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THE SURGE in positive cases of COVID-19 has occurred again in several Asian countries. The delta virus variant is one of the drivers of positive cases of COVID-19 in several countries reaching record highs.
Take, for example, the host city of the 2020 Olympics, Tokyo, which became one of the regions that announced the highest record of COVID-19 infections. Local authorities announced a record number of infections at 4,058 in the past 24 hours and Olympic organizers reported 21 new COVID-19 cases linked to the Games, bringing the total to 241 since July 1.
The Japanese government has also extended its state of emergency for Tokyo until the end of August and extended it to three prefectures near the capital and to the western prefecture of Osaka.
Olympic organizers said on Saturday (7/31) they had revoked the accreditation of people linked to the Games for leaving athletes’ villages for sightseeing, a violation of measures put in place to safely host the Games amid the pandemic.
Organizers did not disclose how many people were involved, whether the person or persons were athletes, or when the infringement occurred.
The spike in cases has also rattled parts of Asia that had previously been relatively successful in containing COVID-19, such as Vietnam, which from early next week will impose strict restrictions on movement in its business hub Ho Chi Minh City and 18 other cities and provinces across the south for another two weeks.
Malaysia also reported 17,786 coronavirus cases, a record high. The spike led to more than 100 people gathering in central Kuala Lumpur expressing discontent with the government’s handling of the pandemic and calling for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to step down carrying a black flag and holding up placards reading “Kingdom Failed”.
In addition, Thailand reported a record daily high of 18,912 new coronavirus infections, bringing its total cases to 597,287. The country also reported 178 new deaths which was also a daily record. The government says the Delta variant accounts for more than 60% of cases in the country and 80% of cases in Bangkok.
“This variant is not necessarily more lethal than other variants, but it is much more infectious,” said Supakit Sirilak, director general of Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences.
At Thammasat University Hospital near the capital Bangkok, morgues filled with COVID-19 deaths have begun storing bodies in refrigerated containers as was the last act in the 2004 tsunami,
As the region where the first COVID-19 outbreak occurred, China is also battling an outbreak of a Delta variant in the eastern city of Nanjing that has been traced to airport workers cleaning planes arriving from Russia.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also commented that COVID-19 infections, which have increased 80% over the past four weeks in most regions of the world, are also fishing. “Hard-earned profits are in jeopardy or lost, and health systems in many countries are being overwhelmed,” Tedros said at a press conference last weekend. [sources/photo special]
