Beijing - (AFP) - The rapid spread of the mutated Delta version of the Corona virus is forcing countries to re-tighten health restrictions, at a time when the World Health Organization has warned of the need to treat this strain as a “warning” that requires intensifying efforts to prevent the emergence of more dangerous mutations.
China imposed local closures, coinciding with the mobilization of the army in Australia and the extension of the state of emergency in Japan.
After nine employees at Nanjing Airport tested positive on July 20, 184 cases were recorded on Friday in Jiangsu Province (east), and 206 at the national level. Quarantine measures have been imposed on hundreds of thousands of residents in this region and in Beijing.
The effectiveness of Chinese vaccines raises concerns, after it was found that the majority of the new infected people are vaccinated. Shanghai infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong said in a tweet that vaccines can "slow the rate of spread and reduce the death rate", but undoubtedly they cannot "eliminate the virus."
In a disturbing leaked internal memo, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the delta mutant is contagious, similar to chickenpox, and is likely to cause more severe cases. the vaccine.
The center said that “the war has changed” due to the mutated Delta.
European researchers have warned that limiting preventive measures, such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing at a time when not all the population has been vaccinated, would increase the possibility of new vaccine-resistant mutagens emerging.
"Delta is a warning that tells us that the virus is evolving, but it is also a call to action, to do something before more dangerous forms of the mutant appear," said Dr. Mike Ryan, the official in charge of emergencies at the World Health Organization, during a press conference in Geneva.
Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for COVID-19 at the World Health Organization, said evidence showed the delta mutant is transmitted between people who socialize.
"Let me be very clear: We don´t see the Delta mutant specifically targeting children," she added at a press conference.
Delta has so far appeared in 132 countries and is more transmissible than previous versions of the virus, including those of concern.
In Japan, a week after the start of the Olympics, the authorities extended the state of health emergency in Tokyo until the end of August, and expanded it to include four other prefectures.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Sog said Friday that "the infection is spreading at an unprecedented speed", especially among young people, with 10,000 infections daily at a record rate.
Olympic organizers recorded 27 new injuries related to the event, three of which were among players, at the highest rate despite the strict measures.
The Americans, including those who received two doses of the vaccine, were called upon to commit to wearing masks again in the areas with a high incidence of infections. In an attempt to advance the vaccination process, Biden instructed local authorities to transfer $100 to the account of each person who accepts the vaccination.
Broadway, which has been closed since March 2020, must have been vaccinated as a condition of attending shows starting in September.
The United States announced Friday that it had provided three million doses of the Moderna vaccine to Uzbekistan, in a gesture aimed at strengthening relations with the Central Asian country on the border with Afghanistan.
After it was the first to start vaccination campaigns and believed that its residents had become immune, Israel imposed the health certificate again when entering places where more than a hundred people are present.
The authorities have launched a “complementary” vaccination campaign, which requires giving a third dose of the vaccine to those over sixty years old. Israeli President Isaac Herzog was among those who received a third dose on Friday.
In Europe, where several countries are facing a fourth wave of the epidemic, the authorities are taking several measures. The Spanish authorities have extended the curfew in Barcelona and part of Catalonia. France imposed lockdown measures starting this weekend on the islands of Martinique and Reunion, with authorities describing the health situation as "tragic".
According to a study published Friday, people who did not receive the vaccine make up about 85 percent of patients admitted to hospitals and 78 percent of deaths.
And from August 9, passengers on French trains should expect at any moment to be asked to present a health certificate.
From Sunday, Germany requires unvaccinated tourists to show a negative test for the virus when they reach its territory, whether by plane, car or train.
In the Philippines, the authorities announced Friday that 13 million citizens in the Manila region will be quarantined as of next week, in a difficult decision aimed at “saving lives.”
Despite the growing pressure around the world to speed up vaccination campaigns, it remains highly unequal, with high-income countries giving an average of 97 doses per 100 people, compared to only 1.6 doses in poor countries.
The Kovacs program, which is supposed to allow poor countries to receive vaccines for free, expects to receive 250 million doses of vaccines over the next six to eight weeks, according to the World Health Organization.
In Burma, the authorities warned of a "desperate" situation, calling on the UN Security Council to ensure that vaccines can be delivered, despite the political crisis that the country has been experiencing since the coup that overthrew the civilian authority six months ago.
In Africa, Senegal, which has remained relatively immune to the epidemic for a long time, is experiencing an unprecedented spread of infection, like the rest of the continent, and its overcrowded hospitals lack oxygen.
Tunisia, where the death rate is highest in North Africa, is struggling to cope with the virus, with the number of infections rising, while intensive care rooms suffer from a shortage of oxygen bottles.
The Corona virus has killed 4,202,179 people in the world since the World Health Organization office in China reported the emergence of the disease at the end of December 2019, according to a census conducted by Agence France-Presse based on official sources Friday at 10:00 GMT.
The average number of new daily cases globally increased by 10% within a week to 575,918 infections as of Thursday, and the epidemic continues to spread due to the delta mutant to a large extent.
The World Health Organization, taking into account the excess mortality rate directly or indirectly related to Covid-19, considers that the outcome of the epidemic may be two or three times greater than the officially announced outcome.
