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British households are expected to rack up debts worth a combined £6bn because of the coronavirus crisis, as millions of people fall behind on credit card payments, council tax and utility bills.
Sounding the alarm as the economic fallout from the health emergency mounts, the StepChange debt advice charity said 4.6m households risked building up dangerous levels of debt because of the pandemic.
The charity warned that debts racked up during the crisis would stifle the country’s economic recovery and that debt advisory services would be deluged once the reality of people’s situations began to hit home in the coming months.
Updated
Summary
- Infections globally have passed 7 million and deaths have passed 400,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. Covid-19 infections now stand at 7,085,894, while the official death toll is at 405,168.
- Over half of pregnant women hospitalised for coronavirus in UK were BAME, a study has found. The research looked at data for 427 pregnant women admitted to 194 obstetric units in the UK with a positive Covid-19 infection between 1 March and 14 April.
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A Brazilian senator has called for an inquiry into Covid-19 data, after Brazil shared contradictory figures on deaths and infections. The discrepancy prompted criticism from across the political spectrum, and a leading newspaper has reported the health ministry slashed the number of deaths it reported by 857 because president Jair Bolsonaro wanted less than a thousand deaths a day.
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South Africa has passed 1,000 deaths and 50,000 cases. The grim milestones were passed just a week after the country further eased lockdown restrictions. At 50,879 the number of detected infections is the worst in Africa, and two-thirds are in the Western Cape province. South Africa ranks second in terms of deaths at 1,080 after Egypt.
- Antiracist protesters should wear masks, says Tedros. The director general of the WHO has called on people attending antiracism protests to wear masks, as he warned that the biggest threat in the ongoing coronavirus outbreak “was now complacency.”
- The UK has recorded its lowest daily death toll since 22 March. A further 55 people have died after contracting Covid-19 in UK, taking the country’s death toll to 40,597. This is the lowest daily total of newly reported deaths since 22 March, but there is often a reporting lag over a weekend. The figures do not include all deaths across the UK, which is thought to have passed 50,000.
Updated
Over half of pregnant women hospitalised for coronavirus in UK were BAME
A study has found that more than half of pregnant women recently admitted to UK hospitals with coronavirus were from a black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) background.
The peer-reviewed research, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at data for pregnant women admitted to 194 obstetric units in the UK with a positive Covid-19 infection between 1 March and 14 April.
It found that of the 427 pregnant women in hospital during that period, 233 (56%) were from BAME backgrounds, of which 103 were Asian and 90 were black.
The high proportion of pregnant women from BAME groups remained after excluding major urban centres from the analysis.
Researchers, led by Professor Marian Knight from the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, said the findings now require “urgent investigation and explanation”.
The study also found:
- 70% were overweight or obese
- 40% were aged 35 or over
- 34% had underlying health conditions
Five of the women died – including three as a direct result of complications linked to coronavirus – while 41 (10%) needed respiratory support in a critical care unit, the study found.
Updated
The coronavirus has been reported in at least 188 countries. Here are a few countries that have not reported any cases so far, courtesy of Al Jazeera:
- Kiribati
- Marshall Islands
- Micronesia
- Nauru
- North Korea
- Palau
- Samoa
- Solomon Islands
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
In what could pose a serious issue for the UK’s contact tracing plans, a study has found people who think they have had coronavirus are less likely to download a contact-tracing app, even if they have no proof that they ever contracted the virus.
The finding highlights the potential long-term damage of the UK government’s early policy of not testing to confirm self-reported Covid-19 infection, the authors, from Imperial College’s faculty of medicine, say.
Read Alex Hern’s report here.
Updated
If you have a tip, comment or burning question, you can drop me a line on Twitter @cleaskopeliti or by email. I read everything but won’t always have time to reply. Thanks to everyone who has already been in touch.
Here’s Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro with more on Brazil’s deepening crisis.
Brazil’s health ministry slashed the number of new Covid-19 deaths it reported on Sunday by 857 because far-right president Jair Bolsonaro wanted less than a thousand deaths a day, a leading newspaper has reported.
Bolsonaro has sought to control information Brazilians receive about the pandemic which has killed 36,455 people and infected 691,758 here, according to John Hopkins University figures.
On Sunday the health ministry said 1,382 deaths had been recorded in the previous 24 hours, but later corrected it down to 525. On Monday the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper reported that the correction was ordered because Bolsonaro wanted the number of deaths at less than a thousand a day. He has vociferously attacked social isolation and notoriously quipped “so what?” to the rising death toll in April.
To accommodate him, the health ministry separated out all the deaths reported over 24 hours – as it had been doing for months – and began including only deaths that had actually occurred during the last day. The correction came two days after the Ministry stopped releasing accumulated cases and deaths in a daily bulletin and wiped a government site clean of data – a move also reportedly ordered by Bolsonaro that provoked widespread condemnation.
Leading Brazilian media organisations are teaming up to provide a daily count at 8pm each day, and the National Council of State Health Secretaries is also updating numbers each day. On Monday WHO executive director Michael Ryan said Brazilians needed to understand where the virus was, how to manage risk and that the WHO hoped communication would be “consistent and transparent”, Reuters said.
The health ministry said this week it will launch an interactive site with Covid-19 data. On Monday it had “corrected duplications and updated data released about cases and obits from Covid-19 last Sunday.” It cited discrepancies that were corrected in two states but did not explain what happened or why.
Brazilian senator calls for inquiry into Covid-19 data
Brazil has drawn further criticism for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic after sharing contradictory figures on deaths and infections, intensifying a scandal over the country’s Covid-19 data.
A senator called for a congressional inquiry and the discrepancy prompted criticism from across the political spectrum after initial health ministry data on Brazil’s number of cases and death toll was contradicted by numbers uploaded to the ministry’s online data portal.
On Monday, the ministry said in a statement the discrepancy was predominantly due to mistakes in the numbers from two states that were later corrected. It explained that the later, lower daily death toll of 525 was the correct one.
Senator Eliziane Gama, leader of centrist party Citizenship, asked the Senate to open an inquiry into the numbers, while the WHO stressed the importance of “consistent and transparent” communication from Brazil. It ranks second in confirmed cases, behind the United States, and its death toll last week surpassed Italy’s.
The discrepancy followed recent decisions to remove from a national website a trove of data about the country’s outbreak, and to push back the daily release of new numbers late into the evening and after the country’s main television news program.
Brazil could see Covid-19 deaths rise to 165,960 by August, above the forecast for the United States which has 100 million more people, according to a new projection by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
The updated forecast suggests Brazil’s epidemic could become the most lethal globally.
For Carlos Machado, head of research at the National School of Public Health, part of the respected public institute Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, the lack of dependable data in Brazil is dangerous. “Not having updated and reliable data during a pandemic of this proportion is like driving in the dark,” he said. “While we do not have a vaccine, information is the best weapon we have.”
“By changing the numbers, the ministry of health covers the sun with a sieve,” Rodrigo Maia, speaker of the lower house, said on Twitter. “The credibility of the statistics needs to be urgently recovered. A ministry that manipulates numbers creates a parallel world in order not to face the reality of the facts.”
According to the council, Brazil had recorded 680,456 cases of Covid-19 and 36,151 deaths from the disease by the end of Sunday afternoon.
Senior Greek officials have expressed concern at an increase of coronavirus cases a week before the country is set to launch its holiday season.
Of 97 new cases recorded since Thursday, nearly a third had been foreigners arriving from abroad, said a health ministry statement. Two deaths were recorded over the same period to Monday, AFP reports.
“Whoever thinks that we’re rid of the virus is wrong,” said Nikos Hardalias, the deputy minister for civil protection. “We have to be vigilant and respect the measures to prevent the propagation of the virus.”
From 15 June, the two main airports of Athens and Thessaloniki in the north will be able to receive visitors from around 30 countries, mostly in the European Union. Regional airports are due to open on 1 July.
Greece has so far recorded 3,049 cases of coronavirus and 182 deaths since the end of February, according to ministry figures. Of the 97 most recently recorded cases, 29 of them were in the northeast region of Xanthi, which was hit by the virus in April.
The ministry has announced that it will resume the publication of daily figures on the coronavirus situation in the country. It had stopped last week as the numbers of new cases each day fell below five.
Greece has been gradually opening up again since 4 May after a strict, six-week shutdown to try to contain the outbreak there. Cafes and bars have been open again for two weeks, but social distancing measures are not often respected.
Last weekend, officials closed a bar on the island of Mykonos where social distancing was being ignored and fined the owner 20,000 euros.
Updated
A reader has written in to highlight the situation in Bolivia’s hospitals.
A state of national emergency in the country’s ICU wards was declared by doctors in the Bolivian Society of Critical Medicine and Intensive Care late on Sunday night. The Society has warned of a probable dire scenario in coming weeks, local sources report.
Updated
Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan and his family have recovered from the coronavirus, AFP reports.
“We have just received the results of our repeat tests,” Pashinyan, 45, said on Facebook. All of his tests and those of his family were negative, he added.
The Armenian leader announced on 1 June that he and his family had tested positive for the virus and he would be working from home.
The announcement came nearly a month after Armenia lifted a state of emergency imposed in March to slow the spread of the virus. The Caucasus nation of some three million people has struggled to contain the pandemic. As of Monday, health officials have registered 13,325 cases and 211 deaths.
Pashinyan acknowledged last week that the country’s health care system was overwhelmed and he has previously admitted his government failed to enforce anti-virus measures. Conspiracy theories and disinformation on social media undermined government efforts to fight the outbreak, analysts have said.
Updated
Summary
For those of you who are just waking up and joining the blog, welcome – here’s a quick round-up of what you’ve missed.
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Infections globally have passed 7 million and deaths have passed 400,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. Covid-19 infections now stand at 7,068,144, while the official death toll is at 404,304.
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South Africa has passed 1,000 deaths and 50,000 cases. The grim milestones were passed just a week after the country further eased lockdown restrictions. At 50,879 the number of detected infections is the worst in Africa, and two-thirds are in the Western Cape province. South Africa ranks second in terms of deaths at 1,080 after Egypt.
- Antiracist protesters should wear masks, says Tedros. The director general of the WHO has called on people attending antiracism protests to wear masks, as he warned that the biggest threat in the ongoing coronavirus outbreak “was now complacency.”
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Switzerland has approved a Bluetooth contact-tracing app. The contact-tracing app, which aims to prevent a second wave of infections, is optional and no personal data or location information is used.
- The UK has recorded its lowest daily death toll since 22 March. A further 55 people have died after contracting Covid-19 in UK, taking the country’s death toll to 40,597. This is the lowest daily total of newly reported deaths since 22 March, but there is often a reporting lag over a weekend. The figures do not include all deaths across the UK, which is thought to have passed 50,000.
- A study has found European lockdowns reduced infection rate by 81%. Lockdowns had a dramatic impact on the spread of coronavirus in Europe with strict controls on people’s movements preventing an estimated 3.1m deaths by the beginning of May, with 470,000 deaths averted in the UK alone, researchers say.
