Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
As always, you can find me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
The global death toll is nearing 150 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, with 149,206,501 cases currently confirmed and global infections rising by around 800,000 a day.
Meanwhile a hashtag calling for the resignation of the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, was briefly blocked on Facebook on Wednesday, hiding more than 12,000 posts critical of the Indian government as the coronavirus pandemic spirals out of control in the country.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- “This pandemic is not only not over, it is accelerating,” the head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, said, which is why equitable access to vaccines and effective preventive measures are crucial to helping turn the tide.
- India suffered its worst day yet of the pandemic, as both new Covid-19 cases and deaths break previous records. Crematoriums in Delhi have become so overloaded with bodies that they are running out of both space and wood, and are being forced to build makeshift funeral pyres on spare patches of land. Story here.
- The Philippines’ president Rodrigo Duterte extended restrictions in the capital region and four nearby provinces for another two weeks. From 1 May, non-essential movement, mass gatherings and dining in restaurants will remain banned in Metro Manila and in the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite. The country is battling one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Asia, with hospitals and medical workers in Manila overwhelmed, while authorities face delays in the delivery of vaccines.
- Almost 30 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection in the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin in 2021 amid a deepening crisis, a report by the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Unocha) has estimated. Poverty, the climate emergency, armed conflicts, chronically high food insecurity and malnutrition have all contributed to the worsening crisis, and across the region Covid-19 is further compounding acute needs. Story here.
- British and European travellers should be able to visit EU countries this summer but may have to deal with multiple, potentially unconnected health certificates unless the bloc can agree on cost, privacy and technical aspects of a common pass. Story here.
- Italy has imposed an entry ban on travellers from Bangladesh in a move aimed to prevent a spread of Covid-19 infections from the country hard-hit by the virus. Restrictions will be imposed on returning residents.
- The UK has secured 60m doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be used for booster shots later this year, the health secretary Matt Hancock said. He said said the extra doses would be used alongside other approved vaccines in “protecting the progress that we have made”. Story here.
- Progress with the UK’s vaccine rollout should limit the damage from any third wave of Covid-19 infections, one of England’s top doctors, Jonathan Van-Tam, said, adding that there would likely still be bumps in the road in the coming year.