COVID- 19 PANDEMIC Lockdowns around the world as vaccine efforts stumble
Mumbai, India - Fresh lockdowns and curfews were imposed on tens of millions of people from India to Argentina on Saturday, as COVID-19 infections surged again and vaccine roll-outs were hampered by shortages and scares over side effects.
In India, the worst-hit state of Maharashtra was running out of vaccines as the health system buckled under the weight of the contagion, which has killed 2.9 million people worldwide.
Having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political rallies and spectators at cricket matches, the world’s second-most populous nation has added more than a million new infections since late March.
Every weekend from Saturday until the end of April, Maharashtra’s 125mn people will be confined to their homes unless travelling or shopping for food or medicine.
The crisis is being exacerbated by a shortage of vaccines.
India has so far inoculated 94mn of its 1.3bn people, but The Times of India reported on Friday that states on average had just over five days of stock left, citing Health Ministry data, with some regions already grappling with severe shortages.
Stay-at-home orders were also set to come into force for the 8mn inhabitants of Bogota, as the Colombian capital battled a third wave of infections, adding to curfews already covering 7mn across four other major cities.
Elsewhere in South America,
Argentina entered a night-time curfew on Friday running from midnight to 6.00am every day until April 30. It will be in force in the country’s highest-risk areas, mainly urban centres, where bars and restaurants will close at 11.00pm.
Both Argentina and Colombia have recorded about 2.5mn coronavirus cases, numbers surpassed only by Brazil in the region.
All of France is subject to restrictions of some form, while the German government's attempts to curb movement and commerce have been stymied by several states refusing to go along with the proposals.
Now Berlin is changing the rules to centralise power, adjustments likely to usher in night-time curfews and some school closures in especially hard-hit areas.
However, some countries are in the process of opening up.