- Philippines has ruled out reopening of schools without vaccine. Classes are to resume at the end of August and teachers will use distance learning methods via the internet or TV broadcasts where needed. However, with millions of Filipinos living in deep poverty, many do not have access to computers and the internet at home.
Updated
South Africa passes 1,000 deaths and 50,000 cases
South Africa has passed the grim milestone of 1,000 coronavirus deaths, as infections spiked to over 50,000.
This comes just a week after the continent’s worst-hit country further eased lockdown restrictions, official statistics showed.
The number of detected infections was 50,879 - the worst in Africa. South Africa ranks second in terms of deaths at 1,080 after Egypt.
Around two-thirds of South Africa’s infections are found in the Western Cape province, a popular tourist destination home to the coastal city of Cape Town.
The country has since May been gradually easing tight restrictions imposed in March. It is now allowing some school children to return to classes and the majority of businesses to operate.
More than a half of all cases have been recorded in the last two weeks, president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.
“As we watch the number of infections rise further - probably far faster than most of us imagined - we should be concerned, but not alarmed,” he said. “That is because we have the ability... to limit the impact of the disease on our people,” he said.
Switzerland approves Bluetooth contact-tracing app
Swiss lawmakers have given the go-ahead to the country’s Bluetooth contact-tracing app aimed at stopping a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
The app is optional and no personal data or location information is used.
The National Council voted in favour of the SwissCovid app by 156 votes to 22, allowing it to be rolled out to the general public.
The smartphone application uses Bluetooth wireless technology to register other phones that come into close proximity. It works by tracing people who may unwittingly have been in prolonged contact with someone who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The test phase was launched in mid-May. Health minister Alain Berset said it should not extend beyond the end of June, adding that the test period was needed to find and fix any defects.
Some 1,660 people have died in Switzerland - a country of 8.5 million people - out of nearly 30,900 infected with the virus.
Qatar will use a four-phase plan to lift coronavirus restrictions in its cities starting on 15 June, when some mosques will be allowed to reopen, government spokeswoman Lulwa Rashed al-Khater has announced.
She told a news conference the second phase of easing the lockdown would start on 1 July, the third on 1 August and the fourth on 1 September.
The second phase will allow a partial opening of restaurants and the third will permit the resumption of flights from low-risk countries and the reopening of shopping malls and markets with limited capacity. The fourth will allow wedding parties, business gatherings such as exhibitions, and the reopening of theatres and cinemas, she said.
Qatar reported 1,368 new coronavirus cases and 3 deaths on Monday, bringing the total to 70,158 cases including 57 deaths.
Updated
The UK parliamentary debate is wrapping up - here are some closing comments:
Labour MP Chris Bryant says parliament is behaving in a way that “we would not expect from other employers” and that parliament should be setting an example.
Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael (who called for the debate) says this debate is about “equality of participation and access”, and accuses Speaker of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg of abandoning this principle. He adds it is an “error of judgement of potential catastrophic magnitude”, and says Rees-Mogg may ultimately be responsible for it.
Back to the UK emergency debate for a minute - Labour MP Chris Bryant has claimed a third of MPs are not currently able to participate in physical debates, for personal shielding reasons or other.
He underlines the House of Commons “must be free or it is nothing”, and that MPs must all be equally free - not for themselves, but for the communities they represent.
Earlier, Bryant had raised the issue of there being “two different categories of people who can self-certify” with different proxy voting rights. Rees-Mogg had replied that his point will be taken under consideration.
Updated
Nearly 270 Rohinga migrants have been detained in Malaysia. This update has just come through from AFP:
More than 260 Rohingya arrived by boat in Malaysia on Monday, officials said, despite authorities’ efforts to fight the coronavirus by stopping entry of the Muslim minority.
Fears have been growing in recent months that large numbers of the migrants from mostly Buddhist Myanmar are trapped at sea as countries that traditionally allowed them in turn their boats away.
On Monday a coastguard vessel spotted a suspected migrant boat off the northwest island of Langkawi, and was set to push it out to international waters, authorities said.
But as the coastguards approached, 53 Rohingya jumped into the sea and were detained. On inspecting the boat, authorities found another 216 Rohingya and the body of a dead woman, according to a statement from a task force overseeing maritime patrols.
“Investigations also revealed the boat was intentionally damaged and... could not be repaired,” the statement said, adding this “resulted in the push-back effort being halted”.
Food and water were provided to the migrants and the boat was taken to Langkawi, where all 269 were detained, it said. Authorities did not say where the vessel started its journey, or how long it had been at sea.
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In the UK parliamentary debate, Labour MP Angela Eagle has accused Jacob Rees- Mogg of acting by “diktat” in his decision on the ending of hybrid parliament. She also makes reference to the proroguing of parliament last year, and says those who cannot take part in proceedings are “watching in frustration”.
Eagle says she is acting as a voice for those who cannot attend due to shielding, or caring for a vulnerable household member, and raises the worry of passing the virus to others.
She says Rees-Mogg needs to understand that in a democracy, constituents all have the same right to see their MP represent them. “It’s his duty to facilitate it.”
Updated
The WHO has warned against complacency, saying the coronavirus pandemic situation is worsening around the globe, AFP reports.
The WHO said it had recorded its highest daily tally of new infections, with Covid-19 raging in the Americas. And as mass protests for racial justice sweep across the United States and beyond, the United Nations’ health agency urged anyone demonstrating to do so safely.
The novel coronavirus has killed more than 403,000 people out of at least seven million infected since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.
After East Asia, Europe became the epicentre of the disease, but has now been overtaken by the Americas.
“Although the situation in Europe is improving, globally it is worsening,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference in Geneva.
“More than 100,000 cases have been reported on nine of the past 10 days. Yesterday, more than 136,000 cases were reported - the most in a single day so far.”
He said that almost 75% of Sunday’s cases came from 10 countries - mostly in the Americas and South Asia.
Tedros said that in countries where the situation was improving, “the biggest threat is now complacency”, adding that “most people globally are still susceptible to infection”. “More than six months into this pandemic, this is not the time for any country to take its foot off the pedal,” he said.
Turning to the wave of protests sparked by killing of George Floyd, Tedros encouraged active surveillance of the virus to ensure it does not rebound, especially in the context of mass gatherings. He underlined the WHO “fully supports” the movement against racism, but encourages protestors to demonstrate safely.
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Hello, I’ll be running the blog for the next few hours. As always, do feel free to message me with any stories I might have missed, as well as comments and feedback on coverage. You can reach me on Twitter @cleaskopeliti or by email.
I’ll also be keeping one eye on the remainder of the UK parliament’s emergency debate on the return to physical parliamentary proceedings, and posting any major lines that emerge.
Updated
India has taken a significant step towards loosening its lockdown, reopening places of worship, restaurants and shopping malls, despite coronavirus cases continuing to soar and experts warning the country was far from hitting its peak, writes Hannah Ellis Petersen, the Guardian’s South Asia correspondent.
Over the weekend India overtook both Italy and Spain to register the fifth highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, 257,000, with cases climbing by more than 9,000 each day. The death toll from Covid-19 stands at 7,135.
The easing of India’s lockdown of its 1.3 billion people, which has been in place since 24 March, went ahead as scheduled on Monday. While it is acknowledged to have slowed the spread of the virus, it has had a brutal impact on India’s poor, particularly tens of millions of migrant workers.
Shopping malls and restaurants opened their doors, and mosques, temples and gurdwaras began welcoming back worshippers, with strict limits on congregation numbers and physical distancing measures in place. In Delhi, the 400-year-old Jama Masjid mosque, one of the biggest in India, is planning to limit worshippers to just three visits a day, instead of the usual five.
I know many people are wondering when they can get back out to the raves.
However, judging from this experiment with social distanced raving in the Netherlands, you might prefer to brock out in your front room for a little while yet.
Nightlife resumes in this Dutch club with social distancing rules in place pic.twitter.com/Qd5C9roNwS
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 8, 2020
At least half of Singapore’s newly discovered coronavirus cases show no symptoms, the co-head of the government’s virus taskforce told Reuters on Monday.
The city state has one of the highest infection tallies in Asia, with more than 38,000 cases, because of outbreaks in cramped dormitories housing thousands of migrant workers.
It reopened schools and some businesses last week after a near two-month lockdown, but many residents are still required to work from home and mix socially only with their families.
The latest finding about asymptomatic cases of coronavirus was seen as reinforcing the decision to ease lockdown restrictions very gradually.
“Based on our experience, for every symptomatic case you would have at least one asymptomatic case,” said Lawrence Wong, adding that the discovery was made in recent weeks as Singapore ramped up testing.
“That is exactly why we have been very cautious in our reopening plans,” Wong said.
On Monday, the ministry of health reported 386 new cases, bringing the total confirmed number of cases in the country to 38,296. Just two were “in the community” - Singapore’s euphemism for citizens and better-paid migrant workers - while 384 were work permit holders living in dormitories.
So far, 25,368 people who had tested positive have recovered and been discharged, the ministry said. Another 2,634 were being isolated and cared for at community facilities, while 269 confirmed cases were still in hospital.
Singapore’s coronavirus death toll so far is 25.
About 200 people protested in Nairobi on Monday over police brutality and the deaths of 15 people at the hands of police enforcing Kenya’s coronavirus lockdown.
Kenya’s independent policing oversight authority (IPOA) reported last week it had received 87 complaints against police since the dusk-to-dawn curfew and heightened security measures were imposed on 27 March, AFP reports.
Some 15 deaths and “31 incidents where victims sustained injuries” have been “directly linked to actions of police officers during the curfew enforcement”, it said.
Kenya’s police force is often accused by rights groups of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings, especially in poor neighbourhoods.
The crowd in the Mathare neighbourhood on Monday was composed mostly of young people and mothers carrying signs with the names of friends, neighbours and sons killed in police operations in recent years.
“I am here to protest for our youth who have died in the hands of the police without any wrongdoings and we are saying enough is enough. As mothers, many of our youths have been killed while being labelled as thieves,” Mathare resident Rahma Wako told AFP.
In April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the police of imposing the coronavirus curfew in a “chaotic and violent manner from the start”, sometimes whipping, kicking and teargassing people to force them off the streets.
It described the case of 13-year-old Yassin Hussein Moyo who died in Nairobi on March 31 after being shot while standing on his balcony as police forced people into their homes on the street below.
Other cases include a tomato seller who died in western Kakamega after being hit by a teargas canister, and four men who were beaten to death in different parts of the country.
The migrant rescue group Sea-Watch has said it has resumed operations in the Mediterranean, after a three-month break while most of Europe was in lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Its rescue vessel, Sea-Watch 3, has left the port of Messina, in Sicily, and was on its way towards the waters off the Libyan coast where many people smugglers operate, the NGO said on Twitter.
The #SeaWatch3 sets sail!
