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Hi, Helen Sullivan joining you now.
I’ll be bringing you the lates pandemic news for the next few hours. Get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
Summary
Here are the main developments from the last few hours.
- Brazil recorded a further 14,521 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking its caseload to 4.14 million. The country registered 447 deaths over the same period, bringing the official toll to 126,650.
- Up to 300 people who attended a UK charity football match at a working men’s club on the border of Sunderland and Durham on 30 August have been asked to self-isolate after 28 tested positive for Covid-19.
- Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has backtracked on plans to impose lockdowns on towns with high infection rates, despite pleas from the country’s coronavirus tsar amid a spike in new cases. The government was expected to lock down dozens of towns after passing the milestone of 1,000 coronavirus deaths this weekend.
- Coronavirus cases are rising in 22 of the 50 US states, a Reuters analysis has found. Three weeks ago, cases were only rising in three states - Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota.
- Turkey recorded 1,578 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the health ministry said, bringing the country’s total to 279,806. A further 53 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the country’s official death toll to 6,673.
- Nearly half of Greeks (44%) would refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a poll of 1,000 respondents published on Sunday. Meanwhile, a survey of the same number of Brazilians found 5% would definitely snub a vaccine, while a further 20% expressed reluctance.
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Nearly 3,000 more people in the UK tested have positive for Covid-19, with 2,988 new cases reported on Sunday - a sharp increase from 1,813, and the highest number of new cases since 23 May. However, fatalities remain low, with two new deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported in the last 24 hours.
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The Isle of Man has recorded its first confirmed Covid-19 case since May, the chief minister has said. The person had returned to the island a week ago on a flight in which all passengers wore masks, and has been self-isolating at home for seven days. The chief minister stressed there is “no need for concern” as the case has been contained.
- The Australian government has announced Covid vaccine deals to provide 84.8m doses. The country will buy 84.8m vaccine doses for $1.7bn if two promising Covid-19 vaccine candidates prove successful.
Updated
Brazil recorded a further 14,521 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday.
This takes Brazil’s caseload to 4.14 million - the second highest in the world.
The country also registered 447 deaths over the same period, bringing the official toll to 126,650.
Small businesses in Victoria are “giving up” after the state’s roadmap out of coronavirus restrictions revealed Melbourne will remain under stage four lockdown for another two weeks, AAP reports.
Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell says owners are struggling under the weight of costs, including rent, equipment leases, loans and an accumulation of worker entitlements.
“What small businesses are telling us is that they are giving up,” she told Nine’s Today program. “For many of them, they are not going to be open until the end of November.”
Carnell said the Victorian government needed to step up and pick up some of the more prohibitive costs such as break lease fees, because “its not the business’ fault that they can’t open, it’s the government’s”.
“We are talking to the Victorian government and they will have to come to the party.”
Premier Daniel Andrews unveiled his much-anticipated four-step plan to ease the nation’s toughest coronavirus restrictions on Sunday.
Melbourne’s stage four restrictions will remain for another two weeks, although from 14 September the nightly curfew will start an hour later at 9pm and run until 5am.
People living alone will also be able to nominate a friend or family member who can visit, while two hours of daily exercise will be allowed, including “social interactions” such picnics in parks or reading books at the beach.
The curfew won’t be lifted until 26 October, with people able to leave home for non-essential reasons.
The lockdown will only lift on that date if the average number of new cases falls below five and there are fewer than five unknown source cases.
On Sunday, Victoria recorded 63 new cases and five more deaths, taking the state’s toll to 666 and the national figure to 753.
Updated
The head of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has denounced a possible freezing of the UK national living wage as “totally wrong”, as the Treasury reportedly considers backtracking on a planned pay rise for the lowest paid.
The hourly pay rate under the national living wage, the legal minimum paid to workers over the age of 25, was due to rise 6.2% from £8.72 to £9.21 in April, under targets set last December by the chancellor at the time, Sajid Javid.
More than 200 UN employees have been infected with Covid-19 in Syria, medical workers and UN officials have said.
UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Imran Riza, last week told UN heads of agencies that the global body was close to securing a medical facility for treatment of coronavirus cases.
“More than two hundred cases have been reported among UN staff members, some of whom have been hospitalised and three who were medically evacuated,” the official in Syria wrote in a letter, which was leaked to Reuters from an infected local staff member.
Humanitarian workers and medics said the actual number is “considerably higher”, including the hundreds of staff members working for NGO partners reporting to the several UN agencies in the country.
Riza said there had been a ten-fold spike in infections in Syria in the two months since he last briefed staff, referring to health ministry figures that say there have been 3,171 cases and 134 deaths since the first case was reported on 23 March.
Hundreds asked to self-isolate after outbreak at UK charity football match
Up to 300 people who attended a charity football match at a working men’s club on the border of Sunderland and Durham have been asked to self-isolate after 28 tested positive for Covid-19.
Those who attended the event at Burnside working men’s club on 30 August are being told to self-isolate until 13 September.
Amanda Healy Director of Public Health for Durham, said: “Contact tracing is being carried out with anyone deemed to be a close contact of someone who has tested positive, however we are also asking anyone who was at the charity event on Sunday 30 August to immediately self-isolate up until midnight on the 13th, unless they’re contacted individually by NHS Test and Trace with further advice.”
Breaking: Up to 300 people who were at a charity football match asked to self-isolate, after 28 test positive for #Covid_19
— SharonBarbourBBC (@SharonBarbour) September 6, 2020
Event was on 30 August at Burnside working men’s club (border of Sunderland and Durham)
Durham & Sunderland Council & @PHE_uk managing response.
Updated
Here’s a dispatch from Rosie Scammell in Jerusalem about Israeli PM Netanyahu’s U-turn on local lockdowns:
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has backtracked on plans to impose lockdowns on towns with high infection rates, despite pleas from the country’s coronavirus tsar amid a spike in new cases.
After Israel registered more than 3,000 coronavirus cases in a day last week, the government had announced dozens of cities would be put into lockdown in a bid to halt the rapid spread of the virus.
The new measures were expected to include closing businesses, schools, and preventing the majority of residents leaving the so-called “red cities”.
However, on Sunday Netanyahu’s announced the decision to scrap the government’s plans and instead opted for a nighttime curfew between 7pm and 5am from Monday in 40 cities, as well as closing schools in those areas. There will also be limits on gathering in those areas - up to 10 people in indoor spaces and a maximum of 20 outdoors.
The move has been widely seen as capitulating to the demands of his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners.
The lockdowns were expected to hit many ultra-Orthodox towns and were fiercely opposed by lawmakers representing those communities.
“This evening’s decision was considered, responsible and required by reality,” Netanyahu said.
Israel’s coronavirus lead, Ronni Gamzu, has however been pushing for lockdowns with the country’s death toll passing 1,000 over the weekend.
“I’ve been telling the ministers that this pandemic needs to be managed professionally, not politically,” said Gamzu, quoted by Israeli media.
Israel had initially been praised for its handling of the pandemic, imposing strict stay-home orders in March and banning visitors.
But the country was hit by a second wave of infections once the measures were scrapped, with the reopening of schools in May blamed for spreading the virus along with large gatherings such as weddings.
While health officials have pushed for tighter controls, the school year started as planned on 1 September in all but 23 towns with high infection rates.
Updated
Summary
Welcome to those of you just joining us. Here’s a quick round-up to get you up to speed.
As always, you can reach me by Twitter DM or by email.
- Coronavirus cases are rising in 22 of the 50 US states, a Reuters analysis has found. Three weeks ago, cases were only rising in three states - Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota.
- Turkey recorded 1,578 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the health ministry said, bringing the country’s total to 279,806. A further 53 people died in the past 24 hours, taking the country’s official death toll to 6,673.
- Nearly half of Greeks (44%) would refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a poll of 1,000 respondents published on Sunday. Meanwhile, a survey of the same number of Brazilians found 5% would definitely snub a vaccine, while a further 20% expressed reluctance.
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Nearly 3,000 more people in the UK tested have positive for Covid-19, with 2,988 new cases reported on Sunday - a sharp increase from 1,813, and the highest number of new cases since 23 May. However, fatalities remain low, with two new deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported in the last 24 hours.
- Israel is set to lock down several cities after passing the milestone of 1,000 coronavirus deaths this weekend. The government will hold a vote on the renewed lockdowns tomorrow.
- The Isle of Man has recorded its first confirmed Covid-19 case since May, the chief minister has said. The person had returned to the island a week ago on a flight in which all passengers wore masks, and has been self-isolating at home for seven days. The chief minister stressed there is “no need for concern” as the case has been contained.
- The Australian government has announced Covid vaccine deals to provide 84.8m doses. The country will buy 84.8m vaccine doses for $1.7bn if two promising Covid-19 vaccine candidates prove successful.
Updated
Another survey of attitudes towards a potential coronavirus vaccine has found 5% of Brazilians would turn down a vaccine “under any circumstances”, while a further 20% indicated they might refuse it, according to a survey published on Sunday in newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.
Of those who would hesitate to have the vaccine, 34% were in the 25-34 year-old range and 36% were evangelical Christians. 75% of respondents said they will have the vaccine when it becomes available.
1,000 people were surveyed across the country by non-governmental organisation Avaaz.
Last week Brazilian PM Bolsonaro - who has consistently downplayed the severity of the countr’s outbreak, where 126,203 people have died - reiterated that the vaccine will not be made compulsory when it becomes available.
