The new Prime Minister of Jerusalem-Israel is urging young people in the country to be vaccinated due to the recent increase in the number of cases of coronavirus due to the local outbreak of delta mutants.

Naftali Bennett’s comments came at a government meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday.

“We don’t want to impose restrictions. We don’t impose restrictions on parties, travel, etc. But for this reason, if you don’t need restrictions, get vaccinated today. Talk to your parents to vaccinate. Please inoculate, “he said.

Israel has reinstated its obligations to mask indoors as new infections increase over the past week. The Israeli Ministry of Health recorded 113 new coronavirus cases on Saturday.

The Prime Minister also said the government has appointed a special director responsible for managing the country’s border crossings and preventing the spread of the coronavirus and other illnesses, with a particular focus on Israel’s major international airports. I will.

Bennett said the appointment of former Army General Roni Numa aims to strengthen the country’s efforts to “prevent this virus, variants and other future viruses from invading Israel from around the world.” Said that.

Many of the new cases reported last week date back to individuals arriving from abroad.

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Pandemic details

— What should I know about Delta Variants?

— The UK virus case was the best hit since February 5th in the “grab the jab” initiative.

— Russia requires vaccination against a surge in some asvirus cases

— Finland has seen a surge in virus cases from football fans returning from Russia

— Fort Benning commander urges people to be vaccinated to protect soldiers

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Follow the Associated Press pandemic coverage details at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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What else is happening:

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-Malaysia leaders say Malaysia will extend the nearly complete blockade that had been in place for a month indefinitely as coronavirus infections remain high.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Sunday that the blockade would not be eased unless daily new cases fell below 4,000, vaccination rates reached 10% and the demand for intensive care in hospitals diminished. Bernama’s national press said Muhyiddin said he hoped this would happen by mid-July.

The blockage was set to expire on Monday.

Daily new cases stubbornly remained above 5,000, Sunday’s Ministry of Health reported 5,586 new infections, with a national count of 734,048 cases and nearly 5,000 deaths.

To date, only 6% of Malaysia’s 33 million people have been fully vaccinated, but the government is stepping up its vaccination efforts.

Malaysia has ceased most economic and social activities since June 1, after the daily number of cases exceeded 9,000.

This is the second national blockade in more than a year and is expected to hurt the economic recovery. This year, the World Bank lowered Malaysia’s growth forecast from the previous 6% to 4.5%.

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London — The United Kingdom has recorded the newest coronavirus infection since early February. This is because the National Health Service is implementing a “grab a jab” initiative to further increase vaccination coverage.

An additional 18,270 people are virus-positive across the UK, the highest number per day since February 5, according to Saturday’s government statistics.

In the past week, nearly 100,000 people have been positive, an increase of about 50% over the previous week. This raises questions about whether the blockade restrictions will end as planned.

As a result of the delta mutant, which was first identified in India and considered by government scientists to be 40% to 80% more contagious than previous predominant strains, daily cases have become quite rapid in the past few weeks. Increased has.This describes almost every new case in the UK

Most of the newly identified cases belong to a younger age group who have not yet received the COVID-19 vaccine. The recent surge occurred when hundreds of walk-in vaccination sites, including stadiums and shopping centers, were opened in the United Kingdom over the weekend to increase the number of vaccines, especially among the younger age group.

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Pula, Croatia (AP) — Croatian forward Ivan Perisic has tested positive for the coronavirus and will not be able to play against Spain in Round 16 of the European Championship.

The Croatian team said in a statement Saturday that Perisic had to quarantine for 10 days. The rest of the team and coach staff were negative on the test.

“Medical staff has isolated Ivan from the rest of the national team,” said the Croatian team. “And we provided evidence of compliance with all necessary measures aimed at protecting against the spread of the coronavirus and immediately and thoroughly informed the relevant epidemiological authorities of the situation.”

If the 2018 World Cup finalists reach the quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday, July 6, Perisic will also be set aside during the quarantine period.

Perisic scored a 3-1 victory over Scotland on Tuesday, but lost Billy Gilmour after the midfielder tested positive for the coronavirus. Other Scottish players were not told to quarantine.

Croatia has returned to its home country from Glasgow. The Euro 2020 team, with the exception of Perisic, will fly from Pula to Copenhagen on Sunday to face Spain the next day.

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Geneva — The head of the World Health Organization lamented that the coronavirus vaccine was not immediately donated by developed countries to developing countries.

WHO Director General Tedros Adanom Gebreyes said Friday that there was nothing to discuss at a recent meeting of an advisory group established to allocate vaccines.

In his words, “There is no vaccine to assign.”

Tedros says it is not important that some donors have raised concerns that African countries do not have the infrastructure to provide vaccines or have problems with vaccine hesitation. He criticized the rich countries that may be using it as an “excuse” for not donating the vaccine.

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Raleigh, North Carolina — Two weeks after North Carolina announced that it would give vaccinated adults four $ 1 million prizes, less than 118,000 residents, about 1% of the state’s population, received their first dose. received.

Less than half of North Carolina residents who are eligible for coronavirus vaccination are fully vaccinated, but more than 2.1 million times are waiting on the shelves for residents to take it.

According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, North Carolina ranks 12th worst in terms of per capita vaccine dose nationwide.

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Washington — US health authorities have granted an emergency use of another antibody drug to assist inpatients with the most dangerous cases of COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration said late Thursday that it had approved the drug Actemra from Roche for inpatients who had already received steroids, oxygen and other means to combat COVID-19.

When added to these treatments, studies have shown that Roche’s medications reduce the risk of death and reduce hospital stays.

Actemra does not directly target the coronavirus, but helps reduce the inflammation that causes the disease. Already approved for rheumatoid arthritis and several other illnesses.

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Geneva — The head of the World Health Organization said the first COVID-19 mutant found in India, also known as the delta mutant, was “the most infectious mutant identified so far.” He said it is currently spread to at least 85 countries. ..

At a press conference on Friday, WHO Director Tedros Adanom Gebreyes said UN agencies were concerned about the expanding reach of delta variants, especially among unvaccinated people. ..

“Infections are starting to increase around the world,” Tedros added. “The more cases, the more hospitalizations, and the greater the risk of death.” WHO previously stated that two doses of the approved COVID-19 vaccine appear to provide strong protection against the first variant found in India, but 2% of the one billion doses. Poor countries receiving less than warned of lack of access to vaccines so far managed — making them very vulnerable.

Tedros also said the unchecked circulation of coronavirus could lead to the emergence of more variants.

“New variants are expected and will continue to be reported,” said Tedros. “That’s what viruses do. They evolve,” he said. “But by preventing infection, you can prevent the emergence of variants.”

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Amsterdam — The European Medicines Agency has approved a new production site for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. This should boost the production of single-dose vaccines across the EU in 27 countries.

In a statement on Friday, EU drug regulators announced that they would end production of adult-approved J & J vaccines across Europe in March at a new site in Anagni, Italy. Production problems have stagnated J & J’s deployment throughout the European Union in recent months, requiring the disposal of millions of doses made at U.S. factories after pollution problems. did.

The EU has ordered 200 million J & J vaccines and planned to receive 55 million doses by the end of June. To date, less than 14 million doses have been distributed.

J & J’s vaccine deployment also stalled after the EMA concluded that there was a “potential link” between coronavirus injections and very rare blood clots and recommended adding a warning to the label. .. Health officials say the benefits of the vaccine still far outweigh the risks.