Paris, Sept. 4, 2020 (Xinhua) -- People wearing masks walk on the Trocadero Place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, Sept. 3, 2020. The French government aims to mobilize 100 billion euros (118 billion U.S. dollars) in a recovery plan "of historic size" to help the country recover from the coronavirus pandemic crisis, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday. Ecological transition, competitiveness and social cohesion were identified as the three pillars of the plan dubbed "France Relaunch," which Castex said was "the most massive announced to date among major European countries." (Xinhua/Gao Jing/IANS)
Eurostat said this drop was reflected in the number of nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments between April 2020 and March 2021, reports Asian Lite News
Tourism in the European Union (EU) during the year of the Covid-19 pandemic fell by a staggering 61 per cent, according to figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the bloc.
Friday’s figures confirmed how tourism was among the sectors most affected by the pandemic due to travel restrictions as well as other precautionary measures taken by individual countries in response to the outbreaks, reports Xinhua news agency.
Eurostat said this drop was reflected in the number of nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments between April 2020 and March 2021.
This translates into a drop of 1.7 billion from the 2.8 billion nights spent between April 2019 and March 2020, prior to the start of the pandemic.
Among the EU member states with available data, the highest decreases were recorded in Malta, where tourism dropped by a massive 80 per cent; Spain, down by 78 per cent; and Greece, down by 74 per cent.
Tourism shrank by 70 per cent in Portugal, and 66 per cent in Hungary.
Eurostat said data for Ireland, France, and Cyprus were not available.
The pandemic also had an adverse effect on internal tourism, with the total nights spent by domestic tourists down by 45 per cent.
This was not the case in Malta and Slovenia, the only two EU countries where internal tourism increased by 20 and 25 per cent, respectively, in the year under review.
The ECDC said the Covid-19 vaccination campaigns must be accelerated and the second doses should also be administered as early as possible…reports Asian Lite News.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that the Covid-19 Delta variant is expected to account for nearly all new cases in the continent by August.
In its latest threat assessment report, the ECDC said on Wednesday that since the Delta variant is 40-60 per cent more transmissible, it is projected to cause 70 per cent of the new infections in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) by early August.
By late August, this figure could reach 90 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Centre as saying.
The ECDC also warned that the daily number of new cases, hospitalisations and deaths, could increase to the late 2020 levels if non-pharmaceutical measures, such as physical distancing, hand and respiratory hygiene, use of face masks, are relaxed.
The ECDC said the Covid-19 vaccination campaigns must be accelerated and the second doses should also be administered as early as possible.
“Unfortunately, preliminary data shows that (the Delta strain) can also infect individuals who have received only one dose of the currently available vaccines,” ECDC Director Andrea Ammon said.
“It is very likely that the Delta variant will circulate extensively during the summer, particularly among younger individuals who are not targeted for vaccination. This could cause a risk for the more vulnerable individuals to be infected.
“They could experience severe illness and death if they are not fully vaccinated,” she said.
Nevertheless, Ammon stressed that there is still hope.
“The good news is that having received two doses of any of the currently available vaccines provides high protection against this variant and its consequences.
“However, about 30 per cent of individuals older than 80 years and about 40 per cent of individuals older than 60 years have not yet received a full vaccination course in the European Union,” she added.
He said “UK and our partners have today sanctioned those responsible for the continued suppression of democracy and human rights in Belarus.”…reports Asian Lite News.
Joining the US, Canada and EU, the UK has imposed sanctions against 7 individuals and 1 entity from the Belarusian regime as part of a new sanctions package after the Ryanair incident in May and for alleged human rights violations.
The government said sanctions are in response to the detention of journalist Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega following the unlawful diversion of Ryanair flight FR4978 in May 2021.
Four individuals and 1 entity have also been designated in response to the continued suppression of democracy and human rights in Belarus by Lukashenko and his regime, it announced.
Sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes against senior-ranking officials in the Belarusian regime and BNK (UK) Ltd, an exporter of Belarusian oil products.
