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Summary
Here’s a quick run down of all the latest coronavirus developments across the globe.
- Covid cases doubled under most local lockdowns in England. Coronavirus cases have doubled in the majority of English cities and towns that are subject to long-term local lockdowns, Guardian analysis has found, amid growing concern that restrictions are confusing and done “on the cheap”.
- Pandemic risks overwhelming Wisconsin ahead of Trump rallies. Wisconsin, where US president Donald Trump will hold rallies over the weekend, registered a record increase in new Covid-19 cases on Thursday. The 3,000 new recorded infections fanned fears that the sheer number of new patients could overwhelm hospitals.
- Paris in danger of restaurant shutdown as France records 9% increase in daily infections. Paris is set to be placed on maximum Covid alert from as soon as Monday, a move likely to force the closure of restaurants and bars and impose further restrictions on public life. French authorities reported a daily rise in new COVID-19 cases exceeding 13,000 again on Thursday.
- Scottish MP Margaret Ferrier suspended for taking train after positive Covid test. An SNP MP has been suspended from her party and faced multiple calls to resign after taking a train from London to Scotland knowing that she had tested positive for Covid-19. Margaret Ferrier, the SNP MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, apologised unreservedly for major breaches of Covid regulations.
- Italy has recorded more than 2,000 daily cases for the first time since April. The country registered 2,548 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, the first time it has exceeded 2,000 cases in a single day since the end of April.
Brazil registered 728 additional coronavirus deaths and 36,157 new cases over the last 24 hours, the nation’s health ministry said.
The South American country has now registered 144,680 total coronavirus deaths and 4,847,092 total confirmed cases.
Brazil has the second worst coronavirus death toll in the world outside the US.
Daily deaths and cases have declined significantly in recent weeks, however health professionals are monitoring certain cities for potential second waves.
Wisconsin, where US president Donald Trump will hold rallies over the weekend, registered a record increase in new Covid-19 cases on Thursday.
The 3,000 new infections reported in Wisconsin fanned fears that the sheer number of new patients could overwhelm hospitals. Florida, which has four times as many people as Wisconsin, reported 2,628 new cases on Thursday.
Wisconsin governor Tony Evers issued an emergency order easing licensing rules in a bid to bolster the number of healthcare workers able to deal with the mounting crisis.
“Our emergency department has had several instances in the past week where it was past capacity and needed to place patients in beds in the hallways,” Bellin Health, which runs a hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said in a statement. Its intensive care unit has been full, or nearly full, for a week, it said.
Dr Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said the state’s outbreak started in younger people and has now spread through the community.
“Public gatherings of any kind are dangerous right now, more so than they have been at any time during this epidemic,” he told CNN on Thursday.
Signs that the pandemic is getting worse in the Upper Midwest abound. Wisconsin and North Dakota both reported a record number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients on Thursday, while South Dakota also reported a record number of new cases.
New cases of Covid-19 rose in 27 out of 50 US states in September compared with August, with an increase of 111% in Wisconsin, according to a Reuters analysis.
Texas is already one of the hardest places in America to vote, and Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, on Thursday made it even harder.
The announcement from Abbott, a Republican, limits an executive order from July that made it modestly easier for voters to return their ballots during the pandemic. Texas usually only lets voters return their mail-in ballots in person on election day, but Abbott’s July order said voters could return their ballots in person to the election clerk’s office earlier. He also extended early voting by six days.
As a result, some of the biggest counties in the state had planned to offer voters multiple places to could drop off their ballots. Harris county, the most populous in the state, planned to let voters return their ballots at 11 of the clerk’s annex offices around the county. Travis county, home of Austin, planned to offer four places to return their ballots. But the move drew backlash within his own party; Republicans sued the governor over the changes.
On Thursday, Abbott backtracked on his earlier order and issued a new executive order only allowing counties to offer voters a single place to return their ballots. Abbott’s order also said officials had to let official poll-watchers inspect the process.
Abbott’s order quickly drew outcry and accusations of voter suppression. Texas already severely limits mail-in voting to those who are 65 and older, or who meet a select few other requirements. The state has aggressively opposed a slew of lawsuits seeking to ease those restrictions amid the pandemic. Texas has seen massive growth among Hispanic and other minority voters in recent years, and many of the restrictions in place are seen as a blatant effort to preserve white political power.
Harris county clerk Chris Hollins said the new proclamation issued by Abbott “will result in widespread confusion and voter suppression”.
Congressional Democrats led by house speaker Nancy Pelosi have proposed a $2.2tn package to respond to the pandemic that has killed more than 207,000 Americans and thrown millions out of work.
The House scheduled a vote on the partisan relief bill for Thursday evening.
Republican president Donald Trump’s negotiating team has suggested a $1.6tn response, and the White House on Thursday dismissed the Democrats’ offer as not serious.
Covid cases doubled under most local lockdowns in England
Coronavirus cases have doubled in the majority of English cities and towns that are subject to long-term local lockdowns, Guardian analysis has found, amid growing concern that restrictions are confusing and done “on the cheap”.
In 11 out of 16 English cities and towns where restrictions were imposed nine weeks ago, the infection rate has at least doubled, with cases in five areas of Greater Manchester rising faster than the England average in that time.
In Wigan, cases have risen from seven per 100,000 residents to 102 in that period. Leicester is the only one of the 16 areas to record fewer cases than when the measures were implemented.
The findings will raise concerns after Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said the government’s strategy was to limit the virus to regional hotspots.
“If everybody follows the guidance, then we could actually contain it within the areas it is [now] in the way that happened to some degree in Italy and Spain,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Updated
KLM has submitted a plan to restructure operations to the Dutch state, a condition of the €3.4bn ($4bn) package in aid it is receiving to avoid bankruptcy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, KLM said the plan includes agreements with all employees, and would cut costs by 15%, as well as reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2030.
KLM is cutting its workforce by 20%, including 4,500 jobs this year.
The first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has described the actions of an MP who took a train from London to Scotland knowing she had tested positive for Covid-19 as “utterly indefensible”.
Margaret Ferrier, the SNP MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, apologised unreservedly for two major breaches of Covid regulations.
Taking to Twitter, Sturgeon said.
It’s hard to express just how angry I feel on behalf of people across the country making hard sacrifices every day to help beat COVID. The rules apply to everyone and they’re in place to keep people safe.
This is utterly indefensible. It’s hard to express just how angry I feel on behalf of people across the country making hard sacrifices every day to help beat COVID. The rules apply to everyone and they’re in place to keep people safe. @Ianblackford_MP is right to suspend the whip https://t.co/9rgWpPKrOe
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 1, 2020
A lawmaker from Nicola Sturgeon’s ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) has been suspended after travelling home by train from London to Scotland, despite having received a positive test result for Covid-19.
Margaret Ferrier was told her test was positive on Monday after she had spoken in Britain’s parliament at Westminster. She said in a statement:
On Monday evening I received a positive test result for Covid-19. I travelled home by train on Tuesday morning without seeking advice. This was ... wrong and I am sorry.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said on Twitter he was suspending her, and that Ferrier would refer herself to the police.
