New Yorkers are happy to return to normal life after being vaccinated against Covid-19. Photo: AP According to the AP news agency, starting May 19, New Yorkers and Americans who have received the Covid-19 vaccine can remove their masks in most situations and restaurants, shops, and gyms. Many other businesses can also reopen at full capacity if they make sure all patrons are vaccinated. This week, the subway will operate around the clock. The midnight curfew for bars and restaurants will end later this month. Broadways tickets are on sale again, although the shows won’t start until September. Now is the time for New York to shed the image of a city that was defeated by the virus last spring and bounce back, as it was featured on the latest cover of The New Yorker, US officials said. It was an image of a giant door that partially opened the horizon to let a ray of light in. Can New York go back to the way it was? “Probably 75%…It will definitely come back,” says Mark Kumar, 24, a personal trainer. However, Ameen Deen, 63, said: ‘Full sense of normalcy won’t come anytime soon. There are too many deaths, too much suffering and inequality.” Last spring, the largest city in the US was the deadliest coronavirus hotspot in the US with more than 21,000 deaths in just two months. Black patients of Hispanic descent have higher mortality rates than whites and Asian Americans. Photo: AP Hospitals are overflowing with patients and corpses. Cold trailers were used as makeshift morgues and tents were set up in Central Park as a makeshift hospital to treat Covid-19. The bustling streets of New York became quiet, making room for ambulance sirens and nighttime applause from the windows of paramedic apartments. After more than a year of uncertainty, closure and reopening, the city hopes vaccinations will make things better. To date, about 48% of New Yorkers have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The number of deaths, infections and hospitalizations from Covid-19 has dropped sharply in recent weeks. Many parts of the US and the world are gradually returning to normal after the Covid-19 crisis, which has claimed the lives of 3.4 million people globally, including more than 587,000 in the US. . Las Vegas casinos are reopening at 100% capacity with no social distancing requirements. Disneyland in California also reopened late last month after shutting down for 400 days. Massachusetts also announced that all restrictions related to Covid-19 will end at the end of Memorial Day weekend. France also reopened yesterday, with the Eiffel Tower, cafes and cinemas, and the Louvre also welcoming visitors for the first time in months. Hoai Linh

Broadway artists perform in Times Square on March 12. Photo: AP According to the AP news agency, starting May 19, people in New York City who have been fully vaccinated may not need to wear masks when going out, to restaurants, grocery stores, gyms. sex. Businesses will also be allowed to operate at full capacity if they ensure all customers are vaccinated against COVID-19. The subway system will also resume full operation this week. The midnight curfew for bars, clubs and restaurants will also be lifted at the end of May. The theater is already open for sale, though shows will begin in September at the earliest. “75% of things are going back to normal,” says Mark Kumar (24), a personal trainer. However, Ameen Deen (63 years old) was less optimistic about New York’s ability to soon return to normal as before because there has been so much loss in the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The curfew for bars and restaurants will be lifted by the end of this month. Photo: AP As long as all passengers are fully immunized, businesses can operate at full capacity. Photo: AP Last spring, the largest city in the United States became the nation’s most serious COVID-19 hotspot, when it saw more than 21,000 people die from COVID-19 in just two months. Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and bodies. Refrigerated trucks are used as temporary body storage. The familiar busy streets of New York fell into silence, only the sound of ambulance sirens and the cheers of people from the windows of apartments for medical workers. After a year, New York hopes the vaccination campaign is giving the city a resurgence. About 48% of people in the city have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The number of deaths from COVID-19 in recent weeks has only recorded about 20 cases / day. New cases and hospitalizations also decreased significantly. The subway system returned to operating capacity as before the epidemic. Photo: AP Barber shops have also been allowed to operate. Photo: AP Casinos in Las Vegas are back to 100% capacity and do not require social distancing. Disneyland in California opened late last month after being closed for more than 400 days. Summer music festivals like Lollapalooza are back. The federal government said adults who have received two full doses of the vaccine do not need to wear a mask when participating in this 100,000-fan gathering event. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared it “New York City’s summer”. Shakeem Brown, an artist and delivery man in Manhattan, said it was “refreshing” to see things reopening. At e’s Bar on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, owner Erin Bellard said: “We feel the energy of society gradually increasing. People are very happy to be out.”

