Novel coronavirus has infected more
than 181 million people and killed over 3.9 million. Here are the latest
Covid-related developments for June 28:
People wear protective masks in the city centre on the first day of a two-week lockdown in Sydney, Australia, June 26, 2021. (Reuters)
Monday, June 28:
Australia battles several clusters
Australia was battling to contain several clusters around the country in what some experts have described as the nation’s most dangerous stage of the pandemic since the earliest days.
Sydney in the east and Darwin in the north were locked down on Monday. Perth in the west made masks compulsory for three days and warned a lockdown could follow after a resident tested positive after visiting Sydney more than a week ago.
Brisbane and Canberra have or will soon make wearing masks compulsory. South Australia state announced new statewide restrictions from Tuesday.
Australia has been relatively successful in containing clusters throughout the pandemic, registering fewer than 31,000 cases since the pandemic began. But the new clusters have highlighted the nation’s slow vaccine rollout with only 5 percent of the population fully vaccinated.
New South Wales state reported 18 new cases in the latest 24-hour period. The tally was fewer than 30 cases recorded on Sunday and 29 on Saturday.
New Zealand mulls mandatory masks, scanning
New Zealand is considering making masks compulsory at high alert levels as well as compulsory scanning of QR codes to boost contact tracing in efforts to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
New Zealand halted quarantine-free travel with neighbouring Australia last week as an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant triggered a lockdown in Sydney and renewed restrictions elsewhere.
It also extended the Covid-19 alert level 2 in the capital Wellington until Tuesday, as authorities said there was still a risk that an Australian tourist who tested positive for the coronavirus after visiting the city last weekend had infected others.
Curbs reimposed in Moscow
Work-from-home restrictions were reimposed in Moscow as Russia tried to contain a deadly coronavirus wave fuelled by the Delta variant.
Russia has seen an explosion of new cases in the last two weeks because of this variant, and authorities announced fresh restrictions from Monday in the capital as they pushed vaccine-sceptic citizens to get a shot.
From Monday, people will have to work from home in Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's outbreak, with exceptions for vaccinated employees.
They will also have to present a QR code to enter restaurants, certifying that they are either vaccinated, have had Covid-19 in the last six months, or have a valid negative test.
More infectious variants account for most UAE cases, authority says
New infections in the United Arab Emirates are mostly from more infectious variants leading to an increase in the number of virus-linked deaths, a federal authority has said.
The Gulf Arab state, with a population of about 9 million, has had one of the world's fastest vaccination campaigns.
However, cases have risen over the past month to more than 2,000 new infections a day, though that is still below a peak in February.
On Saturday, the UAE recorded 10 deaths, its highest single daily toll since March, according to the Reuters Covid-19 tracker.
India reports 46,148 new cases, 979 deaths
India reported 46,148 new infections over the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed.
The South Asian country's total case load now stands at 30.27 million, while total fatalities are at 396,730, the data showed. India's coronavirus-related deaths rose by 979 overnight.
Taiwan reports smallest daily rise in new domestic cases since May 15
Taiwan has reported 60 new domestic infections, down from 88 a day earlier.
It was the smallest rise in the daily figure since May 15, when the government raised the alert level for Taipei and its neighbouring city in the wake of a sudden spike of 180 domestic cases from just 29 on May 14.
Germany's confirmed cases rise by 219
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 219 to 3,726,929, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed.
The reported death toll rose by eight to 90,762, the tally showed.
Saudi Arabia to inoculate 12 to 18-year-olds with Pfizer shot
Saudi Arabia will start inoculating young people aged 12 to 18-year-olds with the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine after it was approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, the health ministry confirmed.
Germany seeks to ban British travellers from EU
Germany will attempt to ban British travellers from the European Union regardless of whether or not they have had a vaccine, The Times reported on Monday.
The German chancellor wants to designate Britain as a "country of concern" because the Delta variant is so widespread, the newspaper said.
Brazil reports over 33,000 new daily cases
Brazil recorded 33,704 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, along with 739 deaths, the Health Ministry said.
Brazil has registered more than 18.4 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 513,474 according to ministry data.
UK's Konta out of Wimbledon because of virus contact
Three-time Grand Slam semifinalist Johanna Konta, the only British woman seeded in singles at Wimbledon, was dropped from the tournament because a member of her team had tested positive.
The All England Club said the 27th-seeded Konta was determined to have been in close contact with the team member and so is required to self-isolate for 10 days.
The Grand Slam tournament begins Monday. It was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic, the first time since 1945 that Wimbledon wasn't contested.
Konta, a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 2017, is the first singles player in either the women's or men's bracket to be withdrawn from the field because of virus protocols.
The All England Club said the team member showed COVID-19 symptoms Friday morning and took a PCR test, which came back positive for the illness.
The 30-year-old Konta also was a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2016 and the French Open in 2019.
US has administered over 323M vaccine shots so far
The United States has administered 323,327,328 doses of vaccines in the country, and distributed 381,282,720 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
Those figures are up from the 322,123,103 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by June 26 out of 381,276,030 doses delivered.
The agency said 179,261,269 people had received at least one shot, while 153,028,665 in the United States are fully vaccinated.
The CDC tally includes two-dose vaccines from Moderna Inc and Pfizer-BioNTech , as well as Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine.
South Africa tightens restrictions to fight resurgent virus
Battling a fast-increasing surge of cases, South Africa has reintroduced tough restrictions including a ban on alcohol sales and an extended nightly curfew.
The delta variant, first discovered in India, appears to be driving South Africa’s new increase, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Sunday night, announcing the return to strict measures.
South Africa recorded more than 15,000 new cases Sunday, including 122 deaths, bringing its total fatalities to near 60,000.
Gauteng, the country’s most populous province which includes the largest city Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria, has the brunt of the current surge, accounting for about 66% of new infections.
Health authorities are concerned that the country’s eight other provinces are likely to soon see spikes in cases to match those in Gauteng, where hospitals are running short of beds and patients are being taken to health facilities in other provinces.
Neighbouring Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mozambique are also fighting growing numbers of cases, hospitalisations and deaths.
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(With input from news agency language)
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