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Summary
Here the latest key developments at a glance:
- Coronavirus cases in Colombia surpassed 600,000 on Sunday as deaths from the virus approach 19,400, ahead of the end to more than five months of lockdown.
- Brazil registered 566 additional coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours and 16,158 new cases, the health ministry said on Sunday evening.
- The UK recorded 1,715 daily confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, the highest level since 4 June.
- Not all classrooms in France can safely reopen on Tuesday, the country’s education minister acknowledged on Sunday, as a persistent rise in coronavirus infections jeopardises the government’s push to get 12.9 million schoolchildren back into class this week.
- Jordan reported 73 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, its highest daily tally since the start of the outbreak, bringing its total infections to 1,966, with 15 deaths.
- Piers Corbyn, the brother of former UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has become one of the first people in the country to receive a £10,000 fine under new coronavirus laws restricting public gatherings of more than 30 people.
- Ghana will reopen air borders to international travel from 1 September after closing them in March to limit the spread of the virus.
- New York state governor Andrew Cuomo harshly criticised US president Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic on Sunday, and accused his administration of being “still in denial mode”.
That’s all from me, my colleague Alison Rourke will take over shortly.
Brazil registered 566 additional coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours and 16,158 new cases, the health ministry said on Sunday evening.
The nation has now registered 120,828 deaths attributed to coronavirus and 3,862,311 confirmed cases.
Sundays tend to have relatively low coronavirus numbers in Brazil because of delays in testing by the nation’s state governments, Reuters reports.
Infections in Colombia climb above 600,000 mark
Coronavirus cases in Colombia surpassed 600,000 on Sunday as deaths from the virus approach 19,400, ahead of the end to more than five months of lockdown.
The Andean country has 607,938 confirmed cases of the virus according to the health ministry, with 19,364 reported deaths. Active cases number 136,702, Reuters reports.
President Ivan Duque declared a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the virus in late March.
The measure will end on Monday when the country begins a month-long “selective” quarantine.
Many sectors have already gradually reopened. Under the new measures restaurants can function at 25% capacity but large events such as concerts remain banned.
Intensive care units in Bogota are at about 73% capacity, according to local health authorities. The capital is home to more than a third of Colombia’s cases.
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Piers Corbyn, the brother of Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the UK’s Labour party, has become one of the first people to receive a £10,000 fixed penalty under new coronavirus laws restricting public gatherings of more than 30 people.
The weather forecaster and climate change denier was arrested and fined for his part in organising Saturday’s demonstration in central London against lockdown restrictions.
The 73-year-old said he was arrested on the stage set up in Trafalgar Square at the end of the event, while protesters marched off down Whitehall.
My colleague Damien Gayle has more.
Updated
Ghana to open air borders again
Ghana will reopen air borders to international travel as of 1 September after closing them in March to limit the spread of the coronavirus, president Nana Akufo-Addo said in a speech to the nation on Sunday.
Land and sea borders will remain closed, he said.
According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, Ghana has so far recorded 44,205 infections, and 276 deaths.
Updated
United Airlines said on Sunday it is permanently eliminating change fees on tickets for US travel effective immediately, the latest effort by a US airline to try to stimulate bookings hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Chicago-based United is among the major US airlines that began implementing temporary waivers of change fees this year to give passengers more flexibility with their travel plans given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
Now it is making the policy permanent for all standard Economy and Premium cabin tickets and also applying it to any ticket already booked through the end of the year.
The standard change fee – charged to passengers who change their tickets – for domestic flights was $200.
In a video message to customers, chief executive Scott Kirby said getting rid of fees is often a top request from passengers.
The move matches Southwest Airlines’ long-standing policy of not charging fees for ticket changes, Reuters reports.
Rivals American Airlines and Delta Air Lines traditionally do charge for changes.
Along with United, they were booking record revenues before the pandemic crushed demand, thanks largely to fees for things like checking luggage or choosing a seat.
In another change, beginning 1 January, United will allow customers to list for stand-by for free on a different flight on the same day of travel with the same departure and arrival cities if a seat is available.
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Jordan sees record daily rise in cases
Jordan reported 73 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, its highest daily tally since the start of the outbreak, the health ministry said.
The country’s total number of confirmed infections now stands at 1,966, with 15 deaths, since the first case surfaced in early March, according to the health ministry.
Jordan has seen a jump in daily numbers over the last 10 days, prompting authorities to toughen a nationwide overnight curfew, which now starts at 11pm rather than 1am, and to introduce a one-day lockdown in the capital Amman on Friday.
Officials have also delayed the resumption of regular commercial flights from Alia international airport, which was expected to happen this month, hampering prospects of a rapid recovery for its debt-burdened economy.
Prime minister Omar al Razzaz said on Sunday that, while the government would continue to take specific moves when necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19 by isolating certain districts and cities, it did not envisage a return to the sweeping lockdown that stifled the economy.
The government sealed its border crossing with Syria earlier this month following a Covid-19 outbreak involving truck drivers arriving from its northern neighbour, Reuters reports.
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Police broke up an overnight illegal rave in a forest in eastern England on Sunday, days after the British government introduced tougher measures to target “serious breaches” of Covid-19 restrictions, including £10,000 ($13,000) fines.
Dozens of officers, some holding protective shields, faced off with the revellers in Thetford Forest but despite a few scuffles, the party was largely dispersed peacefully.
There did not appear to have been any arrests and the police dismantled the sound system.
Before a three-day bank holiday weekend, the government had said “those facilitating or organising illegal raves, unlicensed music events, or any other unlawful gathering of more than 30 people may face a 10,000-pound fine”.
“I understand people shouldn’t gather in groups of above 30 but people are itching to socialise and have a night out,” said one reveller who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“People don’t want violence,” the man added.
“We’ve come here to socialise and then clear up after ourselves.”
The police have had to break up several illegal raves in other parts of England as the government tries to balance opening up the economy by loosening restrictions on socialising with protecting the public’s health.
Not all classrooms in France can safely reopen on Tuesday, the country’s education minister acknowledged on Sunday, as a persistent rise in coronavirus infections jeopardises the government’s push to get 12.9 million schoolchildren back into class this week.
Like many governments around the world, including the UK, France wants to reopen all schools on Tuesday to reduce the learning gaps between rich and poor students that were worsened by the virus lockdown this spring, and to get parents back to work and revive the ailing economy, the Associated Press reports.
With several thousand new infections now reported in France every day, Jean-Michel Blanquer, the education minister, told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that some classes will remain closed when the nationwide reopening begins on Tuesday, but as few as possible.
With less than 48 hours to go before the first French school bells ring, he said openings and closures were being decided by a day-by-day analysis based on the health situation of each territory.
French doctors published an appeal on Saturday saying that the government’s anti-virus measures for schools are not strict enough.
They urged masks for children as young as six and a mix of online and in-person schooling.
Currently, French schools are set to resume largely as normal, but with masks required all day for everyone 11 and over and some restrictions on movements and gatherings.
In contrast, other European countries like Denmark and many school districts in the US are undergoing a full school day revamp that includes smaller classes, more teachers, more separation between students and classes and a mix of in-class and online learning.
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Mexican airline Interjet said on Sunday it will increase the number of routes and frequency of its domestic flights starting in September, including boosting travel options to the country’s northern states and popular tourist destinations.
Interjet, one of Mexico’s three biggest airlines with a portfolio of more than 50 routes, said it will enforce health and safety measures and also offer its passengers free rapid Covid-19 tests and N95 masks.
In July, Interjet received a $150m (£112m) capital injection to help it through a major restructuring in a bid to offset the crisis in the airline sector as the coronavirus pandemic choked global travel.
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The number of deaths in the US caused by coronavirus rose by 1,006 to 182,149 people, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Sunday.
The CDC reported 44,292 new infections as of 4pm ET on Sunday versus its previous report a day earlier, bringing the countries total number of confirmed cases to 5,934,824.
The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
France reported 5,413 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Sunday, slightly down from the 5,453 recorded on Saturday.
The health ministry said the cumulative number of Covid-19 deaths rose to 30,606 from 30,602 reported on Saturday.
The number of people in hospital with the disease was 4,535 versus 4,530 the day before and the number in intensive care rose to 402 from 400.
