Malaysia strain can spread faster; NZ postpones elections

KUALA LUMPUR/ AUCKLAND: Malaysia has detected a strain of the coronavirus that’s been found to be 10 times more infectious.

The mutation called D614G was found in at least three of the 45 cases in a cluster that started from a restaurant owner returning from India and breaching his 14-day home quarantine.

The man has since been sentenced to five months in prison and fined. The strain was also found in another cluster involving people returning from the Philippines. The strain could mean that existing studies on vaccines may be incomplete or ineffective against the mutation, said director-general of health Noor Hisham Abdullah.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern postponed the country’s general election on Monday by a month to October 17 as the city of Auckland remains in lockdown due to a growing coronavirus outbreak.

China’s vaccine specialist Cansino Biologics has won a patent approval from Beijing for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate AD5NCOV, state media reported.

Thousands of members of a South Korean church were quarantined as its anti-quarantine pastor tested positive.

France is deploying riot police to enforce masks, while Lebanon reported a sharp rise in cases after deadly blast earlier this month in Beirut.