“The Lukashenko regime endangered the lives of airline passengers and crew in a shameful ruse to snatch Roman Protasevich,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.
He said “UK and our partners have today sanctioned those responsible for the continued suppression of democracy and human rights in Belarus.”
Raab added, “We will hold the regime to account in co-ordination with our allies including through further banning travel, freezing assets and cutting off oil export revenue streams.”
Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department has designated 16 persons and five entities from Belarus, including the State Security Committee (KGB) and the press secretary of the Belarusian president.
The list of sanctioned individuals also includes the Belarusian Prosecutor General, the chairman of the KGB and the chairperson of the upper house of the country’s parliament.
Another eight officials have been sanctioned for certifying the results of the presidential elections in August that the US government considers to be fraudulent.
Earlier on Monday, the European Union adopted the fourth sanctions package against Belarus, noting that the bloc has added 78 individuals and eight organizations to its sanctions list for allegedly endangering aviation safety and for detaining Pratasevich and Sapega.
In May, a Ryanair plane from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing in Minsk over a bomb threat that turned out to be fake. Pratasevich – founder of a Telegram channel that Minsk designated as extremist – and his partner Sapega were detained by the Belarusian authorities during the stopover. (including reports from ANI/Sputnik)
US President Joe Biden meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva.(credit: https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse)
While describing the entire meetings as “good and positive”, Biden somehow warned against foreign interference in internal affairs…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at the US on arms control, human rights, cyber-attacks, among other issues, after “constructive” talks with his American counterpart Joe Biden.
“As for the general assessment, I believe there was no hostility at all,” Putin said during his solo press briefing, adding that the meeting, the first of its kind since Biden took office in January, was “open” and with “no pressure of the parties on each other.”
Putin said that the two sides “differ in many respects” but “showed willingness to understand each other and seek ways to bring the positions closer,” and the pivotal face-to-face discussions, held at the 18th century Villa La Grange in Geneva, was “quite constructive”, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Although the two sides have agreed to allow their ambassadors to return to Moscow and Washington respectively, and to launch a strategic stability dialogue for future arms control and risk reduction measures, the Russian head of state refuted critics against Russia on such issues as policy predictability, human rights and cyber-security.
“The West believes that the Russian policy is unpredictable. Well, let me reciprocate. The US withdrawal from the ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) Treaty in 2002 wasn’t predictable,” Putin told journalists.
As for human rights issues, Putin cited the Black Lives Matter movement in America, the US attacks in Afghanistan, and the existence of the Guantanamo Bay prison.
US President Joe Biden meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva.(credit: https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse)
“One single strike can kill … (about) 120 people. All right, assuming this was a mistake that happens in a war, but shooting from a drone, (at) an unarmed crowd, clearly the civilian crowd, what is this about? How would you call that? And who’s responsible for this?” said Putin.
“And how would you call this person? Who is the killer now?” he asked.
On cyberattacks, Putin said that it is of vital importance in the world in general, “for the US in particular, and for Russia as well in the same volume.”
Putin noted that his country has not yet received any response from the US to Russia’s dozens of requests regarding cyberattacks so far since last year.
While describing the entire meetings as “good and positive”, Biden somehow warned at his separate press conference that he will “take action” if the US continues to be interfered by other countries during its presidential elections.
“I made it clear that we will not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or destabilize our democratic elections, and we would respond,” Biden said. “The bottom line as I told President Putin was that we need to have some basic rules…that we can all abide by.”
The US President added that he gave his Russian counterpart a list of 16 specific entities, ranging from the energy sector to water systems, which were defined by the US as critical infrastructures and should be off-limits to attack by cyber or any other means.
“The last thing he (Putin) wants now is a Cold War with the US… I don’t think he’s looking for a Cold War with the US,” he said.
However, Putin attributed the worsening of bilateral relations to the American side. “All steps in regard to the deterioration in the Russian-American relations were not initiated by us, and they were taken by the American side,” he said.
“On the whole, we do realise what our American partners speak about, and they know well what we speak about, when it comes to the so-called ‘red lines’,” Putin said. “But I must sincerely say that we are still far from making emphases and starting to make divisions.”
