in Pakistan’s history.
COVID-19 lockdowns cause increase in alcohol intake: OECD
People drank more alcohol both in terms of amount and how often it was consumed during the initial coronavirus lockdowns across the world last year, according to an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development survey.
Of about 60,000 individuals from 11 countries surveyed for seven weeks from May to June 2020, 43 percent said they drank more often than before the first wave of COVID-19, 26 percent said less often and 31 percent saw no change.
Thirty-six percent said their alcohol consumption increased, while 21 percent said it decreased and 43 percent said it was unchanged.
Stefano Scarpetta, director for employment, labor and social affairs at the OECD, said alcohol sales at restaurants and bars plummeted but drinking at home increased.
Increased alcohol consumption possibly reflects high stress levels, Scarpetta said.
Also read: Distilleries using high-proof alcohol to make hand sanitizer
It was also found that the number of emergency calls about domestic violence rose 60 percent across European Union countries during the pandemic, according to the Paris-based club of 38 mostly wealthy countries.
"Lockdown and stay at home orders exacerbated some of the negative behaviors associated with harmful alcohol consumption," it said.
Sales of alcohol drinks and accompanying tax revenues grew some 3 to 5 percent last year from 2019 in some nations such as Britain, the United States and Germany.
The survey showed the probability of binge drinking -- which it defined as having over 80 percent of a bottle wine or 1.5 liters of beer per drinking occasion -- increased for 23 percent of the respondents, but was reduced for 29 percent. Nearly half answered that it did not change.
Also read: Alcohols in air may slow down haze formation: study
Since late 2019 when the first virus outbreak was detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, many major cities have taken confinement measures such as hard lockdowns to curb the virus spread, forcing restaurants and bars to shut down or close earlier than usual and people to stay at home.
Scarpetta warned the reopening of the economy means that supportive measures for pandemic-hit sectors and individuals will be removed, a development that could lead to further bankruptcies and unemployment, and put people at risk of engaging in "harmful patterns of drinking" to get rid of stress.
"It is difficult to know whether these changes will continue when living conditions go back to normality, but the experience of previous crises suggests that we may see an increase in problematic drinking in the medium term," he said.
The data was collected in 10 OECD members -- Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Britain and the United States -- plus Brazil, a non-OECD member.
Indian cities unlocking after declining COVID-19 infections
With COVID-19 infections coming down to the lowest level country-wide in nearly two months to 120,529 new cases during the last 24 hours, India’s major cities today announced significant relaxations in lockdowns in New Delhi and Mumbai.
Government and private offices will be allowed to reopen with 50 percent attendance from Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said at a media briefing. Markets and malls will reopen on an odd-even basis from 10 am to 8 pm. Delhi Metro will operate at 50 percent capacity.
In Mumbai too, offices will only be allowed from Monday to function with 50 percent capacity till 4 pm. The same restriction will apply to restaurants both in occupancy level and timing of service. Fifty persons will be permitted at weddings and 20 at funerals.
Also read: Increase in Covid-19 vaccine production in India to be 'game changer' beyond borders: US
Malls and entertainment places, such as theatres, will continue to be locked down, but individual stores may stay open till 4 pm. Local train services will be restricted to those engaged in essential services, but buses may operate at full capacity with no standee passengers.
In Maharashtra state, the government has announced a five-level plan to relax the lockdowns based on the weekly positivity rate and the occupancy of oxygen beds.
Also read: Serum gets govt nod to produce Sputnik vaccine in India
Kejriwal said the Delhi government was preparing for the third wave of COVID-19 infections and projecting 37,000 daily cases at its peak. It was making arrangements for beds, ICUs and medicines with that projection in mind.
India’s latest infection figures show less than 200,000 daily new cases for nine days consecutively and a decrease in active cases by 80,745 in the last 24 hours. Such a pattern of decreases over a sustained period has prompted cities like New Delhi and Mumbai to relax restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Both cities had high infection rates during the second wave of COVID-19.
Indian govt books 300 million doses of new Indian jab
India made its first advance commitments for a coronavirus vaccine under development, announcing a ₹1,500 crore deal with Hyderabad’s Biological E to stockpile 300 million doses of its candidate that has shown promising signs but is currently in the last stage of clinical trials, reported Hindusthan Times on Friday .