— Sea-Watch International (@seawatch_intl) June 6, 2020
After more than 3 months in the port of #Messina, we are finally heading to the search and rescue zone north of the Libyan coast again, where we are urgently needed. Support our mission now with your donation: https://t.co/AtYsXeXWRD pic.twitter.com/CybQFgkubb
As the #SeaWatch3 makes her way to the search and rescue area, our crew is constantly practicing standard safety and rescue procedures as well as an extra batch of #COVID19 prevention measures. Our objective, as always, is to keep everyone – crew and guests – as safe as possible. pic.twitter.com/3VdAewISQd
— Sea-Watch International (@seawatch_intl) June 8, 2020
A new boat funded by the German Protestant Church, the Sea-Watch 4, will also set sail for Libya “in a few weeks” from the port of Burriana, near Valencia, it said.
Everyone on board the Sea-Watch 3 underwent a 14-day quarantine and a test for the new coronavirus before the boat’s departure from Messina, said the group.
The Sea-Watch 3 will be the first NGO rescue boat operating in the area for more than two months.
The World Bank has warned that the coronavirus pandemic has triggered the most widespread global economic meltdown since at least 1870 and risks fuelling a dramatic rise in poverty levels around the globe, writes Richard Partington, the Guardian’s economics correspondent.
In a report the Washington-based organisation said the highest share of countries in 150 years would enter recessions at the same time.
As many as 90% of the 183 economies it examined are expected to suffer from falling levels of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020, even more than the 85% of nations suffering from recession during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Issuing the assessment in its half-yearly Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, the organisation said the fall in world GDP would be the steepest since the second world war.
Dramatically cutting its growth expectations, the World Bank said it expected global GDP to shrink by 5.2% this year, in an economic decline more than twice as deep as the recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis.
Nearly 6,000 more confirmed cases of coronavirus have been detected across Africa in the past 24 hours, the Africa Centres for Disease Control reported on Monday.
According to the latest update from the African Union’s health agency, 189,434 had tested positive for the virus across the continents 54 countries by Monday afternoon, an increase of 5,960 since Sunday.
Africa’s death toll reached 5,175 after 134 more deaths were reported. Africa CDC said 82,888 people had been confirmed as having recovered from the virus.
Nearly 6,000 more confirmed cases of coronavirus have been detected across Africa in the past 24 hours, according to the latest figures from @AfricaCDC.
— Damien Gayle (@damiengayle) June 8, 2020
134 more deaths were reported pic.twitter.com/kM3AjcTKVT
Conservationists have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could spark a surge in ocean pollution – adding to a glut of plastic waste that already threatens marine life – after finding disposable masks floating like jellyfish and waterlogged latex gloves scattered across seabeds, writes Ashifa Kassam.
The French non-profit Opération Mer Propre, whose activities include regularly picking up litter along the Côte d’Azur, began sounding the alarm late last month.
Divers had found what Joffrey Peltier of the organisation described as “Covid waste” – dozens of gloves, masks and bottles of hand sanitiser beneath the waves of the Mediterranean, mixed in with the usual litter of disposable cups and aluminium cans.
The quantities of masks and gloves found were far from enormous, said Peltier. But he worried that the discovery hinted at a new kind of pollution, one set to become ubiquitous after millions around the world turned to single-use plastics to combat the coronavirus. “It’s the promise of pollution to come if nothing is done,” said Peltier.
In France alone, authorities have ordered two billion disposable masks, said Laurent Lombard of Opération Mer Propre. “Knowing that … soon we’ll run the risk of having more masks than jellyfish in the Mediterranean,” he wrote on social media alongside video of a dive showing algae-entangled masks and soiled gloves in the sea near Antibes.
The group hopes the images will prompt people to embrace reusable masks and swap latex gloves for more frequent handwashing. “With all the alternatives, plastic isn’t the solution to protect us from Covid. That’s the message,” said Peltier.
Antiracist protesters should wear masks, says Tedros
The director general of the World Health Organization has called on people attending antiracism protests to wear masks, as he warned that the biggest threat in the ongoing coronavirus outbreak “was now complacency.”
Speaking at the UN health agency’s regular coronavirus briefing, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that more than 100,000 new cases a day of coronavirus had been reported on nine of the past ten days. “Although the situation in Europe is improving, globally it is worsening,” Tedros said, with nearly three quarters of cases reported on Sunday were detected in ten countries, concentrated in the Americas and south Asia.
Elsewhere, signs were more positive, he said.
In these countries, the biggest threat now is complacency. Results from studies to see how much of the population has been exposed to the virus show that most people globally are still susceptible to infection.
We continue to urge active surveillance to ensure the virus does not rebound, especially as mass gatherings of all kinds are starting to resume in some countries.
On the antiracism protests taking place around the world, Tedros said:
WHO fully supports equality and the global movement against racism. We reject discrimination of all kinds. We encourage all those protesting around the world to do so safely.
As much as possible, keep at least one metre from others, clean your hands, cover your cough and wear a mask if you attend a protest.
The UK has reported 55 more coronavirus-related deaths, the lowest number since 22 March, AFP reports.
It is the lowest daily total since the country went into lockdown on March 23, although figures on Mondays are usually low due to weekend reporting practices.
With 40,597 deaths among people testing positive for coronavirus, The UK is the hardest hit nation in Europe and second in the world behind the US. Scotland, which has seen 2,415 deaths after positive tests, recorded no new fatalities for the second day in a row.
As of 9am 8 June, there have been 5,731,576 tests, with 138,183 tests on 7 June.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) June 8, 2020
287,399 people have tested positive.
As of 5pm on 7 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 40,597 have sadly died.
More info:
▶️https://t.co/xXnL3FU15k pic.twitter.com/oVY0QrKFAC
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said the figures showed coronavirus was “in retreat” in Scotland. She was now “optimistic” the country could move to the second phase of its four-part plan to ease lockdown measures when they are reviewed next week.
Updated
Living in lockdown has put everyone under strain, but it may also have given some of us time to take stock and work out what we really want from life. Perhaps this time away from normality will help us reflect on how we were living before and make new plans for the future: to discard some old habits and build some new ones.
If you feel as if you have learned something about yourself over the last few weeks and hope to change your life, we want to hear from you. Maybe you want to spend more time in nature, pay more attention to your neighbours, reassess your relationship, change you job, be more creative, keep better contact with old friends, spend less money (or more), or worry less. Whatever is on your mind, we want to know.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has said his government is hitting “the emergency brake” on its easing of coronavirus restrictions, as increases in the number of cases apparently began to accelerate in the country.
The resumption of rail travel was delayed, for a third time, while the reopening of theatres, musical performances and other cultural venues, which had been scheduled for the 14 June, was pushed back at least a week.
Netanyahu said that experts had showed him and other ministers that there had been a “steep increase in morbidity”. Although Israel is regarded as having done well in tackling its outbreak, about 800 infections were detected in the last week, as opposed to about 300 in the preceding two weeks combined.
“It could be that we are already seeing the doubling of the rate of infection within ten days. I very much hope not,” Netanyahu said, according to the Times of Israel.
“What we decided to do, first of all, is to hit the ’emergency brake.’ We stopped all moves to ease restrictions that we were going to apply in the coming days. We will check this again next week.”
He added that “the main thing that all the experts emphasized is that we must keep the three rules: Wearing masks, keeping two meters’ distance and hygiene – washing hands. I ask you, for our economy, for our health and for the lives of us all – please follow the rules.”
Hospitals in Pakistan have warned they are running out of beds to treat coronavirus patients, as the number of confirmed cases in the country passed 100,000, AFP reports.
In recent weeks, however, the country of more than 210 million has reported a sharp rise in new infections, and on Monday the government said more than 100,000 cases and 2,000 deaths had now been recorded.
Last week a leaked government report suggested there were nearly 700,000 infections in Lahore alone. Doctors at several main hospitals in the historic eastern city told AFP they were running out of beds, ventilators and other vital equipment.
“As the cases increase, more health care workers are also falling victim to the virus,” said Farooq Sahil, a doctor at Services Hospital Lahore.
Khizer Hayat, chairman of the Young Doctors Association of Punjab, said facilities across the province needed help. “Hospitals are running out of beds; there aren’t enough ventilators given to us,” he told AFP.
In the southern port city of Karachi, health centres are turning away the sick, with a large sign near the entrance of the Indus hospital stating there was no room for coronavirus patients.
Asad Umar, the head of the national coronavirus task force, has announced that a package to relieve pressure on hospitals would include 1,000 new beds in major cities.
After 15,000 people in Berlin and 25,000 in Munich joined antiracism protests over the weekend, the German government has called on demonstrators to stick to coronavirus distancing rules.
In some cases, protesters were closely packed together despite German requirements for people to stay 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart.
On Monday, Steffen Seibert, spokesman for the chancellor, Angela Merkel, said “it is good if people take to the streets in Germany as well with a clear statement against racism.”
But he added: “The pictures that in some cases emerged over the weekend were not good. Both things must be possible: to demonstrate peacefully, which is a fundamental right, and keep to the (social distancing) rules.”
He said many demonstrators “created a big risk for themselves and others.”
Germany has been widely praised for its adroit handling of the pandemic.
Moldova’s former health minister has described the country’s coronavirus outbreak as out of control, as a record number of cases were recorded in the country in the first week of June, the Associated Press reports.
Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe and plagued by corruption and political turmoil, confirmed 1,449 new cases of coronavirus last week, nearly 300 more than the previous week, according to data from the ministry of health.
It was the fourth consecutive week with more than 1,000 new cases.
During the first week of June, Moldova also suffered 46 coronavirus deaths, including two medical workers, compared to 45 deaths a week earlier. Since its first confirmed case on March 7, the country of 3.3 million people has registered 9,700 cases of the coronavirus and 346 deaths.
Ala Nemerenco, health minister under a previous government, criticised the government’s handling of the pandemic.
“You don’t have to be an epidemiologist, a virologist, or even a doctor to understand that the situation has gotten out of control,” Nemerenco said in a Facebook post in reference to the rising number of cases.
Regarding difficulties in reaching the Covid-19 centre at the Moldexpo exhibition hall because of heavy traffic, she said that “everything that happens demonstrates disorganisation and chaos, which can’t lead to any good.”
Belgium has reported 122 new infections in the last 24 hours and 11 fatalities, compared to 156 confirmed cases and 15 deaths the day before, writes Daniel Boffey, the Guardian’s Brussels bureau chief.
The continued downward trend has allowed the government to allow restaurants and bars to reopen after nearly three months in lockdown.
The prime minister of the Dutch-speaking Flanders region, Jan Jambon marked the moment by inviting photographers to a chicken restaurant close to Brussels’ EU quarter where he enjoyed lunch.
The European health regulator has confirmed it has received an application from the US drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc for approval of its antiviral drug, remdesivir, as a potential Covid-19 treatment in Europe.
“The assessment of the benefits and risks of remdesivir is being performed under a reduced timeline and an opinion could be issued within weeks,” the European Medicines Agency said in its statement.
