We’ve launched a brand new version of the global coronavirus liveblog – head to the link below for the latest:
Brazil registered 128 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday and 10,554 further infections, according to official data.
Since the start of the pandemic, 162,397 people have died in Brazil and more than 5.66 million have been infected with the virus, the data shows.
The latest figures come amid polls showing Jair Bolsonaro’s support falling in some of the country’s biggest cities.
Updated
Footballer and campaigner Marcus Rashford has forced the UK government into yet another U-turn after weeks of refusing to extend free school meals over school holidays amid the pandemic.
Boris Johnson pledged a package including a £170m Covid winter grant scheme to support vulnerable families in England and an extension of the holiday activities and food programme to the Easter, summer and Christmas breaks next year.
Haroon Siddique reports on the latest policy switch here.
Support for Brazilian far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has dropped in some of the country’s biggest cities, surveys showed on Sunday, suggesting a previous bump may be short-lived as the country still grapples with a brutal coronavirus outbreak.
Previous polls have shown a rise in the former army captain’s support, despite what is widely seen as his poor handling of an epidemic that has now killed more than 160,000 Brazilians.
Now, a new poll, undertaken at the start of November and published in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, his support in Sao Paulo fell to 25% from 29%, while in Belo Horizonte it fell to 35% from 40%, compared with a previous poll taken 21-22 September. The margin of error was 3 percentage points, it said.
In Recife and Rio de Janeiro, polls showed his support remaining stable.
Meanwhile, a separated compilation of data by pollster Ibope, collated by the G1 website, showed on Sunday that Bolsonaro’s support has fallen in seven state capitals. The largest drops in support occurred in the cities of Salvador and Rio Branco, in which Bolsonaro’s popularity fell by 7 percentage points.
Updated
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has arrived in London as post-Brexit negotiations continue with the UK government, wearing a face mask embossed with the EU flag.
“Very happy to be back in London and work continues,” he told Reuters when he arrived by train.
Updated
The coronavirus pandemic had a devastating effect on Italy in the spring – now, as the country fights back the virus’s second wave, thousands of small villages are “fighting to stay alive”, Lorenzo Tondo writes.
Set among the forests at the foot of Mount Kalfa, Roccafiorita is the smallest village in southern Italy. The average age of its 187 inhabitants is over 60. If Covid were to spread among the population, the village could disappear.
“I’m worried,” 93-year-old Salvatore Occhino said. “If Covid strikes hard, there will be no one left in Roccafiorita. My heart cries out when I think of all the sacrifices we’ve made to keep this village alive. Now we can only place ourselves in the Lord’s hands.”
Lorenzo Tondo reports from Roccafiorita:
Coronavirus measures eased in Melbourne
Melbourne’s “ring of steel”, which kept the city separate from the rest of Victoria, is set to lift at 11.59pm on Sunday.
Regional areas had been off-limits to Melburnians for months as the city lagged behind in its second wave fight with Covid-19, but the border will now be opened after the city recorded nine consecutive days without a new case.
“We know that so many people have missed those that they love the most, those who they need to see, been desperately keen to see, for such a long period of time,” Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters.
Measures will be relaxed, including:
- The 25km travel limit will be scrapped
- Hospitality venues can now host up to 70 customers outdoors and 40 indoors
- A maximum of 20 people will be allowed in gyms, libraries, community centres, galleries, museums and cinemas
- Aged care residents are able to have visitors from one household per day for two hours
- Partners can visit maternity wards indefinitely
Updated
A former sports minister has urged the UK government to soften its ban on outdoor sports, saying the current rules do not make sense.
Under national lockdown restrictions for England, outdoor sports including children’s sports outside of school settings have been shut down until 2 December.
On Sunday Tracey Crouch, a former Conservative frontbencher, called for compromises on the policy.
The MP told BBC Radio 4’s the Westminster Hour: “I appreciate that some might think it’s just a month, but actually a month is a long time when for many people, sport is as much about therapy as it is about their own physical health.
“And for youngsters, a month is an exceptionally long time. There certainly could have been compromises made. There’s no reason why you can’t just suspend competition but allow for training to continue.
“Then there are socially distanced sports in themselves. To me that doesn’t make any sense.”
Updated
Summary
Here’s a quick round-up of recent events.
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The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has passed 50 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which shows that the US, India and Brazil have the highest figures. More on that here.
- France reported a further 38,619 coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 1,787,324. It follows a record daily increase on Saturday, when a staggering 86,852 cases were logged.
- Algeria’s president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has responded well to coronavirus treatment after being hospitalised 13 days ago.
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Greece has reported a record daily rise of 35 coronavirus deaths, and 1,914 new cases of the virus. The authorities announced 34 deaths on Saturday.
- Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Manchester on Sunday to object against the national lockdown in England, resulting in four arrests and several fines.
- Italy has registered 32,616 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday, down from 39,811 on Saturday.
- The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a further 93,811 coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total to 9,808,411. It follows a string of record figures, with the country tallying more than 100,000 new cases for four consecutive days.
- The UK has reported 20,572 new infections and 156 deaths, taking the country’s caseload to 1,192,013 and its official toll to 49,044.
Updated
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has said he thinks Joe Biden’s election will be a turning point in America’s battle against Covid-19.
“I think you’ll see a different tone now. I think you’ll even see some governors start to take a different tone now that Mr Trump is out of office,” Cuomo said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
“I think the political pressure of denying Covid is gone. I think you’ll see scientists speak with unmuzzled voice now. And I think the numbers are going to go up and Americans are going to get how serious this is.”
The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK is bringing a new tide of homelessness to a small square outside Charing Cross police station in London.
“There’s a lot of new faces,” said Jas Bhogal, a volunteer, while he handed out free gloves, hats and masks to a long queue of rough sleepers as temperatures dropped last week.
“Employees that worked in the hospitality businesses, those that didn’t get furloughed, ended up on the street and came to use this service,” he said. The demand is so high that three other charity food drops are operating at the same time as Bhogal’s Sikh Welfare and Awareness Team.
You can read Robert Booth’s report about the pandemic’s impact on homelessness here.
Updated
Four people were arrested and a number of officers were injured at Manchester’s anti-lockdown protest, Greater Manchester Police have said in a statement where they strongly condemned the gathering of more than 600 demonstrators.
