Coronavirus: Latest on COVID-19 from around the world - Monday, June 14

Here's the latest on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the world.

Africa and the Middle East

South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged the Group of Seven countries to help finance the World Health Organization's programme to boost COVID-19 testing, diagnostics and vaccines, the presidency said on Sunday.

Ramaphosa, who has joined a summit of the club of rich democracies in England and addressed them on Saturday, said the G7 countries, which together account for more than half of global output, should support the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator to plug the $16.8 billion funding gap for this year.

"We need to address the substantial financing gap for tests, treatments, critical supplies like oxygen and the health systems that enable testing, treatment and vaccination," Ramaphosa said in the presidency statement.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has restricted the annual Haj pilgrimage to its own citizens and residents for the second year running in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the state Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Saturday.

Only people aged between 18 and 65 who have been vaccinated or immunised against the virus, and are free of chronic diseases, will be able to take part, the ministry that manages the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca said in a statement carried by SPA.

It also set a maximum of 60,000 participants.

"The decision (was made) to guarantee the safety of haj amid uncertainty over the coronavirus," the kingdom's health minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah said in a televised press conference carried by SPA.

"Despite the availability of vaccine, there is uncertainty over the virus and some countries still record high numbers of COVID cases, the other challenge is the different variants of the virus, hence came the decision to restrict haj."

Dubai

About two-thirds of people eligible for inoculation against COVID-19 have now received two doses of the vaccine in Dubai, the tourist and business hub of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said.

Dubai is the most populous of the seven emirates that make up the UAE and has one of the world's busiest airports.

For six months the UAE has been running one of the world's fastest vaccination campaigns against COVID-19, initially using a vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and then adding the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca shots and Russia's Sputnik V.

DHA deputy director general Alawi Alsheikh Ali told Dubai Television late on Saturday that 83 percent of people aged over 16 - or about 2.3 million people - had now received at least one dose of a vaccine and that 64 percent had received two doses in the emirate.

Coronavirus: Latest on COVID-19 from around the world - Monday, June 14
Photo credit: Getty Images

Europe

UK

The United Kingdom has recorded another 7490 daily COVID-19 cases and the deaths of eight people who tested positive for the virus within 28 days, official data shows.

The 7490 cases was down slightly from the 7738 recorded the day before and the eight deaths were down from the 12 recorded on Saturday.

The data also showed that 78.4 percent of the adult population have had a first vaccine dose while 55.9 percent have had a second.

Asia-Pacific

Indonesia

An Indonesian city is bringing COVID-19 vaccines to its people with a growing fleet of inoculation buses, as the country faces a spike in infections after a major religious festival.

Authorities in Pekanbaru on the island of Sumatra have doubled to 10 the number of buses in its vaccination programme, since launching it on June 1, following a favourable response from the public, who are happy with the convenience.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 270 million people, is bracing for a peak in coronavirus infections after the Eid al-Fitr festival last month that saw millions travel to visit family and friends.

Coronavirus: Latest on COVID-19 from around the world - Monday, June 14
Photo credit: Reuters

South Korea

South Korea will exempt some travellers who have received their COVID-19 vaccine shots overseas from its mandatory two-week quarantine starting July 1, health authorities said on Sunday.

As of May 5, the quarantine exemption was only applicable to people fully vaccinated in South Korea.

The new policy will apply only to certain people, such as citizens and foreign residents, as well as those coming to visit family, or for the purpose of business, academics or public interest, said Son Young-rae, an official with the Central Disaster Management Headquarters.

Exempt travellers will need to fill out an application, and still need to be tested before and after arriving in South Korea. 

Japan

US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his support for the Tokyo Olympics at a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Saturday, highlighting the necessity of imposing public health measures ensuring the safety of those involved.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which were postponed last year due to the global spread of the coronavirus, are scheduled to start on July 23, in the face of opposition from most of the public, many Japanese companies and medical staff.

"President Biden affirmed his support for the Tokyo Olympic Games moving forward with all public health measures necessary to protect athletes, staff and spectators," the White House said.

"President Biden expressed pride in the US athletes who have trained for the Tokyo Games and will be competing in the best traditions of the Olympic spirit."

US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Photo credit: Getty Images

Americas

Mexico

About a quarter of Mexico's 126 million people are estimated to have been infected with the coronavirus, the health ministry said on Friday, far more than the country's confirmed infections.

The 2020 National Health and Nutrition Survey (Ensanut) showed that about 31.1 million people have had the virus, the ministry said in a statement, citing Tonatiuh Barrientos, an official at the National Institute of Public Health.

The estimate was given as the country recorded 3282 new cases and 243 more fatalities, taking its total number of confirmed infections to 2,448,820 and the death toll to 229,823.

The government has said previously the real number of cases was likely to be significantly higher.

Brazil

Eight Venezuela soccer players in Brazil for the Copa America have tested positive for COVID-19, health officials said on Saturday, a day before they meet the hosts in the tournament's opening game.

The "members of the delegation include players and members of the backroom staff," said a statement from the Health Secretariat in Brasilia, where Sunday's game will take place.

The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) made the diagnosis on Friday and informed local health authorities.

"All are asymptomatic, isolated in individual rooms, and are being monitored by the CONMEBOL team and local health officials," the statement added.

Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday he has spoken with US President Joe Biden about how to lift pandemic-related border restrictions between the two countries but made clear no breakthrough has been achieved.

Trudeau, speaking after a Group of Seven summit in Britain, said he had talked to Biden "about coordinating measures at our borders as both our countries move ahead with mass vaccination." 

"We will continue to work closely together on moving forward in the right way but each of us always will put at the forefront the interests and the safety of our own citizens," Trudeau told a televised news conference when asked the Biden conversation.

"Many countries, like Canada, continue to say that now is not the time to travel," Trudeau added, though he said it is important to get back to normalcy as quickly as possible.