Sydney extended its lockdown for a further two weeks as Australia’s most populous city battles an outbreak of the delta strain, with health authorities increasingly concerned after infections spread to Melbourne.

Indonesia’s daily cases surpassed India’s, marking a new virus epicenter in Asia as delta drives up infections. Cases in Malaysia and South Korea reached record highs, while Tokyo’s were the highest since January. Singapore reported its most daily infections since April 2020, as the city-state steps up an investigation of a cluster in karaoke lounges.

London’s mayor said face masks will remain compulsory on the underground and on buses even after the government lifts the legal requirement at the national level.

Key Developments:

• Global Tracker: Cases top 187.8 million; deaths pass 4.04 million
• Vaccine Tracker: More than 3.46 billion doses administered
• Heart problems, blood clots and other vaccine fears: Quicktake
• Australia’s ‘Covid-Zero’ strategy reaches limit with no plan B
• Many nations fail solidarity test in Covid fight, study finds
• Moderna’s next act is using mRNA vs. flu, Zika, HIV and cancer

Singapore Cases Highest Since April 2020 (5:07 p.m. HK)

Singapore’s daily infections reached 56, the highest since April 2020, as the city-state steps up an investigation of new cases in karaoke lounges.

Singapore is seeking to control an emerging cluster linked to the social hostesses who frequent the establishments. The premises will be closed for two weeks to allow for deep cleaning, and testing will be conducted for all staff, the Ministry of Health said in a statement late Tuesday. Free testing will also be extended to members of the the public who frequented these places, or who interacted with the hostesses in any setting over the last two weeks.

Vaccine Booster Plans Benefits Pfizer, Moderna (5 p.m. HK)

A proposed shift towards mixing vaccines and using booster shots to fight variants is benefiting some drug companies more than others.

When faced with variants, laboratory-made mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. promote the best antibody responses to avoid initial infection, research analyzed by Bloomberg Intelligence suggests.

AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, based on adenovirus vector technology, are able to train T-Cells to prevent severe disease. Analysts have raised vaccine revenue forecasts for Pfizer and Moderna, while cutting them for AstraZeneca and J&J.

Tokyo Has Most New Infections Since January (4:47 p.m. HK)

Tokyo confirmed 1,149 new infections Wednesday, the most since January, as the city prepares for the delayed Olympics that’s set to start in less than two weeks. The Japanese capital entered its fourth state of emergency on Monday.

Japan has faced bottlenecks in vaccine distribution as its inoculation campaign sped up in recent weeks. In total Japan has given 62 million doses, enough to cover about 25% of the population, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.

Olympic boss Thomas Bach has promised not to bring new virus risks to Japan as it hosts the “most-followed” games ever, trying to get more backing for an event met with tepid public support and tarnished by a recent series of gaffes.

Malaysia Cases Top 11,000 for Second Day (4:06 p.m. HK)

Malaysia posted 11,618 new cases on Wednesday, a second straight daily record, even as the country ramps up vaccination and screenings. The latest figures take the total infections in the Southeast Asian country to 867,567, health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah said. Selangor, the country’s most industrialized state, continues to account for the bulk of the tally.

Malaysia has been struggling to contain the recent outbreak driven by the emergence of more contagious variants despite much of the country being under a lockdown since June 1. The situation is dire in the Klang Valley -- an area comprising Selangor and Kuala Lumpur -- where hospitals are short on intensive-care beds and staff.

Thailand Mulls Blocking Astra Exports (3:47 p.m. HK)

Thailand is weighing a temporary suspension of exports of locally made AstraZeneca vaccines to bolster domestic supplies amid a surge in infections driven by the delta variant.

The country’s key vaccination panel will hold discussions with all the stakeholders before deciding on either a temporary halt to shipments, or regulating exports, Nakorn Premsri, director of Thailand’s National Vaccine Institute, told a news briefing.

Record Covid-Linked School Absence in England (2:40 p.m. HK)

One in nine state-school students in England were out of school last week due to the coronavirus -- the most since classrooms reopened in March following the pandemic lockdown.

More than 821,000 children did not attend school for Covid-related reasons on July 8, the vast majority because they were self-isolating due to a possible contact with a positive case, the Department for Education said Tuesday.

Current rules mean children have to quarantine for 10 days if another pupil in their “bubble” -- a class or even a whole year group -- tests positive for coronavirus. That has hurt businesses and the public sector workforce because parents have to stay home to look after them.

