This blog is now closed. Our coverage continues on today’s coronavirus blog here.
The Victorian government has released its daily update. The number of new cases in the past 24 hours was 21. That’s a drop of more than half on yesterday’s figure, which was 45 new cases.
There were seven deaths in the past 24 hours.
The rolling 14-day average is 39.3 new cases for Melbourne and 1.9 cases for regional Victoria.
Victoria reports 21 new cases and seven deaths
#COVID19VicData: Yesterday there were 21 new cases reported and 7 lives lost. Our thoughts are with all affected. The 14 day rolling average & number of cases with unknown source is down from yesterday as we move toward COVID Normal.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 18, 2020
Info: https://t.co/pcll7ySEgz #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/WE6gMJpEJ2
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While we wait for today’s numbers out of Victoria, you can check out this series of snapshots taken from the 77-days of media briefings the premier, Daniel Andrews, has held since July.
Back in Australia, three people who tested positive for Covid-19 in a cluster in the Melbourne suburb of Casey have been hospitalised. There are 34 cases in the cluster, with authorities saying the households breached Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions.
As contact tracers work to contain the outbreak, anti-lockdown protesters are preparing to defy restrictions.
Premier Daniel Andrews has urged anti-lockdown protesters not to gather following reports of more planned protests in the city on Saturday.
Travel caps on international arrivals to Australia will be eased slightly, with New South Wales preparing to allow an additional 500 returned travellers into hotel quarantine per week. Thousands of Australians are stranded overseas due to the caps.
NSW will take an extra 500 arrivals from 27 September. Queensland and Western Australia will start with 200 each from that date, before increasing to up to 500 arrivals on 4 and 11 October respectively.
Updated
Brazil death toll surpasses 135,000
The death toll in Brazil has risen to 135,793, compared to 134,935 yesterday.
The country has recorded 4,495,183 cases of coronavirus, up from 4,455,386 yesterday.
Joe Biden began his speech in Minnesota by talking about the importance of union jobs, but the Democratic nominee quickly pivoted to criticising Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden said if Trump had acted earlier to mitigate the spread of the virus, tens of thousands of Americans would not be dead and would instead be “sitting at the dinner table tonight”.
During his press conference, the president was asked if he believes he knows better than the experts in his administration, after Trump contradicted the directors of the CDC and the FBI this week.
“Yeah, in many cases, I do,” Trump replied.
The UK government has published its adult social care winter action plan, alongside a letter from care minister Helen Whately which warned “now is the time to act”.
In the letter to the heads of local authorities, care home providers and public health and adult social care directors, Whately said: “This year, we have all shared or recognised the pain of losing family members, friends and colleagues to coronavirus and its complications.
“I am determined to do all that I can to protect everyone receiving and providing care this winter. Nationally, locally and at the front line, we must intensify our efforts to support, protect and equip everyone in the system.
“With the prevalence of coronavirus rising in the population and in social care, now is the time to act.”
Whately added she hoped care homes would be Covid-free by this time next year.
“This time next year, it would be wonderful to achieve our objective of Covid-free care homes, resilient communities and a health and care workforce still able to give their very best.”
A match scheduled to kick off Colombia’s football league has been postponed after seven players and six of the coaching staff of one of the teams tested positive for coronavirus.
Players and coaching staff from football club Tolima, which leads the Colombian league with 16 points from eight matches, tested positive for the virus. The team had already arrived in Medellin to compete against rival team Nacional at the Atanasio Girardot stadium on Friday night.
“This is not the best way to start the league,” the president of Colombia’s football association (DIMAYOR), Fernando Jaramillo, said in a virtual press conference.
While those players and members of the technical team who tested positive did not travel to Medellin, the Ministry of Health raised concerns other players and people from Tolima could have been infected, despite testing negative for coronavirus.
“We knew this could happen but despite this, we are going to move forward,” Jaramillo said. “The priority is the health of everyone who is involved in the league, which is why we decided to postpone this match.”
The Colombian soccer championship, which was suspended in March, will be played behind closed doors and without fans present, in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Almost 744,000 have been infected with the novel coronavirus in the Andean country, while more than 23,000 have died.
Other matches planned for this weekend will continue as planned, Jaramillo said.
Saturday’s front page of the UK edition of The Guardian.
Saturday’s Guardian: New lockdown fears as PM warns second wave is here #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/AMF9IFQrGj
— Helena Wilkinson (@BBCHelena) September 18, 2020
Tomorrow’s i front page.
i weekend: UK on edge: virus second wave begins #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/LP7eDykJBb
— Helena Wilkinson (@BBCHelena) September 18, 2020
Saturday’s Times front page.
Saturday’s Times: PM warns Britain to prepare for second wave #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/dlJRrdXgkf
— Helena Wilkinson (@BBCHelena) September 18, 2020
A selection of some of the UK newspapers now, starting with the Telegraph.
The Daily Telegraph: Restrictions to tighten as second wave strikes #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/9WgQxyIm6P
— Helena Wilkinson (@BBCHelena) September 18, 2020
The World Health Organization warned the coronavirus is “not going away” as the current global weekly death toll temporarily plateaued at around 50,000.
Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s emergencies programme, said countries entering the winter season had “a lot of work to do” to avoid cases rising and developing countries would also struggle after nine months of pressure on their health systems.
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Updated
Government scientific advisers have warned they are concerned about the “developing situation” of coronavirus being imported into the UK.
New papers published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said while imported cases of Covid-19 were a “small minority” of infections, they still posed a threat.
The report, by the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group (Spimo), said: “Spimo are concerned about the developing situation around the importation of infection from people arriving in the UK.
“Whilst this is a small minority of infections in the UK it poses a threat.”
The report said that while testing at borders would not have an impact on importation rates, it would provide important surveillance data.
But it warned that imported infections were likely to remain a source of outbreaks in the UK.
More from President Donald Trump. He said on Friday he thought the US-Canada border would open before the end of the year.
The restrictions on non-essential travel at land borders between the two countries were first imposed in March and do not cover trade or travel by air.
They have been extended several times, including on 21 October, as the US has struggled to contain its coronavirus outbreak.
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A summary of today's developments
- US President Donald Trump said he expects to have available enough doses of a coronavirus vaccine for every American by April.
- France reported an unprecedented 13,215 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours. The health ministry also said that the total number of deaths from Covid-19 increased by 154 to 31,249, the highest daily toll in three months.
- France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire said he has tested positive for coronavirus, but has no symptoms and would continue to carry out his duties.
- The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed 30 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The global death toll stands at 947,919 people and is expected to pass 1 million by 1 October. The US accounts for than 22% of global cases, at 6.69m, and nearly 200,000 fatalities.
- The UK government has hinted at second national lockdown amid reports of a plan to ‘circuit break’ the virus. The UK’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, told Sky News: “The number of people in hospital is doubling every eight days or so ... we will do what it takes to keep people safe.”
- The European Union has agreed to buy 300m doses of an as yet unapproved coronavirus vaccine being developed by Sanofi and GSK, in its second such deal to secure a potential vaccine for the virus. The deal was announced in a tweet by the EU’s health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, on Friday morning.
- Officials in Iran have claimed their country is in the grip of a third wave of coronavirus, as the number of new infections rose once again to more than 3,000 a day. The latest figures showed 144 deaths in the previous 24 hours and the number of new infections had risen to 3,049.
- Denmark will lower the limit on public gatherings to 50 people from 100 and order bars and restaurants to close early to curb a rise in new coronavirus infections, the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said on Friday. Denmark has experienced daily infections rise in recent weeks after relaxing its lockdown.
- The Netherlands is preparing “regional” measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak, after the country registered 1,972 cases in the past 24 hours. Rutte said the situation was “worrying” after the country registered a record number of cases for the fourth consecutive day.
- The US biotech company Moderna has announced that it expects to produce 20m doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. Moderna has never brought a vaccine to market, but has received nearly $1bn from the US government and has also struck a $1.5bn supply agreement.
- Restrictions have been tightened in Athens by Greek authorities as coronavirus infections continue to surge. From Monday until 4 October, a maximum of nine people will be able to gather together outdoors, while up to 20 people can attend funerals, weddings and baptisms.
- The regional government of Madrid - the area of Spain hardest hit by Covid-19 - has announced a partial lockdown of some districts. The regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said the limited confinement of the 37 worst hit areas in the region would come into effect on Monday.
London mayor: lockdown "increasingly likely"
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said it is “increasingly likely” lockdown restrictions will be required in London, following suit with other parts of the UK.
He said: “The prime minister has said that we are now seeing the start of a second wave of Covid-19 across the UK.
“Londoners should also know that I am extremely concerned by the latest evidence I’ve seen today from public health experts about the accelerating speed at which Covid-19 is now spreading here in London.
“This is made worse by the uncertainty caused by the lack of testing capacity in the capital.
“This afternoon I held an emergency meeting with London council leaders, the government and Public Health England to discuss the next steps.
“It is increasingly likely that, in London, additional measures will soon be required to slow the spread of the virus.
“We will be considering some of the measures which have already been imposed in other parts of the UK.
“I am of the firm view that we should not wait, as happened six months ago, for this virus to again spiral out of control before taking action.
“The best thing for both public health and the economy is new restrictions imposed early, rather than a full lockdown when it’s too late - but the government must urgently ensure there is a fully functioning testing system.
“I strongly urge all Londoners to be as cautious as possible over this weekend. Please think very carefully about your actions - strictly follow social distancing rules, regularly wash your hands and wear a face covering to help reduce the spread of the virus.”
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Trump: Vaccine will be available for every American by April
US President Donald Trump said he expects to have available enough doses of a coronavirus vaccine for every American by April.
“Hundreds of millions of doses will be available every month, and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April,” he told a news conference.
Trump said distribution of a vaccine will begin within 24 hours of it being approved by federal health regulators.
