April 6 coronavirus news

President Joe Biden visits a vaccination site in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday.

President Biden said he hopes the US will have enough vaccine doses that it will be able to begin distributing doses to other countries “pretty soon.”

CNN has previously reported that Biden is taking initial steps toward helping other nations ramp up shots, including by boosting global manufacturing and appointing a top global health expert who previously advocated for shipping vaccines from the United States’ surplus abroad.

However, the President remains wary of sending vaccines overseas before people in the United States have access, and administration health experts continue to caution that extra doses may be needed as the virus mutates and the pandemic persists.

Toronto Public Health is ordering all elementary and secondary schools to stop in-person learning and shift to remote learning, effective Wednesday, due to a growing concern of Covid-19 transmission, and variants of the virus.

The order will be in place from April 7 to April 18, according to the guidance issued today, at which point an extension may be considered.

According to the guidance, Toronto Public Health says it believes that schools should be “the first places in our community to open, and the last to close,” but added, “current circumstances require that difficult decisions must be taken locally to protect all those in our school communities, including students, teachers and staff.”

During the shutdown period, child care programs will also not be allowed to offer in-person care for kids who would otherwise be attending school. 

Toronto Public Health said this extreme measure is being taken to try to “reverse the surge of infection that the province currently faces.”

People wait in line to get a Covid-19 vaccine in Lynchburg, Virginia, on March 13.

Nearly 169 million doses of Covid-19 have been administered in the United States, according to data published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Of those, about 150 million have been reported administered within 75 days of President Biden taking office, putting the administration on track to reach its goal of 200 million doses administered by day 100. 

The CDC reported that 168,592,075 total doses have been administered, about 77% of the 219,194,215 doses delivered. 

That’s about 1.4 million more doses reported administered since yesterday, for a seven-day average of about 3 million doses per day. 

Nearly 33% of the US population – more than 108 million people – have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and about 19% of the population – more than 63 million people – are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Note: Data published by the CDC may be delayed, and doses may not have been given on the day reported.

Global Covid-19 cases have risen for the sixth consecutive week, according to the World Health Organization’s Weekly Epidemiological Update.

Over the last week, more than four million new cases have been reported.

The South-East Asia region – most notably India – and the Western Pacific region had the largest increases in case incidence. Brazil, the US, Turkey and France followed India in the highest number of new cases.

More than 71,000 new deaths were reported over the last week – an 11% increase compared to the week before.

All regions except the African region reported increases in deaths. The South-East Asia region also had the biggest increase (46%) in new deaths.

California, the first state to implement a lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, plans to fully reopen the state’s activities and businesses beginning June 15, based on falling infection rates and low hospitalizations in the state, Health and Human Services Mark Ghaly announced Tuesday.

Given the large number Covid-19 vaccinations administered so far – which surpasses 20 million doses today – the state will stop using the four-tiered system, dubbed the “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” which has been in place since last August. Ghaly cited a “stable and low burden of the disease,” along with “continued improvements and low level of hospitalizations” in the state as reasoning for the plan to reopen.

California reported the lowest positivity rate in the country at 1.7%, far from its peak of 17.1% in early January when the state was reeling from a post-holiday surge.

The entire state will reopen as a whole on June 15, rather than taking the county-by-county approach that has been used for the better part of a year to tighten and relax restrictions.

State health officials will continue to use science and data to guide the reopening and variants will be closely monitored, Ghaly promised, adding that “necessary precautions” will be taken if there are any concerning rise in Covid-19 hospitalizations. 

California’s mask mandate will remain in place, focused specifically on what Ghaly calls “high risk” indoor settings. “Masking is a key protective feature, protecting those that are not yet eligible for a vaccine,” Ghaly said.

California’s vaccination numbers: To date, California has administered over 7 million more vaccine doses than any other state, surpassing many other countries including France and Germany, according to Ghaly. About 70% of older Californians have received at least one dose of the vaccine and over 4 million doses have been administered in the state’s hardest hit communities.

“We’re looking at the supply and availability of vaccines. If the supply isn’t there, we may make some tweaks to that June 15 date. We need to make sure that all Californians interested in getting vaccinated, who are eligible, have a reasonable period of time to get that,” Ghaly said.

There is currently no plan to impose or have a vaccine passport plan system in California, but certain businesses are already exploring the option of verifying that their customers are vaccinated. 

