Latest on pandemic: Many return to life under lockdown as Delta cases edge up

The coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 4,382,528 and infected 208,617,866 people since it first emerged in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The US is the worst-affected nation with 623,322 deaths, followed by Brazil with 569,492, India with 432,079, Mexico with 248,652 and Peru with 197,487.

The spread of a new variant, known as Delta, has recently forced many nations that had long controlled the disease transmission to impose lockdown measures again.

In the United States, the vast majority of new fatalities and serious cases are among the unvaccinated, according to officials.

Pope urges people to get jabs as ‘an act of love’

Pope Francis has urged people to get the coronavirus vaccine as “an act of love.”

The pope said in a message on Wednesday that vaccines “grant us the hope of ending the pandemic, but only if they are available to all and if we work together.”

“Being vaccinated… is an act of love,” the pontiff said. “And contributing to ensure the majority of people are vaccinated is an act of love. Love for oneself, love for one’s family and friends, love for all people.”

New Zealand goes back into lockdown

New Zealand returned to life under lockdown for the first time in six months on Wednesday to halt the spread of the infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered a snap three-day nationwide lockdown on Tuesday after a single case, suspected to be Delta, was found in the largest city of Auckland.

She said there were now five confirmed cases in total, all linked to the original infection.

New Zealand has avoided the worst of the pandemic with strict border control and a strategy of elimination. The island nation of five million has recorded only 26 deaths from the disease.

Australia warns worse to come as Delta cases surge

In Australia, authorities said people needed to brace for more deaths, as the country’s largest city, Sydney, continued to break records for new daily infections despite a nearly two-month lockdown.

“We haven’t seen the worst of it, and the way that we stop this is by everybody staying at home,” said New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday.

New South Wales reported its biggest daily rise of 633 new cases, including 545 in the state’s capital, Sydney.

Sixty people have died since the first Delta case was reported in Sydney in mid-June, including three on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Southeast Asian countries are struggling to contain record infections and deaths driven by the Delta variant, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The region has seen the highest deaths globally in recent weeks.

Thailand reports 312 deaths

Thailand’s health officials reported 312 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday.

The number, a record increase for a second day in a row, pushed total fatalities to 8,285, according to Health Ministry data.

Japan extends emergency lockdown

Japan extended its state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions on Tuesday.

The government’s top health advisor, Shigeru Omi, said the country needed to come up with steps to “prod individuals to avoid taking action that could potentially spread infections.”

The country’s Osaka Prefecture is set to report a record number of new coronavirus cases at around 2,300 on Wednesday, Kyodo news agency reported.

Chinese ports choke over COVID restrictions

In China, new restrictive measures have increased lines at major transportation hubs.

The Ministry of Transportation ordered all ports to have special teams to deal with foreign vessels and require their crews to have health certificates or negative tests before allowing them to load and discharge cargoes.

More than 50 container vessels were lining up at the country’s second-largest marine center, Ningbo Port, on Tuesday.

Ports also have their own rules, with some applying additional precautions to vessels that stopped at ports in high-risk regions, such as India, Laos, or Russia, in the past 21 days.

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