Assistant chief constable Mabs Hussain said: “Today, Greater Manchester police responded to a large gathering in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester city centre. At the peak of the gathering, in excess of 600 people were in attendance.
“I would like to use this opportunity to publicly condemn this gathering. Both the organisers and attendees were irresponsible – increasing demand on police who are also responding to calls regarding serious incidents and people who are in immediate danger across Greater Manchester.
“Before and during this gathering, officers followed guidance to engage with the organiser and attendees, explain the restrictions and encourage compliance. Unfortunately, the encouragement was ignored, which resulted in officers progressing to enforcement.”
Officers arrested four people on suspicion of public order offences and issued 24 £200 fixed penalty notices at the protest, he said, adding that police are looking to issue an FPN to the organiser.
Police have learned that one group travelled to the protest from Cumbria via coach, Hussain said, explaining that the driver and coach company have since been reported to the regulator.
He added: “Whilst responding to this gathering, a number of officers were injured. This is unacceptable behaviour towards officers who were simply doing their job and protecting people. Investigators will now work to identify those responsible and ensure they face justice.
“I would also like to remind members of the public that these restrictions are to control the spread of Covid-19 and protect everyone – including you and your loved ones as well as the NHS. I encourage you to do your bit to fight the virus by complying with the restrictions and staying at home.”
Updated
France reports 38,619 new cases
France reported a further 38,619 coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 1,787,324.
It follows a record daily increase on Saturday, when a staggering 86,852 cases were logged.
The health ministry also announced 271 more coronavirus patients had died in the country’s hospitals, down from 306 on Saturday.
Updated
Greece registers highest daily death toll
Greece has reported a record daily rise of 35 coronavirus deaths, and 1,914 new cases of the virus. The authorities announced 34 deaths on Saturday.
It brings the country’s coronavirus death toll to 734 and the total number of confirmed cases to 56,698.
The AP bureau chief for south-east Europe has this breakdown of the cases:
Of #Greece's 1914 #coronavirus cases:
— Elena Becatoros (@ElenaBec) November 8, 2020
483 Thessaloniki
396 Attica
125 Pella
106 Kilkis
86 Serres
68 Larissa
65 Pieria
59 Magnissia
53 Chalkidiki
42 from abroad, Evros
41 Kavala
31 Drama
24 Rodopi
22 Ioannina
18 Achaia, Trikala
17 Karditsa, Kozani
16 Lesvos
15 Chania#COVIDー19
Updated
US reports 93,811 coronavirus cases
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a further 93,811 coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total to 9,808,411.
It said the number of deaths had risen by 1,072 to 236,547.
The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
It follows a string of record figures, with the country tallying more than 100,000 new cases for four consecutive days.
Updated
Nigel Farage and his allies have relaunched their political party, encouraging people to walk past their local war memorial on Remembrance Sunday in a low-key anti-lockdown protest that marks a fresh attempt to restore its political relevance.
The leaders of the Reform UK party, formerly the Brexit party, hope to occupy a political space until now dominated by a few rebel Conservatives at Westminster and conspiracy theorists on the streets and online.
Updated
A further 122 people have died in hospital in England after testing positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 34,496, NHS England said on Sunday.
Patients were aged between 44 and 98. All except four, aged between 61 and 95, had known underlying health conditions.
The deaths occurred between 15 October and 7 November.
Updated
Some photos from Sunday’s anti-lockdown protest in Manchester:
Updated
Italy reports 32,616 new cases
Italy has registered 32,616 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday, down from 39,811 on Saturday.
The ministry also reported 331 Covid-related deaths, down from 425.
The number of swab tests carried out, however, was also lower than Saturday’s count.
A total of 41,394 people have died of Covid-19 in Italy, which has registered 935,104 infections since the start of its outbreak.
Updated
Hundreds stage anti-lockdown protest in Manchester
Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Manchester to object against the national lockdown in England.
People started to gather in Piccadilly Gardens from around 1pm with numbers swelling as the day went on.
Social media footage showed hundreds of people, many of them carrying placards, protesting against the government’s decision to impose a second national shutdown.
There appeared to be little social distancing and few protesters were wearing masks as they chanted “rise up” and “freedom”. Police vehicles and officers remained nearby but appeared not to intervene. Greater Manchester police did, however, issue a dispersal order and urge people to leave.
A spokesperson said: “Greater Manchester police is aware of a large gathering in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester city centre and officers are in attendance.
“Prior to this gathering, officers engaged with the organiser; explained the restrictions; and encouraged compliance and are continuing to do so.
“Under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, a Section 34 Dispersal Order has been authorised for Manchester City Centre until 6.45pm today [Sunday 8 November 2020]. This means members of the public must not gather in the area. Failure to comply is a criminal offence.”
Pat Karney, Manchester city council’s spokesman, condemned protesters. “I can completely condemn this disgraceful gathering in Piccadilly Gardens. These people should check out the ambulances going in and out of our hospitals at the moment to see the massive health crisis we are all facing,” he said.
“If you disagree with the restrictions, write to your MP but don’t endanger people’s health.”
Updated
Global coronavirus infections pass 50 million
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has passed 50 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which shows that the US, India and Brazil have the highest figures.
A total of 50,052,204 infections have been reported around the world.
The US has the highest number of infections, with 9,879,323, followed by India with 8,507,754 and Brazil which has reported 5,653,561. Russia has registered the fourth highest number of cases (1,760,420) while France’s total stands at 1,709,773.
It comes as a Reuters tally calculated that October was the worst month of the coronavirus pandemic so far, with its second wave in the past 30 days accounting for a quarter of all cases.
The last month saw the spread of the virus accelerate at a rapid pace: while it took 32 days for cases to rise from 30 million to 40 million, it only took 21 days to add another 10 million.
The bleak milestone follows the US reporting more than 100,000 new cases on four consecutive days. The country broke its own record for daily cases nearly every day this week.
Europe has also greatly contributed to the global surge in cases. The region has reported around 12 million infections, making it the worst-affected region, overtaking Latin America. It also makes up almost a quarter (24%) of coronavirus deaths.
A Reuters analysis has shown Europe is tallying around one million new coronavirus roughly every three days.
The second wave has recently seen governments across Europe tighten restrictions and impose new lockdowns, with shutdowns ordered in England, France, Germany and Greece.
The global death toll stands at 1,253,110. The US, Brazil and India have recorded the most fatalities, followed by Mexico and the UK.
