Covid cases surge 80 pc in US city
Los Angeles, July 23: Los Angeles County, the most populous in the US, reported Thursday 2,767 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, an alarming 80 per cent increase over the last week amid the Delta variant surge.
It was the highest daily number for Los Angeles since mid-February, and an over 20-fold increase from a month ago, when the county had reported only 124 new cases, Xinhua news agency.
The county has so far identified 1,276,137 confirmed cases, with 24,607 deaths.
The county’s daily average case rate, with a seven-day lag, is now 12.9 cases per 100,000 people, an increase from last week’s rate of 7.1 cases per 100,000, said the Department of Public Health. (IANS)
South Korea to extend toughest social-distancing rules in capital
Seoul, July 23: South Korean health authorities on Friday announced a decision to extend the toughest social-distancing rules in the capital area for two more weeks amid the continued Covid-19 resurgence.
The Level 4 social-distancing guideline, the highest in the country’s four-tier quarantine rules, will be kept in place in Seoul, its surrounding Gyeonggi province and the western port city of Incheon for two more weeks until August 8, reports xinhua news agency.
It came as the resurgence in the country showed no signs of moderating.
On Friday, South Korea reported 1,630 new cases, raising the total number of infections to 185,733. (IANS)
S.African health regulator probes 28 deaths recorded after jabs
Johannesburg, July 23: The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) said it was probing the deaths of 28 people who apparently died after being administered with a Covid-19 vaccine.
The study would be conducted to determine if these fatalities were directly linked to the vaccination in the country where the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer jabs are being used, reports Xinhua news agency.
“We need to determine if the event that we saw is indeed related to the vaccine or related to something else. These are very comprehensive studies that would be conducted,” SAHPRA’s CEO Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela said on Thursday. (IANS)
Bangladesh reimposes ‘stricter’ nationwide shutdown after Eid
Dhaka, July 23: Bangladesh on Friday reimposed a “stricter” 14-day nationwide shutdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, amid mounting fear that easing of restrictions ahead of Eid when tens of millions of people returned to their villages may result in a rise in COVID-19 cases.
The government said everyone must stay indoors as offices, courts, garment factories and all other export-oriented industries will remain closed.
“The stricter lockdown has been ordered for the next 14 days . . . unlike the previous restrictions export-oriented factories will come under its purview,” a cabinet division spokesman said on Friday.
Junior minister for public administration Farhad Hossain said: “this lockdown will be stricter than the one imposed last time”.
His comments came as army troops and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel joined hands with police in enforcing the shutdown on the streets of the capital Dhaka and other cities and their entry points. (PTI)