Coronavirus: US forces in Japan confined to bases to stem spread; 402 staff in India’s parliament test positive
- From Monday, Japan will confine American forces to base facilities for two weeks amid sharp rise in infections; move has been agreed with the US
- More than a quarter of India’s parliament staff in New Delhi test positive. Elsewhere, Australia’s New South Wales sees deadliest day of pandemic yet
The US and Japan agreed on Sunday to keep American troops within their bases as worries grew about a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country.
The allies will share information and cooperate on coronavirus measures, “given the extraordinary virulence of the omicron variant spreading throughout Japan,” the statement said.
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US military members will wear masks, both on and off base, when outside their homes, and will continue to carry out strict testing before leaving for and after arrival in Japan, it said.
New Covid-19 cases have surged in Japan, jumping above 8,000 on Saturday, a four-month record. The spike has been most pronounced in areas near US bases. Last week, Japan asked the US for cooperation in keeping its military personnel on base.
Okinawa, a southwestern group of islands that houses most of the 55,000 US troops in Japan, is among the three prefectures where separate government restrictions kicked in on Sunday. The measures, which last until the end of the month, include early closing hours for restaurants, at 8pm or 9pm. Some restaurants also must stop serving alcohol.
The restrictions also went into effect in Yamaguchi prefecture, where Iwakuni base is located, and nearby Hiroshima. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which documents the US atomic bombing of Japan at the end of World War II, and Hiroshima Castle are both closed to visitors.
Other regions may see similar restrictions if cases keep rising.
People have been warned to stay home and avoid travel. Until recently, bars, shrines and shopping districts have been jam-packed with year-end shoppers and New Year’s holiday travellers.
In Tokyo, confirmed daily cases have exceeded 1,200 for the past two days, 14 times the previous week.
Throughout the pandemic, Japan has never imposed a lockdown but has implemented varying levels of restrictions, including school closures and event cancellations.
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About 80 per cent of the population have received their second vaccine shots. Boosters have barely started, with fewer than 1 per cent receiving them despite repeated promises by the government to speed up their roll-out. Japan has set up stringent border controls, barring most incoming travel except for returning residents and citizens.
Japan has reported about 18,300 Covid-related deaths so far. On recent days, there have been just one or two deaths, and on some days, none at all.
402 staff in India’s parliament test positive
Samples from 402 staff members out of 1,409 individuals tested positive from January 4 to 8, the report said. Lawmakers are expected to start discussions on the federal budget later this month.
India’s capital New Delhi is witnessing a sharp surge in daily coronavirus infections and has already imposed curbs on gatherings and movement. Still, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday he had “no intention of imposing a lockdown,” talking at a virtual press briefing.
He urged people to use masks and complete vaccination. Even as the daily count remains elevated, deaths due to Covid-19 and the number patients seeking hospitalisation has remained low compared with the situation a year ago, Kejriwal said.
India reported 159,632 new cases through 24-hours on Sunday morning as the country notched its worst three-day stretch of infections since June. The latest numbers mark the third straight day that infections have topped 100,000, with the country’s total reaching 35.5 million since the start of the pandemic.
Australia’s New South Wales reports record deaths
Just over 30,000 new cases were reported in Australia’s most populous state, forcing those people to join more than 200,000 others in isolation.
No statistics are kept to determine how many of those are essential workers in the food and manufacturing sectors. But some employers say up to half of their workers have been furloughed after coming into contact with a positive case.
Shoppers have reported empty shelves in many supermarkets because of the Omicron outbreak’s impact on food processing and supply chains.
“Critical workers in the food logistics and manufacturing sectors furloughed as close contacts will be permitted to leave self-isolation to attend work if they have no symptoms of Covid-19, to ensure the state has continued access to essential goods,” New South Wales Health said in a statement on Sunday.
The workers can only leave self-isolation if their employer decides their absence poses a high risk of disruption to the delivery of critical services and if they are not able to work from home.
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Returning workers will have to wear masks and comply with risk-management strategies required by their employers, including daily rapid antigen tests. If they test positive, they will have to return to isolation.
The rule change applies in agriculture to biosecurity and food safety personnel undertaking critical duties; in manufacturing to the production of food, beverages, groceries, cleaning and sanitary products; and in transport to food logistics and delivery.
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The 16 people who died on Sunday included eight women and eight men aged in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, NSW Health said. The figure tops the previous record of 15 deaths, which has been reached twice, on September 29 and October 1 last year.
There were 1,927 people in hospitals, including 151 people in intensive care.
Victoria state reported 44,155 new cases on Sunday, including 22,051 from rapid antigen tests and 22,104 from PCR tests. Of those cases, 9,000 were from rapid antigen tests conducted on Saturday while more than 13,000 were done on previous days and reported Sunday.
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The numbers do not necessarily reflect the true spread of the virus as they only count the number of recorded cases.
Screening carried out by health authorities showed that around 80 per cent of new cases were the Omicron variant.
Victoria recorded eight deaths on Sunday, but Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt said cases of severe illness are relatively low amid the spread of Omicron.
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Nearly 60 per cent of the 28,707 cases came from the capital region, which has seen a steady increase in admissions in recent days, although hospital capacity in the area was still below critical levels, government data showed.
Health authorities were also directed to increase inoculation rates outside the region, with many provinces lagging behind, acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said.
Another 15 people died from Covid-19, the health ministry said, bringing the death toll to 52,150. The country has reported more than 2.96 million cases since the pandemic started, among the highest in Southeast Asia.
Government offices including the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Presidential Communications Operations Office have announced temporary closures as a precaution after several of their staff have been infected.
The rise in cases prompted the government to tighten mobility curbs last week. President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened unvaccinated people with arrest if they disobey stay-at-home orders.
At the end of 2021, 45 per cent of the country’s 110 million people had been fully vaccinated. Under existing rules, unvaccinated people in the capital region can only step out of their homes for essential trips.