Turkey recorded 1,578 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the health ministry said, bringing the country’s total to 279,806, Al Jazeera reports.
A further 53 people died from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the ministry said. The country’s official death toll stands at 6,673.
More than 251,105 people have now recovered from Covid-19, the health ministry said.
New coronavirus infections on the rise in 22 US states
Coronavirus cases are rising in 22 of the 50 US states, according to a Reuters analysis - a worrying pattern during Labour Day weekend, a holiday usually celebrated with parties to mark the end of the summer.
Only three weeks ago, cases were only rising in three states - Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota, according to Reuters. The news agency compared cases for the two-week period of 8-22 August with the last two weeks.
Most of the 22 states that have seen an increase in cases are in the Midwest and South.
As a percentage, South Dakota has seen the biggest rise over the past two weeks with an increase of 126% - over 3,700 new cases.
However, the increases across different states have been off set by a falling number of new infections in the most populous states of California, Florida and Texas.
The US continues to average around 1,000 new fatalities each day, as the total death toll approaches 190,000 - the highest total globally.
Updated
Nearly one in two Greeks would skip coronavirus vaccine, poll finds
Nearly half of Greeks would refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to a poll of 1,000 respondents published on Sunday.
44% of those surveyed said they would not use the vaccine if it were approved and provided freely, the study in Greek weekly To Vima said. The poll was carried out by Greek firm Metron Analysis.
The study found the refusal rate was 56% for those between 45 and 54, while 54% of 17- to 34-year-olds said they would snub it.
While the Greek government has said any approved Covid-19 vaccine would not be made compulsory, it will be “strongly recommended” to residents.
The poll also found that nearly one in five (17%) opposes masks-wearing requirements in public area, rising to 28% among the youngest.
UK health secretary Matt Hancock has commented on Sunday’s sharp rise in coronavirus cases, which saw nearly 3,000 more people test positive.
Hancock said: “The rise in the number of cases that we have seen today is concerning.
“The cases are predominantly among younger people but we have seen in other countries across the world and in Europe this sort of rise in the cases among younger people lead to a rise across the population as a whole, so it so important that people don’t allow this illness to infect their grandparents and to lead to the sort of problems that we saw earlier in the year.”
He emphasised the importance of social distancing in preventing the spread of infection.
Updated
Summary
Here are the main developments over the last few hours:
-
Nearly 3,000 more people in the UK tested have positive for Covid-19, with 2,988 new cases reported on Sunday - a sharp increase from 1,813, and the highest number of new cases since 23 May. However, fatalities remain low, with two new deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported in the last 24 hours.
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Israel is set to lock down several cities after passing the milestone of 1,000 coronavirus deaths this weekend. The government will hold a vote on the renewed lockdowns tomorrow.
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The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Scotland has increased by 208 to 21,397 in the past 24 hours, the Scottish government has said.There have been no new reported deaths of people who tested positive in the past 28 days.
- The Labour party and charities are urging ministers to help care homes in England receive more visitors, amid widespread warnings that isolation is causing many residents to deteriorate rapidly.
- The Isle of Man has recorded its first confirmed Covid-19 case since May, the chief minister has said. The person had returned to the island a week ago on a flight in which all passengers wore masks, and has been self-isolating at home for seven days. The chief minister stressed there is “no need for concern” as the case has been contained.
- Wales has recorded 98 new coronavirus cases, bringing the nation’s total to 18,381. There were no new deaths.
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The Australian government has announced Covid vaccine deals to provide 84.8m doses. The country will buy 84.8m vaccine doses for $1.7bn if two promising Covid-19 vaccine candidates prove successful.
France reported 7,071 new confirmed cases on Sunday, down from an increase of 8,550 the previous day and Friday’s all-time daily record of 8,975.
This brings France’s total to 324,777.
The country registered another three deaths, bringing the total to 30,701 deaths in hospitals and nursing homes.
The number of people hospitalised for the disease over the last seven days reached 1,704, of which 288 were in intensive care units.
Updated
Wondering why the UK death rate has declined while coronavirus cases rise? No one is completely sure why, but researchers have some ideas, including around the age of those infected and social distancing. Have a read here:
UK reports nearly 3,000 new cases
Nearly 3,000 more people in the UK tested have positive for Covid-19, with 2,988 new cases reported on Sunday.
This brings the UK total to 347,152 infections.
It’s a significant increase from yesterday’s newly reported cases - 1,813 - and the first time the UK has reported more than 2,000 new cases since May. This is the highest number of new cases since 23 May.
The number of new positive tests has risen since commercial tests began to be included in the total from between 15 June and 14 July for each nation.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, has pointed out that context is needed when looking at this data, saying: “Comparisons with earlier in year need a bit of context - back then we were testing far fewer people and mainly those in hospital, so reported case numbers then were likely to have been a much bigger underestimate of true prevalence.”
While the number of new cases has risen sharply, fatalities remain low, with the UK reporting two deaths within 28 days of a positive test in the last 24 hours. This brings the deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 41,551, according to government figures.
This is true. That said, comparisons with earlier in year need a bit of context - back then we were testing far fewer people and mainly those in hospital, so reported case numbers then were likely to have been a much bigger underestimate of true prevalence. https://t.co/BOrgbt5A2c
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) September 6, 2020
Updated
Israel is set to lock down several cities after passing the milestone of 1,000 coronavirus deaths this weekend.
According to AFP’s data, Israel has risen to be the fifth in the world for number of cases per capita over the last two weeks, putting the country if under nine million ahead of Brazil and the US.
The government will vote on the reimposition of lockdown measures on around 30 of the country’s worst-hit cities on Monday. This would see schools and non-essential businesses close.
While Israel initially appeared to be handling the pandemic well, deaths have tripled over the summer, leading to regular protests against PM Netanyahu’s management of the crisis.
Hello, my name is Clea Skopeliti and I’ll be bringing you the latest on the pandemic for the next few hours. You can reach me by Twitter DM or email with any tips or suggestions for coverage from your part of the world. Thanks in advance.
Scotland's Covid-19 cases increase by 208 to 21,397
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Scotland has increased by 208 to 21,397 in the past 24 hours, the Scottish government has said.
There have been no new reported deaths of people who tested positive in the past 28 days.
Meanwhile, there are 245 people in Scottish hospitals with confirmed Covid-19.
631,353 people in Scotland have been tested for #coronavirus
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) September 6, 2020
The total confirmed as positive has risen by 208 to 21,397
The number of deaths of patients who tested positive remains at 2,496
Latest update ➡️ https://t.co/bZPbrCoQux
Health advice ➡️ https://t.co/l7rqArB6Qu pic.twitter.com/PpejLBBzCw
Under the guise of the coronavirus pandemic, UK the government has announced plans to create online ID cards and a digital identity system to “revolutionise the use of data across government”.
Gracie Mae Bradley, interim director of human rights group Liberty, explains why this project is expensive, intrusive and unnecessary:
Urgent action needed to open up care homes for visits, ministers told
The Labour party and charities have called on ministers to take urgent action to help care homes in England receive more visitors, amid widespread warnings that isolation because of coronavirus is causing many residents to deteriorate rapidly.
Peter Walker has the full report:
Three more Covid-19 related deaths in English hospitals
Three people have died in English hospitals after testing positive Covid-19, NHS England said on Sunday.
These deaths bring the overall toll in England’s hospitals to 29,607.
The patients were aged between 69 and 89, all had known underlying health conditions and died between Friday and Saturday.
No deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
Updated
Isle of Man records first Covid case since May
The Isle of Man has recorded its first confirmed Covid-19 case since May, the chief minister has said.
Howard Quayle emphasised at a press briefing on Sunday there was “no cause for concern” after a resident tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday evening.
The person had travelled back to the island a week ago on a flight in which all passengers wore masks, and has been self-isolating at home for seven days. It was not specified which country the person returned from.
It is the island’s first recorded case since May 20, bringing the total number to 337.
“This single case has been contained and the risk to our community is extremely low,” he added. “Our contact tracing team will work to ensure there are no loose ends.”
Chief Minister Howard Quayle MHK has reassured the public that there is no cause for concern following a positive #COVID19 test result for a returning resident who has been, and remains, in self-isolation. You can watch the update here 👉 https://t.co/mjPWoNyjoq #IsleofMan #Manx
— Isle of Man Government (@IOMGovernment) September 6, 2020
He said those who have been in close contact with this person for more than 15 minutes will be asked to self-isolate and that there are “no reasons to think we have Covid in our community”.
Health minister David Ashford said “no high risk contacts had been identified” so far and that the person who tested positive will undergo a further 14 days of self-isolation.
Islanders are are free to continue going about their “daily lives as normal” and schools will still resume on Wednesday, Quayle said.
Updated
‘I was hammered for the first month of lockdown’ – meet the people who quit alcohol in the pandemic
Despite stories of people drinking more when confined to home, for many this has been a time to tackle their dependency.
Sirin Kale examines:
Wales records 98 new coronavirus cases
There have been no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Wales, health officials have said.
The total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic remains at 1,597.
Public Health Wales said the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country had increased by 98, bringing the revised confirmed cases to 18,381.
They are small towns along the Canadian-American border, marooned by geography, whose residents’ lives have already been upended by the border closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.
