This blog is closing now but you can continue to follow all the worldwide developments in the pandemic at our new blog here:
Summary
We are wrapping up the live blog, but will continue the coverage from a new live blog you can find here.
Here’s the coronavirus news for Friday:
- There are now 11m confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide
- The US reported a daily global record of more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday as infections rose in the vast majority of states and America’s top public health expert spoke of a “very disturbing week”. Thursday’s tally topped the previous single-day record of 54,771 set by Brazil on 19 June.
- The US will be on a “red list” of high-risk countries that people in England are advised not to visit for non-essential reasons because of its continued high level of coronavirus cases, the UK government said. Travel restrictions will be relaxed in England for more than 50 countries including nearly all EU countries, British territories, and Australia and New Zealand.
- The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, stood by his decision to allow pubs, bars and restaurants to reopen in England on a Saturday despite concerns from the public that it could put extra strain on the police and the health service. In a radio interview, the prime minister suggested that the day of the week for reopening would not make a difference.
- Cases of coronavirus are surging in South Africa, a month after the country lifted most of the restrictions brought in with one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. On Thursday, authorities reported the country’s biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases, adding 8,728 confirmed infections and taking the total count to 168,061.
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The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iraq increased sevenfold in June, the International Rescue Committee said as it urged a redoubling of efforts to contain the spread of the disease in the country. By 1 July there had been 53,708 infections detected in the country, up from 6,868 on 1 June. The ministry of health said that hospitals are almost at full capacity.
- A fresh state of emergency was declared in Belgrade, with a number of restrictions restored after a new increase in coronavirus infections in the Serbian capital. Local authorities across the country had already declared emergencies in several other municipalities where a rise in coronavirus cases had threatened to disrupt the functioning of the health system.
- The Philippines reported its highest single-day increase in coronavirus infections, with 1,531 new cases detected in the past 24 hours, bringing the national total to 40,336. The country’s Covid-19 death toll has reached 1,280, after 12 more deaths from the disease.
- The European commission gave conditional approval for the use of antiviral remdesivir in severe Covid-19 patients following an accelerated review process, making it the region’s first therapy to be authorised to treat the virus. The move comes just a week after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its go-ahead for the drug, produced by Gilead Sciences.
- Life in Russia is unlikely to return to normal until next February at the earliest, the country’s health minister said. Many restrictions have already been eased, but with thousands of new cases still being reported every day, and a death toll approaching 10,000, some measures remain in force, including a ban on international flights, extended on Thursday until August.
11 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide
There are now 11 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide, according to the data collected by John Hopkins University.
Nine News is reporting a train passenger in Sydney has been transported to hotel quarantine after showing symptoms of Covid-19
#BREAKING: A train passenger in Sydney has been loaded into an ambulance and is being taken to hotel quarantine after showing symptoms of COVID-19. #9News pic.twitter.com/AWYyWTLo7g
— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) July 3, 2020
Hi, I’m Josh Taylor and I will be taking the live blog through to 9am Melbourne time on Saturday.
In Australia, all eyes are currently on Victoria, where the state is experiencing a second spike in cases. We will get an update on the number of new cases identified overnight sometime later this morning, but yesterday there were 66 cases of coronavirus in Victoria.
The number of cases has started to stabilise, but health officials will need to see if the trend continues for a few days before they can claim the spike is coming under control.
In the meantime, suburbs in 10 postcodes in Melbourne’s north and west remain in lockdown, and more could be added to the list if cases in those areas continue to go up.
There is mass testing being conducted to find more positive cases, however, over 10,000 people in the state have refused tests for reasons including that they believe the coronavirus pandemic to be a conspiracy.
In the UK, dozens of people have taken part in a candlelit vigil outside Downing Street to remember those who have lost their lives and to mark the upcoming 72nd anniversary of the NHS.
The People’s Assembly teamed up with Health Campaigns Together, Keep Our NHS Public and We Own It to organise the socially distanced vigil.
About 50 NHS staff and campaigners carried one lantern to represent every 1,000 people who have died with Covid-19.
The procession began at St Thomas’ Hospital and proceeded across Westminster Bridge before heading to Downing Street, where doctors and health workers read out all the names of their NHS colleagues who have died during a 20-minute candlelit vigil. Ramona McCartney, national organiser at the People’s Assembly, said:
It was very sombre and emotional. We are coming up to the 72nd anniversary for the NHS and there will be celebrations. But we think it’s really important to throw attention to the ways in which the government has mishandled the situation and lots of people have lost their lives unfortunately.
To see the NHS staff reading out the names, it was very moving.
It was a real moment of reflection and bearing light to an absolute tragedy that could have been avoided.
Figures from last month show more than 300 NHS and social care workers have died during the UK’s epidemic.
Brazil has suffered 1,290 more deaths and registered 42,223 new cases in the past 24 hours, its health ministry has said, bringing the respective totals to 63,174 and 1,539,081. It is the second-worst outbreak in the world behind the United States.
An indigenous group in the Ecuadorean Amazon has taken two police officers and a state official hostage to demand authorities return the body of a community leader who according to the government died of Covid-19, Reuters reports.
The interior minister Maria Paula Romo said the man died of Covid-19 and was subsequently buried in accordance with international protocols for handling corpses amid the pandemic.
“Police officers cannot be considered a bargaining chip in this or any circumstance,” tweeted Romo, publishing photos of the officials sitting in a wooden building surrounded by community members, some carrying traditional spears.
Members of the Shuar Kumay community insist that Alberto Mashutak did not die of Covid-19 and that they should be allowed to give him a traditional burial, said lawyer Marcos Espinoza, who represents the community.
A little more than a fortnight ago, people in the Australian state of Victoria were planning trips away as the school holidays approached, and looking forward to again being able to gather in pubs and restaurants with their friends – albeit with social distancing measures and hygiene protocols in place.
Now, Melissa Davey and Matilda Boseley write, it is divided. While most people in Australia are enjoying these increased freedoms, 300,0000 residents across 10 postcodes – encompassing 36 suburbs – are back in lockdown, only allowed to leave their homes for exercise, healthcare, work and study if those activities can’t be done from home, and childcare.
Summary
Key developments in the coronavirus outbreak around the world today include:
- The US reported a daily global record of more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday as infections rose in the vast majority of states and America’s top public health expert spoke of a “very disturbing week”. Thursday’s tally topped the previous single-day record of 54,771 set by Brazil on 19 June.
- The US will be on a “red list” of high-risk countries that people in England are advised not to visit for non-essential reasons because of its continued high level of coronavirus cases, the UK government said. Travel restrictions will be relaxed in England for more than 50 countries including nearly all EU countries, British territories, and Australia and New Zealand.
- The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, stood by his decision to allow pubs, bars and restaurants to reopen in England on a Saturday despite concerns from the public that it could put extra strain on the police and the health service. In a radio interview, the prime minister suggested that the day of the week for reopening would not make a difference.
- Cases of coronavirus are surging in South Africa, a month after the country lifted most of the restrictions brought in with one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. On Thursday, authorities reported the country’s biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases, adding 8,728 confirmed infections and taking the total count to 168,061.
-
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iraq increased sevenfold in June, the International Rescue Committee said as it urged a redoubling of efforts to contain the spread of the disease in the country. By 1 July there had been 53,708 infections detected in the country, up from 6,868 on 1 June. The ministry of health said that hospitals are almost at full capacity.
- A fresh state of emergency was declared in Belgrade, with a number of restrictions restored after a new increase in coronavirus infections in the Serbian capital. Local authorities across the country had already declared emergencies in several other municipalities where a rise in coronavirus cases had threatened to disrupt the functioning of the health system.
- The Philippines reported its highest single-day increase in coronavirus infections, with 1,531 new cases detected in the past 24 hours, bringing the national total to 40,336. The country’s Covid-19 death toll has reached 1,280, after 12 more deaths from the disease.
- The European commission gave conditional approval for the use of antiviral remdesivir in severe Covid-19 patients following an accelerated review process, making it the region’s first therapy to be authorised to treat the virus. The move comes just a week after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its go-ahead for the drug, produced by Gilead Sciences.
- Life in Russia is unlikely to return to normal until next February at the earliest, the country’s health minister said. Many restrictions have already been eased, but with thousands of new cases still being reported every day, and a death toll approaching 10,000, some measures remain in force, including a ban on international flights, extended on Thursday until August.
Spain has suffered 17 more deaths in 24 hours, Agence France-Presse has reported. It is the country’s highest daily Covid-19 toll since 19 June. The update comes as many Spaniards were gearing up to go on holiday and as the country preparing to reopen its frontiers on Saturday to travellers from 12 other countries outside the European Union.
Spain had already opened its borders to EU nations on 21 June, as well as residents of the passport-free Schengen zone.
Its neighbour Portugal has said it is “absurd” that the UK is maintaining a quarantine regime for its citizens, despite the latter nation having greater numbers of both cases and deaths. The Portuguese foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva said:
We hope that this decision, which seems to us profoundly unfair and wrong, from the British authorities is corrected as soon as possible.
