NEW DELHI: Ajay Singh Yadav only managed a final video call with Raj Karan before his close friend became the latest of an alarming number of young Indians, including children, falling victim to the COVID-19 wave sweeping the country.
Some doctors say the reason that under-45s are now vulnerable is that they go to work and eat out more, but there is no definitive proof.
They could also be more prone to a new "double mutant" variant found in 60 per cent of samples in Maharashtra, the hardest-hit state.
Karan, 38, was campaigning in village elections when he fell ill. Yadav rushed him to a hospital, but he too tested positive and was put into isolation.
"I am devastated ... I could only see him via a video call," Yadav, 39, told AFP in the northern city of Lucknow.
The nation of 1.3 billion people has been hit by a new wave that has caused 1 million positive tests in a week, and authorities are rattled.
At the start of the year, India thought it had beaten the pandemic and had kicked off a mass vaccination drive.
Face masks and social distancing were cast aside and huge crowds flocked to religious festivals and election rallies.
But in hospitals, doctors started warning of a rise in cases, including a new phenomenon - younger patients - for a disease usually viewed as riskier for older adults.
In a country where around 65 per cent of the population is under 35, there is growing concern about the impact on the young.
New Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has said 65 per cent of new patients are below 45.
India's medical research agency does not have a demographic breakdown of cases, but doctors in major cities confirmed that more young patients are coming to hospitals.
"We are also seeing children under the ages of 12 and 15 being admitted with symptoms in the second wave. Last year there were practically no children," said Khusrav Bajan, a consultant at Mumbai's PD Hinduja National Hospital and a member of Maharashtra's COVID-19 task force.
In Gujarat state, pulmonologist Amit Dave said young people were experiencing "increased severity" from the coronavirus for their lungs, hearts and kidneys.
One Gujarat hospital has set up the state's first paediatric coronavirus ward.
States across India have reported a similar increase of young patients.
In the southern IT hub of Bangalore, under-40s made up 58 per cent of infections in early April, up from 46 per cent last year, data aggregator Covid19india.org said.
"I haven't seen such a rise in cases in the last one year as I've seen in the last one week," Delhi-based book publicist Tanu Dogra, 28, who was bedridden for a week after testing positive in March told AFP.
"Everybody on my timeline, on my WhatsApp, is frantically messaging each other because they've all tested positive."
In Brazil - which like the rest of the world had more severe cases and deaths among the elderly during the first wave - doctors are also seeing a higher prevalence of younger patients.
Experts say more data is needed to back up the anecdotal evidence in India, with genome sequencing of samples playing a key role.
"Sequencing will tell you about the mutant that's emerging," added virologist Shahid Jameel.
"But it doesn't take away from everything else that you should be doing - that is to wear a mask and avoid crowded places."
Authorities have imposed weekend lockdowns and night curfews to stem the virus spread.
But medical professionals say India's sluggish vaccination drive - currently limited to over-45s - should also be opened up to everyone.
Their call was echoed by young Indians in Delhi, who told AFP they felt more exposed as they had to go to work, many as breadwinners for their families.
"Right now young people need (vaccines) more ... I see every day that people in their early 30s are getting hospitalised," 25-year-old pharmacist, Muzammil Ahmed, told AFP.
With hospitals overwhelmed, specialists like Venkat Ramesh, an infectious disease consultant at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad, said the crisis is already "severe" with worse to come.
"When I speak to my colleagues in major metropolitan cities across India, they have numerous calls from patients trying to find a bed," Ramesh told AFP.
"I'm quite afraid for the next one month. Given the rapidity of the rise in cases, it is certainly worrying."
WINDSOR, England: Prince Philip began his final journey on Saturday (Apr 17), his coffin borne on a specially modified Land Rover hearse, followed on foot by a procession of senior royals including Prince Charles and Princes William and Harry.
Queen Elizabeth followed the procession in the State Bentley as the coffin, carried on the bespoke Defender TD 130 in military green, made its way to Philip's funeral service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives in the Royal Bentley at the funeral for her husband, Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in Windsor, west of London, on April 17, 2021. (Photo: LEON NEAL / POOL / AFP)
Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales walks behind the coffin of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during a ceremonial funeral procession to St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. (Photo: HANNAH MCKAY / POOL / AFP)
Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (top), Peter Phillips and Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex follow the coffin of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in Windsor, west of London, on April 17, 2021. (Photo: HANNAH MCKAY / POOL / AFP)
Charles and Princess Anne followed the coffin on foot, followed by their brothers Edward and Andrew. Behind them were Charles's two sons William and Harry - evoking memories of the 1997 funeral of Diana when they walked as grieving boys behind their mother's coffin.
Philip, officially known as the Duke of Edinburgh, died aged 99 on Apr 9.
