US Covid-19 death toll rises past 185,000 deaths – latest updates

Thursday, September 3

US CDC reports 185,092 deaths

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of deaths due to the coronavirus had risen by 1,009 to 185,092 and reported 6,087,403 cases, an increase of 39,711 cases from its previous count.

France registers over 7,000 infections

France has registered more than 7,000 new virus infections over 24 hours for the second time in two days, the Health Ministry said, just shy of a 7,578 record set on March 31, while hospitalisations for the virus also rose again.

The Health Ministry reported that the cumulative total of confirmed cases rose to 300,181, up by 7,157.

The number of people in intensive care with the disease also rose again for the fifth consecutive day, up by 18 to 464.

Turkey reports over 1,200 recoveries

Turkey reported 1,600 more infections over the past 24 hours, the country's health minister said.

Citing Health Ministry data, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 1,642 new cases have raised the country's overall count to 274,943.

He also said 1,211 more patients recovered over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 248,087.

The death toll in the country rose to 6,511 as 49 more people died over the past day, he added.

UK records 1,735 cases, highest since June 4

The United Kingdom recorded 1,735 daily confirmed cases of virus, according to government data published, up from 1,508 a day earlier and the highest since June 4.

The daily number of deaths within 28 days of testing positive for the virus was 13, the government said.

Thailand reports first local case in 100 days

A prison inmate in Thailand has tested positive for the virus in the country’s first confirmed locally transmitted case in 100 days, health officials said.

They identified the inmate as a 37-year-old man arrested for drug abuse who was brought to prison in Bangkok on August 26 and tested positive on Wednesday at the prison's health centre.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Wednesday had congratulated the nation for having achieved 100 days without any confirmed local cases of the disease. The last person to test positive was on May 24.

Pfizer targets end of October for vaccine

US drugmaker Pfizer said it should know by the end of October whether a pandemic vaccine it is developing is successful, and will submit it for approval immediately if that is the case.
Pfizer has enrolled 23,000 patients in vaccine tests as of Wednesday, it's Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in an online briefing sponsored by drug industry group International Federation of Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers & Association.
Pfizer is in the race to come up with a vaccine with its partner, Germany's BioNTech.

England hits highest positive cases in months

England's weekly number of positive Covid-19 cases in late August was the highest since the end of May, according to latest data from the test and trace scheme on Thursday.

National Health Service Test and Trace recorded a 6 percent increase in positive cases in the country compared to last week, with 6,732 new cases between August 20 and August 26.

Russia's national tally passes one million 

Russia reported 4,995 new coronavirus cases, bringing its national tally to 1,009,995, the fourth largest in the world.

Russia's coronavirus taskforce said 114 people had died over the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 17,528.
Indonesia records highest daily infections
Indonesia's Covid-19 task force reported a record high in daily cases, with 3,622 new infections, and 134 new deaths.

The number of new daily deaths reported was the highest since July 22, bringing the latest tally to 184,268 infections and 7,750 deaths in Southeast Asia's biggest country.

Thailand records first new case after 100 days
Thailand has recorded its first local transmission of virus, after over 100 days without new cases.

Health officials in Thailand said a 37-year-old prison inmate has tested positive for Covid-19 in the country’s first confirmed case in 100 days.

Africa's overall infection rate drops by 14 percent

The overall number of new infections across the African continent decreased by 14 percent over the past week despite a 2.4 percent rise in East Africa region and a 7.5 percent hike in North Africa. 

The Africa CDC has recorded 1,267,656 cases, 30,294 deaths, and 1,009,824 recoveries, with South Africa alone registering 50 percent of cases.

India reports record daily jump of 83,883 infections

India reported another record daily jump of 83,883 coronavirus infections, taking its tally to 3.85 million, just 100,000 behind Brazil, the world's second most affected nation, health ministry data showed.

Asia's worst-hit country has been posting the world's largest daily caseload every day for almost a month, although deaths remain relatively low.

The ministry said 1,043 people died from Covid-19, taking the toll to 67,376.

Britain could impose 14-day quarantine on Portugal arrivals

Britain could make a decision on Friday on whether to impose a 14-day quarantine on arrivals from Portugal after cases of Covid-19 began to rise in the popular holiday destination, the UK's health minister, Matt Hancock, said.

Britain allowed holiday-makers to travel to Portugal without any restrictions less than two weeks ago but a rise in the coronavirus there has prompted speculation it will be put back on a list of countries that require quarantine measures.

"We follow the data and we make these announcements in an organised way on a Friday lunchtime," Hancock told Sky News.

Germany cases rise by 1,311

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 1,311 to 246,166, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll rose by eight to 9,321, the tally showed.

