Sunday, September 19, 2021
By
AFP

Coronavirus: Latest global developments

By
AFP
|
The US is the worst-affected country that lost 672,880 people to the infection. File photo.
The US is the worst-affected country that lost 672,880 people to the infection. File photo.

PARIS: Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis.

- French anti-health pass campaigners march -

Protesters against France's "health pass" demonstrate across the country for a 10th consecutive weekend, but numbers are significantly down on previous weeks, according to official figures, which put the turnout at 80,000, down from 121,000 last Saturday.

- US experts back booster jab for over-65s -

A panel of leading US medical experts advising the government vote in favour of authorising boosters of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine for everyone aged 65 and up, as well as people at high risk of developing severe Covid-19.

But it rejects a proposal to fully approve boosters to everyone aged 16 and over.

- 200 arrested in Melbourne lockdown protest -

Several police officers are injured and over 200 protesters arrested in Australia's second-most-populous city Melbourne in violent clashes at an anti-lockdown march.

Officers use pepper spray as several hundred attendees flout stay-at-home orders and march through an inner-city suburb.

- Cases numbers dropping in North Africa -

Weeks after a spike in coronavirus cases overwhelmed intensive care units across North Africa with severe oxygen shortages sparking public anger, case numbers are sharply declining.

- Guantanamo 9/11 trial halted by Covid scare -

The pretrial hearing in the case against accused 9/11 attacks mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others is suspended amid a coronavirus scare in the courtroom at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

- New York Philharmonic resumes performances -

Following 556 days of pandemic-inflicted cancellations, and $21 million in lost revenues, the New York Philharmonic opens its new season, a "homecoming" for musicians limited to live streams, one-off and outdoor shows for more than a year.

- Over 4.6 million dead -

The coronavirus has killed at least 4,678,016 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.

The US is the worst-affected country with 672,880 deaths, followed by Brazil with 589,573, India with 444,529, Mexico 270,538 and Peru 198,948.

The countries that have recorded the most deaths over the last seven days are: the United States, with 15,570, Russia, with 5,461, and Brazil, with 3,727.