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 More Australian cities lock down
Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, reported a slight
rise in COVID-19 infections on Tuesday as officials tightened curbs
and pushed for vaccinations to contain flare-ups of the highly
infectious Delta variant.
Australia is fighting the Delta strain in five of its eight states
and territories, since the first case was found in Sydney two weeks
ago.
Queensland is set to impose a snap three-day lockdown in capital
Brisbane and some neighbouring regions from Tuesday evening. Perth,
capital of Western Australia, began a four-day lockdown starting
Tuesday, joining Sydney and Darwin.
Indonesian COVID surge nears 'catastrophe'
Indonesia's COVID-19 surge is on the edge of a "catastrophe" as the
Delta variant dominates transmission and chokes hospitals in
Southeast Asia's worst epidemic, the Red Cross said.
Indonesia has reported record daily infections of more than 20,000
in recent days.
"Every day we are seeing this Delta variant driving Indonesia closer
to the edge of a COVID-19 catastrophe," said Jan Gelfand, head of
the Indonesian delegation of the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Philippines extends curbs until mid-July
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte prolonged restrictions on
movement and businesses in the capital and nearby provinces until
mid-July and retained stricter curbs in central and southern areas,
an official said on Tuesday.
Infections in the capital region, home to at least 13 million
people, have dropped since peaking in April, but some provinces are
battling spikes as the country scrambles to distribute vaccines.
Entertainment venues, amusement parks, and contacts sports are
prohibited in the Manila region and nearby provinces, while
restaurants, gyms and indoor tourist attractions are allowed to
operate at up to 40% capacity.
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India's richest state gears up to protect
children
India's western state of Maharashtra is training
thousands of health workers in how to care for
children afflicted with COVID-19 as a first line
of defence against surges involving new
variants, health officials and experts said on
Tuesday.
The state, home to the financial capital of
Mumbai, was the worst hit by a second wave of
infections in April and May that killed hundreds
of thousands, and is still reporting a quarter
of all new cases nationwide.
While there is no data showing children are more
vulnerable, a government survey in Mumbai from
April to mid-June showed the presence of virus
antibodies in at least half of those under 18.
Share of Delta variant cases more than doubles
in Germany
The share of cases caused by the Delta variant
of the coronavirus more than doubled in Germany
within a week and is likely to gain more
traction over other variants, a senior health
official was quoted as saying.
Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch
Institute public health agency, told officials
during a meeting that a genome sequencing
analysis had shown the Delta variant accounting
for 36% of infections in the week of June 14-20,
up from 15% the previous week, according to a
senior official.
The Delta variant now represents some 20% of
COVID-19 cases in France, Health Minister
Olivier Veran told France Info radio, up from
last week's estimate 9-10% of cases.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes; Editing by Nick
Macfie)
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