WHO: Opening up without control is 'recipe for disaster' – latest updates

Monday, August 31, 2020

WHO warns on opening up without virus control

The World Health Organization called on countries to persevere with restrictions to tackle Covid-19, director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that opening up without control of the virus would be a "recipe for disaster".

Tedros recognised that many people are getting tired of restrictions and want to return to normality after eight months of the new coronavirus.

"We want to see children returning to school and people returning to work places, but we want to see it done safely," Tedros told a news conference Monday. 

"No country can just pretend the pandemic is over," he said. "The reality is this virus spreads easily. Opening up without control is a recipe for disaster." 

Turkey conducts record 110,102 tests in 24 hours 

Turkey did a record 110,102 tests for the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, the country's health minister has said. 

"Today we reached the highest number of daily tests. More than 110,000 tests were carried out and 1,587 new patients were identified. Our sorrow over the loss of lives is beyond words," Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

Turkey has confirmed 1,587 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the nationwide tally to 270,133.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca also announced that the number of recoveries have reached 244,926.

Citing the ministry data, Koca said 1,087 additional patients recovered from Covid-19, while the death toll rose to 6,370 as 44 more people lost their lives to the disease.

Infections down, but hospitalisations up in France

French health authorities reported 3,082 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, sharply down from a caseload of above 5,000 each on the two previous days.

The seven-day moving average of new infections, which smoothes out reporting irregularities, stood at 5,167, reaching a new record for a fourth day in a row, versus a low of 272 on May 27, two weeks after the country ended its two-months long lockdown.

France's cumulative total of Covid-19 infections has reached 281,025, up 50 percent in comparison with the July 31 figure.

The number of people hospitalised with the disease are up for the second day running after going down for almost two weeks. 

UK records 1,406 daily confirmed cases 

The United Kingdom recorded 1,406 daily confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to government data published on Monday, down from 1,715 a day earlier.

Two people died within 28 days of testing positive for the disease, the daily statistics release said, bringing the total death toll under that measure to 41,501. 

EU joins WHO's coronavirus vaccine access plan 

The European Commission has said it would participate in the World Health Organization mechanism to facilitate poor countries' access to coronavirus vaccines, offering $477 million in guarantees.

Last month, the WHO sent a letter to its 194 member countries with a request to join the programme, called COVAX, aimed at providing global access to an eventual COVID-19 vaccine.

The aim is to encourage laboratories to manufacture sufficient quantities of vaccines and make sure they are available for developing countries.

"The Commission announces a contribution of 400 million euros to COVAX to help purchase future vaccines for low- and middle-income countries," said Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU's executive.

UAE records highest daily  infections since early July

The United Arab Emirates on Monday recorded more than 500 daily Covid-19 infections, the highest number over a 24-hour period in nearly two months.

The Gulf Arab state saw 541 infections and two deaths, the government's communications office tweeted, the highest since 683 cases were recorded on July 5.

Cyprus eases mask-wearing rule for school kids 

Cyprus’ education minister says mask-wearing will be compulsory for all middle and high school students but optional for primary and kindergarten grades when all schools open next week.

Prodromos Prodromou affirmed the guideline on Monday, easing an earlier position that masks would be mandatory for all grades when kids go back to school on September 7. The revised approach comes after an earlier Health Ministry decision to adopt a World Health Organization recommendation making mask-wearing compulsory for individuals 12 and over in enclosed spaces.

Prodromou said schools have been instructed to conduct classes in the largest available spaces to ensure adherence to social distancing rules, and a number of new desks to accommodate those rules have been ordered. He repeated that his ministry is ready to switch to online teaching if coronavirus infection rates within schools increase.

Spain reports more than 23,000 new cases since Friday

Spain has registered more than 23,000 new Covid-19 cases since Friday, health emergency chief Fernando Simon told a news conference on Monday, suggesting the infection rate had declined slightly from an August 21 peak.

Health ministry data showed 2,489 new cases were diagnosed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the onset of the pandemic to 462,858.

Romania lifts restrictions on daily life 

Romanian government is lifting several restrictions on daily life imposed earlier to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country, despite consistently rising number of new infections and deaths.

The government announced Monday it will let indoor dining, movie theatres and performing art venues restart on September 1. They must comply with social distancing and mask-wearing rules.