But with winter approaching, residents of Campobello Island in Canada’s Atlantic province of New Brunswick and the small US town of Point Roberts in Washington state are bracing for continued isolation adding to winter blues, exposing how tightly intertwined are communities that straddle an international border.
Campobello Island, located off the coast of the US state of Maine, is accessible only by a private ferry service that runs during the summer or by driving through Maine, which connects to the island via a bridge.
The lack of easy access to the rest of Canada has long been an issue, but is compounded by the pandemic, said Justin Tinker, 34, a civil engineer whose family has lived on Campobello Island for 10 generations.
Residents of the island have to pass through the United States to go to a hospital on the Canadian mainland, but they now could wind up being turned away from the hospital because they’ve been to the US within the last two weeks, Tinker said.
“Campobello’s always come together when it needs to, but there’s anxiety,” said Tinker, who blames the province for dragging its feet on the lack of a solution. “Once that ferry stops running we can’t get to Campobello Island within our own province.”
Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
Across the continent, Point Roberts, a town of around 1,300 year-round residents in Washington state, sits on the tip of Canada’s Tsawwassen Peninsula. Its proximity to Canada has made the local economy reliant on Canadian visitors, but also means that locals rely on an open border to access healthcare and other facilities.
“We have five gas stations. We don’t have five gas stations for 1,000 people,” said Christopher Carleton, fire chief for Point Roberts, explaining the reliance on Canadians, who cross the border to buy gas that is roughly a third cheaper.
Carleton has been raising the alarm about an impending mental health crisis among residents in Point Roberts as their isolation looks likely to drag on into the winter. His efforts bring more attention to the plight of Point Roberts residents, though pressure on state and federal politicians hasn’t paid off so far.
Washington state Governor Jay Inslee wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in August, asking him to address the “unique hardships” faced by Point Roberts residents.
The U.S.-Canada border is closed for non-essential travel until Sept. 21.
South Korea’s trainee physicians are set to continue striking over the government’s plans to reform its medical sector to better handle future epidemics, Reuters reports.
The nation’s efforts to fight the coronavirus had been complicated by a strike of 16,000 interns and resident doctors who oppose the government’s planned reforms.
The top medical body agreed on Friday to end the walkout, only to face an immediate backlash from trainee doctors who rejected the deal and continued the strike.
Trainee physicians do not plan to comply with the agreement and plan to decide when to return to work on Monday, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.
The South Korean government and the ruling Democratic party on Sunday agreed to pursue a fourth supplementary budget worth more than 7 trillion won ($5.90 billion), most of which would be funded by treasury bonds, a Democratic party spokesperson said in a statement.
The party plans to submit the budget plan to parliament this week for implementation before the Chuseok holiday, in order to provide emergency support for people impacted by the coronavirus.
Australian government announces Covid vaccine deals to provide 84.8m doses
Australia will buy 84.8m vaccine doses at a cost of $1.7bn if two promising Covid-19 vaccine candidates prove successful, under deals negotiated by the Morrison government.
The deals promising onshore manufacture of the University of Oxford vaccine by AstraZeneca and the University of Queensland vaccine by CSL will be announced by Scott Morrison with the health minister, Greg Hunt, and the science minister, Karen Andrews, on Monday.
Paul Karp has the full report:
The Northern Ireland Prison Service has confirmed that an inmate at the top security Maghaberry jail outside Belfast has tested positive for Covid-19.
The remand prisoner arrived at the prison on Thursday, it said.
He is the first prisoner to test positive for the virus in Northern Ireland, a Prison Service statement said.
“As with all new committals during the pandemic he was separated from the main prisoner population to ensure the safety of staff and other prisoners. He is being cared for by our staff and colleagues from the South Eastern Trust. His family have been informed.
“The robust processes put in place in response to the pandemic have ensured this has been contained, and the Prison Service will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of everyone in our prisons during these challenging times,” the Prison Service added.
Summary
The major developments to have taken place in the past few hours include:
- French authorities have placed seven more departments – covering major cities such as Lille, Strasbourg and Dijon – on high alert amid an acceleration in new Covid-19 infections. Twenty-eight of France’s 101 mainland and overseas departments are now considered “red zones” where authorities will be able to impose exceptional measures to slow the number of new coronavirus cases.
- Researchers in Costa Rica are due to begin trials of an inexpensive coronavirus treatment based on antibodies taken from horses injected with the virus that causes Covid-19. Developed by University of Costa Rica’s Clodomiro Picado Institute (ICP), the equine antibodies medication is to be tested on 26 patients from mid-September, Roman Macaya, president of the Social Security Fund that manages public health centres.
- Unconvicted defendants awaiting trial in prison face longer stints behind bars as UK ministers plan to increase custody time limits to ease the pressure of a rising backlog of court cases, the Guardian understands. The coronavirus lockdown temporarily halted jury trials in March and despite the government creating “nightingale” courts, there are more than 500,000 cases yet to be heard in magistrates and crown courts, an increase of about 100,000 on pre-pandemic levels.
- Israel’s Covid-19 death toll has passed 1,000 as the government considers new restrictions to curb a rise in infections. Since reopening the economy in May, new cases have spiked to record levels and the government has been blamed for mismanaging the resurgence.
- Nearly 100 people have been arrested in Hong Kong as riot officers swooped on democracy protesters opposed to the postponement of local elections due to Covid-19. Sunday was meant to be voting day for the city’s partially elected legislature – but the city’s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam suspended the polls for a year citing the coronavirus, angering the pro-democracy opposition.
- MPs could be tested for coronavirus every day to allow them to fill the House of Commons, according to the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. Hoyle told Times Radio on Sunday morning he shares Boris Johnson’s ambition to see parliament “back to normal” by Christmas but would not “compromise health and safety”. He added that he had spoken to the NHS and government about getting a “a quick turnaround of tests” to enable more MPs to enter into the chamber.
Updated
Berlusconi ‘responding optimally’ to Covid-19 treatment
Former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is “responding optimally” to Covid-19 treatment but cannot yet “claim victory” over the virus, his personal doctor said.
Dr Alberto Zangrillo on Sunday said he remains cautiously optimistic about Berlusconi’s recovery, AP reports.
The three-time premier turns 84 in a few weeks and has had a history of heart problems that required being fitted with a pacemaker several years ago.
He checked into the San Raffaele hospital in Milan early Friday after testing positive for the virus earlier in the week. At the time he had the early stages of a lung infection.
“The patient is responding optimally to treatment,” Zangrillo told reporters outside the hospital. “This doesnt mean we can claim victory because, as you know, he belongs to the most fragile category, given his age.”
Data from Italys Superior Institute of Health indicates that men aged 80-87 have the highest Covid-19 death rate among all cases in Italy, at 47%.
Zangrillo suggested Berlusconi wouldn’t be released anytime soon, recalling that the virus requires adequate treatment and takes its time.
Berlusconi spent some of his summer vacation at his seaside villa on Sardinias Emerald Coast. Many of Italys recent cases of Covid-19 have been linked to clusters in people who vacationed in Sardinia.
The pandemic has made a rise in violence “almost inevitable”, a police and crime commissioner said after a series of stabbings in Birmingham city centre left one person dead and seven others injured.
West Midlands police and crime commissioner David Jamieson told reporters on Sunday:
I have been saying for some time, in the context of Covid-19, that a lot of the pent-up feelings of people have, and not being able to get out, and combine that with people who are now unsure about their future and about their jobs, it was almost inevitable that we would see a growth in violence.
I’m not saying that this is directly related to that, but nevertheless we are seeing now a growth of violence among younger people, particularly younger males, we’re seeing that growing across the region.
My fear is that if we don’t address that and some of the underlying problems with some urgency then we could see that grow.
But, notwithstanding that, Birmingham is a good place, it’s a good place to be, it’s a safe city and it is regrettable that this awful incident happened last night.
Read the latest on the murder probe in Birmingham here:
How much did the Covid-19 lockdown really cost the UK?
Economists have conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the blanket shutdown. Over and above the direct damage caused to the economy, the collateral damage from the Covid-19 pandemic has been colossal.
An obvious question, therefore, is was it worth it? Have the costs of shutting down a great chunk of Britain for three months and leaving many restrictions in place after six months been outweighed by the benefits?
Economics editor Larry Elliot takes a closer look here:
‘Gossiping is a plague worse than Covid’ – Pope
Pope Francis has described gossiping as “a plague worse than Covid” which is seeking to divide the Catholic Church, AP reports.
Francis on Sunday strayed from his prepared text to double down on his frequent complaint about gossiping within church communities and even within the Vatican bureaucracy.
He did not give specifics during his weekly blessing, but went on at some length to say the devil is the biggest gossiper who is seeking to divide the church with his lies.
“Please brothers and sisters, let’s try to not gossip,” he said. “Gossip is a plague worse than Covid. Worse. Let’s make a big effort: No gossiping!”
Francis comments came as he elaborated on a Gospel passage about the need to correct others privately when they do something wrong.
The Catholic hierarchy has long relied on this fraternal correction among priests and bishops to correct them when they err without airing problems in public.
Survivors of sexual abuse have said this form of private reprimand has allowed abuse to fester in the church and let both predator priests and superiors who covered up for them escape punishment.
French authorities have placed seven more departments – covering major cities such as Lille, Strasbourg and Dijon – on high alert amid an acceleration in new Covid-19 infections, AFP reports.
