Virus spreads to 3 China provinces

China yesterday reported small coronavirus outbreaks driven by the Delta variant in three provinces as Olympics host Japan

hit a record number of new virus cases.

The flare-up in China, which began after nine workers at the Nanjing airport tested positive on July 20, has seen 171 cases detected in Jiangsu province, while infections have spread to at least four other provinces.

It is geographically the largest spread for several months, challenging China's aggressive containment efforts which have relied on mass testing, lockdowns and swift contact tracing.

The virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan, but China has extolled its success in largely extinguishing the pandemic inside its borders, allowing the economy to rebound.

The new outbreak, coupled with cases seeping over the porous border with Myanmar, is threatening that record.

Officials in Jiangsu have locked down hundreds of thousands of residents, Lu Jing, a member of the epidemic prevention taskforce, told reporters yesterday.

"Internet cafes, gyms, cinemas and karaoke bars and even libraries in Nanjing have been shut down," he said.

The city has tested all 9.2 million residents twice, he said, adding that the highly contagious Delta variant is posing challenges to containment efforts.

The southwestern province of Sichuan reported three new cases yesterday while Beijing reported two locally transmitted infections, the first in six months.China is racing to vaccinate at least 65 percent of its 1.4-billion population by the end of the year. The country had administered 1.6 billion doses of the vaccine as of Wednesday, the National Health Commission said.

The coronavirus has killed at least 4,190,383 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP yesterday.

Japan, meanwhile, hit a record number of new virus cases yesterday as Tokyo Olympics organisers defended their Covid-19 counter-measures and dismissed any link to the nationwide surge.

Olympic organisers reported 24 new infections among Games participants, the highest yet, bringing the total number to 193, including athletes, media and Olympic employees and contractors.

Meanwhile nationwide infections topped 10,000 for the first time, Japanese media said, with Tokyo reporting a record 3,865 cases.

WEST BENGAL EXTENDS CURBS

India's southern state of Kerala yesterday announced a two-day lockdown as federal authorities planned to send experts to fight the spread of infections in the country's leading Covid-19 hotspot.

The West Bengal government extended the existing restrictions till August 15, but also announced certain relaxations. The administration allowed government programmes at indoor facilities with 50 percent seating capacity, according to an order reported by The Statesman.

Buses, taxis, autorickshaws have been permitted to operate with 50 per cent capacity. Offices, both government and private, are also allowed to function with half the manpower, it said.

India's daily cases have fallen after a devastating second wave that overwhelmed the healthcare system, and vaccination efforts are gaining steam. But experts have warned the authorities against swiftly reopening cities, reports Reuters.

In Pakistan, authorities said that they would ban air travel for anyone without a Covid-19 vaccine certificate from August 1 and will require all public sector workers to get vaccinated by August 31.

From August 1, unvaccinated people will no longer be allowed to enter government offices, schools, restaurants and shopping malls, said Asad Umar, who heads National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), a military-run body that oversees the pandemic response, at a joint news conference with the health minister in Islamabad.

SYDNEY SEEKS MILITARY HELP 

Police in Australia's largest city have requested military help to enforce a coronavirus lockdown as infections in Sydney reached a new record yesterday.

Commissioner Mick Fuller said New South Wales police had asked for 300 Australian Defence Force personnel to be deployed "to boost its operational footprint".

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Kuwait on Wednesday where he pledges his support to the UN agency's investigation in China into the origins of the pandemic.

"The US supports the @WHO plans for additional studies into COVID-19 origins, including in (the People's Republic of China), to better understand this pandemic and prevent future ones," Blinken tweeted after arriving in the Gulf Arab state.