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Summary
As Australia wakes up, here are the main developments from the last few hours.
- Brazil surpasses five million coronavirus cases. The health ministry said another 31,553 confirmed cases of Covid-19 had been reported, taking the country’s cumulative total to 5,000,694.
- Italy confirms swab tests for travellers from four countries, including the UK, following growing concerns about rising cases across Europe, and makes face masks compulsory outdoors. Swab tests for Covid-19 will be compulsory for people travelling from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic, the health minister Roberto Speranza said on Wednesday.
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France Covid-19 hospitalisations at a three-month high and new cases at an all-time high. French health authorities reported 18,746 new confirmed Covid-19 cases over 24 hours on Wednesday, a new all-time daily high, and almost double of Tuesday’s tally of 10,489. More than 7,500 patients are being treated in hospital for Covid-19, marking a three-month high and an increase of more than 65% versus a 29 August low point of 4,530.
- Brussels closes cafes and bars in new virus curbs. All bars, cafes and event halls in Brussels have been told they must shut down for at least a month as of 7am on Thursday as the Belgian capital went beyond recently tightened national restrictions in Belgium.
- Top US immunologist quits health role over Trump Covid response. The ousted director of the office involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine has quit his post at the National Institutes of Health, charging that the Trump administration “ignores scientific expertise, overrules public health guidance and disrespects career scientists”.
- Scotland’s pubs banned from serving alcohol inside for 16 days. First minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced a nationwide ban on drinking indoors in licensed premises in Scotland for more than two weeks, with a full shutdown of all premises across the central belt where infection rates are accelerating most rapidly
- Berlin nightlife given first curfew in 70 years as Covid cases surge. Berlin’s nightlife is facing a closing time for the first time in 70 years as the party-loving German capital seeks to contain spiralling coronavirus infection rates.
- Italy tops 3,000 daily coronavirus cases for first time since April. Italy’s coronavirus infections jumped by 1,000 to 3,678 on Wednesday – the highest daily tally since the middle of April. There were 31 new fatalities, bringing the total to 36,061. The country made it mandatory to wear face masks outdoors nationwide.
- Singapore to offer baby bonus as people put plans on hold in Covid crisis. Singapore plans to offer a one-off payment to encourage couples to have a baby during the coronavirus pandemic, fearing that the economic impact of the outbreak is worsening the city state’s already low birth rate.
Tunisian authorities will impose a curfew in the capital Tunis to slow a surge in coronavirus cases, months after stopping stemming the spread of the virus with an expensive lockdown that the government says it cannot afford to repeat.
The governors of four provinces that make up greater Tunis said in a statement broadcast on state TV that there would be a curfew between 9pm and 5am and a suspension of Friday prayers in mosques. The curfew will take effect from Thursday. State TV said the curfew would start at 7pm on weekends.
“The decision has come too late but it will help us break the rise in cases,” Imed Souissi, a fruit seller, told Reuters.
Tunisia entirely shut down its economy in March and closed its borders, limiting the spread of coronavirus to a few hundred confirmed cases. But it has now racked up more than 20,000 over the past month, with only 200 intensive care beds designated for Covid-19 available in the whole country.
Elyes Fakhfakh, who stepped down as prime minister last month after denying allegations of a business conflict of interest, has announced he has tested positive, as has the leader of a major party, Abir Moussi.
Many Tunisians say the authorities should have done more to prepare with the time secured by the economic hardship of the lockdown.
“The Tunisian political class lost its opportunity to be ready for a second wave. What did they do to prepare over the past months? Nothing. They were just focused on their usual disputes,” said Chaker ben Hussein, a baker in the Iben Khaldoun district of Tunis.
Even before the pandemic, Tunisia was grappling to reverse a decade of sluggish growth, high unemployment, declining public services and concerning levels of sovereign debt.
The economy contracted by 21% in the second quarter as unemployment rose by 3 points to 18%, with expectations it will exceed 20% by the end of the year. The government has said the crisis has cost it 6 billion dinars ($2.2 billion) so far.
A political crisis has rumbled since an election last year, with the fragmented parliament taking months to produce a government in January that lasted just eight months.
The new government, of which Hichem Mechichi is the new prime minister, is also seen as fragile and has rejected another lockdown.
Brazil surpasses five million coronavirus cases
The health ministry said another 31,553 confirmed cases of Covid-19 had been reported, taking the country’s cumulative total to 5,000,694.
The total number of deaths rose to 148,228, up from 147, 494 the day before. That is a rise of 734. Brazil has recorded the second highest death toll globally after the United States.
Updated
Italy makes face masks compulsory outdoors
Italy has made it mandatory to wear face masks outdoors nationwide in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as new infections rose to the highest daily tally since April.
The decree was approved at a cabinet meeting after a steady increase in cases over the last two months. It will probably be effective from Thursday, a government source said.
Several Italian regions including Lazio, around the capital Rome, had already made face masks mandatory.
Data from the health ministry showed 3,678 cases were reported in the last 24 hours, up from 2,677 on Tuesday and surging past the 3,000 mark for the first time since 24 April.
Italy is still recording far fewer daily cases than other large European countries such as France, Spain and the UK.
As a part of Rome’s effort to curb the spread of the virus, the health minister Roberto Speranza on Wednesday ordered compulsory testing on travellers from the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Czech Republic [see 8.35pm].
Italy was the first country in Europe to be hard-hit by Covid-19 and has the second highest death toll in the continent after the UK, with 36,061 deaths recorded since the outbreak began in February, according to official figures.
Thanks to one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, the government managed to get the virus under control by the summer but infections are now rising fast.
However, daily Covid-related deaths remain far lower than during the first wave of Italy’s epidemic six months ago.
Some 31 people died on Wednesday, the health ministry said, while 24 April, the last day with more than 3,000 cases, saw 420 deaths.
The cabinet on Wednesday also approved a decree to extend the Covid-19 state of emergency to 31 January.
The state of emergency, originally due to expire in mid-October, gives greater powers to central government, making it easier for officials to bypass the bureaucracy that smothers much decision-making in Italy.
Italy confirms swab tests for travellers from four countries
Italy will make swab tests for Covid-19 compulsory for people travelling from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic, the health minister Roberto Speranza said on Wednesday, following growing concerns about rising cases across Europe.
Speranza wrote on Facebook and Twitter:
The infection rate is growing throughout Europe, and of course also in Italy. For this reason today we have extended the state of emergency until January 31 and masks must be worn outdoors. I have also signed a regulation that provides for tests for those arriving from Belgium, Holland, Great Britain and the Czech Republic. Today, more than ever, everyone’s contribution to stopping the virus is important.
I numeri del contagio crescono in tutta Europa e naturalmente anche in Italia.
— Roberto Speranza (@robersperanza) October 7, 2020
Da oggi obbligo di mascherine anche all’aperto e test per chi arriva da Belgio, Olanda, Gran Bretagna e Repubblica Ceca.
Ora più che mai è importante il contributo di tutti per fermare il virus.
Updated
Brazil approached 5 million confirmed Covid-19 cases on Wednesday as it neared 150,000 deaths in the second most deadly coronavirus outbreak outside the United States.
Though the number of cases has come down from a peak in July, public health experts warn that Brazil is ignoring social distancing precautions and faces the danger of a second wave by returning to normal everyday life too quickly.
The health ministry reported on Tuesday 41,906 new cases, raising the total to 4,969,141, and 819 death, bringing the toll to 147,494 dead.
The rolling daily average for last week was 658 deaths a day, down from 1,073 deaths per day in the last week of July. Average new cases were 26,140 day, almost half the rate of late July.
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro epidemiologist Roberto Medronho cautioned that the numbers could be much higher if testing for Covid-19 was more widespread. He told Reuters:
Soon we will reach 150,0000 deaths, a frightening number. We are seeing the authorities easing social distancing more and more despite the number of cases.
Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has played down the gravity of the virus, even though he was infected and had to isolate for two weeks. Bolsonaro has opposed lockdowns and encourage Brazilians to get back to their normal lives so the economy can recover from what is expected to be its deepest annual slump on record.
As winter ends and tropical temperatures rise, Brazilians are gathering on crowded beaches and in bars and restaurants without taking precautions, Medronho warned.
I fear we’ll have a second wave like in Europe, which is a big concern for public health officials.
French president Macron announces new Covid-19 restrictions
The French president Emmanuel Macron has said there will be new restrictions to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, as the country reported a new all-time high, at almost 19,000, of new infections of the disease.
“In places where the disease is circulating too quickly (...) there will be new restrictions”, Macron said during an interview aired on France’s two main television channels.
There will be more on this as we get it.
Updated
The US state of Wisconsin will open a field hospital outside of Milwaukee to deal with the surge in Covid-19 cases that have overwhelmed hospitals across the state, the governor Tony Evers said on Wednesday.
The hospital will open within the next week after hospitalisations across the state nearly tripled over the last month. There were 853 patients hospitalised with Covid-19 as of Tuesday, an increase of 71 from the day before, Evers said in a statement.
In April, we announced the construction of the Wisconsin State Fair Park Alternative Care Facility to help support healthcare systems in the southeast region and across the state, should there be a surge in #COVID19 cases.
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) October 7, 2020
Unfortunately, today, we announced that we have received a request to open that facility as our healthcare systems are becoming overwhelmed by the surge of COVID-19 cases, especially in the Fox Valley and northern regions of our state.
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) October 7, 2020
We hoped this day wouldn’t come, but unfortunately, in just a month our hospitalizations have nearly tripled with 853 Wisconsinites hospitalized as of yesterday.
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) October 7, 2020
Learn more about this announcement and the facility here: https://t.co/ZzxLtUxCrx
Frances reports new all-time high of positive cases
French health authorities reported 18,746 new confirmed Covid-19 cases over 24 hours on Wednesday, a new all-time daily high, and almost double of Tuesday’s tally of 10,489.
The number of people who have died from Covid-19 was up by 80, at 32,445, and the cumulative number of cases now totals 653,509.
The French government has put in place restrictions all over the country - including bars in Paris being ordered to close at 10pm - to contain the second wave of the disease and prevent the hospital system from being overwhelmed.
Summary
Here’s a quick recap of the latest coronavirus developments across the globe from the last few hours.
- France Covid-19 hospitalisations at a three-month high. French health authorities said more than 7,500 patients are being treated in hospital for Covid-19, marking a three-month high and an increase of more than 65% versus a 29 August low point of 4,530.
- Brussels closes cafes and bars in new virus curbs. All bars, cafes and event halls in Brussels have been told they must shut down for at least a month as of 7am on Thursday as the Belgian capital went beyond recently tightened national restrictions in Belgium.
- Top US immunologist quits health role over Trump Covid response. The ousted director of the office involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine has quit his post at the National Institutes of Health, charging that the Trump administration “ignores scientific expertise, overrules public health guidance and disrespects career scientists”.