Twenty-eight of France’s 101 mainland and overseas departments are now considered “red zones” where authorities will be able to impose exceptional measures to slow the number of new coronavirus cases.
The move comes as France reported a record of nearly 9,000 daily cases on Friday, and a further 8,550 cases in the past 24 hours on Saturday.
Paris and the Bouches-du-Rhone department, encompassing the southeastern city of Lyon, were the first to be placed on high alert by the government on August 14.
That prompted local officials to make face masks compulsory in all public spaces to slow the virus’s spread, in hope of avoiding a spike in cases that could again overwhelm hospitals as autumn approaches.
The Sante Publique France health agency, which has warned of “exponential” caseload increases, said on Saturday that 53 new outbreak clusters had been discovered in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number under investigation to 484.
Twelve more Covid-19 deaths were reported, bringing the overall toll to 30,698 since March.
Concerns over infection risks have already prompted officials to close 22 schools after cases were detected just days after students returned from the summer break last week, and dozens of individual classes have also been suspended.
On Sunday, the government said pre-school teachers as well as those with deaf students would soon be given transparent masks to facilitate comprehension at a crucial education stage for young children.
“More than 100,000 of these masks will be produced by the end of this month,” the state secretary in charge of people with disabilities, Sophie Cluzel, told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
Researchers in Costa Rica are due to begin trials of an inexpensive coronavirus treatment based on antibodies taken from horses injected with the virus that causes Covid-19, Reuters reports.
Developed by University of Costa Rica’s Clodomiro Picado Institute (ICP), the equine antibodies medication is to be tested on 26 patients from mid-September, Roman Macaya, president of the Social Security Fund that manages public health centers, told Reuters.
Costa Rican authorities hope to be able to begin applying the treatment more widely in hospitals if the results from the phase 2 study are encouraging. There are 471 hospitalized coronavirus patients in Costa Rica.
Alberto Alape, a project coordinator at ICP, said:
We are proud to know that this product will save lives until the vaccine reaches the population.
We do it with our resources, without having to stand in line or compete against other countries, as can be seen with possible vaccines.
Similar efforts are also underway in Argentina and Brazil, while scientists in Belgium are using llamas.
Costa Rican researchers say their method for this treatment is based on the experience of using horse antibodies to develop snake anti-venoms.
They imported the virus protein from China and the United Kingdom and injected it into six of the 110 horses that the IPC uses for testing.
Weeks later, when the animals developed enough antibodies, they extracted blood and used the antibodies from the plasma as raw material for the injectable serum.
If it works, the researchers say they want to share the inexpensive treatment with other Central American nations, which are mostly poorer than Costa Rica.
“In addition to the principle of solidarity and the fact that this has been done with anti-venom for snakebites, we know that in a pandemic, one’s own well-being is related to the well-being of neighbors,” Alape said.
Custody time limit to be increased to ease court case backlog in England
Unconvicted defendants awaiting trial in prison face longer stints behind bars as ministers plan to increase custody time limits to ease the pressure of a rising backlog of court cases, the Guardian understands.
The coronavirus lockdown temporarily halted jury trials in March and despite the government creating “nightingale” courts, there are more than 500,000 cases yet to be heard in magistrates and crown courts, an increase of about 100,000 on pre-pandemic levels.
Read the full report:
Israel's Covid-19 death toll passes 1,000
Israel’s Covid-19 death toll has passed 1,000 as the government considers new restrictions to curb a rise in infections, AP reports.
Israel had earned praise for its early handling of the virus crisis and imposing tight movement restrictions.
Since reopening the economy in May, however, new cases have spiked to record levels and the government has been blamed for mismanaging the resurgence.
Weekly protests against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his corruption trial have expanded to include demonstrations against his handling of the health crisis and the resulting economic pain.
More than 3,000 new cases a day have been confirmed in the most recent spike, raising the spectre of a renewed nationwide lockdown.
Under heavy public pressure, Netanyahu in July appointed Dr. Ronni Gamzu, a respected hospital director and former Health Ministry director, as the national coronavirus project manager.
Gamzu has issued recommendations for restrictions on numerous so-called red cities that have seen the most widespread outbreaks.
Several Arab towns and ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods have been hit especially hard and are expected to be included in the list.
The government is expected to convene Sunday to vote on which cities and neighbourhoods could go under some form of lockdown. Those included will likely face new restrictions on movement within the city limits, a ban on entering or leaving the locality and a suspension of all in-person school activities.
Overall, Israel has recorded nearly 130,000 cases of the virus, with more than 26,000 still active.
Upon Gamzu’s recommendation, the military established a task force last month to bring the outbreak under control. Its main responsibility is taking the lead in contact tracing and breaking chains of infection.
Daily Covid-19 testing is not a “very practical proposition” to encourage more peers to return to the House of Lords, Baron Lansley has said.
The Conservative peer and former health secretary’s remarks come after Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle suggested MPs could face daily tests in order to fill the house.
“The average age is 70 in the Lords,” Andrew Lansley told Times Radio, adding that bringing peers together would present a risk.
“I don’t see any immediate prospect of that,” he said.
He said he was last in the chamber on Wednesday to scrutinise the Medicines Bill, when there were more than 24 peers present.
Nearly 100 people have been arrested in Hong Kong as riot officers swooped on democracy protesters opposed to the postponement of local elections due to Covid-19, Agence France Presse reports.
Sunday was meant to be voting day for the city’s partially elected legislature, one of the few instances where Hong Kongers get to cast ballots.
But the city’s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam suspended the polls for a year citing the coronavirus, angering the pro-democracy opposition who had been hoping to capitalise on seething anti-government sentiment.
Hundreds of riot police flooded the district of Kowloon in a bid to thwart online calls for flash mob protests to mark the suspended vote.
Throughout the afternoon police were heckled by people shouting slogans such as “Give me back my vote!” and “Corrupt cops!” as officers conducted multiple stop and searches and ordered crowds to disperse.
In a Facebook statement, police said at least 90 people were arrested by 5pm, mostly for unlawful assembly.
One woman was detained under a new security law Beijing imposed on the city for chanting independence slogans, the force added.
Live images showed three prominent pro-democracy politicians - Leung Kwok-hung, Figo Chan and Raphael Wong - were among those held.
The protests came hours after the police’s newly formed national security unit arrested Tam Tak-chi, another democracy activist and radio DJ, for “uttering seditious words” – a colonial era offence.
How Sardinia went from safe haven to hotspot
The port of Civitavecchia, located about 50 miles from Rome, would ordinarily be bustling with cruise passengers. Today, the most salient feature is a Covid-19 drive-through centre, where people travelling by ferry to or from the island of Sardinia and Spain can voluntarily be tested for the virus.
The facility was quickly established after a surge in cases in the Lazio region, which have mostly been linked to young people who holidayed on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda, a stretch of coastline in the north-east of the island to where the wealthy gravitate.
Read the full report:
Updated
South Korea has reported its smallest rise in coronavirus infections in three weeks as tighter restrictions cap a second wave, Reuters reports.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) recorded 167 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 168 the previous day.
That brings the country’s total infections to 21,177, with 334 Covid-19-related deaths. Success in crushing early outbreaks was partially reversed after a wave of infections among members of a church spread when they attended a political rally in mid-August.
Daily infections have hovered below 200 for four days after peaking at 441 in late August, as tougher social distancing curbs have taken effect.
The measures have included unprecedented restrictions on eateries in the Seoul area, where the spread is concentrated, banning onsite dining after 9pm and limiting coffee and bakery franchises to takeout and delivery all day.
The government on Friday extended the curbs until September 13, saying more time is needed to induce sharper drops in new infections.
“With stricter social distancing rules, new coronavirus cases have continued to drift down and we expect to see drops in new cases,” Sohn Young-rae, a spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, said in a briefing.
Sohn urged people to continue to follow social distancing guidelines for another week by refraining from going outside and having meetings to further curb the outbreak.
Health authorities recommended that people should not return to their hometowns or visit relatives for the Chuseok holiday, Korea’s Thanksgiving holiday and one of the country’s largest, which starts at the end of September and lasts until early October.
Health authorities said they are not planning on restricting people from going to their hometowns during the holiday.
South Korea’s efforts to fight the coronavirus have been complicated by a strike of 16,000 interns and resident doctors who oppose the government’s plans to reform the medical sector to better handle future epidemics.
The country’s top medical body agreed on Friday with the government to end the walkout, only to face an immediate backlash from trainee doctors who rejected the deal and continued the strike.
The trainee physicians are likely to return to work on Monday, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.
Commons Speaker: test MPs every day
MPs could be tested for coronavirus every day to allow them to fill the House of Commons, according to the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Hoyle told Times Radio on Sunday morning he shares Boris Johnson’s ambition to see parliament “back to normal” by Christmas but would not “compromise health and safety”, the BBC reports.
He added that he had spoken to the NHS and government about getting a “a quick turnaround of tests” to enable more MPs to enter into the chamber.
“To be quite honest with you, I’d like to do it daily, not weekly. The problem is weekly testing doesn’t tell you anything,” Hoyle said, on the prospect of regular testing.
He agreed with Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg that masks would make it harder for MPs to be recognised and make speeches.
Updated
Embattled Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has said that those calling for his resignation “underestimate his resolve” as well as his mandate from the party.