The commitment, announced by the Union health ministry on Thursday, represents the first time the government has placed an advance purchase order, which typically helps secure large volumes of doses, and has been a strategy used by countries that managed to procure doses early. “The arrangement with Biological-E is part of the wider endeavour of Government of India to encourage indigenous vaccine manufacturers by providing them support in research & development and also financial support,” the ministry said in a statement.
The move comes a day after the Supreme Court pulled up the government for its vaccination policy and gave it two weeks to submit all files and notings that “reflect its thinking and the culmination” of its vaccination policy, which judges said appeared to be “arbitrary and irrational”.
Also read: Increase in Covid-19 vaccine production in India to be 'game changer' beyond borders: US
The criticism around the Covid-19 vaccination drive stems from an acute shortage of doses in the country, where under 19% of the 940 million eligible people have received at least one dose.
The order that the government disclosed on Thursday will help India get guaranteed access to large doses of the vaccines made by Biological E once the dose is approved. The amount committed will go towards development as well as stockpiling of the doses in advance, which will help push large quantities as soon as clearances are secured. The vaccine is likely to be marketed as Corbevax, according to names previously disclosed by the company.
The 300 million doses appeared to be the cumulative capacity that Biological E told the Centre it will be able to produce for the rest of 2021. Niti Aayog’s VK Paul on May 13 said the company’s 300 million doses was among the 2.16 billion doses of various vaccines that the government was expecting to be available between August and December. It was not immediately clear when the 300 million doses will begin to become available since Phase III trials were only approved in late April, and the developers – Biological E and its partner, Texas-based Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) – are yet to release data from the Phase 1/2 studies.
Dr Peter Hotez, the dean of BCM’s National School of Tropical Medicine and one of the scientists involved in the development, said in an interview to an Indian TV channel last month that clinical trials have shown there will be cross-protection against a number of variants of concern. The vaccine is made using a tried-and-tested platform that is also used in the development of the Hepatitis B vaccine, which Biological E has past experience of making.
In an interview to HT in January, BCM’s Maria Elena Bottazzi said that the vaccine could particularly help inoculate children. “A hepatitis vaccine platform will also help be reassuring for paediatrics use since mRNA and viral vectors have never been used in children,” she said.
Bottazzi said Biological E has worked on the technology for long and the Texas-based institute transferred the technology in summer of 2020. “They were very quick not only in scaling up and reproducing (necessary biologicals) -- we now know they can make 1.2 billion doses of the protein -- but they are also very quick at doing the formulation science,” she said.
Experts welcomed Thursday’s announcement.
“I am just glad that the government is taking some risk now, to do advance purchase of products that might be useful. They should have done this a year ago. Knowing you have a commitment to buy and an advanced paid from the government will encourage vaccine manufacturers to ramp up production even as they do clinical trials,” said Dr Gagandeep Kang, one of country’s top vaccinologist and physician-scientist, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
“They should also look at supporting Gennova for their mRNA product,” she added.
Also read: Serum gets govt nod to produce Sputnik vaccine in India
A senior public health expert, who asked not to be named, however, asked Biological E to release clinical trial data. “Permission to progress to the next phase cannot be given unless you have submitted trial results of the previous phase; therefore I don’t see why the vaccine makers should hold on to the data. If results are promising put them out for other experts to scrutinise who were not a part of the trial,” said this person
“How are they so sure that phase III results will be favourable; those who understand science know that earlier phases of clinical trials are about promise and the third phase is actually what determines the real performance,” the expert added.
The move comes a day after the Supreme Court pulled up the government for its vaccination policy and gave it two weeks to submit all files and notings that “reflect its thinking and the culmination” of its vaccination policy, which judges said appeared to be “arbitrary and irrational”.
The criticism around the Covid-19 vaccination drive stems from an acute shortage of doses in the country, where under 19% of the 940 million eligible people have received at least one dose.
The order that the government disclosed on Thursday will help India get guaranteed access to large doses of the vaccines made by Biological E once the dose is approved. The amount committed will go towards development as well as stockpiling of the doses in advance, which will help push large quantities as soon as clearances are secured. The vaccine is likely to be marketed as Corbevax, according to names previously disclosed by the company.
