Maskless Thai PM fined as Covid cases spike; Coronavirus cases declining in America

Washington: The rate of new Covid cases is declining in the United States, with the most recent seven-day averages dipping below the 60,000 mark for the first time in over a month as experts hailed the impact of vaccines. Data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention showed that as of April 24, the rolling average was 57,123 cases, and a month-long mini bump was now over.

It comes as the number of people vaccinated continued to rise, though the rate is beginning to taper off as domestic demand slows. Almost 140 million people have now received one dose, or 42 percent of the whole population.

Writing on Twitter, Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health, said he believed this time the decline would be permanent, "Because in mid-March, when last mini-surge began, 21% of the population had been vaccinated. Today, we’re twice that."

He said that 42 percent with one shot wasn’t "enough," but added: "42% close to number at which we should see steady declines in infections. In Israel, once 45% of population was fully vaccinated, case numbers started to plummet."

Experts are however worried by the vaccination rate, which peaked earlier this month at an average of more than 3 million doses per day and is now down to 2.6 million per day. Many people who wished to get vaccinated have received jabs, though some access issues persist, particularly among communities of color.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s prime minister was fined for not wearing a mask on Monday after new Covid-19 restrictions came into force to try to halt the country’s spiralling outbreak. Wearing masks is now compulsory in public spaces in 49 provinces and the capital, Bangkok -- where the latest outbreak has been traced back to a nightlife district.

Some locations are backing it up with a 20,000 baht ($640) fine. After a picture of a maskless Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha attending a meeting emerged on social media Monday, the Bangkok governor said the premier had been fined 6,000 baht ($190).

"As Bangkok governor, I filed a complaint against the prime minister who accepted the fine," Governor Aswin Kwanmuang wrote on Facebook. Some 2,048 new cases were announced on Monday. The day before, Thailand recorded its highest single-day death toll of the pandemic, with 11 fatalities.

In a related development, Italians flocked to bars, restaurants and cinemas following an easing of coronavirus restrictions on Monday, as Prime Minister Mario Draghi unveiled a massive EU-funded plan he said would shape the crisis-hit country’s future.

After months of stop-start restrictions imposed to manage second and third waves of Covid-19, Italy hopes this latest easing will mark the start of something like a normal summer.

"I’ve cleared my schedule," enthused 71-year-old Ottavio Rosati, a movie director in Rome. "I’m booked up with museums, restaurants and bars... I’m not going to sit still!" Draghi has admitted to taking a "calculated risk" with the reopenings, as infection rates have fallen but Covid-19 deaths still mount by hundreds every day, to more than 119,000.

Italian businesses are desperate to reopen after the pandemic sparked the deepest recession since the end of World War II. The country is pinning its hopes on a 220-billion-euro ($266-billion) plan funded by the European Union, which Draghi told lawmakers Monday would affect "the country’s destiny".