Bangladesh hits single-day virus records – latest updates

Saturday, July 10:

Bangladesh hits single-day virus records

Authorities in Bangladesh have said the country has registered the highest number of Covid-19 casualties and positive cases in a single day.

The news comes amid concern that the coronavirus pandemic could worsen over the next seven days.

The government’s Directorate General of Health Services said that 230 people died and 11,874 tested positive. That’s a single-day record on both counts.

About 100,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last 10 days.

Italy reports 1,391 new cases, seven deaths

Italy has reported seven coronavirus-related deaths, following 12 the day before, the Health Ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections decreased to 1,391 from 1,400.

Patients in hospital with Covid-19 - not including those in intensive care - stood at 1,134, down from 1,147 a day earlier.

There were six new admissions to intensive care units, in line with those on Saturday. The total number of intensive care patients remained unvaried at 161.

Vietnam reports record 1,953 new cases

Vietnam has reported 1,953 Covid-19 infections, a record for daily case numbers.

Most of the cases were recorded in Ho Chi Minh City, the epicentre of the country's outbreak, which on Friday began 15 days of broad movement restrictions.

UK reports 31,772 further cases, 26 more deaths
Britain reported a further 31,772 Covid-19 cases and 26 additional deaths within 28 days of a positive test, according to official figures, slightly down on the previous day's totals but up on the same time last week.

Libya imposes curbs as virus cases hit new high

Libya has imposed sweeping restrictions to stem the spread of coronavirus as recorded cases hit a new high, with experts warning of a "critical" situation.

For the next two weeks, cafes must close, weddings and organised funerals with mourners are barred, and the use of public transport is banned, Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said in a decree.

Restaurants can only serve food via deliveries, while people must wear a mask and observe social distancing rules in shops and markets.

In past weeks, daily recorded cases have not exceeded 400 a day.

But numbers spiked this week, with health officials recording 2,854 cases in 48 hours, according to the latest official figures.

Hundreds of Thai medical workers infected despite getting Sinovac shots

Thailand has said more than 600 medical workers who received two doses of China's Sinovac vaccine have been infected with the virus, as authorities weigh giving booster doses to raise immunity.

Of the 677,348 medical personnel who received two doses of Sinovac, 618 became infected, Health Ministry data from April to July showed. 

A nurse has died and another medical worker is in critical condition.

An expert panel has recommended a third dose to trigger immunity for medical workers who are at risk, senior health official Sopon Iamsirithawon, told a news briefing.

Record cases registered in Bangladesh Rohingya camps

A record of 60 virus cases were confirmed in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, according to official data.

The new infections pushed the overall caseload among the persecuted minority community from Myanmar camped in Cox's Bazar to 2,040, including 21 related deaths, the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner said.

As many as 831 refugees are under quarantine, 146 of whom were put under isolation in the last 24 hours.

US 'very concerned' variants could risk recovery – Yellen

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she was "very concerned" about the risk that new variants of virus could pose to the global economic recovery from the pandemic.

"We are very concerned about the Delta variant and other variants that could emerge and threaten recovery," she told reporters following a G20 meeting in Venice, Italy.

"We are a connected global economy, what happens in any part of the world affects all other countries."

China administers total of 1.374B doses of vaccines by July 10

China administered around 9 million doses of vaccine on July 10, taking the total to 1.374 billion doses, data from the National Health Commission showed on Sunday.

South Africa to resume training for Lions test series after outbreak

South Africa’s rugby team will resume training ahead of a three-test series against the British & Irish Lions, after six rounds of the virus testing and a six-day preventative self-isolation period cleared a large group of players to return to the field, SA Rugby said.

But captain Siya Kolisi, coach Jacque s Nienaber and 12 other players who tested positive in the week are still in isolation and could miss the first test in Cape Town on July 24.

Euro final fuels outbreak fears as nations fight virus surges

British authorities warned against large gatherings ahead of the Euro 2020 football final, fearful of the highly transmissible Delta virus variant that has fuelled outbreaks across the world.

Many nations have been forced to reimpose curbs as they battle outbreaks accelerated by the variant – which was first detected in India – while also trying to ramp up vaccinations to allow their economies to reopen.

London on Sunday will host more than 60,000 fans at Wembley Stadium for the final of the virus-delayed Euro 2020 championship, the biggest crowd at a British football stadium since the start of the pandemic, as England take on Italy.

UK minister confident of further virus rule easing from July 19

The UK government is confident that plans to lift a range of restrictions will go ahead on July 19 in England but mask-wearing in indoor enclosed places will be expected, vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson detailed proposals earlier this week to eliminate a series of rules on mask-wearing, social contact and the instruction to work from home. He is expected to give the final go-ahead on Monday.

Some scientists and critics of the government have expressed concern that it pressing ahead to lift restrictions even as coronavirus infections are rising.

Israel offers Pfizer vaccine booster shots to adults at risk

Israel said it will begin offering a booster shot of Pfizer Inc's vaccine to adults with weak immune systems but it was still weighing whether a third round of shots should be given to the general public.

The rapid spread of the Delta variant has sent vaccination rates in Israel back up as new infections have risen over the past month from single digits to around 450 a day, and the country has moved to fast-track its next Pfizer shipment.

