That’s all from this blog. Thanks very much for reading but you can continue to follow everything at our new blog here:
Hello, I’m Martin Farrer taking over from Lucy Campbell.
There’s another development in the story about the Russian vaccine after Mexico’s government said it would receive at least 2,000 doses to test among its population.
As we reported earlier, Russia is starting trials of the vaccine on around 40,000 people next week.
“Mexico was offered at least 2,000 doses of the vaccine to do its protocol to start testing it in Mexico, which is very good news because again we buy ourselves time,” said Mexican foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard.
Summary
As Australia wakes up, here is a summary of the main developments from the last few hours:
- The total number of fatalities across Latin America are close to 250,000, following the recording of a further 1,204 deaths in the past 24 hours in Brazil.
- Morocco could return to a complete coronavirus lockdown as cases continue to rise. New cases nationally have surged to more than 1,000 a day since the country lifted a strict three-month long lockdown in late June and hit a record high of 1,766 on 15 August. Tighter controls have been brought in in Marrakesh and Casablanca, following similar measures in Rabat on Tuesday. “If figures continue to increase, the Covid-19 Scientific Committee may recommend another lockdown, perhaps with even tighter restrictions,” King Mohammed VI said in a speech.
- Slovenia has added neighbouring Croatia to its quarantine list, meaning that returning travellers will have to self-isolate. The UK also added Croatia to its quarantine list while Germany advised against travel to the regions of Sibenik-Knin and Split Dalmatia, which are popular with tourists, after the public health agency declared them coronavirus risk regions, making tests for returnees mandatory.
- France reported a new post-lockdown record in daily cases. The country has reported 4,711 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, a new post-lockdown record and a level last seen during the height of the epidemic in France.
- Belgian schools will reopen in September with masks mandatory for older children. Schools will reopen on 1 September when the academic year starts, with children above 12 years old and teachers required to wear masks, prime minister Sophie Wilmes said.
- Northern Ireland reduced number of people allowed to meet under new Covid-19 restrictions. Outdoor gatherings are now limited to 15 people, reduced from 30, while indoor gatherings in private dwellings are now limited to six individuals from two households, from 10 previously.
- Italy hit a new daily record in Covid-19 infections since 16 May. Italy has reported another sharp rise in Covid-19 infections, as the country registered 845 new coronavirus cases, 203 more than Wednesday.
- Portugal added to UK Covid-19 safe travel list. Portugal is being added to the UK’s travel corridor list, meaning arrivals from the country will no longer have to quarantine, but Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago are being removed.
That’s it from me, Lucy Campbell, today. Thank you all for reading along. I’ll now be handing over to my colleague Martin Farrer.
Updated
Morocco at risk of re-entering lockdown amid surge in cases
Morocco could return to a complete coronavirus lockdown as cases continue to rise, Moroccan King Mohammed VI said on Thursday, warning of severe economic repercussions.
The warning came as a rise in infections in the once bustling tourist hub of Marrakech strained health services and led to protests by medical staff in recent days.
New cases nationally have surged to more than 1,000 a day since Morocco lifted a strict three-month long lockdown in late June and hit a record high of 1,766 on 15 August.
“If figures continue to increase, the Covid-19 Scientific Committee may recommend another lockdown, perhaps with even tighter restrictions,” the King said in a speech.
The deterioration of the health situation “does not leave much room for optimism,” he said.
As of Thursday, Morocco had recorded a total 47,638 cases, including 775 deaths and 32,806 recoveries.
Pictures posted on social media platforms showed patients with Covid-19 in Marrakech lying on the floor of crowded hospitals.
Medics have staged protests in recent days to highlight the congestion and lack of anti-coronavirus equipment and oxygen.
The health ministry said on Wednesday it will boost capacity at the city’s hospitals.
Morocco has carried out 1.7 million tests and made the wearing of masks mandatory.
An emergency decree giving authorities leeway in restoring restrictive measures has been extended until 10 September.
The Moroccan economy is expected to contract by 5% this year, while the budget deficit is forecast to deepen by 7.5% of gross domestic product.
Updated
Brazil reported 45,323 new cases of coronavirus and 1,204 deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Thursday.
Brazil has now registered 3,501,975 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 112,304, according to ministry data.
The death toll reported on Thursday takes the total number of fatalities across Latin America to almost 250,000.
Updated
The Venice Film Festival, the first major in-person cinema showcase of the Covid-19 era, is requiring participants to wear face masks during screenings and take a coronavirus test if they are arriving from outside Europe.
According to guidelines published on Thursday, fans and the general public will be kept away from the red carpet during the 2-12 September festival, and movie-goers will have to buy tickets and reserve seats online to ensure every other seat is left vacant.
Nine gates set up at various points around the Venice Lido will take temperatures of movie-goers and media, and stars will have transport and red carpet arrivals arranged by festival organisers to prevent crowds from forming even within official delegations.
Festival-goers attending indoor events will be tracked to guarantee contact tracing if necessary.
The film festival will be the first in-person movie event since the pandemic began and it is one of the first major international events that Italy is hosting after becoming the one-time Covid-19 epicenter in Europe. After getting infections under control with a strict, 10-week national lockdown that ended in May, Italy is now dealing with a rebound in cases as a result of summer vacation travel.
The Toronto and New York film festivals that follow Venice will be largely virtual this year, and the Telluride festival has been reborn as a drive-in series in Los Angeles.
In Italy, movie-goers must wear face masks to enter cinemas but can remove them once seated. Biennale, organisers however, are requiring masks indoors and out as well as throughout the screenings.
In addition, anyone arriving from outside Europe’s open-border Shengen area must take a virus test before arriving and will be tested again courtesy of the Biennale once in Venice, the guidelines said.
Biennale organisers said the guidelines were worked out with local health care officials.
Indigenous protesters on Thursday blocked a key Brazilian grain highway in the Amazon state of Para, the federal highway police said, resuming a protest that halted trucks carrying corn earlier in the week.
The Kayapó tribe say the federal government has failed to protect them from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed four of their elders, and has not consulted them on a plan to build a railway next to their land.
The Kayapó returned to the BR-163 highway in the region of Novo Progresso at 7am local time on Thursday, police said.
The BR-163 highway links towns in the nation’s biggest farm state Mato Grosso to the port of Miritituba, an important export river gateway in Para state. With the soy season almost over, the main grain transported on the road at present is corn.
Edeon Vaz Ferreira, executive director of Pro-Logistics Movement, a group linked to the Mato Grosso Aprosoja farmers association, said corn is still being shipped, but the situation is becoming increasingly complex.
“Any stoppage complicates the flow, and the programming of barges and ships,” Ferreira said, without giving further details on how the port has been affected by the protests.
Earlier this week, the Brazilian Vegetable Oil Industries Association (Abiove) said a blocked BR-163 highway could affect around 50,000 tonnes of soy and corn exports a day on their way towards the port of Miritituba.
A court ruling this week ordered the protesters to leave the road, which the Kayapó complied with temporarily on Wednesday. But they show no sign of backing down permanently as they insist that government representatives meet them for talks.
Updated
Simon and Briony Rea from London flew from Heathrow to Split just hours before the news was announced that the UK government would remove Croatia from its travel corridor lsit.
They immediately started to look into how they could leave before 4am on Saturday when the new quarantine rules come into effect.
We are due to go to a friend’s wedding and I really don’t want to let him down by being stuck isolating at home. Indirect flights from Split are currently about £900 each so we are looking at getting an 11-hour ferry from Split to Ancona in Italy and spending the rest of the holiday there.
We had read about the possibility of Croatia being taken off the list but we decided to take the risk because of the financial implications of not going.
The couple estimate that they will lose about £750 on hotel bookings, as well as having to pay for the ferry and hotels in Italy.
We’re just frustrated that there isn’t a testing process on our return to the UK so we can avoid having to isolate. It’s ridiculous.
Moroccan authorities have slapped tight controls on movement in Casablanca and Marrakesh, the country’s economic and tourist capitals, following a rise in coronavirus cases, AFP reports.
Several districts of the two cities were to be sealed off, and opening hours shortened for restaurants, coffee houses, businesses and public parks.
Several beaches were closed in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city with 3.3 million inhabitants, following similar measures imposed on Tuesday near the capital Rabat.
Partial lockdowns were ordered in Rabat and the port city of Tangiers, with armoured vehicles deployed on the streets and police manning checkpoints.
Covid-19 infections have been on the rise since the beginning of August and now exceed 1,000 new cases per day in the country of 35 million.
Thursday’s tally was 1,325 new cases and 32 deaths, the latter up from 29 on Wednesday.
Morocco has confirmed a total of over 47,500 cases of coronavirus and 775 deaths.
The health minister Khalid Ait Taleb, who has come under fire on social media, acknowledges the country needs another 62,000 paramedics and 30,000 medical staff.
Updated
US senator Bill Cassidy tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday, has decided to self-quarantine for 14 days and is contacting those with whom he may have had contact, according to a statement released by his office.
“I am strictly following the direction of our medical experts and strongly encourage others to do the same,” the Louisiana Republican, himself a physician, said in the statement.
At least 15 other members of the House of Representatives and Senate - eight Republicans and seven Democrats - have tested positive or are presumed to have had Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic earlier this year.
Rand Paul, a Republican, is the only other senator to have tested positive for the virus, back in March. Two other senators, Democrats Tim Kaine and Bob Casey, said in May that they had tested positive for coronavirus antibodies.
Neither chamber is in session at the moment. In July, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a mask mandate for the House floor after Louie Gohmert, who often refused to wear a mask, tested positive. Elsewhere in the Capitol, mask wearing is encouraged for lawmakers, but not mandated.
Slovenia has added neighbouring Croatia to its quarantine list, meaning that returning travellers will have to self-isolate.
The decision to put Croatia on the list already comprising nearly 60 countries will come into effect at midnight, said the interior minister, Ales Hojs.
Travellers already in Croatia will be able to avoid a requirement to quarantine themselves for 14 days if they return to Slovenia before midnight on Monday, Hojs added.
Croatia escaped the worst of the first wave of the pandemic owing to swift lockdowns and a lack of tourist arrivals at the tail-end of winter, promoting itself as a safe destination for tourists.
But on Thursday it registered 255 new infections, bringing the total number of cases to 7,329.
Slovenia has recorded 2,356 Covid-19 cases, dozens of which have been traced to people returning from trips to party hotspots in Croatia in the past couple of weeks.
