New Coronavirus News from 25 Oct 2021a

Corona crisis deepens in Russia - UNN [Uttarakhand News Network, 25 Oct 2021]

In many countries including Russia, the Covid-19 pandemic has started taking a terrible form again. The situation is such that the lockdown has to be announced in St. Petersburg, Russia.

There, restaurants, cafes and other non-essential categories of shops, establishments and institutions will remain closed from October 30 to November 7. During the last 24 hours, 35,660 new cases of corona were reported in Russia, while 37,678 cases were registered a day earlier. During this 1,072 people died. Chile reported 2,056 new cases in a single day since July.

Cases increased in China
Chinese officials said on Sunday that 43 new cases of corona infection have been found there during the last 24 hours. In a report released on Sunday by John Hopkins University, it has been told that 6.78 billion vaccines have been administered worldwide.

America most affected country
America remains the most affected country, where the number of infected has reached 4.54 million and the number of dead has reached 7.35 lakh. India ranks second in terms of infected (3.41 crores). The number of corona infected has increased to 2.17 crore in Brazil, 87.75 lakh in Britain, 80.78 lakh in Russia, 78.26 lakh in Turkey and 72.21 lakh in France. According to Reuters, the number of corona infected in Eastern Europe crossed 20 million on Sunday.

Australia launches vaccination campaign to compete with third wave
The Australian government on Sunday launched the next phase of a vaccination campaign to combat the third wave of Covid. Health Minister Greg Hunt was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying that the campaign has been named ‘Spread Freedom’. People are being told that those vaccinated will be able to travel within the states and also abroad. About 86.6 percent of Australia’s population has taken at least one dose of the anti Covid vaccine. Hunt said that booster doses could be introduced in the country soon.

Delta-Plus havoc in UK
In the UK, more than fifty thousand cases have been reported in a few days. According to experts, the sub-strain Delta-Plus (named AY-4.2) of Corona’s Delta strain is believed to be more deadly than the Delta strain. It is being told that its transmission capacity is 15 percent more than the main Delta variant.

Russia's COVID-19 cases hit record as some regions impose curbs [Reuters, 25 Oct 2021]

by Gleb Stolyarov, Dmitry Antonov, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Mark Trevelyan

MOSCOW, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Russia reported its highest single-day COVID-19 case tally since the start of the pandemic on Mondayas some regions imposed a workplace shutdown to combat a surge in infections and deaths.

Faced with worsening infection rates and frustrated by the slow take-up of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine by its own population, authorities are introducing stricter measures this week to try to slow the spread of the pandemic.

President Vladimir Putin last week declared that Oct. 30 to Nov. 7 would be paid non-working days but said every region could extend that period or start it earlier depending on the epidemiological situation.

Six regions, including the Samara and Perm regions east of Moscow, began their non-working days on Monday, TASS news agency reported.

Putin also ordered a series of measures including increased testing, tighter monitoring of mask-wearing and social distancing and an acceleration of the vaccine campaign, with employees to get two paid days leave as a reward for getting inoculated.

From this Thursday, Moscow will introduce its tightest lockdown measures since June 2020, with only essential shops like supermarkets and pharmacies remaining open. read more
Unvaccinated over-60s in the capital have been ordered to lock down for four months starting Monday, and Moscow schools are also closed.

The government's coronavirus taskforce reported 37,930 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, a daily record, as well as 1,069 deaths related to the virus, six short of the record of 1,075 set on Saturday.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that economic support measures to compensate for the losses incurred by the restrictions were sufficient at this stage.

"All these measures work, and the situation is being monitored very closely," Peskov said. "The situation is difficult and everybody will carefully follow how it develops."

Russia marks another record number of daily COVID-19 cases [Associated Press, 25 Oct 2021]

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia reported another daily record of confirmed coronavirus cases Monday as a surge in infections has prompted the Kremlin to tell most people to stay away from work starting later this week.

The Russian government’s coronavirus task force tallied 37,930 new confirmed cases in 24 hours, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. The task force also reported 1,069 more COVID-19 deaths in the same period, slightly fewer than a record of 1,075 reached over the weekend.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russians not to go to work between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7, when the country will observe an extended holiday. During that time, most state organizations and private businesses, except for those operating key infrastructure and a few others, are to halt work.

In some of Russia’s 85 regions where the situation is particularly grave, Putin said the nonworking period could begin earlier and be extended beyond Nov. 7. Six of them — Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Perm, Samara and Voronezh — started the off-work period Monday.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Officials in Moscow ordered it to begin Thursday, with gyms, most entertainment venues and most stores closed for 11 days along with kindergartens and schools. Restaurants and cafes will only be open for takeout or delivery orders during that period. Food stores and pharmacies can stay open.

Access to museums, theaters, concert halls and other venues will be limited to those holding digital codes on their smartphones to prove vaccination or past illness, a practice that will remain in place after Nov. 7.

Putin has also told local officials to order unvaccinated people older than 60 to stay home and close nightclubs and other entertainment venues.

Russian authorities hope the idle time will help limit the spread of the virus by keeping people out of offices and off public transportation, where mask mandates have been loosely enforced.
Overall, Russia has registered over 8.2 million confirmed virus cases and 231,669 deaths, by far the highest death toll in Europe and the fifth-highest in the world after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.

The government has blamed the latest spike in infections and deaths on low vaccination rates and lax public attitudes toward taking precautions. Only about 45 million Russians — roughly a third of the country’s nearly 146 million people — are fully vaccinated.

Russia was the first country in the world to authorize a coronavirus vaccine, launching Sputnik V in August 2020, and has plentiful supplies. But uptake has been slow, blamed in part on conflicting signals from authorities.