By Miguel Fernández
The Delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in different countries and, with it, the concern about the spread of the pandemic given its high transmission capacity. With the growing threat of this new variant, hope is now set on vaccination programs, although the pace varies from country to country. Here is a brief overview of how things stand in the world in the face of a new wave of contagion.
The crisis in Southeast Asia
The new wave of covid-19 is wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia with a rapid increase in infections due, in part, to the new Delta variant amid a slow vaccination campaign. The Red Cross warned this Tuesday of the risk of hospital collapse in Indonesia, where, according to official data, 47 percent of hospital beds are occupied.
With more than 5,000 registered cases per day, Malaysia extended containment measures, including an indefinite ban on inter-district or inter-state travel this Monday. Thailand has ordered the perimeter closure of workers’ dormitories in construction zones, where many are migrants, in Bangkok and some other provinces in the south. Vietnam has also implemented restrictions and confinements to control the increase in infections, which have been increasing since May.
Pexels: Polina Tankilevitch
What’s happening in India?
India recorded fewer than 40,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time in more than three months on Tuesday, after overcoming the world’s worst crisis of the disease, which peaked in May with more than 400,000 daily infections.
The Delta variant, originally identified in India -and which according to the World Health Organization is now circulating in more than 80 countries-, is seen as one of the factors that contributed to the dramatic increase in cases in the country, due to its high transmissibility.
Indian health authorities explain that the Delta variant, also known as SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617, has between 15 and 17 mutations and was first identified in October 2020, four months before the second wave hit the country.
Pexels: Anna Shvets
Delta variant is also spreading in Portugal and Germany
This variant is spreading unstoppably in Portugal. In one month, it has gone from representing 4% of infections to 55.6%; the hardest-hit area of the country is the Alentejo. An official report indicates that the distribution of the Delta variant ranges from 3.2% detected in the Azores to 94.5%. Based on these figures, “it is expected that this variant will become dominant throughout the national territory in the coming weeks,” the report says.
In Germany, the authorities indicated this week that the Delta variant represents about 50% of new infections, so that anyone who has not had the opportunity to receive the two doses of the vaccine “must be tested regularly,” at least twice a week, and even more so if they traveled abroad. German authorities have intensified health checks upon arrival to the country for people coming from risk areas. In addition, they’re thinking of implementing “possibly mandatory” tests to curb the spread of the Delta variant.
Pexels: Anna Shvets
France, Russia, and even Australia
The Delta variant accounts for about 20 percent of Covid cases in France and is on track to become the dominant variant in the country, Health Minister Olivier Véran warned this Tuesday. This variant “has not increased the (overall) number of cases,” but it is “more contagious” and is likely to become the dominant one, he said. Véran explained that, despite the increase of this variant, the incidence rate “continues to fall” in the country, as it is currently at 18.7 per 100,000 inhabitants in the last seven days.
Russia added this Tuesday 652 new deaths from Covid-19, the highest number of deaths from this infectious disease since the outbreak of the pandemic. Moscow is the most affected city, with 121 deaths and 6,209 new cases. Its mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, once again recalled that the Delta variant of the coronavirus which is now spreading is “more contagious and more deadly”. According to the director of the Gamaleya Scientific Institute, Alexander Gintsburg, about 90% of new Covid-19 cases registered in Russia are of this variant. He stressed that the only way to curb the pandemic is through vaccination in a country where only 22.2 million people have been inoculated, 15.18% of the population.
Pexels: Markus Spiske
In Oceania, about half of the Australian population has been confined due to the Delta-linked Covid-19 outbreak. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Australia has accumulated more than 30,500 Covid-19 infections, including 910 deaths, and has vaccinated just over 1.3 million with the full scheme, while more than 25% of the population has received at least one dose.
With information from EFE.
Translated by María Isabel Carrasco Cara Chards
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