Coronavirus latest: Tokyo urges boy band fans to get tested, three Manila hospitals reach capacity
- Tokyo’s latest cluster has been traced to Theatre Moliere, which staged a play for six days starring mainly up-and-coming boy band members
- In Thailand, authorities are seeking to trace the contacts of two recent foreign arrivals in the country who were infected and may have violated quarantine
Asian countries are addressing a range of challenges associated with a renewed uptick in coronavirus cases, after many sought to gradually reopen after an initial lockdown.
Japanese authorities are rushing to contain emerging clusters while hospitals in the Philippine capital of Manila are rapidly reaching their capacity.
In Thailand, there are concerns about imported infections and quarantine breaches, while Australian states have also tightened border controls.
“Let me be blunt, too many countries are headed in the wrong direction, the virus remains public enemy number one,” WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing on Monday.
Tokyo on Tuesday confirmed 143 new coronavirus infections, remaining below 200 for the second day in a row, Governor Yuriko Koike said. Nonetheless, the Tokyo government continues to focus on a 190-seat theatre in the Shinjuku entertainment district, where infections have also been traced to cabaret clubs.
Japan is pushing ahead with opening up parts of the country, with plans to reopen a runway at one of the country’s biggest airports, even as infections persist in major cities, rural areas and US military bases.
The latest cluster has been traced to Theatre Moliere, near Tokyo’s red-light district, which staged a play for six days starring mainly up-and-coming boy band members earlier this month.
