India Gains Aid Pledges: EU Welcomes U.S. Tourists: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) --

India’s Covid-19 crisis is worsening, with a million cases added in the past three days, as the U.S. joins European countries in offering help to stem the world’s biggest surge in cases. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said the U.S. will also consider offering India unused doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine.

With the Delhi capital area facing a severe oxygen shortage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi implored Indians to get vaccinated and to disregard rumors about dangerous side-effects.

The EU will allow American tourists who have been fully vaccinated to travel there this summer, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told the New York Times. Fiji’s capital started a two-week lockdown.

Key Developments

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Bangkok Shuts Down Businesses to Contain Latest Outbreak (9:28 a.m. HK)

Bangkok has ordered the shutdown of dozens of businesses considered at high risk for Covid infections as the Thai capital tries to contain its biggest outbreak since the pandemic began.

Establishments such as cinemas, gyms, and convention centers will be closed for two weeks starting Monday, while malls and convenience stores can still open but with shortened hours, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

Vietnam Warns of Virus Entering Country From Other Nations (9:02 a.m. HK)

The risk of Covid-19 entering Vietnam is “very high and worrying” and the country risks being caught off guard by another outbreak as many people are not wearing masks, Heath Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said.

Long cited increasing infections in India, Cambodia and Laos, according to a statement on the government’s website. Vietnam reported 2,846 Covid-19 infections and 35 deaths as of April 25, according to the health ministry.

Mexico Covid-19 Deaths Rise 94 to Total 214,947 (9 a.m. HK)

Mexico reported a daily rise of 94 Covid-19 deaths, the lowest in months, bringing the total to 214,947, according to data released by the Health Ministry Sunday night.

Cases rose to 2,516,022 with 12% of general hospital beds occupied and 18% of beds with ventilators occupied. No states, including Mexico City, have general hospital bed occupancy above 30% with the country administering more than 16 million vaccine doses.

Bogota Shuts Down Schools, Orders Weekend Lockdown (7:29 a.m. HK)

Colombia’s capital will close schools through May 9, Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez said.

The weekend shutdown starting Friday will continue through 4 a.m. on Monday with a night-time curfew starting at 8 p.m. and shops forced to close at 7 p.m. Colombia reported a record 465 deaths from Covid-19 on Sunday as its toll rose to 71,351.

Fiji Capital Begins Two-Week Lockdown (6:50 a.m. HK)

Fiji capital Suva and the rest of the Central Division is in a two-week lockdown starting Monday, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Four new cases were confirmed in Fiji, it added. Among them, three were linked to a soldier who was infected a week earlier, the paper said, while a fourth case outside the capital is raising concerns among health officials.

EU to Reopen to Vaccinated U.S. Tourists: NYT (5:26 p.m. NY)

The EU will allow American tourists who have been fully vaccinated to travel there this summer, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told the New York Times in an interview.

“The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” she said. “This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union.”

Nonessential travel was shut down more than a year ago. The Times said that the U.S. and EU have been discussing a certificate as proof of inoculation, though the Biden administration has said it opposes so-called vaccine passports. The U.S. State Department last week issued “Do Not Travel” advisories for about 80% of the world’s nations.

California’s Positive Test Rate Improves (4:21 p.m. NY)

California’s seven-day positive test rate fell to a record low of 1.3% from 1.4% the day before, according to the health department’s website, setting the stage for the state to ease more restrictions.

Governor Gavin Newsom touted earlier this month that California has the lowest positive rate in the country. The state reported 1,739 new cases and 53 deaths, both increasing from the day before. The positive test rate reached a high of about 17% at the end of December.

U.S. Vaccine Demand Continues to Slow (3:46 p.m. NY)

The U.S. recorded 3 million vaccine doses on Sunday, another drop suggesting a general in demand, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. The seven-day average fell to 2.8 million, compared with a record 3.4 million on April 13.

After three months of vaccination across the U.S., a majority of American adults have gotten shots, and the effort will soon shift from mass inoculation to mop-up.

The Biden administration is pursuing a strategy of abundance, which the White House has referred to as an “overwhelm the problem” approach. While vaccines will probably still be shipped widely to sits such as pharmacies and health centers, what’s likely to disappear are lines and scarcity.

