This blog has now closed. You can follow all the latest updates on our new global live blog below
Summary
Here a short overview of the latest key developments:
- Coronavirus has killed at least 495,288 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December.
- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States rose to more than 2.5 million on Saturday. More than 125,000 Americans have died of Covid-19, the highest known death toll from the disease in the world.
- The US states of Florida, Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina and Georgia have recorded daily highs for coronavirus infections on Saturday, highlighting the worsening spread of the virus in several southern and western states, which is prompting some of them to roll back their reopening plans.
- Thousands of people demonstrated in some 60 cities and towns across Spain on Saturday to demand a collective rebuilding of society to tackle the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, in the biggest demonstrations since the crisis began.
- Brazil recorded 38,693 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 1,109 additional deaths. The country has now registered 1,313,667 total confirmed cases of the virus and 57,070 deaths.
- A growing number of Covid-19 infections among people under 35 years of age is a “worrying trend,” Ireland’s chief medical officer said on Saturday as the country reported the highest number of new infections for two weeks.
- The Czech Republic has registered the biggest spike in Covid-19 cases in more than two months, with several centres where the disease is spreading fast, the health ministry said Saturday.
- Zurich’s health authority has ordered a 10-day quarantine for almost 300 guests and staff of a nightclub after a reveller tested positive for coronavirus and had been proven to have infected others.
- A global fundraising meeting on Saturday raised €6.15bn ($6.9bn) from the United States, the European Commission and numerous countries to fight Covid-19, with many participants stressing that an eventual vaccine should be available to anyone who needs it.
- Spain is to uphold a ban on cruise liners from docking at its ports to stop the spread of Covid-19, according to a ministerial order published on Saturday.
- The governor of Bethlehem announced Saturday the temporary closure of the Palestinian city to contain the spread of coronavirus after a sharp rise in infections in the occupied West Bank.
This blog will wrap up now, my colleagues in Australia will be updating you over the next few hours. Thanks for reading and writing in, goodnight.
Updated
Demonstrations across Spain over pandemic crisis
Thousands of people hit the streets across Spain on Saturday to demand a collective rebuilding of society to tackle the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, in the biggest demonstrations since the crisis began.
Called by the Workers Commissions and UGT unions, rallies took place throughout the day in some 60 towns and cities with organisers saying “many thousands” had taken part, without providing a figure.
Unions are demanding a concerted response to ensure social and economic reconstruction following a crisis that has dealt a hammer blow to Spain’s economy.
“We want the country to be rebuilt, we need a national agreement so this pandemic won’t be politically exploited,” UGT boss Pepe Alvarez told AFP in Madrid, where more than a thousand mask-wearing demonstrators held a socially-distanced march.
“We need to improve public services as part of a national agreement that leads to recovery and an improvement in our economy,” Alvarez said.
Although the government had done “more than any government before” through its furlough scheme and introducing a minimum basic income, there were still many people “who are really suffering”, he said.
Demonstrator Ana Sanchez de la Cueva, 61, said the aim was to ensure that ordinary people don’t end up paying for the crisis, either economically or in terms of their health.
“There are two reasons we’re here: to call for a proper economic recovery so we can all emerge from this crisis with dignity, and to demand that public services be strengthened,” she said.
Updated
Brazil recorded 38,693 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 1,109 additional deaths, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
The country has now registered 1,313,667 total confirmed cases of the virus and 57,070 deaths.
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor Marcelo Crivella moved forward the reopening of street commerce.
The establishments are authorised to operate between 11am and 5pm.
According to the mayor, the reopening was approved by the city council’s scientific committee.
American Airlines Group Inc expects to have between 10% and 20% more workers than needed in July 2021, chief executive Doug Parker told employees at a town hall this week, and said that avoiding furloughs will be difficult.
Weathering a sharp hit to business due to the coronavirus pandemic, American and other US airlines have warned of furloughs in October, which is when government payroll aid for airlines expires, but said they were hoping to avoid them.
“It’s going to be even harder than I thought,” Parker said at an employee town hall on Wednesday, adding that “revenue is not coming back as fast as we’d like.”
As of the end of last year, American had 133,700 employees, more than any other US airline.
In October, American expects to have between 20% and 30% more workers than needed, Parker said, while adding that furlough decisions could revolve more around the July 2021 forecast of 10% to 20% excess workers, with potentially less pain for pilots than other employees such as flight attendants.
“It really makes zero sense to go furlough a pilot in October if you’re going to need that pilot again in July,” Parker said, noting the costly training needed to bring a pilot back from a furlough.
Updated
As the lifting of lockdown restrictions in some US states are at least partially reversed amid rising infection numbers, similar relaxations could lead to similar results in England.
My colleagues Mark Townsend and Nosheen Iqbal report.
The Trump campaign has postponed US vice president Mike Pence’s campaign events in Florida and Arizona next week “out of an abundance of caution,” CNN reports.
The decision to postpone the events comes as both states and the country experience a surge in coronavirus cases.
Pence had a handful of campaign and political-related events scheduled as part of his trips to both states.
The vice president’s office did not provide an updated schedule for Pence’s trips.
Updated
Coronavirus has killed at least 495,288 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by Agence France-Presse on Saturday.
At least 9,875,040 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 4,903,500 are now considered recovered.
The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.
Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.
Since 1900 GMT on Friday, 4,372 new deaths and 181,048 new cases were recorded worldwide.
The countries with the most new deaths were Brazil with 990, followed by Mexico with 719, and the United States with 523.
Three migrants who recently arrived from Turkey have tested positive for coronavirus on the Greek island of Lesbos, officials said Saturday.
The migrants were part of a group of more than 30 people picked up by a Greek coastguard vessel on 14 June, and taken to a screening facility far from the island’s overcrowded refugee camps.
That facility has now been placed under two-week quarantine.
More than 190 people have died from Covid-19 in Greece.
No cases have been reported in camps on the islands, where there are nearly 30,000 people crammed in facilities, Agence France-Presse reports.
Zurich’s health authority said on Saturday it had ordered a 10-day quarantine for almost 300 guests and staff of a nightclub after a reveller tested positive for coronavirus and had been proven to have infected others during his outing.
The man was at the Flamingo Club on 21 June and tested positive for Covid-19 on 25 June, the statement said, according to Reuters.
Five other people who were at the club with him have also tested positive since, it said.
As other European countries who have eased restrictions, Switzerland has seen a rise in new coronavirus infections.
This week, the number of new infections has increased daily from 18 on Monday to 69 on Saturday, according to the Health Ministry.
Swiss nightclubs were allowed to reopen this month, but they are obliged to register their guests.
US infections pass 2.5 million
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States rose to more than 2.5 million on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally.
More than 125,000 Americans have died of Covid-19, the highest known death toll from the disease in the world.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has reported a single day increase of 5,972 positive cases of coronavirus, with 60 deaths from Friday to Saturday, according to an update released on Saturday, CNN reports.
The CDPH also confirmed that the Golden State’s rate of positive testing is trending modestly upward in the 14-day average.
Florida, Arizona and Nevada are amon five US states that have recorded daily highs for coronavirus infections on Saturday, highlighting the worsening spread of the virus in several southern and western states, which is prompting some of them to roll back their reopening plans, Reuters reports.
Florida on Saturday morning reported 9,585 new infections in the last 24 hours, a record for a second day, while Arizona recorded 3,591 new cases, matching its prior record on 23 June.
South Carolina and Georgia reported 1,604 and 1,990 new infections, respectively, also marking new daily highs.
The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, said on Saturday that he regrets having reopened the state’s economy: “If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars, now seeing in the aftermath of how quickly the coronavirus spread in the bar setting,” he said.
Nevada disclosed 1,099 new cases, double its previous record high.
