Delta variants are rampant in Asia; Tokyo, Thailand, Malaysia announced record-breaking COVID infections Reuters

(Reuters)-The Olympic host city Tokyo, Thailand and Malaysia announced record COVID-19 infections on Saturday, mainly caused by the highly contagious delta variant of the disease.

There has also been a surge in cases in Sydney, with police cordoning off the central business district to prevent protests from a strict lockdown that will continue until the end of August.

Sydney police closed the train station, prohibited taxis from dropping off passengers in the city centre, and deployed 1,000 police officers to set up checkpoints and disperse the crowd.

The New South Wales Government has reported 210 new infections from Sydney and surrounding areas where the Delta mutation outbreak occurred.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced a record 4,058 infections in the past 24 hours. Olympic organizers have reported 21 new cases of COVID-19 related to the Olympics, bringing the total to 241 since July 1.

A day ago, Japan extended the state of emergency in Tokyo until the end of August and extended it to three prefectures near Tokyo and western Osaka prefecture.

Organizers of the Olympic Games said on Saturday that they have disqualified people related to the Olympics from leaving the athletes’ village for sightseeing, which violates measures to safely host the Olympics during the pandemic.

The organizers did not disclose how many people were involved, whether this person or people were athletes, or when the violation occurred.

Malaysia is one of the hot spots for the disease, with 17,786 coronavirus cases reported on Saturday, a record high.

More than 100 people gathered in the center of the capital Kuala Lumpur to express dissatisfaction with the government’s response to the epidemic and call on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to step down.

The protesters held up black flags and placards that read “Kerajaan Gagal” (failed government)-a label that has been popular on social media for several months.

Thailand also reported a record high of 18,912 new coronavirus infections per day, bringing its total number of cases to 597,287. The country also reported 178 new deaths, which is also a daily record, bringing the total death toll to 4,857.

The government stated that the Delta variant accounted for more than 60% of cases in the country and 80% of cases in Bangkok.

Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the Thai Ministry of Medicine, told Reuters that the Delta variant is not necessarily more deadly than other variants, but more contagious.

China is fighting the delta variant virus that broke out in the eastern city of Nanjing, which can be traced back to airport staff cleaning an aircraft arriving from Russia.

Data released on Saturday showed that since July 20, Nanjing has reported 190 cases of locally transmitted Delta variants, while a total of 262 cases have been reported nationwide.

Vietnam is struggling to deal with the most severe COVID-19 outbreak. It also announced stricter measures on Saturday, saying that starting from Monday, it will implement strict restrictions for another two weeks in 19 cities and provinces in the south of the country.

WHO Director-General Tedros Tedros said on Friday that the COVID-19 infection rate in most parts of the world has increased by 80% in the past four weeks.

Tedros said at the press conference: “The hard-won results are in danger or lost, and the health systems in many countries are overwhelmed.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control stated in an internal document reported this week that the Delta variant was originally found in India and is as contagious as chickenpox and much more contagious than the common cold or flu.

The CDC document says it can even be spread by vaccinated people and may cause more serious diseases than early coronavirus strains.