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Coronavirus: Latest global developments
PARIS, May 16, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
– Argentina deaths top 70,000 –
Health authorities in Argentina said the country’s death toll passed 70,000 on Saturday and the average daily number of new cases was more than 20,000.
– UK confident –
Britain is confident that existing vaccines will provide protection from a more transmissible Indian virus variant now spreading across the country.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tells Sky News the government has a “high degree of confidence” vaccines will stand up to the variant, known as the B1.617.2 variant, as England, Scotland and Wales prepare to unlock parts of their economy on Monday.
– Virus-free Giro –
Organisers of the Giro d’Italia peloton say all riders and their entourages have tested negative for Covid-19.
At the 2020 cycling event two entire teams were taken out after positive cases, but after this second round of testing in 2021 no member of the 23 teams has yet tested positive.
However one cyclist was withdrawn as a precaution because of symptoms related to the deadly virus ahead of the ninth stage.
– 3.3 million dead –
At least 3,371,695 people have died since the coronavirus outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources at 1000 GMT.
The United States is the worst-affected country with 585,708 deaths, followed by Brazil with 434,715, India with 270,284 Mexico with 220,384 and Britain with 127,675.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2025HRS