The surge in cases has been most pronounced in a handful of southern and western states that reopened earlier and more aggressively, serving as a warning to the potentially illusory nature of any perceived progress in controlling the virus.
On Friday, as the United States recorded its largest daily case count of the pandemic, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said the government’s current strategy for finding and isolating infected people was “not working,” partly due to significant asymptomatic spread.
Updated
The speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, Maja Gojković, the defense minister Aleksandar Vulin and the head of government office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Đurić, have tested positive for Covid-19, media reports suggest.
All of them were present at the crowded victory celebration of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) following the election on Sunday, 21 June, European Western Balkans reports.
Portal NOVA reported on Friday evening that Speaker Gojković has been hospitalised, while Vulin and Đurić are in self-isolation, having developed no symptoms so far, according to Danas.
Several additional government officials in the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, as well as the president of the Business Chamber of Serbia, Marko Čadež, have also tested postive.
The Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Health reported 855 new coronavirus cases on Friday, as well as six new deaths, bringing the country’s total number of infection cases to 30,619.
The Caribbean country’s death toll now stands at 718, according to health authorities.
The Dominican Republic’s Covid-19 death rate is currently 2.34% of the total number of confirmed cases, CNN reports.
The use of medical face masks has been mandatory since 16 April and the majority of the population is complying with that rule.
The Dominican Government imposed a sanctions regime last week to punish people who do not wear a mask in public places, with fines ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 pesos (from 172 to 1,724 US dollar), Dominican Today reports.
On Sunday, a strict curfew that was in place for three months will end, and there will be no limits for citizens to move from one place to another at any time of the day, adding to the challenges the health authorities are facing.
Updated
A global fundraising meeting on Saturday raised€6.15bn ($6.9bn) from the United States, the European Commission and numerous countries to fight Covid-19, with many participants stressing that an eventual vaccine should be available to anyone who needs it.
The pledging summit, part of a joint initiative by the EU executive and advocacy group Global Citizen, also included a globally televised and streamed fundraising concert featuring Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Shakira, Chloe X Halle, Usher and others.
The Commission together with the European Investment Bank pledged €4.9b ($5.50bn), the United States $545m, Germany €383m, Canada C$300m ($219m) and Qatar $10m. Forty governments took part in the summit.
The money will be used for Covid-19 tests, treatments and vaccines, and also to support the world’s poorest and most marginalised communities, Reuters reports.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said it was crucial that everyone who needed it should have access to a vaccine.
“I am trying to convince high-income countries to reserve vaccines not only for themselves but also for low- and middle income countries. This is a stress test for solidarity,” she said.
Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, concurred.
“If and when an effective vaccine is found, then we as world leaders have moral duty to ensure that it is truly available to all,” he said.
French president, Emmanuel Macron, was adamant about pooling efforts together.
“Let’s refuse an every man for himself approach, let’s continue to move forward together,” he said.
Italy, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, echoed his sentiment.
Updated
An Ethiopian Orthodox monk whose family says he is 114 years old has survived the coronavirus, the Associated Press reports.
Tilahun Woldemichael was discharged from a hospital on Thursday after almost three weeks.
He received oxygen and dexamethasone, a cheap and widely available steroid that researchers in England have said reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalised patients.
Ethiopia’s health minister has said the ministry recommends the emergency use of the drug for Covid-19 patients who require ventilation or oxygen.
Woldemichael’s grandson Biniam Leulseged said he has no birth certificate to prove the monk’s age, but he showed a photo of him celebrating his 100th birthday.
“He was looking young back then, too,” Leulseged said, adding that he was emotional when his grandfather was taken to hospital but happy to be reunited with him.
Ethiopia has more than 5,200 confirmed cases of the virus.
Updated
Spain is to uphold a ban on cruise liners from docking at its ports to stop the spread of Covid-19, according to a ministerial order published on Saturday.
Cruise liners carrying thousands of passengers regularly stop off at ports in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Barcelona and Malaga, but were prohibited when Spain went into lockdown on 14 March.
With their crowds of often elderly passengers, cruise ships have been especially vulnerable to outbreaks of the virus and have been barred from disembarking in several countries.
Spain’s ban on the vessels will continue until the coronavirus epidemic is brought under control, according to the Official State Gazette, even as the country otherwise reopens to tourists in an effort to revive an industry hammered by the coronavirus lockdown.
The retention of the ban was described as a “proportionate, objective and non-discriminatory measure that is in line with the objective set by the WHO Emergency Committee to stop the spread of the virus”, the order said, according to Reuters, referring to the World Health Organization.
Growing infections among Irish under 35 a “worrying trend”
A growing number of Covid-19 infections among people under 35 years of age is a “worrying trend,” Ireland’s chief medical officer Tony Holohan said on Saturday as the country reported the highest number of new infections for two weeks.
Ireland has reported sharp drops in the number of infections in the past month to low and stable levels, allowing the government to accelerate the reopening of the economy, with almost all businesses allowed to open next week.
On Saturday, Ireland reported 23 new infections, the highest number of new cases for two weeks, with six deaths.
That brought the total death toll in the country of 4.9 million since the start of the pandemic to 1,734.
Holohan, who has cited anecdotal evidence in recent days of young people socialising in large numbers, said 10 of the 23 cases were in adults under the age of 35 and eight were between 35 and 54.
“This is now a real concern and a worrying trend at a time when many people are reconnecting with friends and loved ones and may be gathering in larger groups,” Holohan said, according to Reuters.
The governor of Bethlehem announced Saturday the temporary closure of the Palestinian city to contain the spread of coronavirus after a sharp rise in infections in the occupied West Bank.
The 48-hour closure will begin Monday from 6.00am (0300 GMT), governor Kamil Hmeid said in a statement.
The closure comes after the West Bank cities of Hebron and Nablus were closed last week for five days and 48 hours respectively.
The two cities, alongside Bethlehem, have recorded a major spike in new coronavirus cases.
The Palestinian health ministry announced 67 new cases on Saturday, of which 33 were in the Bethlehem district, AFP reports.
Record rise in cases in Czech Republic since April
The Czech Republic has registered the biggest spike in Covid-19 cases in more than two months, with several centres where the disease is spreading fast, the health ministry said Saturday.
The ministry reported 168 new cases on Friday, the fastest daily increase since 11 April, and another 120 by Saturday evening, according to Agence France-Presse.
This brought the total tally for the EU member state of 10.7 million people to 11,164 cases late on Saturday, including 349 deaths.
Chief public health officer Jarmila Razova said in a radio interview that the increase was due to more intensive testing in several centres where the disease is spreading fast.
These include a mine in the east of the country and a company in the north.
“I would also say that after a certain easing enabled by a good epidemiological situation, we are not behaving as responsibly as we should,” Razova said.
“But I think the spread is still under control. These are local centres,” she added.
The Czech Republic has gradually eased most measures taken against the spread of the virus in March.
It has recently reopened borders as well as schools, shops and restaurants.
Hello, I’m taking over for the next few hours. As always, please feel free to drop me an email or flag any relevant updates on Twitter to @JedySays.
Updated
Summary of recent developments
I’m going to be heading off soon, but before I go, here’s a summary of key developments in the global pandemic over the past few hours.
Thank you all for reading along with me - a special thanks to those who got in touch with tips and pointers, it’s always much appreciated. I hope you’re all staying well, wherever you’re reading from.
- The official coronavirus death toll in the UK has reached 43,514. There have now been 310,250 confirmed cases.
- NHS England have issued new advice to doctors and nurses to fast-track pregnant BME women due to them being at a higher risk from coronavirus.
