Daily Times

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

– Workers badly hit –
The pandemic has pushed over 100 million more workers into poverty, the UN’s International Labour Organization said, with incomes slashed and 23 million fewer jobs.

– Delta variant –
The World Health Organization says one strain of a variant first detected in India — now officially dubbed the “Delta variant” — is now considered “of concern” while two other strains have been downgraded.

– Polisario leader leaves –
The leader of Western Sahara’s Polisario independence movement, whose treatment for Covid in a Spanish hospital sparked a diplomatic row with Morocco, has left for Algeria, Madrid said.

– Melbourne extends lockdown –
The five million residents of Australia’s second-largest city are ordered to remain in lockdown for another week, as authorities try to stamp out a quick-spreading virus strain they describe as an “absolute beast”.

– Upping Moderna production –
Swiss firm Lonza says it will open a new production line in the Netherlands to make ingredients for Moderna’s vaccine, making it possible to churn out hundreds of millions more jabs a year.

– Stay away Scots fans –
Scotland fans should only travel to London for their Euro 2020 clash with old enemy England on June 18 if they have tickets or a safe place to watch the match, authorities say.

– Vietnam flights –
International flights to Vietnam’s two biggest cities are to resume, officials say, reversing a short-lived ban imposed over fears of a new wave.

– Nearly 3.7 million dead
The pandemic has killed at least 3,681,985 people worldwide since the virus first emerged in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.

The US is the worst-affected country with 595,213 deaths, followed by Brazil with 465,199, India with 335,102, Mexico with 227,840, Peru with 184,507 and Britain with 127,782.

The figures are based on reports by health authorities in each country, but do not take into account upward revisions carried out later by statistical bodies.

The WHO says up to three times more people have died directly or indirectly due to the pandemic than official figures suggest.