Updated
Nurses in England will be allowed to look after two critically ill Covid-19 patients at the same time after NHS bosses relaxed the rule requiring one-to-one treatment in intensive care as hospitals come under intense strain.
NHS England has decided to temporarily suspend the 1:1 rule as the number of people who are very ill in hospital with Covid has risen to 11,514, of whom 986 are on ventilators.
The move comes as concern grows that intensive care units, which went into the pandemic already short of nurses, are being hit by staff being off sick or isolating as a result of the coronavirus.
Read Denis Campbell’s exclusive here.
Updated
The condition of Algeria’s president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, is improving and he has almost completed treatment, the presidency has announced 13 days after he was flown to a German hospital.
Authorities said last week that Tebboune, 75, had tested positive for coronavirus.
Updated
UK reports 20,572 new infections
There have been a further 20,572 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data. This compares with 24,957 new cases registered on Saturday.
A total of 1,192,013 people have tested positive for Covid-19.
A further 156 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported on Sunday, bringing the total to 49,044. There were 413 on Saturday.
It is important to note that Sunday figures are often lower because of delays in reporting at the weekend.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths when Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 64,000 deaths involving coronavirus in the UK.
Updated
That’s it from me today, thank you for your company. My colleague Clea Skopeliti will be taking over the global coronavirus live blog. From London – have a good evening.
Updated
Summary
- October was the worst month of the coronavirus pandemic so far, according to a Reuters tally, with its second wave in the past 30 days accounting for a quarter of all cases recorded so far.
- US president-elect Joe Biden said he would name his own coronavirus taskforce on Monday, as the US recorded its fourth consecutive record daily total of new Covid-19 cases, close to 130,000.
- US health experts said lame-duck presidency and political gridlock in the US would worsen the country’s coronavirus crisis just as the pandemic enters its deadliest phase.
- After concerns over a new coronavirus strain that has spread from mink to humans in Denmark, the UK told lorry drivers who are not UK citizens they would have to self-isolate for 14 days if they had passed through the country.
- Sweden has had an outbreak of coronavirus cases on mink farms, but the mutated version has not been identified.
- Wales is starting to see a “levelling off” of Covid-19 case rates, according to the country’s health minister after a 17-day “firebreaker” lockdown.
- In the UK Queen Elizabeth II wore a face mask in public for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic when attending a ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London.
- Iran’s daily tally of coronavirus deaths hit a record high of 459 on Sunday, the health ministry announced, increasing the official toll to 38,291 in the Middle East’s worst-hit country.
- In Australia the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has announced the further easing of Covid restrictions over regional parts of the state after it recorded no new coronavirus cases for the ninth consecutive day on Sunday.
- New South Wales reported zero new local cases but is still investigating an emerging cluster in the Southern Highlands region, south of Sydney.
- Weekly figures for England show the central NHS test and trace system is reaching just under 60% of the close contacts of people testing positive, the lowest since the service began.
- Hospitals in Greater Manchester have suspended non-urgent appointments and surgery following a surge in the number of Covid patients being treated.
- 413 people with coronavirus have died across the UK in the last 24 hours, up from 355 the previous day, government figures show. It brings the overall UK death toll to 48,888.
- In France, the total number of deaths from coronavirus has exceeded 40,000 for the first time, the health ministry announced. Deaths from the virus reached 40,169.
- India reported 50,356 new Covid-19 infections in the past day, as cases in New Delhi surpassed 7,000 on Saturday.
- Papua New Guinea has reported a second case in New Ireland province, bringing the total number to 599. However testing has been minimal and the infection rate is expected to be much higher than 599, with cases reported in 15 of the 20 provinces.
- Italy approved a new aid package to cushion the blow to its economy from the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The measures agreed by cabinet overnight are worth €2.9bn (£2.6bn), according to a report by Reuters.
- The US confirmed 126,480 new coronavirus cases on Friday. It is the third day in a row that the US has reported a record-breaking number of Covid-19 cases.
- Polls opened in Myanmar this morning for a vote expected to return to power the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, in an election which went ahead despite virus fears.
- Scientists have said several hundred thousand extra deaths from tuberculosis are likely to occur this year as a result of Covid-19’s effect on global health services.
- Thousands of people in Leipzig, Germany, have demonstrated against coronavirus restrictions. The demonstration came as Germany finished its first week of a “lockdown-lite” with new restrictions to try and slow rising coronavirus cases.
Updated
An increasing number of countries in Europe are making their contract tracing apps work across borders, according to the European Commission.
The coronavirus does not stop at borders.
— European Commission 🇪🇺 (@EU_Commission) November 8, 2020
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, and Spain made their contact and warning apps work across borders.
Other EU countries will follow soon.
More: https://t.co/58OTahrQ47 #StrongerTogether #DigitalEU pic.twitter.com/Rmxv4zVne7
Wales is starting to experience a “levelling off” of Covid-19 cases, according to the country’s health minister.
On the final day of a 17-day lockdown, Vaughan Gething also said Wales was considering introducing mass testing, as being trialled in Liverpool in England, in high case rate areas like Merthyr and the valleys.
But he warned against early conclusions, saying that the full impact of the “firebreak” lockdown would only be seen in two weeks’ time.
The differing approach of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has exposed significant rifts between the UK government in Westmintser and the devolved administrations. Wales’s lockdown ends on Monday just a few days after England’s four-week lockdown started.
Latest NHS Wales figures show 1,344 people are being treated in hospital for Covid-19. There are currently 163 requiring critical care, including 54 patients with coronavirus. Wales usually has a 152-bed capacity in intensive care.
Gething said treatment for cancer, heart and stroke could be affected if Covid infection rates increased again. He said:
We think we’re starting to see a plateauing, a levelling off, in the rates of coronavirus across the country.
It’s still at a high rate, which means that there’s still a reservoir of coronavirus within our communities.
Updated
October 'the worst month for the pandemic so far'
October was the worst month of the coronavirus pandemic so far, according to a Reuters tally, with its second wave in the past 30 days accounting for a quarter of all cases recorded so far.
The US became the first country to report more than 100,000 daily cases, and a surge in Europe also contributed to the rise.
The Johns Hopkins coronavirus dashboard reveals that global cases are approaching 50 million.
Global coronavirus infections are approaching 50m pic.twitter.com/UyTUcV80qf
— Alexandra Topping (@LexyTopping) November 8, 2020
According to Reuters calculations, the latest seven-day average shows global daily infections are rising by more than 540,000.
