Australian state of Victoria to enter five-day lockdown

Australia’s second most populous state, Victoria, will be stranded for five days to fight a Covid-19 outbreak, Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said.

“You only have one chance to go strong and go fast. If you wait, if you hesitate, if you doubt, then you will always look back wishing you had done earlier,” he said. he said at a press conference.

The state had recorded 18 new infections since the start of an outbreak of the highly contagious Delta variant in recent days, Mr Andrews added.

The announcement comes after a team of furniture movers from neighboring New South Wales traveled through Victoria state when it was contagious.

Dozens of sites in Melbourne, including a shopping mall, two public transport lanes and a sports club, have been listed as virus-prone locations, adding pressure on authorities to tighten restrictions.

Yesterday, mandatory indoor mask rules were reintroduced for Victoria’s more than six million residents after the state recorded 10 new cases.

Two more cases were reported in Victoria today. The two were spectators at an Australian Football League match held at Melbourne’s main sports stadium, the MCG, last weekend.

In South Australia, authorities have identified a third location visited by workers, while two regional towns in New South Wales, including one near the border with Victoria and about 500 km southwest of Sydney, were on alert after the team stopped at gas stations.

Meanwhile, Sydney has reported a slowdown in new cases of Covid-19.

But New South Wales State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the number of people in the city would have to drop significantly for the city of five million people to exit the lockdown, given that 28 of the 65 New infections reported were from infectious people while remaining active in the community.

“As the number of cases rebounds, we are seeing stabilization. They are not increasing exponentially,” she said.

Ms Berejiklian described the new number of cases as a “welcome drop,” but warned that infections could increase due to the growing number of people with the Delta strain moving through the community, especially in southwestern Switzerland. Sydney.

New South Wales officials said of the more than 900 people infected in the latest outbreak, 73 were transferred to hospital, including 19 people in intensive care.

Two deaths have been reported, the first for the country this year.

The Sydney lockdown began on June 26 and will remain in place until at least July 30.

Three other Thai islands open to vaccinated travelers

Three other Thai islands have opened up to vaccinated foreign tourists despite a nationwide increase in Covid-19 cases propelled by the Delta variant.

The islands – Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan – have welcomed visitors as part of the kingdom’s efforts to revive its struggling tourism industry.

Thailand launched its “sandbox” program on July 1, allowing vaccinated travelers to visit the island of Phuket.

Tourists do not have to quarantine themselves in a hotel but cannot leave Phuket for two weeks.

As part of the current expansion, tourists are required to stay at a licensed hotel in Samui for one week and can vacate their accommodation on the fourth day.

They will need to produce a negative Covid-19 test before being allowed to venture into Tao or Phangan after their first week.

The rest of the country is struggling to contain infections from the Delta variant, which authorities say now accounts for nearly 80% of its caseload.

The virus hotspot Bangkok and nine provinces are under tightened restrictions, including a nighttime curfew and a ban on gatherings of more than five people.

Thailand has recorded nearly 9,200 new infections and a daily record of 98 deaths today.

Phuket has welcomed 5,000 foreign tourists since it reopened, including 10 who tested positive for Covid-19.

Authorities do not expect a massive influx of tourists to Samui and the other two islands immediately.

Koh Samui Tourism Association President Ratchaporn Poolsawadee called the start of the “Samui Plus” program a smooth opening.

He said 75% of the residents of the three islands have been vaccinated.

Tourism accounts for one-fifth of Thailand’s national income and the economy is suffering its worst performance since the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

Singapore police probe karaoke bars after virus outbreak

Singapore police are investigating several karaoke bars for violating coronavirus restrictions and have arrested 20 foreign women for alleged “vice-related activities” after a nightclub-related outbreak, authorities said.

The city-state yesterday reported 56 local transmissions – including 42 related to bars – its highest number of daily household infections since September.

A staple of Singapore nightlife, karaoke bars usually have blackout windows and are frequented by foreign “hostesses”.

Police said in a statement they were investigating three nightclubs for violating anti-virus measures by allegedly providing “hostess services.”

Under current virus restrictions, bars were only supposed to operate on a limited basis, providing food and drink.

Twenty women, aged 20 to 34, from South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, were arrested for “alleged involvement in vice-related activities” in bars, police said.

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The cluster of karaoke bars grew this week and 54 cases are now linked to it.

That number includes an infected cruise passenger, who was forced to return to Singapore earlier than planned after the case was detected.

The first infection reported in the cluster was a Vietnamese hostess with a short-term pass to Singapore who had visited many bars, officials said.

Singapore has so far suffered only a mild outbreak, but Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has warned that there is “potentially a very large cluster” coming out of bars.

The government is encouraging people who have been to some karaoke bars since June 29 to take tests for viruses, which they have promised will be confidential.

French police fire tear gas as thousands protest virus rules

Paris police fired tear gas to disperse protesters, as 19,000 people demonstrated across France against new coronavirus restrictions.

Some of the protests began yesterday morning in Paris as the annual military parade of the traditional July 14th parade, watched by President Emmanuel Macron, rolled along the Champs-Élysées.

Protesters are unhappy with the decision announced Monday to require health workers to be vaccinated and to carry a health vaccination pass for most public places.

Unvaccinated people would need, for example, a negative test result to enter restaurants.

Since the announcement, a record number of French people have made an appointment for Covid-19 jabs.

In a district of the French capital, the police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

The declared protest route was not respected, the police headquarters said in a tweet, deploring the “throwing of projectiles” and the lighting of fires by the demonstrators.

Across Paris, some 2,250 people demonstrated, while other demonstrations took place in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nantes and elsewhere. The French authorities estimate the total number of demonstrators at 19,000.

The Interior Ministry said there had been a total of 53 different protests across France.

In Greece, meanwhile, around 4,000 people gathered in central Athens to protest against new virus measures announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“We say no! And “Resignation” chanted the demonstrators to protest against the measures put in place for unvaccinated people.

They include a requirement for anyone caring for the elderly in nursing homes to get bitten or lose their job.