We are closing this live blog now, but you can stay up to date on all the latest news, including a press conference from Victoria at 11am, hosted by Daniel Andrews, on our new blog below:
I’ve just got some clarification on the “positive test result” reported for Goodna, near Ipswich, west of Brisbane, reported earlier by Queensland’s chief health officer.
That result was from a wastewater test, not a test of an individual, and was likely linked to a known cluster from that area.
Queensland reports new case of coronavirus
In Queensland, Australia, the state has reported one new case of Covid-19 of a man who was in day 10 of being in hotel quarantine.
The state’s chief health officer, Jeanette Young, says that testing of sewage near Townsville has returned a positive result, and is now warning anyone there to watch symptoms closely and get tested.
“We know we haven’t had cases in Townsville for quite some time ... months,” she said.
Updated
The next presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden planned for 15 October now won’t go ahead, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates in a statement to Reuters.
The CPD said both campaigns had announced “alternate plans for that date”.
“It is now apparent there will be no debate on October 15, and the CPD will turn its attention to preparations for the final presidential debate scheduled for October 22,” the commission said in an emailed statement.
Updated
Saturday’s Guardian front page in the UK.
THE GUARDIAN: Hospitality wage bailout move branded ‘an insult’ #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/KRBkDp1ZNr
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) October 9, 2020
A federal judge has refused to block New York’s plan to temporarily limit the size of religious gatherings in Covid-19 hot spots.
US district judge Judge Kiyo Matsumoto issued the ruling on Friday after an emergency hearing in a lawsuit brought by rabbis and synagogues that argued the restrictions were unconstitutional. They had sought to have enforcement delayed until at least after Jewish holy days this weekend.
The rules limit indoor prayer services to 10 people in areas where the virus is spreading fastest. In other areas with slower spread, indoor religious services are capped at 25 people.
The restrictions apply in six designated virus hot spots statewide, in parts of New York City, Rockland and Orange counties, and part of Binghamton. Nonessential businesses and schools have also been shut down in some of those areas.
Ruling from the bench, the judge said the state had an interest in protecting public safety.
Rabbis, leaders of synagogues and the national Orthodox Jewish group Agudath Israel sued, arguing that governor Andrew Cuomo was “singling out” Jews amid the ongoing Sukkot festival and this weekend’s Simchat Torah, which marks the annual cycle of reading the Torah.
“That targeting of a religious minority on the eve of its holidays is reason enough to reject all of defendant’s arguments and allow plaintiffs to celebrate their holidays this weekend as they have for over 2,000 years,” the groups argued in a Friday court filing.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn also sued in a challenge to the restrictions.
Updated
Victoria reports 14 new coronavirus cases and no deaths
Victoria has reported 14 new coronavirus cases and no deaths in the past 24 hours.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is expected to give a further update this morning in what will be his 100th consecutive day of fronting up to the media.
Melbourne has been in a hard lockdown since early July as the state experienced a second wave of the coronavirus.
While restrictions have eased in regional areas of the state, in the city a five-kilometre movement restriction for only essential travel and gathering bans remain.
That lockdown will stay unless the city’s rolling 14-day average drops to five cases or less, with only five cases of community transmission over that same time. The average right now is 9.4.
On Friday the state recorded 11 cases and no deaths.
In NSW, that state recorded five new local cases on Friday but these were all linked to a known cluster. A health alert was issued late Friday when a nurse at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney tested posted. The nurse “had limited contact with a very small number of colleagues”, health authorities said.
The opening of state borders continues to create political tension in Australia.
Queensland, which has only four people currently with the virus, is relatively open, and has its border closed to most of New South Wales and all of Victoria. The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and the Australian prime minister, Scott Morriso,n have both been trying to pressure Queensland to open up.
Queensland is in election mode, with polls closing on 31 October.
Updated
Saturday’s FT.
FT WEEKEND: @RishiSunak forced into new furlough plan #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/vny1heGLPV
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) October 9, 2020
A selection of some of the UK front pages on Saturday now, starting with The Times.
TIMES: ‘Unsung heroes’ honoured #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/1XduNiNsXP
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) October 9, 2020
Unsung heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic make up almost a third of the Queen’s birthday honours list in the UK.
US Department of Health and Human Services has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca Plc for development and supply of the company’s Covid-19 antibody treatment, a cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies, a similar class of drugs that was administered to President Donald Trump.
The agency will provide nearly $486 million to AstraZeneca for two Phase 3 clinical trials as well as a large-scale manufacturing demonstration project and supply of AZD7442 doses in the US.
Brazil nears death toll of 150,000
The death toll in Brazil from coronavirus has reached a total of 149,639 compared to 148,957 yesterday, the country’s health ministry said.
Brazil has also registered 5,055,888 cases, up from 5,028,444 yesterday.
In Australia, a Sydney nurse at St Vincent’s hospital has tested positive for coronavirus. It is believed the nurse provided specialised care to a single patient and had limited contact with a small number of colleagues.
NSW Health says people who attended Westfield Parramatta at times on 6 and 7 October are considered casual contacts of the nurse and should monitor for symptoms.
1/2 @NSWHealth is alerting the public that a newly confirmed case of #COVID19 is a nurse at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney. It is believed the nurse provided specialised care to a single patient, & had limited contact with a very small number of colleagues.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) October 9, 2020
2/2 Anyone who attended the below venues is considered a casual contact and must monitor for symptoms and get tested immediately if they develop. After testing, they must remain in isolation until a negative test result is received. Read more: https://t.co/QPaDrRiwwt pic.twitter.com/DsXIiXM7lf
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) October 9, 2020
An open letter in the UK that made headlines calling for a herd immunity approach to Covid-19 lists a number of apparently fake names among its expert signatories, including “Dr Johnny Bananas” and “Professor Cominic Dummings”.
The Great Barrington declaration, which was said to have been signed by more than 15,000 scientists and medical practitioners around the world, was found to contain numerous false names, as well as those of several homeopaths.
US President Donald Trump said he could have become very ill and might not have recovered from Covid-19 without experimental drugs, a far worse outlook than what his doctors were telling the American people.
“I was asking the doctors today ... and I said, How bad was I?’ They said: You could have been very bad. You were going into a very bad phase,’” Trump told Rush Limbaugh during his radio show.
“It looked like it was going to be a big deal and you know what that means, right? That means bad because I’ve lost five people,” he added, referring to acquaintances who have died.
Trump said that after contracting the virus, he was “not in the greatest of shape.” He added that “I might not have recovered at all” without treatment with experimental drugs.
His comments on the seriousness of his coronavirus contrast with generally upbeat public statements about his condition that his doctors released after his diagnosis and while he was hospitalised.
The White House said Trump’s being admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week was precautionary and his symptoms were mild.
Trump is expected to hold first rally since his diagnosis on Monday in Florida.
Updated
Two migrants died after entering Panama through the border with Colombia, one from coronavirus, Panamanian authorities said.
The National Immigration Service said both migrants, one from Mauritania and the other from Haiti, entered Panama in early October and both died on Thursday.
The Mauritanian Sall Abdulaye Mamdou, 28, was taken to a government outpost in the Darien region without vital signs. A test for Covid-19 came back positive.
The cause of death was not provided for Bana Saint Halaine of Haiti, 50, who entered Panama with a group of fellow Haitians.
Panama had previously reported the deaths of two other migrants during the pandemic.
There are some 2,000 migrants in government camps in Darien and another 500 in a camp near the Costa Rica border. The majority are Haitians halted in their journey to the United States by the pandemic.
Pfizer Inc and Germany’s BioNTech SE said they have started a rolling submission to Health Canada for their experimental Covid-19 vaccine.
The companies said under the rolling submission they would submit safety and efficacy data from trial of their Covid-19 vaccine to Canada’s health ministry when it becomes available.
Updated
A summary of today's developments
- The World Health Organization has reported a new daily high in Covid-19 cases. The global tally reached more than 350,000 cases on Friday, surpassing a record set earlier this week by nearly 12,000 infections.
- The number of coronavirus infections in France jumped over 20,000 in one day for the first time since the start of the pandemic, health ministry data showed. The ministry reported 20,330 new infections, taking the total to 691,977 since the start of the year. In the past two days the ministry had reported more than 18,000 daily new confirmed Covid-19 cases.
- UK prime minister Boris Johnson will make a statement on Monday setting out new coronavirus outbreak restrictions, the PA news agency understands. Johnson will use the occasion to outline a new “tiered” approach to how local Covid situations will be treated.
- The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, warned the country had reached a “tipping point” as it battles a second wave of the coronavirus. In revised modelling, the federal anticipates cumulative deaths could reach between 9,690 and 9,800 by 17 October, with 188,150 to 197,830 infections.
- Daily infections in Italy have topped 5,000 for the first time since March. On Friday, the country recorded 5,372 new Covid-19 cases, the first time more than 5,000 infections have been recorded in a single day by the country since 29 March.
- Spain has declared a state of emergency to keep Madrid in partial lockdown measures. Health minister Salvador Illa said the restrictions would remain in place in the capital for a fortnight after 63 people died from Covid-19 in the region in the last week.