The announcement was made hours before the Romanian parliament was set to vote on a no-confidence motion against the government. It was filed by the strongest opposition party over what they describe as the incompetent response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Brazilian indigenous leader tests positive

Chief Raoni Metuktire, an Indigenous leader who became a symbol of the fight for the preservation of the Amazon forest in Brazil, was hospitalised with symptoms of pneumonia and tested positive for the new coronavirus, the Raoni Institute has said.

The nearly 90-year-old Kayapo ethnic leader does not have a fever and is breathing normally without the aid of oxygen, the institute said on Monday.

Raoni previously met several European leaders to denounce Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's calls for the economic development of Indigenous land in the Amazon rainforest.

Russia's cases approach 1 million

Russia reported 4,993 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing its nationwide tally to 995,319, the fourth largest caseload in the world.

Russia's coronavirus task force said 83 people had died during the past 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 17,176. 

Britain traces cases linked to Greek flight

British authorities say 16 coronavirus cases have been linked to a flight that brought UK tourists back from Greece, and everyone aboard has been told to isolate themselves for two weeks.

Public Health Wales says it is contacting almost 200 people who were aboard the Tui flight from the Greek island of Zante to Cardiff, Wales, on Tuesday.

Gwen Lowe of Public Health Wales says 30 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the last week among people who returned from Zante on several flights. She says the number is expected to rise.

The UK requires people arriving from overseas to quarantine for two weeks, unless they are coming from one of more than 70 countries and territories considered at low risk from the coronavirus.

Philippines reports 3,446 new cases, 38 more deaths

The Philippines reported 3,446 infections and 38 deaths, taking its total caseload to 220,819 and fatalities to 3,558, its Health Ministry said.

The ministry also said that five Philippine hospitals have been identified as candidates for potential clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by China-based Sinovac Biotech.

Paris to make free Covid tests available in the capital

The Paris local municipality said on Monday that it would look to make free Covid-19 testing available in all of the capital's 20 districts (arrondissements), as authorities battle against signs of a re-emergence of the virus in France.

The Paris mayor's office added in a statement that from Monday onwards, there would be three permanent laboratories set up to conduct free Covid-19 tests, as well as two other mobile laboratories that would go around the capital. 

Hong Kong to resume schools by late September

Hong Kong will resume face-to-face school classes from September 23 as the Asian financial hub's authorities aim to wind back strict coronavirus restrictions, which kept around 900,000 students working at home for over four months.

Kevin Yeung, the city's secretary for education, said the resumption would be phased with grades 1, 5 and 6 resuming for secondary schools, primary schools and upper kindergartens on September 23, while other grades would open on September 29.

The city's government had said at the start of August that face-to-face classes would be suspended indefinitely as the Chinese special administrative region battled to control a third wave of the coronavirus.

The reversal in policy comes with new daily cases dropping substantially to single and low double digits from triple digits a few weeks earlier. The Chinese government is also offering mass coronavirus testing for all Hong Kong residents starting this week.

India cases surge to 3.6 million

India reported 78,512 new  infections, slightly fewer than its record set the previous day when it posted the biggest, single-day tally of infections of any country in the pandemic.

India's total of 78,761 new cases exceeded the previous record of 77,299 in the United States on July 16, a Reuters tally of official data showed.

India, the world's second-most populous country, has been posting the highest single-day caseload in the world every day since August 7, exceeding the tallies of both the United States and Brazil.

At 3.62 million total cases, India is fast catching up to these two countries in terms of cumulative caseload, but it has a relatively lower death rate.

India's deaths from Covid-19 went up by 971 in the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 64,469, the Health Ministry said. 

New Zealand lifts Auckland virus lockdown

Schools across Auckland reopened as New Zealand's largest city emerged from lockdown, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressing confidence a second-wave outbreak of coronavirus was under control.

While Aucklanders were allowed out of their homes, the government limited non-school social gatherings in the city to 10 people and made masks compulsory on public transport nationwide.

The Auckland lockdown began on August 12 after four cases were detected in the city of 1.5 million, ending 102 days free of community transmission when it appeared New Zealand had beaten the virus.

The cluster of infections has since grown to 141, with four new cases of community transmission reported on Monday, making it the largest recorded in New Zealand.

Thousands arrested for 'virus-related crimes' in China

Nearly 5,800 people suspected of killing health workers, selling defective medical equipment and lying about their travel history have been arrested in China for epidemic-related crimes since January, the state prosecutor's office said.