The 300 million doses appeared to be the cumulative capacity that Biological E told the Centre it will be able to produce for the rest of 2021. Niti Aayog’s VK Paul on May 13 said the company’s 300 million doses was among the 2.16 billion doses of various vaccines that the government was expecting to be available between August and December. It was not immediately clear when the 300 million doses will begin to become available since Phase III trials were only approved in late April, and the developers – Biological E and its partner, Texas-based Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) – are yet to release data from the Phase 1/2 studies.
Dr Peter Hotez, the dean of BCM’s National School of Tropical Medicine and one of the scientists involved in the development, said in an interview to an Indian TV channel last month that clinical trials have shown there will be cross-protection against a number of variants of concern. The vaccine is made using a tried-and-tested platform that is also used in the development of the Hepatitis B vaccine, which Biological E has past experience of making.
In an interview to HT in January, BCM’s Maria Elena Bottazzi said that the vaccine could particularly help inoculate children. “A hepatitis vaccine platform will also help be reassuring for paediatrics use since mRNA and viral vectors have never been used in children,” she said.
Bottazzi said Biological E has worked on the technology for long and the Texas-based institute transferred the technology in summer of 2020. “They were very quick not only in scaling up and reproducing (necessary biologicals) -- we now know they can make 1.2 billion doses of the protein -- but they are also very quick at doing the formulation science,” she said.
Experts welcomed Thursday’s announcement.
“I am just glad that the government is taking some risk now, to do advance purchase of products that might be useful. They should have done this a year ago. Knowing you have a commitment to buy and an advanced paid from the government will encourage vaccine manufacturers to ramp up production even as they do clinical trials,” said Dr Gagandeep Kang, one of country’s top vaccinologist and physician-scientist, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
“They should also look at supporting Gennova for their mRNA product,” she added.
A senior public health expert, who asked not to be named, however, asked Biological E to release clinical trial data. “Permission to progress to the next phase cannot be given unless you have submitted trial results of the previous phase; therefore I don’t see why the vaccine makers should hold on to the data. If results are promising put them out for other experts to scrutinise who were not a part of the trial,” said this person
“How are they so sure that phase III results will be favourable; those who understand science know that earlier phases of clinical trials are about promise and the third phase is actually what determines the real performance,” the expert added.
The move comes a day after the Supreme Court pulled up the government for its vaccination policy and gave it two weeks to submit all files and notings that “reflect its thinking and the culmination” of its vaccination policy, which judges said appeared to be “arbitrary and irrational”.
The criticism around the Covid-19 vaccination drive stems from an acute shortage of doses in the country, where under 19% of the 940 million eligible people have received at least one dose.
The order that the government disclosed on Thursday will help India get guaranteed access to large doses of the vaccines made by Biological E once the dose is approved. The amount committed will go towards development as well as stockpiling of the doses in advance, which will help push large quantities as soon as clearances are secured. The vaccine is likely to be marketed as Corbevax, according to names previously disclosed by the company.
The 300 million doses appeared to be the cumulative capacity that Biological E told the Centre it will be able to produce for the rest of 2021. Niti Aayog’s VK Paul on May 13 said the company’s 300 million doses was among the 2.16 billion doses of various vaccines that the government was expecting to be available between August and December. It was not immediately clear when the 300 million doses will begin to become available since Phase III trials were only approved in late April, and the developers – Biological E and its partner, Texas-based Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) – are yet to release data from the Phase 1/2 studies.
Dr Peter Hotez, the dean of BCM’s National School of Tropical Medicine and one of the scientists involved in the development, said in an interview to an Indian TV channel last month that clinical trials have shown there will be cross-protection against a number of variants of concern. The vaccine is made using a tried-and-tested platform that is also used in the development of the Hepatitis B vaccine, which Biological E has past experience of making.
In an interview to HT in January, BCM’s Maria Elena Bottazzi said that the vaccine could particularly help inoculate children. “A hepatitis vaccine platform will also help be reassuring for paediatrics use since mRNA and viral vectors have never been used in children,” she said.
Bottazzi said Biological E has worked on the technology for long and the Texas-based institute transferred the technology in summer of 2020. “They were very quick not only in scaling up and reproducing (necessary biologicals) -- we now know they can make 1.2 billion doses of the protein -- but they are also very quick at doing the formulation science,” she said.
