China is yet again experiencing coronavirus lockdown. This comes as the country battles its worst outbreak in months. The fresh rise is owing to the Delta variant in China.
The World Health Organization also warns that the highly transmissible strain, first detected in India, could lead to more Covid-19 outbreaks. Especially those high-risk areas from Morocco to Pakistan where vaccination rates are low.
Several thousands of people have been locked down in Jiangsu province.
The Delta variant of coronavirus is more transmissible than the pathogens that cause SARS, Ebola and smallpox.
Delta variant forces lockdown in China
It has recently driven major surges around the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Now fresh lockdowns in China are driven by a Delta-linked surge in cases.
The Philippines also will send more than 13 million people in the national capital region back into lockdown. They too are battling a rise in cases linked to the Delta variant.
The variant has also been linked to around half of new cases in Tokyo. Japan too extended a virus state of emergency in the capital. However, Australia would reopen its borders and end lockdowns when vaccination rates reach 80 per cent.
The United States has also been ramping up efforts to get people vaccinated. The Delta variant is a big threat now.
Wuhan Lab virus leak probe
China has put forward alternative parameters for a second probe into the origins of Covid-19. It says that the probe into the virus origin should span multiple countries.
China’s move to foil the US’ attempt for a deeper probe into virus origins comes as the US and its allies accuse Beijing of stonewalling a phase-two study.
There have been theories surfacing upon the origin of coronavirus. Experts have raised doubts over the virus escaping from a Chinese biosecurity lab– Wuhan lab.
This is the environment where similar coronaviruses have been studied. But China has opposed such theories. Only time and investigation will tell the reality behind the origin of this fatal virus.
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