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Summary
Here are the most recent updates globally:
- The number of coronavirus cases in Brazil has passed 1 million and the country was approaching 50,000 deaths on Friday. Brazil is the country’s second-worst hit country after the United States.
- In the Brazilian Amazon, local authorities have been accused of racism after locking down a string of indigenous villages and banning indigenous people from entering a local town because of a coronavirus outbreak.
- In the UK, ministers have been accused of downplaying the gravity of the pandemic after it emerged there had been more than 1000 deaths per day for 22 consecutive days from April.
- The World Health Organisation warned on Friday of a “new and dangerous phase” of the pandemic with people tiring of lockdown despite the accelerating spread of Covid-19 in some countries.
- The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia exceeded 150,000 on Friday following a rise in infections.
- The New Zealand government is under pressure after three confirmed cases of coronavirus emerged this week after a failure to test returned travellers before they left quarantine.
- In Australia:
- Employment service providers have warned the newly unemployed will have to wait three months to claim up to $1,200 for training and other expenses from July.
- Up to 350 international students will be able to return to university after the federal government and the ACT government approved a plan to bring them in on a charter flight.
- Authorities continue to monitor the rising number of coronavirus cases in Victoria as the state prepares to further ease restrictions from Monday
- And, in case you missed Friday’s economic update from the Reserve Bank, Australia’s unemployment rate rose 0.7 points to 7.1% between April and May.
In Australia, authorities are watching the rise in coronavirus cases in Victoria closely as the state prepares to further ease restrictions from Monday.
Gyms, cinemas, indoor sports centres and concert venues are scheduled to reopen on Monday while cafes, restaurants and pubs will increase capacity from 20 people to 50.
Thirteen new cases were recorded on Friday, 18 on Thursday and 21 on Wednesday, resulting in the state’s biggest increase in more than a month.
While the rest of the country’s Covid-19 infections decline, Victoria’s active cases rose to 91 on Friday, up from 66 four weeks ago.
But health authorities said they were relieved to know the links to most of the new cases, many of them returned travellers or close contacts of returned travellers.
“We’re hoping that this isn’t the beginning of a second wave and we’re doing everything we absolutely can to make sure that that’s not the case,” Victorian deputy chief health officer Annaliese van Diemen said.
Brazil passes one million coronavirus cases
Brazil has passed a total of more than one million coronavirus cases, and nearly 50,000 deaths, according to its health ministry data, in a new low for the world’s second worst-hit country.
Brazil has recorded 1,032,913 confirmed cases, second only to the United States, with 1,206 new deaths reported on Friday to take the total official fatalities to 48,954, the ministry said.
The Brazilian government on Friday published new guidelines for meatpackers after a spike of Covid-19 cases at food plants, including keeping workers at least one metre apart, but labour prosecutors criticized the steps as inadequate.
No testing is required under the ministry of agriculture’s new rules, which were issued after consultations with the labour prosecutor’s office.
A prosecutors’ representative said the guidelines ignored key recommendations made by the office that specified minimum distancing of 1.5 metres between workers in common areas of the plant, as well as mass testing.
The prosecutors’ recommendations also addressed the quality of face masks required for use, physical distancing and testing protocols.
The CDC in the US has recommended that meatpacking workers be spaced at least six feet (two metres) apart.
Costa Rica’s government will halt reopening the country’s economy due to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases over recent days, health minister Daniel Salas said at a news conference on Friday.
An outbreak of coronavirus cases at a meat processer in northern England owned by British supermarket Asda has caused the plant to close temporarily, the Walmart-owned retailer said on Friday.
Asda said it had been working with public health authorities to ensure staff were tested, and that while the factory in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire had not been forced to shut, it had been closed as a precaution. It did not confirm how many cases had been found.
A joint statement by Asda and Kober Limited, the firm which runs the plant, said:
As soon as we became aware that some colleagues at our Kober site may have Covid-19, we responded swiftly and worked collaboratively with the local authority and Public Health England to test all colleagues.
The closure is the latest in a series of outbreaks linked to meat processing plants across Europe and the Americas. On Thursday, one of Britain’s biggest food companies suspended production after more than 50 positive tests.
British trade union Unite said it had received reports of five more suspected outbreaks at different meat processing factories, without providing further details.
The union said employers had to do more to protect their staff, while academic experts outlined risks of working in a factory environment.
Brazil is expected to surpass 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday, second only to the United States, with total deaths fast approaching 50,000 as the country struggles with a tense political climate and worsening economic outlook.
The true extent of the outbreak in Brazil far exceeds official figures released after 6 pm local time on most evenings, according to many experts, who cite a lack of widespread testing in the country as a factor adding to many uncertainties about the disease, Reuters reports.
Alexandre Naime Barbosa, a medical professor at the São Paulo State University said:
That number of 1 million is much less than the real number of people who have been infected, because there is under-reporting of a magnitude of five to ten times. The true number is probably at least 3 million and could even be as high as 10 million people.
Brazil’s health ministry reported 978,142 total confirmed cases and 47,748 related deaths on Thursday evening. The count has risen by a daily average of 25,000 new cases and 1,000 fatalities for the past week.
But by Friday afternoon, a consortium of Brazilian news outlets keeping an independent tally of COVID-19 statistics from state health officials reported the country had already passed the benchmark of 1 million confirmed cases.
Guatemala has replaced its health minister amid a spike in COVID-19 infections and deaths in the Central American country, Associated Press reports.
An official in the presidency who was not authorized to speak about the personnel change and requested anonymity said that health minister Hugo Monroy was replaced on Friday with Amelia Flores, a former vice-minister of health in an earlier administration.
Monroy, who had held the position since January, had been harshly criticized for his management of the pandemic.
Guatemala has reported more than 11,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 449 deaths.
President Alejandro Giammattei has been under growing pressure from the business sector to loosen restrictions. Earlier attempts to reactivate the economy were followed by a surge in infections, prompting Giammattei to clamp down again.
World Health Organization warns of “new and dangerous phase” of the coronavirus pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday of a “new and dangerous phase” of the coronavirus pandemic with people tiring of lockdowns despite the disease’s accelerating spread.
The virus, which has now killed more than 454,000 people and infected 8.4 million people worldwide, is surging in the Americas and parts of Asia even as Europe starts to ease restrictive measures.
Lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the disease have caused crippling economic damage, but the WHO said the pandemic still posed a major threat.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference.
The world is in a new and dangerous phase. Many people are understandably fed up with being at home... but the virus is still spreading fast.
A vaccine remains months off at best despite several trials, while scientists are still discovering more about the virus, its symptoms and the extent to which it may have spread before being identified.
Updated
Zimbabwe Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was arrested by police on Friday over allegations of corruption in government procurement of around $60 million worth of medical equipment, the Daily News newspaper reported.
Several other Zimbabwean and South African news outlets reported the arrest. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the arrest with authorities in Harare, Reuters reports.
Last week Delish Nguwaya, said to be a local representative of international pharmaceutical firm Drax International, the company supplying the equipment to the government, was arrested over the same deal, according to the state-owned Zimbabwe broadcasting commission.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from long time leader Robert Mugabe after a military coup in 2017, has since cancelled the procurement deals.
In addition to the novel coronavirus, which has infected nearly 500 people and caused four deaths, Zimbabwe is facing worst economic crisis in more than a decade and increasing public anger over inadequate services and government corruption.
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Summary
Spain expects imminent decision on travel corridor with UK.
Spain expects a decision in the coming hours in its talks with Britain on whether to establish a travel corridor to avoid imposing a quarantine on travelers due to the coronavirus pandemic, a Spanish foreign ministry source said on Friday.
“Spain is willing to be open to the United Kingdom. We are in talks with them about their quarantine. We are in a position to open without a quarantine,” the source added.
Shops in Wales are set to reopen on Monday.
First Minister Mark Drakeford has said the “R” rate in Wales continues to be below one1 and the number of deaths reported every day is at the lowest point since lockdown began.
Each of the different nations in the UK are in charge of their own coronavirus lockdown restrictions, and this week has seen the lockdown eased slightly in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Italy: Covid-19 was present in two big cities two months before first case was detected.
In Italy traces of coronavirus have been found in samples taken from sewage water in Milan and Turin in December, according to a study by Italy’s Higher Health Institute (ISS).
