EU excludes United States from safe travel list – latest updates

Tuesday, June 30

EU's 'safe' travel list excludes United States

The European Union has excluded the US from its initial "safe list" of countries from which the bloc will allow non-essential travel from Wednesday.

The 27-member bloc gave approval to leisure or business travel from 14 countries beyond its borders, the Council of the EU, which represents EU governments, said in a statement.

The countries are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay.

Turkey's Covid-19 cases near 200,000 mark

Turkey confirmed 1,293 more cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total tally to nearly 200,000, according to the country's health minister.

Citing health ministry data, Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that a total of 1,302 Covid-19 patients recovered in Turkey over the past 24 hours, bringing the overall number to 173,111.

The country's death toll from the coronavirus rose to 5,131, with 16 new fatalities reported over the last 24 hours.

Fauci says no guarantee US will have effective vaccine

The US cannot count on the availability of a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, the government's top infectious diseases expert said, and he urged Americans to work together to fight the virus that is surging across large parts of the country.

California, Texas and many other states have reported record increases in new cases of the sometimes deadly illness caused by the novel coronavirus, leading to a sobering reassessment of US efforts to contain the pandemic.

Fauci added that "there is no guarantee ... we'll have a safe and effective vaccine" and he urged Americans to come together to contain the virus.

Eight states added to NY governor's quarantine order

People arriving in New York from an additional eight states must quarantine themselves for 14 days amid the coronavirus pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered.

The eight additional states are California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee, all of which are contending with growing caseloads, Cuomo said in a statement.

All the affected states have "growing community spread", Cuomo said in a statement, which the state's health department has defined as 10 or more people testing positive per 100,000 residents.

Iraq's virus deaths near 2,000

Over 100 more fatalities pushed Iraq’s coronavirus death toll closer to 2,000.

According to the health ministry, 104 patients have died in the country over the past 24 hours, raising the overall count to 1,943.

Cases also shot up by 1,953 to reach 49,109, while the number of recoveries increased to 24,760, the ministry said.

Infections continue to soar in Iraq despite the government reimposing a nationwide curfew in May, which remains in force until further notice.

Iran says still in first wave of virus outbreak

Iran's coronavirus epidemic is still in its first wave, the health ministry said a day after reporting the highest single-day death toll since the country's outbreak began in February.

"The coronavirus is currently peaking in border provinces or cities that did not experience a peak in the first months of the outbreak," said ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari.

"Therefore, we're still witnessing the first wave in the country," she said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

According to Lari, Iran would only have a second wave if there was another rise in cases in provinces that "had a significant peak" when the first cases were declared.

Iran reported its first two Covid-19 cases on February 19 in the holy city of Qom.

India's virus cases, deaths surge again

India reported more than 18,000 new virus cases and 400 deaths after an Indian company said it would start clinical trials of a potential vaccine.

Bharat Biotech said it had received government permission to go ahead with the first two phases of clinical trials after initial studies demonstrated safety. Multiple vaccine trials are in a preclinical stage in India, and several other candidates are being tested around the world.

The new infections confirmed in the past 24 hours raised India's cases to 566,840, the fourth-highest in the world. The addition of 418 deaths raised its fatalities to more 16,000, according to India’s health ministry.

UK OKs resumption of hydroxychloroquine trial

Britain’s medical regulatory agency has approved the resumption of a trial testing whether hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug favoured by US President Donald Trump, might help prevent health workers from contracting the virus.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency had suspended enrolment into the trial after a paper was published in the journal Lancet last month that suggested there was an increased death risk linked to the drug. The paper was found to be based on fraudulent data and was retracted.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said it had approved the resumption of an ongoing clinical trial testing the use of the drug in health workers. 

Australian city Melbourne to lock down suburbs

Australia’s second-largest city will lock down dozens of suburbs for a month in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said that 233 positive tests for Covid-19 in Melbourne since Thursday was unacceptably high.

Andrews announced 10 zip codes covering 36 suburbs in which residents will be required to stay at home from Wednesday night until July 29 except for four permitted reasons.

Residents will face fines if they leave home for reasons other than to give or receive care, to exercise, to buy essentials or to go to work or school.

People who live outside those suburbs will only be allowed to enter them for the same reasons.

Andrews also announced there would be no international flights allowed into Melbourne for the next two weeks to help curb infections.

Sevens rugby world series cancelled

The rest of the rugby sevens world series has been cancelled and New Zealand declared winners of the men’s and women’s titles.

The Hong Kong, Singapore, Langford, London and Paris legs were postponed but World Rugby cancelled them after discussion with all of the host unions.

New Zealand was awarded the titles for leading the standings when the coronavirus pandemic stopped the series after six of the 10 men’s rounds and four of the five women’s rounds.

South Africa was second and Fiji third in the men's series.

Australia was second and Canada third in the women’s.

Indonesia reports biggest daily rise in deaths

Indonesia reported its biggest rise in deaths with 71 new fatalities, taking the total to 2,876, said health ministry official Achmad Yurianto.

Yurianto also announced 1,293 new virus infections, taking the total to 56,385. 

