Africa CDC warns of rapid increase of coronavirus cases – latest updates

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Africa CDC says continent approaching one million cases

The Africa Centres for Disease Control has said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases on the continent is approaching one million infections.

Ireland considers more travel restrictions

Ireland is considering additional measures to limit non-essential travel in the wake of an uptick in Covid-19 infections in recent days both in Ireland and other European countries, according to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.

Ireland already advises against all non-essential international travel and requires people arriving from all but 15 countries to self-isolate for 14 days, but it does not require Covid-19 tests from visitors and has not banned flights from any country.

Iran and UAE to cooperate over Covid-19

The foreign ministers of longstanding regional foes Iran and the United Arab Emirates have agreed that they will strive to cooperate during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a video call during which they also exchanged greetings for the Muslim Eid al Adha holiday, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan told his Iranian counterpart that strengthening bilateral cooperation was important element in tackling the coronavirus.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet that it was "a very substantive, frank and friendly video conversation" on Covid-19 as well as "bilateral, regional and global situations."

Thailand cancels joint training with US

Thailand has suspended plans for its army to undertake joint training with the US military after nine Thai soldiers tested positive for the coronavirus upon returning from Hawaii.

The Thai army said the infected soldiers were among 151 Thai officers who had returned from Lightning Forge 2020 training with US soldiers in Hawaii for the first three weeks of July.

Thailand has reported 3,317 cases and 58 deaths. Recent infections were imported from abroad, marking 69 successive days without of any domestic transmission.

Indonesia reports 1,519 more cases

Indonesia reports 1,519 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the total to 111,455, data from the country's Covid-19 task force showed.

The data also showed 43 new Covid-19 related deaths, bringing the toll to 5,236.

Vietnam reports 34 new infections

Vietnam has reported 34 new novel coronavirus infections on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the Southeast Asian country to 620.

The country's Covid-19 death toll rose by two on Sunday to five, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

US CDC reports nearly 60,000 more cases

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported 4,601,526 cases of the novel coronavirus, an increase of 58,947 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,132 to 154,002.

The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.

Global Covid-19 cases exceed 18 million

Coronavirus has now infected over 18 million people and killed over 689,200, according to a tally by Worldometer.

The tally shows that over 11 million have recovered.

The top five countries with the highest number of infections are US, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa.

South Africa's cases surpass half a million

South Africa's confirmed cases of Covid-19 have crossed half a million, its Health Ministry said, while cases in Africa as a whole approached a million.

Africa's most industrialised nation recorded 10,107 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, pushing the total to 503,290, the ministry said.

Just over 3 million people have so far been tested for the virus in South Africa, which confirmed its first case five months ago, and 8,153 deaths have been recorded.

Australia's Victoria declares disaster, sets curfew

Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria declared a state of disaster and imposed a nightly curfew for the capital Melbourne as part of its harshest movement restrictions to date to contain a resurgent Covid-19.

Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city already under a reimposed six-week stay-home order, has struggled to rein in the disease, with record numbers of infections of the new coronavirus reported last week.

Victoria reported 671 infections, one of its highest, and seven Covid-19 deaths.

High numbers of community transmissions and cases of unknown origins have forced the new restrictions, which will be in place for six weeks, officials said.

Latin America death toll surges past 200,000

The death toll in Latin America from the novel coronavirus passed 200,000, a Reuters tally showed, underlining the region's status as one of the global epicentres of the pandemic that is testing governments to the limit.

Apart from the United States, Brazil and Mexico have racked up more fatalities from the virus than any other country, and together they account for around 70 percent of the regional death toll.

Brazil reported a daily record of 1,595 coronavirus deaths earlier in the week and registered another 1,088 on Saturday. Mexico recorded 784 fatalities on Saturday and for the first time logged more than 9,000 new infections from the virus.

China sends team to Hong Kong for widespread testing

Seven Chinese health officials were due to arrive in Hong Kong, the first members of a 60-person team that will carry out widespread testing for Covid-19 in the territory as the global financial hub races to halt a third wave of illness.

The initiative is the first time mainland health officials have assisted Hong Kong in its battle to control the coronavirus.

Some local residents fear China may use this as an excuse to collect DNA samples for surveillance purposes.

Russia's cases surpass 850,000

Russia reported 5,427 new cases of the virus, bringing its nationwide tally to 850,870, the fourth largest caseload in the world.

Russia's coronavirus taskforce said 70 people had died over the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll in the country of around 145 million people to 14,128.

India reports 55,000 cases

India’s coronavirus caseload crossed 1.75 million with another spike of 54,735 in the past 24 hours.

The new cases are down from 57,118 on Saturday. The Health Ministry also reported 853 deaths for a total of 37,364.

Randeep Guleria, a top government expert, said that New Delhi and Mumbai may have crossed their peak levels with declining trends.

The month of July alone has accounted for more than 1.1 million cases in India.

Philippines cases top 100,000

Coronavirus infections in the Philippines surged past 100,000 after medical groups declared that the country was waging “a losing battle” against the virus and asked the president to reimpose a lockdown in the capital.

The Department of Health reported a record-high daily tally of 5,032, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 103,185, including more than 2,000 deaths. The Philippines has the second-most cases in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.

Tokyo confirms 292 new cases

Tokyo confirmed 292 new coronavirus infections, after cases rose by more than 400 in the past two days, public broadcaster NHK said.

Governor Koike Yuriko said Tokyo could declare a state of emergency if the coronavirus situation in the Japanese capital deteriorates further.

Indonesia reports 1,519 new infections, 43 deaths

Indonesia reported 1,519 new infections, bringing the total to 111,455, data from the country's Covid-19 task force showed.

The data also showed 43 new Covid-19 related deaths, bringing the toll to 5,236.

Mexico registers 9,556 new cases

Mexico's health ministry reported a record 9,556 coronavirus cases and 784 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 434,193 cases and 47,472 deaths.

Vietnam reports four cases including two imported

Vietnam's health ministry reported four virus cases, including two locally transmitted and two imported cases.

The Southeast Asian country has registered a total of 590 cases, of which 144 infections are linked to the recent outbreak in the costal city of Danang. It has also recorded three deaths, the health ministry said in a statement.

Australia's Victoria to toughen lockdown

Australia's Victoria state will toughen its social distancing measures in the coming days as the country's second-most populous state struggles to contain the virus, media reported.

Victoria's capital of Melbourne is already under a reimposed six-week stay-home order and reported record numbers of new infections last week. Authorities warned of more restrictions ahead.

Australia has fared far better than many other countries in keeping the pandemic from spreading, at a high economic cost. The country has recorded around 17,300 cases total and 200 deaths, but the recent surge in Victoria has proven difficult to contain.

Brazil logs 1,088 fatalities

Brazil recorded 45,392 additional confirmed cases as well as 1,088 deaths from the disease caused by the virus in the past 24 hours, its health ministry said.

Brazil has registered more than 2.7 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 93,563, according to ministry data.