U.S. to Send India Vaccine Materials (1:24 p.m. NY)

The U.S. will send India raw materials for vaccines and step up financing aid for Covid-19 shot production, joining European countries in helping stem the world’s biggest surge in cases.

Material needed to produce Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine made in India, has been sourced and “will immediately be made available for India,” Emily Horne, a spokesperson for U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, said in a statement.

France to Send Oxygen, Equipment to India (12:56 p.m. NY)

France plans to supply India with “significant support in terms of oxygen” in the coming days, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office told Agence France-Presse on Sunday. Ventilators will also be sent, AFP reported.

Bangladesh Shuts Borders With India (12:53 a.m. NY)

Human movement through land ports between Bangladesh and India will remain suspended for two weeks, the Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a statement. Bangladeshi citizens currently traveling in India will be allowed to return home through three designated land ports.

U.S. to Consider Sending India Unused Astra Shots (12:44 p.m. NY)

President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser said the U.S. will consider sending India unused, unapproved doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine to help stem a record-breaking surge in Covid-19 cases there.

“I think that’s going to be something that is up for active consideration,” Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” while cautioning that he didn’t “want to be speaking for policy right now.”

The U.S. stockpile of AstraZeneca shots reached more than 20 million doses earlier this month and has grown since then, prompting persistent calls by doctors to donate the shots to other countries that are way behind the U.S. in their vaccination efforts.

Italy Restricts Travel From India (12:14 p.m. NY)

Italy banned people who have been in India in the last 14 days from entering the country to counter the spread of the virus variant helping fuel the outbreak in India, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Sunday. Italian residents are allowed to come back from India after a test on departure and on arrival, and they will be quarantined.

U.K. to Send Medical Equipment to India (11:02 a.m. NY)

The U.K. is sending more than 600 pieces of medical kit to India to support the country in its fight against Covid-19, the government announced Sunday. Nine airline container loads of supplies, including 495 oxygen concentrators, 120 non-invasive ventilators and 20 manual ventilators, will be sent to the country this week. The first shipment is leaving the U.K. on Monday, arriving in New Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in an emailed statement: “We stand side by side with India as a friend and partner during what is a deeply concerning time in the fight against Covid-19.”

U.S. Partisan Divide Continues With Vaccines (10:58 a.m. NY)

A partisan divide remains over vaccines in the U.S., according to an NBC News poll. The survey of 1,000 adults showed that 82% of Democrats had been vaccinated or plan to as soon as possible, against 45% of Republicans. Overall, 57% said they’d had a vaccine and another 8% plan to as soon as they can.

Some 24% of Republicans said they won’t get vaccinated, against just 4% of Democrats. Another 19% of GOP respondents said they’re waiting to see if there are problems with the shots. Vaccine hesitancy among Republicans has been cited as an impediment to reaching herd immunity in the U.S.

A majority of those polled, 61%, said the worse of the pandemic is behind the U.S., against 55% in October who assessed that the worst was yet to come.

Germany Pledges Help to India (9:13 a.m. NY)

“To the people of India I want to express my sympathy on the terrible suffering that Covid-19 has again brought over your communities,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a message on Twitter. Germany is urgently preparing a support mission, she said.

U.S. Adds About 53,000 Cases (8:10 a.m. NY)

U.S. cases increased by 53,224 on Saturday, the eighth consecutive day with fewer than 70,000 reported new infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. That compares with peaks of more than 300,000 per day during late December and January.

The seven-day average of positive tests for Covid-19 nationwide declined to 5.18% on Thursday, which compares with almost 15% in early January, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Another 723 deaths were reported on Saturday.

Delhi Extends Lockdown (3:04 p.m. HK)

The Delhi government extended a lockdown in India’s capital until next Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said at a press conference Sunday. Delhi is the one of the worst affected regions in the country with hospitals turning away patients due to shortages of oxygen.

Delhi needs 700 tons of oxygen while the central government has allotted only 490 tons, Kejriwal said, adding that he was in touch with other states for supplies and expects the shortage to ease in the next two to three days.

(An earlier version corrected the reference to U.S. travel advisories in EU item.)

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