Researchers examined 40 samples collected between October 2019 and February 2020, as well as 24 control samples between September 2018 and June 2019.
Coronavirus traces were also found in wastewater samples collected in Bologna on 29 January.
Updated
Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 47 on Friday, against 66 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases decreased to 251 from 333 on Thursday.
The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on 21 Feb now stands at 34,561 the agency said, the fourth highest in the world after those of the United States, Brazil and Britain.
The number of confirmed cases amounts to 238,011 the eighth highest global tally.
The agency said 2.987 million people had been tested for the virus against 2.959 million on Thursday, out of a population of around 60 million.
Apple Inc will shut some stores again in Florida, Arizona, South Carolina, and North Carolina in the United States due to a spike in novel coronavirus cases, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Crowds have gathered at shopping malls and supermarkets across Colombia to take advantage of a government-mandated VAT-free day for shoppers, despite warnings from health experts that the South American country is far from past its peak of coronavirus cases.
On Friday morning, scenes at malls resembled those on Black Friday, the shopping bonanza in the US in late November. Photos circulated on social media showing huge crowds of people packed into stores, albeit while wearing face masks.
Es increíble vivir en un país donde en medio de pandemia la gente si sale al #DiaSinIVA antes que salir a exigir el cumplimiento de sus derechos fundamentales y denunciar los graves hechos de corrupción en el país!! pic.twitter.com/t4VTkkUNi0
— Danovis Lozano (@danovislozano) June 19, 2020
Colombia is continuing to relax its lockdown measures, despite cases of Covid-19 climbing over 3000 every day. 60,000 cases have been confirmed with 1950 deaths. Last weekend ICU occupancy passed 50% in Bogotá - the capital - leading city officials to tighten restrictions.
Yet Colombia’s president Iván Duque appears to be more concerned with reopening the economy. Friday’s VAT holiday will be followed by two more in the coming weeks, aimed at getting the economy going once more.
An analyst at El Espectador, one of Colombia’s largest newspapers, wrote on Friday that the measure was likely inspired by the US, “where tax holidays are universally recognized as demagogic policies,” that do little to relieve hard-hit consumers and instead benefit large-scale retailers.
Todavía no hay suficientes camas de UCIs, no se ha terminado de girar plata a hospitales, no hay suficientes respiradores pero hay #DiaSinIVA Esto ocurre en Cali. @miguelAPalta pic.twitter.com/JN02ZULBDf
— 070 (@cerosetenta) June 19, 2020
With queues snaking around stores and malls overnight, many took to social media to voice their umbrage with the reckless policy. “There’s still not enough ICU beds… there’s not enough respirators, but this is a VAT-free day,” one person tweeted, with a video of queues in Cali, a major city in the country’s western Cauca Valley.
Colombia’s inspector general, Fernando Carrillo Florez, lambasted the tax holiday. “It can become one of the largest sources of infection,” he tweeted. “In one day of irresponsibility, we can lose what we gained in 100 days of lockdown.”
The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
Thursday’s 150,000 new cases were the highest in a single day and nearly half of them were in the Americas
“The world is in a new and dangerous phase,” Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from WHO headquarters in Geneva. “The virus is still spreading fast, it is still deadly, and most people are still susceptible.”
More than 8.53 million people have been reported infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 453,834 have died.
Tedros urged people to maintain social distancing and “extreme vigilance.”
As well as the Americas, a large number of new cases were coming from South Asia and the Middle East, Tedros added.
Italy: Covid-19 was present in two big cities two months before first case was detected
The coronavirus was present in two large Italian cities in December, more than two months before the first case was detected, a national health institute study of waste water has found.
That suggests the virus appeared in Italy around the same time it was first reported in China.
Researchers discovered genetic traces of Sars-CoV-2 - as the virus is officially known - in samples of waste water collected in Milan and Turin at the end of last year, and Bologna in January, the ISS institute said in a statement seen by AFP on Friday.
Italy’s first known native case was discovered mid-February.
The results “help to understand the start of the circulation of the virus in Italy,” the ISS said.
They also “confirm the by-now consolidated international evidence” as to the strategic function of sewer samples as an early detection tool, it added.
The results feed into an effort by scientists around the world to trace the virus’s family tree.
Updated
Iran’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases topped 200,000 on Friday, as state media continued to warn about a lack of proper social distancing despite a new surge of infections.
Daily deaths have exceeded 100 most of this week, for the first time in two months. The Health Ministry announced 120 deaths in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to 9,392, and 2,615 new cases for a total of 200,262.
State television showed several families picnicking without masks or social distancing.
The parliamentary research centre issued a report in April suggesting that the actual number of coronavirus deaths might be almost twice the official figure.
State television quoted Hossein Erfani, head of the Health Ministry’s contagious disease care department, as saying provinces will be allowed to decide locally to impose or suspend restrictions in the fight against the virus.
“Depending on whether it is high-, medium- or low-risk, each province and county will decide on imposing necessary restrictions or suspending them,” Erfani said.
Six of Iran’s 31 provinces are currently high-risk coronavirus areas, state said.
Switzerland will allow events of up to 1,000 people again from next week as cases of the new coronavirus wane, the government said on Friday, declaring their country better equipped to handle any fresh flare-ups.
“As of Monday, June 22, the measures put in place to tackle the coronavirus will for the most part be lifted. Only the ban on large-scale events will remain in place until the end of August,” the cabinet said.
More than 31,000 people have tested positive for the virus and 1,680 have died of COVID-19 since the first case was reported in late February, according to authorities.
New cases have dwindled to a few dozen a day, allowing Switzerland to reopen schools, shops and borders with fellow members of the Schengen passport-free travel zone as life returns to near-normal. But the economy, like many others, is in a sharp recession.
The government appealed to the public to maintain proper hygiene and physical distancing, but scrapped a recommendation to work from home and cut the safe distance for interaction with strangers to 1.5 metres from two.
It also said it was stepping aside to let individual cantons, or regions, once again take the lead in addressing the pandemic.
“Given the scientific information that has emerged, experience from managing the first wave, and the additional resources now available, the current situation is no longer comparable to the situation at the beginning of the year,” it said.
Chinese state media is reporting that a coronavirus vaccine that is being developed may not be ready for sale until at least 2021, as researchers struggle to move into large-scale human trials in the country because of a lack of new infections, a senior company executive said.
More than 10 experimental vaccines are being tested in humans globally as scientists race to protect against the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 450,000 people.
But none of them has yet passed late-stage phase 3 trials that require thousands of participants to determine a vaccine candidate’s effectiveness.
China, where the virus first originated last year, saw less than 10 new local cases reported daily on average in May, making it less favourable for a late-stage clinical trial.
“We hope we can launch more international cooperations and conduct a multiple-centre phase 3 clinical study to help bring the vaccine to the market,” China National Biotec Group’s (CNBG) vice president Zhang Yutao told state media China News Service.
“The vaccine won’t be on the market until at least next year based on current plans,” he said in the interview broadcast late on Thursday.
A new outbreak in the capital Beijing city last week has infected more than 180 people, but Yang said the number of new patients compared with the population was still too low to make it an ideal trial site.
Saudi Arabia's number of coronavirus cases exceeds 150,000
The number of coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia exceeded 150,000 on Friday following a rise in new infections over the past 10 days.
The Saudi ministry of health reported 4,301 new cases on Friday, taking the total to 150,292, with 1,184 deaths. The country hit more than 100,000 cases on 7 June.
The number of new infections has continued to rise in recent weeks, as authorities began phasing out restrictions on movement and travel on 28 May. The restrictions were imposed in March to help curb the spread of the virus. Authorities announced last month that the nationwide curfew would be lifted completely on 21 June, with the exception of the holy city of Mecca and Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia is considering drastically limiting numbers at the annual haj pilgrimage to prevent a further outbreak of coronavirus cases, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month.
Some 2.5 million pilgrims visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the weeklong hajj, a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. Saudi Arabia asked Muslims in March to put hajj plans on hold and suspended the umrah pilgrimage until further notice.
Saudi Arabia’s numbers are the highest in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which have recorded 366,677 cases and 2,072 deaths.
Updated
Spain expects imminent decision on travel corridor with UK
Spain expects a decision in the coming hours in its talks with Britain on whether to establish a travel corridor to avoid imposing a quarantine on travelers due to the coronavirus pandemic, a Spanish foreign ministry source said on Friday.
