NZ reports first case after 102 days
New Zealand's dream run of 102 days without locally transmitted coronavirus ended yesterday, prompting a stay-at-home lockdown order for the country's largest city.
After receiving global praise for successfully containing the virus, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said four cases had been detected in a single family in Auckland from an unknown source.
"After 102 days, we have our first cases of Covid-19 outside of managed isolation or quarantine facilities... we have also planned and prepared for it," Ardern said.
As a result of the infections, mobile phones nationwide received an emergency text that set off blaring alerts and said "if you are in Auckland STAY HOME... and SAVE LIVES".
Until yesterday, the World Health Organization had hailed New Zealand as an example to others for having "successfully eliminated community transmission".
It has reported just 22 deaths in a population of five million and had previously held off community transmission since May 1.
Kiwis had enjoyed a near-normal lifestyle with no social distancing and spectators allowed at sports and cultural events, although borders were strictly controlled.
But health authorities had repeatedly warned people not to be complacent and said a second wave of infections was "inevitable".
An AFP tally from official sources showed yesterday that the number of confirmed infections worldwide passed 20.1 million.
More than 737,000 deaths had been recorded since the virus first emerged in China late last year and spread globally, with the figure expected to surpass 750,000 within days.
REINSTATED CURBS
The EU's health agency Monday urged countries seeing an increase in cases of Covid-19 to reinstate some curbs, warning of a resurgence of cases in parts of Europe.
In its latest risk assessment, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said there was evidence that the coronavirus was picking up speed.
"While many countries are now testing mild and asymptomatic cases, which has resulted in increased case reports, there is a true resurgence in cases in several countries as a result of physical distancing measures being relaxed," the agency said.
The Stockholm-based agency said for those countries seeing an increase "the risk of further escalation of Covid-19 is high."
If those countries fail to implement or reinforce restrictions, the risk was "very high," it warned.
According to the ECDC, countries that had seen the increase after control measures were lifted, "should consider re-instating selected measures through a phased, step-wise and sustainable approach."
In Scotland, children began attending schools for the first time in five months yesterday as leaders across Britain try to kickstart a return to education despite coronavirus cases increasing again.
The devolved government has ordered pupils in different parts of the UK nation to return gradually through this week, with all classes set to have resumed fully by next Tuesday.
France had already reacted by requiring mask-wearing in certain crowded areas and tourist hotspots of capital Paris.
Several French towns and cities have already introduced similar measures, as well as parts of Belgium, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain.
There was better news for residents of the Gaza Strip yesterday, as the enclave's only border crossing with Egypt was opened to people wanting to leave for the first time since the pandemic began.
But some residents were fearful of leaving the tightly-sealed territory, which has seen just 81 cases.
"There is a fear of being infected with Covid-19 in cars or buses in Egypt," Hatem al-Mansi told AFP. "In Gaza, we don't have that problem."
And in South Asia, India's coronavirus tally rose to more than 2.26 million yesterday with over 50,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry.
Some 639,929 are active cases and more than 1.58 million people have recovered. The death toll has crossed the 45,000 mark to reach 45,257. India still has the third-highest number of Covid-19 cases after the US and Brazil.
Bhutan ordered its first nationwide lockdown yesterday after a returning resident tested positive for coronavirus after being discharged from quarantine and coming into close contact with people in the capital Thimphu.
The case took the total in the tiny Himalayan kingdom to 113, still the lowest in South Asia, and it has yet to record a fatality, reports Reuters.
Bhutan, which is heavily reliant on high-end tourists, banned tourism in March after an American visitor tested positive for the virus, and ordered a three week mandatory quarantine for everyone returning from abroad.
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