According to Croatia’s tourist board, more than 140,000 Slovenes visited the Adriatic country this month.
On Thursday, the UK also added Croatia to its quarantine list while Germany advised against travel to the regions of Sibenik-Knin and Split Dalmatia, which are popular with tourists, after the public health agency declared them coronavirus risk regions, making tests for returnees mandatory.
Croatia is the source of the third-highest number of infections among people returning to Germany, after Kosovo and Turkey, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.
Updated
Filmgoers boarded boats floating on the shimmering waters of a Tel Aviv lake for a test screening at Israel’s first “sail-in” cinema.
With indoor cinemas shut because of coronavirus restrictions, Tel Aviv municipality launched the floating cinema to allow residents to catch a movie in the open air while keeping a safe distance from each other.
The floating cinema provided seating aboard 70 pedal and rowing boats set in the Yarkon Park lake, two metres apart to maintain social distancing, Tel Aviv municipality said.
Two films would be screened every evening during the last week of August, it added. Thursday’s screening, attended by about 300 people, was a pilot event featuring the family comedy Paddington 2.
After successfully containing the coronavirus in May, Israel has been grappling with a second wave of infections and has reported a total of 98,550 Covid-19 cases and 789 deaths.
Updated
Summary
If you’re just joining us, here’s a quick recap of the latest coronavirus-related developments over the last few hours:
- France reports new post-lockdown record daily cases. The country has reported 4,711 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, a new post-lockdown record and a level last seen during the height of the epidemic in France.
- Airbnb bans parties at sites listed on its platform in Covid-19 fight. The short-term home rental company Airbnb has imposed an indefinite global ban on all parties and events at places listed on its platform as it tries to enforce social-distancing norms due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Africa reports ‘hopeful’ daily drop in coronavirus cases. Average daily cases of coronavirus in Africa fell last week, a “hopeful sign” for the continent’s fight against the disease, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.
- Russia to begin Covid-19 vaccine trials on 40,000 people next week. Mass testing of Russia’s first potential Covid-19 vaccine to get domestic regulatory approval will involve more than 40,000 people and will be overseen by a foreign research body when it starts next week.
- Belgian schools to reopen in September with masks mandatory for older children. Schools will reopen on 1 September when the academic year starts, with children above 12 years old and teachers required to wear masks, prime minister Sophie Wilmes said.
- China faces questions over ‘vaccinated’ workers sent overseas. China is facing demands to explain why a state-backed firm claimed it had vaccinated dozens of staff against the coronavirus before sending them back to work at a mine in Papua New Guinea.
- Portugal added to UK Covid-19 safe travel list. Portugal is being added to the UK’s travel corridor list, meaning arrivals from the country will no longer have to quarantine, but Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago are being removed.
- Estée Lauder plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs globally after profits dive during the pandemic. The makeup, skincare and perfume company, which also owns brands such as Joe Malone, Clinique, La Mer and MAC, said it intended to shut between 10% and 15% of its freestanding stores, with job cuts amounting to about 3% of its global workforce.
- Northern Ireland reduces number of people allowed to meet in new Covid-19 restrictions. Outdoor gatherings are now limited to 15 people, reduced from 30, while indoor gatherings in private dwellings are now limited to six individuals from two households, from 10 previously.
- Italy hits new daily record in Covid-19 infections since 16 May. Italy has reported another sharp rise in Covid-19 infections, as the country registered 845 new coronavirus cases, 203 more than Wednesday.
- Performers could sing or play softly to reduce Covid risk, study shows. Sing softly and don’t shout to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spread, new research suggests, offering a ray of hope for musicians who have been restricted from performing in public.
That’s all from me today, I’m now handing over to my colleague Lucy Campbell.
Nigeria will bar entry to citizens of countries that do not allow in Nigerians due to coronavirus restrictions, the aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, has said.
Sirika told reporters:
The principle of reciprocity will be applied.
If you ban us from coming to your country, the same will apply the other way.
Earlier this week, Nigeria announced plans to resume international flights on 29 August. All but essential international flights were halted in late March in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.
The resumption will begin with four flights daily to Lagos and Abuja, but Sirika said that initially the number of passengers would be limited to 1,280 a day.
Nigeria has 50,488 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and has recorded 985 deaths.
Updated
France reports new post-lockdown record daily cases
France has reported 4,711 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, a new post-lockdown record and a level last seen during the height of the epidemic in France.
During lockdown, France saw a peak of 7,578 infections per day on 31 March, but since then there have been only a few days with the number of new infections per day rising above 4,500.
The infection rate has been soaring in the past few days, but the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 has been relatively stable and the numbers of new deaths per day have also been stable in the low double digits. Twelve new deaths were reported on Thursday.
Updated
Vietnamese police have arrested four men accused of defrauding more than 5,000 Americans trying to buy Covid-19 protective equipment online out of nearly $1m, the Ministry of Public Security said.
The arrests of the four, aged between 22 and 36, were made following a joint investigation by the ministry and US Department of Homeland Security.
In March, the four began operating 110 websites that offered personal protection equipment (PPE), including hand sanitisers, masks and disinfectant wipes, and received money from the Americans via their Paypal accounts, the ministry said.
The four never had the products offered on the websites and their victims never received what they paid for, the ministry said.
“This investigation resulted in significant financial losses to people who were already facing enormous challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” US ambassador to Vietnam, Daniel Kritenbrink, said.
The ministry said the four had been charged with “appropriation of property using a computer network, telecommunications network or electronic device”, a crime that carries a prison term of up to 20 years.
The country has the fourth highest death toll in the world and the third-most cases, with over 2.7 million, including more than 64,000 new infections reported onWednesday. Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP
Madagascar’s health minister has been fired as part of a government reshuffle, a month after he butted heads with the president for seeking outside help for coronavirus.
The Indian Ocean island-nation reported a surge in Covid-19 cases in July as hospitals raised concern about lack of beds, leading the health minister, Ahmad Ahmad, to write a letter asking international agencies to send medical equipment.
His appeal sparked anger in president Andry Rajoelina’s administration, which said Ahmad had acted “without consulting” either the government or head of state.
Ahmad’s cabinet exit was revealed on Thursday in the announcement of a new list of ministers following a reshuffle.
“Jean Louis Hanitrala Rakotovao has been named new health minister,” the cabinet secretary, Valery Ramonjavelo, told a press conference, without giving details about the change.
Rajoelina has been promoting an infusion derived from artemisia, a plant with proven anti-malarial properties, as a homegrown cure for Covid-19.
The drink, named Covid-Organics, has been widely distributed in Madagascar and sold to several other countries, mainly in Africa.
The World Health Organization has cautioned that there have been no published scientific studies to validate claims for the drink, and mainstream scientists have pointed to potential risks from untested concoctions.
Rajoelina has ignored the warnings and blamed a jump in cases last month on “increased testing capacity”.
Madagascar’s coronavirus outbreak seems to have slowed since then, with new daily confirmed cases dropping from peaks of over 400 in July to an average of around 80 since Monday.
To date the country has recorded more than 14,000 infections and 177 fatalities.
Updated
The Republic of Congo will reopen air borders next Monday that it closed in late March to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, officials said.
Land, river and sea borders will remain closed, except for the transport of cargo, which has been authorised.
The national coronavirus management committee has approved the opening of air borders from Monday, according to Thierry Moungalla, the minister of communication.
In an internal message seen by AFP on Thursday, the foreign ministry instructed embassy and consular workers to take steps to return to their place of work from Monday.
The Republic of Congo – also known as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from its bigger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo – recorded its first case of Covid-19 on 14 March.
The country has recorded 3,850 infections so far, 77 of them fatal.
Updated
The coronavirus crisis has created towering challenges for humanitarian operations worldwide, the Red Cross said, though adding that the pandemic had also spurred authorities to open more prisons to its inspections.
Peter Maurer, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told reporters in Geneva that his organisation’s operations had been reduced to 85% of previous capacity.
Considering the significant logistical challenges created by the pandemic, the lockdowns and other measures imposed to halt the spread of the virus, a slowdown of just 15% was “surprisingly good”, he said.
Lockdowns, border closures and flight cancellations have significantly complicated accessing areas in need.
Humanitarian groups, he said, had been spending “an increasing amount of time and energy ... clarifying what the [Covid-19] situation is” in different areas, and negotiating with various authorities and armed groups about what measures were needed before aid operations could go ahead.
This was slowing down aid operations at a time when, in a range of countries, the pandemic was compounding exploding needs driven by violence and economic crises, he added.
“This is a new reality, which Covid certainly imposes on us,” he said.
At the same time, donor countries were increasingly focusing on crises raging at home, and are more reticent to provide funds for international humanitarian work, casting once reliable resources into doubt, Maurer said, adding that the situation was “very difficult”.
Updated
EU state aid regulators have cleared a €62m ($73.5m) loan guarantee from the Romanian government to the airline Blue Air, saying it was in line with the bloc’s state aid rules.
The package includes a €28m guarantee to compensate the carrier for damage caused by coronavirus-linked travel restrictions, and a €34m guarantee providing urgent liquidity support to help cover losses incurred since the outbreak.
The European commission said Blue Air was loss-making before the pandemic, but had returned to profitability in late 2019, until the virus outbreak severely hit the aviation sector and the company incurred significant losses.
It said the Romanian scheme would compensate damage directly linked to the pandemic and was dependent on Blue Air submitting a plan to become viable in the long term, and was therefore in line with the bloc’s state aid rules.
Updated
The New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, has doubled down on his commitment to reopen schools for in-person learning next month, a day after the city’s teachers’ union said his reopening protocol was insufficient to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The mayor and schools chancellor, Richard Carranza, released a “Back to School pledge” outlining the features of their reopening plan, including that all schools will have a 30-day supply of personal protective equipment at all times and will close if the percentage of positive Covid-19 tests in the city is 3% or more on a 7-day average.
New York City schools, which make up the largest school district in the US, are slated to open on 10 September for a blend of in-person and remote learning.
“We are going to make sure these schools are safe and ready. And if we don’t think they’re safe and ready, they won’t reopen,” de Blasio said on Thursday.
Compared to De Blasio’s threshold of a 3% Covid-19 infection rate for schools to shut down again, the city’s positive test rate on Thursday was 0.88%.