Bran Castle. Photo: AP The AP news agency (USA) reported that a COVID-19 vaccination center has been set up at Bran Castle in the Transylvania region. This castle is the site where Irish writer Bram Stoker inspired Dracula’s “vampire’s home” in the 19th century horror novel “Dracula”. Accordingly, every weekend of May will take place the “vaccine marathon” program at Bran Castle. People who come for injections do not need to book an appointment. Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine recipients will receive free admission to the castle’s torture chamber, home to 52 medieval torture instruments. At the end of the first week of May, nearly 400 people went to Bran Castle for a COVID-19 vaccine. However, there is a rule that only Romanian people can get the COVID-19 vaccine for free. The program at Bran Castle is part of a series of initiatives by the Romanian government to promote the COVID-19 vaccine campaign in this country of 19 million people. The Romanian government hopes to be able to vaccinate 5 million people by June 1. From May 8, all vaccination centers in Romania apply the rule that no reservations are made after 2pm. According to the statistics of worldometers.info, as of 9 am on May 11, the total number of COVID-19 infections in Romania is over 1 million cases, of which 29,034 have died.

The findings are largely as expected but still have many unanswered questions. This report has provided more in-depth details on the explanation behind the team’s conclusions. The report’s authors also propose further research on this except for the laboratory leak theory. The publication of the WHO report on the origin of the COVID-19 epidemic has been repeatedly delayed and raises questions about whether the Chinese side is falsifying the conclusion, to avoid accepting accusations that China is the place the origin of the pandemic. An official from the World Health Organization said over the weekend that the report is expected to be released “within the next few days”. The AP news agency said it had received what appeared to be the final version on March 29 from a WHO diplomat. It is not clear if the report will still be changed prior to publication. The diplomat does not want to be identified because they are not allowed to release the report before the final release is made public. The publication of a joint report between WHO and China on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic has been repeatedly delayed. Photo: Reuters Researchers have listed four possible scenarios for the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Topping the list is transmission by an animal, which is most likely to occur. Researchers believe that the possibility of transmission through “frozen” food is also possible, but not high. The closest animal found to carry the corona virus, believed to be the source of COVID-19, is the bat. However, the report said, “the evolutionary gap between bat viruses and SARS-CoV-2 is estimated to be several decades, which suggests an uncertain association.” Viruses are also found in pangolins, the report says, and animals like weasels and cats are also susceptible to COVID-19. This shows that all of the above animals can be carriers. This report is based on the visit of an international team of WHO experts to the city of Wuhan, China where COVID-19 was first discovered. The group has worked from late mid-January to mid-February. Mr. Peter Ben Embarek, WHO expert who led the investigation team in Wuhan, said the report has been finalized and is being checked and translated. “I hope that in the next few days, the whole process will be completed and we can make this report publicly available,” said Peter Ben Embarek. The draft of the report does not conclude that the outbreak began at a seafood market in Wuhan – where the first outbreak was discovered in December 2019. Previous discovery of other infections has suggested that epidemics could have started elsewhere. The report notes that there can be milder cases that go undetected. As the pandemic spread globally, China found virus samples on frozen food packages introduced into the country, and it tracked the link between single outbreaks and these products. Frozen foods can be the cause of cross-border spread of viruses, the report confirms, but are unlikely to cause an outbreak, much less contagious than through transmission. Human-to-human respiration. “Although there is some evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be revived through contaminated frozen products imported into China since the beginning of the pandemic, this would be very unreasonable. usually in 2019 because then the virus is not widely circulated, ”the study said. sea ​​oats ( According to AP )

This decision is made in the context of the deadline to withdraw troops under the peace agreement that the Trump administration signed with the Taliban last year is about to take effect on May 1 here. A senior Biden administration official told the AP news agency that the September withdrawal deadline was appropriate and would not be affected by domestic security conditions.

