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 Delhi locks down
India's capital region of Delhi ordered a six-day lockdown on Monday
as daily COVID-19 cases nationwide hit a new record and the health
system crumbled under the weight of new infections.
India's hospitals are struggling with a shortage of beds, oxygen and
key medicines as infections pass the 15 million mark, second only to
the United States.
"Delhi's health system is unable to take more patients in big
numbers," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told a virtual press
briefing on Monday.
Thai infections ease after days of record highs
Thailand reported 1,390 new cases on Monday, slowing slightly after
a run of record daily highs, amid a new wave of infections that has
seen a third of the country's cases recorded this month alone.
The new infections were down by a fifth from Sunday's record 1,767,
which the coronavirus taskforce said was due to measures to control
the spread and requests for people to avoid travel and gatherings.
"Measures we have introduced for next two weeks will reduce cases,
travel and risky activities," Apisamai Srirangsan, a spokeswoman for
the taskforce, told a briefing.
Australia-New Zealand 'travel bubble' begins
Hundreds of passengers from Australia began arriving in New Zealand
airports on Monday after authorities reopened borders, a pandemic
milestone that allows quarantine-free travel between the countries
for the first time in over a year.
Though most Australian states have allowed quarantine-free visits
from New Zealand residents since late last year, New Zealand had
enforced isolation for arrivals from its neighbour, citing concerns
about sporadic virus outbreaks there.
Television footage showed emotional scenes at the airports with
families reuniting and scores of passengers thronging Australia’s
international departure terminals.
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 South African variant may
'break through' Pfizer vaccine
The coronavirus variant discovered in South
Africa can break through the protection provided
by Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to
some extent, a real-world data study in Israel
found. However, the variant's prevalence in
Israel is very low and the vaccine remains
highly effective.
The study has not been peer reviewed. It
compared almost 400 people who had tested
positive for COVID-19, after they received one
or two doses of the vaccine, against the same
number of unvaccinated patients with the
disease.
 It matched age and
gender, among other characteristics.
New trial studies if people can catch virus again
British scientists on Monday launched a trial which will
deliberately expose participants who have already had COVID-19 to
the coronavirus again to examine immune responses and see if people
get reinfected.
In February, Britain became the first country in the world to give
the go-ahead for so-called "challenge trials" in humans, in which
volunteers are deliberately exposed to COVID-19 to advance research
into the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The study launched on Monday differs from the one announced in
February as it seeks to reinfect people who have previously had
COVID-19 in an effort to deepen understanding about immunity, rather
than infecting people for the first time.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes, Editing by William Maclean)
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