- Scotland’s pubs banned from serving alcohol inside for 16 days. First minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced a nationwide ban on drinking indoors in licensed premises in Scotland for more than two weeks, with a full shutdown of all premises across the central belt where infection rates are accelerating most rapidly
- Berlin nightlife given first curfew in 70 years as Covid cases surge. Berlin’s nightlife is facing a closing time for the first time in 70 years as the party-loving German capital seeks to contain spiralling coronavirus infection rates.
- Italy tops 3,000 daily coronavirus cases for first time since April. Italy’s coronavirus infections jumped by 1,000 to 3,678 on Wednesday – the highest daily tally since the middle of April. There were 31 new fatalities, bringing the total to 36,061. The country made it mandatory to wear face masks outdoors nationwide.
- Singapore to offer baby bonus as people put plans on hold in Covid crisis. Singapore plans to offer a one-off payment to encourage couples to have a baby during the coronavirus pandemic, fearing that the economic impact of the outbreak is worsening the city state’s already low birth rate.
That’s it from me today, I’m now handing over to my colleague Lucy Campbell.
Leading Irish health officials have warned that all indicators of the spread of Covid-19 are deteriorating, and that a surge in hospitalisations could become a very significant challenge to Irish society in the coming weeks.
Ireland has reported an average of 493 cases over the past seven days, up from an average of 359 cases per day the previous week, and that could reach 1,100-1,500 by 7 November if growth continues, the National Public Health Emergency Team said in a statement.
“Covid-19 is spreading in our community in a very worrying manner. We have to break these chains of transmission,” chief medical officer Tony Holohan said.
Germany declared the whole of Georgia, Jordan, Romania and Tunisia to be coronavirus risk regions, meaning returnees from there will have to enter quarantine pending a negative coronavirus test.
The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases published the latest assessment on its website on Wednesday.
Regions of other countries were also added to the quarantine list, including in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary.
The French island of Corsica was removed from the list.
Germany declares regions to be risky when the number of coronavirus infections exceeds 50 per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days.
France Covid-19 hospitalisations at a three-month high
French health authorities said more than 7,500 patients are being treated in hospital for Covid-19, marking a three-month high and an increase of more than 65% versus a 29 August low point of 4,530.
The government has put in place restrictions all over the country - including bars in Paris being ordered to close at 10pm - to contain the second wave of the disease and prevent the hospital system from being overwhelmed.
Britain is urgently looking at ways to reduce the 14-day quarantine period which applies to some arriving passengers, transport minister Grant Shapps has said, adding that a mix of Covid-19 testing and self-isolation was promising.
Arrivals from countries like France, Spain and the US must self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in Britain, a restriction which airlines say is crushing travel demand.
Shapps said he was setting up a Global Travel Taskforce to open up international travel.
“The overall aim of the Taskforce will be to consider what steps the government can take... to enable the safe and sustainable recovery of international travel,” he added in a statement.
It would report back no later than early November.
In July, Britain changed its policy from a blanket quarantine to one which established “travel corridors” to countries with low infection rates.
But with cases on the rise in several places, the list of countries on the quarantine exemption list is dwindling, and the travel industry has warned it faces an existential crisis unless the policy is changed again.
“My ministerial colleagues and I have agreed that a regime, based on a single test, provided by the private sector and at the cost of the passenger after a period of self-isolation, could achieve our objective,” Shapps said.
Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, London’s Heathrow airport and Manchester Airports Group said that a test of a passenger after five days should be the starting point of proposals in a joint statement.
But airline body IATA said that 80% of travellers said they would not fly at all if any quarantine were in place.
“The proposals on the table do not go as far as we had hoped,” IATA said. “A reduction in the length of quarantine is the very minimum needed to restart travel demand.”
Germany’s states have agreed that residents of domestic coronavirus risk areas should not be allowed to stay in hotels in other parts of the country to curb surging numbers of new infections, a government document showed.
The news, which means residents of Berlin will only be able to take domestic holidays if they have a new negative coronavirus test, comes just days before about half of Germany’s federal states start two weeks of school holidays.
Coronavirus infections have climbed steadily in Germany over the last two months. The capital Berlin announced a late-night curfew on restaurants and bars on Tuesday.
“The Federal and State governments call on all citizens to avoid all non-essential travel into or out of regions where there have been 50 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past seven days,” ministers said in a joint statement.
Four out of 12 Berlin districts have already reached or exceeded that level, meaning they are classified as risk areas. Berlin added in a protocol that the measures would apply to the entire city.
Schleswig-Holstein and Rhineland-Palatinate had already designated such districts risk areas, and insist people returning from them quarantine for 14 days or show a negative coronavirus test.
According to the document, tourists from risk areas will only be allowed to stay the night if they can show a negative coronavirus test less than 48 hours old.
Several states said they reserved the right to impose still stricter versions of the new regulation, while Lower Saxony said it was not yet sure if it would be able to implement it given the short notice given.
At least 27 people across Donald Trump’s White House, election campaign and military leaders have now tested positive for coronavirus.
On Tuesday, Stephen Miller, the controversial policy adviser to the US president, became the latest to confirm that he has Covid-19 and will enter quarantine. Miller has become the latest in a lengthy list of people connected to the White House to contract the virus in recent days.
This group is headed by Trump himself, who left the Walter Reed hospital on Monday after receiving state-of-the-art medical treatment for the virus.
Trump, who has routinely downplayed the virus and disparaged the wearing of masks, posed for cameras without a mask after returning to the White House and tweeted: “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”
Public health experts have criticised Trump’s comments, noting that people with the virus can still spread it to others for around 10 days after becoming infected.
Economists warned the US economy was facing a “watershed moment” as Donald Trump vacillated on agreeing to a new round of stimulus cash for people and businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump pulled the plug on the fractious and lengthy discussions over more aid on Tuesday. “I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
...request, and looking to the future of our Country. I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business. I have asked...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
Stock markets fell, and on Tuesday evening Trump’s position appeared to soften and the president tweeted he was prepared to sign off on more aid for the US’s troubled airline industries and “a Stand Alone Bill for Stimulus Checks ($1,200), they will go out to our great people IMMEDIATELY. I am ready to sign right now.”
That money would represent a fraction of the $2.2trn support which the Democrats are pushing for. And on Wednesday, senior Trump officials added to the confusion as they appeared to pour cold water on the idea of a major new stimulus deal being agreed ahead of the election.
Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff, told reporters: “The stimulus negotiations are off.”
US and UK markets rose after Trump’s apparent volte-face, but the situation remains volatile.
Scotland's pubs banned from serving alcohol inside for 16 days
First minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced a nationwide ban on drinking indoors in licensed premises in Scotland for more than two weeks, with a full shutdown of all premises across the central belt where infection rates are accelerating most rapidly.
Announcing the targeted measures to the Scottish parliament as she confirmed a further 1,054 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, Sturgeon said they were intended to be a “short, sharp action to arrest a worrying increase in infection” and which she hoped would help to keep schools and businesses open over the winter.
For 16 days, from Friday at 6pm, all pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes must operate on a daytime-only basis, from 6am to 6pm, and for the service of food and non-alcoholic drinks only. They can continue to serve alcohol outdoors up to the current curfew of 10pm.
In five health board areas which are causing greatest concern: Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, the Lothians, Ayrshire and Arran, and Forth Valley, all licensed premises, with the exception of hotels for residents, must close both indoors and outdoors, although takeaways will be permitted.
Cafes which do not have an alcohol licence will be able to stay open until 6pm.
Berlin’s nightlife is facing a closing time for the first time in 70 years as the party-loving German capital seeks to contain spiralling coronavirus infection rates.
From Saturday, bars, restaurants and off-licences will have to close their doors between 11pm and 6am as a large second wave of Covid-19 cases in the city threatens to taint Germany’s image as a pandemic role model.
With health authorities mainly blaming private parties and family meet-ups for the latest outbreaks, public gatherings of more than five people from more than two households, and private gatherings of more than 10 people, will also be banned under new rules announced on Wednesday.
Berlin has since the start of October been recording more daily new confirmed infections than it did at the peak of the first wave in late March, when testing capacity was more limited.
On Tuesday, two of the three “traffic lights” that make up the city’s coronavirus warning system switched to red after authorities recorded 44.2 new cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days.
Singapore plans to offer a one-off payment to encourage couples to have a baby during the coronavirus pandemic, fearing that the economic impact of the outbreak is worsening the city state’s already low birth rate.
Singapore has struggled for decades to encourage more people to have children, offering cash grants, preschool subsidies, and even matchmaking tea dances as incentives.
The deputy prime minister, Heng Swee Keat, said officials had heard that some aspiring parents were putting plans on hold due to Covid-19.
“This is fully understandable, especially when they face uncertainty with their income. Hence, to help with expenses during this period, we will introduce a one-off additional support for newborns,” he said.
The value of the payment has not been announced, but it will be provided on top of current benefits that are worth up to $10,000 Singapore dollars (£5,707).
The ousted director of the office involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine has quit his post at the National Institutes of Health, charging that the Trump administration “ignores scientific expertise, overrules public health guidance and disrespects career scientists”.
Dr Rick Bright, a whistleblower who crossed swords with the Trump administration over claims his warnings over both coronavirus and the utility of hydroxychloroquine were ignored, left his role complaining that his plan to develop a national testing infrastructure had also been sidelined.
Bright is an immunologist who formerly headed the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a department of health and human services (HHS) agency that works to prepare the nation for such threats as a pandemic or a bioterrorism attack. That agency is now playing a central role in the campaign to deliver a coronavirus vaccine.
Lawyers for Bright say he was sidelined at the National Institutes of Health, where he had been transferred this spring after being ousted as head of a biodefense agency, adding that the NIH had ignored a national coronavirus testing strategy that Bright developed because he had become politically toxic within the Trump administration.
The World Health Organization is concerned about rising Covid-19 cases in countries that had managed outbreaks effectively, such as Cuba and Jamaica, and 11 Caribbean states that have moved from moderate to intense transmission, its regional director Carissa Etienne said.
“The good news is that rates of severe Covid-19 cases have fallen across the Americas and fewer people are being hospitalised needing intensive care,” she said in a virtual briefing with other Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) directors.
Brazil and the US continue to be the most deadly outbreaks in the world, but transmission remains very active in the region as a whole.
“More than half a million children and adolescents in our region have been infected and these numbers continue to rise,” she said. “Many of them are unaware they’re infected because they have mild or no symptoms.”
The lower demand for intensive care bed in hospitals is due in part to growing knowledge of the virus and how to manage critically ill patients, Etienne said.
The pandemic has exacerbate inequalities across gender, income levels and race, she said.
In the US, Black, Hispanic and Native American populations are three times as likely to contract Covid-19 as their white counterparts, and five times as likely to be hospitalised and twice more likely to die from the virus.
In the Amazon areas of Colombia and Brazil, indigenous people are ten times more likely to contract Covid-19 than other groups, according to the WHO.
Migrants are also more exposed to the virus, and PAHO is helping governments in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil and Mexico design ways to ensure migrants have access to the food, health care and mental health support, the regional WHO office said.
