Health

ROME, June 28 (Xinhua) -- All regions of Italy on Monday become the so-called "white zone," with the lowest level of anti-coronavirus rules in the country's four-tiered system.

People are no longer required to wear face masks outdoors except for large gatherings. But masks are still mandatory on public transport, in all public offices and indoor spaces.

Masks are "strongly recommended" in the presence of the vulnerable, such as the elderly, according to the technical-scientific committee advising the government on the coronavirus emergency.

PARIS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Infections with the more contagious COVID-19 Delta variant "now account for about 20 percent of new cases" in France, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday.

The Delta variant, first detected in India, "is gradually becoming dominant (in France) as it is in all countries in the world," Veran told France info radio.

The same virus variant had represented 9 to 10 percent of new infections according to numbers released a week ago.

New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) Vaccine major Serum Institute of India chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla on Monday said he has taken up the issues faced by Indians who have taken the Covishield jab travelling to the European Union at highest levels and hoped to resolve them soon.

Covishield is the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India by the Pune-based vaccine maker.

Sydney, Jun 28 (AP-PTI) Police have fined two men who had to be rescued from an Australian forest after they were startled by a deer while nude sunbathing on a beach and became lost.

The men called for help about 6 pm Sunday after they became lost in the Royal National Park south of Sydney, a police statement said.

Unbelievably, we saw two men sunbaking naked on a beach on the South Coast, Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told reporters. They were startled by a deer, ran into the national ... park and got lost."

New Delhi, June 28 (PTI) India has overtaken the US in the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

While India launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16, and has administered over 32.36 crore doses till date, the US which started its inoculation drive on December 14, 2020 has given over 32.33 crore doses.

"India achieves another milestone in COVID-19 vaccination and overtakes USA in total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered," the ministry said.

Ballia (UP), Jun 27 (PTI) Criticising the handling of the COVID-19 crisis in Uttar Pradesh, a ruling party leader has claimed that at least 10 people died in every village during the second wave as no lessons were learnt from the first one.

State BJP working committee member Ram Iqbal Singh, who made the remarks on Saturday, is the latest among the party's leaders who have questioned the management of the coronavirus infection in the state.

Chennai, Jun 28 (PTI) The Tamil Nadu government on Monday urged the Centre to revise the 75:25 allocation format of Covid vaccines to government and private institutions and demanded that 90 per cent of the doses be given to the state-run facilities.

In a letter to Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan, Chief Minister M K Stalin said the "25 per cent allocation to private hospitals is grossly higher when compared to the actual vaccinations done by them."

GUANGZHOU, June 28 (Xinhua) -- China's top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said in an interview with Xinhua that building an immune barrier is urgently needed to combat the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19.

Zhong said the resurgence of the virus in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, was the first time that China had to cope with the delta variant spreading in the community.

The variant, which was first identified in India, has a shorter incubation period than other variants and the infected individuals experience longer recovery periods.

JERUSALEM, Jun 25 (NNN-PNN) – Traces of the Delta COVID-19 variant have been detected in the sewer system of the southern Israel’s coastal city of Ashkelon, the Israeli Ministry of Health said yesterday.

This result raised concerns that certain residents in the city have been infected with the variant, the ministry said in a statement.

Following the detection, the ministry called on anyone suffering from fever, cough and weakness, or fearing of being infected, to take a test as soon as possible, to prevent an outbreak in the city, which has more than 140,000 residents.

25 June 2021; MEMO: Egypt yesterday received the first consignment of 210,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine.

The state-run Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement and Medical Supplies said in a statement that the doses had come as part of a "deal signed in May between the two countries to acquire 2 million doses of the Russian vaccine."