Advisers to government in Tokyo say Covid surge requires harsher measures, while Australian state of NSW announces 262 new cases
- US disputes WHO call to delay Covid booster shots to help poorer nations
- Fully vaccinated UK arrivals from France will not need to quarantine
- Sydney Covid Delta variant outbreak ‘an epidemic of young people’
Here’s more on the outbreak in the Australian state of New South Wales, where authorities are saying that a beach party in Newcastle attended by young people from western Sydney is what triggered a snap lockdown in eight regional local government.
NSW recorded 262 coronavirus cases and five deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm Wednesday – its worst day so far in the pandemic. At least 72 cases were in the community for all or part of their infectious period, our correspondent Anne Davis writes.
China has reported 62 new cases as it seeks to control outbreaks of the Delta variant across more than half of its provinces, our correspondent Helen Davidson reports.
Two thirds of the new cases were in Jiangsu, where many cases have been linked to airport workers who were infected after cleaning planes arriving from international destinations. Authorities have enacted sweeping travel restrictions, mass testing of entire cities, and lockdown measures affecting tens of millions.