Although the two sides discussed a wide range of issues from climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, arms control, cyberattacks, to regional conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, a joint statement from both sides focused on a bilateral strategic stability dialogue for future arms control and risk reduction measures.
The two nuclear powers have “demonstrated that, even in periods of tension, they are able to make progress on our shared goals of ensuring predictability in the strategic sphere, reducing the risk of armed conflicts and the threat of nuclear war,” said the statement.
As “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” the two sides “will embark together on an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue in the near future,” seeking to “lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures,” it said.
Though he described relations with the United States as having “deteriorated to its lowest point in recent years,” Putin said he expects he can work with Biden….reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced hope Friday that US President Joe Biden will be less impulsive than his predecessor Donald Trump, ahead of his first summit with the new US leader.
In an interview with NBC News, Putin described Biden as a “career man” who has spent his life in politics.
Though he described relations with the United States as having “deteriorated to its lowest point in recent years,” Putin said he expects he can work with Biden.
“It is my great hope that, yes, there are some advantages, some disadvantages, but there will not be any impulse-based movements on behalf of the sitting US president,” he said, according to a translation by NBC News.
“I believe that former US president Trump is an extraordinary individual, talented individual… He is a colorful individual. You may like him or not. But he didn’t come from the US establishment,” Putin was quoted as saying.
Biden plans to raise a range of US complaints, including over purported Russian election interference and hacking, in the summit with Putin on Wednesday in Geneva at the end of the new president’s first foreign trip.
Putin has openly admitted that in the 2016 vote he supported Trump, who had voiced admiration for the Russian leader. At their first summit, Trump infamously appeared to accept Putin’s denials of election interference.
Biden has said he is under no illusions about Putin and has described him as “a killer” in light of a series of high-profile deaths including of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov.
Asked directly if he is “a killer,” Putin chuckled but did not give a yes or no answer.
“Over my tenure, I’ve gotten used to attacks from all kinds of angles and from all kinds of areas under all kinds of pretext and reasons and of different caliber and fierceness, and none of it surprises me,” he said, adding that the term “killer” was a “macho” term common in Hollywood.
Such discourse “is part of US political culture where it’s considered normal. By the way, not here, it is not considered normal here,” he said.
Putin also dismissed as “fake news” a report in the Washington Post that Russia is planning to supply Iran with an advanced satellite system that would allow it to track potential military targets.
“At the very least, I don’t know anything about this kind of thing,” the Russian leader said, speaking from the Kremlin. “It’s just nonsense garbage.”
According to interviewer Keir Simmons, Putin also denied any knowledge of cyberattacks on the United States, and called on Biden to strike a deal with Russia on cyberspace.
The decision exempts transit flights coming to the UAE and heading to Vietnam…Reports Asian Lite News
The United Arab Emirates have announced that entry from Vietnam will be suspended for all incoming passengers on national and foreign carriers, and those carrying transit passengers, starting from 5th June, 2021 at 23:59.
The decision exempts transit flights coming to the UAE and heading to Vietnam.
It applies to travellers who were in Vietnam in the last 14 days before coming to the UAE.
Flights between these countries and the UAE will continue to operate, allowing the transportation of passengers from the UAE to Vietnam.
It will also allow the transfer of some exempted groups from Vietnam to the UAE, with strict enforcement of precautionary measures.
These groups include UAE citizens and their first degree relatives, and diplomatic missions accredited between the UAE and Vietnam, including administrators working in embassies, official delegations, chartered flights by businessmen, those holding golden and silver residency visas, provided that they receive prior approval, and those who have received the full vaccine doses approved by the World Health Organisation, provided that 28 days have passed since receiving them.
This can be approved through the applications approved in the two countries or an approved vaccination certificate.
The holders of essential jobs according to the classification of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) and the crews of foreign shipment and transit aircraft are exempted, provided they obtain a negative PCR test for COVID-19 within 48 hours of departure and upon arrival and adherence to quarantine until departure.
