Hospitals should prepare for a possible second wave of Covid-19 and take steps to prevent the disease spreading, according to health authorities in the government-controlled part of Yemen.

Thirty-four new cases were reported by the supreme national emergency committee for the internationally recognised government — the highest daily number since July.

The health ministry has called for preventive measures by hospitals and medical centres such as isolating suspected cases, reporting confirmed cases, launching epidemiological investigations and evaluating isolation centres, laboratories and PCR test centres, the supreme committee said on Twitter.

Germany has administered only 15 per cent of the AstraZeneca coronavirus shots it has available, according to the health ministry, as the vaccine faces public resistance after trials showed it to be less effective than other alternatives.

The ministry said the vaccine would be offered to people that are in other priority groups after saying earlier this week that state workers such as teachers and police would get priority access.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman has urged people to trust the vaccine which was developed at Britain’s Oxford University, saying it was safe and effective.

Nepal has added 619 deaths — an almost 30 per cent rise — to its coronavirus toll, blaming a numbers discrepancy between different government branches.

The toll jumped to 2,684 dead after the health ministry added 618 fatalities from last year and one new death in its daily report.

Ministry spokesman Jageshwor Gautam told AFP the extra dead had all been Covid-19 patients who died outside hospitals before mid-December last year.

“Home deaths had not been properly accounted for in the ministry's data, but the army was disposing of the bodies,” Gautam said.

India plans to expand its vast but faltering coronavirus vaccination programme from March 1 by offering jabs to the over 60s, AFP quoted the government as saying on Wednesday.

The country began vaccinating its 1.3 billion population last month and plans to inoculate 300 million people by July, but so far the rollout has been limited to healthcare workers and other frontline staff.

However, from Monday people over 60 and those over 45 with multiple medical conditions can be vaccinated for free at 10,000 government hospitals and nearly 20,000 private clinics for a charge.

“Those who want to get vaccinations from private hospitals will have to pay. The amount to be paid will be decided and declared by the health ministry within the next three to four days,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said after a cabinet meeting.

The vaccination programme, one of the world's largest, has so far seen 12.2 million shots administered, according to the health ministry.

But at the current pace it will take several years to inoculate 300 million people.

Sindh has reported 348 new coronavirus cases, taking the provincial total to 257,088, according to an update shared by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah's office.

The province also recorded 14 deaths in the last 24 hours, with its Covid-19 death toll rising to 4,315.

According to the statement, a total of 10,918 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours.