PARIS – France is lifting the mandatory wearing of masks outside and will end an eight-month nighttime curfew against coronaviruses on Sunday.
The announcement Wednesday by French Prime Minister Jean Castex comes as France reports around 3,900 cases of the virus per day on average, up from 35,000 at the March-April peak.
Castex hailed the “very good news”, saying the curfew will be lifted 10 days earlier than expected. More than 58% of the French adult population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccinations were opened for 12 to 18 year olds on Tuesday to help protect the nation as restrictions are gradually lifted.
Political cartoons about world leaders
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– France abandons masks outside; end the virus’s nighttime curfew
– U.S. public schools fear declining enrollment due to COVID-19 will become permanent
– Battling wave of COVID-19, South Africa increases restrictions
– California marks its reopening with jackpots, a Hollywood touch
Follow more information on AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS:
MOSCOW – Authorities in Moscow and the surrounding region on Wednesday made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for those working in retail, education, health care, public transport and other occupations that provide services to a large number of people.
Russian public health officials have ordered businesses and institutions to ensure that 60% of staff receive at least one injection of a coronavirus vaccine by July 15 and are fully immunized by August 15.
“We must simply do everything to carry out mass vaccination as soon as possible and stop the terrible disease,” said the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin.
At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no plans to order compulsory vaccinations across the country.
Russia was among the first countries in the world to roll out a coronavirus vaccine, but its vaccination rates lag behind many other countries, with just 18 million people – or just 12% of the 146 million people – receiving at least one injection from early June.
In Moscow, where coronavirus cases have exploded in recent weeks, only 1.8 million people, or 14% of the population, have been vaccinated.
Russian authorities have reported more than 5.2 million confirmed cases of the virus and more than 127,000 deaths. Authorities on Tuesday recorded 13,397 new infections, nearly half of which were reported in Moscow.
ANKARA, Turkey – Long queues for vaccines have formed outside hospitals and health clinics across Turkey as the country ramped up its vaccination campaign following last month’s deal with Pfizer to 90 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine – with an option for 30 million more.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Twitter a record 1.24 million doses administered in a single day on Tuesday.
With the arrival of new doses, the country of 84 million people this week declared all workers enrolled in the state’s social security system – as well as anyone over the age of 40 – eligible for the vaccine. Mobile vaccination units have been dispatched to industrial areas to help speed up the vaccination campaign.
So far, 14 million people have been fully immunized and 22 million people have received a first dose.
NEW DELHI – India is reopening its famous love wonder, the Taj Mahal, and several other landmarks as the number of new coronavirus infections continues to decline.
District Magistrate Prabhu Narain Singh said 650 tourists who booked online will be allowed to visit the white marble Taj Mahal per day from Wednesday. Temperatures will be checked at the gates, masks will have to be worn and social distancing will have to be respected.
The monument was closed in April amid a wave of new infections in India.
The Department of Health on Wednesday reported 62,224 new infections in the past 24 hours, down from the peak of more than 400,000 new infections per day in April. It also reported 2,542 additional deaths, bringing the total number of deaths to 379,573. Both figures are believed to be vastly underestimates.
The city of Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located, reported 10 new infections on Tuesday, up from a peak of 500 per day in April.
In New Delhi, authorities are reopening stores, malls and restaurants this week. Restrictions have also been relaxed in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and other cities with a drop in new infections.
WASHINGTON – British researchers say the first results of a large study show that antibody treatment reduces mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients who face the greatest risk of coronavirus.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ drug combination reduced the number of patient deaths by 30% to 24% among those who had not yet developed an immune response against COVID-19. Regeneron’s medicine and similar treatments provide laboratory-made versions of antibodies that can help fight the virus.
Smaller studies have previously shown the drug to help reduce the risk of hospitalization and death when given to patients with earlier, milder cases of COVID-19.
The study of 10,000 patients led by the University of Oxford also found that the drug shortened hospital stays and lowered the chances of needing a ventilator in the same group of patients. Among patients with natural antibodies to COVID-19, adding the drug had no significant benefit on survival.
Regeneron’s two antibody combo is currently available for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 in the United States and Europe. It is not allowed in the UK
ORLANDO, Florida – Disney plans to restart fireworks at its theme parks in Florida and California in the company’s latest move to ease pandemic restrictions implemented last year.
The company has announced that the fireworks will resume in early July at Walt Disney World in Florida and on July 4 at Disneyland in California. The fireworks had been suspended to discourage people from gathering after the parks reopened following closures linked to the virus last year.
This week, face masks were made optional for visitors to Disney World in Florida, provided they are vaccinated, although Disney workers do not need proof of vaccination.
LOS ANGELES – California Governor Gavin Newsom has distributed $ 1.5 million each to 10 vaccine winners at Universal Studios to mark the end of state restrictions on coronaviruses.
The $ 15 million awarded on Tuesday was the latest part of Newsom’s $ 116.5 million “Vax for the Win” program. The effort encourages residents to get vaccinated and speed up California’s recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed 3.8 million people globally and 600,000 nationwide.
California on Tuesday welcomed its reopening and the end of many coronavirus restrictions, including masks, social distancing and capacity limits in most settings.
California has reported 3.6 million confirmed cases and more than 62,000 confirmed deaths.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Vaccine supplies have eclipsed demand in New Mexico, even as the state strives to meet a key immunization goal.
Health officials have confirmed to The Associated Press that New Mexico’s inventory includes nearly 493,000 doses that are stored in freezers statewide. The expiration dates are this week through September. The state also donated 372,600 doses of its undelivered allowance to the federal government.
Department of Health spokesman David Morgan said New Mexico was adjusting to declining vaccine demand in several ways. This includes ordering a minimum number of doses as requested by suppliers.
New Mexico is just on track to meet its goal of having 60% of residents 16 and older fully immunized. Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham wants to hit that mark this week so she can follow through on plans to fully reopen the state by July 1.
The latest state data puts the vaccination rate at 58.5%.
The state is offering cash incentives to people who get either their second shot or Johnson & Johnson’s single shot by Thursday. Those who are vaccinated can also enter a raffle that includes a grand prize of $ 5 million.
BRUSSELS – The European Commission has proposed that the bloc of 27 countries appoint a chief European epidemiologist by the end of the year to better respond to future health crises.
The EU’s executive body presented a list of 10 lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on improvements for the next time.
The Commission also proposed to create a global surveillance system to ensure faster detection, enabling the activation of an “EU pandemic state of emergency”. The proposals will be discussed by EU leaders at a summit next week in Brussels.
Meanwhile, the European Commission said it had raised $ 24.2 billion via a 10-year bond to finance the recovery of the bloc of 27 countries after the coronavirus crisis.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the inaugural transaction of the NextGeneration EU program is the largest institutional bond issue in Europe. The money will help finance national stimulus packages designed by member states to get their economies back on track.
NEW YORK – The death toll in the United States from COVID-19 has exceeded 600,000 as the vaccination campaign has reduced cases and daily deaths.
That’s according to a count from Johns Hopkins University. The number of lives lost is greater than the population of Baltimore or Milwaukee. That’s roughly equal to the number of Americans who died from cancer in 2019.
With the advent of vaccines, daily COVID-19 deaths in the United States have fallen to an average of 340, from a high of over 3,400 in mid-January. Cases are 14,000 per day on average, compared to a quarter of a million per day during the winter.
Worldwide, the confirmed death toll from COVID-19 stands at 3.8 million. The actual totals in the United States and around the world are believed to be considerably higher, with many cases being overlooked or possibly hidden by some countries.
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