The exempted groups are required to undertake preventive measures that include a 10-day quarantine and a PCR test at the airport, as well as on the fourth and eighth day after entering the country.
Moreover, the validity of the PCR test period has been reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours before travel, provided that it is administered by accredited laboratories that issue results with a QR code.
The authority also confirmed that it is required for those coming from Vietnam through other countries to stay in those countries for at least 14 days before being allowed to enter the UAE.
Cargo flights will continue to operate between the UAE and these countries.
The authority called upon all travellers affected by the decision to follow up with the relevant airlines to change or reschedule their flights and to ensure their safe return to their final destinations without delay.
French President Emmanuel Macron calls for clarity and urges transparency and resolution of the matter, reports Asian Lite News
European countries have demanded an explanation from the US and Denmark as soon as possible on reports that the American intelligence agency had used Danish infrastructure to spy on top politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
On Sunday, Denmark’s national broadcaster DR News said in a report that Danish Defense Intelligence Service (FE) has given the US National Security Agency (NSA) open internet access to spy on senior politicians of European countries including Germany, Sweden, Norway, and France.
In response to the report, Danish Minister of Defence Trine Bramsen had said that the government will not “enter into speculation about any intelligence matters from the press or others… Systematic wiretapping of close allies is unacceptable”
But French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for “clarity” and urged “complete transparency and resolution of the matter by our Danish and American partners”.
This “is unacceptable between allies, even less between allies and European partners”, he added.
Meanwhile, Merkel said she “could only agree” with Macron’s comments, adding she was “reassured” by Bramsen’s condemnation of any such spying.
Besides Merkel, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the candidate for chancellor Peer Steinbrueck were among those the NSA had spied on, the DR News report said.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Wikipedia)
“It is grotesque that friendly intelligence services are indeed intercepting and spying on top representatives of other countries,” Steinbrueck told German broadcaster ARD on Monday.
“Politically I consider it a scandal.”
In Paris, French Minister for European Affairs Clement Beaune told France Info radio that the DR report needed to be checked and that, if confirmed, it would be a “serious” matter.
“These potential facts, they are serious. They must be checked,” he said, adding there could be “some diplomatic protests”.
Jens Holm, a member of the Swedish Parliament, called on investigation into “who exactly was monitored, when and how”.
“This is extremely outrageous,” Holms told local media, adding that the situation elicits memories of the Cold War.
The governments of Norway and Sweden are pressing the Danish government and demanding immediate answers about the alleged NSA espionage through Danish cables.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said her government has asked Denmark “for all the information they have”.
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg (Wikipedia)
“It’s unacceptable if countries which have close allied cooperation feel the need to spy on one another,” she told public broadcaster NRK.
Norway’s Defence Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen also told broadcaster NRK that the country takes the allegations seriously.
Swedish Minister of Defence Peter Hultqvist said on state broadcaster SVT on Sunday that he “asked to be fully informed about matters concerning Swedish citizens, companies and interests.”
“And then we have to see how the answer sounds from a political side in Denmark,” Hultqvist said, adding that he had been “in contact with Denmark’s Defence Minister to ask if Danish platforms have been used to spy on Swedish politicians”.
Passengers from India will only be allowed entry into Denmark for a recognisable purpose…reports Asian Lite News
Denmark will tighten travel restrictions for those from India from Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The ministry updated its travel guide on India and raised the risk assessment from “orange” to “red,” the highest level, and advised against all travels to India, including business trip, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The decision was made to “limit the risk of importing the virus variant B.1.617 to Denmark,” said the ministry in a press release.
INDIEN: Vi fraråder nu alle rejser, herunder også erhvervsrejser, til hele Indien pga. COVID-19 situationen og forekomsten af bekymrende virusvarianter. Læs: https://t.co/pbqbLXP4EN
— Udenrigsministeriets Borgerservice (@UMBorgerservice) April 28, 2021
Foreigners from India will only be allowed entry into Denmark for a recognisable purpose, according to the new travel restrictions.
