WASHINGTON - Commercial air travel appears to be on the upswing despite the coronavirus pandemic.
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Commercial air travel appears to be on the upswing despite the coronavirus pandemic.
The Transportation Security Administration said its agents screened more than 1.3 million passengers at airport security checkpoints nationwide on Friday.
Spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said in a tweet that the last time the number was that high was March 15, 2020 – about a year ago.
Public health officials generally have cautioned against commercial travel.
Farbstein included a reminder in her tweet, saying “if you choose to fly, wear that mask!”
President Joe Biden marked Thursday’s first anniversary of the pandemic with a prime-time address to the nation in which he said he expects to have enough coronavirus vaccine for all Americans by May 1.
THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— Virus tolls have been similar in U.S. states despite governors' contrasting actions
— By some measures, the panedemic's been more costly for U.S. than World War II
— Rules have put medically vulnerable near the end of vaccine lines in many places
— IRS says new round of COVID relief payments on the way
— After a long pandemic year, a changed New York shows signs of revival
— Most of California to reopen as vaccine eligibility expands
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
BUDAPEST— Hungary reported a record-breaking day of new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, and the number of patients being treated in the country’s hospitals also reached a new high.
Health authorities announced 9,444 new confirmed cases, more than 1,000 more than the previous record set on Friday. The jump came amid a rapid spread of a coronavirus variant first discovered in the United Kingdom.
The outbreak has put a strain on Hungary’s health care system. Officials reported the hospitalization of 179 more COVID-19 patients, bringing the national total to a record high of 8,897
Hungary has the second-highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the 27-nation European Union, underpinned by the acquisition of vaccines from Russia and China as well as the EU. The number of people who have received at least one dose of a vaccine climbed to nearly 1.3 million in the country of fewer than 10 million.
Officials say they plan to have all people over age 60 vaccinated by Easter.
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As of Saturday, Hungary reported 16,790 virus-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, giving the country the seventh-worst death rate per 1 million people in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.
TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia received its first batch of coronavirus vaccines on Saturday and is set to become the last European country to launch a COVID-19 vaccination drive.
The ex-Soviet nation received 43,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX program, a United Nations=backed initiative aimed at ensuring equal access to vaccines. Georgia's second shipment of 87,000 vaccines is expected next month.
Georgian Health Minister Ekaterina Tikaradze said the country will start administering the vaccine on Monday, with the first shots given to medical workers.
Georgia hopes to vaccinate 60% of its population of 3.7 million this year.
The country has engaged in talks to receive additional batches of the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines. Georgia is also negotiating with China to receive the Sinovac vaccine.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Police in France have arrested a Dutch man and an American man suspected of involvement in the stabbing of two Dutch police officers in the northern Dutch city of Groningen.
The incident happened after the officers questioned two men who were outdoors during the Netherlands’ coronavirus curfew on Wednesday night.
One of the police officers suffered serious injuries to his face and neck in the stabbing.
Police in Groningen say that French officers detained the suspects Saturday morning in northern France.
One was a 20-year-old Dutch man and the other a 32-year-old American national. Their identities have not been released.
Police say procedures are underway to have the suspects sent back to the Netherlands.
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VIENNA — Police in Austria are enforcing new rules requiring people to show a negative coronavirus test to leave Wiener Neustadt, a city of more than 45,000 people.
The system that took effect Saturday involves police and other officials controlling 26 exit roads from the city south of Vienna around the clock. Wiener Neustadt has an exceptionally high level of coronavirus infections -- more than 500 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days, compared with a national average of 198 per 100,000.
Fines of up to 1,450 euros ($1,730) are foreseen for people who violate the rules.
Mayor Klaus Schneeberger said testing stations set up in recent days have a capacity to test 15,000 people per day. He said he didn’t understand why Austria’s health ministry “doesn’t use this occasion to start a vaccination campaign here so we get this under control.”
A targeted campaign to vaccinate the entire adult population is underway in the Schwaz district in western Austria, which has seen a significant number of cases of the more contagious virus variant first detected in South Africa.
BERLIN — The leaders of Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Bulgaria are calling for talks among European Union leaders about the distribution of vaccines within the 27-nation bloc.
Austrian media reported Saturday that the five leaders wrote a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel. That came after Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz complained on Friday that, even though the EU had agreed on distribution of the vaccines on a per-capita basis, some countries were receiving considerably more than others.
The letter asserted that “if this system were to carry on, it would continue creating and exacerbating huge disparities among Member States by this summer.”
Officials elsewhere have noted that countries have wanted differing amounts of various vaccines and have not always taken up their full allocation.
Austria’s health ministry — which is run by Kurz’s junior coalition partner — was among those rejecting Kurz’s criticism. Oe1 radio reported that its general secretary, Ines Stilling, said negotiations on distributing the vaccines had been “balanced and transparent.”
AMMAN — Jordan has become the first country in the Middle East to receive coronavirus vaccines through the global COVAX initiative.
A plane carrying 144,000 shots of AstraZeneca vaccine landed in Amman’s airport late Friday and was greeted by representatives of the agencies supporting the COVAX program — the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the European Union.
The COVAX alliance aims to share COVID-19 vaccines with more than 90 lower and middle-income nations. However, the program is facing delays, underfunding and limited supply.
The EU has allocated 8 million euros to support Jordan’s purchase of vaccines. A second shipment from COVAX is expected in April.
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