US says China trying to steal Covid-19 vaccine research – latest updates

Wednesday, May 13

Italy warns EU states not to forge limited tourist pacts

European Union states must not forge defacto tourist pacts between themselves during the crisis, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, warning such a move could destroy the single market.

European governments are working on plans to reopen their borders at different speeds, depending on national circumstances, with some countries looking initially to reinstate free travel with only a limited number of neighbours.

"We will not accept bilateral accords within the European Union that might create privileged tourist channels," Conte told reporters. "That would leave us outside the European Union and we will never allow this."

Conte said he did not yet know when travel between Italy's various regions would once again be allowed

South Africa's to discuss easing Covid-19 restrictions further by end-May

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that his government would start talks on moving most of the country to alert level 3 Covid-19 restrictions by the end of May, from the current alert level 4.

Ramaphosa added in an address to the nation that parts of the country with the highest rates of infection would remain at alert level 4 and that changes to that level of restrictions would be announced in the coming days.

US says China trying to steal Covid-19 vaccine research

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber division are warning hackers backed by the Chinese government may be attempting to steal the work of US researchers on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A joint statement says China’s efforts pose a “significant threat” to the health care, pharmaceutical and research sectors.

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says it would release technical details of the threat in the coming days and asked organisations to report any suspicious activity.

US authorities have long complained that China has used hacking to steal academic and economic data to bolster its economy. This warning comes amid increased tensions between the two governments over the origins of the outbreak and China’s initial response.

Greece to reopen some beaches

Greece will allow the reopening of some beaches on Saturday when a heatwave is expected to hit the country.

The Civil Protection Agency says the measure would affect 515 beaches in Greece, where shade umbrellas must be planted at least 4 metres apart, and a maximum 40 people will be allowed per 1,000 square metres of beach.

It’s part of the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions in the country.

On Wednesday, health officials announced 16 confirmed infections and three more deaths, bringing the total to 2,760 and 155, respectively.

Los Angeles County reopens beaches 

Los Angeles County reopened its beaches on Wednesday in the latest cautious easing of coronavirus restrictions that have closed most California public spaces and businesses for nearly two months.

County beaches and many city-owned beaches along the 120 kilometers of coastline are open only for “active recreation” such as walking, swimming and surfing. Sunbathing, picnicking and group sports such as volleyball are still banned and strangers must stay well apart. Visitors also must wear masks when they’re out of the water.

Some mayors warned that the state or county could close the beaches again if people disobey the restrictions and crowd the shoreline.

The move comes as California, which is still seeing a rise in Covid-19 cases, tentatively eases some stay-at-home restrictions.

France's death toll rises to 27,074

France's Health Ministry revealed its latest numbers on the Covid-19 situation in the country. The amount of deaths in hospitals and nursing homes increased to 27,074 from 26,991 the day before. 

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases also rose by 507, leading to a total of 140,734. 

The amount of people in ICU units dropped to 2,428 from 2,542 on Tuesday.

France has the fifth-highest amount of coronavirus cases in Europe.

Over 100,000 patients recover in Turkey

The latest figures in Turkey show that the number of patients in intensive care units has fallen to below 1,000 for the first time.

Over 100,000 patients have also recovered from the disease.

Fifty-eight new deaths were reported over the past 24 hours taking the total to 3,952, according to Turkey's Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca.

Out of 33,332 tests carried out over the same time period, 1,639 new cases were detected, increasing the total cases to 143,114.

Koca added that the country's R0 value is at 1.56 percent.

Concern over Tanzania not releasing virus data

The United States says Tanzania has not publicly released any data on Covid-19 in two weeks as concerns rise about the true number of cases there.

The World Health Organization also has openly worried about Tanzania, whose president has questioned his own government’s virus testing and refused to close churches in the belief that the virus can’t survive in the body of Christ.

A new US Embassy statement warns that the risk of being infected in Tanzania’s commercial hub Dar es Salaam is “extremely high” and says many hospitals in the city have been overwhelmed .

It says “all evidence points to exponential growth” in cases in the East African nation. The country has more than 500 confirmed cases and 21 deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Turkish children go out for the first time in 40 days

Parks filled with the sound of children as Turkey allowed kids aged 14 and under to leave homes for the first time in 40 days.

The country’s youngest population were allowed to venture out for four hours between 11am and 3pm on Wednesday as Turkey eased some restrictions.

Youngsters aged between 15 and 20 will be able to leave homes for a few hours on Friday, while senior citizens were briefly allowed out for the first time in seven weeks on May 10.

Turkey has recorded more than 140,000 cases of the virus and nearly 4,000 deaths attributed to Covid-19.

Norway opens its borders to Europeans

Norway is opening its borders to allow people from other European countries enter the Scandinavian country if they have a residence there or have family they want to visit.

