Global Covid-19 cases surpass 29M mark – latest updates

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Global cases cross 29 million mark

More than 29 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and over 926,000 people have died, according to a tracking portal.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. 

The United States leads with the highest number of cases globally, followed by India and Brazil.

Saudi Arabia to lift some international flight restrictions

Saudi Arabia will partially lift its suspension of international flights as of September 15 to allow "exceptional categories" of citizens and residents to travel, the state news agency SPA said on Sunday.

The kingdom will scrap all travel restrictions on air, land and sea transport for citizens on January 1, 2021, it said.

In March, the kingdom suspended international flights to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Exceptional categories include public and military sector employees, diplomats and their families, those working for public or non-profit private sector jobs abroad, businessmen, patients who need treatment abroad, those studying abroad as well as people with humanitarian cases, and sports teams.

GCC citizens and non-Saudi residents with valid residency, or visitors' visas will be allowed to enter the kingdom as of September 15 conditional on proving they are Covid-19 negative.

French daily Covid-19 cases fall to 7,183 after Saturday record 

France's health authorities on Sunday reported 7,183 new confirmed Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, falling from a record 10,561 new infections on Saturday.

Covid-19 cases rising again in Britain 

The UK has recorded more than 3,000 new cases of Covid-19 for the third day running for the first time since May.

The Department for Health and Social Services reported a further 3,330 cases on Sunday, taking the three-day tally above 10,000.

Though a ramp up in testing accounts for some of the increase, it’s clear that the UK has seen the virus spread in recent weeks. Daily cases are more than double those reported a couple of weeks ago. To get on top of the flare-up, authorities have tightened a number restrictions to everyday life.

For example, the British government said social gatherings in England will be limited to six people from Monday, both indoors and outdoors, and that rule-breakers will face fines.

Ninety Lebanon peacekeepers contract coronavirus - UNIFIL 

Ninety UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a spokesman for the UNIFIL force said on Sunday, the first reported cases of the illness.

The confirmed cases were transferred to a special UNIFIL facility equipped to deal with Covid-19 cases, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said in a statement.

He said 88 of those infected belonged to the same contingent, but he did not specify the nationalities of the 90 peacekeepers.

"We have undertaken robust contact tracing, and applied a thorough regime of testing and isolation" to prevent a larger outbreak, he said.

Turkey reports over 1,500 new coronavirus cases

Turkey has reported 1,527 more coronavirus cases and 1,102 recoveries.

The country's overall infection count now stands at 291,162, including 258,833 recoveries, according to the Health Ministry’s data released on Sunday.

A total of 96,097 more coronavirus tests were conducted over the past 24 hours, pushing the total up to near 8.52 million.

The number of patients in critical condition now stands at 1,267, the data showed.

Israeli minister quits over three-week lockdown plans

An ultra-Orthodox minister in Israel's government has resigned over three-week nationwide lockdown plans to tackle one of the world's highest coronavirus rates that would affect religious practices over Jewish holidays.

Yaakov Litzman stood down as housing minister, protesting at measures that he said will prevent Jews from attending synagogues over the upcoming festivals of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

"It is an injustice and disregard for hundreds of thousands of citizens, ultra-Orthodox, religious and traditional," to impose the lockdown over the holidays, said Litzman, a former health minister.

Three-week nationwide lockdown in Israeli will start from Friday, according to local media reports.

Iran's number of infections exceed 400,000

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Iran has risen by 2,089 to 402,029, a health ministry spokeswoman told state TV, as the country reported 128 new deaths in the past 24 hours.

Sima Sadat Lari said the official death toll stood at 23,157in Iran, one of the worst-hit countries in the Middle East.

Philippines reports 3,372 new cases, 79 more deaths

The Philippines has recorded 3,372 new coronavirus cases and 79 more deaths.

In a bulletin, the Department of Health said the Southeast Asian country's confirmed cases of infections had risen to 261,216, the highest in the region, while its death toll had climbed to 4,371.

Indonesia reports 3,636 new cases

Indonesia has reported3,636 new coronavirus infections and 73 new deaths, according to data from the Health Ministry's website.

The latest report brought the total number of infections to 218,382 and deaths to 8,723, the highest number of deaths in Southeast Asia.

 The country's capital Jakarta will reimpose stricter wide-scale restrictions starting on Monday to control spread of the virus in the mega city.

South Korea eases virus curbs in Seoul region

South Korea will temporarily ease coronavirus curbs in the greater Seoul area after a decline in cases.

The country largely overcame an early Covid-19 surge with extensive tracing and testing, but has battled several spikes in recent weeks raising concerns of a second wave of infections.

The new cases – mainly in the greater Seoul region, home to half the country's 52 million population – prompted authorities to tighten social distancing measures last month.

But the measures on the metropolitan area will be eased starting Monday for two weeks, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a government meeting, as new local cases declined.