New York City teachers on Wednesday threatened to strike or bring legal action unless the city government addresses specific safety demands such as a more rigorous Covid-19 testing plan and protocols for isolating students who show symptoms of the virus.
“The minute we feel that the mayor is trying to force people in to a situation that is unsafe... we go to court, we take a job action,” said Michael Mulgrew, the president of the union representing the city’s 133,000 teachers, adding that a “job action” could include a strike.
“Now it’s time to say: public servants, rise to the occasion and answer the call,” de Blasio said of the teachers.
The mayor’s school reopening plan “encourages” teachers to get tested for Covid-19 monthly and promises that the city’s testing sites will expedite results for city school staff.
If at least two Covid-19 cases are confirmed in different classrooms at a school, the mayor’s plan calls for the school to be closed for 14 days. If one or two linked cases are recorded in the same classroom, then only that classroom must close for 14 days.
“Schools will communicate to all families and students at school once a case is laboratory confirmed,” the NYC Department of Education website states.
Updated
Travellers arriving in the UK after 4am on Saturday from Croatia, Austria and Trinidad and Tobago will have to quarantine for 14 days, transport secretary Grant Shapps said.
Data shows we need to remove Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago from our list of #coronavirus Travel Corridors to keep infection rates DOWN. If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) August 20, 2020
He said that Portugal has now been added to the travel corridors list, meaning travellers from the country will no longer have to quarantine on arrival in the UK.
However, he added that the situation could change quickly, and people should only travel “if you are content to unexpectedly 14-day quarantine if required”.
The Czech government has scaled down its plans on reinstating a requirement to wear face masks in public from the start of September to slow an expected surge in Covid-19 infections, following a backlash from the public and businesses.
The Czech Republic was among the first countries outside Asia to order citizens to cover their faces in public in March.
It was also among the first to drop that requirement in the summer, after recording only a few hundred deaths from the respiratory disease.
The government, fearing a jump in case numbers when children return to schools and people to work from their summer breaks, said on Monday that people would have to wear face masks on public transport, in public buildings, medical and social care facilities, shops and restaurants, at public events, and in school corridors.
But after a wave of criticism that the order was excessive and hard to enforce, the health minister, Adam Vojtěch, said on Thursday the government’s team of experts had decided to drop the requirement for schools, shops and restaurants.
The order will still take effect in public buildings, on public transport and at events with more than 100 people. Vojtěch told reporters:
We perceive opposing opinions. We have to look for a compromise – we are not deaf and blind.
It is a question of what is ideal from the epidemiological point of view and what is the reality, the impact on individual groups and so on.
Vojtěch said the government would evaluate the situation according to its regional “traffic light” system and impose tougher requirements in places where cases surge.
He said there was little visibility over the likely severity of the pandemic in the autumn, saying he saw a 50-50 chance that the situation would get serious.
The Czech Republic, with a population of 10.7 million, has so far reported about 20,798 Covid-19 cases in total and 404 deaths – lower than many other European countries.
It currently has 4,778 active cases and only 112 people in hospital as of Wednesday.
Updated
Johnson & Johnson aims to test its experimental coronavirus vaccine in up to 60,000 volunteers in a late-stage trial scheduled to start in September, according to a US government database of clinical trials.
Shares of the company rose marginally on Thursday, paring their earlier losses, after the Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
Rival coronavirus vaccine makers such as Moderna and Pfizer are targeting recruiting up to 30,000 volunteers for their late-stage studies.
Spain has recorded 3,349 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, down from 3,715 reported the previous day and bringing the country’s cumulative total to 370,867.
The ministry said 122 people had died from the coronavirus over the past seven days. The seven-day death toll reported on Wednesday was 131.
The number of recorded fatalities has significantly increased since the country exited from a three-month lockdown in late June, but is far below the levels seen during the epidemic’s late-March peak when the daily toll approached 1,000.
While infections have slowed since Friday’s post-lockdown record of 7,609, Thursday’s drop may not represent a trend as similar declines have been followed by new peaks in recent weeks.
These figures could be modified in future as the official statistics are updated retroactively.
Northern Ireland reduces number of people allowed to meet in new Covid-19 restrictions
Northern Ireland has tightened restrictions on the number of people allowed to meet indoors and outdoors, as it struggles to rein in a surge in new cases of Covid-19.
Outdoor gatherings are now limited to 15 people, reduced from 30, while indoor gatherings in private dwellings are now limited to six individuals from two households, from 10 previously, health minister Robin Swann said.
Sweden has agreed to take part in the European Union’s deal with pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca to secure a supply of a coronavirus vaccine as soon as it is discovered.
The deal means Sweden, a country of 10.3 million people, would get about6m doses of the vaccine in an initial phase, and 2m more in a later phase.
Sweden’s national vaccine coordinator Richard Bergstrom told reporters:
Within two weeks we will have three more (vaccine) agreements to consider, and after that there will be another three or four in a month or two. We are negotiating with everyone to make sure we are covered.
AstraZeneca said in July that its vaccine, developed together with the University of Oxford, should be available by the end of the year if successful.
Sweden, which has made headlines for its softer approach to coronavirus measures, said on Thursday it had 85,810 confirmed cases and 5,805 deaths.
Updated
Moroccan authorities have slapped tight controls on movement in Casablanca and Marrakesh, the North African country’s economic and touristic capitals, following a surge in coronavirus cases.
Several districts of the two cities were to be sealed off, and opening hours shortened for restaurants, coffeehouses, businesses and public parks.
Several beaches were closed in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city with 3.3 million inhabitants, following similar measures imposed on Tuesday near the capital, Rabat.
Partial lockdowns were ordered on Tuesday in Rabat and the port city of Tangiers, with armoured vehicles deployed on the streets and police manning checkpoints.
Covid-19 infections have been on the rise since the start of August, reaching a rate of 1,000 new cases a day in the country of 35 million.
Wednesday’s tally was more than 1,500 cases and 29 deaths.
Morocco has confirmed a total of over 46,000 cases of Covid-19, including more than 740 deaths.
The health minister, Khalid Aït Taleb, who has come under fire on social media, acknowledges the sector needs another 62,000 paramedics and 30,000 medical staff.
Updated
Italy hits new daily record in Covid-19 infections since 16 May
Italy has reported another sharp rise in Covid-19 infections, as the country registered 845 new coronavirus cases, 203 more than Wednesday.
Such numbers recorded within 24 hours had not been seen since 16 May.
Six more people have died with the virus. The overall tally of cases has now risen to 256,118. The death toll now stands at 35,418.
The majority of people who have tested positive in recent days are holidaymakers returning from Greece, Spain, Malta and Croatia.
For this reason, last Friday the government forced arrivals from these four countries to be tested for the virus. Rome said it was also considering adding France to the list.
On Thursday, media reports suggested the new increase in coronavirus infections could put at risk the reopening of schools, which is the government’s top priority.
However, later in the day, authorities have denied those reports. “Schools will reopen and everything is being done to reopen them safely,’’ the education minister, Lucia Azzolina, told TG1.
Updated
Eswatini will roll out an ambitious post-coronavirus economic recovery plan, the government has said, as it hit back at claims King Mswati III was draining state coffers to fund a luxury lifestyle.
The $1.7bn (£1.2bn), 18-month scheme aims to revive the long-ailing economy of Africa’s last absolute monarchy with the help of the private sector.
“Eswatini is open for business,” the prime minister, Ambrose Dlamini, of the small southern African country of 1.2 million, formerly known as Swaziland, told AFP.
“We are giving assurances to potential investors that if they bring their money into the country, the kingdom of Eswatini is a stable country politically,” he said.
The economy is projected to shrink 6.7% this year, battered by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus has so far caused 4,058 infections including 79 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The stimulus package will be earmarked for nearly 100 projects in tourism, agriculture, mining and manufacturing, among other sectors.
The private sector is being counted on to fund about two-thirds of money, with the rest coming from government cashflow and international financial institutions.
The government also rejected as “misinformation” allegations about King Mswati III hollowing out state coffers at the expense of his subjects – a perception apparently driven by the recent purchase of a fleet of Rolls-Royce cars.
“Contrary to all the things that you read about, His Majesty respects proper governance and integrity and he supports the private sector 100% and there is absolutely no interference when it comes to that,” said the premier.
Civil servants protested last October to demand higher pay after a fleet of limousines was delivered to the royal family.
The finance minister, Neal Rijkenberg, said the king, like other monarchs, was historically wealthy and could do what he liked with his own money. “We just need to be clear ... and that it is not taxpayer money that is spent on what was referred to as the Rolls-Royces.”
King Mswati III was crowned in 1986, when he was just 18. He has come under fire for his expensive tastes and spending.
Eswatini ranks 144th out of 189 countries on the UN’s Human Development Index. About two-thirds of its inhabitants live below the threshold of poverty.
Updated
The Swedish activist Greta Thunberg urged the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, to be “brave” in the fight against the climate crisis as she sought to breathe fresh life into a climate movement overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The 17-year-old travelled to Berlin to meet Europe’s most powerful leader exactly two years since she first skipped school to demand more climate action, kicking off what would become the global Fridays for Future strikes.
Thunberg was joined by co-campaigners Luisa Neubauer from Germany and Belgium’s Anuna De Wever and Adélaïde Charlier, all of whom wore masks as they made their way to the chancellery from Berlin’s main train station.
During 90 minutes of talks, the young campaigners said they urged Merkel to tackle carbon emissions with the same urgency and drastic measures that leaders have displayed in the battle against Covid-19.
Thunberg told a press conference after the meeting:
We want leaders ... to be brave enough to think long-term.
We want leaders to step up and take responsibility and treat the climate crisis like a crisis.
She said Merkel, as the current chair of the EU rotating presidency, had a “huge responsibility but also a huge opportunity” to help the EU meet its commitments under the Paris climate agreement.
Merkel said after the talks that both sides had agreed that “global warming is a global challenge which industrialised countries have a special responsibility to tackle,” her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement.
The Fridays for Future movement is trying to mobilise young people again, after the coronavirus, and efforts to curb its spread, forced them to scale back their street protests in recent months.
Updated
With coronavirus cases surging and less than two weeks of the school holidays left, parents, teachers and opposition politicians in Spain are angry and critical about the government’s plans for reopening classrooms.
Latest government data showed daily infections peaked at 7,609 on Friday – the highest level since late March – before dropping to 3,715 on Wednesday.