“Part of the idea is that we can ramp up safely and it will also provide an incentive as people are allowed to do more activities because they’re vaccinated,” said the state’s economic adviser, Dee Dee Myers. 

Some sectors, like large conventions with more than 5,000 people will be required to demonstrate that all attendees are either vaccinated or tested. That restriction will remain in place until Oct. 1. Ghaly also addressed the multi-day Coachella music festival that draws thousands to the Southern California desert annually, noting that it may not be able to reopen at the same size and scope, but state officials are working with organizers and event planners to ensure the safety of all participants.

Since Covid-19 first began menacing the world, nearly 3.6 millions Californians have been infected and more than 58,000 died as a result.

A pediatric trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been paused pending a review by the UK’s medicines regulator over rare blood clot cases in adults, a University of Oxford spokesperson told CNN Tuesday. 

“Whilst there are no safety concerns in the pediatric clinical trial, we await additional information from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on its review of rare cases of thrombosis/thrombocytopaenia that have been reported in adults, before giving any further vaccinations in the trial,” the spokesperson said. 

“Parents and children should continue to attend all scheduled visits and can contact the trial sites if they have any questions,” they added.

When contacted by CNN, AstraZeneca referred us to Oxford University.

A nurse fills up a syringe with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination site at a senior center on March 29 in San Antonio, Texas.

Moderna’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine shows robust antibody levels at six months, according to a research letter published Tuesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Protection from the vaccine is expected to last longer than six months, but we’ll only know how long it works when there is more data from late-stage clinical trials. The company is continuing to study this. 

With this research, using three distinct tests that look for antibodies, the scientists found that protective antibody activity remained high in all age groups of the 33 adults involved in this early-stage study. 

Younger adults seemed to have higher antibody levels compared to the older groups. Antibody levels are expected to decline over time, but it’s unclear what level of protection this will provide in the real-world. To understand that, there will need to be further studies.

Scientists will continue to monitor these adults to see how long the protection lasts. They will also determine if a booster dose will extend the duration against emerging viral variants.

Last week, a separate study showed that the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is 91.3% effective six months after the second dose, and 100% effective against severe disease. Moderna’s previous interim results showed it was 94.1% effective, though with less follow-up time.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily press briefing on April 6 in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

The Biden administration will provide guidance in the form of answers to frequently asked questions on vaccine credentials that are focused on concerns about privacy, security and discrimination soon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. 

Psaki said she did not have an exact date on when the guidance would come out. 

“As these tools are being considered by the private and nonprofit sectors, our interest is very simple from the federal government, which is Americans’ privacy and rights should be protected and so the, so that these systems are not used against people unfairly,” Psaki said.

She continued: “There is a movement, as you know, in the private sector to identify ways that they can return to events where there are large swaths of people safely in soccer stadiums or theaters, and that’s something that, that’s where the idea originated and we expect that’s where it will be concluded.”

The White House has said there will be no federal database on which Americans have been vaccinated and Americans will not be mandated to carry a single vaccination credential. 

The UK plans to reopen its economy next week and the CEO of Heathrow Airport said there was “no reason to delay” the return of international air travel for millions of Britons beyond May 17.

CNN’s Salma Abdelaziz reported live from London and answered viewers’ questions about the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

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The Covid-19 variant B.1.351, which originated in South Africa, shows increased resistance to both post-infection antibodies and two available vaccines, according to research published in a correspondence letter in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday. 

Variant B.1.351 showed resistance to “convalescent serum,” generated with samples taken from people previously infected with Covid-19, and to “vaccine serum,” testing both the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, which use inactivated forms of the virus.  

B.1.351 showed increased resistance to the convalescent serum by a factor of two, and resistance to the vaccine serum by a factor of 2.5 to 3.3 when compared to an engineered version of the “wild type” of the virus, or the Wuhan-1 reference strain.

Nearly a third of the convalescent serum samples showed a total loss of neutralization against B.1.351. Two-thirds of the samples of the Sinopharm vaccines had either a partial or complete loss of neutralization against the variant. Most of the CoronaVac samples showed some amount of lost neutralization against B.1.351.

The variant B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom, showed little resistance to either the vaccine serum or convalescent serum. Both the Sinopharm and CoronaVac vaccines showed a lowered antibody response when compared to convalescent serum. 

