We are closing this live blog now. You can stay up to date with all the latest updates on our new live blog, below.
Australia’s second most populous state of Victoria has reported 17 deaths from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, a day after recording its deadliest day of the pandemic with 25 casualties. The state also reported 222 new daily coronavirus cases compared with 282 on Monday, suggesting the six-week, stage-four lockdown in the city of Melbourne is beginning to bend the Covid curve.
Panama allowed hair salons, churches, retail shops and car lots to open on Monday after five months of lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Associated Press reports.
The government also allowed public and private construction projects to resume and nongovernmental organisations to reopen in a bid to restart the teetering economy.
There was some question as to how many people were still obeying the quarantine anyway. Traffic jams are once again commonplace and reports of beach visits and parties at the homes of government officials grew more frequent.
“I believe we can begin lifting the quarantine and start to go out into the street,” said Dr. Jorge Luis Prospero, former representative of the Pan-American Health Organization in Ecuador and Nicaragua.
I base that on the fact that since July 1 we have maintained a relatively stable number of new cases and deaths.
Panama’s economy is expected to shrink between 2% and 4% this year and unemployment has doubled to 14%.
Hair salons and barbershops will only operate with appointments and 50% of their capacity. Retail sales will be allowed via internet or telephone with delivery of the purchases or pickup at designated locations.
As of Sunday, the country reported nearly 82,000 infections and more than 1,700 deaths.
Summary
As Australia wakes up, here is a summary of the latest developments from the last few hours:
- Malta will close its bars and night clubs once again after a surge in coronavirus cases. Coming into effect from Wednesday, the measures to ensure social distancing will also apply to sports facilities and social clubs, and mass gatherings have been restricted to 15 people. Restaurants and shops can remain open.
- 72 workers at a desserts factory in England tested positive for Covid-19. The local council worked with management staff at the factory, which employs 1,600 people, to ensure all employees can get tested in the coming days.
- Nigeria will resume international flights on 29 August as it eases restrictions. This will begin with Lagos and Abuja, six weeks after the country resumed domestic flights.
- Oman will allow the reopening of tourist and international restaurants, and gyms and swimming pools located in hotels. The changes, allowed only under certain regulations and requirements, will take effect from Tuesday.
- Pool parties and party boats are set to be banned in Mallorca and Ibiza amid a surge of coronavirus cases. Two months are reopening to tourists, the Balearic islands will also implement the measures being rolled out across Spain, including shuttering restaurants and bars at 1am and banning smoking in public places when distancing isn’t possible.
That’s it from me, thank you for reading along. I’ll now be handing over to my colleague Alison Rourke.
Updated
Brazil reported 19,373 new cases of coronavirus and a further 684 deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Monday.
Brazil has now registered 3,359,570 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 108,536, according to ministry data, marking the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak after the United States.
Malta will close its bars and night clubs once again after a surge in coronavirus cases, the health minister Chris Fearne said Monday.
The measure, to take effect on Wednesday will also concern sports facilities and social clubs, said Fearne, who is also deputy prime minister.
Mass gatherings in public have been restricted to 15 people, while restaurants and shops have been allowed to remain open.
Health superintendent Charmaine Gauci said the new “more controlling” measures are aimed at ensuring social distancing.
Coronavirus cases have been rising steadily in Malta, seen some months ago as a European success story for its handling of the pandemic.
It currently counts 607 active cases of Covid-19 - almost double the peaks it saw in March and April.
The surge, which began nearly a month ago, has been traced to a weekend-long party at a hotel and a traditional village religious feast.
Malta has recorded a total of 1,375 infections since 7 March, when the first case was detected. Of those, 759 have recovered and nine have died. Two people are currently receiving treatment in intensive care.
Meanwhile, Fearne also announced that Malta will introduce a new “amber travel list” of countries whose nationals must present a certificate showing a negative Covid-19 swab test from the previous 72 hours before being allowed entry.
The stricter measures were greeted with cautious optimism, with the country’s doctors union backing down from potential industrial action over the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Updated
The Chilean authorities shut down a mall in downtown Santiago on Monday morning after hundreds of people crowded into the precinct to buy merchandise to sell, just hours after a lockdown for the area was eased.
At least 300 people queued outside the Asia Pacific mall, which specialises in selling Chinese-made products, ahead of opening hours and rushed inside as private security guards attempted to dispense alcohol gel and take temperatures, in some cases resulting in physical clashes with shoppers.
The mall is situated in the capital’s Central Station, where a strict lockdown over the past three months was eased on Monday morning.
Like many Latin nations, Chile has a large population of informal vendors who struggled after movement restrictions reduced their customer base.
The reopening of Central Station, along with the adjoining Central Santiago which hosts government offices and business headquarters, passed off largely uneventfully, albeit with larger concentrations of people in reopened shops and on public transport.
Around 12 of the Asia Pacific mall’s 70 shops reopened, according to the municipality.
Felipe Alessandri, the Santiago mayor, said some stores had offered “irresistible” sales that had attracted shoppers from across the capital’s province. He warned that short-term thinking would see the quarantine reinstated.
He told journalists outside the mall as the authorities arrived to close it down:
There is now greater freedom, and more responsibility needed, but clearly human stupidity knows no bounds.
Isabel Zuniga, the owner of one of stores that reopened, said she had sought to implement an appointment booking system for customers on Facebook, but had been overwhelmed by crowds.
It’s understandable because these people are street vendors who haven’t worked for three of four months. They don’t get government support, and they are desperate to restore their businesses and feed their families.
More than 70 workers 'test positive at a desserts factory in UK'
More than 70 workers at a desserts factory in Nottinghamshire, England, have tested positive for Covid-19, Nottinghamshire Live reports.
A total of 701 workers at Bakkavor have already been tested during the first days of on-site testing at the factory in Newark, with hundreds more to be tested in the coming days.
County council staff have worked with management staff at Bakkavor, which employs 1,600 people, to set up the testing after 72 positive cases were registered. The testing facility will run until 19 August so all employees can get tested.
Since self-isolating, 33 staff members have returned to work, the authority added.
Updated
Nigeria will resume international flights on 29 August as it eases restrictions over the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s aviation minister said Monday.
Africa’s most populous country shut its airspace in March to contain the spread of the virus that has so far infected 49,068 and claimed 975 lives.
Hadi Sirika said on Twitter international flights would first resume in Lagos and Abuja:
Glad to announce the resumption of international flights from the 29th of August, 2020. Beginning with Lagos and Abuja as we did with the domestic flight resumption. Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course. We thank you for your patience.🙏🏽🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🙏🏽
— Hadi Sirika (@hadisirika) August 17, 2020
“Protocols and procedures will be announced in due course,” he said, adding that the country’s other international airports would follow suit.
The decision came barely six weeks after the West African economic powerhouse resumed domestic flights.
My colleagues Simon Murphy and Kate Proctor have compiled this very handy (and growing) list of some of the UK government’s Covid-19 missteps and U-turns.
After apparent failures on the contact tracing app, a change of heart on school meals and school opening dates, A-level results became the latest issue in the spotlight. You can read the full list here:
Oman will allow the reopening of tourist and international restaurants from Tuesday, as well as gyms and swimming pools located in hotels, under certain regulations and requirements.
The country’s ministry of tourism said that the supreme committee for dealing with Covid-19 approved the reopening.
The supreme committee had also announced the ending of the ban on night movement as of Saturday.
Oman has recorded 83,226 coronavirus cases, including 588 deaths and 77,812 recoveries.
Updated
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Monday that mink at two farms in Utah tested positive for coronavirus, the first such confirmed cases in the animal in the country.
People who had contact with the animals have also tested positive for the virus, which causes Covid-19 in humans, the agency said. It added that tests were carried out after unusually large numbers of mink died at the farms.
The animal, which is bred for its fur, is known to be susceptible to Sars-CoV-2, the agency said, after mink carrying the virus were found on four of the 155 farms in the Netherlands.
Two cats in New York became the first pets in the United States in April to have contracted the coronavirus, although there is no evidence of pets spreading the virus to humans.
The USDA said there was currently no evidence that animals, including mink, play a significant role in spreading the virus to human.
Limited information shows low risk of coronavirus spread to humans from animals, but more information is needed to determine if animals could play a role in the spread of the virus, the agency added.
