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The UK government’s coronavirus testing programme is dealing with a backlog of 185,000 swabs, with tests being sent to Italy and Germany as local labs are overwhelmed.
Not even a week after the government was forced to apologise for continuing delays to Covid testing, the Department of Health and Social Care insisted on Sunday that the capacity of the NHS test-and-trace system was the highest it had ever been but there was a “significant” demand for tests.
This includes demand from people “who do not have symptoms and are not otherwise eligible”, the DHSC said.
Leaked documents revealed the 185,000 backlog and the fact that tests are being sent to German and Italian laboratories for processing, according to the Sunday Times:
We meet again.
Helen Sullivan here, taking over the blog. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
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Summary
Here are the latest key developments at a glance:
- The World Health Organization has reported a record single-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday, as the tally surged by a further 307,930 infections in just 24 hours.
- Israel’s government will impose a new three-week nationwide lockdown that will start on Friday, after the rate of infection during the past two weeks became the highest recorded since the outbreak began.
- South Africa’s finance minister, Tito Mboweni, warned Sunday the economy could shrink by more than the 7% forecast for 2020, stressing that public finances are “overstretched”.
- Spain plans to extend until the end of the year a measure preventing employers from using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to fire staff.
- Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit will begin mid-stage trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in Spain on Monday.
- Saudi Arabia will partially lift its suspension of international flights as of 15 September to allow “exceptional categories” of citizens and residents to travel.
- Around 4,000 health workers demonstrated in Brussels on Sunday, calling for more spending on the healthcare system.
That’s everything from me, I’m now handing over to my colleague Helen Sullivan.
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The British government’s plan to push people back into the office risks a return to “white middle-aged males” making important decisions in the office, while women and people from ethnic minorities are excluded at home, according to one of the UK’s most senior business leaders.
In an interview with the Guardian, Ann Francke, the Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), warned that without careful oversight “blended working” could result in a two-tier system where women without sufficient childcare to return to the office are left out of key decisions.
Recent polling by the TUC revealed that two in five mothers do not have the childcare they need to return to the office as some nurseries, childminders and wraparound care remains unavailable, while research shows women are more likely to do the extra childcare.
My colleague Alexandra Topping reports.
Updated
World Health Organization reports record single-day rise in global infections
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a record single-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday.
In the 24 hours to Sunday, a further 307,930 infections were reported globally.
Global officially recorded deaths from Covid-19 rose by 5,537 in the same period to a total of 917,417, the WHO website stated.
The biggest increases were from India, the United States and Brazil, according to the agency’s website.
India reported 94,372 new cases, followed by the United States with 45,523 new infections and Brazil with 43,718.
Both the US and India each reported over 1,000 new deaths and Brazil reported 874 lives lost in the past 24 hours.
The previous WHO record for new cases was 306,857 on 6 September.
On 17 April, the agency reported a record 12,430 deaths.
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Spain plans to extend until the end of the year a measure preventing employers from using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to fire staff, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday.
The government approved measures in March to prevent employers using Covid-19 as a reason to dismiss employees while the health crisis lasted.
Ministers are currently negotiating with unions and business groups to extend a furlough scheme, known as ERTE, beyond September when it was due to expire.
As part of these negotiations, the government is proposing to extend the ban on dismissing staff because of Covid-19 until the end of 2020, the source said, according to Reuters.
Currently, there are about 800,000 workers in Spain who are on the furlough scheme, compared to 2.5 million when the government declared a state of emergency in March.
Spain reported 4,708 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours on Friday, bringing its cumulative total to 566,326 – the highest in western Europe.
A government official declined to comment.
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People in the Welsh city of Newport have been told to be “vigilant” for symptoms of Covid-19 and observe physical distancing following a local increase of cases.
Those who visited a number of bars and pubs in Newport were told to be particularly on the “lookout” for symptoms, as people had been at the premises during their infectious periods.
Public Health Wales reported “higher levels of transmission” of coronavirus in the Newport area, where there were 15 further cases on Sunday.
An investigation into the increase has been launched by Public Health Wales, Newport City Council and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
The cumulative number of cases in Newport over the past seven days has risen to 43.3 per 100,000 people – the fourth highest incidence in Wales, behind Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf.
A local lockdown was enforced in Caerphilly county borough on Tuesday night, while measures were put in place in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf on Thursday.
From Monday, people across Wales must wear face coverings in shops and indoor public spaces.
Indoor meetings of more than six people from an extended household will also become illegal.
Heather Lewis, consultant in public health at Public Health Wales, said: “We are grateful to the vast majority of residents in Newport for sticking to social distancing guidelines, and for co-operating with investigations into the spread of coronavirus in the area.
“Sadly, there is evidence that some people are ignoring social distancing guidelines, are failing to self-isolate when they have symptoms, and in a small number of cases are not being frank and honest with contact tracers about who they have met while infectious.
“Our message for the public is that coronavirus has not gone away, and it can be a very serious illness, especially for older and vulnerable people.”
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Fearing one disaster will feed another, US relief groups are putting some people who fled their homes during West Coast wildfires into hotels to reduce the spread of coronavirus, stringing up shower curtains to separate people in group shelters and delivering box lunches instead of setting up buffets.
Large disaster response organisations like the American Red Cross are still operating some traditional shelters in gyms and churches, where they require masks, clean and disinfect often and try to keep evacuees at least 6 feet (2 metres) apart, the Associated Press reports.
The groups say they can reduce the risk of getting infected with coronavirus in a shelter but can’t keep people safe if they don’t evacuate from the flames.
“The last thing we want to have happen is people to remain in the path of a wildfire or hurricane because they think it’s safer to do that than risk a shelter,” said Brad Kieserman, vice president of disaster operations and logistics for the American Red Cross.
The fires in California, Oregon and Washington state have killed several people and sent 6,300 to emergency Red Cross shelters and hotels.
As many as 50,000 more could need shelters before the blazes are under control, Kieserman said.
Normally, they’d be gathering in school gymnasiums and meeting halls, sleeping on cots and eating at buffet lines provided by the Red Cross, Salvation Army and other faith and community groups.
But because coronavirus is easily spread in close quarters, gathering places are potential hotbeds of transmission.
That’s got disaster assistance groups taking a different approach.
The Red Cross screens evacuees and those who are sick or have symptoms are sent to special isolation shelters and kept away from one another.
When possible, displaced residents are sent to hotels instead of group shelters.
Instead of buffet lines, box lunches are delivered.
In central California, where thousands of residents had to flee the Creek Fire, more than 1,200 evacuees are staying at 30 hotels, said Tony Briggs with the Red Cross in Fresno.
In group shelters, staffers are using plastic pipes strung with clear shower curtains to separate evacuees but allow them to see out from their own physically distanced areas.
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Israel’s new three-week nationwide lockdown will cost the economy 6.5 billion shekels (£1.46bn), the finance ministry said on Sunday.
During the lockdown, which starts Friday and comes during the Jewish high-holiday season, Israelis will have to stay within 500 metres of their houses, but can travel to workplaces that will be allowed to operate on a limited basis.