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said that effective immediately, adults with impaired immune systems who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine could get a booster shot, with a decision pending on wider distribution.

Russia reports 25,033 cases

Russia reported 25,033 new virus cases, including 5,410 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 5,783,333.

The government coronavirus task force said 749 people had died of virus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 143,002.

The federal statistics agency has kept a separate death toll. It said on Friday it had recorded around 290,000 deaths related to the virus between April 2020 and May this year.

India reports 41,506 new daily cases

India reported on Sunday 41,506 new virus cases and 895 deaths due to the virus in the last 24 hours, according to data from the health ministry, with active cases at 454,118. 

Bangladesh secures vaccine boost after virus cases pass one million

Bangladesh has sealed deals for 17.5 million more vaccine doses, the health minister said, as the country battles record deaths and its caseload passed one million.

The country of 169 million people has imposed its harshest ever lockdown as it seeks to curb a major surge in cases and record numbers of deaths.

The lockdown has been in place for two weeks and is backed by troops on the streets to keep people in their homes.

It is expected the restrictions will be extended past the current end date of July 14.

US administers nearly 333.6M doses of vaccines – CDC

The US had administered 333,565,404 doses of vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 386,985,420 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on its website.

The figures were up from the 332,966,409 doses the CDC said had been administered by Friday out of 386,058,070 doses delivered.

The Atlanta-based agency said 183,836,917 people had received at least one dose while 158,954,417 people were fully vaccinated as of Saturday.

Myanmar caught off guard as cases surge, oxygen dwindles

Consumed by a bitter and violent political struggle since the military seized power in February, Myanmar has been slow to wake up to a devastating surge in cases since mid-May. It has left many of the sick to suffer at home if they cannot find a bed at an army hospital, or prefer not to trust their care to the widely disliked government.

Under Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader ousted by the military, Myanmar had weathered its second virus surge beginning in August last year by severely restricting travel, sealing off Yangon, and curbing election campaigning in virus hot spots where lockdowns were imposed.

TSMC says it is in the process of signing a deal for BioNTech vaccines

Taiwan chipmaker TSMC said it was in the middle of the contract signing process to buy vaccines from Germany's BioNTech SE , part of a drawn out and highly politicised process for Taiwan to access the shot.

Taiwan's government has tried for months to buy the vaccine directly from BioNTech and has blamed China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory, for nixing a deal the two sides were due to sign earlier this year.

China denies the accusations.

Tokyo 2020 CEO says Tokyo Olympics will create model for pandemic Games

The Tokyo Olympics will provide a model for hosting the Games during a pandemic after rising infections forced organisers to ban spectators at most events, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said on Sunday.

"This will be the first Olympics held during a pandemic, and Tokyo will provide a model for how that is done," Muto said on a political debate program aired by public broadcaster NHK.

Athletes will not have to compete in completely empty venues because Olympic officials and journalists will be there, he added.

Germany's confirmed cases rise by 745 – RKI

The number of confirmed virus cases in Germany increased by 745 to 3,736,165, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed. The reported death toll rose by 6 to 91,231, the tally showed.

Australia records first death in Sydney virus outbreak

Australia announced its first virus-related death in the current Sydney virus outbreak, as the country's biggest city struggles to bring the Delta variant under control.

The woman in her 90s died Saturday, hours after testing positive for virus, and was also the first death from a locally-acquired infection in Australia this year.

It came as authorities announced a record 77 new cases, and warned that numbers were expected to spike above 100 on Monday.

Elderly woman infected with 'two virus variants at once'

A 90-year-old woman who died after falling ill with Covid-19 was infected with both the Alpha and Beta variants of the coronavirus at the same time, researchers in Belgium said, adding that the rare phenomenon may be underestimated.

The unvaccinated woman, who lived alone and received at-home nursing care, was admitted to the OLV Hospital in the Belgian city of Aalst after a spate of falls in March and tested positive for Covid-19 the same day.

While her oxygen levels were initially good, her condition deteriorated rapidly and she died five days later.

Brazil reports 1,205 more deaths

Brazil has registered 1,205 Covid-19 deaths and 48,504 additional cases, according to data released by the nation's Health Ministry.

The South American country has now registered a total of 532,893 coronavirus deaths and 19,069,003 total confirmed cases.

Brazil has the second highest coronavirus death toll in the world, with only the United States reporting more fatalities.

South Korea reports 1,324 new cases

South Korea has reported 1,324 new coronavirus cases as of midnight on Saturday, Yonhap news agency reported, down from a record 1,378 the day before as the country battles a surge of infections, though with fewer serious cases than earlier waves.

Mexico reports 9,581 new cases 

Mexico's health ministry has reported 9,581 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the country and 232 more fatalities, bringing its total to 2,586,721 infections and 234,907 deaths.

The government has said the real number of cases is likely significantly higher, and separate data published recently suggested the actual death toll could be 60 percent higher than the official count.

Algerian prime minister infected with Covid-19

Newly appointed Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane is infected with Covid-19, Algerian state TV said.

The prime minister, who had just formed his new government on Wednesday, will quarantine for seven days, but will continue performing his duties virtually, state TV said.