France reports record daily Covid-19 infections – latest updates

Thursday, September 10, 2020

France nears 10,000 daily cases

French health authorities have reported 9,843 new confirmed coronavirus cases, setting an all-time high of daily additional infections, six days after the previous record of 8,975.

The number of people in France who have died from virus infections was up 19, at 30,813 and the cumulative number of cases now totals 353,944.

The number of people hospitalised for the disease jumped by 93, at 5,096, with that tally increasing for the 12th day in a row. 

Turkey reports 1,512 new cases

Turkey has reported 1,512 new cases of the virus, and more than 1,200 recoveries.

The country's overall infection count reached 286,455, according to Health Ministry data.

"The average age of active cases is 42. Intensive care unit patients are age 65 on average," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

The ministry data showed that 1,219 more patients recovered over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 255,407.

The virus-linked death toll, meanwhile, rose to 6,895 as 58 more people succumbed to the disease.

UK records 2,919 new cases

 The United Kingdom has recorded 2,919 new daily confirmed cases, according to government data, compared with 2,659 a day earlier.

Daily case numbers have started to increase in recent days. Britain's testing capacity has also increased since the peak of the first wave of the virus earlier this year.

Fourteen new deaths were recorded, versus eight on Wednesday.

 $700 million raised so far for vaccines initiative for poor

International donors have raised $700 million - less than half the target - to purchase virus vaccines for poor countries in a global initiative to ensure eventual vaccines do not go only to rich countries, a World Health Organization official has said.

The COVAX Advanced Market Commitment has an initial target of $2 billion to buy the vaccines.

"Up to today, what has been mobilised so far is $700 million ... So there is a great deal of work to be done to diversify the possible sources of funding," Matshidiso Moeti, Africa regional director for the WHO, told an online press briefing.

COVAX is co-led by the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, the WHO and the CEPI Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Its aim is to deliver two billion doses of effective, approved Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2021.

At least eight African countries, including South Africa, Gabon, Namibia and Equatorial Guinea had agreed to self-finance access to the vaccine, Moeti said.

Greece reports 372 new cases

Greece has reported 372 new cases, its highest daily tally since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The latest jump in cases brought the total number of infections in Greece to 12,452 and 297 deaths since its first case surfaced in late February.

Of the new cases, 114 were due to an outbreak of Covid-19 infections at a food processing plant in northern Greece, with 133 recorded in the greater Athens area, health authorities said.

The increase in infections in recent weeks has prompted Greek authorities to gradually introduce more restrictions during the peak of the tourism season.

Jakarta to reimpose lockdown 

Indonesia's capital Jakarta plans to reimpose a partial lockdown as early as Monday over fears that surging cases could "collapse" its under-pressure hospitals, the sprawling city's governor said.

The megacity of some 30 million will see many office buildings and large mosques closed along with restaurants and other entertainment venues, while public transport hours will also be restricted.

Indonesia has reported a record high 3,861 new virus cases, bringing its total to 207,203.

The data from the country's health ministry showed 120 new deaths, taking total fatalities to 8,456, the highest coronavirus death toll in Southeast Asia. 

France cannot rule out local lockdowns - advisor

Local lockdowns cannot be ruled out in French regions where virus infections are flaring up even though authorities are striving to avoid it, Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the government on the epidemic, told RTL radio.

The situation in about 20 large cities, including Marseille, Bordeaux and the Paris region, was being watched closely, he said.

French health authorities reported 8,577 new virus cases on Wednesday, the second-highest number of daily additional infections since the disease started to spread in the country at the end of the winter.

Russia records 5,363 virus cases in last 24 hours

Russia has reported 5,363 new virus cases , bringing the national tally to 1,046,370, the fourth largest in the world.

Authorities said 128 people had died in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 18,263.

Myanmar expands curbs after another record rise in cases

Myanmar has increased lockdown measures in its biggest city after reporting another record daily rise in cases, with 120 new infections taking its overall cases past the 2,000 mark.

Health authorities expanded a stay-at-home order to nearly half of the townships in greater Yangon, a city of at least 5 million people, where most of the new infections were found.

The country has now reported a total of 2009 cases and 14 deaths, with infections quadrupling since a month ago, when the virus resurfaced in the western state of Rakhine after weeks without a domestic case.

