Delta COVID-19 variant threatens new pandemic challenge - CNA

PARIS: The highly-contagious Delta variant is causing a surge in new COVID-19 cases even in countries with high vaccination rates and experts warn that inoculation campaigns are in a race against time to contain it.

For the moment the pandemic is still slowing down with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting the lowest number of new cases worldwide since February and decreasing deaths attributed to the coronavirus.

But concerns are growing about the fast-spreading variant, prompting new restrictions in countries that had previously managed to control their epidemics.

Cases are on the rise in Russia, Australia, Israel and across parts of Africa, in part due to Delta.

Other countries fear they could be next.

READ: Prevent transmission to prevent COVID-19 variants, WHO says

READ: Delta, Kappa COVID-19 variants surge in Italy to nearly 17% of cases, health institute says

MORE CONTAGIOUS

The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in India where it began circulating around April.

It is now present to varying degrees in at least 85 countries according to the WHO.

In Europe, Delta initially gained a foothold in the United Kingdom, where it quickly outpaced the previous variant of concern Alpha, and now comprises 95 per cent of all sequenced cases in England.

Delta is thought to be some 40 to 60 per cent more contagious than Alpha, which itself is more contagious than the strain responsible for the first wave of COVID-19.

The pattern has repeated elsewhere.

In the United States last week 35 per cent of positive tests that were sequenced were identified as the Delta variant, up from about 10 per cent on Jun 5 - numbers similar to what is being observed in Israel.

The European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) has estimated Delta could account for 70 per cent of new infections in the EU by the beginning of August and 90 per cent by the end of that month.

Researchers looking at data from the greater Paris region estimate in a soon-to-be-published report that Delta could be as much as 50 to 80 per cent more contagious than other strains.

READ: Israel requires masks indoors again as Delta variant drives up COVID-19 cases

VACCINATION KEY

Top US infectious disease scientist Anthony Fauci called the variant the "greatest threat" to efforts to control the virus and called for an acceleration in vaccinations, American media reported on Tuesday.

While several studies have shown that vaccines are slightly less effective against Delta, they are still highly effective.

But only after the second dose.

Recent data from the UK government shows that full immunisation can offer about 96 percent protection against hospitalisation and 79 per cent protection against symptomatic infection by the Delta variant.

Protection after only one dose, however, is much weaker - 35 per cent, according to the same data.

"One dose is not enough," says a public health notice from the ECDC, "full vaccination is needed to protect the most vulnerable."

READ: Delta variant to account for 90% of new COVID-19 cases in EU: Agency

RETURN TO RESTRICTIONS

Delta is so contagious that experts say you would need to inoculate more than 80 per cent of a population in order to contain it - a target that would be challenging even for nations with significant vaccination programmes.

In Africa, the WHO estimates that only one percent of the population is fully vaccinated - the lowest ratio globally.

The Delta variant has been reported in 14 African countries, accounting for most new cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, the WHO has said, calling for a vaccine "sprint" across the continent.

A further complication is that Delta seems to largely bypass immunity that might be conferred by a previous infection, said Samuel Alizon, a biologist specialised in infectious disease modelling.

"We can't really rely on natural immunity anymore," he told AFP.

With large numbers of younger people remaining unvaccinated, tough measures may have to be reintroduced to stop the spread, even in nations where large-scale vaccine rollouts had held out the promise of reopening.

In Europe, the ECDC warned that any further relaxation of containment measures would risk a surge in new cases across age groups.

This could lead to a rise in "hospitalisations, and deaths, potentially reaching the same levels of the autumn of 2020 if no additional measure are taken," it added.

Some countries, like Israel and Australia, have already announced a return to certain restrictions.

"Our goal is to end it," said Israel's prime minister Naftali Bennett, "to take a bucket of water and pour it on the fire when the fire is still small."

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2021-06-25 15:34:07Z
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Race to find survivors as death toll in Miami condominium collapse rises, 159 missing - CNA

SURFSIDE, Florida: Rescue workers frantically scoured the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in a Miami suburb for signs of life on Friday (Jun 25), after the oceanfront condominium dramatically crumpled in a matter of seconds, leaving four people dead and 159 unaccounted for.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that the number of people missing had risen from the initial 99, and that three more bodies were pulled from the wreckage overnight. Another person was reported to have died on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration in the state of Florida and ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts.