“In a short time we’ll have a safe and effective vaccine and we’ll defeat the virus,” he said.
The US president has previously said a vaccine could be approved in October, an ambitious claim that some experts have said is unlikely to be met.
My colleague Polly Toynbee asked Eton College in the UK if all of its pupils had a Covid-19 test before or on arriving back at school.
Eton, based in Windsor, said: “Acting on the advice of senior health professionals, Eton took the decision to test all pupils and staff for Covid-19 on their return to school, having carefully assessed the risks of transmission within our specific boarding context.
In deciding to test, Eton has been determined not to put additional pressure on the NHS. Therefore, a contract has been taken out with a private provider and the school is covering all costs.
“We are keeping our position on testing under constant review.”
Meanwhile, 80% of schools in England have pupils stuck at home waiting for a test.
Updated
France’s finance minister tests positive for coronavirus
France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire said he has tested positive for coronavirus, but has no symptoms and would continue to carry out his duties.
Le Maire said in a statement on Twitter that he would remain in self-isolation at home.
He said: “I will remain in isolation for seven days.”
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UK prime minister Boris Johnson on the possibility of a second wave of cases.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed its widely criticized guidelines on coronavirus testing, once again encouraging Americans to get tested if they have come in contact with someone who has received a positive test result.
The AP reports:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention essentially returned to its previous testing guidance, getting rid of language posted last month that said people who didn’t feel sick didn’t need to get tested. That change had set off a rash of criticism from health experts who couldn’t fathom why the nation’s top public health agency would say such a thing amid a pandemic that has been difficult to control.
Health officials were evasive about why they had made the change in August, and some speculated it was forced on the CDC by political appointees within the Trump administration.
The CDC now says anyone who has been within 6 feet of a person with documented infection for at least 15 minutes should get a test. The agency called the changes a ‘clarification’ that was needed ‘due to the significance of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission’.
The update comes one day after the New York Times reported that CDC scientists had not written the August change to the testing guidelines and had raised serious objections to the altered recommendation, which was pushed through by officials at the department of health and human services.
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Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has revealed he has tested positive for coronavirus, just as the Central American country was easing draconian travel restrictions imposed months ago to contain infections.
The government later confirmed the minister for culture had also tested positive.
Giammattei said he was experiencing light symptoms. He said he had asked the entire cabinet to take a test and that he and all his ministers would work virtually for the moment.
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France sees daily record rise in cases
France reported an unprecedented 13,215 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours.
The health ministry also said that the total number of deaths from Covid-19 increased by 154 to 31,249. That would make the daily toll the highest in three months.
Based on Thursday’s reported toll of 31,095, the increase would amount to 154, a four-month high. Nobody was immediately available at the ministry to comment on a possible restatement of Thursday’s death tally.
As the infection rate increases daily, the most affected regions and cities in France have tightened regulations.
The city of Nice on the French Riviera will ban gatherings of more than 10 people in public spaces and force bars to close early after Marseille and Bordeaux introduced similar measures on Monday.
Paris, where the virus has also been circulating more quickly than elsewhere, has not banned gatherings of more than 10 people but the police prefecture said on Friday that it strongly advised against private gatherings of more than 10 people.
Earlier today, the public health agency said the number of deaths in France of people diagnosed with Covid-19 is trending upwards for the first time since the end of its lockdown.
Updated
New restrictions on gatherings, businesses and travel will come into effect in Dublin at midnight in an effort to combat a surge in Covid-19 infections across Ireland.
The government on Friday approved a plan to move the capital for three weeks from level 2 to level 3 on a five-level scale of restrictions.
There is a ban on indoor restaurant dining, curbs on social gatherings and sports and residents are advised to not travel outside the county – either domestically or internationally – without compelling reason.
“The threat is growing,” the taoiseach Micheál Martin said in a sombre address from Government Buildings on Friday evening. “Here in our capital, we are in a very dangerous place. Without further action there is ... a real threat Dublin could return to the worst days of this crisis.”
Coronavirus cases in Dublin have increased tenfold in the past month. Its 14-day incidence rate is 104 per 100,000, almost double the national rate of 53.
Anticipating an outcry from the hospitality industry, the taoiseach said most infections happened in homes but initial infections came from outside. “It comes from community transmission and we need to keep it out of homes in the first place.”
Martin stressed that the government was following advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team which has sounded the alarm about the pandemic roaring back.
He announced €30m (£27m) in additional business support but that was unlikely to mollify the business umbrella group IBEC which earlier accused the government of a “knee-jerk escalation” in restrictions.
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Summary
Key coronavirus-related developments and headlines around the world include:
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The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed 30 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The global death toll stands at 947,919 people and is expected to pass 1 million by 1 October. The US accounts for than 22% of global cases, at 6.69m, and nearly 200,000 fatalities.
- The UK government has hinted at second national lockdown amid reports of a plan to ‘circuit break’ the virus. The UK’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, told Sky News: “The number of people in hospital is doubling every eight days or so ... we will do what it takes to keep people safe.”
- The European Union has agreed to buy 300m doses of an as yet unapproved coronavirus vaccine being developed by Sanofi and GSK, in its second such deal to secure a potential vaccine for the virus. The deal was announced in a tweet by the EU’s health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, on Friday morning.
- Officials in Iran have claimed their country is in the grip of a third wave of coronavirus, as the number of new infections rose once again to more than 3,000 a day. The latest figures showed 144 deaths in the previous 24 hours and the number of new infections had risen to 3,049.
- Denmark will lower the limit on public gatherings to 50 people from 100 and order bars and restaurants to close early to curb a rise in new coronavirus infections, the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said on Friday. Denmark has experienced daily infections rise in recent weeks after relaxing its lockdown.
- The numbers of deaths in France of people diagnosed with Covid-19 is trending upwards for the first time since the end of its lockdown, the public health agency has said. The number of new infections was down slightly – by 8% – from the previous week.
- The Netherlands is preparing “regional” measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak, after the country registered 1,972 cases in the past 24 hours. Rutte said the situation was “worrying” after the country registered a record number of cases for the fourth consecutive day.
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The US biotech company Moderna has announced that it expects to produce 20m doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. Moderna has never brought a vaccine to market, but has received nearly $1bn from the US government and has also struck a $1.5bn supply agreement.
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Restrictions have been tightened in Athens by Greek authorities as coronavirus infections continue to surge. From Monday until 4 October, a maximum of nine people will be able to gather together outdoors, while up to 20 people can attend funerals, weddings and baptisms.
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The regional government of Madrid - the area of Spain hardest hit by Covid-19 - has announced a partial lockdown of some districts. The regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said the limited confinement of the 37 worst hit areas in the region would come into effect on Monday.
That’s it from me, Damien Gayle, for today. Have a good weekend.
Updated
Authorities in Canada have unveiled a new non-invasive coronavirus test which avoids the need for intrusive nasal swabs, in a development which they hope will making testing easier and more accessible for students as they return to schools, writes Leyland Cecco in Toronto.
The new testing method, unveiled Thursday, is a significant departure from the standard – and often painful – nasopharyngeal swab which remains the most common method of detecting Covid-19.
Instead, children in the western province of British Columbia will have the chance to “swirl, gargle and spit” a non-invasive saline solution – the one of the first tests of its kind in the world.
Dr Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s top doctor, told reporters:
Unlike the nasopharyngeal swab this is a new saline gargle where you put a little bit of normal saline water in your mouth, you swish it around a little bit – and you spit it into a little tube. And that’s an easier way to collect it for young people.
Election monitoring for US scaled back due to pandemic
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has drastically scaled back plans to send observers to monitor the US election because of the coronavirus pandemic.
There had been plans to send as many as 500 observers but, after months trying to figure out how to safely keep tabs on an election it worries will be “the most challenging in recent decades”, the OSCE will now send just 30.
Originally, the mission was to have involved 100 long-term and 400 short-term observers to the US starting this month, a spokesperson, Katya Andrusz, told the Associated Press. The 30 are expected to head to the U.S. early next month and will stay through 3 November, she said
The OSCE has deployed monitors for US voting since the 2002 midterm elections — the first since the 2000 presidential election recount that left the outcome unclear for weeks, raising questions among US allies about the integrity of its electoral politics.
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The president of Guatemala has said that he has tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Associated Press.
Alejandro Giammattei told a local radio station he feels well. The 64-year-old has multiple sclerosis and uses canes to walk.
The announcement came on the same day the country reopened its borders and international flights. Guatemala had closed its airports and borders with Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador in March.
The country’s health ministry has said that travellers seeking to enter Guatemala will need to present a negative coronavirus test taken at most 72 hours before entry.
UK second wave 'inevitable', says prime minister
The UK prime minister has said the country is beginning to see a second wave of Covid-19, as further local lockdown measures were announced in large parts of the country.
During a visit to the Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre construction site near Oxford, Boris Johnson told broadcasters: “Obviously, we’re looking very carefully at the spread of the pandemic as it evolves over the last few days and there’s no question, as I’ve said for several weeks now, that we could expect [and] are now seeing a second wave coming in.
“We are seeing it in France, in Spain, across Europe – it has been absolutely, I’m afraid, inevitable we were going to see it in this country.”
One in five people in the UK are to be subject to some form of local lockdown after the government introduced new restrictions to control the spread of coronavirus in parts of north-west England, the Midlands and Yorkshire.
You can keep up to date with the unfolding situation on our UK coronavirus live blog here:
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After a week of mixed messages, the regional government of Madrid – the area of Spain hardest hit by Covid-19 – has announced a partial lockdown of some districts in a bid to arrest the spread of the virus.
Late on Friday afternoon, the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said the limited confinement of the 37 worst hit areas in the region would come into effect on Monday.
The restrictions will apply to areas where there are more than 1,000 cases per 100,00 people.
