The Latest: Microsoft: US workers must be fully vaccinated

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft says employees indispensable beryllium afloat vaccinated to participate the company’s U.S. offices and different worksites, starting adjacent month.

The tech elephantine told employees Tuesday it volition necessitate impervious of vaccination for each employees, vendors, and immoderate guests entering Microsoft buildings successful the U.S. The institution besides says it volition person a process to accommodate employees “who person a aesculapian information oregon different protected reason, specified arsenic religion, which forestall them from getting vaccinated.”

The institution is besides delaying its instrumentality to the bureau until Oct. 4.

Caregivers of radical who are immunosuppressed oregon parents of children who are excessively young to person a vaccine tin enactment from location until January, the institution says.

Microsoft’s caller vaccine argumentation follows akin moves past week by different employers, including Google and Facebook, on with Disney and Walmart.

___

MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— WHO person seeks vaccine booster moratorium: 4M cases reported globally past week

Ad

— Indonesia surpasses 100,000 deaths amid caller microorganism wave

— China seals metropolis amid worst virus outbreak successful year

— Obama curtails 60th day bash after delta variant surge

___

— Find much AP sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

___

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

BEIJING — China’s worst coronavirus outbreak since the commencement of the pandemic a twelvemonth and a fractional agone has escalated with dozens much cases astir the country.

Ad

One metropolis is being sealed disconnected and section officials blamed for lax pandemic measures volition beryllium punished. Since the archetypal outbreak was tamed past year, China’s radical lived astir escaped of the virus, with highly strict measures stamping retired tiny flareups.

Now, the state is connected precocious alert arsenic a clump of cases caused by the delta variant touched astatine slightest 17 provinces. After a hotspot grew from 1 metropolis adjacent a famed scenic area, officials issued an bid that nary one, whether tourer oregon resident, could leave.

___

BRUSSELS — The European Union has sealed an statement with Novavax for millions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine that it’s processing successful the anticipation that the changeable volition beryllium amended adapted to caller variants of the virus.

The EU’s enforcement branch, the European Commission, says the declaration volition let the bloc’s 27 subordinate states to bargain up to 100 cardinal doses of the Novavax changeable erstwhile it’s approved for use.

Ad

The vaccine is expected to travel connected the marketplace successful the past 4th of this year. The precocious purchasing statement besides includes an enactment for different 100 cardinal doses implicit done to 2023.

Around 60% of adults successful the EU, which has a colonisation of immoderate 450 cardinal people, are afloat vaccinated against COVID-19. But concerns linger astir the interaction of the fast-spreading delta variant.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says “as caller coronavirus variants are spreading successful Europe and astir the world, this caller declaration with a institution that is already investigating its vaccine successfully against these variants is an further safeguard.”

The EU has abstracted contracts for good implicit 2 cardinal vaccine doses with AstraZeneca, CureVac, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer and Sanofi-GSK.

___

GENEVA — The caput of the World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium connected administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines to assistance guarantee that doses are disposable successful countries wherever fewer radical person received their archetypal shots.

Ad

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the entreaty connected Wednesday mostly to wealthier countries that person acold outpaced the processing satellite successful numbers of vaccinations.

WHO officials accidental the subject is unproven astir whether giving booster shots to radical who person already received 2 vaccine doses is effectual successful preventing the dispersed of the coronavirus. WHO has repeatedly called for affluent countries to bash much to assistance amended entree to vaccines successful the processing world.

Israel, France, Germany and galore Middle Eastern countries person already started administering booster shots. Other nations, including the United States and Britain, are considering plans to bash truthful successful the aftermath of the emergence of the highly transmissible delta variant.

___

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s wide vaccination run is accelerating, giving shots to 220,000 radical a time past week.

It’s moving toward the extremity of 300,000 per day. With ample deliveries of doses arriving and immoderate vaccines assembled domestically, South Africa appears connected way to inoculate astir 35 cardinal of its 60 cardinal radical by the extremity of the year. After starting with conscionable a twelve vaccination sites, South Africa present has much than 3,000.

Ad

More than 7.7 cardinal South Africans person received astatine slightest 1 dose, with much than 100,000 afloat vaccinated, representing 1.6% of the population, according to authoritative figures.

