Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte admitted today his government made a mistake by easing a raft of measures to combat Covid-19, apologising as daily infection rates rocketed to peak levels.
Mr Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge on Friday reimposed a number of restrictions including closing nightclubs as the highly-infectious Delta variant took hold, particularly among young people.
But virologists fear that young people with Covid could spread it to other age groups who have not yet been vaccinated.The Dutch decision came under fire including from the health minister of neighbouring Belgium. The statement from the leaders of UNICEF and UNESCO, responsible for children's issues and education, said "governments have too often shut down schools and kept them closed for prolonged periods, even when the epidemiological situation didn't warrant it."
State Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the progress of that figure in coming days would determine whether Sydney's lockdown, due to end on Friday, would be extended. Sixty-three people are in hospital, with 18 in intensive care, officials said, while a woman in her 90s became the country's first Covid-19 fatality this year.
The Sydney outbreak has put Australia's sluggish vaccine roll-out under the microscope. Only around 11% of Australia's adult population of just over 20.5 million have been fully vaccinated.Official federal health guidance recommends the locally-produced AstraZeneca vaccine be restricted to people aged over 60 because of blood clot concerns, while the imported Pfizer vaccine is currently limited to people below 60.
Thailand has so far recorded more than 326,300 cases and 2,711 deaths, with the bulk of them coming in this latest wave that kicked off in April. Residents are barred from gathering in groups of more than five people, while public transport networks will shut from 9 pm. Long lines of people waited at two free testing clinics to get swabbed last week, with local media showing people camped under a tollway in Khlong Toei district - where Bangkok's largest slum is located - as they waited for negative results before going home to their families.
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