Updated
Pool parties and party boats are set to be banned in Mallorca and Ibiza, as Spain’s Balearic islands grapple with a surge of coronavirus cases.
Some two months after opening its door to tourists, the region has gone from registering a handful of new cases each day to an average of 100 daily cases in the past two weeks.
Starting on Tuesday the region will implement the measures being rolled out across Spain, including shuttering restaurants and bars at 1am and banning smoking in public places when distancing isn’t possible, said regional leader Francina Armengol. But it would also go further in cracking down on activities such as party boats and pool parties across the region, she said.
“There are young people and people of all ages who are contracting the virus,” Armengol told reporters. “Everybody is at risk.”
Her government has taken a hard line in its battle against the virus, with fines ranging from €100 (£90) for going maskless and up to €600,000 for those caught organising illegal parties.
In July, after footage emerged of tourists partying in the streets while flouting rules on masks and social distancing, the government responded with a two-month closure of shops, bars and restaurants on Magaluf’s main strip and two other party streets in Mallorca that are popular with German tourists.
Still, the number of cases in the region has continued to climb, resulting in a 14-day infection rate of 145 per 100,000, according to the latest figures from Spain’s health ministry.
Updated
Turkey’s total number of coronavirus cases rose to more than 250,000, with 1,233 new cases identified in the past 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Monday, as the death toll neared 6,000.
The data showed 22 people had died in the past 24 hours in Turkey, bringing the death toll to 5,996, while the total number of recoveries rose to 231,971.
The health minister, Fahrettin Koca, tweeted:
11 Marttan bu yana, tanı konmuş toplam hasta sayımız 250 bini geçti. Hastalığı yayma potansiyeline sahip, izole edilmiş Aktif Hasta sayısı 12.575. Yeni hastaların büyük kısmı kolay iyileşebiliyor. Fakat yayılım, tedavisi zor Ağır Hasta sayısını artıyor. https://t.co/RVlhe7786O pic.twitter.com/N7IpSjujtk
— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) August 17, 2020
Updated
Reuters reports that France recorded a further 493 Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours on Monday, sharply down from a caseload of above 3,000 each on the two previous days, but hospitalisations for the respiratory disease rose for a third day in a row.
New case figures published on Mondays have consistently been lower than weekend tallies since the start of the outbreak as fewer coronavirus tests are conducted on Sundays, so the dip in infections does not necessarily signal a change of trend.
The seven-day moving average of new infections, which smoothes out reporting irregularities, stood at 2,322, above the 2,000 threshold for the fourth day in a row – a sequence unseen since 20 April, when France was in the midst of one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus.
France’s cumulative total of infections has reached 219,029.
With infections increasing anew, French authorities are scrambling to avoid a second, economically damaging nationwide lockdown.
The government is set to propose on Tuesday that masks be worn in shared indoor workspaces while Paris and Marseille, France’s two biggest cities again declared “red zones” of infection, have expanded areas where mask-wearing is mandatory.
Since the beginning of August, Covid-19 cases have increased by 1,830 on an average daily basis, a figure two-and-a-half times higher than July’s average, and also higher than the 1,678 figure in March, when the spread of the virus was accelerating.
After consistent declines since a 14 April peak of 32,292, the number of people hospitalised for the disease rose by 65 to 4,925, after a rise of 3 on Sunday and 29 on Saturday. And the number of people treated in intensive care units (ICU) has increased by 17 over the last three days to 384.
That ICU figure reached a peak of 7,148 on 8 April, when the French health system was on the brink of breakdown.
Coronavirus-related deaths were up by 19 on Monday to 30,429, after an increase of four over the weekend.
Updated
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday said the number of deaths due to coronavirus had risen by 654 to 169,350 and reported 5,382,125 cases. That is an increase of 41,893 cases from its previous count.
The CDC reported its tally of cases of Covid-19 as of 4pm ET on 16 August versus its previous report released on Sunday.
The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
Here’s a summary of the day’s developments so far.
- Japan has suffered its worst economic contraction of modern times, with April-June GDP falling a record 7.8%, which equates to an annualised rate of 27.8%. Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan’s economy, fell 8.2% for the quarter. External demand, or exports minus imports, shaved 3.0% off GDP, as the pandemic hit global demand.
- New Zealand postponed its general election for a month as its Auckland Covid cluster grew to 58. The poll was moved from 19 September to 17 October. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said she had factored in participation of voters, fairness and certainty, in her decision to delay the vote. She also said the date would not be moved again.
- Australia reported its deadliest day of the pandemic on Monday, with 25 deaths in the southern state of Victoria, which has been particularly hard hit by a substantial outbreak of the virus. All but three of the victims were linked to outbreaks in aged care homes. In the neighbouring state of New South Wales, school choirs and group wind-instrument sessions were banned for six weeks, in an attempt to stop community transmission.
- In India, the death toll from the virus passed 50,000 on Monday, according to the health ministry, after 941 new fatalities were reported in the previous 24 hours. India now has the fourth-worst death toll (behind the US, Brazil and Mexico) and the third highest rate of infections at 2.6m (behind the US and Brazil).
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Thailand’s economy suffered its worst contraction since the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago, data showed, as the coronavirus shattered the country’s tourism industry. The kingdom has largely escaped the worst of the disease - registering 3,300 cases and 58 deaths despite being the first country outside China to register an infection in January. But pandemic-spurred lockdowns brought the economy to a staggering halt, shrinking 12.2 percent in the second quarter.
- In the Czech Republic, the government will make the wearing of face masks compulsory again from 1 September on public transport and in many indoor public venues following a resurgence of coronavirus infections. The Czech Republic was among the first countries in Europe to order people to wear masks in most public places in March but had gradually lifted the requirement as infections fell in late spring.
- South Africa will significantly relax its restrictions on Tuesday, including allowing the sales of liquor and cigarettes, as it appears the country has weathered its first peak of Covid-19 cases. With numbers of cases and hospitalisations declining, the country will further loosen its regulations to permit the opening of bars, restaurants, gyms, places of worship and entertainment, all with distancing restrictions.
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Spain has detected more than 16,000 new cases of the coronavirus since Friday, according to new data from the country’s health ministry, adding to a tally that already ranks as the highest in western Europe. In total, 59,162 cases have been detected across Spain in the past two weeks, leading public health experts to warn that the country is in a critical moment in its ongoing battle against the virus.
That’s all from me. My colleague Lucy Campbell will be taking over shortly.
As part of a series of profiles of those who have died in Australia from Covid-19, Matilda Boseley profiles Vicky Patsakos, who moved to Australia from Greece with her young family in the 1970s:
“She used to put her hand on your head and say ‘everything is going to be OK’,” says Helen. “She would look you in the eyes and tell you ‘don’t worry about a thing’... she was robbed, she was robbed of time with us. And we were robbed too.”
You can read more about Vicky here.
Airlines and airports will ask a UN-led task force meeting on Tuesday to recommend countries accept a negative Covid-19 test within 48 hours of travel as an alternative to quarantines that have decimated demand for travel, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The industry wants the task force to make the recommendation for passengers travelling from countries with high Covid-19 infection rates when it meets on Tuesday to review guidelines for international travel amid the pandemic.
“A test prior to departure could reduce the risk of importation by up to 90%, enabling air travel to be opened up between a large number of countries without a quarantine requirement,” said the proposal from Airports Council International (ACI) and airline trade group International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The push for testing comes as the industry’s hopes for a recovery were dealt a blow last week when Britain reintroduced quarantines on travellers from France and the Netherlands.
Airlines are forecasting a 55% decline in 2020 air traffic, according to IATA, which reported 85% of surveyed travellers expressed concerns about quarantine.
“We don’t support across-the-board mandatory testing,” IATA medical adviser Dr David Powell told Reuters. “But if there are situations where there is a higher risk in the country of origin and it can avoid the need for quarantine, then we certainly support that and advocate for that concept.”
The proposal calls for the use of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests conducted outside of airports.
The task force did not raise testing as an alternative to quarantines in May when it recommended a uniform approach toward reviving flights, but it could do so after Tuesday’s meeting.
The International Civil Aviation Organization was not immediately available to comment.
