Coronavirus live news: India suffers record daily deathss; Tokyo doctors call for Japan Olympics to be cancelled | World news

A top medical organisation has thrown its weight behind calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a spike in coronavirus infections less than three months from the start of the Games, Reuters reports.

The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors said hospitals in the Games host city “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity” amid a surge in infections.

“We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games,” the association said in a 14 May open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga which was posted to its website on Monday.

A jump in infections has stoked alarm amid a shortage of medical staff and hospital beds in some areas of the Japanese capital, promoting the government to extend a third state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures until 31 May.

“The medical institutions dealing with Covid-19 have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity,” the medical association said in its letter.

Doctors would soon face the added difficulty of dealing with heat exhaustion patients during the summer months and if the Olympics contributed to a rise in deaths “Japan will bear the maximum responsibility”, it added.

India has suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, with 4,329 deaths in 24 hours.

The devastating toll comes as India’s case total passes 25 million, according to the health ministry, with 25,230,000 cases confirmed over the course of the pandemic so far.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.

India reported a record 4,329 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry, as a monster cyclone lashed the country’s west coast, leaving at least 20 people dead and interrupting its vaccine programme.

Meanwhile a top medical organisation has thrown its weight behind calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a rise in coronavirus infections less than three months from the start of the Games.

The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors said hospitals in the Games host city “have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity” amid a surge in infections.

Here are the other key recent developments:

• Germany will scrap its Covid vaccine priority list and start offering jabs to all adults from 7 June, the country’s health minister Jens Spahn said.
• Italy’s ruling parties have agreed to put back a nationwide nightly curfew to 11 pm from 10 pm with immediate effect, government sources told Reuters.
• France reported there were 4,186 people in intensive care units with Covid-19 on Monday, a fall of 69 and the 14th consecutive decline.
• The World Economic Forum has cancelled a summit planned to take place in August in Singapore, saying it was impossible to convene an in-person meeting because of the uncertainties of the Covid pandemic.
• Malaysia reported 45 new Covid-19 deaths, its highest daily number so far. The health ministry also recorded 4,446 new coronavirus cases, raising the total number of infections to 474,556 with 1,947 deaths, Reuters reports.
• The Netherlands will ease its coronavirus lockdown measures this week as the rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations has eased pressure on hospitals, health minister Hugo de Jonge said.
• The long-awaited Hong Kong-Singapore “travel bubble” has been deferred again, amid the surge in Covid cases in Singapore, the two governments have said.