Australia's New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday urged people to stay at home as COVID-19 cases in the state are on the rise.
"It is really important for us, form here on in, to maintain the stay at home. Do not leave your home unless you absolutely have to. I can't stress that strongly enough," the premier said in a speech streamed on her Facebook page.
Berejiklian also stressed that over 48,000 people were tested for COVID-19 last night and the number of tests done should stay equally high as there were 77 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in NSW. Over 50 of the new 77 cases were close family members of those who have been infected.
Givent he spread of infection among family members, the Premier urged everyone to stay at home and stay away from visiting family and friends unless necessary. Berejiklian also added that she was anticipating that the cases tol rise to "greater than 100" by tomorrow.
Australia's state of Victoria is closing its borders to New South Wales (NSW) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) on Sunday amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in NSW, the state's Department of Health said.
"The Acting Chief Health Officer has declared that all of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory will become a red zone under Victoria’s travel permit system at 11:59pm Sunday 11 July. This means the Victorian border is effectively closed to New South Wales and the ACT," the Department of Health said in a statement on Facebook.
Starting on midnight, people residing in NSW and ACT will not be allowed to enter Victoria, with some exceptions. Victoria residents will be allowed to enter the state if they have a valid permit. Those allowed to return to Victoria from red zones are required to get tested and immediately quarantine for 14 days. People attempting to enter Victoria with no permit will be fined a sum of AU$4,957 (US$3,710) and made to quarantine until they can be sent back.
In the past 24 hours, NSW saw 77 locally acquired new cases of COVID-19 and five from overseas. The state has a total of 514 active cases. In comparison, Victoria has no new acquired cases and 20 active.
Australia began its vaccination campaign in February, but delays of vaccine deliveries and concerns about AstraZeneca side effects slowed down its rate.
Russia registered 25,033 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing cumulative total to 5,783,333, the federal response centre said Sunday.
Moscow recorded the highest number of cases with 5,410; Moscow region the second highest with 2,511; St. Petersburg the third highest with 2,007.
In the past 24 hours, 749 deaths of people diagnosed with COVID-19 were recorded across the country and 17,382 recoveries.
"It's important that we remain cautious and careful and the guidelines that we'll set out tomorrow will demonstrate that, including guidelines that people are expected to wear masks in indoor enclosed spaces," vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said.
Japan's municipalities will begin accepting applications for coronavirus vaccination passports starting 26 July, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Sunday.
"Those who need to relax anti-pandemic measures while entering another country from Japan will be able to apply [for a vaccination paspsort] with a local administration from 26 July," Kato told NHK, adding that the vaccination passport will feature information about an administered vaccine, as well as the vaccination date and location.
Nevertheless, those who have not been vaccinated should not face any discrimination over that, the official said.
"The issue of using vaccination passports within the country will be resolved separately," Kato added.
On 2 June, it was reported that seven EU countries — Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Croatia and Poland — began using the Digital COVID Certificate for travelling within the bloc. The system launched in full force on 1 July.
This week, the European Commission decided to accept Swiss COVID-19 certificates. Japan has not yet reached a similar deal with the bloc.