Yesterday the Observer reported that a grassroots campaign demanding his resignation, as well as no-confidence vote by its ruling body, were both being drawn up by party insiders in a last-ditch attempt to topple him ahead of crucial Holyrood elections next may, after a series of resignations and calls for his departure failed to remove Leonard.
But Leonard told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday morning: “Prior to my election as the leader just under three years ago, we’d had five leaders of the Scottish Labour Party in six years and so the mandate that I was given by the members when they convincingly elected me to be the leader was to campaign on a radical agenda but it was also to be the leader going into the May 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.”
He said that Scottish Labour’s trailing poll position was “part of a long-term trend”, but added that he believed the pandemic would move people’s focus on from constitutional questions – despite support for a independence showing a consistent majority for the first time in Scottish polling history.
“Brexit dominated last December’s election not only in the rest of the UK but in Scotland as well, I think that there is a new climate of politics in Scotland that will allow us to start to get our messages across.”
Many Americans face bleak winter as Covid takes toll on mental health
Every winter, as the days get shorter, darker and colder, millions of Americans suffer debilitating psychological symptoms that can interfere with every aspect of life at home, work and school.
This winter, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a form of clinical depression affecting at least 5% of American adults, will strike after a summer of unprecedented losses and turmoil, and amid mounting fears of further health, economic and political chaos.
Read the full report:
Covid-19 has spread around the planet, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. Find out where the virus has spread, and where it has been most deadly.
Indonesia has reported 3,444 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
The increase brings the national total to 194,109, according to data published on the health ministry’s website.
The country also reported 85 new deaths on Sunday, taking the total to 8,025 – the highest coronavirus death toll in southeast Asia.
Statistician David Spiegelhalter has criticised the PM’s claims that increased Covid testing at airports would create a “false sense of confidence” among travellers.
Boris Johnson told the BBC only 7% of cases would be picked up through airport testing.
This means that “93% of the time you could have a real false sense of security, a false sense of confidence when you arrive and take a test,” he added.
“This is hopelessly wrong,” tweeted Prof Spiegelhalter.
“Even if 7% were true (evidence?) the vast majority of people will have *correct* negative tests.”
PM says airport test would only pick up 7% of cases, and this means "93% of the time you could have a real false sense of security”. This is hopelessly wrong. Even if 7% were true (evidence?) the vast majority of people will have *correct* negative tests https://t.co/3dMy8gGlk4
— David Spiegelhalter (@d_spiegel) September 6, 2020
Updated
Why is it that while the UK’s Covid-19 cases are rising, deaths continue to fall?
The government’s Covid-19 dashboard shows cases have risen steadily from their lowest point on 1 July when the rolling seven-day average was down to 574. By 30 August it had more than doubled, to 1,402 a day. Yet the death rate has declined steadily over the same period: from a rolling average of 37.4 per day to 4.6 per day. No one is sure why. But here are some explanations researchers are examining:
Responding to UK Labour’s call for increased Covid-19 testing at airports, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said it is “not a silver bullet”.
“The reason we can’t introduce testing reliably at airports is because the success rate is one in 10,” he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.
Updated
Prof Sridhar added that she is “a little bit worried” about the pressure the government’s back-to-work push will place on England’s test-and-trace system alongside its back-to-school push.
“When testing and tracing starts to break down that’s when you need to start your local restrictions,” she said.
“I think that’s where we are now. We’re unlikely to have another national lockdown.”
Updated
The impact of children returning to school in England on the rate of coronavirus infections is “in our hands”, according to public health expert Prof Devi Sridhar.
Sridhar, chair of global public health and Edinburgh University, told Sky’s Sophie Ridge on Sunday that it will come down to the effectiveness of England’s testing and tracing system.
“It’s really in our hands,” she said.
She pointed towards Denmark as an example of where school returns had been handled well, compared to Israel where infections have “skyrocketed”.
Russia has reported 5,195 new Covid-19 cases and 61 deaths in the past 24 hours, Reuters reports.
This compares to 5,205 new cases and 110 deaths the previous day.
China has reportedly launched a “PR blitz” to change perceptions of Wuhan, the city whose name is now synonymous with the pandemic’s ground zero. Agence-France Presse has this report:
China is recasting Wuhan as a heroic coronavirus victim and trying to throw doubt on the pandemic’s origin story as it aims to seize the narrative at a time of growing global distrust of Beijing.
The PR blitz plays out daily in comments by Chinese officials and lavish state media coverage of a “reborn” Wuhan that trumpets China’s epidemic-control efforts and economic recovery while the United States struggles.
The drive peaked in the past week as Chinese primary schools welcomed back students with considerable fanfare and Wuhan hosted executives from dozens of multinationals, from Panasonic to Dow and Nokia, on a highly choreographed tour of the central Chinese city.
“There are few places in the world today where you don’t need a mask and can gather,” a Chinese official, Lin Songtian, told the executives, implying that Wuhan was one of those places.
“This testifies to Wuhan’s triumph over the virus and that (the city) is back in business.”
Lost in this retelling, however, is that a wet market in Wuhan is widely believed to be ground zero for the pandemic.
China’s foreign minister suggested on August 28 during a European outreach trip that the virus might not have emerged in China.
The drive indicates China recognises Covid-19’s damage to its brand and wants to leverage its relatively successful recovery to counter growing international challenges, analysts said.
China faces foreign bitterness over the virus and an initial cover-up attempt by Wuhan officials, plus criticism of Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong Kong and generally more aggressive international posture.
“Beijing wants the narrative to be: we handled it, we can help you handle it and (hopefully) we’re the first to have a vaccine that works,” said Kelsey Broderick, Asia analyst with Eurasia Group.
“That’s really the only way China can come out ahead of the idea that a wet market in Wuhan started this crisis.”
The fumbling US pandemic response provides a clear opening, said Yun Jiang, director of Australian National University’s China Policy Centre.
“The fact that the US is not only not doing enough, but actually doing things that go against American interests, is a big help to China,” she said.
The three-day Wuhan tour also included foreign media outlets and ended Saturday.
The city of 11 million - which suffered more than 80 percent of China’s 4,634 Covid-19 deaths - has come a long way since the pandemic’s grim early days, when a suffocating weeks-long lockdown rendered it a ghost town.
No new local transmissions have been reported in months, traffic jams are back, shoppers cram malls, and al fresco diners gobble up the city’s signature spicy crayfish dish.
But not everyone is taking a victory lap.
Many Wuhan citizens express persistent concern over an uneven recovery and fear of new outbreaks.
“The economy has really declined. The benefit of even coming to work is questionable,” said Yi Xinhua, 51, who sells tofu from her stall at a Wuhan wet market.
And memories of a subsequent virus cluster in May, which triggered a citywide effort to test millions, remain fresh.
“Everyone is afraid the epidemic will return, you know? The summer is over, and winter is coming,” said Yi.
“We’ve recovered a bit. But if the virus comes back, we’ll be hit again.”
As many people in the UK take their first steps into the post-pandemic landscape, the Observer’s Nosheen Iqbal spoke to workers and parents who expressed cautious optimism:
Explore airport testing to minimise quarantine, Labour urges
The UK must explore increased Covid-19 testing options at airports to reduce the number of travellers required to quarantine for 14-days, the Labour party has urged.
In a letter to home secretary Priti Patel, the opposition said the “dire warnings” from the travel sector about the use of “chaotic” blanket self-isolation advice meant it was time to review the methods being used to prevent the spread of Covid-19 from those returning to the UK from abroad.
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said a “robust testing regime in airports” could minimise the need for those returning from countries with high coronavirus prevalence to quarantine for two weeks.
He also said “serious concerns” about the low-level of monitoring of incoming travellers, claiming “less than a third of passenger locator forms are checked”, were another reason why a review was required.
The UK government has been making weekly decisions in response to rising coronavirus rates in Europe and beyond, opting to reimpose travel restrictions where the risk of infection is escalating.
Holidaymakers in France, Spain and the Netherlands have all been caught out by the changes in recent weeks as ministers have introduced, in some cases with only a few hours’ notice, regulations forcing those returning to self-isolate for 14 days.
But Mr Thomas-Symonds said the quarantine was having a “dire” impact on the travel industry.
He has called on ministers to carry out a “rapid review” of the current protocols and consider introducing more testing at airports.
In his letter to Ms Patel, Mr Thomas-Symonds wrote:
I write to call for a rapid review to fix chaotic quarantine arrangements that are losing public confidence and undermining our ability to keep people safe and save jobs.
In order to rebuild this trust I am calling on government to undertake a review into quarantine policy, to report within a fortnight.
It should include outlining options for a robust testing regime in airports, and related follow up tests, that could help to safely minimise the need for 14-day quarantine.
It is clear that ramped up testing is an important part of trying to respond to the pandemic and safely reopen society.
Given the huge challenges being faced by the travel sector and the scale of job losses, it makes sense to look at this area as part of a wider package of improvements to the testing regime.
There has been confusion across the UK in recent days after Scotland and Wales reintroduced quarantine measures for those returning from Portugal but England and Northern Ireland did not.
Scotland also applied self-isolation rules to Greece and Wales did the same for six Greek islands, including Zante and Crete, while
Westminster and Stormont have so far resisted tightening the travel guidance for the Mediterranean country.
Airlines have also criticised the use of quarantine measures as they face large job cuts due to Covid-inspired lockdowns around the globe reducing travellers numbers.
Virgin Atlantic announced on Friday it plans to axe another 1,150 jobs after completing a 1.2 billion rescue deal.
