After 20 months of strict enforcement of Covid curbs, the United States reopened its borders today for the vaccinated visitors.
America has opened its air and land borders from Monday (Nov 8) and people can visit the United States any time.
The Covid driven travel restrictions, imposed by former president Donald Trump in early 2020 and upheld by his successor Joe Biden, were widely criticised and became emblematic of the upheavals caused by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, three German parties working to agree on a coalition government by early December will present proposals to combat fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
The proposed law, which includes the reintroduction of free tests, comes from the SPD, Greens and Free Democrats who share a parliamentary majority together. The draft law will be discussed by the German Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, later this week, TRT World reported today.
It aims to come into force before a national state of epidemic emergency expires on November 25.
The Greens and FDP in particular have pushed for free testing which was abolished to incentivise people getting vaccines, but those refusing to be injected up to now are not seen budging. Doctors have supported calls for the reducing or waiving of test fees.
Mexico’s death toll rises to 289,734
Mexico has reported 60 new fatalities, bringing the country’s overall death toll from the pandemic to 289,734. Officials have said the health ministry’s figures likely represent a significant undercount of deaths.
Australia begins vaccine booster rollout
Australia will begin administering booster shots of Pfizer’s vaccine as millions in Sydney.
Australia’s vaccination rate has picked up pace since July, after widely missing its initial targets when its southeast was hit by a third wave of infections triggered by the highly infectious Delta variant, forcing months-long lockdowns.
Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities and the worst hit by the Delta wave, have been accelerating inoculation campaigns before they could gradually relax restrictions.
Life will return close to normal in New South Wales, home to Sydney, as the state nears its 90% dual-dose vaccinations in people above 16.
Japan has no daily COVID-19 deaths for first time in 15 months
Japan recorded no daily deaths from COVID-19 for the first time in more than a year on Sunday, according to local media.
Prior to Sunday, there hadn’t been a day without a COVID-19 death since August 2, 2020, according to a tally by Japanese national broadcaster NHK. The latest figures from the health ministry showed three deaths on Saturday.
COVID-19 cases and deaths have fallen dramatically throughout Japan as vaccinations have increased to cover more than 70% of the population.
New daily infections peaked at more than 25,000 during an August wave driven by the infectious Delta variant.
The country has had more than 18,000 deaths from the disease during the course of the pandemic.
To gird against a possible rebound this winter, the government plans to start booster vaccine shots next month and is working to secure pill-based treatments for milder cases to reduce hospitalisations.
China reports 89 new cases
China has reported 89 new coronavirus cases, 65 of them locally transmitted cases.
More than half of the new local cases were found in the provinces of Liaoning and Henan.
China reported 46 new asymptomatic patients, which it classifies separately from confirmed cases, compared to 35 only a day earlier. With no new deaths, the death toll stands unchanged at 4,636.