“Spain is willing to be open to the United Kingdom. We are in talks with them about their quarantine. We are in a position to open without a quarantine,” the source added.
Spain will open its borders to tourists from most European countries on Sunday.
Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, is expected to announce on 29 June that agreements have been reached for air bridges with a “small number” of countries with low levels of the coronavirus outbreak.
Updated
The Foreign Office has been urged by a cross party group of British MPs to intervene to secure the safety of three prominent Gulf human rights activists thought to be at risk from the coronavirus outbreak strengthening in the region and present in some prisons.
The signatories include Peter Bottomley, the father of the house and Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP.
Brendan O’Hara MP, Argyll & Bute, Chair of the all party group on Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf said “With Brexit fast approaching, it is paramount that human rights are at the centre of UK foreign policy. The government has too often turned a blind eye to the plight of imprisoned human rights defenders in the Gulf and with COVID-19 now posing an unprecedented imminent threat to their lives, it is time to take a stand and call for their immediate release”
The family of one of the three activists Loujain al Hathloul, a women’s rights campaigner is Saudi Arabia say they have not heard from her for a month. She has been held in the Saudi Arabia’s maximum security al-Ha’ir prison complex near Riyadh for more than two years.
The UN working group on arbitrary detention called for her immediate release this week. After a dip in cases in Saudi at the beginning of June, the number of new daily cases this week reached record levels of 4,919. Total deaths are 1,139.
Concern is also being expressed for Ahmed Mansoor handed a 10 year sentence by the United Arab Emirates for “insulting the rank and reputation of the UAE and their symbols” and “disseminating false information to damage the United Arab Emirates’ reputation abroad”.
Despite successive hunger strikes, he has been held in solitary confinement and is said to have neither a bed nor access to water. His state of health has deteriorated sharply, his supporters said.
New coronavirus cases in the UAE has been declining until the last few days, but Human Rights Watch has reported outbreaks in UAE jails. Total deaths across the UAE has reached 298.
The third activist for which concern has been expressed is Abduljalil Al Singace, a Bahrain activist sentenced to life for criticising the government. Bahraini activist Maryam Al Khawaja, whose father Abdulhadi Al Khawaja is also at Jau Prison along with Al Singace, reported that there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the prison.
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain is thought to have presided over one of the most effective attempts to combat coronavirus with only 55 deaths, but there has been a spike this week in new cases with a record 786 new infections on June 15.
Partly on the advice of British public health advisers, the King has pardoned 901 prisoners while more than 500 more will be allowed to serve out their sentences outside prisons.
A persistent several hundred new coronavirus cases per day and a growing outbreak after a party in the Algarve region are threatening Portugal’s image as a safe holiday destination.
However the country’s foreign ministry argued the new cases do not mean Portugal is unsafe, saying the numbers were due to a higher rate of testing than most EU members.
Portugal ranks sixth in Europe in its testing rate, at 98,700 per million inhabitants and its number of coronavirus deaths and infections are far lower than in neighbouring Spain, even considering its smaller population.
Denmark said on Thursday it would not allow entry to travellers from Portugal despite opening up to most other European nations from 27 June. Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Lithuania have placed conditions on re-entry of travellers from Portugal such as quarantine, testing and self-isolation.
“Naturally, if the current situation doesn’t change, Portugal reserves the right to apply the principle of reciprocity,” the ministry said in a statement.
A total of 69 new cases have been confirmed in and around Lagos, a tourist town in the Algarve, traced back to a birthday party in the area attended by up to 100 people a fortnight ago.
The Spanish health ministry has just updated the country’s Covid-19 death toll to 28,313 after leaving the figure frozen at 27,136 for almost two weeks while it checked and analysed the data.
The government had been widely criticised for “pausing” the death figures on 7 June, but had defended the move on the grounds that it needed to “review the information on deaths” and establish the date of death, rather than when the death was reported.
Statistics on infections and deaths are collected by each of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions and then given to the central government in Madrid.
Towards the end of May, the health ministry changed its methods for collecting data on cases and deaths, leading to a sharp drop in daily cases and some days when no deaths were reported – despite regional governments reporting fatalities over the same period.
The government argued that the changes had been needed to help it pin down and isolate new outbreaks rather than focusing on the overall picture.
On Friday, the health minister, Salvador Illa, said there have been 34 small outbreaks involving 982 individual cases in Spain over the past four to six weeks. He added that all of the outbreaks were now under control.
Most of the outbreaks were detected among people who had flouted the lockdown to gather for parties, among people working in slaughterhouses, or among seasonal workers or those returning from working abroad.
The government says it is still working to process and provide figures on the number of people who have died from the coronavirus in Spanish care homes. Deaths in homes for elderly or disabled people are expected to account for a significant proportion of all deaths.
Of the 15,043 people who have died from the virus or with associated symptoms in the Madrid region alone, 5,981 were in residential homes.
Mortality figures from the Carlos III research institute in Madrid show that there were 43,360 “excess deaths” – more fatalities than would normally have been expected – in Spain between 13 March and 22 May.
While 77,362 deaths had been anticipated over the period, there were 120,722 – a 56% increase.
The latest figures from the health ministry suggest that confirmed cases of Covid-19 account for at least 64% of those excess deaths.
Sources said that many of the remaining deaths could be down to the virus, but noted that the figures could also be skewed by the fact that many people had been too scared to go to hospital during the height of the pandemic, and may have died at home from strokes or heart attacks as a result.
This is Nazia Parveen taking the reins of the global coronavirus liveblog for the afternoon. As ever, if you have tips or contributions to make – or you think we’ve neglected the news where you are, please do get in touch. My email is nazia.parveen@theguardian.com or follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/NParveenG and send me a DM.
A total of 2,470 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, up by six from 2,464 on Thursday, Nicola Sturgeon said.
Speaking at the Scottish government’s virtual coronavirus briefing, the first minister said 18,104 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 27 from 18,077 the previous day.
There are 904 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, a decrease of 25 in 24 hours. Of these patients, 19 were in intensive care, down by four.
Shops in Wales are set to reopen on Monday. First Minister Mark Drakeford has said the “R” rate in Wales continues to be below 1 and the number of deaths reported every day is at the lowest point since lockdown began.
Each of the different nations in the UK are in charge of their own coronavirus lockdown restrictions, and this week has seen the lockdown eased slightly in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Drakeford says restrictions in Wales will be eased gradually over the next three weeks, with changes coming in on every Monday:
- From Monday 22 June, all non-essential shops can reopen, providing they follow social distancing rules. The housing market will begin to reopen – with viewings able to take place. Outdoor markets can also reopen, along with outdoor sports courts for non-contact sports, as well as places of worship for private prayer. Childcare facilities will begin to reopen on a phased basis.
- From Monday 29 June, pupils will be able to return to school.
- And from Monday 6 July, Drakeford says “we will lift the requirement to stay local”. Currently people in Wales are only allowed to travel locally – with five miles given as a guide.
But Drakeford warned:
Coronavirus is not over. Every day people are being infected.
Updated
The European Central Bank’s chief warned EU leaders on Friday that their economies were heading for a “dramatic fall” due to the coronavirus crisis and urged them to agree quickly on a massive stimulus plan currently under discussion.
Reuters reports that Christine Lagarde told a video-conference summit that the full effects of Europe’s worst recession since World War Two had yet to appear in the labour market and unemployment in the 19-country euro zone could jump to 10% from 7.3% now.
Her stark message came as the European Union’s 27 leaders settled in at their computer screens for a day of discussions on recovery for their bloc.
A senior EU diplomat said:
It’s a crisis without precedent that has had an enormous impact - economic, social and also on the viability of the EU. To show that Europe protects, we cannot take any longer on this, as delays will only make things more difficult and more expensive.
Sources said Lagarde told the summit that financial markets were relatively calm because of expectations that they would act to show “the EU is back” in action.
Fragile gains in women’s workforce participation across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are at risk, while gender-based violence is on the rise, and women’s voices are going unheard, according to a new report from CARE International.
CARE’s rapid gender analysis provides a sobering picture of the pandemic’s impact on women and girls across the region.
It states:
The Covid-19 pandemic and efforts at mitigating the virus’ spread in recent months have heightened the insecurity, psychosocial distress, economic vulnerability, gender inequality, and deprivation that already existed in countries in the Middle East and beyond.
