Latin America and the Caribbean on Friday passed 1 million COVID-19 deaths as the IMF proposed a US$50 billion plan to end the pandemic, aiming to expand global immunization drives.
Since COVID-19 was first detected in Latin America in Sao Paulo in late February last year, Agence France-Presse has recorded more than 1,001,400 fatalities — almost 30 percent of the global total — and more than 31.5 million cases.
Nearly 90 percent of those deaths have been recorded in just five countries: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Peru.
Photo: Reuters
“People aren’t taking care, none of us are being careful and we want to go out and travel,” said Alicia Sepulveda, a resident of Buenos Aires, Argentina, which went on a nine-day lockdown beginning yesterday after Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said it was facing its “worst moment” yet in the pandemic.
Latin America suffers from a lack of access to vaccines and medical supplies, and has only finished immunizing 3 percent of its population, according to the Pan American Health Organization.
Globally, the real number of dead from the pandemic was “at least two to three times higher than officially reported,” Samira Asma, the WHO’s assistant director-general in charge of data, told reporters.
In Washington, the IMF proposed a US$50 billion recovery plan with the aim of having at least 60 percent of the world’s population vaccinated by the end of next year.
The amount pales in comparison to the massive stimulus rolled out by rich nations, including the latest US$1.9 trillion US package.
“One of the key messages of this proposal is that the amount that’s needed is not very big,” IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said.
Meanwhile, vaccine firms pledged to supply billions of doses to poorer nations by the end of next year at the Global Health Summit in Rome, which was part of the G20 talks.
Vaccine makers Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson promised 3.5 billion doses at cost or discount to middle and low-income countries this year and next.
“It is a very clear ‘no’ to health nationalism,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the G20 after the EU pledged 100 million doses and to invest in manufacturing hubs in Africa to reduce reliance on imports.
Germany chipped in later on Friday, donating 30 million doses to poorer countries this year.
Vaccines are offering hope that nations can finally emerge from the pandemic that has ravaged the global economy and killed more than 3.4 million people since the end of 2019.
In Europe, the tourism sector looked on track to start a cautious resumption as Spain said it would open its borders to all immunized travelers from June 7.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also said that all British travelers would be welcomed in for holidays — without even needing to present a negative COVID-19 test.
However, in sharp contrast, Germany said it would from today require people arriving from the UK to quarantine for two weeks because of the spread there of a coronavirus variant first found in India.
Germany on Friday opened beer gardens, terraces and pools in some parts of the country for the first time in months.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS