New Zealand's prime minister today extended the country's COVID-19 lockdown again, as the country added 38 cases to its total over the past day, while neighboring Australia grappled with record high cases in the Sydney hot spot.
More Delta spread in NZ, Australia
New Zealand on Aug 17 reported its first local case since February and is pushing to contain the more transmissible Delta (B1617.2) variant, which has quickly grown to 154 cases, according to the health ministry.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended the national lockdown by 3 days, to end on Aug 27. But Auckland, the country's largest city and main hot spot, will have restrictions in place until Aug 31. She said officials don't believe cases have peaked yet.
The country has won praise for its COVID-19 actions, but Ardern is facing criticism due to a slow vaccine rollout, with about 26.5% of the population fully vaccinated, according to a Reuters estimate.
Meanwhile, Australia is grappling with how to approach virus spread, once it hits its vaccination targets, according to Reuters. The main hot spot of Sydney—on lockdown for several weeks—reported a record 830 cases yesterday. In Victoria state, Melbourne reported 71 new cases.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said lockdowns can't be in place forever and that the country should consider scaling back restrictions as more people are fully vaccinated. The government already has a plan to relax restrictions once 70% of people older than 16 are vaccinated. Currently, about 30% are fully vaccinated.
Other global headlines
- On the heels of US Food and Drug Administration full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine today (see related CIDRAP News story), Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in an emailed statement today pressed the two companies to immediately share mRNA vaccine technology with African vaccine makers to boost the global supply, especially with only 1.7% of the continent's population fully vaccinated. It also urged the US government to ask the companies to follow through on the technology transfer.
- Protests against COVID-19 measures flared this weekend again in France and Australia. In France, protesters in a number of cities opposed a health pass that requires vaccination or a negative COVID test to enter bars, restaurants, museums, and other venues. And in Australia, police clashed with protesters in Sydney and Melbourne who object to lockdowns.
- On Aug 20 the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a call for experts to join a new panel, the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens. In a statement, it said the group will provide technical considerations on emerging and reemerging threats and guide the WHO on the next steps for understanding the source of SARS-CoV-2. Applications are due by Sep 10, and the WHO said it may select up to 25 experts.
- The global total today reached 211,925,089 cases, with at least 4,431,322 deaths, according to the New York Times
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August 24, 2021 at 03:31AM
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