Covid-19 global updates: U.S. warns against travel to Israel, Portugal and Spain as delta fuels outbreaks

Here are some significant developments:

  • European lawmakers and business groups voiced mounting criticism of continued U.S. restrictions on international travel. As vaccinated American tourists are traveling back and forth for their summer holidays in Paris or Rome, European allies or partners of the Biden administration are finding it increasingly difficult to defend the U.S. approach.
  • Officials in Tokyo reported a record for coronavirus infections Tuesday, registering 2,848 new cases, its highest daily count ever and four times the average at the end of June. Even as case numbers spiked in the city, however, the situation inside the Olympic bubble appeared to be much more under control.
  • After the president of Tajikistan’s sister died in the hospital, reportedly of covid-19, her three sons attacked and beat up the country’s health minister and a senior doctor, according to local media. The reports cast a rare spotlight on the sudden surge of cases in this Central Asian country that for a time denied it had any infections.
  • Fresh coronavirus outbreaks are forcing factory shutdowns in countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, aggravating supply chain disruptions that could leave some U.S. retailers with empty shelves as consumers begin their back-to-school shopping.
  • Iran, one of the pandemic’s hardest-hit nations, reported its largest single-day increase in new coronavirus cases Tuesday, recording nearly 35,000 infections and 357 deaths. The recent surge has been blamed on the more contagious delta variant. About 3 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, according to publicly available figures.
  • Chinese researchers found that antibodies produced by the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine fell below a key threshold about six months after the second dose, raising concerns about waning immunity as new variants spread.
Source: WP