His naval cap and sword lay on top of the coffin, which was covered with the Duke of Edinburgh's personal standard featuring the Danish coat of arms, the Greek cross, Edinburgh Castle and the stripes of the Mountbatten family.
Pallbearers of the Royal Marines carrying the coffin and members of the armed forces pause for a minute's silence at the West Steps of St George's Chapel to mark the start of the funeral service of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in Windsor Castle. (Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL / AFP)
The Band of the Grenadier Guards led the procession, followed by military chiefs. The coffin paused for the national minute of silence at 3pm (1400 GMT). A gun fired from the East Lawn signified the start and end of that.
Before the coffin emerged from the castle, military bands spaced out across the quadrangle in brilliant sunshine to play the prince's chosen music, including "I Vow To Thee My Country,", "Jerusalem" and "Nimrod".
During the service, the 94-year-old queen will stand alone due to COVID-19 restrictions as her husband's coffin is lowered into the Royal Vault of the ancient chapel.
Philip, who married Elizabeth in 1947, helped the young queen adapt the monarchy to the changing world of the post-World War II era as the loss of empire and the decline of deference challenged the world's most prominent royal family.
She has now been widowed just as she grapples with one of the gravest crises to hit the royal family in decades - allegations of racism and neglect by it from her grandson Harry and his American-born wife Meghan.
ATTENTION ON HARRY
Much media attention will focus on the royals' behaviour towards Harry as he makes his first public appearance with the family since the couple gave an explosive interview to Oprah Winfrey last month.
In the interview they accused one unnamed royal of making a racist comment, and said Meghan's pleas for help when she felt suicidal were ignored.
The couple, who moved to Los Angeles and quit royal duties last year, laid bare their perceptions of the family's attitudes in what amounted to a critique of the old-fashioned customs of an ancient institution.
Meghan said she had been silenced by "the Firm" while Harry said his father, Charles, had refused to take his calls. Harry said both Charles and his brother William were trapped in the royal family.
Meghan will watch the funeral at her home in California after she was advised by her doctor not to travel while pregnant, a source familiar with the situation said.
Mourners will eschew the tradition of wearing military uniforms, a step newspapers said was to prevent embarrassment to Harry, who despite serving two tours in Afghanistan during his army career, is not be entitled to wear a uniform because he was stripped of his honorary military titles.
"We're not going to be drawn into those perceptions of drama, or anything like that," a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. "This is a funeral. The arrangements have been agreed, and they represent her majesty's wishes."
Prince Andrew, who stepped down from public duties in 2019 over controversy surrounding his what he termed his "ill-judged" association with late US financier Jeffrey Epstein, had wanted to wear an admiral's uniform at the funeral, British media reported.
QUEEN ALONE
The palace has emphasised that while the occasion will have the due pageantry that marks the passing of a senior royal, it remains an occasion for a mourning family to mark the passing of a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
There will be just 30 mourners inside the chapel for the service because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Archbishop Welby, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, said he expected the funeral to resonate with the millions of people around the world who have lost loved ones during the pandemic.
Philip's dedication to his duty earned him widespread popularity in Britain, but he was also criticised by some for a number of off-the-cuff racist or abrupt comments which shocked princes, priests and presidents.
"He was authentically himself, with a seriously sharp wit, and could hold the attention of any room due to his charm and also because you never knew what he might say next," Harry said of his grandfather.
British television stations have cleared their schedules to show the funeral and millions are due to watch, though there have been over 100,000 complaints to the British Broadcasting Corporation over its blanket coverage since Prince Philip died.
Philip was a decorated Royal Navy veteran of World War II and his funeral, much of which was planned in meticulous detail by the prince himself, will have a strong military feel, with personnel from across the armed forces playing prominent roles.
NEW DELHI: A Hindu seer has died from COVID-19 and 80 other holy men have tested positive after attending a vast Indian religious festival where millions of pilgrims have been ignoring coronavirus advice despite a national surge in infections.
The announcement from authorities in Haridwar, Uttarakhand state, came as India recorded more than 217,000 fresh cases in the past 24 hours on Friday (Apr 16), taking the total number of new infections to more than two million since Apr 1.
A holy man arrives to bathe in the Ganges during the ongoing religious Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar. (File photo: AFP/Xavier Galiana)
The festival of Kumbh Mela has long rung alarm bells among health experts who say it could turn into a "super-spreader" as pilgrims return home to their towns and villages all across India.
A gathering on the banks of the holy river Ganges in Haridwar happens every 12 years, and has attracted as many as 25 million people to the site since January, including some 4.6 million on two auspicious days this week alone.
The enormous crowds of pilgrims - including cannabis-smoking holy men with dreadlocks - taking a dip in the river have mostly ignored official advice to maintain distancing.
Earlier this week, Mahamandaleshwar Kapil Dev Das, 65, head of one of the Hindu akhadas, or ascetic councils, was admitted to hospital and died from COVID-19 on Thursday, officials said.
