India on Friday reported a new record spike in daily COVID-19 cases while the country grapples with the devastating wave pushing its health system to a brink.

The country’s health ministry recorded 386,452 cases over a 24-hour period and 3,498 deaths, CNBC reported. The figure is the highest daily caseload reported across the world, shattering the previous record established by the country just days prior. 

There have been more than 18.7 million cases and 208,000 deaths reported since the onset of the pandemic, making it the second hardest hit country in the world behind the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Click Here: cheap nrl jersey

ADVERTISEMENT

The World Health Organization said that the surge is likely being fueled by multiple mutated variants of the coronavirus are circulating in the country, CNBC noted. 

The spike in cases and deaths has stretched the limits of India’s health system, with hospitals reportedly facing dire shortages of critical tools like ventilators, oxygen and vaccine materials.

The U.S. began aid flights on Thursday in an effort to send India over $100 million worth of assistance. The aid will include oxygen cylinders, concentrators that obtain oxygen out of the air, 15 million N95 masks, 1 million rapid tests, and experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as supplies to help manufacture over 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

On Thursday, the State Department called for all Americans in India to leave the country. 

In a level 4 travel alert, the highest level that can be issued, the U.S. Embassy in India raised concern over the availability of medical care and pressed Americans to take advantage of the daily flights that are available out of India back to the U.S.

The State Department on Thursday also authorized voluntary departures for the families of U.S. government employees working in India.

A State Department spokesperson said that the authorization for families was made out of “an abundance of caution” as well as “current conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and diminishing commercial flight options.”

À partir du 21 septembre 2019, chaque samedi sera une fête pour les téléspectateurs de TF1. Ce jour-là, la première chaîne donnera le coup d’envoi de la saison 10 de Danse avec les stars. Une émission animée une fois de plus par Camille Combal et Karine Ferri.

Parmi les danseurs, on retrouvera notamment Anthony Colette, qui vit actuellement sa troisième saison. Après Joy Esther et Iris Mittenaere, c’est avec l’actrice des Mystères de l’amour Elsa Esnoult qu’il vit cette superbe aventure. Une belle rencontre comme il l’a confié à nos confrères de Télé Loisirs : “Elle est gentille, elle est jolie. Elle sent bon quand on s’entraîne, ça c’est super important (rires). Pour le moment, je suis ravi.“

Le beau brun de 24 ans ne cache toutefois pas que sa partenaire a tout à apprendre : “Les débuts se passent bien. C’est dur évidemment parce qu’elle n’a jamais dansé. Elle part de loin, il y a beaucoup de travail et elle le sait. Je lui ai dit. Maintenant, il va falloir charbonner pour que ça passe, que les gens aiment nous voir danser et qu’ils aiment le spectacle.” Rendez-vous dans un peu plus d’une semaine pour découvrir le résultat !

Pour rappel, l’actrice Linda Hardy et l’acteur Azize Diabaté font aussi partie de l’aventure. Ils danseront avec Christophe Licata et Denitsa Ikonomova. Moundir sera quant à lui avec Katrina Patchett, Liane Foly avec Christian Millette, Hugo Philip avec Candice Pascal, Ladji Doucouré avec Inès Vandamme, Sami El Gueddari avec Fauve Hautot, Yoann Riou avec Emmanuelle Berne et Clara Morgane avec Maxime Dereymez.

Le jury est toujours composé de Shy’m, Chris Marques, Jean-Marc Généreux et Patrick Dupond.

Click Here: southern kings rugby jersey

Son personnage Nathan Leserman n’a pas vraiment de chance en amour, dans Plus belle la vie (France 3). En revanche, Thibaud Vaneck peut se vanter d’être plus chanceux que le jeune professeur d’anglais qu’il incarne depuis 2005.

Interrogé en exclusivité par nos confrères de Télé Loisirs dans le cadre du Festival de la fiction française de La Rochelle, l’acteur de 34 ans, d’ordinaire discret sur sa vie privée, a accepté de parler de sa vie amoureuse. L’occasion de découvrir que Thibaud Vaneck est en couple.