It is a sad moment in bilateral relations ... because countries that are friends treat each other differently.
Portugal’s prime minister tweeted:
Which is the safest place to stay?
— António Costa (@antoniocostapm) July 3, 2020
You are welcome to spend a safe holiday in Algarve!#UK #visitportugal pic.twitter.com/2xZzddlzVy
Updated
Despite the wind and torrential rain, the loyal regulars of Bittles Bar in downtown Belfast still toasted the opening up of pubs in Northern Ireland on Friday.
Twenty four hours ahead of bars flinging open their doors to punters after 15 weeks of lockdown in England, the clientele of the pub at the edge the flat iron building in Church Lane were oblivious to the unseasonal weather battering Belfast.
Clicking his SLR camera to record the moment friends and acquaintances turned up once more to Bittles, Kris Samson said he was proud of the way his bar mates and the entire city had endured the lockdown since it was imposed back in March.
Take a look at the benches outside the bar … people are still trying to socially distance from each other. That is why they deserve a wee treat today. That is why they can celebrate with pride the pubs being open today. In general people have been sensible and they are due this day.
John Bittles, the owner of one of the few independently owned pubs left in Belfast, said he was relieved to see many of his older customers at the bar which first opened at the site in 1868.
During the lockdown, I was worried about our elderly clientele. I used to visit them in their houses, check up on them and see if they were ok. The best thing about reopening today is to see some of them here outside the pub enjoying the craic. For some of them, the bar is like a second home and they’ve missed the banter and the friendship over the last few months. That is the most satisfying thing about today.
Eddie Atkinson, a Yorkshireman who lives in the County Antrim village of Toome, travelled 30 miles on Friday to have a pint and a whiskey chaser in Bittles. The bar has its own mini whiskey section with many rare and expensive whiskeys distilled from across Ireland.
I am the only Brit in my village so I love to get up to Belfast and Bittles for a midweek drink. I am wheelchair bound and can’t get out every day so going up to the city was always a highlight of my week. That is what I missed most during the lockdown.
This really does feel like a liberation … I would rather spend £40 today on a couple of rounds of drink than to go to a supermarket and use the same amount of money to buy two bottles of whiskey and a case of beer. The human contact is much more important than a cheap drinking night at home.
France has suffered 18 more deaths over the last day, taking its overall death toll to 29,893, the country’s health department has said. The number of people in intensive care units fell by 13 to 560, continuing a weeks-long downtrend.
Summary
Key developments in the coronavirus outbreak around the world today include:
- The US reported a daily global record of more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday as infections rose in the vast majority of states and America’s top public health expert spoke of a “very disturbing week”. Thursday’s tally topped the previous single-day record of 54,771 set by Brazil on 19 June.
- The US will be on a “red list” of high-risk countries that people in England are advised not to visit for non-essential reasons because of its continued high level of coronavirus cases, the UK government said. Travel restrictions will be relaxed in England for more than 50 countries including nearly all EU countries, British territories, and Australia and New Zealand.
- The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, stood by his decision to allow pubs, bars and restaurants to reopen in England on a Saturday despite concerns from the public that it could put extra strain on the police and the health service. In a radio interview, the prime minister suggested that the day of the week for reopening would not make a difference.
- Cases of coronavirus are surging in South Africa, a month after the country lifted most of the restrictions brought in with one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. On Thursday, authorities reported the country’s biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases, adding 8,728 confirmed infections and taking the total count to 168,061.
-
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iraq increased sevenfold in June, the International Rescue Committee said as it urged a redoubling of efforts to contain the spread of the disease in the country. By 1 July there had been 53,708 infections detected in the country, up from 6,868 on 1 June. The ministry of health said that hospitals are almost at full capacity.
- A fresh state of emergency was declared in Belgrade, with a number of restrictions restored after a new increase in coronavirus infections in the Serbian capital. Local authorities across the country had already declared emergencies in several other municipalities where a rise in coronavirus cases had threatened to disrupt the functioning of the health system.
- The Philippines reported its highest single-day increase in coronavirus infections, with 1,531 new cases detected in the past 24 hours, bringing the national total to 40,336. The country’s Covid-19 death toll has reached 1,280, after 12 more deaths from the disease.
- The European commission gave conditional approval for the use of antiviral remdesivir in severe Covid-19 patients following an accelerated review process, making it the region’s first therapy to be authorised to treat the virus. The move comes just a week after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its go-ahead for the drug, produced by Gilead Sciences.
- Life in Russia is unlikely to return to normal until next February at the earliest, the country’s health minister said. Many restrictions have already been eased, but with thousands of new cases still being reported every day, and a death toll approaching 10,000, some measures remain in force, including a ban on international flights, extended on Thursday until August.
Dodger Stadium’s 40-year wait to host the All-Star Game is going to last even longer.
The game scheduled for 14 July was canceled on Friday because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Dodger Stadium was awarded the 2022 Midsummer Classic. The 2021 game is set for Atlanta’s Truist Park, home to the Braves since 2017.
Because of the pandemic, opening day had already been delayed from 26 March to 23 or 24 July.
“Once it became clear we were unable to hold this year’s All-Star festivities, we wanted to award the Dodgers with the next available All-Star Game, which is 2022,” baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
Dodger Stadium has since May served as the city’s largest coronavirus testing site, where up to 6,000 people can be tested daily.
This will be the first time since 1945 that no game will be held. Travel restrictions because of World War II kept the game scheduled for Boston’s Fenway Park and any player selections from taking place that year. It was pushed back to the next season.
A UK government scientific adviser has criticised the decision by the prime minister’s father to travel to his Greek villa in apparent breach of Foreign Office guidance, write Nazia Parveen in Manchester and Helena Smith in Athens.
Boris Johnson has refused to condemn his father, Stanley, for flying to Greece, despite current advice for British nationals to avoid all but essential international travel.
Prof Stephen Reicher, a member of SPI-B, the Sage subcommittee providing advice from behavioural scientists to government on how the public might respond to lockdown measures, said the incident could undermine the public’s trust in government guidelines.
Reicher, previously reacted with disdain to Johnson’s defence of his senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, after his notorious visit to his parents’ home in Barnard Castle during the height of lockdown.
Of the recent episode involving the prime ministers’s father, Reicher said evidence had shown that trust is more important for compliance at this stage than it was during the lockdown.
“Erosion of trust undermines people’s willingness to use the test, trace and isolate system and in particular to give their information to the authorities,” he added.
The New Mexico national guard and tribal police are preparing to enforce a weekend curfew on the Navajo nation, as the sprawling reservation tries to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed more than 370 people, the Associated Press reports.
The curfew, which starts at 8pm on Friday and expires at 5am on Monday, is the first of three consecutive weekend lockdowns on the territory, that spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the tribal president, Jonathan Nez, said.
He warned that enforcement will be strict and include checkpoints in communities across the nation.
“The majority of Navajo residents comply with the weekend lockdowns, but there are a handful of residents who do not comply and continue to travel off the Nation and put themselves and others at risk of contracting the coronavirus,” Nez said in a statement.
The vast reservation has been trying to stop a major virus outbreak for weeks. The tribe reported 56 new cases on Thursday and two additional deaths. That brought the total to 371 deaths and nearly 7,700 confirmed cases.
The US reported a daily global record of more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday as infections rose in the vast majority of states and America’s top public health expert spoke of a “very disturbing week”, write Joanna Walters and Victoria Bekiempis in New York for the Guardian US.
Hospitals in some of the new hotspots in the US south and west put themselves on a crisis footing and face becoming overwhelmed. Florida reported almost 10,000 new cases in the past 24 hours and that state along with Texas, Arizona and California together made up almost half of the total of new infections.
The daily US tally stood at 55,274 new cases late on Thursday, topping the previous single-day record of 54,771 set by Brazil on 19 June and exceeding single-day tallies from any European country at the height of the outbreak there.
“What we’ve seen is a very disturbing week,” Anthony Fauci, a top federal health expert on the White House coronavirus taskforce and longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a livestream with the American Medical Association.
The surge this month, after a steady improvement in California and a continued improvement in the previous center of the pandemic, New York, has been blamed in part on Americans not covering their faces in public nor following other social distancing guidance or rules as states swiftly lifted their lockdowns.
Fauci warned that if people did not start complying, “we’re going to be in some serious difficulty”.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Saudi Arabia has passed 200,000, according to the latest update from the country’s health ministry, weeks ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage, which has been drastically cut back because of the pandemic.
The Gulf’s worst-hit country has now 201,801 confirmed infections including 4,193 new cases on Friday alone. There have been 1,802 deaths, while more than 140,000 of those infected subsequently recovered.
Amid tight restrictions to rein in the pandemic, the kingdom has said it would only allow around 1,000 worshippers already present in the kingdom to take part in the annual hajj pilgrimage later this month. In 2019, it attracted over 2.5 million pilgrims from around the world.
Saudi Arabia has seen an increase in both confirmed coronavirus infections and deaths from the Covid-19 illness the virus can cause since easing movement restrictions in late May.
It has yet to restore international air links.
Miami-Dade mayor imposes indefinite nightly curfew
The mayor of Florida’s biggest city has imposed an indefinite nightly curfew after the number of coronavirus cases in the state jumped again on Friday, according to Reuters.
The Miami-Dade county mayor, Carlos Gimenez, announced an indefinite nightly curfew from 10 pm to 6am as the 4 July holiday weekend began and halted the reopenings of venues, such as casinos and theaters that had been set for Friday.
“Let’s celebrate Independence Day by respecting one another’s right to life, liberty and happiness,” Gimenez said in a video on Friday, citing the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
The move came after Florida recorded 9,488 new cases on Friday, according to the state health department, on top of more than 10,000 new cases the previous day.
Thursday’s figure marked Florida’s largest daily spike so far and put it on a level that exceeded single-day tallies from any European country at the height of the outbreak there.
Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has announced he has tested positive for the coronavirus, as the number of confirmed cases in the country passed 220,000 on Friday.
He said he felt a ’slight fever,” immediately quarantined at home and later tested positive, according the Associated Press.
Qureshi is the senior most government official to contract the virus. Pakistan’s infection rate has been steadily climbing since the prime minister, Imran Khan, eased restrictions saying the country’s fragile economy would collapse under a strict lockdown and the poorest would suffer the most.
Khan has gone on national television to ask Pakistanis to wear masks and social distance, but the vast majority largely have ignored the precautions. Confirmed infections reached 221,896 on Friday and more than 4,500 deaths. Pakistan has pulled back on testing to around 20,000 tests a day from a high of more than 32,000.
Four MPs have died of Covid-19, one from the federal legislature and three provincial parliamentarians.
Spain will reopen its borders to visitors from 12 non-EU countries from Saturday, the country’s official state bulletin has announced, according to Xinhua.
Australia, Canada, South Korea, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand, Tunisia, Serbia and Uruguay, were selected from an initial list of 15 agreed by the European Union, China’s official news agency reported.
Spain reopened its borders to countries of the EU and the Schengen passport-free area on 21 June.
Coronavirus restrictions in South Africa are posing an existential problem for one of the country’s youngest Christian sects, with a ban on drinking effectively banning their idiosyncratic ceremony for communion.
When the country began easing its coronavirus lockdown in May, it allowed religious worshippers to gather in groups of up to 50, but maintained a ban on people assembling to drink alcohol, Reuters reports.
That’s a problem for the “Gabola” church — the name means ‘drinking’ in the local Tswana language — for whom a tipple is an integral part of their religious worship.
Founded just two years ago, the church tried to hold its usual meetings in local bars, called shebeens, to praise God while downing whisky, but they soon got arrested, said its leader and self-styled pope, Tsietsi Makiti, 55.
“They can arrest us until Jesus comes back,” said Makiti, wearing a bishop’s mitre with a miniature bottle of spirits hanging off it. But he added they had nevertheless been moving services from place to place to avoid a run-in with the authorities.
On Sunday worshippers met in a rubbish-strewn field in Evaton, south of Johannesburg. As the service started, clergy blessed beer bottles in prayer. “At Gabola church you (bring)... the liquor of your choice... and the pastor will bless the liquor so that it will not be poisonous to your body,” Makiti said.
Wearing flowing black robes and coloured scarves, Makiti and five clergymen sat before a table strewn with empty bottles of alcohol.
Makiti’s sermon included such proclamations as: “We are a church that will remake the world.”
“People call me a drunkard,” said one worshipper, Nthabiseng Kotope, 38, who said she joined the church in March. “I agree with them. I do God’s work while drinking.”
Apart from the ban on alcohol, the congregants observe all other coronavirus rules, including the limit of 50 people, the spacing out of chairs and use of hand sanitisers.
The UK is in talks to join a European Union plan to secure supplies of potential coronavirus vaccines, in a test of the cooperation required to tackle international emergencies after Brexit, the Financial Times reported on Friday, according to Reuters.
London is assessing whether the advantages of the European bloc’s bargaining power to strike deals with international drugs companies outweigh the broader political desire to sever ties with Brussels, the report said, citing UK officials.
Life in Russia is unlikely to return to normal until next February at the earliest, the country’s health minister has said, according to Reuters.
Mikhail Murashko told the Interfax news agency that 3,500 people in Russia were still receiving treatment via artificial lung ventilators, which he said was a “serious figure”. He added that millions would have died had preventative measures not been taken.
Some restrictions have already been eased, with restaurants, gyms and domestic travel all permitted within social distancing guidelines and certain parameters. But with thousands of new cases still being reported every day, and a death toll approaching 10,000, some measures remain in force, including a ban on international flights, extended on Thursday until August.
Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/TASS
“What is normal life? It’s going to concerts, taking flights, fully fledged work and travel. In my view, it’s unlikely that this will happen before February,” Murashko said, without elaborating on his choice of month.
Russia has reported 667,883 cases of the novel coronavirus - the world’s third-highest tally - but just 9,859 deaths, far lower than death tolls in other countries, which has prompted some scepticism.
The Moscow health department last month said the number of deaths was around 50% higher in May than in the same month last year.
Murashko said that official data for the country as whole in May was not yet available but that the coronavirus had increased Russia’s mortality rate by around 1.5%-2% since the beginning of 2020.
Updated
Several dozen prostitutes armed with an inflatable sex doll staged a protest in Berlin on Friday against coronavirus restrictions they say are preventing them from making a living, AFP reports.
The protesters gathered outside the Bundesrat upper house of parliament with red umbrellas and placards bearing slogans such as “Let us work,” “Open the brothels now” and “Our sector is being driven underground”.
Prostitution is legal and regulated in Germany, with sex workers entitled to employment contracts and social security benefits. But sex work has been banned since mid-March as part of efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus.
The Federal Association for Erotic and Sex Services said this was “incomprehensible in view of the developments in other sectors”.
“Hairdressers, massage parlours, beauty salons … fitness studios, tattoo shops, saunas, restaurants and hotels have been allowed to reopen,” it said in a statement, but sex workers “seem to have been forgotten by politicians”.
Brothels have been allowed to reopen in neighbouring countries including Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, the association pointed out.
“Prostitution facilities are subject to particularly strict regulations and are obliged to offer their sex workers a safe, hygienic working environment,” it said.
Updated
A junior minister in the Ghanaian government resigned on Friday after failing to self-isolate after testing positive for coronavirus, the presidency said, according to AFP.
The president, Nana Akufo-Addo, accepted Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah’s resignation “with immediate effect”, according to a statement from Akufo-Addo’s office.
“This follows the admission by the deputy minister of his breach of the Covid-19 protocols, when, as a person certified to be positive of the virus, he visited a registration centre in his constituency before the period of self-isolation was complete,” it said.
The presidency said that the Ahenkorah, who was deputy minister of trade and industry, ought to have led by example rather than violate self-isolation protocols.
The embattled minister told AFP that as an asymptomatic patient he was not a major threat to other people. “I have Covid-19, but I’m asymptomatic. There is nothing shameful in catching covid. I never got in the midst of people at the registration centre. I spoke to a few people at the centre and left,” Ahenkorah added.
The authorities in Ghana have introduced a raft of measures, including self-isolation, lockdown, mask-wearing and social distancing to curb the spread of the virus.
The disease has so far infected more than 18,000 people and claimed 117 lives in the west African nation.
Updated
Hong Kong’s new security law has prompted a sharp uptick in inquiries from families looking to relocate to Canada, but Ottawa’s strict Covid-19 border control measures are making it nearly impossible to get in.
Even before the law took effect this week, refugee claims from Hong Kong in the first three months of 2020 nearly tripled to 25 compared with nine in all of 2019 and just two in all of 2018, Canadian government data shows.
Admissions of new permanent residents from Hong Kong jumped 75.7% in January and February 2020 compared to the previous year, as Beijing’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters escalated.
Claims from all countries have plunged since March amid Covid-19 closures.
Beijing imposed the legislation on Hong Kong this week despite protests from Hong Kongers and Western nations, setting China’s freest city and a major financial hub on a more authoritarian track.
Canada was a preferred destination for Hong Kongers who fled the island city ahead of the British handover to China in 1997, and some 300,000 people in Hong Kong hold Canadian passports.
Most who came in the 1990s have left and interest in relocating from Hong Kong to Canada has been tepid in recent years.
But in the days since China imposed the security law, Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland has found himself consulting with people by phone, email and Zoom on how to get from Hong Kong into Canada.
“This week is the game-changing week with the new security law,” said Kurland. “Now families are taking things seriously.”
Moving to Canada will not be as easy as it was in the ‘90s. A programme that allowed wealthy foreigners to buy admission to Canada was scrapped in 2014.
And the border is currently closed until at least the end of July due to the coronavirus pandemic, with only citizens, permanent residents and others deemed essential allowed in.