I have spoken with @MargaretFerrier this evening who fully accepts that what she did was wrong. Margaret will be referring herself to the parliamentary standards commissioner as well as the police. I am tonight suspending the whip from Margaret. https://t.co/1bCst4r5Pu
— Ian Blackford (@Ianblackford_MP) October 1, 2020
It is mandatory in England for people to self-isolate if they test positive for the coronavirus, with fines of £1,000 for those who breach the rules.
The opposition Labour party’s Scotland spokesman had earlier said the SNP should condemn Ferrier and discipline her.
“It can’t be one rule for Margaret Ferrier, and one rule for everyone else,” Ian Murray said on Twitter.
The US Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, were still not in agreement on a coronavirus relief package.
“I spoke to Speaker Pelosi a few minutes ago, and they are not in an agreement yet, they have a lot of issues of disagreement,” Schumer told reporters.
Pelosi and Mnuchin discussed coronavirus aid in a phone call on Thursday but “distance on key areas remain,” a Pelosi spokesman said.
“Their conversation will continue this afternoon,” Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, said on Twitter.
Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin spoke by phone today at 1 p.m. The two discussed further clarifications on amounts and language but distance on key areas remain. Their conversation will continue this afternoon.
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) October 1, 2020
Updated
Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray taking over the blog for the next few hours.
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More on the worsening coronavirus outbreak in the French capital from our Paris correspondent.
France’s health minister, Olivier Véran, has warned that if the Covid-19 situation in Paris does not improve over the weekend, the city could be placed on “maximum alert” and all bars and restaurants ordered to close from Monday.
“We have to anticipate this possibility,” Véran said at his weekly press conference, adding that the authorities would be keeping a close eye on the level of coronavirus contaminations over the next 48 hours.
The minister said few French areas had escaped the “rapid circulation” of the virus and that several cities were already on heightened alert.
In certain major cities – Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Toulouse and Saint Etienne – the evolution of the virus was too rapid and “worrying”, he added.
The situation in Marseille, put on maximum alert last weekend, has improved slightly, as it has in Bordeaux and Nice.
Two categories are most affected, the young and healthy “who do not realise” they are contaminated because they have no symptoms or do not think they have symptoms and vulnerable people who are “seriously” ill, Véran said.
Of every ten patients in intensive care, three were under 65 years old, he added.
Updated
France records 9% increase in daily infections
The French health ministry has reported 13,970 new cases in the past 24 hours, up from 12,845 new cases on Wednesday.
Summary
Here’s a summary of the key global coronavirus developments over the past few hours.
- Restaurants and bars could be closed in Paris from Monday if coronavirus rates do not improve by Sunday. The capital could be placed on “maximum alert”, the health minister, Olivier Véran, at a press conference on Thursday, warning that “we have to anticipate this possibility”.
- The Turkish government has been criticised for underreporting cases by the country’s medical association. In a press conference on Wednesday, the health minister, Fahrettin Koca, appeared to acknowledge that Turkey did not record cases of Covid-19 that were not symptomatic.
- Italy has recorded more than 2,000 daily cases for the first time since April. The country registered 2,548 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, the first time it has exceeded 2,000 cases in a single day since the end of April.
- Poland is expecting more than 2,000 new cases a day. On Thursday, the country recorded a record 1,927 new cases, while its health minister said he expected daily cases to continue peaking above 2,000 in the next few days.
- Sweden has recorded its highest daily caseload since June. A total of 752 new cases were recorded on Thursday, its highest daily rise since 30 June when the health agency registered just over 800 new cases.
- Italy’s prime minister is seeking to extend the country’s state of emergency until January. On Thursday, Giuseppe Conte said he would ask parliament to extend the current state of emergency beyond mid-October to try to avoid the surge in infections being seen in other European countries.
Updated
Turkey condemned for underreporting cases by top medical assocation
Turkey’s top medical association and the main opposition party have criticised a decision by president Erdogan’s government to only publicly disclose new coronavirus cases if the patient is showing symptoms.
Members of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) said the policy, acknowledged late on Wednesday by the health minister, hid the true scale of the pandemic and was meant to keep the economy moving.
In a Wednesday press conference, the health minister, Fahrettin Koca, appeared to acknowledge the government did not publish the full number of daily positive Covid-19 cases when he said it only tallied those who were symptomatic.
The TTB, which has warned of government underreporting for months, said its doubts were confirmed. “You have not led a transparent process. You hid the truth. You did not prevent the pandemic from spreading,” it said on Twitter.
After a summer dip, Turkey’s official daily coronavirus cases rose in recent months to more than 1,700, matching levels in May, when a partial lockdown was in place. The tally shows cases fell in recent days to roughly 1,400, with 60-70 deaths.
Beginning on 29 July, the health ministry began publishing the number of new daily “patients” – which Minister Koca defined as symptomatic – rather than “cases”, that he said showed the total number of new positive tests.
While Koca said the government did not disclose asymptomatic cases, he stressed that contact-tracing teams still managed to isolate them and prevent the virus from spreading.
“Those in this group are not of primary importance for the pandemic,” he said on Wednesday.
Updated
Paris' restaurants and bars could close over Covid-19 outbreak
France could declare the capital an area of “maximum alert” meaning closure of all restaurants and bars as of Monday if the Covid-19 situation doesn’t improve.
The government use three criteria to decide whether a maximum alert can be applied to any territory – including the overall number of infections, the number of cases in vulnerable people and the number of intensive care beds available.
Our Paris correspondent, Kim Willsher, has been posting more details on this on Twitter:
Health minister Olivier Véran at weekly press conference says IF Covid-19 situation in Paris doesn't improve over weekend the city could be placed on "maximum alert" and all bars and restaurants ordered to close as of Monday.
— Kim Willsher (@kimwillsher1) October 1, 2020
"We have to anticipate this possibility", Véran said.
Updated
The rate of positive Covid-19 tests in 20 New York “hot spot” ZIP codes rose to 6.5% from 5.5% the day before, governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters on Thursday.
The overall rate in the state was 1.27%, or 1,382 positive tests out of the 109,218 reported on Wednesday, Cuomo said.
He encouraged New Yorkers to download a new contact-tracing app created by the state’s health department and called COVID Alert NY on their smartphones.
The app will alert users if they have recently been near someone who goes on to test positive for coronavirus.
Many of the 20 hot spots include Orthodox Jewish communities, and Cuomo said he had had productive conversations with community leaders about enforcing social distancing measures.
“A cluster today can become community spread tomorrow,” Cuomo said on a briefing call with reporters. “These ZIP codes are not hermetically sealed.”
He implored local authorities to increase enforcement measures. “If they’re not wearing masks, they should be fined,” Cuomo said. “If you speed in your car, you get a ticket. That’s how it works.”
Updated
Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic are struggling to find work and are at risk of destitution without urgent support, advocates said.
At least 70,000 people are estimated to have been laid off after $3.5bn worth of clothing orders were cancelled or suspended and exports plummeted by 84% in April, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said.