The new measures affect around 850,000 people and mean that those in the confined areas will only be allowed to enter and exit the zones on work, educational, legal or medical grounds.
Public and private gatherings will be limited to six people and parks will be closed.
The regional premier said the aim was to avoid a return to the state of emergency that underpinned the national lockdown in the spring and summer – “because that’s an economic disaster”.
On Friday evening, Spain’s health ministry reported a record one-day increase in cases, logging 14,389 new infections and taking the country’s total number of cases to 640,040. More than a third of the new cases were in the Madrid region.
You can read more on this here:
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Restrictions have been tightened in Athens by Greek authorities as coronavirus infections continue to surge.
From Monday until 4 October, a maximum of nine people will be able to gather together outdoors, while up to 20 people can attend funerals, weddings and baptisms.
Indoor and outdoor concerts have been suspended and people older than 68 have been asked to curtail their movements and avoid public transport.
Employers will also have to ensure that 40% of office work is done from home by workers.
The rise in infections in recent months has forced authorities to gradually reimpose bans including the mandatory use of masks in all closed public and private spaces.
Health authorities reported 339 new infections on Friday after 359 recorded on Thursday, with about half in the Athens metropolitan area, Attica, where about one third of the country’s population lives.
“We are seeing trends that top 300 cases daily and the epicentre is Athens. The rise in infections coincides with the return of vacationers,” said Prof Gikas Magiorkinis, an infectious diseases expert.
Greece’s total caseload since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 14,738 and 327 people have died.
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Three quarters of people in Canada would support another lockdown in the country if it was hit with a second wave of coronavirus epidemic, according to an Ipsos poll carried out for Global News.
It found that 75% of respondents would approve quickly shutting down non-essential businesses, with 37% strongly supporting such a move. Three in four expected a second wave to occur in autumn.
Canada is seeing a resurgence in infections, with daily numbers on the rise since about mid-August. In the past two weeks, the number of cases being reported each day has risen nearly 50%.
The UK recorded 4,322 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, an increase of nearly a thousand on Thursday’s tally and the highest since 8 May, according to official statistics.
The latest rise in infections came as new restrictions were imposed in parts of north-west England in an attempt to curb the resurgence of the virus.
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Moderna plans to produce 20m vaccines by the end of the year
The US biotech company Moderna has announced that it expects to produce 20m doses of its experimental coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, Reuters reports.
The announcement, made in a filing with US securities regulators, comes after Moderna’s chief executive, Stephane Bancel, told Reuters on Thursday the company plans to seek emergency authorisation for the vaccine’s use in high-risk groups if it proves even just 70% effective.
Moderna has never brought a vaccine to market, but has received nearly $1bn from the US government under its Operation Warp Speed programme and has also struck a $1.5bn supply agreement with the US.
The vaccine aims to use messenger RNA (or mRNA for short) to trick recipients’ bodies into producing viral proteins themselves. No mRNA vaccine has ever been approved for an infectious disease, but proponents say it could be easier to mass produce than traditional vaccines.
The company continues to expect to make 500m-1bn doses of the vaccine in 2021, Moderna said in the filing on Friday.
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Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, has said his government is preparing “regional” measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak, after the country registered 1,972 cases in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
Rutte said the Dutch situation was “worrying” after the country registered a record number of cases for the fourth consecutive day, with particular rises in major cities in the west of the country, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.
Rutte told reporters:
At this rate, the number of infections would double every week and we absolutely cannot have that.
The regional measures, which will be detailed later on Friday, are expected to include tighter restrictions on public gatherings and earlier closing times for bars and restaurants.
Current Dutch policy focuses on maintaining social distancing. Schools have reopened after summer vacations and masks are required only on public transport.
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Bars and nightclubs will be closed for four days in Iceland’s capital, officials said on Friday, according to AFP.
Reykjavik, the capital of the sub-Arctic island, has recorded an increase in cases since Monday, reporting 58 of the 59 infections detected across the country.
At least a quarter of the latest contaminations have been linked to bars and nightclubs in the city centre – the rest have been recorded at two universities in the capital.
“It is important to react as quickly as possible with targeted measures to prevent a generalised epidemic with its consequences,” chief epidemiologist Thorolfur Gudnason said in a memo to the health minister on Friday.
At the end of July, a surge was also recorded but curbed by restrictions, which were then eased in early September.
Since the start of the pandemic Iceland, with a population of about 365,000, had by Friday had reported a total of 2,230 cases of coronavirus and 10 deaths.
The previous day, 21 new cases were recorded, the largest 24-hour increase in more than five months.
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Myanmar reported 424 new coronavirus infections on Friday, its biggest daily rise so far – after weeks without confirmed domestic transmission.
The health ministry did not say where the 424 cases were found but recently most new infections have been in Yangon, the commercial capital and biggest city. Myanmar has so far reported a total 4,467 coronavirus cases and 70 deaths.
Infections have increased to hundreds of new cases per day over the past weeks after the coronavirus resurfaced in the western state of Rakhine, following weeks without a confirmed domestic case.
Domestic airlines announced that services have been suspended until the end of September and health authorities widened a stay-at-home order to nearly half of the townships in greater Yangon, the biggest city.
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Covid-related death in France on the rise
The numbers of deaths in France of people diagnosed with Covid-19 is trending upwards for the first time since the end of its lockdown, the public health agency has said.
While a recent surge of infections mostly affected the young, infections are also growing fast among the over-75s, and admissions to hospital and intensive care wards are also increasing, the health agency added.
“For the first time since the lifting of the (March-May) lockdown, we are seeing an increase in Covid-19 deaths,” AFP, France’s state-backed new agency, quoted the agency as saying in its weekly update, saying 265 people had died from the virus this week compared with 129 the last.
“The intensification of the spread of the virus among the oldest age group raises fears of the continuation of hospitalisations and deaths in the weeks to come,” it warned.
The number of new infections was down slightly – by 8% – from the previous week. But the agency warned this was likely an underestimate due to saturation of testing capacity in certain regions.
As in the UK, there is growing concern in France about how hard it is to get a coronavirus test – especially in the Paris region – due to demand.
“Not being able to test people (who may need quarantine) … may have an impact on the control of the outbreak,” said Daniel Levy-Bruhl, head of the respiratory infections unit at the agency.
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More people may have pre-existing immunity to the coronavirus than at first thought, according to an article in the British Medical Journal that challenges the widely held assumption that the immune systems of the world’s population were completely naive to infection.
In the article, the BMJ cites six studies reporting T-cell reactivity against the virus in 20-50% of people with no known exposure to it. According to the BMJ, researchers behind two separate studies have concluded that these unexpected immune responses could be explained by cross-immunity after exposure to common cold coronaviruses.
Taken together, this growing body of research documenting pre-existing immunological responses to SARS-CoV-2 may force pandemic planners to revisit some of their foundational assumptions about how to measure population susceptibility and monitor the extent of epidemic spread.
The article tentatively casts doubt on claims, made after seroprevalence studies showed comparatively few people have antibodies to the coronavirus, that the pandemic has a long road to run.
The research offers a powerful reminder that very little in immunology is cut and dried. Physiological responses may have fewer sharp distinctions than in the popular imagination: exposure does not necessarily lead to infection, infection does not necessarily lead to disease, and disease does not necessarily produce detectable antibodies.
A key set of guidelines for who should get tested for coronavirus that was issued last month by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was reportedly published on the agency’s web site over the strong objection of CDC scientists, writes Tom McCarthy for the Guardian US.
The scientists disagreed sharply with recommendations in the document including one advising that people who did not show symptoms of Covid-19 had no need to be tested for coronavirus, even if they had come into contact with a known carrier, the New York Times said in a report on Friday.
Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the CDC, rewrote the document in question and “dropped” it onto the agency’s web site, the Times quotes unnamed government officials as saying. HHS is run by the Donald Trump appointee Alex Azar.
“That was a doc that came from the top down, from the HHS and the [White House] task force,” the Times quoted an unnamed federal official as saying. “That policy does not reflect what many people at the CDC feel should be the policy.”
Scientists tracking the virus have uncovered a major mutation, but it may not be as scary as it sounds, writes Laura Spinney for the Guardian’s science desk.
Updated
Denmark will lower the limit on public gatherings to 50 people from 100 and order bars and restaurants to close early to curb a rise in new coronavirus infections, the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said on Friday, according to Reuters.
Denmark has experienced daily infections rise in recent weeks after relaxing lockdown measures imposed between March and May. In the last 24 hours, 454 new coronavirus infections have been registered in Denmark, close to an April record of 473.
The reproduction rate, which indicates how many people one infected person on average transmits the virus to, is at 1.5 across the country, Frederiksen said. Bars and restaurants will have to close at 10pm. Both measures will take effect from Saturday 19 September and last until 4 October.
So far, Denmark has recorded a total of 21,847 people infected with coronavirus, 17,110 of whom have recovered and 635 of whom have died.
Updated
The UN refugee agency has warned Greece that a new camp on Lesbos built to house thousands of migrants left homeless by a fire last week must be temporary, as 157 out of 6,000 people moved in so far tested positive for coronavirus.
Hundreds of asylum seekers, including elderly people and small children, were queueing on Friday to enter the coastal tent camp, which was hastily built to replace the Moria camp, which was Europe’s largest migrant camp before it burned down on 8 September.
Moria, which was notoriously overcrowded and unsanitary, went up in flames after authorities said they were preparing to impose a coronavirus lockdown on residents. Six young Afghans have been arrested in connection with the fire.
Shabia Mantoo, a UNHCR spokesperson:
This new site is currently functioning as an emergency shelter facility.
UNHCR supports its use as temporary solution but cautions that what may be deemed adequate in terms of shelter and services during emergency situations is not appropriate for the longer-term ...
