Covid-19 pandemic: Delta variant makes up 83% of US cases, total cases in Russia cross 60 lakh

ThePrint brings you some important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic.

Representational image of a healthcare worker processing Covid-19 PCR tests | Matias Delacroix | Bloomberg

New Delhi: The Covid-19 pandemic continues across the world. Currently, the total number of cases stands at 19,22,81,300 and 41,34,016 fatalities.

The Delta variant accounts for an estimated 83 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the US while the Russian government said that over 60 lakh people have been infected in the country since the pandemic began. And Indonesia extended its lockdown till the coming weekend as its Muslim population celebrated a muted and grim Eid al-Adha.

We bring you some of the top stories on the pandemic from across the world.

Delta variant accounts for an estimated 83% of the US Covid cases

The highly transmissible Delta variant, which has spread to over 100 countries, now accounts for 83 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases in the US, reports The New York Times.

“The highly infectious Delta variant now represents 83 percent of sequenced cases in the United States. This is a dramatic increase — up from 50 percent since 3 July,” said Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the Senate health committee hearing Tuesday.

She added that the percentage is even higher in regions where the vaccination rates are low.

While the new figure comes amid rising Covid cases across the country, hospitalisations and deaths are still low, remaining a fraction of their earlier peaks.

According to the New York Times database, the seven-day average now shows nearly 38,000 new daily cases, up from about 11,000 cases in late June.

The US has reported 3,50,81,719 Covid cases and 6,25,363 fatalities.

Over 60 lakh people infected with Covid-19 in Russia so far

Over 60 lakh people have been infected with Covid-19 in Russia since the onset of the pandemic, reports TASS.

On Tuesday, the country reported 23,770 new Covid-19 cases, including 3,188 in Moscow. So far, approximately 14,70,330 people have tested positive in the capital city since the beginning of the pandemic.

The number of daily deaths also increased from 719 Monday to 784 Tuesday, taking the total tally to 1,49,922.

“Since 6 July, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Russia has increased by 23,770 per day. In total, 6,006,536 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19,” said the country’s federal operational headquarters for infection control Tuesday.

The administration has blamed the surge in cases on the Delta variant and the slow rate of vaccinations. Despite beginning the vaccination drive 11 months ago, as of Tuesday, only 14 percent of the Russian population was fully vaccinated due to vaccine hesitancy and slow production of the Russian-made Sputnik vaccine.

Russia has reported 60,06,536 Covid cases and 1,49,922 deaths.

Indonesia extends Covid lockdown through the weekend

Indonesia extended its Covid-induced lockdown till next Monday (26 July) as the country celebrated a grim Eid al-Adha, one of the most important Muslim holidays, reports Nikkei Asia.

“These measures are a very tough policy that the government can’t avoid,” said President Joko Widodo, in a speech Tuesday.

“We’ve now seen a downward trend for both new cases and hospital bed occupancy rates. If this trend continues, then the government will gradually reopen [the economy] on July 26,” Widodo added.

In the past couple of days, Indonesia’s Covid tally reduced to fewer than 40,000 from an average of 50,000 last week. According to official data, this is partly due to a fall in testing over the past few days because of the weekend and the Eid holiday.

Fueled by the spread of the more infectious Delta variant, Covid cases started rising in Indonesia toward the end of May, following the Eid Al-Fitr holidays to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month.

Indonesia has registered 2,950,058 Covid cases and 76,200 fatalities.

Taiwan increases its order for Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to 15 million with Buddhist donation

A major Taiwanese Buddhist group Wednesday signed a deal to buy 5 million doses of BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 vaccine, which was developed in collaboration with Pfizer, bumping the island’s order for the shots to 15 million doses, reports Reuters.

Last month, Tzu Chi Foundation, a Taiwan-based charity organization with Buddhist origins, said it was bidding to get the vaccines, and that the Taiwan government has permitted the group to negotiate on its behalf for the shot. The vaccines will be donated to the government for distribution.

In a statement on its Facebook page, Tzu Chi said it had signed the deal with a Hong Kong subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd, which has the right to sell the shot in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Pfizer cannot sell the vaccine directly to Taiwan as BioNTech signed that right over to Fosun.

Taiwan has reported 15,453 Covid-19 cases and 773 deaths.

What else we are reading:

U.S. life expectancy fell year and a half in 2020 due to COVID-19 -CDC: Reuters

Tokyo 2020: Does Japan have Covid under control?: BBC