Experts welcomed Thursday’s announcement.
“I am just glad that the government is taking some risk now, to do advance purchase of products that might be useful. They should have done this a year ago. Knowing you have a commitment to buy and an advanced paid from the government will encourage vaccine manufacturers to ramp up production even as they do clinical trials,” said Dr Gagandeep Kang, one of country’s top vaccinologist and physician-scientist, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
Also read: India’s recoveries exceed new cases
“They should also look at supporting Gennova for their mRNA product,” she added.
A senior public health expert, who asked not to be named, however, asked Biological E to release clinical trial data. “Permission to progress to the next phase cannot be given unless you have submitted trial results of the previous phase; therefore I don’t see why the vaccine makers should hold on to the data. If results are promising put them out for other experts to scrutinise who were not a part of the trial,” said this person
“How are they so sure that phase III results will be favourable; those who understand science know that earlier phases of clinical trials are about promise and the third phase is actually what determines the real performance,” the expert added.
Increase in Covid-19 vaccine production in India to be 'game changer' beyond borders: US
Increase in manufacturing capacity of Covid-19 vaccines in India has the potential to be a game changer well beyond its borders, the Biden Administration said Thursday.
"It's important to us because India has suffered immensely from the outbreak. Virtually, no element of Indian society has been left untouched by this horrible scourge. That is why we have spoken of the focus on increased manufacturing in India," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, said a Hindustan Times report.
READ: Indian variant of Covid may wreak havoc on Bangladesh: GM Quader
"The increased manufacturing capacity in India, the volume of capacity has the potential to be a game changer well beyond India's borders. And that's precisely why this arrangement was reached and announced in the context of the Quad," he said.
Early this year at the first virtual Quad summit, composed of leaders from Australia, India, Japan and the United States, it was decided to work together to increase the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity of India.
READ: Serum gets govt nod to produce Sputnik vaccine in India
Asia-Pacific trade ministers mull vaccine access, supply
Improved access to coronavirus vaccines and other tools needed to fight the pandemic are vital to crushing the pandemic and hastening a recovery, officials said Saturday in an online meeting of Pacific Rim economies.
The unprecedented crisis brought on by COVID-19 requires a coordinated, cooperative response, said New Zealand’s Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor, who hosted the meeting. The 21-member APEC gathers economies all along the Pacific Rim, from tiny Brunei to the United States to Chile and New Zealand. One of its long-term aims is to promote a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific region.
The focus Saturday was on “the most pressing problem our region faces, getting people vaccinated against COVID-19 as quickly as possible,” O’Connor said, adding he would be asking his counterparts how they could speed up trade in vaccines and other needed goods.
“The successful distribution of vaccines across our region will be critical to our recovery,” he said.
Read:Amid brutal case surge, Afghanistan hit by a vaccine delay
APEC has long focused on dismantling trade barriers, and many of its members are still struggling to obtain and deploy enough COVID-19 vaccines to vanquish coronavirus flare-ups.
Nearly 5 billion doses are still needed for the region of almost 3 billion people, O’Connor noted.
In much of the Asia-Pacific region, the share of people vaccinated so far is in the low single digits. That includes places like Thailand and Taiwan that initially managed to avoid initial massive outbreaks but have seen cases rebound recently.
APEC members Japan, South Korea and New Zealand are ranked among the worst among all developed nations in vaccinating their people for COVID-19, below some developing countries such as Brazil and India. Australia is also performing comparatively poorly.
This week, President Joe Biden announced the U.S. will swiftly donate an initial allotment of 25 million doses of surplus vaccine overseas through the United Nations-backed COVAX program, promising infusions for Asia, South and Central America, Africa and others.
Read:Senators say US donating vaccines to Taiwan amid China row
That would be a substantial and immediate boost to the lagging COVAX effort, which to date has shared just 76 million doses with needy countries.
While some countries at times have limited exports of vaccines, chemicals needed to make them or of protective equipment such as surgical masks, it’s unclear whether tariffs and other trade barriers have been the main problem since countries like Japan and New Zealand imposed onerous approval requirements that have slowed inoculations.
