May 5 coronavirus news

Nepal’s army has told its retired medical staff to be ready to be recalled for duty to help manage the growing Covid-19 crisis in the country. 

Army Spokesperson Santosh Ballav Poudel told CNN that the decision was made at a meeting held by the Chief of Army Staff Purna Chandra Thapa on Wednesday. 

Nepal’s army has already been drafted to help build the necessary infrastructure for isolation facilities and coordinated the management of the remains of Covid-19 victims. 

Some context: The Covid epidemic is spiralling out of control in Nepal. The Red Cross has warned on Wednesday that the country is heading into the same direction as its neighbor India, which is struggling to contain the virus at a horrific cost.

“What is happening in India right now is a horrifying preview of Nepal’s future if we cannot contain this latest Covid surge that is claiming more lives by the minute," said Dr Netra Prasad Timsina, Nepal Red Cross Chairperson.

The epidemic has already spread even into the highest levels of the government. The Chief Minister of Nepal's Gandaki province Prithvi Subba Gurung tested positive for the virus and is isolating at home, his aide told CNN. 

As the G7 Foreign and Development Minister's Meeting kicks off in London on Wednesday, the Indian representative will only attend virtually after being exposed to "possible Covid positive cases."

India's External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said he was made aware of the possible exposure on Tuesday evening.

"As a measure of abundant caution and also out of consideration for others, I decided to conduct my engagements in the virtual mode. That will be the case with the G7 Meeting today as well," Jaishankar said in a tweet Wednesday. 

A senior UK diplomat said that the UK regretted Jaishankar wasn't going to be able to attend the meeting in person. "This is exactly why we have put in place strict Covid protocols and daily testing,” the diplomat added.

The G7 ministerial meeting in London started Monday and is set to wrap up on Wednesday. India is not part of the G7, but its delegation was among those invited to attend the meeting.

Planeloads of ventilators, oxygen supplies and antiviral drugs began arriving last week, with photos showing massive parcels being unloaded at New Delhi airport.

But as hospitals on the ground pleaded for more provisions, much of the cargo sat in airport hangars for many days.

Medical workers and local officials are still reporting the same devastating shortages that have strained the health care system for weeks now -- raising questions, even among foreign donors, of where the aid is going.

The Indian government issued a strong denial of any delay on Tuesday evening, saying it had installed a "streamlined mechanism" for allocating aid. Nearly 4 million donated items, spanning 24 categories, have already been distributed to 38 health care facilities across the country, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

But on the ground, many state and local authorities claim there has been little to no communication from the central government on how or when they would receive relief.

Read the full story here.

Big banks and accounting firms do most of their business in New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. But they wouldn't be able to function without their back offices, many of which are located in India.

Financial services firms have outsourced a huge number of information technology and operations jobs to India in recent decades, attracted by an educated workforce and cheaper labor costs.

Almost 4.4 million people in the country are employed in IT and business process management, according to the National Association of Software and Service Companies, a trade body.

In order to keep their operations online, banks are shifting work to other countries, encouraging staff to work from home and extending project deadlines.

Indian companies that provide services to Wall Street are taking additional steps to protect workers in cities such as Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi, in some cases establishing Covid care centers for employees and their families.

Read the full story here.

The Japanese prefecture of Osaka has nearly reached capacity for Covid-19 patients with serious symptoms, forcing authorities to open waiting centers for patients who cannot find bed space, the government said on its website.

Beds for patients with serious symptoms in the city were 98.9% occupied as of Tuesday. The government opened two waiting centers in April with ventilators for patients who called for ambulances but could not be admitted because of the a lack of beds.

With just weeks until the Tokyo Olympics, Covid-19 cases in Japan are on the rise. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hyogo are all under state of emergencies set to expire on May 11.

As of Tuesday, 609,603 people in Japan had contracted Covid-19. At least 10,466 people have died.

Nepal authorities have identified a Covid-19 outbreak at massively overcrowded prison in the country's western Sudurpashchim province, authorities said.

Chief District Officer Gopal Kumar Adhikari, the chief district officer of the Bajura district, where the prison is located, said five prisoners have tested positive for the virus.

The five have been placed in isolation facilities.

The prison is meant to accommodate 25 inmates, but it was housing 59 of them -- sparking fears that the coronavirus may have spread between prisoners.

It is unclear how many people have been tested in the prison.

India reported 382,315 new cases of coronavirus cases and another 3,780 Covid-19-related deaths on Wednesday, according to figures released by the Health Ministry.

The country is struggling to contain a new, massive surge in cases that first appeared in mid-April. Wednesday marked the eighth consecutive day that reported deaths per day topped 3,000 and 300,000 cases per day since April 22.

To date, India has now identified 20,665,148 Covid-19 cases -- trailing only the United States -- and at least 226,188 people have died.

The vaccine rollout has also been slow. A total of 160,494,188 vaccine doses have been administered since the country began its vaccination program on January 16, and just 3% of the population has been fully inoculated. The program was expanded to include people over the age of 18.

For months, critics of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have been calling for an investigation into his handling of the country's devastating Covid-19 crisis. On Tuesday, it finally began.

The parliamentary inquiry into the Brazilian government's Covid-19 response kicked off with hours of testimony from former Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta -- one of several who have passed through the crucial role during the pandemic.

Mandetta was a proponent of social distancing, supporting state governors' decisions to shut down schools and businesses -- an approach that put him at sharp odds with his then-boss. Bolsonaro has long downplayed the gravity of Covid-19 and prioritized the country's economic health over lockdowns and social distancing rules.

Read more about the inquiry:

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Nepal’s military is working with local government authorities in western part of the country to build an isolation center with 200 beds to cope with the rising number of Covid-19 cases, Chief District Officer Khagendra Prasad Rijal told CNN. 

The work is part of an extension of 2,000 beds at an existing facility, Rijal said. Construction started on Tuesday in the Kailali district in Sudurpashchim province which borders India. The district has seen a large number of Nepali migrant workers return home form India, which is facing a massive surge of new cases.

Kailali district is facing a shortage of oxygen gas cylinders, Rijal said. He said he regularly receives calls for help to find resources for individuals sick with Covid-19.