Greek authorities are yet to clarify the future use of (the new) site. We stand ready to support discussions on possible long-term solutions, including the continuation of safe and orderly transfers to the mainland and EU-supported relocations.
A Greek migration ministry spokesman said some 6,000 people had entered the camp since the relocations began this week, with 157 testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
The number now in shelter is about half the 12,000 people who have been sleeping by roads, in parking lots and even inside a local cemetery for over a week.
Updated
Universities in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, will move to distance learning next week, after a rise of more than 3,000 cases in a single day in the country, Českà televize reports.
The move was announced as the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, announced the resumption of work by the country’s central crisis staff and refused to rule out the possibility of another state of emergency.
As we reported earlier, the Czech Republic has seen one of the biggest rises in new coronavirus infections in Europe, with daily case numbers quickly growing from the hundreds into the thousands.
Iran in grip of "third wave" of Covid pandemic, officials say
Officials in Iran have claimed their country is in the grip of a third wave of coronavirus, as the number of new infections rose once again to more than 3,000 a day, writes Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor.
Iran was one of the first countries to be struck by the virus outside China. Its officials brought the disease under a form of control by early May, but then saw a further spike at the start of June that then drifted down to fewer than 1,600 new cases per day in late August.
The latest figures released on Friday by the Iran health department showed 144 deaths in the previous 24 hours and the number of new infections had risen to 3,049. The total pandemic death toll in the country is 23,952. Twenty-eight of the country’s provinces, including the capital, Tehran, are classified as red or yellow, a coding to denote the seriousness of the virus.
Iraj Harirchi, director of the national coronavirus control centre, said the country’s colour coding system no longer made any sense. “We no longer have orange and yellow, the whole country is in red.” He warned the death toll may reach 45,000 with the complication of influenza arriving soon.
Abbas Ali Dorsti, vice chancellor for health at the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, warned that despite the observance of 70% of health protocols by the people, events in recent weeks, including an increase in travel and non-observance of protocols, such as the wearing of masks, by some people, meant infections were back on the rise.
Both schools and universities have reopened, but it has been left to parents to decide whether to send their child to school, and in many cases parents are keeping children at home.
With some Iranians warning of health catastrophe this winter, the president, Hassan Rouhani, said the health department is trying to assemble an extra 10,000 hospital beds.
Over 400,000 Iranians are officially recorded as having contracted the virus, although these official figures are widely regarded as an under-estimate. The health crisis is coming at a time of unprecedented pressure on the cost of living of ordinary Iranians as sanctions bite, hitting the currency, and driving up the price of everyday goods from cars, petrol and butter.
The political dispute between the US and Iran over sanctions is intensifying ahead of the US presidential elections.
Hungary has drawn up a “war plan” that will allow the country to tackle a new wave of coronavirus pandemic without a wide-ranging lockdown, its prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said.
According to US news agency the Associated Press, Orbán said on state radio that the preparedness of hospitals and sufficient ventilators now made it possible for the country to keep functioning while respecting strict rules about wearing masks and social distancing.
During the first wave, all we could say was that everyone should stay at home and meanwhile we’ll get the health system ready. Now the task is not for everyone to stay at home but, on the contrary, for everyone to keep living on their lives.
The country has to function, but it has to function while at the same time it protects itself against the virus in a disciplined manner and following the rules.
Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have all announced a record number of new cases this week.
Hungary announced 941 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, for a total of 16,111 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 669 deaths. Of the infected, 374 people were being treated in hospital and 29 were on ventilators.
Over the last several days, Hungary has extended the mandatory wearing of masks — already necessary on public transportation and shops — to theatres, cinemas, health care and social institutions, among others. People not wearing masks or wearing them incorrectly can be fined.
Updated
Health authorities in Mexico have reported 3,182 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total in the in the country so far to 684,113.
So far, 488,416 people have recovered from their infections, while 72,179 have died, with 201 more deaths reported in the latest update. Mexico has the fourth-highest death toll from the pandemic.
Al 17 de septiembre de 2020 hay 684,113 casos confirmados y 75,552 sospechosos de #COVID19. Se han registrado 789,978 negativos, 72,179 defunciones confirmadas y 488,416 personas recuperadas. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/tmNunmvoga
— Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez (@HLGatell) September 18, 2020
A nivel nacional, 69% de camas de hospitalización general están disponibles y 31% ocupadas. En camas con ventiladores, 75% están disponibles y 25% ocupadas. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/15IX351uIs
— Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez (@HLGatell) September 18, 2020
(Mexico’s figures are circulated just after midnight UK time, which is why they are for 17 September. Due to the time difference, we often miss them out in the blog.)
EU pre-orders 300m doses of Sanofi-GSK vaccine
The European Union has agreed to buy 300m doses of an as yet unapproved coronavirus vaccine being developed by Sanofi and GSK, in its second such deal to secure a potential vaccine for the virus.
The deal was announced in a tweet by the EU’s health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, on Friday morning, in which she described it as “another step closer to delivering a safe and sustainable exit strategy from the crisis for [European] and [world] citizens”.
✅Second #COVID19 vaccine contract signed with @sanofi.
— Stella Kyriakides (@SKyriakidesEU) September 18, 2020
📍Another step closer to delivering a safe and sustainable exit strategy from the crisis for 🇪🇺 and 🌍 citizens.
👉 https://t.co/ELdgozCsot pic.twitter.com/hh2kwP7RJk
Sanofi, of France, and GSK, of the UK, have teamed up to manufacture a recombinant protein-based vaccine they hope to get approved next year. In return for the right to the doses, the European commission will finance part of the upfront costs faced by vaccine producers, according to Reuters. The vaccine doses themselves will be bought by EU countries.
The deal follows a $2.1bn agreement with the US in July for 100 million doses, with an option to purchase a further 500m, as well as a deal to deliver 60m doses to the UK.
The EU previously made a deal with AstraZeneca for up to 400m shots of a vaccine it is developing in collaboration with Oxford University.
Updated
Ryanair will cut a further one in five of its flights scheduled in October, blaming Irish and EU governments for what it called “excessive and defective” travel restrictions, writes Joanna Partridge for the Guardian business desk.
The move comes on top of an earlier 20% reduction in flights in September and October, which it announced in August, blaming a drop in bookings and the introduction of fresh quarantine requirements.
Ryanair expects to fly 40% of flights in October compared with the same month in 2019, a fall from the 50% it had previously predicted. However it hopes its planes will fly almost three-quarters (70%) full.
Updated
The health ministry in Russia has approved two new antiviral treatments for outpatients diagnosed with mild to moderate coronavirus infections, in what the Reuters news agency says is a sign the country is pushing hard to take a global lead in the race against the virus. Russia is already exporting its COVID-19 tests and has clinched several international deals for supplies of its Sputnik V vaccine.
R-Pharm on Friday said it’s Coronavir drug could be rolled out to pharmacies in Russia as soon as next week, after it received approval following phase three clinical trials involving 168 Covid-19 patients. has started talks with pharmacies about orders, the company’s spokeswoman said, according to Reuters.
Coronavir’s approval follows the green light for another Russian Covid-19 drug, Avifavir, in May. Both are based on favipiravir, which was developed in Japan and is widely used as the basis for viral treatments.
According to the Russian government-owned news agency Tass news, both drugs were previously permitted for use in a hospital setting. A statement from the health ministry, carried by Tass, said:
Russia’s healthcare ministry introduced changes to the registration certificates of two domestic preparations for the treatment of the novel coronavirus infection (Covid-19) with the international nonproprietary name (INN) of favipiravir, allowing their use on the outpatient basis. Earlier the preparations could be used exclusively for hospital treatment of patients
Coronavir is made at R-Pharm’s facility in Yaroslavl about 300km (186 miles) northeast of Moscow. According to Reuters, Avifavir has been available in hospitals since June but has yet to be supplied to pharmacies.
Updated
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated male dominance of executive jobs, the president of the European central bank has said.
The problem was particularly acute in the financial sector, Christine Lagarde, the first female head of the bank, said. She pointed out that the 19 eurozone central banks are all run by men, and that she and her German colleague Isabel Schnabel were the only women on the ECB’s 25-member governing council.
Noting that the gender wage gap was still 13% among the wealthy OECD countries, Lagarde, speaking in an interview with French economics magazine Challenges, also pointed out that “gender inequality still exists in terms of access to the job market”.
The coronavirus has worsened inequality, she said.
During lockdown, (women) have been active on all fronts, forced to work while caring for their children, not to mention coping with the threat of domestic violence. As in every economic crisis, they are at greater risk of losing their jobs or of having their wages cut.
Although Lagarde said men were more accepting than before of women in senior positions, the real change in mentality will come “when nobody, male or female, questions the legitimacy of a woman holding a position of power”.
Updated
Hello, this is Damien Gayle taking control on the live blog now, and for the next eight or so hours, bringing you the latest coronavirus-related updates and headlines from around the world.
If you have any comments, tips or suggestions for coverage then get in touch, either via email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.
Van Morrison has described the British government as “fascist bullies disturbing our peace” in one of three new tracks he has written to protest against safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
No More Lockdown also indicts “Imperial College scientists making up crooked facts”, presumably in reference to the former government scientific adviser Prof Neil Ferguson.
The city of Nice on the French Riviera will ban gatherings of more than 10 people in public spaces and tighten rules on alcohol consumption outdoors as it seeks to curb rising infections rates in region, local authorities have told Reuters.
France registered a record 10,593 new confirmed coronavirus in the past 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Thursday, the country’s highest single-day count since the pandemic began.
A billionaire backer of Donald Trump who has been outspoken in her criticism of coronavirus restrictions was granted an exemption to a mandatory quarantine when she visited Canada by private jet.
Liz Uihlein, head of Wisconsin-based packaging company Uline, landed at Toronto’s Pearson airport on 25 August to visit one of the company’s warehouses, according to a report by CBC News.