- Poland has reported a record daily rise in infections for the fourth day in a row. The country recorded 4,739 new cases on Friday, ahead of masks becoming mandatory in all public places from Saturday.
- Europe has recorded 100,000 daily coronavirus cases for the first time. Infections in the continent passed 100,000 on Thursday after a steady rise over the past week. The UK, Russia, Spain and France have reported over 10,000 cases each in the last three days.
Updated
UK prime minister Boris Johnson will make a statement on Monday setting out new coronavirus outbreak restrictions, the PA news agency understands.
Johnson will use the occasion to outline a new “tiered” approach to how local Covid situations will be treated.
US President Donald Trump is feeling great and eager to get back out on the road once he is cleared by doctors treating him for Covid-19, White House spokeswoman Alyssa Farah insisted.
“The president is doing great ... He’s feeling great. He’s eager to get back out on the road safely once he’s been cleared by his doctors,” Farah said of Trump, who tested positive for coronavirus last week.
Updated
Cape Verde is set to reopen its borders on Monday, the government said, after the coronavirus pandemic forced the archipelago state to close to visitors for months.
Visitors to the West African country will have to provide proof of a negative coronavirus result from a high-precision molecular test, known as a PCR test.
“The government has decided that the time has come to restore full air links with the outside world,” Transport Minister Carlos Santos said during a press conference.
Cruise ships and commercial vessels will also be able to dock in Cape Verde from Monday, he added.
Sunseekers have traditionally flocked to the 10-island archipelago, where tourism represents about a quarter of its GDP.
The former Portuguese colony’s high season falls over the winter months.
The government banned commercial flights after the outbreak of the pandemic, but initial plans to lift the restrictions in July were delayed.
Health officials in Cape Verde have since recorded some 6,700 coronavirus cases to date, including 71 fatalities.
Transport Minister Santos said the country had strengthened its testing capabilities ahead of its reopening, including establishing testing centres on the islands of Sal and Boa Vista.
Mosques reopened in and around the Libyan capital, Tripoli, almost seven months after they were ordered to close as part of strict curbs to rein in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Libya has seen a surge in contaminations since its first coronavirus case in March.
According to the latest official figures, there have been more than 41,000 confirmed cases of the virus and 621 deaths in Libya, a country of less than seven million people.
The UN-recognised Government of National Accord based in Tripoli authorised the reopening of mosques, but with conditions.
Mosques in Tripoli and nearby towns reopened for prayers, with the faithful wearing face masks and observing social distancing. They also brought their own rugs.
The imam of Jaafar bin Abi Talib mosque in the western suburb of Janzour told AFP an awareness campaign was launched before the reopening.
“We distributed leaflets explaining the conditions under which prayers can resume in the mosques in line with the government’s guidelines,” Abdel Monem al-Rayani said.
The guidelines restrict numbers in mosques for prayers to half pre-coronavirus levels, he said.
Mosques which fail to comply with government restrictions would be shut.
Updated
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI called for a “general mobilisation” to confront the coronavirus crisis and its dire economic impact on the country in a video message broadcast in parliament.
“To confront this unprecedented crisis, to stand up to the challenges arising from it, requires a national general mobilisation,” he said.
The 57-year-old monarch said his traditional speech for the opening of parliament was being made remotely because of the “exceptional circumstances” in the north African country.
Morocco on Friday declared a daily record of 3,445 new cases of Covid-19, raising the total number of confirmed contaminations to 146,398, including 2,530 deaths.
At the end of last month, the central bank forecast 6.3% recession in 2020 due to a “slower than anticipated” economic upturn and the closure of Morocco’s borders that has denied the country vital tourism revenues.
A medical state of emergency in force in Morocco since mid-March has been extended until November 10.
Updated
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, warned the country had reached a “tipping point” as it battles a second wave of the coronavirus.
“I know this is discouraging ... the increase in new cases is putting an enormous pressure on hospitals and health care workers, who are more and more swamped,” Trudeau said Friday, pleading with residents to download the country’s Covid-19 alert app, which notifies users of possible exposures to the virus.
With the country’s Thanksgiving long weekend approaching, health officials have asked residents to refrain from gathering with friends and family to prevent new transmission.
In revised modelling, the federal anticipates cumulative deaths could reach between 9,690 and 9,800 by October 17, with 188,150 to 197,830 infections.
Almost 80% of the cases have been recorded in Ontario and Quebec, the two most populous provinces.
On Friday, Quebec logged 1,102 new cases. Its two largest cities, Montreal and Quebec City, have been designated “red zones” by health officials and have restrictions on businesses, including bars and restaurants.
Ontario reported 939 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, its highest number ever during the pandemic. The province is expected to shut down indoor dining, gyms and casinos. Schools and preschools will remain open.
Earlier in the week, Premier Doug Ford said he wouldn’t close thousands of businesses in the province—many of whom are facing dire financial prospects— because of a few “bad apples”.
The new restrictions will take effect at midnight and apply to Toronto, Ottawa and Peel region, and apply to nearly seven million people.
Health officials warned on Friday that Ontario’s updated modelling shows that without drastic action the province could experience “worst-case scenarios” similar to northern Italy and New York City, where hospitals were overwhelmed and logged high death tolls.
Updated
WHO reports new high of daily coronavirus cases globally
The World Health Organization has reported a new daily high in Covid-19 cases.
The global tally reached more than 350,000 cases on Friday, surpassing a record set earlier this week by nearly 12,000 infections.
The WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr Michael Ryan, acknowledged even as Covid-19 continues to surge across the world, “there are no new answers”.
He said that although the agency wants countries to avoid the punishing lockdowns that have devastated economies, governments must ensure the most vulnerable people are protected and that numerous measures must be taken.
Updated
France sees over 20,000 cases in a single day
The number of coronavirus infections in France jumped over 20,000 in one day for the first time since the start of the epidemic, health ministry data showed.
The ministry reported 20,330 new infections, taking the total to 691,977 since the start of the year. In the past two days the ministry had reported more than 18,000 daily new confirmed Covid-19 cases.
The number of deaths from the virus increased by 109 to 32,630, the highest in a week but below highs of around 150 seen earlier this month.
However, the death toll figures can be skewed as the ministry often reports several days of senior citizen residence data in one batch
Summary
Here’s a summary of the key global coronavirus developments over the last few hours:
- Daily infections in Italy have topped 5,000 for the first time since March. On Friday, the country recorded 5,372 new Covid-19 cases, the first time more than 5,000 infections have been recorded in a single day by the country since 29 March.
- Spain has declared a state of emergency to keep Madrid in partial lockdown measures. Health minister Salvador Illa said the restrictions would remain in place in the capital for a fortnight after 63 people died from Covid-19 in the region in the last week.
- Poland has reported a record daily rise in infections for the fourth day in a row. The country recorded 4,739 new cases on Friday, ahead of masks becoming mandatory in all public places from Saturday.
- Europe has recorded 100,000 daily coronavirus cases for the first time. Infections in the continent passed 100,000 on Thursday after a steady rise over the past week. The UK, Russia, Spain and France have reported over 10,000 cases each in the last three days.
Updated
Poland has reported a record daily rise in coronavirus infections for the fourth consecutive day, with 4,739 new cases, ahead of some restrictions being renewed in the country from Saturday.
Wearing masks outside will be compulsory across Poland, while a tightening of measures in schools is also expected to be announced.
On Thursday, prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki did not rule out introducing a state of emergency if the number of cases continues to grow.
In total, the country of 38 million has reported 116,338 Covid-19 infections and 2,919 deaths.
The World Health Organisation’s top emergencies expert has said authorities should try to avoid “punishing” lockdowns, as many countries see a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections.
Mike Ryan was speaking at a briefing in Geneva on Friday, the day after the WHO reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 338,779 in 24 hours led by a surge of infections in Europe.
“What we want to try to avoid - and sometimes it’s unavoidable and we accept that - but what we want to try and avoid is these massive lockdowns that are so punishing to communities, to society and to everything else,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has approved a revised Covid-19 relief stimulus, White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow has said.
Stocks immediately rallied on the news, Bloomberg News tweets, while the president himself (or one of his staff) has has also been on Twitter in the last few minutes
Covid Relief Negotiations are moving along. Go Big!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2020
Follow our US blog here for more details of those developments and coverage of the reaction to the announcement by House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi of a Commission on Presidential Capacity that would exist to evaluate the health of the president in a time of crisis and assess whether a transition of power to the vice president would be suitable.
Most people in the UK who have Covid-19 or are a contact of somebody who has tested positive fail to fully self-isolate, despite its necessity in preventing a resurgence of the pandemic, according to government advisors.
Newly released papers reveal that behavioural science experts privately warned last month that only 18-25% of people who needed to were self-isolating. Others were still going out to work or to shop, even though they risked infecting others, according to the details of the briefing for ministers by the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) .
In a paper dated 16 September, they called for financial support primarily for low earners, but also in middle-income groups. Food and help with obtaining medical and other supplies would also be essential, they said.
Specific details are expected to be made available next week in relation to the volumes of vaccines available under the WHO-led Covax distribution scheme, today’s WHO briefing has been told.
Italy’s coronavirus infections eclipsed 5,000 on Friday, and there there were 28 new fatalities.