Justice Minister Monica Maeland said on Wednesday that Norway, which is not part of the European Union, is opening up for citizens from the European Economic Area, which includes EU member states, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein. The last three countries have together with Norway signed the agreement that gives EU non-members access to the EU’s huge single market.

Maeland said in a statement that it also means, among other things, that seasonal workers will have the opportunity to enter Norway.

Indonesia confirms 689 new cases of Covid-19

Indonesia has reported more than 600 new cases of Covid-19 for the first time since the country confirmed its first cases in early March, making the national total exceed 15,000 on Wednesday.

There were 689 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours to bring the total to 15,438. The cumulative figure includes about 1,000 deaths and nearly 3,300 recoveries.

The highest spike in a day came as the government is mulling over a plan to start easing social restrictions next month to allow businesses to resume operations gradually.

Japan considers partially lifting state of emergency

Japan is considering partially lifting the coronavirus state of emergency, currently in place nationwide through May 31.

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo declared a monthlong state of emergency on April 7 in Tokyo and six other urban prefectures and later expanded it nationwide.

Japanese media says the easing of restrictions is expected in more than 30 prefectures where new cases of Covid-19 have decreased. 

Japan has nearly 16,000 confirmed cases and more than 680 deaths.

Turkish lawyer files lawsuit against China

A lawyer in Turkey has filed a lawsuit against China on behalf of a private company, seeking compensation for financial losses due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Lawyer Melih Akkurt says he filed the lawsuit at the Ankara Court of First Instance on behalf of a company that was forced to suspend operations during lockdowns. He says it is the first commercial lawsuit in Turkey against China, where the coronavirus pandemic began.

The lawsuit holds China responsible for economic losses, accusing it of failing to provide timely and accurate data to the World Health Organization, concealing information on the virus’ infectiousness, silencing doctors and not preventing its spread.

China rejects accusations of a coverup or not responding to the outbreak in a timely manner.

Portugal reveals plan to resume preschool

Portuguese health authorities have published plans for the resumption of preschool next week.

Parents’ groups have expressed concern it will be impossible to ensure social distancing at school between small children. 

School classes for students ages 16-18 also are expected to resume next week.

Portugal has officially recorded just over 28,000 cases and 1,175 deaths from the coronavirus.

Lesotho records first Covid-19 case

Lesotho recorded its first case of coronavirus case, the Health Ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said it had conducted 81 tests for the virus from travellers from South Africa and Saudi Arabia, of which one was positive.

The kingdom, nestled in a South African mountain range, had so far been spared the coronavirus that has affected other countries in southern Africa.

Spain's daily death toll at 184 

Spain's daily death toll from the coronavirus inched up to 184 fatalities from 176 on Tuesday, the country's health ministry said.

The overall death toll from the disease rose to 27,104, while the overall number of diagnosed cases rose to 228,691 from 228,030 the prior day. 

Malaysia reports 37 new cases

Malaysia reported 37 new virus cases taking its cumulative total to 6,779 infections.

The health ministry also reported two new deaths, raising the total number of fatalities from the outbreak to 111. 

UK sees 275 deaths among health and social care workers

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the deaths of 144 health care workers and 131 social care workers had been reported as involving Covid-19.

The United Kingdom's total Covid-19 death toll now exceeds 40,000, by far the worst yet reported in Europe. 

Russia records more than 10,000 new virus cases

Russia registered more than 10,000 new virus cases continuing a grim trend that has seen the country become a global virus hotspot.

Health officials reported 10,028 new cases over the last 24 hours, bringing Russia's total number of infections to 242,271.

The Kremlin this week eased a national lockdown to slow the spread of the virus, despite a steady rise in numbers that has brought Russia to second place in a global tally of infections, behind the United States.

Greece starts widespread testing after outbreak

Greek health and civil protection authorities have launched an operation for widespread testing and contact tracing in an area in central Greece where an outbreak of Covid-19 infections have been detected.

The civil protection authority said that consecutive positive infections had been recorded in a Roma settlement in the central city of Larissa. 

Ten new confirmed infections were recorded on Tuesday, including seven people in the same family.

The local outbreak led authorities to implement a plan that will conduct widespread repeated testing in three phases, with the first tests on Wednesday, then repeated on the seventh day and on the 14th day. 

UK economy shrinks by record 5.8 percent amid virus

Britain's economy shrank by a record 5.8 percent in March from February as the virus crisis escalated and the government ordered a shutdown of much of the country to stop the spread of the virus, official data showed.

In the first three months of the year, gross domestic product contracted by 2 percent from the last three months of 2019, the Office for National Statistics said.

That was the largest quarter-on-quarter fall since the end of 2008, during the depths of the financial crisis, though slightly smaller than the average 2.5 percent forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

Austria, Germany to reopen border mid-June

Austria said its border with Germany will fully reopen in a month, one of the first big steps to reopen land borders across the EU that have been shut to fight the coronavirus.

