Authorities in Sri Lanka on Saturday closed at least two fishery harbors and many stalls after a surge of 609 COVID-19 cases linked to the country’s main fish market.
The Sri Lankan government also widened the curfew in parts of the capital. At least 11 villages were isolated in the densely populated Western province, which includes the Colombo.
Health authorities on Wednesday temporarily closed the fish market on the city’s outskirts after 49 traders tested positive for COVID-19. By yesterday, the number of cases went up to 609.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Hundreds of traders and fishermen are being tested. Authorities say that the outbreak is related to a cluster in a garment factory early this month, which has grown to 3,426 cases, almost half the country’s total of 6,287. It broke a two-month lull in infections.
Several thousand people have been asked to quarantine at home. Schools and key public offices are closed, gatherings banned and restrictions imposed on public transport.
Sri Lanka has had 14 deaths due to COVID-19 since March.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
All staff and students from two schools in northeast Melbourne have been told to immediately get tested for COVID-19 after the emergence of seven new cases yesterday. There were no deaths.
Both schools would be closed for the next two weeks, authorities said, adding that about 800 residents in Melbourne’s northern suburbs have been isolating because of the school outbreak.
Warnings have been circulated to workers, including taxi drivers, who might have visited the area. Victoria state’s death toll on Saturday remained at 817, and Australia’s figure at 905, with only one death in the past week.
The updated figures followed the city’s most significant anti-lockdown protest on Friday. A “Freedom Day” rally began in the afternoon and continued for several hours, erupting at times in violent scuffles between police and demonstrators, many of whom did not wear masks. Police arrested 16 people and handed dozens of fines. Three police officers were injured, and one was taken to a hospital.
South Korea has reported 77 new COVID-19 cases, mostly from the greater Seoul area where officials are scrambling to stem transmissions at hospitals and nursing homes. Figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency yesterday brought the country’s caseload to 25,775, including 457 deaths.
Among the 1,484 active cases, 60 are in serious condition.
Fifty-nine of the new cases were reported from the densely populated greater capital area, which has emerged as the epicenter of the outbreak since summer.
Hundreds of cases have been linked to a handful of hospitals and nursing homes. Officials are testing thousands of medical workers to stem infections. Eleven of the new cases were tied to international arrivals, including passengers from the US, the Philippines and India.
India yesterday reported 53,370 new COVID-19 cases within 24 hours, taking the overall tally past 7.8 million. The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also reported 650 deaths, driving the country’s toll to 117,956.
The highest number of new infections is coming from Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka states. The states also reporting the maximum number of daily recoveries.
Last month, India hit a peak of nearly 100,000 cases in a single day, but since then, daily infections have fallen by about half and deaths by about a third, even as testing has remained consistent.
India is still adding more than 50,000 cases a day as the country prepares for a festival season when large crowds gather. Health officials have warned about the potential for COVID-19 to spread.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
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