Chinese authorities have announced mass coronavirus testing in Wuhan as an unusually wide series of COVID-19 outbreaks reached the city where the disease was first detected in late 2019.
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Chinese authorities have announced mass coronavirus testing in Wuhan as an unusually wide series of COVID-19 outbreaks reached the city where the disease was first detected in late 2019.
The provincial capital of 11 million people in central China is the latest city to undergo citywide testing. Three cases were confirmed in Wuhan on Monday, its first non-imported cases in more than a year.
China has largely curbed COVID-19 at home after the initial outbreak that devastated Wuhan and spread globally. Since then, authorities have tamped down and controlled the disease whenever it pops up with quick lockdowns and mass testing.
The current outbreaks are still in the hundreds of cases in total but have spread much more widely than previous ones. Many of the cases have been identified as the highly contagious delta variant.
The National Health Commission said Tuesday that 90 new cases had been confirmed the previous day.
-From The Associated Press, last updated at 7:05 a.m. ET
What’s happening in Canada
WATCH | Renewed concern over rising COVID-19 cases, delta variant:
Despite Canada having one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, that might not be enough to slow the spread of COVID-19 driven by the highly contagious delta variant. 2:34
- Capacity limits, mask mandate will be eliminated for most places in Manitoba on Saturday.
- Ontario reports 332 new COVID-19 cases over 2 days.
- No more ‘drastic public health measures’: Nunavut releases COVID-19 path forward plan.
- ‘Sense of urgency’ to boost vaccine uptake before fall, says N.W.T.’s acting top doctor.
- Popular Saskatchewan events going ahead after COVID-19 restrictions lifted.
- Calgary councillor asks city to reinstate mask bylaw as Alberta rolls back COVID measures.
- CBC EXPLAINS | Why the delta variant is spreading COVID-19 so quickly — and what that means for Canada.
What’s happening around the world
As of early Tuesday afternoon, more than 199.1 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.2 million.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan will focus on hospitalizing patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19 and those at risk of becoming so while others isolate at home amid worries about a strained medical system as cases surge in the Olympic host city Tokyo.
Pakistan’s top health official says his country for the first time has administered one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine across the country in the past 24 hours. The latest development comes days after Pakistan imposed a lockdown in the southern port city of Karachi and in other high-risk areas.
In the Americas, the White House said the U.S. has shipped more than 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 60 countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Zambia. President Joe Biden was expected to discuss that milestone and more Tuesday in remarks about the U.S. strategy to slow the spread of the coronavirus abroad. The president’s announcement will come amid a rise in infections in the U.S., fuelled by the highly contagious delta variant of the virus.
Detroit’s Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers union, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that they will reinstate the wearing of masks at all U.S. plants, offices and warehouses, regardless of vaccination status, beginning Wednesday. General Motors, Ford and Stellantis NV (the Dutch-based conglomerate that includes Chrysler and Dodge) said in a joint statement with the union that the change is in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recent change in COVID-19 workplace standards related to the delta variant.
The updates from the automakers came as New York City officials said proof of COVID-19 vaccination would soon be needed for indoor leisure activities. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the move Tuesday, the first big city in the U.S. to impose such restrictions. The new requirement starts Aug. 16. It applies to indoor dining, gyms and indoor entertainment venues.
In Africa, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has decided to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19, his office said in a statement on Tuesday.
In the Middle East, Iran on Monday reported 37,189 new cases of COVID-19 — a single-day high, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 tracker. The country, which has been hit hard by several waves of the novel coronavirus, also saw 411 additional deaths.
- Israel to offer COVID-19 booster vaccine shot to citizens over 60
In Europe, France’s overseas territory of Guadeloupe will go into a new lockdown for at least three weeks.
–From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 12:15 p.m. ET
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