“In mainland France, the progression of the Covid-19 epidemic is exponential. The strong growth dynamics of transmission is very worrying.” the ministry said in a statement.
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A fishing boat carrying nearly 370 migrants landed overnight on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the country’s news agencies said on Sunday, fuelling anger from local officials over a recent rise in illegal arrivals, AFP reports.
Italy has been struggling in recent months with daily arrivals of hundreds of migrants leaving from North Africa to its southern shores, a task complicated by security measures imposed by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Local Lampedusa mayor Toto Martello called for a general strike on the island from Monday to protest the national government’s “frightening silence” on the issue.
“Lampedusa can no longer cope with this situation. Either the government takes immediate decisions or the whole island will go on strike,” Martello told ANSA news agency.
“We can’t manage the emergency and the situation is now really unsustainable.”
The boat carrying 367 people, which was in danger of sinking due to high winds, was escorted by the Italian coast guard and police to the island’s port, ANSA news agency said.
Those onboard included 13 women and 33 minors.
They were met at the port by a demonstration organised by the far-right, anti-immigrant League party.
The migrants, whose nationalities were not known, underwent temperature checks before they were taken to an emergency reception centre on the island which now houses some 1,160 people, ten times its planned maximum capacity, Martello told ANSA.
About 30 other small boats, mostly from the Tunisian coast, had already reached the island since Friday carrying a total of around 500 migrants, the Italian press reported.
Nello Musumeci, the right-leaning leader of sister island Sicily, wrote on Facebook on Sunday that he would ask the government for a meeting on the “humanitarian and health crisis”.
“Lampedusa can’t do it anymore. Sicily cannot continue to pay for the indifference of Brussels and the silence of Rome,” he wrote.
Musumeci issued a decree last week ordering the closure of migrant centres in Sicily to curb the spread of coronavirus, a move that was rejected by the Italian courts.
More than 1,000 people have been tested for Covid-19 following an outbreak being linked to a bingo night in Staffordshire, England.
There are 16 known cases linked to the event at Silverdale Working Men’s Club on 16 August, according to Staffordshire County Council.
It said anyone who tests positive is being told to self-isolate, while the contacts of those who test positive are being traced.
As part of the council’s test and trace efforts, it is urging anyone who visited certain venues in Silverdale or Newcastle on specific dates to get tested as soon as possible.
The venues are:
- Silverdale Working Men’s Club between 16 and 21 August
- The Bush pub between 20 and 22 August
- The Vine pub between 20 and 23 August
- The George and Dragon pub between 20 and 22 August
- Newcastle (King Street) Working Men’s Club on 22 August
- The Kiln on 22 August
- The Crown on 22 August
- Yates in Newcastle on 22 August
- The Roebuck pub on 23 August
- The Bilash restaurant on 24 August
- The Arnold Machin between 26 and 27
- The Westbury Tavern in Clayton between 26 and 27 August
Staffordshire County Council said testing continues over the bank holiday, with appointments available online or by turning up at a mobile testing unit in Knutton or walk-through centre in Newcastle.
All of the venues listed have carried out risk assessments and, with measures in place, can continue to open and welcome customers, the council added, PA reports.
Dr Richard Harling, director of health and care, said: “What we are seeing from test and trace activity is a widening network from the original bingo event as people met with friends and family and went out socialising.
“More than 1,000 people have already been tested, but we need everyone who was at any of the venues on the given dates to get tested.
“This is vital in our work to identify people who may have the virus and help contain the spread of infection even further.”
UK records highest daily surge in infections since early June
The UK recorded 1,715 daily confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to government data on Sunday, the highest level since 4 June.
One person had died within 28 days of testing positive for the disease, it said.
The government said 41,499 people in total had died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Sunday.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 57,200 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, PA reports.
Overall, 334,467 cases have been confirmed.
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New York state governor Andrew Cuomo harshly criticised US president Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic on Sunday, and accused his administration of being “still in denial mode”.
Writing on Twitter, Cuomo decried the absence of a national strategy for testing and mask rules, which has put the onus of coming up with solutions on governments of individual states.
The White House has learned nothing from COVID.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 30, 2020
National threats require national leadership. It's been 6 months without a national strategy on testing or mask mandate.
Only the federal government has the power to go to war with COVID.
They are failing and the nation suffers.
They are still in denial mode.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 30, 2020
Don't test and if we can't find the cases — they don’t exist.
Great, then let's cure cancer by stopping screenings.
Absurd!
After New York was initially the worst-hit area in the country, new infections and deaths have dropped sharply after mass-scale testing was introduced.
Of the 100,022 tests reported yesterday, 698 were positive (0.69% of total), making Saturday the 23rd consecutive day with an infection rate of below 1%.
Total hospitalisations fell to 429 and 8 further people in the state died with Covid-19.
An unidentified US Open player thought to be France’s Benoit Paire has tested positive for coronavirus and will have to pull out of the US Open starting on Monday, French sports daily L’Equipe reported on Sunday.
Paire, seeded 17th at the Grand Slam event, was scheduled to play Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in the first round at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.
A USTA spokesman said he could “only confirm that a player has tested positive and has been withdrawn”.
The 31-year-old Paire arrived in New York to play the Western & Southern Open last week, a tune-up for the US Open, but he did not complete his first-round match against Croatia’s Borna Coric.
Paire appeared to be unwell during the match, asking for a doctor in the opening set before retiring in the second while trailing 6-0 1-0.
L’Equipe said fellow Frenchmen Richard Gasquet, Adrian Mannarino, Gregoire Barrere and Edouard Roger Vasselin were also asked to self-isolate in their hotel rooms after Paire’s positive test.
The US Open is being played without fans and in a biosecure bubble due to the pandemic, but several high-ranking players skipped the tournament due to coronavirus concerns.
The coronavirus pandemic has shut down art exhibitions around the globe, but organisers of the RIBOCA2 biennial in Latvia have pushed ahead, reimagining the event to reflect challenging times.
To ensure social distancing, installations by nearly 70 international artists are showcased at the sprawling 20-hectare (50-acre) Soviet-era Andrejsala industrial port in Riga, long abandoned and given up to nature.
Titled “and suddenly it all blossoms”, this year’s edition of the Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art has also been shortened from five months to three weeks that run from 20 August through 13 September.
“Andrejsala is a unique place inside the city, where former port buildings and constructions live together with wildlife but almost no people, which prompted us to think how nature would respond if there were no more people around,” Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel, the chief curator, told AFP.
“We prepared the concept, and then, two months before the opening date, an actual pandemic catastrophe hit the world, making us rethink everything,” she added, explaining how the spacing of the exhibition was adjusted to the pandemic.
Due to travel restrictions, only a few of the featured artists made it to Riga.
Other works have come from across Europe and as far as China, but for the most part only Baltic artists have been able to present their installations in person.
Lamarche-Vadel said organisers are making a film to document the biennial and share it with those unable to attend owing to coronavirus restrictions.
All passengers who were on a flight from Zante in Greece to Cardiff in Wales have been asked to self-isolate after some on board tested positive for Covid-19.
Public Health Wales (PHW) said seven people on Tui flight 6215 on Tuesday have now tested positive for the virus.
On Monday, it was reported that 11 young people in Plymouth had tested positive after returning from a holiday to the Greek island.
Dr Giri Shankar at PHW said in a statement:
Cardiff and Vale Test Trace Protect and Public Health Wales have identified at least seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 from three different parties who were infectious on TUI Flight 6215 from Zante to Cardiff on 25 August. As a result, we are advising that all passengers on this flight are considered close contacts and must self-isolate.
“These passengers will be contacted shortly, but meanwhile, they must self-isolate at home as they may become infectious, even without developing symptoms. Anyone with symptoms should book a test without delay.
Updated
US cases of Covid-19 near 6 million
Coronavirus infections in the US are approaching 6 million as many Midwest states reported increasing cases on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally.
Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota have recently reported record one-day increases in new cases while Montana and Idaho are seeing record numbers of currently hospitalised Covid-19 patients.
Nationally, metrics on new cases, deaths, hospitalisations and the positivity rates of tests are all declining but there are emerging hotspots in the Midwest.
Many of the new cases in Iowa are in the counties that are home to the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, which are holding some in-person classes.
