(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
India records world’s highest daily COVID-19 deaths
India reported on Thursday the highest single-day death toll from COVID-19 in the world, at 6,148, after a big eastern state revised its figures to account for people who succumbed to the disease at home or in private hospitals.
The health department of Bihar, one of India’s poorest states, revised its total COVID-related death toll on Wednesday to more than 9,400 from about 5,400.
UK, U.S. leaders expected to work to reopen travel – UK statement
U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are expected to agree to work to open up travel between the two countries “as soon as possible,” the British government said in a statement late on Wednesday.
U.S. and UK airline officials said they do not expect Washington to lift restrictions until around July 4 at the earliest.
Two Australian states on COVID-19 alert after infected woman’s interstate travel
Two Australian states are on COVID-19 alert after an infected woman and her husband travelled from Victoria, the epicentre of the country’s latest outbreak, through the state of New South Wales and into Queensland, visiting dozens of sites enroute.
Authorities in New South Wales and Queensland are rushing to trace close contacts and locate virus hotspots. The couple may face criminal charges for breaching COVID-19 border restrictions. Queensland state Health Minister Yvette D’Ath told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday that the couple’s tests suggested they were likely at the end of their infectious period.
Indonesian palm plantations urged to tighten COVID-19 curbs as infections climb
The Indonesian palm oil association (GAPKI) is urging palm oil plantations to tighten COVID-19 protocols in the country’s top-producing province of Riau after a surge in infections in the area, an official at the industry body said.
Some plantations had already adopted measures since the beginning of the pandemic including COVID-19 testing and not allowing workers to leave the plantation, but they were not always standardised or enforced in the same way, Jatmiko K. Sentosa, head of GAPKI’s Riau chapter, said.
Japan’s Sapporo unprepared for Olympics amid COVID-19 resurgence
When Olympics organisers shifted the marathon event from Tokyo to the northern city of Sapporo, they did so because of concerns about the intense summer heat in the Japanese capital. Two years down the track, critics say organisers have effectively leapt from the frying pan into the fire.
Sapporo is currently under a COVID-19 state of emergency amid a resurgence in coronavirus infections. Officials in the city say they still don’t have key information, including the number of athletes to expect and details on health facilities, while opposition from residents to hosting part of the world’s biggest multi-sporting event has grown.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