Most of the country’s 4,000 clothing factories, which employ about 4 million people – mostly women – reopened in April after a month-long break to stem the spread of Covid-19.
Bangladesh has seen at least 364,900 confirmed cases and 5,250 deaths to date.
While factory bosses say the sector has seen a recent uptick
– with 90% of cancelled orders reinstated – and is hiring again, activists said demand for jobs outstripped supply and pointed to a lack of alternatives and assistance for fired garment workers.
“For every 10 workers who lost their jobs, only one is being hired,” Kalpona Akter, the founder of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
“This is putting the lives of thousands of workers and their families at risk, because they haven’t earned for the last three to four months,” Akter said.
With no social security to tide them over, many of the workers have had to leave Dhaka to return to their villages and are now relying on food handouts from local charities, she said.
Updated
Italy records more than 2,000 daily cases for first time since end of April
Italy has registered 2,548 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the first time the country has exceeded 2,000 cases in a single day since the end of April.
The health ministry said there were 24 Covid-related deaths on Thursday against 19 the day before – far fewer than at the height of the pandemic in Italy in March and April.
Updated
Iran reported a new record number of Covid-19 cases on Thursday, with 3,825 infections confirmed in the past 24 hours, according to official statistics.
The figure surpasses the previous record single-day case tally of 3,712, reported on September 22.
The number of deaths per day linked to the disease has remained stable, according to Iranian authorities.
“We have unfortunately lost 211 of our dear compatriots to the Covid-19 illness over the past 24 hours,” health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said in a press briefing.
The new fatalities bring the total number of deaths to 26,380, out of 461,044 cases recorded in the Islamic republic, which has been battling the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of the novel coronavirus since February.
Madrid and its suburbs are preparing to enter a soft lockdown that restricts trips and out of the Spanish capital following a weeks-long political turf fight that experts say has prevented an effective response to the coronavirus in Europe’s latest infection hotspot.
The regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said she would implement new national health regulations that imposed restrictions on movement and business and social activity in large Spanish cities with high infection rates, while Madrid also mounts a legal challenge to the national government order requiring the measures.
Updated
The White House is backing a $400-per-week pandemic jobless benefit and is dangling the possibility of a Covid-19 relief bill above $1.5tn as last-ditch, pre-election negotiations hit a critical phase Thursday.
The offer by the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, on unemployment is higher than many Republicans would like in any potential Covid deal with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Significant, possibly unbridgeable hurdles remain.
But the talks have gained momentum as the Trump administration presses for an agreement. On Air Force One on Wednesday night, the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said Trump made an offer that was “extremely generous and certainly above the $1.5tn that has been articulated to date.”
Updated
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Poland expecting more than 2,000 new daily cases per day
Poland reported a record number of new daily coronavirus infections on Thursday, with 1,967 new cases, while the country’s health minister said he expected daily new cases could continue peaking above 2,000 in the next few days.
Over the past week, Poland has recorded more than 1,000 new cases each day. Authorities announced a previous record of 1,587 new infections on Friday.
“We have to expect an escalation of the pandemic. Our forecasts show that in the nearest future, I’m talking about the next two weeks, this figure will continue to be in the range of over 1,500, even 2,000 a day,” Poland’s health minister, Adam Niedzielski, told a news conference.
New restrictions were announced in the worst-affected areas on Tuesday, with the government saying restaurants and bars would have to close by 10pm.
The government also updated on Thursday its list of red and yellow zones – areas that have more cases and therefore tougher restrictions – which will come into effect on Saturday.
The zones include the northern cities of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia, as well as the city of Szczecin.
The deputy health minister, Waldemar Kraska, said that if the situation worsened, further restrictions could be introduced.
Since the start of the pandemic, Poland has recorded a total of 93,481 coronavirus infections and 2,543 deaths.
Updated
Sweden records highest new caseload since June
Sweden has registered its highest daily Covid caseload since June, with 752 new infections recorded on Thursday, though no new related deaths have been recorded.
The Scandinavian country has shunned lockdowns, leaving most schools, restaurants and businesses open throughout the pandemic. Thursday’s rise was the highest since 30 June, when the health agency recorded just over 800 new cases.
Sweden’s total Covid-19 death toll is 5,893. Its death rate per capita is several times higher than its Nordic neighbours but lower than countries like Spain, Italy and the UK that opted for lockdowns.
Updated
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, has said infections in Russia’s capital are rising by about 2,000 a day, and ordered employers to transfer at least 30% of staff to remote work.
Writing on his blog, Sobyanin said the rate of Covid-19 hospitalisations was also rising by around 5,000 per week.
Updated
The United Arab Emirates has recorded its highest daily total of coronavirus infections since the start of the outbreak, with 1,158 new cases on Thursday.
The Gulf Arab state had also registered a record 1,100 cases in 24 hours on Wednesday.
Daily infection numbers have surged over the past two months from 164 on 3 August. Authorities have blamed people’s poor adherence to social distancing measures.
The UAE has a high per-capita rate of Covid-19 tests. The country of about 9.9 million people has carried out 9,798,960 tests so far, the government statistics authority says.
The UAE’s nationwide tally stands at 95,348 infections and 421 deaths. The government does not disclose where in the seven emirates they occur.
Updated
Italy's PM proposes extending state of emergency until January
Italy’s prime minister is to ask the country’s parliament to extend the state of emergency over the Covid-19 pandemic to the end of January, as the government tries to avoid the surge in cases being seen in other European countries.
The state of emergency, which was due to expire in mid-October, gives greater powers to central government, making it easier for officials to bypass bureaucracy in decision-making. On Thursday, the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said he would ask parliament to extend it.
“We will propose to parliament to extend the state of emergency, probably to the end of January 2021,” Conte said during a visit to Caserta, in southern Italy.
Italy, the first European country to experience a major coronavirus outbreak during the spring, managed to curb infections after a strict lockdown between March and May.
However, it has the highest Covid-19 death toll in continental Europe, with 35,894 confirmed fatalities.
Daily cases have picked up again over the past two months but they remain under 2,000, a fraction of the number in France and Spain, which have been forced to tighten restrictions again in some areas.
Updated
New figures show there was a 61% increase in positive Covid-19 cases in England in one week of September.
The health service’s test and trace service said 31,373 people tested positive for the virus between 17 and 23 September, a 61% increase from the previous week.
In a statement, NHS Test and Trace said:
Positive cases have been rising steeply over the last 4 weeks with over 4 times as many positive cases identified in the most recent week compared to the end of August.”
The figures come as further lockdown measures were announced by the government in parts of northern England where virus rates are soaring.
More than 2 million people in Merseyside, Warrington and Teeside will be banned by law from mixing with other households indoors.
Updated
Malaysia has reported its biggest rise in new Covid-19 cases since 4 June.
On Thursday, the country’s health ministry recorded 260 new infections in the past 24 hours, which it said was mostly due to an outbreak in Sabah state on Borneo Island.
Malaysia has so far recorded a total of 11,484 cases, including 136 deaths.
