NZ to partially restart travel bubble with Australia
New Zealand said on Tuesday it will partially resume quarantine-free travel with Australia and remove all virus curbs in place in Wellington as no community cases were reported in the capital city after over a week of restrictions.
Quarantine-free travel will resume with South Australia, ACT, Tasmania and Victoria from July 5, COVID-19 Response Minister Chrish Hipkins told a news conference.
Restrictions in Wellington will be eased from midnight on Tuesday, Hipkins said.
NEW: L.A. County Public Health is now recommending that *everybody*, regardless of vaccination status, mask up indoors in public places as a precaution over concerns about the Delta variant.
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) June 29, 2021
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Australia's New South Wales sees more cases
Australia's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), reported 19 locally acquired cases on Tuesday as it fights an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta virus variant.
Seventeen cases are linked to previously confirmed cases while the source of infection for two cases is under investigation
Delta variant pushes South Africa's deaths to over 60,000
South Africa, the worst virus-hit country in the continent, on Monday crossed the threshold of 60,000 virus deaths, health officials announced, a day after a stricter lockdown was enforced.
At least 512 new hospital admissions were reported early Tuesday, pushing the total number of hospitalised people to 11,801.
The health authority said 12,222 new cases had been recorded over the last 24 hours, 28.3 percent of those tested.
Gauteng province, home to the administrative capital Pretoria and financial hub Johannesburg, is the outbreak's current epicentre, accounting for around 69 percent of the latest daily increase.
Government and scientists at the weekend announced that the highly contagious Delta variant was driving the surge in South African infections, which is testing the capacity of hospitals.
Puerto Rico to get nearly $4B in US pandemic funds
US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said that Puerto Rico will receive nearly $4 billion in federal education pandemic relief funds to help boost the US territory’s fight against the virus.
The announcement was made during Cardona’s official three-day trip to Puerto Rico, the first for a Biden administration Cabinet member. It marks the first time the island has full access to those funds.
“The students of Puerto Rico have suffered enough,” he said. “It’s time to get back to school safely and quickly.”
Roughly half of the nearly $4 billion will be released as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, which was signed into law in March to help offset the pandemic’s impact on the economy and public health.
Mexico reports almost 1,700 new cases
Mexico's health ministry reported 1,661 new confirmed cases in the country and 44 more fatalities, bringing its total to 2,507,453 infections and 232,608 deaths.
The government has said the real number of cases is likely significantly higher, and separate data suggested the actual death toll is at least 60% above the confirmed figure.
Brazil senators file case against Bolsonaro for vaccine malfeasance
Three Brazilian senators formally accused President Jair Bolsonaro of malfeasance before the Supreme Court Monday over allegations he failed to have a top ally investigated for suspicions of massive corruption in the purchase of vaccines.
"I filed a criminal complaint today with the Supreme Court because of the serious accusation that the president took no action after being notified of a gigantic corruption scheme at the health ministry," said one lawmaker, opposition Senator Randolfe Rodrigues.
Rodrigues is the deputy chair of a Senate commission investigating the administration's pandemic response.
Last week, the commission uncovered explosive accusations that Bolsonaro knew about suspected corruption in Brazil's $300-million deal for the Indian-made vaccine Covaxin and failed to intervene.
To protect against the global spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, #Taiwan is strengthening quarantine measures for those entering our borders. We must stay alert & adapt to the challenges posed by a changing pandemic.
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) June 29, 2021
A congressman close to Bolsonaro, Luis Miranda, testified that the president told him he suspected the scheme was the work of Ricardo Barros, a powerful congressman who is head of Bolsonaro's coalition in the lower house.
Miranda said Bolsonaro told him in March he would order the police to investigate, but never did.
A criminal case against Bolsonaro before the Supreme Court could see him removed from office, though Prosecutor General Augusto Aras, an ally, would have to bring charges.
Nigeria to get nearly 4M vaccines by August
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, will receive another batch of nearly four million doses of vaccines under the Covax scheme by August.
Covax was set up to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, particularly to low-income countries, and has already delivered more than 80 million doses to 129 territories.
Nigeria, home to some 200 million people, got some four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March with which it started a nationwide vaccination programme.
The virus has killed 2,119 people and infected 167,467 in Nigeria since the first index case in February last year.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