- Iran has launched a new campaign to encourage the public to wear face masks. Meanwhile, the country’s supreme leader said that although the economic impact of coronavirus measures is significant, economic problems will worsen if coronavirus spreads unchecked.
- Pakistan’s cricket team will leave behind 10 players who tested positive for coronavirus this week when they depart for their tour of England.
- There have been no new deaths from coronavirus in Scotland for the second day running.
- Egypt has today lifted many of its coronavirus restrictions, despite a rising number of cases.
A city on the outskirts of Houston, Texas, has implemented a curfew starting Saturday night, in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The curfew, in Galena Park, will run from 10pm to 5am daily, and marks a reversal in reopening plans. On Friday, the mayor of Galena Park raised the public threat level to its most severe.
Backtracking on his early moves to relax restrictions in the hope of getting businesses back on their feet, Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday ordered bars across the state to close and required restaurants to limit indoor seating capacity to 50%.
Florida has also been struggling with mounting numbers of coronavirus cases, and has backtracked on reopening plans. On Saturday morning, Florida reported 9,585 new infections in the last 24 hours - a record high for a second day - and a further 24 deaths from coronavirus.
Authorities there told bar owners in the state to immediately stop serving alcohol on their premises.
The US recorded more than 45,000 new cases of coronavirus on Friday. It has the highest death toll in the world, currently standing at 125,081, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. It also has the highest number of confirmed cases, with 2,469,441.
Most of the advice given to the UK government by its emergency scientific advisory group (SAGE) is ignored or politicised, a member has alleged.
Speaking to the New York Times, Dr Susan Michie, a professor of health psychology at University College London, said that a SAGE committee on which she serves produced a study detailing the risks of reducing the social distancing rule from two metres to one.
However, little information about the risks of cutting the distance was given by prime minister Boris Johnson when he announced the upcoming reduction, the article says.
“The overwhelming majority of our advice is ignored,” Michie said, “but the pieces are picked up and used for political purposes.”
Updated
Iran’s economic problems will worsen if coronavirus spreads unchecked, the supreme leader has warned, as the government launched a mask-wearing campaign.
Iran shut down non-essential businesses, closed schools and cancelled public events in March, but has incrementally lifted restrictions since April in an attempt to boost the economy.
“It is correct to say that something must be done to prevent economic problems caused by the coronavirus,” said Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“But in the case of negligence and significant spread of the disease, economic problems will increase, too,” he said, according to his official website
UK death toll passes 43,500
Today’s coronavirus figures in the UK have just been released.
The Department of Health and Social Care has recorded 890 new cases since yesterday’s count, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 310,250.
There have been 100 deaths recorded amongst people who have tested positive for coronavirus since yesterday, taking the total number of deaths across all settings (i.e. in the community and care homes as well as hospitals) to 43,514.
As of 9am 27 June, there have been 9,067,577 tests, with 155,359 tests on 26 June.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) June 27, 2020
310,250 people have tested positive.
As of 5pm on 26 June, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 43,514 have sadly died.
More info:
▶️ https://t.co/xXnL3FU15k pic.twitter.com/nCI5JZNMkj
Updated
Hi everyone, I’m taking over the blog again for a little while now Aamna has finished for the day. Thanks to all those getting in touch with tips and pointers, it’s always much appreciated. You can reach me on Twitter - I won’t always be able to reply but will do my best!
Pregnant BAME women in the UK to be fast-tracked due to coronavirus risk
Pregnant women from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds should be fast-tracked to hospital because of their increased risk of coronavirus, NHS England has said.
Doctors and midwives have been told to relax their criteria for reviewing and admitting BAME women to hospital or escalating any concerns about their health. NHS England also said it wanted to see “tailored communications” specifically aimed at supporting women from BAME backgrounds.
The healthcare body is also recommending that women with darker skin, or who cover their skin while outside, consider taking daily vitamin D supplements throughout the year, after research suggested that those with lower vitamin D levels were at higher risk from coronavirus. Hospital staff will be expected to discuss vitamins with all women.
Updated
Iran has launched a campaign on Saturday to motivate the public to use face masks as the country faces a sharp increase in infections and deaths from the coronavirus, Reuters reports.
Iran was one of the worst hit countries early in the pandemic, and since restrictions to stem its spread were gradually lifted from mid-April, cases have increased again, with the death toll topping 100 a day in the past nine days for the first time in two months.
Some 2,456 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 220,180, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari told state television. She said 125 people had died, bringing the total to 10,364.
Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi told the Iran’s Young Journalists Club semi-official news website that in one province, 120 people had been infected after attending a wedding party. He did not identify the province.
Launching the “£I wear mask” campaign, he pleaded with citizens, especially young Iranians, to take the disease seriously.
This summer will usher in some of the worst catastrophes the world has ever seen if the pandemic is allowed to spread rapidly across countries already convulsed by growing violence, deepening poverty and the spectre of famine, the BBC war reporter Lyse Doucet has warned.
Speaking exclusively to the Observer, she says she fears “a terrifying mix of violence and the virus” will soon overwhelm countries such as Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia, where Covid-19 has yet to reach its peak. Already, in southern Yemen, gravediggers can’t keep up with the dead and dying, she says. “Conflict will also be magnified and multiplied by impoverishment, starvation and despair … Expect a hot summer.”
She will take part in Reimagining Victory, an online series of events for the Imperial War Museum Institute and the peacebuilding charity Conciliation Resources to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war this summer.
I’m (Aamna) back on the blog until 4pm UK time. You can email tips to (aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com) or tweet me
Pakistan’s cricket team will leave behind 10 players who tested positive for coronavirus this week when they depart for their tour of England.
Wasim Khan, chief executive of the country’s cricket board, said the players will be allowed to rejoin the squad after giving two negative test results.
Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain and Kashif Bhatti first tested positive earlier this week. Follow-up tests found Bhatti, Rauf, Ali and Imran Khan were still positive.
The team will undergo a 14-day isolation after arriving in England, and the first test against in Manchester in August is expected to take place behind closed doors.
Updated
No coronavirus deaths in Scotland for second day running
There have been no deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland for a second day running, PA Media reports.
Official figures released on Saturday showed no new deaths within the previous 24 hours.
It means the number of Covid-19 deaths under this measure remains at 2,842. Saturday’s figures also showed 15 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of positive tests to 18,228.
Updated
A further 78 people who had tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, NHS England have announced.
The patients were aged between 56 and 97 years old, and two patients, aged 73 and 96, had no known underlying health conditions.
This brings the confirmed death toll in hospitals to 28,635.
US Guardian writers Dominic Rushe and Amanda Holpuch report on the impact coronavirus could have on people’s health insurance.
Millions of Americans who have survived Covid-19 or face future infections could lose their insurance or be barred from getting coverage should the Trump administration successfully repeal Obamacare.
The Trump administration asked the supreme court late Thursday to overturn the Affordable Care Act – a move that, if successful, would bring a permanent end to the health insurance reform law popularly known as Obamacare.
Under the ACA, insurance companies cannot deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. Its abolition would mean millions of Americans who have had or have cancer, multiple sclerosis or other diseases would struggle to find insurance.
Updated
Beaches in Spain have been using drones and CCTV to keep an eye on overcrowding, AFP are reporting.
At the north-eastern resort of Lloret de Mar, beaches are being partitioned off, with cameras and sensors transmitting live information to potential visitors via an app.
More municipal staff have been added to tackle non-compliance, and are using drones that can play recorded messages about physical distancing should they spot overcrowding.
Perhaps we’ll see this on Bournemouth beach next.
Updated
Egypt has today lifted many of its coronavirus restrictions, despite a rising number of cases.
Saturday saw the reopening of cafes, clubs, gyms and theatres after more than three months of closure. Mosques and churches were also reopened, while the nighttime curfew was lifted.