"The President's action authorises the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts," the White House said on Friday.

On Thursday, search teams detected sounds of banging and other noises but no voices coming from the mounds of debris.

Early that morning, a large section of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, a barrier island town across Biscayne Bay from the city of Miami, crumbled to the ground, authorities said.

Footage captured by a security camera nearby showed an entire side of the building suddenly folding in two sections, one after the other, at about 1.30am local time (1.30pm, Singapore time), throwing up clouds of dust.

What caused the 40-year-old high-rise to cave in was not immediately known, although local officials said the 12-storey tower was undergoing roof construction and other repairs.

This aerial photo shows part of the 12-storey oceanfront Champlain Towers South Condo that collapsed early on Jun 24, 2021 in Surfside, Florida. (Photo: Amy Beth Bennett /South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)

Rubble hangs from a partially collapsed building in Surfside north of Miami Beach. (Photo: AFP/Eva Marie UZCATEGUI)

Cava told reporters on Thursday that 99 people remained unaccounted for, although some may not have been in the building at the time of the disaster.

Another 110 individuals whose whereabouts were initially unknown have since been located and "declared safe", she said.

A fire official said earlier that 35 people were evacuated from the portion of the high-rise left standing, and response teams using trained dogs and drones in the search pulled two individuals from the rubble. One of them was dead.

Officials said the complex, built in 1981, was going through a re-certification process requiring repairs, with another building under construction on an adjacent site.

The Champlain Towers South had more than 130 units, about 80 of which were occupied. It had been subject to various inspections recently due to the re-certification process and the adjacent building construction, Surfside Commissioner Charles Kesl told Local 10.

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2021-06-25 12:52:30Z
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More hospitals prepared, oxygen supply sufficient: Indonesian health minister as COVID-19 cases surge - CNA

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Friday (Jun 25) that more hospitals and beds have been prepared in Jakarta to cope with another surge of COVID-19 cases, while assuring the public that there is sufficient oxygen supply on Java island. 

This came after a record-breaking 20,574 new COVID-19 cases the day before, with Jakarta logging a record of 7,505 infections.

Speaking during a press conference, the minister said that Persahabatan hospital, Sulianti Saroso hospital and Fatmawati hospital, all in the capital city, will be converted into full COVID-19 hospitals.

The government is also readying new makeshift COVID-19 hospitals in Jakarta. They will be located within the government subsidised housing complexes of Nagrak and Pasar Rumput. These makeshift facilities will treat asymptomatic patients and those with mild symptoms.

Meanwhile, Jakarta’s 2018 Asian Games Athlete's Village, which since last year has been turned into an emergency COVID-19 makeshift hospital, will treat patients with severe symptoms. 

“Thus, we will have hundreds of new beds with full equipment (as well as) experienced doctors and nurses to treat COVID-19 patients in Jakarta.

“And we hope, this week the conversion will be finished so it can add the number of beds to treat Jakartans," Mr Sadikin said.

He added that emergency rooms in Jakarta's hospitals will also be converted into COVID-19 isolation rooms, while tents outside the hospitals will be set up to serve as emergency rooms.

Mr Sadikin stated that the country has 85,000 hospital beds, excluding the new COVID-19 hospitals and isolation rooms in Jakarta. He said that 60,000 beds are currently occupied.

Healthcare workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) get ready to treat patients at the emergency hospital for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 17, 2021. REUTERS/Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana

READ: Jokowi aims to vaccinate 7.5 million Jakartans by end August, but experts say herd immunity is not a given

The minister also commented on local media reports that some hospitals in Java are about to run out of oxygen. 

He said that of Indonesia’s total oxygen production capacity, 25 per cent is used for medical purposes and the rest is for industries. He added that producers are willing to support the health sector if needed. 

Indonesia is battling an influx of COVID-19 cases following last month’s Idul Fitri holiday where people returned to their hometowns and throngs of people crowded tourist spots.

As of Friday, it has reported 2,072,867 COVID-19 cases and 56,371 deaths.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

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2021-06-25 08:01:25Z
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Downtown Sydney, beachside suburbs locked down due to spike in Bondi Beach COVID-19 outbreak - CNA

SYDNEY: Downtown Sydney and the city's eastern suburbs, which include Bondi Beach, will go into a one-week lockdown from midnight Friday (Jun 25) as authorities struggle to contain a spike in the highly contagious Delta COVID-19 virus in the city.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) said the move was not enough and called for a complete lockdown of the city.

