May 17 coronavirus news

A poll conducted by a major Japanese newspaper shows that 43% of respondents were in favor of canceling the Olympics and Paralympics this summer, while 40% of respondents believed that the games should be postponed again.

On Monday, a poll published in Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed only 14% of respondents believe Tokyo 2020 should be held this summer as currently planned.

The survey randomly reached out to 1,527 adults with the right to vote in Japan over the weekend.

World Athletics president Seb Coe told CNN on Monday he was confident the Games could go ahead in a safe way, despite the growing calls for them to be canceled.

"Should we have the Games? Yes, we should. Can we have them safely and secure? I believe we can," he said.

Japan has been experiencing a new wave of Covid-19 infections and Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency. 

The Delhi government said it has just four days' worth of Covid-19 vaccines left.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia made the announcement during a virtual news conference on Monday, saying the central government has refused to provide the union territory, which includes the capital New Delhi, additional vaccines this month.

Quoting a letter sent by the central government, Sisodia said Delhi will receive 383,000 doses for those over the age of 45 in May but would not be supplied with vaccines for people aged between 18 to 44 years.

Citing the export of vaccines as the reason behind the shortage, Sisodia said he had written to the government asking for more vaccines.

In his letter, Sisodia also requested that data on vaccine allocation by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, the respective manufacturers of Covishield and Covaxin, be made public.

"This is so we know how many vaccines have been given for people between 18 and 44 years old and what has been allocated for those above the age of 45. It is also necessary for Delhi to know how many people are going to government clinics and how many to private hospitals for vaccinations," Sisodia added, stating this data should be made transparent.

India launched its vaccination drive on January 16, first prioritizing heath care and frontline workers, followed by people above the age of 60 and those over 45 with existing health conditions. 

On May 1, the drive was extended to include everyone above the age of 18. However, several states have faced challenges due a shortage of vaccine supplies.

There are currently two vaccines being administered in India: the homegrown Covaxin, manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, and Covishield, developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

The Indian government has described the discovery of bodies of suspected Covid-19 victims dumped in the Ganges River as "undesirable and alarming," in a press release Sunday night, acknowledging the practice for the first time.

Scores of bodies have washed up along the banks of the Ganges river or been found in shallow graves along the riverbed, as the country's second wave continues to devastate much of the country.

"The country is facing an extraordinary situation wherein a number of COVID-19 cases and consequential deaths have been on the rise in many States and UTs in the recent past," the government press release read. "Dumping of dead bodies/partially burnt or decomposed corpses in the river Ganga and its tributaries have recently been reported. This is most undesirable and alarming."

Over the past 10 days, villages situated along the river in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in eastern India have reported badly decomposed corpses washing ashore.

In Bihar's Buxar district, at least 71 bodies were recovered last week. The cause of death has not been determined as the corpses are in poor condition but all of them are now being cremated, district officials said.

In the Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh, officials discovered an excessive amounts of shallow graves dug in the riverbed.

"They were buried along in the sand and it has been done in the past... It is not clear that they are Covid patients. They are not confirmed cases from hospitals. This is from the villages. We can’t say if they are people who never got tested for Covid," said Suresh Kulkarni, senior police official, Unnao.

Kulkarni confirmed that nearly 60 bodies were recovered from one section of the riverbank but Indian media has estimated the numbers to be much higher.

Authorities in Bihar state set up a net across the river, according to a tweet from the state’s Minister for Water Resources, Sanjay Kumar Jha last Thursday.

The government has asked states along the river to patrol the banks to ensure no bodies are immersed and officials have been directed to arrange wood for proper cremations, especially for families which may not be able to afford them.

"A suitable awareness generation program needs to be taken up against the ill effects of such practices," the government press release read. "Support for cremation needs to be given top priority for safe and dignified cremation. Effective implementation of the Govt orders needs to be ensured and no loss of time should take place in implementation."

India has been battling a devastating second wave of Covid-19 for over one month during which tens of thousands of people have died.

The National Human Rights Commission issued an advisory Friday asking states and the federal government to ensure dignity and rights of the dead.