More than 1.25 million people have died of Covid-19 so far.
Reuters reports:
The pandemic’s recent acceleration has been ferocious. It took 32 days for the number of cases to rise from 30 million to 40 million. It took just 21 days to add another 10 million.
Europe, with about 12 million cases, is the worst-affected region, overtaking Latin America. Europe accounts for 24% of Covid-19 deaths.
The region is logging about 1 million new infections every three days or so, according to a Reuters analysis. That is 51% of the global total.
France is recording 54,440 cases a day on the latest seven-day average, a higher rate than India with a far bigger population.
The global second wave is testing healthcare systems across Europe, prompting Germany, France and Britain to order many citizens back to their homes again.
Denmark, which imposed a new lockdown on its population in several northern areas, ordered the culling of its 17 million mink after a mutation of the coronavirus found in the animals spread to humans.
The US, with about 20% of global cases, is facing its worst surge, recording more than 100,000 daily coronavirus cases on the latest seven-day average. It reported a record of more than 130,000 cases on Saturday.
The latest US surge coincided with the last month of election campaigning in which Donald Trump minimised the severity of the pandemic and his successful challenger, Joe Biden, urged a more science-based approach.
Trump’s rallies, some open-air and with few masks and little social distancing, led to 30,000 additional confirmed cases and likely led to more than 700 deaths, Stanford University economists estimated in a research paper.
India has the world’s second-highest caseload but has seen a steady slowdown since September, despite the start of the Hindu festival season. Total cases exceeded 8.5 million cases on Friday and the daily average is 46,200.
Updated
Lovely reporting from my colleague Lorenzo Tondo in Roccafiorita in Sicily:
When the mayor of Roccafiorita received a phone call in October informing him that an employee in his office had tested positive for Covid-19, his heart sank.
Set among the forests at the foot of Mount Kalfa, Roccafiorita is the smallest village in southern Italy. The average age of its 187 inhabitants is over 60. If Covid were to spread among the population, the village could disappear.
Concetto Orlando, the mayor, said:
When the phone rang, it was like lightning on a sunny day. With this second wave on its way, for a second I thought that we might actually be wiped off the map.
The Italian government introduced a semi-lockdown last week to combat the spread of coronavirus, after an average of over 30,000 new cases a day. Most attention has been directed towards large cities such as Milan and Naples, but across the country thousands of small villages are fighting to stay alive.
Updated
As Joe Biden announced he would name his own coronavirus taskforce on Monday, the US recorded its fourth consecutive record daily total of new Covid cases, close to 130,000.
“That plan will be built on a bedrock of science,” Biden said, promising to “spare no effort or commitment to turn this pandemic around.”
Johns Hopkins University recorded 127,399 cases across the US on Saturday, bringing the total to nearly 9.9m. More than 1,000 deaths were recorded, bring the national toll close to 237,000.
Bearing out Dr Anthony Fauci’s recent warning of cases rising and staying above 100,000 a day, the seven-day average for cases was 103,973. Hospital admissions were also rising, at around 56,000.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told the Washington Post last week:
We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation. All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.
Updated
The US president-elect, Joe Biden, is to make the resurgent coronavirus his immediate priority and will announce a 12-member taskforce to deal with the pandemic on Monday, Reuters reports.
Biden spent much of his election campaign criticising Donald Trump*s handling of the pandemic, which has now caused the deaths of 237,000 Americans. The US reported a record number of new infections last week, and the total number of cases is nearing 10 million.
After four days of uncertainty as votes were counted in key states, Biden’s victory on Saturday in Pennsylvania put him over the threshold of 270 electoral college votes he needed to clinch the presidency. Trump has not conceded and has vowed to challenge the outcome in court.
The coronavirus taskforce will be charged with developing a blueprint for containing the disease once Biden takes office in January. It will be headed by three co-chairs, former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler, and Dr Marcella Nunez-Smith of Yale University, according to two people familiar with the matter. In his victory speech on Saturday in Wilmington Biden said:
I will spare no effort or commitment to turn this pandemic around.
The taskforce announcement will kick off a busy week in which Biden and the vice rresident-elect, Kamala Harris, will move forward with the presidential transition on a number of fronts.
Biden’s transition team will launch a new website, BuildBackBetter.com, on Sunday and a new social media handle, @transition46, to provide the public with information on the handover.
Updated
A lame-duck presidency and political gridlock in the US after a bitterly fought election are set to worsen the country’s coronavirus crisis just as the pandemic enters its deadliest phase, according to health experts.
With two months to go before a presidential handover from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, the federal government’s strategy for containing the virus has experts worried.
Outside of embracing conspiracy theories, Trump administration officials appear to have pinned their hopes on improved testing and eventual vaccine approval.
Dr Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of the Emory School of Medicine and Grady Health System in Georgia, said:
The strategy, if you can summarise in one word, is hope. And hope is not a strategy.
Read the full story here:
Updated
In the UK Queen Elizabeth II wore a face mask in public for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic when attending a ceremony at Westminster Abbeyin London last week to mark the centenary of the burial of the Unknown Warrior.
The 94-year-old monarch has been seen in public on several occasions over the past few months, but she had not been pictured wearing a face covering until this occasion.
On Wednesday, during her first public engagement in London since March, she wore a black mask that was edged with white. Pictures of the ceremony were officially released late Saturday.
Queen wears face mask in public for first time as she marks centenary of the burial of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey https://t.co/ZIeS8bDKMO
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 7, 2020
The Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, has said it is the right time for his country to emerge from its 17-day “firebreak” despite sharp rises in Covid cases and the decision by the UK government to begin a lockdown in England.
Drakeford said the impact of the Welsh firebreak, which ends on Monday, would not be felt for a week or two but expressed confidence that Wales’s early action means the country will get to Christmas without a further national lockdown.
In an interview with the Guardian, the Labour leader in Wales took a swipe at Boris Johnson for repeatedly insisting that an end to the crisis is in sight, claiming this undermined trust.
There is a lot of focus today on the travel ban on Denmark, after concerns over a new coronavirus strain that has spread from mink to humans.
A Swedish reader has been in touch to point out that Swedish mink, and those working on mink farms, have also been found to have the virus.
