May 4 coronavirus news

Eight Asiatic lions housed in a zoological park in a southern Indian state tested positive for Covid-19 last month, according to the Indian government. 

The Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad collected samples after the animals showed signs of respiratory distress. 

The Nehru Zoological Park is currently closed to visitors and an advisory has been issued to other institutions that house animals. 

"Based on experience with zoo animals elsewhere in the world that have experienced SARS-COV2 positive last year, there is no factual evidence that animals can transmit the disease to humans any further," the ministry said.

The European Union's medicines regulator has begun a rolling review of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company, Sinovac Life Science.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said:

The rolling review process will enable the EMA to evaluate the Sinovac vaccine more quickly, it said, but added that it “cannot predict overall timelines.”

The EMA said it will communicate when the marketing authorization application has been submitted by the company.

Screams pierce the air as their loved ones take their final breaths. Others sit on the floor gasping to fill their lungs.

CNN's Clarissa Ward went inside a coronavirus ward at a hospital in India's Uttar Pradesh state, where five doctors are struggling to treat more than 100 patients but there are only 55 beds.

Kavita, 32, said she's been on the floor at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College hospital for four days, begging for oxygen.

A family desperately tried to care for their 55-year-old mother in the ICU. They said they had been in the hospital for six days before getting a ventilator and had to bring their own oxygen cylinder.

The woman later succumbed as the family cried out in anguish. Her body was left in the intensive care unit for nearly an hour before it was moved.

The hospital administrator, Dr. Gyanendra Kumar, said the supply of oxygen isn't the problem, but they are too short-staffed.

A group of men wearing masks but no other personal protective equipment tell Ward that they move about 12 bodies per day.

"We should be wearing proper PPE," one said, "but even the doctors don't have it, so how can we?" 

Watch:

The Indian government has put into place a “streamlined mechanism” for allocating aid received from international actors in its ongoing fight against a deadly second Covid-19 wave.  

The health ministry said in a Tuesday statement that nearly 4 million items from 24 different categories -- including medical equipment, oxygen concentrators and ventilators -- have been distributed across 86 healthcare facilities across the country.

The health ministry also said that in light of oxygen shortages in hospitals, customs are “working 24/7 to fast track and clear the goods on arrival and lead to expeditious clearance within hours," noting that basic customs duty and health tax are being waived for goods identified in the fight against Covid-19.

All items received as donations via the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) are being received by the Indian Red Cross Society, who in turn liaises with its customs agent, HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL), and the health ministry, it said.

Donations are being prioritized and distributed according to a state’s Covid-19 caseload and as per their requirements. Considerations are also going into whether or not a state is considered a regional medical hub, with donations also allocated to states with lower resources, or areas that are remote, it said.

Countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States have sent aid supplies to India.

The eastern Indian state of Bihar is entering a state-wide lockdown until May 15. 

Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced the plans on Tuesday in a Twitter post, saying:

"After discussion with associate ministers and officials yesterday, it was decided to implement the lockdown in Bihar uniil May 15, 2021. Based on detailed guidelines and other activities, today, the crisis management group has been instructed to take action."

Kumar did not indicate when the lockdown would officially go into effect.

Bihar is the latest Indian state to enforce a lockdown as the country attempts to quell the country's deadly Covid-19 surge.

Across other Indian regions, the following restrictions are already in place or have been planned:

The number of coronavirus cases in India has now crossed 20 million, with 357,229 cases recorded on Tuesday, according to the health ministry.

The UK is hosting the first face-to-face gathering of the G7 foreign ministers in two years, with the Group of Seven meeting on Tuesday at Lancaster House in London, with Covid-19 protocols in place.

As foreign ministers from the G7 group arrived in masks at the venue on Tuesday, they traded traditional handshakes with UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab for an elbow or forearm "bump," underscoring the ongoing threat of the Covid-19 crisis.

The event will “bring together some of the world’s leading democracies for talks and decisive action on the most critical global issues,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement.

The G7 group of industrialized nations includes the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU. This year, the UK also extended invitations to India, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and Brunei.

Topics on the ministers' agenda include relations with Russia, China, and Iran, the coup in Myanmar, the war in Syria and the situations in Libya, Ethiopia, Somalia, the Sahel and Western Balkans, according to the Foreign Office.

The 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament has been indefinitely suspended as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis in India.

The Indian Premier League Governing Council and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made the decision in an emergency meeting, Tuesday, saying in a statement that "while we have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer...it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times.”

It is unclear when and where the tournament will resume.

The statement said:

The BCCI added that they "will do everything in its powers to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all the participants in IPL 2021."

The number of coronavirus cases in India has now crossed 20 million. On Tuesday, the country recorded 357,229 cases, according to the health ministry.

India also reported 3,449 deaths on Tuesday, with the total death toll now at 222,408. The number of deaths recorded per day has exceeded 3,000 for the past week.

South Korea has strengthened quarantine restrictions for travelers coming from India, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) official Lee Sang-won said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

South Korean citizens and foreigners arriving from India for a long-term stay are subject to quarantine at a government-provided facility for seven days, where they must test negative for Covid-19 twice to be able to stay at home for the remaining seven days of quarantine, Lee said.

Short-term visitors are subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine at a government-provided facility, Lee added.

Around 170 South Korean citizens returned from India via a non-scheduled flight on Tuesday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.

A total of 148 South Koreans in India have contracted Covid-19 as of May 3, the ministry added.

South Korean health authorities have found 33 cases of the Covid-19 variant first detected in India.

The quarantine requirement will be waived for vaccinated South Korean citizens starting May 5, with the exception of those coming from countries where variants are widespread, Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said last month.

Pakistan has administered more than 2.7 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, according to a tweet by the country’s National Command and Operation Centre on Coronavirus (NCOC).

On Monday, Pakistan opened up vaccinations for citizens aged 40 and above. More than 164,000 vaccine doses were administered on Monday alone, according to Asad Umar, the head of the NCOC.

The Pakistani Ministry of Health says the country has currently signed deals for 30 million vaccine doses. Last week, the country said it had received 2,560,000 doses and is expecting 19 million more doses by the end of June. 

Separately on Monday, Pakistan’s top health official, Dr Faisal Sultan, announced that the government plans to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of the year.

He said that agreements are underway with China to ensure that the country’s National Institute of Health will be able to produce three million doses per month of the Chinese vaccine CanSino, which will “significantly reduce” Pakistan’s vaccine dependence on other countries.