Colleges and universities around the country have seen outbreaks after students returned to campus, forcing some to switch to online-only learning.
Infections have also risen after an annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota drew more than 365,000 people from across the country from 7 to 16 August.
The South Dakota health department said 88 cases have been traced to the rally.
A further three people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died at hospitals in England. The total number of confirmed hospital deaths in England now stands at 29,550.
No new coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in Scotland or Wales.
In Scotland, a total of 123 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours – the highest figure in more than a week.
The number of people in hospital after contracting the virus fell by seven to 251.
In Wales, 56 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, according to Public Health Wales.
Police have said up to 3,000 people are thought to have travelled from across the UK to attend an illegal rave in Banwen, in Neath Port Talbot.
South Wales Chief Supt Simon Belcher said: “This type of illegal gathering is totally unacceptable and we are aware of the concerns it is causing for the local community.
“I would like to again remind people of their obligations under the current coronavirus legislation and the overarching goal for everyone to take personal responsibility by following Welsh Government regulations to keep Wales safe.”
He added that police helicopter and traffic policing officers were helping with their efforts after around 3,000 people arrived at the gathering.
“We are looking at all pieces of legislation as to what action can be undertaken safely,” said Belcher.
“Unlawfully parked cars will be dealt with and people who continue, despite our advice, to try and attend this illegal event are being turned away.”
Updated
Olaf Scholz, a candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor, has condemned protesters who stormed the steps of the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin, some of them holding far-right flags.
The protesters gathered on Saturday to demonstrate against coronavirus curbs. Scholz said:
It is unacceptable that some now appear in front of the Bundestag building, the Reichstag building, the most important symbol of our democracy, the parliament, with symbols from a bad dark past, flags that have nothing to do with our modern democracy.”
Updated
Schools to reopen in Lagos next month
Schools will reopen in Nigeria’s coronavirus centre Lagos next month as part of plans to revive the economy as Covid-19 cases decline, the state governor said on Saturday.
Lagos plans to reopen colleges on 14 September, and primary and secondary school schools on 21 September, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said.
“The gradual easing doesn’t mean the pandemic is over,” he said in a tweet. “It is not an invitation to carelessness or nonchalance.”
The Lagos governor said restaurants, social clubs and recreational centers would also be allowed to reopen as long as they followed safety rules.
Nigeria has reported 53,727 infections in total – including 18,104 in Lagos – and 1,011 deaths.
Secondary schools reopened across Nigeria this month for pupils due to take graduation exams.
Updated
Mexico is pressing ahead with an effort to forge Covid-19 vaccine alliances across a wide ideological spectrum of countries from France to Cuba as a World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine initiative will fall short of its needs.
Mexico joined the WHO’s global Covax plan in early June. It aims to deliver at least 2bn doses of approved vaccines by the end of next year and ensure “equitable access”.
But Martha Delgado, a Mexican deputy foreign minister whom president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador put in charge of Mexico’s international response, told Reuters its share of that programme was unlikely to be enough to provide the roughly 200m vaccine doses Mexicans will need.
“We can’t depend on it,” said Delgado. “Covax promises to help with 20% of the population – we need a bigger quantity of vaccines and so do other countries as well.”
Delgado’s boss, foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard, has been reporting in regularly to Lopez Obrador about the latest developments in the effort to secure a vaccine that will curtail Mexico’s coronavirus outbreak, she said, an effort embracing all major superpowers and their allies.
Leftwing populist Lopez Obrador has raised eyebrows in some quarters by forging a close alliance with US president Donald Trump.
But Ebrard has also assiduously courted China, which has provided Mexico with such equipment as ventilators and masks. And Lopez Obrador has offered to personally test the Russian vaccine despite misgivings among some scientists.
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On that note, while authorities and organisers were concerned about street parties taking place in lieu of Notting Hill carnival’s cancellation due to Covid-19, dozens of protesters have gathered outside the local tube station for an anti-racism protest.
Demonstrators taking part in the Million People March against systemic racism lay down in the road outside Notting Hill tube station in London, blocking oncoming traffic, before heading down the road to Hyde Park.
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For the first time in its 54-year history, Notting Hill carnival is being streamed online. The decision to cancel the west London street party was announced in May due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The annual event, which celebrates Caribbean culture in the UK and takes place over the August bank holiday Sunday and Monday, would usually draw more than a million visitors.
Organisers have put together a digital festival, complete with videos filmed all over the world, as well as at venues across London, including the Royal Albert Hall, Abbey Road Studios, Theatre Royal and the Tabernacle.
Matthew Phillip, the executive director of Notting Hill carnival, said people should enjoy the event “at home safely” in order to help protect the future of the carnival. He said cancelling the carnival had not been an easy decision: “We did it in the interest of safety, so we would urge people to stay at home, stay away from the streets of Notting Hill.”
Asked how worried he was about people coming to the area, Phillip said: “Well, obviously we are worried, because people do want to get out and celebrate, but ultimately we hope that people will be responsible and sensible.”
The events are being live streamed on the official YouTube channel. You can read more on the plans for the online event from journalist Rhi Storer here:
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Thousands of tearful Shia pilgrims wearing gloves and masks flooded Iraq’s holy city of Karbala on Sunday to mark Ashura, in one of the largest Muslim gatherings since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Ashura, on the 10th day of the mourning month of Muharram, commemorates the killing of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Hussein at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD – the defining moment of Islam’s confessional schism.
Typically, millions of Shias from around the world flock to the golden-domed shrine where Hussein’s remains are buried, to pray and cry, shoulder-to-shoulder.
But with coronavirus numbers spiking across the globe, this year’s commemoration is subdued.
“Honestly, this year is nothing like the millions-strong commemorations of other years,” said Fadel Hakim, who was out early on Sunday in the streets around the shrine, a blue medical mask cupping his chin. “It stands out because there are so few people.”
Small clusters of pilgrims gathered in the vast courtyards outside the main mosque, wearing the customary black mourning clothes along with less traditional masks and gloves.
Wading through the crowds were teams of shrine employees spraying disinfectant mist through long, thin hoses or distributing masks to any bare-faced visitor.
To be allowed into the shrine, people had their temperatures taken at grey gates resembling metal detectors, while inside, signs on the carpet floor indicated the required distance between worshippers as they prayed.
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The head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is willing to fast-track a Covid-19 vaccine as quickly as possible, the Financial Times reported him as saying in an interview published on Sunday.
Stephen Hahn, who serves as the commissioner of FDA, said his agency was prepared to authorise a vaccine before phase 3 clinical trials were complete, the paper reported.
Earlier this week, AstraZeneca, the company manufacturing the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine, insisted it was not in talks with the Trump administration about fast-tracking its vaccine for emergency use ahead of November’s presidential elections.
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Indonesia reports more infectious mutation of Covid-19
A more infectious mutation of Covid-19 has been found in Indonesia, the Jakarta-based Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology said on Sunday, as the country’s caseload surges.
Indonesia reported 2,858 new infections on Sunday, data from the health ministry showed, below the previous day’s record 3,308 cases but above the past month’s daily average.
Its total caseload now stands at 172,053, with 7,343 coronavirus-related deaths.
The “infectious but milder” D614G mutation of the virus has been found in genome sequencing data from samples collected by the institute, deputy director Herawati Sudoyo told Reuters, adding that more study is required to determine whether that was behind the recent rise in cases.
The strain, which the World Health Organization said was identified in February and has been circulating in Europe and the Americas, has also been found in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia.
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It’s an extremely difficult time to be entering the job market around the world, following the economic fallout from nationwide Covid-19 lockdowns.
Our writer Sirin Kale has spoken to young graduates in the UK trying to get their foot in the door at a time when internships – that might have led the way to paying work – are incredibly scarce.
A report from the Sutton Trust in July found that 61% of UK employers surveyed have cancelled all or some of the internships they’d usually offer, while 48% think there will be fewer such opportunities over the next year.
For the class of 2020, Covid-19 has put paid to the internship, at least for now – and possibly, for good.
You can read Sirin’s piece here:
The Philippines has recorded 4,284 new coronavirus cases and 102 new deaths.
