The Delta variant is becoming the dominant strain of the virus in several of these countries, with infections mostly being reported among people who have yet to be vaccinated.
As on Monday, there were 27,714 new positive cases in England, with 331 people were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 and there were 1,611 patients in hospital.
The new restrictions add to obstacles faced by 34,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents stranded overseas and registered with the government.
WHO's Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge warned that new variants, deficit in vaccine uptake and increased social mixing would cause a new wave of excess hospitalisations.
The Department said on Thursday that it has so far identified more than 9,400 variant cases in Illinois, of which more than 6,300 are the Alpha strain first found in the UK
Indonesia saw its number of confirmed new cases climb to nearly 10,000 a day on Wednesday, an increase blamed on travel during last month's Eid al-Fitr holiday.
"The present status is that yes, a new variant has been found. This is as of now a Variant of Interest (VoI), not as yet classified a VoC," NITI Aayog Member (Health) V.K. Paul clarified it in a Covid-19 media briefing.
According to Public Health England (PHE), which monitors all COVID variants in the country, Delta variant infections rose by 5,472 in a week to hit a total of 12,431 on Thursday.
