Brazil's COVID-19 death toll tops 500,000
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil said Saturday that more than 500,000 people in the country are confirmed to have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
The nation of 210 million people has been reporting an average of more than 2,000 daily deaths in recent days. Brazil’s reported death toll is second only to that of the U.S., where the number of lives lost has topped 600,000.
Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga confirmed that the official death toll had passed 500,000.
“I am working tirelessly to vaccinate all Brazilians in the shortest time possible and change this scenario that has plagued us for over a year,” Queiroga tweeted.
Brazil is registering more than 70,000 confirmed coronavirus infections every day. Just 11.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to the government.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the coronavirus while trying to keep the economy humming. He dismissed the scourge early on as “a little flu” and has scorned masks.
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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:
— Afghanistan races to ramp up oxygen supplies as infections soar
— US families angered that coronavirus restrictions still keep them from loved ones in nursing homes even as elderly vaccinations are widespread
— 10,000 heavy metal fans enjoy UK music festival in late st COVID-19 crowd test
— Biden promotes milestone of 300M vaccine shots in 150 days
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Follow more of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
WILMINGTON, Del. — The United States is sending 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan on Saturday, according to a senior Biden administration official, increasing its allocation to the country amid Chinese pressure on Taiwan.
The U.S. had originally planned to send 750,000 doses to Taiwan. The senior administration official, granted anonymity to discuss plans that had not been publicly announced, said the increase in doses reflects the importance of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship and an awareness of “unfair challenges” Taiwan has faced in acquiring vaccines.
Taiwan blamed the Chinese government when an attempt by Taiwan to purchase vaccines from Germany’s BioNTech SE failed. China has also stepped up its military activities around Taiwan, which the senior administration official said was destabilizing to the area.
The delivery is part of the Biden administration’s vaccine diplomacy efforts, and a portion of the 80 million U.S.-made shots President Joe Biden has pledged to distribute
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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan — The authoritarian president of Turkmenistan, who claims that his country has been free of coronavirus, is calling for heightened measures against infection.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov ordered that Turkmens returning to the country undergo a 21-day quarantine and called for strengthened controls at borders, where crossings are already tightly restricted.
His orders were reported Saturday by the government newspaper Neitralny Turkmenistan.
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MOSCOW — Russia’s national coronavirus taskforce on Saturday reported 17,906 new infections, more than double the daily tally from early June.
More than half of the new infections are in Moscow, where cases have tripled this month. The soaring case count has caused alarm among officials, who have increased measures to obstruct the spread.
Moscow, its outlying area and two other Russian regions this week ordered mandatory vaccinations for workers in retail, education and other service sectors. Moscow has closed food courts in shopping centers and restricted restaurants and bars in the capital to takeout orders from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Russians are widely resistant to vaccinations and only about 12% of the population has received a shot. Nearly 5.3 million cases have been reported in the country of 146 million, with 128,911 deaths, but experts consider both numbers undercounts.
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KABUL — Afghanistan’s is racing to ramp up supplies of oxygen as a deadly third surge of COVID-19 worsens, a senior health official told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday.
The government is installing oxygen supply plants in 10 provinces where up to 65% of those tested in some areas are positive, health ministry spokesman Ghulam Dastigir Nazari said. By WHO recommendations, anything higher than 5% shows officials aren’t testing widely enough, allowing the virus to spread unchecked.
Afghanistan carries out barely 4,000 tests a day and often much less.
Afghanistan’s 24-hour infection count has also continued its upward climb from 1,500 at the end of May when the health ministry was already calling the surge “a crisis,” to more than 2,300 this week.
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