However, the fall may not represent a trend, as similar declines have persistently been followed by new peaks in recent weeks.
“Not a single Spanish family knows what will happen to their children when the school year starts,” said Pablo Casado, the leader of the conservative opposition People’s Party, accusing the prime minister Pedro Sánchez’s leftist government of keeping the country guessing.
“We cannot let a whole generation of children have their education held back because of a lack of planning,” he said.
In Spain’s decentralised political system, each region is in charge of regulating the return to school, though the central government is expected to present national guidelines next week.
In Madrid, where more than 1,500 new cases were reported on Wednesday, regional authorities did not rule out delaying face-to-face classes, putting a strain on working families.
“We have to be a bit careful about the date of reopening the schools,” the deputy health chief, Antonio Zapatero, told Reuters. “Perhaps, due to the level of positives, we will have to rethink about if we open [schools] by ages.”
Still, the deputy regional leader, Ignacio Aguado, said he was in favour of bringing children back to the classroom.
Frustrated with what they described as a lack of resources and a failure to deploy adequate safety measures, teachers unions in the capital have called a series of strikes for the first weeks of September.
With more than 370,000 cases, Spain has the highest number of total infections in western Europe.
It has been forced to reimpose some restrictions after the end of its strict lockdown in late June.
Its total death toll is nearly 29,000. However, the toll of about 20 deaths per day so far in August is well below over 800 deaths a day in late March.
Updated
Thailand has sought to allay fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections, after a woman tested positive having cleared quarantine nearly two months ago on returning from overseas.
Thailand has gone 87 days without domestic transmission but news that a woman tested positive for Covid-19 in Bangkok on Tuesday, having returned from abroad on 24 June, has triggered concern of a fresh outbreak in a country so far spared the level of contagion elsewhere.
Authorities said the woman was unlikely to be contagious and may have caught the virus in the United Arab Emirates or her home province of Loei, bordering Laos.
“She may have been infected in the past three months, probably in Dubai or Loei, but not Bangkok,” Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Covid-19 taskforce, told a briefing.
He said the woman, 35, had tested negative twice since Tuesday and 24 people in contact with her in Loei and Bangkok would also be tested.
“There is nothing to worry about. She wears a mask all the time and is not sick anymore,” Taweesin added.
Thailand is fast returning to normal having recorded just 58 Covid-19 deaths and 3,389 cases since January, a figure less than 2% of the Philippines’ 178,000 cases, south-east Asia’s highest tally.
Some Asian nations thought to have had outbreaks under control have reported a resurgence, including Vietnam, where cases have more than doubled since the virus reappeared in July after three months without community infections.
Fears of the virus returning rattled Thai markets, with stocks falling as much as 1.2% on Thursday and the baht slipping 0.6%, on concerns it could further hamstring efforts to revive an economy headed for a record annual contraction.
Prof Surasak Leelaudomlipi, the head of Bangkok’s Ramathibodi Hospital, said only traces of the virus were found in the woman and experts were “pretty sure” she was not infectious.
Updated
Nigeria is considering partnerships between state governments and private firms to ramp up testing and tracing of coronavirus cases after international flights resume this month, the head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said.
Nigeria will reopen its airports for international flights from 29 August. They have been closed since 23 March to all but essential overseas flights to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa’s most populous country.
State governments are responsible for testing and tracing but the influx of travellers will increase the pressure on already stretched authorities in Nigeria, which has had 50,488 cases resulting in 985 deaths.
Lagos, Nigeria’s largest state and epicentre of its outbreak, has 200 tracers for a population of 25 million - fewer than one per 100,000 people, compared with around 14 per 100,000 in Turkey for example.
NCDC director general Chikwe Ihekweazu said talks had been held with private companies over possible partnerships on testing and tracing in some states.
“Private-public models are being looked at. Lagos and Abuja are the primary locations, and from that we’ll learn what to do for the other three international airports,” Ihekweazu told Reuters.
He said arrivals may be expected to contribute financially towards their tests since they made a decision to travel.
International airports will reopen first in commercial hub Lagos and the capital Abuja, which have had the most cases, and later in the cities of Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.
Domestic aviation resumed last month and the further reopening is part of efforts by authorities to reduce the pandemic’s impact on Africa’s biggest economy.
Singing is no more risky than speaking when it comes to the possibility of spreading Covid-19, British scientists have said, adding that volume is the most important risk factor.
Last week, the British government changed its guidance to allow professionals and non-professionals to resume singing rehearsals and performance, bringing the required social distancing into line with usual Covid-19 rules and removing the need for extra mitigations.
That decision was informed by a study by scientists based at the University of Bristol, who examined the amount of aerosols and droplets generated by 25 professional singers who did singing, speaking, breathing and coughing exercises.
The researchers found that the aerosol mass produced rose steeply with an increase in volume of singing or speaking, by as much as 20 to 30 times.
However, singing did not produce substantially more aerosol than speaking at a similar volume, and there was not a significant difference in aerosol production between different genres such as choral, musical theatre, opera, jazz, gospel rock or pop.
Jonathan Reid, director of the ESPRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science, said:
The study has shown the transmission of viruses in small aerosol particles generated when someone sings or speaks are equally possible with both activities generating similar numbers of particles.
Our research has provided a rigorous scientific basis for Covid-19 recommendations for arts venues to operate safely for both the performers and audience by ensuring that spaces are appropriately ventilated to reduce the risk of airborne transmission.
The World Health Organisation has acknowledged the possibility of aerosol transmission of the coronavirus after outbreaks linked to indoor spaces such as during choir practice, but has called for more evidence on the matter.
The study is a pre-print, meaning it is yet to be peer-reviewed.
England’s test-and-trace scheme reached 71.3% of identified contacts of new Covid-19 cases in the latest week, a fall on the previous week.
In the week to 12 August, 4,803 people were transferred to the test-and-trace system following a positive Covid-19 test, of whom 78.8% were reached and asked to provide contacts.
Of the 16,897 contacts identified, 71.3% were reached and asked to self-isolate, down from 74.2% in the previous week.
Updated
A family of tourists was kicked off a Mediterranean cruise after leaving their organised excursion to sightsee on their own, violating the ship’s new anti-Covid regulations, the company said.
The MSC Grandiosa, part of the fleet of privately owned MSC Cruises, was the first major cruise line to take to the Mediterranean after a long lockdown due to coronavirus.
It departed from Genoa on Sunday for a seven-day tour at 70% passenger capacity, part of a series of measures taken to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection on board.
The unnamed Italian family had disembarked at the port of Naples on an organised day trip to the nearby island of Capri, but then left the group and ventured forth on their own despite earlier admonitions not to, MSC said.
The family was later refused entry back on the ship.
“By departing from the organised shore excursion, this family broke from the safe ‘social bubble’ that MSC Cruises created for them to safely enjoy their visit ashore, and therefore could not be permitted to re-board the ship,” it said in a statement.
MSC is trying to avoid problems experienced by smaller cruise operator, Norway’s Hurtigruten, earlier this month, when dozens of passengers and crew tested positive for Covid-19.
Health authorities fear passengers may have infected locals at ports up and down the Norwegian coast during day trips.
MSC said its security protocol exceeds national and industry standards. It says it pre-screens sites to be visited to make sure social distancing can be maintained, sterilises vans and buses before trips, and ensures that tour guides and drivers are properly equipped with masks.
The global cruise industry, which is slowly trying to get back on its feet after all ships were grounded in March, has been criticised by health authorities for mishandling the epidemic in its early stages.
Greece initially managed to keep the number of coronavirus cases and deaths low, imposing an early lockdown at the start of the pandemic.
But most restrictions were lifted at the start of the summer, and the tourism-reliant country has welcomed in foreign visitors for the summer vacation period. Photograph: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP
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“We now have a name for the disease.” These were the words of the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) in a historic announcement on 11 February 2020. Back then, there had only been 393 cases of a mysterious new respiratory illness outside China, and in most places life continued as normal. “Covid-19. I’ll spell it: C-O-V-I-D hyphen one nine,” he continued. Little did we know that this oddly technical-sounding phrase would become not just a household name, but an era-defining one.
On the same day, the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which researches the family of viruses that includes Sars, Mers and some strains of the common cold, rushed out a paper. It redesignated the pathogen that had until then been called 2019-nCoV, the “n” standing for “novel”. The new name was “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2”, or Sars-CoV-2.
Fast forward to August 2020, and both these terms, alongside coronavirus itself, have been used billions of times. New words normally enter the language gradually, as trends gather pace (think “selfie”) or a new import becomes popular (as with foods such as oranges and avocados). But pandemics aren’t like that – they spread rapidly and assail us with scientific terms and slang as society struggles to adapt to each new, terrifying presence.
We have crunched Covid-19 to Covid; the specific coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 is mostly now “coronavirus”, and has been joined by “the pandemic” (for some in Australia, the “pando”), “’rona” and even “miss Rona”. There are terms to describe experiences linked to the virus: people suffer from “happy hypoxia”, “Covid toe” or become “long-haulers”. Previously niche words and phrases have become wearily familiar as they are applied to the social effects of the crisis, from “lockdown” to “furlough” and “shelter in place”.
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Russia to begin Covid-19 vaccine trials on 40,000 people next week
Mass testing of Russia’s first potential Covid-19 vaccine to get domestic regulatory approval will involve more than 40,000 people and will be overseen by a foreign research body when it starts next week, backers of the project said.
These were the first details on the shape and size of the upcoming late-stage trial of the vaccine given by its developers, who are aiming to allay concerns among some scientists about the lack of data provided by Russia so far.
The vaccine, called Sputnik V in homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union, has been hailed as safe and effective by Russian authorities and scientists following two months of small-scale human trials, the results of which have not been made public yet.
But Western experts have been more sceptical, warning against its use until all internationally approved testing and regulatory steps have been seen to be taken and proved a success.
“A range of countries are running an information war against the Russian vaccine,” Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) that is backing the vaccine, told a briefing.
The vaccine data will be published in an academic journal later this month, he said.
Russia has received requests for up to a billion doses of the vaccine from around the world and has capacity to produce 500m doses per year via manufacturing partnerships, he said.
A director at Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, said 40,000 people would be involved in the mass testing at more than 45 medical centres around Russia.
The data is being provided to the World Health Organization, Dmitriev said, and to several countries that are considering participating in the late-stage trial, including the United Arab Emirates, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
Sputnik V has already received approval from domestic regulators, leading president Vladimir Putin and other officials to name Russia the first country to license a Covid-19 vaccine.