Powell said the 48-hour period recommended by IATA and ACI was up for discussion and said it could make sense for some travellers to take a second test upon arrival at their destination.
While task force recommendations are voluntary, ICAO guidelines are typically adopted by its 193-member countries.
Requiring testing raises cost issues for travellers, given airlines are unlikely to bear the approximate $200 expense. The sector faces up to $314 billion in lost revenue in 2020, according to ICAO forecasts.
Updated
More than 16,000 new cases in Spain since Friday
Spain has registered more than 16,000 new cases of the coronavirus since Friday, according to new data from the country’s health ministry, adding to a tally that already ranks as the highest in western Europe.
In total, 59,162 cases have been detected across Spain in the past two weeks, leading public health experts to warn that the country is in a critical moment in its ongoing battle against the virus.
Others have warned that the rapid growth of cases could see a return to the dark days of March and April that left Spain with one of the highest excess death tolls in Europe.
Last week, nine scientific organisations published a joint letter warning that the recent surge in cases could risk a collapse of the country’s health care system. “If the situation continues and new measures are not adopted, there is a high probability that we will again face the situation seen during the state of alarm,” it noted.
Health officials have played down these fears, pointing to the fact that the majority of new cases being detected are among people under 65 years old. As a result the number of deaths remain relatively low, with 54 lives claimed by the virus in the past week, according to data from the health ministry.
Some two months after the country eased out of one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, authorities have announced a raft of measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus, from closing all bars and restaurants at 1am to a ban on smoking in public places when social distancing is not possible.
Updated
More from Lebanon’s acting health minister Hamad Hassan, who notes that pressure put on the healthcare system by the blast in Beirut last week makes pressure on hospitals all the greater:
“Public and private hospitals in the capital in particular have a very limited capacity, whether in terms of beds in intensive care units or respirators. We are on the brink, we don’t have the luxury to take our time.”
Updated
In Sweden, a freedom of information request has uncovered controversial emails sent by the country’s chief epidemiologist in which he appeared to ask whether a higher infection rate among older people might be acceptable if it led to faster herd immunity.
In one email, Anders Tegnell, the architect of the country’s no-lockdown strategy. suggested that a benefit of keeping schools open would be to “reach herd immunity faster.” After being told that closing schools might reduce the spread of Covid-19 by about 10%, Tegnell replied: “10% might be worth it?”
Tegnell has repeatedly insisted the government’s objective was not aimed at achieving rapid herd immunity but rather at slowing the spread of the coronavirus enough for health services to be able to cope.
You can read Jon Henley’s story here:
Lebanon must shut down to stop coronavirus spread
Lebanon must shut down for two weeks after a surge in coronavirus infections, the caretaker health minister said on Monday, as the country reels from the massive Beirut port blast.
The country’s health ministry registered a record 456 new infections, with two deaths, taking the cumulative number of cases to 9,337 since February, with 105 fatalities.
“We declare today a state of general alert and we need a brave decision to close (the country) for two weeks,” Hamad Hassan told Voice of Lebanon radio.
Lebanon, already deep in financial crisis, was struggling with a Covid-19 spike before the huge 4 August explosion, which killed at least 178 people, wrecked swathes of the capital and pushed the government to resign.
The warehouse blast damaged many hospitals and overwhelmed them with more than 6,000 wounded. It put about half of 55 medical centres across Beirut out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said last week.
“We are all facing a real challenge and the numbers that were recorded in the last period are shocking,” Hassan said. “The matter requires decisive measures.” Intensive care beds at state and private hospitals were now full, he added.
In comments to Reuters, Hassan said authorities would not close the country’s airport for the moment, with the rise in infections stemming mostly from within the country.
“The real danger is the spread within society,” he said. “Everyone must be on high alert and take the strictest prevention measures.”
The WHO warned that the risk of the virus spreading had grown in the country since the blast, with nearly a quarter of a million people being uprooted.
Updated
In France, 493 new infections were reported on Monday, sharply down from more than 3,000 new infections on each of the previous two days. The number of hospitalisations for the disease rose by 65 to 4,925, increasing for the third day running.
More than 1,800 new infections in Spain in last 24 hours
Reuters reports that the Spanish health ministry on Monday announced 1,833 new coronavirus infections diagnosed in the past 24 hours, below Friday’s post-lockdown record of 2,987 but more than three times the average seen in July.
Daily infection statistics tend to dip on Monday due to fewer diagnoses taking place on Sunday.
Cumulative cases, which include results from antibody tests on patients who may have already recovered, rose to 359,082, with 32,389 detected in the past seven days, the ministry said.
Since lifting its strict lockdown at the end of June, Spain has struggled to contain a spiralling infection rate, despite mandatory mask-wearing enforced across the country and other restrictions.
The government’s most senior coronavirus expert, Fernando Simon, said more testing was part of the reason for the surge.
“We are detecting much of what is out there. I wouldn’t say 100% ... but between 60% and 70%,” he told a news conference, adding that the figure was slightly below 10% during the epidemic’s March-April peak.
Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque Country have all launched mass screening programmes in a bid to identify and isolate asymptomatic carriers of the virus.
While hospitals are not yet under severe pressure, Simon said some medical staff were beginning to feel the strain, particularly in Madrid, which has detected 9,430 cases in the past seven days, more than any other region.
Despite widespread fears that an influx of summer tourists would serve as a vector for infection, Simon said only 163 imported cases had been confirmed in the past week.
The ministry is monitoring 1,019 active clusters of the virus, defined as three or more linked cases spread across different households, up from 560 at the beginning of the month.
Updated
In Brazil, AP reports, a group of indigenous protesters is blocking a major road to demand better protection from coronavirus:
Dozens of Indigenous people, many daubed in black paint representing their grief and fighting spirit, blocked a major highway in Brazil’s Amazon on Monday to pressure the government for help in protecting them from Covid-19.
The Kayapo Mekragnotire people blame authorities for the deaths of four of their elders and infections of dozens more on their land in southern Para state, near the city of Novo Progresso. Leaders said people from outside their territory spread the new coronavirus among them because there were no restrictions on entry to their land.
About 400 Kayapos Mekragnotire people live in 15 separate groups in the region. They said they have few doctors, scarce personal protective equipment and no nearby intensive care unit beds for Covid-19 patients.
“Healthcare here is precarious. There are not enough health care workers to handle the situation. We need urgent support in the middle of the pandemic,” said Doto Takak-Ire, a Kayapo Mekragnotire leader. “We need more personal hygiene supplies, more masks. If the government had done its job, we wouldn’t be here in the middle of the pandemic.”
They said they will keep their logs and tyres spread across the road until federal authorities come to negotiate.
Brazil’s health ministry says the virus has infected nearly 20,000 indigenous people and killed at least 338. Experts believe both figures are largely underestimated. A count by non-profit group APIB, based on official stats and information from leaders, says more than 25,000 Indigenous people have been infected nationwide and 678 killed by the virus.
Tens of thousands of Brazilians are confirmed to have died nationwide from the virus, and the actual number is believed to be higher.
Bei Kayapo, an indigenous leader, said the deaths of the four elders were especially hard. “They are our history, our museums. They have all the stories of our people,” he said.
Updated
In the UK, the government has performed a juddering u-turn to say that this summer’s exam results will be based on teacher assessment rather than a controversial standardisation model that prompted fury from students who found themselves sharply downgraded on the basis of their schools’ previous performance.
My colleagues Richard Adams and Sally Weale have a write-up here ...
... and you can follow our UK liveblog for more on this breaking story here.
Updated
Earlier we posted a link to an interesting El Pais piece which noted that in recent months the average age of those newly infected with coronavirus had dropped significantly. If you’re interested in this phenomenon and its consequences more broadly, take a look at this piece by our own Jon Henley from last week:
Unlike during the early months of the crisis in March and April, when older people accounted for the biggest share of cases, in France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium 20 to 39-year-olds now represent up to 40% of new infections ...
The challenge for governments and health agencies, experts say, is to prevent the virus from spreading to more vulnerable populations. “There’s no reason to imagine it can be contained to just one age group, without affecting others, Pascal Crépey, an epidemiologist and public health expert, told Le Parisien.
“Older and more vulnerable people are certainly protecting themselves more, paying greater attention to wearing a mask, observing distancing measures. But they do not live in isolation. They have contact with their friends and families.”
