[Just a few weeks ago, India was a
major exporter of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and it was using that
to exert influence in South Asia and around the world. But as infections
soared, the country decided to cut
back on exports and is now holding back nearly all of the 2.4 million
doses that the
Serum Institute of India, the private company that is one of the world’s
largest producers of the AstraZeneca vaccine, makes each day.]
By Mujib Mashal, Sameer Yasir, Julfikar
Ali Manik and Raphael
Minder
The authorities in Bangladesh said
the nation of 165 million people would go into a weeklong lockdown beginning on
Monday to curb the spread of the virus. The country shut down for two months
starting in March last year.
Bangladesh on Friday registered
nearly 7,000 cases in 24 hours, the highest since the spread of the virus in
the country last year. The daily death toll has been around 50 for the past
week, but what has particularly alarmed officials is the high test positivity
rate, with 24 percent of virus tests conducted coming back positive.
Farhad Hossain, Bangladesh’s state
minister for public administration, told the local news media that “industries
and factories will remain open,” but would operate in shifts and follow strict
health protocols. The exceptions appeared to be aimed at reducing the economic
impact and avoiding
the kind of exodus of laborers that led to a humanitarian crisis in
India last year.
Infections have also been
rising sharply
in Pakistan, which has struggled to source vaccines for its population, and
in India, where a
vaccination drive is only
now picking up pace — despite the country being home to one of the
world’s largest suppliers of vaccines.
Just a few weeks ago, India was a
major exporter of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and it was using that
to exert influence in South Asia and around the world. But as infections
soared, the country decided to cut
back on exports and is now holding back nearly all of the 2.4 million
doses that the
Serum Institute of India, the private company that is one of the world’s
largest producers of the AstraZeneca vaccine, makes each day.
India on Saturday recorded its
biggest single-day spike in cases since September, with government officials
reporting nearly 90,000 cases and 714 deaths over the past 24 hours. Single-day
figures sometimes contain anomalies, but the country’s
seven-day average of new cases, a more reliable gauge, has been rising
sharply since early March.
Nearly half of deaths and new
infections in recent weeks have been traced
to the state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai, the country’s financial hub.
Uddhav Thackeray, the state’s chief
minister, warned in a televised address on Friday that a lockdown was imminent
if people continued with their relaxed attitude. Even when people are
vaccinated, he noted, protection from infection is not absolute.
“The vaccine is like an umbrella in
the rain,” Mr. Thackeray said. “But what we are facing right now is a storm.”
As cases rise, law enforcement
officials across India are adopting stringent measures, including fining
violators who don’t wear masks. India has also expanded its vaccination drive,
now administering over three million jabs a day.
But the government’s messaging is
at times contradictory, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many senior
officials continue to hold large rallies in several states where local elections
are underway.
The government has also allowed
a huge monthlong Hindu festival to go ahead on the banks
of Ganges River. One million to five million people are expected to participate
in the festivities in the city of Haridwar each day, officials say.
In other virus news from around the
world:
- On Saturday, Catalonia became the latest region
of Spain whose authorities defied a government decree
that a face mask must be worn in all public spaces, including beaches,
independent of whether social distancing can be maintained. Miquel Sàmper,
the region’s interior minister, told a Catalan radio station that the
regional government believed that it was “pure logic” that “when you are
sunbathing, you need not wear a mask,” although the mask should be worn on
the beach if a person moved about and got into close contact with others.
Regional politicians from the Canary and Balearic Islands, two Spanish
archipelagoes that are major tourism hubs, have also criticized the
decree, which the central government made without consulting them first.
- Italy entered a three-day
nationwide coronavirus lockdown on Saturday to deter Easter travel and
get-togethers even as the country’s variant-fueled spike in new infections
began to wane, The Associated Press reported. Travel between regions and
visits to relatives were being limited through Monday. Nonessential shops
were closed and restaurants and bars were only open for takeout.
- San Marino, a microstate
surrounded by Italy, feared being left behind in Europe’s inoculation
campaign. Now it has jumped ahead, with
the Sputnik vaccine sent by an unlikely, faraway friend.
- Turkey began administering Pfizer-BioNTech shots. With coronavirus
infections surging and Ramadan approaching, the government also recently
moved to reimpose strict social distancing measures, including a prohibition
on the large gatherings for meals before sunrise and after sunset
that are traditional during the Muslim holy month.
Mujib Mashal is The New York Times
correspondent for South Asia. Born in Kabul, he wrote for magazines such
as The Atlantic, Harper’s, Time and others before joining The Times. @MujMash
Sameer Yasir is a reporter for The
New York Times, covering the intersection of identity politics, conflicts and
society. He joined The Times in 2020 and is based in New Delhi. @sameeryasir
Raphael Minder covers Spain
and Portugal, based in Madrid. He previously worked for Bloomberg News in
Switzerland and for the Financial Times in Paris, Brussels, Sydney and finally
Hong Kong. @RaphaelMinder
