Australia today recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic amid a second wave of infections in Melbourne.
Victoria state, of which Melbourne is the capital, reported 19 deaths in the past 24 hours. Yesterday was the previous record, with 17 deaths. The state has seen two-thirds of Australia’s 314 deaths and some 21,400 cases.
But Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said he was more hopeful now that cases are stabilising in the region after stricter lockdown measures were introduced and the number of daily infections dropped.
Melbourne’s second lockdown began more than a month ago, but residents have been subject to a night-time curfew and stricter requirements since August 3.
Mr Morrison said internal border closures between states were unlikely to lift before Christmas.
Globally, cases have neared 20 million — with almost 730,000 deaths. The number of confirmed infections stands at 19,792,519, according to Johns Hopkins University, with new cases daily averaging over 250,000.
The confirmed number of cases in the US reached five million yesterday.
Greece today announced a record daily number of 203 new cases, with one death. The number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 436.
In France, around 850 people who were on board a coronavirus-riddled cruise ship that was turned away from numerous ports in March have filed a collective lawsuit in Paris with 180 complaints, including manslaughter.
The Red Cross has been training more than 43,000 volunteers to be sent to North Korea, including to the locked-down city of Kaesong, to help fight the virus and provide flood assistance.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared an emergency last month.