“Je suis un peu perché, j’oublie tout, partout. Alice, qui est ma chérie, dit que je suis fait de nuages. Je ne suis jamais vraiment là“, a-t-il confié. L’acteur de Plus belle la vie a ensuite assuré être “amoureux“. Et à en croire sa partenaire de jeu Eléonore Sarrazin, Thibaud Vaneck est un homme romantique.

A la question “lequel des deux est le plus romantique ?“, l’actrice de 25 ans – qui a perdu sa maman Ariane Carletti le 3 septembre dernier – a répondu : “J’ai envie de dire toi, parce qu’en ce moment tu as tes yeux tout tendres et ça me fait trop plaisir. En ce moment, c’est lui le plus romantique.“

Click Here: new zealand warriors rugby store

Malheureusement, Thibaud Vaneck n’a mis aucune photo de sa belle Alice sur son compte Instagram. Peut-être la présentera-t-il prochainement à ses fans sur les réseaux sociaux ? En revanche, il n’hésite pas à poser au côté de sa soeur Aurélie, qui joue Ninon dans la série de France 3.

Double Vaneck. #sista #love #pblv

Une publication partage par Thibaud Vaneck (@thibvaneck) le 29 Juin 2019 4 :12 PDT

Welcome to Friday’s Overnight Health Care. If you’re in need of some heartwarming news: Almost 30 families reunited at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey after more than a year apart due to the pandemic in an event sponsored by United Airlines, Marriott Bonvoy and CLEAR. 

If you have any tips, email us at nweixel@thehill.com, psullivan@thehill.com and jcoleman@thehill.com. 

Follow us on Twitter at @NateWeixel, @PeterSullivan4, and @JustineColeman8.

ADVERTISEMENT

Today: President BidenJoe BidenBiden to meet with 6 GOP senators next week Arizona secretary of state gets security detail over death threats surrounding election audit On The Money: Five takeaways on a surprisingly poor jobs report | GOP targets jobless aid after lackluster April gain MORE’s backing of vaccine patent waivers has divided the pharmaceutical industry and Republicans against Democrats and progressive groups. Pfizer and BioNTech officially began their application for full FDA approval for their vaccine, and a top CDC official, who issued an early warning about the pandemic, is leaving the agency.

 

We’ll start with waivers:

Battle lines drawn over Biden’s support for vaccine waivers

Battle lines are forming over President Biden‘s move to support waiving patents for COVID-19 vaccines ahead of a contentious push to increase global vaccine access.

The pharmaceutical industry and congressional Republicans blasted Biden’s announcement on Wednesday, saying it undermines incentives for American innovation and will not actually solve the complex problem of getting more doses to lower-income countries.

But Democrats and progressive groups lauded the move, which they had been pressuring Biden to make for weeks, and expressed hope that it is a sign of further action to lower drug prices and take on the pharmaceutical industry. 

ADVERTISEMENT

How soon will there actually be an effect? It is not clear that the waiver proposal will make it through the World Trade Organization. Other countries need to agree, and Germany, for example, raised concerns on Thursday. Negotiating an agreement could take months. 

Read more here.

 

Pfizer, BioNTech seek full FDA approval of COVID-19 vaccine

Pfizer and its German partner company BioNTech announced they started their request for the FDA to grant full approval of their COVID-19 vaccine after having emergency use authorization for almost five months.

The companies said they started their Biologics License Application (BLA) for the FDA to grant full authorization to give their vaccine to those 16 and older.  

What does full approval mean? With the FDA’s full approval, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine could still be given to patients 16 and older after the public health emergency is declared over.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which was the first to receive the FDA’s emergency use authorization in December, would become the first vaccine to be granted full approval in the U.S. 

What’s next? The companies said they intend to submit data for the BLA “on a rolling basis over the coming weeks” and request priority review for a decision to be made in six months, instead of the typical 10 months.

Pfizer and BioNTech have to submit data on their manufacturing processes, facilities and pre-clinical and clinical trial data. 

A planned decision date will be set after the FDA officially accepts the completed application. 

Read more here. 

 

CDC warns virus can spread more than six feet under certain conditions

ADVERTISEMENT

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in a document published Friday of “repeatedly documented” instances of coronavirus spreading through the air to people more than six feet away under certain conditions.

