Global Covid-19 cases top 14 million – latest updates

Friday, July 17, 2020

Global cases passes 14 million
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 14 million, according to Worldometers and Corona Tracker websites. The grim milestone comes as the global death toll approaches 600,000.

Barcelona residents urged to stay home after rise in virus cases

The Catalan regional government urged the nearly four million residents of Spain's second city Barcelona to stay at home unless absolutely necessary or face a potential new lockdown after a rise in coronavirus cases.

The regional government also ordered the closure of cinemas, theatres and nightclubs and banned gatherings of more than 10 people in the coastal city, spokeswoman Meritxell Budo told a press conference.

The city has seen a near tripling of coronavirus cases in the past week from 279 last week to 733 this, local officials say.

US CDC reports 3,555,877 coronavirus cases

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 3,555,877 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 72,045 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 926 to 137,864.

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

Brazil virus outbreak has 'plateaued'

The new coronavirus outbreak in hard-hit Brazil has plateaued, the World Health Organization said, urging the country to seize the opportunity to drive down transmission.

"The rise in Brazil is no longer exponential, it has plateaued," WHO health emergencies chief Michael Ryan told a virtual news conference. He added the rate of infection had now "stabilised".

Brazil is the second-worst virus affected country in the world after the United States, counting nearly 77,000 deaths and more than two million cases.

Figures published by the health ministry on Thursday showed there were more than 45,000 new cases over the previous 24 hours and an extra 1,300 deaths.

Remote region of Brazil's Amazon counts first deaths

The first deaths from Covid-19 have come to a vast, remote region of the Amazon that Brazil's government says is home to greatest concentration of isolated Indigenous groups in the world.

Experts fear the virus could spread rapidly among peoples with lesser resistance even to already common diseases and limited access to health care, potentially wiping out some smaller groups.

A 83-year-old Marubo man known as Yovempa died on July 5, the country's Special Secretariat of Indigenous Health said five days later. Two other deaths were reported later by the independent Indigenous Peoples' Coordination.

926 more cases reported in Turkey

A total of 1,014 people recovered from the virus in Turkey over the past day, bringing the current total to 199,834, said the country's health minister.

According to Health Ministry data, the total number of nationwide infections rose to 217,799, as 926 more cases were reported over the past 24 hours. The country's death toll from the virus rose to 5,458, with 18 new fatalities reported.

On Twitter, Fahrettin Koca said there had been an increase in the number of patients under intensive care and intubation.

Russia's coronavirus death toll passes 12,000

Russia's death toll from the novel coronavirus has passed 12,000 as the country reported 186 new deaths in the past 24 hours.

The country's coronavirus crisis response centre registered 6,406 new cases, bringing its nationwide tally of infections to 759,203, the world's fourth-highest caseload.

The death toll now stands at 12,123. Russia says 539,373 people have recovered.

'NATO has stopped Covid-19 from becoming a security crisis'

NATO has had to adjust but has been able to function during the Covid-19 pandemic to make sure the health crisis does not become a security crisis, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

"NATO's main task is to make sure that health crisis the Covid-19 crisis does not become a security crisis, and we have been able to do that," he told BBC Radio.

"Of course we have adjusted some of the ways we do our activities ... but the main message is that we have been able to uphold deterrence defence, our operational presence, throughout the pandemic."

Indonesia adds 1,462 new infections, 84 new deaths

Indonesia has reported 1,462 new coronavirus infections, bringing total cases to83,130, its health ministry said.

The number of fatalities from Covid-19 rose by 84 to 3,957, ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.

Hong Kong reports 50 locally transmitted cases

Hong Kong authorities have reported 50 locally transmitted coronavirus cases, stoking further concern about an escalating third wave of infections in the global financial hub.

Including imported cases, the number of new cases in the past 24 hours was 58, taking the tally since late-January to 1,714 patients, 10 of whom have died.

Hong Kong on Thursday posted 63 locally transmitted cases, the highest on record for a single day. 

Philippine reports 17 deaths, 1,841 more cases

The Philippines has recorded 17 new coronavirus deaths and 1,841 additional infections, with the capital Manila still accounting for the bulk of newly confirmed cases and casualties.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total deaths have reached 1,660 while confirmed infections have risen to 63,001.

China's Xinjiang reports five new coronavirus cases 

Urumqi, the capital of China's far western region of Xinjiang, reported five new coronavirus cases after the report of an earlier case –– its first in months –– led to hundreds of flights being cancelled.

