(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Brazil and India running out of sedatives and hospital beds
India reported a record daily increase of 217,353 COVID-19 infections over the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Friday. Hospitals in the capital New Delhi have been hit hard, and at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, one of India’s largest COVID-only facilities with more than 1,500 beds, unrelated patients are sharing beds, while bodies of the recently deceased lie outside the ward before being taken to the mortuary.
In a similar vein, Brazil’s hospitals were running out of drugs needed to sedate COVID-19 patients on Thursday, with the government urgently seeking to import supplies amid reports of the seriously ill being tied down and intubated without effective sedatives. More Brazilians are dying of the virus each day than anywhere else in the world, with South America’s largest country reporting another 3,560 deaths on Thursday.
India shifts from mass vaccine exporter to importer,
After gifting and selling tens of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad, India suddenly finds itself short of shots as new infections surge in the world’s second-most populous country.
Four sources involved in discussions on vaccine supplies and procurement said factors including delays by India and COVAX in placing firm orders, a lack of investment in production, raw material shortages and underestimating the coronavirus surge at home had contributed to vaccine shortages.
Need for 1-year COVID-19 booster shots explored
The United States is preparing for the possibility that a booster shot will be needed between nine to 12 months after people are initially vaccinated against COVID-19, a White House official said on Thursday.
It is also tracking infections in people who have been fully vaccinated, Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, told the House subcommittee hearing. Walensky said some of these infections occurred because the vaccinated person did not mount a strong immune response. But the concern is that in some cases, they are occurring in people infected by more contagious virus variants.
How New Zealand’s COVID-19 response helped fuel a housing crisis
The number of people seeking emergency housing in New Zealand’s capital Wellington has tripled in the last 12 months, as rents hit record highs and the pandemic disproportionately impacted lower earning jobs.
New Zealand is experiencing what economists call a ‘K-shaped’ recovery, in which those on top benefit while those at the bottom see their prospects deteriorate.
Pandemic-inspired policies have translated into cheaper mortgages, allowing affluent “kiwis” to upsize their homes and build up portfolios of rental investment properties, fuelling a further surge in house prices. The 24% year-on-year increase, on top of a 90% rise in the preceding decade, has locked out first home buyers and low income earners.
Staggered reopening of borders considered in Australia
Australia will consider a staggered reopening of its international borders to allow residents who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to travel abroad first, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.
Australian citizens and permanent residents cannot leave the country due to coronavirus restrictions unless they have an exemption, while returning international travellers have to quarantine in hotels for two weeks at their own expense.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
