Covid-19 deaths in the US reached 1 million, Myanmar re-issues visas for tourists

“This pandemic is not over yet. Today, we mark a tragic milestone in America, 1 million people have died from Covid-19, one million families have lost loved ones. Every person who dies leaves their family and community behind. Everything has changed because of this pandemic. My heart goes out to all those who are struggling,” CBS news agency quoted Biden as saying at the second Global Pandemic Summit held on May 12.

Mr. Biden said he had called on the US Congress to approve more funding to support the efforts of the Washington government in epidemic prevention.

“I continue to call on the US Congress to take urgent action to provide funding for Covid-19 prevention, because it is so important to protect the American people and ensure that we maintain supplies of tests, treatments, and a variety of vaccines, including next-generation vaccines under development,” Biden added.

“Addressing the Covid-19 epidemic must still be a priority at the international level. This conference is an opportunity to ‘refresh’ our efforts when it comes to controlling this pandemic, as well as preventing future health crises,” the US President emphasized.

Statistics quoted by the AP news agency from the US State Department show that the US has sent nearly 540 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to more than 110 countries and territories around the world, more than any other country. any other country that has participated in the COVAX Universal Vaccine Access Mechanism.

Myanmar to re-issue visas for tourists

Myanmar officials said on May 12 that the country will resume issuing visas to foreign visitors as an effort to revive the tourism industry, which has been exhausted by the Covid-19 epidemic and political turmoil. .

“Travelers will need to present a certificate of vaccination against Covid-19, negative PCR test results taken before the flight. After landing at the airport, the passengers need to conduct a quick test,” the AP news agency quoted a source from Myanmar media as saying.

According to data released by the Myanmar government, there were 4.36 million international visitors to Myanmar in 2019. However, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, the number of tourists to the Southeast Asian country This only reached 903,000 people.

Vaccine factory in South Africa faces the risk of closure

The multinational pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare said that its Covid-19 vaccine factory in South Africa is facing difficulties due to not receiving orders from international organizations.

“When the pandemic broke out and we shifted production, the factory reached the capacity to produce more than 200 million doses of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine per year. This vaccine factory is widely known as a great African achievement, ‘a game changer’ in the continent. But now nobody is ordering, we are not receiving any orders from multilateral organizations,” Aspen Pharmacare’s executive director of commercial development strategy Stavros Nicolaou told the AP news agency. 12/5.

“Global vaccine access mechanism COVAX has ordered 2.1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine, but not any vaccine doses have been ordered from Aspen Pharmacare or other manufacturers in Africa. ” added Mr. Nicolaou.

Some other developments on the epidemic

Updated at 5 am on May 13 by the global statistics site Worldometers, the Covid-19 epidemic is raging in 220 countries and territories, infecting more than 519.6 million people and claiming lives. of more than 6.2 million patients. The number of recoveries reached more than 474.3 million cases.

Tuan Tran