Daily cases have galloped in recent days, jumping by over 900 to 5,372 in the last 24 hours.
Lombardy registered the highest number of infections - 983 - taking over from Campania in the south, where 769 cases were registered in a day.
Concerns are a mounting over the ability of hospitals in the south, which managed to avoid a drastic first phase of the pandemic, to cope.
A doctor’s association warned on Friday that if cases continue to increase at the same pace as in recent days then intensive care units, especially in Campania and Lazio, the region surrounding the Italian capital, would be struggling within the next month-and-a- half unless further containment measures are introduced.
Supplies of vaccines will be limited at first but states that are part of the WHO-led Covax distrubution scheme can distribute vaccines simultaneously to priority populations, including health workers, the director generatl of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He’s hosting a WHO media briefing at the moment, which you can follow live here.
Media briefing on #COVID19 with @DrTedros https://t.co/IyMNzCfTJG
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 9, 2020
A move by China to join the World Health Organisation’s vaccine distribution scheme is being viewed by many as another exampke of Beijing taking a more assertive leadership role as the US relinquishes its role, according to the South China Morning Post.
It quotes commentators including Mely Caballero-Anthony, head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, who said the decision to take a multilateral path and join the WHO-led Covax scheme to share a vaccine fairly added “more credibility” to China’s promise for the vaccine to be a global public good.
She added:
[It’s also] significant as it not only increases the number of countries helping this facility to provide for equitable access and distribution of vaccines, but strengthens the ability to help countries, particularly developing ones.
Updated
US Republican leader pours cold water on deal hopes
In the US, the Republican Party’s leader in the senate has said that the White House and Congress were unlikely to reach a deal on a Covid-19 economic stimulus ahead of the US presidential election on November 3.
“We do need another rescue package. But the proximity to the election and the differences of opinion what is needed at this particular juncture are pretty vast,” Mitch McConnell told a news conference in his home state of Kentucky.
The leading Republican in Congress, McConnell said he hoped lawmakers could rise above partisan jockeying to agree on “hopefully one last rescue package,” but added: “I think that’s unlikely in the next three weeks.”
President Donald Trump had showed renewed interest in forging a deal after withdrawing his administration earlier this week from talks with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the leading Democrat in Congress.
This is Ben Quinn picking up the blog for a while now as Amy Walker takes a break.
Updated
Daily infections in Italy top 5,000 for first time since March
Italy has recorded 5,372 new Covid-19 cases, the first time more than 5,000 infections have been recorded in a single day by the country since 29 March.
Europe records 100,000 daily Covid-19 cases for first time
Europe surpassed 100,000 daily reported Covid-19 cases for the first time on Thursday.
Cases throughout the continent have been steadily rising over the past week even as new infections in worst-affected countries such as India and Brazil have shown signs of slowing down.
The focus of the outbreak in the European region has moved to the UK, Russia, Spain and France, which have reported at least over 10,000 cases each in the last three days.
Russia reported its highest daily coronavirus cases ever since the last record in May on Friday, prompting Moscow authorities to mull closing bars and nightclubs.
The UK recorded more than 17,000 cases on Thursday, with the health minister, Matt Hancock, warning that the country was at a “perilous moment”.
Many parts of northern England, Wales and Scotland have introduced tougher restrictions on social interaction to try to curb the growing spread of the disease.
Updated
Here’s some more detail on the Spanish government’s declaration of a state of emergency to keep Madrid in partial lockdown.
Salvador Illa, the national health minister, said the measures would remain in place for a fortnight, and also pointed out that other European cities had taken similar, or more drastic, action, despite having far low infection rates.
“The president of Madrid has decided to do nothing,” said Illa. “Over the past week, 63 people have died from Covid-19 in the Madrid region. Right now, there are 3,361 people in hospital in the Madrid region. There are 498 people fighting for their lives in the region’s intensive care units. We can sit on our hands or we can stop down the virus. Politics is about serving people and stopping the virus.”
The limited lockdown ordered by the government a week ago bans all non-essential movement in and out of the confined areas, but allows people to travel to work or to seek medical treatment.
Bars and restaurants – whose capacity has been limited to 50% – must close by 11pm. Over the past two weeks, Madrid has registered 563.8 new cases per 100,000 people, compared with a national average of 256.8.
Ayuso’s government had reluctantly obeyed the order, but launched a successful legal challenge, arguing that its own actions were bringing the situation under control and that the central government had no right to step in.
Ayuso is urging people in Madrid to stay in the city over the bank holiday weekend, but her administration has refused to heed the government’s calls for tougher action, instead proposing a last-minute plan to confine 51 areas where there have been more than 750 new cases per 100,000 people.
The regional health minister of Madrid, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, described the state of emergency as “an unjustified attack on the people of Madrid”.
By Thursday, Spain had logged a total 848,324 Covid cases – a rise of 12,243 on the previous day. The Madrid region accounts for a third of all Spain’s cases and a similar proportion of the country’s 32,688 deaths.
Coronavirus border closures and restrictions have stranded nearly 3 million migrants around the world who want to return home but cannot, the UN migration agency has said, adding some had been “warehoused” in unhygienic settings.
The International Organisation for Migration report includes only migrants who want to return but are unable to do so because of Covid-19 restrictions – such as seafarers stuck on decommissioned ships, miners or construction workers.
“It should be clear that migrants can be returned home in a safe and dignified manner despite the constraints imposed by Covid-19,” said Director General, António Vitorino in a statement, urging dialogue between countries.
Some stranded migrants have been confined in unclean quarters and where social distancing was impossible, placing them at risk of disease. Others face abuse, exploitation and neglect, the report said.
The worst region by far is the Middle East and North Africa, which accounts for 1.275 million of the total of 2.75 million in the IOM tally. Second was Asia with nearly a million.
IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said 648,000 stranded migrants were in the United Arab Emirates and were often construction labourers from East Africa and Asia, while 280,000 were stuck in Saudi Arabia.
Others are stuck onboard idle cruise ships, often not even granted the opportunity to go above deck.
Updated
Chancellor Angela Merkel and mayors from Germany’s 11 largest cities have agreed to adopt stricter anti-coronavirus measures if infections exceed a threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 a week.
Measures could include tighter rules on mask-wearing, as well as restrictions on private gatherings and buying alcohol, Merkel said on Friday, adding that her top priority was to avoid shutting down society and the economy as in the spring lockdown.
Merkel said she would meet with mayors again in two weeks to review whether the measures had been effective, adding: “We have proven that we can stand together against the virus and we should do that again.”
Non-emergency patients will not be admitted to hospitals in Iran due to large numbers of coronavirus patients.
It is unclear if the directive, announced by deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi on Friday, applies to the whole country or just the capital, Tehran.
The daily Covid-19 death toll reached a record of 239 this week in what the ministry says is a third wave of infections.
“Due to the large number of coronavirus outpatients and patients, hospitalization of non-emergency patients is not allowed until further notice,” Harirchi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
Schools, mosques, shops, restaurants and other public institutions in Tehran closed for a week on 3 October and the governor extended the closure on Friday for another week. Masks, which had been compulsory in shops, must be worn anywhere in public from Saturday.
Iran has recorded the most infections in the Middle East.
Updated
More hospitals will be opened in Ukraine to treat coronavirus patients amid a recent spike in new cases, the government said on Friday.
Ukraine registered a record 5,804 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the national security council said on Friday, up from a previous record of 5,397 new cases reported on Thursday.
The government said in a statement that prime minister Denys Smygal had ordered health minister Maksym Stepanov to start preparation for expanding the number of hospitals for coronavirus cases because more than 20,000 out of 31,927 beds had been occupied already in the country.
The minister said at least 900 patients with confirmed coronavirus infections were admitted to hospitals daily, and in some regions medical capacity was full completely.
The daily tally in Ukraine climbed to a record level for the third day in a row, bringing the total number of cases of coronavirus infection to 250,538 with 4,779 deaths, including 89 in the past 24 hours.
A total number of patients who have recovered since the start of the pandemic stood at 110,650.
The government is also mulling ways to toughen lockdown measures, which have been gradually eased since June to help the economy that plunged 11.4% in the second quarter.
Updated
Bereaved relatives of Italy’s coronavirus victims are preparing to submit a further 150 legal complaints to prosecutors investigating alleged errors by authorities at the beginning of the pandemic.
Action by Noi Denunceremo (We Will Report), a relatives’ committee established in April, has been gathering pace in recent months, with a report alleging Italy’s severely outdated pandemic plan may have contributed to thousands of deaths also being submitted to prosecutors in Bergamo.
Italian authorities allegedly failed to update the country’s pandemic plan in 2017, when the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) established new guidelines.
The group has branded recent praise of Italy’s subsequent handling of the pandemic as “fake news”.
“After over 36,000 official deaths and thousands more at home or in care homes, who were not tested as the hospitals exploded, not only have we not seen any institutional representative step aside, but both the prime minister and president of the Lombardy region have started regional, national and international media campaigns which would enhance their deeds in recent months,” said the committee’s president, Luca Fusco.
The new complaints will be filed to prosecutors on Thursday, bringing the total submitted so far to 300.