In a bulletin, the department of health said the country’s confirmed cases had risen to 217,396, still the highest in south-east Asia, while the nationwide death toll had climbed to 3,520.
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One of Brazil’s most celebrated tourist destinations, the paradisiacal archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, has announced it is reopening to outsiders – as long as they have had Covid-19.
Tourists have been banned from the Unesco world heritage site, which Charles Darwin visited in 1832, since late March when the pandemic forced many parts of Brazil into partial shutdown.
Since then more than 120,000 Brazilians have died, the world’s second highest death toll, and president Jair Bolsonaro faces accusations of catastrophically mismanaging the crisis by undermining containment measures.
But from Tuesday visitors will be allowed into Fernando de Noronha, 211 miles off Brazil’s north-eastern coast, if they can prove they have been infected and recovered.
You can read more on this from our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, here:
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On the subject of live music, which many will be yearning for after events across the globe were cancelled due to the pandemic, a huge two-hour long drive-in concert was held in Indonesia on Saturday night.
According to Reuters, around 900 listeners in 300 cars honked and flashed their lights along as pop ensemble Kahitna at Jakarta International Expo.
It was a reminder of the good times before the coronavirus pandemic brought the music industry to a juddering halt, said Chaeruddin Syah, one of the concert organisers. He told Reuters:
Our economy has declined for four to five months, we have not worked at all and have not made any money.
We hope this concert can provide solutions and inspiration to the entertainment industry.”
Indonesia, which is grappling with a surge in virus infections, racked up its biggest daily increase in cases for a third straight day on Saturday. The south-east Asian nation has tallied about 170,000 infections and 7,261 deaths.
The organisers of Saturday’s event said they had prioritised safety, asking listeners to provide negative test results and wear masks.
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Optimistic news for festival lovers. Glastonbury, one of the world’s largest music festivals which draws in around 200,000 revellers annually, is still hoped to go ahead in June 2021.
Co-organiser Emily Eavis said there were no plans to move the event back until September 2021 and that they were “still very much aiming for June”.
For those who have been asking, we have no plans to move next year’s Glastonbury to September 2021 - we’re still very much aiming for June.
— Emily Eavis (@emilyeavis) August 30, 2020
The festival, which is held in Somerset in England, was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary in June this year but was cancelled in March as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ticket holders were allowed to carry their initial deposit for the event over to 2021, and according to Eavis, few people have asked for a refund.
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Eyam, “the plague village” famous for quarantining itself following the 1665 bubonic plague outbreak, will hold its annual memorial service online today due to Covid-19 fears.
During the plague, residents in the Derbyshire village in England locked themselves away for more than a year to avoid spreading the disease, now its reverend Mike Gilbert said the village had decided to cancel the commemoration and costume procession after it received dozens of enquiries about visiting.
The annual service takes place on the final Sunday of August at the Cucklet Delph church to remember the 260 people – around 75% of the village’s population – who lost their lives to the plague.
But this year it will be streamed on Eyam Parish Church’s Facebook page after Gilbert received press enquiries from countries including Holland, America, Argentine and France, the BBC reports.
German police arrest 300 at rally against coronavirus measures
Some 300 demonstrators were arrested by German police at a mass rally against coronavirus restrictions in Berlin on Saturday.
Around 38,000 people – double the number expected – had gathered in the capital to protest against measures including the wearing of face masks and social distancing.
On Saturday evening, several hundred protestors broke through barriers and a police cordon to climb the steps leading to the entrance of the Reichstag.
Police used pepper spray on demonstrators to prevent them entering the building and arrested several people.
Updated
Scientists are to warn world leaders that increasing numbers of deadly new pandemics will afflict the planet if levels of deforestation and biodiversity loss continue at their current catastrophic rates.
A UN summit on biodiversity, scheduled to be held in New York next month, will be told by conservationists and biologists there is clear evidence of a strong link between environmental destruction and the increased emergence of deadly new diseases such as Covid-19.
Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of farming and the building of mines in remote regions – as well as the exploitation of wild animals as sources of food, traditional medicines and exotic pets – are creating a “perfect storm” for the spillover of diseases from wildlife to people, delegates will be told.
You can read more on the alarming prediction by scientists here:
Updated
Russia's Covid-19 tally nears 1 million
Russia’s coronavirus infection tally has climbed to nearly 1 million.
On Sunday, the country reported 4,980 new Covid-19 cases, pushing its confirmed tally up to 990,326.
Authorities said 68 people had died after contracting the virus over the last 24 hours, raising the official death toll to 17,093.
Updated
The race for a Covid-19 vaccine is getting dirty, according to science journalist and author Laura Spinney.
Political pressure has been mounting for scientists to deliver an economy-saving result, and reports of corner-cutting emerge daily.
But even if most vaccine research groups aren’t rushing, says Paul Offit, head of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the language used to describe the search for a vaccine – the US government’s naming of its vaccine funding programme Operation “Warp Speed”, Russia’s evocation of the cold war space race with its “Sputnik V” vaccine, even the expression “vaccine race” – might imply otherwise.
“It makes it sound like timelines are being suppressed, or safety issues are being ignored,” he says.
You can read more on the race against the clock to find a viable vaccine here:
Meanwhile, the UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, is facing a showdown with furious MPs within his own party over his government’s chaotic handling of Covid-19.
A new poll by Opinium for the Observer shows the official opposition, Labour, is now level-pegging with the Tories for the first time since last summer, before Johnson was leader.
As MPs prepare to return to Westminster on Tuesday, Charles Walker, who is vice-chair of the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers, said that a recent string of U-turns had left many colleagues in despair, with some struggling to support and defend their government to constituents. Governing by U-turn in this way, he said, was unsustainable.
Walker, who is normally counted as a firm Johnson loyalist, said:
Too often it looks like this government licks its finger and sticks it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. This is not a sustainable way to approach the business of governing and government.
You can read more on this from the Observer’s political editor Toby Helm here:
And if you fancy some further reading, here’s a handy list of all the recent times the UK government has U-turned on its own policies:
Updated
Academics in the UK have warned that reopening universities could spark a second wave of Covid-19 unless they switch to remote learning.
The movement of an expected one million students around Britain as they return to universities between September and October has led University and College Union (UCU) to warn the government is “encouraging a public health crisis”.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said the mass movement “could lead to universities being the care homes of any second wave of Covid”.
She also accused the government of a lack of planning, with more students expected on campuses following the admissions fiasco as data emerges that infection rates are increasing among younger people.
Grady said:
So the very people who are increasingly getting infected by this virus are being encouraged in mass numbers to move all around the country and congregate and live together.”
The UCU wants students to avoid campuses until Christmas unless a testing scheme begins operating at universities.
It comes after a group of scientists recommended universities test all students and staff for coronavirus as they arrive on campus and avoid face-to-face teaching.
Independent Sage reported on 21 August that all courses should be offered online – apart from those which are lab or practice-based – as in-person teaching carries a higher risk of virus transmission.
Updated
Summary
I’ll be passing over to my colleagues in London shortly, to continue our coverage across timezones. Thanks for staying with me.
- The number of global Covid-19 cases has exceeded 25 million, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker). More than 842,700 people have died from the virus.
- India recorded 78,761 new cases on Sunday, the highest single-day rise in case numbers recorded anywhere in the world. The record was previously set by the US, which reported 77,638 new cases on 17 July.
- Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building on Saturday following a mass protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions in Berlin.
- France reported 5,453 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, and the health ministry described the situation as “worrying” following a spike the previous day when the country registered its highest number of cases since mid-March.
- The state of Victoria in Australia recorded 114 new cases of coronavirus and 11 new deaths. The premier, Daniel Andrews, has said it is too early for the state to open up, despite falling numbers of new infections. Australia’s worst-affected state must “stay the course” of lockdowns.
- New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, comes out of lockdown tonight. The country recorded just two new cases in the past 24 hours.
- Brazil has registered another 758 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 41,350 new cases, taking the nation’s death toll to 120,262 3,846,153 confirmed infections.
- Costa Rica’s government has requested $1.75bn (£1.31bn) in financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the nation’s economy has been reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
- Thousands of Israelis demonstrated again on Saturday in Jerusalem, demanding the resignation of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces accusations of mishandling the coronavirus crisis.