Johnson’s U.K. Virus Gamble Sparks Fear and Unease as Cases Grow

Indonesia Is New Virus Epicenter in Asia (11:49 a.m. HK)

Indonesia surpassed India’s daily Covid-19 case numbers, marking a new Asian virus epicenter as the spread of the highly-contagious delta variant drives up infections in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

The country has seen its daily case count cross 40,000 for two straight days -- including a record high of 47,899 on Tuesday -- up from less than 10,000 a month ago. Officials are concerned that the more transmissible new variant is now spreading outside of the country’s main island, Java, and could exhaust hospital workers and supplies of oxygen and medication.

Indonesia’s current numbers are still far from India’s peak of 400,000 daily cases in May, and its total outbreak of 2.6 million is barely a tenth of the Asian giant’s 30.9 million. India, with a population roughly five times the size of Indonesia’s 270 million people, saw daily infections drop below 33,000 on Tuesday as its devastating outbreak wanes.

Sydney Extends Lockdown (9:16 a.m. HK)

Sydney extended its lockdown for a further two weeks as Australia’s most-populous city battles an outbreak of the delta strain of the coronavirus that’s already kept it isolated from the rest of the nation for three weeks. Now authorities are increasingly concerned after infections spread to Melbourne.

Stay-at-home orders will remain until at least July 30, New South Wales state premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters Wednesday. The city recorded 97 new cases yesterday, including at least 24 who were infectious in the community despite being told to stay at home.

Sydney’s outbreak has now crossed to Melbourne, the nation’s second-largest city which shuttered for two weeks in late May to halt a spread of the delta strain and last year endured one of the world’s longest and strict lockdowns. Eight new infections were detected in Victoria state in the past 24 hours, up from two on Tuesday.

Hunger Crisis in India (5:30 a.m. HK)

India is seeing an increase in hunger, particularly in urban areas, after legions of residents had their economic toehold ripped away in lockdowns over the last 12 months. While few statistics are available, migrants and workers at food distribution centers in major Indian cities say they can’t remember seeing lines this long of people yearning for something to eat.

“This desperation for food and the long lines for rations in families with two wage earners is unprecedented,” said Aditi Dwivedi, who works with migrant communities in the New Delhi at Satark Nagrik Sangathan, a group that works on transparency and accountability in government that has advocated for more food aid for the needy.

As India’s economy shrunk by 7.3% last year, the daily average wage for about 230 million Indians — enough to make the world’s fifth-largest nation — dropped below the 375-rupee ($5) threshold, according to a study by the Azim Premji University in Bangalore. “An alarming 90% of respondents” reported “that their households had suffered a reduction in food intake as a result of the lockdown,” the study said.

Greece Sees Highest Case Rate in Two Months (11:45 a.m. NY)

Greece reported 3,109 new cases Tuesday, the highest daily rise in just over two months. To combat the recent increase amid concerns for its tourism industry, authorities said customers of indoor restaurants and indoor areas at entertainment venues will need to show they’ve been vaccinated or have tested negative within the last three days.

The requirement will remain in force until the end of August at the earliest, and doesn’t concern outdoor areas.

Cases Surge in Netherlands (10:21 a.m. NY)

Weekly cases in the Netherlands surged more than sixfold with 51,957 infections reported by the Dutch health service in the week ending July 13. Last week’s tally was 8,541 cases.

On Friday, the Dutch government announced it would reintroduce some pandemic restrictions to reduce the rising number of infections. Nightclubs were closed until Aug. 13 and the opening hours of bars were reduced.

Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte publicly apologized on Monday for making an “error in judgement” and easing restrictions too quickly.

Riots Force South Africa to Halt Some Vaccines (7:41 a.m. NY)

South Africa’s vaccination program has been partially halted as violent protests following the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma rage in two key provinces. State-administered inoculations have been suspended in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng, the economic hub, said Nicholas Crisp, a consultant to the National Health Department who helps oversee the program.

London Mayor on Face Masks (5:50 a.m. HK)

Face masks will remain compulsory on the London Underground and buses -- despite the government lifting the legal requirement at a national level.

The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said passengers will need to keep wearing face coverings in stations and during their journeys, unless they’re medically exempt.

Trained “enforcement officers” will patrol the network and could ask people to leave if they fail to comply, the mayor’s office said in an emailed statement.

— With assistance by James Poole