Under the Quarantine Act, visitors to Canada are required to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival to the country. Failure to comply with restrictions carry a maximum penalty of up to $750,000 in fines and/or imprisonment for six months.
But neither Uihlein, nor her two travelling companions, were required to quarantine.
Summary
- The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed 30 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The global death toll stands at 946,158 people and is expected to pass 1 million by 1 October. The US accounts for than 22% of global cases, at 6.67m, and nearly 200,000 fatalities.
- The UK government has hinted at second national lockdown amid reports of a plan to ‘circuit break’ the virus. The UK’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, told Sky News: “The number of people in hospital is doubling every eight days or so ... we will do what it takes to keep people safe.”
- The Czech Republic has reported a record rise in cases for a third successive day. It announced 3,130 new cases a day after more than 2,000 new cases was reported for the first time.
- Russia has reported 5,905 new coronavirus cases, its largest daily rise since July. It brings the country’s tally to 1,091,186, the fourth largest in the world.
- Thailand has reported its first coronavirus death in more than 100 days, after an infected Thai citizen had returned from abroad earlier this month. The 54-year old man, who was an interpreter based in Saudi Arabia working for the Thai labour ministry, had been treated in a Bangkok hospital for two weeks and died on Friday.
- The Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, again criticised the President Trump’s handling of the pandemic as “close to criminal”, in particular Trump’s supposedly intentional downplaying of the severity of the virus. Biden also questioned Trump’s claims on a vaccine: “I don’t trust the president on vaccines,” he said, adding that he trusted Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading US infectious diseases expert sidelined by Trump. “If Fauci says a vaccine is safe, I would take the vaccine. We should listen to the scientists, not to the president,” said Biden. Roughly one in every 50 Americans is infected, and one in every 1,600 has died since the start of the pandemic.
- Reports emerged late on Thursday that guidance about the novel coronavirus testing posted last month on the website of the US CDC was not written by the agency’s scientists and was posted despite their objections. The New York Times reported the story, citing people familiar with the matter and internal documents. The guidance said it was not necessary to test people with no symptoms of Covid-19, even if they had been exposed to the virus. The agency’s previous position recommended testing all people who had close contact with anyone diagnosed with Covid-19. The reversal shocked doctors and politicians and prompted accusations of political interference.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of “alarming rates of transmission” of Covid-19 across Europe and cautioned countries against shortening quarantine periods. The WHO said the number of coronavirus cases in September “should serve as a wake-up call for all of us”.
- Israel is preparing to enter a second national coronavirus lockdown on Friday, becoming the first country to re-enter nationwide restrictions. The unpopular lockdown is expected to last at least three weeks, upending a normally festive period filled with Jewish holidays.
Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, has cut its flight schedule for October by 20%, as it compared Irish travel restrictions to the North Korean dictatorship.
Our business blog has more:
Reuters has more on the record increase of more than 3,000 infections in the Czech Republic (see earlier).
The country has seen one of the biggest rises in new coronavirus infections in Europe, with daily case numbers quickly growing from the hundreds into the thousands.
Adjusted for population, only Spain and France have seen a larger increase in cases among European Union countries this month.
The government has reacted by tightening measures, including limiting bars’ opening hours from Friday, banning stand-up indoor events and widening mask use in schools. It hopes to avoid the kind of large-scale lockdown imposed at the start of the pandemic in March that hammered the economy.
Health ministry data released on Friday showed 3,130 new cases on Thursday, up from 2,137 the day before. In total, the country of 10.7 million has recorded 44,155 cases, which is roughly double what it had on 24 August. It has recorded 489 deaths so far, up 15% since 1 September.
The latest daily rise is nearly equal to the number of cases detected between 22 April and 17 June, a period where the daily tally was mostly in double digits.
The government says cases are growing among younger people while the number of over-65s testing positive is falling. Hospitalisations have jumped back to around peaks seen in April.
Czech health officials have said case numbers could reach 70,000 this month under a pessimistic scenario where the R’ number, which represents the average number of people to whom one infected person will pass the virus, stays at 1.6.
Updated
The Philippines’ health ministry has reported 3,257 additional infections, marking the 11th straight day the country has recorded more than 3,000 daily cases, Reuters reports.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases have increased to 279,526, most of which are in the capital, while deaths rose 47 to reach 4,830.
The total number of reported COVID-19 cases in the Philippines has reached 279,526 on September 18, 2020.
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) September 18, 2020
▪️New cases: 3,257
▪️New deaths: 47
▪️New recoveries: 733
▪️Total active cases: 65,906
More updates on #COVID19PH here: https://t.co/qcx94TZnuP pic.twitter.com/Kxkwp2PxXW
Restaurants, pubs and other hospitality businesses could could be shut or asked to close early for a few weeks to stop a surge in coronavirus cases in England from getting out of control as part of a national “circuit break”.
The measures are being considered, according to the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, as the number of cases of the virus is doubling every seven to eight days, with more than 3,300 new cases reported on Thursday.
Schools and workplaces would remain open but hospitality businesses would have “circuit breaks” – essentially shutting their doors or changing their opening hours for a few weeks.
Russia has reported 5,905 new coronavirus cases, its largest daily rise since July.
It brings the country’s tally to 1,091,186, the fourth largest in the world. Cases have been steadily increasing in Russia since the start of September.
The authorities also said 134 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 19,195.
⚡️В России за сутки коронавирусом заразились 5 905 человек. Общее число инфицированных достигло 1 091 186:https://t.co/77pCMi70Eg pic.twitter.com/XcjixINF32
— ТАСС (@tass_agency) September 18, 2020
Updated
Thailand has reported its first coronavirus death in more than 100 days, after an infected Thai citizen had returned from abroad earlier this month, Reuters reports.
The 54-year old man, who was an interpreter based in Saudi Arabia working for the Thai labour ministry, had been treated in a Bangkok hospital for two weeks and died on Friday, Somsak Akksilp, the head of the department medical services said.
Officials will hold a briefing on the case later.
Earlier, Thailand announced seven more cases of coronavirus among people flying into the country.
#COVID19 situation in #Thailand as of 18 Sep 2020
— PR Thai Government (@prdthailand) September 18, 2020
Thailand reported 7 new confirmed cases from people on repatriation flights
😷New Confirmed Cases: 7
🦠Cumulative number of cases: 3,497 (+7)
🩺Receiving medical treatments: 111
👍🏻Recoveries: 3,328 (+3)
📣Fatalities: 58(+0) pic.twitter.com/UqReJo1Hqs
Updated
Two thousand ultra-Orthodox Jews are being blocked by armed guards from entering Ukraine for an annual pilgrimage to a rabbi’s grave, creating a makeshift camp at the country’s border with Belarus.
The men ignored warnings by the Ukrainian authorities not to travel after its borders closed at the end of last month in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19.
On Thursday, an official with Ukraine’s interior ministry official repeated that the pilgrims would not be allowed to cross the border. “Ukraine has shut its borders to foreigners, and no exclusions will be made for the Hasidic [ultra-Orthodox] pilgrims,” said Mykhailo Apostol. “It’s getting colder and we suggest that they … go home.”
The Israeli higher education minister, Ze’ev Elkin, appealed to the men to leave the border.
Updated
Czech Republic reports a record 3,130 new cases
The Czech Republic has reported another record rise in cases for a third successive day.
Radio Prague International reports 3,130 new cases for Thursday, a day after more than 2,000 new cases was reported for the first time.
NEWS: 3,130 fresh cases of Covid-19 were registered in the Czech Republic on Thursday, only one day after the 2,000 mark was surpassed for the first time. New measures aimed at containing the virus are coming in on Friday.
— Radio Prague International (@RadioPrague) September 18, 2020
Report: https://t.co/7HouugmlQX pic.twitter.com/6iZpzTKC0G
The health ministry recorded 2,139 cases for Wednesday, up from a previous record of 1,675 reported the previous day.
Updated
Prof Catherine Noakes, a member of the UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has warned that “things are going to be awful” if the UK does not get start reversing a rise in new cases.
Folks we’re close to a tipping point and if we don’t pull back things are going to be awful. Hands, face, space, ventilate and be really careful in social settings. Highest risk are household gatherings and pubs and restaurants. Please.
— Prof Cath Noakes 😷 (@CathNoakes) September 18, 2020
Updated
UK hints at second national lockdown
The UK’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, has refused to rule out the imposition of a second national lockdown.
Speaking to Sky News he said: “The number of people in hospital is doubling every eight days or so ... we will do what it takes to keep people safe.”
Asked about the possibility of a two-week imposition of national restrictions to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, he added: “A national lockdown is the last line of defence and we want to use local action.”
He added: “I want to avoid a national lockdown.”
Pressed on the possibility of a national lockdown, Hancock said:
It isn’t something that we ever take off the table, but it isn’t something that we want to see either.
The country once again needs to come together and recognise there is a serious challenge. That the virus is accelerating. Unfortunately, it isn’t just cases increasing, it’s also the number of people ending up in hospital increasing.
Updated
Indonesia says its average daily death toll from coronavirus stands at 105 cases – an increase of 25% from last week.
Wiku Adisasmito, the spokesman for the Covid taskforce, also announced a further 122 people had died from the virus as of 17 September, taking Indonesia’s death toll to 9,222.
Most days of September have seen more than 100 deaths from the virus in Indonesia, as the death toll has steadily risen towards the peak of 139 recorded on 22 July.
Adisamito also said there were now 56,720 active cases in the country.
The number of #COVID__19 active cases in Indonesia, as of 17 September 2020, was 56,720 cases, Spokesperson for the #COVID__19 Handling Task Force, Wiku Adisasmito, has reported.https://t.co/Xa3P1kf2KO
— Sekretariat Kabinet (@setkabgoid) September 18, 2020
Updated
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for this week. My esteemed colleague Matthew Weaver will bring you the next few hours of Friday’s pandemic news.