The jump in new cases came after travel increased to and from Sabah ahead of state elections last Saturday.
Updated
Over in Athens an outbreak of coronavirus in a nursing home has caused further alarm among health officials, who say they are increasingly concerned by the rising number of cases in the Greek capital, writes Helena Smith, the Guardian’s correspondent in Greece.
As many as 45 people in a nursing home in downtown Athens tested positive for the virus with authorities rushing to transfer the infected men and women to hospitals in the city.
The operation came after Greece’s top infectious disease expert professor Sotiris Tsiodras told reporters after visiting the care home (double-masked) “things aren’t going well in Athens”.
With the exception of three days over the course of the last 10, the caseload of confirmed coronavirus cases has exceeded 300. On Wednesday, the national organisation of public health, EODY, announced infections had risen by 354, bringing the total to 18,475. With 78 people in intensive care, officials have voiced fears of the pressures being placed on the public health system.
Updated
Serbia is to review records kept since the start of its coronavirus outbreak to check the death toll, after the country’s leading epidemiologist warned of a significant undercount, according to Reuters.
“We will do the audit in the most honest way. I believe in the expertise of our people. We never hid anything, and everything we did, we did transparently,” President Aleksandar Vučić said on Thursday.
Serbia recorded its first case of coronavirus in early March. According to official data, 33,551 people have been infected and 749 have died after falling ill with Covid-19.
But Predrag Kon, a member of the government-appointed crisis staff tasked with combating the disease, said on Tuesday that the real death toll for the capital, Belgrade, was three times higher than the official figure.
In an interview with Belgrade-based NewsMax Adria TV, Kon linked the discrepancy, which he said was particularly big in June, with what he described as an inaccurate information system.
The Balkan country saw a sharp increase in coronavirus infections before a general election in June and also in July after it eased restrictions imposed in mid-March to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Country’s health authorities say the number of infections has receded since August.
Updated
Eurozone unemployment rises for fifth month in a row
Unemployment has risen across the single currency zone in Europe for the fifth month in a row, as concerns grow that government support programmes will be unable to keep businesses hit by coronavirus restrictions afloat forever.
The jobless rate rose to 8.1% in the 19 countries that use the euro currency in August, up from 7.9% in July, official statistics showed on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. Some 13.2 million people were unemployed and the number of those out of work rose by 251,000.
Economists expect a further rise as wage support programmes expire, while an increase in infections in many countries has increased fears that some restrictions on business interaction may have to be re-imposed.
Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, still has about 3.7 million workers on furlough schemes, and has extended support until the end of 2021.
National governments have poured in fiscal stimulus in the form of support loans and guarantees for business, while the European Central Bank has launched a €1.35 trillion ($1.57 trillion; £1,23 trillion) monetary stimulus in the form of regular bond purchases with newly printed money through at least the middle of next year.
The president of the Madrid region has pushed by against the Spanish government’s plan to place its capital city under confinement, telling authorities, “You cannot lock down everybody,” and vowing to fight the proposal in the courts.
The health ministry said late on Wednesday that the central government was overriding regional authorities and would impose a lockdown of the city of over 3 million people and some surrounding towns in the coming days.
But Madrid’s regional president, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, rejected the move, saying the committee that took the decision had no legal authority to do so without a consensus. According to Reuters, she said on esRadio:
You cannot lock down everybody. I’m sure the Madrid (region) plan is the best: quick tests, quarantines and life goes on.
Diaz Ayuso said on Thursday she would challenge the health ministry order in courts amid a widening rift between the Socialist-led central government and conservative-led regional administration on the response to the pandemic.
Legally, we are evaluating with lawyers of the region, how we can do things.
Madrid has 735 cases per 100,000 people, one of the highest of any region in Europe and double the national rate in the country, which has has recorded 769,188 cases - the highest in Western Europe - and 31,791 deaths.
The region has imposed a partial lockdown in 45 mainly poorer areas.
Indonesia reported 4,174 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases in the south east Asian country to 291,182, Reuters reports, citing official data.
It also reported 116 new deaths from the virus, taking the total number of fatalities to 10,856, the data from Indonesia’s health ministry showed.
Turkey accused of hiding true extent of outbreak
The government in Turkey has been accused of hiding the true extent of the country’s coronavirus outbreak after the health minister let slip that daily figures only account for patients with symptoms, not all positive cases.
In a news conference on Wednesday night, Fahrettin Koca said that since 29 July the count did not include asymptomatic positive cases, the Associated Press reports. He ignored a question about the number of new positive coronavirus cases per day, a key indicator of where the outbreak is headed in any country.
“We are talking about people with symptoms. We are giving this as the daily number of patients,” he told reporters.
The revelation led to an outcry on social media, with people calling on the government to reveal the true spread of the coronavirus among the population of 83 million.
The minister’s admission came after an opposition legislator, Murat Emir, claimed that the true number of daily new infections in Turkey was 19 times higher than the daily figures reported by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
Koca denied the claim, insisting that all information published on a table showing Turkey’s daily coronavirus count is correct.
Turkey on Wednesday reported 1,391 new coronavirus patients and 65 deaths. Since the pandemic began, Turkey says 318,000 residents have been infected and 8,195 have died.
Poland reported a record number of new daily coronavirus infections on Thursday, with the health ministry announcing 1,967 new cases, according to Reuters.
It comes as neighbouring Ukraine also reported a record new high in infections, with authorities there registering 4,069 new cases in the past 24 hours.
For the past week, Poland has seen more than 1,000 new cases per day. The authorities announced a previous record 1,587 new infections on Friday.
Since the start of the pandemic, Poland has recorded 93,481 coronavirus infections with 2,543 deaths in total.
Russia confirmed its highest daily tally of new coronavirus cases since June 12 on Thursday as authorities reported 8,945 new infections, pushing the national total to 1,185,231, Reuters reports.
The capital, Moscow, the heart of the outbreak earlier this year, registered 2,424 new cases overnight, officials said. Authorities said 169 people had died nationwide in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 20,891.
The UK coronavirus and politics blog with Andrew Sparrow is now live. From now on I’ll be focusing on the latest developments elsewhere in the world, so head on over there to find out about the latest on Liverpool’s impending lockdown, and other developments.
The Spanish government has warned the Madrid regional authorities that new measures to halt the spread of Covid-19 are obligatory as political intransigence threatens to undermine efforts to tackle the pandemic in the western European nation hardest hit by the virus, writes Sam Jones, the Guardian’s correspondent in Madrid.
On Wednesday, 13 of Spain’s 19 self-governing regions backed a plan to impose partial lockdowns on town and cities, allowing people to enter and exit affected areas only on work, school, or medical grounds, or for other pressing reasons.
Under the rules, the limited confinements will be imposed on municipalities of 100,000 people or more: if there are more than 500 cases per 100,000 people; if more than 10% of tests during the previous fortnight are positive, and if the proportion of intensive care unit (ICU) beds occupied by Covid patients is 35% or higher.
