Mohamed A. El-Erian , Columnist

Delta Variant Adds Urgency to Nations’ Covid Response

As the Sydney lockdown shows, the virus will not disappear quickly and no country can stand alone against it.

June 27, 2021 at 9:00 PM UTC

Mohamed A. El-Erian is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief executive officer of Pimco, he is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge; chief economic adviser at Allianz SE; and chair of Gramercy Fund Management. He is author of “The Only Game in Town.”

Sydney had to shut down again despite Australia’s aggressive Covid protocols.
Photographer: Steven Saphore/AFP/Getty Images

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Over the weekend, Sydney was put under a mandatory stay-at-home order for two weeks in response to the risk posed by the Delta variant of Covid-19. This came as a surprise to many, especially those who rightly view Australia as having been among the best in managing Covid, with its very low infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

Australia was not the only recent Covid surprise in advanced countries. Israel, long a vaccination leader, reimposed an indoor-mask requirement last Friday. Once again, the catalyst was the Delta variant. Then there was the U.K., which, other than India, has been battling longest against Delta. According to government reports, the number of Delta infections rose 46% in just one week. Indeed, whether it is the evidence from there or the reactions of Australia and Israel, four issues should be front and center for many more countries, including the U.S., which need to realize that new Covid risks are likely and do not respect borders.