Delta puts brakes on return to post-COVID normality

Delta puts brakes on return to post-COVID normality

PARIS: Nations across the globe hit new pandemic highs and reimposed COVID-19 restrictions yesterday as the highly contagious Delta variant forced governments to put the brakes on plans to return to normality. The highly transmissible Delta variant, first detected in India, is sweeping the globe as countries race to inoculate their populations to ward off fresh outbreaks and allow for economies and daily life to recover.

The European Union – lambasted early on in the pandemic response for a botched vaccine acquisition program – said yesterday it has delivered enough shots to cover 70 percent of the bloc's population. "By tomorrow, some 500 million doses will have been distributed to all regions of Europe," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Supply shortages in South Korea have meant only about 11 percent of the country's 52 million population is fully vaccinated, according to health authorities. The nation, held up as a model of how to combat the pandemic, reported 1,378 new coronavirus cases yesterday, a third straight record high. From tomorrow, gatherings of more than two people will be banned after 6:00 pm, schools, bars and clubs will be closed.

In Pakistan, where less than eight percent of the population