MISSION, Kansas—The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients jumped by nearly 27 percent over the Fourth of July weekend in a hard-hit area of Missouri where immunization rates are low, leading to a temporary ventilator shortfall and a public call for help from respiratory therapists.
The Delta variant, first identified in India, is spreading rapidly, straining hospitals in Springfield and raising fresh fears that the situation could soon grow worse as holiday gatherings seed fresh cases. Missouri leads the nation with the most new cases per capita in the past 14 days.
As of Monday, CoxHealth and the city’s other hospital, Mercy Springfield, were treating 213 Covid-19 patients, up from 168 on Friday. As recently as May 24, the two hospitals had just 31 patients.
“After what we’ve seen in the last month everyone is just holding their breath, especially after a holiday weekend like this, knowing that there were large gatherings,” said Erik Frederick, the chief administrative officer of Mercy Springfield.
Many communities that held off on Fourth of July festivities in 2020 held them this year.
Key developments:
Sri Lanka gets Pfizer jabs
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Sri Lanka on Monday received a first batch of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, becoming the first country in South Asia to get the US-made Covid-19 jab.
Officials say 26,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine directly purchased by the Sri Lankan government was flown into the country on Monday.
Health authorities say that Sri Lanka had signed agreements to purchase 5 million Pfizer doses this year. The country is expected to receive about 200,000 Pfizer doses this month.
Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa tweeted that “Sri Lanka becomes the first country in South Asia to acquire a contingent of Pfizer vaccines.”
Sri Lankan health authorities have so far used AstraZeneca doses manufactured in India, China’s Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V in the country’s battle against Covid-19.
South Korea reports 711 new cases
SEOUL, South Korea—South Korea has reported 711 new cases of the coronavirus as infections continued to grow in the greater capital area.
It was the third straight day of over 700 cases and the highest daily jump for a Monday since early January, when the country was enduring its worst wave of the pandemic.
Usually a smaller number of cases are reported at the start of the week, due to reduced testing on weekends, and the country’s caseload may grow faster over the next few days.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said around 550 of the new cases came from the populated Seoul metropolitan area, where officials delayed a planned easing of social distancing measures to cope with a rise in transmissions.
Cases were also reported in most of the major cities and towns across the country, including Busan, Daejeon and the North and South Gyeongsang provinces.
Indonesia accepts fully vaccinated visitors
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Indonesia is requiring foreign visitors to be fully vaccinated as one of the entry requirements as the country tries to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Ganip Warsito, National Task Force for Covid-19 Mitigation Chief, says that starting on Tuesday, both foreigners and Indonesian nationals entering the country have to show digital or physical proof that they have been fully vaccinated.
The obligation to show vaccination cards can be excluded in some cases, including diplomatic visas and service visas, and during official visits at ministerial level.
The government is also extending the quarantine time for foreign travelers from five days to eight days.
Pakistan gets Moderna vaccine from US
ISLAMABAD—Normalcy returned at Covid-19 vaccination centers across Pakistan on Monday, days after Washington delivered 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to Islamabad.
That enabled Pakistan’s government to overcome shortages of specific vaccines, which were needed to inoculate expatriate workers wishing to travel abroad.
Moderna vaccines were delivered to Pakistan last week by Washington in partnership with the COVAX global vaccine initiative and UNICEF.
Before receiving this vaccine, Pakistan had mostly relied on Chinese vaccines.
Pakistan faced the shortage of specific vaccines last month after some Middle Eastern countries asked travelers to produce a certificate to show they’ve received specific vaccines, including the Moderna, Pfizer or AstraZeneca shots. AP