Russia’s Covid-19 death toll reached a record level on Wednesday (June 30) as the country is fighting the highly contagious delta virus, even though Europe is preparing to launch an EU-wide Covid certificate to promote its The tourism industry has been hit hard.
Delta is by far the most contagious variant of the coronavirus. It has raised concerns about a new wave of coronavirus pandemics, which have claimed the lives of nearly 4 million people worldwide.
Government data shows that Russia has reported 669 deaths from new coronary pneumonia in the past 24 hours, setting a new high for the second day in a row.
These figures appeared two days before the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 in St. Petersburg (Switzerland-Spain) on Friday. There were 26,000 spectators, many of whom were foreigners.
Although President Vladimir Putin did not call for mandatory vaccination, he urged Russians to get vaccinated on Wednesday. So far, only 15% of people have chosen free injections, although they have been available since December.
Putin said: “It is necessary to listen, not those who know little about it and spread rumors, but experts.”
Australian anger is growing
The Delta variant is contributing to multiple outbreaks in Australia, which has largely avoided large-scale infections that have occurred elsewhere. Alice Springs followed Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and other cities into lockdown on Wednesday.
Australians are increasingly angry about the country’s slow introduction of vaccines, and so far only about 5% have been vaccinated. So far, the authorities have relied heavily on border closures and strict quarantine to contain the spread of the virus.
“The situation in Australia has basically not changed in the last year, which is shameful,” Robert Binczyk, a blocked Perth resident, told AFP.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 96 regions have reported cases of the Delta variant, which were first detected in India, and called on countries to double vaccination.
The WHO stated that as of last week, only more than 1% of the African population had been vaccinated. But their call came to fruition on Wednesday.
International donors pledged more than US$700 million to South African pharmaceutical giant Aspen to promote the production of the Covid-19 vaccine and the treatment of undervaccinated mainland China.
The World Bank announced that it has increased its vaccine fund for developing countries by US$8 billion to US$20 billion.
Although it is expected that Delta will soon become the main variant in Europe, EU leaders are relying on mass vaccination to protect their population from the death toll that occurred in the earlier pandemic wave.
An EU-wide Covid travel certificate that shows passengers’ immunization status came into effect on Thursday, igniting hope that the tourism industry, which is vital to Europe, can begin to recover.
Despite warnings that there may be a fourth wave of cases in the fall, France ended most of the capacity restrictions on restaurants, movie theaters, shops and other public places on Wednesday.
Americans in Paris
American tourists with vaccination certificates are now returning to Paris to ease the pressure on the hotel industry.
“This is just a cultural boom, and we really miss it,” Padmini Pyapali said, having a drink outside a cafe that was touring France and Greece with five friends.
In Asia, Thailand is also preparing to reopen Phuket’s resorts to vaccinated travelers, although 53 people died from the new crown virus in the country on Wednesday, the highest number of deaths in a single day.
According to a new report by the United Nations, the economic impact of the collapse in tourism during the pandemic may exceed US$4 trillion on a global scale.
The tourism industry of the Portuguese health authority accounts for about 15% of GDP, and more than 2,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in 24 hours on Wednesday, which is driven by the Delta variable.
Spain is working hard to control the outbreak of the Alpha strain, which is a clear reminder of the continuing threat from other worrying variants.
North Korea “incident”
It was Delta, not Alpha’s surge in the UK that caused the authorities there to warn fans not to fly to Rome to support the English football team in Saturday’s quarter-final against Ukraine. Supporters will face a five-day quarantine and will therefore miss the game.
According to official media reports on Wednesday, North Korea has not recorded a single case of Covid-19, and leader Kim Jong-un replaced several officials after the “critical” coronavirus incident.
North Korea is one of the five countries in the world that has not yet begun to vaccinate people against Covid-19, as well as Burundi, Eritrea, Haiti and Tanzania.