The new document, explaining the latest understanding of how the virus spreads, is part of a shifting emphasis towards airborne transmission of the virus.

“Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from inhalation of virus in the air farther than six feet from an infectious source can occur,” the new document says in large letters, while also noting it is “less likely than at closer distances.”

The risk of this kind of spread is highest indoors in places with “inadequate ventilation,” when people are shouting or singing, or when people are exposed for long periods of time, the CDC said.

Some experts have been pushing the CDC for months to place a greater emphasis on airborne transmission and the need to improve ventilation, even with something as simple as opening the window in a room. Experts have also long said that outdoors is far safer than indoors.

Read more here. 

 

ADVERTISEMENT

Top CDC official who warned of pandemic disruption will resign

A senior health official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who was one of the first to publicly sound the alarm about the coronavirus pandemic said Friday that she will resign next week.

In an email to colleagues seen by The Hill, Nancy Messonnier said her resignation is effective May 14 and that she will become executive director of pandemics and health systems at the Palo Alto-based Skoll Foundation.

Messonnier’s resignation was first reported by The Washington Post.

Flashback: Messonnier garnered national attention last year when she contradicted the White House’s efforts to dismiss the severity of the novel coronavirus, which was spreading rapidly overseas.

On Feb. 25, 2020, Messonnier warned that the U.S. should prepare for a “severe” disruption to everyday life.

Read more here. 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

WHO authorizes China’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday authorized China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, expressing hope that it will boost global access to doses.

The move clears the way for the vaccine to be included in the WHO’s worldwide COVAX program.

What this means: “The addition of this vaccine has the potential to rapidly accelerate COVID-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk,” Mariângela Simão, WHO assistant director-general for access to health products, said in a statement. “We urge the manufacturer to participate in the COVAX Facility and contribute to the goal of more equitable vaccine distribution.”

The WHO said the efficacy for the vaccine is estimated at 79 percent, though there are limitations in the data for people over 60 years old, because few in that age group were enrolled.

Still, the WHO said it is not limiting its authorization because “preliminary data” support use of the vaccine in older people as well.

Read more here. 

 

What we’re reading

Covid testing has turned into a financial windfall for hospitals and other providers (Kaiser Health News) 

As the Covid-19 crisis ebbs in the U.S., experts brace for some to experience psychological fallout (STAT)

In Covid vaccine data, L.G.B.T.Q. people fear invisibility (The New York Times)

 

State by state

Texas health officials earmark  $10M  for local groups to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations (Austin American-Statesman)

Michigan won’t count kid vaccinations in data tied to easing COVID-19 restrictions (Detroit Free Press)

Click Here: Real Betis soccer tracksuit

5,000 COVID-19 victims; Kelly orders flags at half-staff (The Associated Press)

President BidenJoe BidenBiden to meet with 6 GOP senators next week Arizona secretary of state gets security detail over death threats surrounding election audit On The Money: Five takeaways on a surprisingly poor jobs report | GOP targets jobless aid after lackluster April gain MORE said Friday that he’s “confident” he and Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich PutinBiden ‘confident’ meeting with Putin will take place soon Blinken: US stands with Ukraine in face of Russian aggression Russia keeping 80K troops at border amid NATO exercise, US officials say MORE can meet in June, though the details of any face-to-face have yet to be agreed upon.

Click Here: England National Rugby Team Jersey

“I’m confident we’ll be able to do it. We don’t have any specific time or place. That’s being worked on,” Biden said at the White House on Friday.

The White House has indicated there’s a possibility of a Biden-Putin meeting next month while the president is in Europe for the Group of Seven (G-7) summit.

ADVERTISEMENT

Biden is traveling to Cornwall in the United Kingdom for the summit, and he also plans to stop in Belgium for meetings with European and NATO leaders.

While both sides have said a meeting would take place in a country other than the U.K. and Belgium while Biden is in Europe, discussions on a summit are ongoing, White House spokeswoman Jen PsakiJen PsakiBiden ‘confident’ meeting with Putin will take place soon Sinema urges Biden to take ‘bold’ action at border: ‘This is a crisis’ The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by ExxonMobil – More states are passing voting restrictions MORE told reporters.