Conte was questioned by prosecutors in June. He said during an interview with the Guardian and five other European newspapers on Tuesday: “We are living in a situation that was unthinkable for all of us. Some accuse me of having done too much, of being a liberticide, while others accuse me of having done too little. I’m aware that before responding to public opinion or a judicial authority, I should respond to my conscience. And I say this humbly: I think I did everything possible to manage a really difficult situation.”
Italy is scrambling to contain a new rise in coronavirus infections, with daily cases hitting 4,458 on Thursday – the highest since mid-April.
Updated
Spain invokes state of emergency to impose partial lockdown on Madrid
Spain’s government invoked a state of emergency on Friday to impose a partial lockdown on Madrid, one of Europe’s worst Covid-19 hotspots, after a court had struck down the measures.
The move escalates a standoff between prime minister Pedro Sanchez’s socialist government and the conservative Madrid regional chief, who believes the curbs are illegal, excessive and disastrous for the local economy.
Following a health ministry order, Madrid authorities last week reluctantly barred all non-essential travel in and out of the city and other nearby towns.
The region had 723 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the two weeks to 8 October, according to the World Health Organization, making it Europe’s second densest cluster after Andorra.
But instead of a blanket restriction, the Madrid region chief Isabel Diaz Ayuso wants tailored restrictions in different neighbourhoods according to local contagion levels.
A Madrid court sided with her on Thursday, effectively suspending the restrictions and prompting the government’s response with an emergency order.
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Oman will reintroduce a night-time ban on movement and enforce the overnight closure of shops and public places between 11 and 24 October, to help contain the spread of coronavirus.
The restrictions will apply from 8pm to 5am. The Gulf state’s beaches will also be closed until further notice, state media said, reporting a decision from the supreme council in charge of coronavirus policy.
Daily new case numbers have been rising since the end of August, following a fall since July. Oman has recorded 104,129 cases of Covid-19 infection and 1,009 deaths so far.
Oman, a country of 4.7 million people, lifted a night curfew in mid-August and resumed international flights on 1 October. It had previously also enforced a ban on movement between provinces.
Authorities will also close down some enterprises which had previously re-opened and are not adhering to coronavirus prevention measures, the announcement said.
Poland reported a record daily rise in coronavirus cases for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, with 4,739 reported new infections.
From Saturday, wearing masks outside will be compulsory across the country, and a tightening of measures in schools is also expected to be announced.
Switzerland has reported a record daily rise in coronavirus infections of 1,487.
The country’s health agency has reported a total of 60,368 confirmed cases, up from 58,881 on Thursday. The death toll rose by three to 1,794.
Switzerland reported its first confirmed case of Covid-19 in late February. New daily infections previously peaked at 1,456 on 23 March but had dwindled to as few as three on 1 June.
More than 36.5 million people have been reported to have been infected by Covid-19, and 1,060,997 have died, according to an updated Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.
Germany has recorded more than 4,000 new infections for the second day in a row, with the country’s disease control agency stating on Friday it has been notified of 4,516 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours.
The latest daily coronavirus numbers are the highest recorded in Germany since 16 April, when testing capacity was considerably lower. The infection fatality rate in Germany for now remains relatively low, at 3% compared with 4.7% in June.
Berlin has emerged as one of the hotspots of the pandemic’s second wave, with the capital on Thursday crossing the crucial threshold of more than 50 cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days.
“These developments cause me great concern”, Berlin’s mayor, Michael Müller, said on Thursday evening. Bars, restaurants and off-licences in the capital will from Saturday be forced to close between 11pm and 6am, and rules around public and private gatherings at nighttime will be further tightened.
“We cannot rule out having to agree to take further steps”, Müller said. “We want to do everything to avoid a lockdown like the one we’ve already had.”
Updated
Russia is expected to register a second potential Covid-19 vaccine on 15 October, Reuters is reporting.
The vaccine has been developed by the Vector Virology Institute and Biotechnology Center, a former Soviet bioweapons research laboratory.
Russia’s rapid vaccine-development campaign highlights president Vladimir Putin’s goal to establish the country as a primary player in the global race to secure Covid-19 vaccines.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Russia’s Ministry of Health had declined to say what the approval would be for. But, said the paper, the country’s first vaccine, called Sputnik V, received conditional emergency approval in early August, after being tested on only 76 subjects, with the requirement that it would subsequently undergo large-scale trials.
Updated
Coronavirus world map: which countries have the most Covid cases and deaths?
Covid-19 has spread around the planet, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. Find out where the virus has spread, and where it has been most deadly.
Telstra denies Victoria police requested Graham Ashton’s phone records for hotel quarantine inquiry.
Phone records of former police chief considered crucial in investigation to determine who made the decision to use private security guards.
Victoria police never formally requested Telstra provide ex-police chief Graham Ashton’s phone records to help the hotel quarantine inquiry uncover who made the decision to use private security guards in the botched program, Guardian Australia can reveal.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Victoria police told Guardian Australia that police “did contact Telstra and request incoming call data for the former chief commissioner’s phone”.
Telstra on Friday, however, disputed the police’s account and denied such requests were made.
“I can confirm that we did not receive any formal requests for information,” a Telstra spokesperson told Guardian Australia.
A Victoria police spokeswoman said police had “cooperated fully and transparently with the inquiry”.
“As it remains underway it would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this time.”
Authorities in Moscow were considering closing bars and nightclubs to halt a second coronavirus wave as the number of new daily cases surged on Friday to the highest it has been since the pandemic began.
Russia reported 12,126 new infections, Reuters has said, pushing the overall total to 1,272,238. The previous record daily rise was 11,656 cases on May 11, when strict lockdown measures were in force across most of the vast country.
Russian authorities have recommended people stay at home this weekend, but currently have no lockdown in place and the Kremlin has said there are no plans to impose one for now.
The Moscow Mayor’s office was looking into closing bars, nightclubs and karaoke bars, but keeping restaurants in the capital open, the RBC media outlet reported on Friday, citing a a source at the mayor’s office.
“We have to at least somehow reduce the number of people in the city, otherwise we may arrive at the same strict restrictions as we had in the spring,” RBC quoted the source as saying.
Authorities in Moscow, the epicentre of Russia’s coronavirus outbreak in the spring, has also recommended people over the age of 65 isolate and has told businesses that at least a third of their staff must work remotely.
Officials said on Friday that 201 people had died of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 22,257.
Philippines confirms 2,996 new coronavirus cases, 83 more deaths
The Philippines’ health ministry on Friday reported 2,996 new coronavirus infections and 83 deaths, Reuters is reporting.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases in the Philippines have increased to 334,770, the highest toll in Southeast Asia, and fatalities to 6,152.
How does Trump’s Covid care compare with the average 74-year-old’s?
The president’s experience with coronavirus has been very different from the ordinary American senior, but Trump has ignored the disparities.
From getting a helicopter ride to a military hospital with a specialised suite to receiving experimental drugs made available to fewer than 10 people, Donald Trump’s experience with Covid-19 has been very different from that of your average 74-year-old American with a serious illness.
The president ignored these disparities after returning to the hospital on Monday night and in a video from the White House Trump said of Covid-19: “Don’t be afraid of it.”
Here’s a look at how different the experience of catching Covid-19 is for the most powerful 74-year-old in the US compared with most of his fellow citizens.
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NSW and Sydney Covid trend map: where coronavirus cases are rising or falling
Guardian Australia analysis and map shows how the pattern of Covid-19 has changed by region and throughout Sydney. Live data updates will track the numbers throughout New South Wales
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez is holding an emergency cabinet meeting this morning to consider declaring a state of emergency for Madrid and its surrounding region, to impose stronger anti-virus restrictions on the reluctant regional governors.
AP are reporting that the meeting comes a day after a Madrid court struck down a national government order that imposed a partial lockdown in the Spanish capital and its suburbs. The ruling sided with regional officials who had appealed the application of stricter measures against one of Europe’s most worrying virus clusters.
The judges said that travel restrictions in and out of the cities might be necessary to fight the spread of the coronavirus, but that under the current legal framework they were violating residents’ “fundamental rights”.
A state of emergency gives the national government extraordinary powers in time of crises to temporarily limit the constitutional rights of citizens. In this case, it would limit their freedom of movement by restarting perimeter controls on Madrid and some nearby towns also suffering from high contagion rates.
A much stricter nationwide state of emergency that began with home confinements was applied by the government from March until June to successfully rein in Spain’s first wave of the virus that causes Covid-19. Since it ended, the regions have regained control of health policy and their responses to controlling outbreaks has varied. Some have applied perimeter lockdowns around areas or towns with viral clusters.
The Madrid region has a 14-day infection rate of 591 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents, more than twice Spain’s national average of 257 and five times the European average rate of 113 for the week ending 27 September.
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Australia’s state by state coronavirus lockdown rules and restrictions explained
What are the restrictions within Victoria and the border closures with NSW and Queensland? How far can I travel, and how many people can I have over at my house? Untangle Australia’s Covid-19 laws and guidelines with our guide
Demand surges for Regeneron drug that Trump claims ‘cures’ Covid-19
Doctors say patients are seeking to participate in drug’s trials as Regeneron’s stock soar after president touts treatment
Doctors are reporting a spike in inquiries by patients for an experimental Covid-19 drug cocktail after Donald Trump called the Regeneron Pharmaceuticals drug “a blessing from God” that is a “cure” for the virus.