The city also reported eight new asymptomatic cases, the regional health commission said, taking Xinjiang's tally to six infections and 11 asymptomatic patients.

Epidemic control measures led to the cancellation of more than 600 scheduled flights at Urumqi Diwopu International Airport, or more than 80 percent of the day's total, figures from aviation data firm Variflight showed.

Urumqi also suspended subway services from late Thursday.

Israel imposes new weekend restrictions 

Israel's government said it was imposing weekend restrictions to limit the spiralling spread of the virus in the hope of avoiding a general lockdown further along the line.

From 1400 GMT on Friday, restaurants and gyms would be closed until 0200 GMT on Sunday, a joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and the health ministry said.

Gatherings of more than 10 people in closed spaces and 20 in the open air, excluding approved workplaces and nuclear families, will also be banned.

These measures will take effect immediately and apply every weekend until further notice, the statement said.

However, "there will be no restriction on leaving one's home", it added. 

India's Cadila to end late-stage trials of virus vaccine in March 

India's Zydus Cadila plans to complete late-stage trials for its potential coronavirus vaccine in March 2021 and could produce up to 100 million doses a year if trials are successful, Chairman Pankaj Patel said.

Cadila's vaccine candidate, dubbed ZyCov-D, is one of dozens being developed around the world to fight the virus. 

India's coronavirus cases cross 1 million

India’s cases of novel coronavirus have crossed the million mark as infections spread out into the smaller towns and the countryside following the lifting of a vast lockdown.

Only the US and Brazil have a higher number of cases. 

India’s total deaths stood at 25,602, the health ministry said.

US notches record 68,428 new virus cases

The US has set yet another record for new coronavirus cases, with 68,428 infections recorded in 24 hours.

In that period the death toll also climbed by 974 people, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

That brought the total death toll in the country since the pandemic began to 138,201, and the total number of cases to 3,560,364.

The US remains the hardest-hit country in the world in absolute terms.

Experts believe it never emerged from its first wave of infections, and cases have been surging again in recent weeks, particularly across the south and west in states that pushed to lift lockdown restrictions early.

UN seeks $3.6B more for virus plan, criticizes inaction

The United Nations is seeking an additional $3.6 billion for its Global Humanitarian Response Plan to battle the pandemic, warning developed countries of "the price of inaction" if poorer nations don't receive help.

"There is a serious risk of multiple famines later this year and early next year. We need to invest now to prevent that," Mark Lowcock, the UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told a news conference.

In addition to Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen and Nigeria, which have already been hit by food shortages, he expressed growing concern over Sudan, Zimbabwe and Haiti.

The additional funds would also pay for medical equipment, information campaigns and establish humanitarian air bridges in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The new request brings the total wanted to $10.3 billion.

So far, the UN has received $1.7 billion.

Australia tries to contain outbreak to Melbourne 

Australia’s Victoria state has reported a daily record of 428 new Covid-19 cases as authorities move to increase testing in the state to monitor for any spread of the coronavirus from the Melbourne area.

Most of the new cases and three deaths reported Friday were in Melbourne.

Melbourne and neighbouring semi-rural Mitchell Shire have been locked down since last week and authorities hope the restrictions will soon bring a plateauing of infections.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said only five of the new cases are in parts of the state not in lockdown.

The state health minister added all but 42 coronavirus infections detected in Victoria this month were in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire.

Germany's cases rise by 583 to 200,843

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 583 to 200,843.

The reported death toll rose by 4 to 9,082, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed.

South Africa reports 216 more deaths

South Africa has registered thousands of new coronavirus cases and hundreds of fatalities.

Coronavirus cases topped 324,000 with 13,172 new infections in the past 24 hours, according to health ministry data.

Fatalities rose to 4,669 with 216 new deaths whereas more than 165,000 people recovered from the virus.

European students exempt from US travel ban – WSJ

Foreign students coming from Europe are exempt from a travel ban the United States imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The exemption for Europe also includes some au pairs and family members of visa holders in the United States, according to a memo sent by the US State Department to Congress, the Journal said.

Georgia governor sues to end cities' defiance on mask rules

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta to block the city from enforcing its mandate to wear a mask in public and other rules related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, in a suit filed in state court late Thursday in Atlanta, argue that Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has overstepped her authority and must obey Kemp's executive orders under state law.