While men appear to have worse outcomes when infected with the coronavirus, women and girls are being deeply impacted– and fragile gains in women’s workforce participation are in jeopardy.
Updated
Serbia will hold Europe’s first national election on Sunday since the continent went into coronavirus lockdown three months ago, with protective masks made available to voters at polling stations to guard against the spread of Covid-19.
Reuters reports that president Aleksandar Vucic’s conservative ruling Serbian Progressive party is tipped to win more than 50% of votes, opinion polls show, buoyed by voters’ perception that the government has handled the pandemic effectively and by state handouts to soften its economic impact.
Serbia, with a population of 7.2 million, has so far reported 12,616 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 258 deaths.
Updated
Shops and cafes have reopened in Singapore from today as coronavirus measures are relaxed - but the city-state’s leader warned people “not to go overboard celebrating”.
AFP reports:
More than two months after a partial lockdown was imposed, massage parlours and spas also resumed operations while beaches were no longer off limits and sports and other facilities opened again.
“I feel happy because I can come out … a few restrictions still apply but I’m happy, I feel safe,” Mostafa Jamshidian, a computer science researcher, told AFP as he walked through the central business district.
Angelica Stasevich said she was “very happy”.
“Today it’s like I want to sing, I want to dance, I want to walk,” the 21-year-old said.
Social gatherings of up to five are allowed under the relaxed rules, but people must wear face masks and stay 1 metre (3.3ft) apart.
Authorities have been gradually easing restrictions imposed in early April that shuttered schools and non-essential businesses, as a test-and-trace effort stabilised infection rates.
The city-state’s 5.7 million residents had been told to stay home unless they had good reason to go out.
Singapore has the second-highest number of confirmed infections in south-east Asia with more than 41,000 cases, mostly among foreign workers living in crowded dormitories. The death toll stands at 26.
In a Facebook post marking the reopening of most businesses, the prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said:
I am sure all of us have been eagerly looking forward to this day for a long time! But please don’t go overboard celebrating.
Potential super-spreader venues such as cinemas, bars and nightclubs remain closed.
Updated
Iran has released its latest coronavirus figures, saying that in the last 24 hours 2,615 new cases of the disease were reported.
A further 120 people have died, said a spokesman for the country’s ministry of health.
Iran was one of the worst affected countries early on in the pandemic.
Updated
UK study: People with a south Asian background most likely group to die from Covid-19
People with a south Asian background are the most likely group to die from Covid-19 after being admitted to hospital across the UK, according to a study.
Data from 30,693 people admitted to 260 hospitals found a 19% increased risk of death from coronavirus for those with south Asian backgrounds compared with white people.
Experts behind the study said 40% of the south Asians in the group had diabetes – a “significant factor” in their increased risk of death.
EU leaders meet virtually to discuss EU recovery fund
EU leaders are gathering virtually for a video summit that is attempting to find consensus for an ambitious €750bn (£676bn; $840bn) EU coronavirus recovery fund.
Several northern European nations are unhappy about the EU commission plan because it involves collectively raising €500bn as grants for countries worst hit by the pandemic, notably Italy and Spain.
A group known as the “frugal four” – Sweden, Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands – have made clear their continued opposition to grants, rather than loans. There are also divisions over the proposed €1.1tn EU budget.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, are backing the commission’s plan. More on that here:
Updated
UK lowers Covid-19 alert level
The UK’s chief medical officers have agreed that the Covid-19 threat level should be lowered one notch to “epidemic is in general circulation” from “transmission is high or rising exponentially”.
The joint biosecurity centre recommended the Covid-19 alert level should move from level 4 (a Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation; transmission is high or rising exponentially) to level 3 (a Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation).
In a statement the chief medical officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland said:
There has been a steady decrease in cases we have seen in all four nations, and this continues.
It does not mean that the pandemic is over. The virus is still in general circulation, and localised outbreaks are likely to occur.
Reacting to the UK CMOs’ decision to lower the UK’s alert level from level 4 to level 3 , the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, said:
The UK moving to a lower alert level is a big moment for the country, and a real testament to the British people’s determination to beat this virus.
The government’s plan is working. Infection rates are rapidly falling, we have protected the NHS and, thanks to the hard work of millions in our health and social care services, we are getting the country back on her feet.
Updated
Indonesia reported 1,041 new coronavirus infections on Friday, taking its total number of cases to 43,803.
Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said there were 34 more deaths reported, with total fatalities now at 2,373, the highest coronavirus death toll in East Asia outside of China.
So far, 366,581 people have been tested, according to the country’s COVID-19 task force.
Afghanistan has recorded its lowest daily infections to Covid-19 since 14 May.
The war-torn nation is struggling with lack of testing capacity while violence rages on across the country.
The country’s health ministry has detected 346 new Covid-19 infections from 893 tests, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 27,878. The number of deaths has risen by 2 to 548.
Afghanistan recorded its worst day of the crisis on Thursday after a record 42 patients died from the virus.
The country, which has admitted it has a lack of testing capacity, has tested 62,492 suspected patients since the outbreak began. There have been 7,962 recoveries.
The capital, Kabul, still leads new daily infections as most new cases (231) have been reported in the capital, the country’s worst-affected area in both number of confirmed transmissions and deaths with 11,570 cases and 126 deaths.
No official figures were released in the western province of Herat in a week. The province’s laboratory – which is responsible for testing samples of patients in Herat and nearby areas – has stopped work due to a lack of testing capacity. The province’s governor has said that the actual number of infections may be more than 60,000 in the province as 280 patients with Covid-19 symptoms died during last week.
The Afghan health ministry has previously said it was unable to increase testing for coronavirus due to a lack of laboratories and an overload of suspected patients and medical workers would determine new coronavirus patients through their symptoms, rather than through test
Northern province of Takhar where at least 7 students were killed and 7 wounded in an explosion at a religious school on Thursday, reported five new infections to Covid-19. It comes as the United Nations’ annual Children in Armed Conflict report, released on Monday, found Afghanistan was the deadliest country for children for the fifth year straight.
Kunduz province, also in the north, reported six new cases. At least seven security forces were killed in a clash with the Taliban in the province on Thursday night.
Virus 'was already in Italy in December'
In Italy traces of coronavirus have been found in samples taken from sewage water in Milan and Turin in December, according to a study by Italy’s Higher Health Institute (ISS).
Researchers examined 40 samples collected between October 2019 and February 2020, as well as 24 control samples between September 2018 and June 2019.
Coronavirus traces were also found in wastewater samples collected in Bologna on 29 January.
In a statement Giuseppina La Rossa, from the ISS’s department of environment and health said:
The results, confirmed in two different laboratories using two different methods, showed the presence of SARS-COV-2 RNA in samples taken in Milan and Turin on 18 December 2019 and in Bologna on 29 January 2020.
Further samples taken from the same cities in January and February also found traces of Covid-19, while those collected in October and November gave negative results, La Rossa added.
Italy’s first locally transmitted coronavirus case was confirmed in Lombardy, the region surrounding Milan, on 20 February, and in Turin, in Piedmont, on 22 February. The virus has so far killed over 16,500 people in Lombardy and 4,032 in Piedmont.
The Lombardy region still accounts for the largest daily rise in new infections, with 226 out of 333 cases registered there on Thursday. There were 66 more fatalities on Thursday, 36 in Lombardy, bringing the death toll across the country to 34,514.
Although new clusters have emerged since Italy started easing the lockdown in early May, for example in the regions of Lazio and Molise, the virus has mostly been kept at bay, with the widespread use of face masks and physical distancing believed to play a significant role.
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Czech Republic reports jump in new coronavirus cases
The Czech Republic reported its biggest one-day jump in new coronavirus cases in two months on Friday, with the daily rise exceeding 100 for only the third time since mid-April, Reuters reports.
The number of new cases was 118 on Thursday, the Health Ministry said, the largest daily rise since April 21. The central European country has since May been relaxing rules to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The country had reported 10,283 cases as of Friday morning, of which almost three quarters have recovered. Its death toll of 334 is a fraction of those seen it its western neighbours.
With cases waning, the government has started focusing on localised measures rather than nationwide bans to contain the spread of the virus.
According to health officials, the country has two hot spots in Prague and the eastern mining region of Karvina.
A potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by China’s Clover Biopharmaceuticals using GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine booster is now in early-stage testing in humans, the companies said on Friday.