“Until the travel restrictions are lifted from Covid, I can’t imagine how someone would manage to even board a flight at this point,” said Toronto immigration lawyer Chantal Desloges.
Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina are the Latin American countries that earned the best grades for their response to the coronavirus, according to a poll conducted in the region and released on Friday, while Brazil was tagged as the worst performer.
The survey by the consulting firm Trespuntozero, to which Reuters had exclusive access, shows that in eight of the 10 countries in which the study was conducted, the respondents considered Uruguay one of the best controllers of the pandemic.
According to the poll, the performance of the Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, against the pandemic had 77.8% approval in his own country; that of Paraguayan Mario Abdo, 76.7%; and that of Argentina’s Alberto Fernández, 68%.
As of Thursday, Uruguay had registered 947 cases with 28 deaths, according to the Reuters count, Argentina 69,941 cases with 1,385 deaths and Brazil 1,495,628 with 61,862 deaths.
The survey was carried out among 10,000 people distributed equally in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
Asked about which countries in the region had done the worst against the pandemic, respondents put Brazil at the bottom.
“The countries surveyed were clear on which model not to follow: Brazil,” Shila Vilker, director of the Buenos Aires-based consultancy Trespuntozero, told Reuters.
Brazil has more confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths than anywhere outside the US. President Jair Bolsonaro has criticized lockdown and social distancing orders issued by governors and mayors.
Updated
The European commission has given conditional approval for the use of antiviral remdesivir in severe Covid-19 patients following an accelerated review process, making it the region’s first therapy to be authorised to treat the virus.
The move comes just a week after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its go-ahead for the drug, produced by Gilead Sciences, to be used in patients aged 12 and above who are also suffering from pneumonia and require oxygen support.
It also comes just days after the company allocated nearly all of its supply of the antiviral to the US over the next three months, stirring concerns about availability elsewhere.
“We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to secure efficient treatments or vaccine against the coronavirus,” said Stella Kyriakides, the EU commissioner for health and food safety.
The commission said on Wednesday it was in negotiations with Gilead to obtain doses of remdesivir for the 27 European Union countries.
Remdesivir is in high demand after the intravenously administered medicine helped to shorten hospital recovery times in a clinical trial.
It is believed to be most effective in treating Covid-19 patients earlier in the course of disease than other therapies like the steroid dexamethasone.
Still, because remdesivir is given intravenously over at least a five-day period it is generally being used on patients sick enough to require hospitalisation.
Updated
A fresh state of emergency has been declared in Belgrade, with a number of restrictions restored after a new increase in coronavirus infections in the Serbian capital, according to Reuters.
People will be required to wear masks in indoor public spaces or on public transport, opening hours of clubs and cafes will be shortened, and gatherings will be limited to 100 people indoors or 500 outdoors.
The state of emergency comes into effect immediately, city hall said in a statement on Friday. The president, Alexandar Vučić, announced the measures on television overnight.
Local authorities have already declared emergencies in several other municipalities where a rise in coronavirus cases had threatened to disrupt the functioning of the health system.
The number of cases in has been on the rise since May, when the government lifted a countrywide lockdown. Soccer matches with thousands of fans, religious festivities and parliamentary elections are believed to have contributed to the spike in infections.
Last week, several high-ranking officials of the ruling coalition, including the outgoing parliament speaker and the defence minister, fell ill with Covid-19. They had attended events in late June celebrating an election victory of Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party.
Serbia’s world number one men’s tennis player, Novak Djokovic, tested positive for the coronavirus last month, after being criticised for attending a tournament in neighbouring Croatia at which players hugged and shook hands.
On Thursday, Serbia which has a population of 7.2 million, recorded 359 new infections, bringing its total confirmed cases to 15,195, up from 11,523 a month ago. So far 287 people have died.
Updated
Soldiers were deployed on to the streets of Baku and other cities in Azerbaijan on Friday, to police renewed restrictions on movement aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus, reports AFP.
The military deployment came as the numbers of new coronavirus infections were accelerating in the oil-rich Caucasus nation of some 10 million people. “Army units are taking part in patrols which oversee the implementation of a special quarantine regime,” the defence ministry’s spokesman, Vagif Dargyahly, told France’s official news agency.
On 21 June, Azerbaijan reinstated in Baku, the capital, and several other major cities a coronavirus lockdown to contain the spread of the disease as infections surged weeks after the country eased restrictions. Azerbaijanis are allowed to leave home only after receiving permission via text message from the authorities.
Despite the strict measures, the number of infections has increased by nearly 70% to 18,684 cases. Azerbaijan has also reported 228 deaths.
The new restrictions are set to last until 1 August.
The ex-Soviet republic imposed a state of emergency to contain the outbreak in late March. It was then lifted at the end of May, with most restrictions relaxed.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Iraq increased sevenfold in June, the International Rescue Committee said as it urged a redoubling of efforts to contain the spread of the disease in the country.
By 1 July there had been 53,708 infections detected in the country, up from 6,868 on 1 June. The ministry of health has announced that hospitals are almost at full capacity, and that schools and universities will be converted into isolation units to cope with the surging caseload.
Meanwhile, those who have not been infected have been seriously affected by restrictive lockdown measures imposed to try to curb the spread of the disease. A recent survey of 1,491 people carried out by the IRC found that: 87% had lost their jobs as a result of the lockdowns; 73% were reducing the amount of food they were eating to reduce costs; 68% were spending their savings; 61% were going into debt; and 68% of respondents said that psychological trauma, stress and anxiety were the main issues affecting women and girls during the outbreak.
Christine Petrie, Country Director for the IRC in Iraq, said:
The rate at which Covid-19 is spreading through Iraq is extremely alarming. We’re seeing more than a thousand new cases confirmed each day - sometimes more than 2,000 - and it is showing no signs of slowing down. Although tens of thousands of people are suffering because of the disease itself, there are many more whose lives and livelihoods have been affected indirectly as well. People have lost their jobs and are struggling to find the money to even buy bread. They’re eating less, spending their savings and going into debt.
Humanitarian agencies are working hard to provide emergency cash assistance to those most in need, but it is not a long-term solution. As more and more people return to their daily lives, it is imperative that they are able to protect themselves and others, and the most effective way this can be done is through reinforcing public health messaging. Raising awareness among communities on the effect that social distancing and regular hand washing can have will go a long way to helping to bring the disease under control. We are re-doubling our efforts in this regard and are urging everyone in Iraq to follow the recommendations to wash their hands, practice social distancing, limit contact with others and self-isolate if they have symptoms.
Once things stabilise there will be a lot of work to do to help people get back on their feet. Their loss of livelihoods will have taken a heavy toll on people’s mental health, which was already in a fragile state after decades of conflict and instability. Now is not the time to lose focus on supporting Iraqis after everything they have been through and are continuing to come to terms with.
Rapid coronavirus tests were unveiled for visitors arriving at Thailand’s main international airport on Friday, after the partial lifting of a three-month ban on foreign visitors, according to Reuters.
All foreigners, except those with work permits, had been barred since March, but after more than five weeks with no recorded community transmission of the virus, Thailand is allowing in some groups.
Business travellers, diplomats and government guests staying for less than 14 days are considered “fast track travellers” who will be swab tested for the disease at Suvarnabhumi airport to make ensure they are infection-free before entry.
“The test itself takes around one hour and a half,” Suwich Thammapalo, an official of Thailand’s disease control department, told Reuters, adding that its use could be expanded in future for other arrivals and tourists.
The airport test, costing 3,000 baht ($96) each, is one requirement for fast-track entry without spending 14 days in quarantine, and is required of other foreigners recently allowed in, ranging from those with resident status or family in the country, as well as international students.
The government is considering a plan to open more international travel with a “travel bubble” arrangement with some countries in September, he added.
As the pandemic hits travel, Thailand is expected to draw at most 8 million foreign tourists this year, down 80% from a year earlier, the Tourism Council of Thailand estimates, although the sector is expected to recover in 2021.
The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, is standing by his decision to allow pubs, bars and restaurants to reopen in England on a Saturday despite concerns from the public that it could put extra strain on the police and the health service, writes Guardian political correspondent Kate Proctor.
In a radio interview, the prime minister suggested that the day of the week for reopening would not make a difference, but reminded people to enjoy themselves safely.
Johnson told LBC the government had thought carefully about the date, after a caller into the station suggested a weekday might have been more appropriate, given the increase in drunken behaviour at weekends.
“We thought about this carefully and I think we wanted to give pubs time to prepare and we wanted a date early in July. I hope very much that people will behave responsibly and enjoy summer safely,” the prime minister said.
Updated
US included on England's Covid-19 'red list'
The US will be on a “red list” of high-risk countries that people in England are advised not to visit for non-essential reasons because of its continued high level of coronavirus cases, the government has confirmed, writes Alexandra Topping in London.
Travel restrictions will be relaxed in England for more than 50 countries including nearly all EU countries, British territories such as Bermuda and Gibraltar, and Australia and New Zealand.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said the quarantine rules would not be lifted next week for travellers arriving from the US or Greece.