Updated
Sufferers of “Long Covid” symptoms in England will receive specialist care, the National Health Service said, with clinics set up to treat symptoms from breathlessness to brain fog.
Evidence is mounting that thousands of people may suffer weeks or months of long-term side effects, even if they did not have a severe case of Covid-19 initially.
NHS England said that some estimates indicated 10% of Covid patients may still be experiencing symptoms more than three weeks after infection, with around 60,000 suffering from Long Covid symptoms after more than three months.
“It is now clear that Long Covid can have a major impact on the lives of a significant minority of patients weeks or months after they have contracted the virus,” said NHS chief executive Simon Stevens. “We must respond sensitively and effectively to these new patient needs.”
The NHS said £10m ($13m) would be invested in local funding to start up Long Covid clinics across England, with respiratory consultants, physios and general practitioners among those who will diagnose and treat the symptoms, which include chronic fatigue, anxiety and stress.
Prime minister Boris Johnson, who had severe Covid-19 in April, has said long Covid exists and that work is being done to understand it, though he says he is not suffering from it himself.
In July, Britain put £8.4m into a study to better understand the long-term health impact on some patients beyond the immediate respiratory issues.
Updated
Swiss drugs and diagnostics firm Roche said it is aiming solve problems at a new warehouse which have delayed the dispatch of Covud-19 testing products by the end of next week.
“We are confident that the plans we have put in place will deliver significant improvements by the weekend to the supply of the tests affected by these logistical issues. We will be well on the way to resolution by the end of next week,” Geoff Twist, general manager of Roche Diagnostics UK and Ireland, said in a statement to Reuters.
Britain’s Covid-19 testing system faced more disruption on Wednesday after Roche said problems at a new warehouse had caused a significant drop in processing capacity.
Italy tops 3,000 daily coronavirus cases for first time since April
Italy’s coronavirus infections jumped by 1,000 to 3,678 on Wednesday – the highest daily tally since the middle of April. There were 31 new fatalities, bringing the total to 36,061.
The rise in infections came as the government made it mandatory for face masks to be worn outside nationwide and extended the Covid-19 state of emergency until the end of January.
The southern Campania region registered the highest daily rate of new infections – 544 – followed by Lombardy, Veneto and Lazio.
Wearing face masks outside had already recently been made law in several regions, including Campania and Lazio, the region surrounding Rome.
Italy is also considering making it obligatory for people arriving in the country from Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium to undergo swab tests, although it is unclear whether the measure will be included in the new decree.
The measure is already in place for people arriving from Spain, Croatia, Greece, Malta and some parts of France.
Updated
Boston is delaying plans to reopen schools after the city’s positivity rate climbed higher than 4%, its mayor Marty Walsh has announced. Remote learning began on 21 September and families were allowed to opt in for hybrid learning scheduled to start this month.
More than 1,000 workers have now tested positive at a Sri Lanka factory that, until August, was producing surgical masks for the US, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reports.
Officials confirmed the figure as they scrambled to find the source of the country’s biggest outbreak. The flurry of cases since the first positive test at the garment factory was reported three days ago pushed the island nation’s infections total near 4,500.
The factory’s owner Brandix – hailed internationally for its sustainable practices – said efforts to contain the explosion of infections at the site were hampered by a high number of asymptomatic carriers.
A majority of the positive cases have proven to be an asymptomatic or lacking display of symptoms associated with Covid-19.
Sri Lanka’s chief epidemiologist, Sudath Samaraweera, called on local communities to cooperate with authorities amid fears the outbreak could spread further.
We are trying to trace how the virus got in, but we may or may not succeed.
Ireland has not ruled out a “circuit-breaking” lockdown as the country gets to grips with fresh restrictions introduced at midnight.
More than 130 checkpoints were mounted on motorways and arterial roads across the country as gardai resumed Operation Fanacht (Operation Stay) to discourage people from making all but essential journeys.
The country moved to the third of five levels of restrictions, which includes advice not to travel outside your country except for work, educational or other essential reasons.
Police do not have powers to stop people but the checkpoints were deterring people, with queues of about five miles were being reported on motorways out of Dublin any many turning back.
The taoiseach, Micheál Martin, confirmed it was examining the possibility of fines for those who breached country boundaries with particular concern for Northern Ireland, where the number of cases has surged.
The Northern Ireland executive is also looking at a circuit breaker, the deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill has said.
Updated
Hello, I’m taking over for a little bit while Jessica Murray goes for a break. If you’d like to draw my attention to anything, your best bet is Twitter, where I’m KevinJRawlinson.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is working urgently to resolve supply problems but the issue has had little or no impact on Britain’s Covid-19 testing, a spokesman for prime minister Boris Johnson said.
“They are working to resolve this urgently,” the spokesman said. “It is expected to have little to no impact on Covid testing and Roche are already prioritising the dispatch of tests to ensure uninterrupted supplies.”
Updated
The number of new coronavirus infections in Romania rose by a record 2,958 in the past 24 hours, as new restrictions were introduced in the capital Bucharest and other cities.
Romania has been reporting more than 2,000 new cases daily almost every day for the past week, bringing the total confirmed cases to 142,570.
While 111,564 people have recovered, 5,203 people have died, the highest fatality rate in the eastern part of the EU.
The government will close theatres, cinemas, indoor restaurants, bars and gaming halls in Bucharest from Wednesday, with similar measures in other cities. Travellers from 49 high-risk countries must self-isolate for 10-14 days upon arrival.
Police will intensify controls to ensure people are wearing masks, which are mandatory on public transport, in indoor public areas and outdoor markets and other crowded areas.
“Most citizens are following these restrictions, which are not convenient for anyone,” Bucharest prefect Gheorghe Cojanu told reporters. “But we have noticed a lot of indifference from some citizens.”
Romania’s hospitality industry will protest the shutdowns outside government headquarters later on Wednesday.
Calin Ile of the Romanian hotel federation said a survey showed that without government compensation, the hospitality industry could lose 40% of jobs and €3bn ($3.5bn) in revenue.
Health minister Nelu Tătaru said that while restaurants were not a source of outbreaks, they could help spread infections, although there was no public data about community spreading.
“We have events that are not entirely supervised and where certain rules are not respected, and we have public transport where rules are not respected; these are the infectious areas,” Tataru said. “These restrictions which were reintroduced will produce effects in 10-14 days.”
The number of people claiming temporary Irish jobless benefits is set to rise to around 250,000 from just over 200,000 as a result of a tightening of Covid-19 restrictions, prime minister Micheal Martin said.
While the government rejected a call by health chiefs to enter a second national lockdown on Monday, it moved all counties up to Level 3 of the five-step confinement plan, shutting indoor restaurant and pub service for three weeks.
Ireland introduced the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) in March for those temporarily laid off and claimants rose for the first time since May two weeks ago when Dublin and Donegal moved to Level 3, before falling back this week.
Claims stood at 205,000 when the nationwide tightening of restrictions began, having hit a lockdown peak of 600,000 in early May. Ireland’s unemployment rate, including those temporarily and permanently out of work, is stuck just below 15%.
“As of close of business last night we had received 17,000 new claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment,” Martin told parliament.
“Given the move to Level 3, additional claims can be expected and a rough estimate based on prior experience in Dublin and Donegal is that about 40,000 to 50,000 claims could emerge this week.”
Martin added that the government would “clearly” need to keep supports in place beyond the current April expiry of the PUP scheme. The government is also subsidising the wages of another 360,000 employees on a separate scheme.
Donald Trump on Tuesday called off negotiations with Democratic lawmakers on coronavirus relief legislation until after the election, even as cases of the virus are on the rise across much of the country before flu season.
“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business,” Trump wrote on Twitter a day after emerging from a hospital stay for Covid-19 treatment.
The news triggered a brief stock market selloff. Following Trump’s announcement breaking off negotiations, US stocks were down more than 2% in late afternoon trading.
However, the president later appeared to backtrack slightly and said he was “ready to sign right now” a bill that would approve a fresh round of $1,200 stimulus checks to be sent out immediately.
Trump’s decision to halt talks came after House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said during an interview with NBC’s Face the Nation that progress was being made in her negotiations with the Trump administration on a bill to build on the more than $3tn in coronavirus aid enacted into law earlier this year.
Pelosi issued a thundering statement in the wake of the announcement, accusing Trump of “putting himself first at the expense of the country” by halting negotiations over a new coronavirus aid package from Congress.
Italy imposes mandatory face masks outdoors
Italy has made it mandatory to wear face masks outdoors nationwide in an effort to reduce rising Covid-19 infections.
Italy has seen a steady increase in new cases in the last two months, although its numbers are still much lower than those recorded in other major European countries such as France, Spain and Britain.
The cabinet also approved a decree to extend the Covid-19 state of emergency to 31 January, a cabinet source said.
Savvas Kourepinis is the volunteer captain of the Astral, a humanitarian boat patrolling the Mediterranean Sea to rescue people attempting to cross the main maritime route from north Africa to Europe.
For most of this year, the Covid-19 pandemic forced these vital search-and-rescue missions to cease in what is often referred to as the deadliest migration route in the world.
As Kourepinis and his crew set out on one of their first patrols since lockdown restrictions eased, they face stringent coronavirus regulations and the reluctance of nearby countries to take in the people the Astral has rescued.
Spain’s prime minister has unveiled a major plan to boost his country out of recession by spending €140bn ($162bn) of EU aid to reshape the economy, with the aim of creating 800,000 jobs over the next three years.
The programme is a response to the sharp downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic and focuses primarily on getting Spain to transition to green energy and a digital economy, which will take up about 70% of the financing.
“We have to turn this heavy blow into an opportunity,” prime minister Pedro Sánchez said. “This is the challenge of our generation.”
Spain this week became the first EU country to surpass 825,000 coronavirus infections. More than 32,480 people in Spain are confirmed to have died from Covid-19 and its capital, Madrid, is experiencing Europe’s worst second wave of infections.
Spain is the latest EU country to say how it intends to use the bloc’s coronavirus recovery fund, approved last July and designed to help the bloc’s 27 nations gain traction in their efforts to break out of recession.
France last month unveiled a €100bn ($116bn) plan to yank the country out of its worst economic slump since the second world war. Called “France Reboot”, the plan includes €40bn ($46bn) from the EU recovery plan.
The Spanish government expects the national economy to contract 11.2% this year. In some sectors, such as tourism, the drop could be as much as 25%. Officials expect an unemployment rate of around 17% this year and next.
The Socialist-led government’s strategy aims to reverse the economic decline and achieve growth of 7.2% next year.
The spending programme includes strengthening the public health service, improving public infrastructure, transitioning to green energy and enhancing energy efficiency, developing professional training schemes and accelerating the digital modernisation of Spanish industry.
“The world has changed and we need to change, too, to safeguard our future,” Sánchez said.
Updated
New coronavirus infections in the Netherlands reached a record high of nearly 5,000 in 24 hours, data released by health authorities on has shown.