The registration took place, however, ahead of the start of the large-scale trial, commonly known as a Phase III trial, considered by many as a necessary precursor to registration.
At least four other potential Covid-19 vaccines are currently in Phase III trials globally, according to WHO records.
Updated
Belgian schools to reopen in September with masks mandatory for older children
Belgian schools will reopen on 1 September when the academic year starts, with children above 12 years old and teachers required to wear masks, prime minister Sophie Wilmes has.
“The goal is to avoid a second wave, we see today that the situation is stabilising and improving,” she told a news conference. “It is very important that children go to school.”
Belgium has recorded a downward trend in daily new cases in the past days. Brussels, home to EU institutions and NATO, has reported increases, although on a declining level.
With 9,959 deaths linked to the coronavirus so far, the country of 11 million has one of the world’s highest death rates from Covid-19 per head. The number of cases stands at 78,897.
Wilmes eased restrictions on the number of people allowed to attend public events, doubling it to 200 for inside events and 400 for outside.
Shoppers will be allowed in twos, while a Belgian family or those living together will only be able to meet five other people, a restriction introduced last month that will now be extended to the end of September.
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Airbnb bans parties at sites listed on its platform in Covid-19 fight
The short-term home rental company Airbnb has imposed an indefinite global ban on all parties and events at places listed on its platform as it tries to enforce social-distancing norms due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Instituting a global ban on parties and events is in the best interest of public health,” Airbnb said in a statement, adding that the party ban applies to all future bookings.
The new rules include a cap on occupancy at 16.
Updated
A lack of tourists is driving the ravens at the Tower of London to boredom and causing them to fly away.
Legend has it the monarchy and the Tower of London will fall if its six resident ravens leave the fortress.
The birds, known as the guardians of the tower, are shrouded in myth and live in lodgings on the South Lawn. There are seven in total – the required six, plus one spare.
The tower closed on 20 March and reopened five weeks ago. However, few tourists have returned.
Summer visitor numbers would usually exceed 15,000 but because of the coronavirus pandemic, they have fallen to fewer than 800 a day. As a result, the birds are restless for more company.
Africa reports 'hopeful' daily drop in coronavirus cases
Average daily cases of coronavirus in Africa fell last week, a “hopeful sign” for the continent’s fight against the disease, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The continent-wide daily average was 10,300 last week, down from 11,000 the week before, Dr John Nkengasong said, adding that officials were greeting the news with “cautious optimism”. He said:
We have begun to bend the curve slowly.
It is very, very early. We are dealing with a very delicate virus that spreads very quickly, but it’s important to recognise those slight tendencies that are positive.
Africa had recorded 1,147,369 cases as of Thursday morning, about half of which were in South Africa, which has the fifth-highest total globally.
South Africa has seen its number of daily confirmed cases fall from a peak of over 12,000 to an average of 5,000, driving the drop in the continent-wide average.
But Nkengasong noted that countries in West and Central Africa were showing “similar trends”.
It’s a good thing that suggests that we are doing the right things on the continent.
We take this news with cautious optimism because we really want our population to continue not to show what we call prevention fatigue.
Nkengasong also announced on Thursday that Africa had crossed the threshold of 10 million Covid-19 tests, suggesting that some progress has been made in addressing the continent’s considerable testing limitations.
He acknowledged, though, that testing is still well below what is needed to give a full picture of how the pandemic is progressing on the continent.
The Africa CDC announced last week that it would start large-scale antibody testing and that seven countries would participate in the first phase: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Nigeria and Morocco.
Even with limited data, African health officials are increasingly sure that most coronavirus cases are asymptomatic - Nkengasong put the portion at 70 - 80% - and that deaths are relatively low, Nkengasong said.
“For sure our deaths... are not as high as in other parts of the world,” he said, noting that official data put the fatality rate at 2.3% and there was little evidence this figure was off-base.
“We are beginning to be comforted with that number,” he said.
“Member states are looking actively as to whether deaths are occurring massively in the community, and that is not the case.”
Updated
The number of people registered as unemployed in Portugal edged up 0.2% in July from the previous month, but was 37% higher year-on-year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Institute of Employment and Professional Training said.
The figures released on Thursday showed the increase in unemployment numbers has slowed sharply, from a sobering 14.1% month-on-month rise in April to 4.2% in May and 0.6% in June.
Still, the Algarve region, hardest hit by the crisis due to its heavy reliance on tourism, continues to suffer the highest levels of unemployment, with a 216.1% year-on-year increase in July compared to the same month last year.
Greater Lisbon, also missing its usual droves of visitors and struggling to repair its image after a persistently high infections tally across June and July, reported a year-on-year increase of 51.6%.
Data from the Institute of National Statistics showed about 180,000 jobs had disappeared since February, a month before a six-week lockdown.
Updated
Vietnam’s tally of coronavirus infections has passed the 1,000 mark, after 14 new cases were reported.
More than half of the total confirmed cases are linked to an outbreak that began late last month in the central coastal city of Danang, the health ministry said.
Vietnam’s tally now stands at 1,007 infections and 25 deaths, among the lowest in the region, having successfully contained earlier outbreaks.
The ministry said 86,644 people were currently undergoing quarantine, most in their homes.
Updated
Greta Thunberg and other members of the Fridays For Future movement are speaking to reporters now after a meeting with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, marking two years since Thunberg started the school strikes.
You can watch the news conference live here:
Updated
A bar in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district has installed fish bowl-like screens designed to protect against coronavirus transmission, aiming to lure back clients worried about the risks of Covid-19.
The Jazz Lounge En Counter bar reopened in late June, having shut down for several weeks after the government declared a nationwide state of emergency in April.
But with revenues down 70-80% compared with pre-pandemic levels, the bar decided to step up efforts to ensure customers feel safer.
“If we don’t take firm steps we wouldn’t be responding to customers’ requests. And they wouldn’t visit us because they’re worried,” said the manager, Katsutoshi Iwazaki.
The conical, clear acrylic screens – which were demonstrated to Reuters by bar staff on a recent visit – hang from the ceiling and envelop the customers’ head and shoulders, acting as a barrier between them and other drinkers, as well as servers. Employees said they, too, felt more protected.
“I can’t talk to them [customers] safely if there’s a risk of droplet infection. But I feel very safe now with this measure,” said Mako Aoki, a 27-year-old staff member.
Updated
Estée Lauder has reported a 32% fall in fourth-quarter sales on Thursday, as travel restrictions and store closures imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus dampened demand for its high-end beauty brands.
The MAC brand owner also said it would cut 1,500 to 2,000 jobs globally, including point-of-sale employees. It also estimated that it would close 10% - 15% of its freestanding stores.
The company’s net sales fell to $2.43bn in the quarter from $3.59bn a year ago.
China faces questions over 'vaccinated' workers sent overseas
China is facing demands to explain why a state-backed firm claimed it had vaccinated dozens of staff against the coronavirus before sending them back to work at a mine in Papua New Guinea.
The China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) - which controls a major nickel mine in the country - warned local authorities that 48 staff who returned from China this month may test positive for the virus because they had received a vaccine.
In response, Papua New Guinea authorities called for “immediate clarification” from Beijing and blocked a charter flight full of Chinese workers that was due to land on Thursday.
The pandemic has disrupted operations at several lucrative mines in Papua New Guinea, one of the Pacific’s poorest nations.
While moving its staff into place, MMC’s subsidiary firm Ramu NiCo told Papua New Guinea authorities that any positive coronavirus test results were “the normal reaction of the vaccination and not due to infection”, according to a Chinese and English-language statement obtained by AFP.
The 48 members of staff at its multi-billion-dollar mine had “been vaccinated with Sars-Cov-2 vaccine” before their return, it said.
China has previously indicated that it would test vaccines on military personnel and staff at state-backed companies, but it is not clear whether these tests were carried out on workers heading overseas.
“It takes around seven days to produce antibodies in the vaccine recipient’s body after being vaccinated,” the statement reads.
“If they need to be tested again for Covid-19, it is suggested to be conducted at least seven days after the vaccination date.”
Papua New Guinea’s pandemic tsar, David Manning, told AFP he wanted answers and had blocked the arrival of a flight with around 150 Chinese workers on board due in Port Moresby on Thursday. He said:
I am demanding an explanation from the Chinese ambassador as to how this has happened.
I have written to the Chinese government through the Chinese ambassador - to explain how these 48 employees of this state company were vaccinated.
Updated
The British government is under fresh pressure over its botched policy for grading exams cancelled during the coronavirus lockdown, as a new set of results showed a surge in top marks.
Schools minister Nick Gibb admitted he was warned weeks ago about the risks of using an algorithm to moderate assessments made by teachers, which the government abandoned this week after an uproar.
He insisted the model, which was intended to protect against potential widespread grade inflation, was fair but said it was implemented incorrectly.
The government said it would revert to teacher assessments after pupils took to the streets in protest at last week’s A-level results, sat by 17- and 18-year-olds.
The “standardisation” process resulted in 40% of results being downgraded, with children in disadvantaged areas particularly affected.
But a new set of results published on Thursday, for GCSE exams sat by 16-year-olds, seemed to confirm fears that the unmoderated system would lead to grade inflation.
Some 27.6 of exam entries received top marks - up from 21.9% last year. The pass rate was 79%, up from 70%.
Gibb apologised to all students for the “pain and anxiety” they have suffered because of the chaos.
However, he could not say when another cohort of young people waiting for their BTec vocational qualification would get them, after the results were delayed at the last minute.
Prime minister Boris Johnson’s government has been criticised for many aspects of its response to the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 41,000 people in Britain - the worst toll in Europe.
But the exams chaos risks being particularly damaging.
While Johnson’s conservatives have led the main opposition Labour party in opinion polls throughout the virus crisis, a new YouGov poll found this slipped from nine points to two in the past week.
Labour’s shadow education secretary, Kate Green, said the government was “warned again and again about the problems with the grading algorithm” but did nothing.
“This endless pattern of incompetence is no way to run a country,” she said.
Updated
The coronavirus pandemic has reignited debate in Germany about cutting the working week to four days to help preserve jobs during and after the economic shock.
But the idea remains highly controversial.
The president of Germany’s powerful metalworkers union IG Metall, Joerg Hofmann, started a national conversation by proposing the measure at a time when fears about unemployment are rising, as they are across the world.