-
The former head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said countries across the world have been “selfish” in their handling of the pandemic.
- Authorities in Istanbul announced curbs on weddings and other ceremonies in Turkey’s largest city as the number of daily coronavirus cases and deaths hit their highest level nationwide in more than two months.
- India will reopen underground train networks and allow sports and religious events in a limited manner from next week, despite soaring coronavirus infections.
- The infection rate in New York state has stayed below 1% for 22 consecutive days, governor Andrew Cuomo said.
- The UK recorded 1,108 new confirmed cases over the last 24 hours, the government said on Saturday, down slightly from the figure recorded on Friday.
Updated
Global case number passes 25 million
More than 25 million people around the world have been infected with Covid-19, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which has been monitoring case numbers throughout the pandemic.
The university’s tracker has just been updated to reflect the global tally passing the milestone.
It said 842,702 people have died.
The number of cases includes more than 5.96 million people in the US, more than 3.84 million in Brazil, and 3.52 million in India - the three most affected countries. Also on Sunday, India reported the highest single day rise in case numbers so far, overtaking the record set by the US back in July.
The official number of global coronavirus cases is now at least five times the number of severe influenza illnesses recorded annually, according to World Health Organization data.
Reuters reports that around the world, there have been more than 840,000 deaths, considered a lagging indicator given the two-week incubation period of the virus. That has exceeded the upper range of 290,000 to 650,000 annual deaths linked to influenza.
AFP: Thousands of tearful Shia pilgrims wearing gloves and face masks flooded Iraq’s holy city of Karbala Sunday to mark Ashura, one of the largest Muslim gatherings since the Covid-19 pandemic started.
Ashura, on the 10th day of the mourning month of Muharram, commemorates the killing of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Hussein at the Battle of Karbala in 680AD – the defining moment of Islam’s confessional schism.
Typically, millions of Shias from around the world flock to the golden-domed shrine where Hussein’s remains are buried, to pray and cry, shoulder-to-shoulder.
But with coronavirus numbers spiking across the globe, this year’s commemoration is subdued. Small clusters of pilgrims gathered in the vast courtyards outside the main mosque, wearing the customary mourning colour of black and the new addition of medical masks and gloves.
Iraq has the second-highest regional toll with close to 7,000 deaths.
Last week, the World Health Organization warned that Covid-19 cases in Iraq were rising at an “alarming rate” and said Iraq should take action to end the community outbreak “at all costs”.
“Mass assemblies of people should not take place at this stage,” the WHO said.
Read more here.
Updated
Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg has had another crack at Premier Daniel Andrews over his handling of the state’s second wave Covid-19 outbreak as the death toll climbed higher.
Victoria recorded another 114 infections on Sunday – climbing back above the 100-mark again – while adding a further 11 deaths to the national death toll, which stands at 611.
Frydenberg accused Daniels of over-reach for seeking a 12-month extension of his government’s emergency power, adding to a litany of failures during the pandemic.
“I want to hear more about a message of hope for the people of Victoria,” Frydenberg, himself a Victorian, told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program.
“Daniel Andrews and the Victorian government need to be talking more about the road out than about a longer road in.”
Premier Andrews said there were still two weeks to go before the stage four restrictions are scheduled to end.
“This strategy is working. We are going to defeat the second wave,” Mr Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to put forward a plan that is based on data, science and evidence and the best of medical advice.”
Updated
Are you ready to be horrified? Do you want to see the words “snakes” and “perfect storm” in the same sentence? Then read on...
Australia’s state of Victoria and its capital Melbourne are under extremely tough lockdown restrictions.
While the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the national economy and plunged many into unemployment, there’s one little industry expecting to boom – snake catching.
Melbourne’s Raymond Hoser has been catching snakes professionally since the 1970s and says he’s about to be busier than ever.
“Because people are at home and they’re not out and about ... we’ve got a perfect storm where people will see more snakes,” he said.
The snake expert who runs Snakebusters based in Melbourne’s east says whiling away the hours in lockdown by mowing and gardening will increase the likelihood of spotting unwelcome reptiles.
“Everyone’s gardens look more immaculate than ever but the flip side is, in long grass, you won’t even see the snake,” he said. [live-blogger’s emphasis]
Read the full story here:
This has just been published by the Observer: Scientists are to warn world leaders that increasing numbers of deadly new pandemics will afflict the planet if levels of deforestation and biodiversity loss continue at their current catastrophic rates.
A UN summit on biodiversity, scheduled to be held in New York next month, will be told by conservationists and biologists there is now clear evidence of a strong link between environmental destruction and the increased emergence of deadly new diseases such as Covid-19.
Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of farming and the building of mines in remote regions – as well as the exploitation of wild animals as sources of food, traditional medicines and exotic pets – are creating a “perfect storm” for the spillover of diseases from wildlife to people, delegates will be told.
Almost a third of all emerging diseases have originated through the process of land use change, it is claimed. As a result, five or six new epidemics a year could soon affect Earth’s population.
Full story:
India records world's highest single day rise
A grim milestone, and a reminder that this pandemic is far from over. AFP reports India has recorded 78,761 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, the highest single-day rise in case numbers recorded anywhere in the world.
More than 63,000 people died in the same 24 hour period, according to India’s health ministry.
The record was previously set by the US, which reported 77,638 new cases on 17 July.
India has the third highest number of infections, behind the US and Brazil, with more than 3.5 million cases among the population of 1.3 billion. The coronavirus has badly hit megacities such as financial hub Mumbai and the capital New Delhi, but is now also surging in smaller cities and rural areas.
The new cases came a day after the government further eased its lockdown. From next month people can gather in groups of up to 100 for cultural, entertainment, sport and political events, as long as they wear masks and socially distance. India has had restrictions in place since late March, and the economy is struggling, with millions of job losses and a disproportionate impact on poor people.
Schools remain closed but students can meet teachers on a voluntary basis on school premises if needed, according to the new guidelines.
AFP: Three months after Spain rushed to launch a minimum basic income scheme to fight a spike in poverty due to the coronavirus pandemic, the programme is at a dead-end because of an avalanche of applications.
The measure was a pledge made by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s leftwing coalition government, which took office in January, bringing together his Socialist party with far-left Podemos as the junior partner.
The scheme - approved in late May - aims to guarantee an income of 462 euros ($546) per month for an adult living alone, while for families, there would be an additional 139 euros per person, whether adult or child, up to a monthly maximum of 1,015 euros per home. It is expected to cost state coffers three billion euros ($3.5 billion) a year.
The government decided to bring forward the launch of the programme because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has hit Spain hard and devastated its economy, causing queues at food banks to swell.
Of the 750,000 applications which were filed since June 15 when the government started accepting requests, 143,000 - or 19 percent - have been analysed and 80,000 were approved, according to a social security statement issued on August 20.
But Spain main civil servant’s union, CSIF, paints a darker picture.
“Nearly 99 percent of requests have not been processed,” a union spokesman, Jose Manuel Molina, told AFP.
The social security ministry has only really analysed 6,000 applications while 74,000 households that already receive financial aid were awarded the basic income automatically, he added.
For hundreds of thousands of other households, the wait is stressful.
Marta Sanchez, a 42-year-old mother of two from the southern city of Seville, said she applied for the scheme on June 26 but has heard nothing since.
“That is two months of waiting already, when in theory this was a measure that was taken so no one ends up in the streets,” she added.
Sanchez lost her call centre job during Spain’s virus lockdown while her husband lost his job as a driver. The couple has had to turn to the Red Cross for the first time for food.
“Thank God my mother and sister pay our water and electricity bills,” she said, adding their landlord, a relative, has turned a blind eye to the unpaid rent
Australia’s strict Covid-related border restrictions have been in the news lately. The country is closed to all but citizens and permanent residents - as other nations have ruled for themselves - but has also banned people from leaving the country without an approved exit exemption. Coupled with caps on international arrivals which have seen thousands of Australians stranded overseas, there’s been more than a bit of stress for people.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald today, at least one of those things is getting easier, after the Australian Border Force introduced a new system to process exit exemption applications.
The Herald reports the ABF is now approving travel requests at a much higher rate now than earlier in the pandemic and making decisions within hours that previously took weeks.