Officials have warned that tougher restrictions will be needed if infection and hospital admission rates continue to rise at such a rapid pace.
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The European commission has agreed with US company Gilead to buy additional doses of its Covid-19 drug remdesivir to treat about 3,400 patients, amid shortages of the medication in Europe.
A spokesman for the EU executive said Brussels agreed with Gilead last Friday to supply nearly 20,300 additional doses “which help almost 3,400 patients” at a cost of €7m ($8.24m). That is in addition to 30,000 courses of treatment it bought at the end of July.
“These additional doses are being currently delivered,” the spokesman told a news conference, adding the EU was giving priority to countries which needed it the most.
Remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone are to date the only authorised drugs to treat Covid-19 in Europe.
The EU and Britain, with a combined population of 500 million, are negotiating a contract with Gilead for the supply of new doses of the antiviral medicine, the EU spokesman said.
The first batches of the additional supply were being sent to the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria, Denmark and Slovenia, he added.
Several European countries have said they were experiencing shortages of the drug, whose global stock has been secured almost entirely by the US.
Updated
For White House staff and senior visiting officials and journalists, the coronavirus outbreak in Donald Trump’s inner circle has become like a whodunnit amid a shortage of information and mounting anxiety.
As cleaners in hazmat suits have been pictured disinfecting areas – including briefing rooms and the White House press and communications “shop” where three staff have been infected – the questions now being asked are: who caught Covid from whom and when and where? And who might be next?
British prime minister Boris Johnson has said Covid-19 infections are rising in London and elsewhere, but his government’s approach to controlling the spread of the virus is still the right one.
“The local and regional approach combined with the national measures remains correct,” Johnson told parliament, when asked why infections continued to rise in areas where local lockdown measures have been put in place.
Analysis presented in parliament by the opposition Labour party showed that infection rates had risen in 19 out of 20 areas in England that are subject to additional lockdown measures.
Johnson’s strategy over the summer, when new nationwide infections were in the low hundreds per day, was to try to shut down localised outbreaks while reopening the wider economy. On Tuesday, Britain reported more than 15,000 new infections.
The analysis showed that in Wigan, north-west England, the infection rate, measured as the number of confirmed cases per 100,000 population, had risen by 3,653% since a local lockdown was first imposed on 30 July, increasing to 225 from six.
Increases in the other areas were between 13% and 2,241%, Labour’s data showed.
Updated
Iran has registered a record high 239 new coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 27,658.
Health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV that there were 4,019 new cases, with the total of identified cases in the worst-hit country in the Middle East rising to 483,844.
Japan will scale back a requirement of two weeks’ quarantine for some business travellers as it moves to revitalise an economy hit hard by travel curbs over the coronavirus pandemic, financial newspaper the Nikkei reports.
The new rules apply to returning Japanese citizens and holders of long-term visas, some of whom will be exempted from quarantine requirements, depending on airport testing capacity, it added.
There will be a cap on the number of such exemptions, but no figure has been specified.
Such arrivals must submit an itinerary and a negative PCR test result on arrival, and will not be allowed to use public transport upon their return, it said.
Japan has already eased two-way travel curbs with nations such as South Korea and Vietnam, while allowing entry from October for long-term residents from any country.
Updated
Brussels closes cafes and bars in new virus curbs
All bars, cafes and event halls in Brussels have been told they must shut down for at least a month as of 7am (CET) on Thursday as the Belgian capital went beyond recently tightened national restrictions in Belgium.
The minister-president of the Brussels-Capital region, Rudi Vervoort, said drinking alcohol in a public place would also be banned, sports clubs would have to close their canteens and food consumption in markets was prohibited amid a spiralling infection rate.
Restaurants will remain open for now in an attempt to keep the hospitality industry alive.
Vervoort said: “One in seven people tested in Brussels returns a positive result, the virus is everywhere in the region. There is not a single municipality in Brussels which is below the national average.”
Dr Yves Van Laethem, a spokesman for the Covid-19 crisis centre, said at a press conference where the new measures were announced that Brussels was second only to Paris in terms of the rate of infection.
The average number of new coronavirus infections was 2,466 per day between 27 September and 3 October, an increase of 57% from the previous seven-day period. He said:
We are in an acceleration phase of the virus and it is clearly continuing in all age groups and all areas. Certainly in Brussels and parts of Wallonia, the increase will continue sharply.
[In Brussels] We are currently in the top 3 in Europe : with fewer infections than Madrid, but more than Paris.
On Wednesday, Belgium’s new prime minister, Alexander De Croo, announced that Belgians would be limited to having three close contacts outside their own household.
Updated
The number of new coronavirus infections in Switzerland rose by 1,077 in a day, data from the public health agency showed, the first daily increase of more than 1,000 since early April.
The agency reported a total of 57,709 confirmed cases, while the death toll rose by two to 1,789.
New daily cases peaked at 1,456 on 23 March and had dwindled to as few as three on 1 June.
Malaysia has reported 489 new coronavirus cases, a slight dip in new daily cases as the south-east Asian country grapples with a fresh surge in infections.
The new cases raises the cumulative tally to 13,993, according to Malaysia’s health ministry. No new deaths were reported, keeping the toll at 141.
Updated
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has recovered from Covid-19, Reuters has reported.
The media tycoon, who spent the first half of September in a Milan hospital before being sent home under quarantine, has tested negative for the virus and is waiting for the result of a second swab for final confirmation, a source said.
Berlusconi, 84, developed double pneumonia and was in Milan’s San Raffaele hospital for more than 10 days.
He will not attend to the wedding on Wednesday of his youngest son Luigi, who also had the virus last month, but he is considering taking part in a family dinner organised for the evening, the source said.
Berlusconi is believed to have caught the coronavirus while on holiday on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, which had a surge in infections during the summer.
Updated
Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray taking over the blog for the next few hours.
As always, feel free to get in touch with any story ideas or personal experiences you would like to share.
Email: jessica.murray@theguardian.com
Twitter: @journojess_
Hi, That’s all from me, Caroline Davies. As ever, thank you for your time. Handing over now to my colleague Jessica Murray.
India reported 72,049 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, dropping from the daily highs of last month in a sign infections were peaking for now, officials and experts said, Reuters reports.
India leads the world in the average number of new infections and is expected to overtake the US over the next few weeks as the country with the world’s largest number of cases.
But since it hit a single-day high of 97,894 new cases on 17 September, the country has reported a downward trend with 75,909 daily cases on an average, according to a Reuters tally.
“There is a continuous drop in our daily new cases, which is an encouraging sign,” said the health secretary, Rajesh Bhushan. The overall tally reached 6.76m infections on Wednesday while the death toll rose by 986 to 104,555.
Faced with a collapsing economy, the federal government has been pushing states to fully reopen after enforcing one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in March.
Experts said the opening up led to a spike in cases in August and September, which now may have started to stabilise in the big cities.
“The virus is slowing down in the big metros because there are a lot of people already infected,” said Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan.
A serological survey released by the government late last month showed the prevalence of Sars-CoV-2 antibodies increased to 7.1% between 17 August and 22 September compared with 0.73% in a previous survey between 11 May and 4 June.
Mukherjee said the survey suggested that about 130m people out of a population of 1.3 billion may have been infected by now.
The government has asked authorities to be vigilant during the upcoming festival period including the Hindu festival of Diwali in November.
Updated
The UN refugee chief said today he had tested positive for Covid-19, after leading the first two days of the agency’s main annual meeting in person.
Filippo Grandi, who kicked off UNHCR’s week-long executive committee meeting in Geneva on Monday, told participants via video-link that he would need to continue following the event from home, AFP reports.
“I am engaging with UNHCR’s executive committee from home as I have to isolate after testing positive to Covid-19,” he said in a tweet.
I am engaging with UNHCR’s Executive Committee from home as I have to isolate after testing positive to #COVID19.
— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) October 7, 2020
I only have mild symptoms and hope to recover soon.
A reminder of the importance of washing hands 🤝 keeping distances ➡️ and wearing masks 😷! pic.twitter.com/LtUMD7ti64
“I only have mild symptoms and hope to recover soon,” he added.
Grandi had for the past two days addressed delegates from the podium in the UN assembly hall in Geneva. UNHCR’s executive committee is for the first time being held as a hybrid event this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Only limited numbers of delegates are allowed to attend physically, and distancing restrictions and mask requirements are in place.
Updated
US hits 7.5m coronavirus cases as analysis shows cases increasing in 32 states
The focus on Donald Trump as a coronavirus patient may have taken some attention away from the bigger picture in the US. Yesterday there were 43,562 new coronavirus cases, and a further 705 Covid deaths recorded.
ABC News have just published an analysis of Covid trends across all 50 states, and it makes for bleak reading. They found that there were “increases in newly confirmed cases over the past two weeks in 32 states plus in Puerto Rico”.
The analysis also found increases in the daily positivity rate of Covid-19 tests in 25 states plus Washington DC, increases in Covid-19 hospitalizations in 36 states, and increases in daily Covid-19 death tolls in 19 states.
The total number of cases recorded in the US, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracking project, has hit 7,501,817.
You can follow further developments in the US specifically with our US live blog.
Updated
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife may have violated the country’s coronavirus lockdown by inviting a hairdresser into the official residence last week to prepare her for a public service video advocating the wearing of masks, AP reports.
The Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported that Sara Netanyahu had a hairdresser visit on the eve of the festive Sukkot holiday. Hair salons and barber shops are closed as part of a nationwide lockdown imposed last month, and people have been ordered to remain within 1,000 metres of home except for essential activities.
The newspaper said that while the prime minister is entitled to such services as a public servant, his wife is not
Photograph: Abir Sultan/AP
An official statement released in response to the news report said Sara was strictly abiding by all the coronavirus regulations, including sheltering at home and enforcing the wearing of masks at the official residence.
As a public figure making an informational video, she believed she was entitled to employ the services of the hairstylist, the statement said. It added that they both wore masks and gloves during the appointment and that she asked the stylist to refrain from making conversation.
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The Philippines’ health ministry on Wednesday recorded 2,825 new coronavirus infections and 60 additional deaths.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases in the Philippines had risen to 329,637, the highest number in south-east Asia, while deaths had increased to 5,925. In Manila, the city government is providing free swab tests to tricycle and passenger Jeepney drivers in the area in hopes of curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
Updated
See the latest data on our Covid vaccine tracker here:
Indonesia reported 4,538 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing its infections total to 315,714, data from the country’s health ministry showed.
There were also 98 new deaths in Indonesia, taking the total number to 11,472, the highest coronavirus death toll in south-east Asia.
Updated
Israeli police clashed with hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews overnight as they sought to enforce restrictions on public gatherings during a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, the police said on Wednesday.
AP reports that footage released by police showed huge crowds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem chanting and hurling stones and metal bars at police officers. The police said 17 people were arrested.
