Countries reimpose restrictions as Delta variant spreads

South Africa extended its nightly curfew and again banned alcohol sales as the country recorded more than 15,000 new cases on Sunday. South Africa is one of at least 92 countries dealing with the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus. Bangladesh launched another national lockdown on Monday, while Thailand announced restrictions on restaurants, gatherings, and building sites in the capital city of Bangkok. Moscow recorded a record 144 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours, the highest daily death toll of any Russian city so far.

What about countries with high vaccination rates? The United Kingdom, where at least 80 percent of the adult population had at least one shot of the vaccine, reported 18,270 new infections Saturday, the highest number since Feb. 5. Because of the vaccine, the number of deaths and hospitalizations were significantly lower than during the second wave. Israel, which has vaccinated 81 percent of its adult population, reimposed an indoor mask policy after seeing a surge of new cases linked to the Delta variant.

Dig deeper: Read my World Tour report on Brazilians’ demand for a more efficient COVID response.