Updated
At a press conference in Mexico, president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said that a plan to reopen the economy will be presented in two weeks.
On Saturday Obrador said that the economy had added 52,455 jobs in August and that the news was a “good indicator”. But Mexico’s economy is expected to shrink more than 10% this year, Reuters reports.
The country has lost more than 1m jobs during the pandemic - and ranks third in the world for coronavirus fatalities, with a death toll of 55,908.
Updated
South Africa, which imposed one of the world’s strictest anti-coronavirus lockdowns five months ago, will significantly relax its restrictions Tuesday, including allowing the sales of liquor and cigarettes, as it appears the country has weathered its first peak of Covid-19 cases.
A report from the AP continues:
With numbers of cases and hospitalisations declining, the country will further loosen its regulations to permit the opening of bars, restaurants, gyms, places of worship and entertainment, all with distancing restrictions. Schools will reopen gradually from August 24, starting with grades 12 and 7 and a phased opening of other grades.
“This will come as a relief to all South Africans who have had to live under stringent restrictions for the last five months,” said the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his weekly letter to the nation.
“It is a sign of the progress we are making in reducing new infections and demand on our health facilities. It is also a very important development as we strive to restart our economy,” wrote Ramaphosa.
With more than 580,000 confirmed cases, South Africa has more than half of all reported cases in Africa. The 54 countries of the continent reported a total of more than 1.1m cases on Monday, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
South Africa has recorded more than 11,800 deaths from Covid-19, while overall the continent has reported just over 25,600 deaths. The actual numbers of cases and deaths are estimated to be much higher, say health experts.
South Africa shut virtually all economic activity at the end of March, banning the sales of alcohol and cigarettes and ordering all people to stay at home. The country reduced its restrictions on 1 June, but reimposed the liquor ban in July as cases surged.
Under significant pressure to resuscitate the country’s economy, South Africa will loosen up considerably on Tuesday. Restaurants and bars will be allowed to serve alcohol to patrons until 10 p.m., while liquor stores will be allowed to sell for limited hours Monday through Thursday.
A nighttime curfew will remain in force from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. and facemasks are mandatory in all public spaces. All gatherings are limited to 50 people.
The ban on travel between the country’s provinces has also been lifted, a move to boost domestic tourism, while the country remains closed to international travelers.
South Africans are now also allowed to visit family members and friends, which they have not been able to do since March.
“Many restrictions on social and economic activity have been lifted. With this comes increased risk of transmission,” wrote Ramaphosa. “We now need to manage this risk and ensure the gains we have made thus far in containing the pandemics spread are not reversed. The greatest threat to the health of our nation right now is complacency.”
Updated
Ryanair is cancelling one in five flights from its September and October schedules after a drop in bookings in the last 10 days, my colleague Gwyn Topham reports:
A spokesperson said: “Over the past two weeks as a number of EU countries have raised travel restrictions, forward bookings especially for business travel into September and October have been negatively affected, and it makes sense to reduce frequencies so that we tailor our capacity to demand over the next two months.”
The cuts will affect the frequency of flights from countries such as France, Spain and Sweden.
You can read Gwyn’s piece here.
Nightclubs closed their doors Monday in four more regions of Spain as new measures to curb a rise in Covid-19 infections came into effect, a day after a noisy Madrid protest against virus restrictions, AFP reports.
Spain’s most populous region, Andalusia, along with Galicia and Cantabria in the north, and Castilla and Leon in the centre were the latest Spanish regions to begin enforcing 11 measures the government unveiled on Friday to curb one of the fastest virus growth rates in Europe.
Two other regions, La Rioja and Murcia, began applying the measures on Sunday.
They include the closure of all discos, nightclubs and dancing halls while restaurants and bars are required to close by 1am, with no new guests allowed in from midnight in a country known for late-night partying.
All of Spain’s 17 regional governments, which are responsible for healthcare, agreed to enforce the measures which also include a ban on smoking outdoors in public places when a distance of 2 metres cannot be maintained and limits on visits to retirement homes.
Chanting “freedom”, between 2,500 and 3,000 people, according to a police estimate, rallied in Madrid on Sunday evening against the mandatory use of face masks and other government-imposed virus restrictions.
Many protesters did not wear a mask in public even though it is required by law across Spain and did not respect social distancing rules.
“What happened will be punished with the greatest severity,” the central government’s representative in Madrid, José Manuel Franco, told Cadena Ser radio.
Updated
Czech Republic to reintroduce compulsory mask wearing
In the Czech Republic, the government will make the wearing of face masks compulsory again from 1 September on public transport and in many indoor public venues following a resurgence of coronavirus infections and ahead of what it expects to be a tough autumn, Reuters reports.
The Czech Republic was among the first countries in Europe to order people to wear masks in most public places in March but had gradually lifted the requirement as infections fell in late spring. But infections have again started to trend higher.
“We consider this to be a preventative measure given that we are probably facing a complicated autumn, especially after 1 September, when there will be high social interaction,” the health minister, Adam Vojtěch, said on Monday, announcing the decision.
Schools are due to reopen on 1 September after the summer holidays. The new rules will require people to wear face masks in shops, common areas of schools and in public buildings, though not in the workplace or in restaurants and bars.
The government has also cut the minimum quarantine requirement to 10 days since meeting an infected person from 14 days.
The Czech Republic, with a population of 10.7 million, has so far reported about 20,000 Covid-19 cases in total, but just 397 deaths. Only 104 people with Covid-19 were in hospital as of Sunday.
Updated
One of the more familiar tropes of coronavirus: sceptic goes to crowded place to protest against coronavirus restrictions, sceptic gets coronavirus. The latest episode is via the Associated Press:
A conservative pastor in South Korea who has been a bitter critic of the country’s president has tested positive for the coronavirus, health authorities said Monday, two days after he participated in an anti-government protest in Seoul that drew thousands.
More than 300 virus cases have been linked to the Rev Jun Kwang-hun’s huge church in northern Seoul, which has emerged as a major cluster of infections amid growing fears of a massive outbreak in the greater capital region.
Officials are concerned that the virus’ spread could worsen after thousands of demonstrators, including Jun and members of his Sarang Jeil church, marched in downtown Seoul on Saturday despite pleas from officials to stay home.
Jang Shi-hwa, a disease control expert in Seoul’s southern Gwangak district, said Jun was tested Monday morning at an area hospital, which later reported to her office that he had tested positive but did not exhibit any symptoms. Jun was seen smiling and talking on his cellphone, with his mask pulled down his chin, as he boarded an ambulance that took him to a different hospital in Seoul for isolated treatment.
South Korea reported 197 new cases of the virus on Monday, the fourth straight day of triple-digit increases. Most of the new cases in the past few days have come from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, home to about half of the country’s 51 million people.
Churches have been a constant source of infections, with many failing to require worshipers to wear masks, or allowing them to sing in choirs or eat together.
Health workers have so far linked 319 infections to Juns church after completing tests on about 2,000 of its 4,000 members. Police are pursuing some 700 church members who remain out of contact.
Vice health minister Kim Gang-lip urged anyone who participated in the weekend protest to come forward for testing if they experience fever or other symptoms. Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there’s concern that the outbreak at the church could spread nationwide through its members’ activities.
“We believe we are in the early stage of a major outbreak,” she said.
During Saturday’s protest, Jun, who is known for provocative speeches that are often filled with bizarre claims, said the outbreak at his church was a result of an attack, accusing an unspecified opponent of pouring the virus on to the church.
Updated
Here’s an interesting piece on El Pais (in English) about how the outbreak there has been split into two periods with very different characteristics. This bit on how the average age of those infected changed as measures to stop the spread of the virus came into place is especially striking:
Age. In the new normality, more young people are becoming infected with the coronavirus. The reports that are produced by the Carlos III institute, which include diagnoses from all methods, and not just PCR tests, confirm a significant fall in the average age of new positives. For example, the report issued on 3 April by the research institute showed the average age of those diagnosed as infected as between 50 and 59. However, the latest report, published on 6 August, shows an average of 30 to 39 years old. Spanish health minister, Salvador Illa, has recently stated that the average age of new contagions is 40, whereas during the peak of the pandemic it was over 60.