Two doctors involved in the trial of the drug told Reuters that more patients are asking to participate in the drug’s trials, though medical experts have pointed out the drug, REGN-COV2, is still too early in its trial period to confirm that it can help treat Covid-19.
On Wednesday, hours after Trump praised the drug as the “cure” for the virus, Regeneron announced it submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) for an emergency use authorization of the drug, which is a cocktail mix of two antibodies meant to aid the immune system in fighting the virus.
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The winner of this year’s Nobel peace prize will be announced on Friday at 11am (0900 GMT) in Oslo, with no shortage of causes or candidates on this year’s list.
While the Norwegian Nobel committee maintains absolute secrecy about whom it favours for arguably the world’s most prestigious prize, that has never stopped speculation ahead of the announcement.
Guesses – and bets – this year have focused on the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, recovering from a nerve agent attack he blames on Russian president Vladimir Putin, and the World Health Organization for its role in addressing the coronavirus pandemic.
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Coronavirus cases in Bulgaria have hit new daily high record, Reuters is reporting.
The country has reported 516 new coronavirus cases of coronavirus – the third day in a row it has beaten its own record since the start of the pandemic in March, official data showed.
The Balkan country has 23,279 Covid-19 cases, including 880 deaths. A total of 1,063 people are hospitalised and 56 are in intensive care, data from the coronavirus information platform showed.
Despite the surge in infections in past days, the health minister said the country was still doing relatively well compared with other European Union countries hit by a second Covid-19 wave and ruled out imposing new restrictions for now.
Updated
As we reported earlier: Reuters is confirming that China has joined a global vaccine initiative for distributing 2bn doses of Covid-19 vaccines around the world by the end of next year.
The Covax vaccine facility supports equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines to rich and poor countries alike. The Gavi vaccine alliance has confirmed that China has become the 170th country to join, becoming the largest economy to join the group.
“This is fantastic news, which gives even more momentum to our efforts to ensure global, equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines,” said Seth Berkley, the chief executive of Gavi.
The move means China “will be procuring vaccines through the facility for a proportion of their own population, just as with other countries that have joined”, a spokesman said.
Earlier, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said: “This is an important step China has taken to uphold the concept of a shared community of health for all and to honour its commitment to turn #Covid19 vaccines into a global public good.”
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Victoria and Melbourne Covid trend map: where coronavirus cases are rising or falling
Guardian Australia analysis and map shows how the pattern of Covid-19 has changed by region and throughout Melbourne. Live data updates will track the numbers as the Vic lockdown continues
Guardian Australia brings together all the latest on active and daily new Covid-19 cases, as well as maps, stats, live data and state by state graphs from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response
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Good morning from London. It’s a hello from me, Amelia Hill. I’ll be taking over the reins from Helen.
Updated
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, after a wild, wild week.
I’ll be back on Sunday AEST when, who knows, Trump may be holding a rally while still positive for coronavirus.
Hannity: Have you been tested recently?
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 9, 2020
Trump: Yeah I just saw the doctors today they think I’m in great shape. I’m in great shape.
Hannity: Did you test negative?
Trump: And I’ll tell you I took this Regeneron and it’s phenomenal.https://t.co/FUgxRaeZy3
A summary of today’s events can be found here.
Updated
Friday briefing: England should pull circuit breaker – experts
Scientists advising the government have warned that further Covid restrictions do not go far enough and “fringe” anti-lockdown epidemiologists are gaining too much attention. The shutdown of pubs and restaurants in the north and Midlands expected next week is unlikely to bring cases down sufficiently, members of the Sage committee have told the Guardian, and the “circuit breaker” imposed in Scotland from today should have been enacted in England two or three weeks ago.
The Guardian understands most of northern England – from Barrow in Cumbria to Merseyside, Greater Manchester, much of Lancashire and Yorkshire and most of the north-east, as well as Nottinghamshire in the Midlands – will be put under a new three-tier alert system. It will be announced on Monday to come into force on Wednesday, a government source has said:
Keir Starmer has called for an end to the government’s “serial incompetence” throughout the pandemic as concerns grow over the possibility of further restrictions being introduced, PA Media reports.
The Labour opposition leader, writing in the Telegraph, decried the leaking of plans for tougher measures and said it had led to confusion about Downing Street’s approach.
He suggested a number of ways the government could “get a grip of this situation urgently before it spirals out of control”.
Local leaders had to be consulted more closely over restrictions, he said, to arrest frustration amid a sense that No 10 was talking down to parts of the country:
Summary
- Donald Trump, who is still recovering from Covid-19, suggested he might organise a rally in Florida on Saturday, while continuing to ignore questions on whether he has yet tested negative for the disease. On Thursday night, Trump said: “I think I’m going to try doing a rally on Saturday night if we can, if we have enough time to put it together. “But we want to do a rally in Florida, probably in Florida on Saturday night, might come back and do one in Pennsylvania, on the following night.”
- The United States passed 7.6m cases. The US will likely have more than 8m cases by Thursday next week, when Biden hosts a Town Hall in place of the virtual debate Trump refused to agree to. The US case total accounts for just over a fifth of the global case total. The US death toll, at more than 212,000, accounts for over one in five deaths worldwide, too.
- House speaker Nancy Pelosi, announced on Thursday that Democrats in the US Congress would meet to discuss the 25th amendment to the constitution, which contains a clause that allows a president to be removed from office against his will because of physical or mental incapacity.
- Trump’s physician, Dr Sean Conley, said he anticipated Trump would be able to return to public engagements on Saturday, after initially suggesting that the president might not be able to return to public life until Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Covid-19 patients can be around others 10 days after their symptoms first appear, provided they have not had a fever in the preceding 24 hours.
- It emerged that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows held a 70-person indoor wedding for his daughter in Atlanta in May in defiance of state and municipal guidelines, the New York Times reported.
- Wisconsin opened a field hospital amid a surge in cases that has overwhelmed the state’s health care system. Governor Tony Evers said in a statement, “We’re in a crisis right now and need to immediately change our behaviour to save lives.”
In non-US news:
- China has officially joined a global vaccine initiative for distributing 2bn doses of Covid-19 vaccines around the world by the end of next year, according to the ministry of foreign affairs. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that Beijing had joined the initiative known as Covax, making China the largest economy to join to coalition aimed at countering so-called “vaccine nationalism”.
- Cuba to open for tourism starting next week. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said late on Thursday that most of the Caribbean island nation would open to international tourism starting next week as it moved towards a “new normality” after containing its coronavirus outbreak.
- India nears 7m cases. India’s total coronavirus cases rose by 70,496 in the last 24 hours to 6.91 million on Friday morning, data from the health ministry showed. Deaths from Covid-19 infections rose by 964 to 106,490, the ministry said. India’s death toll from the novel coronavirus rose past 100,000 on Saturday, only the third country in the world to reach that bleak milestone, after the United States and Brazil, and its epidemic shows no sign of abating.
- Australia reported its second straight day without any Covid-19 deaths on Friday, the longest stretch without any fatalities from the virus in three months. Australian states and territories reported 16 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 28 on Thursday, and no deaths for two days, the first time Australia has gone 48 hours without a Covid-19 death since July 11. The results cement optimism that Australia has contained a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
- Romania suspends flights to and from high-risk countries to stem a sharp rise in new coronavirus infections. Travellers from 49 high-risk countries will need to self-isolate for 10-14 days upon arrival, except those travelling for less than three days, who must have a negative coronavirus test. On Thursday, the government suspended flights from the countries on the list, except European Union states, the UK, the UAE and Qatar.
- Madrid must impose travel restrictions or face state of emergency, Spanish government says. Madrid must enforce travel restrictions ordered by the health ministry to limit coronavirus outbreaks or the national government will impose a state of emergency that would force it to comply, the Spanish government said late on Thursday.
- Paris hospitals move into emergency mode amid rise in Covid-19 patients. Hospitals in the Paris region have moved into emergency mode, cancelling staff holidays and postponing non-essential operations, as coronavirus patients made up close to half of all patients in intensive care units (ICUs).
Covax: vaccine global effort gets China's support
China has officially joined a global vaccine initiative for distributing 2bn doses of Covid-19 vaccines around the world by the end of next year, according to the ministry of foreign affairs.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that Beijing had joined the initiative known as Covax, making China the largest economy to join to coalition aimed at countering so-called “vaccine nationalism”.
“This is an important step China has taken to uphold the concept of a shared community of health for all and to honour its commitment to turn #Covid19 vaccines into a global public good,” Hua wrote on Twitter.
Beijing had initially missed the deadline for joining the Covax initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations. The goal of the alliance of 156 countries is to provide Covid-19 vaccines to a targeted 3% of each participating country’s most at-risk population by sharing the costs of research and distribution among both developed and developing countries:
A second CDC epidemiologist has joined the White House’s contact tracting team, the Washington Post reports:
A week after a cluster of coronavirus cases emerged following a White House event, the Trump administration is now working on a limited basis with the federal government’s elite cadre of disease detectives to control further spread.
Two epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are assisting the White House in tracking down people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, CDC spokesman Jason McDonald said Thursday. One epidemiologist has been detailed to the White House since March and the second arrived recently.
