2,616 Covid-19 Deaths in Brazil

Brazil's COVID-19 death toll has risen to 351,334 after 2,616 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health reported on Saturday.

In this pandemic has killed over 2.93 million people and infected over 135.88 million globally.

Brazil has recorded 2,616 new Covid-19 deaths and 71,832 new coronavirus cases, the Health Ministry said.

Brazil, which has become the latest epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, with the second-highest death toll after the United States, has recorded 13.45 million cases and more than 350,000 deaths, official data show. 

Mainland China has reported 10 new Covid-19 cases for April 10, down from 14 cases a day earlier, the country's national health authority said.

The National Health Commission, in a statement, said all the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 22 from 11 cases a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Mainland China now stands at 90,410, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636.

One day before it holds presidential and congressional elections, Peru has marked a second daily record death rate from the coronavirus pandemic that is engulfing the country anew.

The health ministry said 384 deaths had been recorded, taking the total death toll to 54,669, as healthcare workers battle a shortage of medical oxygen and saturated hospitals, and the government struggles to secure sufficient vaccination supplies. 

France will lengthen the period between the first and second shots of mRNA anti-Covid vaccines to six weeks from four weeks as of April 14 to accelerate the inoculation campaign, Health Minister Olivier Veran has told the JDDnewspaper.

"That will allow us to vaccinate more quickly without reducing protection," Veran told the paper.

France has approved use of the Pfizer/BioNTechand Moderna mRNA vaccines.

Veran also said that from Monday the AstraZeneca vaccine would be made available to all over-55s and not just those with serious pre-existing conditions.

Mexico's government has reported 2,192 new confirmed coronavirus deaths, one of its biggest one-day tolls during the pandemic, bringing the country's total to 209,212 deaths.

It was not immediately clear whether the Saturday figure, which far exceeds recent daily totals, was due to the government making changes in how it collects its data, as was the case in October, when the government reported 2,789 fatalities in a single day.

The health ministry, which is due to have a news conference later in the day, reported 6,356 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, taking the country's total to 2,278,420 infections.

Several hundred people have protested against Finland's Covid-19 restrictions in Helsinki without permission, leading to 20 arrests when they refused to disperse.

Up to 300 people gathered in the centre of the capital and authorities moved to break up the protest since it was not authorised.

Public gatherings of more than six people are banned in Helsinki due to the pandemic.

Hundreds of people gathered in Copenhagen in opposition to a new "corona pass".

The pass certifies that someone has either been fully vaccinated, has tested negative in the previous 72 hours or has tested positive two to 12 weeks earlier, conferring immunity to the virus.

According to the WHO, a pandemic is defined as the “worldwide spread of a new disease”. While epidemics are specific to one region, pandemics are global with more cases and higher rates of death. Notable historical examples include the Flu Pandemic of 1918, and the Black Death. A pandemic only describes how widespread a disease is however, and says nothing of its severity.

But with the virus cropping up worldwide, experts believe that it’s only a matter of time before we start calling it a pandemic. 

“[It’s] very, very transmissible, and it almost certainly is going to be a pandemic,” said Anthony Fauci, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in an interview with the New York Times.