“The US, from a very early stage, banned flights from the UK and from Europe so there isn’t a reciprocal arrangement in place in any case there,” he said. “They have got very high numbers of infections, which is why they are not on the list today.”
Iran on Friday reported 154 new deaths from Covid-19, with fatalities picking up again days after hitting a record high, AFP reports.
The health ministry’s spokeswoman, Sima Sadat Lari, said in a televised statement that the latest deaths had taken the overall toll in Iran’s outbreak to 11,260.
She said a further 2,566 people had tested positive for the virus, bringing to 235,429 the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak emerged in February.
Fatalities had dropped slightly after hitting the highest single-day toll of 162 on Monday but resumed a rising trajectory in the past two days.
The growing caseload has seen some previously largely unscathed provinces classified as “red” - the highest level on Iran’s colour-coded risk scale – with authorities allowed to reimpose restrictive measures if required.
It has prompted the government to make the wearing of masks mandatory in enclosed public spaces from Sunday, with some officials and state television anchors wearing masks on camera as part of a campaign to encourage their use.
Updated
Coronavirus cases surge by nearly 8,000 in South Africa
Cases of coronavirus are surging in South Africa, a month after the country lifted most of the restrictions brought in with one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, writes Jason Burke, the Guardian’s Africa correspondent.
On Thursday, authorities reported the country’s biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases, adding 8,728 confirmed infections and taking the total count to 168,061.
The fastest rise in cases has been in Gauteng, the country’s richest and most populous province, where health officials now say may have to reimpose some restrictions as limited hospital facilities are overwhelmed.
Officials describe a “covid storm” that will last through the southern hemisphere winter until September.
The lockdown caused great hardship to tens of millions who depend on daily work to eat, and further damaged an already fragile economy. The poor have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic with social distancing and other measures difficult in overcrowded neighbourhoods.
But though South Africa has one of the most developed health sectors on the continent, steps taken to expand capacity are proving inadequate with a critical shortage of trained nurses and other staff a major problem.
Some progress has been made in stemming the outbreak in the western Cape province, around the city of Cape Town, but few doubt tough times ahead.
“Our predictions tell us that we will be reaching 120 000 [cases] by the end of July. We will be getting closer to 250 000 to 300 000 by August, [and in] September which is expected to be the peak, we will be having more than that,” said Dr Bandile Masuku, the top health official in Gauteng.
Updated
VIDEO: Brazil honours essential workers and victims of the coronavirus with a tribute projected onto the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, where a message from Pope Francis was scheduled to be broadcast but was cancelled due to strong winds pic.twitter.com/CQp7rhik0s
— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 3, 2020
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has started making official appearances wearing a mask, after being called out for never having being pictured wearing one despite it being part of the government’s official guidance, the Associated Press reports.
Merkel appeared in the upper house of parliament in Berlin on Friday wearing a black mask sporting the logo of Germany’s European Union presidency, taking it off after she took her seat at an appropriate distance from others in the chamber.
Her security guards did not wear masks, however.
The new look came after Merkel responded defensively when asked by a reporter on Monday why she never had been seen wearing a mask. She said:
If I respect the distancing rules then I don’t need to wear a mask. And if I’m not able to stick to them, for example when I’m out shopping, then we apparently don’t see each other, otherwise you’d have already seen me with a mask — but I’m not going to give away where and when I go shopping.
This tweet from AFP shows the increases in new cases of coronavirus over the week to Thursday in the world’s worst-affected countries.
AFP, the French government-funded news agency, collates its figures independently, so they do not necessarily tally with those published by the Reuters news agency, the World Health Organization, or the Maryland, US-based Johns Hopkins University, whose tally the Guardian usually follows.
COVID-19 latest growth -- one week of NEW cases Jun 26 - Jul 2:
— AFPgraphics (@AFPgraphics) July 3, 2020
US: 314,700+
Brazil: 260,120+
India: 131,530+https://t.co/nJ4Ox6JsKm: 49,680+
Russia: 47,170+
Mexico: 34,920+@AFP pic.twitter.com/xDvxrwaBS5
Updated
US recorded new daily record for infections on Thursday
The US reported more than 55,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new daily global record for the coronavirus pandemic, as infections rose in a majority of states, according to Reuters.
A surge in coronavirus cases over the past week has put Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis under the microscope and led several governors to halt plans to reopen their states after strict lockdowns.
The daily US tally stood at 55,274 late Thursday, topping the previous single-day record of 54,771 set by Brazil on 19 June.
New infections were rising in 37 out of 50 US states in the past 14 days compared with the two weeks prior, according to a Reuters analysis. The US has now recorded nearly 129,000 deaths, nearly a quarter of the known global total.
Florida confirmed more than 10,000 new cases on Thursday, marking the state’s largest daily spike so far and a level that exceeded single-day tallies from any European country at the height of the outbreak there.
Positive tests in California, another hotspot, climbed 37%, with hospitalisations up 56% over the past two weeks.
The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, a Republican who has previously resisted calls to make face masks mandatory, on Thursday ordered them to be worn in all counties with more than 20 coronavirus cases. Texas reported nearly 8,000 new cases on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, Kansas required face coverings after a 46% spike in infections there last week.
The wave of new cases has several governors halting or back-pedalling on plans to reopen their states after months of strict lockdowns, closing beaches and cancelling fireworks displays over the upcoming independence day weekend.
Updated
Hi, this is Damien Gayle taking the reins on the live blog now, for the next eight hours or so, bringing you the latest coronavirus news and updates from around the world.
If you have any comments about our coverage, or any tips or suggestions for stories we could be running, please feel free to drop me a line, either via email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has exceeded 32,000 in Afghanistan, after the health ministry reported 302 new infections on Friday.
The number of deaths has risen by 12 to 819, amid dropping numbers of daily tests.
The health ministry tested 772 suspected patients in the last 24 hours, with country testing 74,287 patients since the outbreak began. The total number of infections stands at 32,324 with 17,331 recoveries.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan urged warring sides on Thursday to redouble efforts at protecting civilians from harm and de-escalate the conflict in order to save lives.
The UN said it is particularly concerned by a recent spate of violent incidents in which members of Afghanistan’s civil society have been targeted.
According to its report, which was published on Thursday, in the first six months of 2020, more than 800 civilians were killed and injured in deliberate attacks against civilians.
“UNAMA attributed responsibility for approximately half of these civilian casualties to the Taliban,” it said.
The week started with a mortar attack that left at least 27 civilians dead and dozens wounded, including children. Government forces and the Taliban both blamed each other for the attack.
Afghan media has reported over 100 Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters were killed in the last 24 hours in clashes across the country.
Updated
Authorities in northern Nigeria’s biggest city Kano have lifted a three-month lockdown imposed to contain a coronavirus outbreak linked to hundreds of deaths.
State governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje announced the lifting of the curfew in a broadcast, insisting the key trading hub had seen a sharp drop in infections.
We can beat our chest and say we are winning the case and there is no longer any need for the lockdown.
There will be free movement for all.
Kano was put under lockdown in April after medics and cemetery workers reported a spike in “unexplained” deaths.
A team of health experts from the central government found that up to 600 fatalities may have been linked to the virus, but local officials put the figure at under half that number.
The research was based on interviews with relatives of the deceased and medics but the figures were never added to the official tally as no tests were conducted.
The lockdown in Kano was later eased to only three days in a week after a drop in deaths and infection.
Ganduje has ordered senior government employees to resume work and said the state would enforce the mandatory wearing of face masks.
Social distancing and hygiene measures have remained largely lax in the city despite the authorities setting up a dozen mobile courts to ensure compliance.
Kano’s relaxation of restrictions comes as the central government has rolled back virus measures around the country despite mounting infections.
Africa’s largest nation has reported 27,110 officially confirmed cases and 616 deaths, but has been struggling to provide adequate testing capacity.
Despite imposing an early lockdown, containment may be unravelling in Bolivia amid poverty, an underprepared health system and a bitter political standoff, report Laurence Blair and Cindy Jiménez Bercerra in La Paz.
When Pedro Flores and a group of fellow doctors arrived in the Beni, Bolivia’s tropical northern province, at the end of May, they knew the crisis caused by coronavirus would be severe. But what they found still left them shaken.
“The health system, public and private, collapsed,” said Flores. Many doctors in the regional capital of Trinidad fell ill. Other medical staff, terrified, locked themselves in at home or fled to remote farmhouses. As critically ill patients multiplied, the death toll began to climb.
Flores, who was initially hired by a local cattle ranchers’ association and has since returned as a volunteer, explained:
There were no medical supplies, there were no ventilators, no oxygen.
Here in Trinidad most people have a relative, a friend, a neighbour who has died. We’re in a health disaster.
Philippines reports largest single-day increase of cases
The Philippines’ has reported six additional coronavirus deaths and 1,531 more infections, its largest single-day increase in confirmed cases.
The ministry said total cases have risen to 40,336, while deaths have reached 1,280.
The previous highest number of daily cases was 1,150 reported on 23 June.