Clover said initial safety data from the trial, which is enrolling about 150 adults and also investigating the vaccine in combination with Dynavax’s adjuvant, is expected in August this year, Reuters reports.
Chinese officials have released genome data for the coronavirus traced to a recent cluster in Beijing, saying it has similarities to a European strain.
China has been under pressure to share the data with the World Health Organisation.
It comes after Beijing reported nearly 200 fresh Covid-19 infections. Tens of thousands of people are being tested in the city, where neighbourhoods are under lockdown and schools shut. The cluster has been traced to a sprawling wholesale market in the city.
In an article published on Friday on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s website CDC official Zhang Yong said:
According to preliminary genomic and epidemiological study results, the virus is from Europe, but it is different from the virus currently spreading in Europe.
It’s older than the virus currently spreading in Europe.
It could have been hidden in imported frozen food products, or it was lurking in some dark and humid environment such as Xinfadi, with the environment not having been disinfected or sterilised.
Scientists have been cautious over drawing early conclusion about the link.
Ben Cowling, a professor at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, told the AFP news agency.
It is possible that the virus now causing an outbreak in Beijing travelled from Wuhan to Europe and now back to China .
He added that patient zero hadn’t been identified yet and that it may be too late to find out how the latest cluster started.
The first trial results of a coronavirus vaccine being developed by CureVac in Germany are expected in two months, German news website Focus Online reported on Friday.
Reuters reports that CureVac, an unlisted German company, said this week that the first meaningful results could be available in September or October and, under favourable conditions, it could be approved by the middle of next year.
More on Curevac’s work from its own website here.
Public debt in UK exceeds 100% for first time since the 60s
Government borrowing in the UK in May is predicted to have hit 55.2 billion - nearly nine times higher than in the same month a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Borrowing was £103.7 billion in the financial year to date (April-May 2020).
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) June 19, 2020
This is £87.0 billion more than the same time last year and the highest in any April-May period since current records began in 1993 https://t.co/IOvjTgkff8 pic.twitter.com/enbRKMzgny
Public sector debt at the end of May 2020 was 100.9% of gross domestic product, the first time that debt as a percentage of GDP has exceeded 100% since the financial year ending March 1963, said the ONS.
The figure is slightly lower than the 62.1 billion of borrowing in April, according to the ONS, although the organisation also revised down that figure by 13.6 billion to 48.5 billion on Friday.
Reacting to this morning’s figures, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said they show “coronavirus is having a severe impact on our public finances”. He said:
The best way to restore our public finances to a more sustainable footing is to safely reopen our economy so people can return to work.
We’ve set out our plan to do this in a gradual and safe fashion, including reopening high streets across the country this week, as we kickstart our economic recovery.
Updated
India: Lockdown reimposed in Chennai
Indian officials have reimposed a lockdown in the southern city of Chennai and three neighbouring districts.
The BBC reports that only essential services and neighbourhood grocery shops will be permitted to function under the 12-day lockdown, set to end on 30 June.
Chennai is India’s sixth-largest city and the capital of Tamil Nadu state. It has more than 37,000 of Tamil Nadu’s confirmed 50,000 infections, making it one of India’s largest hotspots.
With just over 600 deaths in total, the state has a relatively low mortality rate – but its death toll is being reviewed after reports suggested that at least 200 deaths in Chennai were not included in the official tally.
It is the only city to reimpose a lockdown to curb the rise in infections.
India has the fourth-highest caseload in the world, with more than 350,000 confirmed cases of the disease. Daily reports of infections are increasing, with Tamil Nadu among the worst-affected states.
This is Alexandra Topping taking the reins of the global coronavirus liveblog for the next few hours. As ever, if you have tips or contributions to make – or you think we’ve neglected the news where you are, please do get in touch. My email is alexandra.topping@theguardian.com and I’m @lexytopping on Twitter, my DMs are open.
Updated
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. I leave you momentarily in the company of Armando Iannucci and his family, who are using lockdown to watch the film Cats five minutes at a time:
I’m at home with my wife, children and dogs. We’ve drifted into a communal understanding of watching something chewy, like Chernobyl, then Gogglebox. It ends with us doing impressions in very bad taste of Craig Cash: “In Kiev, there’s been an explosion in reactor four …” We’ve reached the gallows humour that I expect every family has reached as we hit week 13 of lockdown.
For some reason, Cats turned up unannounced on our Sky box. I’ve never been a party to that school of: it’s so bad, it’s good. But everything in Cats is so bad, from the scripts to the effects, we’ve had to restrict ourselves to five minutes a night, just to prolong the exquisite agony.
Updated
People in Singapore reunited with lovers and friends on Friday as the city-state lifted strict curbs on socialising, shopping and dining out after more than two months of lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.
Many residents have been forbidden from mixing with those outside their families since early April under measures to contain infections that have topped 41,000 - one of Asia’s highest tallies.
Jerry, 22, and his girlfriend, who had been apart for weeks, queued for bubble tea in a reopened neighbourhood mall at mid-morning.
“We came early. We wanted to avoid the crowds,” said Jerry, adding that the couple planned to spend the rest of the day at his home chilling out and catching up.
A nearby coffee shop serving kaya toast, or bread slathered with coconut jam and served with runny eggs, was full of masked patrons who had scanned QR codes on their telephones before entering, to help with contact tracing.
Some restaurants set up plastic screens between tables while retailers used yellow tape to keep people apart in long queues that formed outside their shops.
Thailand on Friday reported five new coronavirus cases, all of which were found in quarantine, making it 25 days without a confirmed domestic transmission of the virus.
The new cases were Thais returning from Saudi Arabia, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, spokesman for the government’s Covid-19 task force.
Thailand has recorded 58 deaths related to Covid-19 among some 3,146 confirmed cases, of which 3,008 patients have recovered.
Life after lockdown on Germany’s Baltic coast
Paul Sullivan reports for the Guardian:
It’s the middle of June and it feels like a perfect summer day in Warnemünde. The pretty canal-side promenade is thronged with people eating fish and chips out of paper cones and gorging on soft Danish ice-cream (a speciality here). Gaudy tour boats drift breezily along the canal every few minutes, and shops selling everything from surfing gear and jewellery to locally made clothing have their wares out on show on the cobbled streets. The terraces of the town centre’s many cafes and fish restaurants also seem full, with people basking in the sunshine. The only obvious signs that the coronavirus is still with us are the masks worn by shopkeepers and service staff.
This small German town, officially part of Rostock, with its quaint fisherman cottages, striking 19th-century lighthouse and sweeping two-mile beach lapped by beautifully clear water, is one of many pearls strung along the country’s Baltic coast, or Ostsee (East Sea) as it’s known here. Part of Mecklenberg Vorpommern – one of Germany’s most popular states for domestic travel, thanks to a generous spread of forests, lakes and beaches – the town and broader region are now seeing the return of tourism after a couple of months described to me more than once as “catastrophic”.
Updated
Summary
Here are the most important recent developments in the global coronavirus pandemic:
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Global death toll from Covid-19 passes 450,000. The number of people who have lost their lives in the pandemic so far stands at 453,289, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. There are 8,464,739 known cases worldwide. Both figures are likely to be higher, due to differing testing rates and definitions, time lags and suspected underreporting.
- The US on Thursday questioned China’s credibility on reporting fresh coronavirus cases in Beijing and called for neutral observers to assess the extent of the outbreak. China has locked down the capital as it seeks to prevent a second wave of Covid-19, reporting 158 cases since a fresh cluster was detected last week. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo, an outspoken critic of China, urged greater transparency during talks Wednesday in Hawaii with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi, as David Stilwell, the top US diplomat for East Asia who accompanied Pompeo, said “I would hope that their numbers and their reporting are more accurate than what we saw in the case of Wuhan and other places in the PRC, but that remains to be seen.”
- China publishes genome data for coronavirus behind new outbreak. China has published the genome data for the coronavirus behind the latest Covid-19 outbreak in the capital, Beijing, the website of state-backed National Microbiology Data Center showed on Friday. State-backed Beijing News also reported that the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention submitted the genome sequencing data for the virus to the World Health Organization, which had previously sought access to the data.
- Tokyo lifts remaining business restrictions. Tokyo lifted all remaining restrictions on businesses on Friday, although officials urged caution over a possible second wave of the coronavirus. The measure, the final phase of a three-step easing of preventive measures in the Japanese capital, means live music venues, nightclubs and similar establishments where it is difficult to avoid the “three Cs” – closed spaces, crowded places and close contact – will be allowed to reopen with the blessing of local authorities.