Updated
More than 1.5 million people in Merseyside, north west England, are expected to be banned from mixing in pubs and restaurants under new coronavirus rules due to be announced on Thursday, writes Josh Halliday, the Guardian’s north of England correspondent.
Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool, said he expected an announcement on further restrictions for the region on Thursday morning following a meeting chaired by Boris Johnson.
He said households were likely to be banned from mixing in public venues, as they have been for 2 million people in the north-east of England.
“We’ve already been told there will be restrictions and regulations put in place similar to Newcastle and the north-east, so we expect that, but potentially also the government might introduce even stricter measures so we’ve just got to wait now and see what they announce,” he told BBC Breakfast.
Updated
Africa is approaching 1.5 million cases of coronavirus across its 54 countries, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control.
According to the latest update circulated this morning by the African Union health agency, there have been more than 36,000 deaths from Covid-19 on the continent, while 1.2 million infected patients have recovered.
Southern Africa, and particularly South Africa, is the worst affected part of the continent, accounting for the most coronavirus infections and deaths.
You can see more coronavirus statistics from the region on the Africa CDC coronavirus dashboard.
#COVID19 update in Africa...1 October 2020 as of 9AM EAT. Total cases... 1, 481, 225 Total deaths... 36, 143 & Recoveries... 1, 224, 397
— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) October 1, 2020
Find more info: https://t.co/xVh2wYTv1u #AfricaResponds #TestTraceTreat #FactsNotFear #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/oX1e0lJpkT
Ian Sample, the Guardian’s science editor, has written about the study showing that the rate of growth in Covid-19 cases might be slowing.
An interim report from a large testing programme for Covid-19 in the community has found signs that the sharp rise in infections has begun to slow in England.
The latest round of testing by the Imperial College React-1 study found a high level of infections and noted cases were continuing to rise, but the rate of increase appeared to have come down.
Scientists analysed swabs from more than 80,000 people out of a total of 150,000 taken between 18 and 26 September and found infections had risen substantially across all age groups and regions.
Updated
Millions of people in China are travelling across the country in a bout of “revenge tourism” after almost a year of quarantines, lockdowns and restrictions on their movement, writes Lily Kuo, the Guardian’s Beijing bureau chief.
China’s ministry of culture and tourism expects around 550 million residents will make trips within the country during the eight-day public holiday marking both the mid-autumn festival and China’s national day.
Photos posted on social media on Tuesday, the first day of the national holiday, showed tourist spots crowded with visitors and train stations busy with harried passengers. On forums, internet users complained that hotels and tickets for tourist sites were sold out or that traffic had made it impossible to move. “Congestion is unavoidable,” one commentator said on Weibo. “It’s best to stay home.”
Hotel bookings for popular destinations like Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan province or Sanya in Hainan, an island in the south, doubled according to the travel booking site Qunar. Travel sites have fought for customers with discounts while airlines have added new routes to meet demand. More than 500 scenic locations across the country are giving free admission or discounts to visitors.
Liverpool mayor expects Merseyside restrictions
Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool, has told BBC Breakfast he was expecting an announcement on further restrictions for Merseyside on Thursday morning following a Covid co-ordinating meeting chaired by the prime minister.
Anderson said he expected households to be banned from mixing in public venues, as they have been in the North East of England. He said:
We’ve already been told there will be restrictions and regulations put in place similar to Newcastle and the North East, so we expect that, but potentially also the Government might introduce even stricter measures so we’ve just got to wait now and see what they announce.
Anderson said he believed the Government was considering measures including ensuring that restaurants were taking bookings only. He said measures to restrict travel, in place in parts of Wales, had not been put forward by ministers.
He said there were 9,000 schoolchildren self-isolating in the city as well as 500 teachers. He said 20,000 students had also returned to the city which could have contributed to the rise in infection rates.
Subsequently, the environment secretary, George Eustice, told BBC Breakfast that a decision had not yet been made on further coronavirus restrictions being put in place in Merseyside.
I know that there are some discussions, I understand, that are going on about the situation in Liverpool, but no decisions have been taken yet.
It’s not really possible for me to say what they may or may not do since I think there’s currently dialogue between health officials and the local council there.
When pressed further, he added:
My understanding is a decision hasn’t been made, but I am aware that discussions have been taking place about what further restrictions might be needed, I think particularly around Merseyside and Liverpool.
Rolls-Royce, one of the UK companies worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, has announced plans to raise billions of pounds to shore up its balance sheet, reports Graeme Wearden on the Guardian’s business blog.
The Derby-based jet engine maker is tapping its shareholders for £2bn through a rights issue (in which investors buy new shares at a discounted price). It is also planning to raise another £1bn through a bond offering.
Pressure has been building on Rolls-Royce ever since the pandemic began, and countries began imposing flight restrictions and quarantine rules. Demand for new engines has slumped as airlines have cancelled orders.
With many planes grounded, RR’s engine servicing business has also had less business.
Read all about it, and more, on our business blog, which is just starting up for the day.
Black Britons 'twice as likely to die from Covid-19'
Black people in the UK are at almost twice the risk of dying from Covid-19 than white people, according to a new study commissioned by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
Khan is urging the Government to tackle the inequalities which have led to Londoners experiencing a disproportionate impact of Covid-19 after the report highlighted the uneven effect of the pandemic in relation to factors such as ethnicity and gender, the PA Media news agency reports.
The report, released on Thursday, was conducted by researchers from the University of Manchester and analysed data from local and national sources to assess the impact of the pandemic on people with characteristics protected by law.
It found that black people were 1.9 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people, with the disparity partly due to long-standing socio-economic inequalities as well as the over-representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people in careers such as health and social care - professions more susceptible to exposure to the virus.
It also discovered men were more likely to die from Covid-19, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, but that women had experienced disproportionate economic, social and psychological impacts, with mothers 47% more likely to have lost or resigned from their jobs than fathers.
Khan said the report proved Covid-19 has had a disproportionate impact on “disabled Londoners, people in areas of high deprivation and those from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds”.
It is simply not right for ministers to say they will do ‘whatever it takes’ to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus crisis but then stand by as whole sectors of our society find their lives and their livelihoods at risk.
I urge ministers to invest in our communities and the organisations supporting those most at risk, to ensure that accessible health guidance is available to all and, as case numbers are rising again, that there is adequate support in place for those who’ve lost their jobs, had their hours cut or been forced to self-isolate.
Updated
The former UK health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, on Thursday morning said that local lockdowns may have prevented the current second wave of coronavirus infections from taking hold across the country.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Hunt said:
I think the evidence from what happened earlier in the year, not just in this country but all over the world, is that acting early, decisively, quickly, is actually the best way to contain the spread of the virus and that’s what I think Chris Whitty and the Prime Minister are saying.
One of the things that is often not noted about Italy was the successful way in which they managed to contain the outbreak of the virus in northern Italy, in Lombardy, and avoid it spreading to the rest of the country.
Now, we didn’t manage to do that first time round but it just may be that these local lockdowns, although we haven’t seen a big reduction in transmission within those areas, they may just have contained it and stopped it from becoming the national outbreak that we had before.
