Geneva
The United Nations on Monday harshly criticised countries that are using the pandemic to justify cracking down on dissent and suppressing criticism.
Speaking at the opening of the UN Human Rights Council’s main annual session, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres charged that authorities in a number of nations were using restrictions meant to halt the spread of Covid-19 to weaken their political opposition.
“Using the pandemic as a pretext, authorities in some countries have deployed heavy-handed security responses and emergency measures to crush dissent, criminalise basic freedoms, silence independent reporting and curtail the activities of non-governmental organisations,” he said, without naming the countries.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set Monday to start unwinding England’s third and — he hopes — final coronavirus lockdown, as a quickening UK-wide inoculation drive relieves pressure on hard-hit hospitals.
In a statement to parliament, Johnson is expected to confirm the reopening of all English schools on March 8 in the first big step towards restoring normal life, nearly a year after he imposed the first stay-at-home order.
The Conservative prime minister, who was accused of acting too late and relaxing curbs too early last year, says he will lay out a “cautious but irreversible” plan to ensure no more lockdowns.
In Germany many schools are reopening on Monday, but officials say infection rates remain worryingly high. France is not under lockdown, but a national curfew is in force (6pm-6am).
The area around Nice, which has the highest rate in France, will go into partial lockdown for the next two weekends.
The Riviera resort city has more than 700 cases per 100,000 inhabitants – more than three times higher than the national average of 190, French news agency AFP reports.
India’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 11-million mark, reaching 11,005,850 on Monday as 14,199 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry. According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 156,385 as 83 COVID-19 patients died since Sunday morning.
There are still 150,055 active cases in the country, while 10,699,410 people have been discharged so far from hospitals after medical treatment.
There was an increase of 4,421 active cases during the previous 24 hours. The number of active cases in India have been on the rise for the past five consecutive days. India’s nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off on Jan. 16, and over 11 million people, mainly health workers, have been vaccinated across the country.
Meanwhile, India’s financial capital Mumbai imposed fresh coronavirus restrictions on Monday as a rise in cases in the worst-affected region sparked fears of a new wave, while the country’s vast inoculation drive fell behind schedule.
All religious, social and political gatherings are banned in the city and the surrounding western state of Maharashtra, home to 110 million people, after infections spiked to levels last seen in October.—Agencies