- Anthony Fauci thinks return to full lockdowns is unlikely. The US does not require more widespread lockdowns to get its Covid-19 outbreak under control, despite the fact that the national daily infection rate is not showing signs of decline, leading government expert Anthony Fauci told AFP in an interview Thursday. “I don’t think we’re going to be talking about going back to lockdown,” he said when asked whether places like California and Texas that are seeing a surge in their caseload should reissue stay-at-home orders.“I think we’re going to be talking about trying to better control those areas of the country that seem to be having a surge of cases.”
- WHO eyes 2bn vaccine doses by end of 2021. The World Health Organization said Thursday that a few hundred million Covid-19 vaccine doses could be produced by the end of the year - and be targeted at those most vulnerable to the virus. The UN health agency said it was working on that assumption, with a view to two billion doses by the end of 2021, as pharmaceutical firms rush to find a vaccine. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said researchers were working on more than 200 vaccine candidates around the world, including 10 that are in human testing.
- San Quentin: outcry after Covid-19 cases at California prison triple in two weeks. The number of coronavirus cases in California’s San Quentin state prison has tripled within the last two weeks, prompting advocates, families and attorneys to demand urgent action to fast track the release of prisoners and curb the spread among correctional officers. San Quentin, California’s oldest prison and home to the state’s only death row for male prisoners, reported its first batch of 15 positive cases on 3 June. Since then, that number has risen to 46. Organizers are pointing to the 30 May transfer of more than 100 incarcerated people from the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino as a catalyst for the spread of Covid-19 in the prison:
- India lifts export ban on hydroxychloroquine. India Thursday fully lifted an export ban on hydroxychloroquine, a drug favored by US President Donald Trump as a treatment against coronavirus, as questions remain over the malaria medicine’s effectiveness against Covid-19. The directorate general of foreign trade said in a notice that “hydroxychloroquine and its formulations” were now “free” to be exported.
- ‘Extensive testing’ in New Zealand has not uncovered new cases. Covid-19 testing of thousands of people in New Zealand has not uncovered any new cases, health officials say. The testing was undertaken after a quarantine bungle when two women were allowed out of managed isolation without being tested – and later turned out to have the coronavirus. Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the director-general of health, is giving a news conference in the capital, Wellington, during which he said the day of zero new cases of Covid-19 to report was “very reassuring”.
- Non-essential shops in Wales can reopen from Monday. All non-essential shops in Wales will be able to reopen from Monday so long as physical distancing can take place, as part of the devolved government’s cautious easing of lockdown restrictions.But the Labour-led administration is not expected to change its guidance that people should not travel more than five miles. The government will review the requirement to stay local by 6 July.
- Mexico confirms record new cases. Mexico’s health ministry reported on Thursday a record 5,662 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 667 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 165,455 cases and 19,747 deaths. The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
- Chinese medical expert says coronavirus under control in Beijing. “The epidemic in Beijing has been brought under control,” said Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of China’s Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, although he said the capital can still expect sporadic new cases. The city has recorded 158 infections since confirming the first on 11 June in its worst outbreak since early February, which has been traced to the sprawling wholesale food centre of Xinfadi in the south-west of the city.
Updated
Mallorca welcomes a more sedate breed of German tourist
Julia Macher reports for the Guardian from Palma:
During the morning at least, Palma’s S’Arenal beach and its six-kilometre stretch of sand still belongs solely to Mallorcans. Three women, all in late middle age, were admiring the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean as they jogged along the shoreline this week. “I’ve never seen the beach look so beautiful,” said Mercedes Blázquez. “The water’s like glass and the sand is just perfect.”
Her sister Lumi agreed. “It’s divine, and we have it all to ourselves,” she said.
Both work in hospitality, Mercedes in a hotel and Lumi in a bar, and they know how important tourism is to the economy of the Balearic islands. Even so, they can’t help relishing the tranquility that Spain’s strict Covid-19 lockdown has brought to the archipelago.
On Monday, thousands of German tourists began arriving on the islands as part of a pilot programme to reactivate Spain’s tourism sector. “If there are no tourists, there’s no jobs,” said Mercedes. “And without the Germans, there’s no work.”
It is no exaggeration. In 2018, 4.9 million Germany tourists visited the Balearics, more than from any other country. Not for nothing is Mallorca known as the 17th state of Germany.
Charities report rise in Maltese requests for abortion pills during lockdown
Women in Malta seeking an abortion during the pandemic are being forced to procure their own miscarriage or keep an unwanted pregnancy, even when the child has a severe abnormality.
Overseas charities have reported large increases in requests for abortion pills from women in Malta during the pandemic. Women On Web, an online community based in the Netherlands, received 45 pill requests in March and 47 in April, up from 18 in February, with three women who requested abortion pills saying they had been raped by their partner during lockdown.
Abortion Support Network, a UK-based charity, recorded an increase in requests from an average of seven a month before the pandemic to 13 each in March and April and 19 in May.
While Europe’s ailing south is calling for cash as soon as possible in the form of free grants and without demands of macroeconomic reforms, the more thrifty north only wants to allow conditional loans, AFP reports.
The east says too much money is being rerouted towards the south and want to maintain the earlier spending focus on agriculture and closing development gaps with the richer west.
The wealthy net payers, including Germany, want to retain budget rebates against the will of other EU states, and there is no agreement on how to eventually repay the Commission debt.
After the bloc’s initial response to the coronavirus exposed divisions over sharing of medical supplies and the issue of grants vs loans, EU leaders want a show of unity on Friday.
But they will need at least one or two more meetings in person next month to see if they can iron out the final deal, which would also mark a step towards more integration in the bloc after the damaging setback of Brexit.
European Union leaders hope to unite behind an unprecedented stimulus to inject billions of euros into their coronavirus-ravaged economies at a virtual meeting on Friday - but many fights still separate them from a final deal, AFP reports.
The 27 national heads join a video conference from 0800 GMT to discuss recovery for the bloc that has lost over 100,000 lives to Coovid19 and faces an unprecedented economic downturn threatening its stability and global standing.
Under discussion is the EU’s next joint budget worth more than €1tn ($1.1 trillion) for 2021-27, and an attached recovery fund that would be replenished by a proposed €750bn worth of historic borrowing by the executive European Commission.
The aid would be disbursed mainly among worst-hit nations, like Italy and Spain, but many differences must still be settled before the necessary unanimous agreement is in sight.
“We want at least to agree some basic elements of proposal ... Time is of the essence and a final deal needs to be done in July, before the summer break,” said another senior EU diplomat.
A reminder that you can get in touch with me directly on Twitter @helenrsullivan, or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
Questions, comments, jokes, news, and tips all welcome.
Updated
India lifts export ban on hydroxychloroquine
India Thursday fully lifted an export ban on hydroxychloroquine, a drug favored by US President Donald Trump as a treatment against coronavirus, as questions remain over the malaria medicine’s effectiveness against Covid-19.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notice that “hydroxychloroquine and its formulations” were now “free” to be exported.
India accounts for 70% of global production of hydroxychloroquine, which is also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
India’s top biomedical research body has backed the use of the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine as a preventive against coronavirus.
On Wednesday the World Health Organisation announced that hydroxychloroquine could be ruled out as treatment for hospitalised patients. But it recognised that ongoing trials may show that the drugs have some value as a preventative measure.
Podcast: Why is Trump’s comeback rally in Tulsa: the site of a massacre?
The president’s decision to hold his first rally since the coronavirus lockdown in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has ignited fresh controversy. The city was home to one of America’s worst ever acts of racial violence in 1921, a moment marked in recent Black Lives Matter protests, and Oklahoma is now seeing a new wave of coronavirus infections. So why has Trump chosen Tulsa?
Asian equities were mixed Friday after fluctuating through the week as traders try to pick a way through a number of opposing issues, with the easing of lockdowns and mostly improving economic data offset by geopolitical tensions and second wave worries, AFP reports.
After three months of big gains across the planet - fuelled by the reopening of economies as well as trillions of dollars in government and central bank support - markets appear to be levelling out as investors await the next major catalyst, such as a vaccine.
