JAKARTA – Laos has locked down the capital Vientiane and banned travel between provinces hit hard by Covid-19. The move came as Covid-19 cases soared in the country soaring to record highs, with the Delta Plus variant of the coronavirus found to be spreading in Vientiane.
The communist nation appears to have escaped the severe impact of the pandemic in 2020 and as of March 2021 had reported fewer than 60 cases of Covid-19. However, a spike in cases occurred in April and the country’s Covid-19 caseload continues to rise.
On press Friday, Monday (20/9/2021), the Director General of the Department of Infectious Disease Control at the Ministry of Health, Rattanaxay Phetsouvanh, said that 52 imported cases and 162 local cases had just been recorded in a day. That figure brings the total number to 19,399 cases.
According to Phetsouvanh, community cases in Vientiane continue to increase with the discovery of the Delta Plus variant in Covid-19 sufferers. The Delta Plus variant is a mutant version of the Delta variant and is highly contagious.
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The mayor of Vientiane, where most of the cases have been detected, on Sunday (19/9/2021) announced a lockdown (lockdown) for two weeks, until September 30. Residents were ordered to stay in their homes unless they got food or medicine, or went to the hospital.
Travel between the seven other worst-affected provinces is prohibited, while entry to Vientiane requires a 14-day quarantine. Channel News Asia.
(dka)
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