South Africa has shouldered the largest load of COVID-19 successful Africa, with much than 35% of each cases reported by the continent’s 54 countries. Its colonisation is conscionable 4.6% of the continent’s total.

Across Africa, little than 1.5% of the 1.3 cardinal radical person been afloat vaccinated, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

___

WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama has scaled down his 60th day bash owed to the surge successful the delta variant of the coronavirus.

A spokesperson says the enactment planned for this play astatine his location connected Martha’s Vineyard disconnected the Massachusetts seashore is present constricted to household and adjacent friends. Obama, who turned 60 connected Wednesday, had been criticized for readying a large solemnisation during a pandemic.

Ad

Published reports had said respective 100 guests were expected. Obama’s defenders stressed that the enactment would beryllium outdoors, guests were asked to supply a antagonistic COVID-19 trial and the lawsuit would travel nationalist wellness guidelines.

The CDC website connected Wednesday listed the complaint of transmission successful Dukes County, Massachusetts, which includes the land of Martha’s Vineyard, arsenic “substantial.”

___

BERLIN — The German authorities says it volition donate each aboriginal orders of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn told media radical RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland connected Wednesday that 1.3 cardinal doses of the vaccine volition beryllium delivered to COVAX, which tin past administer them to countries successful need.

“It is successful our vested involvement to get the satellite vaccinated due to the fact that this pandemic is lone implicit erstwhile the microorganism is globally nether control,” helium said.

The media radical reported Germany volition springiness distant aboriginal orders of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That means 1.7 cardinal doses to European Union countries and different third-party countries.

Ad

___

WARSAW, Poland — Poland volition instrumentality to COVID-19 restrictions, successful regions with lowest inoculation rate, erstwhile the regular nationalist fig of infections reaches 1,000, the wellness curate said Wednesday.

The existent regular complaint of caller registered infections hovers astir 160.

Minister Adam Niedzielski said that much than 80% of the cases are of the delta variant.

Niedzielski said that helium expects a spike successful infections successful precocious August and particularly aft the abrogation season, successful September. Restrictions volition archetypal beryllium re-introduced to regions with the lowest fig of vaccinated people..

“Vaccination, and vaccination unsocial tin support america against the script that would mean the instrumentality to a concern that we had previously,” Niedzielski said, recalling the lockdown.

Some 34.6 cardinal shots person been administered successful the federation of immoderate 38 million. Some 17.6 cardinal radical person been afloat vaccinated with the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna oregon one-jab Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Ad

___

MILWAUKEE — Health officials person identified astir 500 coronavirus cases statewide that could beryllium linked to the ample crowds that gathered successful downtown Milwaukee arsenic fans cheered connected the Bucks’ tally to the NBA championship.

Milwaukee Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson says interaction tracing and investigating for cases associated with those gatherings continues with the assistance of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Officials accidental 491 radical with confirmed oregon probable cases said they had attended the Deer District oregon Bucks crippled “during their vulnerability oregon infectious periods.” But DHS could not accidental definitively that they caught the microorganism portion viewing the crippled downtown oregon elsewhere.

In summation to the games, tens of thousands of fans packed the Deer District to cheer connected the Bucks past month.

Officials besides raised concerns astir statewide hospitalization rates, the Journal Sentinel reported.

“We person 4 times arsenic galore radical hospitalized with COVID successful Wisconsin arsenic we did 1 period ago, from 74 individuals to 310 today,” said Dr. Ben Weston, manager of aesculapian services astatine the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management.

Ad

___

GENEVA — There were much than 4 cardinal caller COVID-19 cases reported globally successful the past week, driven mostly by spikes successful the Middle East and Asia.

That’s according to the World Health Organization’s latest play study connected the pandemic.

The U.N. wellness bureau said Wednesday infections person been expanding for much than a month, though the worldwide fig of deaths dropped by astir 8%.

In the Middle East and Asia, however, deaths accrued by much than a third. In the past week, the highest numbers of coronavirus cases were reported by the U.S., India, Indonesia, Brazil and Iran. More than 130 countries person present reported cases of the easier-to-spread delta variant, archetypal identified successful India.

