What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

HERE'S what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

New Zealand brings back curbs in Wellington after COVID scare from Sydney visitor

New Zealand raised the COVID-19 alert level in its capital, Wellington, on Wednesday amid concern that the city may have been exposed to the highly infectious Delta variant that has triggered a new outbreak in neighbouring Australia.

Wellington will move to Alert Level 2, one level short of a lockdown, until midnight on Sunday as a precaution to curb any outbreak after an Australian tourist tested positive for COVID-19 on returning to Sydney from a visit to Wellington over the weekend.

India says new 'Delta plus' COVID-19 variant is a concern

India on Tuesday declared a new coronavirus variant to be of concern, and said nearly two dozen cases had been detected in three states.

The variant, identified as "Delta plus", was found in 16 cases in the state of Maharashtra, Federal Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told a news conference. The ministry said Delta plus showed increased transmissibility and advised states to increase testing.

China to keep border restrictions for another year - WSJ

China plans to keep pandemic border restrictions in place for at least another year amid fears over the emergence of new variants and a calendar of sensitive events, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The provisional timeline for the second half of 2022 was set during a meeting of China's cabinet, or State Council, in mid-May, the newspaper said https://on.wsj.com/3xEaKs4.

Oxford University explores anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as COVID-19 treatment

The University of Oxford said on Wednesday it was testing anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as a possible treatment for COVID-19, as part of a British government-backed study that aims to aid recoveries in non-hospital settings.

Ivermectin resulted in a reduction of virus replication in laboratory studies, the university said, adding that a small pilot showed giving the drug early could reduce viral load and the duration of symptoms in some patients with mild COVID-19.

Delta COVID-19 variant greatest threat to U.S. pandemic response - Fauci

The Delta variant of the novel coronavirus that was first found in India is the greatest threat to the U.S. effort to eradicate COVID-19 in its borders, U.S. infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci told media.

"The transmissibility is unquestionably greater" in the Delta variant than the original variant of COVID-19, Fauci said, adding that "it is associated with an increased disease severity."

AstraZeneca vaccine effective against COVID-19 variants

AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine is effective against Delta and Kappa variants, which were first identified in India, the company said on Tuesday, citing a study.

The study by the Oxford University investigated the ability of monoclonal antibodies in blood from recovered people and from those vaccinated to neutralize the Delta and Kappa variants, the company said.