Doses of the Pfizer vaccine are prepared at a pop-up vaccination clinic on March 26 in New York City.

New York City has administered more vaccinations than there are people in the entire state of Kentucky, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday, announcing a total of 4,601,756 Covid-19 vaccine doses given to date.

The mayor also announced the city is now offering walk-up vaccination opportunities at 25 vaccine sites throughout New York City to anyone over the age of 75, no prior appointments needed.

CNN has previously reported that New York City opened up its vaccine eligibility to anyone over the age of 16 on Tuesday. De Blasio reiterated his goal to have at least five million New York City residents fully-vaccinated by June.

New York City’s vaccination efforts will also now include the use of a mobile vaccination bus that will have the capacity to give up to 200 vaccines per day. It will launch on Wednesday in Sunset Park, Brooklyn and will focus on vaccinating restaurant and delivery workers. Staff on the bus will be able to speak English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese, de Blasio said.

The city’s current Covid-19 positivity rate is 6.63% with 3,193 new cases – only a slight rise from Monday’s positivity rate of 6.55%, according to city statistics. 

Note: These numbers were released by the city’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services.

A health care worker in Portland, Oregon, prepares a Covid-19 vaccine dose in December 2020.

Oregon residents over the age of 16 will be eligible to sign up for a Covid-19 vaccine starting on April 19, Gov. Kate Brown announced in a news release on Tuesday.

“Over the next two weeks, we will dedicate all available resources to ensure Oregon’s frontline workers and people with underlying conditions have access to vaccines––two groups in which Oregonians from communities of color are predominantly represented,” Brown added.

Oregon will administer the two-millionth dose of Covid-19 today, Brown added.

55% of Americans – a pandemic-era high – reported seeing family or friends in the last week, according to a new poll by Axios-Ipsos, released Tuesday.

45% of respondents reported going out to eat in the last week and 37% visited a park, beach or outdoor space, according to the poll, which was conducted April 2 through April 5, and made up of a nationally representative sample of 979 Americans age 18 and older.

64% of respondents reported social distancing in the last week.

The perceived risk of regular activities continued to decline, with 55% of respondents saying that returning to pre-coronavirus life is a moderate or large risk – the lowest level since April. The percentage of respondents who consider attending a sporting event as risky has gone down to 69% from 79% in September.

More than two-thirds – 71% – view traveling by plane or mass transit as risky, down from 80% in February. Thirty-seven percent thought that this was a large risk, which is down from 73% in April.

When it comes to work, 28% of respondents reported working remotely rather than at their workplace, with 37% of respondents saying that they felt returning to their workplace would be a large or moderate risk, which is the lowest level since May.

For the first time, more Americans are reporting that their ability to do their job improved than got worse: 11% vs. 8%.

The ability to afford household goods and pay their rent or mortgage were reported to be net even or positive.

Stimulus money from the government was received by 63% of respondents, who said it primarily went to savings, paying off debts, or basic needs – 40%, 30% and 27% respectively.

A health care worker prepares a syringe with the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Gallup, New Mexico, on March 23.

Just over half of parents – 52% – said they are likely to get their children vaccinated against Covid-19 when a vaccine becomes available for their age group, according to results of a new Axios-Ipsos poll, released Tuesday.

Republicans are most resistant to having their child be vaccinated, according to the poll, which was conducted April 2 through April 5, and was made up of a nationally representative sample of 979 general population Americans age 18 and older.

This comes as nearly half – 47% – of respondents reported having gotten at least one vaccine dose, with 64% of respondents saying they were fully vaccinated and 36% saying they were partially vaccinated.

Nine in ten respondents reported knowing someone who had gotten the vaccine, and 47% knew someone who had trouble getting an appointment – a number that is essentially unchanged since March.

Twenty-four percent of respondents said they were somewhat or very likely to get the vaccine when it becomes available to them.

The number of Americans saying that they are not at all likely to get the vaccine – 19% – has barely moved since the beginning of 2021.

The groups that are most resistant to the vaccine are Republicans (31%) and those with a high school education or less (28%).

The European Union’s data protection bodies strongly advised against extending the use of vaccine passports beyond the current pandemic, warning they could pose “risks to the fundamental rights of EU citizens.”

The agencies also raised concerns over the prospect of a “de facto requirement” for people to present a vaccine passport to enter shops, restaurants, clubs, places of worship and gyms, as “has already been suggested.”