Updated
Iranians have been urged to wear face masks in public areas by the country’s health ministry, following warnings that it could face a new wave of coronavirus infections.
Last week, health officials said there could be a second, stronger wave of the virus if people flouted physical distancing rules.
On Monday, health ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur reported that the death toll from Covid-19 in Iran had reached 8,351 after 70 people died in the previous 24 hours.
The total number of positive cases in the country now stands at 173,832 after 2,043 new infections were reported. Jahanpur said:
“Everyone should wear masks when attending public places like shops or any other places where fully observing social distancing is not possible.”
Restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus were imposed by Iran in mid-April, but the government began easing them after the daily number of deaths and infections fell over concern about the economic impact of the crisis.
However, restrictions have since been reimposed in some provinces after localised outbreaks.
Updated
A month-long coronavirus lockdown is to be lifted in Moscow after mayor Sergei Sobyanin declared the pandemic was on the wane.
His comments came shortly after Russia announced the partial reopening of its borders allowing people who needed to work, study, get medical treatment or look after relatives to travel abroad for the first time since late March.
“The pandemic has slowly but steadily been on the wane for several weeks,” Sobyanin wrote on his personal blog on Monday. “Moscow can practically get back to its usual rhythm of life.”
The country has reported 476,658 cases of coronavirus – the third highest tally in the world – but new cases in Moscow have more than halved to around 2,000 a day.
Nationally, 5,971 deaths of those who tested positive for the virus have been reported, stirring debate about the way in which authorities count fatalities.
Updated
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has appeared on state television attending the politburo of the ruling Workers’ party.
Neither Kim nor the officials at the meeting wore face masks, while the coronavirus pandemic was not mentioned in the media report.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un makes an appearance on television pic.twitter.com/Nww7659FaK
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 8, 2020
KCNA said that instead the meeting “discussed in depth some crucial issues arising in further developing the self-sufficient economy of the country and improving the standard of people’s living”.
The footage comes weeks after it reported that Kim had attended the completion of a fertiliser plant north of Pyongyang, following speculation that the dictator was gravely ill.
Updated
Brazil’s government has released two contradictory sets of figures for the latest tally of coronavirus infections and deaths.
Initially, data sent to journalists by the health ministry on Sunday said Brazil had a total death toll of 37,312 and a total of 685,427 confirmed cases, the news organisation Reuters reported.
The figures showed that in the previous 24 hours the country had registered 1,382 new deaths and 12,581 new cases.
But later on Sunday evening the government updated the figures on its online data portal without publishing a cumulative total, putting the day’s death toll at 525 and new cases at 18,912.
The health ministry did not respond to questions about the different numbers, Reuters said.
The latest controversy over the government’s published statistics comes as it removed months of national data on the epidemic from public view over the weekend, which critics claimed was an attempt at hiding Brazil’s soaring death toll.
It followed a move last week to push back the release of the daily tally from around 5pm to around 10pm, after the country’s main television news program has aired.
Lockdowns reduced infection rate by 81%, study finds
Lockdowns had a dramatic impact on the spread of coronavirus in Europe with strict controls on people’s movements preventing an estimated 3.1m deaths by the beginning of May, with 470,000 deaths averted in the UK alone, researchers say.
Outbreak modellers at Imperial College London said that lockdown slashed the average number of people that contagious individuals infected by 81% and lowered the reproduction number, R, of the epidemic below 1 in all countries they observed.
When R is less than 1 the epidemic is in decline because on average, each infected person transmits the infection to less than one other. As countries ease out of their lockdown, scientists are watching R closely: if it rises and remains above 1, the epidemic will grow exponentially.
The Imperial team pooled data on Covid-19 deaths from 11 European countries including the UK, Italy, France, Spain and Germany, and worked backwards to calculate the extent of transmission several weeks earlier, to account for the time lag between infections and deaths. Lockdown at the end of March reduced the reproductive number of the UK epidemic from 3.8 to 0.63, they calculate.
The model shows that by 4 May between 12 million and 15 million people had become infected, but some nations were hit far harder than others. According to the model Belgium had the largest number of cases per capita with 8% of the population infected, compared with only 0.46% of Norwegians and 0.85% of Germans. Some 5.1% of the UK population was infected, according to a report published in Nature.
“Our model estimates that we are very far away from herd immunity,” said Axel Gandy, a professor of statistics at Imperial and co-author on the study. Herd immunity is achieved when enough people are immune to a virus that outbreaks die out naturally. In the case of Covid-19, scientists believe upwards of 70% of the population would need to be resistant for herd immunity to kick in.
“It tells us we need to be very careful and not to release too much in one go because then you have no control,” Prof Gandy said. “We need to tread very carefully and do things slowly, so we can backtrack should they not work.”
Updated
Authorities in Pakistan have stepped up efforts to enforce protocols after the number of coronavirus infections surpassed 100,000.
Official statistics released today showed 103,671 confirmed cases and 2,067 from Covid-19. Increased testing in the country has led to record numbers of recorded infections over the last 10 days.
Pakistan lifted its lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus last month, putting protocols in place for the reopening of markets, industries and public transport, including mandatory wearing of masks and social distancing.
But planning minister Asad Umar – in charge of the national response to the pandemic – told a press conference over the weekend that many markets and shops had been closed because of non-compliance over the last few days.
“First we educated the masses about the protocols, then we warned them, and now, in the last meeting with the prime minister in the chair, we directed administrations to crack down on places protocols are not being followed,” he said.
I’m Amy Walker, taking over from my colleague Damien Gayle for a while. You can get in touch with me on Twitter: @amyrwalker.
Punters betting on volatile financial markets during the Covid-19 crisis have won more than half of the revenues earned by the online trading platform Plus500, sending the company’s shares down by nearly 8%, writes Simon Goodley for the Guardian’s business desk.
The firm – which operates like a bookmaker and allows traders to place wagers on stock, currency and commodity market movements – said its second-quarter revenues had surged to $249m (£197m), only for that figure to be slashed to about $102.5m because of payouts to customers who had placed winning bets.
Online trading firms tend to experience increases in demand during periods of financial market volatility, such as those fuelled by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Unlike many of its rivals, Plus500 does not generally hedge the bets it takes. This means it loses money when its customers win, and vice versa, which has contributed to a history of fluctuating fortunes for the business.
David Zruia, interim chief executive of Plus500, said:
We have consistently stated that customer trading performance is subject to significant market movements and is therefore likely to fluctuate. This is magnified during periods of heightened market volatility, such as those we are currently experiencing and given the growing scale of the business.
Nonetheless, we continue to expect this performance to revert to a medium-term historical level of near zero and our outlook for the year remains unchanged.
Police officers in Bangladesh have turned to yoga to improve their health and help with their breathing as they continue to police the country through its coronavirus outbreak, AFP reports.
Shama Makhing, a yoga instructor who led some 100 officers in stretching and breathing exercises in Dhaka early on Monday, said the ancient practice from India would support the officers physically and mentally.
“They cannot skip duty,” Makhing told AFP. “Therefore it is important for the policemen to be fit. Yoga … can help with their breathing.”
On Monday, Bangladesh reported 2,735 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, out of 12,944 samples tested in the last 24 hours in labs across the country. So far, 68,504 cases have been recorded since the beginning of the outbreak, of which 14,560 have recovered.
Forty-two more deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, taking the country’s total death toll to 930.
Updated
On 14 March, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, ordered the country into Covid-19 lockdown, saying “extraordinary decisions” needed to be taken as the country struggled with a “health, social and economic crisis”.
The Moroccan authorities had taken their own extraordinary decision the day before, when they ordered the shutdown of the border crossings that connect the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla with the rest of the country. With the only land borders between Africa and Europe closed, many citizens from both continents found themselves trapped.
Three months on, more than 500 Moroccans remain in limbo, far from home and with few – if any resources – with which to support themselves. Many sleep each night at the gates of the border and few maintain the safety distances mentioned in Covid-19 protocols.
Jesús Blasco de Avellaneda spoke to those who are trapped in Melilla.
Updated
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said he is worried about the continuing spread of the coronavirus, even as schools reopened in the country.
In his weekly presidential address on Monday, Ramaphosa said that it was clear that the caseload in South Africa was rising fast, with more than half of new cases since the start of the outbreak recorded in the past two weeks.
Xinhua, China’s official news agency, quoted him as saying:
Like many South Africans, I too have been worried as I watch these figures keep rising.
As we watch the number of infections rise further - probably far faster than most of us imagined - we should be concerned, but not alarmed.
During the course of this coming week, we can expect that the total number of cases will pass the 50,000 mark and the number of related deaths will reach 1,000.
We need to focus our attention on ensuring that we adhere to social distancing practices because it is through close contact between people that the virus will be spread
Small fishing boats, fish markets and female workers are among the categories worst affected by the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis on the world’s fisheries, research has found, writes Fiona Harvey, the Guardian’s environment correspondent.
Supply chains around the world have been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and artisanal fishing – small boats – has borne the brunt, according to the annual report on fisheries by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). While industrial fishing had fallen only by about 6.5% in April owing to the crisis, a large proportion of small vessels around the world have been in effect confined to port, and their markets are uncertain.
In parts of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, more than 90% of small-scale fishing fleets have had to stop fishing, owing to a lack of markets and falling prices.
The closure of restaurants, hotels and catering has cut off markets for small boats, and led to falling prices, and the resulting disruption has led to an increase in waste, according to an appendix to the annual report, published on Monday for World Oceans Day. Some of these effects are hard to quantify as yet. The main report was prepared before the coronavirus crisis hit, so the appendix contains only preliminary information rather than extensive research, but it indicates a growing difficulty for many small fishing fleets around the world.
Restrictions on international travel imposed by Russia are to be eased, the prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said on Monday, as he announced a rollback of coronavirus measures.
The city of Moscow will also roll back curbs imposed over the virus from Tuesday, including cancelling a digital pass system for residents and a self-isolation regime, the Tass news agency reported separately, according to Reuters.
Muscovites will be able to go out for walks whenever they want from Tuesday, Tass said, and restaurants and cafes in the Russian capital will be allowed to open their summer verandas from 16 June.
Russia continues to report thousands of new infections daily, with its nationwide tally now at 476,658, the third-highest in the world, but the number of cases in Moscow, the original epicentre of the virus, has fallen sharply.
On Monday, the anti-coronavirus crisis centre reported 8,985 new coronavirus cases across the country; 3,293 new patients (36.6%) have no symptoms of Covid-19.
Russia closed its borders on 30 March, after grounding all international flights and asking citizens to stay at home to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Updated
Italy is facing is worst recession since the second world war, with the eurozone’s third largest economy set to shrink by 8.3% this year as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to by the National Institute of Statistics.
The country, one of the first in Europe to be hit by the Covid-19 outbreak, imposed a strict lockdown for more than two months in an effort to curb mounting deaths and transmission of the coronavirus.
