As the French government warns of a “fourth wave” due to the now-dominant Delta variant, France reported 4,256 new cases in 24 hours, up 60 percent in a week based on a seven-day rolling average. There were four deaths, though the number of patients needing intensive care continues to fall.
President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to address the nation Monday evening, when he’s expected to speak about the risks of the Delta variant and measures to counter its rapid spread, including mandatory vaccination for healthcare personnel.
A key Macron ally said France must “live with the virus” rather than count on a new lockdown.
Key developments:
Taiwan makes progress on vaccines
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.’s Yonglin Healthcare Foundation agreed to buy 10 million doses of BioNTech SE’s vaccine, which they will donate to Taiwan. The deal ends a months-long impasse over the island’s attempts to get doses from the German firm, and is a massive boost to its lagging vaccination efforts.
The island’s government also announced it plans to buy at least 15 million doses of Moderna Inc. vaccines in 2022 and 2023.
UK Johnson to urge caution
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will warn people to stay vigilant as he prepares to lift virtually all remaining virus curbs in England.
In a news conference on Monday, Johnson is expected to confirm that mandatory curbs will end as planned on July 19, including a legal requirement to wear masks indoors. But he’ll also warn that the change will spark new cases and that people must “all take responsibility” to keep infections at a manageable level, his office said in an e-mailed statement.
The main opposition Labour party accused the government of sowing confusion over Covid rules, not least with its stance on masks. New guidance being issued on Monday will include an “expectation” for people to keep wearing masks in many indoor spaces, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi told BBC TV.
India nears 31 million cases
India added 37,154 Covid-19 cases on Monday, taking the total count to almost 31 million confirmed cases. The second-worst-hit nation has administered 377.4 million vaccine shots so far but only 5.3 percent of its population is fully inoculated against the virus, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.
Many Indians are selling their gold jewelry to make ends meet as the pandemic devastates the economy. Daily Covid-related deaths rose by 724 to 408,764 according to the latest data from the Indian health ministry.
Backlash stops Indonesia plan
Indonesia’s state-owned pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma is delaying a plan to sell Covid-19 vaccines amid a backlash. Kimia Farma was set to market Sinopharm Group Co. shots, which were ordered for a private vaccination program, as soon as Monday. The plan met with questions on why the shots are being sold and why any company should profit.
Tokyo enters state of emergency
Tokyo entered a state of emergency for the fourth time on Monday, with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga having decreed it will run through August 22, covering the entire duration of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan has plenty of vaccines, but faces a slowing inoculation rate due to distribution issues. Just 11 days before the games, Japan has given enough shots to cover about 23 percent of its people, with some Olympic volunteers still awaiting second shots.
Organizers decided to ban all spectators from the Olympics after the state of emergency was announced last week. Though Japan has done better than most rich nations in the pandemic, polls show the public is concerned about the safety of the games.
Lagos may face third virus wave
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, is seeing a sharp rise in infection rates. “From the beginning of July, we started to experience a steep increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, with the test positivity rate going from 1.1 percent at the end of June 2021 to its current rate of 6.6 percent,” Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of the state, said in an e-mailed statement.
Lagos is Africa’s biggest city, but only 1 percent of its more than 24 million residents are fully vaccinated.
Sydney surge may prolong curbs
Australia’s most-populous city had 112 new coronavirus cases on Monday, and at the weekend recorded its first death since April.
The Delta strain leaked into the local community in mid-June and the city has been in lockdown since June 26. New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian indicated that the current stay-at-home orders may be extended beyond Friday. “We just want people to stay at home,” she said. “The virus won’t spread if people don’t leave home. That is the bottom line.”
Thailand has 80 deaths, economy is hit
Thailand reported 8,656 new infections on Monday, taking the nation’s cumulative cases to 345,027, according to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration. It had 80 fatalities.
The greater Bangkok area, accounting for about 50 percent of Thailand’s gross domestic product, will shutter shopping malls, spas, massage and beauty clinics for at least two weeks starting today. A mandatory work-from-home rule for most government staff, overnight curfews and curbs on domestic travel are set to hurt retailers, airlines and restaurant operators, already reeling from some form of Covid restrictions for more than a year.
Vietnam imposes stay-home curbs in South
Authorities across Vietnam’s south issued social-distancing curbs following last week’s imposition of a stay-home order in Ho Chi Minh City. In Binh Duong province, home to 30 industrial parks, stay-home orders were issued for seven of nine localities as virus infections topped 1,500 cases. Authorities in the nation’s Mekong Delta rice bowl put in place similar anti-virus measures.
Seoul under tighter curbs from today
A ban on private gatherings of more than three people after 6 p.m. goes into effect in the greater Seoul area today, with night-time entertainment businesses closing after a recent surge in coronavirus cases. Daily Covid-19 cases hit a record of more than 1,300 on Saturday.
Amid government warnings that the country is undergoing its worst surge since the first confirmed case almost a year and a half ago, many Seoul residents appeared to stay home over the weekend with malls and restaurants reporting scant crowds.
Cubans protest as outbreak grows
Thousands of Cubans demonstrated to protest food shortages and high prices as the pandemic devastates an economy already suffering from US sanctions. The mass gatherings came even as Cuba grapples with a serious coronavirus outbreak.
The country of 11 million people has about 32,000 active cases of Covid-19 and reported 6,923 daily cases and 47 deaths on Sunday, breaking a record set Friday, the New York Times reported, citing the health ministry. Only about 15 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
US cases jump
The US reported 33,933 new cases Saturday, the most since mid-May, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. New infections rose for a third week as the Delta variant hit unvaccinated Americans, jumping to almost 134,000 for the week ending Saturday from about 92,400 in the previous week.
Another 319 deaths were reported Saturday. Weekly fatalities were up slightly from the previous seven days.
The US recorded 599,000 vaccinations on Saturday, the lowest level since early January, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. President Joe Biden missed his goal of administering at least one dose of vaccine to 70 percent of adults in the US by July 4. That number is now 67.5 percent, according to the CDC.