Coronavirus: Philippines finds first Lambda variant case; South Korea sets up ‘bus walls’ to block protesters
- The WHO classifies Lambda as a ‘variant of interest’, which was first identified in Peru
- Despite the government’s warnings over the spread of Covid-19, some groups pushed ahead with annual protests in Seoul
The Philippines’ health department said on Sunday it has detected the first case of Covid-19’s Lambda variant in the country, and reminded the public to strictly observe minimum public health standards.
The patient is a 35-year-old female who has since recovered, the Department of Health said, adding it was still validating if she was a Filipino returning from overseas.
The World Health Organization classifies Lambda as a “variant of interest”, which was first identified in Peru in December, as laboratory studies showed it has mutations that resist vaccine-induced antibodies.
The Philippines on Sunday recorded 14,749 new Covid-19 infections, its second-biggest daily increase, and 270 additional deaths.
With more than 1.74 million infections and 30,340 deaths, the Philippines has the second-highest virus cases and fatalities in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia.
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‘Bus walls’ block Korean protesters
South Korean police mobilised hundreds of buses and set up dozens of checkpoints on Sunday to head off political rallies in Seoul, as some groups pushed ahead with annual protests in defiance of warnings over the spread of the novel coronavirus.
South Korea has largely been held up as a coronavirus success story, but is grappling with a fourth wave of infection that took new daily cases above 2,200 last week for the first time, partly fuelled by the more transmissible Delta variant.
The government has banned protests and vowed punishment for any legal violation ahead of Sunday’s Liberation Day, mindful of virus outbreaks from an anti-government rally and church gathering last August which resulted in over 1,800 cases.
Police parked busses along main avenues and around a large square in downtown Seoul to seal them off, and set up more than 80 checkpoints to block vehicles carrying demonstrators and equipment.
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Subway trains and public buses did not stop at stations around potential protest venues.
But footage from local TV networks showed several groups still encouraging demonstrations by individuals and marches where participants maintain distance from each other, to protest issues as varied as government policy and worker rights.
On Saturday, police disbanded an organisation that hosted last August’s rally. A court also issued an arrest warrant for the leader of a major labour union for arranging multiple illegal protests since May.
The church that was at the centre of an outbreak last August also held an in-person service attended by some 800 people on Sunday in breach of distancing curbs, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing district officials.
Reuters could not immediately reach the church or district authority for comment.
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“Despite the government’s repeated warnings, some groups pressed ahead with illegal protests,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told an intra-agency meeting, pledging “zero tolerance” measures. “You have to remember how many people suffered from last year’s rally.”
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 1,817 new virus cases for Saturday.
Total infection cases rose to 223,928, with 2,156 deaths.
The fourth wave came as South Korea struggles to kick-start its inoculation drive amid vaccine shortage and shipment delays, though it has secured 193 million doses for its 52 million population.
Only 19 per cent of South Koreans have been fully vaccinated as of Saturday, KDCA data showed, but President Moon Jae-in, in his Liberation Day speech on Sunday, vowed to boost that number to 70 per cent by October, without detailing how.
About 43.6 per cent of the population have received at least one dose of vaccine. The government’s previous target was to reach 70 per cent by September.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday the extra vaccines would start arriving immediately and over half will be directed to 20- to 39-year-olds in New South Wales, as the state reported its second largest increase in locally transmitted infections.
Morrison has been under pressure for a sluggish vaccine roll-out, with only about 24 per cent of Australians above 16 fully vaccinated as supplies from Pfizer, seen as the preferred inoculation for younger people, have remained in short stock.
“We’ve been seeing those case numbers rise in Sydney and New South Wales each day and that is terribly concerning,” Morrison said at a news conference in Canberra.
“We’ve got to get those numbers coming down … you needed more vaccines from us. More vaccines are on their way. They’ll be there this week, and so I need Sydneysiders to stay home so we can beat this thing.”
New South Wales, the most populous state, reported 415 new locally acquired cases on Sunday, the second largest increase after the previous day’s record 466.
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Of the new doses, 530,000 will be prioritised for express delivery over the coming week to 12 greater Sydney local government areas after they arrive in Australia on Sunday night, Morrison said.
The remaining 470,340 will be distributed on a per capita basis to other states and territories to fast track inoculations of the younger age-group.
Concerned about growing infections in rural areas as recent sewage tests detected the virus in several regional towns, officials on Saturday tightened restrictions and ordered a snap seven-day lockdown across the state.
With infections spiking, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Sydney will come out of its nine-week lockdown on August 28 as planned.
“Western New South Wales remains a concern, especially in relation to our vulnerable indigenous communities and getting a vaccine to them is critical at this point in time,” state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
On Sunday, officials said four more people had died, taking the number of deaths in the latest outbreak in the state to 46. Of the new positive cases, at least 66 are people who spent time in the community while infectious, Berejiklian said.
In the neighbouring state of Victoria, 25 new locally acquired cases of the virus were reported, up from 21 a day earlier, while Melbourne, the state capital, remained in the second week of an extended lockdown.
In Australia’s capital city, Canberra, which entered a one-week lockdown on Thursday, two new infections were reported.
Malaysia eases curbs for fully vaccinated residents
Malaysia will open up more sectors to individuals who have been fully vaccinated in an effort to rebuild parts of the economy which have been shut due to the virus outbreak, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Sunday.
Under the new guidelines which will take effect on Monday, hair salons, shops selling electrical goods, furniture, sporting equipment and car accessories will be allowed to operate in states under the first phase of the national recovery plan, Muhyiddin said in a statement. Stores offering used clothes, antiques and toys can resume business under the second phase.
Malaysia is gradually rolling back Covid-related curbs as it seeks to strike a balance between sustaining economic growth and reining in daily infections which have topped 20,000 over the past four days. Earlier this month, the authorities revised the rules to permit some who have been fully inoculated to cross state borders and dine at restaurants.
“The government hopes that the guidelines announced today will offer some emotional and mental relief to the people and will help to gradually improve the situation of those who are in the affected economic sectors,” Muhyiddin said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
