The number of novel coronavirus cases worldwide has surpassed 22 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.
With nearly 11.5 million total cases, the Americas account for 64% of the world's Covid-19 deaths, the Pan American Health Organization's director said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's leading infectious disease expert, said he does not foresee a Covid-19 vaccine mandate in the United States.
Australia has secured a deal with AstraZeneca for access to a potential Covid-19 vaccine, which it would provide free to all citizens.
Pope Francis is pictured on August 15, as he delivers his blessing from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican.
Pope Francis is pictured on August 15, as he delivers his blessing from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. Andrew Medichini/AP
Pope Francis said during his general audience on Wednesday that a coronavirus vaccine should be for everyone, particularly the poor.
“How sad it would be if access to a Covid-19 vaccine was made a priority for the richest. It would be sad if the vaccine became property of such and such nation and not universal for everyone," the Pope said.
The pandemic “has uncovered the plight of the poor and the great inequality that reigns in the world,” the Pope said, adding that the response to the pandemic is therefore "twofold."
“On the one hand, it is imperative to find the cure for a small but terrible virus, which is bringing the whole world to its knees. On the other hand, we must cure a great virus, that of social injustice, inequality of opportunity, marginalization and lack of protection for the weakest,” the pontiff said.
“We are all concerned about the social consequences of the pandemic ... Many want to return to normal (life) and resume economic activities," the Pope said, warning that “the pandemic is a crisis and from a crisis you don’t come out the same: you can come out better or worse.”
Charity and social assistance are important, the Pope stressed, “but we have to go further and find solutions for the problems that create the need of social assistance.” Today “we have the opportunity to build something different,” an economy that “doesn’t poison” society, he added.
Democrat roll call officially nominates Joe Biden for president.
Democrat roll call officially nominates Joe Biden for president. Pool
Out of many, One.
Locked down, isolated and fearful as a pandemic fractured national bonds and the power of community, America got a sudden, startling look at itself on Tuesday night as the Democratic National Convention's virtual roll call vote whipped coast to coast and around the globe.
For a few sunny minutes, the despondency of the summer of Covid lifted during a celebratory glimpse into the country's vibrant geographic diversity, cultural breadth and enduring common purpose. A risky television production experiment that could have gone badly wrong instead turned into a pageant of national unity, and injected unusual bounce into nominee Joe Biden's basement campaign.
It was the surprise highlight of an evening showcasing the party's past and present, including two aged former presidents, the young star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, more Republicans speaking in support of the nominee, and his wife, Jill Biden. And it might just have given the nation's flattened tourism industry the kind of publicity money can't buy.
September 11 might be associated with tragedy in US aviation history, but it's an auspicious day on Bali's Hindu calendar.
That's why, come 9/11, authorities on this Indonesian island hope to see the return of some of the millions of international visitors who usually flock to its beaches, temples, rice fields and yoga studios. This would allow long-shuttered hotels to reopen while providing desperately needed income for tourism workers -- some of whom have earned nothing since February.
Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, Bali's vice-governor and former chair of the island's hotel and restaurant association, tells CNN Travel the date remains tentative, but reopening is critical to the island's economy.
"The Covid-19 pandemic is the most devastating disaster for Bali tourism," he says. "It is much worse than the Bali bombings, both the first and the second, and worse than all the Mount Agung eruptions combined."
Hotel arrivals in July were down over 99% year on year, Sukawati noted, while the island is missing out on around 9.7 trillion rupiah ($655 million) of income every month. Tens of thousands of local workers have been officially furloughed, generally without pay. Thousands have lost formal jobs, and many workers in Bali's large informal tourist economy are desperate.
While some Balinese are able to return to their family orchards, rice fields or fishing boats and contemplate rebalancing the economy towards the traditional way of life that sustained the island for centuries, other islanders have, quite literally, nowhere to go.
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