Covid-19 global updates US warns against travel to Israel Portugal and Spain as delta fuels outbreaks

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The United States is now warning against travel to Israel and several European countries as the more contagious delta variant fuels coronavirus outbreaks mostly among the unvaccinated.

The State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new travel advisories Monday for Israel, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain, as well as Kyrgyzstan, citing surging case numbers in all five countries.

The warnings came as the White House also said it had no plans to lift broad restrictions on visitors from Britain, Europe’s Schengen region and other nations such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa.

“Given where we are today ... with the delta variant, we will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday.

Here are some significant developments:

New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, again recorded its biggest daily increase in new coronavirus cases for the year on Tuesday, reporting 172 infections despite a stringent, month-long lockdown.

Fresh coronavirus outbreaks are forcing factory shutdowns in countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh, aggravating supply chain disruptions that could leave some U.S. retailers with empty shelves as consumers begin their back-to-school shopping.

Chinese researchers found that antibodies produced by the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine fell below a key threshold about six months after the second dose, raising concerns about waning immunity as new variants spread.

Authorities in Thailand have started transferring covid-19 patients from Bangkok to other parts of the country to alleviate pressure on the capital’s health infrastructure, a government spokeswoman said, Bloomberg reported. Thailand is in the throes of its worst outbreak of the pandemic, with most cases centered in Bangkok and surrounding areas.

A new financing mechanism backed by the World Bank will allow Covax, the global vaccine sharing initiative, to make advance purchases of vaccine doses for developing countries, as many nations struggle to secure supplies.

The U.S. government, as it raised its travel advisories to the highest levels for Cyprus, Portugal and Spain, strongly urged U.S. residents to avoid all travel there even if fully vaccinated. Similar warnings were issued for travel to Britain last week, as new cases soared and the government there scrapped nearly all public health restrictions.

Because of the current coronavirus situation in those countries, “even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants,” the CDC said.

For Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, the CDC issued a slightly less severe Level 3 notice, “indicating a high level of COVID-19 in the country" and urged unvaccinated to "avoid nonessential travel to Israel.”

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