Thanks for following along. Here is our global report:
Pfizer Inc is betting that its coronavirus vaccine candidate will show clear evidence of effectiveness early in its clinical trial, according to the company and internal documents reviewed by Reuters that describe how the trial is being run, Reuters reports.
Pfizer’s clinical trial protocol calls for a first assessment of the vaccine’s performance by the monitoring board after 32 participants in the trial become infected with the novel coronavirus. So far, more than 29,000 people have enrolled in the trial that started in July, some receiving the vaccine and the others receiving a placebo.
Pfizer’s vaccine would need to be at least 76.9% effective to show it works based on 32 infections, according to its protocol. That would mean that no more than six of those coronavirus cases would have occurred among people who received the vaccine, the documents showed.
Boris Johnson reached for an unlikely reference in attempts to clarify when exactly British people should call the police on neighbours who break the “rule of six”: the lurid 1978 college comedy Animal House.
In an interview with the Sun, the prime minister used the John Landis film, which focuses on a chaotic year at the fictional Faber College, as cultural shorthand for debauchery and the kind of parties with “hot tubs and so forth”, that would pose “a serious threat to public health”.
Landis’s college comedy, which came from the team behind National Lampoon magazine, is regarded as a seminal classic by its fans and an outmoded throwback that should be confined to history by its critics.
In a piece marking the film’s 40th anniversary, the film critic Charles Bramesco, said at a time when cultural commentators are looking at older works for “offences against modern mores” that there’s “no target fatter than Animal House”.
It has been criticised for having “gay-panic undertones”, using “casual” racism and normalising misogyny – in one scene a character debates whether he should rape a girl who has passed out:
German amateur side SG Ripdorf/Molzen II sacrificed a tight defence for social distancing as they fielded only seven players as a coronavirus precaution in a 37-0 loss to local rivals SV Holdenstedt II, Reuters reports.
The preparations for Sunday’s match in Lower Saxony’s 3. Kreisklasse – the 11th tier of German football – were complicated when it emerged that Holdenstedt players had been in contact with an opponent infected with Covid-19 in a previous match.
While all members of the Holdenstedt squad later tested negative for the virus, Ripdorf, from Uelzen in Lower Saxony, did not feel the conditions were safe and were able to field only seven players – the minimum number required for a match:
Summary
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed 30 million on Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The global death toll stands at 943,203 people and is expected to pass 1 million by 1 October. The US accounts for than 22% of global cases, at 6.67m, and nearly 200,000 fatalities.
- The Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, again criticised the President Trump’s handling of the pandemic as “close to criminal”, in particular Trump’s supposedly intentional downplaying of the severity of the virus. Biden also questioned Trump’s claims on a vaccine: “I don’t trust the president on vaccines,” he said, adding that he trusted Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading US infectious diseases expert sidelined by Trump. “If Fauci says a vaccine is safe, I would take the vaccine. We should listen to the scientists, not to the president,” said Biden. Roughly one in every 50 Americans is infected, and one in every 1,600 has died since the start of the pandemic.
- Reports emerged late on Thursday that guidance about the novel coronavirus testing posted last month on the website of the US CDC was not written by the agency’s scientists and was posted despite their objections. The New York Times reported the story, citing people familiar with the matter and internal documents. The guidance said it was not necessary to test people with no symptoms of Covid-19, even if they had been exposed to the virus. The agency’s previous position recommended testing all people who had close contact with anyone diagnosed with Covid-19. The reversal shocked doctors and politicians and prompted accusations of political interference.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) warned of “alarming rates of transmission” of Covid-19 across Europe and cautioned countries against shortening quarantine periods. The WHO said the number of coronavirus cases in September “should serve as a wake-up call for all of us”.
- France confirmed a new 24-hour record late on Thursday, registering 10,593 new confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours and pushing the cumulative number to 415,481. The previous high was 10,561 new cases in a day, recorded on 12 September. The sharp increase is a result of a higher infection rate but also of a massive increase in testing, Reuters reported. Extra measures to curb the epidemic in the cities of Lyon and Nice were announced by the health minister on Thursday, adding to the three other regions already deemed as virus “red zones”.
- Israel is preparing to enter a second national coronavirus lockdown on Friday, becoming the first country to re-enter nationwide restrictions. The unpopular lockdown is expected to last at least three weeks, upending a normally festive period filled with Jewish holidays.
- The Chinese city of Wuhan, ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak, is reopening for international flights, ending an eight-month moratorium. China stopped international flights in March as Covid-19 swept the world, but has now largely brought the disease under control at home through travel restrictions, testing and lockdowns.
- China reported 32 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, marking the highest daily increase in more than a month and up sharply from nine cases reported a day earlier, the Chinese health authority said on Friday. The National Health Commission said in a statement that all new cases were imported infections among returned travellers.
Families with children have experienced greater financial pressure and mental health worries during the coronavirus pandemic than those without, according to analysis commissioned by the Scottish government.
The report, which captures parental anxieties during lockdown, was published on Thursday amid growing concerns that the latest “rule of six” guidance on socialising has a disproportionate impact on poorer children.
The results of the polling, conducted by Ipsos Mori between 27 April and 3 May, found that respondents with children in their household were more likely than those without to have difficulties paying their rent or mortgage – 10% compared with 5% – to have a lower income than usual, and to be worried about their own and others’ mental health:
More than 1,500 breast cancer patients in UK face long waits to have reconstructive surgery after hospitals could not operate on them during the pandemic because they were tackling Covid-19.
The women are facing delays of “many months, possibly years” because the NHS has such a big backlog of cases to get through, according to research by the charity Breast Cancer Now.
When the lockdown began in March the NHS stopped performing breast reconstructions for women seeking one after a mastectomy as part of its wider suspension of care. That was because so many operating theatres were being used as overflow intensive care units and because doctors and hospital bosses feared that patients coming into hospital might catch Covid:
CDC was made to publish watered-down Covid testing guidelines – report
Guidance about coronavirus testing posted in August on the website of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was not written by the agency’s scientists and was posted despite their objections, the New York Times has reported, citing people familiar with the matter and internal documents.
The guidance deemed it unnecessary to test people with no symptoms of Covid-19, even if they had been exposed.
The agency’s previous position recommended testing all people who have had close contact with anyone diagnosed with Covid-19. The reversal shocked doctors and politicians and prompted accusations of political interference:
Here’s our full story the Joe Biden town hall:
Joe Biden sent a message to voters on Thursday night that differed starkly from Donald Trump’s unlikely coronavirus promises, saying: “The idea that there’s going to be a vaccine, and everything is going to be fine tomorrow is just not rational, just not reasonable.”
Speaking at a drive-in town hall in the Pennsylvania town of Moosic, just south of Scranton, the Democratic nominee warned the country would not immediately return to normal life even if a coronavirus vaccine was soon approved.
Biden’s CNN town hall came two days after Donald Trump held a similar event in nearby Philadelphia, but the president sent a very different message on the pandemic, once again implausibly suggesting coronavirus was “going to disappear” and that a vaccine would be available in weeks:
More than half of patients and staff with Covid-19 monitored by an Irish hospital suffered persistent fatigue in the aftermath of the initial disease, according to a new study Friday highlighting the “significant burden” of lingering symptoms, AFP reports.
“Whilst the presenting features of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been well-characterised, the medium- and long-term consequences of infection remain unexplored,” said Liam Townsend, of St James’s Hospital and Trinity Translational Medicine Institute at Trinity College Dublin.
The study, which tracked 128 participants at St James’s Hospital, found that 52 percent reported persistent fatigue when they were assessed an average of 10 weeks after “clinical recovery” from infection, regardless of how serious their initial infection was.
The preliminary study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, included 71 people who had been admitted to hospital and 57 employees of the hospital who had mild illness. The average age was 50 and all participants had tested positive for Covid-19.
Researchers looked at a variety of potential factors, including the severity of the initial illness and pre-existing conditions, including depression.
They found that it made no difference whether a patient had been hospitalised or not. However, they did find that women, despite making up just over half of the participants (54%), accounted for two-thirds of those with persistent fatigue (67%).
Those with a previous history of anxiety or depression were also found to be more likely to have fatigue.
The authors said the findings showed that more work was needed to assess the impact of Covid-19 on patients in the longer term.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,916 to 267,773, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Friday.
Yesterday, Germany reported 2,194 cases, the highest number since 23 April, when 2,481 cases were recorded.
The reported death toll rose by seven to 9,378, the tally showed.
Updated
China reports highest cases in over a month
Mainland China reported 32 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, marking the highest daily increase in more than a month and up sharply from nine cases reported a day earlier, the Chinese health authority said on Friday.
Although the latest increase still remains well below the peaks seen at the height of the outbreak in China early this year, it is the biggest since10 August and suggests continued Covid-19 risks stemming from overseas travellers coming into the country as the pandemic rages on in other parts of the world.
The National Health Commission said in a statement that all new cases were imported infections, 13 of which were in the northwestern Shaanxi province and another 12 in Shanghai.
Mainland China has not reported any local Covid-19 infections since mid-August.
The commission did not offer further breakdowns, but Shanghai’s city government said on Friday that nine of the 12 new patients - all Chinese nationals - flew into the city on a flight from Manila on 16 September.
Shanghai did not specify which airline operated the flight with those nine patients, but it said in a separate statement that two China Eastern flights connecting Shanghai and Manila has been suspended due to Covid-19 risks. Carriers are ordered to suspend international routes when passengers on one of the flights are confirmed as Covid-19 patients.
The NHC also reported 20 new asymptomatic cases, also up for 14 a day earlier, though China does not classify these symptomless patients as confirmed Covid-19 cases.
The total number of Covid-19 cases for mainland China now stands at 85,255, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
I’m going to move on from the Trump rally, though we will report if anything noteworthy happens.