According to this report from Sveriges Television AB (SVT), Håkan Henrikson, chief veterinarian at the Swedish Board of Agriculture, said the mutated version has not been identified in Sweden, even though the virus had been found in several mink farms in Blekinge, after the country’s first case of infection among mink was discovered on a farm in Sölvesborg.
The report states that infections have been found in another nine mink herds in Sölvesborg.
Henrikson told the broadcaster that the majority of the mink kept for fur production would be killed in November. He said the fact that 80% had been killed was a positive step to stop the spread of infection. He said:
This means a large reduction of animals, which means that there will be fewer animals that are susceptible to the infection.
Read our Q&A on the concerns about mink here:
Updated
Iran’s daily tally of coronavirus deaths hit a record high of 459 on Sunday, the health ministry announced, increasing the official toll to 38,291 in the Middle East’s worst-hit country.
Reuters reports:
Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV that the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 9,236 to 682,486.
Last week, the head of Iran’s Medical Council, Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, doubted the accuracy of the official toll and warned that Iran had reached a “catastrophic mortality rate”, the Students News Agency ISNA reported.
To stem a third wave of the virus, the government has shut schools, mosques, shops and restaurants in most of the country. Authorities have warned that coronavirus tolls will further spike if Iranians failed to respect health protocols.
Updated
In Malaysia, there have been 852 new cases and four new deaths in Malaysia recorded.
Status Terkini COVID-19 Di Malaysia,
— KKMalaysia🇲🇾 (@KKMPutrajaya) November 8, 2020
8 Nov 2020
Kes sembuh=825
Jumlah kes sembuh=28,234 kes
Kes baharu positif=852
(kes import=13, kes tempatan=839)
Jumlah positif=40,209 kes
Kes kematian=4
Jumlah kes kematian=286 kes
Kes dirawat di ICU=94 kes
Bantuan Alat Pernafasan=32 kes pic.twitter.com/UG4lRwnCoy
Malaysia has imposed a month-long conditional movement order in most states. According to this report from Bloomberg, defence minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters on Saturday that the restrictions will end on 6 December. The story states:
The partial lockdown in capital Kuala Lumpur, as well as the states of Selangor and Sabah will be extended when it expires on Monday, he said.
The curbs won’t apply to the states of Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan in peninsular Malaysia, and the state of Sarawak on Borneo island, he said, without elaborating. The country reported 1,168 new cases Saturday, down from a record 1,755 on Friday.
Malaysia has been struggling to stem a resurgence of coronavirus infections that emerged in late September. The country’s biggest-ever spending plan announced Friday will help the nation cope with the economic impact of the pandemic, prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Saturday.
Updated
Hauliers arriving in UK after passing through Denmark will have to self-isolate
Following concerns over a new coronavirus strain that has spread from mink to humans in Denmark, the UK has stated that lorry drivers who are not UK citizens and have been through Denmark in the last fortnight will have to self-isolate for 14 days along with their households.
The new rules, which began at 4am on Sunday, follow a ban on non-UK citizens coming to the UK from Denmark.
Passenger planes and ships carrying freight from Denmark will also be preveented from stopping in UK docks, while cabin crew will also not be exempted from the quarantine rules.
Ryanair has cancelled all flights to and from Denmark while the rules remain in place. Scottish airline Loganair said it has suspended flights between Scotland and Denmark from 9-22 November.
Veterinary workers have begun a mass extermination of mink, gassing and then burning 17 million of the creatures in Danish farms in a bid to halt further spread of a Covid-19 mutation from the animals to humans.
You can read that story here:
The UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab, speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show this morning, said of the restrictions:
Although it is a precautionary step, I think it is the right step whilst we engage with all of the health experts around the world, with the Danish authorities, and be clear about what has happened in Denmark, in particular in relation to the minks.
Updated
The Czech Republic reported 7,722 new coronavirus cases for the latest 24-hour period, the third time this month that the daily tally fell below 10,000, Health Ministry data showed on Sunday.
Saturday’s daily tally was the lowest since 1 November and brings the total number of cases reported since the outbreak started to 411,220 in the country of 10.7 million, Reuters reports. Cases have risen tenfold since mid-September.
The health ministry reported 155 new deaths on Sunday, which included 99 on Saturday along with revisions to previous days. In total 4,681 people have died.
The country is facing one of Europe’s biggest per capita spikes in infections in recent weeks, including a record daily count of over 15,000 on 4 November, although Czech health authorities said on Friday new cases may have plateaued.
Hospitals, though, would still feel strain and cases among vulnerable senior citizens are on the rise, they said.
Deaths related to Covid-19 in the Czech Republic have been highest in Europe on a per-capita basis in recent weeks, according to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control data.
For more on the Czech Republic’s response, and where it went wrong, this piece by the BBC’s Prague correspondent is very informative:
— Rob Cameron (@BBCRobC) October 26, 2020
Updated
In the UK General Sir Nick Carter has asked people not to leave their houses and gather to mark Remembrance Sunday, but rather stand in silence on their doorstep at 11am
Asked on The Andrew Marr show on BBC One about the lack of a Cenotaph march-past, he said:
It is especially hard for our veterans who like to get together, to share their memories and to ‘strut their stuff’. It will be hard for them.
This year’s Remembrance Day is going to be "particularly tough for our Veterans", says General Sir Nick Carter#Marr https://t.co/gLsEBdcy1x pic.twitter.com/8uYPJrdly8
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 8, 2020
Updated
In Indonesia, there have been 3,880 new cases and 74 new deaths recorded in the last 24 hours.
Updated
In Spain, Barcelona council has come to the rescue of some of the city’s most emblematic and best-loved bars by adding them to the list of protected sites and buildings. However, thanks to Covid-19 restrictions, you won’t be able to get a drink in any of them for at least the next few weeks.
My colleague Stephen Burgen reports:
The city has added 11 bodegas to the list of 220 shops that are considered part of the city’s cultural heritage. The move has been widely welcomed, though it comes too late to save many small businesses, from toy and book shops to grocery and furniture stores, that were part of the fabric and essence of the city but were forced out by soaring rents. In most cases they have been replaced by chain stores.
Read the full story here:
The Philippines reported 2,442 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, its biggest daily increase since Oct. 19, taking the total to 396,395, its health ministry said.
The Department of Health also reported 54 more coronavirus-related deaths, taking the official death toll to 7,539.