Thanks to reader and Twitter user @josefa1000 for flagging it (and do get in touch @archiebland with your recommendations, folks).
Updated
In New Zealand, Bryce Edwards, a senior associate at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University, Wellington, writes that Jacinda Ardern’s move to delay the election is smart politics:
Keeping the election date early, when her own party is polling sky-high would have looked like self-interest. By pushing it out she appears magnanimous and conciliatory and, as a result, she’s receiving plaudits. The decision reiterates Ardern’s strong decision-making and leadership skills that have helped the country get through the health crisis.
Edwards’ piece has just been published here:
Meanwhile in France, a gathering of 9,000 at a theme park drew an outcry after it circumvented a legal limit on gatherings of more than 5,000 people.
Puy du Fou, which organises re-enactments of French historical events, was permitted to fill 9,000 of its 13,000 seats on Saturday by arranging its open-air stands into three separate blocks divided by Plexiglas screens, Reuters reports.
The Puy du Fou event sparked a storm of protest on social media and from opposition politicians.
“There are social distancing rules and there are dispensations for the friends of the president. Macron had brought forward the (re-)opening of Puy du Fou (after coronavirus lockdown). Now they are allowed to create coronavirus clusters,” Greens party national secretary Julien Bayou wrote on his Twitter feed.
The French culture minister, Roselyne Bachelot, denied that Puy du Fou owner, Philippe De Villiers, a conservative former cabinet minister who has made two presidential bids, had received special treatment. “No favours were given at Puy du Fou,” Bachelot said on BFM television on Monday.
She said open-air events for more than 5,000 people could get the go-ahead provided they apply individual seating, strict social distancing and mandatory mask-wearing.
Updated
In China, partygoers in Wuhan packed out a water park over the weekend for an electronic music festival that is part of the region’s efforts to revive its economy as it recovers from coronavirus.
AFP reports:
The park - which local media says has capped attendance at 50% of normal capacity – is offering half-price discounts for female visitors.
A performer in a stage show at the front of the water waved at the crowd, packed close and waving their arms back, some snapping photos on phones protected in plastic pouches round their necks.
Another performer on a water jet board entertained his audience by hovering above them with sparks shooting from his back.
Some of the crowd had donned life jackets, but none of the tightly-packed partygoers were seen to be wearing face masks as a DJ in bright yellow headphones played on stage.
The first known cases of Covid-19 emerged in Wuhan late last year, a city of 11 million people, before the virus spread across the world, killing hundreds of thousands and crippling economies.
Now, to try and boost the local economy, the Hubei government has been offering free entry to 400 tourist sites across the province.
China has largely brought its domestic epidemic under control, but sporadic outbreaks and a summer of severe flooding have exacerbated the economic fallout.
Updated
In the US, Alexandra Villareal has been reporting from Austin on how Covid-19 has highlighted the city’s homelessness crisis and presented support workers with an agonising dilemma:
At the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (Arch), visitors seeking day services – restrooms, showers, internet – couldn’t just walk into the facility anymore, a “heartbreaking” tradeoff to shield the men sleeping there, explained Amy Price, director of development and communications at Front Steps, which manages the Arch.
“You don’t want to have barriers that keep people from getting help. So we’re a low-barrier shelter during a pandemic, when safety protocols are escalating,” she said. “That’s the conundrum for every single shelter.”
You can read Alexandra’s piece here.
Updated
Hi, this is Archie Bland taking over from Caroline Davies.
With criticism rising in Japan of the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, and news today that Japan has been hit by its biggest economic contraction in 40 years, questions have been raised over prime minister Shinzo Abe’s decision not to hold press conferences. But AFP reports that Abe’s own ill-health may be behind his absence.
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, whose first term in office ended in part for health reasons, sparked fresh speculation Monday about his well-being with an unexpected, hours-long hospital visit.
Abe emerged from the Tokyo hospital where he was previously treated for ulcerative colitis more than seven hours after he entered, and left by car without saying anything, according to TV footage of local media.
His previously unannounced visit to a hospital in Tokyo on Monday morning prompted a local media frenzy and comes after weeks of speculation about his health ...
While Japan has seen a comparatively small coronavirus outbreak compared to the world’s worst-hit countries, Abe has been criticised for several policy flubs in handling the crisis.
His programme to distribute cloth masks to each household was widely mocked, and he was forced into an embarrassing U-turn on distribution of stimulus funds.
His approval ratings have sunk during the crisis, though the country’s divided opposition have regularly failed to capitalise on falls in Abe’s ratings.
Updated
Hi. That’s all from me, Caroline Davies. Handing over to my colleague Archie Bland now. Thank you for your time.
Hong Kong reported 44 new cases on Monday as the government announced an extension to social distancing measures aimed at controlling further spreading of the virus, which has seen a resurgence in the Asian financial hub since early July.
While the number of daily cases have come down from triple digits in recent weeks, authorities have cautioned residents from becoming complacent, warning that the situation remained “severe”.
Restrictions including a ban on dining at restaurants from 6pm and the mandating of masks in all outdoor public areas are set to remain in force for a further seven days until August 25, the government said in a statement on Monday.
Out of the 44 cases recorded on Monday, 31 of them were local transmissions, Reuters reports.
Since late January, over 4500 people have been infected in Hong Kong, 69 of whom have died. Monday’s figure was down from Sunday’s 74 cases.
In Ireland, the health minister said he has had no conversations with his public health team about implementing other local lockdowns and the government’s intention remains to lift two-week restrictions in the counties of Kildare, Offaly and Laois.
The country’s health officials will meet today to decide if further measures are needed to slow a sharp increase in the spread of coronavirus that the government and officials have described as deeply concerning.
“Nothing like that has been proposed at the moment... The plan is for the restrictions for the three affected counties to be lifted midnight on Sunday. That’s still the intention,” Stephen Donnelly told national broadcaster RTE.
Indonesia reported 1,821 new coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing its infection total to 141,370, data from government’s COVID-19 task force showed.
The Southeast Asian country also added 57 new deaths, taking its fatalities to 6,207, the highest death toll in Southeast Asia.
Here is a handy explainer on New Zealand’s first locally transmitted coronavirus outbreak in more than three months, put together by Reuters.
Almost a week after the discovery of the outbreak, its origin remains a mystery.
Genome testing of the latest batch of infections, called the “Auckland August cluster”, has confirmed it is a new strain, probably from Australia or Britain.
The major question is how it entered a country that has been largely closed off for months.
The earliest case authorities have identified to date is a 50-year-old man who works at an Auckland cool store owned by U.S.-based Americold Realty Trust, who became ill around July 31.
The man’s case, along with those of three direct family members, was made public by prime minister Jacinda Ardern on Aug. 11.
Family members had travelled to other cities, including Rotorua and Hamilton, and visited an aged care centre while symptomatic.
There are now 78 active cases, of which 58 are linked to the Auckland family cluster. The remaining 20 cases are people in mandatory quarantine facilities after arriving in New Zealand from abroad.
How Covid-19 returned is the major question still facing authorities, given the international border has been closed to foreigners since March and all returning New Zealanders have been forced into mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Contact tracing and genomic testing found no links to the country’s border entry points or managed quarantine facilities yet.
The government earlier suggested that the virus may have entered the country through freight, with a focus on the Auckland Americold facility where several infections have now been reported. Surface testing is underway at the facility. Australian authorities are conducting genome testing on workers from a Melbourne Americool facility, seeking any connection.
New Zealand’s health chief Ashley Bloomfield has since said said human-to-human transmission is the most likely culprit, with surface transmission “unlikely”.
Opposition parties and government critics have pointed to a breach at one of New Zealand’s quarantine facilities as the likely conduit for the virus.
Ardern has locked down the country’s biggest city, Auckland, and brought back social distancing restrictions more widely for two weeks. She has also delayed a national election due next month.
Testing has been ramped up in the community to record levels and Aucklanders and others have been strongly advised to wear masks in public.
Border testing at airports and ports has increased and quarantine staff are being tested more regularly.
Updated
Thousands of members of a church linked to a coronavirus cluster in Seoul have been asked to quarantine, South Korean authorities said on Monday.