Danish citizens and people who already reside in Denmark can continue to enter Denmark from India.
Denmark now joins several European countries including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain that have already applied travel restrictions on India.
A pedestrian walks by a pub, The Hope, shuttered in London due to coronavirus regulations. Thousands of British pubs have not survived the pandemic, according to an industry association, and the ones that have will need financial support "for years if they are to recover." Photo: Yui Mok/PA
Copenhagen-based World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe Office announced that the European region has recorded more than 1 million Covid-19-related deaths, reports Asian Lite News
For Danica Angela Marcos, the weirdest yet saddest scenario was to watch her grandfather’s funeral live on Zoom, seeing her cousins crying on the screen but not able to give them a hug because of the lockdown.
“It’s not like we can do (it) all over again when the pandemic is over … I cannot re-attend my grandpa’s funeral,” mumbled the black-hair Londoner in her 20s, rolling eyes to hold back tears, whose grandfather passed away in California, the United States, towards the end of last year.
Many Europeans, like Marcos, have undergone similar human sorrows and pains, as the nightmare of Covid-19, which has shrouded the continent since more than one year ago, is still hovering around, Xinhua news agecy reported on Friday.
On Friday, the Copenhagen-based World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe Office announced that the European region has recorded more than 1 million Covid-19-related deaths.
Since breaking out in late 2019, Covid-19 has been causing infections and deaths at an accelerated pace across Europe. One after another, governments of different countries were woken up to the danger, announcing partial or full lockdowns, and even night curfews, moves rarely seen since the end of World War II.
Schools closed, flights grounded, hairdressers and restaurants shutdown, only grocery and shops selling essential goods, in most countries, were among the few that were allowed to open, while the customers were required to wear masks and keep social distance of more than one meter.
Before the reopening of schools, online courses were offered to students who were forced to stay home during the pandemic in many European countries. Many schools sent assignments to parents via e-mail or other digital tools, or shared free online resources.
However, not all students are self-disciplined. In France, about 5 to 8 per cent of students were “lost,” or unreachable by their teachers, estimated the French Ministry of Education in April 2020.
“This virus has imposed limitations on all of us. I have practically no social life and can’t hug the people I love. My personal life has turned completely around. Few things remain from my previous life. And as a person, I feel exhausted, restless, and uncertain,” Abigail Mora Sanz, a psychotherapist in Spain, told Xinhua.
Besides the continent’s aging population and the overwhelmed healthcare systems, some experts attributed the bleakness in Europe to frequent policy changes, which have swung between lockdowns and relaxations for several rounds.
One of the major challenges for European countries is “the temptation of too fast reopening, which is politically popular but can cause another wave of epidemics before proper vaccination,” said Miklos Hargitai, an editorialist of Hungary’s daily Nepszava.
“In addition, Europe has not adopted the practice of the most successful countries in curbing the virus,” Hargitai told Xinhua.
A woman wearing a face mask walks at Covent Garden in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan/IANS)
Another factor behind Europe’s current COVID-19 resurgence is the alarming and explosive spread of the highly contagious virus variants, which increases the risk of hospitalization.
The slow rollout of vaccination may also prolong the pandemic. According to WHO Europe Office, only 10 percent of the region’s total population has received at least one vaccine dose and 4 percent has received both, as of April 1.
“Vaccines present our best way out of this pandemic… However, the rollout of these vaccines is unacceptably slow,” said Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe.
On April 1, Kluge called upon governments in the region to “scale up both vaccine production and vaccination.”
German photographer Ulrich Hufnagel was diagnosed with COVID-19 last September, with so-called mild case symptoms and was quarantined for more than 20 days.
People wearing face masks walk past sale advertisement on Oxford Street in London, Britain
“It is very annoying that some people in Germany and Europe do not take the virus seriously. My hope now rests on quick vaccination. I think this is the only possibility to get our normal life back,” Hufnagel said.
Due to what appears to be an acute shortage of vaccine doses earlier this year, tensions once remained high between the European Union, Britain, and some central-eastern European countries like the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Austria.