Clashes also erupted in Modiin Ilit, an ultra-Orthodox settlement in the West Bank. Police said they ordered people to leave a synagogue before being attacked with stones and fireworks. Four police officers were wounded and seven people were arrested, police said.
Israel went into a second nationwide lockdown last month after developing one of the worst outbreaks in the world on a per capita basis. The country has about 60,000 active cases, including 855 people hospitalised in serious condition.
Updated
Record daily cases in Czech Republic
The Czech Republic reported a record 4,457 new coronavirus cases in a single day, health ministry data showed on Wednesday, with infections over the past month rising at Europe’s fastest pace.
The daily rise in new Covid-19 cases, recorded on Tuesday, surpassed a previous record of 3,794 to bring the total number of cases recorded since March to 90,022 – a fourfold increase since 25 August, Reuters reports.
Hospitalisations have soared tenfold in that period to add strain on the healthcare system.
Over the past two weeks, the Czech Republic has reported 326.8 cases per 100,000, surpassing for the first time. Spain, which has had 302.4 cases per 100,000, according to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) data collected by 6 October.
The Czech government, like others in Europe, is struggling to contain a rise in infections that is stronger than in March and April.
But the country is looking to avoid the same strict lockdowns that shut shops, restaurants and schools and prompted many factories to go idle, hammering the economy in the second quarter.
The state has introduced stricter face mask rules and limited bar opening hours and the number of people to a table in restaurants. It has also banned musical performances since Monday for two weeks.
The health minister has said tighter curbs would come. The number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 has climbed to 1,387, of which 326 are in intensive care – more than three times the peak seen when the outbreak first hit.
Updated
Russia has reported 11,115 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, pushing its nationwide tally to 1,248,619.
Russia’s coronavirus crisis centre said 202 people had died in the last 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 21,865.
Here is a more detailed look at the Tesco sales surge in the UK.
Updated
Coronavirus restrictions in place across England were “right” but the government would keep them under review as case numbers rise, international trade secretary Liz Truss has told BBC Breakfast.
We are working very carefully right across the country to make sure we’ve got the right measures in place to restrict the spread of the virus and of course we are keeping that constantly under review.
What’s really important, though, is that we don’t want to go back to a second lockdown where we end up having to close down the economy and the potential damage that has on people’s livelihoods.
This is a moving situation, as you’ve mentioned we have seen a rise in some of those areas, so of course our advisers will be looking at that and telling us what is the appropriate step to take next.”
In China surge in demand for flu shots in cities has caused shortages, long lines and triple markups on vaccines by scalpers selling them online.
Residents, afraid of the possibility of catching both the flu and Covid-19 – what some have called a “twindemic”, have rushed to clinics since China began its flu vaccine campaign in September.
Chinese health authorities in September advised residents to get shots for the flu, whose symptoms are similar to early stage Covid-19 and could complicate efforts to contain the virus this winter. Officials have also said that Covid-19 combined with the flu could raise mortality rates.
Read the full report here:
Britain’s biggest retailer, supermarket giant Tesco has announced a 42% jump in net profit in its first half on soaring online demand for food during the coronavirus outbreak.
Profit after tax jumped to £460m ($585m, €497m) in the six months to the end of August, compared with £324m a year earlier, Tesco said in a statement.
Updated
In the UK, concerns have been raised over the supply of vital testing materials for a range of conditions, including Covid-19, following a supply chain problem with the pharmaceutical company Roche.
Roche said it had experienced a “very significant drop” in its processing capacity due to a problem with its Sussex distribution centre, the only one in the UK.
It has been reported that the shortage includes vital reagents, screening kits and swabs.
Despite the problem, people who need coronavirus tests should continue to go through the testing process, Liz Truss, the UK’s international trade secretary, told Sky News.
She said:
There is an issue with the supply chain. Roche are working with the NHS, the health secretary is fully aware. I would encourage people to continue going through the testing process – that process is still working.
Roche are pushing very hard to resolve that issue … as soon as possible.
You can read PA Media’s full report on Roche’s drop in processing capacity here:
Updated
The risk of coronavirus spreading on public transport has remained substantially low through the pandemic, according to several international studies.
Safety measures imposed on public transport around the world since Covid-19 hit have made them “the safest places on earth”, Dr Julian Tang, a professor of respiratory sciences at Leicester University, told Sky News.
He said if people took the same precautions in other high-risk areas such as crowded streets and pubs, the number of cases would reduce there.
Updated
With working from home seen as a lasting legacy of Covid-19, questions have been raised over who should pay for, among other things, the tea and the toilet paper?
According to the Dutch, the answer is your bosses.
Reuters reports that the daily amount has been calculated at about €2 ($2.40) per working day, on average.
That’s meant to cover not only coffee, tea and toilet paper used in work hours, but also the extra gas, electricity and water, plus the depreciation costs of a desk and a chair – all essentials that you’d never dream of paying for in the office.
“We have literally calculated down to how many teaspoons there are in an average household, so from there it’s not that difficult to establish the costs,” said Gabrielle Bettonville of the Dutch family finances institution NIBUD, which is funded mainly by the government and researched the extra costs of remote working.
Dutch authorities have already started applying NIBUD’s research, citing it to offer bureaucrats working from home a €363 Covid-19 “bonus” this year, starting in March when the country went into lockdown.
Spain has obliged employers to pay for home office maintenance and equipment; Germany is debating a bill enshrining remote workers’ rights; France has passed a law shielding them from after-hours email.
Updated
Bulgaria registered a record high 436 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, data from the national information platform on the disease showed on Wednesday.
A total of 22,306 Covid-19 cases have been registered in the Balkan country of 7 million people, including 862 deaths. Eight people have died in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
Daily coronavirus infections started to increase in late September.
Bulgarians have to wear protective face masks in closed public spaces and keep social distance and the government has said it does not plan to introduce any new restrictive measures for the time being
Updated
The special treatment Donald Trump received to access an experimental Covid-19 drug raises fairness issues that start with the flawed health care system many Americans endure and end with the public’s right to know more about his condition, ethics and medical experts say.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc has revealed how rare it was for anyone to get the drug it gave Trump outside of studies testing its safety and effectiveness, AP reports.
The drug, which supplies antibodies to help the immune system clear the coronavirus, is widely viewed as very promising.
Trump also received the antiviral remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone, and it’s impossible to know whether any of these drugs did him any good.
He deserves special treatment by virtue of his office, said George Annas, who heads Boston University’s centre for law and health ethics. The question is whether it’s good treatment.
These drugs are unproven for mild illness and have not been tested in combination. The steroid seems at odds with medical guidelines based on what doctors have said about the severity of his illness.
The public is getting mixed messages about his condition and thats a problem, Annas said, adding that theres a right to know anything that could affect Trump’s ability to do his job.
Trump’s doctors asked for the Regeneron drug under compassionate use rules, which allow a patient with a life-threatening disease to get an experimental medicine if they can’t enrol in a study testing it and theres no good alternative.
Compassionate use requests are decided on a case-by-case basis, and both the drug company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration must agree. An FDA spokeswoman refused comment on the FDAs decision or to say how many others have asked for the drug.
Fewer than 10 of these requests have been granted, said Regeneron spokeswoman Alexandra Bowie.
The drug is in limited supply, the priority is using it for the ongoing studies, and emergency access is granted only in rare and exceptional circumstances, she wrote in an email.
Regeneron also contacted Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign to make them aware of the compassionate use mechanism, should they need to apply if Biden becomes infected, Bowie said.
Updated
Back to the US vice-presidential debate, which takes place tonight. Vice-president Pence is set to defend the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Tom McCarthy reports that as head of the White House’s pandemic task force, Pence appeared to have his work cut out for him, with polls indicating that a majority of Americans have lost faith in Donald Trump’s ability to confront and control the virus, and blame the US government for mishandling it.
To counter that view, Pence will have to explain how the virus was allowed to tear through the White House, Congress and Republican donor circles last week, hospitalizing the president and exposing a mounting number of staff, Secret Service and military personnel to Covid-19.
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Ukraine registered a record 4,753 Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the national security council said on Wednesday, up from a previous record of 4,661 new cases reported on 3 October.
The council said a total of 239,337 cases had been registered in Ukraine as of 7 October, with 4,597 deaths, including 77 in the past 24 hours.
The daily tally of infections spiked in late September and early October above 4,000, prompting the government to extend lockdown measures until the end of October.
Updated
Here’s a round-up of everything you need to know about the first and only US vice-presidential debate as Mike Pence and Kamala Harris prepare to face each other in Utah. The coronavirus crisis is expected to dominate the proceedings.
Updated
Sri Lanka has widened a curfew and warned of legal action against those evading treatment for COVID-19 after reporting an escalating cluster centered around a garment factory in the capital’s suburbs.
The number of confirmed cases has risen to 830 while more than 1,500 people have been asked to quarantine at their homes, health authorities said.
The Indian Ocean island nation had just reported its first community infection in two months on Sunday. The majority of the infected people are co-workers of the first patient, who was diagnosed at a hospital at the weekend and is from the densely populated Western province that includes the capital, Colombo.
Hi. Caroline Davies here. I am taking over the blog now for the next few hours. You can get in touch on caroline.davies@theguardian.com
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. I’m going to go and unfurl myself from this position:
This is however an accurate portrait of me blogging https://t.co/h27DEh77L3
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 7, 2020
My colleague Caroline Davies will be picking up the blog in London shortly.
In the meantime, here is a summary of developments in the White House coronavirus outbreak:
Updated
And in other non-Trump news, I interviewed Nomcebo Zikode, who sings on Jerusalema, the South African song that recently became the most shazamed song in history. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently challenged people to dance along to the track to celebrate the country’s progress against coronavirus.
Nomcebo, the voice behind Jerusalema, South Africa’s global hit
It started in December in South Africa, with a few lines of gospel sung in the deep, raspy voice of Nomcebo Zikode and a music video made by fans in Angola – dancers eating their lunch as they moved to South African DJ Master KG’s disco-house beat.
Jerusalema, produced late one night at Master KG’s studio near Johannesburg, has since become the world’s most Shazammed song and a bonafide viral hit – beloved by Christiano Ronaldo, Janet Jackson and a lot of nuns.
Zikode spoke to the Guardian a month after the release of her solo album, Xola Moya Wam, on which the title track has gone platinum in South Africa. She says that last year, when Master KG called late one evening to ask her to come to his studio in Midrand immediately to listen to beats he had just written, she was close to giving up on her dreams of becoming a solo artist.
“I was like, ‘now?’” she says. But he was insistent. After listening to the beats she asked if she could take them home to work on lyrics. When Master KG refused, she chased him out of the studio so she could think alone.
Suga’s administrative reform minister, Taro Kono, had already launched a personal crusade against hanko and fax machines, whose widespread use surprises those who were under the mistaken impression that Japan was a leading force in the digital revolution.
Kono said the use of hanko, which are used to sign contracts, enrol in the national pension scheme and myriad other procedures, was burying national and local government bureaucrats in mountains of paper.
