In an interview with CNN, Dr. Deborah Birx, who coordinated the White House coronavirus task force under former President Donald Trump, said that the US could have avoided many COVID deaths if the government had responded more effectively. 

"There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge. All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially," said Birx. 

She said she had a "very uncomfortable" call from Trump after describing how widespread the virus was in an interview with CNN in August, during which she told people living in rural areas that they were not immune.

Birx expressed concern about the level of testing in the country, but also praised the new administration for modeling mask-wearing and other behaviors that help to combat the virus. "I think the messaging has been very good, very consistent," she said of President Biden and his team.

Americas

Cases in the US have recently plateaued. Top pandemic adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday this may be due to "premature" easing of anti-virus efforts in some places.

"We've seen that in our own country, and that's exactly what's happened in Europe in several of the countries in the European Union, where they plateaued and then started to come back," he told CBS in an interview. 

Fauci urged caution and said that a surge in travel could cause an increase in numbers. "It really is almost a race between getting people vaccinated and having this peak that... we don't want to see," he said.

Mexico's COVID death toll is likely to be at least 60% higher than the confirmed number, according to updated health ministry figures on excess mortality that now include deaths "associated with COVID-19."

These new figures show 294,287 total fatalities, compared with the other, "confirmed" death toll of 182,301. 

Europe

Germany has reported over 9,800 new COVID infections over the past 24 hours, according to the latest numbers released by the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. The overall seven-day incidence rate for Germany also rose to 134 cases per 100,000.

Health officials have cautioned people against traveling for the Easter holidays later this week. Epidemiologists warn that a post-holiday surge in infections driven by the more dangerous "UK variant" would be more severe and affect more younger people than previous outbreaks.

The UK has eased some lockdown measures, but British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged citizens to be cautious, citing the threat of new variants of the virus. 

The government also announced plans to set up a new Office for Health Promotion to help tackle obesity, improve mental health and promote exercise. Johnson has raised awareness about this issue since contracting COVID-19 last year, saying he was "too fat" when he got sick.

Johnson later announced that Britain had struck a deal with pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to make some 60 million doses of the vaccine.

They will be manufactured at the Fujifilm plant in Stockton-on-Tees, then bottled at a factory in Barnard Castle - where Johnson's former chief of staff Dominic Cummings took a lockdown-breaking trip last summer.

In France, health officials are warning a third wave of COVID infections could soon overwhelm hospitals.

The number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs and hospital surveillance units climbed to 4,872 on Sunday night. That number is close to the last surge in hospitalizations seen in November 2020. 

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday that "all options are on the table" to protect the public. 

Thousands of protesters marched against new coronavirus restrictions in cities across Romania on Monday evening after a call from the far-right Alliance for Unity of Romanians (AUR) party.

Romania recorded a record number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units on Monday, around 1,400. Some 23,234 people have died after testing positive for the virus since the pandemic began.

Asia-Pacific

India has reported its worst single-day increase in COVID cases since October. Health Ministry officials reported 62,714 new cases in the space of 24 hours on
Sunday.

Maharashtra, which is home to Mumbai, is considering imposing a strict lockdown this week after recording 40,414 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, almost two-thirds of the national total. The spike is the highest for any Indian state since last March.

Hong Kong has relaxed some coronavirus restrictions, allowing pools and beaches to reopen. Quarantine time for some international arrivals has also been reduced from 21 to 14 days. 

Authorities Queensland, Australia announced a snap three-day lockdown in Brisbane to counter a COVID outbreak. 

The lockdown affects 2 million people, who will be required to stay home after 5 p.m., except for essential work, health care, grocery shopping or exercise.

The sudden move has sent Australia's professional sports leagues scrambling on Monday to put contingency plans in place. 

Middle East

The United Arab Emirates and China announced a venture to produce the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine in the Gulf nation.

State media reported that UAE's Group 42 and China's CNBG "have launched a joint project... to initiate the first Covid-19 vaccine production line in the UAE."

The UAE began mass inoculation in December after approving vaccines made by Chinese firm Sinopharm as well as BioNTech-Pfizer.

wmr,tg/cb (AFP, AP, Reuters)