Russia's case tally approaches 650,000

Russia reported 6,693 new cases the virus, taking its nationwide tally to 647,849.

The country's coronavirus response centre said 154 people had died of the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 9,320. 

Thailand reports 2 imported infections

Thailand confirmed two new virus cases imported from abroad, marking 36 days without local transmission.

The new cases were Thai nationals returning from Qatar who were in state quarantine, said Panprapa Yongtrakul, a spokeswoman for the government's Covid-19 Administration Centre.

The coronavirus has killed 58 people in Thailand among its 3,171 infections. Of those, 3,056 patients have recovered.

Thailand will reopen schools and bars and allow some foreigners into the country from Wednesday.

Nets' DeAndre Jordan says he has coronavirus

DeAndre Jordan says he has tested positive for the coronavirus and won’t be joining the Brooklyn Nets in Florida when the NBA season resumes.

Jordan announced his status on Twitter, hours after fellow Nets player Spencer Dinwiddie told The Athletic that he had tested positive and was experiencing symptoms.

They give the Nets at least six players who have tested positive for the virus. The other four were back in March, when Kevin Durant said he was one of them.

Jordan wrote that he had learned of his diagnosis on Sunday night after returning to New York and it was confirmed again on  Monday.

Jordan signed with the Nets last summer, joining Durant and Kyrie Irving. The 2016 US Olympic gold medalist spent most of the season as a reserve but had moved into the starting lineup at centre for both games after Jacque Vaughn replaced Kenny Atkinson as coach in March.

South Korea sees cases spread beyond capital

South Korea has reported 43 newly confirmed cases from across the country as infections begin to spread beyond the greater capital area, which has been at the centre of a virus resurgence since late May.

The figures announced by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday brought national totals to 12,800 cases, including 282 deaths. Seventeen of the new cases came from the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of South Korea’s 51 million people live, while infections were also reported in other major cities such as Daeje on, Gwangju, Busan and Sejong.

Twenty of the new cases were linked to international arrivals as the coronavirus continues to strengthen its hold in Southern Asia, the US and beyond.

Authorities in recent weeks have been struggling to track transmissions that have been popping up from various places as people increasingly venture out in public amid an erosion in citizen vigilance.

Arizona pauses bringing athletes back to campus

Arizona will pause bringing additional athletes back to campus for voluntary workouts as a precaution amid a massive surge of virus cases in the state.

The school had one positive test among 83 student-athletes who had already returned to campus for voluntary workouts. That person is going through the athletic department’s protocol.

The decision came shortly after Republican Governor Doug Ducey closed bars, nightclubs, movie theatres, gyms and water parks for 30 days.

Arizona has continued to set records with newly confirmed cases of the virus eclipsing 3,000 seven times in recent days.

US States reverse openings, require masks 

Several states in the US have reversed their plan to reopen and ordered residents to wear masks in public amid an alarming resurgence of coronavirus cases nationwide.

Among those implementing the face-covering orders is the city of Jacksonville, Florida, where mask-averse President Donald Trump plans to accept the Republican nomination in August. Trump has refused to wear a mask during visits to states and businesses that require them.

Democratic governors in Oregon and Kansas said that they would require people to wear masks.

Places such as Arizona, Texas, Florida and California are backtracking, closing beaches and bars in some cases amid a resurgence of the virus.

In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announced Monday that he’s postponing the restarting of indoor dining because people have not been wearing face masks or complying with recommendations for social distancing. 

South Australia state cancels border reopening 

South Australia, one of several states in the country to close domestic borders, cancelled its scheduled reopening to other parts of the nation, citing a spike in coronavirus infections in neighbouring Victoria.

The country's fifth most-populous state had said it would remove restrictions on interstate arrivals on July 20 as part of a broader nationwide relaxation of curbs to contain the new coronavirus.

However, Victoria has reported a double-digit increase in new cases for each of the past 13 days, resulting in Australia's biggest daily increase in new cases since April.

The delays reopening internal borders cast doubts over a federal plan to set up "travel bubble" with neighbouring New Zealand that would allow movement between the two countries.

Australia has fared better than many countries in the pandemic, with around 7,800 cases and 104 deaths, but the recent surge has stoked fears of a second wave.

Mexico registers 3,805 new cases, 473 more deaths

Mexico's health ministry reported 3,805 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 473 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 220,657 cases and 27,121 deaths.

The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases. 

China reports 19 new cases, including seven in Beijing

China reported 19 new cases in the mainland for June 29, up from 12 a day earlier, the health authority said. There were no new deaths.

Of the new infections, seven were in Beijing, the national health commission said in a statement.

The capital city, which is battling a fresh outbreak, had also reported seven new infections for June 28.

Mainland China reported four new asymptomatic patients, who tested positive for Covid-19 but showed no clinical symptoms such as a fever, down from six a day earlier.

As of June 29, mainland China had a total of 83,531 confirmed coronavirus cases, while the death toll stands at 4,634.

Beijing has been carrying out mass testing for the coronavirus since the city reported its first case in the latest outbreak on June 11. The infections were linked to Beijing's sprawling Xinfadi wholesale food centre.