“To be honest, I don’t think there are many administrative procedures that actually need printing out paper and faxing,” the Japan Times quoted Kono as saying last month.
“Why do we need to print out paper? In many cases, that’s simply because the hanko stamp is required. So if we can put a stop to that culture, it will naturally obviate the need for printouts and faxing.”
Government ministries are reportedly considering ending hanko requirements for 785 types of procedure, or 96% of the total, with year-end tax adjustments and tax returns rumoured to be the first to go digital during the coming fiscal year.
But the private sector is skeptical about Japan’s belated embrace of paperless bureaucracy. While almost 75% of executives at small and medium-sized businesses told a survey in May they were in favour of abolishing hanko stamps, just over half conceded it would be difficult to end the practice.
And this week, local politicians in Yamanashi, a prefecture known for its hand-carved hanko industry, demanded that the seals continue to be used in official documents, describing them as a “symbol of Japan”.
Months after the coronavirus pandemic exposed the drawbacks of Japanese bureaucracy’s reliance on hankoseals, the country’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, today told officials to plan for a future without them.
Suga, who has promised to improve efficiency by embracing digitalisation, has made little secret of his disdain for hanko, intricately carved personal seals that have long been used to sign off on official documents.
Momentum to do away with hanko has increased during the coronavirus outbreak, with reports of employees who were supposed to be working from home in an attempt to contain the virus having to travel to work simply to apply their seal to a document.
In addition, health experts said the analogue nature of applying hanko to documents that go through multiple pairs of hands was hampering efforts to maintain social distancing at the workplace.
“I want all ministries to compile a comprehensive review of their administrative procedures in the near future,” Suga told an advisory panel of private sector representatives and academics on Wednesday, the Kyodo news agency said.
Updated
Vice President Mike Pence and his Democratic challenger, California Sen. Kamala Harris, are poised to meet for a debate that will offer starkly different visions for a country confronting escalating crises.
From AP: Pence and Harris will appear on stage exactly 12.25 feet (3.7 meters) apart separated by plexiglass barriers. Anyone in the small audience who refuses to wear a mask will be asked to leave.
Pence, who was with Trump and others last week who have since tested positive, has faced questions about whether he should be at the debate at all. The vice president has repeatedly tested negative for the virus, and his staff and doctors insist he does not need to quarantine under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
The CDC defines risky close contact as being within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from two days before the onset of symptoms or a positive test.
Pence’s team objected to Harris request for plexiglass barriers, arguing it was medically unnecessary. But the Commission on Presidential Debates had already agreed to the barriers, and Pences aides said their presence wouldn’t dissuade him from attending the event.
Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, said there is zero risk of the vice president pulling out of the debate over the plexiglass spat. He said Pence will be there because its too important for the American people.
“The hesitancy seems to be on other side,” he added.
Sabrina Singh, a spokesperson for Harris, said the senator “will be at the debate, respecting the protections that the Cleveland Clinic has put in place to promote safety for all concerned. The Cleveland Clinic serves as a health adviser to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
White House coronavirus outbreak: what we know so far
Here are the key recent developments in the White House outbreak:
- Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to Donald Trump, is the latest person in the president’s orbit to test positive for Covid-19. The immigration hardliner who has espoused white nationalist views said he will quarantine following his diagnosis. His wife, Katie Miller, who is the press secretary to Mike Pence, contracted the coronavirus earlier this year.
- The White House shared rules for staff interacting with the infected president. In an email seen by the New York Times, White House staff were told to go to the second floor, where Trump is being treated, only if required. If there, those who had to go within six feet of the president were to wear gowns, surgical masks, eyewear and gloves. Others on the floor would need to wear only surgical masks and use hand sanitiser, the guidance said.
- Top US military chiefs are quarantining after a senior coast guard official tested positive. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Milley, and the vice-chairman, General John Hyten, were among those affected, US officials said. Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement that none had exhibited symptoms or tested positive.
-
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the White House is “in complete disarray” after Trump abruptly crushed talks between Democrats and Republicans on a fresh coronavirus economic relief bill. News that negotiations failed triggered an immediate stock market selloff though some markets later recovered. Pelosi accused Trump of “putting himself first at the expense of the country”.
- Mike Pence is expected to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, as planned. Despite Pence being in contact with Donald Trump and others who have tested positive for Covid-19, the White House physician has given him the go-ahead to resume normal activity, contradicting CDC guidelines to quarantine for two weeks after exposure to the virus.
- Joe Biden placed the next presidential debate in doubt. Biden told reporters: “I think if [Trump] still has Covid, we shouldn’t have a debate.” He will be “guided by the guidelines of the Cleveland Clinic and what the docs say is the right thing to do”, he said.
- Californian Democratic representative Salud Carbajal has tested positive for coronavirus, joining the three GOP senators who have tested positive since Trump’s infection was confirmed. Carbajal said he initially tested negative after exposure to someone with the virus – reported to be Senator Mike Lee – but subsequently tested positive.
- Doubts have been cast on White House contact-tracing efforts. CNN reported that staff working at the White House complex were told in an email that all contact tracing for positive cases at the White House has been completed. However, New York Times correspondent Michael D Shear, who tested positive for coronavirus, told CNN there had been “no outreach by the White House to do contact tracing or to follow up on his condition.” CNN added that, “At least one other White House official told CNN that they’ve also alerted officials that they have had direct contact with positive White House personnel, and received no guidance on how to proceed.”
- Trump has no events scheduled for Wednesday. For the fifth day in a row, Trump’s official schedule lists no public events. The schedule for Friday last week was the last to list any public events, and it was just one: “a phone call on Covid-19 support to vulnerable seniors”.
- Biden gave a speech on the historic fields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Biden expressed concern that America is so divided it’s in a “dangerous place” but not irretrievable. He also called on Americans to follow the “scientific recommendations” for how to protect themselves against coronavirus, including wearing a mask and social distancing, in his campaign speech this afternoon.
Here is a statement taken for granted: Donald Trump will have the best care available for his diagnosis of Covid-19. In a literal sense that is true – he will have an attentive, round-the-clock medical team. This is essential for any ill president.
But in medicine there are many cautionary tales of “VIP syndrome” – the special treatment given by doctors to the wealthy, famous, powerful or politically connected and how that does not always lead to the best medical outcomes.
“In the case of President Trump … you can see the countertransference,” said Dr Andrés Martin, a professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine’s child study center, referring to the feelings a doctor might have toward a patient. “If I screw up, or if I piss him off, is he going to treat me like Biden?”
Trump’s medical team will face a veritable minefield as they attempt to form an alliance with the commander-in-chief, a notoriously demanding, publicity-conscious patient who views disease as personal weakness, and diet and exercise with suspicion:
Infectious diseases professor called on CDC chief to expose White House's 'colossal failure' in handling pandemic
American physician Dr William Foege, a leading epidemiologist who played a central role in eradicating smallpox, sent a letter to CDC director Robert Redfield on 23 September, following reports that the White House had directly interfered with the coronavirus guidelines on the CDC website, calling on Redfield to expose the White HOuse’s mishandling of the pandemic,
In the letter to Redfield, published by USA today, Foege writes, “You and I both know that Despite the White House spin attempts, this will go down as a colossal failure of the public health system of this country”. He says that the Trump administration’s handing of the pandemic will be taught in textbooks as “a lesson on how not to handle an infectious diseases pandemic.”
Foege urges Redfield not to “shy away from the fact this has been an unacceptable toll on our country. It is a slaughter and not just a political dispute.”
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 2,828 to 306,086, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday.
The reported death toll rose by 16 to 9,562, the tally showed.
Yesterday saw Germany’s highest toll since 17 April, with more than 3,100 new cases confirmed, according to Johns Hopkins University. Today’s toll is the third-highest since then.
A Chinese experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed by the Institute of Medical Biology under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences was shown to be safe in an early stage clinical trial, researchers said.
Reuters reports that a Phase 1 trial of 191 healthy participants aged between 18 and 59, vaccination with the group’s experimental shot showed no severe adverse reactions, its researchers said on Tuesday in a paper posted on medRxiv preprint server ahead of peer review.
The most common adverse reactions reported by the trial participants were mild pain, slight fatigue and redness, itching and swelling at the injection site.
The candidate also induced immune response.
“All the data obtained in this trial support the safety and immunogenicity of this inactivated vaccine and are encouraging with regard to further studies of its efficacy in the future,” the paper said.
China has inoculated hundreds of thousands of essential workers and other groups considered at high risk with other vaccines, even as clinical trials had not been fully completed, raising safety concerns among experts.
China has at least four experimental vaccines in the final stage of clinical trials.
George Washington cardiologist and CNN Medical Analyst Dr Jonathan Reiner has given an interview in which he says that he believes the White House is concerned that Trump might be “patient zero” in the outbreak among administration staff and others.
Reiner also says the thinks Trump is “the superspreader”.
In the interview, Reiner says: “I think the reason the White House will not have the CDC do a formal check and review every single case is that they’re concerned that the patient zero might be the President of the United States.”
Dr Jonathan Reiner: "I think POTUS was infected with coronavirus for at least a week before he was admitted to the hospital...I think he's the superspreader. And I think the reason the WH will not have the CDC do a formal check...is they're concerned patient zero might be POTUS." pic.twitter.com/zQGc6Nqh5U
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 7, 2020
Speaking of exorbitant wealth, authorities have poured cold water on an audacious plan to fence off a chunk of Bondi beach over summer for an exclusive “Euro beach chic” club aimed at surgeons, bankers and models.
The Amalfi Beach Club is proposing to erect a private area on southern end of the iconic beach, where 100 guests, each paying $80 for two hours of entry, would be served food and drinks.
But Waverley council, in response to media coverage of the plan, has clarified that it received and rejected the Amalfi Beach Club’s first proposal, which was lodged in May.
While it is now considering a subsequent proposal, the initial concept was previously deemed “unsuitable” by council officers for a number of reasons, including concerns about mixing drinking with swimming during the peak beach season, as well as the alcohol-free status of the site.
According to the proposal, the Amalfi Beach Club would target “high net worth” individuals between 25 and 45, with “high disposable income”.
Its organisers expect typical male patrons to be “aspirational professionals such as doctors, surgeons, members of the finance industry”, while it expects women who visit the club to “occupy a similar high-end platform in areas of publishing, advertising, fashion, beauty and modelling”.
Speaking to Guardian Australia, Janek Gazecki, the Bondi-based organiser of Urban Polo events who is behind the proposal, said while it was inspired by Mykonos, Capri and St Tropez, Amalfi Beach Club was mostly an attempt to “boost local morale” and help businesses recover from the impact of Covid-19:
As Trump is treated to taxpayer-funded healthcare, AP reports that one of Congress’ most obscure functions may have put Trump’s taxes, among the most coveted documents in the world in recent years, into the hands of congressional staff – which may be how they landed up with the Times, who reported that Trump paid only $750 in federal income takes in 2016 and 2017.