The institute (ISTAT) said it forecast a rebound of 4.6 percent next year, the French news agency AFP reported. But others fear the lockdown fallout will be even worse. The Bank of Italy has forecast a drop in GDP of between 9.2% and 13.1%, while the European Commission expects it to fall by 9.5%.
The American investment bank Goldman Sachs is even gloomier, saying Italy’s economy will shrink 14%.
Italy has suffered the fourth highest Covid-19 death toll of any country in the world so far, with 36,455 deaths recorded as of Saturday. As of the latest update on Sunday, health authorities had detected 234,998 cases of coronavirus infection.
Summary
Here’s a summary of the key stories so far today:
- New Zealand has declared itself Covid-19-free. The country’s government will lift all Covid-19 restrictions except stringent border controls at midnight on Monday, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding that she “did a little dance” when she heard there were no cases of coronavirus left in the country. For the past 10 days, a lone woman aged in her 50s, who lived in Auckland, was the last person in New Zealand known to be suffering from Covid-19. On Monday, health officials said, she had reported 48 hours symptom-free and was considered recovered.
- Infections globally have passed 7 million and deaths have passed 400,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. Covid-19 infections now stand at 7,031,249, after another rise in cases from Brazil. The south American country has 691,758 confirmed cases and 36,455 deaths, though its government has stopped releasing relevant data. The US is the worst-affected country, with 1,942,363 confirmed cases and more than a quarter of the world’s deaths: 110,514. There are 16 countries with more than 100,000 confirmed cases.
- Ryanair boss: Britons know quarantine rules are rubbish. The Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said he will not cancel flights despite the government’s new quarantine rules for travellers arriving in the UK, because “British people are ignoring this quarantine. They know it’s rubbish.” O’Leary’s comments come after Ryanair, easyJet and IAG, the owner of British Airways, started legal action against the government in an attempt to overturn new rules requiring all passengers arriving in the UK to self-isolate for 14 days, which came into effect on Monday.
- Philippines rules out reopening of schools without vaccine. “It is a challenging task for us at the department of education to prepare our schools in a different set-up but we are committed to our duty to make education available and thriving, even in the most difficult time,” Leonor Briones, the education secretary, said. Classes are to resume at the end of August and teachers will use distance learning methods via the internet or TV broadcasts where needed, Briones added. However, with millions of Filipinos living in deep poverty, many do not have access to computers and the internet at home.
- Poland has ordered the temporary closure of 12 coalmines after a major outbreak of coronavirus among miners in the country’s southern coal-mining regions. According to Polish media, coalminers account for up to 20% of all coronavirus cases in Poland. On Saturday, the health ministry announced 576 new cases of coronavirus, the highest daily total since the pandemic began. Of these, around 60% were workers at a single mine in the coal region of Silesia. The mines will be closed from Tuesday, and miners will receive their full salaries during the three-week closure.
- At least half of Singapore’s coronavirus cases show no symptoms, the co-head of the government’s virus taskforce told Reuters. “Based on our experience, for every symptomatic case you would have at least one asymptomatic case,” Lawrence Wong said, adding that the discovery was made in recent weeks as Singapore ramped up testing. Wong said that while asymptomatic cases had fewer opportunities to spread the virus as they were not coughing or sneezing, there have been cases of asymptomatic transmission in Singapore, especially between patients living in close quarters.
- Saudi virus cases top 100,000 with new spike ahead of the hajj. The total number of infections rose to 101,914 – the highest in the Gulf – while the death toll climbed to 712, the health ministry said.The kingdom has seen infections spike as it eases stringent lockdown measures, with the number of daily cases exceeding 3,000 for the second day in a row on Sunday.
Updated
Concerns are growing about the true extent of the coronavirus outbreak in Afghanistan, where nearly half off all tests are coming back positive, Akhtar Mohammad Makoii reports from Herat.
On Monday, the health ministry reported 575 new cases from 978 tests, bringing the total number of infections to 20,917. Seven patients died overnight, pushing the total Covid-19 death toll to 369. There have been 2,171 recoveries.
The ministry has so far tested 48,305 suspected patients of whom around 44% were positive. Wahid Majroh, the deputy health minister, pledged on Saturday that 14 new testing labs would be launched in Afghanistan. Last week, the International Rescue Committee warned about the low capacity of testing and said the Afghan health ministry had the capacity to test 2,000 suspected patients each day, but were receiving between 10,000 and 20,000 samples each day.
Most of the new cases were recorded in Kabul, with 193 new cases and seven deaths confirmed in the capital. Kabul, recorded its worst day of the crisis on Sunday after 23 patients died of Covid-19.
Over the weekend, Kabul’s governor, Mohammad Yaghoub Heidari, warned that the actual number of infections may be much higher than official figures show.
“The number of infections is more than what we imagine, in Kabul, it may be more than a million as testing capacity is too low” he said Saturday. “There is a catastrophe going on in Kabul,” Heidari said.
Since Saturday, masks must be worn in public places, two-metre physical distancing must be maintained and gatherings of more than 10 people should be avoided, the health ministry announced. Elderly people have been advised not to leave their homes and workplaces must be disinfected.
Herat recorded 151 new cases out of 176 tests. Health officials in the western province said on Monday that 15 suspected patients with Covid-19 symptoms died in the last 24 hours, which are not included in the ministry’s update. Herat borders Iran, which has been badly hit by the pandemic. Afghanistan’s first confirmed case of the virus was reported in the province after thousands of Afghan migrants returned from Iran in February and March, fanning out across the country without being tested or quarantined. The total number of infections in Herat is 3,866 with 66 deaths.
Helmand province recorded its worst day of the crisis after 39 new cases confirmed on Monday and 4 patients died overnight, taking the total number of confirmed infections to 112 with six deaths. Helmand recorded its first death from Covid-19 on Saturday.
AFP has more details on the Philippine government’s decision not to allow children back to school until a vaccine is available for the coronavirus.
The French news agency reports that officials making the announcement have suggested that lessons may have to be broadcast on television.
It comes after the president, Rodrigo Duterte, said last month that even if students could not graduate, they needed to stay out of school to fight the spread of the disease.
“We will comply with the president’s directive to postpone face-to-face classes until a vaccine is available,” the education secretary, Leonor Briones, said in a statement on Monday.
Classes are to resume at the end of August and teachers will use distance learning methods via the internet or TV broadcasts where needed, Briones added.
However, with millions of Filipinos living in deep poverty, many do not have access to computers and the internet at home.
“The teacher and the school will have to adjust... depending on the availability of communication,” Briones said in a press briefing.
This is Damien Gayle taking the reins on the live blog now, bringing you the latest headlines and updates in world coronavirus news. As always, I’m happy to hear any comments, tips or suggestions from readers. If you want to drop me a line you can reach me via email at damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.
Poland has ordered the temporary closure of 12 coal mines after a major outbreak of coronavirus among miners in the country’s southern coal-mining regions. According to Polish media, coal miners now account for up to 20% of all coronavirus cases in Poland.
On Saturday the health ministry announced 576 new cases of coronavirus, the highest daily total since the pandemic began. Of these, around 60% were workers at a single mine in the coal region of Silesia. It is believed that an increase in testing is partly responsible for the sudden surge in cases.
The mines will be closed from Tuesday, and miners will receive their full salaries during the three-week closure, deputy prime minister Jacek Sasin said on Monday.
Poland implemented an early and strict lockdown, and avoided the huge death toll of many western European countries. So far, it has had 26,561 confirmed cases and 1,157 deaths. However unlike most other countries in the region, Poland has not seen a flattening of the curve, causing fears of a spike in cases as life gradually returns to normal. In recent weeks, many restrictive measures have been lifted, with bars, restaurants and hotels all reopened.
The Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, has delivered his withering verdict on Britain’s quarantine rules, which came into force today: “British people are ignoring this quarantine. They know it’s rubbish.”
More here:
The Philippines has reported 579 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 today, and eight deaths. Malaysia has reported seven new confirmed cases, and no deaths.
Earlier this year, as countries enforced strict social-distancing rules to slow the spread of coronavirus, Nicaragua’s Sandinista rulers organized a string of pro-government rallies and marches under the banner “Love Walk in the Time of Covid-19”.
Among those who joined one of those crowds in Managua was Dr Félix Bravo, a doctor in the country’s public health system, whose loyalty to the Nicaraguan government apparently outweighed the World Health Organization’s warnings against large gatherings.
A month and a half later, Bravo was dead.
Here’s Wilfredo Aburto Miranda on Nicaragua’s coronavirus experience:
Poison centres have had their day-to-day experience turned upside down by the pandemic, just like medical centres of every other kind, but the impact has varied across countries.
In the US, says Julie Weber, the president of the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there has been a clear increase in cases. Calls relating to cleaning materials and disinfectants were up 20 and 16% respectively during the first three months of 2020, compared to the same period last year. And that was before the president suggested in April his dangerous and medically unfounded advice that injecting disinfectant might be a solution to being infected with coronavirus.
Elsewhere, the volume of cases has remained constant or even fallen. Inquiries to the UK’s National Poisons Information Service were down by 13% in March and April over last year. In Bordeaux, France, toxicologist Magali Labadie reports a rise in cases of people rubbing bleach into their bodies – “the patients turned completely red!” – washing their hands in methylated spirits, causing irritation of the skin, or drenching their homes so thoroughly in bleach that it has provoked asthma attacks.
Laura Spinney reports on coronavirus and poison:
Updated
At least half of Singapore’s newly discovered coronavirus cases show no symptoms, the co-head of the government’s virus taskforce told Reuters on Monday, reinforcing the city-state’s decision to ease lockdown restrictions very gradually, reports Reuters.
Singapore has one of the highest infection tallies in Asia, with more than 38,000 cases, because of mass outbreaks in dormitories for its migrant workers. It reopened schools and some businesses last week after a near two-month lockdown.
“Based on our experience, for every symptomatic case you would have at least one asymptomatic case,” said Lawrence Wong, adding that the discovery was made in recent weeks as Singapore ramped up testing.
Wong did not reveal the number of asymptomatic cases in Singapore, which has recorded 6,294 virus infections over the last two weeks, with the vast majority among migrant workers.
Wong said that while asymptomatic cases had fewer opportunities to spread the virus as they were not coughing or sneezing, there have been cases of asymptomatic transmission in Singapore, especially between patients living in close quarters.
He said the discovery of the level of asymptomatic carriers prompted the government’s plans for a gradual lifting of curbs that require many people to still work from home and mix socially only with their families.
“People have commented – why are we not reopening the economy faster?” Wong said. “We have to take a more cautious approach … there are still asymptomatic cases which we may not have detected circulating in the community.”
Updated
This Monday means a return to school for pupils in many countries around the world - and the start of Matura exams, the equivalent of A-levels and essential for university qualification, in Poland.
New Zealand Rugby have announced that when their domestic club competition gets under way on Sunday it will be with completely open stadiums and no limit on crowd numbers, after the country was declared Covid-19-free earlier today and the decision was taken to move to alert level 1 from midnight local time tonight, about four hours from now.