People who live or work in four local government council areas in Sydney have been ordered to stay at home except for urgent reasons, New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

People are allowed to leave their homes only for essential work, education, grocery shopping or outdoor exercise.

READ: Singapore tightens COVID-19 restrictions for travellers from Australia's New South Wales

"We don't want to see this situation linger for weeks, we would like to see this situation end sooner rather than later," Berejiklian said.

Authorities said they were "concerned" about a potential super-spreader event in a salon where three staff were infected and over 900 clients visited between Jun 15 and Jun 23.

Officials have issued health alerts overnight for more than a dozen new venues scattered across Sydney, Australia's largest city and home to a fifth of Australia's 25 million population, as total infections in the outbreak topped 60.

NSW has held off calls for a hard lockdown, instead imposing mandatory masks in all indoor locations in Sydney, including offices, restricted residents in seven council areas from leaving the city and limited home gatherings to five.

These restrictions, which were scheduled to end on Wednesday, are now extended until midnight on Jul 2.

READ: Sydney reinstates masks to contain Delta COVID-19 variant

Twenty-two local cases were reported on Friday, the biggest rise in infections since the first case was detected in Bondi last Wednesday in a limousine driver who transported an overseas airline crew.

OUTBREAK COULD GET OUT OF CONTROL

AMA President Omar Khorshid said the latest restrictions were "not quite enough" and urged officials to place the entire city under lockdown.

Khorshid warned officials the latest Sydney outbreak could get out of control and reminded officials of the devastating wave of COVID-19 in Melbourne last year, which resulted in more than 800 deaths.

"What happened in Melbourne is they tried last year to get ahead slowly and were not able to get ahead of it and it resulted in deaths ... that must not be allowed to happen in Sydney," Khorshid said.

The outbreak has prompted New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to postpone her trip to Australia scheduled in early July. "We are deferring the PM's trade mission until later in the year," a spokesperson for the prime minister said.

Lockdowns, swift contact tracing, strict social distancing rules and a high community compliance have largely helped Australia quash prior outbreaks and keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low, with just under 30,400 cases and 910 deaths.

READ: Sydney faces 'scariest period' in pandemic amid COVID-19 Delta outbreak

NSW has been effectively isolated from the rest of the country after other states reinstated tough border rules in response to the latest outbreak, including a total ban for visitors from Sydney's virus-hit suburbs.

Neighbouring Queensland and Victoria authorities on Friday said several passengers from Sydney who attempted to enter the states by air without exemptions were sent back to Sydney.

Victoria reported no new local COVID-19 cases beyond the two announced on Thursday, likely linked to the Sydney outbreak. Two local cases were detected in Queensland overnight, both in home quarantine.

A conference of Australian Banking Association in Sydney where Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe was due to speak next week has been postponed by the organisers due to COVID-related curbs.

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2021-06-25 05:02:24Z
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Miami building collapse: At least 1 dead, 99 unaccounted for as search and rescue continues - The Straits Times

MIAMI (REUTERS, AFP) - Rescue crews near Miami combed through tonnes of rubble on Thursday (June 24) for anyone who may have survived the pre-dawn collapse of part of an oceanfront residential tower, with officials reporting at least one person found dead and nearly 100 more missing.

Ms Sally Heyman, a Miami-Dade county commissioner, said officials have been unable to make contact with 51 individuals who “supposedly” live in the building, home to a mix of people including families and part-time “snow bird” residents who spend the winter months in Florida.

Miami-Dade police director Freddy Ramirez later told reporters that 99 people were unaccounted for and that 53 others whose whereabouts were initially unknown have since been located, though he did not make clear whether everyone in the second group was alive.

“Fire and rescue are in there with their search team, with their dogs. It’s a very dangerous site right now. Very unstable,” Mr Ramirez told reporters.

“They’re in search-and-rescue mode, and they will be in that mode for a while. They are not quitting. They’re going to work through the night. They are not stopping.”

Mr Ramirez said the numbers of known casualties and people missing were likely to fluctuate.

“I don’t want to set false expectations,” he said. “This is a very tragic situation for those families and for the community.”