The audit of Trumps taxes, the Times reported, has been held up for more than four years by staffers for the Joint Committee on Taxation, which has 30 days to review individual refunds and tax credits over $2 million. When JCT staffers disagree with the IRS on a decision, the review is typically kept open until the matter is resolved.
The upshot is that information on Trumps taxes, which Democrats are now suing to see, has almost certainly passed through the JCT’s hands, putting it tantalizingly close to lawmakers.
Key members of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee defended the JCT after the Times report and were emphatic that that the panel does not have copies of tax forms pertaining to Trump.
The world’s billionaires “did extremely well” during the coronavirus pandemic, growing their already-huge fortunes to a record high of $10.2tn (£7.8tn).
A report by Swiss bank UBS found that billionaires increased their wealth by more than a quarter (27.5%) at the height of the crisis from April to July, just as millions of people around the world lost their jobs or were struggling to get by on government schemes.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, UK’s richest person, moves to tax-free MonacoRead more
The report found that billionaires had mostly benefited from betting on the recovery of global stock markets when they were at their nadir during the global lockdowns in March and April. UBS said billionaires’ wealth had hit “a new high, surpassing the previous peak of $8.9tn reached at the end of 2017”. The number of billionaires has also hit a new high of 2,189, up from 2,158 in 2017:
Here is the full story on Stephen Miller testing positive:
Stephen Miller, a top aide to Donald Trump, has tested positive for Covid-19, joining a growing a growing list of figures close to the president who have contracted the virus as the White House scrambles to contain a growing outbreak.
“Over the last 5 days I have been working remotely and self-isolating, testing negative every day through yesterday. Today, I tested positive for Covid-19 and am in quarantine,” Miller said in a statement.
More than a dozen White House officials and others in the president’s orbit have tested positive for the virus. Earlier this year, Miller’s wife, Katie Miller – who is Mike Pence’s press secretary – contracted the virus.
Miller, who has served as a policy adviser and speechwriter for Trump, was among the most ardent defenders of the administration’s policy to separate children from parents:
Earlier on Wednesday, the New York Times endorsed Joe Biden for president.
The paper’s editorial board has just published an opinion piece in which they argue, without once mentioning Trump by name:
A President Biden would embrace the rule of law and restore public confidence in democratic institutions. He would return a respect for science and expertise to the government. He would stock his administration with competent, qualified, principled individuals. He would stand with America’s allies and against adversaries that seek to undermine our democracy. He would work to address systemic injustices. He would not court foreign autocrats or give comfort to white supremacists. His focus would be on healing divisions and rallying the nation around shared values. He would understand that his first duty, always, is to the American people.
Updated
In the last hour, Trump has tweeted (many of these retweets) eleven times.
In the last two hours, he has posted 42 tweets.
His scorn has leapt from what he claims will be the “most corrupt Election in American History!” to Nancy Pelosi, from Hillary Clinton to Obama.
A reminder of that bit from the Times report on what is happening inside the White House:
Some White House staff members wondered whether Mr. Trump’s behavior was spurred by a cocktail of drugs he has been taking to treat the coronavirus, including dexamethasone, a steroid that can cause mood swings and can give a false level of energy and a sense of euphoria.
Updated
New York to reinstate some restrictions from Friday
New York state will reinstate restrictions on businesses, houses of worship and schools in and near areas where coronavirus cases are spiking, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday, saying the severity of shutdowns would vary by proximity to the hot spots.
Set to take effect no later than Friday, the new rules will affect parts of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, sections of Orange and Rockland counties in the Hudson Valley, and an area within Binghamton in the Southern Tier.
The planned restrictions include school and business shutdowns in some areas; others will see limitations on gatherings and restaurant diners.
In non-Trump questions: Does Sweden have the answer to living with Covid-19?
Podcast: The Swedish example is regularly raised by libertarian-minded Conservatives when protesting against government restrictions aimed at quelling the spread of the virus in the UK. But what did the Scandinavian country do differently and could it be applied elsewhere?
Trump has no events scheduled for Wednesday 7 October
Trump’s official schedule once again lists no public events.
This is the fifth day in a row it has listed no events since Trump tested positive on Thursday last week (Friday’s schedule listed “a phone call on Covid-19 support to vulnerable seniors”).
Clear again for Wednesday 7 October: pic.twitter.com/z7blPCEbns
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 7, 2020
Democratic representative Salud Carbajal becomes latest member of congress to test positive
The Hill reports that California representative Salud Carbajal has tested positive for coronavirus, joining the three GOP senators who have tested positive since Trump’s infection was confirmed .
Carbajal says that he initially tested negative after exposure to someone with the virus (reported to be Senator Mike Lee), but subsequently tested positive.
Thirteen other house members who have tested positive over the course of the pandemic so far, according to the Hill:
Thirteen other House members have also tested positive for COVID-19 or had a presumed case: Reps. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Tom Rice (R-S.C.), Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.), Ben McAdams (D-Utah) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.).
Aside from Sens. Lee, Johnson and Tillis [who tested positive after Trump’s infection was confirmed], two other senators have also tested positive: Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
White House staff sent rules for interacting with Trump
The New York Times has shared the details of what White House staffers have been told when it comes to interacting with the president.
It would naturally be interesting to know what PPE, if any, the president himself is required to wear to stop him infecting others.
No reassurance in these guidelines that Trump will be wearing a mask https://t.co/nGTcy6VKZh
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) October 7, 2020
In a memo titled “Precautions and POTUS Interactions” sent around the White House this week, staff members were warned about what to do when interacting with the president, including acquiring personal protective equipment from an “Isolation Cart.”
Staff members are only to go to the Oval Office or the residence on the second floor, where the first family lives, if they’re requested to go and expected to be there. If staff members are not in close contact with the president, meaning they’re more than six feet away from him, only a ‘surgical mask’ and hand sanitizer are required, according to the memo from the White House Management Office, which was reviewed by a Times reporter.
But within six feet, people must use sanitizer and ‘remove any outer garments,’ the memo said. ‘Ensure you are wearing the following Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). PPE is provided in the Isolation Cart’ that’s located ‘in the foyer area of the second floor residence and the outer Oval Office,’ the memo stated.
The memo listed the types of equipment, including, ‘Yellow gown,’ ‘Surgical mask,’ ‘Protective eye wear’ and ‘Gloves.’
Upon exiting, people are instructed to remove gowns and gloves and put them in a trash receptacle next to the cart, clean the eye shields with wipes that are provided and save them for future use, and then wash hands or use sanitizer after leaving.
Updated
Here is New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Rachel Maddow earlier on Tuesday evening in the US speaking about the impact of Trump’s decision to stop talks on the latest Covid economic relief measures until after the election:
"I don’t think that we should be making any large political decisions when the president is in such a perilous medical state. He is still receiving interventions and treatments and we’re in the middle of talking about and making dramatic decisions about...COVID stimulus." - @AOC pic.twitter.com/I5Il9uZUWb
— Indivisible Guide (@IndivisibleTeam) October 7, 2020
Updated
The latest Ipsos poll has Biden leading by eight points in Michigan, the former Democratic stronghold in which Trump managed to clinch victory in 2016 with a fragile lead of 0.3 points:
Michigan Poll:
— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) October 7, 2020
Biden 51% (+8)
Trump 43%
Ipsos
(LV, 9/29-10/6)
Trump and Biden are even in North Carolina, another key state. North Carolina has voted Republican in all but one of the last four presidential elections.
North Carolina Poll:
— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) October 7, 2020
Biden 47%
Trump 47%
Ipsos
LV, 9/29-10/6
Updated
Here are the highlights from Biden’s Gettysburg speech:
Speaking the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the US civil war, Biden said he decided to run for president after the far-right rally and resulting violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. “It was hate on the march in the open. In America,” he said. “Hate never goes away. It only hides. And when it’s given oxygen, when it’s given an opportunity to spread, when it’s treated as normal and acceptable behaviour, we’ve opened a door in this country that we must move quickly to close”
Doubts cast on White House email that says all contact tracing complete – report
CNN reports that staff working at the White House complex have been told in an email that all contact tracing for positive cases at the White House has been completed.
However, the New York Times correspondent mentioned in my previous post, Michael D Shear, has told CNN that “there’s been no outreach by the White House to do contact tracing or to follow up on his condition.”
CNN adds that, “At least one other White House official told CNN that they’ve also alerted officials that they have had direct contact with positive White House personnel, and received no guidance on how to proceed.”
In addition to the below lists, at least three journalists have tested postive, according to the New York Times.
One is Times correspondent Michael D. Shear, the second is photojournalist Al Drago and the White House Correspondents’ Association did not name the third in a story by the Washington Post.
White House administration – who has tested positive so far?
Here are the White House administration staff who have tested positive so far:
- Donald J. Trump, POTUS
- Melania Trump, FLOTUS
- Hope Hicks, adviser to the president
- Stephen Miller, senior policy adviser
- Nicholas Luna, assistant to the president
- Kayleigh McEnany, press secretary
- Karoline Leavitt, assistant press secretary
- Chad Gilmartin, assistant press secretary
- Harrison W. Fields assistant press secretary
- Jalen Drummond, assistant press secretary
In addition, the following senior Republicans and people in Trump’s periphery have tested positive:
Others:
- Mike Lee, senator of Utah
- Thom Tillis, senator of North Carolina
- Charles W. Ray, US coast guard admiral
- Ronna McDaniel, RNC chairwoman
- Bill Stepien, campaign manager
- Kellyanne Conway, former top White House adviser
- Chris Christie, former New Jersey governor who helped Trump prepare for the last presidential debate
- John I Jenkins, Notre Dame president
- Greg Laurie, pastor
Updated
Trump was not tested every day – report
The New York Times reports that, according to two unnamed people “familiar with the practices” Trump has not been getting tested for coronavirus daily.
Two officials maintained that Mr. Trump had been tested before the presidential debate, but the White House has yet to affirm that.
White House officials conceded on Tuesday that there had been an impression created that Mr. Trump was getting tested every day, and a reliance on testing as if it were a curative measure as opposed to a diagnostic.
Yet the president himself was not tested every day, according to two people familiar with the practices. A senior administration official would only say on Tuesday that Mr. Trump was tested “regularly.” Mr. Trump himself told reporters in the White House briefing room in July that “I do take probably on average a test every two days, three days.”
A snippet from the New York Times’ latest look inside the White House:
Some White House staff members wondered whether Mr. Trump’s behavior was spurred by a cocktail of drugs he has been taking to treat the coronavirus, including dexamethasone, a steroid that can cause mood swings and can give a false level of energy and a sense of euphoria.
Joe Biden delivered a forceful appeal for national unity from the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, as the nation lurched from crisis to crisis and the president continued to downplay the severity of the coronavirus after being hospitalized for Covid-19.
From the storied civil war battlefield of Gettysburg, a symbol of the divisions that nearly tore the nation in two, Biden cast the election as a “battle for the soul of the nation” and emphasised the stakes this November.