“It is a testament to all New Zealanders that we are in a position to lift restrictions on mass gatherings and it’s a massive boost for Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa,” said the NZR chief executive, Mark Robinson. “We’re incredibly proud, and grateful, to be the first professional sports competition in the world to be in a position to have our teams play in front of their fans again. It’s going to be a very special and unique competition and it’s fitting that New Zealanders now have a chance to be part of it.”
The first game will be in Dunedin on Saturday 13 June, between the Highlanders and the Chiefs. “The world will be watching, and we will be ready to put on a show,” said the Highlanders chief executive, Roger Clark. “Our players, coaches and staff have been working overtime to get Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa ready and to now be able to share the competition with our members and our fans will be a very special occasion.”
Updated
Here are updated maps and graphs representing the spread and effect of Covid-19 globally:
And in the United Kingdom:
China has said today that senator Rick Scott should present the evidence for his accusation that Beijing is trying to slow down or sabotage the development of a Covid-19 vaccine by western countries. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks during a daily briefing on Monday, responding to the Republican senator’s comments during an interview with the BBC. Scott declined to give details on the evidence when asked during the interview but said it had come through the intelligence community.
Malls and temples reopened in several cities across India on Monday despite the country recording a record daily number of new coronavirus infections, with the pandemic expected to ravage the country for weeks to come, AFP reports.
After a 10-week lockdown, the government has risked lifting some restrictions in a bid to ease the devastating blow to the economy dealt by the coronavirus.
But the number of new cases rose by 9,983 to 256,611, according to government figures announced on Monday, putting the country of 1.3 billion on course to overtake Britain and Spain among nations with the highest number of infections.
The reported death toll of 7,135 is much lower than reported in other badly hit countries, but the epidemic is only expected to peak locally in July, according to health experts.
Still, in the capital Delhi, shopping malls, restaurants, temples and mosques were allowed to reopen for the first time since 25 March. The response was tentative, however, and only a trickle of people returned to some places of worship.
Businessman Mohit Budhiraja, wearing a mask and carrying sanitiser, went to his local temple in eastern Delhi for the first time since the lockdown.
“It felt like something was missing when I couldn’t come to the temple for all these weeks,” he said. “I hope things improve, but now I will come every day.”
Many temples set up sanitisation tunnels at their entrances and barred worshippers from bringing offerings.
“People are having their temperature tested twice before they get in,” said Ravindra Goel, a trustee of the Jhandewalan temple, one of the oldest in Delhi. The 400-year-old Jama Masjid mosque – one of the biggest in India – planned to allow the faithful in just three times a day instead of the usual five.
Delhi is one of India’s worst coronavirus hotspots, accounting for more than 27,600 cases and 761 deaths – although the real figures may be much higher.
Mumbai, which accounts for around a fifth of India’s cases and where hospitals have been overrun, was more cautious. Roadside shops were allowed to reopen, but malls, restaurants and hair salons remained shuttered.
The Indian government says the tough lockdown it ordered on 25 March has limited the spread of the coronavirus. But it is now braced for a major hit to the economy, with millions of labourers now jobless.
Rating agencies have said the economy could contract by more than 5% this year, after average growth of about 7% over the past decade.
Updated
Children in South Africa began returning to classrooms on Monday as part of a gradual loosening of restrictions imposed under a months-long Covid-19 lockdown in the continent’s most industrialised nation, reports Reuters.
The reopening of schools had been delayed after teachers’ unions urged school staff to defy the government order to do so last week, saying schools lacked sufficient health and hygiene measures to keep educators and pupils safe.
South Africa has counted nearly 50,000 cases of coronavirus – the most of any country in sub-Saharan Africa – along with almost 1,000 deaths.
Education minister Angie Motshekga said on Sunday that stronger efforts to equip schools over the past week meant 95% of South Africa’s primary and secondary schools were able to host classes. “The golden rule is there will be no school that will resume if not ready to do so,” Motshekga said.
Initially, only pupils in grades 7 and 12 will return to class, with other years phased in gradually. The government will find alternative arrangements for pupils at schools unable to open on Monday, she said.
Many of South Africa’s state-operated schools are in poor shape, particularly in rural areas, and analysts say that a quarter of them have no running water, making hand-washing nearly impossible.
Others have been vandalised or hit by arson attacks during a nationwide lockdown imposed by the government in March. Government officials, however, worry further delaying a return to classrooms would mean a generation of school children risks losing a key part of their education, and the future opportunities it brings.
Updated
If you would like a brief break from coronanews, these have been the most popular other stories on The Guardian over the weekend:
According to ABS-CBN, the education secretary of the Philippines has confirmed the government’s intention to outlaw face-to-face education until a vaccine against coronavirus is discovered and distributed. “It is a challenging task for us at the Department of Education to prepare our schools in a different set-up but we are committed to our duty to make education available and thriving, even in the most difficult time,” Leonor Briones said.
Morning/evening/whatever-it-is-where-you-are everyone. This is Simon Burnton taking on the live blog for the next few hours. If you have seen any stories that deserve our attention, or if you have any tips, comments or suggestions for our coverage then please let me know by sending me a message either to @Simon_Burnton on Twitter or via email. Thanks!
Summary
Here’s a summary of the key coronavirus points so far today.
-
Infections globally have passed 7 million and deaths have passed 400,000. Covid-19 infections now stand at 7,015,079, after another rise in cases from Brazil. The south American country now has 691,758 cases and 36,455 deaths. The US is the worst-affected country, with 1,940,468 confirmed cases and more than a quarter of the world’s deaths: 110,503. There are 15 countries with more than 100,000 confirmed cases.
- New Zealand has declared itself Covid-19-free. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said all coronavirus restrictions, except those at their international border would be lifted at midnight on Monday night. She said she “did a little dance” when she heard there were no cases of coronavirus left in the country. For the past 10 days, a lone woman aged in her 50s, who lived in Auckland, was the last person in New Zealand known to be suffering from Covid-19. On Monday, health officials said, she had reported 48 hours symptom-free and was considered recovered.
-
UK travel quarantine laws come into force. Most people arriving in Britain from Monday will have to self-isolate for two weeks under a new coronavirus restriction that will apply those coming in by plane, ferry or train. The measures apply to both residents and foreign nationals with some exceptions. Travellers will have to provide details of their journey and the address where they will self-isolate and will face fines of up to £1,000 if they do not follow the rules.
- Tokyo’s red-light district workers to be tested for Covid-19. Health authorities are to ask people working in host clubs and similar establishments to be tested regularly for Covid-19 after evidence that the virus is spreading among people who work in the capital’s night-time economy. The city reported 14 new infections on Sunday, six of which involved people working in clubs where employees pour drinks and talk to customers in close proximity.
- Vietnam reports two imported cases of Covid-19. Both infections were in Vietnamese citizens returning from Mexico who were quarantined on arrival, its health ministry said.The south-east Asian country has gone 53 days without a domestically transmitted infection and has a total of 331 cases, with no deaths, the ministry said. More than 90% of the confirmed cases have recovered.
- Mexico deaths near 14,000. The country’s health ministry reported on Sunday 3,484 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 188 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 117,103 cases and 13,699 deaths. The government has said the real number of infected people is significantly higher than the confirmed cases. The head of Mexico’s Social Security Institute, Zoe Robledo, a close aide to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said on Sunday he had tested positive for the coronavirus and would continue to work remotely.
- Poland reports virus spike linked to mine. Most of the hundreds of new cases reported by the health ministry were linked to a coal mine in the country’s south. The 1,151 new cases – 576 of them registered Saturday and 575 on Sunday – marked the EU country’s highest consecutive two-day total thus far. Nearly two-thirds of those newly infected in Poland, which depends on coal to generate around 80% of its power, are employees of the Zofiowka mine and their family members, according to the health ministry.
- Saudi virus cases top 100,000 with new spike ahead of the hajj. The total number of infections rose to 101,914 – the highest in the Gulf – while the death toll climbed to 712, the health ministry said.The kingdom has seen infections spike as it eases stringent lockdown measures, with the number of daily cases exceeding 3,000 for the second day in a row on Sunday. Authorities are yet to announce whether they will proceed with this year’s hajj, scheduled for the end of July, but have urged Muslims to temporarily defer preparations for the annual pilgrimage.
Updated
Tokyo's red-light district workers to be tested for Covid-19
Health authorities in Tokyo are to ask people working in host clubs and similar establishments to be regularly tested for Covid-19 after evidence that the virus is spreading among people who work in the capital’s night-time economy.
The city reported 14 new infections on Sunday, six of which involved people working in clubs where employees pour drinks and talk to customers in close proximity.
“We want to make sure that people do not catch or transmit the virus also in night-time entertainment districts,” Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, said on Sunday, according to the Kyodo news agency.
On Saturday, Tokyo reported 26 new infections, a dozen of which were men in their 20s and 30s who work at the same host club in Kabukicho, a red-light district of more than 4,000 bars, restaurants, cafes, pachinko parlours and commercial sex establishments.
Four of the remaining cases are also thought to be connected to the city’s huge night-time economy.
The number of cases traced to host clubs – where women pay to talk to male employees over drinks and snacks – and similar establishments in Tokyo has risen since Japan lifted its seven-week state of emergency at the end of May, raising fears of a second wave in the city.
The economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, said the government would release guidelines on containing the spread of Covid-19 in entertainment districts at the weekend. Media reports said the measures could included regular Covid-19 tests for employees at clubs where social distancing and other preventive measures are difficult to implement.
“What we sell here is us, ourselves,” a woman who works at a “girl’s bar” in Tokyo told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. “So wearing a mask would show disrespect towards our customers.”
Other clubs, however, say they have taken measures such as ensuring adequate ventilation, providing hand sanitiser and checking customers’ temperatures at the door. Employees must wear a face covering and maintain a distance of at least one metre from customers.
Many bars and restaurants closed during the state of emergency or reduced their business hours in response to a request from Koike, who does not have the legal powers to force them to close. Others, though, have remained open, complaining that they will not be able to survive a prolonged shutdown.
The number of daily infections is falling throughout Japan, with 36 reported on Sunday to being the country’s total to 17,864, while no new deaths were recorded for the first time in three months.
Tokyo, which has the highest number of infections at nearly 5,400, is gradually easing restrictions on businesses, with cinemas, gyms and cram schools and other facilities reopening last Monday.
But a day later, Koike issued an alert, reminding Tokyoites to avoid the “three Cs” – crowded and confined spaces, and close human contact – an approach that some experts have credited with Japan’s success at containing the outbreak.
Restaurants have been urged to close at 10 pm – two hours later than during the state of emergency – but restrictions have yet to be lifted on nightclubs and live music venues.
In case you missed it, New Zealand is Covid-free, with no active cases in the country. All coronavirus restrictions will be lifted from midnight on Monday, except the border, which remains closed. You can read our full story here, and below is the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, making the announcement, including describing how she did a “little dance” in celebration.
