The new rule will take effect from Thursday for all travellers with a recent travel history to higher-risk countries over the past 21 days, who will still be required to quarantine at dedicated facilities and hotels. Different quarantine arrangements are already in place for lower risk places, such as those mentioned above.

Given the high transmissibility of the new variants, however, the ministry said travellers would be required to test themselves three times – on days three, seven and 11 following their arrival – while in quarantine.

India declares ‘Delta-plus’ variant of concern

The variant, identified locally as “Delta-plus”, was found in 16 cases in the state of Maharashtra, Federal Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told a news conference.

The ministry said on Tuesday that Delta-plus showed increased transmissibility and advised states to increase testing.

On Monday, India vaccinated a record 8.6 million people as it began offering free shots to all adults, but experts doubted it could maintain that pace.

“This is clearly not sustainable,” said Chandrakant Lahariya, an expert in public policy and health systems. “With such one-day drives, many states have consumed most of their current vaccine stocks, which will affect the vaccination in days to follow.”

The effort has so far covered about 5.5 per cent of the 950 million people eligible, even though India is the world’s largest vaccine producer.

A devastating second wave of coronavirus in India during April and May overwhelmed health services and killed hundreds of thousands, raising questions over the chaotic vaccine roll-out.

Particularly in the countryside, where two-thirds of a population of 1.4 billion lives and the health care system is often overstretched, the drive has faltered, experts say.

Can India’s international students escape a web of visa delays and travel bans?

The capital is also facing difficulties. Authorities in New Delhi said more than 8 million residents had yet to receive a first dose and inoculating all adults there would take more than a year at the current pace.

India has been administering AstraZeneca’s vaccine, made locally by the Serum Institute of India, and a home-grown shot named Covaxin made by Bharat Biotech.

The country may also soon have a mass roll-out of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, and the government expects to import vaccines this year from major makers such as Pfizer.

Over the 24 hours to Tuesday India reported 42,640 new infections, the lowest since March 23, and 1,167 deaths. Infections now stand at 29.98 million, with a death toll of 389,302, health ministry data showed.

US will not offer vaccines to citizens in Thailand

The embassy in a message to its citizens in Thailand said the state department could not provide vaccines to the millions of Americans abroad, but would advocate for equitable access locally.

The message comes after four US citizens’ groups last month wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking for Thailand to be made a pilot project for vaccinating Americans abroad, who should have the same rights as at home.

US embassies have posted information about local vaccinations on their websites, saying the US government does not provide them.

Thailand’s mass vaccination drive, which includes foreigners, started this month amid its worst coronavirus outbreak so far.

France’s embassy on Wednesday started vaccinating its citizens in Thailand. China has donated 1 million vaccine doses to Thailand, with 400,000 earmarked for its nationals.

Japan eases corporate vaccination drive

Japan is suspending approval for companies to inoculate staff amid concerns that an increase in such applications will hamper smooth delivery of vaccines, a government minister said on Wednesday.

“We would like to suspend accepting new applications, given that we are already reaching the maximum capacity to distribute the vaccines,” vaccine minister Taro Kono told a news conference.

The government has been accepting applications from companies and local governments to administer Moderna vaccines in workplaces and at mass vaccination centres.

“I believe we’ve come to the next crucial stage of ensuring the smooth distribution of vaccines,” following issues in securing and administering them, Kono said.

Japan’s vaccination drive, which got off to a slow start in mid-February, has seen the pace pick up in recent weeks. Workplace vaccination drives started on Monday.

Japan hit a target set by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to vaccinate one million people a day on Wednesday. Suga has said he hopes to see the elderly vaccinated by the end of July, and all adults by November.

New Zealand on high alert after infected traveller’s visit

Wellington will move to alert level two – one step below lockdown – from 6pm local time, Minister for Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins announced at a press conference

Businesses and schools can remain open but gatherings are limited to 100 and physical distancing must be observed, making queues at supermarkets likely.

“Even though we have no positive cases at the moment, we do know that we had a positive case and that that person had some extensive, potential exposure in the Wellington region,” Hipkins said. The government would consider tightening restrictions further if cases start to emerge in the community outside the groups identified through contact tracing, he said.

A return of the virus would be a blow for New Zealand, which has gone about four months without any community cases. The nation paused quarantine-free travel with Australia’s New South Wales last night following a new outbreak in Sydney.

Sydney outbreak sparks new curbs

Sydney will impose new restrictions, including compulsory mask wearing at all indoor venues such as workplaces and shops, as an outbreak of the Delta variant of the coronavirus spreads in Australia’s most populous city.

From 4pm on Wednesday, households will be limited to hosting five guests, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Wednesday.

Residents in the east and inner-west areas of the city will not be allowed to travel outside metropolitan Sydney for non-essential reasons for at least a week.

The surge in cases has created “a very real and present danger,” New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters. “This is a very serious situation.” The stricter measures come as 13 new cases were recorded in Sydney, bringing the cluster to at least 30 infections.

‘Zero-Covid’ economies face tough question: how many deaths are acceptable?

Australia’s so-called “zero-case” strategy is under pressure because of virus leaks from hotels used to quarantine Australians returning from overseas that have triggered localised lockdowns.

The Sydney outbreak will also increase pressure on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ramp up the nation’s tardy vaccine roll-out. Only about 6.7 million out of 26 million Australians have had at least one shot, and the federal government has abandoned its original October target to inoculate the population.

Guam launches vaccine tourism programme

The first group of three travellers was set to arrive Wednesday, the Pacific Daily News reported.

Josh Tyquiengco, a spokesman for the Guam Visitors Bureau, said it was a prelude to bigger groups to come.

The “Air V&V” programme is aimed at jump-starting Guam’s tourism industry which has suffered from a decline in travel amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The programme requires participants to pay for their quarantine hotel stay, up to a week, during which they will receive a vaccine shot on the second day. Depending on which vaccine they choose, visitors could be on island for as little as three days, or more than a month.

If they test negative at the end of their hotel quarantine, they would be allowed to leave their hotel room and enjoy the island like any other traveller.

Tokyo Games organisers ban alcohol at Olympic venues

It said no alcoholic beverages are permitted to be brought into venues and they will not be sold either.

Reporting by Dewey Sim, Bloomberg, Reuters, DPA, Associated Press, Kyodo