5 hr 42 min ago
Modi calls for people to vote in line with Covid-19 protocols on final day of local elections
From CNN s Manveena Suri in New Delhi and Chandler Thornton in Hong Kong
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for people to continue to come out in line with Covid-19 protocols and vote during the last phase of West Bengal state elections.
Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have come under fire for holding several rallies ahead of the elections in West Bengal, with thousands in attendance and failing to abide by social distancing guidelines.
Critics have accused the BJP of putting politics before public health. India is now facing a massive new wave of Covid-19 cases across the country and nationwide shortages of oxygen.
April 27, 2021 6:11 AM By Brandon Lee
A mounting call for health officials to relax rules about outdoor mask wearing could soon lead to one of the most significant changes in virus guidelines since the U.S. first told Americans to don face coverings to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Outdoor mask wearing has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks. Thereâs evidence that vaccines not only prevent illness, but also viral transmission. And with the U.S. averaging 2.74 million vaccine doses daily, with a total of 231 million given out overall, even some public health experts are calling for less strict guidelines as warmer weather arrives.
India s Covid-19 crisis is a problem for the whole world CNN 1 hr ago Analysis by Aditi Sangal
There is a split scenario unfolding as the world battles the pandemic.
In countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, jubilant, newly-vaccinated people hug their loved ones after a long period of separation. In India, distraught families count their dead.
Sick people are being turned away from hospitals that have run out of beds and oxygen, as the number of new cases rises to record levels each day, creating a national crisis with global repercussions.
The more the virus spreads, the more chances it has to mutate and create variants that could eventually resist current vaccines, threatening to undermine other countries progress in containing the pandemic, experts warn.