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Half of Burma Could Contract COVID, Pakistan Enacts New Restrictions, Haiti Hospitals Overwhelmed

HeadlineJul 30, 2021

Britain’s U.N. ambassador has warned that half of Burma’s population of 54 million could contract COVID-19 in the next two weeks amid the ongoing turmoil following a military coup in February.

Pakistan is enacting an air travel ban for anyone who cannot provide a vaccine certificate. It is also mandating all public sector workers get vaccinated, as well as public transport and retail staff, and teachers and students 18 and older.

Meanwhile, record cases have been reported across Japan and in Tokyo this week as the Olympics continue.

Israel said it will be offering booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine to people over 60, the first country to do so. This despite less than 10% of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories having been fully vaccinated.

The European Union pulled ahead of the U.S. this week in its rate of vaccination after a slow rollout earlier in the year. In July, the EU has given shots at four times the pace of the U.S.

In Haiti, health workers say hospitals are becoming overwhelmed due to a surge in cases as the country grapples with a worsening economic and political crisis in the wake of the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. This is hospital director Dr. Nathalie Colas.

Dr. Nathalie Colas: ’’Sometimes we have almost 60 patients at the hospital who need oxygen, while we only have 10 oxygen tanks available. The areas where we could get oxygen are inaccessible. It is a very stressful situation for us at the hospital.”

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