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) published their joint opinion Tuesday to the European Commission – the executive arm of the EU– in relation to the proposed “Digital Green Certificate,” designed to unlock free movement between member states. 

The certificate “should only be limited to Covid-19, including its variants,” the bodies said.

“Any such further use of the Digital Green Certificate and its associated framework under a national legal basis should not legally or factually lead to discrimination based on having been (or not) vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19,” it said. 

Some background: The European Commission unveiled its proposed “Digital Green Certificate” in March. No exact end date was given for the certificates, with the Commission saying they will be suspended once the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the international public health emergency caused by Covid-19. 

The proposed certificate will confirm that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, has received a negative test result or has recovered from Covid-19. The plan is that the certificate can be used across all EU Member States.

But the scheme “must not lead to the creation of any sort of personal data central database at EU level,” the EDPB and EDPS said.

The Norwegian Jewel cruise ship, operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, is moored near the Port of Long Beach in California on January 29.

Norwegian Cruise Line wants to start US cruises again on July 4, and it’s willing to require all passengers and staff to be vaccinated before it sets sail.

Norwegian, which despite its name is a US-based company, sent a letter Monday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, notifying it of its proposal. It’s the first major American cruise line to lay out plans for a resumption of US sailings. 

No industry has been decimated quite like the US cruise ship industry, which hasn’t been able to sail to or from a US port in more than a year. Other industries, even in travel and hospitality, are showing signs of a rebound. Rising vaccination rates are raising hopes of a return to normalcy. But the US cruise industry is still stuck in limbo with no clear sign when it’ll be back in business. 

So on Monday, Norwegian essentially said: Enough. The company said it plans to require vaccinations for everyone on a ship at least two weeks before sailing.

The highly contagious Covid-19 variant first identified in the UK has now been reported in every state in the US, and experts are concerned spreading variants could send cases surging.

Here’s what you need to know:

About the variant

What officials and health experts are saying

The role of vaccines

A health care worker prepares a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in Secaucus, New Jersey, on February 28.

President Biden plans to announce Tuesday that he is moving up his deadline for states to make all American adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by almost two weeks.

With all states having opened eligibility to the public or at least having announced when they plan to do so, Biden will announce that every adult in the country will be eligible to be vaccinated by April 19, according to an administration official, instead of Biden’s original deadline of May 1.

Biden announced last week that 90% of adults will be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine by April 19, as well as have a vaccination site within five miles of where they live. Biden said the number of pharmacies participating in the federal pharmacy vaccination program was increasing from the current 17,000 locations to 40,000.

The President is scheduled to visit a vaccination site in Alexandria, Virginia, and then give remarks at 3:45 p.m. ET on the state of vaccinations from the White House.

That’s when he is expected to say that 150 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered within his first 75 days in office, in line with a stated goal of 200 million shots by his 100th day in office.

Some more context: CNN has previously reported that all 50 states have announced when they plan to open vaccinations to everyone who is eligible, if they haven’t done so already. Oregon, South Dakota, Nebraska, Hawaii and New Jersey all currently plan to open eligibility by May 1, so it remains to be seen how Biden’s announcement changes those states’ plans. Biden is expected to credit the governors’ effort to meet his May 1 deadline for this change.

Read more about Biden’s announcement here.

A nurse holds an AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine vial in Sydney on March 23.

Australia has fallen dramatically short of its initial vaccine targets due to difficulties in importing stock, including a 3.1 million dose shortfall in imports of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison acknowledged Tuesday.

In January, the Morrison government set a target to administer 4 million first doses of Covid-19 vaccines to vulnerable Australians and frontline workers by the beginning of April. On Tuesday Morrison acknowledged that just 854,983 doses have been administered as of April 5.

The Morrison government has since revised its vaccine target, now hoping to give a first dose to every Australian that wants one by the end of October.

 “There was over 3 million doses from overseas that were contracted that never came. And that’s obviously resulted in an inability to get 3 million other doses out and distributed through the network,” Morrison said.

The 3.1 million doses are all of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd in a Tuesday interview with CNN affiliate Sky News Australia.

The Australian government has not said where the 3.1 million AstraZeneca doses were to be imported from, or why they were not delivered. However, Morrison told reporters Tuesday “we all are aware of the situation in Europe and other places that has frustrated that supply.”

