Indonesia surpassed India’s daily Covid-19 case numbers, marking a new Asian virus epicenter as the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant drives up infections in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
The country has seen its daily case count cross 40,000 for two straight days—including a record high of 47,899 on Tuesday—up from less than 10,000 a month ago. Officials are concerned that the more transmissible new variant is now spreading outside of the country’s main island, Java, and could exhaust hospital workers and supplies of oxygen and medication.
Indonesia’s current numbers are still far from India’s peak of 400,000 daily cases in May, and its total outbreak of 2.6 million is barely a tenth of the Asian giant’s 30.9 million. India, with a population roughly five times the size of Indonesia’s 270 million people, saw daily infections drop below 33,000 on Tuesday as its devastating outbreak wanes.
Key developments:
Hunger crisis in India
India is seeing an increase in hunger, particularly in urban areas, after legions of residents had their economic toehold ripped away in lockdowns over the last 12 months. While few statistics are available, migrants and workers at food distribution centers in major Indian cities say they can’t remember seeing lines this long of people yearning for something to eat.
“This desperation for food and the long lines for rations in families with two wage earners is unprecedented,” said Aditi Dwivedi, who works with migrant communities in the New Delhi at Satark Nagrik Sangathan, a group that works on transparency and accountability in government that has advocated for more food aid for the needy.
As India’s economy shrunk by 7.3 percent last year, the daily average wage for about 230 million Indians—enough to make the world’s fifth-largest nation—dropped below the 375-rupee ($5) threshold, according to a study by the Azim Premji University in Bangalore. “An alarming 90 percent of respondents” reported “that their households had suffered a reduction in food intake as a result of the lockdown,” the study said.
Sydney extends lockdown
Sydney extended its lockdown for a further two weeks as Australia’s most-populous city battles an outbreak of the delta strain of the coronavirus that’s already kept it isolated from the rest of the nation for three weeks. Now authorities are increasingly concerned after infections spread to Melbourne.
Stay-at-home orders will remain until at least July 30, New South Wales state premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters Wednesday. The city recorded 97 new cases yesterday, including at least 24 who were infectious in the community despite being told to stay at home.
Sydney’s outbreak has now crossed to Melbourne, the nation’s second-largest city which shuttered for two weeks in late May to halt a spread of the delta strain and last year endured one of the world’s longest and strict lockdowns. Eight new infections were detected in Victoria state in the past 24 hours, up from two on Tuesday.
Singapore expands virus probe of lounges
Singapore is stepping up its investigation of new Covid-19 cases in karaoke lounges, as it seeks to control an emerging cluster linked to the social hostesses who frequent the establishments.
The premises will be closed for two weeks to allow for deep cleaning and special testing operations will be conducted for all staff, the Ministry of Health said in a statement late Tuesday. Free Covid-19 testing will also be extended to the public who had frequented these places, or who interacted with the hostesses in any setting over the last two weeks.
While Singapore’s daily local coronavirus infection tally hit the highest in nearly a month Tuesday, its overall caseload remains low compared to western financial capitals. The latest daily total of 19 cases in the city-state works out to just over 3 per million. By contrast, New York City’s daily average over the last seven days is about 42 per million.
Record Malaysian cases may climb further
Malaysia’s Covid cases topped a record 11,000 Tuesday and may climb further in the next few days before stabilizing as the outbreak is being driven by the contagious Delta variant, Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah said.
Malaysia has been struggling to contain the recent outbreak driven by the emergence of new, more contagious variants despite much of the country being under a lockdown since June 1. The situation is dire in the Klang Valley—an area comprising Selangor and Kuala Lumpur—where Covid-linked admissions have left hospitals short of ICU beds and staff.
Greece sees highest case rate in 2 months
Greece reported 3,109 new cases Tuesday, the highest daily rise in just over two months. To combat the recent increase amid concerns for its tourism industry, authorities said customers of indoor restaurants and indoor areas at entertainment venues will need to show they’ve been vaccinated or have tested negative within the last three days.
The requirement will remain in force until the end of August at the earliest, and doesn’t concern outdoor areas.
Cases surge in Netherlands
Weekly cases in the Netherlands surged more than sixfold with 51,957 infections reported by the Dutch health service in the week ending July 13. Last week’s tally was 8,541 cases.
On Friday, the Dutch government announced it would reintroduce some pandemic restrictions to reduce the rising number of infections. Nightclubs were closed until Aug. 13 and the opening hours of bars were reduced.
Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte publicly apologized on Monday for making an “error in judgement” and easing restrictions too quickly.
Riots force South Africa to halt some vaccines
South Africa’s vaccination program has been partially halted as violent protests following the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma rage in two key provinces. State-administered inoculations have been suspended in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng, the economic hub, said Nicholas Crisp, a consultant to the National Health Department who helps oversee the program. Bloomberg News