Covid-19: Melbourne reimposes some curbs after positive case in quarantine hotel

More than 104.4 million cases of coronavirus have been recorded worldwide with more than 2.26 million deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

The following is a summary of the latest developments on the virus around the world:

Australia

More than 500 tennis players and officials were ordered into isolation in the Australian city of Melbourne on Thursday as authorities reintroduced coronavirus restrictions after a worker at a quarantine hotel tested positive for the virus. The city reimposed an order for masks indoors and a limit on gatherings of 15 people after the state’s run of 28 days with no new local cases came to an end. Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city, is preparing to host the Australian Open tennis tournament from Monday but play at six warm-up events was heavily disrupted by the new infection with organisers Tennis Australia calling off all matches for Thursday. The case of the infected Grand Hyatt worker was announced late on Wednesday and Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews told reporters an initial round of tests had found no new cases. The Australian Open was likely to go ahead though “there were no guarantees”, he said.

The Grand Hyatt was one of three main quarantine hotels used by players and officials arriving in Melbourne for the Grand Slam event. About 1,200 players, coaching staff and officials arrived in Australia in the middle of last month and went into a mandatory 14-day isolation. Most players were released from quarantine last month. Australia has ranked among the world’s most successful countries in handling the novel coronavirus, largely because of decisive lockdowns and borders sealed to all but a trickle of travellers. Western Australia state, which is on a five-day lockdown after one positive case was detected on Sunday, has since found no new local cases. The states of New South Wales and Queensland also reported no new cases on Thursday. In all, Australia has had 22,000 local cases and 909 deaths. But its quarantine hotels, where all international arrivals have to spend two weeks, have proved a weak link with the new infection in Melbourne the latest case to emerge from one. The cabinet is set to meet on Friday to consider whether the quarantine hotel programme should use facilities in more remote, regional centres given the tendency for the virus to escape from hotels into the community.

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Australia has secured an additional 10 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine taking its total to 150 million, which will also be distributed to neighbouring Pacific Island countries, prime minster Scott Morrison said on Wednesday.

Europe

Spain has detected its second known case of the South African coronavirus variant, although data suggested the third wave of contagion was slowing. A study by Barcelona's Bellvitge Hospital showed the British variant accounts for 13 per cent of infections in the south of the city, up from 4 per cent a month ago. The health ministry reported 31,596 new cases on Wednesday, retreating from highs of more than 40,000 two weeks ago and pushing the overall tally to 2.88 million. The death toll rose by 565 to 60,370.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 14,211 to 2,252,001, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Thursday. The reported death toll rose by 786 to 59,742, the tally showed.

The UK has passed the peak of its latest wave of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said, as the country reached the milestone of vaccinating 10 million people, about 15 per cent of the population. "We are on a downward slope of cases, hospitalisations and deaths," chief medical officer Chris Whitty said at a televised press conference on Wednesday. "This peak, at least, we are past." But Whitty, a senior adviser to prime minister Boris Johnson, said infections are still widespread and the state-run National Health Service would be "back in trouble extraordinarily fast" if social restrictions are lifted.

Asia-Pacific

South Korean prime minister Chung Sye-kyun ordered a revamp of social distancing guidelines in a bid to win greater public support for efforts to stop local transmission of the new coronavirus.

China reported 30 new Covid-19 cases on the mainland on February 3rd, up slightly from 25 cases a day earlier but still well below the peaks seen at the height of the latest wave last month.

Vietnam reported 37 more local Covid-19 infections in a fresh outbreak, all linked to a factory in the northern province of Hai Duong, where the coronavirus was first found last week after nearly two months.

Americas

In the US, new Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations appear to be on a downward trajectory in the United States as the Biden administration remains confident that it can hit its target of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, the White House Coronavirus Task Force said on Wednesday. However, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that new Covid-19 variants popping up across the country could threaten that positive momentum.

Canada's most populous province of Ontario will resume in-person classes for primary and secondary students across all regions by February 16th following a drop in coronavirus infections, the province's education ministry said on Wednesday. Schools in southern Ontario, where most residents live, remained closed after the winter break amid a surge in coronavrius cases, but some began to reopen on Monday. Most areas will reopen schools on February 8th while schools in Toronto, nearby York and Peel will reopen last on February 16th. "We have seen a consistent decline in community transmission," said education minister Stephen Lecce. The province's stay at home order, which forbids non-essential activities outside the home, remains in place.

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is in "excellent" health and is virtually free of Covid-19 symptoms, deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said.

Middle East and Africa

Uganda ordered 18 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and up to 40 per cent of the shipments are expected to arrive by the end of March, the government said.

Kuwait said it would suspend entry for non-citizens for two weeks from February 7th after a rise in coronavirus cases, while neighbouring Saudi Arabia suspended entertainment activities and dine-in services at restaurants.

Medical developments

People’s willingness to get vaccinated against Covid-19 is rising around the world and more than half of those questioned said they would take the shot if it were offered next week, an updated survey of global vaccine confidence found on Thursday.

India's Serum Institute will supply 1.1 billion doses of vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Novavax to the Covax vaccine scheme as part of a new long-term deal, the head of the UN Children's Fund said.

Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline and German biotech firm CureVac have teamed up in a €150 million deal to develop a Covid-19 vaccine from next year that could target several variants with one shot. – Reuters, PA, Bloomberg