“We’re working through the question of some logistics, place, location, time, agenda, all the specifics, that was always going to happen at a staff level. It’s really up to them what they want to achieve,” Psaki said Friday.

A Biden-Putin summit would likely hit on an array of topics, including Russia’s beefed up military presence along its border with Ukraine, the treatment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Moscow’s interference in recent U.S. elections.

However, the White House said Russia’s widely criticized handling of those issues will not stop a meeting between the two presidents.

“Obviously, human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, values are all issues the president, Secretary Blinken, National Security Adviser Sullivan raised with their counterparts,” Psaki said, referring to Secretary of State Antony BlinkenAntony BlinkenBiden ‘confident’ meeting with Putin will take place soon Blinken calls for Taiwan to join World Health Assembly in opposition to China US general warns China is actively seeking to set up an Atlantic naval base MORE and Jake SullivanJake SullivanBiden ‘confident’ meeting with Putin will take place soon Will Biden provide strategic clarity or further ambiguity on Taiwan? State Department denies reports of prisoner swap with Iran MORE. 

“But the invitation to have a discussion and have a meeting was not offered with the prerequisite that every issue is resolved in advance. We expect we will still continue to have disagreements.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday took aim at “ghost guns,” proposing to close a loophole that allows people to avoid background checks as they purchase guns without serial numbers.

A proposed rule from the Biden administration expands the definition of a firearm to include weapons that can be assembled at home.

The homemade weapons allow those barred from owning a firearm to skirt background checks, but the assembly kits’ parts also lack a serial number, making it difficult to trace guns that have been used in crimes.

ADVERTISEMENT

The process not only allows those barred from owning a firearm to create their own weapon, but the kits also lack a serial number, making it difficult to trace guns that have been used in crimes.

“We are committed to taking commonsense steps to address the epidemic of gun violence that takes the lives of too many people in our communities,” Attorney General Merrick GarlandMerrick GarlandDOJ proposes crackdown on ‘ghost guns’ following Biden pledge America’s Jewish communities are under attack — Here are 3 things Congress can do Biden set to flex clemency powers MORE said in a statement.

“Criminals and others barred from owning a gun should not be able to exploit a loophole to evade background checks and to escape detection by law enforcement. This proposed rule would help keep guns out of the wrong hands and make it easier for law enforcement to trace guns used to commit violent crimes, while protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans. Although this rulemaking will solve only one aspect of the problem, we have an obligation to do our part to keep our families and our neighborhoods safe from gun violence.”

The proposal is the first major action the Biden administration has taken on guns since President BidenJoe BidenBiden to meet with 6 GOP senators next week Arizona secretary of state gets security detail over death threats surrounding election audit On The Money: Five takeaways on a surprisingly poor jobs report | GOP targets jobless aid after lackluster April gain MORE in late March called on Congress to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines and close various background check loopholes.

The effort came after a cluster of mass shootings, including one in which a gunman killed 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colo.

“They’ve offered plenty of thoughts and prayers … but they’ve passed not a single new federal law to reduce gun violence,” Biden said at a Rose Garden ceremony in April alongside Garland. “Enough prayers. Time for some action.”

ADVERTISEMENT

If finalized, DOJ’s rule would expand what qualifies as a firearm, and those selling firearm kits would be required to perform background checks before sales.

Manufacturers and firearm dealers would also be required to “have a serial number added to 3D printed guns or other un-serialized firearms they take into inventory.”

Groups have 90 days to comment on the proposal.

According to the Justice Department, some 23,000 guns without serial numbers were recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes, including 325 in connection with homicides or attempted homicides.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) said the proposed rule could “destroy the American firearms industry.”

Lawmakers, however, couched the effectiveness of just one new regulation.

“The proposed rule would do nothing to address violent crime while further burdening law-abiding gun owners and the lawful firearm industry with overbroad regulations,” NRA spokesman Lars Dalseide said in a statement.

“This new rule will help stop a surging menace of homemade, untraceable deadly weapons. It’s a historic step in applying Presidential power against gun violence,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a leading gun reform advocate, wrote on Twitter.

“This rule will not stop anyone who is legally allowed to own a firearm from purchasing one or building one. It will simply allow law enforcement to trace crime guns & take action against those who are using this loophole to stockpile weapons they are not legally allowed to have,” he added.