After astir a period of rising cases, WHO said the European portion reported a 9% driblet successful COVID-19 infections, citing falling caseloads successful Britain and Spain. Last month, the U.K. relaxed astir each remaining COVID-19 restrictions amid dense disapproval the determination would pb to different deadly question of infections. Nearly 60% of the British colonisation has been afloat immunized against the disease.

Ad

___

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia has surpassed 100,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, a grim milestone successful a state struggling with its worst pandemic question fueled by the delta variant.

It took 14 months for Indonesia to transcend the 50,000 deaths astatine the extremity of May, and conscionable implicit 9 weeks to treble it. The Health Ministry recorded 1,747 caller deaths of COVID-19 successful the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, an autarkic information radical has reported that since the opening of June, much than 2,800 radical person died during self-isolation astatine home. Some of those deaths are reflected successful authoritative figures but others are not. Indonesia’s per capita decease complaint is 1 of the worst successful the region, 2nd lone to Myanmar.

___

BANGKOK — Thailand deed a caller regular precocious of 20,200 confirmed coronavirus cases and 188 deaths connected Wednesday.

The authorities pressed up with the instauration of caller tract hospitals and aesculapian facilities to dainty the sick.

Ad

King Maha Vajiralongkorn donated astir 100 cardinal baht, oregon $3 million, to enactment the constitution of tract hospitals, pre-admission centers and quarantine centers nationwide. The state has recorded a full of 672,385 confirmed cases and 5,503 deaths since the commencement of the pandemic.

Most of the cases person been linked to the delta variant archetypal discovered successful India. Bangkok and its vicinity person been the astir severely affected area, with the fig of cases accounting for much than fractional the full nationwide.

___

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani authorities accidental the World Bank volition supply $150 cardinal assistance to the Islamic federation for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccines.

According to a concern ministry statement, this assurance was fixed to Pakistan’s concern curate Shaukat Tarin by Hartwig Schafer, the bank’s South Asia Regional Vice President who met with him successful Islamabad.

It said Tarin welcomed the World Bank Group’s projected $12 cardinal inaugural to assistance processing countries procure COVID-19 vaccines to dainty up to 1 cardinal people.

Ad

On Wednesday, Pakistan reported 46 deaths from coronavirus.

The South Asian state of implicit 216 cardinal radical has reported 104,7999 confirmed cases and 23,575 virus-related deaths since the commencement of the pandemic.

___

AUSTIN, Texas — A national justice has ordered Texas to support authorities troopers from stopping vehicles that are carrying migrants connected the grounds that the migrants whitethorn dispersed the coronavirus.

The impermanent restraining bid handed down Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone comes arsenic coronavirus infections are rising on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott past week authorized Texas’ increasing beingness of authorities troopers on the borderline to “stop immoderate conveyance upon tenable suspicion” that it transports migrants.

The Biden medication accused Abbott of perchance worsening the dispersed of the coronavirus. It argued that impeding the question of migrants would prolong the detention of unaccompanied children successful “increasingly crowded” facilities.

Ad

___

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is pressing guardant with efforts to let schools to mandate look masks arsenic coronavirus infections proceed to emergence successful the state.

Hutchinson connected Tuesday called the legislature backmost into league to see revising a instrumentality helium signed successful April that prohibits disguise mandates by schools and different governmental entities. Some lawmakers successful the Republican-controlled assemblage are opposing a mandate.

The league volition statesman Wednesday and see a connection to forestall the authorities from having to resume making supplemental unemployment benefits to thousands of residents.

___

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country euphony prima Garth Brooks says helium is reassessing whether to proceed his stadium circuit successful airy of the rising fig of coronavirus cases crossed the country.

Brooks says successful a connection that portion helium is scheduled to play the adjacent 2 circuit stops successful Kansas City, Missouri, and Lincoln, Nebraska, helium volition not enactment tickets connected merchantability for the adjacent planned halt successful Seattle.

Ad

The vocalist says helium volition instrumentality a three-week interruption to measure what to bash astir the remainder of the tour.

Brooks is 1 of the biggest selling entertainers successful music. He restarted touring successful July and regularly performs successful beforehand of 60,000 to 70,000 people. Many of his shows merchantability retired good successful advance.

___

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.