Updated
Ghana’s deputy trade and industry minister, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, has resigned for violating coronavirus self-isolation measures after testing positive for the virus, president Nana Akufo-Addo said in a statement.
“This follows the admission by the deputy minister of his breach of the Covid-19 protocols, when, as a person certified to be positive of the virus, he visited a registration centre in his constituency before the period of self-isolation was complete,” the statement said.
The West African nation is one of the worst-hit countries on the continent, with 18,134 cases and 117 deaths.
Last month, health minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu tested positive for the virus.
Beijing, starting on Saturday, will no longer require some residents seeking to travel out of the Chinese capital to show proof that they have tested negative for Covid-19.
Given the declining number of coronavirus cases in the current outbreak, residents from low-risk areas no longer need to provide evidence they have tested negative, Pan Xuhong, a spokesman for the Beijing Public Security Bureau, said.
Beijing has reported 331 confirmed cases in the current outbreak since mid-June.
To stem the spread of the virus, residents from high and medium-risk areas have been banned from leaving the city.
Until now, residents from low-risk areas, or areas with no confirmed cases for at least two weeks, needed to test negative if they wished to travel out of Beijing.
That’s all from me Caroline Davies at present. I am handing over now to my colleague Jessica Murray. Thank you for your time.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has refused to condemn his father for flying to Greece in an apparent breach of Foreign Office guidance to avoid non-essential travel.
Stanley Johnson was widely criticised after travelling via Bulgaria to visit his Greek villa in order to “Covid-proof” it.
Johnson told LBC Radio: “I think you really ought to raise that with him. I am not going to get into details of family conversations.
“I think the overwhelming majority of the British people have understood what needs to be done and have been very prudent, and that is the right thing to do.”
Greek government officials confirmed on Thursday that Stanley Johnson,a former MEP and an author, had arrived, probably via Bulgaria, in the northern region of Pelion where he has a holiday home, but said there was nothing untoward in his arrival.
Photos on his Instagram account showed him wearing a mask in what appeared to be an airport. Two videos on the same account showed an aircraft coming in to land.
Updated
Low income Italians are significantly more likely to die of the coronavirus than higher-income groups, the country’s first significant study into the disease’s disproportionate social impact has shown.
Italy is one of the world’s worst-hit countries with almost 35,000 Covid-19 deaths since its outbreak emerged on Feb. 21 and it was the first European nation to report large-scale infections, Reuters reports.
In its annual report, national statistics bureau ISTAT studied mortality rates for each month from January 2019 to March 2020, when the outbreak took off, focusing on the education levels of those who died.
On average, Italians who leave school early with few qualifications have lower life-expectancy than those who study for longer, ISTAT said, and this “excess mortality” remained roughly constant through February this year.
In March however, the excess death ratio of the less educated in areas affected by the virus increased to 1.38 for men from 1.23 a year earlier, and jumped to 1.36 from 1.08 for women.
ISTAT statistician Linda Sabbadini said data on education levels was more readily available than other social indicators and was “an excellent proxy for income and class in Italy.”
“Disadvantaged socio-economic conditions expose people to greater risk of living in small or overcrowded housing, reducing the possibility of adopting social distancing measures,” the ISTAT report said.
Low-income groups were also more likely to be forced to work during lockdown, in sectors such as agriculture, public transport and assistance for the elderly, ISTAT said, concluding that Covid-19 had “accentuated pre-existing inequalities.”
Updated
In the Netherlands, authorities announced on Friday that yet another mink farm has been infected with coronavirus, making 18 in total, with thousands of animals to be culled.
The outbreak was reported on a farm at Landhorst in the southeast, the Health Ministry said in a statement, in the same region where 17 other farms were also infected, AFP reports.
“The infection was discovered because the mink showed symptoms of the disease and farmers are obliged to report it,” the ministry said.
The farm, which has more than 4,300 animals “will be cleared as soon as possible,” it added.
The Netherlands first reported in April that two mink farms had been infected with the COVID-19 disease.
At least two workers were also infected in what the World Health Organization said could be the first known animal-to-human transmissions.
Last month authorities culled thousands of mink on farms infected by the coronavirus
More on England lifting quarantine rules for more than 50 countries. Passengers arriving into England from the United States will not be exempted from quarantine rules, Britain’s transport minister Grant Shapps said.
Asked whether the United States would be on a ‘red-list’ of countries to which a 14-day quarantine period will apply, Shapps said: “I’m afraid it will be.”
“The US from a very early stage banned flights from the UK and from Europe so there isn’t a reciprocal arrangement in place,” he told the BBC.
Updated
England’s coronavirus quarantine rules for more than 50 countries including Germany, France, Spain and Italy is to end, allowing millions of holidaymakers to head to Europe’s beaches for a summer break.
From July 10 passengers visiting places viewed as low risk will not need to self-isolate when they return, while those from higher risk countries will have to quarantine for 14-day.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s government has so far failed to convince the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to immediately follow suit.
“There will be a list of 50 plus countries and if you add in the overseas territories, 60 something or other that we will publish later today,” transport secretary Grant Shapps said.
“Today marks the next step in carefully reopening our great nation,” he said.
The full list has not yet been published by the government. New Zealand is included in the list as are the Vatican and Britain’s overseas territories such as the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar.
You can read more on this here
For the latest on how Covid-19 has spread around the planet, here is our coronavirus world map
Updated
South Africa, with 58 million people and nearly 40% of all the cases on the entire continent, has seen the number of confirmed infections rise from 34,000 at the start of June to more than 168,000 on Friday, the Associated Press reports.
Although some of that is thought to be due to efforts to clear a testing backlog, the rate of increase of new cases is picking up.
As of Friday, 2,844 had died, according to official statistics. But forecasts by health experts have warned that South Africa could see from 40,000 to more than 70,000 deaths from COVID-19 before the end of 2020.
Its hospitals are now bracing for an onslaught of patients, setting up temporary wards and hoping advances in treatment will help the country’s health facilities from becoming overwhelmed.
The surge comes as the country has allowed businesses to reopen in recent weeks to stave off economic disaster after a strict two-month stay-at-home order worsened already high unemployment it reached 30% in June and drastically increased hunger.
In Johannesburg, the largest city, health officials said they are considering reimposing some restrictions to try to slow the quickening spread of the virus.
Updated
With fewer flights currently available, many will be looking to train travel across Europe this summer. A handy explainer on the current state of international rail services across Europe can be found here
Hi. This is Caroline Davies taking over the live blog. You can get in touch on caroline.davies@theguardian.com
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. Thanks for following along and for not touching your face in months.
so proud of myself for not touching my face since March
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) July 3, 2020
Updated
Global report: horror week for US as coronavirus records tumble
The past week has seen the US break its own one-day case record four times, according to data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins university.
In the seven days up to and including 1 July, the country, which has the highest number of cases and deaths worldwide, confirmed more than 40,000 cases on four separate days.
On Wednesday, cases rose by more than 50,000 for the first time in the US, with 51,200 confirmed in 24 hours.
The national increases come as the pandemic threatens people in a wider area of the country. Close to 10 times as many US counties meet the threshold to be considered a hotspot as during the previous peak, in April, the New York Times reported.
There are 2,739,230 known infections in the US, and there have been 128,743 deaths.
Updated
Leaders of the isolated indigenous Yanomami community in Brazil have complained that a military mission to protect them from the coronavirus brought greater risk of infection to their people through contact with outsiders including journalists.
Federal prosecutors said they were investigating the visit for ignoring the wishes of Yanomami communities to remain isolated from society, violating rules of social distancing and distributing chloroquine to indigenous people, Reuters reports.
Summary
Here are the key global developments in the coronavirus pandemic from the last few hours:
- Global cases are nearing 11 million. There are 10,842,615 known infections worldwide, and 520,785 deaths.
- The past week has seen the US break its own one-day case record four times, according to data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. In the seven days up to and including 1 July, the country, which has the highest number of cases and deaths worldwide, confirmed more than 40,000 cases on four separate days. On Wednesday. also saw cases rose by more than 50,000 for the first time in the US, with 51,200 confirmed in 24 hours.
- Brazil, second only to the US in terms of number of cases and deaths, has almost 1.5 million confirmed infections, after it added 48,105 new cases on Thursday. Cases there stand at 1,496,858, with deaths at 61,884. Brazil has reported more than 40,000 daily cases at least three times in the past week.
- The leading health official in the state of Sonora, Mexico, has asked the federal government to temporarily close the border to non-essential visits from the US, in response to a spike in virus cases reported in Arizona. Mexico’s coronavirus outbreak also rose by a record 6,741 confirmed cases and 679 deaths on Thursday, putting the country’s death toll at 29,189.
- The United Nations has predicted that more than 2.7m businesses could go under and 8.5m jobs could be lost in Latin America due to the coronavirus crisis. The UN’s economic commission for the region said shops, hotels and restaurants, many of which are small- and medium-size businesses, will be hardest hit.