Schools and shopping malls will be closed but supermarkets and pharmacies will remain open.
The public sector will operate with fewer staff, but non-governmental offices and businesses will not have to close, as long as they do not accept customers.
“I know those measures will exact a heavy price on us all,” prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu said in a televised address.
“This is not the kind of holiday we are used to. And we certainly won’t be able to celebrate with our extended families.”
Netanyahu, who has faced increasing criticism over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, said he instructed his finance minister to come up with a new economic package to assist businesses hurt by the lockdown.
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Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit will begin mid-stage trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in Spain on Monday, the programme’s lead investigator said.
Alberto Borobia said 190 people would take part in the country’s trials, which will take place in three hospitals and be concluded by 22 September.
The Spanish study is part of mid-stage, or Phase II, trials of the vaccine that are being carried out in three countries, also including the Netherlands and Germany.
The trials in the three countries will last two months and include 550 participants in total.
Saudi Arabia will partially lift its suspension of international flights as of 15 September to allow “exceptional categories” of citizens and residents to travel, the state news agency SPA said on Sunday.
The kingdom will scrap all travel restrictions on air, land and sea transport for citizens on 1 January 2021, it said.
In March, the kingdom suspended international flights to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Exceptional categories include public and military sector employees, diplomats and their families, those working for public or non-profit private sector jobs abroad, businessmen, patients who need treatment abroad, those studying abroad as well as people with humanitarian cases, and sports teams, Reuters reports.
GCC citizens and non-Saudi residents with valid residency, or visitors’ visas will be allowed to enter the kingdom as of 15 September conditional on proving they have tested negative for coronavirus.
The kingdom introduced stringent measures to curb the spread of the virus in March, including 24-hour curfews on most towns and cities.
The kingdom has recorded 325,651 infections and 4,268 deaths.
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Around 4,000 health workers demonstrated in Brussels on Sunday, calling for more spending on the healthcare system in a country that was badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
With political parties in Belgium still struggling to form a permanent government more than a year after a national election, the workers – who wore masks and carried banners with slogans such as “take care of the careworkers” – called on politicians to increase pay and healthcare funding.
Police estimated around 4,000 people took part in the protest.
Belgium has reported 9,923 Covid-19 fatalities, which puts it the third-highest in the world for deaths per 100,000 people, behind the tiny city state of San Marino and Peru, Reuters reports.
The Belgian government has said the high rate is explained by its decision to include in its tally deaths where Covid-19 is only suspected, not confirmed.
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France’s health authorities on Sunday reported 7,183 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
On Saturday, the number of new daily cases in France hit a record 10,561, with infection rates rising among all age groups.
In a daily website update, the French health ministry also reported the number of arrivals in hospital for Covid-19 over the past week had risen to 2,464 compared with 2,432 recorded on Saturday.
These included 427 admissions to intensive care units over the past seven days, up from 417 in Saturday’s count, it said.
Like other European countries, France has faced a resurgence of coronavirus, leading the government on Friday to promise steps to speed up tests and toughen measures in high-infection zones to avert a return to the general lockdown imposed earlier this year.
The government has called on individuals to be more vigilant in private situations, and in an op-ed piece published in French newspaper JDD on Sunday six doctors called for people to avoid private gatherings.
The total death toll in French hospitals and nursing homes had reached 30,916, with six deaths recorded in the past 24 hours.
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Israel to impose new three-week nationwide lockdown
Israel’s government has approved imposing a three-week nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus that will start on Friday, Israel’s Ynet news website and Channel 12 television reported on Sunday.
But Israel’s Ben Gurion airport will remain open, another TV channel reported, according to Reuters.
Israel’s increasing rate of coronavirus infection is bringing the country’s hospitals closer to maximum capacity and destabilising the health system, a report by Israel’s coronavirus information center said on Sunday, according to Haaretz.
The center’s daily report said that coronavirus is rapidly spreading in Israel, adding that the rate of infection during the past two weeks is the highest recorded since the outbreak began.
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The Covid-19 death toll in Turkey reached 7,056 on Sunday, rising by 57 people in the last 24 hours, according to data from the health ministry.
The total number of cases in the country rose by 1,527 on Sunday, for a total of 291,162 cases, the data showed, with 258,833 people recovered from Covid-19.
Both daily deaths and cases have risen to mid-May levels in recent days.
The government has ruled out widespread lockdowns but has announced new measures recently, including banning weddings and other events and limiting the number of passengers allowed on public transport.
South Africa’s finance minister, Tito Mboweni, warned Sunday the economy could shrink by more than the 7% forecast by policymakers and the central bank for 2020, adding that public finances are “overstretched”.
The economy of Africa’s most industrialised nation contracted by more than half in the second quarter of this year, an unprecedented decline caused by coronavirus-related restrictions, AFP reports.
Looking ahead, there is a “risk that the actual GDP outcome for 2020 could be lower than previously thought,” Mboweni wrote in the local Sunday Times newspaper.
The treasury and central bank expect the economy to contract by 7.2% and 7.3% respectively this year, after the country went into a strict lockdown in March, already in recession.
Mboweni noted that public finances, already in an “unsustainable position” before the pandemic, were now “overstretched”.
“The reduction in economic activity in the second quarter has flowed through to lower tax revenue,” the minister wrote, adding that emergency tax relief to keep households and businesses afloat would compound the loss.
The government is expected to fall short of more than 300bn rand ($18bn) in tax revenue - over 6% of GDP - Mboweni said, forcing the heavily indebted country to “borrow even more”.
But he also promised reforms to climb out of the hole, writing: “[W]e must be bold in confronting what has impeded economic growth and the progress of our nation.”
He wrote that one of government’s priorities would be to ensure “adequate and reliable electricity”, backed by a commitment to unlock private investment in the public sector.
Unreliable electricity supply from state operator Eskom’s fleet of rickety coal-fired power stations is often blamed as a source of economic instability in South Africa.
The country accounts for around half of the continent’s coronavirus cases, with over 648,000 infections and 15,427 deaths recorded to date, although daily increases have been dropping since July.
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The survival of the Air France-KLM group is not guaranteed if the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic continues, the Dutch finance minister, Wopke Hoekstra, warned on Sunday.
France and the Netherlands, each with a 14% share of the group, have poured out billions of euros in aid to help national carriers that virtually came to a standstill in the first half of 2020.
“It’s not a given,” Hoekstra said in an interview with Dutch public television NPO, stressing the need to cut costs.
In the spring, Paris gave Air France €7bn ($8.3bn) in loans, and The Hague granted KLM similar aid worth €3.4bn euros.
Air France-KLM announced a net loss of €2.6bn euros at the end of July, after almost zero activity in April and May due to the pandemic.
This followed a loss of €1.8bn euros in the first quarter.
The bailout for KLM must be accompanied by “a comprehensive restructuring plan” as well as commitments to reestablish performance and competitiveness.
Hoekstra said he had insisted in talks with KLM on the importance of changing direction.
Dutch press agency ANP said KLM has to develop a restructuring plan by 1 October.
Air France said it would cut almost 7,600 jobs by the end of 2022 and KLM up to 5,000 jobs, AFP reports.
