Asian Countries Impose Tighter COVID-19 Restrictions Due To Delta Outbreaks

July 30 (Reuters) – Asian countries from Australia to Japan and the Philippines announced tighter COVID-19 restrictions on Friday as they fight worsening coronavirus outbreaks, driven by the more contagious Delta variant .

Detected in some 96 countries, the Delta variant, first identified in India, has become a global concern, prompting even countries with advanced vaccination programs such as the United States, Israel and Singapore to reimpose certain restrictions.

But it has a bigger impact on Asia where many countries are currently battling record cases, as the region’s low vaccination rates have left hundreds of millions of people at risk for the highly transmissible variant.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has described Delta as being as contagious as chickenpox and can cause serious illness, The New York Times reported, citing an internal CDC document. Read more

The variant was also more likely to break the protections offered by vaccines, the report said, adding that the agency’s overthrow on guidelines for whether fully vaccinated Americans should wear masks was based on the document.

“We know from research that he (Delta) has a 1,000 times higher viral load than previous variants, which is why we are seeing more cases because it is spread more easily and faster,” said to Reuters Dicky Budiman, epidemiologist at Griffith University in Queensland. .

He said Delta appears to be causing more severe symptoms, especially when it comes to difficulty breathing.

Already under lockdown, Sydney now faces its toughest measures, including mandatory testing in the worst-hit suburbs, as the number of infections has remained high five weeks since restrictions began. From Monday, military personnel will help police in Australia’s largest city verify people who test positive for the virus are self-isolating. Read more

The Philippines on Friday announced a plan to put the capital region of Manila, a sprawl of 16 cities and home to more than 13 million people, on lockdown for two weeks to contain the spread of Delta and protect the medical system from the country. Read more

India reported its highest number of daily cases in three weeks on Friday, the latest evidence of a worrying trend of increasing cases that has forced a state to shut down amid fears of another wave of infections. Read more

In Japan, the government on Friday proposed a state of emergency until the end of August in three prefectures near Olympic host Tokyo and western Osaka prefecture, as COVID-19 cases reach record highs. records, eclipsing the Summer Games. Read more

“The infections are spreading. The situation is extremely serious,” said Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, warning that the infections have not yet peaked, judging by the increased movement of people and the high number of Delta cases among those who tested positive for the virus.

Vietnam, which has fully vaccinated less than 1% of its 96 million inhabitants, is mobilizing private hospitals to welcome COVID-19 patients in order to contain a worsening of the epidemic caused by the Delta.

After successfully containing the virus for much of the pandemic, Vietnam has faced a record daily increase in infections since the end of April.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is evolving in a very complicated way and tends to worsen in many cities and provinces,” the health ministry said in a statement.

New studies show that fully vaccinated people who are infected carry as much virus as unvaccinated people, suggesting they may be able to pass the infection on to others, CDC director Rochelle said. Walensky, earlier this week. Read more

Reporting by Renju Jose, Byron Kaye and Kate Lamb in Sydney, James Pearson in Hanoi, Neil Jerome Morales in Manila, Shivani Singh, Anuron Kuman Mitra in Bengaluru, Neha Arora in New Delhi; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

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