(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
World record of daily new cases in India
India reported on Thursday 314,835 new cases of the coronavirus over the previous 24 hours, the highest daily increase recorded anywhere, as its second wave and similar surges elsewhere in the world raised new fears about the virus.
Hospitals across northern and western India including the capital, New Delhi, have issued notices to say they have only a few hours of medical oxygen required to keep COVID-19 patients alive. More than two-thirds of hospitals had no vacant beds, according to the Delhi government’s online database and doctors advised patients to stay at home.
Cases in Singapore workers’ dormitory
Singapore’s manpower ministry said authorities were investigating the possibility of COVID-19 re-infections among residents in a migrant workers’ dormitory, after finding more positive cases in the facility.
Authorities had conducted COVID-19 tests on all residents at Westlite Woodlands Dormitory after a 35-year-old worker was found positive on April 20 as part of routine testing.
The worker had completed his second vaccination dose on April 13. His room-mate also tested positive. The Straits Times newspaper reported, without citing sources, that plans were now being made to move hundreds of workers to a quarantine facility.
Singapore hoping to announce Hong Kong travel bubble ‘very soon’
Singapore’s transport ministry said on Thursday it hoped a long-delayed air travel bubble with Hong Kong would start soon, but no date had been fixed yet.
A hotly-anticipated travel link between the two Asian financial hubs was delayed last year after a spike in coronavirus cases in Hong Kong. Bloomberg News reported, citing sources, that Singapore and Hong Kong had called off an announcement planned for Thursday on the bubble.
Australia states investigate infections in quarantine hotels
Two Australian states urged staff and guests in COVID-19 quarantine hotels to get tested immediately and fully self-isolate, launching investigations into three suspected cases of travellers contracting the virus from other residents.
New South Wales and Western Australia state officials said genetic sequencing found links to the same sequence of virus in infected guests resident in Sydney and Perth hotels during routine tests. At this stage the cases, on either side of the country, are not believed to be connected.
Peeling paint, shoddy cleanups among issues at U.S. plant making J&J COVID-19 vaccine -FDA
A U.S. plant that was making Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine must fix a long list of problems including peeling paint, shoddy cleanups, and poorly trained staff to resume operation, according to a highly critical report by the Food and Drug Administration. Experts said addressing the issues raised in the scathing FDA inspection report could take months.
J&J has drawn scrutiny for months over its halting process to scale up production of the one-shot vaccine that is easier to handle and use than other authorized vaccines. Its use in the United States has been paused since last week as health officials study a possible link to a very rare but serious blood clot condition.
(Reporting by Karishma Singh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