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The UK reported 3,330 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, slightly down from Saturday’s 3,497 and 3,539 on Friday.
The government also reported a further five deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total death toll of people who had a positive test result and died within 28 days to 41,628.
Britain is to bring in a new ban on social gatherings on Monday in a bid to curb the increasing rise in infections.
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Ninety UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon have tested positive for coronavirus, a spokesman for the UNIFIL force said on Sunday, the first reported cases of the illness among them.
The confirmed cases were transferred to a special UNIFIL facility equipped to deal with Covid-19 cases, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said in a statement.
He said 88 of those infected belonged to the same contingent, but he did not specify the nationalities of the 90 peacekeepers.
“We have undertaken robust contact tracing, and applied a thorough regime of testing and isolation” to prevent a larger outbreak, he said.
Some 45 countries contribute peacekeepers to UNIFIL, which was set up in 1978 to patrol the border between Lebanon and Israel which are technically at war.
In August, the UN extended the peace mission’s mandate by one year but reduced the force’s troop capacity from 15,000 to 13,000.
Tenenti said that UNIFIL’s operations along the Lebanon-Israel border are not affected by the new virus cases.
Lebanon has seen a spike in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases since a 4 August explosion ripped through the Beirut port, killing more than 190 people and ravaging swathes of the capital.
The small Mediterranean country has recorded a total of 23,669 Covid-19 cases, including 239 deaths since an outbreak began in February.
On Saturday, authorities announced 22 coronavirus cases at the Roumieh prison, the country’s largest detention centre which has long been infamous for the poor conditions in some of its blocks, including overcrowding and harsh treatment.
A further five people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 29,661, NHS England said on Sunday.
The, patients, aged between 67 and 86, all had known underlying health conditions. The dates of the deaths were 11-12 September.
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With increasing cases of Covid-19, Ethiopia has opened a facility to produce kits to test for the coronavirus and says its researchers are working to develop and test a vaccine.
The company producing the testing kits is a joint-venture with a Chinese company called BGI Health Ethiopia.
Ethiopia’s number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 has risen to nearly 64,000, causing almost 1,000 deaths, according to government figures.
Ethiopia also today opened a field hospital to hold up to 200 severely affected Covid-19 patients, which will start admitting patients immediately.
Ethiopia has conducted more than 1.1m tests, making it the African country that has carried out the third-highest number of tests, according to Ethiopian health officials. The country is struggling with a shortage of testing kits, ventilators, and intensive care beds, they said.
Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, said during the factory’s opening the lab would produce 10m testing kits per year, which will be used in the country and exported, with priority given to other African countries.
The factory will also provide commercial laboratory services for 3m transit passengers at Bole International airport and in Addis Ababa city, the prime minister stated, adding this will boost the testing capacity of Ethiopia and other African countries.
Abiy also announced Ethiopian researchers have been working to develop a vaccine, which is entering a laboratory trial stage.
The local production of the testing kits will have a huge impact in boosting Ethiopia’s ability to combat the disease, Yared Agidew, head of Ethiopias main Covid-19 treatment centre in the capital, Addis Ababa, told the Associated Press. “By conducting more tests, we will be able to identify positive cases in the community and take appropriate measures to control the spread,” he said.
Ethiopia’s health minister, Lia Tadesse, said community transmissions are the main cause of the increasing cases.
It is mostly related to how communities are behaving and the existence of other risk facts like living in congested settings, she said. Ethiopian migrants returning from Middle Eastern countries are not seen as a cause of the rising numbers of cases, she said, explaining that all returnees must go through a quarantine period.
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A total of 244 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland in the past 24 hours, the latest Scottish government figures show – the highest daily figure since 6 May. The figure constitutes 3.7% of newly-tested individuals.
Cumulatively, 22,679 people have tested positive in Scotland, up from 22,435 the day before.
No deaths of confirmed Covid-19 patients have been recorded in the past 24 hours and the number of fatalities remains at 2,499.
There are 259 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down by two in 24 hours. Of these patients, seven were in intensive care, down one.
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Summary
Here’s a summary of the latest developments:
- The Czech Republic reported its largest daily increase in new coronavirus infections for a third straight day, according to health ministry data. It was the fifth day in a row with new infections above 1,000 as the country of 10.7 million reports a surge in cases that is among the fastest in the European Union.
- Austria is experiencing the start of a second wave of coronavirus infections, its chancellor warned, as cases rise in line with other EU countries. From Friday to Saturday, the Alpine nation of nearly 9 million people reported 869 new cases – more than half of those in the capital, Vienna.
- India has reported 94,372 new coronavirus cases, taking the total past 4.7 million. The daily increase was down on the record global spike in the previous 24 hours of 97,570 new cases and came after three days of recording more than 95,000 new cases. Infections have been growing faster in India than anywhere in the world.
- Police arrested 74 people at an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne, Australia. Some demonstrators threw fruit at police on a second successive day of protest. On Saturday, 14 people were arrested and at least 50 fined when about 100 people demonstrated against coronavirus restrictions in Melbourne.
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The European Central Bank (ECB) president, Christine Lagarde, said today there could “no complacency” in the battle to recover from the pandemic-induced downturn, urging governments to support central bank efforts with fiscal spending.
Although the eurozone was bouncing back from the lockdowns that devastated economic activity earlier this year, Lagarde said the recovery remained “uneven” and “uncertain” as several nations grapple with a renewed rise in coronavirus infections.
The ECB “continues to stand ready to adjust all of its instruments” to help steer the 19-nation currency club through the crisis, Lagarde said in an online speech addressing a meeting of Arab central bankers.
But she reiterated that eurozone governments had to share the load through public spending and investment. The former International Monetary Fund chief said:
Continued expansionary fiscal policies are vital to avoid excessive job shedding and support household incomes until the economic recovery is more robust.
She urged governments to quickly thrash out the remaining details on the European Union’s 750-billion-euro coronavirus recovery fund “so that the funds can start flowing on schedule in January 2021”.
The ECB itself has taken unprecedented action in recent months to cushion the blow from the pandemic fallout, rolling out a 1.35 trillion euro emergency bond-buying scheme while keeping interest rates at record lows and offering ultra-cheap loans to banks.
The aim is to keep borrowing costs low to boost the economy and push up inflation.
But the ECB’s efforts have been complicated in recent weeks by the rapid rise of the euro against the dollar.
A stronger euro makes imports cheaper, keeping the lid on consumer prices, while exports become less competitive, hurting growth prospects.
Eurozone inflation even turned negative in August for the first time in four years at -0.2%, far off the ECB’s inflation target of just under 2.0%.
Lagarde acknowledged the concerns, saying that “near-term price pressures will also remain subdued due to the recent appreciation of the euro exchange rate”.
“When it comes to meeting our price stability goal, there is and there will be no complacency,” Lagarde vowed.
The comments were stronger than on Thursday when, after the ECB’s regular monetary policy meeting, Lagarde said the Frankfurt institution was “carefully” monitoring the soaring euro.
