Coronavirus live news: India sees lowest new cases in six weeks; Japan expected to extend restrictions

Japan expected to extend emergency measures in Tokyo and several other regions by three weeks; India cases rise by 186,364, lowest since 14 April

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7.28am BST

Overcrowding in Victoria’s healthcare system is a “bigger public health emergency than Covid,” according to a leading emergency physician who says the state’s doctors and nurses were exhausted even before the latest outbreak.

Victoria is in a seven-day lockdown with 30 cases of community transmission, more than 120 exposure sites, and 15,000 primary and secondary contacts of cases in isolation.

Related: Overcrowding in Victorian hospitals ‘bigger emergency than Covid’, expert warns

7.20am BST

Sky News have just posted a clip of that Kwasi Kwarteng interview on Twitter.

“I think that the numbers of [Indian variant] cases is a matter of concern,” says Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, but “the effectiveness of the vaccine is what can give us some confidence that we can reopen on the 21 June”.#COVID19 updates live: https://t.co/6NgLKgejfN pic.twitter.com/7VmakwQtOM

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source: theguardian.com