Read more on India's coronavirus crisis here:

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Analysis: Another national lockdown is not realistic for India

French and British pharmaceutical giants Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate showed a strong immune response in adults ages 18 to 95 and no safety concerns in its Phase 2 trial, the companies said in a news release Monday. A large Phase 3 trial of the vaccine is expected to begin in the coming weeks, they said.

The trial enrolled 722 volunteers in the United States and Honduras who received two injections 21 days apart and at three different dose levels. The companies said the vaccine triggered neutralizing antibodies comparable to those generated by natural infection, with higher levels among people ages 18 to 59. Participants who had previously been infected with Covid-19 showed high levels of neutralizing antibodies after a single dose, suggesting the shot may work as a booster, the companies said. 

The Phase 2 results have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal.

What's next: The companies said they will soon start a global Phase 3 trial, which is expected to enroll more than 35,000 adults from a range of countries. The trial will use the 10 microgram dose of the protein-based vaccine in combination with GSK’s immune-boosting adjuvant. The companies will also conduct studies with various variant formulations to assess the vaccine as a booster, regardless of the initial vaccine a person received. 

With positive Phase 3 results and regulatory reviews, the vaccine could be approved for use in the fourth quarter of 2021, the companies said.

“With these favorable results, we are set to progress to a global Phase 3 efficacy study. We look forward to generating additional data and working with our partners around the world to make our vaccine available as quickly as possible.”

Late last year, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline delayed release of their vaccine after interim results showed insufficient immune responses in the elderly.

Thailand is seeing a record number of new daily coronavirus infections, apparently driven by cases emerging in jails around the country.

The Southeast Asian country on Monday reported 9,635 new coronavirus cases -- the highest number of new infections since the pandemic began, according to Thailand's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). 

Of those cases, 6,853 were found in eight prisons and detention facilities across the country, the CCSA said. 

As of 6:00 p.m. (7:00 a.m. ET) on Sunday, a total of 10,748 inmates and prison staff across the facilities had been found to be infected with Covid-19 between May 1 and 16, according to Thailand’s Communicable Disease Department. 

More than 300,000 inmates are held in prisons across Thailand. CNN cannot yet confirm when the prison cases emerged.

International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement on Thursday warning the country's “overcrowded prisons and detention facilities are at grave risk from Covid-19 outbreaks.”  

As of Monday, Thailand had recorded 111,082 cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began and the total number of fatalities stands at 614, according to the CCSA. 

At least 1,843 cases from Monday’s new infections were found in Bangkok, the CCSA said. Most of the new cases found in the capital on Monday are from housing facilities at construction sites, it added. 

A much anticipated travel bubble between Hong Kong and Singapore has been delayed for a second time amid a rise of Covid-19 cases in Singapore. 

The travel bubble was due to launch on May 26 and would have allowed quarantine-free travel between the two cities. It has now been delayed till June 13 at least, when Singapore’s current pandemic measures will end. 

“During this period, both sides will continue to maintain communication, exchange relevant data and statistics, and review developments closely before deciding on the way forward with the inaugural flights under the ATB. A further announcement will be made on or before June 13.”

The two cities previously postponed plans to implement the travel bubble back in November due to a rise in Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong at the time.  

Germany’s incidence rate is sinking, and the country is slowly opening up. People living in areas with a lower incidence rate – under 100—can enjoy some new freedoms.

The state of Schleswig-Holstein, with an incidence rate of 35.1/100k inhabitants according to the state’s official website, is opening its beaches for early Pentecost holiday makers as of Monday, today.

Now, restaurants and pubs are allowed to open their doors, if guests can show proof of a negative test or are fully vaccinated, according to the northern German state’s website.

Hotels and bed and breakfast establishments can open their doors, again with a negative test, while all guests would be asked to repeat further proof every three days.

The state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in southwest Germany is taking careful steps to open up as well. As of last Saturday, several districts in the state have opened up restaurants and hotels in areas where the seven-day-incidence rate is lower than 100. Outdoor cultural events are now possible again in those districts in Baden-Wuerttemberg. And swimmers can dip into an outdoor pool.

The all-important national seven-day-incidence rate stands at 83.1/100k inhabitants Monday morning, according to the Robert Koch Institut, the national agency for disease control and prevention.