However, the prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, said that cafes have only been allowed to reopen at only 25% of seating capacity, and mosques and churches will not be allowed to hold their weekly main services, which usually sees large crowds gather.
The government has also banned Friday Muslim prayers at mosques and Sunday masses at churches, Madbouly said.
Egypts health ministry has reported 62,755 coronavirus infections, including 2,620 deaths, and the upward trend in new cases is continuing.
On Friday, the IMF approved a further $5.2bn loan for the country, on top of the $2.8bn already promised by the fund to support Egypt’s economy during the pandemic.
Updated
Summary of key events over the past few hours
In case you’re just joining us, here is a brief summary of the key events over the past few hours:
- India has passed half a million coronavirus infections, and in Delhi, hotels and ashrams are being repurposed for coronavirus care.
- Greek tourism minister, Haris Theoharis, indicated it could be up to three weeks before his country is happy to open up an air bridge to the UK. It comes after the British government announced an ‘air bridges’ system to open up global travel. Confused? This explainer describes what air bridges are and what they could mean for you.
- Russia reported 6,852 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, a figure that keeps the daily rise below 7,000 for a second day in a row for the first time since late April.
- Afghanistan has recorded its lowest number of daily infections of Covid-19 since 1 May.
According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, there are 9,827,925 confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world.
The US has the highest number of cases, currently 2,467,837, followed by Brazil, Russia, India and the UK.
Around the world there have been 494,841 deaths, with 125,039 of these in the US, which has the highest fatalities toll.
Brazil has the second highest death toll, currently standing at 55,961, while the UK has the third, recording 43,498 deaths.
Updated
Hi everyone, I’m Molly Blackall, taking over the live blog while my colleague Aamna has a break.
If you spot something you think we should be reporting on in this blog, you can drop me a message on Twitter. I won’t always be able to reply but I will do my best to read everything! Thanks in advance.
Sir John Major has urged Boris Johnson to borrow money to stimulate the UK’s economic recovery from coronavirus, rather than increase taxes.
The former prime minister said tax rises would not be effective as a short-term solution, and the government should exploit low interest rates to improve economic growth.
“I think to put up taxes before the economy has recovered, which may take a while, would in my view be a mistake,” he told BBC radio on Saturday morning. “But, over time, I think there is little doubt that taxes are going to rise.”
Asked whether borrowing was a suitable solution to the current economic crisis, Major said: ”I think there is scope in the short term - not forever, there is no magic money tree, let me make that clear - but for a period until the economy is recovered, and taxes for some people can then go up.”
Major’s intervention comes as unemployment continues to soar, with job centre claimants increasing 126% since the start of lockdown in the UK. In April, the UK’s GDP fell by a record 20.4%.
According to the Telegraph newspaper, the prime minister is preparing to announce his plan to stimulate the British economy. Johnson is set to give a speech on Tuesday outlining a range of infrastructure and investment projects, including road and rail schemes to improve transport.
Updated
Holidays might be back on the cards for Britons, but the experience is set to a very different one, PA Media reports.
The restarting of domestic tourism next month and news of a relaxation of quarantine arrangements on foreign trips has been welcomed by the travel industry, but insiders acknowledged the changes to how holidays might feel.
VisitBritain’s director of strategy and communications, Patricia Yates, said holidays will “look very different”.
She told BBC Breakfast:
I love hotel buffet breakfasts - they are a thing of the past. And hotels will have to have social distancing so they won’t be opening at full occupancy and businesses will have to look at the sort of services they provide and really pruning those down to make sure that the infection control, that the cleansing regime is right and that they can have social distancing.
Be prepared for some things not to look quite as you normally expect them.
Jonathan Smith, from the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), said things like eateries only offering table service and new rules on flights will be different, but they should make the experience “safe and enjoyable”.
He told the same programme:
It’s very likely that people’s holiday experience won’t be the same as they had expected.
There’ll certainly be rules in place around airports and on airplanes, and if they’re going on a package holiday there might be changes around buffet-style restaurant systems and there’ll be table service in place so there will be slight changes in place, but it’s all about making sure that the holiday experience is safe and enjoyable.
Updated
When coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan and rapidly spread around the globe, it was described as the great leveller. But in a small neighbourhood in north London, the brutal injustice of Covid-19 was laid bare.
At least 36 residents have died in Church End, a small, deprived estate in north Brent with a large British-Somali population. Locals believe the cluster, which is the second worst in England and Wales, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, does not account for the true scale of the devastation, as it does not factor in people who work in Church End but live nearby.
Read more from my report on the impact of coronavirus in the London borough of Brent, which has the highest age-standardised coronavirus death rate in England and Wales.
Updated
The Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche is unable to meet demand for molecular tests to identify active Covid-19 infections, its chairman told the Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger.
Reuters reports:
‘The demand exceeds our production,’ Christoph Franz was quoted as saying in Saturday’s paper. The decision on where tests were shipped to depended, among other things, on infection rates and the availability of diagnostic equipment.
Demand for its antibody tests, which determine whether people have ever been infected with the coronavirus, can be met as Roche has been boosting production, he said.
The drugmaker has said that it aims to more than double production of antibody tests to well over 100m a month by the end of the year.
Franz said that Roche had started research on a potential drug to treat Covid-19 but added that these efforts were at a very early stage.
Updated
India passes half a million infections
India has passed half a million coronavirus infections as experts advise the government to prioritise reducing mortality over containing the spread of the virus. It comes as surging infections in Brazil and the United States pushed global cases toward 10 million.
India’s federal health ministry reported 17,000 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the country’s total infections past 500,000, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. Infections were surging in major cities including the capital, Delhi.
Experts advising the government have said the authorities should now prioritise reducing mortality over stopping the spread of Covid-19.
“Our focus should be on preventing deaths and not really getting bogged down because of the numbers. Numbers are going to increase,” said Dr Manoj Murhekar, a member of India’s main coronavirus taskforce and director of the National Institute of Epidemiology.
Updated
Train and bus firms in the UK are trying to find a route back to viability amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Gwyn Topham, the Guardian’s transport correspondent, reports:
UK rail requires at least £4bn in annual subsidy in normal times, when fares bring in almost £1bn per month. But fare income has now shrunk dramatically. Each passenger journey, on average, has cost the public purse around £100 since lockdown. The question of what value the Treasury is getting for its money will increasingly need answering should it continue to advise people to avoid public transport because of Covid-19.
As a senior government official in rail, who asked to be unnamed, put it: “Either the government picks up the difference or things stop running.” What will happen? “I don’t know. It’s an awful situation.”
Updated
Hotels and ashrams are being repurposed for coronavirus care in Delhi, India, following a surge of coronavirus cases.
AFP reports:
Staff at the luxury Suryaa hotel used to wear bright saris as they welcomed guests. Now they must don medical suits and handle gurneys as New Delhi desperately prepares for a predicted surge in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks.
The pandemic is still raging in India with more than half a million cases. The capital, home to 25 million people, is the country’s worst-hit city - its hospitals at breaking point and authorities reaching deep to confront the crisis.
“For doctors and nurses it is a part of their lives. For us this is a totally new experience and a very difficult one at that,” said Ritu Yadav, operations manager at the five-star Suryaa, as staff in masks rush to deep clean the building.
“We have got training from the hospital on how to wear the PPE and then take it off but this is something I never thought I would have to do when I chose hospitality as my career.”
Delhi, home to some of India’s most crowded slums, has around 75,000 cases so far, but the city government predicts this will soar to half a million by the end of July.
With newspapers full of reports about patients being turned away from overflowing hospitals, Delhi told the city’s hotels earlier this month they would be roped in to provide hospital care.
