World Coronavirus Dispatch: Virus rips through Southeast Asian workers

The case for widespread use of sniffing dogs to detect Covid, Britain's PM Johnson hints at delay to end of lockdown, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Venezuela players test positive ahead of Copa America opening game

More than a dozen members of the Venezuelan delegation at Brazil’s Copa America tested positive for coronavirus, putting a cloud over the opening game for Latin America’s most important soccer tournament on Sunday. The 13 people infected included both players and staff, who will remain isolated and monitored by a team from the championship’s organiser, Conmebol, as well as Brazilian health authorities. The Venezuelan team is scheduled to play at the opening game. Venezuela’s team members were earlier vaccinated with China’s Sinovac. The organiser said the rest of the Venezuelan delegation have been subjected to daily tests and are cleared to participate in the competition. The schedule of matches will remain unchanged. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 175,661,403

Global deaths: 3,795,082

Vaccine doses administered: 2,231,698,808

Nations with most cases: US (33,457,422), India (29,439,989), Brazil (17,374,818), France (5,799,459), Turkey (5,325,435).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Johnson hints at delay to end of lockdown as UK cases surge

Boris Johnson hinted at extending restrictions for some more time due to concerns over the now dominant Delta variant first found in India. The British Prime Minister had earlier set out a plan to end the lockdown by June 21 if everything goes well. Johnson said the government must be “cautious” about when to take the final step out of lockdown to protect the success of the UK’s vaccine programme in containing Covid-19. The reproduction rate of the virus in England has risen to levels last seen in October. Separate research by the statistics office found an estimated one in 560 people in England had the virus in the week to June 4, up from one in 640 a week earlier and one in 1,340 in early May. Read here

Covid-sniffing dogs are accurate but face hurdles for widespread use

The use of dogs for sniffing and detecting coronavirus is gaining some credibility, according to a number of lab studies. The canines have already started working in airports in countries and at a few events in the United States, such as a Miami Heat basketball game. But some experts in public health and in training scent dogs say that more information and planning are needed to be certain they are accurate in real life situations. Quality control is a first step, and a large one. Medical scent detection is more complicated than drug or bomb detection. For instance, a dog working in an airport for drugs or explosive detection has a consistent context and a fairly straightforward target odor. In Covid detection, researchers know that the dogs can distinguish an infected person’s sweat or urine. But they don’t know what chemicals the dog is identifying. Read here

Southeast Asian workers making goods for the West bear brunt of virus

Increased demand for certain goods during the pandemic has placed additional pressure on supply chains. Many such products are destined for Europe. And the workers in Southeast Asia are bearing the worst of the virus surge. Across the region, countries that managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic last year are facing new waves of Covid-19, fuelled by more contagious variants. In several countries in the region, including Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, clusters have begun in key manufacturing sites. In Vietnam, which virtually eradicated the virus last year, total cases have tripled since the start of May, reaching almost 10,000, driven partly by outbreaks in factories. In Thailand, workers at more than 130 factories have been infected, according to a survey. Read here