Coronavirus digest: Curbs eased in Melbourne

Australia's second-most-populous city of Melbourne was set to end its fifth coronavirus lockdown on Tuesday, with the state of Victoria announcing it had curtailed the spread of the contagious delta variant.

The strict virus curbs in the city are set to be eased at midnight, allowing schools, restaurants and pubs to reopen, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said. 

"This lockdown [...] sends a very clear message that we have seen off two delta outbreaks,'' Andrews said. "I don't think there's a jurisdiction in the world that has been able to achieve that, and every Victorian should be proud of that.''

However, people will not be allowed to have visitors in their homes for another two weeks.

On Tuesday, Victoria reported 10 new cases of COVID-19, but all were in isolation during the time they were infectious.

Meanwhile, the state of New South Wales reported 172 new infections, compared with 145 the day before.

State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said a decision on whether the five-week lockdown in New South Wales will be extended would be announced later this week.

Asia

The city of Nanjing in eastern China reported 31 locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, just as the country announced it had administered more than 1.5 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

The new cases have brought Nanjing's case tally to more than 106 in recent days. 

According to local officials, the virus being transmitted is the contagious delta variant. Nanjing is carrying out mass testing and has placed thousands of residents under a lockdown in order to contain the spread. 

 A near-universal indoor mask wearing rule is also in place. 

In Japan, Games organizers reported seven new coronavirus cases at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday. The total number of infections since July 1 now stands at 155. There are two athletes among the latest infections, including a Dutch tennis player.

Meanwhile, the number of new infections in Tokyo has risen to a record high during the Olympic Games.

On Tuesday, the Japanese capital city reported 2,848 new infections within one day.

Moderna is pushing back its planned delivery of a vaccine shipment for South Korea from mid-July to August due to supply problems, a South Korean health official said on Tuesday.

Official Lee Sang-won said at a briefing that the issue was due to the manufacturing process involving Swiss contract drugmaker Lonza and a Spain-based company that does bottling work for the Moderna vaccine. 

Cambodian authorities have stopped five large containers of water buffalo meat imported from India after detecting that the shipment was tainted with the coronavirus.

The Health Ministry on Tuesday said the virus was detected in three of the five shipping containers of frozen meat being brought in by a private company.

The contents of the three containers were to be destroyed. 

Thailand has started transporting Covid infected patients from Bangkok to their hometowns on Tuesday for isolation and treatment to alleviate the burden on the capital's overwhelmed medical system.

A train carrying more than 100 patients and medical workers in full protective gear left the city for the northeast.

Americas

United States health officials have urged fully vaccinated Americans to go back to wearing face masks in public indoor settings in areas with high coronavirus infection rates.

The latest move is in response to the highly infectious delta variant of the coronavirus.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said data suggested that vaccinated people can spread COVID-19 in rare cases.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the country has enough vaccine to inoculate everyone who is eligible for the shot, two months earlier than promised.

Trudeau had promised Candians that all those who wanted to be vaccinated would receive their doses by October.

Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Trudeau said his government had bought 66-million COVID-19 vaccines, enough for all eligible Canadians.

Europe

EU chief executive Ursula von der Leyen said they have achieved their goal of providing at least one coronavirus vaccine shot to 70% of all adults while 57% are fully vaccinated.

The EU, home to around 450 million people, was widely criticized for the slow pace of its vaccine rollout earlier this year.

Von der Leyen said “these figures put Europe among the world leaders” when it comes to vaccination rates.

Germany registered 1,545 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, taking the total to 3,758,401, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.

The death toll increased by 38 to reach 91,565.

The country reported a small rise in the seven-day incidence rate, with 14.5 cases per 100,000 people average over the past week.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn is planning compulsory coronavirus tests for travelers entering the country, regardless of where they travel from.

Finance minister Olaf Scholz said many events will continue to be only possible for those who have been vaccinated, recovered, or tested. Scholz is calling for mobile vaccination teams to reach more people.

 

Meanwhile, Germany is listing Spain and the Netherlands as "high-incidence areas" starting Tuesday. The move means most people arriving from the two countries who aren't fully vaccinated will have to undergo quarantine. 

UK epidemiologist Neil Ferguson said the end of Britain's Covid-19 pandemic could be just months away as vaccines have reduced the risk of hospitalization and death.

Prime Minster Boris Johnson has urged caution after infection rates dropped for seven consecutive days. On Tuesday there were 23,511 new cases, down nearly 50% from the previous week. The fall in infections also follows England’s decision to remove nearly all pandemic regulations, in a move that was widely criticized.

Middle East

Israel has recorded a rise in infections with most of the new cases linked to the Delta variant.

The Ministry of Health reported 2,112 cases on Tuesday - the highest number since mid-March. Among the newly infected are many younger people and also those who have been vaccinated twice.

More than 57% of Israel's 9.3 million residents are already fully vaccinated.

Turkey's daily new coronavirus cases have jumped to 19,761. These are highest numbers seen since early May.

According to the country’s health ministry there is a daily death toll of 51 people a day.

COVID-19 cases in Iran hit a record high for the second time in as many days.

New cases rose to nearly 35,000 with the country’s health ministry warning that there was scant hope of improvement unless the public followed its advice. A fifth wave is being blamed on the highly infectious Delta variant.

Oceania

The Bledisloe Cup will commence in New Zealand next month after the government granted the Australian rugby team an exemption to cross the border.

A coronavirus outbreak in Australia had led to a suspension of travel for at least eight weeks between the two countries on Friday.

The first test match is set to get underway on August 7 in Auckland. New Zealand Sports Minister Grant Robertson said test matches were worth millions of dollars in spending for host regions.

kb,on,dvv/nm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)