schema:articleBody
| - Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: European Union leaders meet via videoconference seeking ways to end the bloc's vaccine struggles. India is holding up export licences for Covid-19 vaccines destined for poor countries due to increased domestic demand as its own cases rise, says Covax facility co-leader Gavi. AstraZeneca says its vaccine is 76 rather than 79 percent effective in preventing symptomatic Covid, after US authorities raised concerns over its results. Denmark extends its suspension of the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying it has not ruled out a link to blood clots even though the European medicines regulator has deemed it safe. Poland will shut kindergartens, sports facilities and more non-essential shops from Saturday, the government says, as cases set a new daily record. Global production of automobiles plunged by 16 percent last year to a level last seen in 2010, the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers says, calling it the sector's "worst ever crisis". India records more than 50,000 new cases for the first time since November, as a new wave of infections takes hold a year after one of the world's tightest lockdowns was imposed. Papua New Guinea orders the snap closure of borders used by Indigenous groups to cross to and from Australia, as fears grow about the spread of virus to remote communities. The state of Saarland will become the first in Germany to lift its shutdown from April 6, with leisure, sports and entertainment facilities to reopen, says state premier Tobias Hans, while virus rates soar elsewhere in the country. A year later than scheduled the Tokyo Olympics torch relay gets underway, without spectators for the departure ceremony and first leg, but officials hope it will provide a "ray of light" after the problems caused by the pandemic. At least 2,745,337 people have died of Covid-19 around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources. The United States is the worst-affected country with 545,282 deaths, followed by Brazil with 300,685, Mexico with 199,627, India with 160,692 and Britain with 126,382. burs-eab/kjl
|