Climate change and multinational corporations have long posed a threat to the people of the Amazon rainforest. Now, however, the region’s indigenous tribes face an even more immediate danger: coronavirus.
Despite living deep in the heartland of Ecuadorian rainforest, the indigenous Achuar tribal people have fallen victim to the pandemic. Over the last several weeks, Covid-19 has struck at the heart of the Achuar community in Ecuador, which is made up of 13,000 people living in 88 groups over 800,000 hectares (3,000 sq miles) along the Pastaza River basin. A further 15,000 Achuar are based in neighbouring Peru.
Eight Achuar people in Ecuador have died so far, including a four-month-old baby, and around 90% of the country’s Achuars are thought to have been infected to date.
Receiving little support from the government, the Achuar are struggling to find sufficient tests, medication and personal protective equipment to combat the outbreak. They are now appealing to the international community for much-needed aid, medical supplies, training and transport. “We are doing what we can do because this virus is terrible for the indigenous people,” said Tiyua Uyunkar, the president of the Achuar Nation.
Full report:
From AAP, a preview of the upcoming parliamentary week in Australia.
Legislation to extend the JobKeeper wage subsidy and the enhanced JobSeeker dole payment will take centre stage in federal parliament this week in its final sitting before the October 6 budget.
Both schemes need to pass the Senate this week as existing arrangements will expire next month.
While being extended, the JobKeeper payment will be lowered from a fortnightly benefit of $1500 to $1200 at the end of September and then down to $1000 from December to March.
Likewise, the JobSeeker unemployment benefit has temporarily been doubled through the coronavirus supplement to a maximum $1100 per fortnight through to September but then will be reduced $800 until the end of the year.
While backing the extension, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has questioned whether this is the right time to be tapering these schemes when the economy is still struggling through the pandemic.
“The idea that you withdraw support in the current circumstances is, in my view, premature, and will lead to a deeper and longer recession than is necessary,” Mr Albanese told ABC’s Insiders program.
But Treasurer Josh Frydenberg points out that extending JobKeeper alone comes at a $30 billion cost to the budget.
“We have extended that support, JobKeeper is transitioning over time, and so too has been the coronavirus supplement (to JobSeeker),” Mr Frydenberg told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda.
AAP: In Australia Victorian parents are being urged not to neglect child vaccinations, with the launch of a drive-through service to allay Covid-19 fears.
In a survey of over 2,000 Australian parents, Royal Children’s Hospital paediatrician Anthea Rhodes says one in five children under the age of five has had a routine vaccination delayed during the pandemic.”The main reason parents gave for delaying care was fear or concern about their child or themselves catching Covid-19 in a healthcare facility or service,” Rhodes said on Sunday.
That figure has increased to almost two out of three families cancelling or delaying appointments to the RCH’s immunisation service since June.In response, the Melbourne hospital has set up a new drive-through clinic so families can keep up to date with their children’s immunisations outside of the hospital environment.
Dr Rhodes said some parents were under the false impression their kids weren’t at risk of catching diseases because they were no longer at school or daycare.
There will be a risk of outbreaks such as whooping cough, measles and chickenpox if children return to face-to-face learning without vaccinations, she said.
“If our community as a whole is not up to date with vaccinations, we risk the herd immunity coming down and that means we could see outbreaks of these preventable diseases,” Rhodes said. “The last thing we want to see off the back of the coronavirus pandemic is outbreaks of these other preventable diseases.”
The drive-through service is available to all children up to age 18 who are due or overdue a routine vaccination.
Rhodes said other healthcare providers across the state were considering introducing similar arrangements.
“We encourage people always to access care closer to home wherever they can,” she said.
“There are some GPs who will provide drive-through based services and other local council areas and some of our metropolitan hospital partners as well.”
RCH’s national child health poll also showed about a third of injured and unwell kids had healthcare delayed more broadly.
Premier Daniel Andrews reassured parents it was safe to take their children for a check-up as clinicians and healthcare providers were following strict Covid-19 protocols.
“If we do not have people coming forward and getting access to the care they need, we will simply have people’s health deteriorating and more and more people having to present to the emergency department,” he said.
AP: Public health experts in the US have expressed concern about President Donald Trump’s largely mask-free, socially un-distanced Republican convention event on the White House lawn, saying some of his 1,500 guests may have inadvertently brought and spread the coronavirus to others.
There almost certainly were individuals there who were infected with Covid-19 but don’t know it, said Dr Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University.
“I worry about these individuals infecting one another and most certainly going back to their home”, said Wen, who previously served as Baltimores health commissioner.
Trump delivered his speech accepting the GOP presidential nomination at the Thursday night event, which continued a pattern of flouting coronavirus safety guidelines.
Few in the audience wore masks when virtually all leading public health professionals, including the administration’s, say face coverings play a big part in slowing virus transmission.
Chairs were placed inches apart instead of the recommended 6 feet, leaving attendees little room to practice social distancing.
In Germany the number of confirmed cases has increased by 785 to 241,771, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Sunday.
The reported death toll rose by six to 9,295.
Hello everyone, Helen Davidson here to bring you through the next few hours of updates.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has thanked Aucklanders who come out of lockdown after Sunday night for their commitment to suppressing the latest coronavirus flare-up.
Two new cases of Covid-19 have been reported on Sunday, both in the community and linked to the latest Auckland cluster. Ardern thanked the residents of New Zealand’s largest city for their adherence to the stringent lockdown requirements.
“Our system is only as good as our people,” she said. “And our people are amazing.”
But Ardern urged Aucklanders to “keep going”. Though lockdown lifts on Monday, masks will be mandated on public transport and strongly encouraged elsewhere.
Read the full report here:
Summary
I’m signing off for the afternoon. My colleague Helen Davidson, who, like me, is not in the slightest bit perturbed about missing a spectacularly sunny Sydney day, will be your companion henceforth.
Thanks all for your comments and correspondence. Be well, and look after each other.
I leave you a summary of the latest developments:
- The number of global Covid-19 cases is approaching 25 million (currently 24,914,000 according to the Johns Hopkins tracker). More than 840,000 people have died from the virus.
- Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building Saturday following a mass protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions in Berlin.
- France reported 5,453 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, and the health ministry described the situation as “worrying” following a spike the previous day when the country registered its highest number of cases since mid-March.
- The state of Victoria in Australia recorded 114 new cases of coronavirus and 11 new deaths. The premier, Daniel Andrews, has said it is too early for the state to open up, despite falling numbers of new infections. Australia’s worst-affected state must “stay the course” of lockdowns.
- New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, comes out of lockdown tonight. The country recorded just two new cases in the past 24 hours.
- Brazil has registered another 758 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 41,350 new cases, taking the nation’s death toll to 120,262 3,846,153 confirmed infections.
- Costa Rica’s government has requested $1.75bn (£1.31bn) in financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the nation’s economy has been reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
- Thousands of Israelis demonstrated again on Saturday in Jerusalem, demanding the resignation of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces accusations of mishandling the coronavirus crisis.
-
The former head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said countries across the world have been “selfish” in their handling of the pandemic.
- Authorities in Istanbul announced curbs on weddings and other ceremonies in Turkey’s largest city as the number of daily coronavirus cases and deaths hit their highest level nationwide in more than two months.
- India will reopen underground train networks and allow sports and religious events in a limited manner from next week, despite soaring coronavirus infections.
- The infection rate in New York state has stayed below 1% for 22 consecutive days, governor Andrew Cuomo said.
- The UK recorded 1,108 new confirmed cases over the last 24 hours, the government said on Saturday, down slightly from the figure recorded on Friday.
Updated
Victoria must 'stay the course', too early to open up: Andrews.
Back in Australia, and to Victoria, the southerly state worst affected by Covid-19:
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the state can’t open up with coronavirus case numbers at their current level.
The state recorded 114 new coronavirus cases and 11 more deaths on Sunday, with the latest victims a man in his 70s, five women and one man in their 80s and three women and one man in their 90s.
Nine of the 11 deaths are linked to outbreaks at aged care facilities.
The state’s toll from the virus is now 524, while the national figure is 611.
Andrews said 382 deaths were linked to the aged care sector.
The new figures come after Saturday’s daily coronavirus dipped below 100 for the first time since July 5
Andrews said while case numbers “will bounce around a little bit”, they were trending down.