Trump won Marathon County, which includes Mosinee, by more than 12,000 votes in 2016 over three times more than the margin by which 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney won the area, AP reports.
Trump’s team is wagering the 2020 contest on a similar performance in the county and the dozens of others like it across battleground states.
Trump’s path to 270 Electoral College votes may well hinge on Wisconsin, and his campaign is investing tens of millions of dollars on advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts in the state.
Trump’s event is taking place largely outside an aircraft hangar at the Mosinee airport, his campaign’s preferred format for mass rallies amid the coronavirus, though Trump has been willing to host large events indoors as well, sometimes in violation of state and federal distancing guidelines.
Meanwhile, in case you missed this earlier: former White House aide Olivia Troye has spoken in an advertisement for Biden.
Troye was Vice President Mike Pence’s top aide on the White House coronavirus task force:
🚨🚨🚨
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) September 17, 2020
NEW from @RVAT2020.
Olivia Troye, VP Pence's lead staffer on the COVID task force, resigned two months ago. Now she speaks out:
"No matter how hard you worked...the president was going to do something detrimental to keeping Americans safe. It was awful. It was terrifying." pic.twitter.com/nkz2WncE9i
In a two-minute ad, Troye says that working at the White House led her to see that Trump “doesn’t actually care about anyone else but himself”.
Troye said she distinctly remembers when Trump made a comment about how the pandemic may be a “good thing” since he doesn’t like shaking hands with people. “I don’t have to shake hands with these disgusting people,” he remarked, according to Troye’s recollection.
Troye pointed out that the “disgusting people” he referred to are his supporters, “the people he still claims to care about”.
Trump’s response to the ad was: “I never met her”.
There are also the usual insults, the claims of being the best, and he has complained about working hard and not being appreciated enough.
Trump is in Wisconsin making his usual false claims about Biden, polls, CNN, the Green New Deal, wind power, tariffs, China, monument-damage laws, Democrats-and-suburbs, judicial vacancies, pandemic travel restrictions, other subjects.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 18, 2020
You've read my fact checks before.
In Mosinee, Trump has called for a statute to ban burning the American flag in protest a freedom protected by the Supreme Court and criticized sports players and leagues for allowing demonstrations against racial inequality, AP reports.
“We have enough politics, right,” he said, joking that sometimes, “I can’t watch me.” He added of protests in sports, “People don’t want to see it and the ratings are down.”
Trump told supporters in Wisconsin: “We’re launching a new pro-American lesson plan for students called 1776 Commission. We’re going to teach our children the truth about America.”
Trump also took a victory lap today, two days after he presided over Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognising Israel in a White House ceremony.
“I got nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. That’s a big deal,” Trump said, adding, “I should’ve gotten nominated seven times.” His supporters chanted “Nobel Peace Prize” in response.
Updated
Podcast: Former model Amy Dorris accuses Donald Trump of sexual assault
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the former model Amy Dorris talked to Lucy Osborne about allegations that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her at the US Open tennis tournament more than two decades ago, in an alleged incident that left her feeling ‘sick’ and ‘violated’:
Trump is speaking at a rally in Wisconsin, his fifth visit to the pivotal battleground state this year.
Trump views success in the state’s less-populated counties as critical to another term. He is speaking in Mosinee, in central Wisconsin, an area of the state that shifted dramatically toward Republicans in 2016, enabling Trump to overcome even greater deficits in urban and suburban parts of the state, AP reports.
Israelis brace for second lockdown
Moving away from the US for a second – before we bring you the main lines from Trump’s rally in Wisconsin:
Israelis are preparing to enter a second national coronavirus lockdown on Friday, facing at least three weeks of tough restrictions that will upend a normally festive period filled with Jewish holidays.
The cabinet released a full list of rules on Thursday, setting out a return to stringent measures Israelis had hoped were behind them when they endured a similar lockdown in spring.
As of Friday afternoon, with a few exceptions, people will be confined to a 500-metre radius around their homes, gatherings of more than 10 people inside will be banned, and schools, nurseries, restaurants, malls, gyms, hairdressers and hotels will be largely shuttered:
Updated
A reminder that The US is on the brink of suffering 200,000 deaths over the course of the pandemic so far.
There are 6,672,222 confirmed cases.
That’s roughly one in every 50 Americans infected, and one in every 1,600 who have died.
From @helenrsullivan's liveblog at the @guardian on the Biden Town Hall. I can't emphasize enough how much this is basic competence faced with a pandemic that's already led to the death of ~200,000 Americans. Until recently, basic competence has not been on the ballot. It is now pic.twitter.com/PkVuUbKOHn
— Bill Hanage (@BillHanage) September 18, 2020
Summary
-
“You feel safer in Donald Trump’s America?,” Biden asked. “This is Donald Trump’s America. You feel safer in Donald Trump’s America? When he incites these kinds of things?”
- Biden said he benefitted from white privilege: “Sure, I benefited just because I didn’t have to go through what my Black brothers and sisters have had to go through.”
Joe Biden discusses the ways in which he's benefited from White privilege.
— CNN (@CNN) September 18, 2020
"I've benefited just because I don't have to go through what my Black brothers and sisters have had to go through." #BidenTownHall https://t.co/OAyAC2Vg7v pic.twitter.com/H776Opsgts
- Biden said he would decrease the US’s military presence abroad. “We have to be in a position where we can make it clear that if need be we could respond to terrorist activities coming out of that region directed toward the United States. It does not require a large force presence,” he said.
- On uniting the country: “Mr President, I look out over my Biden sign in my front yard and a see a sea of Trump signs. What are you going to do to build a bridge?,” Biden was asked. He said that as president, he would be leading a “divided nation and a world in disarray,” but that “I’m going to be America’s president” and that “With Trump out of the way, and his vitriolic attitude and his way of getting rid of people. Revenge,” he is “confident” that he will succeed in reaching across the isle.
- On protecting people at work from Covid-19: “I would lay out the broad strokes of what has to be done to make people safe in the workplace, and safe in school. And that requires us to have rapid testing, the protective gear available from the very beginning like this president hasn’t done. Making sure we provide for the ability for workplaces to have the wherewithal to provide for the safety. That requires some federal funding, particularly kids going back to school.”
- On Trump’s response to the pandemic, and reports that he intentionally downplayed the dangers of the virus (Trump insists that he ‘up-played’ the risks): “But he knew it. He knew it, and did nothing. It is close to criminal.”
“It’s close to criminal,” says Biden about Trump intentionally downplaying the severity of the coronavirus in public. ⁰⁰📹: CNN pic.twitter.com/KtHWyfGKDk
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) September 18, 2020
- On Trump and vaccines: “I don’t trust the President on vaccines. I trust Dr. Fauci. If Fauci says a vaccine is safe, I would take the vaccine. We should listen to the scientists, not to the President.”
- On Attorney General Bill Barr saying recently that nationwide lockdowns were the “greatest intrusion on civil liberties” in history “other than slavery.”: “What Bill Barr recently said is outrageous...I will tell you what takes away your freedom, not being able to see your kid, not being able to go to the football game or baseball game, not seeing your mom or dad sick in the hospital, not being able to do the things, that’s what is costing us our freedom.”
- Biden said: “I’ve been doing this a long time, I never thought I would see such a thoroughly, totally irresponsible administration.” He cited a Pew poll that shows that people trust the leaders of Russia and China more than the US President.
- One of the key messages from Biden tonight: “I view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue.”
Joe Biden says people who’ve grown up in Scranton are used to people who look down on them. “Guys like Trump, who inherited everything and squandered what they’ve inherited, are the guys I’ve always had a problem with,” he says.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 18, 2020
Updated
What did you think of Biden’s performance tonight? Let me know on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
That town hall is now over. I will be summarising shortly.
I’m still tuned into CNN, where a reporter is commenting on the significance of Biden’s ability to answer questions coherently. Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden as “sleepy”.
It’s a low bar, but hey, here we are, and from a blogging perspective, I can attest that summarising Biden is a far easier task than doing so with Trump.
Updated
“Mr President, I look out over my Biden sign in my front yard and a see a sea of Trump signs. What are you going to do to build a bridge?,” Biden is asked.
Biden says that as president, he would be leading a “divided nation and a world in disarray,” and that he plans to unite the country. “I’m going to be America’s president,” he says.
Anderson Cooper asks whether he still thinks it is possible to reach across the line. Biden says he is “confident” that he will be able to:
“With Trump out of the way, and his vitriolic attitude and his way of getting rid of people. Revenge.”
Updated
Biden wrongly quoted the media as saying he "would be the first person without an Ivy League degree to be elected president." He'd be the first without an Ivy League degree since Ronald Reagan.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 18, 2020
Joe Biden said that his preparation for the three presidential debates against Donald Trump has so far been informal, but the former vice president said he is “looking forward” to taking on the President.
‘I have gone back and talked about and looked at not only the things he said, but making sure I can concisely say what I’m for and what I’m going to do,’ Biden said.
The Democratic nominee said there is not yet a person in his campaign playing Trump in debate preparation.
‘There are a couple of people, they ask me questions if they were like as if they were President Trump,” Biden said. “But I’m looking forward to it.’
Trump said this week that he is preparing by doing what he does ‘every day, by just doing what I’m doing.’
Updated
We’ll be sullying this blog’s name with non-coronavirus related responses from Biden, too (forgive us).
Trump is asked by a US army veteran, “Will you bring my brothers and sisters home,” from Afghanistan.
He says he would bring the troops home and that he opposed a wider involvement in Afghanistan.