It is also converting wedding halls, and has several hundred repurposed railway coaches standing by - without air conditioning despite outside temperatures over 40C (105F).
The Delhi authorities have even started converting a spiritual centre or ashram into a coronavirus isolation facility and hospital with 10,000 beds, many made of cardboard.
Updated
Greek tourism minister Haris Theoharis indicated it could be up to three weeks before his country is happy to open up an air bridge to the UK.
PA Media reports that he told BBC Breakfast:
We’re currently consulting with our health experts, but I think given the fact that the UK is in the right direction, it’s a matter of a few days or a few weeks to ensure that all restrictions are lifted.
So I feel the way things are now - and we always have to put this asterisk that the health situation has to continue to be on the same track as it is now - that we can certainly lift the restrictions in the next few days or, you know, two to three weeks.
As soon as we have more clarity, we’ll be able to convey the right dates and the right message so that’s why it’s not easy for me to pinpoint exact dates. I’m just giving you the feeling of the advice that we get from the experts currently.
He said Greece is looking forward to hosting British holidaymakers again when the time comes. He added: “Our friends from the UK are always welcome in our country.”
Here’s an explainer on what air bridges are, where will they cover and how they could affect you.
Russia reported 6,852 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, a figure that keeps the daily rise below 7,000 for a second day in a row for the first time since late April. The new cases take the cumulative nationwide tally to 627,646, according to a report by Reuters.
The country’s coronavirus response centre said 188 people had died of the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 8,969.
Indonesia reported 1,385 new coronavirus infections. The health ministry said there were 37 new coronavirus deaths.
Afghanistan has recorded its lowest number of daily infections of Covid-19 since 1 May, as Kabul paused testing due to a problem in its laboratories and the remote province of Khost recorded its worst day of the crisis.
It comes as the number of confirmed deaths from Covid-19 passes 700, but experts fear that the actual number of deaths is much higher than official figures show.
The health ministry, which has admitted that it has a lack of testing capacity, recorded 165 new cases from 529 tests in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed infections to 30,616. The number of deaths has risen by 20 to 703.
The war-torn country has tested 70,087 people since the outbreak began. There have been 10,674 recoveries and 19 patients are in critical condition, according to the health ministry.
The capital, Kabul, paused the testing process due to a problem in its Covid-19 laboratories, according to the health ministry. Kabul has been the country’s worst affected area for both the number of confirmed infections and deaths, with 12,546 cases and 156 deaths.
Khost recorded its worst day after nine patients died overnight and all of its 10 tests came back positive. A mortar shell fired by the Taliban hit a home in Khost’s Domanda district, and killed four children, the interior ministry said on Saturday.
Tariq Arian, the ministry’s spokesman, said five more were injured in the attack. The Khost governor’s spokesman said the dead were all from a single family.
War rages across the country and, according to the local media, 15 provinces were battlefields in the last 24 hours. The country’s Independent Human Rights Commission said two of its employees were killed in an explosion this morning in Kabul.
Updated
Hello, I’ll be taking over the coronavirus live blog for the rest of the day. If you want to get in touch, you can email me (aamna.mohdin@theguardian.com) or reach me on Twitter.
Updated
Thanks for following our global coronavirus live blog. Graham Readfearn in Brisbane checking out, with my colleague Aamna Mohdin in London checking in.
The Czech Republic has recorded its highest daily rise in cases since early April, reporting 168 new cases as the country starts a two-month summer holiday season.
Reuters reports the country’s health ministry said the eastern Karvina region was the most affected by the rise in cases. The agency reports:
Friday was the last day of school for most children and students, with their families getting ready for the holidays.
Many Czechs will spend their holidays in the country rather than going abroad due to concerns about the virus and travel restrictions.
As of Saturday morning, the country of 10.7 million had reported a total of 11,038 coronavirus cases, with 349 deaths.
Updated
Here’s a very quick summary of new coronavirus cases reported across Australia today.
Only two states reported new cases. New South Wales reported six and Victoria reported 41.
There are 10 suburbs in Melbourne that are the focus for a testing blitz that has seen almost 22,000 tests carried out in the past 24 hours.
Those suburbs are Keilor Downs, Broadmeadows, Maidstone, Albanvale, Sunshine West, Hallam, Brunswick West, Fawkner, Reservoir and Pakenham.
Updated
The state of South Australia has reported no new cases of Covid-19 over the last 24 hours and has no active cases.
But more than 250 Australians flew in from Mumbai on Saturday, via Singapore, and were starting two weeks of quarantine in an Adelaide hotel.
The state’s health minister, Stephen Wade, said on Friday the state could see some new cases among those repatriated from India.
South Australian COVID-19 update 27/06/20. For more information go to https://t.co/mYnZsGpayo or contact the South Australian COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/oZcAEFh4pl
— SA Health (@SAHealth) June 27, 2020
Updated
The Argentinian football coach Carlos Bilardo, who coached the country to a famous World Cup victory in Mexico in 1986, has tested positive for Covid-19, according to Reuters.
A source close to the family said a positive test was returned for the 82-year-old, who has lived in a nursing home in Buenos Aires since 2018.
His 1986 national team included Diego Maradona and he again took the team to the finals four years later, losing to West Germany.
Estudiantes, the team he played for and won three league titles with, tweeted in support of Bilardo.
❤️🇦🇹 ¡Este partido lo jugamos con vos, Carlos! #FuerzaBilardo 💪 pic.twitter.com/4zb3gj8jj3
— Estudiantes de La Plata (@EdelpOficial) June 27, 2020
Argentina has reported 1,184 deaths from Covid-19.
Updated
I’m signing out now and will hand over now to my colleague Graham Readfearn.
Germany records 687 new cases
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 687 to 193,243, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday.
The reported death toll rose by six to 8,954 according to Reuters.
Updated
India tops 500,000 Covid-19 cases
India reported more than 17,000 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, pushing the country’s total above 500,000, federal health ministry data showed on Saturday, with infections surging in major cities including the capital New Delhi, Reuters reported.
India has the world’s fourth-biggest outbreak of the virus that causes Covid-19, below only the United States, Brazil and Russia in confirmed infections, according to a Reuters tally.
Infections are expected to continue rising steadily in India. Experts advising the federal government say the authorities should now prioritise reducing mortality over containing the spread of the virus.
“Our focus should be on preventing deaths and not really getting bogged down because of the numbers. Numbers are going to increase,” said Dr Manoj Murhekar, a member of India’s main coronavirus taskforce and director of the National Institute of Epidemiology.
The COV-IND-19 study group, led by Bhramar Mukherjee, a biostatistics professor from the University of Michigan, forecasts that India could see between 770,000 and 925,000 cases by 15 July.
As infections mount swiftly and hospitals become stretched, some cities such as New Delhi are scrambling to build temporary facilities with thousands of beds to quarantine and treat Covid-19 patients.
The city of around 20 million people only has around 13,200 beds for Covid-19 patients and will add at least 20,000 in coming weeks, with some facilities manned by army and paramilitary doctors.
Staff shortages are likely to be a concern as hospitals are swamped and more temporary facilities open, experts warn, although health authorities in some Indian cities are pushing for improved risk-based categorisation of patients.
“We have to ensure those who really require treatment aren’t denied services,” said Dr Giridhar R Babu, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India, who is advising the southern state of Karnataka.
Updated
On the question of testing returning travellers, van Diemen also said the evidence showed that the community cases had not “for want of a better word leaked” out of hotel quarantine through people who had declined tests.
“We have not seen them,” she said. “We need to put our effort where we’re seeing cases, and where we’re seeing cases is in the suburbs where we’re doing the blitz, the hotspot suburbs, that’s really where the cases are.”
Updated
Van Diemen is also asked whether Victoria is experiencing a “second wave” of coronavirus. She avoided the phrase.