The further job losses come less than four months after the carrier ditched 3,150 roles and ended its operations at Gatwick Airport due to the collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A Government spokeswoman told PA news agency:
We are taking clear and decisive action to slow the spread of the virus and save lives.
We keep the data for all countries and territories under constant review, and if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolating becomes too high we will not hesitate to remove countries from the travel corridors exemptions list.
Work is ongoing with clinicians, the devolved administrations and the travel industry to consider if and how testing could be used in the future to reduce the self-isolation period.
Any potential change to the testing for arrivals would need to be robust in minimising the chance that positive cases are missed.
Hello, this is Aaron Walawalkar in London here. I’ll be bringing you the latest global developments in the coronavirus pandemic for the next few hours.
As always, please do send me any of your comments, tips or suggestions for coverage by DM on Twitter @AaronWala or by email aaron.walawalkar.casual@theguardian.com
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. Thanks for following along.
My colleague Aaron Walawalkar will take it from here.
Summary
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- In Australia, the premier of Victoria state has extended tough lockdown conditions in Melbourne for six more weeks as Australia’s second largest city works to contain the second wave of Covid-19 cases that has caused 646 deaths to date.
- Mexico has recorded an extra 122,765 deaths above expectations during the pandemic up to August, the health ministry said on Saturday in a report about excess mortality rates, suggesting Mexico’s true coronavirus toll could be much higher.
- Portugal reported 486 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, its biggest daily increase since the week its lockdown was lifted in May.
- The UK recorded 1,813 new infections on Saturday, slightly down from the 1,940 cases that were reported Friday, the highest figure since 30 May.
- Brazil recorded 30,168 additional confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, as well as 682 deaths from the disease, and remains the second-worst affected country globally.
- France reported 8,550 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, slightly down from Friday’s new all-time record of 8,975 daily additional infections.
- Covid-19 could now be endemic in some parts of England that combine severe deprivation, poor housing and large BAME communities, according to a highly confidential government analysis.
- Democratic US vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she would not trust Donald Trump with a potential coronavirus vaccine.
- The lengthy coronavirus shutdown of pubs in Ireland that’s beenin place since mid-March has hit rural communities particularly hard.
- Several thousand people rallied on Saturday in the Croatian capital Zagreb to protest against coronavirus measures, which they said endangered human rights and freedoms.
- About 1,000 people demonstrated in the heart of Rome on Saturday against the mandatory wearing of face masks and compulsory vaccination for schoolchildren.
Can the opinion polls be trusted, or are they missing “hidden” Trump voters? Could Biden, like Clinton, win the popular vote but lose the electoral college? Will people vote by mail, despite the president’s efforts to undermine the postal service, or feel safe queuing to vote on election day in the middle of a global pandemic? Will the result be known on election night or take days or even weeks? Could the result – like 2000 – by decided in the courts?
It is a question that puzzles both those on the front line fighting Covid 19 and the experts developing strategies to combat its next move: why has London not seen a second flare-up when other parts of the UK are now having to introduce new lockdown restrictions?
“It’s a bit of an enigma, given that London very definitely led during the initial peak,” said Professor David Alexander, who is based at the Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction at University College London.
Six months ago, the capital was hit hard and hit first by the pandemic. Wards were converted to treat Covid-19 patients and a temporary hospital was opened in London’s Docklands amid concerns that the capital’s health system would collapse.
But talk to doctors who were re-purposed to fight the pandemic back then and the picture now is very different:
Most hospitals in England will fall short of official demands to increase their services back to almost pre-Covid levels next month as they continue to deal with the fallout from the pandemic, health service insiders have warned.
An official edict by NHS England called on trusts across the country to return a series of services back to 90% of activity levels seen before the crisis hit. However, insiders warned that the continued need for extra precautions to cope with Covid-19 meant some hospital trusts would still be 30% below their pre-crisis capacity:
The Victorian government released its roadmap for easing coronavirus lockdown restrictions on Sunday 6 September. Face masks will remain compulsory, with the premier, Daniel Andrews, saying they are a “high reward, low cost” measure.
This is what was outlined, with Melbourne’s stage-four restrictions extended for two weeks:
A further six people have been charged following yesterday’s unauthorised protest activity in Sydney and Byron Bay, NSW police have said.
High-visibility policing operations were launched in response to protests yesterday (Saturday) to ensure the safety of participants, as well as the community and local businesses.
At Sydney Olympic Park, general duties officers, assisted by specialist resources, were deployed to ensure the demonstrations were peaceful and lawful.
Two men – aged 45 and 34 – were arrested at a park. They were both granted conditional bail to appear at Burwood local court on 24 September.
In Byron Bay, four men have been charged following yesterday’s protests at parks on Jonsons Street and Bay Street. They were granted conditional bail to appear at Byron Bay local court on 28 September.
In total, NSW police charged nine people and issued 81 infringement notices of $1000 for alleged breaches of the current public health orders.
Police continue to appeal to the community to report suspected breaches of any ministerial direction or behaviour which may impact on the health and safety of the community.
Updated
Business groups have attacked the Victorian Labor government’s roadmap out of the state’s coronavirus crisis, saying it only delivers more despair, AAP reports.
Under the government’s plan announced on Sunday, there will be no substantial change for vulnerable retail and hospitality operators for another seven weeks and even then some restrictions will remain.
But Premier Daniel Andrews, pointing to his own family’s small business background, said there was no other way to get to “COVID-normal” conditions.
“We will get these businesses open as soon as we can,” he told reporters.
“I’m disappointed too that I cannot have better news for people today but false hope is no hope.
“The notion of saying to people ‘no worries, open up next week’, when you know, because the science tells you, they will be open for weeks and then they will be closed again - it is not an answer.
“The key point here is to open and stay open.”
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria slammed the government’s plan, saying it would keep the property market shut down and claimed it had not ‘genuinely” consulted with business groups.
“The initial ‘consultation’ we were invited to amounted to a roundtable with over 35 industries all at one time, meaning only a handful had an opportunity to put their case forward,” it said.
It wants the government to ease the ban on property inspections for people who “who desperately need to buy or lease a property”.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Finance Minister Rishi Sunak have agreed to cut personal taxes before the next election, London’s Sunday Times newspaper reports.
Sunak will tell lawmakers and voters that the government must raise money now to pay for the coronavirus bailouts, the newspaper reported.
The finance minister will outline an “arc” on taxation in November’s budget, under which the wealthy will pay heavier taxes, with cuts to follow in 2023 or 2024, the report said.
Sunak has no plans for changes to inheritance tax this year, while Johnson is not prepared to sanction rises in income tax, national insurance or value-added tax, the newspaper reported.
Last weekend, newspaper reports in Britain suggested the finance ministry was looking at sweeping tax increases. Sunak said such reports were speculation.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 988 to 249,985, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.
The reported death toll rose by one to 9,325, the tally showed.
Companies receiving jobkeeper wage subsidies should not give executive bonuses and should think twice before paying dividends, the head of the Business Council of Australia has said.
Jennifer Westacott made the comments in a wide-ranging interview on ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday during which she also decried the mooted extension of Melbourne’s lockdown and called for investment in renewable energy to kickstart the economy out of the Covid-19 recession:
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has finished his detailed press conference, which lasted nearly two hours including questions from the media.
Here is our full story on the announcements from Victoria today:
Stage four restrictions in Melbourne will be extended for two weeks to 28 September with the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, declaring “we can’t run out of lockdown”.
“I want a Christmas that is as close to normal as possible and this is the only way, these steps are the only way, that we will get to that point,” Andrews said when revealing a roadmap to eventually lift restrictions which currently include a night-time curfew.
Stage four was originally meant to end on 13 September. The extension will include some minor changes. From midnight next Sunday, Andrews said, the curfew will start at 9pm instead of 8pm and people who live on their own will be able to have one guest in their home, extending the current rules for intimate partner visits to one friend or family member:
Why Australia’s Covid jobs crisis could last years
It is almost 30 years since Australia last slid into recession, a now distant time when no one had heard of the internet and the Property Council had just appointed a young researcher called Scott Morrison.
The then treasurer, Paul Keating, famously said it was the “recession we had to have”, but the slump prompted structural reforms and the economic scars were quickly healed as Australia rode the Chinese tiger to unprecedented prosperity.
Fast-forward three decades and the path out of recession does not look so simple with unemployment climbing to more than 1 million. One expert says “nobody is safe” from redundancy.
The combination of a recession and the coronavirus lockdown laid over the top poses a profound economic challenge for the future labour market:
In other news from down under:
Australia’s health regulator has fined dozens of companies more than $800,000 for unlawfully advertising or illegally importing health products to profit from the pandemic.
One business was fined for trying to sell a “bionic air plasma” machine it claimed could prevent Covid-19 for elderly patients.
Therapeutic Goods Administration data provided to Guardian Australia shows it issued 81 infringement notices totalling $847,000 to dozens of companies since the start of the pandemic, including for unlawfully advertising or importing masks, medical devices, disinfectants, hand sanitisers, peptide products, or thermometers.
This week, the TGA commenced court action against Oxymed Australia after it advertised hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers as a treatment for Covid-19. The company had previously been fined $63,000 and ordered to remove the advertisements, but the TGA said it failed to do so, prompting federal court action.