Although President Biden’s decision to keep US troops in Afghanistan for four more months than originally planned, it will ultimately end a two-decade war that has left more than 2,200 soldiers. The United States was killed, 20,000 people injured and it cost about $ 1 trillion.

The purpose of President Joe Biden’s 9/11 selection is to highlight the reason why the United States is pouring troops into Afghanistan: to prevent al-Qaeda from turning the West Asian nation into a springboard to attack America. . Photo: AP

Military officials and commanders have once made harsh protests about the Trump administration’s May 1 deadline, saying that the US withdrawal should be based on field security conditions in Afghanistan, including: including Taliban attacks.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Mr. Biden had taken a position on “the next steps to take in Afghanistan, including the plan and timing of the withdrawal”.

Ms Psaki did not provide details, but said President Biden “was consistent in the view that there would not be a military solution in Afghanistan, and that the US military has been there for too long.”

Mr. Biden will also visit Arlington National Cemetery “to pay homage to the brave men and women who have died in Afghanistan.”

According to the Biden administration’s withdrawal plan, the only US force that will remain in Afghanistan is the security force protecting the diplomatic mission. There is no exact figure on the total number of US troops in Afghanistan, but some senior officials have tacitly admitted that the actual number is more than 2,500 people, which will include special operations forces with secret missions. secret or anti-terrorism, intelligence agents.

The timeline set by President Biden will allow the US to proceed with a safer and more orderly withdrawal, with the coordination of NATO allies.

However, it is not excluded that the Taliban will retaliate against US forces in Afghanistan. This could become the risk of escalating tensions again, as well as stemming from further political divisions in the US since the country sank into the “endless war” in Afghanistan.

Mixed reaction

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said: “The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is a serious mistake. It is avoidance when faced with an enemy that has not been destroyed and the surrender of American leadership.

Republican Senator Jim Inhofe also rated it as a “reckless and dangerous decision.”

The majority of Democrats support this decision of President Biden. Sen. Jack Reed said the May 1 deadline for former President Donald Trump limited Mr. Biden’s options.

“The United States also has important interests in combating possible terrorist attacks in this region, but other hotspots should also be considered,” Reed said.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said that US military forces in Afghanistan should be returned home and the US must focus on rebuilding national security in the face of more pressing challenges.

Speaking to TIME magazine, Mr. David Sedney – a former Pentagon official under President Barack Obama, called this a “foolish strategy, a humanitarian disaster and worthy of moral condemnation.” virtue.

An Afghan official said the US administration’s decision to unconditionally withdraw troops was a shock to the Ashraf Ghani administration, as well as causing the Kabul government to lose its leveraged negotiating card with the Taliban. .

According to the Washington Post, the decision to unconditionally withdraw troops after a series of short but unsuccessful diplomatic efforts has raised concerns.

“This move will likely reverse the economic, political – social progress that the US has fought to protect during the past two decades in Afghanistan,” according to the editorial board of the Washington Post. “This is the tragedy for the 39 million people of the West Asian nation when the US chooses to give up the people here who once hoped to build a democracy, guaranteeing basic human rights”.

In addition, the withdrawal of all US military forces will likely allow al-Qaeda to restore its bases in Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told the Associated Press that the force is waiting for official announcement from the US administration to give a suitable response. The Taliban had previously issued warnings of “consequences” if the US extended its withdrawal period on May 1.

In a February 2020 deal with the administration of former US President Donald Trump, the Taliban agreed to stop the attacks and hold peace talks with the Afghan government, in exchange for US commitment. on full withdrawal by May 2021.

Over the past year, US military commanders and defense officials have said that attacks on the country’s military have largely ended, but Taliban’s attacks on Afghan people have increased.

They argue that the Taliban have failed to meet the conditions of the peace deal by continuing to attack people and have not completely severed ties with al-Qaeda and other extremist groups.

When he took office earlier this year, Mr. Biden was well aware of the upcoming withdrawal deadline and consulted with defense security advisers and his allies.

In recent weeks, US President Joe Biden’s views have become clearer. “It will be very difficult to meet the May 1 deadline,” he said in March. “If the US withdraws its troops, it will be done safely and in an orderly manner.”