Some more background: In March Italy acknowledged that it had invoked EU powers to prevent AstraZeneca from exporting 250,000 doses to Australia.

As of February, the Australian government had negotiated deals with Pfizer for 10 million doses, AstraZeneca for 53.8 million doses and Novavax for 51 million doses, all to be delivered by the end of 2021.

Australia hopes to make up any shortfall in imported doses with locally produced doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which it says it has 2.5 million waiting for batch approval by drug regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Plexiglass dividers surround desks at St. Anthony High School in Long Beach, California, on March 24.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was asked on “Good Morning America” Tuesday about the fact that coronavirus variants are now infecting younger people – as well as what that means for parents and what they should do about school, sports and extracurricular activities.

“When you go back and take a look and try and track where these clusters of cases are coming from in the school, it’s just that,” he continued.

Some more background: The highly contagious Covid-19 variant first identified in the UK has now been reported in every state in the US, and experts are concerned spreading variants could send cases surging.

More than 15,000 cases of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant, which also appears to be more deadly, have been reported in the US. While the US races to get Americans vaccinated in time, many experts are asking the public to hold onto precautions for just a little while longer.

CNN’s Madeline Holcombe contributed reporting to this post.

Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas cruise ship is docked at PortMiami in Florida on March 2.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on “Good Morning America” Tuesday that he hopes people who go on cruises take the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations and get vaccinated against Covid-19. 

“The CDC a couple of days ago, or yesterday, I think, came out with a recommendation saying they strongly recommend it, but they don’t require it,” Fauci said of vaccinations for cruise ship passengers.

The CDC released further technical guidance for cruise ship operators Friday, a news release on the updated guidance included a recommendation that all eligible passengers and crew get a Covid-19 vaccine when one is available to them. 

People fill the stands at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, during a baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays on April 5.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on “Good Morning America” Tuesday that the packed Texas Rangers baseball stadium is “concerning” and “risky.”

On Monday, the Texas Rangers played their home opener with 100% capacity at the ballpark. No other MLB teams are allowing more than 50% capacity attendance.

The US is set up for a tsunami of deaths caused by chronic diseases – especially heart disease – once the coronavirus pandemic is over, a former US Food and Drug Administration commissioner said Tuesday.

It’s an ongoing problem that the pandemic has worsened, Califf argued. “Unlike its peers, the United States has seen declining life expectancy over the last few years after decades of steady progress. This reversal is chiefly due to increases in drug overdose and suicide, but deaths from CVD (cardiovascular disease), particularly stroke, have also increased.

“These challenges are coupled with adverse patterns of risk among younger people, including increases in obesity, hypertension, and glucose intolerance driven by poor diet and lack of exercise—patterns that portend increases in cardiometabolic disease for decades to come,” he wrote.

“This concerning pattern is compounded by an alarming increase in deaths directly from COVID-19 together with rising CCD- and drug-related deaths. The net effect is a substantial increase in excess death and a correspondingly steep drop in average U.S. life expectancy, perhaps by as much as three years,” Califf predicted.

The US has an opportunity to make big changes to fix some of the underlying problems, he said. These could include universal health care and better use of so-called big data, as well as better sharing of data and real-time tracking of chronic disease incidence to improve prevention strategies.

“The fight against COVID-19 has given us a glimpse of what is possible,” he wrote.

“If we act now, we can significantly reduce the damage from the impending tsunami.”

UK vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi walks in London in December 2020.

Vaccine certification as means of unlocking British society would not be discriminatory, the UK vaccines minister insisted on Tuesday, as the proposal continues to attract controversy in the UK.

The minister, Nadhim Zahawi, said such a requirement does raise “a number of ethical issues” but “it would be remiss of us as a government” not to look at all the options to reopen the economy and “take our lives back.”

The comments from Zahawi – echoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s words a day earlier – are the latest indication that a government which once ruled out the possibility of “vaccine passports” is sliding towards introducing them.

Zahawi himself previously rejected the idea of introducing a vaccine passport: “One, we don’t know the impact of the vaccines on transmission. Two, it would be discriminatory,” he said on Sky News in February.

But the scheme will now be piloted in the coming weeks for large-scale events, cinemas and theatres. 

Asked on BBC Breakfast how this will be possible without being discriminatory, Zahawi said: “There is not going to be a situation where a government is going to allow that to happen, but it’s only right that we look at all technologies. 