"We had around 2,000 positive cases since Monday during random testing of pilgrims at the Kumbh," Harbeer Singh, a top festival officer, told AFP.
"We are taking precautions and urging people to adhere to coronavirus prevention behaviours."
The officer said they had ramped up testing at the event's 600ha site and insisted they were strictly enforcing government protocols, including requiring negative virus certificates.
Two of the 13 Hindu ascetic councils that are part of the major get-together have now pulled out over soaring COVID-19 cases in the city.
Singh said that more than 25,000 pilgrims were still visiting every day and they were expecting 2 million to 3 million devotees on the last grand bathing event on Apr 27 before the festival concludes.
The Uttarakhand state government has exempted the event from restrictions limiting gatherings to 200 people.
State Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said in early April that no devotees would be "unnecessarily harassed in the name of COVID-19 restrictions".
He too later tested positive for the virus, which has so far killed almost 175,000 Indians and infected 14.3 million, the second most in the world after the United States.
Meanwhile, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, home to some 240 million people, on Friday became the latest to announce restrictions on gatherings, calling a day-long lockdown on Sunday with fines of 1,000 rupees (US$14) for failing to wear a mask.
WASHINGTON - The United States and Japan called for “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” in a joint statement after US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga met on Friday (April 16), a rare mention of Taiwan in the joint communiques of both countries that comes amid rising tensions with China.
It was the first time America and Japan’s top leaders have explicitly mentioned Taiwan in their joint statements since 1969, although their defence and foreign ministers similarly “underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” in a statement last month.
China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunified, by force if necessary, and has increasingly sent warplanes into Taiwanese airspace. Tokyo, meanwhile, sees Beijing’s actions as unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas and threats to its own security.
Washington and Tokyo said they encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues in Friday’s lengthy statement titled “US-Japan global partnership for a new era”, a document which Mr Suga called a guiding post for their alliance.
It was issued hours after Mr Biden hosted Mr Suga for talks in Washington.
Mr Suga’s visit, the first by a world leader during the Biden administration, underscored the importance of the Indo-Pacific region to the Biden administration’s foreign policy and the centrality of Japan to America’s strategy.
Both leaders highlighted the strength of their alliance and vowed to together take on challenges from China, whose increasingly assertive stance in the region has unsettled both nations.
“We committed to working together to take on the challenges from China and on issues like the East China Sea, the South China Sea, as well as North Korea, to ensure a future of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said Mr Biden at a joint press conference in the White House Rose Garden.
“We’re going to work together to prove that democracies can still compete and win in the 21st century,” he added.
New partnership
Mr Biden announced that Japan and the US had launched a new partnership named the Competitiveness and Resilience Partnership (Core), under which they would advance innovation, end the pandemic and guard against future ones, combat the climate crisis, and enhance people-to-people ties.
The US will invest US$2.5 billion (S$3.34 billion), and Japan US$2 billion, into developing and deploying 5G and next-generation mobile networks, according to a White House fact sheet on the partnership.
Mr Biden said that the US and Japan would together promote secure and reliable 5G networks, increase cooperation on supply chains for critical sectors like semiconductors, and drive research in areas such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
All these are areas China seeks to become dominant in, and in an implicit rebuke of Beijing, Mr Biden said: “Those technologies are governed by shared democratic norms that we both share, norms set by democracies, not by autocracies.”
While China loomed large in their discussions, Japan - which counts China as its largest trading partner and the US as its second largest - was also careful to appear not to be isolating China.
Mr Suga said that while Japan and the US will take the lead to promote the vision through concrete efforts, they will also cooperate with others in the region including Asean, Australia, and India.
He said that he and Mr Biden “had serious talks on China’s influence over the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and the world at large”, adding: “We agreed to oppose any attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East and South China Seas, and intimidation of others in the region.”
“At the same time, we agreed on the necessity for each of us to engage in frank dialogue with China,” Mr Suga added.
Japan controls the uninhabited islands, which China also claims, and under the treaty the US is obliged to defend Japan if its territories are attacked under the treaty.
Climate change
On climate change, both nations are committed to taking aggressive action, said Mr Biden, who will next week host world leaders including Mr Suga at a virtual summit on climate change.
Japan and the US have yet to publicly release updated goals on how they will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and are expected to do so soon.
President Joe Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for talks in Washington. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Tokyo Olympics
Mr Suga told Mr Biden that Japan would do everything in its power to contain Covid-19 infections and hold a “safe and secure” Olympic Games this year.
“Japan is listening to and learning from WHO and experts” and the country is doing its “utmost” to prepare for the Tokyo Games, Mr Suga said.
“They are doing everything possible to contain infection and to realise safe and secure games from scientific and objective perspectives,” Mr Suga said.