Before the pandemic pummelled the global economy, Germany boasted a record low unemployment level of around 5%.
By July, the rate had climbed to 6.4%.
German labour minister Hubertus Heil, a member of the centre-left Social Democrats, has signalled he is open to moving away from a traditional five-day working week.
“Reduced hours with some wage compensation may be an appropriate measure,” he said this week.
The basic idea is that in working less, employees share more of the jobs that are fading away.
Such a move could be the answer to the structural changes hitting sectors such as the car industry, which faces a “digital acceleration due to the pandemic”, the IG Metall boss told the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung at the weekend.
Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray, I’ll be running the global coronavirus blog for the next few hours.
Please do get in touch with any story suggestions or personal experiences you’d like to share.
Email: jessica.murray@theguardian.com
Twitter: @journojess_
Germany’s public health agency on Thursday declared the Croatian counties of Šibenik-Knin and Split-Dalmatia, which are popular with tourists, coronavirus risk regions, according to Reuters.
Croatia is the country with the third-highest number of infections among people returning to Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), after Kosovo and Turkey.
Concerns are growing in Germany about rising infections. The RKI on Thursday published data showing the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany climbed by 1,707 to 228,621, marking their biggest daily increase since 26 April.
The RKI also added the Valcea region of Romania to its coronavirus risk list, having previously designated several other parts of Romania as high-risk.
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Chaos and confusion reign as Spain’s 8 million school students prepare to return to class for the first time since the lockdown was enforced on 14 March, writes Stephen Burgen in Barcelona.
Since then their education has continued through an often patchy combination of online classes and home schooling.
Spain has the highest number of cases in western Europe and as it struggles to head off a second wave of Covid-19 there are growing fears among teachers and parents about sending their children back to school where social distancing will be extremely difficult to maintain.
A nationwide movement of parents who refuse to send their children back when school resumes in September is gaining ground. A petition for more government funding to ensure “a safe return” has already collected 155,000 signatures. Meanwhile, teachers in Madrid have voted to strike unless conditions improve.
A typical secondary school class has 30 or more students and in order to ensure social distancing it’s calculated that this needs to be reduced by half. However, in order to have 15 to a class one of the man teachers’ unions says 165,000 new teachers are required.
While funding comes from central government, education is managed by the 17 regional governments and there is no consensus about how to organise the return to school. The Madrid government is not even meeting to discuss the issue until 25 August and central government has put off until next week to call a conference of regional leaders in an effort to find some common ground.
There is some agreement that there needs to be more flexibility in the mix of online and classroom schooling, but there have been complaints that distance learning has in some cases consisted in little more than the child receiving an email telling him or her which pages to read in a text book. Teachers also say they have received little support from education authorities about how to organise online teaching.
Meanwhile, the health risk remains something of an unknown as children are thought to be between 10 and 20 times less likely to become ill than adults but may still be asymptomatic carriers. A recent study carried out by researchers from Massachusetts general hospital and Mass general hospital for children suggests that asymptomatic children may carry a high viral load and are therefore very contagious.
Updated
Europe reporting 26,000 new coronavirus cases every day - WHO
European countries are registering an average 26,000 new cases of coronavirus every day, the director general of the World Health Organization’s Europe office has said, as he warned of a potential resurgence of the pandemic.
In a briefing on Thursday morning, Hans Kluge said that while the “epicentre” of the pandemic had moved to the Americas, the European region still accounted for 17% of the global total of coronavirus cases. He said:
The risk of resurgence has never been far away. In the last two months, new cases have been steadily increasing every week in the Region. There were 40,000 more cases in the first week of August, compared to the first week of June, when cases were at their lowest.
Every day now the European Region reports an average of over 26,000 new [coronavirus] cases. This is due in part to the relaxation of public health and social measures, where authorities have been easing some of the restrictions and people have been dropping their guard.
Kluge said WHO Europe would convene a virtual meeting for its 53 member states on reopening of schools, to discuss “concrete actions … to ensure children receive proper education in safe settings”.
Such options might include heightened hygiene and physical distancing in school settings for all, and the introduction of targeted measures quickly and effectively to suit local circumstances; open schools where virus levels are low; adjust school schedules and limit pupil numbers where cases are more widespread; and consider keeping schools closed temporarily in areas where community transmission is high.
Young people would play an increasingly important role in attempts to curb the spread of the virus, Kluge said.
To my daughters, to adolescents and teenagers everywhere, to all of you at that exciting, adventurous point in your lives – thank you for the sacrifices you have made to protect yourselves and others from #COVID19.
No youngster wants to miss a summer. But I am very concerned that more and more young people are counted among reported cases.
According to a recent study, globally among those aged 15-24, cases of Covid-19 have increased from a rate of 4.5% at the end of February to 15% in mid-July. Low risk does not mean no risk.
No one is invincible and if you do not die from #COVID19, it may stick with your body like a tornado with a long tail.
Updated
Hans Kluge is giving a World Health Organization Europe area briefing. You can watch in this player and (shortly) in the player at the top of the blog.
🎥🔴 Watch LIVE as @hans_kluge and experts from WHO/Europe provide an situation update on #COVID19 in the European Region. https://t.co/rc8CoVQJXz
— WHO/Europe (@WHO_Europe) August 20, 2020
Updated
Health authorities in Tokyo reported 339 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, the first time in five days that the figure has risen above 300, according to the Japan Times.
So far 18,607 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the Japanese capital, 347 of whom have died. Thirty-two people remain in a serious condition.
The latest surge in new cases has raised fears of a new wave of infections following the end of the summer holidays in Japan.
Tokyo local government has raised its pandemic alert to the highest level, forcing karaoke clubs and venues that serve alcohol to close at 10pm until the end of the month.
Indonesia reported 2,266 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, according to Reuters, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 147,211.
Data from the health ministry showed an additional 72 deaths, taking total fatalities to 6,418.
The Philippines has reported 4,339 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total so far in the country to more than 178,000.
In a Facebook post, the department of health also reported 88 more deaths, taking the total death toll from the outbreak to 2,883.
So far, 114,114 people in the country have recovered from their coronavirus infections.
The coronavirus death toll in Russia passed 16,000 on Thursday, with 110 new deaths reported in the past 24 hours, according to Reuters.
The country’s coronavirus crisis response centre registered 4,785 new cases, bringing its nationwide tally of infections to 942,106, the world’s fourth highest caseload.
The death toll now stands at 16,099.
Film and TV directors in the UK are being encouraged to seek inspiration from classic romances such as Casablanca and ditch depictions of sex altogether when planning intimate scenes under new guidelines for directing during the Covid-19 crisis, writes Lanre Bakare, the Guardian’s arts and culture correspondent.
Directors UK, the professional association for screen directors in Britain, suggested some creative alternatives to avoid sex scenes with physical interaction while social distancing is required, in an update to its Directing Nudity and Simulated Sex guidelines, which are focused on safe working during the pandemic.
The guidelines suggest that characters “could be shown fixing their own clothes/re-dressing after the event” or limbs could be depicted “moving under bedclothes”, while another option is to show “the closing of a bedroom door and leave the action to the viewer’s imagination”.
Updated
Ukraine registered 2,134 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, a new daily record for infections in the country, Reuters quoted the health minister, Maksym Stepanov, as saying on Thursday.
Stepanov said the new data surpassed the previous single-day record of 1,967 reported the previous day.
The number of new cases increased sharply in August despite the country reimposing some restrictions recently.
The total number of cases has reached 98,537, including 2,184 deaths.
Updated
As plans advance for reopening schools in England and the US, new research has complicated the picture by apparently showing that children could be a greater risk for spreading coronavirus than previously thought.
Infected children were shown to have a significantly higher level of virus in their airways than hospitalised adults in ICUs for Covid-19 treatment, researchers say.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Mass General Hospital for Children (MGHfC) in the US, suggest their findings indicate may children play a larger role in the community spread of the virus than previously thought.
In a study of 192 children aged 0-22, 49 children tested positive for coronavirus, and an additional 18 had late-onset, Covid-19-related illness. Lael Yonker, director of the MGH Cystic Fibrosis Centre, and lead author of the study, said:
I was surprised by the high levels of virus we found in children of all ages, especially in the first two days of infection. I was not expecting the viral load to be so high.
You think of a hospital, and of all of the precautions taken to treat severely ill adults, but the viral loads of these hospitalised patients are significantly lower than a ‘healthy child’ who is walking around with a high Sars-CoV-2 viral load.
As well as viral load, researchers examined expression of the viral receptor and antibody response in healthy children, children with acute Sars-CoV-2 infection and a smaller number of children with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C).
Alessio Fasano, director of the mucosal immunology and biology research centre at MGH and senior author of the study, said:
Kids are not immune from this infection, and their symptoms don’t correlate with exposure and infection.
During this Covid-19 pandemic, we have mainly screened symptomatic subjects, so we have reached the erroneous conclusion that the vast majority of people infected are adults.
However, our results show that kids are not protected against this virus. We should not discount children as potential spreaders for this virus.
The researchers said that when schools reopen it would be ineffective to rely on just symptoms or temperature monitoring. They emphasised infection control measures, including social distancing, universal mask use (when implementable), effective hand-washing protocols and a combination of remote and in-person learning.
They consider routine and continued screening of all students for Sars-CoV-2 infection with timely reporting of the results an imperative part of a safe return-to-school policy.
However, the study only looked at symptomatic children, and did not measure transmission itself. Adilia Warris, professor of paediatric infectious diseases at the University of Exeter, said:
The authors do show that children who presented with respiratory symptoms during this pandemic, and who tested positive for Sars-CoV-2, displayed viral loads comparable to adult hospitalised patients, especially in the first two days of symptoms.
Interestingly, of the children presenting with symptoms, only around 28% of children tested positive, and of these, more than 60% were over the age of 11, 26% were obese (with less than 10% in the non Sars-CoV-2 group), and exposure to the virus was by either mum or dad (77%), supporting a larger role for adults in the transmission of this virus.
The study was not designed to assess risk of transmission. Although a high viral load contributes to the level of contagiousness, it is not the only factor playing a role.
The study was performed in children presenting and/or admitted to hospital, which we know is different from children presenting to community practices, and therefore the conclusions and translations the authors make with respect to schools is in my opinion too far-reaching, and is not supported by the data they present.