The connection between blood clots and the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which has been purchased and administrated in large amounts by many European countries, also raised concern among people.
The European Medicines Agency confirmed on Wednesday that the occurrence of blood clots with low blood platelets are strongly associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign for healthcare professionals in Nice
Faced with such dire challenges, some governments in the region have started to look for the alternatives. Serbia and Hungary have granted permission for the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China. Some other countries, like Poland and the Czech Republic, also voiced interest in Chinese-made vaccines.
“We fully support the Chinese idea of establishing a global anti-pandemic community of cooperation and help,” said Sylwester Szafarz, former consul general of Poland in the Chinese city of Shanghai.
However, vaccines themselves are not a panacea for the pandemic, until people are inoculated in huge numbers, WHO Europe Office warned, noting that it can give a false sense of security, inducing the public to stop wearing masks and taking other precautions.
Besides measures to accelerate the vaccination, several governments and health care experts deem social restrictions a key tool for containing the disease and reducing deaths.
“Now is not the time to relax measures. We can’t afford not to heed the danger. We have all made sacrifices, but we cannot let exhaustion win. We must keep reining in the virus,” Kluge said.
With their life being changed amid the pandemic, many people in Europe have been eventually getting used to wearing face masks outside, working and studying from home.
To some people, the future seems less gloomy and confidence is growing.
Once worried that the lockdowns could totally ruin his business, Remi Boute, director of a bookstore in southeast France’s Saint-Etienne, feels relieved as his shop reopens.
“When the stores reopened, we had the satisfaction of seeing people tell us they were happy to see our stores open. They returned in large numbers,” he said.
“We faced something that we’d never seen and so what we tried to do was to understand it, to better treat our patients and save or try to solve the problem in the most cases we could,” said Pere Domingo, senior infectious disease consultant and coordinator of COVID-19 at Barcelona’s Sant Pau Hospital.
“This intellectual component … has been something that has stimulated us, and helped us overcome all these negative feelings that at one time or another we have all had,” said the Spanish professor, who has been devoted to the research of infectious diseases since 1989.
Passengers wearing face masks are seen at Cologne Bonn Airport in Cologne, Germany
Many European countries are currently reinforcing lockdown
Kluge’s warning on Thursday came as the region has been witnessing a rise in Covid-19 transmission rates, while its death toll was inching towards the 1 million mark…reports Asian Lite News
Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Europe, has warned countries against premature easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
Kluge’s warning on Thursday came as the region has been witnessing a rise in Covid-19 transmission rates, while its death toll was inching towards the 1 million mark, Xinhua news agency.
Addressing a virtual press conference here, Kluge noted that “while 27 countries are currently in a partial or full nationwide lockdown, 21 are gradually easing restrictive measures”.
“Some are doing so based on the assumption that increasing vaccination uptake in countries would immediately lead to an improved epidemiological situation,” he said.
“Such assumptions are too early to make.”
Kluge stressed that with vaccination coverage in the region ranging from less than 1 per cent to 44 per cent, it is “far too early to demonstrate the effect of vaccines on overall Covid-19 hospitalisation and deaths”.
Despite “giant scientific leaps and the introduction of effective tools that give us power over the virus”, the WHO official acknowledged that in parts of the region, such as central Europe, the Balkans and the Baltic states, “case incidence, hospitalizations and deaths are now among the highest in the world”.
According to Kluge, case incidence in Europe continues its increasing trend, with over 1.2 million new cases reported last week.
“Last week, new deaths in the region surpassed 900,000. Every week, more than 20,000 people across the region lose their lives to the virus,” said Kluge.
“The number of people dying from Covid-19 in Europe is higher now than it was this time last year, reflecting the widespread hold this virus has.”
As a consequence of the rising numbers, the regional director called upon states in the region to “remain steadfast in our application of the full range of tools” to fight the coronavirus.
“Let there be no doubt about it, vaccination by itself, particularly given the varied uptake in countries, does not replace public health and social measures,” said Kluge.