Hunt also said that, as a starting measure, all NHS staff in hotspot areas for Covid-19 infections should be tested on a weekly basis. Hunt, who is now the chairman of the Commons health committee, said ideally all NHS staff across the country should be regularly tested.
Asked if he was confused about why more frontline testing was not being carried out, he said:
I am puzzled and I know there are some capacity issues.
(Professor) Chris Whitty actually moved towards this position somewhat when he said in July that he did agree with routine testing of asymptomatic NHS staff in hotspot areas - I would like it to be everywhere, but he accepted it was the right thing to do in areas where there is growth.
But that is not happening.
Some of those hospitals are trying really hard to test all their staff using their own laboratories but to do that on a weekly basis, they need support from NHS Test and Trace, they need additional reagents and what we really need is for the Government to say, ‘You need to make this happen at least in areas where there is high prevalence and we will help you if you can’t do it yourself’.
Italy 'considering extending state of emergency'
Italy is considering extending its state of emergency over the coronavirus until January 31 next year, Reuters cites two national newspapers as saying on Thursday morning.
The state of emergency, currently set to expire in mid-October, gives the government greater powers, allowing officials to more easily bypass the bureaucracy that smothers much decision-making in Italy.
Il Messagero and Corriere della Sera said a cabinet meeting discussed the issue late on Wednesday. Il Messaggero reported:
It is not official yet.. while at first (the government) talked about pushing it back to 31 December, during the meeting (the government) considered going beyond the end of the year, given that the cohabitation with the virus is destined to go on for a long time still.
Updated
A new high in daily coronavirus cases has been reported by Ukraine, with authorities there registering 4,069 new cases in the past 24 hours.
The previous record of 4,027 new cases was reported on Wednesday.
The daily tally of coronavirus infections spiked in September above 3,000, prompting the government to extend lockdown measures until the end of October, Reuters reports.
Ukraine’s security council said a total of 213,028 cases were registered in Ukraine as of 1 October, with 4,193 deaths.
More questions for the prime minister, this time over this father, Stanley, who has been pictured on the front page of the Mirror going into a newsagents without a mask on.
BORIS Johnson’s dad is caught shopping without a mask, breaching Covid-19 rules which the PM is enforcing with £200 fines.
Stanley, in a high-risk group at 80, said he was “maybe not 100% up to speed”.
MIRROR EXCLUSIVE: So when’s your dad getting fined then, Boris? #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/AMrQBbP7WJ
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) September 30, 2020
The Mirror quoted Johnson as saying:
I was ‘maybe not 100% up to speed’. but that was my first day back in England after three weeks.
So [the rules] may have changed.
I’m extremely sorry for the slip-up and urge everybody to follow the rules.
Updated
The Daily Telegraph this morning reports on how Boris Johnson (who was for many years columnist for the paper, of course) has defied calls from members of his own party to ease coronavirus restrictions.
In a riposte to his critics, the Prime Minister told a Downing Street press conference that “no matter how impatient we may be, how fed up we may become, there is only one way of doing this”.
It came after Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, said it was time to live “without fear” and many Tory MPs said lockdowns were damaging the economy. Making clear his determination to stick to his plan, Mr Johnson said: “I know some people will think we should give up and let the virus take its course, despite the huge loss of life that would potentially entail. I have to say, I profoundly disagree.”
Thursday's Telegraph: Johnson tells his lockdown critics: There is only one way of doing this #TomorrowsPapersToday #DailyTelegraph #Telegraph pic.twitter.com/Gc2kp9kEMH
— Tomorrow's Papers Today (@TmorrowsPapers) September 30, 2020
Updated
Let’s start with some newspaper front pages. The print edition of the Guardian (go and buy it) is leading with a story on leaked documents which revealed plans by Downing Street to process the claims of asylum seekers in Moldova, Morocco or Papua New Guinea.
The documents suggest officials in the Foreign Office have been pushing back against No 10’s proposals to process asylum applications in detention facilities overseas, which have also included the suggestion the centres could be constructed on the south Atlantic islands of Ascension and St Helena.
The documents, marked “official” and “sensitive” and produced earlier this month, summarise advice from officials at the Foreign Office, which was asked by Downing Street to “offer advice on possible options for negotiating an offshore asylum processing facility similar to the Australian model in Papua New Guinea and Nauru”.
Tomorrow's @Guardian: Revealed: No 10 plan to send asylum seekers to Moldova
— Richard Preston (@richardpreston_) September 30, 2020
Read our story here, by @PaulLewis, @davidtpegg, @peterwalker99 and @GuardianHeather: https://t.co/lVZjsOorow#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/nZVoN5qBVX
The Times this morning splashes on a similar, but slightly different asylum proposal by No 10, with politicians apparently also considering proposals to keep asylum seekers aboard disused ferries moored off the coast of Britain while their claims are assessed. The Times has no leaked documents to go on, however, its reporters are relying on what they have “been told”. They write:
The Times has also been told that the Home Office held discussions about moving migrants to decommissioned oil platforms in the North Sea for processing. The idea was debated at a Whitehall brainstorming session but ministers decided that it was a “no go” and industry experts said it would pose vast logistical and safety difficulties.
The plan to move migrants to ships is thought more realistic and is being given serious consideration. It is a favoured option on a list that will be presented to the prime minister. There is also the possibility of building a processing centre on a Scottish island. However, there are concerns that it would be opposed by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, and by local residents.
TIMES: Floating asylum centres planned on retired ferries #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/XQvDJN3tVE
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) September 30, 2020
Updated
Hi this is Damien Gayle taking the reins of the liveblog now from London, where the mornings are growing darker and chillier by the day.
As usual, I’ll be keeping you abreast of the latest coronavirus-related updates and headlines from around the world (including the UK, until our UK-focused blog fires up in a couple of hours).
Do you have any news to share with us? Are there any interesting developments in your part of the world that you think we should post about on this blog? If so, drop me a line, either via email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.
That’s it from me today. Over to you, Damien Gayle.
Summary
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- Major study suggests Covid transmission rate slowing in England. Research conducted by Imperial College London using the results from England’s largest community coronavirus testing programme suggests that the rate of infection has decreased in the country, but that the number of infections has increased “substantially” across age groups and areas of the country.
- Residents of infection hotspot Madrid are to be barred from leaving except on essential trips under new rules to fight the coronavirus resurgence, Spain’s government said on Wednesday.But regional authorities said the decision had no legal basis, Reuters reports, setting the stage for a political showdown in an area accounting for more than a third of Spain’s 133,604 new cases in the past two weeks.
- In Australia, the state of Victoria has recorded 15 new cases of coronavirus and two more fatalities, bringing the state’s death toll to 800 and the national figure to 888.
- South Africa will reopen its borders to all African countries from today while barring tourists from around 50 nations with high infection rates, including Britain, France, India, Russia and the US. The continent’s most industrialised economy shuttered its borders at the start of a strict nationwide lockdown on 27 March to limit the spread of the virus.