But, while countries continue to ease business and jobs-destroying containment measures the virus is spiking in several places including Beijing, Tokyo, Germany, Florida and Texas.
“Concerns over the spread of Covis-19 in some US states in particular where hospitalisation rates are rising, and also following the recent outbreak in Beijing, continue to cast something of a pall over markets,” said Ray Attrill at National Australia Bank.
Adding to the unease are simmering tensions between the two Koreas as well as China and India following a deadly border skirmish this week in the Himalayas.
Donald Trump added to the uncertainty Thursday by tweeting that the US “certainly does maintain a policy option, under various conditions, of a complete decoupling from China. Thank you!”
In early trade Hong Kong dipped 0.3% and Shanghai rose 0.3% while Tokyo went into the break 0.1% higher.
Sydney jumped 0.9%, Jakarta added 0.8% and Wellington was 0.5% higher, though Seoul, Singapore and Manila were in the red.
Germany’s Robert Koch Institute has issued a correction of the coronavirus figures: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 770 to 188,534. The reported death toll rose by 16 to 8,872, the tally showed.
Earlier, the institute said cases had increased by 504.
Brazilian football resumed after a three-month hiatus on Thursday night, with Flamengo beating Bangu 3-0 at an empty Maracana stadium in the first game of the restarted Rio de Janeiro state championship, Reuters reports.
The match marked the return of Brazil’s state leagues, most of which were halted in March as the novel coronavirus spread.
Most of the other state championships, which are usually played between January and April before the national leagues take place in the second half of the year, have not yet set a date for resuming.
The resumption in Brazil has caused controversy, with two top clubs, Botafogo and Fluminense, saying they will not turn up for scheduled games this weekend.
Another 1,238 people were reported to have died in Brazil on Thursday from Covid-19 taking the overall death count to 47,748. Only the United States has recorded more deaths.
More on New Zealand from the Guardian’s Charlotte Graham-McLay:
New Zealand Director-General of Health, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, had initially said the women had driven nearly 650 km between the cities of Auckland and Wellington to see their family without stopping; it later emerged that they had stopped to meet friends. Hundreds of their possible contacts were due to be tested.
On Thursday, a man arriving from Pakistan was also confirmed to have the virus; he is in managed quarantine.
The country’s borders are closed to everyone except New Zealanders, their immediate families, and essential workers. All those arriving must spend two weeks in quarantine, and take two Covid-19 tests. A compassionate exemption policy that allowed people in quarantine to leave early has now been revoked.
New Zealand has recorded fewer than 1,500 confirmed cases of the virus, and 22 deaths.
'Extensive testing' in New Zealand has not uncovered new cases
Charlotte Graham-McLay reports for the Guardian:
“Extensive” Covid-19 testing of thousands of people in New Zealand has not uncovered any new cases, health officials say. The testing was undertaken after a quarantine bungle when two women were allowed out of managed isolation without being tested – and later turned out to have the coronavirus.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the director-general of health, is giving a news conference in the capital, Wellington, during which he said the day of zero new cases of Covid-19 to report was “very reassuring.”
He said 6,273 tests for the virus were completed by laboratories yesterday as officials tried to track down any possible contacts of the two travelers returning from Britain who were mistakenly allowed out of quarantine without being tested.
The number of tests carried out on Thursday was “much higher than we have been doing in recent weeks,” Bloomfield said.
New Zealand had reported 24 days of no new cases of Covid-19, and had no active cases remaining in the country, when the two women who had arrived from Britain were permitted to leave quarantine on compassionate grounds to visit a dying parent. One later developed symptoms and both were diagnosed with the virus.
Tokyo lifts remaining business restrictions
Tokyo lifted all remaining restrictions on businesses on Friday, although officials urged caution over a possible second wave of the coronavirus.
The measure, the final phase of a three-step easing of preventive measures in the Japanese capital, means live music venues, nightclubs and similar establishments where it is difficult to avoid the “three Cs” – closed spaces, crowded places and close contact – will be allowed to reopen with the blessing of local authorities. Many had remained open during the pandemic because Japan is legally unable to force businesses to shut down, even during a state of emergency. Restaurants will no longer be required to close at 10pm.
In addition, the central government will no longer ask people to refrain from crossing prefectural borders in the hope that resuming travel will boost the world’s third-biggest economy, which recently slipped into recession for the first time in four-and-a-half years.
Restrictions have been eased despite a recent rise in cases in Tokyo, with the capital recording more than 130 new infections so far this week. That included 48 on Monday alone, the highest daily number since 5 May. However, a significant number of those cases have been traced to host clubs and similar establishments in the Kabukicho entertainment district, where employees are being encouraged to undergo testing.
Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, said the recent rise in cases reflected a more rigorous testing regime among people working in the night-time economy and did not indicate higher rates of community transmission.
Japan’s capital, with a population of 14 million, reopened schools, museums and other public spaces after the nationwide state of emergency was lifted late last month, followed by gyms and theatres from early June and, since last week June, pachinko parlours and karaoke venues, according to the Kyodo news agency.
Donald Trump has renewed his threat to cut ties with China, a day after his diplomats held high-level talks with Beijing and his top US trade negotiator said severing the trade relationship was not a viable option.
The conflicting stances emerged as Washington questioned China’s credibility on accurately reporting the new Covid-19 cluster in Beijing.
Trump wrote on social media that the US “certainly does maintain a policy option, under various conditions, of a complete decoupling from China. Thank you!”.
The threat came amid multiple points of friction between the world’s two largest economies, including trade, China’s moves to impose new security legislation on Hong Kong, and the coronavirus.
On Thursday the US questioned China’s credibility on reporting fresh coronavirus cases in Beijing and called for neutral observers to assess the extent of the outbreak. China has locked down parts of the capital as it seeks to prevent a second wave of Covid-19, reporting 158 cases since a fresh cluster was detected last week.
China publishes genome data for coronavirus behind new outbreak
China has published the genome data for the coronavirus behind the latest Covid-19 outbreak in the capital city of Beijing, the website of state-backed National Microbiology Data Center showed on Friday.
State-backed Beijing News also reported that the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention submitted the genome sequencing data for the virus to the World Health Organization, which had previously sought access to the data.
Updated
AMC theatres in US to reopen, will not require masks to avoid 'political controversy'
In the US, the CEO of AMC theatre company has announced that it will resume operations in 450 US venues from 15 July, Variety reports.
But the company has also said it will not be requiring theatregoers to wear masks, although employees will be doing so. AMC CEO and president Adam Aron said the reason patrons will not need masks is because the company “did not want to be drawn into a political controversy”:
Nor will AMC perform temperature checks on customers, though it will monitor its employees’ temperatures and have them undergo screenings to check for signs of coronavirus. The situation will be different in states and cities that require residents to wear a mask when they’re in public, but Aron said that AMC was wary of wading into a public health issue that has become politicized.
‘We did not want to be drawn into a political controversy,’ said Aron. ‘We thought it might be counterproductive if we forced mask wearing on those people who believe strongly that it is not necessary. We think that the vast majority of AMC guests will be wearing masks. When I go to an AMC feature, I will certainly be wearing a mask and leading by example.’
AMC Theater CEO Adam Aron says their cinemas won't require masks upon reopening because they didn't "want to be drawn into a political controversy" https://t.co/zNjy9wzGMK
— Variety (@Variety) June 18, 2020
What does it mean if we can’t tell how someone caught coronavirus?
Eighteen new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the state of Victoria, Australia on Thursday, including eight of community transmission where the source of the infection is unknown.
Nearly 10% of all coronavirus cases in Australia remain unresolved. That’s 733 people who have caught the virus but authorities have been unable to determine where from. Should we be worried about community transmission as lockdown restrictions are eased?
Updated
In an interview with AFP on Thursday, Dr Anthony Fauci stressed a localised approach would be required as the country takes further steps to return to normal - including on the crucial question of when to reopen schools.
“Counties where there are certainly no cases at all, there’s no problem with the schools opening,” he said.
“There are other parts where there’s a modest amount of infection (where) you may delay school openings.
“And there are other parts of the country where there’s minimum infection, where you want to make some modification of the process, namely: alternate days, morning versus afternoon, seating people apart from each other wearing masks.”
Anthony Fauci thinks return to full lockdowns is unlikey
The United States does not require more widespread lockdowns to get its Covid-19 outbreak under control, despite the fact that the national daily infection rate is not showing signs of decline, leading government expert Anthony Fauci told AFP in an interview Thursday.