Vietnam to resume some Asian flights as curbs on business travel ease

Vietnam plans to restart international commercial flights to and from six Asian cities from mid-September, state media reported, ending months of virus-related suspension after easing some restrictions on foreign business travellers.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) is proposing resuming flights to Guangzhou, Seoul, Vientiane, Phnom Penh, Taipei and Tokyo, which would mean about 5,000 travellers arriving each week, the transport ministry-run Giao Thong newspaper reported, citing CAAV deputy head, Vo Huy Cuong.

Those arriving must still undergo two weeks of quarantine, according to health ministry requirements, unless the duration of their visit is under 14 days. Vietnam has not yet reopened to tourists.

Russia resumes international flights with Egypt, UAE, Maldives

Russia has resumed international flights with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives, a government order published showed.

The government said it had authorised three flights a week to Cairo, as well as two flights a week to Dubai and to the Maldives's Velana International Airport.

Czechs report highest daily number of cases

The Czech Republic's daily number of new virus cases rose to 650, the highest since the pandemic reached the country in March, Health Ministry data showed.

With that number, the overall count of cases rose to 25,773 in the country of 10.7 million. 

US states told be ready to distribute vaccine by November 1

The Trump administration has urged US states to get ready to distribute a potential Covid-19 vaccine by November 1, two days before the presidential election.

Dallas-based wholesaler McKesson Corp. has a deal with the federal government and will be requesting permits to set up distribution centers when a vaccine becomes available.

"The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant barrier to the success of this urgent public health programme," Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told states in an August 27 letter.

"CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities."

Redfield asked states to consider waiving requirements that would "prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020."

The CDC provided states with documents giving details of a vaccine rollout plan, adding that they would either be approved as licensed vaccines or under emergency use authorisation.

Recipients would probably require a second "booster" dose, a few weeks after the first, according to the documents.

Mexico leads in health worker deaths from virus

Mexico leads the world in coronavirus deaths among its health care workers, Amnesty International has said in a new report.

It said Mexico has reported 1,320 confirmed deaths from Covid-19 so far, surpassing the United States at 1,077, the United Kingdom at 649, and Brazil at 634.

The report is likely to revive debate about Mexico’s extremely low coronavirus testing rate, with fewer than one in 100 Mexicans tested. While Mexican officials have bragged that all health care workers have gotten one test, that appears insufficient for people who face daily exposure over months.

Health professionals in Mexico have also held many protests over a lack of adequate personal protective equipment.

Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International's head of economic and social justice at Amnesty International, called the worldwide death toll of over 7,000 health workers “a crisis on a staggering scale.”

Australia's hotspot reports triple-digit new cases

Australia's Victoria state reported a triple-digit rise in new Covid-19 infections for the first time in four days, denting optimism that a second wave of cases has been contained.

Victoria state said 113 new cases were detected in the past 24 hours, up from the 90 infections reported on Wednesday.

Australia has now recorded more than 26,000 cases, while the death toll rose to 678 after 15 people in Victoria state died from the virus.

Victoria's capital Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city is in its fifth week of a six-week lockdown. Authorities are scheduled to detail a timetable for easing curbs on Sunday.

Brazil reports over 46,900 new cases

Brazil reported 46,934 new cases of the coronavirus and 1,184 deaths from the disease caused by the virus in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.

Brazil has registered 3,997,865 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 123,780, according to ministry data, in the world's worst coronavirus outbreak outside the United States.

Britain to fund expansion of rapid test trials

Britain is putting 500 million pounds ($666 million) into trials of rapid Covid-19 tests and into population-testing for the disease, the Health Ministry has said.

Health Minister Matt Hancock has said he hopes mass testing using faster Covid-19 tests can be rolled out towards the end of the year, adding that they are key to restoring freedoms after months of restrictions.

The funding will be used to expand existing trials of saliva tests and a rapid 20-minute test in southern England, while a new, community trial in Salford, northwest England, will assess the benefit of population-testing, under which people are regularly tested regardless of whether they have symptoms, so that any cases can be picked up before they have spread widely.

Experts probe obesity link to severe virus response

Inflammatory and immune responses linked to obesity could help explain the likelihood of a more severe outcome among patients with Covid-19, European experts have said.

As the new coronavirus has spread, killing more than 800,000 people globally, it has become increasingly clear that co-morbidities put patients at greater risk.

In a presentation at the European and International Congress on Obesity, researchers said that inflammation caused by a buildup of fat tissue in people with obesity, which is linked to other illnesses such as type two diabetes and cardiovascular disease, could play a role in patients' response to Covid-19.

They also suggested that the body's blood pressure regulating renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), which includes the enzyme that the new coronavirus latches onto, was also potentially linked to worse outcomes.