The average tariff on vaccines is a low 0.8%, according to the APEC Secretariat. But duties on some other products such as freezing equipment, vials and alcohol solutions can be as high as 30% for some countries.
Control of patents for the vaccines is a contentious issue. The U.S. has urged countries and pharmaceutical companies to waive COVID-19 patents to help increase supplies, and officials said they expected to discuss that issue during their talks this weekend.
But some say such intellectual property rights are crucial for boosting vaccine production and should not be waived.
Read: Sinopharm vaccine: Efforts underway to normalise things after price disclosure
A broad waiver of such rights requires a consensus under World Trade Organization rules, O’Connor said.
“We’re very mindful that the development of the intellectual property is what’s enabled us to very quickly get vaccines developed, in a time we previously haven’t seen across the globe,” he said. “We have to respect that intellectual property.”
These are “extraordinary times,” O’Connor said. “We believe if there clearly are barriers to the rollout of vaccines caused by IP, then we should seek a waiver.”
“We’re actually really encouraged to see more WTO members come forth with proposals on what they can support at the WTO with respect to the intellectual property rules of the WTO and how they apply to the COVID vaccine,” said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
She said the U.S. was carefully reviewing proposals on the issue and hoping to move toward “text-based negotiations.”
Read: Share vaccines to cope with new surges, variants: UN
At a vaccine summit last month, the head of the WTO said it was also crucial to diversify manufacturing and have more jabs produced in Africa and Latin America.
Much is at stake. Beyond potential lives saved or lost, trade in vaccines and related supplies and equipment was estimated at $418.5 billion in 2019, according to the latest available data, and likely surged in 2020.
The APEC meeting additionally focused on “building back better” by reallocating resources to improve health care, education and social safety nets.
Even with the region still staggering from the pandemic and tourism still paralyzed by quarantines and border restrictions, Pacific Rim economies are forecast to regain momentum this year, with growth rebounding to more than 6% from a 1.9% contraction in 2020.
Amid brutal case surge, Afghanistan hit by a vaccine delay
Afghanistan is battling a brutal surge in COVID-19 infections as health officials plead for vaccines, only to be told by the World Health Organization that the 3 million doses the country expected to receive by April won’t be delivered until August.
“We are in the middle of a crisis,” Health Ministry spokesman Ghulam Dastigir Nazari said this week, expressing deep frustration at the global vaccine distribution that has left poor countries scrambling to find supplies for their people.
Nazari has knocked on the door of several embassies, and so far, “I’ve gotten diplomatic answers” but no vaccine doses, he said.
Over the past month, the escalating pace of new cases has threatened to overwhelm Afghanistan’s health system, already struggling under the weight of relentless conflict. In part, the increase has been blamed on uninterrupted travel with India, bringing the highly contagious Delta variant, first identified in India.
Also, most Afghans still question the reality of the virus or believe their faith will protect them and rarely wear masks or social distance, often mocking those who do. Until just a week ago, the government was allowing unrestricted mass gatherings.
Read:NATO chief says Afghan forces can cope alone
The Delta variant has helped send Afghanistan’s infection rate soaring, hitting 16 provinces and the capital Kabul the hardest. This week, the rate of registered new cases reached as high as 1,500 a day, compared to 178 a day on May 1.
Hospital beds are full, and it is feared rapidly dwindling oxygen supplies will run out. Afghan ambassadors have been ordered to seek out emergency oxygen supplies in nearby countries, Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar said in a tweet Friday.
By official figures, Afghanistan has seen a total 78,000 cases and 3,007 deaths from the pandemic. But those figures are likely a massive undercount, registering only deaths in hospitals, not the far greater numbers who die at home.
Testing is woefully inadequate. In only the past month, the percentage of positive COVID tests has jumped from about 8% to 60% in some parts of the country. By WHO recommendations, anything higher than 5% shows officials aren’t testing widely enough, allowing the virus to spread unchecked.
At most only 3,000 tests a day are carried out, as Afghans resist testing, even after the country dramatically ramped up its capabilities to 25,000 a day.
Only recently, the government tried to take steps to clamp down to contain the surge. It closed schools, universities and colleges for two weeks. It also shut down wedding halls, which had been operating unhindered throughout the pandemic.
