Cape Town – The coronavirus Delta variant continues to spread, forcing a number of major cities in Asia and Asia Pacific to reinstate and tighten lockdown measures.
Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that Australian authorities had announced their first coronavirus-related death for the year. The state of New South Wales is battling to contain the resurgence and State Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters following the death of a woman in her nineties that the numbers were expected to rise.
“Given where we’re at and given the lockdown was supposed to be lifted on Friday, everybody can tell it’s highly unlikely at this stage,” said Berejiklian.
Australia has kept its Covid-19 numbers relatively low, with just over 31,000 cases since the start of the outbreak and 911 deaths.
According to the Australian government Department of Health’s official website, 77 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours, with 658 active cases and close to four million vaccine doses being administered.
In Tokyo, authorities made the decision to enter its fourth state of emergency on Monday, July 12, to run until August 12. The lockdown will run for the duration of the Tokyo Olympic Games, which begin on July 23, and will prohibit restaurants from serving alcohol, while shopping malls are to close by 8pm local time.
According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced that strict physical distancing measures would be reinstated on Monday, July 12, after the nation recorded its highest number of cases (1,316) in a single day on Friday.
“As these are the strictest social distancing rules, we’re determined to work from now on with a mindset that there’s nowhere to step back to,” Kim Boo-kyum said during a press briefing.
The restrictions, which are set to be in place for two weeks, require that residents stay at home. Schools will close down and public gatherings are restricted to two people after 6pm.
South Korea has recorded more than 169,000 cases since the start of the pandemic and 2,044 deaths. ABC News reported that around 30% of its population has received one dose of the vaccine and that around 10% has received a second dose.
Meanwhile, Indonesia is facing one of the worst outbreaks in Asia as the daily cases and deaths continue to surge. The South-east Asian country is consistently recording more than 30,000 new cases per day and has overall reported more than 2.53 million cases with over 66,400 deaths.
The world's fourth most populous country has sought emergency supplies from its neighbouring countries as it is running out of oxygen to deal with the wave.
African News Agency (ANA)