Many analysts expect the ECB to unleash more monetary stimulus before the year is over, possibly by extending or increasing its massive emergency bond-buying scheme.
An Israeli cabinet minister, who heads an ultra-orthodox Jewish party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative coalition, has tendered his resignation in protest at a looming coronavirus lockdown. Housing minister Yaakov Litzman argued the restrictions would unfairly impede religious celebrations of Jewish holidays.
The rules - the most extensive Israel will have imposed since a lockdown that ran from late March to early May - are expected to go into effect on Friday, the Jewish new year Rosh Hashana, and span into the Yom Kippur fast day on 27 September.
Litzman said in his resignation letter:
This wrongs and scorns hundreds of thousands of citizens. Where were you until now? Why have the Jewish holidays become a convenient address for tackling the coronavirus?
Under law, Litzman’s resignation takes effect in 48 hours. Although a sign of strained relations between Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox political partners, Litzman’s move was unlikely to have any immediate effect on the stability of the veteran leader’s governing coalition.
In remarks to the cabinet as it convened to vote on the lockdown, Netanyahu voiced regret at Litzman’s move but added:
We have to move on, to make the decisions necessary for Israel in the coronavirus era, and that is what we will do in this session.
Israel, which has a population of 9 million, has reported 153,217 coronavirus cases and 1,103 deaths. With new cases topping 3,000 daily in recent weeks, authorities worry that the health system could be overwhelmed.
Interior minister Aryeh Deri, who heads another ultra-Orthodox Jewish party, came out in favour of the restrictions, saying in a video posted on Twitter that not abiding by them over the upcoming holidays would be tantamount to murder.
Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
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India reported 94,372 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, taking the country’s total number of cases past 4.7 million.
The daily increase was down on the record global increase in the previous 24 hours of 97,570 new cases and came after three days of recording more than 95,000 new cases. Infections have been growing faster in India than anywhere in the world.
The number of deaths rose to 78,586, with 1,114 new deaths, health ministry data showed.
While several states showed a rise in infections, including the capital, New Delhi, and the central Chhattisgarh state, the highest numbers were from the India’s biggest and richest state, Maharashtra, which reported 8,204 fresh cases.
In a news briefing, Maharashtra’s chief minister Uddhav Thackeray urged residents to wear masks and maintain social distancing, amid growing fatigue over a drawn-out lockdown that has made many lax about taking precautions.
The western state recorded its millionth coronavirus infection on Friday, putting it on par with Russia in the pandemic and stifling India’s attempts to turn around the plummeting economy.
The state of 130 million people, home to the densely packed financial capital, Mumbai, has pushed up infection numbers in India, which is likely to hit 5m cases in coming days, behind only the US.
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More from south-east Asia, where Indonesia has reported 3,636 new coronavirus infections and 73 more deaths.
The latest report brought the total number of infections to 218,382 and deaths to 8,723, the highest number of deaths in the region.
The country’s capital Jakarta will reimpose stricter wide-scale restrictions starting tomorrow to control spread of the virus in the megalopolis.
The Philippines has recorded 3,372 new coronavirus cases and 79 more deaths.
The Department of Health said the south-east Asian country’s confirmed cases of infections had risen to 261,216, the highest in the region, while its death toll had climbed to 4,371.
Updated
Austria 'experiencing start of second wave'
Austria is experiencing the start of a second wave of coronavirus infections, its chancellor said today, as cases rise in line with other EU countries.
From Friday to Saturday, the Alpine nation of nearly 9 million people reported 869 new cases – more than half of those in the capital Vienna.
“What we are experiencing is the beginning of the second wave,” chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in a statement, appealing to the population to stick to anti-virus measures and reduce social contacts.
He warned that 1,000 cases per day would be reached soon.
Austria has so far been able to avoid the brunt of the global health crisis. Total coronavirus infections stand at more than 33,000 with about 750 deaths.
On Friday, Kurz announced the government would extend mandatory mask-wearing and impose new restrictions on events from Monday.
Masks will be compulsory in all shops and public buildings, in addition to places where they must already be worn, such as supermarkets and public transport.
The conservative leader has warned the government could introduce further measures if cases kept rising but would try to avoid a repeat of the lockdown imposed in March, which entailed severe restrictions on movement and the closure of shops and restaurants.
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Russia reported 5,449 new coronavirus cases today, pushing its national tally to 1,062,811, the fourth largest in the world.
Authorities said 94 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 18,578.
Police have arrested 74 people at an anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne, Australia.
Some demonstrators threw fruit at police on a second successive day of protest. On Saturday, 14 people were arrested and at least 50 fined when about 100 people demonstrated against coronavirus restrictions in Melbourne.
Updated
South Korea has eased its tough social distancing policy for the next two weeks in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, despite daily coronavirus cases hovering stubbornly within triple digits.
The government has lifted a ban on onsite dining after 9pm though still requires restaurants and cafes to restrict seating and record patrons’ names and contact details.
Leisure facilities such as gyms and internet cafes are also allowed to reopen under phase 2 restrictions. However, indoor gatherings are limited to 50 people and outdoor gatherings to 100, while spectators are banned from sporting events.
Health authorities said the easing would contribute toward a reopening of the economy, before returning to tougher guidelines for two weeks again from 28 September during the Chuseok holiday.
Prime minister Chung Sye-kyun told a televised meeting of government officials:
After a comprehensive review of the recent situation and expert opinion, the government intends to adjust social distancing to phase two in the Seoul area for two weeks.
Infection numbers fell steadily to the low 100s after the government imposed unprecedented social distancing curbs in late August, but surged last week as small clusters emerged. Chung said:
The number of daily infections is still not dropping to double-digits and it isn’t yet a situation where measures can be significantly relaxed, as one out of four people’s path of transmission is untraceable.
The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 121 new cases of coronavirus infection as of midnight on Saturday, bringing total infections to 22,176, with 358 deaths.
Updated
Record increase in cases in Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has reported its largest daily increase in new coronavirus infections for a third straight day, according to Health Ministry data.
It is the fifth day in a row with new infections above 1,000 as the country of 10.7 million sees a surge in cases that is among the fastest in the European Union. The government has tightened rules requiring face mask use but aims to avoid harsh lockdowns.
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Thanks all for your company and comments this afternoon, I’m handing over now to my colleague in London Haroon Siddique. Be well.
More images from those protests in Melbourne, the Australian city with the most Covid-19 infections, but also, consequently, its strictest lockdowns. A curfew remains in place in metropolitan Melbourne, and strict restrictions on all movement.
Gotta do something I suppose. (Warning: there is a groan-inducing pun in the lede of this story – just quietly, I’m all about it.)
With millions around the world stuck at home because of the pandemic, “plane cafes” in Thailand are offering customers the chance to pretend they are in the sky – and the idea seems to have taken off.
On board a retired commercial airplane in the coastal city of Pattaya, coffee drinkers make themselves comfy on first-class-style seats and pose for photos by the overhead lockers.
Boarding passes in hand, some “passengers” even opt for a tour of the cockpit.