—Updated at 5:50 p.m.

Click Here: Real Betis soccer tracksuit

President BidenJoe BidenBiden prepping cybersecurity executive order in response to SolarWinds attack Photoshopped deer in Kevlar vests circulate after Biden gun control comment Majority of viewers approved of Biden address to Congress: poll MORE pitched the climate measures he’s hoping to put in place as job-creating proposals during his first address to Congress on Wednesday night.

The president has sought to tie his climate agenda to jobs, including in his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, which seeks to create jobs in areas such as electric vehicles and efficient building upgrades.

“When I think about climate change, I think jobs,” Biden said Wednesday. “The American Jobs Plan will put engineers and construction workers to work building more energy-efficient buildings and homes.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“Electrical workers, [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union] members, installing 500,000 charging stations along our highways so we can own the electric car market. Farmers planting cover crops so they can reduce the carbon dioxide in the air and get paid for doing it,” he added. “There’s simply no reason the blades for wind turbines can’t be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing. … There’s no reason why American workers can’t lead the world in the production of electric vehicles and batteries.”

His political opponents have sought to cast doubt on the notion of simultaneously creating jobs and fighting climate change, arguing that fossil fuel industry workers could lose their jobs in a clean energy transition. 

And a recent analysis found that workers in the natural gas and coal industries tend to have higher wages than wind and solar workers. 

In his speech, Biden addressed workers who may feel left behind in a changing economy, saying, “Some of you at home are wondering whether these jobs are for you.”

“I want to speak directly to you,” he said. “Independent experts estimate the American Jobs Plan will add millions of jobs.”

In his speech, Biden also discussed opportunities in modernizing the electric grid, an issue that’s been in the spotlight after millions lost power in Texas in February amid a winter storm. 

“The American Jobs plan will create jobs that lay thousands of miles of transmission lines needed to build a resilient and fully clean grid,” he said. 

Click Here: UK football tracksuit

The withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Somalia has hindered intelligence gathering, making continued U.S. counterterrorism operations more difficult, the top U.S. general for the region said Thursday.

“There’s no denying that the repositioning of forces out of Somalia has introduced new layers of complexity and risk,” U.S. Africa Command chief Gen. Stephen Townsend told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Our understanding of what’s happening in Somalia is less now than it was when we were there on the ground physically located with our partners.”

In the final months of his tenure, former President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump: LeBron James’s ‘racist rants’ are divisive, nasty North Carolina man accused of fraudulently obtaining .5M in PPP loans Biden announces picks to lead oceans, lands agencies MORE ordered almost all of the 700 U.S. troops that were in Somalia to withdraw. The troops were in Somalia to help local security forces fight al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab and the local ISIS affiliate.

ADVERTISEMENT

While Trump framed the move as part of his efforts to end “forever wars,” most of the U.S. troops that left Somalia were repositioned to other nearby countries such as Kenya and Djibouti and have continued to conduct operations inside Somalia.

Click Here: Mexico soccer tracksuit

“We have been commuting to work,” Townsend said Thursday. “We work virtually with our partners from our bases in the region, and then we fly in to conduct training and to advise and assist our partners.”

Over the past 90 days, there have been four such operations to train, advise and assist forces inside Somalia, including one that is ongoing, Townsend added.

Fewer than 100 U.S. troops remain in Mogadishu for work tied to the U.S. embassy there, Townsend said.

The Biden administration is in the midst of a review of U.S. military posture around the globe that could result in a reversal of Trump’s withdrawal or other changes to the U.S. military footprint in Africa.

ADVERTISEMENT

Townsend said he is providing input to Defense Secretary Lloyd AustinLloyd AustinIntelligence director Haines says climate change ‘at the center’ of national security US military to help with search for missing Indonesian submarine Overnight Defense: Top general concerned about Afghan forces after US troops leave | Pentagon chief: Climate crisis ‘existential’ threat to US national security | Army conducts review after 4 Black soldiers harassed at Virginia IHOP MORE for the global posture review, but that in the meantime, his command is “working to make this new mode of operation work.”