The Department of Health reported 2,442 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, November 8, 2020. Rizal logged most of the newly announced cases. #COVID19PH pic.twitter.com/cNw4arKUJC
— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) November 8, 2020
Russia reported 20,498 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, slightly below a record high it recorded on Friday, and 286 coronavirus-related deaths. This brings the national tally to 1,774,334 cases of infection and takes the official death toll to 30,537.
I’ll be looking after the global coronavirus liveblog today, my thanks to Helen Davidson for her sterling work from Australia. Please do get in touch from where you are. I’m on alexandra.topping@theguardian.com and @lexytopping on Twitter. My DMs are open.
Updated
I’ll be handing over to Alexandra Topping in the UK shortly, but first a quick roundup of the latest developments.
- US president-elect Joe Biden said he will appoint a team of leading scientists and experts as transition advisors to start work immediately on a Covid response plan “built on a bedrock of science” for as soon as he’s inaugurated.
- In Australia the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has announced the further easing of Covid restrictions over regional parts of the state after it recorded no new coronavirus cases for the ninth consecutive day on Sunday.
- New South Wales reported zero new local cases but is still investigating an emerging cluster in the Southern Highlands region, south of Sydney.
- Weekly figures for England show the central NHS test and trace system is reaching just under 60% of the close contacts of people testing positive, the lowest since the service began.
- Hospitals in Greater Manchester have suspended non-urgent appointments and surgery following a surge in the number of Covid patients being treated.
- 413 people with coronavirus have died across the UK in the last 24 hours, up from 355 the previous day, government figures show. It brings the overall UK death toll to 48,888.
- In France, the total number of deaths from coronavirus has exceeded 40,000 for the first time, the health ministry announced. Deaths from the virus reached 40,169.
- India reported 50,356 new Covid-19 infections in the past day, as cases in New Delhi surpassed 7,000 on Saturday.
- Papua New Guinea has reported a second case in New Ireland province, bringing the total number to 599. However testing has been minimal and the infection rate is expected to be much higher than 599, with cases reported in 15 of the 20 provinces.
- Italy approved a new aid package to cushion the blow to its economy from the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The measures agreed by cabinet overnight are worth €2.9bn (£2.6bn), according to a report by Reuters.
- The US confirmed 126,480 new coronavirus cases on Friday. It is the third day in a row that the US has reported a record-breaking number of Covid-19 cases.
- Polls opened in Myanmar this morning for a vote expected to return to power the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, in an election which went ahead despite virus fears.
- Scientists have warned that several hundred thousand extra deaths from tuberculosis are likely to occur this year as a result of Covid-19’s effect on global health services.
- Thousands of people in Leipzig, Germany, have demonstrated against coronavirus restrictions. The demonstration came as Germany finished its first week of a “lockdown light” with new restrictions to try and slow rising coronavirus cases.
- Travel to UK from Denmark has been banned amid worries over Covid in mink.
Updated
Third world war a risk in wake of pandemic, says UK defence chief
PA: The economic fallout during the coronavirus pandemic has made the prospect of a third world war “a risk”, the UK’s most senior military commander has said.
General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of the defence staff made the comments when asked by Sky News in the run-up to Remembrance Sunday whether he feared the global economic crisis brought on by coronavirus could lead to war.
He told the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme there was a worry that the increase in regional conflicts playing out across the world could ramp up into “a full-blown war”, mirroring the run-up to the two world wars in the 20th century when a series of alliances between countries led to years of bloodshed.
The senior official argued that, with the world being “a very uncertain and anxious place” during the pandemic, there was the possibility “you could see escalation lead to miscalculation”.
“We have to remember that history might not repeat itself but it has a rhythm and if you look back at the last century, before both world wars, I think it was unarguable that there was escalation which led to the miscalculation which ultimately led to war at a scale we would hopefully never see again,” said Carter.
Asked whether he was saying there was a “real threat” of a third world war, he replied: “I’m saying it’s a risk and we need to be conscious of those risks
A devastating dispatch from the Dakotas, via the AP.
With coronavirus cases running rampant in the Dakotas and elected leaders refusing to forcefully intervene, the burden of pushing people to take the virus seriously has increasingly been put on the families of those who have died.
The ranks of those who know what it means to lose someone they love to Covid-19 are on the rise.
North Dakota and South Dakota have the nation’s worst rate of deaths per capita over the last 30 days. Despite advances in treating Covid-19 patients, hundreds more people have died in recent weeks than during any other period — a grim exclamation point on the virus outbreak slamming the northern Plains and Upper Midwest.
In the Dakotas, the virus has shown few signs of slowing down. With winter approaching and hospitals scrambling to make room for Covid-19 patients, medical experts worry that virus deaths will continue to climb in a region where people have been slow to adopt mitigation measures like wearing masks. The Republican governors of both states have derided government orders to help halt the outbreaks, leaning on ideals of limited government.
The deaths have increasingly hit closer to home among many tight-knit communities: a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo; a former school principal in De Smet; an elementary school employee in Sioux Falls; a North Dakota state legislative candidate.
“Sometimes I think it’s not true,” said Chris Bjorkman, who lost her husband, John Bjorkman, 66. “Sometimes I think he’s going to walk through the door, but he hasn’t yet, so I just keep waiting.”
Bjorkman’s family, who live in De Smet, a town in eastern South Dakota where Laura Ingalls Wilder once had a homestead, decided to publicly share his struggle with the virus because he loved serving the community. After a career as a teacher and school administrator, Bjorkman was a well-known figure, remembered for his fun-loving ways and care for children.
“I want people to know what Covid can do and how serious it is,” Chris Bjorkman said.
The family experienced the crunch facing the health care system as John Bjorkman was flown to a hospital in Minnesota after his condition worsened. The family posted regular Facebook updates as he was transferred to an intensive care unit in Sioux Falls and placed on a ventilator.
Doctors are unsure how many more cases like Bjorkman’s that they can handle.
“At this time, we’re headed in a direction of overwhelming our health care systems and I think that’s closer than what people understand,” said Dr. Michael Pietila, a critical care physician at the Yankton Medical Clinic.
You can read the full story here.
South Australia’s streak of recording at least one new case of Covid-19 among returned travellers has been extended to six days, AAP reports.
Three new cases were confirmed by SA Health today, with two men and a woman - all in their 20s - testing positive in hotel quarantine after recently returning from overseas.
As two of the cases are old infections, they won’t be added to SA’s tally of 19 active infections. SA hasn’t had a day without a new infection since Monday, with 14 hotel quarantine cases reported in the last six days.