“With this cafe I can sit in first class and also mess around in the cockpit pretending to be the captain of the plane,” 26-year-old Thipsuda Faksaithong told AFP. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Chalisa Chuensranoi, 25, said her visit was as good as any trip she had taken before the pandemic which closed Thailand’s borders in March.
“Sitting right here in the first-class section ... really gives me the feeling of actually being on a plane, cruising through the air,” she said.
In another cafe at the headquarters of national carrier Thai Airways in Bangkok, hungry diners appear even to have missed plane food as they gobble up spaghetti carbonara and Thai-style beef served on plastic trays by cabin crew.
But for Intrawut Simapichet, 38, who came to the cafe with his wife and baby, the experience is about more than a meal.
“Normally I’m a person who travels very often, and when we are forced to stay at home ... it’s kind of depressing,” he said as fellow passengers posed with luggage by a fake airplane door.
“[The cafe] relieves what’s missing.”
Thailand was the first country outside China to detect a coronavirus case, but it has since registered a low toll, with about 3,400 infections and 58 deaths.
Travel restrictions have nevertheless eviscerated the tourism-reliant economy, and Thais have founded themselves stuck due to quarantine requirements in other countries.
The government is considering travel bubbles with select countries that also have low tolls.
Updated
Protesters in Melbourne throw fruit at police
Anti-lockdown protesters have massed in Melbourne for a second day, with some throwing fruit at police after raiding market stalls.
About 150 protesters chanting “freedom” and “power to the people” were outnumbered by officers at Queen Victoria market on Sunday.
Footage of violent scuffles as officers in riot gear pushed through the crowd in between tables of produce was posted online.
“There were a few tense moments when protesters started grabbing fruit and throwing it at police,” an AAP photographer said.
Other videos showed police on horseback attempting to break up another group.
Protesters yelled “This is not a police state” and “You’ve got to be on the right side of history.”
“There was also a bit of aggression toward the media calling us scum,” the AAP photographer said.
Some protesters marched away from the market and through city streets.
It was estimated officers had arrested dozens of protesters.
The rally follows ones on Saturday when about 100 people demonstrated against strict Melbourne coronavirus restrictions across various locations.
On Saturday police arrested 14 people and fined at least 50 for breaching health directions.
The second day of protests comes hours after a woman shared footage of police dragging her from a car.
The masked driver refused to get out of her car after talking with an officer about a phone charger at Wallan, about 60km north of the city.
A male officer can be heard asking for the woman’s name and address before she again refused to get out of the car. The footage then shows the officer leaning into the vehicle as the woman protests, before she is forcibly removed.
The woman is expected to be charged with various offences including assaulting police.
On Sunday Victoria reported 41 new cases and seven further deaths, bringing the state’s death toll to 723.
Facebook posts say protesters plan to gather every Saturday until restrictions are eased.
Updated
Victorian parliament shut down after security guard tests positive
A security guard at Melbourne’s parliament house has tested positive for Covid-19 ...
A security guard at #springst has tested positive for #COVID19Vic. Parliament will be closed until further notice while a deep clean is done. Parliament was due to sit Tuesday.. @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/seHUwU2mba
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) September 13, 2020
Updated
Some more details on Victoria’s outbreak, and latest figures. My family in Melbourne, I know, sweat on these numbers every day, and I know they are not alone. The trendlines are good.
From chief health officer Brett Sutton:
Victoria has recorded 41 new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 19,835.
The overall total has increased by 35 due to six cases being reclassified.
Within Victoria, 21 of the new cases are linked to outbreaks or complex cases and 20 are under investigation.
There have been seven new deaths from Covid-19 reported since yesterday. One man in his 70s, one woman in her 70s, one woman in her 80s and four women in their 90s. Four of the deaths occurred prior to yesterday.
Six of today’s seven deaths are linked to known outbreaks in aged care facilities. To date, 723 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.
The average number of cases diagnosed in the past 14 days for metropolitan Melbourne is 56.9 and regional Victoria is 4.1.
The rolling daily average case number is calculated by averaging out the number of new cases over the past 14 days.
Updated
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 948 in the past 24 hours, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.
The reported death toll rose by two, the tally showed.
Germany has had just over 260,000 confirmed Covid-19 infections, with 9,352 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Updated
Victorian police charge woman who was dragged from her car
Back in Victoria, Australia:
A woman dragged from her car by police on Saturday is expected to be charged with six offences, including resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
Victoria police have released a statement regarding a video of Wallan woman Natalie Bonett being dragged from her car after she refused to share her details with police at a checkpoint yesterday.
Police spoke to the female driver at the checkpoint in relation to her mobile phone obstructing her view due to its position on the windscreen and explained that this was an offence.
The woman refused to remove her phone from the windscreen. When asked for her name and address, the woman refused to supply her details which is an offence under section 59 of the Road Safety Act.
When asked to produce her driver’s licence, the woman also refused, which is also an offence under section 59.
The woman was warned that if she did not provide her details, she would be arrested.
She still refused and was asked by police to get out of her car. When she refused this request, she was taken from the car by officers and taken into custody.
She was released but a spokesman for Victoria police says she is expected to be charged with six offences: driving with obscured vision, failure to produce a licence, failure to state her name and address, resisting arrest, assaulting police and offensive language.
Updated
Iraqis have been digging up their Covid dead for reburial in their rightful places. AFP reports, and a warning, this is a distressing story.
Mohammad al-Bahadli dug into Iraq’s hot desert sand with bare hands to reach his father’s corpse.
“Now he can finally be with our people, our family, in the old cemetery,” 49-year-old Bahadli said, as relatives sobbed over the body, wrapped in a shroud.
After restrictions were eased for burying those who died of the coronavirus, Iraqis are exhuming victims to rebury them in their rightful place in family cemeteries.
For months families were barred from taking the body back to bury in family tombs, for fear the corpses could still spread the virus.
Instead authorities established a “coronavirus cemetery” in a plot of desert outside the shrine city of Najaf, where volunteers in protective gear carefully buried victims spaced five metres (16 feet) apart.
Only one relative was permitted to attend the speedy burials, which often happened in the middle of the night.
Victims from all religious sects – both Shiite and Sunni Muslims, as well as Christians – were buried there.
But on 7 September authorities announced they would permit those who died to be relocated to the cemetery of their family’s choice.
Many of the buried came from other parts of the country.
“The first time, he was buried so far away,” Bahadli said of his 80-year-old father’s funeral rites. “I’m not sure it was done in the proper religious way.”
Iraq has been one of the hardest-hit countries in the Middle East, with more than 280,000 infections and nearly 8,000 deaths.
On 4 September the World Health Organization (WHO) said “the likelihood of transmission when handling human remains is low”.
Days later, after pressure from families, Iraqi authorities announced they would permit bodies to be transferred only by “specialised health teams”.
But the first reburials proved chaotic. At the “coronavirus cemetery” in the desert outside Najaf, hundreds of families began arriving late Thursday to dig up their family member and carry the body home.
They brought their own shovels, baskets to scoop away the sand, and new wooden coffins.
The sounds of fierce sobbing and mourning prayers mixed with the clinks of pickaxes echoed across the sand.