- Cuba lifts lockdown in Havana. Cuba said on Wednesday it was lifting a curfew and partial lockdown in Havana, in place since 1 September to contain a second wave of the new coronavirus. The governor of Havana Reinaldo García Zapata said cases had dropped to an average of 21 per day over the last week for an infection rate of 0.87 in justifying the decision.
- Stormont’s health minister is to recommend the introduction of further coronavirus restrictions in Northern Ireland, as it recorded its highest number of infections in a 24-hour period - 424 - since the region’s testing regime was expanded, PA Media reports.Northern Ireland’s seven-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 population has almost doubled to 103.6 from 58.1 in the last week.
- Germany declares regions in 11 European countries as risk zones. Germany declared regions in 11 European countries to be areas where there was an elevated risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus, while existing warnings about parts of Belgium were extended to cover the entire country. In its list published late on Wednesday, the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases also declared the whole of France with the exception of the Grand Est region to be risk zones, the whole of Iceland, as well as Wales and Northern Ireland to be risk zones.Risk zones were also declared in Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia.
- 34m jobs lost in Latin America. The UN’s International Labour Organization said Wednesday that at least 34 million jobs have been lost in Latin America due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Major study suggests Covid transmission rate slowing in England
Research conducted by Imperial College London using the results from England’s largest community coronavirus testing programme suggests that the rate of infection has decreased in the country, but that the number of infections has increased “substantially” across age groups and areas of the country:
Results from swab tests carried out by more than 80,000 people out of a total of 150,000, taken between 18th and 26th September, show that infections have increased substantially across all age groups and areas of the country.
The research, led by Imperial College London, estimated that over 1 in 200 people across England have the SARS-CoV-2 virus, or 0.55% of the population, compared to 0.13% in the previous round of testing.
The biggest rise in cases was found in those aged over 65, which saw seven times as many cases as previously. A similar increase was found in those aged between 55-64. Young people continued to have the highest rates of infection, with 1 in 100 estimated to have the virus.
The reproduction (R) number decreased from 1.7 to 1.1 but with a wide possible range for the recent value of 0.7 to 1.5. This suggests that the rate of new infections has decreased, but an R above 1 would mean cases will continue to rise if current trends continue.
The lead author of the study, Professor Paul Elliott, said that the research shows “some early evidence that the growth of new cases may have slowed, suggesting efforts to control the infection are working.”
However, he explained, “the prevalence of infection is the highest that we have recorded to date. This reinforces the need for protective measures to limit the spread of the disease and the public’s adherence to these, which will be vital to minimise further significant illness and loss of life from Covid-19.”
Updated
Victoria death toll reaches 800
In Australia, the state of Victoria has recorded 15 new cases of coronavirus and two more fatalities, bringing the state’s death toll to 800 and the national figure to 888, AAP reports.
Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday confirmed the latest victims are women aged in their 70s and 90s. Both are linked to aged care.
There are 289 active cases across the state, including 135 aged care residents and staff, 45 health workers and one disability worker.
The last time the state had fewer than 300 active cases was June 29.
Thirty-eight Victorians are fighting the virus in hospital, including six in intensive care.
South Africa to reopen borders
South Africa will reopen its borders to all African countries from today while barring tourists from around 50 nations with high infection rates, including Britain, France, India, Russia and the US.
The continent’s most industrialised economy shuttered its borders at the start of a strict nationwide lockdown on 27 March to limit the spread of the virus.
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison says the country will open its border with New Zealand “very soon”.
Morrison told Adelaide radio station 5AA on Thursday that Kiwis will soon be allowed to fly into Australia with no requirement to complete a two-week quarantine, but said New Zealand was unlikely to reciprocate immediately.
“We’ll be able to move on that very soon,” he said. “New Zealanders being able to travel to Australia – that’s good for Australian tourism.”
Morrison said this would also help ease pressure on the international hotel quarantine system that has meant thousands of Australians trapped overseas are unable to return.
“[It] frees up more places for Australians to come home,” he said.
The prime minister said South Australia and New South Wales would be the first to benefit from new Kiwi travellers, suggesting states insisting on quarantine for domestic travel would not be included in the bubble.
“We can’t have New Zealand tourists coming and taking up those quarantine places in those states,” he said.
It is unclear if prospective New Zealand tourists would be required to quarantine on their return home, but a fully functional trans-Tasman bubble appears to be some way off:
Oscar-winning film directors James Cameron, Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese joined forces with movie theatre owners on Wednesday in an appeal for financial help, saying they feared for the future of the industry, Reuters reports.
In a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, they said the coronavirus pandemic had dealt a devastating blow to movie theatres and that without funds “theatres may not survive the impact of the pandemic.”
The letter was signed by more than 70 directors and producers along with the National Association of Theatre Owners, the Directors Guild of America and the Motion Picture Association.
The pandemic forced movie theatres to close their doors in mid-March. Big chains including AMC Entertainment and Cineworld Plc’s Regal Cinemas have reopened, with reduced capacity, in many U.S. cities, but not in the biggest markets of Los Angeles and New York City.
The letter said that 69% of small and mid-sized movie theatre companies will be forced to file for bankruptcy or close permanently unless help is forthcoming.
“Cinemas are an essential industry that represent the best that American talent and creativity have to offer. But now we fear for their future,” the letter said.
Others signing the letter included James Bond movie producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins, and action movie director-producer Michael Bay.
They asked Congress to redirect unspent funds from the coronavirus aid package passed earlier this year, or enact new proposals that would help movie theatres weather the pandemic.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 2,503 to 291,722, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.
The reported death toll rose by 12 to 9,500, the tally showed.
Hundreds of Hondurans formed a caravan headed towards the United States on Wednesday, seeking to improve their living conditions as coronavirus has killed over 2,000 people and paralysed the economy in the Central American nation, local media reported.
The migrants, mostly young men and women carrying backpacks and small children, departed from a bus terminal in the northern city of San Pedro Sula headed toward the Guatemalan border, according to local television.
Wednesday’s group marks the first caravan to depart Honduras in 2020, as the nation suffers the largest recorded economic decline in its history after six months of strict lockdown measures aimed at slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus, Reuters reports.
Cuba lifts lockdown in Havana
Cuba said on Wednesday it was lifting a curfew and partial lockdown in Havana, in place since 1 September to contain a second wave of the new coronavirus, Reuters reports.
The governor of Havana Reinaldo García Zapata said cases had dropped to an average of 21 per day over the last week for an infection rate of 0.87 in justifying the decision.
Most of the Caribbean nation began returning to a new normal months ago, though there have been minor and quickly contained outbreaks of the virus in a few provinces and a new surge is still to be contained in central Ciego de Avila province.
Cuba has credited its free community-based health system and strict isolation of the sick and their contacts in preventing the rapid spread of the virus in much of the region.
The Communist-run country has reported just 6,000 cases and 122 deaths from Covid-19 to date. More than 90% of those cases were contacts traced through spreaders.
Over the next week public transportation will resume in Havana, stores will return to normal schedules, and eateries and other services will reopen at 60% capacity.
