Coronavirus: Osaka cancels Olympic torch relay; Philippine defence chief Delfin Lorenzana infected
- The western Japanese prefecture also declared a state of medical emergency as it confirmed more than 800 new infections
- Elsewhere, Australian PM said he is not criticising the EU over the delay, while 10 Thai ministers were self-isolating after coming into contact with positive cases
Health authorities fear a virus variant is unleashing a fourth wave of infections just 107 days before the Tokyo Olympics begins, with a vaccination drive still at an early stage.
Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said the street runs would be cancelled, adding that the medical system faced enormous strain as a more infectious variant sent cases skyrocketing among young people.
“It is almost certain that this mutant strain is highly contagious with a high transmission speed,” he said in televised remarks.
“I would like to ask all residents of Osaka prefecture to refrain from going out unnecessarily. The medical system is in a very tight situation.”
03:24
Samurai dance classes hit by Tokyo Olympics' ban on foreign spectators
The prefecture reported more than 800 new infections on Wednesday, domestic media said, for a second straight day of record numbers. Severe cases have filled about 70 per cent of hospital beds in the region.
Osaka and the neighbouring prefectures of Hyogo and Miyagi started on Monday a month of targeted lockdown measures, to rein in a more virulent strain of the virus.
In recent days, Osaka’s infections have outstripped those in Tokyo, the Japanese capital and a much larger city. Even so, Tokyo’s cases are on an uptrend as well, with Wednesday’s 555 new infections standing at the highest since early February.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Sunday emergency measures employed in the Osaka area could be extended to Tokyo and elsewhere if needed.
Philippine defence chief infected
The 72-year-old retired army general, who said he is experiencing no symptoms, is one of several members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s cabinet who have contracted the disease. Lorenzana’s cabinet colleagues have all recovered.
Many Filipinos don’t make it into hospital at all amid Covid-19 surge
The country’s former president, Joseph Estrada, remains in hospital on a ventilator after being infected by the coronavirus.
Estrada’s son, former senator Jinggoy Estrada, says his 83-year-old father was hospitalised more than a week ago and initially was recovering well but his condition “suffered a setback” on Monday and prompted doctors to place him on a ventilator to improve oxygen delivery.
“My father has always been a fighter and I hope that with the help of your prayers, he will win this battle,” he said.
Estrada, a former action film star and long-time politician, won the presidency in 1998 with one of the largest margins in Philippine electoral history. But his six-year term was cut short after he faced allegations of plunder and was ousted in January 2001 during massive protests. He denied the charges, which he said were fabricated by his opponents.
A special anti-corruption court convicted him of plunder in 2007. His successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, pardoned him in a move that restored his civil and political rights and allowed him to make an unsuccessful second run for the presidency in 2010. He won election as mayor of Manila in 2013 and has been out of politics since his term ended in 2019.
Thailand detects first case of UK variant
Thailand has confirmed its first local cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in the UK, raising the likelihood that it is facing a new wave of the pandemic, a senior doctor said on Wednesday.
The variant was found in blood samples from 24 people in a new cluster of cases involving customers of nightlife venues in the capital, Bangkok, said Dr Yong Pooworavan, a virologist from the Faculty of Medicine at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.
Speaking at a Health Ministry news conference, Yong described the variant as 1.7 times more contagious than the original coronavirus, still more common in Thailand. The variant was found in Thailand for the first time in January in four members of a family arriving from Britain who had been quarantined.
The new cluster from nightspots, along with another at a prison in the southern province of Narathiwat, had already caused major concern.
Bangkok city officials on Monday ordered the closing for two weeks of almost 200 bars and other nightspots in three areas linked to the new cases.
Many international schools in the city canceled classes for the week, in some cases substituting remote learning.
Australia calls for release of vaccine doses
The European Union (EU) on Tuesday denied blocking vaccine shipments to Australia, which has fallen dramatically behind in its scheduled vaccination programme. The EU said it was not responsible for AstraZeneca’s failure to uphold commitments to other countries. AstraZeneca did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia was asked by the EU to withdraw export permit applications and letters requesting supplies have gone unanswered. Morrison said if the EU was now indicating its willingness to release shipments, he would again ask for the 3.1 million doses to be released. The 3.1 million doses were expected to arrive in Australia by the end of March.
“We obviously want those millions of doses,” Morrison said. “Given statements made overnight, that apparently there is no obstruction to that and then I would hope that could be readily addressed.”
No quarantine or virus testing in New Zealand-Australia travel bubble
Morrison on Wednesday insisted he was not criticising the EU, but senior members of his government continued to blame the EU for blocking vaccines.