“We are seeing a fall across each of the key metrics and the strategy is working and that is a credit to every Victorian who has made a powerful contribution to that end,” he said.
Residents of the capital, Melbourne, are subject to another fortnight of strict stage four restrictions including an 8pm to 5am curfew.
Regional Victorians are under slightly less strict stage three restrictions for the same period.
Andrews said it was still too early to plan a way out of the restrictions.
At 100, 94, at 114, whatever the number, we simply could not open up. Those numbers would explode, we would finish up and perhaps an even worse situation than we have been in recent months.
What we have to do is stay the course. Once we see these numbers fall further, once we have certainty, and that will be quite soon, we will be able to talk in more definitive terms about what the weeks and months ahead look like.
Andrews said the next set of restrictions would be based on “science and data and evidence” and would likely be in place for “many months”.
“There will be the odd outbreak and the odd case but if you get it down to really low levels, then you can have confidence that you can pounce on those, you can contain those and we don’t then have to go back to shutdowns, back to rules that impact everybody,” he added.
“It can be a much more localised and isolated approach.”
Andrews said he would make announcements on Monday about how the government would collaborate with the business sector on the process to ease restrictions.
Updated
South Korea reported its 17th day of triple-digit rises in coronavirus infections on Sunday, as restrictions on onsite dining at restaurants, pubs and bakeries in the densely populated Seoul area take effect.
There were 299 new infections as of Saturday midnight, the slowest daily rise in five days, bringing the national tally to 19,699 cases of the new coronavirus and 323 COVID-19 deaths, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.
On Friday, the country extended Phase 2 social distancing rules - the second strictest level - for at least another week and announced tougher rules on places with high risks of virus spread.
Onsite dining at restaurants, pubs and bakeries in the Seoul area is banned between 9pm and 5am, while coffee shops, some of which have been identified as hotspots, are restricted to takeout and delivery until midnight on 6 September.
Churches, nightclubs, indoor sports facilities and most schools in the area are already closed, and masks are mandatory in public places.
A note on our headline on the blog: we have had some correspondence regarding the use of the term ‘Reichstag’. The Reichstag building is properly the name of the building where the German parliament - the Bundestag - sits. Thanks all for your correspondence and queries. We are always happy to have the conversation about matters like this.
As we reported earlier:
Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building Saturday following a protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions, but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed.
The incident occurred after a daylong demonstration by tens of thousands of people opposed to the wearing of masks and other government measures intended to stop the spread of coronavirus.
In Australia:
Queensland now has 28 active coronavirus cases after discovering another four infections linked to a correctional services training academy overnight in the state’s southeast. All of the cases are connected to the cluster at Queensland’s Corrective Services Academy in Wacol.
A senior trainer at the academy was diagnosed with the virus on Thursday following the outbreak at the nearby youth facility.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said three of the new cases are from the same Forest Lake household as two people who tested positive on Friday. The fourth case is understood to attend Staines Memorial College at Redbank Plains and is also a close contact of a known person who became infected.
This takes the number of active cases to 28, with 11 linked to an initial outbreak at Brisbane’s Youth Detention Centre, also in Wacol.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said on Sunday health authorities were tracking down contacts of the three active cases and where they work or go to school or childcare.
It comes as those health restrictions limiting the number of people who can gather are extended to the Gold Coast and Darling Downs regions. No more than 10 people were allowed to gather in Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan without a COVID-19 safety plan, following an initial outbreak at a youth detention centre.
That was extended south to the Gold Coast from 8am Saturday after two Pimpama residents linked to the cluster were diagnosed with the virus.
The new rules will also come into effect in the Darling Downs from 8am Monday after health alerts were issued for The Southern Hotel and Queens’ Park Markets in Toowoomba.
Auckland coming out of lockdown
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has thanked Aucklanders, who come out of lockdown tonight, for their commitment to suppressing that country’s latest Covid-19 flare-up.
There are two new cases of Covid-19 reported today, both in the community and linked to the latest Auckland cluster.
Ardern thanked the residents of New Zealand’s largest city for their adherence to the stringent lockdown requirements.
“Our system is only as good as our people. And our people are amazing.”
But Ardern urged Aucklanders too, to “keep going”. Masks will be mandated on public transport, and strongly encouraged elsewhere.
“Basically when you step out of your home, we’re asking you to please wear a mask.”
Ardern said it was “highly unlikely” there was Covid outside Auckland: “we want to keep it that way”.
She warned too, that if further outbreaks occurred, New Zealand could be forced to move back up the alert levels.
There are 136 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. 10 people are in hospital, two in intensive care.
New Zealand has recorded 1378 cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic began.
Ardern has also helped her fellow Kiwis with mask-making:
'It's going to look a bit like a Christmas cracker': New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern takes mask-making into her own hands https://t.co/F8xtZY0D5Q pic.twitter.com/GwsSaI0CSg
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 30, 2020
Updated
In Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, low-level transmission continues. Seven new cases have been detected in the past 24 hours. There have been just short of 4000 confirmed cases in the state.
Seven new cases of #COVID19 were diagnosed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW to 3,851.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 30, 2020
Locations linked to known cases and areas identified for increased testing can be found here: https://t.co/EVlm25boYj pic.twitter.com/V352nk2yTT
The world’s biggest gold mine has resumed operations in Indonesia, the company that runs it said Saturday, after workers blocked access to the site in protest at being stopped from visiting their families over virus concerns.
The miners at the Grasberg complex in the country’s easternmost Papua region reached an agreement with the US-based operator Freeport, which said it would resume bus services for workers to return home.
This week more than 1,000 employees demonstrated at the mine’s main entrance over the decision to cancel bus services to the city of Timika in response to fears about the spread of coronavirus infections.
Many workers had been unable to leave the site - a high-altitude open pit that is also a major copper mine - for six months.
Freeport spokesman Riza Pratama said the roadblock had been removed after a long negotiation period.
Several buses departed from the mine late Friday, carrying some workers who had been granted a leave of absence, said local company spokesman Kerry Yarangga.
These bus services will be run with stringent health protocols including Covid-19 testing, Yarangga said.
In May, Freeport said it would reduce the number of staff at the mine, which employed about 25,000 people, after infections rose in the area.
The Grasberg is mine is acutely sensitive. The mine generates hundreds of thousands of tonnes of tailings a day, which wash into the Aikwa river delta and Arafura Sea, killing fish and sea-life, and destroying forests and mangroves.
And Indonesia’s Papua province has been the site of a decades-long independence movement, since the province was claimed by Indonesia in the 1960s. Indonesian exploitation of Papuan resources is a key agitation for independence, and Jakarta’s control of the province has been described as a “slow-motion genocide” of indigenous Papuans. Indonesia regards the province as an indivisible part of its nation.
Some history of Grasberg:
Mexico’s health ministry on Saturday reported 5,974 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infections and 673 additional fatalities, bringing the total to 591,712 cases and 63,819 deaths.
However, Mexico’s government has consistently said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Mexican wrestler Ciclonico - famously masked of course - is helping promote the use of masks across the country.
Spanish police have arrested a man who claims the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax for inciting hatred and violence across several anonymous social media profiles.
The 38-year-old claimed health professionals and the media were behind what he called the “Covid farce” and urged his followers to attack politicians and journalists, police said.
“All this would be solved with a shot to the back of [Spanish prime minister] Pedro Sánchez’s head,” he wrote on one of his accounts.
Pacific island nations facing surge in coronavirus cases
We are in very dire straits. We are in very desperate times. Our island right now is sick.
Governor of Guam Lou Leon Guerrero
Surging Covid-19 cases in Guam are threatening to overwhelm the island’s healthcare system, while rapidly spreading infections across Papua New Guinea and new clusters in French Polynesia following the resumption of tourism have sparked fears of uncontrolled outbreaks in the Pacific.
The Pacific region is still the least-infected in the world – several countries remain Covid-19 free – but there are troubling surges across countries with fragile health systems ill-equipped for large numbers of infections.
Emerging too, is an early trend of ‘vaccine diplomacy’, with regional powers seeking to exert political influence through promises to help Pacific nations - otherwise likely at the back of the queue - secure access to a vaccine when one becomes available.