So far, 36.5% of the population has received at least one dose of vaccine, and 10.9% are fully vaccinated, according to the vaccine dashboard of the German Ministry of Health.

Kenya will run out of Covid-19 vaccines “anytime between the end of May and the first week of June,” according to the chair of Kenya’s vaccine taskforce.

“We have used up 91% of our doses,” Dr. Willis Akhwale said.

The vaccine campaign was launched at the beginning of March prioritizing frontline essential health workers, teachers, people over the age of 58 and security personnel. But less than 2% of Kenya’s population of more than 52 million have had their first shot, according to Our World in Data.

The East African nation had received just over 1 million of the 3.6 million AstraZeneca doses promised by the global vaccine-sharing alliance COVAX by May, that’s less than half of the vaccines Kenyan officials were expecting. The Health Ministry had initially planned to administer second doses after eight weeks. But in April, they pushed this back to 12 weeks.

COVAX — the initiative that provides discounted or free doses for lower-income countries -- is largely reliant on India's vaccine manufacturers. But with India facing its own crisis, it’s halted all vaccine exports.

On Monday the executive director for UNICEF -- which distributes vaccines for COVAX -- urged EU states and G7 nations to share their doses.

“Sharing immediately available excess doses is a minimum, essential and emergency stop-gap measure, and it is needed right now,” she added.

The call echoes WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who last week said wealthy countries should reconsider plans to vaccinate children against Covid-19 and instead donate their shots to poorer nations.

High- and upper-middle income countries represent 53% of the world’s population, but have received 83% of the vaccines, while low- and lower-middle income countries -- which account for 47% of the global population -- have received just 17% of the vaccines, according to new WHO data.

G7 leaders are due to meet in the UK next month. By then, COVAX will find itself 190 million doses short of its planned target, according to UNICEF.

Doctors in Kenya say a vaccine shortage will cost lives. Kenyans eager to get vaccinated have been turned away from vaccine centers in recent week after a number of hospitals and facilities ran out of doses. The country has recorded over 3,000 deaths in total during the pandemic, Health Ministry data shows.

As a result of the shortage, the government is working on securing 30 million Johnson and Johnson doses by August.

Though the first African countries started vaccinating their populations in early March, the World Health Organization says fewer than 1% of global vaccinations have been carried out on the continent and that at least eight African countries have exhausted their supplies from COVAX.

Last week the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a Covid-19 variant first identified in India has now spread to six African nations. Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda have reported the B.1.617 strain that is fueling India's crippling second wave and which initial studies show spreads more easily.

Covid-19 vaccination drives were suspended in the city of Mumbai on Monday and in Gujarat state for Monday and Tuesday as Tropical Cyclone Tauktae bears down on southern and western states in India, officials said.

The storm intensified from "very severe" to "extremely severe" on Monday, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.

At least two people were killed on Sunday as a result of the storm, which caused heavy rainfall in Goa, the chief minister of the state, Parmod Sawant, said at a press conference.

“One boy died due to a tree falling on his head, and the second death, two people were on a motorcycle when an electric pole fell on them and one died on the way to the hospital,” Sawant said.

A total of 101 teams of India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed across six states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra, and 22 teams have been readied for back up, according to Satya Pradhan, director general of the NDRF.

“The main impact state will be Gujarat, and that’s where we expect maximum impact,” Pradhan said, adding that more than 50 teams had been deployed to that region alone.

The Indian Coast Guard and Navy have also deployed ships and helicopters for search and rescue operations and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed senior officials to take “every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated by the State Governments and to ensure maintenance of all essential services,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s office on Saturday said.

Modi, who reviewed preparedness for the cyclone on Saturday, also directed officials to “ensure special preparedness on COVID management in hospitals, vaccine cold chain and other medical facilities on power back up and storage of essential medicines and to plan for unhindered movement of oxygen tankers,” according to a statement Saturday.

In Mumbai, 580 Covid patients from “jumbo centers” -- the city’s makeshift covid care centers -- were shifted to various hospitals ahead of the storm on Friday and Saturday, a statement from the city’s municipal corporation said.