Olympic host Japan records highest number of new COVID-19 cases since start of pandemic
CBSN
Tokyo — The number of new coronavirus cases registered in Tokyo on Wednesday was the highest since the start of the pandemic, topping 3,170. The nationwide total also hit a new high of 8,160 cases reported in a single day as the 2020 Olympic Games continued, with doctors warning that the host city's medical system faced being overwhelmed.
At the Showa University Hospital in Tokyo, the highly infectious Delta variant now accounts for 70% of all cases of COVID-19, hospital director Dr. Hironori Sagara told CBS News. Young patients are filling up the wards, and Sagara said the Olympics are partly to blame. "Even though spectators have been banned at Olympic events, crowds are gathering outside venues. So we can assume cases will rise," Sagara said.Noumea — France's president held a flurry of meetings with local representatives in the restive Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Thursday, urging calm after deadly rioting, and vowing thousands of military reinforcements will stay in place to quell what he called an "unprecedented insurrection."
Kathmandu — Nepali climber Phunjo Lama on Thursday reached Mount Everest's summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, smashing the record for the world's fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman. Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 29,032-foot mountain, spending nights on its different camps to rest and acclimatize.
New Delhi — Indian justice officials have changed course amid outrage over the bail terms set for a teenager accused of killing two people while driving a Porsche at high speed while drunk and without a license. The 17-year-old son of a wealthy businessman had been ordered to write a 300-word essay and work with the local traffic police for 15 days to be granted bail — a decision that was made within 15 hours of his arrest.