Terminology, really, at this point in time is not that important. Our case numbers are increasing so when you look at our overall epidemiological curve there will be, and I’m hoping very soon, a second bump or a second peak, and so that is what this is. Whether we have second, third, fifth, 10th waves, nobody really knows. This is not something any of us have experienced before.
Updated
Van Diemen says more than 100 returning travellers have tested positive for Covid-19.
She says she’s unable to provide details about how many defence force staff will be coming to Victoria to help with testing. It’s not her remit, she says.
Updated
Van Diemen won’t go into the reasons why travellers returning to Victoria are declining to be tested. It is worth noting the level of refused tests is 2% in New South Wales.
Van Diemen says the state is “very concerned” about the rising number of cases.
She is pressed on whether testing of returned travellers should be mandatory. The state is under pressure over its testing rate of returned travellers – 30% have declined tests.
Van Diemen says:
Victoria has led the way on testing policy in hotel quarantine, we were the first to start any form of routine testing, we were first to start hotel testing. A statement is broadly based on the policy we pioneered. In terms of whether it is mandatory or not, every state and territory is really working under, you know, broadly similar but different regulatory and legal frameworks and we are seeking legal advice on that.
Van Diemen says the uptake of testing is now higher than 70% of returned travellers accepting tests, but she does not have the exact figure.
We have a testing program in our hotels. We wouldn’t have implemented it if we didn’t think it was appropriate. We would like to see as many people in the program as possible. Detaining people has ramifications so our preference is people are detained for the least amount of time as possible and we’re working hard to try and make sure that is the case.
Updated
Van Diemen says that an emergency text message will be sent to residents in two Melbourne suburbs – Broadmeadows and Keilor Downs – where there are a high number of cases.
This is what the texts look like. Thanks @KosSamaras https://t.co/6hNkNtnWVI pic.twitter.com/dKYiBcOIxT
— Simon Love (@SimoLove) June 27, 2020
Updated
Victoria records 41 new Covid-19 cases
The deputy chief health officer of Victoria, Dr Annaliese van Diemen, is providing an update of the situation in the Australian state.
Van Diemen says the state has recorded 41 new cases in the past 24 hours. That is an increase from the 30 recorded yesterday.
Nineteen of the 41 new cases are still under investigation.
Updated
Peru surpasses 270,000 infections
Peru, which has the sixth largest number of Covid cases in the world, surpassed 270,000 infections on Friday.
That bleak milestone came after it recorded 3,762 new infections in the past 24 hours, according to the Spanish newswire Europa Press.
According to John Hopkins University, Peru has recorded 272,364 cases. About 9,000 people have died.
Ecuador, meanwhile, recorded about 700 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 53,856.
Updated
China reports 21 new Covid-19 cases
China recorded 21 newly diagnosed cases of coronavirus on Friday, authorities said.
There were four imported cases – two cases in Guangdong, one in Shanghai and one in Gansu – while all 17 local infections were in Beijing.
There were no deaths recorded, said China’s National Health Commission.
Updated
The Australia state of Queensland is considering opening up the state faster than initially planned, but its premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the spread of coronavirus in Victoria remained a concern.
Palaszczuk confirmed an announcement about the opening of the Queensland border would be made on Tuesday after consideration of advice from the state’s chief health officer.
While consideration is being given to opening up Queensland faster, the spike in Covid-19 cases in Victoria is the “number one area of concern”, she told reporters on Saturday.
“We don’t want a second wave and we don’t want that community transmission here,” Palaszczuk said.
Her comments come amid criticism from the federal government, which wants the state to open its border as soon as possible.
Updated
Covid-19 spreading through Brazil's interior
The novel coronavirus, now spreading through the smaller towns of Brazil’s interior, risks returning to major cities in a so-called “boomerang effect”, as a lack of specialised medical treatment forces patients into larger urban centres.
Reuters reports that the impact of a potential second wave of new cases in urban centres could complicate attempts to reopen businesses and get the economy going again, experts said.
“The boomerang of cases that will return to the (state) capitals will be a tsunami,” said Miguel Nicolelis, a leading medical neuroscientist at Duke University who is coordinating a coronavirus task force advising the state governments of Brazil’s north-east.
Brazil, home to the world’s second worst coronavirus outbreak behind the United States, has more than 1.2 million cases of the virus, which has killed nearly 55,000 people. On most days, it is spreading faster in Brazil than in the United States, the top country by cases.
The virus initially came to Brazil through airports and spread mostly in its largest cities, but since late May it has been spreading faster in the interior of the country.
Last week, 60% of new cases were registered in smaller cities, according to health ministry data. Deaths are also rising outside of the major cities, and now account for about half of all daily deaths in Brazil.
Updated
Luke Henriques-Gomes here, taking over again from Graham Readfearn. We expect within the hour an update on the situation in Victoria, where there is a concerning increase in Covid-19 cases.
Updated
Victoria seeks legal advice to force returned travellers to take test
The Victorian state government in Australia is getting legal advice to see if it can force travellers returning from overseas to have a coronavirus test.
The state’s capital, Melbourne, is currently dealing with an outbreak across several clusters and is on day two of a 10-day testing blitz across several suburbs.
AAP reports the state government has confirmed it is seeking legal advice for those travellers returning from overseas and entering the state’s hotel quarantine scheme.
Victoria’s hotel quarantine program tests travellers on arrival and the 11th day, the government said. On Friday the state’s deputy chief health officer, Annaliese van Diemen, revealed about 30% of travellers refuse to be tested during their 14-day quarantine.
Over the border in New South Wales, returned international travellers who refuse to have the test on day 10 must stay an extra 10 days in quarantine.
A Victoria government spokesperson said:
It’s the government’s view that all returned travellers should be tested.
Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, has said people in hotel quarantine need to be tested at the start and end of their stint, and states had powers to make it happen.
On Friday Victoria recorded 30 new cases of coronavirus with a 10th day of new cases in double digits – the highest levels of new cases in the country.
Of the state’s 1,947 total cases, 183 are active including six people in hospital. More than 1,700 people have recovered from the virus in Victoria while 20 have died.
Updated
Australia’s treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has told reporters the country’s banks have offered assurances they won’t abandon customers currently relying on government support.
AAP reports the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and Frydenberg met with the banks on Friday as concerns grow about the impact of the withdrawal of a suite of support mechanisms that are due to end in September.
Wage subsidies, extra unemployment benefits and deferrals of mortgage repayments have been supporting people who have lost work due to the coronavirus.
Frydenberg said banks were working with regulators to make sure people who could not restart payments got extra support. Some 20% of bank customers had restarted loan payments. He said:
The banks were very clear. They supported their customers on the way in to this crisis and they will be supporting their customers on the way out.
This is how it should be, all Australians working together to get through this crisis.
We are going to continue to see some sectors really struggle as the international borders remain closed ... there is still some very challenging tough days ahead.
Updated
My colleague Graham Readfearn is going to take over for the next short while.
Argentina ramps up quarantine measures
The Argentine government said on Friday night it would reintroduce strict quarantine measures in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area.
The measures would last 17 days and begin 1 July, said the president, Alberto Fernández.
Fernández said the government would ask its citizens to isolate at home and only go out to buy essential items, Spanish-language media reported.
Argentina reported a record a daily record of 2,886 infections and 34 deaths.
Court orders release of children in immigration detention, citing Covid-19
A United States federal judge on Friday ordered the release of children held with their parents in immigration jails and denounced the Trump administration’s prolonged detention of families during the coronavirus pandemic, the AP reports.
US district judge Dolly Gee’s order applies to children held for more than 20 days at three family detention centres in Texas and Pennsylvania operated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some have been detained since last year.