CBS reporter Sara Cook says that the White House claims, however, that enlisting the help of a second epidemiologist has “nothing to do” with what has happened in the last two weeks:
A Sr. WH official confirms to @CBSNews a 2nd CDC epidemiologist joined the WH Medical Unit yesterday.
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) October 9, 2020
BUT, they note this was planned since Sept to assist w/ anything that might arise during Pres Trump's anticipated heavy travel in Oct & has "nothing to do" with the last 2 weeks https://t.co/gMACWnMIuj
If you need a laugh at the end of an extremely depressing week:
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Podcast: Will Trump’s handling of Covid-19 be his undoing? Politics Weekly Extra
After a week in which so much happened in the US, Jonathan Freedland talks to the Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan about why the pandemic might be the one issue Trump can’t talk his way out of, and to Lauren Gambino about what swing states tell us about modern US politics:
Here is our full story on Trump saying he hopes to hold a rally on Saturday:
Donald Trump, who is still recovering from Covid-19, has suggested he might organize a rally in Florida on Saturday, while continuing to ignore questions on whether he has yet tested negative for the disease.
On Thursday night, Trump said: “I think I’m going to try doing a rally on Saturday night if we can, if we have enough time to put it together.
“But we want to do a rally in Florida, probably in Florida on Saturday night, might come back and do one in Pennsylvania, on the following night.”
At least one Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been linked by a local health official to a spike in coronavirus cases. Most supporters at recent Trump events have eschewed masks and social distancing measures to slow the spread of disease.
Asked by Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday night whether he had yet to test negative for coronavirus – or whether he had been tested at all since his positive test last week – the president did not directly respond, instead touting the experimental drugs he had been treated with. He said he would be likely be tested on Friday.
Updated
Australia records second day without Covid-19 death for first time in three months
Australia reported its second straight day without any Covid-19 deaths on Friday, the longest stretch without any fatalities from the virus in three months.
Australian states and territories reported 16 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 28 on Thursday, and no deaths for two days, the first time Australia has gone 48 hours without a Covid-19 death since July 11.
The results cement optimism that Australia has contained a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
The country’s second most populous state Victoria, the epicentre of Australia’s Covid-19 outbreak, said they now have less than 200 active infections.
“These are the results that come from a really determined effort to defeat this second wave,” Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.
Australia has reported more than 27,000 coronavirus infections and about 900 deaths - far fewer than many other developed countries.
India nears 7m cases
India’s total coronavirus cases rose by 70,496 in the last 24 hours to 6.91 million on Friday morning, data from the health ministry showed.
Deaths from Covid-19 infections rose by 964 to 106,490, the ministry said.
India’s death toll from the novel coronavirus rose past 100,000 on Saturday, only the third country in the world to reach that bleak milestone, after the United States and Brazil, and its epidemic shows no sign of abating.
Here is Kamala Harris’ uncle on his niece’s debate performance:
I present to you @KamalaHarris’ uncle. pic.twitter.com/vfSbhmZlML
— krupali (@krupali) October 9, 2020
US Vice President Mike Pence’s debate with Democrat Kamala Harris attracted 57.9 million TV viewers, Reuters reports, the second-highest audience ever for a matchup between vice presidential candidates, according to Nielsen data released on Thursday.
The viewership figure for the Wednesday evening faceoff in Salt Lake City included people watching across 18 networks. The tally came in 56% higher than four years ago, when 37 million people tuned in to see Pence debate Democrat Tim Kaine.
During the policy-heavy 90-minute event, Pence and Harris clashed over the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Vice presidential debates typically draw smaller audiences than presidential clashes. President Donald Trump’s Sept. 29 debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden pulled in 73 million viewers, making it the second-biggest event on U.S. television this year, after the Super Bowl.
The TV viewing record for a vice presidential debate was set in 2008, when Biden debated Republican Sarah Palin. That telecast drew 69.9 million viewers.
For the Pence-Harris matchup, Fox News Channel led all networks, with 11.9 million viewers.
The Nielsen numbers included people watching at home and at such venues as bars and restaurants. It also included some digital viewership through televisions connected to the internet.
The figures do not capture the full extent of online viewing, which has grown in popularity as traditional TV audiences decline, however. The debate was streamed live on Twitter, YouTube, network websites and other digital platforms.
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Cuba to open for tourism starting next week
In Cuba meanwhile:
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said late on Thursday that most of the Caribbean island nation would open to international tourism starting next week as it moved towards a “new normality” after containing its coronavirus outbreak.
From Reuters: The country, which closed its borders six months ago in a bid to contain the spread of the virus, has been gradually opening up to tourism ahead of the November-March high season, first in the northern keys and then its Varadero beach resort.
Thirteen of Cuba’s sixteen provinces will now be open to tourism, Marrero told a roundtable discussion broadcast to the nation, albeit not yet the capital, Havana which only just appears to have curbed a second wave of infections with strict measures, including a curfew.
International tourism is one of Cuba’s top hard currency earners, so its suspension this year has dealt a blow to the cash-strapped economy, even as the United States has continued to harden its decades-old trade embargo.
“We will open the possibility of international flights for all the provinces that are in this third phase,” Marrero said, noting that all arrivals would be tested.
Cuba’s universal, community-based healthcare system has contained its outbreak and reduced mortality by hospitalising all confirmed cases, tracing and isolating their contacts and applying a raft of therapeutic treatments.
Cuba has reported just 11 deaths from Covid-19 per million inhabitants, compared with 203 for the Dominican Republic and 647 for the United States, statistics from Johns Hopkins University show.
On the debate, from the Washington Post:
Trump’s advisers have told him how valuable the debates are, citing viewership that far exceeds his typical rallies. Some aides have struggled to get Trump to understand that a debate, which is likely to draw more than 60 million viewers, is far more impactful than a rally that airs exclusively to a Fox News audience of less than 4 million, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.
US passes 7.6m cases
The United States has passed another pandemic milestone, with more than 7.6m cases now registered on the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
The US will likely have more than 8m cases by Thursday next week, when Biden hosts a Town Hall in place of the virtual debate Trump refused to agree to.
The US case total accounts for just over a fifth of the global case total.
The US death toll, at more than 212,000, accounts for over one in five deaths worldwide, too.
Updated
White House chief of staff held 70-person indoor wedding for his daughter
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows held a 70-person indoor wedding for his daughter in Atlanta in May in defiance of state and municipal guidelines, the New York Times reported earlier today.
The wedding, the Times reports:
Took place early in the coronavirus pandemic, as Americans were canceling or postponing their own weddings and other long-planned gatherings to comply with public health restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.
Photographs from the May 31 event, posted online, show no masks or distancing among the crowd of several dozen tuxedo-clad attendees.
The squeeze on Britain’s beleaguered retail sector from tighter coronavirus restrictions reducing numbers of shoppers on the high street clung on into September, data showed Friday, AFP reports.
Latest figures from industry body the British Retail Consortium and analytics company ShopperTrack showed that UK retail footfall was down by 30.1% in September compared with a year earlier.
The data did show a slight month-on-month improvement in September from August - although local lockdown restrictions weighed on sentiment.
Britain began emerging in June from a nationwide lockdown that lasted almost three months.
The lockdown sparked a surge in online shopping as people shunned high streets and switched to computer screens and smartphones.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey meanwhile warned Thursday that recession-mired Britain faced the prospect of an “uneven” recovery, as the government battles a second wave of rising infections with tighter restrictions and localised lockdowns.
“When you look at areas of activity in the economy that require more close social interaction, it’s no surprise that they have been the weakest to recover,” he said at an online conference.
Mexico’s health ministry on Thursday reported 5,300 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 370 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 804,488 infections and 83,096 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Mark the date, we have reached the point where even Sean Hannity is asking Trump simple questions that the president can’t or won’t answer https://t.co/HgMpIsOCJn
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 9, 2020
Wisconsin sets up field hospital as cases surge
The US state of Wisconsin has opened a field hospital to meet an alarming rising demand for care as coronavirus cases surge and overwhelm hospitals, CNN reports.
Governor Tony Evers said in a news conference earlier, “We obviously hoped this day wouldn’t come, but unfortunately, Wisconsin is in a much different and more dire place today, and our health care systems are being overwhelmed.”
These states are in really tough shape with not only very high, record new confirmed cases per capita, but also rising death tolls (US overall at ~2.0/M)
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) October 9, 2020
The dire situation in Wisconsin, via @cmyeaton https://t.co/ebopAYsI3o pic.twitter.com/ZI4ztaSMwG
Evers said in a statement that the state “is in crisis right now”:
Only two US states report a decline of new cases and nationwide hospitalizations are increasing. The field hospital is a stark illustration of the extensive outbreak across Wisconsin, which has pushed hospitals to the brink, led to renewed limits on public gatherings, infected US Sen. Ron Johnson and forced the NFL’s Green Bay Packers to put an “indefinite hold” on having fans at historic Lambeau Field this season.
To combat the outbreak, Gov. Evers issued an emergency order limiting public gatherings to no more than 25% of a room or building’s capacity. The state had previously allowed bars and restaurants to operate at 50% capacity.
