The Latest: Indonesia hits record 47,899 daily virus cases
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia has logged a record daily 47,899 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to the Health Ministry.
The daily virus count topped 40,427 cases on Monday. Hospitals are already bursting beyond capacity and oxygen supplies are running out, leaving individuals to cope with caring for sick friends and relatives at home. The surge in newly cases attributed to the highly transmissible delta variant.
At least 451 people who tested positive have died while self-isolating in their homes since last month, according to LaporCovid-19, an independent virus data group that keeps track of deaths at home. It noted many go unreported.
It says an average of 45 COVID-19 patients in self-isolation died at home each day in Jakarta, citing data from the Jakarta Health Agency.
Nationwide, there’s been more than 2.6 million cases and 68,219 confirmed deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:
— Immunized but banned: EU says not all COVID vaccines equal
— France rushes to get vaccinated after president’s warning
— Russian fund: India vaccine maker to produce Sputnik V
— Death toll from fire on Iraqi hospital coronavirus ward rises
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— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
MOSCOW — Daily coronavirus deaths in Russia hit a record 780 as the country continued to struggle with a surge of infections.
For the first time in the pandemic, the daily death toll exceeded 700 last Tuesday and remained at that level since. There were 24,702 confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday. Daily new infections in Russia have soared from around 9,000 in early June to more than 25,000 last week.
Officials blame the surge on the spread of the delta variant and sought to boost vaccine uptake, which has remained lower than in many Western countries. As of Tuesday, 28.6 million Russians -- or just 19.5% of the 146 million population -- have received at least one shot of a vaccine.
Russia’s state coronavirus task force has reported over 5.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and a total of 144,492 deaths in the pandemic. However, reports by Russia’s state statistical service Rosstat, which tallies coronavirus-linked deaths, has retroactively revealed much higher numbers.
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LONDON — Scotland will relax many of its coronavirus restrictions starting next week, in line with England’s reopening timetable, but some measures such as the mandatory face masks will remain.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed Tuesday that Scotland’s successful vaccination rollout meant that restrictions could be eased as planned next Monday. Limits remain on the number of people who can gather indoors and outdoors. Face masks will be mandatory “for some time to come.”
The U.K.’s devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make many of their policy decisions independently of Johnson’s government.
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ANKARA, Turkey — Delta variant cases found in Turkey have more than doubled in one week, increasing to around 750 from 284 reported the previous week.
In comments carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency on Tuesday, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca also reported a 20% increase in COVID-19 cases over the weekend from the previous.
The minister urged more people to get vaccinated, saying most of the increases were reported in areas where vaccination levels remain low.
The delta variant first detected in India is now present in 36 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, the minister says.
The country of 84 million has so far administered 58.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. Around 28% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated and 61% has received one dose, according to the Health Ministry.
Turkey eased most coronavirus restrictions this month, after the number of daily infections dropped to around 5,500 from the record 63,000 infections in mid-April.
The nation has registered more than 50,000 confirmed deaths and 5.5 million infections since the start of the outbreak.
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WASHINGTON — The nation’s top doctor says it’s “certainly possible” that Americans eventually will be advised to get a booster shot of the coronavirus vaccine.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told CNN that no decision had been made yet after a meeting Monday with Pfizer to discuss its request for approval of a third shot of its coronavirus vaccine. He added as officials make their assessments, “what we’re really looking for is clear evidence that immunity is waning,” such as breakthrough infections in the vaccinated population. He says that may trigger a recommendation for booster shots.
Murthy also says it’s “certainly very possible” a third shot will be recommended for immunocompromised or vulnerable Americans, such as those on chemotherapy.
“We are looking closely at that population,” he says, adding when the data suggests a booster dose is needed, it will be recommended.
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BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged her country’s citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying the more people who get the shot “the more free we will be again.”
Vaccination rates in Germany have slowed in recent weeks. About 58.7% of the population has received at least one shot and 43% are fully vaccinated.
Germany’s disease control agency said last week that the country should aim to vaccinate 85% of people ages 12-59 and 90% of people over 60 to prevent the delta variant causing a strong resurgence of coronavirus cases this autumn and winter.
Merkel, who has received both shots, called on Germans to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others from serious illness, and linked higher immunization rates with the further easing of pandemic restrictions.
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MOSCOW — Russia’s sovereign fund has announced a deal with a top Indian vaccine manufacturer to produce the Russia-designed Sputnik V vaccine.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund said Tuesday its deal with the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, envisages annual production of over 300 million doses of the vaccine in India starting in September.
The RDIF that bankrolled Sputnik V and markets it abroad has previously negotiated Sputnik V production deals with manufacturers in several countries, including India, South Korea, Brazil, China, Turkey, as well as Belarus and Kazakhstan.
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PARIS — Nearly 1 million people in France made vaccine appointments in a single day, as the president cranked up pressure on everyone to get vaccinated to save summer vacation and the French economy.
An app that centralizes France’s vaccine and other medical appointments, Doctolib, announced Tuesday morning that 926,000 people had made appointments Monday, a daily record since the country rolled out coronavirus vaccines in December. People younger than 35 made up 65% of the new appointments.
President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday that vaccination would be obligatory for all health care workers by Sept. 15, and held out the possibility of extending the requirement to other parts of the population.
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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia shut down a mass vaccination center Tuesday after more than 200 medical staff and volunteers tested positive for the coronavirus.
Science Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said it was difficult to determine if the infections occurred at the center, while stressing that swift government action had stopped the cluster.
He urged people who were vaccinated at the center from Friday onward to isolate themselves for 10 days in case they develop symptoms.
The center was shut for deep sanitization and all its workers were being isolated. Khairy said the center will reopen Wednesday with a new team of medical workers.
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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Red Cross says a surge of coronavirus infections with the delta variant is overwhelming hospitals in Southeast Asia and outpacing vaccinations.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also warned that a widening global divide in vaccinations is slowing Southeast Asia's efforts to battle the pandemic.
Thailand is reporting nearly 10,000 new infections daily, more than four times a month ago, while deaths have also reached record highs. Infections in Vietnam have surged past 2,000 a day, almost 10 times more than in early June.
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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s streak of more than 1,000 daily coronavirus cases has reached a week as health authorities scramble to slow a viral surge that has brought Seoul’s thriving nightlife to a standstill and professional baseball to a halt.
Authorities said Tuesday that more than 800 of the 1,150 new cases are in the greater capital area, where officials have shut down nightclubs and prohibited private social gatherings of three or more people after 6 p.m.
There are signs the virus is spreading beyond the Seoul metropolitan area as the country enters its summer holidays. Busan, Daegu, Daejeon and South Chungcheong province are among the major cities and regions that reported dozens of new infections.
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SYDNEY — Australia has recorded a third COVID-19 death this year.
New South Wales state Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant on Tuesday declined to say whether the man, who was in his 70s, had been vaccinated. He died Monday in Sydney’s eastern suburbs where the current Sydney cluster began last month.
The New South Wales state government has said Sydney’s three-week-old lockdown is likely to be extended Friday.
A woman in her 90s from southwest Sydney died Saturday, a day after testing positive for the coronavirus. An 80-year-old man died April 12 after becoming infected in the Philippines.
Australia had not previously recorded a COVID-19 death since Oct. 19.
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