But it is rare to see anyone wearing a mask in the streets, and even where masks are mandatory, like in government offices, it’s rarely enforced. As many as 10 flights arrive daily from India, packed with Afghans, particularly students and people who had gone to India for medical treatment.
Read: Afghans who helped the US now fear being left behind
Nazari said banning flights was not an option since many Afghans cannot afford to be stranded in India and the government cannot prevent citizens from re-entering their own country.
For vaccines, Afghanistan so far has relied on a donation of AstraZeneca doses from India and then purchases of Sinopharm from China. About 600,000 people have had at least one dose, about 1.6% of the population of 36 million. But the number who have gotten a second dose is minute — “so few I couldn’t even say any percentage,” Nazari said.
Last month, the ministry received a letter from WHO saying the expected shipment of 3 million vaccine doses will not arrive until August due to supply problems, Nazari said. With just 35,000 vaccine doses remaining in the country, the authorities were forced to stop giving first jabs to use remaining supplies to give second jabs, he said.
Poor countries around the world have been pleading for vaccines even as developed nations have been able to inoculate significant portions of their populations. COVAX, set up with U.N. help to try to prevent vaccine inequities, has struggled to fill the gap. It faced a major setback when its biggest supplier, the Serum Institute of India, announced last month that it would not export any vaccines until the end of the year because of the surge in that country.
“Honestly speaking, I lost my faith in COVAX,” Nazari said.
“Unfortunately, there are countries who vaccinated more than their 50% or 60% percent of the population ... and there are countries who did not receive vaccines to even vaccinate 1% of their population.”
At the Afghan-Japan Communicable Disease Hospital, Kabul’s only hospital dedicated solely to COVID treatment, all 174 beds are full. The Health Ministry opened roughly 350 more beds for coronavirus patients in another three hospitals, but they too quickly filled up. This week, people were being turned away.
Read: Death toll soars to 50 in school bombing in Afghan capital
Each day three or four people die of COVID at the Afghan-Japan Hospital, said hospital administrator Dr. Zalmai Rishteen.
Doctors struggle with the public’s refusal to take precautions and follow safety protocols. “Our people believe it is fake, especially in the countryside,” Rishteen said. “Or they are religious and believe God will save them.”
In the hospital’s intensive care unit, Dr. Rahman Mohtazir said that only makes it more dangerous for him as he does his job. “I am afraid I will catch it, but I am here to help,” he said. “I listen to people and they say it’s fake. Then they come here.”
The Health Ministry has recruited clerics, prominent religious figures and local elders to encourage vaccination and anti-coronavirus precautions.
The worsening COVID situation prompted the U.S. Embassy on Thursday to issue a health alert warning of shortages of supplies, oxygen and beds at hospitals and urging American citizens to “to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.”
Floods and mudslides kill 4, another 7 missing in Sri Lanka
Flash floods and mudslides triggered by heavy rains in Sri Lanka have killed at least four people and left seven missing, while more than 5,000 are displaced, officials said Saturday.
Read: Hundreds evacuated, some by chopper, from New Zealand floods
Rains have been pounding six districts of the Indian Ocean island nation since Thursday night, and many houses, paddy fields and roads have been inundated, blocking traffic.
Two people died in floods while another two lost their lives in mudslides, according to the government’s Disaster Management Center. Another seven people are missing in floods and mudslides.
Read:Indonesia landslides, floods kill 55 people; dozens missing
A mound of earth crashed onto a house and buried four members of the same family — parents and two children — in Kegalle district, about 85 kilometers (53 miles) east of the capital Colombo on Saturday, officials and local media said.
A local television channel, Hiru, showed soldiers and villagers removing mud and debris to recover the victims. Later, the body of the daughter was uncovered.
Read: Myanmar’s searing smartphone images flood a watching world
Figures released by the government showed that more than 5,000 people have moved to temporary shelters and nearly 500 houses have been damaged.
Senators say US donating vaccines to Taiwan amid China row
The U.S. will give Taiwan 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, part of President Joe Biden’s move to share millions of jabs globally, three senators said Sunday, after the self-ruled island complained that China is hindering its efforts to secure the injections amid an outbreak.
