Here are some significant developments:
- World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it premature to rule out the theory that the coronavirus escaped from a Chinese lab. He also urged Beijing to provide the WHO with more raw data so that researchers can study the pandemic’s origins.
- Abu Dhabi, which has one of the world’s higher inoculation rates, announced a nighttime curfew to help facilitate a disinfection campaign. Starting from July 19, people can leave home between midnight and 5 a.m. only to buy food or medicine.
- Thailand on Friday logged a record 9,692 new daily infections, bringing its total caseload to more than 380,000. Bangkok has struggled to quash a recent delta variant wave, and only about 5 percent of the Thai population is fully vaccinated.
- Los Angeles County announced Thursday it will revive an indoor mask mandate in response to rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations linked to delta.
- Tokyo, under pressure from Japan’s influential business lobby, is studying ways to relax curbs for people who have been vaccinated or recently tested negative for the virus. The city on Thursday recorded its highest number of daily new cases since January.