A fire official said 35 people were rescued from the building in Surfside, a seaside enclave of 5,700 residents on a barrier island across Biscayne Bay from the city of Miami, including two who were pulled from the rubble as response teams used trained dogs and drones in the search for survivors.

Officials said the building, built in 1981, was going through a recertification process requiring repairs and that another building was being built next door, although the cause of the collapse remained unclear.

“We have 51 people that were assumed to have been there, but you don’t know between vacations or anything else, so we’re still waiting,” Ms Heyman told CNN by phone earlier in the day. “The hope is still there, but it’s waning.”

Ms Jenny Urgelles woke up to the news that her parents’ building had collapsed. She called them, but both their phones went straight to voicemail, she told WSVN 7 News.

“I am holding on to hope. I very desperate to know what’s happening,” she told the local Fox affiliate.

Footage from WPLG Local 10, a Miami TV station, showed a rescue team pulling a boy from piles of debris and rebar, and firefighters using ladder trucks to rescue residents trapped on balconies.

Boy rescued from the rubble of a building collapse in Surfside, Florida -- near Miami Beach.
Hundreds of first responders are on the scene right now.
Rescue operation continues at 8777 Collins Ave. pic.twitter.com/Hnq7Gd9QW4

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) June 24, 2021

The search effort was slowed by at least one fire that burned at the site as emergency crews doused the rubble with water, local media reported.

Emergency responders and officials were still looking for people who might be in the rubble, as well as trying to identify residents who were not home at 1.30am (1.30pm Singapore time), when an entire side of the building gave way and fell to the ground below.

“We all woke up in the early morning hours to a tragic scene,” said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who toured the scene of the catastrophe on Thursday afternoon. “We still have hope to identify additional survivors.”

At least six Paraguayan nationals were among those unaccounted for, Paraguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, including the sister of Paraguay’s First Lady, the sister’s husband Luis Pettengill and their three children.

Part of the building with balconies facing the beach collapsed, with one floor appearing to have fallen atop another, cascading down. PHOTO: AFP

Subject to various inspections

The Champlain Towers South had more than 130 units, about 80 of which were occupied. It had been subject to various inspections recently due to the recertification process and the adjacent construction of a building called 88 Park, Surfside Commissioner Charles Kesl told Local 10.

“There were garage underground issues related to that, to make sure that it was done soundly,” Mr Kesl said.

“And, to my understanding, there were some cracks from that project – minor cracks – that were just patched up. Nothing, based on my understanding, to the magnitude that would indicate that there was a structural problem that could result in something so catastrophic.”

An aerial view showing a partially collapsed building in Surfside near Miami Beach, Florida on June 24, 2021. PHOTO: AFP

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said construction work was being done on the roof of the Champlain Towers South but there was no indication that it caused the collapse.

“It’s hard to imagine how this could have happened,” Mr Burkett told reporters. “Buildings just don’t fall down.”

Mr Burkett said that part of the building with balconies facing the beach collapsed, with one floor appearing to have fallen atop another, cascading down.

“The back of the building, probably a third or more, is totally pancaked,” he said.

The building is home to a mix of people, including families and part-time “snow birds” who spend the winter months in Florida. PHOTO: NYTIMES

Resident Barry Cohen and his wife were rescued from the building.

“At first it sounded like a flash of lightning or thunder,” Mr Cohen, a former vice-mayor of Surfside and a resident of the building, told reporters at the scene. “But then it just kept on - steadily for at least 15 to 30 seconds – it just kept on going and going and going."

Mr Cohen also said there had been construction for more than a month on the building’s roof.

Mr Santo Mejil, a local resident, said his wife was an overnight caretaker who was in the complex when it collapsed.

"She said she heard a big explosion. It felt like an earthquake," he told the Miami Herald newspaper, tearing up as his wife called again to say she was being evacuated from the complex.

The Miami-Dade Police have assumed control of the investigation. More than 80 fire and rescue units responded, the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department wrote in a Twitter message early Thursday.

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2021-06-25 00:16:24Z
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COVID-19: Singapore to accelerate its vaccination programme - CNA

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2021-06-24 12:16:14Z
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Covid-19: Two-thirds of S'pore population to be fully vaccinated by National Day - TODAYonline

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2021-06-24 11:12:35Z
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