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illonois, who arrived in Taiwan with her two colleagues, said the trip underscores the bipartisan support for the democratic island that Beijing claims as its own renegade territory.
“We are here as friends, because we know that Taiwan is experiencing a challenging time right now, which was why it was especially important for the three of us to be here in a bipartisan way,” said Duckworth.
“It was critical to the United States that Taiwan be included in the first group to receive vaccines, because we recognize your urgent need, and we value this partnership.”
Read: China may buckle down to reunify Taiwan after crackdown on Hong Kong
Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, a member of the Armed Services Committee, and Democratic Sen. Christopher Coons of Delaware, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, also arrived Sunday morning.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu received the senators at the airport said he was “delighted” to welcome them and thanked them for their staunch support.
“Taiwan is facing unique challenges in combating the virus,” he said. “While we are doing our best to import vaccines, we must overcome obstacles to ensure that these life-saving medicine are delivered free from troubles of Beijing.”
He said China continues to try block Taiwan’s international assistance and prevent it from participating in the World Health Organization. “We are no strangers to that kind of obstructionism,” he said.
Read: Taiwan struggles with testing backlog amid largest outbreak
Wu said Taiwan was fortunate to have many like-minded countries showing their support, which he said is about sustaining freedom and democracy in the face of autocracy.
China has in recent months increased pressure on the island, including flying warplanes into Taiwan’s airspace.
Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, and most Taiwanese favor maintaining the current state of de facto independence while engaging in robust economic exchanges with the mainland.
But vast improvements in China’s military capabilities and its increasing activity around Taiwan have raised concerns in the U.S., which is legally bound to ensure Taiwan is capable of defending itself and to regard all threats to the island’s security as matters of “grave concern.”
Taiwan, which has weathered virtually unscathed the initial outbreak last year, is now facing its most serious flare-up with over 10,000 cases since the end of April.
Read: Coronavirus: Taiwan has another jump, capital closing schools
On Friday, Japan donated 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Taiwan.
Biden announced last week the U.S. will swiftly donate an initial allotment of 25 million doses of surplus vaccine overseas through the U.N.-backed COVAX program, which to date has shared just 76 million doses with needy countries. Overall, the White House has announced plans to share 80 million doses globally by the end of June, most through COVAX.
The Thai-born Duckworth said the American donation also reflects gratitude for Taiwan’s support for the U.S., as Taiwan donated personal protective equipment and other supplies to the U.S. in the early days of the pandemic.
The three senators plan to meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and senior government officials to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations and other issues during their one-day trip.
Bengal's ruling party makes Mamata's nephew second-in-command
Indian state of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Saturday elevated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek to the party's second-highest post, putting an end to speculation over the future role of her heir apparent.
Member of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee was made the General Secretary at the regional party's first organisational meet since it swept back to power in the last month's assembly elections in the state. This was announced by the Trinamool Congress in a statement to the media.
The 33-year-old youth leader joined politics as a member of the Trinamool Congress in 2011 after the party decimated the Left Front, a coalition of Communist parties, that ruled Bengal for 34 years. This year, Abhishek was instrumental in hiring poll strategist Prashant Kishor.
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Last month, Mamata scripted history by single handedly pulling off an astounding victory in the assembly election. She not only defied anti-incumbency and staved off a huge challenge from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP.
Though her party swept back to power with a resounding majority of 213 seats in the 292-member assembly, the 66-year-old lost her own seat in Nandigram to her former protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari by a thin margin of around 2,000 votes.
"This is Bangla's win... this is Bengal's win... this is your win. This win has saved Bengal, it has saved the culture and tradition of Bengal," she said, addressing a press meet on the counting day.
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Mamata had, however, made it clear in that presser only that she would challenge the result in a court of law. "How come the Election Commission reversed the results in Nandigram after formally announcing it? We will move court."
The BJP though has made major gains in Bengal, winning some 77 seats. In 2016, the party had just three legislators in the state. However, the Left Front has failed to grab a single seat this time. The Left Front ruled Bengal for 34 years -- from 1977 to 2011.
Bengal witnessed the most high-profile contest in India's recently held state elections. While Mamata harped on being Bengal’s daughter, the BJP asked people to vote for "change and socio-economic development" after 50 years of Communist and Trinamool Congress rule.