Asia accelerates the brakes of the coronavirus as new groups emerge

SYDNEY / TOKYO (Reuters) – Australian states tightened borders and restricted visits to bars on Tuesday, as Disney prepared to close its Hong Kong and Japan theme park, intensifying the search as a jump in new cases of coronavirus in Asia fueled fears of a second wave of infections.

Many parts of Asia, the first coronavirus-affected region to emerge in central China late last year, are finding reasons to halt the reopening of their economies, some after receiving praise for their initial responses to the outbreak.

Australia largely avoided the large number of cases and victims observed in other countries with rapid and strict measures, but an increase in community-transmitted cases in the state of Victoria and an increase in new cases in New South Wales has concerned the authorities.

South Australia canceled plans to reopen its border with New South Wales on July 20, while Queensland introduced a mandatory two-week quarantine for people who have visited two areas in the western suburbs of Sydney.

New South Wales, which has seen several dozen cases related to the Victoria outbreak, said the pubs will be limited to 300 people, in response to an outbreak centered on a large hotel in southwest Sydney.

“Indoor activity where people are not sitting is a great health risk. It increases the possibility of transmission, “State Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.

Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, is in the second week of a six-week lockdown.

INCORRECT ADDRESS

The number of coronavirus infections worldwide reached 13 million on Monday, according to a Reuters count, rising to a million in just five days.

The pandemic has now killed more than half a million people in six and a half months.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the pandemic would worsen if countries failed to comply with strict precautions.

“Let me be frank, too many countries are heading in the wrong direction, the virus remains the number one public enemy,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday in a virtual briefing.

In the northern hemisphere, countries are competing to control outbreaks before winter, which could bring a renewed increase.

According to health experts, a second wave of infections in Britain this winter could kill up to 120,000 people for nine months in the worst case.

Hong Kong, which suffered remarkably few cases in the first wave of the pandemic, will impose stringent social distancing measures since midnight Tuesday, the strictest yet in the Asian financial center.

Hong Kong recorded 52 new cases on Monday, including 41 that were transmitted locally, health authorities said. Since the end of January, Hong Kong has reported 1,522 cases and the media reported an eighth death on Monday.

“The recent emergence of local cases of unknown source of infection indicates the existence of sustained silent transmission in the community,” said the Hong Kong government.

Walt Disney Co. said it will temporarily close its Hong Kong Disneyland theme park starting Wednesday.

China, which has contained a group in Beijing in recent weeks, loosened border restrictions between Macao and neighboring Guangdong province, prompting increased actions by Macao casino operators.

TOKYO TRACKING

In Tokyo, health officials tried to locate more than 800 members of a theater audience after 20 people, including cast members from a recent performance, tested positive for the coronavirus.

Japan, which has not seen an explosive outbreak, is moving forward with loosening restrictions, with plans to reopen an airstrip at one of its largest airports, even if infections persist in large cities, rural areas and American military bases.

Bengaluru, the tech capital of India, begins a new one-week shutdown on Tuesday after an increase in cases after the restrictions are reduced. From around 1,000 cases on June 19, when the city was believed to have escaped the worst thanks to contact tracking, it reached nearly 20,000.

Health experts say the movement of people following the lifting of a national blockade in June has pushed Bengaluru back. Other cities, such as Pune and Aurangabad, have re-imposed curbs in recent days.

The Philippines registered the largest daily increase in deaths from coronavirus in Southeast Asia this week, and part of Manila will return to the confinement that will affect 250,000 residents. A presidential spokesman said restrictions in other parts of the capital are unlikely to be relaxed.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has resisted pressure to close due to concerns about the economy, despite the increased number of virus deaths in East Asia outside of China.

Now, the Jakarta governor is reportedly considering tightening some of the relatively mild restrictions in place after an increase in cases in the capital.

Even Thailand, which has had no locally transmitted cases for six weeks, has stepped up border security out of concern over a second wave of infections after the arrests of thousands of illegal immigrants in the past month.