There were no medical professionals or cemetery guides on site to help families locate or properly excavate the bodies, an AFP correspondent said.
In some cases, families dug into a grave site marked with a relative’s name, only to find an empty coffin, or to uncover the body of a young man when they were expecting to find the corpse of their elderly mother.
Other bodies were not wrapped in burial shrouds, required by Islam as a sign of respect.
The findings sparked outraged criticism of the state-sponsored armed group that had taken charge of the burials in recent months, with some angry relatives setting fire to the faction’s base nearby.
“The grave-diggers don’t have expertise or the right materials,” said Abdallah Kareem, whose brother Ahmed died of complications from Covid-19.
“They don’t even know how to locate the graves,” he said.
Kareem, who comes from 230km (140 miles) to the south in Iraq’s Muthanna province, opted not to rebury his brother in case it violated religious edicts.
In Islam the deceased must be buried as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours.
Cremation is strictly prohibited and reburials are virtually unheard of although not necessarily outlawed if the body is kept intact, a Najaf cleric told AFP.
“Since my father was buried here, I keep replaying his words in my head before he died: ‘My son, try to bury me in the family cemetery, don’t let me be too far from my relatives,’ ” Hussein, another mourner who gave only his first name, said.
The 53-year-old dug up his father’s body by hand to transfer him to the vast Wadi al-Salam cemetery, where millions of Shiite Muslims are buried.
“The dream that had been haunting me for these last few months has been realised,” Hussein said.
Updated
Good morning/afternoon/evening, whatever time and wherever this missive finds you. Ben Doherty here in Sydney, looking after this coronavirus live coverage for the next few hours. Thanks to my colleagues before me. As ever, comments and correspondence always welcome. You can reach me at ben.doherty@theguardian.com or through twitter @BenDohertyCorro.
Updated
That’s it for me for now. I’m leaving you in the capable hands of my colleague, Ben Doherty.
South Korea is set to decide on Sunday whether it will extend its coronavirus restrictions in the greater Seoul area for another week, Yohnap reports:
The government will determine whether to further extend the level 2.5 social distancing measures, set to end at midnight, in the densely populated capital region, amid expectations it may ease some business restrictions on restaurants and franchise coffee chains.
Updated
Just going back to Melbourne in Australia’s second most populous state of Victoria, and a protest march against the city’s lockdown is under way.
Melburnians are allowed to leave their homes only for the following reasons:
- shopping for food or other essential items
- exercise (applies to outdoor exercise, and with only one other person)
- permitted work
- Caregiving, for compassionate reasons or to seek medical treatment also remains a permitted reason to leave home.
SUNDAY PROTEST: A second group is now marching down Elizabeth Street and through other city streets @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/qfaT8ha9uM
— Cassie Zervos (@cassiezervos) September 13, 2020
Updated
New Zealand reports two new cases
New Zealand has reported two new Covid cases. One is an imported case in managed isolation and the other is a worker at one of the managed quarantine facilities, the Jet Park Hotel in Auckland. The health ministry says the returnee in managed isolation arrived from South Africa on 8 September and remains in quarantine in Canterbury.
Five household contacts from the hotel worker are in isolation at their home and are being tested today.
“This case is still being investigated to determine if the infection came from the community or from within the quarantine facility, though at this stage no obvious links to other cases in the community have been established,” the health ministry said.
“Thorough tracing of which people in quarantine the health worker had contact with is being undertaken, as is genome testing to see what strain of the virus the health worker has to help identify the source.”
The case was found through routine weekly testing. Last week the worker returned a negative test, so must could have picked up the virus in between the weekly tests.
The person is the first staff member at the hotel to test positive for Covid, in nearly six months of operation, the ministry said.
“In that time the facility has managed 2,532 individuals and their close contacts, who have been transferred from the border, from other managed isolation facilities and the community.”
Updated
One person arrested at Melbourne anti-lockdown protest
Here’s an update from Melbourne and those anti-lockdown protesters from Australian Associated Press:
Police have arrested one person as anti-lockdown protesters massed at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria market.
Sunday’s protest follows ones on Saturday when about 100 people demonstrated against strict Melbourne coronavirus restrictions across various locations.
Police arrested 14 people and fined at least 50 for breaching health directions on Saturday.
The second protest for the weekend comes hours after a woman shared footage of police dragging her from a car. The masked driver refused to get out of her car after talking with an officer about a phone charger at Wallan, about 60km north of the city.
Updated
Three cases of Covid confirmed in Syria's largest refugee camp
The UN refugee agency is stepping up efforts to curb the spread of Covid among tens of thousands of Syrians in camps in Jordan after the first cases were confirmed last week, Reuters reports.
The UNHCR confirmed three cases in the country’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, Zaatari, near the border with Syria, and two cases in a smaller camp, Azraq.
The infections in the two camps that house a total of about 120,000 refugees were the first confirmed cases since the pandemic was first reported in the kingdom last March.
“The developments this week have obviously been a worrying situation for all, but especially for refugees living in the camps. Crowded spaces and cramped living conditions make social distancing difficult,” said Dominik Bartsch, the UNHCR representative in Jordan.
The refugees who tested positive have been sent to an isolation area set up by the Jordanian government near the Dead Sea while families of those in contact with them have been quarantined inside the camp.
Jordan’s health ministry is, meanwhile, conducting thousands of tests, restricting movement in and out of the camps and training medical staff, Bartsch said.
Jordan is a major host country for Syrian refugees who have fled an almost decade-long civil war in their homeland. There are about 655,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees in the kingdom.
Updated
We’ll keep an eye on what’s going on there in Melbourne, but internationally Brazil has recorded 814 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 33,523 additional cases, the nation’s health ministry said on Saturday evening.
The South American country has reported 131,210 total deaths and 4,315,687 confirmed cases.
Brazil ranks third in the world after the United States and India in total coronavirus cases, and it is second only to the US in deaths.
Updated
There have been protests against the lockdown in Melbourne again this morning, and a heavy police presence, including mounted police.
The mounted branch is now moving in on the activists refusing to move on. Traders say the violence has scared businesses away in a time where it’s hard enough @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/FmiOAod2vI
— Cassie Zervos (@cassiezervos) September 13, 2020
SUNDAY PROTEST: Activitsts are now threatening police in a tense standoff @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/iY2sASh7D7
— Cassie Zervos (@cassiezervos) September 13, 2020
Updated
Brett Sutton say rolling day average in Melbourne down to 56.9
Sutton is also giving what appears to be some relatively good news on the numbers in Melbourne. He says the rolling day average of new cases in the city is 56.9. This is important because it’s a key figure in determining the city’s pace out of lockdown. The second step out of lockdown can occur only when the daily average rate is between 30 and 50 cases over the previous 14 days (but restrictions won’t change before 28 September).
Sutton says:
The numbers fluctuate a little bit every day. We are looking at the 40 mark now. If you project forward 14 days you would expect the 14-day rolling average to the end of September would be absolutely no more than 48 – is more likely to be between 20 and 30. I would hope no more than the 40s.
