Nations hit new records for coronavirus cases

WASHINGTON－Countries around the world set new records on Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections, as the disease surged even in some countries that have seemingly kept the virus in check.

The United States recorded more than 20,000 infections of coronavirus variants as of Thursday, according to the latest data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Even as the country picks up its COVID-19 vaccination pace, the variants are spreading rapidly, and experts warn those infections could potentially stall the nation's recovery from the pandemic.

Elsewhere, Brazil this week became just the third country after the United States and Peru to report a 24-hour tally of COVID-19 deaths that exceeded 4,000. India also hit a peak of almost 127,000 new cases in 24 hours, while only 11 million out of 1.4 billion Indians are fully vaccinated.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to get vaccinated, writing in a tweet: "Vaccination is among the few ways we have to defeat the virus. If you are eligible for the vaccine, get your shot soon."

In Japan, the government announced on Friday that it will raise the coronavirus alert level in Tokyo to allow tougher measures to curb the rapid spread of a more contagious variant ahead of the Summer Olympics.

The latest restrictions are far less severe than the blanket lockdowns seen in other countries and mainly call for restaurants and bars to close at 8 pm, with the threat of fines for those that do not.

The new measures covering central Tokyo and other selected areas are expected to be in place from Monday until May 11.

Kyoto city and Okinawa－both usually flooded with visitors during the Golden Week holiday period from late April to early May－were also expected to face more stringent restrictions until May 5.

Chinese vaccines

Egypt has agreed with China's Sinovac Biotech to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine domestically, and could produce up to 80 million doses a year, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The agreement could provide a major boost to vaccination efforts in Egypt, which has a population of 100 million and has thus far received just 1.5 million doses.

In Latin America, Ecuador on Wednesday received the first batch of vaccines from Sinovac, the largest shipment of COVID-19 vaccines received by the country to date to boost its national immunization campaign.

"This fills us with optimism and it fills us with hope," said Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno.

Foreign Minister Manuel Mejia said this "is a historic day" for Ecuador, since it began to receive large quantities of vaccine to move the national vaccination plan forward.

In Indonesia, the Southeast Asian country is in talks with China to secure as many as 100 million doses to plug a gap in deliveries after delays in arrivals of AstraZeneca shots, the health minister said on Thursday.

Indonesia also received China's Sinovac vaccines for inoculations which began in January. It aims to reach 181.5 million people within a year in a bid to reach herd immunity.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.