Updated
And just while I’m on newspaper front pages, here’s the New York Times’ international edition for Monday:
Monday’s International NEW YORK TIMES: “No praise for France’s leader” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/2G2udM60g6
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
A quick look at the UK newspaper front pages, shows they are dominated by Black Lives Matter marches. The Guardian carries a big picture of the statue of the 17th century slave trader, Edward Colston, being dumped into Bristol Harbour, with the headline: “Government accused of ‘ignorance’ on UK racism”
Monday’s GUARDIAN: “Government accused of ‘ignorance’ on UK racism” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/pfchgt1O8Q
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
The Guardian’s Martin Farrer writes that the Mail quotes the home secretary, Priti Patel, calling the race protests, “Lawless & reckless”, while the Mirror has “The march for change”.
Monday’s Daily MAIL: “Lawless & Reckless” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/A8o3tebXAm
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
Monday’s Daily MIRROR: “The March For Change” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/4ZgCdMFE5s
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
The Times leads with “Laws to curb Chinese takeovers” and at the Telegraph they’ve plumped for “Quarantine won’t work, Home Office concedes”.
Monday’s TIMES: “Laws to curb Chinese takeovers” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/JhXFSzYzvK
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
Monday’s Daily TELEGRAPH: “Quarantine won’t work, Home Office concedes” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/spomKpodk9
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
The FT goes with “Shipping industry warns of trade logjam as crews remain stranded”.
Monday’s FINANCIAL TIMES: “Shipping industry warns of trade logjam as crews remain stranded” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/259XUfQnLe
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
The Express has “Boris battle plan to save 3m jobs”.
Monday’s Daily EXPRESS: “Boris Battle To Save 3M Jobs” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/wIW1uzdxeL
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
And the i has “Stay at home warning for northern cities”.
Monday’s i - “Stay at home warning for northern cities” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/RsduwaOLC6
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) June 7, 2020
UK's quarantine laws for arrivals begin
Most people arriving in Britain from Monday will have to self-isolate for two weeks under a new coronavirus restriction that will apply those coming in by plane, ferry or train.
The measure, which applies to both residents and visitors with some exceptions, aims to prevent a second wave of contagion from abroad.
The aviation sector fears it will be hard hit, and British Airways and budget carriers EasyJet and Ryanair have launched joint legal proceedings against the government over what they called a “disproportionate and unfair” step.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said the new rules made sense because “the proportion of infections that come from abroad increases” as Britain’s own caseload drops.
Travellers will have to provide details of their journey and the address where they will self-isolate and will face fines of up to £1,000 if they do not follow the rules.
Exemptions are being made in several cases – including for truck drivers, “essential” healthcare workers and people travelling from Ireland who have been there for at least two weeks.
The government is pushing ahead with a gradual lockdown easing that will see retail reopen on 15 June, and restaurants and bars begin limited service in early July.
Britain’s death toll stands at 40,625 according to Johns Hopkins university figures, trailing only that of the United States (110,514).
Japan’s economy is fairing better than feared but still in recession
Japanese growth figures were better than initially feared in the first quarter, according to official data published on Monday, but the world’s third-top economy was still deep in recession.
Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.6% in the January-March period compared to the previous quarter. Authorities had initially reported a 0.9% contraction.
Economists had expected the revision, with the market forecasting a 0.5% contraction.
The figures confirmed that Japan was suffering its first recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction – since 2015.
Japan has reported just over 17,000 Covid-19 cases and around 900 deaths.
Guatemalan president to work remotely after 18 staff get coronavirus
Moving back to the Americas: Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said on Sunday that 18 employees at his office and on his security detail have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, so he will work remotely and the presidential offices will be disinfected, Reuters reports.
“I and the vice president will carry out our activities remotely. We’re healthy. We’ve been tested. We don’t have coronavirus,” Giammattei said in a televised address.
The Central American country has registered 7,055 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 252 fatalities from the pandemic.
Hi – this is Alison Rourke picking up our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. You can get in touch with me via email on alison.rourke@guardian.co.uk.
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan for today. I’ll be heading over to our live US coverage now. Thanks for following along and, as always, to those of you who took the time to get in touch on Twitter and via email.
That press conference is over now.
On the trans-Tasman bubble with Australia, Ardern says she doesn’t want to give New Zealand business owners a false start – and she does not have a date at this time.
New Zealand to test all arrivals into country
Speaking as New Zealand declares itself free of coronavirus, Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, says that this week anyone crossing the border into New Zealand will be tested twice in a two week period.
There will also be surveillance testing of anyone working at or around the border, he says.
Community based testing will continue, with a focus on anyone with symptoms.
Dr Bloomfield says that he is confident community transmission of the virus has been eliminated, Stuff.NZ reports. “There was no better plan than eliminating the virus,” he said.
New Zealand Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the country will keep an eye on whether mask-use will needed, but at the moment, because of the lack of community transmission, the government does not recommend the use of masks generally.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, speaking just now at a press conference, says she “did a little dance,” when she heard the country was Covid-19 free.
New Zealand to abandon all coronavirus restrictions except border controls
The Guardian’s Charlotte Graham-McLay reports:
Hours after New Zealand’s health officials announced there were no active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand for the first time since 28 February, Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, announced that her government would abandon all restrictions except border controls from midnight tonight.
The removal of all domestic restrictions is happening a couple of days sooner than the government initially flagged it might. From tonight, all remaining rules about physical distancing and gathering sizes will end.
“We are ready,” Ardern told reporters at a news conference in Wellington that is ongoing. She praised New Zealanders for having “united in unprecedented ways to crush the virus.”
New Zealand recorded less than 1,500 cases of Covid-19; 22 people died.
But Ardern warned that elimination was not “a point in time,” and she was cautious about saying the crisis was over for New Zealand.
“We almost certainly see cases here again,” she said. “That is not a sign that we have failed; it is a reality of this virus.”
Strict border controls will remain in place; only New Zealanders and their families are currently allowed to enter the country and must stay in government-run quarantine for a fortnight.
Updated
Close ally of Mexican president tests positive for coronavirus
The head of Mexico’s Social Security Institute (IMSS), Zoe Robledo, a close aide to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said on Sunday he had tested positive for the coronavirus and would continue to work remotely, Reuters reports.
“I want to announce that today I tested positive for Covid-19,” Robledo said on Twitter, referring to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Medical experts would continue to follow his case and check on his contacts, Robledo added.
The 41-year-old Robledo is one of the most prominent public figures of the administration, and his announcement may renew concerns that the president is also at risk of contagion.
Lopez Obrador has spent the week touring southern Mexico in spite of the fact that coronavirus cases and fatalities have continued to hit new highs in the past few days.
Michael Baker and Nick Wilson, professors of public heath at the University of Otago in New Zealand, outline five ways the country can keep its cases at zero, after it reported on Monday that the last coronavirus patient had recovered:
According to our modelling at the the University of Otago, it is now very likely (well above a 95% chance) New Zealand has completely eliminated the virus. This is in line with modelling by our colleagues at Te Pūnaha Matatini (a research centre based at University of Auckland).
It is also the 17th day since the last new case was reported. New Zealand has a total of 1,154 confirmed cases (combined total of confirmed and probable cases is 1,504) and 22 people have died.
Today’s news is an important milestone and a time to celebrate. But as we continue to rebuild the economy, there are several challenges ahead if New Zealand wants to retain its Covid-19-free status while the pandemic continues elsewhere.
It remains important that good science supports the government’s risk assessment and management. Below, we recommend several ways people can protect themselves. But we also argue New Zealand needs an urgent overhaul of the health system, including the establishment of a new national public health agency for disease prevention and control.
Read more about what New Zealand can do to remain Covid-19-free here:
Australia said on Monday China remains unresponsive to its weeks-long pleas to ease tensions between the two trading partners that escalated after Canberra called for an international enquiry into the origins of the novel coronavirus, Reuters reports.
Australia has insisted the call for an independent investigation into the pandemic, which it says most likely originated in a wildlife market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, was not politically targeted at Beijing.
China accused Australia of playing “petty tricks” and the Chinese ambassador to Australia warned Chinese consumers could boycott Australian products if Australia pursued the inquiry. China has also since suspended beef imports from four of Australia’s largest meat processors and imposed hefty tariffs on imports of barley, although both sides say those moves are unrelated to the spat over the pandemic.
Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham, who has been requesting discussions with his Chinese counterpart for weeks, said Beijing has been ignoring Canberra’s pleas.
“Unfortunately, our requests for a discussion have so far been met negatively,” Birmingham told Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) radio on Monday. “That’s disappointing.”
China is by far Australia’s biggest export market, taking more than 30% of Australia’s exports by value.
Vietnam ratifies free trade deal with EU
Vietnam ratified a free trade agreement with the European Union on Monday that will cut or eliminate 99% of tariffs on goods traded between the Southeast Asian country and the bloc, and provide Vietnam with a much-needed post pandemic boost, Reuters reports.
Deputies in the National Assembly, which nearly always ratifies government proposals, voted by over 94% in favour of the European Union Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
The EVFTA, expected to take effect in July, is the European Union’s second deal with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) after Singapore, and one of few with a developing country.
The World Bank said in May the EVFTA could boost Vietnam’s gross domestic product and exports by 2.4% and 12% respectively by 2030 and lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty.
Honduras has extended a curfew by one week through June 14 in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, security ministry spokesman Jair Meza said on Sunday.
Meza made the announcement on national television even as the Central American country is about to begin the gradual re-opening of its economy on Monday.
As always, we welcome questions, comments, news and tips from our blog readers. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan[at]theguardian.com.
Here are the 15 worst-affected countries worldwide – these are also the fifteen countries with over 100,000 confirmed cases:
- US: 1,940,468 (Deaths: 110,503)
- Brazil: 691,758 (Deaths: 36,455)
- Russia: 467,073 (Deaths: 5,851)
- United Kingdom: 287,621 (Deaths: 40,625)
- India: 257,486 (Deaths: 7,207)
- Spain: 241,550 (Deaths: 27,136)
- Italy: 234,998 (Deaths: 33,899)
- Peru: 196,515 (Deaths: 5,465)
- France: 191,102 (Deaths: 29,158)
- Germany: 185,750 (Deaths: 8,685)
- Iran: 171,789 (Deaths: 8,281)
- Turkey: 170,132 (Deaths: 4,692)
- Chile: 134,150 (Deaths: 1,637)
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Mexico: 117,103 (Deaths: 13,699)
- Saudi Arabia: 101,914 (Deaths: 712)
Updated
Known global cases pass 7 million
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide passed 7 million on Monday, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, who rely on official government data.
The current figure stands at 7,006,436.
At least 402,699 people have lost their lives in just over six months of the global pandemic so far.
The US is the worst-affected country, with 1,940,468 confirmed cases and more than a quarter of the world’s deaths: 110,503. There are 15 countries with more than 100,000 confirmed cases.