“I told the President about my determination to realise the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer as a symbol of global unity. President Biden once again expressed his support for this determination,” the prime minister added.
After being postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Games are due to open in July. But uncertainty about their viability has grown amid rising virus cases, and Mr Suga’s pledge of safety comes as the coronavirus crisis has complicated preparations.
The vehicle had been stuck in bushes on a nearby road before it rolled down the slope, and prosecutors said driver Li Yi-hsiang and his Vietnamese assistant tried to free it with a rope tied to a backhoe.
"Instead of seeking professional help to free the vehicle, they recklessly tried to pull it with the wrong method, which caused the vehicle to roll down the incline," said the Hualien district prosecutors office.
"They failed to immediately alert the authorities after the incident, which led to a tragedy... that caused massive damages and shocked the international community."
His assistant, an undocumented migrant worker identified only as Hwa, and two Taiwanese supervisors of a construction site near the track were also charged with negligent homicide.
The offence is punishable by a maximum of five years in jail, prosecutors said.
Li faces an extra charge of fleeing the scene after the incident, which is punishable by a maximum of seven years in prison, they added.
Taiwanese Transportation Minister Lin Chia-lung has tendered his resignation over the train crash, which plunged the island into mourning.
YANGON: Opponents of Myanmar's junta announced a National Unity Government on Friday (Apr 16) including ousted members of parliament and leaders of anti-coup protests and ethnic minorities, saying their aim was to end military rule and restore democracy.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since a Feb 1 coup that ousted a civilian government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, which had held power for five years and was starting its second term after a landslide election victory in November.
People have taken to the streets day after day to demand the restoration of democracy, defying crackdowns by the security forces in which more than 700 people have been killed, according to a monitoring group.
At the same time, political leaders, including ousted members of parliament from Aung San Suu Kyi's party, have been trying to organise to show the country and the outside world that they and not the generals are the legitimate political authority.
"Please welcome the people's government," veteran democracy activist Min Ko Naing said in a 10-minute video address announcing the formation of the National Unity Government.
While setting out few positions, Min Ko Naing said the will of the people was the unity government's priority, while acknowledging the scale of the task at hand.
"We're trying to get this out from the roots so we have to sacrifice a lot," he said, referring to the junta.
A spokesman for the junta could not be reached for comment.
The generals justified their takeover with accusations of fraud in the November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party, though the election commission dismissed the objections.
One of the unity government's primary objectives will be to win international support and recognition.
Its minister of international cooperation, Dr Sasa, told reporters the United States and Britain had recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of that country.
"We are the democratically elected leaders of Myanmar," said Sasa, who goes by one name. "So if the free and democratic world rejects us that means they reject democracy."
International pressure has also been slowly building on the Myanmar military, particularly from Western governments that have imposed limited sanctions, though the generals have a long record of dismissing what they see as outside interference.
Protesters on scooters hold up the three finger salute during a demonstration against the military coup in Mandalay, in this photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source via Facebook on Apr 15, 2021. (File photo: AFP/Handout via Facebook)
The unity government released a list of office-holders including members of ethnic minorities and protest leaders, underlining the unity of purpose between the pro-democracy movement and autonomy-seeking minority communities, some of whom have battled the central government for decades.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the coup, was listed as state counsellor, the post she held in government.
The only known communication she has had with the outside world since the coup has been monitored video calls with her lawyers. A spokesman for the democratic politicians said while they could not inform her about the unity government, he was sure she was aware of what was happening.
Sasa told Reuters the objective was to end violence, restore democracy and build a "federal democratic union". The military, while paying lip service to the idea of federalism, has long seen itself as the core power holding the country together.
Unity government leaders said they intended to form a federal army and were in talks with ethnic minority forces.
The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a group of international experts including former United Nations officials, hailed the creation of the National Unity Government as historic and said it was the legitimate government.
While the politicians were announcing the unity government, other opponents of military rule observed a "silent strike" staying home to mourn those killed or wearing black in small marches in several cities and towns.
Streets in the main city of Yangon were largely deserted, residents said.
There were no immediate reports of violence at protests on Friday but six people were killed in a shootout between soldiers and a "local group" in the central town of Kani the previous day, the Myanmar Now media agency reported.
Protesters march during a demonstration against the military coup in Mandalay in this photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source via Facebook on Apr 14, 2021. (File photo: AFP/Handout via Facebook)
The turmoil and prospect of growing conflict has alarmed Myanmar's neighbours in Southeast Asia, who have been trying to encourage talks between the rival sides.
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar, will meet in Indonesia on Apr 24 to discuss the situation, Thai and Indonesian media reported.
Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was due to attend, a Thai broadcaster said, but the Jakarta Post said it had not been confirmed whether the summit would include representatives of the junta or the former government.
Sasa said ASEAN should not invite "murderer-in-chief" Min Aung Hlaing.
