France cautiously celebrates Bastille Day, clouded by virus
Bastille Day is back, sort of. France celebrated its national holiday with thousands of troops marching in a Paris parade, warplanes roaring overhead and traditional parties around the country, after last year's events were scaled back because of virus fears.
This year, those fears are still lurking, but the government decided to go ahead with the parade on the Champs Elysees anyway, as part of a broader effort to return to pre-pandemic activity.
The number of onlookers was limited, and they were restricted to a small section of the parade. In addition, each person attending had to show a special pass proving they have been fully vaccinated, had recently recovered from the virus or had a negative virus test.
Indonesia has recorded its biggest daily increase in coronavirus infections with 54,517 cases, taking the total tally to just over 2.67 million cases, according to data from the country's Covid-19 taskforce.
According to Reuters, the data also shows 991 new deaths, bringing the total number to 69,210. Indonesia has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths from Covid-19 in Southeast Asia.
Several areas in China will start vaccinating teenagers this month against Covid-19, state media and local authorities have said, as the country steps up its inoculation campaign. China, which has managed to rein in domestic infections, has administered 1.4 billion vaccine doses, or two-fifths of the global total of 3.47bn doses.
This month, the southwestern region of Guangxi and the city of Jingmen in the central province of Hubei will start vaccinating those aged between 15 and 17, and children between 12 and 14 in August, state media and local disease control officials said in reports on Tuesday. By the end of October, authorities there aim to have fully vaccinated all eligible in the age group of 12 to 17.
The Covid-19 curve in the US is rising again after months of decline, with the number of new cases per day doubling over the past three weeks, driven by the fast-spreading Delta variant, lagging vaccination rates and Fourth of July gatherings.
Confirmed infections climbed to an average of about 23,600 a day on Monday, up from 11,300 on June 23, according to Johns Hopkins University data. And all but two states - Maine and South Dakota reported that case numbers have gone up over the past two weeks.
"It is certainly no coincidence that we are looking at exactly the time that we would expect cases to be occurring after the July Fourth weekend," said Dr Bill Powderly, co-director of the infectious disease division at Washington University's School of Medicine in St Louis. Officials have said that a coronavirus cluster has been detected at a Japanese hotel where dozens of Brazilian Olympic team members are staying, raising concerns of Covid-19 infections spreading between locals and Olympic staff and athletes, Reuters reports.
Seven staff at the hotel in the city of Hamamatsu, southwest of Tokyo, have tested positive, said a city official, but the 31 members of the Brazilian
Olympic delegation, which includes judo athletes, are in a "bubble" inside the hotel separated from other guests and have not been infected.
The cases were found during a routine screening process required before the staff started work, said city official Yoshinobu Sawada, adding the unidentified hotel was now considered a Covid-19 cluster.
Masks will remain mandatory on London's public transport network after July 19, according to the city's mayor, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government plans to lift most Covid-19 restrictions from that date in England despite rising cases.
The public will be expected, rather than compelled by law, to wear masks in indoor enclosed spaces across the country from next week, as rules decided upon by the Conservative administration are eased.
But in the capital, operator Transport for London, which is chaired by Mayor Sadiq Khan from the Labour Party, will continue to require face coverings on buses, trains and other parts of the transit system to keep down infections, Reuters reports.