The Oxymed website has since been removed, the TGA said:
Back to Victorian premier Daniel Andrews:
First thing, I apologise for the circumstances we find ourselves in. I apologise for the reality we find ourselves in. But, ah, we can’t change that. We can’t simply wish that away. This job, the honour thatI have two lead our state, is about making tough calls, but it’s also about being accountable, and I am100% accountable for where we find ourselves, but equally, I’m accountable for getting us to the other side of this. And, pretending it’s over, because we wanted to be, that is not something I will do. That is not leadership. That is something very, very different.
In Israel, thousands of people protested outside the official residence of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night, pressing ahead with a months-long campaign demanding he resign, AP reports.
Demonstrators have been protesting against Netanyahu’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, which has led to soaring unemployment, and believe he should step down while on trial for corruption charges.
Protesters held banners reading “Revolution” and “Get out of here” and held blue and white Israeli flags. A sign aimed at the prime minister was projected on a building reading in Hebrew: “Enough with you.”
Smaller crowds gathered on bridges and intersections across the country also calling for Netanyahu to step down.
The government moved quickly to contain the coronavirus but bungled the reopening of the economy and now finds itself dealing with a stronger outbreak. The death toll has passed 1,000, and the country is considering a new lockdown to stop the rapid rise in daily infections. Israel has more than 26,000 active Covid-19 cases:
Moving away from that press conference now – I’ll keep listening, but at the moment Andrews is reiterating his previous points.
More on schools and in particular from Grade 3 to Year 10:
Regional Victoria the schools go back on that timeline as per normal.All years, all schools. In terms of, again, from the 12th, Monday the 12th, it will be prep one and two stop year 11 and 12 and year 10, where they are doing VC vehicle, and special schools and recognition is very, very challenging for flexible and remote learning for kids who have special needs.
That is what we know and can announce today. In terms of grade three to year 10, remote and flexible learning, learning from home continues. We aim to be able to, subject to the data, subject to the number of virus cases, we aim to try to get kids back, but that has got to be done safely and it can’t be done in a way that would ultimately put it risk all the other goals, all the other goals of getting the place open by the time we get to Christmas. So I’m not saying no, but I’m not in a position to be able to outline a timeline and say yes right now. If those settings change then, as we have all along, we will try to provide parents, in fact, we will provide parents with as much notice as we possibly can. That is MetroMelbourne. Regional Victoria will see the school year pretty much at the beginning of term four unfold as it normally would. But I might asked James to speak to that because, of course, it has impacts with regard to early childhood -- childcare as well.
The response has drawn some ire online:
Daniel Andrews can’t guarantee that grade 3 to year 10 kids will be back in term 4.
— PatriciaKarvelas (@PatsKarvelas) September 6, 2020
Best we just accept there will not be school for 2020. This year is just so breathtakingly sad. #COVID19Victoria
Premier Daniel Andrews asked whether Grade 3 to Year 10 Melbourne students will go back this year: "I'm not saying no, but I'm not in a position to be able to outline the timeline right now." No hope for a return for those kids before October 26.
— Ashley Argoon (@AshArgoon) September 6, 2020
Here are detailed roadmaps “to Covid normal”:
We know lots of people are trying to access this website at the moment – it’s struggling a bit.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) September 6, 2020
In the meantime, here are the roadmaps for regional Victoria and metro Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/2NU3mUdEG4
And here is a statement on the decision:
Statement from the Premier on Victoria's steps to COVID Normal.
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) September 6, 2020
For more information on what this means for regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne, visit: https://t.co/0VRuVUHzST pic.twitter.com/h6JyH4AwKe
Updated
Looks like there are a few Melbourne dads who received Daniel Andrews-inspired North Face jackets this morning:
Got my Dad the same thing 😅 daniel andrews is the inspiration
— Reena ♛ (@MendesinAction) September 6, 2020
On the Geelong Corridor:
It is fair to say Geelong is on close watch and we will monitor the cases in theGeelong area as we have done for many weeks now, to ensure that, for instance, we wouldn’t want a situation where it preconditions for moving to another set of rules for all of regional Victoria were to be held back because of case numbers just in one area, namely the Geelong corridor, we may have to treat Geelong separately.
I’m giving people fair warning of that. I’m not actually announcing that.
Updated
On regional Victoria:
I might now run through regional Victoria and what the next steps look like. So acknowledging there are lower cases in regional Victoria and regional Victoria is essentially a step ahead of metropolitan Melbourne, from 11:59pm on 13 September, next Sunday in effect, public gatherings up to five people from a maximum of two households can meet.
We think that regional Victoria will essentially be able to move to the third step quite soon. It will be, perhaps, a matter of weeks before regional Victoria can move to a very different range of settings compared to metropolitan Melbourne. That would mean more shops open, more people back at work, people still working from home in some instances, but relatively normal, certainly compared to the situation at metropolitan Melbourne will have to be in for a longer period of time.
... Essentially we will be able to move a step ahead of metropolitan Melbourne very, very soon. So there is no extension of the current arrangements. They will be able to move a step ahead of metropolitan Melbourne.
Updated
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews re-iterating that without these steps the state risks a “third wave”. He has outlined the easing of restrictions up to 26 November, in the hopes that the state will have a Christmas “as close to normal as possible”.
This is all for Metropolitan Melbourne:
From 26 October:
The third step from the 26 October, again subject to public health advice, and if the daily average of cases over the previous 14 days is less than five new cases, the curfew will no longer apply.
Leaving home: there will be no restrictions on reasons or distances travelled, public gatherings will increase to 10 people outdoors, you will be able to have visitors at home, up to five visitors from another nominated household. Much like the singles bubble there will be a household bubble.
Schools: by that stage we will have more to say in relation to grades three to year 10.
Retail and hairdressing will reopen.
Hospitality will recommence: predominantly outdoor seated service, but we will have more to say about that following further consultation and again the numbers as they present.
Sport: there will be a staged return of outdoor non-contact adult sport.
From 23 November:
Again, subject to public health advice:
Public health gatherings of up to 50 people outdoors, visitors to your home, up to 20 at at a time,
All of retail will be open.
Hospitality: there will be indoor groups with a limit of 20 people with seated service, a 50 more broadly.
Real estate will open with a series of safety measures, further easing of restrictions on sport, particularly watching.
Weddings, funerals, return to normal.
And then the Covid normal, after the steady steps have been taken, most restrictions will be dropped subject to different safety conditions and a phased return to on-site work for those who have been working at home.
Updated
A second easing of restrictions, from 28 September:
The second step, from the 28 September, subject to public health advice and subject to the average daily cases in between 30 and 50 at that point, public gatherings will be increased to five people from two households, schools, they will be a staged return of school for prep, grade one, grade two.
VCE and decal as well as specialist schools for term four will be back for their gap test, but from the following week, we will have prep, grade one, grade two, year 11 and 12 and year 10 for the purposes of their VCE or VCAL studies, back as well, as well as specialist schools.
Childcare reopens. More workplaces open. In fact, around 100,000 workers who are currently unable to attend work will be able to attend work in a number of different industries and you have a breakdown of those different industries. The way in which we have arrived at those industries being able to resume is a very difficult set of judgements that weigh up the public health risk and the economic benefit.
Here are the changes to lockdown in Metropolitan Melbourne – for the two-week period until the 28 September.
However, there are some changes to the two-week extension of stage four. Let me run through those.
- From next Sunday, the curfew will be eased and it will be expanded to 9pm, not 8pm, in recognition that the days are getting longer. That is a small step but one we can safely take.
- Exercise will be increased to two hours per day up from the one hour per day.
- The social bubbles to accommodate those who live on their own in direct response to feedback we have had from those who have been isolated away from anyone else a long periods of time, we will create those social bubbles so that much like the way intimate partner arrangements will work now, singles, those who live alone, will be able to partner up with somebody else and they will be able to visit each other.
- The five kilometre rule will not apply the curfew. So it is essentially extending those arrangements for partners who don’t live in the same household to those who live on their own.
- Public outdoor gatherings of two people will be allowed or a household for up to two hours, not the one hour of exercise. So it is exercise and or spending time outside, whether it be visiting the park and so on and so forth.
- And playgrounds will reopen.
Updated
Melbourne stage four restrictions extended for two weeks from 13 September
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that restrictions will continue for two weeks from 13 September, with some changes:
From 11:59pm on the 13 September, we will have to extend out for two weeks the current stage four restrictions that Victorians are living under, this is for Metro Melbourne, I will do regional Victoria in a moment.
Updated
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on the modelling behind today’s decision (which has not explicitly been announced yet):
I want to take you now through each of those safe and steady steps toward a normal, and then I will ask Alan to speak to one of the most comprehensive modelling exercises that we have ever seen in our state. And arguably nationally and a piece of work that has international significance as well. More than 1000 different scenarios have been put into this supercomputer.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews:
The modelling that Alan will speak to in a moment indicates that if we open up too fast then we have a very high likelihood, a very high likelihood that we are not really opening up at all. We are just beginning a third wave. And we will be back in and out of restrictions, in and out of lockdown, before the end of the year. Indeed, potentially well before the end of the year. We can’t run out of lockdown. We have to take a steady and safe steps out of lockdown.