Austria's conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is pushing for borders with countries that have similarly low infection rates to be reopened. 

Vienna is working on similar two-step reopenings with Switzerland, Liechtenstein and "neighbouring eastern European countries", his office said.

South Korea sticks with lockdown rollback despite virus spike

South Korea says it has no immediate plans to revive strict social distancing rules despite a spike in virus cases linked to nightclubs in Seoul.

Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told reporters the government needs more time to analyse details of recent outbreaks before determining whether to maintain relaxed social distancing guidelines.

South Korea has eased up on much of its strict social distancing rules last week before it has about roughly 30 new cases each day in the past several days.

Chinese city in partial lockdown over virus spread risk

A northeastern Chinese city has partially shut its borders and cut off transport links after the emergence of a local coronavirus cluster that has fuelled growing fears of a second wave of infections in China.

Jilin, with a population of more than four million, suspended bus services and said it will only allow residents to leave the city if they have tested negative for the virus in the past 48 hours and complete an unspecified period of "strict self-isolation".

Singapore confirms 675 new cases

Singapore's health ministry said it has confirmed another 675 virus infections, taking the city-state's tally to 25,346.

Yesterday, the country announced plans to test all 323,000 migrant workers living in cramped dormitories that have become a hotbed for the virus with about 700 infections.

Thailand reports no new cases for first time since March 9

Thailand reported no new virus cases for the first time since March 9. Thailand has a total of 3,017 cases and 56 deaths since the outbreak escalated in January.

Since the outbreak in Thailand, 2,844 patients have recovered from infections and gone home.

New Zealand reports no new cases for second day

New Zealand reported zero new cases of the coronavirus, the second day in a row without any new cases and the fourth day since early last week.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said it was encouraging news as the country prepares to ease many of its lockdown restrictions from midnight. Most businesses, including malls, retail stores and sit-down restaurants, will be able to reopen. Social distancing rules will remain in place and gatherings will be limited to 10 people.

The lifting of restrictions will coincide with the release of the government’s annual budget on Thursday.

Germany's confirmed cases rise by 798 to 171,306 – RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 798 to 171,306, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll rose by 101 to 7,634, the tally showed.

Pakistan tops 2,000 new cases for first time

Pakistan crossed 2,000 new positive coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time since the outbreak earlier this year.

The increase comes just days after Prime Minister Imran Khan eased lockdown restrictions and stepped up the return of Pakistanis stranded overseas, ignoring pleas for stricter controls by Pakistan’s medical professionals.

Scenes of crowds of people crammed into markets throughout the country greeted the let up in restrictions despite the government’s call for safe distancing, which has been largely ignored by many of Pakistan’s 220 million people.

The latest figures show 34,312 positive cases following a 24-hour high of 2,255 new cases with a reported death toll of more than 730.

Researchers revise US death forecast upward again

A newly revised coronavirus mortality model predicts more than 147,000 Americans will die from Covid-19 by early August, up nearly 10,000 from the last projection, as restrictions for curbing the pandemic are increasingly relaxed, researchers said.

The latest forecast from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reflects "key drivers of viral transmission like changes in testing and mobility, as well as easing of distancing policies," the report said.

Mexico sees 353 deaths in most lethal coronavirus day

Mexico's health ministry confirmed 1,997 new cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday, along with 353 additional deaths, the most deadly day since the pandemic began.

The new infections brought confirmed coronavirus cases to 38,324 and 3,926 deaths in total, according to the official tally.

Mexico's previous highest daily death toll was on Thursday, when Mexico reported 257 fatalities. 

New cases reported in China

China reported seven new confirmed coronavirus cases in mainland on May 12, up from one a day earlier, the country's health authority said on Wednesday.

Six of the new cases were local infections in the northeastern province of Jilin. The one imported case was in Shanghai, the National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin.

China also confirmed eight new asymptomatic coronavirus cases on May 12 compared with 15 the day before.

US Senate threatens sanctions on China 

US Republican senators proposed legislation that would empower President Donald Trump to slap sanctions on China if Beijing does not give a "full accounting" for the coronavirus outbreak.

"The Chinese Communist Party must be held accountable for the detrimental role they played in this pandemic," said Senator Jim Inhofe, one of the sponsors of the "Covid-19 Accountability Act".

"Their outright deception of the origin and spread of the virus cost the world valuable time and lives as it began to spread," he said in a statement.

Brazil coronavirus cases surpass Germany

Brazil's confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 177,589, according to the health ministry, surpassing Germany's 170,508 confirmed cases.

Brazil also declared 881 deaths in the last 24 hours, a record for a single day. 

There were 9,258 new cases registered in the 24-hour period.

Mexico to present plan for return to 'new normal' 

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that he will present plans on Wednesday to reopen the country and the economy after several weeks of quarantine measures to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

"Tomorrow, we will lay out the plan to return to the new normal," Obrador said at a regular news conference.