The true death and cases figures are likely to be higher, due to differing testing rates, definitions, time lags and suspected underreporting.
Updated
The New York Times reports that as many as 400,000 New York City workers may return to jobs starting Monday, as restrictions are eased into Phase 2 in the city, which is the last part of New York State to meet the criteria for Phase 2:
Exactly 100 days since its first case of coronavirus was confirmed, New York City, which weathered extensive hardship as an epicenter of the worldwide outbreak, is set to take the first tentative steps toward reopening its doors on Monday.
Getting here took the sacrifice of millions of New Yorkers who learned to live radically different lives. More than 205,000 have been infected, and nearly 22,000 have died.
As many as 400,000 workers could begin returning to construction jobs, manufacturing sites and retail stores in the city’s first phase of reopening— a surge of normalcy that seemed almost inconceivable several weeks ago, when the city’s hospitals were at a breaking point and as many as 800 people were dying from Covid-19 on a single day.
Poland reports virus spike linked to mine
Poland saw a record spike in new confirmed coronavirus cases over the weekend, with most of the hundreds of infections reported by the health ministry linked to a coal mine in the country’s south.
The 1,151 new cases - 576 of them registered Saturday and 575 on Sunday - marked the EU country’s highest consecutive two-day total thus far.
Nearly two-thirds of those newly infected in Poland, which depends on coal to generate some 80% of its power, are employees of the Zofiowka mine and their family members, according to the health ministry.
Zofiowka, in the city of Jastrzebie-Zdroj, is owned by the state-run JSW mining group - the largest producer of coking coal used in steel production in the European Union.
Poland, a country of 38 million people, has so far reported 26,561 cases of Covid-19, including 1,157 deaths and 12,855 recoveries.
Meanwhile in Australia, the temporary free childcare system will end on 13 July , the government has announced.
The system, introduced at the height of the pandemic, was due to expire in late June, but the government had previously kept the door open to extending it depending on the health and economic situation. In recent times, though, the government had signalled it would expire soon because of increases in childcare attendance.
The education minister, Dan Tehan, said the temporary early childhood education and care relief package had “done its job and would be turned off on 12 July”.
Here is how New Zealanders want their country to change after Covid-19:
Kiwis are celebrating on Twitter:
New Zealand is free of #COVID-19 cases. The world sees what true leadership in a health crisis looks like. Give women power, let us show how we do it.
— Barbara Malmet (@B52Malmet) June 8, 2020
Knock knock!
— hamish mcneilly (@southernscoop) June 8, 2020
Who's there!
Covid!
Covid who?
EXACTLY (All of New Zealand)
Aotearoa New Zealand is officially COVID-19 free, with no active or new cases. We did that.
— Chlöe Swarbrick (@_chloeswarbrick) June 8, 2020
HAPPY DAY!!!!!! WE HAVE ZERO COVID-19 CASES IN NEW ZEALAND!!!!
— Tonja 🥝1.76 metres of ❤️😈😘 (@TonjaWallace) June 8, 2020
Plus we're on day 17 of no new cases!
🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
New Zealand is officially Covid-19 free!!! On ya NZ 🤙🏻
— indi_artistry (@ArtistryIndi) June 8, 2020
Updated
As New Zealand declares it has zero remaining cases of coronavirus, Professor Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington has said in comments provided by the country’s Science Media Centre, regarding the expected move to Level 1 restrictions:
It is a real achievement that New Zealand may shortly be moving to Level 1 and removing the remaining physical distancing restrictions. This event, when it happens, is a statement that we have achieved the goal of eliminating the Covid-19 virus from this country.
This is, however, only the first battle in what will be a long-term war against this virus ... This risk will rise again in New Zealand as we gradually increase the numbers of incoming travellers. It will also rise during the coming winter when coronaviruses are more transmissible.
Now is also the time to review the national and local response to this pandemic and consider what changes are needed to get us through the next one to two years or longer of this pandemic.
Updated
New Zealand has no remaining cases, Arden expected to lift all restrictions
New Zealand has no active diagnosed cases of Covid-19 for the first time since 28 February, health officials say.
It has now been 17 days since the country last recorded a new case of the coronavirus. Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, is expected to announce in two hours that her government will abandon on Thursday all remaining Covid-19 restrictions on the country except strict border controls, which will remain in place.
Ardern locked down the country on 25 March when case numbers were low, with restrictions gradually easing since. Fewer than 1,500 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in New Zealand, and 22 have died.
New Zealanders have eagerly awaited status reports on the last person confirmed to have the virus, who has been the sole remaining sufferer in New Zealand for the past ten days. In a statement today, the Ministry of Health said the woman – in her 50s and based in Auckland – had recovered.
“The Ministry has been notified by Auckland Regional Public Health that its remaining case has been symptom free for 48 hours and is regarded as recovered,” the statement said.
“The person has now been released from isolation.”
Updated
Japan’s economy shrank less than initially estimated in the first quarter but the broad impact from the coronavirus crisis is still expected to send the country deeper into recession, Reuters reports.
A series of recent April data including exports, factory output and jobs figures suggested Japan is facing its worst postwar slump in the current quarter as the outbreak forced people to stay at home and businesses to close globally.
The world’s third-largest economy shrank an annualised 2.2% in January-March, revised data showed on Monday, less than the 3.4% contraction indicated in a preliminary reading and compared with a median market forecast of a 2.1% drop.
The revised data confirmed Japan had slipped into recession for the first time in four and a half years, after a 7.2% contraction in October-December, pressured by last year’s sales tax hike and the US-China trade war. Recessions are defined as two straight quarters of contraction.
On quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy contracted 0.6% in the first quarter compared with an initial reading of a 0.9% decline.
Confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Panama reached 16,425 on Sunday, up 421 from the previous day, and deaths climbed by seven to 393, the health ministry said.
Director of Epidemiology Lourdes Moreno gave the Central American country’s latest data at a news conference.
Vietnam on Monday reported two new coronavirus infections, both of which were imported cases involving Vietnamese citizens returning from Mexico who were quarantined on arrival, its health ministry said.
The Southeast Asian country has gone 53 days without a domestically transmitted infection and has a total of 331 cases, with no deaths, the ministry said. Over 90% of the confirmed cases have recovered.
Brazil has registered 37,312 total coronavirus deaths while total cases in the country reached 685,427, according to the health ministry on Sunday.
Unlike in the previous day, the government released cumulative figures on Sunday and not a tally of deaths and new infections in the last 24 hours.
On Saturday the Latin American nation had registered 35,930 total coronavirus deaths and 672,846 confirmed cases.
Mexico’s health ministry reported on Sunday 3,484 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 188 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 117,103 cases and 13,699 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
UK universities have been told to expect a sharp fall in the number of new international students coming next year, including a loss of up to £460m (US$585m) in income from students from east Asia.
A new survey of international students by the British Council has found that nearly 14,000 fewer students from eight countries – including China, Singapore and Malaysia – are likely to come to the UK in 2020/21 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The decline of 20% in students from east Asia would amount to a 12% fall in overall international student numbers, causing a £460m loss of income from tuition and living expenses such as accommodation.
Saudi virus cases top 100,000 with new spike ahead of the hajj
The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia surpassed 100,000 on Sunday, the health ministry said, amid a new surge in infections just weeks ahead of the start of the hajj, AFP reports.
The total number of infections rose to 101,914 – the highest in the Gulf – while the death toll climbed to 712, the ministry added.
The kingdom has seen infections spike as it eases stringent lockdown measures, with the number of daily cases exceeding 3,000 for the second day in a row on Sunday.
On Friday, the kingdom announced a renewed lockdown in the city of Jeddah, gateway to the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, to counter the jump in cases.
The kingdom has said it will continue to suspend the year-round “umrah” pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina over fears of the coronavirus pandemic spreading in Islam’s holiest cities.
Authorities are yet to announce whether they will proceed with this year’s hajj, scheduled for the end of July, but have urged Muslims to temporarily defer preparations for the annual pilgrimage.
Last year, some 2.5 million faithful travelled to Saudi Arabia from across the world to take part in the hajj, which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lives if able.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
As always, we welcome questions, comments, news and tips from our blog readers. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan[at]theguardian.com.
The known number of people who have lost their lives in just over six months of the coronavirus pandemic has passed the sombre milestone of 400,000. More than a quarter of these deaths are in the US alone. Cases meanwhile are approaching 7 million, with 6,981,701 currently confirmed.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia has become the 15th country to count more than 100,000 cases, with 101,914 confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- Global deaths pass 400,000. According to Johns Hopkins University figures, known coronavirus deaths worldwide currently number 401,564. The sombre milestone comes as cases approach 7 million, with 6,973,195 currently confirmed. The US, with the highest deaths and infections globally, has 1,931,850 confirmed cases and 110,141 deaths. Brazil is next highest, with 672,846 cases and 35,930 deaths.
- US death toll is approaching 110,000, according to the CDC. The centre reported 1,920,904 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of 29,214 cases from its previous count, and said Covid-19 deaths in the US had risen by 709 to 109,901.
- India has recorded nearly 10,000 new cases. India on Sunday registered 9,971 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s tally to 246,628 cases, with 6,929 deaths. The case numbers lags behind only the US, Brazil, Russia, UK and Spain. The country is preparing to reopen malls, restaurants, hotels and places of worship on Monday.
- France has registered 13 new deaths. The country’s coronavirus death toll rose by 13 on Sunday to reach 29,155, while the number of confirmed cases increased by 343 to 153,977. The number of people in hospital and ICU has continued to decline.
- Canada has reported 722 new cases. Canada has confirmed 722 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 95,057. The country has recorded 70 deaths, taking the death toll to 7,773, the Public Health Agency announced – an increase of 0.9%.
- Italy has reported 197 new cases, with the majority concentrated in the Lombardy region. The country has reported 53 Covid-19 deaths, against 72 the previous day, and 197 new cases, down from 270 the day before, the Civil Protection department said. Lombardy accounted for 125 of the 197 new cases reported despite making up just 16% of Italy’s population.
- Saudi Arabia has passed 100,000 confirmed cases. The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia has passed 100,000, according to official figures. The ministry of health reported 3,045 new cases on Sunday, taking the total number of cases in the country to 101,914, the BBC reports.
- No new coronavirus deaths in Northern Ireland or Scotland for first time since lockdown. No new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Northern Ireland or Scotland for the first time since lockdown began. In Northern Ireland, the total deaths of those who tested positive for the virus stands at 537, while the number is 2,415 in Scotland. However, the Scottish health secretary cautioned it was “very likely” deaths would be registered in upcoming days, as there is often a delay in the recording of deaths over the weekend.
- A US senator has accused China of slowing down vaccine efforts.The Republican senator Rick Scott has claimed the US has evidence China is trying to slow down or sabotage the development of a Covid-19 vaccine by Western countries. He declined to give details of the evidence, saying it had come through the intelligence community.
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