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Japan has been seeing a rise in cases. Photo: EPA-EFE

Coronavirus latest: Japan hits 50,000 cases; Vietnam’s Da Nang cluster grows

  • It took Japan just one week to go from 40,000 to 50,000 infections
  • Meanwhile, Vietnam’s Da Nang cluster is growing; while a lockdown in Australia’s Melbourne seems to be having an effect, its premier says
Agencies
Japan’s total coronavirus cases topped 50,000 on Monday, increasing by 10,000 in just one week, as urban centres including Tokyo and Osaka continue to see high levels of infections since the central government lifted the nationwide state of emergency in late May.

The pace of the virus’ spread has picked up since the figure reached 20,000 in early July, eclipsing the 30,000 mark in late July and 40,000 on August 3.

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The Tokyo metropolitan government reported 197 new coronavirus cases, down from the 331 infections the previous day, while Osaka Prefecture confirmed 123 cases compared to 195 on Sunday.

New cases tend to be lower over the weekend due to a slowdown in reporting of test results.

The daily figures reflect the most recent totals reported by health authorities and medical institutions.

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How hi-tech solutions are being used across Asia to cope with the coronavirus pandemic

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The number of both deaths and severe cases has also been steadily rising amid concerns that the spread of the virus could strain the country’s medical system.

Furthermore, the government’s “Go To Travel” subsidy campaign, launched last month to help revive the domestic tourism industry, has stirred worries it could worsen the spread of the virus.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has said she would declare a state of emergency in the capital if necessary.

In Vietnam, the health ministry on Monday reported six more coronavirus infections and two additional deaths, bringing the country’s total number of cases to 847, with 13 fatalities.
Most of the new cases, including an eight-year-old boy, are linked to the central city of Da Nang, where the new outbreak began in late July.

The ministry said more than 182,000 people were being quarantined in the country, including 5,139 at hospitals, 28,408 at centralised quarantine centres and the rest at home.

01:06

Vietnam turns Da Nang stadium into field hospital for coronavirus patients

Vietnam turns Da Nang stadium into field hospital for coronavirus patients

Vietnam’s virus resurgence underscores the difficulties governments face not only in battling waves of the stealthy pathogen but doing so while trying to preserve economic growth.

After officials lifted strict social-distancing lockdowns last spring, people returned to activities such as crowding onto Danang’s beaches, prompting Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to scold the country for letting its guard down.

It is unclear where the latest outbreak originated, though it quickly spread to 12 provinces and cities and infected 333 people.

The virus may have lurked in Vietnam undetected, spread through a quarantine glitch or an illegal migrant, or jumped to a human from an animal, said Rogier van Doorn, a clinical microbiologist and director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Hanoi.

India has the world’s third highest coronavirus caseload. Photo: AP

India on Monday registered a record 1,007 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours as new infections surged by 62,064 cases.

The Health Ministry said India’s nationwide death toll reached 44,386 on Monday, with over 2.2 million positive cases reported so far. At least 634,935 patients were still undergoing treatment.

India has averaged about 50,000 new cases a day since mid-June. Infections remain concentrated in 10 states that contribute nearly 80 per cent of the new cases.

The country has the third-highest caseload in the world after the United States and Brazil.

People exercise along Port Melbourne Beach in Melbourne on August 10, 2020. Photo: AFP
In Australia, more than 300 people have died in connection with coronavirus, after health authorities in Victoria state on Monday reported a record increase of 19 new deaths overnight.

Of the 313 deaths reported nationally, 228 were in Victoria, which has been the centre of the pandemic’s second wave.

Monday marked the second day in a row the daily death toll record was broken, with most of the 19 deaths reported from aged care facilities.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said there were indications that the six-week lockdown in capital city Melbourne six week lockdown was having an effect, as the number of new cases reported Monday was 322, the lowest level in 13 days.

Melbourne residents have been issued strict restrictions, and are only allowed to leave the house for exercise, shopping and essential work, while an 8pm to 5am curfew and mandatory mask wearing are being enforced.

Customers enjoy lunch at the Riverside Market in Christchurch, New Zealand on August 9, 2020. Photo: AP

New Zealand plans to open a virus-free “travel bubble” with the tiny Pacific realm of Cook Islands before year’s end, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, while expressing caution about a similar arrangement with Australia.

Ardern said the quarantine-free travel corridor was possible because New Zealand and the Cooks – an archipelago of under 10,000 people – had successfully contained the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our expectation is that it would be in place before the end of the year,” she told reporters, adding that officials were being careful not to move too quickly on the proposal. “The last thing anyone wants is to reopen travel, only to have it closed down again because it hasn’t been done properly.”

New Zealand has recorded 22 coronavirus deaths in a population of five million, and marked 100 days since its last case of community transmission on Sunday, while the Cooks declared itself virus-free in mid-April.

The economic benefits of the travel bubble are expected to be felt mostly in the Cooks, a popular tourist destination where Ardern estimated 60 per cent of pre-virus visitors were from New Zealand.

A trans-Tasman bubble with Australia would be far more advantageous to New Zealand’s economy, where international tourism screeched to a halt when borders were closed in March.

The prospect looked tantalisingly close a few months ago, before Australia was hit with a second wave of infections centred on Victoria state.

“We’re still undertaking the foundational work for trans-Tasman travel arrangements but obviously that’s going to be sometime off,” Ardern said.

All international arrivals into New Zealand are currently required to spend at least 14 days in strictly supervised quarantine.

But New Zealanders domestically are enjoying a near-normal, pre-coronavirus lifestyle with no social distancing and spectators allowed at sports and cultural events.

Reporting by Kyodo, Reuters, AP, dpa, AFP, Bloomberg

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