S. Korea count spikes as variant strains spread

SEOUL/NEW YORK－South Korea posted a sharp increase in coronavirus cases on Wednesday as it struggles to tame a fourth wave of infections amid the spread of new strains of virus variants.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, or KDCA, reported 1,725 cases for Tuesday, up by more than 500 from a day before, as more tests were conducted after the weekend. Total infections rose to 203,926, with 2,106 deaths.

The daily tally hit a new high of 1,895 last week, partly fueled by the more contagious Delta variant, with the fourth COVID-19 wave showing little signs of subsiding.

Health authorities were concerned that people traveled about 6.4 percent more last week compared with the week before, or about 34 percent more than in early January, in the regions beyond the capital Seoul and its neighboring areas, largely for summer vacations.

Senior health official Lee Gi-il told a news conference: "There is fatigue from long periods of distancing, and it's a summer vacation season."

The country tightened social distancing curbs last week across most of the country for two weeks ahead of the peak summer holiday period.

The KDCA said on Tuesday it had detected the country's first two cases of the new Delta Plus COVID-19 variant, a sub-lineage of the Delta variant first identified in India.

Only a handful of countries, including the United Kingdom, Portugal and India, have reported Delta Plus cases so far. Delta Plus is still being studied, but some scientists say it may be more transmissible.

Health authorities have said several major vaccines work against the Delta variant.

Nearly 39.3 percent of the country's 52 million population had received at least one shot as of Wednesday, and 14.2 percent had been fully vaccinated.

In the United States, where authorities are grappling with the rapidly spreading Delta variant, New York will become the first major US city to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination at restaurants, gyms and other businesses, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday.

60-day moratorium

With vaccines widely available, political leaders were combating the latest surge in infections with shots and masks rather than ordering businesses to close and people to stay home as they did last year.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday issued a new 60-day moratorium on residential evictions in areas with high levels of COVID-19 cases, despite a Supreme Court ruling in June suggesting that such a move would require Congress to pass new legislation.

In France, the government's imposition of a nationwide health passport proving vaccination has touched off large protests, often dispersed by police using tear gas.

Government vaccine passports are controversial among US citizens as well, especially conservatives.

Meanwhile, Australia's New South Wales state reported one of the country's youngest deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, as daily infections lingered near a 16-month high despite the lockdown of 5 million people in Sydney entering its sixth week.

The unnamed man in his 20s, who had no underlying health issues and was unvaccinated, died at his home in the city, authorities said. He deteriorated rapidly after earlier complaining of just mild symptoms, they said.

The man was ineligible for a vaccine from Pfizer, as Australia limits that type to people over 40 amid tight supplies, while Canberra has only recently told people to take the AstraZeneca vaccine as cases swell, having previously limited it to people over 60.

Agencies via Xinhua