Schools are scheduled to open in November while airports remain closed.
Wearing masks, social distancing and similar measures remain mandatory and violators face stiff fines.
Garcia said the city of 2.2 million people, 20% of Cuba*s population, would remain isolated from the rest of the country for now.
Updated
Podcast: Has Covid-19 turned the clock back on women’s equality?
Women seem to be bearing the brunt of the economic fallout and taking on a greater share of domestic work and childcare. Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff looks at whether the virus has meant a huge step back for women’s rights:
American Airlines and United Airlines, two of the largest US carriers, said they were beginning furloughs of over 32,000 workers on Thursday as hopes faded for a last-minute bailout from Washington, Reuters reports.
Both airlines told employees, however, in memos seen by Reuters on Wednesday that they stood ready to reverse the furloughs, which affect about 13% of their workforces before the pandemic, if a deal was reached.
Tens of thousands of other employees at those airlines and others including Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines have accepted buyouts or leaves of absence aimed at reducing headcount as carriers battle a health crisis that has upended the global travel industry.
US airlines have been pleading for another $25 billion in payroll support to protect jobs for a further six months once the current package, which banned furloughs, expires at midnight EDT.
Updated
Police in Canada have charged dozens of people and seized millions in assets after discovering that a sprawling mansion north of Toronto was thriving as a underground gambling den while legal casinos were shuttered due to the coronavirus lockdown.
York region police announced 74 charges on Wednesday connected to a months-long investigation into illegal gambling operations in Ontario. As well as making 29 arrests, police seized more than $10m in assets, firearms, cash and high-end liquor:
Northern Ireland’s cumulative cases per 100,000 double in a week
Stormont’s health minister is to recommend the introduction of further coronavirus restrictions in Northern Ireland, as it recorded its highest number of infections in a 24-hour period - 424 - since the region’s testing regime was expanded, PA Media reports.
Northern Ireland’s seven-day cumulative number of cases per 100,000 population has almost doubled to 103.6 from 58.1 in the last week.
Robin Swann said it would be “inconceivable” that the powersharing Executive will not move to announce fresh measures after ministers meet on Thursday.
The minister said while a two-week full lockdown - a so-called circuit breaker - would not be introduced on Thursday, he raised the prospect of such a move over the Halloween mid-term break, or potentially even earlier.
“We are now looking at a severe crisis full in the face,” he said. “I can’t put this in any more stark terms - a crisis for our health and social care service and for many victims of Covid-19.”
Mr Swann added: “I am now more concerned about what lies ahead in the next few months than I have been since becoming health minister.”
Households currently cannot meet indoors in Northern Ireland while outdoor social gatherings are limited to six people from no more than two households. An 11pm curfew on pubs and restaurant closing will come into effect on Thursday.
Mr Swann hinted that further restrictions could include added limitations on the hospitality sector, on family and community interactions and on individual travel.
He said the places where the wearing of face coverings was mandatory may be expanded.
The Derry City and Strabane council area of Northern Ireland has one of the highest infection rates of anywhere in the UK – with more than 300 infections per 100,000 people.
Updated
34m jobs lost in Latin America
The UN’s International Labour Organization said Wednesday that at least 34 million jobs have been lost in Latin America due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The ILO urged countries in the region to adopt immediate strategies to deal with the problem, AP reports.
The count was up from the ILOs previous estimates in early August that 14 million jobs had been lost in the region.
The organization’s Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Vinícius Pinheiro, called it an unprecedented challenge.
Pinheiro said the third quarter had brought a recovery in economic activity and, according to preliminary data, a tentative recovery in employment.
He said the region faced structural problems like low productivity, income inequality and a large percentage of people working off the books.
The ILO figures were based on data from nine countries which account for 80% of the region’s workforce.
The ILO lists Latin America and the Caribbean as the worst-hit region in the world in terms of lost working hours, with a drop of 20.9% in the first three quarters of the year, compared to an average of 11.7% worldwide.
Madrid lockdown looms
Residents of infection hotspot Madrid are to be barred from leaving except on essential trips under new rules to fight the coronavirus resurgence, Spain’s government said on Wednesday.
But regional authorities said the decision had no legal basis, Reuters reports, setting the stage for a political showdown in an area accounting for more than a third of Spain’s 133,604 new cases in the past two weeks.
“Madrid’s health is Spain’s health. Madrid is special,” Health Minister Salvador Illa told a news conference to announce the new regulations, due to come into force in days.
The capital city, with more than 3 million people, and nine surrounding municipalities with at least 100,000 inhabitants each, are to see borders closed to outsiders for non-essential visits, the government said.
People would be allowed to cross boundaries for work, school, doctors’ visits or shopping, but not for leisure.
Other measures include the closure of bars and restaurants at 11 p.m., from a previous curfew of 1 a.m., as well as shutting parks and playgrounds.
Social gatherings will be limited to six people.
Madrid has 735 cases per 100,000 people, one of the highest of any region in Europe and double Spain’s national rate.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest from around the world and as always, would be delighted to hear from you wherever you are. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
Madrid residents are set to be barred from leaving the city except on essential trips under new coronavirus restrictions announced by the Spanish government.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- Experts warn virus is out of control in the UK. British health experts have admitted Covid-19 is out of control in the country as case numbers and hospital admissions rise despite a slew of new restrictions on social gatherings. “Things are definitely heading in the wrong direction,” the UK chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, told a government press conference, as a further 7,108 cases and 71 deaths were reported.
- Pandemic travel slump may cost 46 million jobs globally. The impact of the coronavirus on travel may cost as many as 46 million jobs globally, according to projections published by an aviation industry group.The Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) predicted that the travel slump and a slow recovery will threaten 4.8 million aviation workers and more than half of the 87.7 million total jobs supported directly or indirectly by the sector, in related leisure industries and supply chains.
- No clear link between school opening and Covid surge, study finds. Widespread reopening of schools after lockdowns and vacations is generally not linked to rising Covid-19 rates, a study of 191 countries has found, but lockdown closures will leave a 2020 “pandemic learning debt” of 300bn missed school days. The analysis, by the Geneva-based independent educational foundation Insights for Education, said 84% of those 300bn days would be lost by children in poorer countries, and warned that 711 million pupils were still out of school.
- Young people as diligent about Covid measures as older people, survey finds. Young people are as diligent about coronavirus hygiene routines as their older peers but also more stressed out by the pandemic and willing to give up a higher percentage of their income to stop it, according to a global survey that calls into question the stereotype of feckless youth driving up infection rates.
- The Italian Senate has been suspended after two members fell ill with Covid-19. Parliamentary activity was suspended after Marco Croatti and Francesco Mollame, from the ruling Five Star Movement, tested positive.
- The Czech Republic is to enter a state of emergency to control a surge in cases. Earlier, health minister Roman Prymula said the government would call the state of emergency for 30 days, and limit gatherings to 20 people outdoors and 10 people inside for at least the first two weeks.Audiences will also be banned from sports events, while secondary schools will be closed and medical students will be summoned to help in hospitals for at least 14 days as part of the measure.
