- Despite vaccinations taking place around the globe, the World Health Organization is predicting year 2 of COVID to be worse than year one.
- The WHO is going so far as to say this year will be even more deadly.
- Although new guidance from the CDC says masks not needed for fully vaccinated, many say it’s premature to make that announcement.
Said the WHO Director-General, “We’re on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first.”
In Japan, a coronavirus state of emergency took in another 3 regions just 10 weeks before the Olympics. Tokyo and other areas are already under emergency orders until the end of May, with Hiroshima, Okayama, and northern Hokkaido, which will host the Olympic marathon, now joining them.
Japan is currently battling its fourth wave of the coronavirus which is putting a huge strain on its medical system. A petition has been submitted with more than 350,000 signatures calling for the Games to be cancelled.
In Taiwan, entertainment venues such as bars, nightclubs, karaoke lounges, internet cafes, saunas, tea houses, hostess clubs, and dance clubs, as well as sports centers, and libraries in Taipei have been closed down after a wave of COVID infections erupted that began among a group of pilots.