Citing the recent spread of the virus in two of the three facilities, Gee set a deadline of 17 July for children to either be released with their parents or sent to family sponsors.
“The family detention centres are on fire and there is no more time for half measures,” she wrote.
Gee’s order said ICE was detaining 124 children in its centres, which are separate from US Department of Health and Human Services facilities for unaccompanied children that were holding around 1,000 children in early June.
Updated
US records 45,000 new cases: reports
The United States recorded 45,242 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, the largest single-day increase of the pandemic, according to a Reuters tally, bringing the total number of Americans who have tested positive to at least 2.48 million.
It is an increase from an earlier figure we reported of at least 40,870 new cases. John Hopkins University, however, still has the daily figure at about 40,000 cases.
The new record for positive Covid-19 tests comes as several states at the center of a new surge in infections took steps back from efforts to ease restrictions on businesses. COVID-19 is the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.
Updated
South Korea records 51 new cases
South Korean authorities said the country had 51 new cases of coronavirus over the past 24 hours, the Korea Herald reported Saturday.
The paper said 31 cases were via community spread, while 20 cases were imported, according to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
They included 15 in Seoul, 12 in nearby Gyeonggi province and two in Daejeon, some 160km south of the capital.
A new cluster has been traced to a major church in Seoul, the Herald said.
Updated
Queensland, Australia’s third-most populous state and home to the city of Brisbane, has recorded no new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, a day after the state reported its first transmission in more than a week.
A total of 1,067 cases have now been recorded in Queensland, with six people having died from the virus, AAP reports.
There are currently two active cases of Covid-19 in Queensland, according to health department statistics.
The case reported on Friday was a traveller returning from overseas.
Updated
Passengers travelling to or from Italy by air will no longer be able to use the overhead baggage lockers in planes after the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (Enac) decided they were a health risk, Agence France-Presse reported.
The new rule results from a government decree, prompted by fears of further spreading the novel coronavirus, that specifies travellers may only board with a bag small enough to slide under the seat in front.
The intention is to prevent close contact between passengers and limit movement in aircraft cabins.
Enac said that passengers would not need to pay a supplement to put their suitcases in the hold.
An Italian consumer association, Codacons, welcomed the decision on Friday, saying it would “avoid the chaos” which sometimes occurs in the cabins “when passengers place their luggage in the overhead compartments”.
“In this area, the Italians are among the most unruly travellers in Europe, causing delays and queues which today would fuel the risk of contagion,” the association said.
Italy was the first country in Europe to be hit by the coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 34,600 people in the country.
Separately, the Trump White House has declined to agree to enforce mandatory temperature tests for airline passengers, a key demand of US-based airlines who met with Mike Pence on Friday.
Updated
Make Covid-19 tests mandatory for returned travellers: Liberal MP
Recapping some comments from the Australian government MP Trent Zimmerman from earlier today. The Liberal politician suggested returned travellers should be required to get a Covid-19 test before they were allowed back into the country.
He said:
Frankly, I think it’s recklessly indifferent for people not to have a test because we’ve seen the number of people who are testing positive is a lot higher than the rest of the population. I think it’s time that if people are going to be so indifferent to their fellow citizens, not only do we make testing compulsory in those hotel rooms, we even make it mandatory before people get on a plane coming back to Australia. That they sign an agreement saying they will be tested. If they are not prepared to do that, they shouldn’t be coming back.
Victorian authorities admitted on Friday 30% of returned travellers had declined a coronavirus test.
Updated
IMF approves loan to Egypt
The IMF board on Friday approved a one-year, $5.2bn financing package for Egypt to help the country alleviate the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new funding under a standby arrangement comes on top of $2.8bn in emergency aid the IMF board approved a month ago, although at the time officials acknowledged that more help would be needed, Agence France-Presse reported.
The IMF noted Cairo had “a strong track record” of implementing economic reforms under fund-supported programs over the past four years, and the new loan will help put it on strong footing for a recovery.
“Egypt was one of the fastest-growing emerging markets prior to the Covid-19 outbreak,” the IMF said in a statement. “However, the significant domestic and global disruptions from the pandemic have worsened the economic outlook and reshuffled policy priorities.”
The aid will focus first on health and social spending, as well as financial stability to keep a lid on inflation.
Fund staff agreed with authorities on the terms of the loan in early June, and said the funds also will open the doors to financing from other lenders and help support job creation by the private sector.
Egypt has suffered more than 2,500 Covid-19 fatalities with over 61,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally.
Updated
Former top Argentine football coach tests positive
Carlos Bilardo, the man who coached Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup, has tested positive for coronavirus, a source close to his family told Reuters on Friday.
“They carried out a test and it was positive, although he has not shown symptoms and he is good,” said the source.
His former club Estudiantes tweeted in support of Bilardo, their 82-year-old former player and manager, who has been living in a nursing home in Buenos Aires since 2018.
❤️🇦🇹 ¡Este partido lo jugamos con vos, Carlos! #FuerzaBilardo 💪 pic.twitter.com/4zb3gj8jj3
— Estudiantes de La Plata (@EdelpOficial) June 27, 2020
He coached a team led by Diego Maradona to the World Cup in Mexico in 1986 and the final four years later and also won three Copa Libertadores titles as a player with Estudiantes between 1968 and 1970.
Argentina has reported 1,184 deaths from Covid-19, according to health ministry numbers.
Updated
IMF approves emergency funding for pandemic-hit Myanmar
The International Monetary Fund says it will provide Myanmar with $356.5m in emergency funding, as the south-east Asian country battles an economic slump due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Myanmar economy is being impacted by the outbreak of Covid-19 through a sharp decline in tourism and remittances and supply chain disruptions,” Mitsuhiro Furusawa, the IMF deputy managing director, said in a statement.
The fund “will help address Myanmar’s urgent financing needs related to Covid-19 shock, and catalyse support from development partners.”
The money comes from two programs put into place to ensure rapid disbursement of funding without the need for lengthy negotiations over a reform program by Myanmar.
Some $118.8m will come from the Rapid Credit Facility and the remaining $237.7m will draw from the Rapid Financing Instrument.
Updated
Journalist who attended Trump's Tulsa rally tests positive
A journalist who attended Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa last week says he has tested positive for Covid-19, AP reports.
The Oklahoma Watch reporter Paul Monies said he was notified on Friday of his positive diagnosis.
“I’m pretty surprised,” Monies wrote on Twitter. “I have zero symptoms (so far) and I feel fine. In fact, I ran 5 miles this morning.”
Monies said he was inside the rally for about six hours on Saturday at the BOK Center and that he wore a mask and mostly practiced social distancing, except for when he went to the concourse to get a snack. He said he was never close to the president.
Friends, I tested positive for #COVID19. I’m pretty surprised. I have zero symptoms (so far) and I feel fine. In fact, I ran 5 miles this morning. I spent the last few hours calling people I know I’ve been in contact with in the last 14 days. Be safe out there. 😷 https://t.co/oGpKsGs5u0
— Paul Monies (@pmonies) June 26, 2020
An epidemiologist at the Oklahoma City-County Health Department who notified Monies of his positive result said it’s difficult to determine if he contracted the coronavirus at the rally.
“I can’t say definitively that I got it at the rally,” Monies said. “But it’s someone I’ve been in contact with in the last two weeks.”
Monies said he hasn’t yet been contacted by contact tracers to try to determine everyone he’s been in contact with, but he has taken it upon himself to reach out to anyone he has been close to in the last two weeks.
Six of Trump’s campaign staffers and two members of the Secret Service working in advance of the Oklahoma rally also have tested positive for Covid-19.
