Asia sees surge in COVID cases as Delta variant wreaks havoc in major cities of continent

The reported infections are mostly driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant of the disease.

The Olympics host city government announced a record number of 4,058 infections in the past 24 hours.

Olympics organisers reported 21 new COVID-19 cases related to the Games, bringing the total to 241 since July 1.

Olympics organisers said on Saturday they had revoked the accreditation of a Games-related person or people for leaving the athletes' village for sightseeing, a violation of measures imposed to hold the Olympics safely amid the epidemic.

Malaysia, one of the hotspots of the disease, reported 17,786 coronavirus cases on Saturday, a record high.

Thailand also reported a daily record high of 18,912 new coronavirus infections, bringing its total cases to 597,287. The country also reported 178 new deaths, also a daily record, taking total fatalities to 4,857.

The government said the Delta variant accounted for more than 60% of the cases in the country and 80% of the cases in Bangkok.

The Delta variant is not necessarily more lethal than other variants, but much more transmissible, told Supakit Sirilak, the director-general of Thailand's Department of Medical Sciences.

China is battling an outbreak of the Delta variant in the eastern city of Nanjing which has been traced to airport workers who cleaned a plane that had arrived from Russia.

Nanjing has reported 190 locally transmitted cases of the Delta variant since July 20, while there has been a total of 262 cases across the country, figures released on Saturday showed.

Vietnam, which is grappling with its worst COVID-19 outbreak, on Saturday also announced tougher measures, saying from Monday it would impose strict curbs on movement in 19 cities and provinces throughout the southern part of the country for another two weeks.

COVID-19 infections have increased by 80% over the past four weeks in most regions of the world, WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The Delta variant, first detected in India, is as contagious as chickenpox and far more contagious than the common cold or flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said in an internal document reported this week.

It can be passed on even by vaccinated people and may cause more serious disease than earlier coronavirus strains.