For my money, his best moment of the hour https://t.co/xGd1xvFz7r
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 18, 2020
Biden town hall so far
- On protecting people at work from Covid-19: “I would lay out the broad strokes of what has to be done to make people safe in the workplace, and safe in school. And that requires us to have rapid testing, the protective gear available from the very beginning like this president hasn’t done. Making sure we provide for the ability for workplaces to have the wherewithal to provide for the safety. That requires some federal funding, particularly kids going back to school.”
- On Trump’s response to the pandemic, and reports that he intentionally downplayed the dangers of the virus (Trump insists that he ‘up-played’ the risks): “But he knew it. He knew it, and did nothing. It is close to criminal.”
- On Trump and vaccines: “I don’t trust the President on vaccines. I trust Dr. Fauci. If Fauci says a vaccine is safe, I would take the vaccine. We should listen to the scientists, not to the President.”
- On Attorney General Bill Barr saying recently that nationwide lockdowns were the “greatest intrusion on civil liberties” in history “other than slavery.”: “What Bill Barr recently said is outrageous...I will tell you what takes away your freedom, not being able to see your kid, not being able to go to the football game or baseball game, not seeing your mom or dad sick in the hospital, not being able to do the things, that’s what is costing us our freedom.”
- Biden said: “I’ve been doing this a long time, I never thought I would see such a thoroughly, totally irresponsible administration.” He cited a Pew poll that shows that people trust the leaders of Russia and China more than the US President.
- One of the key messages from Biden tonight: “I view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue.”
There’s an ad break on now. We’ll be bringing you the latest as soon as that’s over. In the meantime, get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
From CNN:
Former Vice President Joe Biden laid out his plan tonight to help Americans affected financially by the coronavirus pandemic.
The question on getting Americans back to work was raised by Sheila Shaufler, who voted for President Trump in 2016. She claimed that many frontline workers are making much less than people on unemployment who she said have benefited from the stimulus payments.
Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, said he would first address the need for additional health care workers and “pay them in ways that is a living wage.”
‘So they don’t have to live hand to mouth,’ he said.
“There are a lot of people who are worried about a break down in law and order in this country. Are you one of them?,” Biden is asked by the event’s host, Anderson Cooper.
Biden says that he’s worried about the breakdown in law and order when the president talks about people the way he does.
I'll tell you what takes away your freedom: not being able to see your kid, go to the football game, or see your mom or dad in the hospital. That's what is costing us our freedom. #BidenTownHall pic.twitter.com/YM57H8lv2K
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 18, 2020
Biden is asked whether he benefitted from white privilege and answers yes, but he also takes the conversation back to his childhood in Scranton.
“Guys like me where the first in my family to go to college,” he says.
Joe Biden says people who’ve grown up in Scranton are used to people who look down on them. “Guys like Trump, who inherited everything and squandered what they’ve inherited, are the guys I’ve always had a problem with,” he says.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 18, 2020
Biden has said, “I view this campaign as a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue,” and has tweeted the message, too.
This election is Scranton vs. Park Avenue.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 18, 2020
“All Trump can see from Park Avenue is Wall Street. All he thinks about as the stock market.”
Biden is implicitly fact checking Trump by...uttering many consecutive coherent sentences, which Trump has repeatedly said Biden cannot do. https://t.co/LzS2Bx7ioq
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 18, 2020
Hi, Helen Sullivan here. I’ll be blogging this town hall with Joe Biden live until it ends, (with a focus comments made regarding Covid-19).
Get in touch with questions and comments on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Updated
Here is a story on that poll mentioned by Biden, headlined, “Trump is less trusted than Putin and Xi and the US is hitting historic lows of approval from its closest allies.”
Business Insider reports:
Pew Research Centre polled more than a dozen US allies’ public attitudes and the results show a further decline in Trump’s favorability since he became president.
A handful of them, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Australia, gave their lowest favourable views of the US on record since Pew started polling nearly two decades ago.
In Canada, one in five people expressed confidence in Trump, a drastic drop from 51 per cent who held that view a year ago.
Similarly, Germans gave the US some of “its worst ratings,” the authors note, with only 10% who said they have confidence in Trump, compared with 13% in 2019 and 86% in 2016 while Barack Obama was president.
Most people across the 13 countries surveyed said they have less trust in Trump to “do the right thing” than they do in Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Updated
“I’ve been doing this a long time, I never thought I would see such a thoroughly, totally irresponsible administration,” says Biden.
He cites a Pew poll that shows that people trust the leaders of Russia and China more than the US President, because of Covid-19. I’ll try track that poll down.
Updated
Joe Biden says "I don't trust the President on vaccines."
US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is hosting a town hall on CNN now, where he has said:
“I don’t trust the President on vaccines. I trust Dr. Fauci. If Fauci says a vaccine is safe, I would take the vaccine. We should listen to the scientists, not to the President.”
US President Donald Trump will announce a new round of pandemic aid to farmers of about $13bn at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Thursday night, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Wisconsin, whose dairy and farming sector has been hard hit by both the White House’s trade policies and the Covid-19 pandemic, is a battleground state in the presidential race.
Trump’s upset victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin in 2016 was by less than 1% of the vote - and marked the first time the state had voted for a Republican in a presidential election since 1984.
Trump was expected to speak at a rally in Mosinee, a rural Wisconsin town, at 9 p.m. EDT on Thursday. His trip to Wisconsin - nicknamed America’s Dairyland for its milk and cheese industries - is on the same day state officials reported 2,034 new Covid-19 cases, a record one-day increase.
A rapid test for coronavirus made by DnaNudge that was said by ministers to be part of a grand plan to deliver millions of tests in England, works well in hospitals but will not scale up to help the government’s “Moonshot” plan any time soon, experts say.
On 3 August, the government announced that “millions of new rapid coronavirus tests will be rolled out across NHS hospitals, care homes and labs from next week”. It had bought 5.8 million 90-minute tests from DnaNudge, an Imperial College London spinout company:
We’ll be blogging US president Donald Trump’s speech in Wisconsin at 8pm ET as well as Joe Biden’s town hall, which is happening at the same time. In the meantime:
pic.twitter.com/UoGgeSOMJW https://t.co/wRa7Vmi8Hl
— Robert Mackey (@RobertMackey) September 17, 2020
Updated
Wuhan re-opens for international flights
The Chinese city of Wuhan, ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak, is re-opening for international flights, ending an eight-month moratorium.
China stopped international flights in March as Covid-19 swept the world, but has now largely brought the disease under control at home through travel restrictions, testing and lockdowns.
Heavily criticised US CDC testing guidelines were not written by CDC – reports
The New York Times has just launched a huge scoop: the recommendation made last month by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that it was not necessary to test people who did not have Covid-19 symptoms was not in fact written by CDC scientists, and was posted to the CDC website despite “serious objections”.
The US health department rewrote guidance “and then ‘dropped’ it into the CDC’s public website, flouting the agency’s strict scientific review process,” Apoorva Mandavilli reports.
wow by @apoorva_nyc:
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) September 17, 2020
Last month's recommendation from the CDC saying people without Covid-19 symptoms didn’t need to get tested was *not written by CDC scientists* and was posted to the agency’s website despite their serious objections: https://t.co/B4j9ITQceT
A former health director spoken to by the Times said,
“The idea that someone at [Health and Human Services] would write guidelines and have it posted under the CDC banner is absolutely chilling.”
It is always good to hear from you – and particularly, perhaps, when we reach a sombre milestone like this. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
These are the ten worst-affected countries worldwide in terms of the total number of cases – while the populations of countries do mean that infection rates don’t follow this order, it is worth remembering that we are talking about a total number of people who could face life-long effects, as well as, when infections lead to death, a total number of people who have died.
In terms of the global population, nearly four people per 1,000 worldwide are infected, which is roughly one in every 250 people on the planet – that has happened in just nine months.
The US, which leads the world in terms of cases and deaths, is on the brink of 200,000 lives lost.
- US: 6,669,322
- India: 5,118,253
- Brazil: 4,419,083
- Russia: 1,081,152
- Peru: 744,400
- Colombia: 736,377
- Mexico: 680,931
- South Africa: 655,572
- Spain: 625,651
- Argentina: 589,012
Here is what the number of cases reported each day looks like over the course of the pandemic (although I think that one very tall spike may be an error – Johns Hopkins appears to have added a 48hour case total for India on a single day):
Global coronavirus cases pass 30m
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has passed a staggering 30m, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, with 30,003,378 currently confirmed.
943,203 people have lost their lives over the course of the pandemic so far.
The US leads in infections and deaths, with 6,664,021 cases, or more than a fifth of the total and 197,633 deaths.
Updated
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coronavirus coverage.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest for the next few hours. As always, it would be great to hear from you: get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
There are nearly 30m coronavirus infections worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which relies on official government data. The current total is 29,994,772. So far, there have been 942,989 coronavirus-related deaths worldwide.
- France sees new 24-hour record. France registered 10,593 new confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, setting a new daily record and pushing the cumulative number to 415,481, the health ministry reported on Thursday. The previous high was 10,561 new cases in a day, recorded on 12 September. The sharp increase is a result of a higher infection rate but also of a massive increase in testing, Reuters reports.
-
The pandemic could soon be out of control in Canada, the country’s top medical officer has said, following a worrying surge in new infections.
- Facebook said it would no longer show health groups in its recommendations to ensure users get health information from authoritative sources. It said the move reflected its view that such sources of information were “crucial”.
- In the US, New York City once again delayed the return of most of the million-plus students in its public schools. The mayor, Bill de Blasio, said most elementary school students would do remote-only learning until 29 September.
- Wuhan, ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak, has reopened for international flights, ending an eight-month moratorium since the disease first emerged. China stopped international flights in March as global alarm increased about the spread of Covid-19, but has now largely brought the disease under control.
- The World Health Organization warned of “alarming rates of transmission” of Covid-19 across Europe and cautioned countries against shortening quarantine periods. The body said the number of coronavirus cases in September “should serve as a wake-up call for all of us”.