Over the weekend the capital and neighbouring Gyeonggi province banned all religious gatherings and urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel after a burst of new cases sparked fears of a major second wave, AFP reports.
South Korea reported 197 new infections on Monday, taking its total to 15,515, its fourth consecutive day of triple-digit increases after several weeks with numbers generally in the 30s and 40s.
The largest current cluster is centred on the Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul, headed by Jun Kwang-hun, a controversial conservative pastor who is a leading figure in protests against President Moon Jae-in.
A total of 315 cases linked to the church had been confirmed by the end of the weekend, officials said, making it one of the biggest clusters so far, and around 3,400 members of the congregation had been asked to quarantine.
Philippine government records second positive Covid-19 test
A Philippine government minister has tested positive for coronavirus five months after an initial diagnosis, authorities said on Monday, as experts investigate whether he had been re-infected.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano, who is helping to spearhead the country’s virus response, said he returned a positive test on Saturday after experiencing flu-like symptoms last week, AFP reports.
He was first diagnosed with COVID-19 in March, but did not show any signs of the disease at the time.
People infected with coronavirus build up antibodies starting about a week after infection or the onset of symptoms, research has shown.
But scientists are still unsure whether the body systematically builds up enough immunity to ward off a new attack by the virus or, if it does, how long such immunity lasts.
Some studies have shown that patients who recover from the virus may lose their immunity within months, or even weeks.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said experts were analysing Ano’s symptoms, his previous positive test, and laboratory results to see if this is a second infection.
“Let’s not call it a re-infection. The scientific community has not yet accepted that a re-infection occurs,” Vergeire cautioned.
The country’s virus caseload has surged above 160,000 - the highest in Southeast Asia - with more than 2,600 deaths. More than a quarter of the infections remain active.
Updated
More details on the situation in Lebanon, [see post at 7.14] where a warehouse explosion damaged many hospitals and overwhelmed them with more than 6,000 wounded. It also put about half of 55 medical centres across Beirut out of service, the World Health Organization (WHO) said last week.
“We are all facing a real challenge and the numbers that were recorded in the last period are shocking,” Hassan, the caretaker government’s health minister said. “The matter requires decisive measures.” Intensive care beds at state and private hospitals were now full, he added.
In comments to Reuters, Hassan said authorities would not close the country’s airport so far, with the rise stemming mostly from within the country.
“The real danger is the spread within society,” he said. “Everyone must be on high alert and take the strictest prevention measures.”
Still, after the blast uprooted nearly a quarter of a million people, the risk of the virus spreading has grown, the WHO has said. The country’s tally now stands at 8,881 cases and 103 deaths since February, according to health ministry data.
The first day of hearings for the Victorian hotel inquiry in Australia has heard that a mandatory training module on Covid-19 for private security personnel working in hotel quarantine appeared designed for the general public, Josh Taylor reports.
It contained no advice on personal protective equipment and gave “confusing” and “clearly misleading” advice about mask use, the hotel quarantine inquiry, being overseen by former judge Jennifer Coate, has heard.
A training module on Covid-19 that personnel working for security contractors in hotel quarantine were required to undertake was examined by the director of infectious diseases at Austin Health, Prof Lindsay Graham.
In line with early advice for the general public at the time, one slide in the training suggested, in July, that mask use was not required, and a quiz at the end marked users as incorrect if they said that everyone should wear masks to prevent Covid-19.
Grayson said the mask advice at the time was not correct for people working in settings looking after people who were potentially Covid-positive.
The first two days of hearings will focus on the nature of Covid-19 as an illness, and the extent to which infections now seen in Victoria could be traced back to international travellers.
On Thursday and Friday, the inquiry will examine the experience of being in quarantine and the experience of working in the hotel quarantine program, but a witness list has not yet been released.
You can read Josh’s report here:
Updated
Russia reported 4,892 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, pushing its tally so far to 927,745, the fourth largest in the world.
Authorities said 55 people had died across the country in the last 24 hours, increasing Russia’s official death toll to 15,740.
Thailand suffers worst economic contraction in more than two decades
Thailand’s economy suffered its worst contraction since the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago, data showed today, as the coronavirus shattered the country’s crucial tourism industry.
The kingdom has largely escaped the worst of the disease - registering 3,300 cases and 58 deaths despite being the first country outside China to register an infection in January.
But pandemic-spurred lockdowns brought the economy to a staggering halt, shrinking 12.2 percent in the second quarter growth, according to the Office of National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC).
The outbreak “has made our economy fall by 12.2 percent, lower than during the Tom Yum Kung crisis”, said secretary-general Thosaporn Sirisumphand, using the local name for the Asian Financial Crisis that struck in 1998. The economy shrank 12.5 percent in the second quarter of that year.
The NESDC forecast a 7.5 percent contraction in 2020.
The slump is “not as dramatic as some regional peers”, said economist Alex Holmes at Singapore-based Capital Economics, pointing out Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines saw worse readings.
But “the outlook remains one of the worst in the region because of Thailand’s reliance on tourism”, he told AFP.
Some 40 million tourists were expected to arrive in the kingdom this year but the travel industry was the first casualty when pandemic lockdowns went into effect globally in March.
The kingdom’s freefalling economy has been a catalyst for nationwide near-daily protests by student-led demonstrators, denouncing the administration of premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former military chief who led a 2014 coup.
The 14th century Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon temple complex in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok. Photograph: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images
Updated
China’s vaccine specialist CanSino Biologics Inc has won a patent approval from Beijing for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate Ad5-nCOV, state media reported, citing documents from the country’s intellectual property regulator.
Issued on 11 August, the patent is the first Covid-19 vaccine patent granted by China, according to the state-owned newspaper People’s Daily. The patent is a commercial milestone, not a scientific one.
“The patent will prevent others from copying the vaccine but it is not an essential step for progressing the vaccine into more clinical trials,” Professor Marc Pellegrini, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, told the Guardian.
Pellegrini noted the vaccine was published in the Lancet some weeks ago, around the same time as the Oxford group published their vaccine.
Both use the adenovirus (which causes common infections like the cold) to mimic the coat of Sars-CoV-2 and elicit immunity.
Saudi Arabia said this month it plans to begin Phase III clinical trials for the CanSino vaccine. CanSino has said it is also in talks with Russia, Brazil and Chile to launch Phase III trials in those countries.
CanSino’s Hong Kong shares rose around 14% in Monday’s morning session. Its Shanghai shares rose by 6.6% as of midday.
Updated
Lebanon should be locked down for two weeks after a spike in COVID-19 infections, the caretaker government’s health minister was quoted as saying on Monday.
“We declare today a state of general alert and we need a brave decision to close (the country) for two weeks,” Hamad Hassan told Voice of Lebanon radio.
Lebanon registered a record 439 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Sunday, Reuters reports.
Updated
Hi. Caroline Davies here. I am going to be helming the blog for the next few hours. You can get in touch on caroline.davies@theguardian.com
Summary
Here’s a summary of today’s coronavirus developments so far:
- Japan has suffered its worst economic contraction of modern times, with April-June GDP falling a record 7.8%, which equates to an annualised rate of 27.8%. Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan’s economy, fell 8.2% for the quarter. External demand, or exports minus imports, shaved 3.0% off GDP, as the pandemic hit global demand.
- New Zealand postponed its general election for a month as its Auckland Covid cluster grew to 58. The poll was moved from 19 September to 17 October. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said she had factored in participation of voters, fairness and certainty, in her decision to delay the vote. She also said the date would not be moved again.
- The US death toll has passed 170,000, with 5.4m infections. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Protection, the rolling 7-day average for new cases now stands at 52,182.
- Australia reported its deadliest day of the pandemic on Monday, with 25 deaths in the southern state of Victoria, which has been particularly hard hit by a substantial outbreak of the virus. All but three of the victims were linked to outbreaks in aged care homes. In the neighbouring state of New South Wales, school choirs and group wind-instrument sessions were banned for six weeks, in an attempt to stop community transmission.
- In India, the death toll from the virus passed 50,000 on Monday, according to the health ministry, after 941 new fatalities were reported in the previous 24 hours. India now has the fourth-worst death toll (behind the US, Brazil and Mexico) and the third highest rate of infections at 2.6m (behind the US and Brazil).