The remaining steps are subject to these conditions, (which you can read on Victoria’s health department’s website):
- Third step – metropolitan Melbourne moves to the third step when the daily average number of cases is less than five state-wide over the previous 14 days and there are fewer than five cases with an unknown source in the past 14 days (statewide total). Restrictions won’t change before 26 October. Regional Victoria moves to the third step when the daily average case rate is fewer than five new cases over the previous 14 days and there have been no new cases with unknown source over the past 14 days.
- Last step – Victoria moves to the last step when there are no new cases for 14 days in Victoria. Restrictions won’t change before 23 November.
- Covid normal – Victoria moves to Covid normal when there are no new cases for 28 days, no active cases in Victoria and no outbreaks of concern in other states or territories.
Updated
Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, is talking at the press conference now. He’s asked whether he thinks there will always be cases in aged care, the setting which has borne the brunt of fatalities of this outbreak ... and gives some slightly positive news.
I think we have seen a slow and steady decrease in the number of active cases in aged care, it is now almost below 500; it has always been about 50% of total active cases. So our totals are now close to 1,000, our aged care active cases are now close to 500, but it was above 300 a month, and is going in the right direction.
Updated
Just a bit more detail on the nine new cases in the Australian state of New South Wales. We know that four are returned travellers in hotel quarantine, four are locally acquired and linked to known cases, and one is locally acquired and under investigation.
NSW Health said on Sunday that two of the new cases are household contacts linked to the Eastern Suburbs Legion Club cluster and the other two are linked to St Paul’s Catholic College, Greystanes. All four cases have been in self-isolation while infectious.
NSW Health also advised an infected person visited KFC in Concord on 6 September. Anyone who was at the restaurant between 1pm and 1.20pm that day is considered a casual contact and is advised to monitor for symptoms.
NSW Health acting director Dr Christine Selvey urged people to immediately get tested if they feel unwell and to maintain social distancing.
NSW Health is treating 83 Covid-19 cases including six in intensive care, three of whom are being ventilated.
Updated
Queensland doctors defend closed borders, tell critics to 'back off'
Queensland’s top doctors have called for critics of the state’s chief health officer to “back off” over coronavirus border closures, AAP reports.
The state’s chief health officer, Jeannette Young, has been repeatedly targeted for advising that the state should remain isolated from Victoria, NSW and the ACT.
The Australian Medical Association president, Chris Perry, says the group supports Young’s scientific decisions.
“We’re an evidence-based organisation and we follow what the chief health officer says,” he said on Sunday. “What the chief health officer in Queensland says goes. It’s the law.”
Perry said there had been many “stressful” personal attacks on Young. The criticism had mostly been by online trolls but he acknowledged the federal government also had a “different point of view”.
“Back off. Leave her alone. We think this chief health officer is doing a great job,” he said.
“We’re doing a very, very good job in this state. Probably because Queensland politicians are listening very carefully to a very well qualified physician.”
Perry said Young’s decisions over exemptions to cross the state’s border or quarantining rules had been fair.
“It hasn’t just been footballers and wealthy people,” he said.
He said the AMAQ remained concerned about another coronavirus wave.
“Victoria is a very stark demonstration about what can happen if we lower our sights too quickly,” he said.
There were no new cases in the state overnight: 30 remain active.
Updated
NSW records nine new cases, four in hotel quarantine
Just stepping away from Victoria for a moment to the neighbouring Australian state of New South Wales, the country’s most populous state and the government has announced nine new cases, four of which are in hotel quarantine.
9 new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) September 13, 2020
Of the nine new cases:
4 are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine
1 is locally acquired and under investigation
4 are locally acquired and linked to a known case or cluster pic.twitter.com/ALmvEdjAte
We are now hearing from Victoria’s treasurer, Tim Pallas, who is outlining a $6bn state support plan, which equates to about 25% of the state’s annual tax revenue.
“This is the single biggest package of its kind in the history of the state of Victoria,” Pallas says.
We know that there have been enormous sacrifices been made to drive the virus down and we have asked [Victorians] to not only keep safe but also to recognise that their collective effort helps us all. We secure a Covid-safe future by making these sacrifices, but recognising that government has to be there every step of the way to assist and support the business community, as well as, of course, recognising that the community at large is making enormous sacrifices, sacrifices that the strategy that the premier has outlined is working, and I think the figures make it quite clear that that is the case. We know that businesses are hurting ... they let us know. But we also know there is no other strategy that works.
Updated
Daniel Andrews is going through the changes to regional Victoria, which is ahead of the metropolitan hub of Melbourne and has a rolling 14-day average of 4.1 cases a day.
He says regional Victoria’s next step could happen this week, with a further easing of restrictions. The details: from midnight regional Victoria moves from stage 3 restrictions to the second step of the roadmap which sees up to five people able to gather together in outdoor public spaces, a maximum of two households. Outdoor pools and playgrounds will reopen.
Andrews says the region may be able to take another step this week in relation to pubs, restaurants and cafes.
He says Melbourne should look to what has happened in regional Victoria as proof that the strategy against coronavirus is working.
He says:
I’m confident that every metropolitan Victorian and every metro Melbourne Victorian will look at what’s occurring and what is about to occur in all likelihood in regional Victoria and see that for what it is: proof-positive that this is not a theoretical thing. It is real, the strategy is working and we are delivering the safe and steady opening up that should give Victorians hope, that should see Victoria positive about beating this thing, opening and staying open. That is the key.
Updated
Melbourne's new rules start from midnight
From midnight, Melbourne will move to its new rules on the roadmap out of the stage-four lockdown, Daniel Andrews says:
I wanted to remind, as part of that safe and steady steps, part of the roadmap, from 11.59 tonight, so essentially from midnight tonight, Melbourne moves from stage 4 restrictions to the first step of our roadmap which brings small, I fully acknowledge, small changes that allow for more social interaction and more time outside.
Social bubbles for those living alone or single parents – they will be allowed to have one other person in their home. Exercise is extended for two hours, split over a maximum of two sessions, but that goes obviously from one hour to two hours, and the notion of time outside, time outdoors, whilst at the moment it is just for exercise, it will also now be from midnight tonight for social interaction with one other person or members of your household.
Of course, as we move towards the warmer months, the curfew is extended from 8pm from tomorrow essentially, from midnight tonight, so he apply fromMonday night from 8pm to 9pm, so an extra hour of that freedom of movement.
Updated
Regional Victoria records no new cases
Daniel Andrews says there are 4,285 cases from an unknown source in Victoria and 1,157 active cases in the state. There are 52 active cases in regional Victoria and no new cases today in regional Victoria.
He says the state of emergency in Victoria has been extended for four more weeks, but there will be changes from today in regional Victoria.
Regional Victoria will take one step today, and they will potentially, around the middle of the week, reach those thresholds of less than five cases, a 14-day average. They are at 4.1 cases now per day.
Updated
Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, confirms 41 new cases, 7 deaths
Hello, this is Alison Rourke picking up the blog from my colleague, Martin Farrer.
We can cross live to Melbourne now where the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is talking. He confirms there are 41 new cases in the state and seven deaths, six of which are connected to aged care outbreaks.