“They’re not giving approval is effectively the same as blocking,” Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
Australia says the delay in receiving the 3.1 million additional doses is why it has fallen behind in vaccinations. Only about 670,000 people have been vaccinated against an initial government target of 4 million by March-end.
Australia has recorded a small number of Covid-19 cases compared to most nations and has now eradicated the virus from its community, but its slow vaccine roll out is pressuring Morrison who is struggling in the polls a year out from the next election after a series of damaging allegations about the mistreatment of female lawmakers and staff in his Liberal party.
The dispute between Australia and the EU emphasises the challenge facing European nations which are struggling to vaccinate their own populations and the impact of new EU vaccine export controls on countries that had pre-ordered doses.
02:14
India’s daily coronavirus cases surpass 100,000 for first time
Thai ministers go into self-isolation
At least 10 Thai cabinet ministers and dozens of lawmakers were self-isolating on Wednesday after coming into contact with positive coronavirus cases, amid a sharp increase in infections in the capital Bangkok.
Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob told local television on Wednesday he had tested positive for Covid-19, while his Bhumjaithai Party said other ministers, lawmakers and coalition politicians had been in contact with confirmed cases.
Thailand has seen infections jump in the past week, although numbers are still low in comparison to some of its regional neighbours, owing to more than a year of strict border controls, quarantine, testing and contact-tracing protocols.
Will Thailand’s 10-day quarantine rule spark a revival of tourism?
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha changed a weekly get-together of his 36-member cabinet to a virtual meeting on Wednesday and urged ministers to avoid exposure to the virus.
He said the public should exercise caution ahead of Thai new year celebrations next week, where crowds traditionally gather across the country.
Bangkok authorities earlier this week closed 196 entertainment venues in three districts of Bangkok for two weeks after clusters emerged where more than 250 people were infected with the coronavirus.
Thailand is aiming to start is mass immunisation campaign from June and has been vaccinating health workers or people deemed vulnerable, with more than 200,000 recipients so far, according to the Health Ministry.
North Korea denies having any cases
The WHO said North Korea reported that it tested 23,121 people for the coronavirus as of April 1 and that all results were negative.
Outsiders have expressed doubt about whether North Korea has escaped the pandemic entirely, given its poor health infrastructure and a porous border it shares with China, its economic lifeline.
North Korean hackers tried to steal Pfizer vaccine data: South Korean lawmaker
During the pandemic, North Korea has severely limited cross-border traffic, banned tourists, jetted out diplomats and mobilised health workers for quarantines of tens of thousands of people who showed symptoms.
North Korea this week became the first country to drop out of the Tokyo Olympics because of coronavirus fears.
Meanwhile, South Korea on Wednesday reported its highest daily jump in new coronavirus cases in nearly three months as concerns grow about another huge wave of the virus as the country wrestles with a slow vaccine roll-out.
The 668 infections were the most since January 8 when officials reported 674 new cases. Since the pandemic began, South Korea has had 106,898 confirmed cases, with 1,756 deaths related to Covid-19.
India sees record surge in daily cases
New Delhi, Mumbai and dozens of other cities have imposed curfews to try to slow the soaring infections. The latest rise overtook Sunday’s record of 103,844 infections. Fatalities rose by 630 in the past 24 hours, the highest since November, raising the total death toll in the country to 166,177 since the pandemic began.
Experts said the surge is blamed in part on growing disregard for social distancing and mask-wearing in public spaces. The latest spike in cases is worse than the last year’s peak of more than 97,000 a day in mid-September.
Cambodia PM orders home treatment as hospitals struggle
Cambodia had one of the world’s smallest coronavirus caseloads until six weeks ago, but an outbreak in late February has led to its first 22 Covid-19 deaths and a five-fold jump in cases to 2,824.
A total of 1,003 patients are currently being treated in hospital that are near capacity, Hun Sen said in an audio message shared widely on Tuesday and reported by local media.
“We can’t accept all patients in case that cases increase further,” Hun Sen said. “We have fewer people recovered and many people being admitted for treatment and even if we set up a few more hospitals, it is not enough. Keep those with mild cases of Covid-19 at home for treatment.”
Cambodia’s got jabs from China and India, but take-up is painfully slow
The government has restricted travels between provinces and cities, banned large gatherings and imposed a nighttime curfew in the capital Phnom Penh for two weeks from April 1.
Cambodia has passed a law that prescribe long jail terms for serious violations of health measures.
It also requires people to scan Quick Response (QR) codes before entering establishments. The New York-based Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said such logging of personal information would help the government’s surveillance practices, which it said were intrusive.
Reporting by Associated Press, Reuters
