Total Doses Distributed = 698,418,375. Total Doses Administered = 558,544,815. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 254,984,673. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 217,060,180.
COVID-19 Vaccination Data Updates
Total Doses Distributed = 698,418,075. Total Doses Administered = 558,366,410. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 254,936,123. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 217,014,962.
COVID-19 Vaccination Data Updates
Total Doses Distributed = 698,418,075. Total Doses Administered = 558,121,108. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 254,870,034. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 216,952,347.
COVID-19 Vaccination Data Updates
WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
Italy on Friday marked the second anniversary of a tragic milestone of the coronavirus pandemic: the day when a convoy of army trucks had to transport the dead out of hard-hit Bergamo because the city’s cemeteries and crematoria were full.
Premier Mario Draghi opened a press conference Friday with the leaders of Spain, Portugal and Greece by recalling that it was Italy’s official Day of Remembrance for COVID-19 victims. The Health Ministry called for Italians to observe a minute of silence, President Sergio Mattarella paid tribute to the dead and the city of Bergamo held a commemoration at its living memorial: a park of newly planted trees.
“We bow down in memory of the victims,” Mattarella said in his tribute. “The entire international community shares in the pain of the families.”
Italy became the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe after the first locally-transmitted case was confirmed in late February 2020 in the Lombard city of Codogno. But nearby Bergamo soon became the hardest-hit province in the hardest-hit region. By the end of March 2020, Bergamo had registered a 571% increase in deaths compared with the five-year monthly average, the biggest increase in Italy and one of the biggest localized increases in mortality rates in Europe.
Footage of the army convoy snaking its way through Bergamo’s roads on March 18, 2020 carrying caskets of the dead remains one of the most haunting and iconic images of the pandemic, early evidence of the outsized toll the first weeks of the outbreak had on the city northeast of Milan.
The anniversary of the convoy comes as Italy begins winding down its anti-virus restrictions. Draghi and Health Minister Roberto Speranza announced Thursday that many workplace vaccination requirements, quarantine rules and mask mandates would be eased in the coming weeks.
Italy, which has recorded more than 157,000 official COVID deaths, has fully vaccinated 89.7% of its over-12 population.
At the Bergamo memorial Friday, the president of the lower chamber of parliament, Roberto Fico, said the aim of the anniversary commemorations was to honor the dead but also to ensure that Italy is better prepared for the next pandemic.
“What is important today is not just remember the victims and be close to their relatives but to learn from what happened,” Fico told reporters. He called for greater investment in funding Italy’s network of general practitioners and local health care providers, improving telemedicine and rebuilding the public health system as a “pillar” of Italy’s social services.
“We have to do this to remember those who died in an active way,” he said.
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WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
Lawmakers voted Friday to abolish most of Germany’s coronavirus pandemic restrictions despite a surge in cases with almost 300,000 new daily cases.
The Bundestag passed an amendment to the pandemic rules in a 388-277 vote with two abstentions. The upper house of parliament, made up of Germany’s 16 states, is expected to consider the measure later Friday.
The changes mean that the requirement to wear face masks will be dropped for most public settings from Sunday, though they may still be required on public transport. Visitors of care homes will also continue to need negative COVID-19 tests, but these will not be required any longer in other walks of life.
States can still impose new restrictions to curb outbreaks in virus “hot spots,” but governors have complained that this measure is unworkable given the nationwide increase in cases.
The country’s disease control agency reported 297,845 newly confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, and 226 COVID-related deaths.
Health minister Karl Lauterbach defended lifting the restrictions.
“We can’t continue to put the entire country under a shield in order to protect a small group of people who are unwilling to get vaccinated,” he said. “The balance is being shifted.”
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WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
Hong Kong’s total coronavirus infections exceeded 1 million and the number of related deaths topped those in mainland China, as the city grapples with a widespread outbreak.
Health officials reported 20,079 confirmed infections on Friday, taking the total since the start of the pandemic to 1,016,944.
Nearly 97% of those came from Hong Kong’s current wave, which began in December. Since Feb. 9, nearly 5,200 people have died from the virus.
The total number of deaths in Hong Kong — 5,401 — have exceeded the fatalities recorded in mainland China at 4,636. Mainland authorities have counted 126,234 confirmed cases, but unlike most countries, China does not count asymptomatic cases.
The city of 7.5 million is in the grip of an omicron surge that has strained its health care system as hospitals reached maximum capacity. Coffins are running out and mortuaries are so full that bodies have to be temporarily stored in refrigerated containers.
Most of the deceased were elderly patients, a majority of whom are not fully vaccinated.
For most of the pandemic, Hong Kong was able to stamp out earlier outbreaks with tough “zero COVID” restrictions that temporarily shuttered businesses, limited public gatherings and imposed entry curbs such as lengthy quarantines for arrivals and flight bans from countries deemed high-risk.
That changed with the highly transmissible omicron variant. Officials have sought assistance from mainland China, which has sent experts and medical resources to help Hong Kong combat the pandemic.