Dr Bruce Dart, the executive director of Tulsa City-County Health Department, had recommended that the rally be postponed because of a surge in reported positive cases of coronavirus linked to large indoor gatherings.
Updated
New South Wales moves towards mandatory test for return travellers
In Australia, the state of New South Wales recorded six new cases of coronavirus cases overnight, authorities said.
NSW Health also confirmed it would require return travellers “either be tested for Covid-19 during their hotel quarantine at day 10, or be required to extend their quarantine by an extra 10 days”.
It said: “NSW already requests all of these returned travellers undertake a Covid-19 test on day 10 of their quarantine, and less than 2% have refused to take the test.
NSW Health said the six new cases reported between 8pm on 25 June and 8pm on 26 June brought the state’s total to 3,174.
One case is a man in his 70s which remains under investigation. The other five new cases are returned travellers in hotel quarantine, NSW Health said.
The state has 58 Covid cases being treated by health authorities, though no patients are in intensive care.
In Victoria authorities on Friday admitted 30% of return travellers were declining a test.
Updated
Sweden furious after WHO criticises its Covid-19 strategy
A row erupted on Friday between Sweden and the World Health Organization, with the Scandinavian country calling the UN body’s move to include it on a list of countries facing a coronavirus resurgence a “total mistake”, Agence-France Presse reported.
The WHO had totally misinterpreted Swedish data, said the Swedish state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, whose country has made headlines for its high death toll after it opted not to introduce strict lockdowns.
“We have an increase in cases because we have begun testing much more in Sweden the past week,” he said, adding that “all the other parameters” showed the number of serious cases was falling.
The WHO’s European branch on Thursday said Sweden was among 11 countries seeing an “accelerated transmission” that “if left unchecked will push health systems to the brink once again”.
The other 10 countries on the list are mostly poorer nations in eastern Europe and central Asia, which is included in the WHO’s European region.
Updated
NZ records two new Covid cases
New Zealand has recorded another two Covid-19 cases, among people who are in managed isolation facilities.
The NZ Herald reports that one of the new cases is a woman in her 20s who arrived from India on 18 June.
The paper says there are now 16 Covid-19 cases in New Zealand, although all are in managed isolation or quarantine facilities. That is, there are no cases in the community.
Health authorities said on Friday that 71 returned travellers in New Zealand are also refusing to be tested for Covid-19. The issue is becoming a growing concern in Australia, where about 30% of returned travellers to Melbourne have refused to be tested.
Updated
Almost 5,000 thermometers are being shipped to Victorian holiday spots as the state nervously enters the school holidays amid a resurgent coronavirus crisis.
The state government is distributing about 4,800 of the infrared thermometers while testing clinics will be set up on the Great Ocean Road and in the Victorian Alps to coincide with the holidays, AAP reported.
The health advice for Victorians is that they can travel within the state during the fortnight of the school holidays as long as they are healthy.
Anyone with virus symptoms, however mild, must stay home and undergo testing.
Updated
Meanwhile, about 260 people arrived in Adelaide from Mumbai on Saturday morning, according to AAP, while hundreds are expected to follow from South America, Indonesia and India.
The South Australian health minister, Stephen Wade, is preparing for about 5%-10% of returnees to have the virus, as was the case when people arrived from Indonesia in other states.
Despite the outbreak of coronavirus cases in parts of Melbourne, restrictions are being eased across Australia.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said on Friday the spike in cases was being managed appropriately. He said he believed it was reasonable for states to bar residents from hotspots, as the Northern Territory government has confirmed it will do.
“We remain on track, the curve remains flat,” he told reporters in Canberra.
Except for Western Australia, all jurisdictions will restart domestic travel during July, a commitment Morrison expects states to uphold.
Updated
In Australia, politicians from both major parties have labelled returned travellers in quarantine in Victoria refusing Covid-19 tests as “reckless” and “selfish”.
The state has become the focal point of concerns for authorities due to the rising case numbers in Melbourne, but Victoria’s deputy health officer, Annaliese van Diemen, revealed on Friday about 30% of returning international travellers are refusing to be tested, despite multiple offers during their 14-day stay.
“Frankly, I think it is recklessly indifferent of people in quarantine not to agree to have a test, because we’ve seen the number of people that are in quarantine testing positive is obviously a lot higher than the rest of the population,” the Liberal MP, Trent Zimmerman, told the ABC on Saturday morning.
“If they are not prepared to do that, they shouldn’t come back.”
The Labor frontbencher, Linda Burney, labelled their actions “really selfish”.
“The reason that Australia is doing relatively well in terms of the virus is because of the testing regimes and we know how important they are,” she said.
Updated
Mexico records more than 5,000 new cases, 719 deaths
Mexico’s health ministry reported on Friday 5,441 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 719 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 208,392 cases and 25,779 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases, according to Reuters.
US records highest rise in cases, fuelled by spread in Florida, Texas and Arizona
The news about US travellers being barred from entering the EU come as the country on Friday recorded its highest single-day increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
Florida, Texas and Arizona – where cases are rising at a particularly concerning rate – announced on Friday they would delay plans to lift coronavirus restrictions in response. The US president, Donald Trump, meanwhile, would cancel a golf trip to New Jersey, the White House said.
Updated
US travellers to be blocked from EU travel
In the US, my colleague Sam Levin reported earlier that most US residents will likely be blocked from travelling to the European Union when travel restarts, according to multiple news outlets.
EU officials are in the process of settling on a final “safe list” of countries whose residents could travel to the block in July, but the US, Brazil and Russia are set to be excluded over coronavirus concerns, Reuters reported.
With coronavirus continuing to spread in the US at alarming rates, the possibility of allowing American tourists into the EU is not even part of the ongoing discussion, six diplomats familiar with the talks told the Washington Post.
The list of allowed countries includes China, but on the condition that China allows EU travellers to visit, the New York Times reported.
Various travel restrictions remain across the globe. Greece, for example, requires Covid-19 tests for arrivals from a number of EU countries, including France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Self isolation is also mandatory until results come in.
Updated
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, with me Luke Henriques-Gomes. You can get in touch by email luke.henriques-gomes@theguardian.com or on Twitter @lukehgomes.
The US has recorded its highest daily Covid-19 case increase, with 40,870 new infections on Friday. It brings the total number of Americans to who have tested positive to at least 2.462m.
Brazil has also hit a daily milestone, recording 46,860 new cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours and 990 additional deaths, the Health Ministry said on Friday. It brings Brazil’s total cases to 1.274m.
In Australia, concern is mounting over growing level of infections in the Victorian capital Melbourne, where the number of cases from unknown sources has surpassed those from known clusters. Although Australia has all but eliminated the virus in large swathes of the country, allowing some states to reopen their economies, the authorities are worried the Victorian case numbers suggests there is now significant community transmission.
The other main developments so far include:
- The global death toll passed 492,00, while 9.7m cases have been recorded worldwide.
- The UK government said it would change restrictions for travellers, allowing for people to return from popular holiday spots such as Spain, Greece and France.
- The World Health Organisation-led coalition fighting the coronavirus needs$31.3bn over the next 12 months to develop and roll out tests, treatments and vaccines. The WHO initiative aims to scale up delivery of 500m tests and 245m courses of treatments to low and middle-income countries by mid-2021, it said in a statement.
- Japan recorded on Friday more than 100 new infections for the first time since 9 May, hitting its highest daily total since it eased lockdown.
- Italy has sent soldiers to restore order in a coastal town near Naples after a coronavirus outbreak at an apartment complex illegally occupied by hundreds of migrant workers caused angry confrontations with residents, Reuters reports.
- South Africa will allow casinos and cinemas to reopen and restaurants to resume sit-down meals on Monday in a further easing of lockdown restrictions despite a sharp rise in infections.
Updated