He continued: “Everyone can get a test, there is no discrimination, anyone can get a test, not everybody can get a vaccine […] which is why we’ve got to look at all the technologies, make sure they work together to get us to the place where we need to be.”

The subject has been met with both support and backlash from across the political spectrum, with several figures in Johnson’s own Conservative party against the idea of vaccine passports. 

The government published an update to its review on easing lockdown restrictions on Monday, which said: “Even without Government intervention, Covid-status certification is likely to become a feature of our lives until the threat from the pandemic recedes.”

Separately, Zahawi affirmed the Moderna vaccine is on track to be rolled out in the UK “around the third week of April.”

People at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, watch a news report about North Korea's decision not to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games due to Covid-19 concerns on April 6.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it has “not received any official application” from North Korea regarding its reported decision to pull out of this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games due to Covid-19 concerns. 

In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, the IOC said: “This news has to be put in context. 

“Unfortunately, (North Korea’s Olympic Committee) was, despite several requests of the IOC, not in a position to hold a telephone conference during which also the COVID-19 situation in North Korea should have been discussed.

“The IOC has not received any official application from the NOC of DPRK to be released from their obligation to take part in the Olympic Games according to the Olympic Charter.”

DPRK sports, a website on sports affairs in North Korea, reported Tuesday that the country would skip the delayed event to “protect players from the world public health crisis caused by Covid-19.”

Following those reports, the South Korean government said it hoped its neighbors would still take part. The South Korean Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a briefing on Tuesday that the country suppoers Japan’s hosting of the Olympics with Covid-19 control measures in place.

This picture shows the Olympic Rings outside the Japan Olympic Museum in Tokyo on March 22, 2021. (Photo by Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article North Korea reportedly won't participate in Tokyo Olympic Games

An undercover report showing members of the Paris elite enjoying secret dinner parties in luxury restaurants and flouting Covid-19 restrictions has sparked fury in France, and prompted the city’s prosecutor to launch an investigation.

The probe comes after a TV report by channel M6 that aired Friday, showing hidden camera footage of two upmarket restaurants filled with mask-free guests.

In the video, an undercover journalist enters a private dining club with closed shutters and is greeted by a waiter wearing white gloves. She is asked on whose behalf she has been invited and is told: “Once you’re through the door, there’s no more Covid.”

The maitre d’ is heard explaining that the menu starts at 160 euros ($190) per person. For 490 euros ($580) diners can sip champagne while feasting on foie gras with truffle and langoustine in a ginger sauce.

“We are looking into possible charges of endangerment and undeclared labor,” a spokesman for the Paris prosecutor told CNN Monday. “We will verify whether the gatherings were organized in violation of sanitary rules and determine who were the potential organizers and participants.”

Restaurants in France have been closed since late last year, as the country battles a third wave of coronavirus infections.

An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that restaurants have been closed in France since last month. They’ve been closed since last year. This has been corrected.

This picture shows the interior of Palais Vivienne apartment, owned by French collector Pierre-Jean Chalencon, on April 5, 2021. - The lawyer of Pierre-Jean Chalencon, owner of the "Palais Vivienne", implicated by a report from French channel M6 for clandestine dinners in Paris, told AFP on April 4th that his client was only "joking" when he declared ministers participated in such meals. Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz opened a criminal investigation on alleged dinners banned during the pandemic. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Undercover video sparks outrage over secret dinner parties for Paris elite

A health worker places a swab sample vial into a box after a roadside Covid-19 RT-PCR test in New Delhi, India on April 5.

India’s union territory of Delhi, which contains the nation’s capital New Delhi, has imposed a night curfew with immediate effect as coronavirus cases mount, the region’s government has announced.

The curfew will last between 10 p.m and 5 a.m. local time every day until April 30, during which all public movement will be prohibited. 

Only those engaged in essential services, including medical staff, media personnel, and essential delivery couriers, will be allowed to travel overnight.

The union territory of Delhi reported 3,548 new cases of the virus on Monday, bringing the total cases in the city to 679,962. Cases have been above 3,500 for each of the last four days. 

India has suffered a new wave of coronavirus infections, reporting more than 90,000 cases daily over the last three days – similar to the case load the country experience in the peak of its first wave in September last year. 