“We’re in a crisis right now and need to immediately change our behaviour to save lives,” Evers said in a statement. “We are continuing to experience a surge in cases and many of our hospitals are overwhelmed, and I believe limiting indoor public gatherings will help slow the spread of this virus.”The order, which went into effect Thursday morning, applies to any gatherings at locations open to the public, including stores, restaurants and other businesses with public entry, according to the release.
Trump has some more troubles with his voice pic.twitter.com/YFUma9opp7
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2020
Trump has told Hannity that “the vaccines are going to be coming really soon.”
He again repeats that the experimental treatment he received is a “cure”. There is no known cure for coronavirus.
Trump claims that “we’re going to get it to everybody free of charge. It’s going to hospitals it’s starting very soon. The military is going to be delivering it.”
A reminder that several high-level military officers are currently quarantining and at least two have tested positive for coronavirus.
And that Trump does not have the power to make the treatment free without new legislation.
And that he has ties to Leonard Schleifer, the CEO of Regeneron, which produces the experimental treatment Trump credits with “curing” him.
Trump’s relationship Schleifer, whom he reportedly calls “Lenny”, adds to growing questions over the president’s almost exclusive access to experimental treatments unavailable to most other Americans, even as he has continued to downplay the threat of coronavirus based on his own experience.
Trump claims that the military will soon be delivering whatever drugs he took to get over the coronavirus to hospitals so people can get the same treatment he did for free. (Is there a single person who believes this?) pic.twitter.com/S49dGFwIQd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2020
Trump says he wants to debate Biden but wants moderators like Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Judge Jeanine, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, or Tucker Carlson pic.twitter.com/52wJO9SStn
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2020
Debate commission won't rethink virtual debate
More from AP:
The chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates says it is not reconsidering shifting the second debate from virtual back to in-person, despite a request from President Donald Trump’s team.
Frank Fahrenkopf told The Associated Press late Thursday that the nonpartisan group’s decision was not going to be reversed. That means the second debate is probably not going to happen at all.
The commission decided to make the Oct. 15 debate virtual after Trump tested positive for the coronavirus. Fahrenkopf says that the group wanted to “protect the health and safety of all involved” and that the decision was guided by the advice of the Cleveland Clinic, its heath partner for the 2020 debates.
Trump’s doctor, Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley, said in a letter Thursday evening that Trump would be cleared to resume public activities Saturday, 10 days after his diagnosis.
Earlier Thursday, Trump balked at the virtual event and said he wouldn’t participate. Biden’s campaign then said Biden would participate in a town hall hosted by ABC News on 15 October instead.
22 October debate between Biden and Trump likely slated to go on, says commission
The chair of the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates has told The Associated Press that the final debate, scheduled for 22 October, is still slated to go on with both candidates present as planned.
But next Thursday’s debate seemed to be gone, after the Trump team objected to the commission’s format change.
Trump had to stop speaking for a moment because he was hoarse:
He literally had to mute the phone so he could cough in the middle of explaining how healthy he is. https://t.co/kOl6PK0eol
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) October 9, 2020
Trump has so far repeatedly avoided the question of whether he had been tested since he tested positive.
Hannity: Have you been tested recently?
Trump: Yeah I just saw the doctors today they think I’m in great shape
Hannity: Did you test negative?
Trump: And I’ll tell you I took this Regeneron and it’s phenomenal.
Trump won't tell Hannity if he's had a negative coronavirus test. He just ignores the question and starts ranting. pic.twitter.com/GOtYbRCDqv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2020
Trump says he will be tested tomorrow and that 'There's no reason to test all the time'
Here is the audio of Trump on Hannity.
“I think I’m going to try doing a rally on Saturday night, if we have enough time to put it together,” he says.
Asked whether he’s had a test since testing positive last week, Trump said, “Well what we’re doing is probably the test will be tomorrow. The actual test, because there’s no reason to test all the time.”
So, if Trump is telling the truth (and this is a big if) it sounds like nobody is able to confirm whether Trump has tested negative for coronavirus because he has not been tested – rather than that he has tested positive, which would be bizarre.
Holy shit. Trump, who won't say if he's tested negative for coronavirus (so he either hasn't been tested or is still testing positive), says he plans to do a rally this Saturday night in Florida. pic.twitter.com/e6s5O5kEHY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2020
Updated
Trump tells Hannity he has not been tested again for coronavirus, says he wants to hold rally on Saturday
Trump has told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he wants to hold a rally on Florida or Pennsylvania on Saturday and has “conceded”, CNN reports, that he has not been tested again for coronavirus.
"I think I'm going to try doing a rally on Saturday night if we have enough time to put it together," President Trump tells Sean Hannity. He said it would potentially be in Florida or Pennsylvania. He concedes he has not been tested again.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 9, 2020
Democrats in the US Congress have announced a plan to create a commission to review whether Donald Trump is capable of carrying out his presidential duties or should face removal from office.
The office of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announced a Friday press conference about the bill after she expressed concern that Trump, who is under treatment for coronavirus at the White House, is suffering a “disassociation from reality”.
The president has unleashed a barrage of erratic and self-contradictory tweets and declarations in recent days that have left staff scrambling and raised concerns over his stability.
Pelosi, who is negotiating a Covid-19 economic stimulus plan, responded at her weekly press conference: “The plan isn’t for the president to say that he’s a perfect physical specimen. Specimen, maybe I can agree with that ... And young, he said he was young.”
Trump “is, shall we say, in an altered state right now” and “the disassociation from reality would be funny if it weren’t so deadly,” the 80-year-old speaker added while wearing a mask.
Trump reacted angrily to Pelosi’s manoeuvre, tweeting: “Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing!”
Trump is “imploring” aides to allow him to resume campaign rallies, the New York Times reports.
Watching the news coverage and angry at the state of the race, Mr. Trump has been imploring aides to let him resume campaign rallies as soon as this weekend, which now could be possible. He showed up again in the Oval Office on Thursday despite efforts to get him to remain in the residence until he was more fully recovered.
...
Campaign officials point to the calendar and note that the “Access Hollywood” tape with its sexually offensive banter that was seen as the end of his 2016 candidacy emerged on Oct. 7 that year, roughly the same point in the campaign as now. But something else happened that day that helped distract attention from the tape: the leak of emails stolen by Russia from Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman.
US Senate Candidate for South Caroline, Democrat Jaime Harrison, has threatened to pull out of tomorrow’s South Carolina senate debate if Lindsey Graham doesn’t take another Coronavirus test.
Graham has responded by saying that that Harrison is “demanding special treatment”.
Graham refuses to take the test, which FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver argues could be due to “pretty strong incentives for Republican senators not to get tested right now.”
Yeah, there are pretty strong incentives for Republican senators not to get tested right now, or not to accurately disclose the results of positive tests. https://t.co/jkf7XcVR7X
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 9, 2020
US nears 7.6m cases
The US is on the brink of 7.6m cases, with 7,599,566 currently confirmed on the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
The number of Americans who have died in the pandemic so far is 212,651.
But the president of that country said earlier on the Fox Business channel, “What happens is, you get better. That’s what happens: you get better.”
Updated
ABC reports:
The NYPD is experiencing an increase in the number of officers calling out sick this month.
New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea asked officers to wear face coverings and take other precautions in a videotaped message to the department that followed an unusually large number of sickouts in the last week.
Thirty-six NYPD members called out sick with suspected coronavirus in the first six days of October, Shea said in a video sent to officers Wednesday.
By comparison, about 42 uniformed and civilian members called out sick monthly in July, August and September.
even the NYPD is seeing an uptick in #coronavirus cases. https://t.co/fVawPfJPsN
— Bill Ritter (@billritter7) October 9, 2020
Trump will be calling into Sean Hannity’s radio show in a few minutes’ time. I’ll bring you any coronavirus-related news from that.
Questions, feedback, news? Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Trump to hold rally in place of debate
US President Donald Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien has just announced (and the president has retweeted this) that Trump will be holding a campaign rally on Thursday instead of debating Joe Biden, after Trump refused to agree to hold a virtual debate.
The statement says that by the time of the debate (Thursday next week), “ Trump will have posted multiple negative tests” which appears to be the closest statement yet to saying that Trump has not yet tested negative for coronavirus since testing positive:
By the time of the debate “Trump will have posted multiple negative tests” – the closest thing yet to an admission that he hasn't yet tested negative. https://t.co/W4dIGdikBw
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 9, 2020
“We’ll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead,” writes Bill Stepien.
Stepien also has coronavirus.
The statement does not explicitly say that the rally will be in person, but it doesn’t indicate that it won’t be in person, either. The note about negative tests would seem to suggest that an in-person rally is being planned.
In the statement Stepien refers to the Presidential Debate Commission as “swamp creatures”:
Stepien: "We’ll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead." https://t.co/TWeUjpEFJd
— Jenn Pellegrino OAN 🇺🇸 (@JennPellegrino) October 8, 2020
Updated
One of the drugs taken by Donald Trump that he has touted as a potential “cure” for coronavirus was developed using human cells originally obtained from an elective abortion, a practice repeatedly denounced by the president and many of his supporters.