Daniel Andrews pre-empting the expected delay of lockdown easing:
I want to take you through the different steps towards that Covid normal. Before I do that, can I make a couple of broader comments? This job, the great honour that I have to lead our state, every day is filled with decisions that are really, really difficult. Some of them are difficult because there are general and aspect they are a genuine 50-50choice. You are not quite certain which option you choose. Others are difficult because you know what the consequences of those decisions will be. Some of them are indeed heartbreaking. This is not a 50-50 choice.
Andrews is re-capping the numbers released earlier this morning. The five deaths overnight are all linked to aged care:
There are 63 new cases since my update yesterday. I am sad to report there have now been 666 Victorians who have lost their life because of this global pandemic. That is an increase of five [deaths] since yesterday’s update. Two of these deaths occurred prior to yesterday. These include one female in her 80s, three females in their 90s, one female in her 100sand we send our sincere sympathies and condolences to each of those five families. This will be a difficult time for them. All of those deaths are linked to aged care outbreaks.
That press conference from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is starting now.
We are expecting two roadmaps today from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. The first is for metropolitan Melbourne, which was expected to come out of strict stage four lockdown on 13 September. We are expecting for this to be delayed.
The second is for regional Victoria, which has been under less strict stage three restrictions.
Here is our story from earlier today on the expected extension of lockdown:
Hi, Helen Sullivan here. I’ll be bringing you the most important information from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ press conference live in ten minutes’ time.
A reminder that you can find me on Twitter @helenrsullivan – questions, comments and news are welcome.
Updated
Queensland, Australia confirms two new cases
Two new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Australian state of Queensland, health officials have just announced:
Today we are confirming two new cases of Covid-19 inQueensland. We are also confirming that three have recovered meaning that our total number of active cases now at 25.
We tested 6062 people. The two new cases, one is a sibling, a female sibling of student at theStaines College, known to have been a contact with somebody who has Covid-19 and was already in quarantine.
The other is a 32-year-old nurse from the Ipswich Hospital known to have contact with Covid-19-positive patients.
This dad in Melbourne was given a north face jacket for father's day in honour of Dan Andrews – "the finest Victorian 🦠 Fathers Day gift any father could want," he says: pic.twitter.com/kxCX1Mfsuj
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) September 6, 2020
New South Wales, Australia reports 10 new cases
Here is the case breakdown for New South Wales, Australia today, from the department of health:
Of the 10 new cases to 8pm last night:
- Four are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine
- Four are locally acquired and linked to a known source or cluster, including three linked to the CBD cluster, bringing the total to 64
- One is a contact of a previously reported case, a woman in her 30s from South Western Sydney
- Two cases are under investigation – a man in his 40s from Northern Sydney and a child from Western Sydney
Two of the new cases attend Year 7 at Kincoppal Rose Bay School of the Sacred Heart. The high school will be closed tomorrow, but the early learning centre and junior school will be open as normal. One of today’s new cases attends Lidcombe Public School. Both schools being cleaned and contact tracing is continuing.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to hold press conference at 12pm
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews will hold a press conference at 12pm to announce the roadmap out of stage four restrictions.
A draft of the roadmap leaked yesterday showed that Melbourne would remain in stage four lockdown – with a curfew in place between the hours of 8pm and 5am and permits required for anyone travelling to work – until 28 September.
Modelling released by the government today suggested that restrictions could be in place until mid-October. So it’s not expected to be a happy announcement.
Updated
The federal government is keeping a watchful eye on the Victorian’s ‘roadmap’ out of its harsh Covid–19 restrictions, AAP reports.
Premier Daniel Andrews will on Sunday unveil his plan to eventually end the lockdowns across Melbourne and regional Victoria.
Daily case numbers in the southern state have been tracking steadily down in recent weeks and are now usually below 100.
Federal Liberal MP Ben Morton and assistant minister to Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Mr Andrews’ plan has been developed by the Victorian government for Victoria alone.
“It’s not a plan that’s been developed in partnership or close consultation with the Commonwealth,” Mr Morton told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program.
He said the plan must ensure Victoria now has the testing, tracing and quarantine capacity like that in NSW.
“Any plan to avoid lockdowns and any plan to get out of lockdowns has to demonstrate that there are those mechanisms,” he said.
Friction between federal and state governments over border closures remains with Western Australia refusing to join other states aiming to reopen before Christmas at Friday’s national cabinet.
Mexico records 122,765 more deaths than usual up to August
Mexico has recorded an extra 122,765 deaths above expectations during the pandemic up to August, the health ministry said on Saturday in a report about excess mortality rates, suggesting Mexico’s true coronavirus toll could be much higher, Reuters reports.
Mexico has recorded 67,326 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus.
Mexico’s health ministry on Saturday reported 6,319 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 475 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 629,409 cases and 67,326 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely to be significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
Good morning from Melbourne, where it’s all about the numbers! @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/kqUO2gshk1
— Margaret Paul (@margaretpaul) September 6, 2020
Victorian children have now been enduring remote schooling for about 17 weeks or almost two terms – virtually half of their 2020 school year. Earlier in the year, Naplan was abandoned, and for year 12 students in Victoria a “consideration of educational disadvantage” process will calculate final-year students’ ranking for university entry.
For primary school kids, half-yearly reports were adjusted to reflect the emotional wellbeing of the student and report broadly on their progress, rather than stick to any attempt to assess as per normal. Expectations across the board have had to be tweaked, partly to prioritise wellbeing, and partly because it’s so difficult to assess kids remotely. So what are the lessons from learning in lockdown?
It is father’s day here in Australia. Our best wishes to all the dads – and especially to those in Victoria, who may not have seen their grown-up children in weeks, or who may have been doing a much larger amount than usual of fathering lately.
We know it must be a mixed one given not only restrictions but the lockdown decision expected later today. How are you celebrating under lockdown?
Let me know on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
Updated
Potential exposure to Covid-19 continues in Sydney after two cases were linked to a CBD medical centre, AAP reports.
Staff and some patients at Hyde Park Medical Centre in Liverpool Street have been advised to isolate and get tested.
Other patients who attended the centre’s physiotherapy, pathology, dermatology and dental practices and pharmacy on the ground floor between 24 August and 5 September must watch for symptoms.
It comes after the state recorded five new coronavirus cases on Saturday from more than 30,000 tests, including four linked to the City Tattersalls Club gym cluster.
That cluster now numbers 61 people.
Another case was confirmed in a health worker who wore PPE at Concord Hospital on September 1 and Liverpool Hospital on 3 September.
NSW Health has also issued health alerts for Kuleto’s Cocktail Bar in Newtown on August 28, Bondi Platinum Fitness First on August 31 and Randwick Fitness First from August 30 to September 1 after they were visited by confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Six Covid-19 cases in NSW are in intensive care, with four ventilated.
Updated
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to provide his roadmap for the easing of lockdown restrictions – which may not happen until October – at midday today.
Victoria reports 63 new coronavirus cases, five deaths
Just in case you missed it, Victoria reported 63 new coronavirus cases today. Sadly, five people have died in the last 24 hours:
#COVID19VicData for 6 September, 2020. There were 63 new cases and 5 deaths reported in Victoria in the past 24 hours. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected. More information will be available later today. pic.twitter.com/M9zpoShNRb
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) September 5, 2020
Updated
Victoria lockdown could last until October
Melbourne could remain under stage-four restrictions until mid-October, according to modelling from the University of Melbourne, which suggests if restrictions are lifted before the 14-day average drops below 25 new cases a day there would be a third wave of infections.
The modelling was released by the Victorian government in the lead-up to a much-awaited press conference by the premier, Daniel Andrews, on Sunday which will set out the plan for moving the state out of lockdown.
Stage-four restrictions, which were introduced in Melbourne on 2 August, are due to expire on 13 September. Andrews has already hinted they may be extended.
The modelling, circulated by the premier’s office, indicates that the restrictions could be extended until the daily case numbers average 25 new cases a day or lower – which, on the current rate of decline, would mean extending stage four for four to five more weeks.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest updates from Australia and the rest of the world for the next few hours.
You can find me on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
Italy and Croatia saw protests against coronavirus measures on the weekend, with several thousand people rallying on Saturday in the Croatian capital Zagreb and about 1,000 people demonstrating in the heart of Rome against the mandatory use of face masks and compulsory vaccination for schoolchildren.
Meanwhile in Australia, Victorians have been warned daily coronavirus cases might not be low enough by mid-September to safely ease restrictions, raising the prospect of more months under lockdown.
Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:
- Portugal reported 486 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, its biggest daily increase since the week its lockdown was lifted in May.
- The UK recorded 1,813 new infections on Saturday, slightly down from the 1,940 cases that were reported Friday, the highest figure since 30 May.
- Brazil recorded 30,168 additional confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, as well as 682 deaths from the disease, and remains the second-worst affected country globally.
- France reported 8,550 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, slightly down from Friday’s new all-time record of 8,975 daily additional infections.
- Covid-19 could now be endemic in some parts of England that combine severe deprivation, poor housing and large BAME communities, according to a highly confidential government analysis.
- Democratic US vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris said she would not trust Donald Trump with a potential coronavirus vaccine.
- The lengthy coronavirus shutdown of pubs in Ireland that’s beenin place since mid-March has hit rural communities particularly hard.
- Several thousand people rallied on Saturday in the Croatian capital Zagreb to protest against coronavirus measures, which they said endangered human rights and freedoms.
- About 1,000 people demonstrated in the heart of Rome on Saturday against the mandatory wearing of face masks and compulsory vaccination for schoolchildren.