That included Thursday’s five new infections which represented the state’s biggest daily spike in Covid-19 cases for almost seven months.
Thailand recorded seven new imported cases today, the Bangkok Post has reported. It brings Thailand’s total to 3,837. No new deaths were reported.
AFP: Polls opened in Myanmar this morning for a vote expected to return to power the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains a hero at home in spite of a reputation abroad shattered by the Rohingya crisis.
The election will be just the second since the Southeast Asian nation emerged from nearly half a century of junta rule in 2011. Five years ago Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory, but was forced by the constitution into an uneasy power-sharing agreement with the still-mighty military.
This time the civilian leader - in a bid to maintain an absolute majority - has implored citizens to overcome their fears of coronavirus to turn out and cast their ballots.
Voters across the country joined long lines before the sun had even risen on Sunday as they waited for polling stations to open, largely maintaining physical distance and wearing compulsory face masks in the coronavirus-disturbed vote.
Cases have spiralled upwards in recent months, sending swathes of the country into lockdown and largely forcing election campaigns online, where hate speech between rival factions has flourished.
But Suu Kyi, who has placed herself front and centre in the fight against the epidemic, refused to postpone the polls.
“I’m not at all afraid of being infected with Covid-19,” said 27-year-old Khine Zar Chi, voting for her first time in downtown Yangon.
“I don’t care if I die for Mother Suu.”
A voter wearing a face shield and face mask to halt the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus shows an ink-marked finger after casting her ballot at a polling station in Yangon on November 8, 2020. Photograph: Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images
Authorities allowed the elderly to vote in advance - including the 75-year-old Suu Kyi and the president - as well as internal migrants casting ballots in temporary constituencies.
But holding the election could see “serious public health ramifications”, warned the International Crisis Group watchdog.
UN chief Antonio Guterres on Friday called for a “peaceful, orderly and credible” election, although doubts about the vote’s credibility have already overshadowed the poll.
Virtually all the 600,000 Rohingya Muslims remaining in the country - half of whom are of voting age - are stripped of citizenship and rights, including their chance to vote.
“This is an apartheid election,” said rights group Burma Campaign UK, adding the polls were “less free and fair than the last”.
Scientists have warned that several hundred thousand extra deaths from tuberculosis are likely to occur this year as a result of Covid-19’s effect on global health services.
In many countries – including South Africa, India and Indonesia – doctors and health workers have been shifted from tracking TB cases to tracing people infected with Covid-19. Equipment and budgets have also been reassigned, an investigation by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed.
As a result, millions of TB diagnoses have been missed, and according to the WHO this is likely to result in 200,000 to 400,000 excess deaths from the disease this year alone, with a further million new cases occurring every year after that for the next five years.
“This is just one example of the very difficult choices that had to be taken to contain Covid-19,” said Thomas Kenyon, chief health officer of Project Hope, the humanitarian NGO. “It was obviously crucial that we tackle the pandemic but we cannot forget that we have other killers in our midst. We are going to have to be innovative in addressing them.”
Germany records 16,017 cases
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 16,017 to 658,505, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 63 to 11,289.
Updated
Care home residents in England face a postcode lottery over visiting because ministers have abdicated responsibility to local officials, according to social care bosses. Thousands of elderly people are still unable to have face-to-face contact with relatives despite guidance from health secretary Matt Hancock last week encouraging operators to allow visitors.
Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “In some areas directors of public health have said they will not allow visiting, so a care home might want to reinstate visiting but the local public health director is saying it can’t.
“It is a postcode lottery. And the problem is that there is no accountability trail for directors of public health. Care homes cannot use the government’s guidance to override the local official. This is really a mistake by government.”
The combination of the economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus and the potential Congressional stalemate emerging from theUS election could combine to push down the vale of the US dollar in the coming months.
Analysts believe that president-elect Joe Biden will struggle to push much extra government spending through Congress because he may not have control of the Senate upper house. That mean the US Federal Reserve will have to prop up the US economy with more quantitative easing, or money printing schemes, to keep dollars flowing through the system, in turn forcing down the value of the dollar.
The US currency is off about 10% from its highs of the year and stands at a two-year low. Its decline has buoyed rallies in assets some investors see as dollar alternatives, such as gold and bitcoin, which are up 4% and 12% so far this month, respectively.
Other currencies will benefit. The euro has gained around 6% against the dollar this year, while the Japanese yen is up around 5%. The Aussie dollar is up 15% since May at US72.63.
The footballer Marcus Rashford has described being “overwhelmed with pride” at the progress of his campaign to fight child food poverty as ministers announced a £170m winter grant scheme aimed at helping low-income families struggling as a result of Covid-19.
Rashford said he had talked with Boris Johnson after his Manchester United team played Everton on Saturday, and was told of the latest plans. While he said many of the campaign’s objectives had yet to be met, he was proud and grateful for the positive steps taken.
“Following the game today, I had a good conversation with the prime minister to better understand the proposed plan, and I very much welcome the steps that have been taken to combat child food poverty in the UK,” the England striker said.
“There is still so much more to do, and my immediate concern is the approximate 1.7 million children who miss out on free school meals, holiday provision and Healthy Start vouchers because their family income isn’t quite low enough. But the intent the government have shown today is nothing but positive and they should be recognised for that. The steps made today will improve the lives of near 1.7 million children in the UK over the next 12 months.”
Ministers had faced fierce criticism for refusing to extend free school meals to children from low-income families during the half-term holiday, as demanded by Rashford.
England test and trace reaching just 60% of contacts
Weekly figures for England show the central NHS test and trace system is reaching just under 60% of the close contacts of people testing positive, the lowest since the service began.
The government is now facing renewed calls for the system to be scrapped in favour of handing responsibility for contact tracing to local public health teams.
It comes as the Office for National Statistics indicated the steep rise in new infections was levelling off in England and stabilising at about 50,000 a day.
Sir John Oldham, adjunct professor in global health innovation at Imperial College London and former leader of large-scale change at the Department of Health, said “lockdown will be a letdown” unless trust was increased through radical reform of test and trace.
“I think this probably includes increasing the number of small labs to decrease turnaround time and, crucially, the results to go to local directors of health and for them to have teams to undertake the contact tracing,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Updated
Still in Australia, health authorities in New South Wales are asking people in the Rouse Hill area to get tested “if they have even the mildest symptoms” after the virus was detected in sewage.