"Governor Kemp must be allowed, as the chief executive of this state, to manage the public health emergency without Mayor Bottoms issuing void and unenforceable orders which only serve to confuse the public," the lawsuit states.

Kemp on Wednesday clarified his executive orders to expressly block Atlanta and at least 14 other local governments across the state from requiring people to wear face coverings.

Brazil tops 2 million cases, with 76,000 dead

A thousand deaths a day, since late May, three months after Brazil's first reported case, it has recorded more than 1,000 daily deaths on average in a gruesome plateau that has yet to tilt downward.

On Thursday evening, the federal health ministry reported that the country had passed 2 million confirmed cases of virus infections and 76,000 deaths.

Even as cases wane somewhat in the biggest and hardest-hit Brazilian cities, the virus is peaking in new locations across the largest country in Latin America.

Experts blame denial of the virus' deadly potential by President Jair Bolsonaro and lack of national coordination combined with scattershot responses by city and state governments, with some reopening earlier than health experts recommended.

An interim health minister untrained in the field is presiding over pandemic response. Bolsonaro himself is sick with Covid-19 after repeatedly flouting social distance recommendations and undermining local leaders’ restrictions on activity.

Brazil’s roughly 7,000 deaths in each of the last seven weeks is equal to several aeroplanes packed with Brazilians crashing every day, former health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta told The Associated Press.

72 NFL players positive for virus: union

Seventy-two NFL players have tested positive, the league's players union confirmed.

In the first major announcement of coronavirus results concerning the NFL, the NFL Players Association said dozens of players had tested positive as of July 10.

The tally was revealed in a database described as a "one-stop shop of information" for players.

It was unclear, however, how many of the league's roughly 2,900 rostered players had been tested or how often.

The test results come as the NFL and NFLPA are locked in negotiations over the terms and conditions of pre-season training and exhibition games.

Players have requested more time to address fitness concerns and want no pre-season games in August.

Florida at centre of virus outbreak

Florida is the new epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic in the United States and is shaping up as a key battleground in a partisan-tinged fight playing out nationally over reopening schools in the fall.

While cities such as Houston, Los Angeles and New York plan to begin the school year virtually or on a restricted in-person basis, Florida governor Ron DeSantis is insisting schools reopen fully in August.

The Republican governor's demand mirrors that of President Donald Trump, who is facing a tough reelection battle in November and is pushing for schools to reopen as a sign of a return to normalcy.

Trump, who is trailing Democrat Joe Biden in polling, has even threatened to cut federal funding for those schools that refuse to open their doors.

"The president has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open," White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said on Thursday. "And when he says open, he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day."

"The science should not stand in the way of this," McEnany added. "The science is on our side here."

Italy death toll tops 35,000

Italy's official coronavirus death toll topped 35,000 Thursday, with 20 deaths registered in the past 24 hours, the country's civil protection agency said.

The death toll rose to 35,017, with by far the largest number of fatalities recorded in the northern Lombardy region, which was hit first and hardest by the pandemic, and where 16,775 people have died.

The number of people who have tested positive since the virus erupted onto the scene in Italy at the end of February was 243,736, up 230 cases on Wednesday's figure, the agency said.

Nearly 12,500 people are currently positive for Covid-19, 750 of whom are in hospital, and 53 in intensive care.

Italy was the first European country to lockdown over the pandemic. The peak has long passed, but pockets of the virus periodically emerge, the latest being over 40 cases discovered this week among asylum seekers in Veneto.

Algeria plans law to protect medics as attacks, virus cases rise

Algeria is planning a law to protect health workers after an increase in "physical and verbal attacks" since the country's coronavirus outbreak began, as it registered another record number of daily cases.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called for new legislation after an increase in recent weeks of "physical and verbal attacks on medics, paramedics and administrative staff," according to a statement published on the prime minister's website.

The incidents have also in some cases involved "acts of damage and destruction of public assets and medical equipment," the statement added.

Algeria on Thursday registered 585 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 21,355, including 1,052 deaths, said Djamel Fourar, spokesperson for the scientific committee monitoring the pandemic, during a daily press conference.

The number beat several single-day records this week.

Algeria had been relaxing anti-coronavirus measures since early June, but faced with a resurgence of infections, the government decided Thursday to extend a partial lockdown in some provinces, including the capital Algiers.

Algeria's main virus hotspots are the provinces of Setif, Algiers and nearby Blida, which was also the epicentre early in the country's outbreak.