For readers who are interested in the UK coronavirus situation, our UK coronavirus blog is now live. Today’s big news is the publication of GCSE results for 16-year-olds.
Over on our business blog, our city desk reporters are tracking the latest cataclysmic financial developments in a world economy still taking a hammering from the fall out from the coronavirus crisis.
Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, is due to announce the outcome of the latest review of the country’s lockdown later today, with no major changes to coronavirus restrictions expected.
The Scottish government is legally required to formally review the measures every three weeks. Sturgeon will give a statement to MSPs at Holyrood later today.
Scotland, where schools reopened last week, is dealing with a number of coronavirus clusters.
When she gave her last review on 30 July, Sturgeon warned Scotland may have to stay in phase three of her four-part plan for lifting lockdown restrictions. A move to phase four can only happen if ministers are satisfied that coronavirus is no longer considered a significant threat to public health
Hello, this is Damien Gayle, guiding you through the latest updates from the world coronavirus outbreak for the next few hours.
If you have any comments, tips or suggestions for coverage, drop me a line either via email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.
Thanks for your company. I’m handing over to my colleague in the UK, now Damien Gayle.
- Germany has recorded its highest daily case numbers since April, with 1,707 new infections. On 18 April the country recorded 3,609 cases.
- South Korea has recorded seven straight days of new cases in triple figures, and authorities have warned of a “nationwide pandemic”, with infections seeding across the country. Many cases are linked to the cluster at the Sarang Jeil church in northern Seoul, which has grown to more than 600. The church is run by a radical conservative preacher whose followers have also attended anti-government protests in central Seoul in recent weeks, spreading infections to nine different cities and provinces.
- India has recorded its highest daily total of new cases, with 69,672 infections. This is the fourth highest daily total reported globally, only exceeded by the US on three occasions in second half of July.
- Three quarters of New Zealanders intend to get immunised against coronavirus when a vaccine becomes available, new research has found. “New Zealand has used the coronavirus outbreak to build public trust in experts and in government’s ability to respond to crisis, whereas other countries have squandered, or even undermined, an opportunity to build public trust in scientific expertise,” said Dr Jagadish Thaker at the School and Journalism and Communication.
- In Australia, the chief executive of Qantas declared its worst financial year in a century, with profits falling 91%. Alan Joyce confirmed he did not think the airline would fly internationally again until at least mid-2021 and said he thought flights to the US would likely not resume until there was a vaccine for Covid-19.
- China has reported seven new cases of Covid-19, all of which the national health commission says were imported (3 in Jiangxi, 1 in Tianjin, 1 in Shanghai, 1 in Shandong) Cases, 1 in Sichuan). There were no new deaths and no new suspected cases, it said. It’s the fourth day in a row with no local transmissions.
- Florida’s coronavirus death toll hit 10,000 on Wednesday as the state continues to struggle to get the ongoing pandemic under control. Almost six months since Florida’s first case was identified, the state reported 174 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 10,067.
- Spain’s health ministry said 3,715 coronavirus infections were diagnosed in the 24 hours to Wednesday, a new single-day record since the country emerged from a three-month lockdown in mid-June.
- France on Wednesday recorded new coronavirus cases at the fastest daily rate since May, official figures showed, as the country prepared for the return from summer holidays. Almost 3,800 infections were confirmed. “All indicators continue to climb and transmission of the virus is intensifying,” the health ministry’s DGS public health division said in a statement.
- Italy recorded 642 new infections in a day on Wednesday, hitting a new record since May when the country cautiously emerged from one of the longest lockdowns in the world after more than 30,000 Covid-related deaths.
Germany records highest daily cases since April
I reported earlier that Germany had recorded 1,707 new cases. That is the highest number of new daily infections since 18 April, according to Our World in Data, when the country recorded 3,609 cases. It takes total German cases to 228,621.
Updated
Chinese state media has defended Wuhan residents after photos and video of a huge pool party went viral this week, saying complaints by foreigners were “sour grapes”.
Thousands of people celebrated at a water park music festival in Wuhan this week, crowded in front of the stage, shoulder to shoulder.
VIDEO: 🇨🇳 Crowds packed out a water park over the weekend in the central Chinese city of #Wuhan, where the #coronavirus first emerged late last year, keen to party as the city edges back to normal life pic.twitter.com/SJFBmx5sU8
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 17, 2020
Footage of the dance party drew some negative responses at Wuhan’s apparent return to normal life. A newspaper front page in Australia headlined the story as “China’s big party”, and “life’s a beach in Wuhan as world pays virus price”.
Chinese authorities have faced persistent criticisms over early attempts to cover up the coronavirus outbreak, with some world leaders saying they could have stopped its spread to other countries.
Social media comments said the Wuhan event was “a slap in the face to the rest of the world”, and accused people of “partying like the [virus] didn’t happen”.
Others defended the city, saying their strong response to Covid-19 “paid off”.
Birth of a pandemic: inside the first weeks of the coronavirus outbreak in WuhanRead more
On Wednesday the state-backed Global Times dismissed attacks on the pool party as “sour grapes”. In an article it said Wuhan was “now welcoming an influx of tourists, and its economy is reviving, which local residents believed should not only be seen as a sign of the city’s return to normalcy, but also a reminder to countries grappling with the virus that strict preventive measures have a payback”.
The city of 11m was the first place to record an outbreak of Covid-19, and instituted a hard lockdown of residents which shocked observers. In the months since the virus has spread across much of the world, with numerous countries implementing their own hard lockdowns on residents.
Wuhan eventually came out of lockdown in April, after 76 days, but saw a new outbreak just a month later. Authorities reintroduced some measures and locked down parts of the city, and launched a mass testing program for all residents.
Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, recorded more than 68,000 infections in China’s 89,500 reported cases, and 4,512 of its 4,706 reported deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
South Korea warns of 'nationwide pandemic'
As I mentioned earlier, South Korea has recorded seven straight days of new cases in triple figures, and authorities have warned of a grave situation, with infections seeding across the country.
Many cases are linked to the cluster at the Sarang Jeil church in northern Seoul, which has grown to 623, according to the Yonhap news agency. The church is run by a radical conservative preacher whose followers have also attended anti-government protests in central Seoul in recent weeks, seeding infections there too, it’s believed.
“The reason we take the recent situation seriously is because this transmission, which began to spread around a specific religious facility, is appearing nationwide through certain rallies,” vice health minister, Kim Gang-lip, told a briefing.
The positive cases from the rallies include people from nine different cities and provinces. Kim did not identify those places but said 114 facilities, including the places of work of infected people, were facing risk of transmission.
“This is a grave situation that could possibly lead to a nationwide pandemic,” Kim said.
You can catch up on this and all of today’s top stories in our global report, below:
Updated
India records highest daily infections with 69,672 cases
India has recorded its highest daily total of new cases, with 69,672 infections. This is the fourth highest daily total reported globally, only exceeded by the US on three occasions in second half of July.
Thursday’s India case toll takes the total cases in the country to 2.84 million, data from the federal health ministry showed. Total deaths stand at 53,886. India is the worst-hit country in Asia and third only behind the United States and Brazil in terms of numbers of infections.
Updated
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,707 to 228,621, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday.
The reported death toll rose by 10 to 9,253, the tally showed.
Three quarters of New Zealanders intend to get immunised against coronavirus when a vaccine becomes available, new research has found.
The research, undertaken by Massey University, puts New Zealanders ahead of the UK, US and Germany in their willingness to to be vaccinated against the disease, at 74% of the population.
“New Zealand has used the coronavirus outbreak to build public trust in experts and in government’s ability to respond to crisis, whereas other countries have squandered, or even undermined, an opportunity to build public trust in scientific expertise,” said Dr Jagadish Thaker at the School and Journalism and Communication.
“When people make decisions with limited or uncertain information – such as the availability and efficacy of a Covid vaccine – trust in experts is probably the most significant factor in shaping public attitudes and intentions.”
More than 1,000 people took part in the survey, and showed more willingness than comparative nations to trying a vaccine if and when it became available.
“While these are not (an) apples to apples comparison, New Zealanders appear to have slightly higher intensions to vaccinate against Covid-19,” said Thaker.
“Compared to national polls in the US (65% “Yes,” 35% “No”), UK (53% “certain” or “very likely”), and Germany (61% “willing”).”
“In Germany, public willingness for a Covid-19 vaccine dropped from 70% in April to 61% in June.”
You can read the full story below:
Updated
We are getting a bit more detail on South Korea’s new cases today, which number 288. The Yonhap news agency reports that 166 of them are related to the Sarang Jeil Church in northern Seoul. That takes that cluster to 623, as of Wednesday afternoon. Of those, health authorities said 588 cases were from the greater Seoul area. Yonhap reports that this cluster has also spread to at least 114 locations, including other religious facilities, hospitals and call centres.
China records seven new cases
China has reported seven new cases of Covid-19, all of which the national health commission says were imported (3 in Jiangxi, 1 in Tianjin, 1 in Shanghai, 1 in Shandong) Cases, 1 in Sichuan). There were no new deaths and no new suspected cases, it said.
Chinese mainland reports 7 new #COVID19 cases, all from overseas, the fourth consecutive day with no new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases.
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) August 20, 2020
more: https://t.co/FxsW8E1Wmp pic.twitter.com/WUWxG7VrBY
Updated
In the US, the Sacramento Bee has an interesting story saying that there is a shortage of firefighters this summer because hundreds of prison inmates in Lassen county who are usually deployed to help in the effort are locked down because of Covid-19.
According to the report, “only 30 of the state’s 77 inmate crews are available to fight a wildfire in the north state”, citing prison officials.
It adds:
California’s incarcerated firefighters have for decades been the state’s primary firefighting “hand crews,” and the shortage has officials scrambling to come up with replacement firefighters in a dry season that is shaping up to be among the most extreme in years. The state is hunting for bulldozer crews and enlisting teams that normally clear brush as replacements.
You can follow our US fires blog below:
South Korean health officials are struggling to contain an outbreak in the capital, Seoul, as new cases levelled off but remained in triple digits on Thursday, Reuters reports.
The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 288 new cases as of midnight Wednesday, marking at least a week of triple digit daily increases.
Overall, South Korea has reported 16,346 cases with 307 deaths.
The latest outbreak has been driven by hundreds of cases in a church, and has been centred on Seoul and the surrounding areas.