“Today, once again we are a house divided,” Biden said, framed by a row of American flags with the rolling hills of Gettysburg behind him. “But that, my friend, can no longer be. We are facing too many crises. We have too much work to do. We have too bright a future to leave it shipwrecked on the shoals of anger and hate and division.”
In a sweeping speech – one that drew on Abraham Lincoln’s address at the same spot, the site of one of the war’s bloodiest battles, and Lyndon Johnson’s remarks from there one hundred years later – Biden warned of the “cost of division” and his fears that partisanship threatened to undermine the central pillars of American democracy.
Biden vowed to govern as an “American president”, one who would seek bipartisan solutions to the nation’s most consequential problems, including the coronavirus pandemic, racial injustice and economic turmoil.
Though he did not mention Trump by name, Biden’s remarks amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of the president’s leadership in the wake of a global pandemic that has killed more than 210,000 Americans and infected millions more, including the president and a widening circle of White House aides and allies. Lamenting the politicisation of science and facts, he called for a national strategy:
Updated
Hi, Helen Sullivan with you here on the global coronavirus liveblog.
We’ll now be covering the latest in the Trump / White House coronavirus fiasco here as well as developments from around the world.
Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan with any news you think we may have missed, interesting takes from experts, or just to say Hi:
Updated
Trump criticises FDA vaccine rules
Donald Trump has tweeted his frustration at new rules proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration designed to ensure that the coronavirus vaccine is rolled out only when safe – which would almost certainly mean the vaccine is launched after election day, calling the rules “just another political hit job”:
New FDA Rules make it more difficult for them to speed up vaccines for approval before Election Day. Just another political hit job! @SteveFDA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2020
The FDA told coronavirus vaccine developers on Tuesday it wants at least two months of safety data before authorising any emergency use:
Updated
New York governor blasts Trump Covid comments
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has denounced Donald Trump over remarks he made telling Americans ‘to get out there’ and not fear Covid-19. Cuomo attacked Trump’s comments as ‘just more denial’ after the president returned from the White House following a three-night stay at the Walter Reed national military medical center. ‘Don’t be afraid of Covid? No. Be afraid of Covid. It can kill you. Don’t be cavalier.’
From earlier today – CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on the skeleton crew running the West Wing’s press areas – less than a month from the election:
Confirming @maggieNYT, a fourth press aide has also tested positive. So now it's four press aides and the press secretary.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 6, 2020
New Zealand eliminates domestic spread of coronavirus for second time
Charlotte Graham-McLay reports for the Guardian:
New Zealand appears to have, for a second time, stamped out the domestic spread of Covid-19, with no active cases recorded in the community on Wednesday, health officials said.
The country recorded three new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, all diagnosed in travellers returning to New Zealand who remain in quarantine at government-run isolation facilities. Strict rules govern who can enter New Zealand and all travellers must stay in managed quarantine for two weeks, during which they are tested twice for the virus.
There are 37 cases of the coronavirus at the isolation hotels.
But as of Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement, there are no longer any active cases in the community after the last remaining sufferers recovered.
New Zealand declared itself free of Covid-19 in June, but an August outbreak in Auckland sent the largest city back into a strict lockdown. Restrictions have gradually eased on the city and will be lifted entirely on Thursday.
After entering a stringent, early lockdown in March and April when New Zealand had recorded comparatively few cases, the country has seen 25 deaths from the virus.
There have been 1,505 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. One person is in hospital.
Brazil registers highest number of new cases in almost a month
Brazil on Tuesday registered 41,906 new cases of Covid-19, the highest number for a single day since 11 September, the health ministry said. The number of deaths rose by 819 to 147,494, the second highest death toll in the world.
A reminder that Stephen Miller, the top trump aide who has just become the latest White House official to test positive for coronavirus, shared an umbrella with Hope Hicks the day before she tested positive:
A bit more on what Biden said:
Biden to reporters just now: “Well, uh, I think if he still has COVID, we shouldn’t have a debate.”
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 6, 2020
He adds: “I think we were gonna have to follow very strict guidelines. Too many people have been infected. It’s a very serious problem, so I will be guided by the guidelines...”
Biden says debate next week should not go ahead if Trump still has Covid
AP is reporting that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says there should not be a presidential debate next week if Trump still has coronavirus:
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Biden says 'we shouldn't have debate' next week if Trump still has coronavirus.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) October 6, 2020
Stephen Miller testing positive for coronavirus places greater pressure on vice president Mike Pence to justify not quarantining.
As Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs (who broke the story that Hope Hicks had tested positive) points out, Katie Miller – Pence’s press secretary and Stephen Miller’s wife – flew to Utah with Pence.
However, she has already had coronavirus, so it is unclear whether she could pass on a new infection. While it is rare, some cases of re-infection have been recorded over the course of the pandemic.
Pence, who is scheduled to debate Kamala Harris tomorrow night, "does not need to quarantine" and can go about his normal activities, Dr. Schonau says.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 6, 2020
Stephen Miller's wife flew out to Utah with the VP. pic.twitter.com/2dysQAUKFC
Record hospitalisations in six US states
Six US states reported record numbers of patients hospitalised with Covid-19, including Wisconsin, where officials on Tuesday issued a new order limiting the size of indoor public gatherings, Reuters reports.
The surge of hospitalisations and new cases in some states coincides with the president Donald Trump and several members of his White House staff testing positive for coronavirus. Trump’s doctors on Tuesday said he was not displaying any acute symptoms after he left the Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was treated for three days.
The rise in reported hospitalisations on Monday hit states in the Midwest the hardest, with Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming reporting their highest figures, according to a Reuters tally. Wisconsin has 782 hospitalised patients, compared with 433 two weeks ago.
Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services issued a directive that gatherings will be limited to no more than 25% of a room or building’s total occupancy.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said in a statement:
We’re in a crisis right now and need to immediately change our behaviour to save lives.
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.
Top Trump aide Stephen Miller tests positive for coronavirus
Senior policy adviser to President Donald Trump Stephen Miller has tested positive for coronavirus, the latest in a string of officials caught up in the White House outbreak.
In a statement, Miller said, “Over the last 5 days I have been working remotely and self-isolating, testing negative every day through yesterday. Today, I tested positive for Covid-19 and am in quarantine”.
More than a dozen White House officials and others in the president’s orbit have now tested positive for the virus. Earlier this year, Miller’s wife, Katie Miller – who is Mike Pence’s press secretary – contracted the virus.
Updated
Facebook, Twitter block Trump posts for violating misinformation rules
Facebook Inc and Twitter took action on posts from the US president Donald Trump on Tuesday for violating their rules against coronavirus misinformation by suggesting that Covid-19 was just like the flu [see 5.30pm].
Facebook took the post down but not before it was shared about 26,000 times, data from the company’s metric tool CrowdTangle showed.
“We remove incorrect information about the severity of Covid-19,” a company spokesman told Reuters.
The world’s largest social media company, which exempts politicians from its third-party fact-checking program, has rarely taken action against posts from the president.
Twitter disabled retweets on a similar tweet from Trump and added a warning label that said it broke its rules on “spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to Covid-19” but that it might be in the public interest for it to remain accessible.
Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu. Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 6, 2020
During the 2019-2020 influenza season, the flu was associated with 22,000 deaths in the United States, according to estimates from the US CDC.
Since the first case of Covid-19 was recorded in the United States at the beginning of this year, more than 210,000 people in the country have died of the disease caused by the virus, the world’s highest death toll.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coronavirus coverage with me, Helen Sullivan.
I’ll be bringing you the latest pandemic developments from around the world for the next few hours.
Get in touch with news from where you live on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Six US states reported record numbers of patients hospitalised with Covid-19, including Wisconsin, where officials on Tuesday issued a new order limiting the size of indoor public gatherings.
The rise in reported hospitalisations on Monday hit states in the Midwest the hardest, with Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming reporting their highest figures, according to a Reuters tally. Wisconsin has 782 hospitalised patients, compared with 433 two weeks ago.
Trump meanwhile suggested in posts on Facebook and Twitter that Covid-19 was just like the flu, prompting the platforms to take action against the posts for violating their rules against coronavirus misinformation.
- Six US states reported record numbers of patients hospitalised with Covid-19, including Wisconsin, where officials on Tuesday issued a new order limiting the size of indoor public gatherings. The rise in reported hospitalisations on Monday hit states in the Midwest the hardest, with Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming reporting their highest figures.
- Brazil registers highest number of new cases in almost a month. Brazil on Tuesday registered 41,906 new cases of Covid-19, the highest number for a single day since 11 September, the health ministry said. The number of deaths rose by 819 to 147,494, the second highest death toll in the world.
- A UK government decision on plans to introduce Covid-19 testing for international arrivals to cut quarantine times will not come until next month at the earliest, with Downing Street instead setting up a global travel taskforce to look at proposals, the Guardian understands.
- Kenya’s education ministry has said that select classes would resume this week after previously declaring the school year lost, following a drop in coronavirus cases.
- European countries face shortages of Covid-19 drug remdesivir. European countries are facing shortages of Covid-19 drug remdesivir because limited supplies are running out, with cases surging and the US having bought up most of drugmaker Gilead’s output.
- White House likened to ‘ghost town’ as anxiety over coronavirus cluster grows. The West Wing has reportedly turned into a “ghost town” amid complaints that the White House has failed to trace potential contacts of Trump and his infected aides, with many now working from home even as the president exhorted Americans “not to be afraid of Covid”.
- IMF chief says world economy faces long ascent from Covid crisis. The head of the International Monetary Fund has said the recovery in the global economy since the spring is fragile and warned policymakers against an over-hasty withdrawal of support.
- Europe must go beyond science to survive Covid crisis, says WHO. The World Health Organization has said European countries will need to “move beyond biomedical science” to overcome Covid-19 as “pandemic fatigue” and new infections rapidly rise across the continent.
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Poland reports new record of daily coronavirus-related deaths. Poland said it would enforce restrictions more strictly as it reported a daily record of 58 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, as well as sharp increases in the number of ventilators and hospital beds being used by Covid-19 patients.
- Italy prepares to make masks outdoors mandatory. Italy is considering making the use of masks outdoors mandatory nationwide to fight the coronavirus, health minister Roberto Speranza has said.
- Belgium tightens social contact rules as coronavirus cases surge. Belgium will tighten coronavirus restrictions at the end of the week, limiting groups to a maximum of four people in a bid to stem a sharp rise of Covid-19 infections.
- Finland’s Covid-19 cases hit new daily record. Finland has reported its highest daily number of Covid-19 infections since the start of the pandemic and they now exceed the rate that Helsinki sets for other countries before their citizens are allowed to visit without being quarantined.
- Iran to require face masks in capital as virus cases hit high. Iran will require face masks in public in the capital Tehran from Saturday, authorities said, announcing a daily record of 4,151 new coronavirus cases.
- Moscow restricts transport for students and elderly as Covid-19 cases jump. Russia’s daily tally of new coronavirus cases rose to its highest since 11 May on Tuesday, prompting Moscow to take measures to keep students and the elderly off the city’s sprawling public transport network.