- Australia’s state of Victoria is still struggling to contain a new outbreak, with 66 additional cases confirmed on Friday. The state health minister, Jenny Mikakos, said on Friday there was evidence of a “super-spreader” in the Victorian outbreak.
- In Tokyo, Japan, more 120 new cases were found on Friday, the Nikkei newspaper reported. On Thursday, the metropolis confirmed 107 new cases, the most in two months, but the government – eager to revive a slumping economy – said it was not planning to reimpose the emergency that was lifted on 25 May. Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, looks set cruise to victory in her bid for re-election on Sunday, buoyed by approval of her handling of the pandemic.Tokyo accounts for nearly 6,400 of Japan’s approximately 19,000 cases.
- South Korea reported 63 new coronavirus cases as of Thursday, most from domestic infections outside Seoul, triggering the return of tighter social distancing curbs in one city as the spectre of a second wave of the disease worried authorities. For the first time in almost two months, new daily cases from other cities surpassed those from Seoul area. The south-western city of Gwangju has recorded more than 50 cases in the past few days, prompting the suspension of operations at public facilities such as public libraries and museums.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, meanwhile, praised what he described as his country’s “shining success” in holding off the pandemic, according to state-run KCNA news agency on Friday. The head of the totalitarian state spoke at a Workers’ party politburo meeting on Thursday discussing the impact of the virus, AFP reported. Pyongyang has not confirmed a single case of the deadly disease but has imposed strict rules, including closing its borders and schools, and putting thousands of its people into isolation. Analysts say the North is unlikely to have avoided infections, and that its ramshackle health system could struggle to cope with a major outbreak.
- Staff and residents in UK care homes for people over 65 and those with dementia will receive regular tests from Monday. Staff will be tested for the virus weekly while residents will receive a test every 28 days. The new measures will be in addition to intensive testing in any care home facing an outbreak or an increased risk of a surge in cases.
- Holidaymakers from England will be able to visit Spain, Italy, France and Germany without having to quarantine for 14 days on their return and travel restrictions on up to 60 other countries and territories are also set to be lifted.
- Hundreds of health workers have been infected with coronavirus in South Africa’s Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria. Across South Africa, more than 2,000 health workers across have been infected.
- There is “very little risk” that pets can infect their owners with Covid-19, the chief scientist of the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
- A leading obstetrician has advised women in Papua New Guinea not to fall pregnant for up to two years, saying fears of Covid-19 transmission have seen pregnant women turned away from hospitals, resulting in the death of at least one baby.
Updated
Asian shares hit 4-month high
Asian shares rallied to a four-month high on Friday on robust US payrolls data and a brisk pickup in Chinese service sector activity but a surge in coronavirus cases in the United States kept a lid on further risk-taking, Reuters reports.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5%, reaching their highest level since late February, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4%.
Mainland Chinese shares, which were among the best performers over the past month, extended gains, with the Shanghai composite index hitting a high last seen in April 2019.
China’s services sector expanded at the fastest pace in over a decade in June, the Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed, as the easing of coronavirus-related lockdown measures revised consumer demand.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 446 to 195,674, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Friday.
The reported death toll rose by 9 to 9,003, the tally showed.
Delay pregnancy for two years: Papua New Guinea doctor delivers coronavirus warning
Leanne Jorari reports for the Guardian:
A leading Papua New Guinean obstetrician has advised women in that country not to fall pregnant for up to two years, saying fears of Covid-19 transmission have seen pregnant women turned away from hospitals, resulting in the death of at least one baby.
The warning comes as Papua New Guinea’s military headquarters remains in lockdown after a spate of coronavirus cases. But reports from inside the barracks suggest lockdown measures are not being adhered to, raising concerns of a wider outbreak.
Authorities in Thailand on Friday reported one new coronavirus infection in a quarantined Thai national returning from the Middle East, stretching to 39 days its record of no local transmissions.
The coronavirus has killed 58 people in Thailand, among 3,180 infections, of which 3,066 patients have recovered.
Helen Sullivan here. A reminder that you can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan and via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
Here’s the latest on Victoria, Australia:
Updated
The World Health Organization says more than 6,000 health workers have been infected with the coronavirus in 38 countries across its Africa region since the pandemic began.
Hundreds of health workers already have been infected in the latest hot spot of South Africa’s Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria. Across South Africa, more than 2,000 health workers across have been infected. In Nigeria, nearly 1,000 have been sickened.
The WHO’s 47-country Africa region has the most severe health workforce shortage in the world, and concerns about adequate personal protective gear against the coronavirus are widespread.
Already a handful of countries have seen more than 10% of their health workers infected as of Tuesday: Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Niger, Mozambique and Burundi.
Japan has not seen the explosive outbreak of the virus suffered elsewhere but Tokyo, with a population of some 14 million, accounts for nearly 6,400 of its approximately 19,000 cases.
On Thursday, the metropolis confirmed 107 new cases, the most in two months, but the government - eager to revive a slumping economy - said it was not planning to reimpose the emergency that was lifted on May 25. More 120 new cases were found in Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
Koike has said it might be necessary to a hold a more bare-bones Olympics next year because of the pandemic’s impact, but it is not clear who will shoulder the huge costs of the postponement and whether the Games can really go ahead in 2021.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike looks set cruise to victory in her bid for re-election on Sunday, buoyed by approval of her handling of the novel coronavirus even as a recent rise in infections triggers new concerns in the Japanese capital, Reuters reports.
Koike, 67, often floated as a potential prime minister, won plaudits from the public for her straight-talking approach to the pandemic in contrast with what critics say was Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s initially slow and clumsy response.
A former defence and environment minister, Koike is promising to prepare Tokyo - which accounts for about 20% of Japan’s economy - for any second wave of infections and gain public understanding for a “simplified” Olympics next year after the 2020 Summer Games were postponed because of the coronavirus.
Podcast: How one small London neighbourhood lost 36 residents to Covid-19
Guardian reporter Aamna Modhin meets residents from Church End, a small, deprived neighbourhood in Brent, north London. She examines how housing pressures, in-work poverty and racial inequalities contributed to the deaths of 36 residents from Covid-19:
South Korea reports 63 new cases, city of Gwangju returns to stricter social distancing
South Korea reported 63 new coronavirus cases as of Thursday, most from domestic infections outside Seoul, triggering the return of tighter social distancing curbs in one city as the spectre of a second wave of the disease worried authorities.
South Korea was praised for containing its first outbreak of Covid-19 but Asia’s fourth-largest economy has experienced persistent outbreaks in recent weeks, mostly in the capital.
For the first time in almost two months, new daily cases from other cities surpassed those from Seoul area. The southwestern city of Gwangju has recorded more than 50 cases the past few days, prompting the suspension of operations at public facilities such as public libraries and museums.
Health authorities have recently categorised social distancing rules in three stages - stage 1 being the least intense and stage 3 the toughest, where schools and businesses are urged to close.
The recent spikes are concerning as new clusters are emerging in wide range of areas, making it harder for epidemiological surveys.
But with the case numbers still manageable, local governments will each decide whether to upgrade their guidelines, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told a briefing. The new cases took South Korea’s tally to 12,967 with 282 deaths by midnight on Thursday.
Updated
Mexican state eyes closing US border as Arizona cases rise
Mexico’s coronavirus outbreak rose by a record 6,741 confirmed cases and 679 deaths Thursday, putting the country’s toll of 29,189 Covid-19 deaths higher than Spains, though the milestone was overshadowed by the resurgence in the United States.
Reacting to a spike in virus cases reported in Arizona, the top health official in the neighbouring Mexican state of Sonora is asking Mexico’s federal government to temporarily close the border to non-essential visits from the US.
“No more crossings from the United States into Mexico for visitors who do not have essential activities,” Sonora state Health Secretary Enrique Clausen said Wednesday.
He said he was asking only for entry into Sonora to be suspended.
The United States and Mexico previously agreed to limiting non-essential border crossings into the US during the pandemic, but Mexico has not moved to block entry into its territory and it seemed unlikely the Foreign Relations Department would grant Clausen’s request. The agency did announce it would screen incoming visitors from the United States over the July 4th weekend, checking temperatures and asking about symptoms as a preventative measure.
Updated
Victoria, Australia confirms 66 new cases, outbreak believed to be linked to a 'super spreader'
The Australian state of Victoria is still struggling to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, with 66 additional cases confirmed on Friday.
17 of these are connected to known outbreaks, while 20 are from routine testing and one is a person currently in hotel quarantine. 28 cases are under investigation.
Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos told reporters on Friday that there is evidence of a “super spreader” in the Victorian outbreak:
As the case numbers are now up in the last two weeks, I sought some explanations. I wanted to know what had gone wrong.
On Tuesday, I received a briefing of a genomic sequencing report that seemed to suggest that there seems to be a single source of infection for many of the cases that have gone across the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne.
It appears to be even potentially a super spreader that has caused this upsurge in cases.
We don’t have the full picture yet and as Brett [Sutton] explains the other day, not all of these cases have yet been subject to genomic sequencing.