- Italy has closed its nightclubs from Monday for three weeks and made it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors in some areas between 6pm and 6am. It’s the first reintroduction of restrictions as cases rise, particularly among young people.
- China reported no new local coronavirus cases in the western region of Xinjiang on according to national data, marking the first time the area’s case count was zero since mid-July. Nationally there were 22 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for 16 August, compared with 19 cases a day earlier, the health authority said.
- Mexico’s health ministry reported on Sunday 4,448 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 214 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 522,162 cases and 56,757 deaths.
Updated
Australian state bans choirs and wind instruments in groups
In case you missed it earlier, Australia suffered its deadliest day of the pandemic with 25 deaths being reported in the southern state of Victoria, 22 of which were in aged care homes.
In the neighbouring state of New South Wales, the government announced changes to schools for the next six weeks, in order to reduce the spread of the virus in the community. These include bans on all singing and chanting and the playing of wind instruments in group settings.
Schools will no longer be able to travel outside their local community area to play sport, including between rural and regional areas. And inter-school sport and area carnivals will be restricted to 100 people per venue and must be held in the local area only.
You can read the details of the changes below:
India death toll passes 50,000
India’s death toll from the coronavirus hit 50,000 on Monday, with more than 900 new fatalities reported in 24 hours, health ministry data showed.
The country last week overtook Britain with the world’s fourth-highest number of deaths, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico, and has recorded 2.6 million infections.
India’s death toll from the pandemic now stands at 50,921, an increase of 941 from the previous day, according to the health ministry’s website. The world’s second-most populated country, India has nearly 2.6m infections, making it the third worst affected nation behind the US (5.4m) and Brazil (3.3m).
Experts say India needs to ramp up testing further to get the virus under control as it spreads to rural and regional areas where healthcare systems are particularly fragile or not easily accessible.
In case you missed this earlier in the blog, you can read our story on fears about the virus’s potential impact on rural India here.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said trials and tests on three potential vaccine candidates were being carried out in India and that his government was preparing to produce huge numbers of doses if any are found to be viable.
“Once we get a green signal from our scientists, we will launch massive production of the vaccine. We have made all the preparations,” Modi said in an Independence Day speech on Saturday.
“We have drawn an outline to ramp up the production of the vaccines and to make it available to each and every person in the shortest possible time.”
Updated
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 561 to 224,014, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday.
The reported death toll rose by one to 9,232, the tally showed.
Updated
Japan suffers worst economic contraction in its modern history
There are renewed fears for the health of Japan’s economy after it suffered its biggest contraction on record in the second quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic kept businesses closed and crushed consumer spending.
Japanese GDP shrank a record 7.8% in the April-June quarter – the worst contraction in the nation’s modern history – and at an annual rate of 27.8%, adding to pressure on policymakers to prevent the world’s third-biggest economy from sinking into a deep and prolonged recession.
It was the third straight quarter of contraction and a bigger decline than a median market forecast for a 27.2% drop.
Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan’s economy, fell 8.2% for the quarter, bigger than analysts’ forecast of a 7.1% drop. Exports fell dramatically, at an annual rate of 56%.
Large parts of the economy have reopened since the state of emergency was lifted in late May, but analysts said an expected rebound later this year could be at the mercy of the pandemic.
“We expect the economy will mark a double-digit growth in July-September but it will be merely a rebound from losses in April-June and the level will unlikely be strong,” said Saisuke Sakai, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute.
“There is a chance economic activities may stagnate again if major nations adopt lockdown measures again and Japan reissues a state of emergency.”
The economy minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, said the government would take “flexible and timely” measures to support the economy.
“We hope to do our utmost to push Japan’s economy, which likely bottomed out in April and May, back to a recovery path driven by domestic demand,” he told reporters after the GDP data were released.
US death toll passes 170,000
Coronavirus deaths in the United States have passed 170,000, according to the Johns Hopkins university tracker. Cases now stand at 5,4m, with deaths at 170,052.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Protection, the rolling 7-day average for new cases is currently 52,182.
Meanwhile the White House adviser and son-in-law of the president Jared Kushner has said he will “absolutely” send his children back to school when classes reopen, despite widespread concerns that in-person learning puts children, faculty and their families at risk from Covid-19.
You can read our story in full on that below:
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe checks in to hospital
Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has checked into a hospital in Tokyo, local media reported on Monday morning, for what aides described as a “regular check-up”.
That is unlikely to dampen speculation about Abe’s health, however. The 65-year-old has looked tired and drawn in recent weeks, and suffers from a chronic bowel condition – for which he takes medication – that partly brought his first term as prime minister to a premature endin 2007, after a year in office.
Abe’s visit to Keio University Hospital on Monday came a day after the former economy minister, Akira Amari, told a TV programme that the prime minister needed some rest.
Abe has come under fire for not holding regular press briefings on Japan’s response to Covid-19 amid a resurgence in cases in Tokyo and other parts of the country. His plans for a short summer break last week were derailed by the governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, who called on Tokyo residents to avoid all but essential travel outside the capital.
Speculation about Abe’s health has been growing since a weekly magazine reported earlier this month that he had vomited blood in July.
Mexico records nearly 4,500 new cases
Mexico’s health ministry reported on Sunday 4,448 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 214 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 522,162 cases and 56,757 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
China reports no new cases in Xinjiang
China has reported no new local coronavirus cases in the western region of Xinjiang on according to national data, marking the first time the area’s case count was zero since mid-July.
Nationally there were 22 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for 16 August, compared with 19 cases a day earlier, the health authority said.
All of the new infections were imported cases, the National Health Commission said in a statement. There were no new deaths.
China also reported 37 new asymptomatic patients, compared with 16 a day earlier.
Gladys Berejiklian has also made an apology for mistakes made over the Ruby Princess cruise ship, which docked in Sydney in March. Passengers were allowed to disembark despite several exhibiting flu-like symptoms.
Gladys Berejiklian said:
Can I now apologise unreservedly to anybody who suffered as a result of the mistakes that were outlined in the report undertaken by individuals within the health department or the health agency and I extend that apology unreservedly.
In particular to the 62 people who got the virus in secondly or tertiary way.
Those 62 people who weren’t on the ship but somehow contracted the virus as a consequence of that disembarkation.
And I want to say I can’t imagine what it would be like having a loved one or being someone yourself who continues to suffer and experience trauma as a result and I want to apologise unreservedly that – to anybody who is continuing to suffer or has suffered unimaginable loss because of mistakes that were made within – within the health agencies.
You can follow all of our Australian live coverage on our Australia blog below.
In the neighbouring Australian state of New South Wales – the country’s most populous – the premier, Gladys Berejiklian has spoken about her anxiety over containing community transmission:
While the case numbers have been pleasingly declining, my anxiety remains the same, if not slightly higher, because every week we have had undetected or unsourced cases.
Health is working overnight 24/7 to find the genomic links or find those links between the cases that don’t have a known source and existing clusters.
I mean, potentially the virus is continuing to spread in particular parts of south-western and western Sydney and that is a big concern because if you look back to Melbourne, Melbourne didn’t get worse because of the number of cases they had, they had undetected community transmission which then unknowingly got to a stage where it did – it did form a number of different clusters and we certainly don’t want that to happen here in New South Wales.
New South Wales has had much smaller numbers of community transmission, with cases under 10 on each of the past four days.
Just a quick update from the two other press conferences that have been going on – both in Australia:
First to Victoria, where we have learned more details of the 25 Victorians who died in the last 24 hours, on Australia’s deadliest day:
- One man in his 60s
- Four women and three men in their 70s
- Six women and four men in their 80s
- Four women and three men in their 90s.
Twenty-two of those 25 fatalities are linked to aged care outbreaks.
There are 657 Victorians in hospital – 44 of those are receiving intensive care and 32 of those 44 are on a ventilator.
Bloomfield praises those New Zealanders who have come forward to be tested:
“It’s been very heartening to see the number of people coming forward to get tested,” Bloomfield says.
Bloomfield says there are now 78 cases active in NZ, 58 of which are from the Auckland cluster discovered last week. The twenty other cases are in managed isolation quarantine facilities and are imported.
Five people are receiving hospital care, all of whom are connected to the cluster.