The government this week banned in-person church meetings in the area, and also ordered closed other “high-risk” locations including nightclubs, karaoke bars, buffets and cyber cafes.
The country used intensive tracing and testing to beat back previous spikes, but the recent surge in cases is raising concerns there could be a broader outbreak in the Seoul metropolitan area, which is home to more than 25 million people.
Authorities said if the number of infections rises or continues at the current rate of spread, they will likely impose the highest level of social distancing rules, under which schools are closed, employees advised to work from home and gatherings limited to 10 people
Still in New Zealand, and Ashley Bloomfield has been nominated for New Zealander of the year, as has the PM, Jacinda Ardern. But there’s also been a surprise nomination of a cat called Mittens. You can read our full story below.
Updated
The NZ health minister, Chris Hipkins says 99% of staff in quarantine hotels have been tested, as have 99% of those in border-facing roles such as customs and immigration.
Hipkins said there had been “no unseen transmission” outside the border, apart from “the mystery Rydges case”.
Previously testing at the borders had not happened “at the speed and scale” that it should have, Hipkins admitted.
Hipkins has also taken the time to squash a rumour, saying the ministry for children’s services “would not take the children of people who have tested positive for COVID-19”.
Hipkins said this rumour had been circulating in Māori and Pacific communities particularly and was putting some people off getting a test.
Ashley Bloomfield said New Zealanders who have no symptoms turning up for testing is “putting huge pressure” on health facilities. He urged people with no symptoms to stay home, and not line up for a test.
The health minister Chris Hipkins said the signs of slowing numbers are encouraging but “this is not the time we can afford to relax”.
Hipkins said the next few days could be critical “in breaking the back of this resurgence”.
He urged Aucklanders to adhere to the lockdown rules.
Updated
New Zealand reports five new cases
New Zealand’s director-general of health Dr Bloomfield has been giving his daily update. He said there are five new cases to report, all related to the community outbreak in Auckland.
Four cases are in Auckland, and one is in Tokoroa, 200km south. Six people are in hospital receiving care, with one in intensive care.
The total number of community cases is 80. The majority of those cases are related to the south Auckland cluster, while two are still under investigation, including that of a maintenance worker at the Rydges hotel.
A lift used by the Rydges maintenance worker shortly after an infected person used it is a “strong line of investigation” Bloomfield said, as to discovering how the maintenance worker contracted the virus.
Updated
Just while I am on the US, we have previously reported that Los Angeles county has the most Covid cases of any county in the US. That figure stands at 224,105 cases.
The county looks like it may also be on track to record the most deaths in the US. Currently, it’s in third place behind Queens (NY, 5977) and Kings (NY, 5,639). LA county has 5,340 deaths. However LA county’s infection total is more than three times that of Queens (68,596) or Kings (63,167).
Updated
Florida passes 10,000 deaths
Florida’s coronavirus death toll hit 10,000 on Wednesday as the state continues to struggle to get the ongoing pandemic under control.
Almost six months since Florida’s first case was identified, the state reported 174 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 10,067.
Florida now has the fifth highest death toll in the US. The only other states to have reached 10,000 deaths are New York, New Jersey, California and Texas.
Although Florida’s weekly death average and cases are declining, half of all deaths in the state were recorded in the last month alone. So far Florida has had 584,047 positive cases.
You can read our full story below:
Updated
Italy hits post-lockdown record of 642 new cases
Italy recorded 642 new infections in a day on Wednesday, hitting a new record since May when the country cautiously emerged from one of the longest lockdowns in the world after more than 30,000 Covid-related deaths, writes Lorenzo Tondo.
Seven more people have died with the virus. The overall tally of cases has now risen to 255,178. The death toll now stands at 35,412.
On Sunday the government ordered the closure of discotheques and made masks compulsory outdoors in specific areas at night – the first real restrictions since the lockdown eased.
Walter Ricciardi, a senior adviser to the Italian health ministry on the coronavirus outbreak, told the Guardian:
Italy is at a crossroads right now. If we do not apply containment measures and the numbers continue to rise, localised lockdowns will be required.
You can read Lorenzo’s full story below:
Spain records 3,715 Covid cases on Wednesday
Spain’s health ministry said 3,715 coronavirus infections were diagnosed in the 24 hours to Wednesday, a new single-day record since the country emerged from a three-month lockdown in mid-June.
With 136 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for the past two weeks, Spain tops the European chart of the highest cumulative incidence. Its one of the main indicators closely monitored by epidemiologists.
The Madrid region, home to 6.6m, has emerged as one of the hot spots in the new wave of outbreaks, which officials have linked mostly to family reunions and nightlife.
New regulations, including on hours of nightlife and close outdoor smoking, take effect Thursday in the Spanish capital.
Updated
France health ministry: 'The virus is intensifying'
France on Wednesday recorded new coronavirus cases at the fastest daily rate since May, official figures showed, as the country prepared for the return from summer holidays.
Almost 3,800 infections were confirmed:
“All indicators continue to climb and transmission of the virus is intensifying,” the health ministry’s DGS public health division said.
More than 3,000 new daily cases have been registered on just two days since May, on Saturday and Sunday last weekend.
Several departments in both the Ile-de-France region around the capital Paris and the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region around Mediterranean port city Marseille on Wednesday passed the “alert threshold” of 50 new daily cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the DGS said.
Nationwide, over 16,700 infections have been detected over the past week.
Qantas CEO: A vaccine could mean 'US is seen as a market by the end of 2021'
Joyce is asked when he thinks the US may be open again for Qantas to fly to:
The US is like – we’ve always assumed that let’s get the domestic borders open first, get the rules set around them and then potentially have the bubbles, country by country, when we have a similar level of exposure to the virus, so New Zealanders, they are an example and that should potentially open up relatively fast compared to the other countries around the world.
The US, with the level of prevalence there is probably going to take some time.
It will probably need a vaccine before we could see that happening. The news on the vaccine seems to get better every day.
A lot of the people, the medical advice we have, a lot of the medical advice I think Governments around the world are having is that we potentially could see a vaccine by the middle or the end of next year and countries like the US may be the first country to have widespread use of that vaccine, so that could mean that the US is seen as a market by the end of 2021, hopefully we could, dependent on a vaccine, start seeing flights again.
Updated
Joyce says in addition to the international collapse of air travel, the company has been badly hit by internal border closures in Australia’s states. Travel is currently limited from the country’s two most populous states of Victoria and New South Wales, due to local transmission of coronavirus cases. Victoria has been the hardest hit and on Thursday reported 240 new cases and 13 deaths.
Joyce highlighted the uncertainty over Australia’s internal borders:
At the moment, there are no rules around how borders are going to close and going to open. And it’s very clear that, from a health and safety point of view, that has to be the priority.
And nobody has an issue with the international borders being closed - that’s protected Australia.
Nobody’s had an issue with the borders to Victoria being closed.
But it’s very clear that we don’t have clear guidelines for when the borders will open, when they will close.
So, we have the situation where there are a large number of states and territories that have had zero cases and they’re not even open to each other.
So, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania - we’ve got closures there still. With very low cases, no cases, and it’s been like that for a while.
And we don’t have any determination on when the borders will open. We think, and I think, the Federal Government thinks, they should be open soon, or now.
#COVID19VicData for 20 August 2020. 240 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) were detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly we report 13 deaths from the virus. More information later today. pic.twitter.com/fiQChvG3Oh
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 19, 2020
Updated
Qantas CEO: "Covid punched a $4bn hole in our revenue"; airline announces 91% profit drop
Just before we get in to our main headlines on coronavirus, we have some breaking news from Australia, where Qantas has announced its profits have dropped by 91%. It’s CEO, Alan Joyce, announced the “worst trading results in history”.
We start by saying this is clearly not a standard set of results for the Qantas Group.
It’s been shaped by extraordinary events that have made for the worst trading conditions in our 100-year history.
To put it simply, we’re an airline that can’t really fly to many places – at least for now.
The impact of that is clear. Covid punched a $4bn hole in our revenue and a $1.2bn hole in our underlying profit in what would have otherwise been another very strong result.
I’ll come to the statutory result in a moment but the fact that the group still delivered an underlying profit before tax of $124m despite Covid says a lot about our resilience, and why we have confidence long term.
In June, Qantas said it would axe 6000 jobs, or around 20% of its workforce.
The airline won’t be resuming international flights until at least July 2021.
Updated
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, with me, Alison Rourke. Before we kick off, here’s a summary of the top lines so far.
- The number of coronavirus cases recorded around the world passed 22.2 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Deaths from the virus stand at more than 783,000. The US and Brazil still lead the way in coronavirus deaths and cases.
- France’s Covid-19 infections reached a new post-lockdown peak as another 3,776 cases were recorded, bringing the country’s total to 225,043. The French president Emmanuel Macron again ruled out imposing another national lockdown. The health ministry said transmission of the virus was increasing particularly among young adults, and the virus was especially active in and around Paris and Marseille.
- Spain reported 3,715 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said. According to Reuters it marks a new daily record since the country came out of a strict lockdown in late June. Cumulative cases, which include antibody tests on patients who may have already recovered, rose by 6,671 to 370,867, the ministry said.
- Italy recorded 642 new infections in a day, hitting a new record since May when the country cautiously emerged from one of the longest lockdowns in the world after more than 30,000 Covid-related deaths. Seven more people have died with the virus. The overall tally of cases has now risen to 255,178. The death toll now stands at 35,412.
- The UK government is set to drop Croatia from its travel corridor list on Thursday. It comes after imported Covid-19 infections from the country were identified. The announcement would give thousands of Britons just 30 hours to return home to avoid having to self-isolate for 14 days.
- Brazil’s coronavirus death toll topped 110,000 and close to another 50,000 cases were recorded. In the past 24 hours, a further 49,298 cases of Covid-19 were registered, the health ministry said, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 3,456,652. An additional 1,212 deaths fatalities took the Covid-19 death toll to 111,100, according to the data.
- Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus, the health ministry said, the highest death toll for any Middle East country. The announcement came as the Islamic Republic went ahead with university entrance exams for over 1 million students. Iran is also preparing for mass Shiite commemorations later this month.
- South Korea’s health ministry has warned that the country is facing a “desperately dangerous crisis” of spreading coronavirus, after the country reported its highest daily rise in cases since early March. On Wednesday, officials asked people in Seoul, the capital, to stay at home if they could, warning that testing, tracing and isolation measures were insufficient.
