Tourism, diplomacy facing pushback
As virus caseloads surge in worst-hit countries
MITO (AP) — Countries are considering putting away their welcome mats to tourists and regional meetings are being put on hold as the coronavirus pandemic strengthens its grip in many of the worst-affected countries.
The biggest driver of new infections in Australia’s biggest current outbreak is people continuing to go to work after showing symptoms, Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said. The state yesterday reported a record 532 new cases, while its biggest city, Melbourne, is almost half-way through a six-week lockdown aimed at curbing community spread of the virus.
Some European nations were warning citizens not to visit Spain after some of its most beloved summer venues turned into coronavirus hot spots facing renewed pandemic lockdowns.
The northeast regions of Catalonia and Aragón host the three most alarming virus clusters in Spain, prompting authorities to tighten restrictions in Barcelona, in a rural area around Lleida and in Zaragoza that were relaxed only a month ago when Spain had its devastating outbreak in check.
The country in past days have reported dozens of cases among crew members of a Russia-flagged cargo ship docked in the southern port of Busan and hundreds of South Korean construction workers airlifted from virus-ravaged Iraq.
New Zealand health authorities said they will trace and test people who came into contact with the traveler. They are also asking the traveler be retested.
New Zealand officials said their South Korean counterparts suspect the traveler was infected while transiting through Singapore. “We have got our contact tracing system kicking into gear though,” Health Minister Chris Hipkins said.
Meanwhile, South Africa logged 11,000 new cases and has the fifth largest caseload in the world at more than 445,000.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the recovery from the pandemic will be “long and difficult” but experts say the worst is yet to come.
India added three new facilities to ramp up testing capacity as it recorded nearly 50,000 fresh virus cases. Its tally of more than 1.4 million is the world’s third-highest after the United States and Brazil. The three facilities in Mumbai, Kolkata and suburban New Delhi that start operations this week are each capable of analyzing as many as 10,000 tests per day.
The number of worst-affected countries where newly confirmed cases are rising still outnumbers countries finally seeing a downward trend in infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Its tally shows more than 16.2 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 648,000 deaths. The actual numbers are thought to be much higher due to limits to testing and other issues.