South Korea has seen triple-digit increases since August 14 with more than 120 new cases reported Sunday, after several weeks with numbers generally in the 30s and 40s.

India’s infections surpass 4.7 million

The number of India’s coronavirus infections has crossed the 4.7 million mark after the country recorded more than 94,000 new cases, according to health ministry figures.

India has registered a daily increase of more than 90,000 infections for five straight days and has added 1 million new cases in less than two weeks.

It recorded 94,372 new cases, taking the number of cases to 4,754,356.

With 1,114 fatalities, the total number of the country's deaths has reached 78,586.

Czech Republic sees record rise in cases

The Czech Republic has reported its largest single-day increase in new coronavirus infections for a third straight day, recording 1,541 cases, according to Health Ministry data.

It was the fifth day in a row with new infections above 1,000 as the country of 10.7 million sees a surge in cases that is among the fastest in the European Union. 

The government has tightened rules requiring face mask use but aims to avoid harsh lockdowns. 

Australia reports 41 new cases, 4 deaths

Australia has reported 41 new cases of the novel coronavirus, with most in southeastern Victoria state, along with four deaths.

The caseload rose to 26,648 while the death toll reached 810, Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews said at a news conference.

While all new deaths were reported in Victoria, the number of recoveries stands at 23,324.

The lockdown in Melbourne was extended for four more weeks, Andrews said.

New Zealand reports two more cases

New Zealand has reported two more cases, raising its count to 1,797, including 22 deaths and 1,676 recoveries.

There are currently 97 active cases in the country, including two seriously ill patients.

Germany's cases rise by 948

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has increased by 948, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.

The reported death toll rose by two, the tally showed.

Seven positive Covid-19 results ahead of ACL restart

The resumption of the AFC Asian Champions League has taken a setback with seven positive results returned from Covid-19 tests conducted on all the participating teams in the West Asian ‘hub’ of Qatar.

The Asian Football Confederation confirmed on Saturday that five players and one official from Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal and one player from Qatari side Al Duhail had tested positive for coronavirus.

Competition in the western zone restarts on Monday with clubs from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan meeting in the regional ‘hub’ of Qatar, where all of the games will take place.

“Those who tested positive are under medical supervision in a quarantined environment as required by the safety measures and Covid-19 protocols put in place for the tournament,” the AFC said in a statement on Saturday.

Mexico's confirmed deaths rise to 70,604

Mexico reported 5,674 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 421 additional fatalities on Saturday, bringing its totals to 663,973 infections and 70,604 deaths, according to updated Health Ministry data.

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

So far, Mexico's death toll from the pandemic is the fourth highest globally, and the 13th highest on a per capita basis, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The spread of the virus has ravaged an already slumping economy, which is now seen contracting by up to 13% this year, the deepest downturn since the 1930s-era Great Depression. 

Vaccine trial resumes as virus continues grim march

Clinical trials of one of the most advanced experimental Covid-19 vaccines resumed on Saturday after a brief safety pause, as infection numbers continued to march upward in countries across the globe.

The world's hopes for a reprieve from the pandemic were dealt a blow earlier in the week when pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University announced they had "voluntarily paused" their vaccine trial after a UK volunteer developed an unexplained illness.

But on Saturday the trial was given the all clear by British regulators to resume following a safety review.

South Africa reports 1,816 new cases, 49 deaths

South Africa recorded 1,816 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday and 49 deaths, according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

Almost 4 million people have been tested for the virus since it was first detected in the country in March.

Mkhize said 18,620 people were tested for the virus in the last 24 hours.

South Africa’s recovery rate now stands at 88.9% with 576,423 people having recovered.

Mkhize told a nursing conference earlier on Saturday that Covid-19 cases and deaths have begun to decline in the country.

South Africa, which has the highest number of infections in Africa and is the eighth most affected country globally, has 648,214 cases and 15,427 deaths.

New daily cases dropped to less than 3,000 compared to June and July when infections hovered between 8,000 and 10,000 daily.

More than 31,000 health care workers, many of them nurses and midwives, contracted Covid-19, including 240 who died in South Africa.

Brazil reports 814 deaths

Brazil registered 814 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 33,523 additional cases, the nation's health ministry said on Saturday evening.

The South American country has now reported 131,210 total deaths and 4,315,687 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

Brazil ranks third in the world after the United States and India in terms of total coronavirus cases, and it is second only to the United States in terms of deaths.

Missouri tops 100,000 confirmed cases

Missouri has topped 100,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ coronavirus dashboard cited 1,974 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 101,134. The true number is likely much higher since many people with the virus go undiagnosed.

The state also added three new deaths. All told, 1,704 Missourians have died from Covid-19.

The number of cases in the state is growing at a rate faster than most places. Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that over the seven-day period of September 4-10, Missouri saw the nation's sixth-highest number of new cases.