“I don’t think we’re going to be talking about going back to lockdown,” he said when asked whether places like California and Texas that are seeing a surge in their caseload should reissue stay-at-home orders.
“I think we’re going to be talking about trying to better control those areas of the country that seem to be having a surge of cases.”
The US leads the world in the number of confirmed infections and in deaths – with the fatality toll approaching 120,000.
But while former epicenters New York and New Jersey have succeeded in controlling their outbreaks, the virus is now increasing in 20 states – creating a plateau in the national case graph.
Fauci, who has led America’s response to every major epidemic since the outbreak of AIDS in the 1980s, said one thing that bothered him was a lack of compliance to authorities’ recommendations about wearing masks.
“We have a country where even when the recommendations are to wear a mask, a recommendation that I’ve been involved in making, there are some groups that actually do the recommendations very strictly and they adhere to it.
“And then... you see pictures of people in bars and in congregations without that. So again, it’s a mixed bag. Some people are doing it fine, and some are not.”
Mexico confirms record new cases
Mexico’s health ministry reported on Thursday a record 5,662 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 667 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 165,455 cases and 19,747 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Non-essential shops in Wales can reopen from Monday
All non-essential shops in Wales will be able to reopen from Monday so long as physical distancing can take place, as part of the devolved government’s cautious easing of lockdown restrictions.
But the Labour-led administration is not expected to change its guidance that people should not travel more than five miles. The government will review the requirement to stay local by 6 July.
Two in five adults in the UK feel lonelier under the lockdown amid the tight limits it has placed on social contact, new research has revealed.
Survey results by the British Red Cross paint a stark picture of Britain as a society where a substantial minority lack regular face-to-face interaction and feel alone and uncared for.
In a survey of 2,000 adults that was representative of the population, the charity found that 28% worried that no one would notice if something happened to them.
Even more – 33% – said they feared that their feelings of loneliness would get worse in the years ahead.
San Quentin: outcry after Covid-19 cases at California prison triple in two weeks
The number of coronavirus cases in California’s San Quentin state prison has tripled within the last two weeks, prompting advocates, families and attorneys to demand urgent action to fast track the release of prisoners and curb the spread among correctional officers.
San Quentin, California’s oldest prison and home to the state’s only death row for male prisoners, reported its first batch of 15 positive cases on 3 June. Since then, that number has risen to 46.
Organizers are pointing to the 30 May transfer of more than 100 incarcerated people from the California Institution for Men (CIM) in Chino as a catalyst for the spread of Covid-19 in the prison:
WHO eyes 2bn vaccine doses by end of 2021
The World Health Organization said Thursday that a few hundred million Covid-19 vaccine doses could be produced by the end of the year - and be targeted at those most vulnerable to the virus.
The UN health agency said it was working on that assumption, with a view to two billion doses by the end of 2021, as pharmaceutical firms rush to find a vaccine.
WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said researchers were working on more than 200 vaccine candidates around the world, including 10 that are in human testing.
“If we’re very lucky, there will be one or two successful candidates before the end of this year,” she told a virtual press conference.
She identified three groups most in need of the first wave of vaccine doses.
They are front-line workers with high exposure, such as medics and police officers; those most vulnerable to the disease, such as the elderly and diabetics; and people in high-transmission settings, such as urban slums and care homes.
Pharmaceutical company executives said late last month that one or several COVID-19 vaccines could begin rolling out before 2021, but warned that an estimated total of 15 billion doses would be needed to suppress the virus.
US questions new China virus figures, seeks observers
The United States on Thursday questioned China’s credibility on reporting fresh coronavirus cases in Beijing and called for neutral observers to assess the extent of the outbreak.
China has locked down the capital as it seeks to prevent a second wave of Covid-19, reporting 158 cases since a fresh cluster was detected last week.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an outspoken critic of China, urged greater transparency during talks Wednesday in Hawaii with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi.
“I would hope that their numbers and their reporting are more accurate than what we saw in the case of Wuhan and other places in the PRC, but that remains to be seen,” said David Stilwell, the top US diplomat for East Asia who accompanied Pompeo.
“As far as numbers, it would be good to have folks on the ground to get confirmation” in Beijing, he told reporters.
Stilwell pointed to reports in scientific journals that gave higher estimates for COVID-19 cases in Wuhan, the metropolis where the global pandemic was first detected late last year.
“So once your credibility is lost, you will have to find a way to re-establish that,” Stilwell said.
“I think the only way to do that is by bringing in neutral observers to help understand exactly what happened there.”
Summary
Hello and welcome to a new coronavirus blog with me, Helen Sullivan. I’ll be bringing you the latest pandemic news from around the world for the next few hours.
You can get in touch with me directly on Twitter @helenrsullivan, or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com. Questions, comments, jokes, news, tips, and, naturally, compliments all welcome.
The United States on Thursday questioned China’s credibility on reporting fresh coronavirus cases in Beijing and called for neutral observers to assess the extent of the outbreak. China has locked down the capital as it seeks to prevent a second wave of Covid-19, reporting 158 cases since a fresh cluster was detected last week.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an outspoken critic of China, urged greater transparency during talks Wednesday in Hawaii with senior Chinese official Yang Jiechi, as David Stilwell, the top US diplomat for East Asia who accompanied Pompeo, said ““I would hope that their numbers and their reporting are more accurate than what we saw in the case of Wuhan and other places in the PRC, but that remains to be seen.”
Meanwhile, as the global death toll passed 450,000 on Thursday, the World Health Organization said that a few hundred million Covid-19 vaccine doses could be produced by the end of the year - and be targeted at those most vulnerable to the virus. The UN health agency said it was working on that assumption, with a view to two billion doses by the end of 2021, as pharmaceutical firms rush to find a vaccine.
Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:
- Global death toll from Covid-19 passes 450,000. The number of people who have lost their lives in the pandemic so far stands at 451,118, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. There are 8,421,357 known cases worldwide. Both figures are likely to be higher, due to differing testing rates and definitions, time lags and suspected underreporting.
- Canada reaches 100,000 Covid-19 cases. Canada reached 100,000 cases of coronavirus on Thursday. The province of Ontario announced another 190 cases a day after public health agency data showed 99,853 people had been diagnosed positive. That pushed the country over the 100,000 mark and into 17th place on the global list.
- Iran nearing 10,000 deaths from Covid-19. Iran is approaching 10,000 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak in the country, according to official figures from the Ministry of Health. There have been nearly 200,000 people infected with the new coronavirus in the Islamic Republic and the number deaths in a single day from the pandemic topped 100 for the first time in two months on Sunday.
- WHO condemns football celebrations in Italy as ‘reckless’. The World Health Organization has condemned as “reckless” celebrations on the streets of Naples in Italy after Napoli’s 4-2 penalty win over Juventus in the Coppa Italia. Large crowds of fans congregated in the city, ignoring social distancing rules in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
- Chinese medical expert says coronavirus under control in Beijing. “The epidemic in Beijing has been brought under control,” said Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of China’s Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, although he said the capital can still expect sporadic new cases. The city has recorded 158 infections since confirming the first on 11 June in its worst outbreak since early February, which has been traced to the sprawling wholesale food centre of Xinfadi in the south-west of the city.
- WHO hopes hundreds of millions of vaccine doses can be produced this year. WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said: “I’m hopeful, I’m optimistic. But vaccine development is a complex undertaking, it comes with a lot of uncertainty”. She added: “The good thing is, we have many vaccines and platforms so even if the first one fails, or the second ones fails, we shouldn’t lose hope, we shouldn’t give up.”
- Thousands quarantined in Germany after local outbreak. In Germany’s western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, around 7,000 people have been placed in quarantine and schools and kindergartens have been closed after an outbreak of coronavirus. The spread is believed to have come from Tönnies, a meat processing plant in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, where there have been 657 confirmed cases of the virus. Elsewhere, Martin Hikel, mayor in the southern Berlin district of Neukölln, has said authorities are trying to trace the origins of a worrying new spread of the virus there, which has so far infected around 70 local residents.
- New York to reopen hairdressers, shops and outdoor dining spaces. The city will begin phase two of reopening on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday, citing continued improvements in coronavirus data. Offices, in-store retail, outdoor dining, hair salons and barbershops are among the businesses allowed to reopen their doors during phase two.
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