Brazilian President Violates Restrictions; Many Everest Climbers Have Covid-19

According to CNA news site, health officials in the state of MaranhaoBrazilhas filed a lawsuit against President Bolsonaro for promoting mass gatherings without any safety measures during the pandemic.

The incident occurred on May 21, when Mr. Bolsonaro attended an agricultural event in the Acailandia metropolitan area, about 500km from the capital Sao Luis of Maranhao state. At this event, he did not wear a mask and loudly criticized the restrictive measures of the state governor, Flavio Dino.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was fined for violating restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Poder

Governor Dino has reminded residents that gatherings of more than 100 people are banned in his state, and that the use of masks is mandatory. This rule applies to everyone, including the President of Brazil.

President Bolsonaro will have 15 days to appeal. If not, the fine will be fixed for the Brazilian leader after that period. Mr. Bolsonaro's office has declined to comment on this information.

According to Worldometer, Brazil currently has over 16 million cases and over 448,000 deaths from Covid-19, the third largest in the world after the US and India. However, President Jair Bolsonaro has strongly opposed restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and criticized state governors for imposing restrictions on the epidemic.

Chinese conglomerate wants to support Covid-19 vaccine for Taiwan

In an interview with Xinhua News Agency on May 22, Mr. Wu Yifang - Chairman of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group said that his group is ready to support the Covid-19 vaccine produced by BioNTech for Taiwan (China).

Mr. Ngo revealed that some unnamed groups in Taiwan have contacted him to urgently purchase Covid-19 vaccines, and his group is willing to support.

The chairman of Fosun Shanghai also said that since last year, the group has been promoting vaccines to Taiwan, and they hope that the vaccine doses can soon arrive on the island to help prevent the re-spread of the coronavirus.

Fosun has yet to comment on Chairman Ngo Di Phuong's statement.

Taiwan has received only about 700,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines so far, all produced by AstraZeneca, and those doses are quickly running out as the island ramps up its vaccination drive amid a sharp rise in new cases in recent days.

More than 100 Everest climbers infected with Covid-19

AP news agency, citing Lukas Furtenbach, a climbing guide at Everest, said that a foreign guide and six local Nepalese guides in his team were infected with Covid-19.

Furtenbach also said that at least 100 people have tested positive for the coronavirus at Everest base camp, and that the number could even be as high as 150 or 200.

Nepalese officials have yet to comment on the matter.

A total of 408 foreign climbers have been granted permission to climb Everest this season, supported by hundreds of local guides and staff who have been at base camp since April. However, some climbers have tested positive for coronavirus after being brought down from Everest base camp.

In late April, a Norwegian climber became the first person to test positive at Everest base camp. However, the Nepalese government has yet to acknowledge the Covid-19 outbreak on the "roof of the world".

Nepal is experiencing a new wave of Covid-19, with a record number of infections and deaths. According to statistics site Worldometers, this South Asian country recorded 8,591 new infections as of the morning of May 23, bringing the total number of Covid-19 infections to more than 505,000 since the outbreak.

UK records only 15 infections among more than 60,000 people attending major events

British health officials said on May 21 that only 15 of nearly 60,000 people who attended nine pilot events for mass gatherings in the country tested positive for the coronavirus.

The UK government has allowed limited crowds to gather at nine major events in recent weeks to assess their impact on Covid-19 transmission. Health officials are now working with the NHS to trace 15 positive cases.

"The aim of our world-leading events research programme is to examine the risk of Covid-19 transmission at major events, and to find out how crowds can be welcomed back in larger numbers safely," a UK Government spokesperson said.

“The pilot programmes have been scientifically designed to reduce the risk of infection to attendees. We are working closely with NHS test and trace to ensure those who test positive are traced,” he added.

Britain is one of the countries worst affected by Covid-19 in Europe, but restrictions and an effective vaccination campaign have seen new infections fall significantly in recent weeks.