Tess Newton Cain and Bernadette Carreon report:
Updated
We mentioned India in our earlier blog coverage, but the issue of its easing restrictions - despite surging Covid-19 infection numbers - compels revisiting.
India is a prime example of the tension being felt by governments across the world: the competing imperatives protecting citizens’ health against the economic damage of widespread shutdowns.
And, as ever in the world’s largest democracy, this tension is being played out on massive scale.
AFP reports:
Indian authorities further eased coronavirus lockdown restrictions Saturday even as cases and deaths surged across the country.
India has the world’s fastest growing number of recorded cases, now at 3.5 million, and more than 62,000 pandemic deaths. It is currently the third worst hit country in the world behind the United States and Brazil.
But the government faces pressure to free up the economy as millions have lost jobs since nationwide restrictions were first imposed in March.
The home affairs ministry said that gatherings of up to 100 people would be allowed with face masks and social distancing at cultural, entertainment, sports and political events from next month.
Metro train services will also be allowed to resume “in a graded manner” in major cities.
The coronavirus has badly hit mega cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi, but is now surging in smaller cities and rural areas.
The new government guidelines ordered schools and colleges to remain closed but students can meet teachers on a voluntary basis on school premises if needed.
The government has resisted a mass campaign by students to postpone entrance exams for medical and engineering colleges due to be taken by about two million students next month.
Students say they fear catching the virus in exam halls across the country. Authorities say they are taking special measures for the exams.
The government also said individual states could not impose general lockdowns outside of areas that are considered ‘containment zones’ where clusters of cases have been reported. Several states have imposed tougher measures in recent weeks because of the rise in cases.
The main opposition Congress party has called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to set out a firm plan to stop the spread of the pandemic.
With more than 70,000 cases being added each day, experts say it could be many weeks before the pandemic peaks in the country of 1.3 billion people.
AFP is reporting from Rome:
Three Nigerian migrants attacked staff in a military hospital in Rome after testing positive for Covid-19, the defence ministry said Saturday.
The incident at the Celio military hospital, now turned into a COVID-19 treatment centre, occurred when they saw a Bangladeshi migrant walking out after testing negative and then tried to flee but were stopped.
They are accused of violence, resistance and causing bodily harm.
“The attacks at the military hospital are serious and unacceptable,” Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini said.
The incident was seized upon by Italy’s anti-immigration former interior minister Matteo Salvini who said the government was putting “Italy in danger”.
Migration has for years been a hot-button political issue in Italy, a main EU landing point for people crossing the Mediterranean and arriving in Sicily and sister island Lampedusa.
And in Victoria, Australia’s worst-affected state.
#COVID19VicData for 30 August, 2020. There were 114 new cases detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly we report 11 lives lost - condolences to all affected. More information will be available later today via our media release. pic.twitter.com/4voh37S3oM
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) August 29, 2020
Victoria has recorded 114 new coronavirus cases and 11 more deaths.
The figures, confirmed by the department of health and human services on Sunday, bring the state’s toll from the virus to 524 and the national total to 611.
It follows 94 new cases on Saturday, which was the first day since July 5 that cases were in the double digits.
“Absolutely, this strategy is working,” premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Saturday.
“We’ve all just got to find a way to stay the course.”
Residents in the capital Melbourne are subject to another fortnight of strict stage four restrictions including an 8pm to 5am curfew and Andrews said the benefits from the first four weeks were starting to show.
Regional Victorians are under slightly less strict stage three restrictions for the same period.
Andrews was cautious about rushing to a return to normal, saying the path back to normality will be based on “science and data and evidence”.
One of the first issues to be addressed when restrictions ease could be people living alone who have gone weeks with little human interaction.
“We want to try and support them and indeed every Victorian, with a clear, dedicated, logical but also meaningful plan for opening up, but it is just a little too early,” Andrews said.
Restrictions across Melbourne are due to expire on 13 September but will be reduced gradually rather than removed completely.
Health officials have indicated that recommendations for face masks could remain in place for several more months.
Staying in Australia, the government in the northern state of Queensland has added more locations to a public health alert in the south-east.
The ABC, Australia’s public broadcaster, is reporting there are are now 120 locations under the alert, as identified by contact tracers.
The state reported another four cases yesterday and extended restrictions on gatherings to the Gold Coast.
No more than 10 people were allowed to gather in Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan or the Gold Coast without a Covid-19 safety plan.
The new rules will also come into effect in the Darling Downs from 8am Monday after health alerts were issued for the Southern Hotel and Queens’ Park Markets in Toowoomba.
All Saturday’s cases were linked to a correctional service training academy at Wacol, taking the corrective services cluster to 19 cases.
Our Guardian Australia reporter Elias Visontay has this on the opposition Labor party’s call for a wider aged care royal commission.
Labor is asking the government to expand the aged care royal commission so it can further examine Covid-19 outbreaks in more homes including Victorian facilities.
Opposition aged care spokeswoman Julie Collins wrote to Scott Morrison on Thursday, requesting he direct additional resources to the inquiry, suggesting the introduction of a new commissioner specifically to look at Covid-19’s impact.
Collins’ request follows comments made by aged care commissioner Tony Pagone QC ahead of the commission examining Covid-19 outbreaks at aged care homes in New South Wales.
“It is important for the public to understand that this Royal Commission is not able, and is not intending, to conduct a full inquiry into that impact.
“We simply do not have the resources or time to conduct an inquiry that would do justice to the issues which have arisen so far and continue to change and develop. The issues associated with the impacts of COVID-19 in aged care warrant an inquiry of their own,” Pagone said.
In her letter to the prime minister, Collins said “the three-day hearing into the impact of Covid-19 was a starting point”.
“There is more to learn about Covid-19 particularly given the tragic events that have occurred in New South Wales and Victoria. Labor therefore respectfully request that you provide additional resources to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety to inquire further into Covid-19.
“These additional resources could include appointing another Commissioner to inquire specifically into the impacts of Covid-19 so there are timely findings for the aged care sector to draw upon,” she suggested, adding an extra commissioner would help avoid any delays in the Commission’s final report being handed down on 26 February.
After pursuing the government over its aged care response to Covid-19 over the past sitting week, Labor is expected to continue to apply pressure on the topic.
It has called for aged care minister Richard Colbeck to be removed from the portfolio, and has also criticised the health department for failing to prepare a response plan for the sector - an accusation denied by the government.
Good morning, day, afternoon, evening, wherever these words find you. Thanks to my colleagues around the world for their stewardship of the blog.
Ben Doherty here - inside - in a Sydney happily bathed in glorious late-winter sun. I’m with you for the next few hours. Comments and correspondence are, as ever, welcomed. You can reach me at ben.doherty@theguardian.com or by twitter @BenDohertyCorro
A summary of the latest developments:
- The number of global Covid-19 cases is approaching 25 million (currently 24,892,000 according to the Johns Hopkins tracker). More than 840,000 people have died from the virus.
- Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building Saturday following a mass protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions in Berlin.
- France reported 5,453 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, and the health ministry described the situation as “worrying” following a spike the previous day when the country registered its highest number of cases since mid-March.
- The state of Victoria in Australia recorded 114 new cases of coronavirus and 11 new deaths.
- Brazil has registered another 758 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 41,350 new cases, taking the nation’s death toll to 120,262 3,846,153 confirmed infections.
- Costa Rica’s government has requested $1.75bn (£1.31bn) in financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the nation’s economy has been reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
- Thousands of Israelis demonstrated again on Saturday in Jerusalem, demanding the resignation of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces accusations of mishandling the coronavirus crisis.
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The former head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said countries across the world have been “selfish” in their handling of the pandemic.
- Authorities in Istanbul announced curbs on weddings and other ceremonies in Turkey’s largest city as the number of daily coronavirus cases and deaths hit their highest level nationwide in more than two months.
- India will reopen underground train networks and allow sports and religious events in a limited manner from next, despite soaring coronavirus infections.
- The infection rate in New York state has stayed below 1% for 22 consecutive days, governor Andrew Cuomo said.
- The UK recorded 1,108 new confirmed cases over the last 24 hours, the government said on Saturday, down slightly from the figure recorded on Friday.
Updated
