Is Delta variant leading to Israel’s new outbreak?

Israel recorded 125 cases on Monday, most per day since April, in a nation where half of the population is vaccinated

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday of a “new outbreak” of Coronavirus in Israel after a rise in infections he said was likely due to returning travellers carrying the Delta variant.

“Our goal is to end it, to take a bucket of water and pour it on the fire when the fire is still small,” Bennett said at Ben Gurion airport, where the government announced an expanded testing facility would be set up.

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Israel recorded 125 new cases on Monday – the most per day since April, in a country where more than half the population has been fully vaccinated.

At the peak of the country’s outbreak in January, Israel was recording some 10,000 daily cases, AFP reported.

Bennett said a recent spike in infections appeared to be due to the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus that likely came from overseas.

An outbreak in the town of Binyamina, north of Tel Aviv, saw more than 1,000 people quarantined and appeared to be due to travellers returning from Cyprus, he said. “Whoever doesn’t have to fly abroad, please don’t,” Bennett added.

‘US won’t hit vaccination target by July 4’

Meanwhile, the White House said on Tuesday that the country will not hit US President Joe Biden’s goal of getting 70 per cent of American adults to receive at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot by July 4.

White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said the administration, instead, has met its 70 per cent target for people 30 and older and is on track to hit it for those 27 and older by July 4, Xinhua news agency reported.

Pak sees lowest Covid-19 deaths

The lowest number of deaths and cases of Coronavirus infections was reported on Tuesday in Pakistan for over eight months. According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 27 deaths and 663 cases of Covid-19 were reported in a single day. On October 20 last year, 660 cases were reported.

Maldives lifts curbs on domestic travel

With the Covid-19 cases dropping below 200 in Maldives, the authorities lifted restrictions on domestic non-essential travel and also reduced curfew hours. The President’s spokesperson Mabrook Azeez announced that travel between islands that are not under monitoring for Covid-19 spread will be allowed without the need for a special permit starting Wednesday, Xinhua reported. 

2,96,106
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

179,281,941
Total no. of cases worldwide

38,84,800
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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