Delhi has taken a number of measures to ramp up testing and vaccinations to combat the spread. On Monday hospitals began running a third of their vaccination centers 24 hours a day.

“Those who want to get the vaccine during the curfew can do so, they would just have to take an e-pass before commuting during the curfew hours,” Rajat Tiwari, secretary to the Delhi health minister told CNN Monday.

The chief minister of Delhi on Monday also wrote to the Prime Minister to remove the age restriction for distributing the vaccines, which currently stands at 45 and above.

Since the pandemic began, India has reported more than 12.6 million Covid-19 cases and more than 165,000 deaths. It has distributed more than 83 million vaccine doses, according to the Indian Ministry of Health.

China’s National Health Commission (NHC) reported 17 new locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases Tuesday. All of the new infections were recorded in Yunnan, a southwestern province on the border with Myanmar.

Nine of the 17 new cases were Burmese nationals, the NHC said.

Yunnan has recorded 90 Covid-19 cases since March 29, most from the border city of Ruili. 

The NHC has not specified whether the uptick in cases is from Myanmar refugees, but 40 of the 90 new cases recorded since March 29 are Burmese nationals. 

Three neighborhoods in Ruili have been marked as high-risk areas. The city is undergoing a vaccination campaign that aims to inoculate all of its approximately 300,000 residents by Tuesday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces plans for a quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia during a news conference on April 6 in Wellington, New Zealand.

New Zealand will allow Australians to travel to the country quarantine-free, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced at a news conference Tuesday.

The travel bubble is set to begin on Sunday, April 18 at 11:59 p.m., Ardern said. 

Australia has allowed for New Zealand travelers to enter without quarantine and New Zealand is now following suit.

Under the new rules, passengers won’t be allowed to travel if they had a positive Covid test in the previous 14 days or present flu-like symptoms. 

The New Zealand prime minister also said travel “will not be what it was pre-Covid”, explaining flights could be suspended again in the case of a new outbreak or travelers might be asked to take a PCR test or quarantine upon arrival, depending on the nature and origin of the infections. 

Ardern also said travelers coming from Australia will board on “green zone flights.” 

“That means there will be no passengers on that flight who have come from anywhere but Australia in the last 14 days”, Ardern said, adding the crews operating the connection “have not flown on any high-risk routes for a set period of time”.

Japanese prefectures Osaka, Hyogo, and Miyagi are strengthening their Covid-19 measures amid a rise in cases in the country, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The restrictions, which are set to last one month, include asking bars and restaurants to close by 8 p.m. and will prevent entry to customers without a mask.

Osaka prefecture is set to hold the Tokyo Olympic torch relay on April 14, but organizers are asking for the event to be moved because of the rise in cases, NHK reported.

Osaka Gov. Yoshimura Hirofumi told reporters on Monday the torch relay will not be held on public roads and is still looking into the possibility of alternative sites for the event.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday the rise in coronavirus cases has not yet reached the level of a nationwide fourth wave, but extra vigilance is required.

Japan’s Health Ministry reported 1,554 new infections on Monday. The overall total number of confirmed cases in the country now stands at 485,797 and the death toll at 9,259. Tokyo reported 249 cases on Monday, according to its government site.

Japan’s rise in cases come four months ahead of the Olympics, set to start July 23 in Tokyo. North Korea has reportedly decided drop out of the Games due to concerns its athletes could contract the virus.

A BMC medical staff member administers a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the Urban Health Training Centre on April 3 in Mumbai, India.

India’s Maharashtra state and the union territory of Delhi have asked the central government to lower the age limit of those eligible to take the Covid-19 vaccine amid a rise in new cases.

“If the central government allows us to vaccinate people on a mass level then we can create thousands of facilities in schools, community centers and start a war of a vaccination drive,” Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, said Monday. 

Since April 1, the Indian government has provided Covid-19 vaccinations to anyone age 45 and over. 

In Maharashtra, where weekend lockdowns and night curfews have been put in place until the end of April to curb the spread of the virus, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray reiterated the request to lower the age threshold.

Maharashtra state accounts for more than half of the new Covid-19 cases in the country. 

India is facing a second wave of coronavirus, with more than 100,000 infections reported on Monday, its highest single-day rise since the beginning of the pandemic. 

On Tuesday, India reported 96,982 cases, taking the total to 12,686,049, including 165,547 deaths, according to the Indian Ministry of Health.