Townsend was testifying alongside U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Frank McKenzie, who is devising options to continue counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan once all U.S. troops withdraw from that country in line with President BidenJoe BidenBiden announces picks to lead oceans, lands agencies Overnight Defense: Top general concerned about Afghan forces after US troops leave | Pentagon chief: Climate crisis ‘existential’ threat to US national security | Army conducts review after 4 Black soldiers harassed at Virginia IHOP Feds expect to charge scores more in connection to Capitol riot MORE’s order.

Several senators highlighted parallels between Townsend’s situation in Somalia and McKenzie’s in Afghanistan.

“Ironically or coincidentally, what you’re anticipating or actually experiencing at this moment is very much the same situation that Gen. McKenzie might face. Having withdrawn forces from the target country, for want of a better word, you have to operate on the periphery,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack ReedJack ReedTop general: Somalia withdrawal made counterterrorism missions riskier Harris casts tiebreaking vote to advance Biden nominee Five questions about Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan MORE (D-R.I.) said. “You face political and cultural issues, and Gen. McKenzie will face political and cultural issues.”

Echoing comments McKenzie has made about Afghanistan, Townsend told senators conducting counterterrorism operations with so-called over the horizon forces “makes it more difficult; it doesn’t make it impossible.”

The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on Monday from several former pro wrestlers who claim World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) failed to protect them from repeated head injuries that led to brain damage.

The plaintiffs in the case include William “Billy Jack” Haynes, Russ “Big Russ” McCullough, Ryan Sakoda, Matthew “Luther Reigns” Wiese and the widow of Nelson “Viscera” Frazier, who died in 2014, The Associated Press reports.

Their case had been previously dismissed by a lower court for being filed too late. More than 50 former wrestlers who were largely active in the 1980s and 1990s sued the WWE, alleging the entertainment company knew of the risks of repeated head injuries, but did not warn the wrestlers.

ADVERTISEMENT

The AP reports that this lawsuit is the last of several that were first filed six years ago in Connecticut, where WWE is based.

Two deceased former wrestlers, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara, were posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to their lawyers. There are currently no methods of diagnosing CTE while a patient is still alive. Other wrestlers are allegedly suffering from dementia.

“The wrestlers are dying of CTE despite the inaction of the justice system,” attorney Konstantine Kyros said after the Supreme Court’s decision. “Our team is proud to have brought their claims to our highest court and hopeful that this brings awareness to their ongoing struggles.”

Click Here: AFL Football Guernsey

“We’re glad it’s finally over,” Jerry McDevitt, a lawyer for WWE, said Monday, according to the AP. “We were completely vindicated.”

Scrutiny around the prevalence of CTE in professional athletes has risen in recent years among contact sports leagues, particularly the NFL.

In 2016, the NFL acknowledged that there is a link between football and CTE after many years of avoiding the topic. That same year, the football league pledged $100 million for independent medical research into neuroscience related topics.

Symptoms of CTE include include difficulty thinking, short-term memory loss, depression, impulsive behavior, suicidal thoughts and emotional instability.

Europe’s economy has fallen back into recession as the 19 countries that use the euro currently struggle to get their coronavirus cases under control with vaccination efforts moving more slowly than in the United States and Great Britain.

The economy in those 19 European countries fell 0.6 percent the first three months of 2021, the Associated Press reported.

The drop occurred from January until the end of March so numbers could have improved since the data was released, but it was the second straight quarter that Europe saw a decline in its economy, the AP reported. Europe’s unemployment rate also increased slightly in March to 8.1 percent.

ADVERTISEMENT

Europe mostly saw a decline in its economy due to its slow vaccine rollout as the countries have been struggling to handle its coronavirus cases.

The slow vaccine rollout coupled with lockdowns in many countries have stifled its economy and prevented them from an economic rebound that China and the United States are seeing.

Click Here: cheap sydney roosters jersey

Economists are hopeful that Europe’s vaccine rollout will improve after the lifting on pauses for the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Those vaccines were briefly paused amid concerns about blood clots related to the vaccines.

An EU official said they will also allow tourism from the U.S. again this summer if an individual is fully vaccinated which would help countries that have been struggling economically since the pandemic all but ended global tourism.