The sewage surveillance system detected traces of the virus in the catchment for parts of Quakers Hill, Castle Hill, Annangrove, Kellyville, Box Hill, Kenthurst, Glenhaven, The Ponds, Rouse Hill, North Kellyville, Kellyville Ridge, Beaumont Hills, Stanhope Gardens, Baulkham Hills, Glenwood, Bella Vista, Parklea, Acacia Gardens and Norwest, home to 120,000 people.
Here’s our full report on the lifting of restrictions in Victoria, Australia.
Daniel Andrews has announced the so-called “ring of steel” separating metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria will be scrapped along with travel restrictions for city residents, as the state recorded no new cases of Covid-19 for the ninth day in a row.
Declaring it “a day to be optimistic”, the Victorian premier said on Sunday that the state would take the next step in easing longstanding coronavirus restrictions by removing the checkpoints between Melbourne and the rest of the state from midnight.
“Families will be able to be together again,” he told reporters.
“Today is a day to be proud as Victorians of what we have been able to achieve. There has been a lot of pain and hurt and there is a need for healing, for investment, for all sorts of repair. The most important thing … is to stay the course on this – to be as stubborn as the virus.”
AFP: Coronavirus transmission from minks to humans does not necessarily mean the disease will become more dangerous, but scientists are on their guard in the wake of an astounding announcement from Denmark.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday that the country will kill more than 15 million minks and that a variant of the Sars-Cov-2 virus that had been transmitted from the animals to 12 people could impact a vaccine’s effectiveness.
Specialists are not convinced however that the danger is much greater and are waiting for more evidence.
“I really wish that the trend of science by press release would stop,” commented Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York.
“There’s no reason why the genomic data couldn’t be shared, which would allow the scientific community to evaluate these claims,” she added on Twitter.
Viruses such as the one that emerged in China late last year mutate constantly and new variants are not necessarily worse than the previous ones.
So far, no study has shown newer Sars-Cov-2 variants to be more contagious or dangerous than their predecessors. The contamination of minks is not new either, with breeders in several countries, including the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United States reporting cases.
A few cases of humans being infected by minks have also been reported.
Denmark has been specific in describing how the different strain of the virus jumped from mink to man.
“According to the information from Danish authorities, this virus is neither more pathogenic, nor more virulent,” specialist Gilles Salvat at the French health agency Anses told AFP.
There is concern however that a variant “emerges like a second virus and dominates the population,” he noted.
“Coming up with a vaccine for one strain is already complicated, and if we have to do it for two, four or six strains it is even more complicated,” the specialist noted.
He considered the decision to cull Danish mink to be a “precaution”.
Biden to appoint Covid expert advisors on Monday
In his victory speech just now, the US president-elect Joe Biden has said he will - on Monday - be appointing a team of leading scientists and experts as transition advisors to start work immediately on the Biden-Harris administration Covid response, and convert it to “an action blueprint” to start as soon as he takes office.
That plan will be built on bedrock science. It will be constructed out of compassion, empathy and concern. I will spare no effort, none. Or any commitments to turn around this pandemic.”
The US has posted record case numbers for three consecutive days and is the worst hit nation in the world.
Updated
A quick sidenote to let you all know that Joe Biden is delivering his victory speech, and Kamala Harris has just finished speaking. Follow our coverage of it on our live blog over here (then come back for all your Covid updates).
Portugal to impose curfews
Reuters: Portugal will impose localised night-time curfews from Monday to contain the spread of the coronavirus as the number of cases reached a record high, Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced in the early hours of Sunday.
The overnight curfew, from 11pm to 6am, will come into force across 121 of the country’s 308 municipalities, including Lisbon and Porto, on Monday as the country enters a 15-day state of emergency.
Costa also announced people will not be able to leave their homes between 1pm and 5am during the next two weekends - on both Saturday and Sunday. Some commercial outlets will close during these times, he said.
Updated
Hello, this is Helen Davidson here to take you through the next few hours of global coronavirus coverage. You can catch up on the last 24 hours at the previous live blog here.
A quick wrap of the latest developments:
- The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has announced the further easing of Covid restrictions over regional parts of the state after it recorded no new coronavirus cases for the ninth consecutive day on Sunday.
- The Australian state of New South Wales reported zero new local cases in the last 24 hours but are still investigating an emerging cluster in the Southern Highlands region, south of Sydney.
- In France, the total number of deaths from coronavirus has exceeded 40,000 for the first time, the health ministry announced. New deaths from the virus reached 40,169.
- India reported 50,356 new Covid-19 infections in the past day, as cases in New Delhi surpassed 7,000 on Saturday.
- Papua New Guinea has reported a second case in New Ireland province, bringing the total number to 599. However testing has been minimal and the infection rate is expected to be much higher than 599, with cases reported in 15 of the 20 provinces.
- Hospitals in Greater Manchester have suspended non-urgent appointments and surgery following a surge in the number of Covid patients being treated.
- 413 people with coronavirus have died across the UK in the last 24 hours, up from 355 the previous day, government figures show. It brings the overall UK death toll to 48,888.
- Italy approved a new aid package to cushion the blow to its economy from the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The measures agreed by cabinet overnight are worth €2.9bn (£2.6bn), according to a report by Reuters.
- The US confirmed 126,480 new coronavirus cases on Friday. It is the third day in a row that the US has reported a record-breaking number of Covid-19 cases.
- Thousands of people in Leipzig, Germany, have demonstrated against coronavirus restrictions. The demonstration came as Germany finished its first week of a “lockdown light” with new restrictions to try and slow rising coronavirus cases.
- Iran registers a record daily number of Covid-19 cases and another 423 deaths from the disease.
- Donald Trump’s chief of staff tests positive for Covid. Mark Meadows has tested positive for Covid-19, along with at least one other aide to the president, sources have told multiple news organisations The reports came just days after Meadows appeared with Trump at a White House event along with several people who were not wearing masks.
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Bosnia’s prime minister, Zoran Tegeltija, has tested positive for Covid-19. Tegeltija is is self-isolating at home, Reuters reports, citing a cabinet statement.
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Poland reported a record 27,875 new coronavirus cases. Saturday’s figures takes the total number of reported cases to more than 500,000.
- Travel to UK from Denmark has been banned amid worries over Covid in mink.