One case involved a shopper that beat to death another customer who reminded him to wear a mask in a supermarket.

Other cases included a person who deliberately mowed down medical workers with a car, and another was arrested for stabbing a health inspector with a dagger when monitoring temperatures.

Some have also been accused of embezzling money collected from fundraisers to help coronavirus patients, selling defective medical equipment and lying about their travel history or health condition.

South Korea sees 248 new cases as virus spikes

South Korea has counted its 18th straight day of triple-digit daily jumps in cases as its health minister warned about an increase in transmissions gone untraced, and infections among senior citizens.

The 248 new cases reported by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Monday brought the national caseload to 19,947, including 324 deaths.

KCDC said 187 of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, which has been at the center of the viral resurgence this month.

Germany's confirmed cases rise by 610 to 242,381

The number of confirmed cases in Germany increased by 610 to 242,381, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll rose by three to 9,298, the tally showed. 

Mexico's death toll surpasses 64,000

Mexico's Health Ministry has reported 4,129 new confirmed novel coronavirus infections and 339 additional fatalities, bringing the total number to 595,841 cases and 64,158 deaths.

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

Australia's Victoria state reports 73 new cases

Australia's Victoria state – the epicentre of the country's Covid-19 outbreak – has detected 73 new infections in the past 24 hours, while the death toll rose by 41.

Australia has now recorded nearly 26,000 Covid-19 infections and 652 fatalities from the virus – far fewer than other developed countries.

Brazil reports 16,158 new cases

Brazil has registered 566 additional coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours and 16,158 new cases.

The nation has now registered 120,828 deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus and 3,862,311 confirmed cases, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Sundays tend to have relatively low coronavirus numbers in Brazil because of delays in testing by the nation's state governments. 

Utah State University to test 300 students

Utah State University plans to test nearly 300 students for Covid-19 after wastewater samples from four dormitories showed elevated levels of the coronavirus. 

The 287 students who will be tested on Sunday and Monday live in the Rich, Jones, Morgan and Davis dorms on the campus in Logan. 

There have been no reported positive tests for Covid-19 in those residence halls so far. Students in those dorms must quarantine until the test results are available, which could take up to four days. They are also asked to fill out a form to ensure they receive academic support, food deliveries and other resources.

Classes are scheduled to begin on Monday for about 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students. 

Utah State is one of a small handful of schools using wastewater sampling to help safeguard against a Covid-19 outbreak, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. 

Officials with the University of Arizona said on Thursday the school used wastewater testing to prevent a Covid-19 outbreak on campus. 

A test of just over 300 people in one dorm with elevated levels of coronavirus in the wastewater turned up two cases, said university President Robert Robbins. Neither student had symptoms. They were isolated.

Paire removed from US Open after Covid-19 positive revealed

France's Benoit Paire was removed from the US Open men's draw after the Grand Slam tournament announced an unidentified player had been withdrawn after testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.

Paire's name was removed from the US Open website's official draw and replaced with that of 149th-ranked Spaniard Marcel Granollers, who is set to face Poland's 108th-ranked Kamil Majchrzak in a first-round match next week.

French sports daily L'Equipe had earlier reported that world number 22 Paire had tested positive for coronavirus in New York.

The US Tennis Association said the asymptomatic player has been advised to follow state and tournament health and safety protocols requiring isolation for at least 10 days.

Contact tracing has been initiated to determine if anyone else must quarantine for 14 days as a result of being around the player involved.

French virus surge threatens nationwide back-to-school plan

Not all French classrooms can safely reopen on Tuesday, the country's education minister has acknowledged, as a persistent rise in coronavirus infections jeopardises the government’s push to get France’s 12.9 million schoolchildren back into class this week.

Like many governments around the world, France and Britain want to reopen schools starting Tuesday to reduce the learning gaps between rich and poor students that were worsened by the virus lockdown this spring, and to get parents back to work and revive the ailing economy.

With several thousand new infections now reported in France every day, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that some classes will remain closed when the nationwide reopening begins Tuesday, but “as few as possible.”

With less than 48 hours to go before the first French school bells ring, he said openings and closures were “being decided by a day-by-day analysis based on the health situation of each territory.”

France reported 5,453 new daily infections on Saturday, compared to several hundred a day in May and June.

France has the continent's third-highest death toll at over 30,600. Experts say all confirmed figures understate the true toll of the pandemic due to limited testing and other factors.