Updated
Nine new Covid cases in New Zealand
We are about to hear from New Zealand’s director general of health, Ashely Bloomfield, on the growing cluster of cases in Auckland – as of Sunday there were 49 community transmission cases.
In case you missed it earlier, the PM, Jacinda Ardern, delayed the country’s election this morning from 19 September to 17 October.
Bloomfield says there are 9 new cases in the community. Seven of them have been linked to previous cases in the Auckland cluster. Two are under investigation. He says they are believed to be linked to the cluster.
There have been four new Covid-19 deaths in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, according to the UN Palestinian refugee agency.
This brings to eight the total number of Palestinian refugees who have died from coronavirus since Lebanon first recorded an outbreak of the virus in February.
Over 200,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, the majority living below the poverty line, according to UN. Their right to work and own property is restricted.
The UN agency, which provides health and education services to Palestinians across the region, called for vigilance in observing measures to combat the spread of the virus in the densely populated camps.
“If prevention is not adhered to, things may get out of control in the Palestine refugee camps in Lebanon,” the statement said.
A UNRWA spokesperson told AFP that particular concern focused on the largest, most-populous camp of Ain al-Hilweh, near the southern city of Sidon.
Lebanon has seen a spike in coronavirus-related cases and deaths, including 439 new infections on Sunday alone. That brought the total number of infections to 8,881 cases, including 103 deaths since the start of the outbreak in February.
A planned return to lockdown was abandoned in the wake of a massive explosion that ripped through large parts of Beirut on 4 August, forcing thousands of people to seek medical attention at the capital’s already overwhelmed hospitals.
We are expecting two press conferences in Australia in about 10 mins (from Victoria and NSW) and also one from New Zealand. I’ll do my best to wrap them all up for you.
In India, there are growing fears of an “invisible catastrophe” unfolding in the country’s rural villages.
Some 600 million Indians live in in rural areas and data from the National Family Health Survey-4 showed that only about 25% of of them have access to public outpatient healthcare.
There are also grave concerns for around 70% of India’s elderly population, who live in villages. Co-morbidities abound and are often left untreated because medical services are far away.
In the eastern state of Bihar, one of India’s poorest areas where around a third of people live below the poverty line, 90% of the population lives in villages. It has only one bed and just under 4 doctors per 10,000 people according to the 2019 National Health Profile. At the best of times, it struggles to deal with viral fevers or dengue outbreaks.
You can read our full feature on the crisis facing rural India from the Guardian’s Amrit Dhillon, below.
Updated
France reports 3,000 cases for second day running
France’s health ministry on Sunday reported 3,015 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, the second day in a row in which new cases have surpassed the 3,000 mark.
However, the daily count was below the 3,310 cases reported on Saturday that marked a post-lockdown high.
It’s led authorities in the country’s two biggest cities, Paris and Marseille, to expand zones where wearing a mask is mandatory outdoors, while the government is set to propose masks be worn in shared indoor workspaces.
The resurgence also prompted the UK to impose quarantine restrictions on people arriving home from France. They came into force at 4am on Saturday.
The number of coronavirus clusters being investigated in France had increased to 263, the ministry said in its a website update.
The number of people in hospital was up slightly at 4,860, but the number of intensive care patients was unchanged at 376 after increasing the previous day, the ministry said.
France’s cumulative death toll for hospitals and nursing homes had risen by one to 30,410, it said.
Australia has recorded its deadliest day so far of the pandemic, with 25 deaths, all in the southern state of Victoria. The state government said there were also 282 new cases of the virus, which appears to show a bending of the infection curve, following the imposition of a strict level-4 lockdown in the state capital, Melbourne.
#Covid19VicData for 17 August 2020.
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 16, 2020
282 new cases of #coronavirus (#COVID19) detected in Victoria in the last 24 hours. Sadly, 25 deaths were reported. We send our condolences to their families.
More detail will be provided this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/YimNIhtGj5
These new figures mean that more than 400 Australian’s have died during the pandemic.
There are growing concerns for the mental health of Victorians during this substantial outbreak. Australian Associated Press reports:
Melburnians have been in strict lockdown for several weeks, with restrictions also placed on regional Victorian residents.
There has been a 33% rise in Victorian children and young people presenting to hospital with self-harm injuries over the past six weeks compared to the previous year.
Over the past month, Victorian use of Beyond Blue services was 90% higher than the rest of the country.
Victorians used Lifeline 22% more than other Australians, with calls to Kids Helpline also higher than other parts of the country.
The Australian prime minister’s office has said there will be an additional $31.9m to create 15 mental health clinics across Victoria and further enhance essential support during the Covid-19 pandemic.
We are expecting a live update from the Victorian premier later today.
Updated
Italy closes nightclubs for three weeks
Italy is to shut discos and clubs and make it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors in some areas between 6pm and 6am.
It’s the first reintroduction of restrictions as cases rise, particularly among young people. Cases have double in three weeks and the median age of those affected is now below 40.
The new rules will start on Monday – two days after an Italian holiday when many young Italians go out dancing – and will run until early September. Masks will be required between 6pm-6am in areas close to bars and pubs and where gatherings are more likely.
“We cannot nullify the sacrifices made in past months. Our priority must be that of opening schools in September, in full safety,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Facebook.
Speranza on Saturday urged young people to be as cautious as possible as “if they infect their parents and their grandparents, they risk creating real damage”.
On Sunday, 479 new cases were confirmed in the country, down from 629 on Saturday.
Testing on holidaymakers landing in Rome’s airports began on Sunday after the government said on Wednesday that people travelling from Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain must be screened for the virus.
Updated
New Zealand delays election
New Zealand’s PM is living up to her mantra of “go hard and go early” to contain the country’s growing community-transmiossion coronavirus outbreak, which now stands at 49. Less than a week after the Auckland cluster was discovered, Jacinda Ardern has postponed the country’s election from 19 September to 17 October.
Ardern said the biggest risk to overcome would be ensuring 25,000 election workers were well-protected as they go about their work.
She said she had factored in participation of voters, fairness and certainty in her decision. She also said the date would not be moved again.
“Covid will be with us for some time to come. Continuously pushing out an election does not lessen the risk of disruption and this is why the Electoral Commission has planned for the possibility of holding an election where the country is at level 2, and with some parts at level 3,” she said.
“I have absolutely no intention at all to change from this point.”
A local poll released on Monday suggested 60% of New Zealanders did not think the original September date should stand.
Parliament will now dissolve on 6 September.
As of Sunday, there were 69 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, including 49 cases from the community connected to or likely to be connected to the Auckland cluster.
Updated
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the global coronavirus pandemic, with me, Alison Rourke.
In the past half hour New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has postponed the country’s election – due to be held on 19 September – because of the new outbreak of coronavirus in the country. The election will now be held on 17 October. New Zealand had gone more than 100 days without a single case of community transmission of Covid-19, until last week, when four new cases were identified in Auckland. There are now 49 community transmission cases in the country.
In other coronavirus developments:
- Italy has closed nightclubs for three weeks from Monday, and said it will be mandatory for face masks to be worn in public areas where groups form, from 6pm-6am.
- Australia has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic with 25 deaths. The country’s second biggest city of Melbourne has been fighting a major outbreak. There were also 282 new cases reported in the past 24 hours in the state of Victoria, which appears to show the curve is bending as a result of lockdown measures being reintroduced.
- The UK recorded 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to Sunday morning. It brings total confirmed cases to nearly 320,000. It comes as UK media reported localised coronavirus restrictions in some parts of the North of England could be lifted this week, after around 4.5 million people in Greater Manchester, East Lancashire and West Yorkshire were subjected to a new lockdown more than two weeks ago.
- France said on Sunday that 236 coronavirus infection clusters were being investigated, as the daily number of new confirmed cases rose by more than 3,000 for the second day in a row.
- Brazil on Sunday reported 23,101 new coronavirus infections, taking the overall tally to 3,340,197, as well as 620 new deaths.
- Israel will relax some social distancing restrictions from Monday, allowing up to 20 people to gather indoors and up to 30 people in open spaces. It will also relax quarantine rules for workers from some foreign countries.
- Ireland’s health chiefs will meet on Monday to decide if further restrictions are needed to slow a sharp increase in the spread of coronavirus that the government and officials have described as deeply concerning.
Updated
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