Updated
The United States confirmed a record case increase for the fourth day in a single week on Wednesday, according to the most recent available data from Johns Hopkins University.
It’s a little confusing, but according to the university’s tracker, the US added 51,200 cases to its total for 1 July, marking the fourth day of record new cases in a week.
We do not yet have the data for 2 July, but the 1 July figure also marks the first time that new US cases exceeded 50,000 in a single day, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the cases added each day for that week. The previous one day record for cases was 36.4k cases in a week, 24 April. All seven of the days below were above this figure:
Thursday 25 June: 39.9k (new record)
Friday 26 June: 45.3k (new record, beating previous day)
Saturday 27 June: 42.7k
Sunday 28 June: 39.0k
Monday 29 June: 41.4k
Tuesday 30 June: 45.7k (new record, beating 26 June)
Wednesday 1 July: 51.2k (new record, beating previous day)
This brings the total cases in the US to 2,735,554, with deaths at 128,684.
The US Centers for Disease Control has a higher figure for 1 July, of 54,357 new cases, also, according to their data, marking the first time that new cases in the country, which is the worst-affected worldwide in terms of the number of infections, exceeded 50,000 in one day.
Updated
Trump declares US economy is ‘roaring back’, despite record Covid-19 cases – video
Donald Trump has declared the US economy is ‘roaring back’ after news of a fall in unemployment nationwide. The results come as states across the country have been gradually lifting Covid-19 restrictions. While 4.8m jobs were added in June, parts of the country have also experienced record numbers of new coronavirus cases:
Kim Jong-Un hails North Korea’s ‘shining success’ against Covid-19
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has praised what he described as his country’s “shining success” in holding off the new coronavirus, according to state-run KCNA news agency Friday.
The head of the hermetic totalitarian state spoke at a Worker’s Party politburo meeting on Thursday discussing the impact of the virus, AFP reports, six months after North Korea closed borders and put thousands into isolation.
The reclusive leader praised the “shining success achieved by the far-sighted leadership of the Party Central Committee and a high sense of voluntary spirit displayed by all people who move as one on orders of the Party Central Committee,” KCNA continued.
Pyongyang has not confirmed a single case of the deadly disease that swept the world after first emerging in neighbouring China, but has imposed strict rules, including closing its borders and schools, and putting thousands of its people into isolation.
Analysts say the North is unlikely to have avoided infections from the virus, and that its ramshackle health system could struggle to cope with a major outbreak.
Last month a United Nations rights expert warned food insecurity is deepening and some people are “starving” as a result of North Korea’s attempts to ward off any outbreak, particularly closing borders.
English holidaymakers will be able to visit Spain, Italy, France and Germany without having to quarantine for 14 days on their return and travel restrictions on up to 60 other countries and territories are also set to be lifted.
The government’s rule change will come into effect on 10 July with the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, describing it as a major step in “reopening the nation”.
The full list of countries is due to be released at lunchtime on Friday.
Texas governor orders residents to wear face masks as coronavirus cases surge
The governor of Texas has ordered that face coverings must be worn in public across most of the state, in a dramatic ramping up of efforts to control a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
The move marks a major reversal for Republican Greg Abbott, who had pushed Texas’s aggressive reopening of the state economy in May, and had previously said the government could not order individuals to wear masks. His prior virus-related orders had undercut efforts by local governments to enforce mask requirements.
But faced with rising numbers of newly confirmed cases of the Covid-19 virus and a wave of hospitalizations, Abbott changed course with Thursday’s mask order. It requires “all Texans to wear a face covering over the nose and mouth in public spaces in counties with 20 or more positive Covid-19 cases, with few exceptions”.
Staff and residents in UK care homes for people over 65 and those with dementia will receive regular coronavirus tests from Monday, the government has announced.
Staff will be tested for the virus weekly while residents will receive a test every 28 days. The new measures will be in addition to intensive testing in any care home facing an outbreak or an increased risk of a surge in cases.
The strategy follows the latest advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and new evidence from a study indicating a higher prevalence of Covid-19 in care homes.
Global cases near 11m
There are 10,940,071 known coronavirus infections worldwide.
The number of deaths from coronavirus worldwide currently stands at 519,852, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The US has 128,643 fatalities, the highest of any country, followed by 61,884 in Brazil and 43,991 in the UK.
Florida records over 10,000 new cases in a day
In case you missed it: Florida shattered records on Thursday when it reported over 10,000 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase in the state since the pandemic started, according to a Reuters tally.
Outbreaks in Texas, California, Florida and Arizona have sent cases rising at rates not seen since April.
UN predicts 2.7m businesses could go bankrupt in Latin America
More than 2.7 million businesses could go under and 8.5 million jobs be lost in Latin America due to the coronavirus crisis, the UN’s economic commission for the region predicts.
Shops and hotels and restaurants, many of which are small and medium sized businesses, will be hardest hit, it says.
Brazil cases near 1.5m as 48,105 new cases confirmed in one day
The death toll in Brazil reached 61,884, up from 60,632 yesterday, according to the country’s health ministry. That is a daily increase of 1,252.
Brazil has 1,496,858 confirmed cases of the virus, up 48,105 from 1,448,753 yesterday.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be with you for the next few hours. A reminder that you can get in touch with me on Twitter @helenrsullivan and via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
In the US, 37 states are seeing an increase in coronavirus cases, according to a Reuters analysis. Florida, among the states hardest hit by the June surge, reported more than 10,000 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, its largest spike so far and more new daily cases than any European country had at the height of their outbreaks.
California, another epicenter, saw positive tests climb 37% with hospitalisations up 56% over the past two weeks.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who has previously resisted calls to make face masks mandatory, on Thursday ordered them to be worn in all counties with over 20 coronavirus cases.
Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:
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Global deaths near 520,000. The number of deaths from coronavirus worldwide currently stands at 518,121, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US has 128,643 fatalities, the highest of any country, followed by 61,884 in Brazil and 43,991 in the UK. There are 10,935,964 cases worldwide.
- US vice president Mike Pence said he fully supports the Florida governor’s efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak, even as the state earlier reported the biggest one-day increase in cases since the pandemic started.“We fully support your prudent steps in working to slow the spread and the rising cases that are impacting Florida today,” Pence said at a media briefing in Tampa, Florida, with the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis.
- Brazil’s cases are nearing 1.5m. The death toll in Brazil reached 61,884, up from 60,632 yesterday, according to the country’s health ministry. That is a daily increase of 1,252.Brazil has 1,496,858 confirmed cases of the virus, up from 1,448,753 yesterday.
- Rapper Vanilla Ice has cooled off plans for a concert in Texas, after taking considerable heat for an event that sought to gather hundreds of fans in one of the nation’s coronavirus hotspots.He had been scheduled to play a lakeside show just outside Austin on Friday, but has announced it is being postponed.
- Former Republican presidential candidate tests positive for Covid-19. Herman Cain, a 2012 Republican presidential candidate, has been diagnosed with coronavirus and admitted to hospital, according to a statement on his Twitter feed. He attended last month’s Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally for President Donald Trump, supporting his fellow Republican at an event where many attendees crowded close together without wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the virus.
- Florida records over 10,000 new cases in a day. Florida shattered records on Thursday when it reported over 10,000 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase in the state since the pandemic started, according to a Reuters tally.
- Outbreaks in Texas, California, Florida and Arizona have sent cases rising at rates not seen since April. Trump says jobs report proves US economy ‘roaring back’. The US president, Donald Trump, celebrated a government report showing the country gained 4.8m jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 11.1% last month, when states began allowing businesses to reopen from strict shutdowns aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic. “Today’s announcement proves that our economy is roaring back,” Trump said, rattling off different sectors that saw job gains according to the monthly report.
- Kansas makes face masks mandatory after spike in cases. Kansas has followed several other states in requiring face coverings, most recently Indiana. Kansas had a 46.1% spike in coronavirus infections last week. Meanwhile, California governor Gavin Newsom said cases have jumped to 6.9% over the past week. Coronavirus cases in Sweden surpass 70,000 after another 947 recorded
- Sweden’s number of confirmed Covid-19 crossed the 70,000 mark on Thursday, while deaths rose by 41 to 5,411, health agency statistics showed. Sweden recorded 947 new cases to put the total at 70,639. Expanded testing has seen daily new cases soar over the past month, eclipsing rates elsewhere in the European Union, but deaths and hospitalisations have tumbled from peaks in April.
- A further 14 deaths were reported in France. The number of deaths in France from Covid-19 has risen by 14 from the previous day to 29,875, the country’s health department said. The number of people in hospital fell by 188 to 8,148 and the number of people in intensive care units fell by nine to 573, with both numbers continuing weeks-long downtrends.
- The Swiss government released a list of 29 restricted countries. The Swiss government has published a list of 29 restricted countries including the US, Russia, Brazil and Sweden, from which visitors entering the country must go into isolation. From 6 July, travellers to Switzerland who have spent time in the previous 14 days in countries designated as at high risk of infection will have to register with the Swiss authorities immediately on arrival and then go into quarantine for 10 days.
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