The drug is a monoclonal antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron. The president received an 8-gram infusion under a “compassionate use” exemption when he was hospitalized over the weekend after testing positive for Covid-19. There is no cure for Covid-19, and the drug is not approved.
The stem cells used to develop the drug are known as HEK-293T cells, a line of cells used in laboratories. The cells were originally derived from an embryonic kidney after an elective abortion performed in the Netherlands in the 1970s:
Hi, Helen Sullivan here.
I’ll be bringing you the latest in Trump/White House coronavirus news as well as global updates for the next few hours.
Say Hi on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Meanwhile the US has reported more than 55,000 cases, according to the Covid Tracking Project, and 975 deaths.
Johns Hopkins has not yet confirmed the cases for 8 October. The US reported more than 50,000 cases on 7 October, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker.
Our daily update is published. States reported 1 million tests, 55k cases, and 975 deaths. 34k people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. WI, ND, UT and WY reported record high case counts today. pic.twitter.com/W4cOO1iVZp
— The COVID Tracking Project (@COVID19Tracking) October 8, 2020
Here is the Trump campaign statement, which says that given Dr Conley’s medical clearance, there is “no medical reason” why the debate should not take place in-person on Thursday.
A reminder that Conley has not indicated that Trump has tested negative for coronavirus, which is one medical reason he should not be out in public.
New tonight: And now the Trump campaign says it wants the president to debate Joe Biden in person on the originally planned dates. pic.twitter.com/bWqAdNZXUX
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) October 9, 2020
Trump again calls for in-person debate, citing doctor's letter
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reports that the Trump campaign has for a third time today called for an in-person debate with Joe Biden.
On Thursday morning, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) said that the next presidential debate, due on 15 October, would be a virtual affair, with the candidates appearing remotely. Biden agreed to the new rules, but Trump did not. It was then announced that Biden would hold a Town Hall that night instead.
The Trump campaign has issued its third statement of the day on the debates, arguing that because of Dr. Conley's letter saying President Trump can return to public engagements Saturday, the debate should proceed as planned Thursday. Still no word on if Trump has tested negative.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 8, 2020
Here is the Biden campaign statement from earlier:
JUST IN: @JoeBiden also will not participate in the Oct. 15 debate, his campaign announces. Instead, @KBeds says Biden “will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly on October 15th, as he has done on several occasions in recent weeks.” pic.twitter.com/vaBxRJSanw
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) October 8, 2020
Updated
What we know so far: Trump expected to return to public engagements on Saturday
White House Physician Dr Sean Conley has released a statement saying that Trump has completed his treatment for coronavirus
“I fully anticipate the president’s return to public engagements on Saturday,” Conley wrote.
Conley, who has not taken questions from journalists in three days about the US president’s health, did not indicate whether Trump had tested negative for coronavirus or when the president’s last negative test was since testing positive.
This means the president is still likely to be positive – and therefore infectious.
Donald Trump is expected to call into Sean Hannity’s show on Fox Newson Thursday night, and guest host the Rush Limbaugh Show – a three-hour radio program, on Friday.
Updated
Donald Trump added more turbulence on Thursday to the US presidential race by refusing to participate in the next presidential debate with Joe Biden after it was changed to a virtual event to guard against the spread of Covid-19, prompting both campaigns to propose postponing it a week.
On Thursday morning, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) said that the next presidential debate, due on 15 October, would be a virtual affair, with the candidates appearing remotely.
“In order to protect the health and safety of all, the second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which the candidates would participate from separate remote locations,” it said.
But Trump, who was hospitalized for three days after disclosing last Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, blasted the format change announced by the nonpartisan commission in charge of the debates and expressed concern that his microphone could be cut off at the event:
Trump says of Covid on Fox: 'You get better. That's what happens, you get better'
CNN has fact checked Trumps’ interview on the Fox Business channel on Thursday evening, in which they say he made at least 14 false claims.
Among them was this one:
Trump said of his coronavirus infection: ‘You catch this thing. A lot of people caught it.’ He added a bit later, ‘What happens is, you get better. That’s what happens: you get better.’
More than 212,000 Americans did not get better: they died. Many are suffering long-term effects or permanent damage from the virus.
Another member of the White House press corps has tested positive for coronavirus after taking a rapid test
If their results are confirmed, this person would be the fourth journalist to have tested positive for Covid-19 after being exposed to an outbreak at the White House.
“In the immediate days ahead, we continue to insist that journalists who are not in the pool and do not have an enclosed workspace refrain from entering the indoor press areas of the White House,” the White House correspondents association said. “We would also strongly encourage all journalists to continue avoiding working from the White House grounds entirely if possible.”
Yesterday, BuzzFeed News pulled a political correspondent White House press pool due to coronavirus risks.
On that update from Dr Conley:
The latest statement from President Trump’s doctor says he anticipates “a safe return to public engagements” starting Saturday. The update makes no mention of whether he’s tested negative. Dr. Conley hasn’t taken questions from reporters in three days.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 8, 2020
Meanwhile Donald Trump Jr is holding a packed rally – and not wearing a mask, despite his exposure to people who have recently tested positive for the virus:
The president's son actively chooses to put lives at risk. https://t.co/BjytjQG5ZX
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 8, 2020
Trump doctor says he anticipates president's 'return to public engagements' on Saturday
White House physician Sean Conley says that US President Donald Trump “has responded extremely well to treatment” and that he will “return to public engagements” on Saturday.
Conley did not say whether Trump has tested negative.
“Saturday will be day 10 since Thursday’s diagnosis...I fully anticipate the president’s safe return to public engagements at that time.”
A Thursday evening update from President @realDonaldTrump’s physician: pic.twitter.com/vVxCYq9jwr
— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) October 8, 2020
Updated
Washington warns those at White House super-spreader event
In an extraordinary step, the Washington, DC, Department of Health has released an open letter appealing to all White House staff and anyone who attended a September 26 event in the Rose Garden and inside the building to mark the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court to seek medical advice and take a Covid-19 test.
The letter indicates a lack of confidence in the White House medical team’s own contact tracing efforts regarding an ongoing virus outbreak that has infected Donald Trump, multiple senior staff members and two US senators, among others, The Associated Press writes.
Co-signed by nine other local health departments from neighboring jurisdictions in Maryland and Virginia, the letter flatly states a belief that contact tracing on the outbreak has been insufficient.
It says the public appeal is based on, “our preliminary understanding that there has been limited contact tracing performed to date, there may be other staff and residents at risk for exposure to Covid positive individuals.”
It asks all White House employees, anyone who attended the Sept. 26 event and anyone who may have been in contact with those people to “contact your local health department for further guidance/questions regarding your potential need to quarantine.”
The letter represents a rising level of concern and a clear shift in strategy by Mayor Muriel Bowser’s government, which had previously remained publicly hands-off and said it trusted the White House’s robust medical operation to handle its own contact tracing and follow-up.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you global developments as well as key news in the White House’s Covid outbreak.
As always, you can find me on Twitter @helenrsullivan
The World Health Organization on Thursday reported a record one-day rise in coronavirus infections worldwide, with the total rising by 338,779 in 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the Washington, DC, Department of Health has released an open letter appealing to all White House staff and anyone who attended a September 26 event in the Rose Garden and inside the building to mark the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court to seek medical advice and take a Covid-19 test.
- Romania suspends flights to and from high-risk countries to stem a sharp rise in new coronavirus infections. Travellers from 49 high-risk countries will need to self-isolate for 10-14 days upon arrival, except those travelling for less than three days, who must have a negative coronavirus test. On Thursday, the government suspended flights from the countries on the list, except European Union states, the UK, the UAE and Qatar.
- Madrid must impose travel restrictions or face state of emergency, Spanish government says. Madrid must enforce travel restrictions ordered by the health ministry to limit coronavirus outbreaks or the national government will impose a state of emergency that would force it to comply, the Spanish government said late on Thursday.
- Paris hospitals move into emergency mode amid rise in Covid-19 patients. Hospitals in the Paris region have moved into emergency mode, cancelling staff holidays and postponing non-essential operations, as coronavirus patients made up close to half of all patients in intensive care units (ICUs).
- Trump says he will not take part in virtual presidential debate. Donald Trump has refused to participate in next week’s debate with Joe Biden after it was announced the event would be held virtually due to the president’s coronavirus diagnosis.
- Medical journal condemns Trump’s handling of pandemic. One of the world’s most prestigious medical journals has lambasted the Trump administration’s “dangerously incompetent” handling of the pandemic and called for them to be voted out of office, as US coronavirus cases continue to soar.
- Madrid court rejects partial lockdown as ‘harmful to basic rights’. Madrid’s top regional court has rejected a partial lockdown imposed on the capital and nine nearby towns to slow the rapid spread of coronavirus.A court statement said the measures “impacted on the rights and fundamental freedoms” of the 4.5 million residents affected by the closure.
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Italy tops 4,000 daily coronavirus cases for first time since mid-April. Italy has registered 4,458 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, the first time the country has exceeded 4,000 cases in a single day since mid-April.
- Orthodox New Yorkers condemn Cuomo over new Covid shutdowns. New rules putting parts of New York City back into lockdown amid a rise in fresh coronavirus cases have been met with protests as Andrew Cuomo was accused of using “dangerous and divisive” language against Orthodox Jews.