Philippines confirms 3,821 new virus cases

Philippines has recorded 3,821 more new virus infections, the most in 11 days, and 80 additional deaths.

In a bulletin, the Philippine health ministry said total confirmed cases have increased to 248,947, the most in Southeast Asia, while COVID-19 deaths have reached 4,066.

Czech republic reports over 1,000 virus cases

The Czech Republic has reported more than 1,000 virus cases for a second day in a row  as it widened compulsory wearing of face masks in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

As of the end of September 9, the country had 31,036 confirmed cases, with 1,161 new cases identified by labs on that day alone.

For September 8, it reported 1,163 new cases, matching neighbouring Germany which has eight times the Czech population. 

India reports record spike in new virus cases

India reported another record spike of 95,735 new infections in the past 24 hours as the virus spreads beyond its major cities.

According to the Health Ministry, the number of people known to be infected in India reached 4,465,863 on Thursday. 

It has the second-highest caseload in the world behind the United States, where more than 6.3 million people are known to be infected.

The Health Ministry also reported 1,172 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 75,062. 

Its death toll is third-highest in the world behind the US and Brazil.

South Korea's coronavirus resurgence seems to slow

South Korea’s new cases have stayed below 200 for an eighth straight day, suggesting the recent viral resurgence is slowing amid stringent social distancing rules.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday it recorded 155 additional cases over the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 21,743, with 346 deaths.

South Korea had seen a spike in new infections since early August, mostly in the greater Seoul area. Authorities in the Seoul region have subsequently ordered the shutdown of churches, nightspots and fitness centers and restricted dining at restaurants.

The elevated social distancing rules in the Seoul area are to expire Sunday, and the government is to announce whether to extend them.

Brazil could launch Chinese vaccine this year

Clinical trials in Brazil of a Chinese-made vaccine have shown "extremely positive" results, and a widespread vaccination campaign could begin as early as December, the governor of Sao Paulo state said Wednesday.

Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in hard-hit Brazil, is one of six states helping to test the so-called CoronaVac vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech.

The vaccine produced an immune response in 98 percent of recipients over 60 years old, with no adverse side-effects reported so far, said Governor Joao Doria.

Sinovac has partnered with a Brazilian public health research center, the Butantan Institute, to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials of the vaccine -- the last step before regulatory approval.

The deal gives the institute the right to produce 120 million doses of the vaccine, according to officials.

Global infections top 28 million

The global infections from the coronavirus have crossed the milestone of 28 million, according to Worldometer tracker, with over 900,000 deaths as cases surge in India and Brazil. 

The United States remains the world's worst-affected country, with deaths exceeding 195,000 and cases exceeding 6.5 million. 

Brazil is in second place with more than 128,000 deaths followed by India with nearly 75,000 dead.

Mexico records 611 new deaths

Mexico reported 4,647 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 611 additional fatalities on Wednesday, bringing its totals to 647,507 infections and 69,095 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.

Australia's Victoria state records 51 new cases

Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria has reported 51 new cases and seven deaths from the novel coronavirus, compared with 76 cases and 11deaths a day earlier.

The state, which is at the centre of Australia's coronavirus outbreak, has brought the daily rise in cases to double digits in recent days due to a strict lockdown after it touched highs of more than 700 in early August.

Victoria, home to one-quarter of Australia's 25 million population, now accounts for about 75 percent of the country's 26,516 cases and 90 percent of its 788 deaths.

Victoria should consider lifting a night curfew if the decision was not made on health advice, federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Thursday.

Victorian authorities are trying to fend off criticism after its chief health officer told local radio he hadn't recommended the night curfew in state capital Melbourne, although he was not against it from "a public health perspective."

State premier Daniel Andrews confirmed to local media that the curfew had been enacted to make it easier for police to enforce a more general lockdown, which includes sweeping business shutdowns and restrictions on movement.

Mainland China reports seven new cases vs 2 a day earlier

Mainland China has reported seven new COVID-19 cases on Sept. 9, up from two cases a day earlier.

The National Health Commission said in a statement all of the new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas, marking the 25th consecutive day of no local transmissions.

The commission also reported 15 new asymptomatic cases, up from eight a day earlier. China does not classify symptomless patients as confirmed cases.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 85,153, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.