(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
India posts record daily COVID-19 deaths
India accounted for nearly half of the COVID-19 cases reported worldwide last week, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, as the country’s coronavirus deaths rose by a record 3,780 during the last 24 hours.
The WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that India accounted for 46% of global cases and 25% of global deaths reported in the past week.
Daily infections in the country rose by 382,315 on Wednesday, health ministry data showed, the 14th straight day of more than 300,000 cases.
‘Human catastrophe’ in Nepal
Nepal is being overwhelmed by a COVID-19 surge as India’s outbreak spreads across South Asia, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Wednesday.
“We need to act now and we need to act fast to have any hope of containing this human catastrophe. This virus has no respect for borders and these variants are running rampant across Asia,” said Alexander Matheou, Asia Pacific director for the Geneva-based agency representing the global humanitarian network.
Nepal is now recording 57 times as many cases as a month ago, with 44% of tests now coming back positive, the statement said. Nepalese towns near the Indian border could not cope with the growing number of people needing treatment, while only 1% of the country’s population was fully vaccinated.
Japan faces longer state of emergency
Japan is considering extending a state of emergency in the capital, Tokyo, and other major urban areas, sources said on Wednesday, a move that could cast doubt on the planned Summer Olympics.
Officials were leaning toward an extension of the measures in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures beyond May 11 as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases, three sources told Reuters.
The government may make an official decision as early as Friday, one of the sources told Reuters.
New South Wales reports first case in more than a month
Australia’s most populous state reported its first locally acquired coronavirus infection in more than a month on Wednesday, with health authorities working to track down the source and the variant involved.
The first local infection in southeastern New South Wales since March 31 strengthens prospects for a resumption of social distancing curbs, many of which had been eased as cases dwindled.
Although Australia has largely eradicated COVID-19, a man in his 50s with no known links to hotels used to quarantine people who have arrived from overseas tested positive on Tuesday, the state’s health ministry said in a statement.
COVID scare at G7 meeting
India’s entire delegation to the Group of Seven summit in London is self-isolating after two of its members tested positive for COVID-19, the British government said on Wednesday.
“The meeting had been enabled by a strict set of COVID protocols, including daily testing of all delegates,” a British official said.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes, Editing by William Maclean)