Updated
John Lewis, once the all-conquering retailer in the UK with its department store chsain and Waitrose grocery stores, has had a tough few months thanks to Covid-19.
Our retail expert in London, Zoe Wood, says this week’s upcoming results from the much-loved chain, will not be pretty.
Here’s her full story:
Mexico records 5,674 new cases
Mexico has reported 5,674 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 421 additional fatalities on Saturday.
The country now has a total of 663,973 infections and 70,604 deaths, according to the health ministry.
Australians spending less – but more going on home cooking and booze
Electronics, home cooking treats and alcohol are the big spending items for Australian households during the pandemic.
Despite the country plunging into its first recesion for nearly 30 years, household savings are going up as they are denied the chance to splurge on nights out and overseas holidays.
But, as my colleague Naaman Zhou explains, they are taking comfort in more home cooked meals and indulging in more beer, wine and spirits to wash it down.
Here’s his full story:
Vaccine can conquer virus, says Australian minister
Australia’s health minister, Greg Hunt, believes there is genuine cause for hope for a vaccine to conquer the coronavirus after the AstraZeneca Oxford trials resumed.
Clinical trials for the coronavirus vaccine have resumed after getting the go-ahead from UK medical authorities and following the suspension last week over a reported side-effect in a patient.
The Australian federal government has a deal for 34 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine to be distributed next year if trials succeed.
Hunt said the suspension was an ordinary part of a safeguards process whenever there is an adverse event and people don’t know at the time of the event whether it is related to the vaccine or not.
Hunt told Sky News:
For us, number one is safety, that trumps everything. There is genuine cause for hope and optimism for Australians.
AstraZeneca said in a statement trials had resumed in the UK following following confirmation by the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority that it was safe to do so.
On 6 September, the standard review process triggered a voluntary pause to vaccination across all global trials to allow review of safety data by independent committees, and international regulators. The UK committee has concluded its investigations and recommended to the MHRA that trials in the UK are safe to resume.
There is mounting alarm in the UK about the sharp rise in cases in the past few weeks.
New cases are doubling every week in England and Birmingham, the country’s second biggest city, is introducing new restrictions to head off a big rise in cases.
The spike has forced ministers to warn that people breaking new “rule of six” curbs on social gatherings could face fines.
In Scotland, the situation is not much better. New infections rose to a four-month high on Saturday. Authorities said 221 people had tested positive in the 24 hours to their announcement on Saturday. It was the highest daily figure since 8 May.
Since the start of the pandemic, 22,435 people have been infected with Covid-19 in Scotland and 2,499 have died with the virus.
Still in Victoria, here is the link to the News Corp story I mentioned a couple of posts ago about a woman being “ripped out” of her car by police at a checkpoint.
It comes after the state premier, Daniel Andrews, said police checkpoints on key roads out of Melbourne could be bolstered to ensure that people are not leaving the city for regional areas ahead of the lifting of some restrictions in the country. The relaxation of rules would mean people could go out for a meal or visit a cafe.
“It may go to a new level to make sure that only those who absolutely need to be travelling into country Victoria are doing that,” he said.
Victoria's roadmap out of lockdown
Victoria officially begins it’s “roadmap” out of the pandemic tomorrow, with Melbourne entering the “first step” on the multi-month plan to ease restrictions, writes my colleague Matilda Boseley.
A number of small changes will come into effect at midnight tonight in Australia’s second biggest city, including the curfew being pushed back from 8pm to 9pm.
Exercise time will also be extended to two hours. Previously only two people were allowed outside together, this has now reverted back to either a whole household or a maximum of two people from different households.
You will also technically be able to meet a person from another household outside for recreational reasons rather than just exercise. (Essentially you can sit on opposite ends of a park bench with a friend rather than just going for a walk).
Single parents and those living alone can also begin to visit their nominated households from tomorrow.
At the same time, regional Victoria will enter the “second step” where childcare and hairdressers will reopen, and retail can continue with density restrictions.
Five people form a maximum of two households will also now be allowed to meet outside from recreational reasons.
Updated
Australian diplomats have been sent to Heathrow in London to help stranded Australian citizens forced to camp at the airport until they can get a flight home.
Thousands are stuck overseas because the number of people allowed to enter Australia has been capped in order to manage quarantine arrangements.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, there are now more than 25,000 Australians overseas who have registered an intention to return home, but who cannot access flights due to the government’s strict international arrival caps.
Here’s the full story from my colleague Elias Visontay:
Updated
Young people in England – and maybe some older ones – have not universally heeded government warnings about not going out and partying in big groups ahead of the new restrictions on gatherings.
Pictures from Leicester Square in central London showed people in large groups enjoying the city’s nightlife.
Here’s our story with that government warning:
Updated
Those latest figures from Victoria for the past 24 hours take the state’s death toll to 723 and the national count to 810 since the start of the pandemic.
The state capital, Melbourne, is still under hard lockdown but the restrictions could ease by the end of the month if cases continue to fall. Regional areas of the state are expected to ease its restrictions within days.
They come after another day of protests in Melbourne on Saturday amid growing discontent with the curbs on normal life.
Premier Daniel Andrews said road checkpoints may be stepped up to make sure Melburnians don’t escape to the country.
On Sunday, News Corp media outlets released footage of a woman being dragged from her car by a police officer at a vehicle checkpoint about 45km north of Melbourne.
The footage suggests she had refused to give her name to the officer and was subsequently forcibly removed from the car after refusing to get out herself, saying she felt unsafe.
Victoria records 41 new cases and seven more deaths
The worst-hit Australian state has just released its daily coronavirus numbers.
#COVID19VicData for 13 September, 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 12, 2020
Yesterday there were 41 new cases reported and 7 lives lost. Our thoughts go out to all those affected.
More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/xylZ2wnfcp
Good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you are reading this latest edition of our coronavirus live coverage.
- French health authorities reported 10,561 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, a new daily record as the number topped 10,000 for the first time.The latest daily count highlights a resurgence of the disease in France.
- Victoria has recorded 41 new cases and seven deaths on Sunday. The Australian state continues to be in hard lockdown with Melbourne under nightly curfew.
-
Oxford University says clinical trials of its vaccine are to resume in the UK. Trials of the treatment under development with the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca halted last Sunday when a participant fell ill.
- Daily coronavirus cases in Scotland have hit a four-month high, after a total of 221 people have tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours.
- Oxygen supply has grown scarce in parts of India that are particularly hard-hit by coronavirus.
- The Netherlands has reported 1,231 new cases of coronavirus, as well as one further death.
- Athens has become the centre of what senior government officials are calling a “troubling” surge in cases in Greece.
- In England, people have been urged not to have a “party weekend” before the government’s “rule of six” restrictions come into force on Monday.
- Russia reported 5,488 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the tally to 1,057,362, the fourth largest in the world.
Victoria records 41 new cases and seven deaths
The worst-hit Australian state has released its latest daily figure for new cases.
#COVID19VicData for 13 September, 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 12, 2020
Yesterday there were 41 new cases reported and 7 lives lost. Our thoughts go out to all those affected.
More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/xylZ2wnfcp
