Palestinian hospitals are facing great pressure in the face of the Corona virus, while the chief doctor of Britain has warned of the increase in HIV infections, despite the continuation of the vaccination campaign.

The Corona virus has killed more than two million and 800 thousand people, at least in the world, since it appeared in China in December 2019.

The United States is still the most affected country in the world, with a total toll of more than 525,000 deaths, followed by Brazil, 266,398, Mexico, 190,923, India, about 158,000, and Britain, 124,566.

In Palestine, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said today, Tuesday, that "the occupancy rate of hospitals and intensive care units in them with Corona virus patients has exceeded 100%."

He added during the weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah that the third wave of the Corona pandemic continues to severely affect the Palestinian community, stressing that the number of injuries and deaths is increasing on a daily basis, "which forces us to take strict, direct and unprecedented measures."

Some West Bank governorates are witnessing a complete closure, while others are witnessing a partial closure to cope with the spread of the Corona virus.

Today, the Minister of Health, Mai Al-Kaila, announced the registration of 1,828 new cases of Coronavirus, of which 135 were in the Gaza Strip and 13 deaths, all of them in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health database reports that 226,735 cases of Coronavirus have been recorded since the virus spread about a year ago, and 200,793 recovered and 2,400 deaths.

School closures in Jordan

In Jordan, the government decided on Tuesday to suspend education in schools and universities after the daily increase in the number of people infected with the Coronavirus.

The Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Muhammad Abu Qudeis said that, "in the interest of the health of students and teachers, it has been decided to suspend face time, and to return to distance learning in all schools in the Kingdom for all stages, including kindergartens, from tomorrow morning, Wednesday, until further notice."

Schools and universities reopened on February 7, for the first three grades, kindergarten and public high school only.

Thousands of injuries have been recorded among students and teachers in the last two weeks.

Abu Qudeis added in a press briefing that it was also decided to stop work in all forms of face education on campus for all higher education institutions from universities and university colleges and for all educational and applied courses (...), from tomorrow, Wednesday, until April 1, 2021.

The number of daily infections recorded in the Kingdom increased this month, and on Tuesday, 7,072 cases of Coronavirus were recorded, bringing the total number of recorded infections to 442,202.

It also recorded 59 deaths, bringing the total number of deaths from HIV infection to 5,046 deaths.

Sudan begins vaccination

In turn, the Sudanese Ministry of Health launched, on Tuesday, the vaccination process with the Corona virus vaccine.

According to the official news agency, vaccination began with the British "AstraZeneca" vaccine for medical personnel in health isolation centers in the capital, Khartoum.

The agency stated that the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Osama Abdel-Rahim, received the first vaccination dose of the vaccine, in the presence of representatives of the "Kovacs" program, the World Bank and the World Health Organization.

The vaccination process begins with the groups most vulnerable to infection with the virus, including the medical and health staff, the elderly and people with chronic diseases, according to the Ministry of Health.

On March 3, Sudan received a batch of 820,000 doses of AstraZeneca, as part of the Kovacs program launched by the World Health Organization, to vaccinate people in poor and middle-income countries that do not have the ability to sign bilateral agreements for the pre-purchase of the vaccine.

The total number of Corona injuries in Sudan is 28,766, including 1915 deaths, and 23,268 recoveries.

Medical concerns in Britain

In Europe, the chief doctor in England, Chris Whitty, said today, Tuesday, that "Britain will witness an increase in cases of Coronavirus at some point," adding that it is not possible to prevent all deaths from the disease even though the vaccination campaign proceeds successfully.

Whitty added that caution in reopening the economy will affect the size and timing of the increase in cases again, but vaccines will not be able to prevent all deaths from the disease.

And he added to members of the House of Representatives, "All perceptions indicate that there will be a new increase, and this will mean that those who were not vaccinated or those who did not have the vaccine with them and some of them end up in hospital, some of them will unfortunately die."

He added that the death rate will decrease as a result of vaccination, but not to zero.

A healthy passport in China

In the Asian continent, China launched a digital passport for its citizens, allowing them to prove their health condition while traveling.

This digital certificate, which shows whether its holder has received the vaccine or not, in addition to the results of the Corona virus test, is available to Chinese citizens through a program on the Chinese social networking platform "WeChat" launched by the country on Monday.

Chinese citizens can now download new certificates on their devices and use them to enter and leave the country, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this system aims to "help the global economy recover and facilitate travel between borders."

These certificates are the first passports for the virus in the world, while similar plans are being discussed in the United States and the European Union.

But the Chinese mechanism is not mandatory, and only available to Chinese citizens, and it is not yet clear how it will operate at the global level.

Italy will produce the Russian vaccine

In a surprising move, the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce told the French Press Agency that “Italy will start producing the Russian“ Sputnik V ”vaccine against the Coronavirus, as of July, which is a precedent in the European Union, which has not been given light. Green yet for this vaccine.

The European Medicines Agency, based in Amsterdam, began reviewing the vaccine, but Hungary began administering the Russian vaccine to its residents last month.

The Czech and Slovak Republics also requested "Sputnik-V" from Russia.

On Tuesday, Russia strongly condemned the statements of an official in the European Agency, which compared the giving of an emergency permit to the Russian "Sputnik-V" vaccine by some European countries with a game of "Russian roulette".